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--- trek:venerable:recap:1_act_6 [2021/07/19 17:16] – [Itchy Beam-Down] verbena76
+++ trek:venerable:recap:1_act_6 [2021/07/20 14:22] (current) – [The Correct Psychiatric Term is "Bat-Shit Crazy."] verbena76
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ==== Good Old-Fashioned Violence ====
-The away team continues their descent, with Kelly actively scanning for the Matruse wavefront. Kimball just sees rock, but Kelly and Aaron note the natural caverns give way to artificial ones, with faint tiling on the floor and walls. Kelly frowns as he notes the greater degradation here than at the site on Malichor V. He theorizes the harsher atmosphere and ion storms are to blame. Aaron makes a joke about his last archeological expedition and the loss of his left arm; Kelly eyes him and replies, “When things are less exciting, I want to have a discussion.” Aaron grins and nods. They continue, with Kimball in the lead. He unwittingly walks under the Matruse Device and angry red lights blaze into existence in a line along the walls and ceiling. He feels a faint burst of pain, but backpedals out of the area of effect. He announces, “Found it!” Kelly drawls, “Yes, you did,” and Aaron retorts, “Good reflexes.” Kelly starts scanning, and data screeds on his tricorder. He frowns as he notes fluctuations within the device, which were not present at Malichor V.
+The away team continues their descent, with Kelly actively scanning for the Matruse wavefront. Kimball just sees rock, but Kelly and Aaron note the natural caverns give way to artificial ones, with faint tiling on the floor and walls. Kelly frowns as he notes the greater degradation here than at the site on Malichor V. He theorizes the harsher atmosphere and ion storms are to blame. Aaron makes a joke about his last archeological expedition and the loss of his left arm; Kelly eyes him and replies, “When things are less exciting, I want to have a discussion.” Aaron grins and nods. They continue, with Kimball in the lead. He unwittingly walks under the Matruse Device and angry red lights blaze into existence in a line along the walls and ceiling. He feels a faint burst of pain but backpedals out of the area of effect. He announces, “Found it!” Kelly drawls, “Yes, you did,” and Aaron retorts, “Good reflexes.” Kelly starts scanning, and data screeds on his tricorder. He frowns as he notes fluctuations within the device, which were not present at Malichor V.
-M’Belaa cuts in, “Another potential problem: this thing apparently moves. This was not where the Bajoran died.” Frowning, Kelly adjusts his tricorder and scans again. He hisses in surprise when he discovers a second Matruse Device thirty meters further ahead. He checks behind them, but finds nothing. M’Belaa wonders if this one activated when the first one triggered, and if they’re protecting an Iconian Gateway. Aaron comes to a decision and states, “Stand back, I’m going to try something.” They comply, but M’Belaa mutters, “I think I should register a protest or something.” Aaron snorts, “Noted,” and rolls up his sleeve. He sticks out his artificial left arm and walks gingerly into the Matruse Device. Kelly records everything on his tricorder, but Kimball points out, “Aren’t the Iconians and the T’Kon two different people, separated by hundreds of thousands of years?” Aaron nods and replies, “Yes, but it’s possible the Iconians found T’Kon technology and reverse-engineered it.”
+M’Belaa cuts in, “Another potential problem: this thing apparently moves. This was not where the Bajoran died.” Frowning, Kelly adjusts his tricorder and scans again. He hisses in surprise when he discovers a second Matruse Device thirty meters further ahead. He checks behind them but finds nothing. M’Belaa wonders if this one activated when the first one triggered, and if they’re protecting an Iconian Gateway. Aaron comes to a decision and states, “Stand back, I’m going to try something.” They comply, but M’Belaa mutters, “I think I should register a protest or something.” Aaron snorts, “Noted,” and rolls up his sleeve. He sticks out his artificial left arm and walks gingerly into the Matruse Device. Kelly records everything on his tricorder, but Kimball points out, “Aren’t the Iconians and the T’Kon two different people, separated by hundreds of thousands of years?” Aaron nods and replies, “Yes, but it’s possible the Iconians found T’Kon technology and reverse-engineered it.”
-Aaron feels a gentle tingle in his artificial arm, and then the first Matruse Device shuts down. The lights flicker to indigo before going out, and the wavefront ceases. Kelly tracks a shutdown command from this device to the second one, but frowns when he realizes the degradation has corrupted the devices. The second device does not shut down, but instead it flares to life and they all see an angry red force field of lethal energy stretch across the corridor. He reports his findings as they carefully approach the second device. They can feel the energy output against their skin the closer they get, and Aaron’s arm twitches randomly. It’s not debilitating, but he notes it anyway. Kelly sighs and reports, “This thing is fluctuating radically. Our Bajoran fatality was wrong place, wrong time.”
+Aaron feels a gentle tingle in his artificial arm, and then the first Matruse Device shuts down. The lights flicker to indigo before going out, and the wavefront ceases. Kelly tracks a shutdown command from this device to the second one, but frowns when he realizes the degradation has corrupted the devices. The second device does not shut down, but instead it flares to life, and they all see an angry red force field of lethal energy stretch across the corridor. He reports his findings as they carefully approach the second device. They can feel the energy output against their skin the closer they get, and Aaron’s arm twitches randomly. It’s not debilitating, but he notes it anyway. Kelly sighs and reports, “This thing is fluctuating radically. Our Bajoran fatality was wrong place, wrong time.”
-Kimball decides it’s time for some good, old fashioned violence, and pulls out his phaser. He motions for the others to step way back, and makes sure the charges he was carrying are also secured several meters away. Kelly steps up next to him and also pulls out his phaser; they agree that Kelly takes the left side while Kimball takes the right. They fire simultaneously, and both beams strike their targets. The runes along the wall glow briefly before shorting out, and the second Matruse Device goes dormant. Kelly’s tricorder pings, and he realizes their blasts caused a feedback loop in the ancient system, and they have maybe an hour before the whole thing goes critical.
+Kimball decides it’s time for some good, old fashioned violence, and pulls out his phaser. He motions for the others to step way back and makes sure the charges he was carrying are also secured several meters away. Kelly steps up next to him and  pulls out his phaser; they agree that Kelly takes the left side while Kimball takes the right. They fire simultaneously, and both beams strike their targets. The runes along the wall glow briefly before shorting out, and the second Matruse Device goes dormant. Kelly’s tricorder pings, and he realizes their blasts caused a feedback loop in the ancient system, and they have maybe an hour before the whole thing goes critical.
 ==== Harold and the Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich ====
-Aaron decides to head down further, aware of the new countdown looming over their heads. As they descend further, the decay vanishes and they can clearly see the tiles now. Kelly wonders if the Matruse Devices have some sort of environmental effect, and then they reach a central chamber. The tiles here are pink marble, and stretch across the floor and up the walls to about waist-height. The top portion of the walls in an ochre color, and the center of the chamber is dominated by an ancient control panel in a half-arc. The other half-arc is an Iconian Gateway, flickering rapidly between locations scattered throughout the galaxy! However, what truly draws their attention is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, missing a bite, on the control panel!
+Aaron decides to head down further, aware of the new countdown looming over their heads. As they descend further, the decay vanishes, and they can clearly see the tiles now. Kelly wonders if the Matruse Devices have some sort of environmental effect, and then they reach a central chamber. The tiles here are pink marble and stretch across the floor and up the walls to about waist-height. The top portion of the walls in an ochre color, and the center of the chamber is dominated by an ancient control panel in a half-arc. The other half-arc is an Iconian Gateway, flickering rapidly between locations scattered throughout the galaxy! However, what truly draws their attention is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, missing a bite, on the control panel!
-They approach the controls and the sandwich, and find it’s only been here an hour, it’s on a Romulan plate, and there is Romulan DNA in the bite. They then see the gateway flash to another control room, where [[trek:characters:haran|a wild-haired Romulan scientist]] is looking around for something. Aaron whistles and holds up the sandwich. The Romulan’s head snaps up, he says, //“Hey…”//, and then the screen flickers to a different location. Kimball holds up the charges but Aaron tells him to hold on for a moment. Kelly is running his tricorder over everything, but then notices the control panel is being hacked remotely! He warns everyone as he examines the console; he realizes he doesn’t know enough to stop it, but he is learning by observation.
+They approach the controls and the sandwich, and find it’s only been here an hour, it’s on a Romulan plate, and there is Romulan DNA in the bite. They then see the gateway flash to another control room, where [[trek:characters:haran|a wild-haired Romulan scientist]] is looking around for something. Aaron whistles and holds up the sandwich. The Romulan’s head snaps up, he says, //“Hey…”//, and then the screen flickers to a different location. Kimball holds up the charges, but Aaron tells him to hold on for a moment. Kelly is running his tricorder over everything, but then notices the control panel is being hacked remotely! He warns everyone as he examines the console; he realizes he doesn’t know enough to stop it, but he is learning by observation.
-The screen flickers back to the annoyed Romulan, who points a small device at them. A tiny tractor beam cuts through the gateway and grabs the sandwich, but it’s not strong enough to break Aaron’s grip. The Romulan looks really annoyed, and demands his lunch. Aaron holds on to the sandwich and asks the Romulan where he is. The Romulan frowns and says, //“That’s classified,”// before pulling out a padd and noting, //“Reminder, where the hell am I?”// A few rejoinders back and forth later, and Aaron realizes this Romulan scientist is eccentric as all hell. The Romulan identifies himself only as “Harold,”(([[trek:characters:haran]])) and notes, //“There’s a power feedback loop at your location and its building quickly. Did you shoot something?”// Aaron admits he did as he fights to keep the sandwich, and Harold says, //“Then we’re in a Mexican standoff. At least, I think that’s the proper idiom.”// Kimball interjects, “Yes, it is,” and Harold looks pleased.
+The screen flickers back to the annoyed Romulan, who points a small device at them. A tiny tractor beam cuts through the gateway and grabs the sandwich, but it’s not strong enough to break Aaron’s grip. The Romulan looks really annoyed and demands his lunch. Aaron holds on to the sandwich and asks the Romulan where he is. The Romulan frowns and says, //“That’s classified,”// before pulling out a padd and noting, //“Reminder, where the hell am I?”// A few rejoinders back and forth later, and Aaron realizes this Romulan scientist is eccentric as all hell. The Romulan identifies himself only as 'Harold,'(([[trek:characters:haran]])) and notes, //“There’s a power feedback loop at your location and it's building quickly. Did you shoot something?”// Aaron admits he did as he fights to keep the sandwich, and Harold says, //“Then we’re in a Mexican standoff. At least, I think that’s the proper idiom.”// Kimball interjects, “Yes, it is,” and Harold looks pleased.
 Aaron explains calmly that the Cardassians are inbound, and Harold frowns and concedes, //“Oh, then you definitely want to destroy the gateway. Place your charges there, there, there, and at the apex of the roof.”// He gestures as he talks, pointing out the specific locations, and Kelly realizes Harold is telling the unvarnished truth. Harold eyes things on his end and announces, //“You have about forty-five minutes until catastrophic failure. Oh dear, I hope no one lives on that planet.”// Kimball retorts, “No, it’s a Class-L piece of shit.” Harold grunts and idly asks, //“By the way, are my shoes there?”// The away team looks around and Aaron replies, “No.” Harold frowns but murmurs, //“Damn, then they ended up in the Delta Quadrant.”//
-The away team eyes each other for a second and M’Belaa takes a few notes on her padd before Harold announces, //“Okay, good news. Well, sort of. I’ve been able to reroute the feedback loop so it doesn’t rip open the planet and send a shockwave through subspace, preventing warp travel in your sector forever. However, that drops the countdown to thirty minutes. Oh, is my niece there?”// Aaron replies, “Uhm… nope.” M’Belaa grumbles about destroying an Iconian Gateway, but Kelly consoles her. Harold demands his sandwich now, and states, //“Do you know how hard it is to get peanut butter in the Romulan Star Empire?”// Aaron shrugs and releases the sandwich, which is hurled into the gateway by the mini-tractor beam.
+The away team eyes each other for a second and M’Belaa takes a few notes on her padd before Harold announces, //“Okay, good news. Well, sort of. I’ve been able to reroute the feedback loop, so it doesn’t rip open the planet and send a shockwave through subspace, preventing warp travel in your sector forever. However, that drops the countdown to thirty minutes. Oh, is my niece there?”// Aaron replies, “Uhm… nope.” M’Belaa grumbles about destroying an Iconian Gateway, but Kelly consoles her. Harold demands his sandwich now, and states, //“Do you know how hard it is to get peanut butter in the Romulan Star Empire?”// Aaron shrugs and releases the sandwich, which is hurled into the gateway by the mini-tractor beam.
 The gateway flickers and resumes showing random destinations, so the away team starts setting the charges. M’Belaa grabs one and scampers up the walls to the apex point on the roof. She affixes the charge to the ceiling and races down as the others finish setting their charges. Kimball sets the timer for thirty minutes, but then the gateway crazes and a boot comes flying out! Kimball shrugs and grabs it and then a second boot also flies through the gateway. Kelly checks his tricorder and swears. He tells Aaron, “The first one came from somewhere in the Romulan Star Empire. The second from deep in the Delta Quadrant.” Kimball grabs the second boot.
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 They exit the turbolift to the bridge and Commander Shil’vala stands up from the center chair and eyes Kimball and the boots. He claims, “War trophies,” and Kelly visibly grinds his teeth. Aaron orders all sensors back to their location at LV-397, and they watch on the viewscreen as the countdown reaches the zero mark – and the mountain range sinks. Aaron and the others realize Harold was successful in diminishing the explosion, and the Iconian technology is beyond the reach of the Cardassians. Kimball declares he will try and get DNA fragments from the boots, but frowns when he realizes the left one sloshes. He looks inside, and then pulls out a small flask. He pops it open and takes a deep sniff, confirming that the flask is filled with Romulan ale.
-Aaron orders Eleven to drop out of warp, and for the senior staff to meet in the war room immediately. They all troop down, and Aaron realizes the [[trek:characters:bynars|Bynars]] can control the entire ship wherever they are. However, they are smiling widely as Kelly starts downloading all the data he collected planet-side, and he’s grinning right along with them. Kimball eyes the other boot and finds a packet of peanut butter. Once [[trek:characters:heltorin|Hel-Torin]] and [[trek:characters:tkora|T’kora]] arrive, Aaron lays out what happened in the cave. He admits he didn’t sense any hostile intent from Harold, and believes he is a rogue element within the Romulan Star Empire. Kelly agrees, and points out he could have removed the Iconian tech, but instead he allowed it to be destroyed rather than allow it to fall into Cardassian hands. M’Belaa counters, “He’s also bat-shit crazy,” but Aaron shrugs.
+Aaron orders Eleven to drop out of warp, and for the senior staff to meet in the strategy room immediately. They all troop down, and Aaron realizes the [[trek:characters:bynars|Bynars]] can control the entire ship wherever they are. However, they are smiling widely as Kelly starts downloading all the data he collected planet-side, and he’s grinning right along with them. Kimball eyes the other boot and finds a packet of peanut butter. Once [[trek:characters:heltorin|Hel-Torin]] and [[trek:characters:tkora|T’kora]] arrive, Aaron lays out what happened in the cave. He admits he didn’t sense any hostile intent from Harold, and believes he is a rogue element within the Romulan Star Empire. Kelly agrees, and points out he could have removed the Iconian tech, but instead he allowed it to be destroyed rather than allow it to fall into Cardassian hands. M’Belaa counters, “He’s also batshit crazy,” but Aaron shrugs.
 T’kora grabs the flask from Kimball, pops it open, and dabs her finger into it. She samples the ale, rolls it around in her mouth, and declares, “This is a nobleman’s private stock. Very smooth. This is not the mass-produced garbage for the lower classes.” Aaron wonders, “And how do you know this?” T’kora retorts, “Because I’ve been in Starfleet for over sixty years, before the Tomed Incident and the closing of the borders?” Aaron concedes that point. Kimball asks if they’re going after the spy probe, and Aaron replies, “Not sure yet. I’m going to go down to cargo bay two and meet this [[trek:characters:darrah|Darrah Mace]], and then reach out to Admiral [[trek:characters:nechayev|Nechayev]] for orders.” Hel-Torin replies, “He’s been discharged, he was suffering from minor injuries and malnutrition, which I’ve treated. What I can’t treat is his obstinacy, which is about the size of this ship.” Aaron smirks.

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