Star Trek: Starbase 777 - etd-transporter-room

Aoife glided into the transporter room a figure of calm composure in a sea of uncertainty. She had never faced the Borg herself but she had read most of the reports there were on them. But reports were nothing compared to the real thing. Unsure what to expect on the away mission she began to check and double check the available weapons in some kind of pre away mission ritual.

The swirl of the transporter beam seemed to fall away like a curtain. Stepping into a situation like this was familiar to her. Whether that was a good thing, she didn't know, Yaveru never gave herself the time to even think about it. It was a task to be dealt with, and if she narrowed in on that, everything should be fine. Rarely though, did anything go so smoothly. * *She stepped off, equipment secured before her departure from the station. Her antennae was stiff, as if it were merely two sticks lodged into her skull. It certainly felt that way to her. Years hadn't dulled the feeling within them. Compared to others they were slow to reform. The Andorian took in a silent breath, the veil of composure coming in handy in moments like these.

Maggie walked with a backpack filled to the brim with water bottles if need be. She stood quietly by the bay and sighed. “All right.”

Essen also carried several water bottles with her as she stepped with a determined stride. She stopped beside Maggie and the others, and looked at the transporter pad, eyes locked onto it. The Vulcan girl's energy was much more focused on the mission than being silly -- not that any mission warranted her being silly. But to Essen, there was absolutely no room for that here. The Borg needed to pay for what they did to Erra, to Vara'l, to One, to Savva, to her father. In ruminating this she briefly forgot what she had been told in the briefing -- that they were being sent to figure out what was going on with the Borg cube. So Essen refrained from judgement calls once more, and kept eerily quiet with the exception of one simple word. "Finally."

Paco was taking deep breaths and long sips of one of his water bottles as he walked into the room in order to try and have some semblance of calming himself down. "Okey doke... are we ready?" Paco asked as he went to the nearest replicator to refill his water bottle before he stuffed it back into his bag.

"I am," Essen replied to Paco. "Is everyone here alright?" She asked with genuine empathy. She couldn't lose anyone else. It didn't matter if it was a friend or even just an acquaintance -- she refused to lose anyone else to the Borg.

Hal Gertie turned to talk to Serin as they got to the transporter room. “When I lived outside of the federation, I had some test technology implanted in me, similar to my dataport.” He turned so that the side of his neck was visible and tapped it. “One of the more obscure ones cools and heats my core temperature by a few degrees.” He winced, shifting his bag on his shoulder. “I… wish I hadn’t gotten it. But it’s too late for that now.”

Aoife grabbed a rifle and threw one to Essen. "Think fast Lieutenant." She said as she checked the charge level in her own rifle. Worse case Borg would adapt to it, but at least she could use it as a club if it came to that.

Essen's focus was on it today, so she caught it with grace and held it with a tight grip. "You won't have to worry about that, sir," Essen replied to Aoife. "No messing around from me today." And no concussions, cough cough HETFIELD cough cough.

Five shuffled into the transporter room, keeping her eyes down. Though immediately winced. Let's maybe not??? throw rifles at people??? Oh dear.

He tilted his head curiously as he looked at the dataport, making his ponytail swing slightly. "Ah, a cursed item. Is it the memories of the circumstances of its implantation that make you wish it had not been implanted in you so? If you don't mind me asking." (edited)

Essen went off guard only for a second before she looked over to Five -- she didn't notice Five at all on the bridge, partly given she was so focused on her vendetta. "Hey, Five," Essen said matter-of-factly. "It's good to see you again. Sorry I didn't see you before, I was... Out of it for a second. I'm glad you're here." (edited)

"It's alright," Five mumbled behind her mask, fidgeting with her gloves. "I just walked in, so..."

1

"Ah, okay," Essen replied kindly. "I gotcha. It's always good to have you with us on away missions!" She took a breath in and out. It was laced with anxiety and anticipation, and mostly, a determination.

“I don’t mind. Memories of the circumstances I guess? It would be cool but… I didn’t get it for a good reason. And it seems silly now, to have to explain it to doctors.” He shrugged. It really didn’t bother him to talk about it.

"Paco's doing okay dokey..." Paco answered Essen while still doing deep breathing. "We gonnaa... g-go bo-boldly a-and... uh" Paco paused a bit to collect his thoughts. "K-kick. Some...Ass!" Paco said, mostly to himself to hype himself up. It worked a little bit, which he was glad for.

It was good that Hal didn't mind explaining it, because Serin was endlessly curious. "I see. I don't think it's silly, though. Cursed items can be a heavy burden, especially if they are inside oneself. It's like carrying around one's trauma manifested physically. I imagine there are a few borg here who feel similarly about their implants."

Essen didn't want to ruminate in vengeance the whole time, although half of her did want to, but she figured it was best to try and keep herself calm -- so she did as Alin told her. In for 5, hold for 7, out for 8. In for 5, hold for 7, out for 8. In for 5, hold for 7, out for 8. Essen looked to Paco, and gave him one of the most genuine looks that the little shit could. All trace of mischief was gone -- she looked to Paco with genuine concern. "Hey, Paco," Essen replied. "You've got this. We are going to kick some ass." She waited for an appropriate break in the other conversation to introduce herself to Serin and Hal, as she had seen Serin before but didn't recall meeting him. "Hey, you two doing alright?" Essen asked them both. "I'm Essen. I figured I'd... Check in with people. Just as a concerned member of the team."

The gentle beeping of his tricorder announced Saren's entrance into the transporter room, his gaze flitting up briefly to look at the faces of today's team, count them, and remember them. Nothing betrayed worry or uneasiness in the Romulan's face - and to be fair, it was the bare truth, this time. Was the venture into the heart of a Borg cube a dangerous affair? Oh, undeniably. He had no idea what to expect there, and it wasn't like he was feeling foolishly brave or expecting no hiccups or surprises. But he will worry about such things when they happen. Right now, the team needed scientific level-headedness. There was also the hope, somewhere deep in his heart, that if they find anyone there in the cube, they would be able to help them. And for that, the officers would indeed need to be brave.

"W-we're gunna kick some ass." Paco quietly parroted Essen a little bit. "Ass kicking, with science, to kick ass." Paco muttered to himself before he took in a deep breath. "Get in, find out what the heck's going on, solve it, get out." and quiet and slow exhale. "Okay. I'm okay... I'm okay now. I'm all good." At least good enough to get in there and focus on the mission (edited)

1

If he'd be any taller, I could write about his imposing presence strengthening the away team upon walking into the transporter room, but alas, he's 5'10 and the only visually imposing thing about him is his furrowed brow. Senang made his way into the room, his own rifle slung over his shoulder, his face solemn. He nodded at Aoife, at Vara'l, at Essen, at Saren. He took water with him too, as instructed; though that was more for the benefit of others. He was Vulcan, he could deal with whatever environment they would encounter inside of the Cube.

“Cursed items are interesting way of thinking about it. When I think of cursed objects I think of… amulets and other things that whisper to you. My implant’s about as intelligent as a replicator when it comes down to it.” He chuckled lightly. As Essen spoke, he turned to look at her. “I’m doing alright, thank you.” If that was a lie, he was practiced enough at seeming calm and collected that it seemed genuine. “It’s very kind of you to check in on people, especially on such a tough mission.”

Vara'l arrived silently, grab bag clasped one handed as the other tightly clasped a phaser rifle he'd acquired. Once in the room, Vara'l started through his pre-away mission checklist and checked the water he'd brought then his tricorder and so on. As he had conducted those checks, he nodded slightly to Lieutenant Commander Senang in response to their nod. "Lieutenant Commander." He'd proceeded to say then by way of greeting.

Essen nodded to Senang -- this time with a bit bigger of a smile that she could give him. "Good to see you, Commander." She hadn't been on an away mission with Senang in a while either, so seeing him brought Essen comfort. Turning back to Hal, Essen nodded understandingly. "Of course," she replied. "I can only imagine how anxious we're all feeling. Anxious, or at least on edge. I certainly am. I figured it was necessary since in some way or another, whether we realize it or not, the Borg have impacted all of us. So I just... You know. I want to provide comfort where I can."

Aoife finished looking over the weapons and confirming they were good to go. She also finished packing her backpack with water, rations, spare power cells and a medkit. Now ready to move out. "Hey Senang, welcome to the expedition." She said with a nod as she greeted them. She gave Vara'l a further nod as he walked in. "We've got enough rifles here for the tactical and security officers, I figure it's better to have and not need if the cube really is dormant."

"Aye, we can never be too prepared, sir," Essen piped in response to Aoife. "No such thing, in my opinion."

Senang nodded at Aoife. "You can never be too careful when it comes to the Borg," they declared, lending half an ear to Essen's conversation with Hal. They foresaw problems arising, there. But they wouldn't comment on it yet.

"Especially if they have any new tricks up their sleeve," Essen added to Senang. "If the Borg know anything, it's how to adapt." As she held her rifle, she took another breath. "I think we all wish it was as easy as peacefully negotiating with the Borg."

Saren nodded to Senang, offering her a small smile (he had finally learned to do that - not everyone understood his squints and head tilts, as it turned out). Familiar faces was always a good sign on an away mission. Tricorder, water... yeah, all set. Some dialogue floating around did catch Saren's attention. He opted for a side-eye and a mental note, instead of saying anything outright. Yet.

"No ailments have befallen me, but I thank you for your attentiveness, kind stranger!" Translation: I'm alright, thanks. "My good acquaintance and I were just discussing the heat. It would be helpful if you kept an eye on the humans and andorians in our midst to monitor for heat exhaustion. I believe one said earlier that everyone should bring potions of hydration, but it is a reminder that bears repeating." It's called water, Serin. (edited)

"Of course," Essen replied to Serin. "I'll keep an eye on the humans and andorians. Well, everyone, really. And yes, drinking water reminders, for all reasons, yes."

Saeihr’s self-imposed deadline for her first away mission as an Ensign had expired almost two months ago so she had overcome her reluctance and signed up for this one without giving herself too much time to think about it since that only would have resulted in her getting nervous about all the possible things that might go wrong. The only thing she had failed to consider was that waiting in the transporter room gave her more than enough time to think about plenty horrible scenarios now, which was not made better by the others' conversation. Standing against a wall Saeihr was trying to nake sure she was not missing anything important. She knew how to use her equipment, she just had to stay calm so her hands would nit start shaking. Just taking deep breaths and not thinking about dieing should work, right? Right??

Vesta entered the transporter room. She had never dealt with the borg before, unless you count being safely onboard the Zenith when it got into a short scuffle. She had never actually seen a Borg drone, and while she wanted that to continue, she did not have high hopes. She was more prepared for this mission than the last one, and had a backpack full of supplies that included plasma cutting, anti grave harnesses, a small first aid kit, and whatever else could fit in a backpack and become potentially useful later. She recognized only some of the officers present, and read the discussions happening around her. She also looked around and noticed something. “We don’t have a medical officer with us.” She signed to the group.

Almost on cue, Lekraan was there, medical satchel slung across his chest, the familiar weight of its gear a steady anchor. This wasn’t a disaster—not yet—but he’d worked in warzones, disaster zones, low-altitude emergencies, and more. Still, being this close to the Borg was different—closer to the action than he was used to. The thought ran under his composure like a low current, but the satchel at his side and years of crisis work kept his hands steady. Whatever came, he’d be ready to move.

5

That little tidbit didn't register to Paco straight away. Medical and Sciences both wore blue uniforms, but when Paco looked around and only recognized his colleagues in sciences, the realization finally clicked. "oh.." he muttered, but also signed with just the letters O-H. "I know first aid--" just as he was about to ask if that counted as being a doctor, Paco smiled to see Lekraan "oh, yay! we have meds!"

"It's time. Is everyone ready?" Senang asked, gripping his rifle tighter.

Five gave a solemn nod, focused on the team around them — committing their faces and voices to memory best they could. Out of the frying pan, into the fire, huh?..

"Let's get this show on the road." Aoife replied. "Remember to keep your weapons on a rotating modulation the last thing we need is for them to adapt to our weapons. But drones should be docile until they deem us a threat." Aoife announced to the group.

T'She -- who was there the whole time, and who had been briefed on the dangers of the mission at hand -- gave a nod as well. They were there to help keep everyone in tip top shape for this, just like always.

Essen gripped her rifle and looked at Senang, before she took a breath. "Ready," Essen replied.

"I'm ready." Paco answered with a thumbs up and tricorder on hand. "No point turning back now..."

“There we go.” She said, medical officers fileing in. She turned her attention to Aoife and adjusted her backpack. Here we go.

"Then let's go." Senang was the first on the transporter pad, ready for whatever came ahead.

T'She followed Senang onto the transporter pad, about as ready as they were ever going to be for what came ahead.

Onto the transporter pad he went!