The Emerald City (part 3)

Posted on Sat Oct 5, 2019 @ 3:36am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Jason Haines & Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Lieutenant Commander River Morgan & Ensign Jessica Mayhew & Ensign Tizo Criteser
Edited on on Thu Oct 10, 2019 @ 5:56am

1,203 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Somewhere
Timeline: MD 8, 2200 Hrs

Previously in The Emerald City (part 2)

The Bokkai's blue shading got a bit less saturated. "Well, let’s hope you don't need one."

Alanna grinned. "Yes. I don't think I want to face a Borg with a frying pan."

And now, the continuation

They spent the next hour skirting the town enough to not be noticed, and then up and behind the ship.

Most of the debris from the original crash was gone, most likely repurposed somewhere. Half the ship was visible. It was clear from here that the ship came in at an angle and then settled.

As they came up the mountain, they could see that there was an opening in the front, facing the town. Several guards sat outside, talking.

Alanna turned to the others. "Suggestions?"

Yolanthe looked at the guards. "One each?" she asked Annora and Jessica.

Sizing up the situation, Annora agreed with Yolanthe. "Works for me. A coordinated strike gives us our best chance of success."

"I'll use the bow, in case you need backup. Not in close combat, but I can stop anyone coming to help," Alanna said. She was fairly certain she could do that much. She wasn't the best at hand-to-hand fighting.

Jessica drew her knives and nodded to Yolanthe. She held up a finger to her lips and then moved to press up against the wall of the cube and move silently along, attempting to remain out of sight of the guards.

Together they snaked along the edge of the humongous ship, trying to keep their profile low, The huge struts may have looked tiny from a distance, but it was still a good forty meters between the edge and the opening. When they were as close as they could safely get, Yolanthe glanced at the others, then indicated she was going for the furthest. "On three?" she breathed. "One, Two, Three!"

Jessica raced after Yolanthe. She kept low and slammed her shoulder into the guard’s solar plexus, driving him back against the wall, knocking the wind out of him. The element of surprise was on their side. They couldn’t let them raise the alarm. Spinning around, she drove her knife into the throat of another guard.

Annora followed her comrades into the fight. Before the guard knew what was happening, Annoara twisted their arm down and around. As soon as they were disarmed, Annora wrapped her left arm around his throat. Moving her right hand around the back of his neck, she applied a steady pressure. It didn't take long for him to go limp from the lack of blood flow to the brain. With her opponent out for at least thirty seconds, she surveyed the area for any other targets.

River and Brianthe crested the top of the hill in time to see the end of the fight.

"Hi," Brianthe said.


Inside the Borg Cube

Once the others were gone, Alanna went in search of a back entrance to the cube. Surely there would be an escape route. If she could find it, maybe she could get some information on the prophet to help them with their confrontation. Or she could mess up the computer so that even if they had to make a hasty retreat, the prophet would have a hard time regenerating.

After searching, she found a small access panel that was partially attached. She used her knife to work it loose and slipped inside.

It smelled like it needed a good cleaning. There was a faint scent of rot and decay from further inside. There was also the smell of burnt cabling and fried panels. It was an unpleasant combination. She began to search for a computer access panel.

She found a main corridor and continued looking for a computer console with power. She could hear people moving around by the time she saw anything that looked remotely useful.

And then she saw it. One lovely little terminal. She watched data scroll across the screen, surprised that so few systems were still functioning. Or maybe not so surprised, based on the condition of the ship and the prophet's followers. Alanna looked for the power relays, for the main computer, and anything else she and the others could use to destroy the ship. The job of the techno-mage, she told herself.

The terminal screen display was very faint, and only displayed zeroes and ones. Those seemed to be scrolling along rather quickly. At that moment, Alanna sensed an odd presence near her. It was very logical and chaotic at the same time. Briefly after she felt the presence, she smelled the stench of decay.

"You won't find much," a voice said. "I can't find much anymore, but given how long I have been here, that is not a surprise."

The source of the voice stepped from the shadows. It was somewhat gruesome. It had the general appearance of a Borg drone. The head of the drone was humanoid, with slightly pointed ears, a fluted nose. One of its eyes had been replaced by a Borg ocular device, but it didn't seem to have any power. The skin around it seemed to be decaying.

One of its hands seemed like it had been somewhat recently replaced and crudely attached. It was starting to show signs of decay. The other hand was a robotic pincer of sorts, but it barely moved. There was what looked to be a cable coming out of its side, and it seemed to run behind him into the darkness.

"I haven't received Human guests in a long time," it said.

She didn't think it was possible, but she actually felt sorry for the drone. "None of the people from the town come up here?" she asked. "And what is your designation?"

"Reality seems somewhat fluid on this planet," the drone said. "Sometimes the people are here, sometimes they are not. Whether this is true or just a trick because of a damaged memory core, I am not one hundred percent certain. I think they probably do show up, as I am able to get replacement parts, so to speak."

It almost seemed disgusted to say that.

"As to a designation, I was One of Twelve," it continued. "Then, out of logic, it changed to One of One. Then, as the longer I was disconnected from the collective, my memories before assimilation started to slowly come back, and I prefer my given name of Denegal. What is your name?"

"I'm Alanna. They just left you here?"

"When you say they, do you mean the Borg, or the villagers?" Denegal asked. "I was the only one to survive the crash. As far as the villagers, they are scared of me, rightfully so, as three hundred years ago, I was a much different individual, as you might guess."

(To be continued...)

[OFF]


Denegal, "The Prophet"
APB Lieutenant JG Jason Haines

Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Five

Ensign Brianthe Oaxaca
Botanist
Deep Space Five


Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner,
The Box of Delights

Lt Cmdr River Morgan
Acting CMO - DS5

Lt Annora Tessaro
Chief Security Officer
DS5

Ensign Tizo Criteser
Security Officer
DS5

 

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