[Star Trek RPG] Episode 1; Nightmares From Another Era Become Realized

(OOC NOTE: Please read the OOC thread before posting.)

Scene: Captain Vaughn is on the ship's bridge in the captain's chair. Helmsman Lt. "Jean-Baptiste" is holding steady orbit, Lt. Ripley is standing by for communications with the planet's Star Fleet base. Science Officer Ziv is next to Captain Vaughn's chair, waiting for orders.

Captain's log, Star Date 2219.97. Our orbit is around planet Marcos XII, of the Marcos system, located in the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy. This is our first mission, though we've been in space for months now. Even for a Vulcan such as myself, the mission is disturbing. We received a distress call from the Star Fleet base located in orbit around Marcos XII, but we have thus far been unable to reach them.

"Lt. Ripley." Sahara turned to the communications officer.
"Captain."
"Try opening all hailing frequencies."
"Ser."

Lt. Ripley waited. No response.

"Ser, I'm sorry, but there is still no response from the base."
"No need to apologize, lieutenant." Sahara raised her eyebrow, and pressed a button on her chair. "This is the captain speaking. Chief engineering officer Marc and chief engineering officer Lynch, report to the bridge immediately.
"What is the meaning of this, captain?" T'Sala asked.
"Star Fleet's last communication with the base was about an unknown virus that was spreading rapidly among the population of Marcos XII. That was six months ago." Officers Mark and Lynch entered the bridge and stood silently by the captain. "Now we are here, and it would seem, logically, that in an attempt to isolate the cure virus, the base has been infected as well."
"You don't mean that you're going to beam-" Sahara cut T'sala off mid-sentence.
"Indeed I do, officer. You're quite astute for a Vulcan who has a relationship for emotions." A few of the crewmen had to turn to hide smiles. The captain never intended to be humourous, but often she was.
"Thanks, captain." T'Sala rolled her eyes.
"So, where do we come into this?" Rodger asked, always looking surprised due to his lack of eyebrows.
"You will beam aboard the base with me." Rodger and Nathan looked at each other. "We will be wearing decontamination suits the entire time, there is no need for worry. There may still be survivors on board, and our orders are to investigate, and possibly save any survivors. Though, the chances are... slim, that there are any survivors to be saved."
"Even if there are survivors, we can't bring them on board!"
"Yes, I am aware of this medical officer. Which is why I am bringing you."
"Well, why are you bringing me? Captain."
"I need you to check over the engineering section." Sahara stood. "Officer Ziv, scan the base for any sign of life."

T'Sala walked over to the scanner and began the scan.

"First deck shows few lifeforms with very low readings and..." T'Sala paused. "Captain.."
"Yes, officer, I'm waiting."
"The second deck has readings off of the chart! How many people were in this base?"
"Two hundred. It's the smallest base in the system."
"These readings would indicate that either all two hundred of them are on the lower deck."
"Or that the virus speeds up the body's system enough to..." Rodger didn't finish his thought.
"Have you heard of something like this before, doctor?"
"No, nothing like it, but it's possible. I've read reports of viruses slowing down the human system, though."
"It's only logical to think that a virus could exist that increases bodily functions... yes." The crew was silent. "Alright. Lynch, Marc, head to the transporter room and prepare to beam down. Ziv, I need you here to assume command, and be ready for communications, Ripley. I'll be sending any analyses I can find on this virus." Sahara leaned over her chair and pressed the intercom button. "This is the captain speaking, I need two security officers to report to transport room to beam down to the star base. Ripley, send coordinate reading to the transporter room to beam us to the first deck." Sahara turned around before making it to the turbolift. "Oh and, 7B," Sahara never referred to Jean-Baptiste by his humanoid name, she much preferred him as an android. "Maintain standard orbit, and under no circumstances allow anyone to beam down."
"Ser, I am under command of Officer Ziv while you are absent." If an android could look confused, 7B did.
"I am aware, but you are also far more logical than she... and stronger." Sahara entered the bridge, leaving the T'Sala rolling her eyes and the bridge crew hiding smiles once again.

Sahara met with her landing party in the transporter room.

"Alright men, set phasers to heavy stun, we have no idea what we're walking into."

*******

Captain Vaughn stepped forward off of the transporter beam. The transporter room was completely empty. Dr. Lynch was scanning the area for life with his scanner. They entered the next room. Nothing. Finally, the doctor picked up faint life readings coming from the admiral's office. They approached cautiously, and the doors opened to the admiral and a few security guards badly maimed and barely alive.

Nathan observed the office, it was rather small compared to the office of Captain Vaughn. First thought that ran trough his head... What happened?! He looked around, at the men, they looked really weak and fragile. He knew that Captain Vaughn was judging situation in her head, deciding what to do, and just as that, his thoughts were interrupted by Captain's cold voice "Admiral Connors, sir, situation report". Admiral answered rather calmly "Guns down captain. And come in, the rest of your team is to stay out." Nathan watched Captain walking in, still wondering what has happened. Captain said strict order as usual "Stay here team, and look out", and entered the office. A while later she came out looked at Nathan "Chief - full engineering report of systems within an hour". "Yes, Captain, on it"

Nathan started walking around base, observing surroundings - he was familiar with these bases, as he was one of the persons who engineered them, he knew just were to look for information for systems, he walked down the corridor and opened a command center - what he saw was rather surprising - systems still, after not being checked, were all functional.

As he returned, he saw the captain and cheerfully said "Reports done Cap, everything is ok - systems working just fine, for now."

T'Sala had to be careful whenever she rolled her eyes. If Vaughn saw her, she would probably make another crack at her expense. She didn't understand why the Captain always had to push her buttons like that.

Never mind. There was work to be done. T'Sala made the rounds of the bridge, checking in with her crew mates - asking a question here, giving a gentle direction there, ensuring that everyone was focused on the task at hand and performing to the best of their ability.

Pulling down the hem of her skirt (why must it ride up so?), T'Sala finally approached Helmsman 7B. Frankly, this android had always made her feel a little uneasy. He was like a typical Vulcan, only scarily more so, and she was always unsure of how to address him (it?).

"Officer Ziv, after the mission concludes, I request a partial systems scan at the most convenient time."

Damn. How did he (it?) know that she was approaching? He turned his head in that jarringly mechanical way that reminded T'Sala that he wasn't a real boy, and fixed her with those dead, marble-like eyes. She shuddered to herself.

"Erm, yes, of course, Helmsman." T'Sala coughed into her hand. She suddenly couldn't think of anything to say. "Ahem. Steady as she goes."

Well, that was lame. T'Sala found herself wishing for the Captain's speedy return.

While preparing for the away team Rodger checked and rechecked his personal protection suit. All the while muttering. "Oh sure lets risk the only man with a chance in hades of finding a cure!" As he is about to walk out of his room he tosses a roll of duct tape into his medical bag.

Upon arrival at the infected base, Rodger immediately starts taking readings of the air quality, and gathers samples of dust to be scanned for settled particulates. As the captain is ussured in with the admiral, he quickly tries to get a medical scan of the admiral himself.

While the Captain is closed in with the Admiral, Rodger taps his com. unit. "Lynch to Enterprise. T'Sala, These readings are giving me the creeps. Could you run them through the Star Fleet database and look for matches?"

"Guns down captain. And come in, the rest of your team is to stay out." Sahara nodded her head.
"Chief, full engineering report of systems within an hour". She didn't even look at the engineer.

Sahara found it illogical that the admiral should force her landing team out while keeping her alone, but he was ranked ahead of her and this was his turf.

"Admiral Collins, we have had some very disturbing readings of this station."
"Disturbing, captain?" Admiral Collins shook his head and chuckled. "That would be the understatement of the century."
"I do not mean to-"
"Of course you don't, you're a Vulcan. You assess data and make predictions based off of it. All without human emotion. No fear. Just facts."
"Admiral, I-"
"Just forget it." Sahara was silent. "That virus that we were studying that broke out on the planet, is like nothing I've seen before."
"Was I right to have calculated that it broke out here as well?"
"You were, captain."
"How did that happen?"
"A perfect combination of stupidity, ignorance, and clumsiness."
"Admiral, I hardly think this is the time to be elusive."
"We hadn't seen it in its full. We only saw the beginning. It takes a while to take effect, apparently, weeks. When it first started on the planet, all we saw were hospitals overrun with dying patients. We didn't see what happened after..." The admiral had pure terror in his eyes. "Anyway... we brought samples on board to study them. Our best medical and science officers were working around the clock to find out what it was and to remedy a cure." The admiral closed his eyes and was silent again."
"Logical, admiral, but again, I need you to get to the point, and fast."
"Of course you do." He began to shake. "An ensign.. dropped a vile of the virus, in it's purest form. You see, we'd finally isolated it. That ensign, that stupid, clumsy ensign, was carrying it without a protective shield around it... he.. he tripped and tried to catch it and it broke in his hand. The glass had shattered his skin. We quarantined him immediately and did a full sterilization of the area, just in case, even though we were positive that it had to directly enter the bloodstream for one to be infected." The admiral opened his eyes. "Could you help me into my chair, captain?" Sahara lifted the admiral easily from the floor into his chair. "Much better."
"So the ensign died from the virus before you could discover a cure?"
"Yes, he did."
"How did the virus spread?"
"You'll hear it. And you'll hear what it does, and how horrifying it is..." The admiral smirked. "Though, I doubt you'll bat an eyelid at it."
"Sir, I sense that you are troubled by the fact that I am a Vulcan. If you would like me to-"
"No. It's not you're fault, I know that. I've just been so alone in here and.."
"I can see how a Vulcan presence wouldn't be very comforting. Humans often become disturbed at our lack of emotion."
"It's fine, it's fine."
"Shall we proceed then?"
"Yes, captain." The admiral coughed. "We quarantined the ensign and watched his health deteriorate for weeks, until he died. In those weeks between his infection and his death, we were close to finding a cure. We were missing only a few components. After he died, we quarantined his body in a special morgue that we have for crewmen that die of unknown causes. Very few bodies are in there, seeing as most of us die from natural causes. But we thought we might need to examine his body later, to see how the virus effected postmortem subjects. We've seen a few viruses that live for a short while even after the host has died." The admiral was shaking again. "We had found that this virus does keep working after the host expires... so we sent a science and medical officer to make scans of the body about a week after his death. I was watching the scans while they happened on the visual intercom in a conference room with our chief officers. When the officers we sent entered the morgue, the body was gone. I sounded a red alert and ordered anyone without a phaser into their quarters and did a full sweep of the lower decks. They... they finally found the body. It was too late though. Mass hysteria had broken out. Twenty seven people were bit and since the ensign had received a large dose of the virus in its purest form... people were dying almost immediately after infection and.. and coming back to life as these things... just running around and biting people. By the time we realized it, almost everyone had been bitten. We closed off the deck and saved as many people as we could. The remaining couldn't handle the stress and I was blamed. They tried to kill me. I locked them in a room and stowed away here. Eventually, I went to check on them, and they'd killed each other, or killed themselves in a mass suicide. I do not know."
"Fascinating." Sahara paused. "Will my team be able to get to the cure to finish it?"
"No." The admiral laughed.
"I'm sorry, admiral, but I fail to see the humour in this situation."
"It's almost irony. We could finish the cure, but it's on the lower decks in the medical labs. The only way to get to it is to risk getting the virus yourself."
"I'll send my security men to assess the situation."
"Suit yourself, captain. You're sending them to their deaths."

Sahara exited the room. And saw the chief engineer. "Reports done Cap, everything is ok - systems working just fine, for now." She nodded and walked to the medical officer.

"Doctor Lynch."
"Captain, these readings are..."
"Yes, I know. Find the security officers." She opened up her communicator. "Vaughn to enterprise."
"Yes captain, T'Sala here."
"Don't bother with the readings that Dr. Lynch has sent you. We have a situation down here." She explained what the admiral had told her. "I'm sending security down to assess the situation and see what we can do about accessing the cure."
"Yes, captain. Would you like me to beam down a couple more security officers?"
"Yes please. And 7B, can you hear me?"
"Yes, captain."
"Allow those officers to beam down."
"You said-"
"I know very well what I said 7B, but we have a red alert down here and more assistance is needed. You are designed to obey my orders, and you will do so."
"Very well, captain."

Two more security officers beamed down. And reported to the captain for orders. The four security officers entered into the turbo lift, and as they did, phaser fire could be heard from within the admiral's office. Sahara, Nathan, and Rodger ran into the admiral's office. He was slumped over in his chair. Rodger felt for a pulse. He looked at Sahara and shook his head. Her communicator beeped.

"Captain here."
"Captain this is security officer Zed, do you read me?"
"Yes."
"This is a nightmare! They're everywhere! We have no place to- Agh!"
"Officer Zed." Silence. "Officer Zed, do you read me?" Sahara closed her communicator.
"Captain, excuse me for being blunt." Rodger said. "But I think you sent those men to their deaths."
"Or worse." Nathan chimed in.
"It would appear that way." Sahara opened her communicator once more. "Captain to Enterprise."
"Enterprise, T'Sala here."
"The officers are either dead or infected. Send down 7B immediately."
"Captain?"
"No questions."

Jean-Baptiste stood, facing the monitors and graphs he was always glued to. No one could see, but one eyebrow was cocked upwards slightly, the side of his lip twitched a few times... Then everything was back to normal, "I will be down post-haste, Captain," The android turned, his mind had already worked through several intricate scenarios, many of them dire, "I do believe that I would find humor in this if I had the capability to do so... Or possibly I would find grief. Yes, I do believe I would be grieving for the dead, but I do not feel, therefore I will not grieve," His focus was resolute, so much so that, had he not been metal and circuitry, it might be disturbing.

Without another word, Jean-Baptiste moved to the teleportation room and was quickly prepped to be beamed down, "It was once said that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself," He said aloud to the crew members, "And, though I can not experience fear, and thus am not aware of bravery, the overcoming of fear, I would tell you all to be brave. Though I can not statistically assure you that any of us shall return, as absolute certainty in any situation is absurd, I will tell you that I will do my best to fulfill my role," He focused again, straight ahead and was sent down to the base, appearing in the room with the others.

"Reporting for execution of order, Captain," Jean-Baptiste stood at attention like a soldier might, his hands flat, palms in against his hips, heels together and splayed out slightly. His chin was held a bit high and his gaze was ahead of him.

(OOC: This is to help guide some of you in your next posts, in case you may find it difficult to proceed)

Captain's log, supplement. The virus has taken over the lower decks completely. We lost four security officers either to the virus or to death from the infected. I had our Helmsman, 7B, beam down. I'm going to send him into the lower decks to locate the medical lab. Once he locates the lab, I will have him prepare a safe path to it. Then I will beam down our science officer so that she and the chief medical officer can start research on finishing the cure. Even though 7B is an android, it is still dangerous and he will need cosmetic repairs after the mission. Hopefully, only cosmetic repairs. I need the chief engineer to check the ventilation system, and see how possible it may be to administer the cure throughout the lower decks through the ventilation system. I have some of the newest officers in the fleet on this mission, but I also have some of the best. Vaughn out.

The captain looked at the android, without the slightest hesitation she gave order "7B you are to locate medical lab in lowers deck". If the android could show any emotion it would be shock, certainly Nathan was shocked. To send the android alone, he understood the logic behind that... still, it was so risky, but he knew better than object.
Captain looked at Nathan. "Chief, I need for you to check the ventilation systems, and clear the path to lower levels, I want them clear and running, now!" "Yes, ser. But for that I am going to need at least 2 engineers, and probably some guards,and suits.. don't forget the suits...then if we cant access them for main computer.. I will require physical strength and manual control over the shafts, or at least the main ones... it will take some time cap..."
"You have your orders Chief, do them." Sahara told him in cold voice.
"All right, while you are trying to get my men, I will try the main computer'"

Nathan walked to the wall, he took out his toolkit, and opened a small pocket "Something is blocking the main ventilator in the shaft, the lover levels are without air and ventilation by now, and I cant operate from here, we'll have to go and check"

Beads of sweat were forming on Rodgers bald brow. "This is insanity!" He thought to himself. He went and scanned the admiral to insure he was truly dead. He saw a flicker of lifesign on the screen but only for a moment. "Could just be a glitch." He thought to himself again. After all he had once watched a video on the man who had designed the scanner, and felt he was a complete idiot. Still he put some distance between himself and the admirals corpse.

There was a moment of long silence from the android as he faced the doors... Beyond them was a version of hell, more than likely. As a machine, the concepts of various religious aspects had been implemented into for various relation purposes, and, what had struck him after some, for a lack of a better word, meditating was that all cultures and religions that had a hell characterized them with one thing. Yes, there was pain and monsters and the like, but men could deal with pain and fight monsters. In these hellish realms there was a helplessness, a special kind of unfathomable fear, that gripped its occupants. Jean-Baptiste could not feel fear, or any other emotion. He could indeed evaluate others and crunch the data to figure out how terrifying a situation might be, and, in a sense, determine the bravery of those in any situation.

Living beings... They were hampered by all of these illogical, naive emotions that clouded any hopes of pure judgement, and, yet, they did these things which any 3rd party observer might suspect them to not do. Who would expect a weak race, humans for example, to delve into the outer regions of their galaxy and beyond? Did it not frighten the forlorn adventurers? Was there a defect that caused them to not be able to understand the gravity of possibly 'not coming back' from their journeys...

"Humans," Jean-Baptiste mouthed without making sound, still facing the door. He would never understand them because he had been programmed by humans who, indeed, could never understand themselves. They were the most paradoxical creature in the universe, they did things that, for survival's sake, should not be done and that is why they thrived. The edge of Jean-Baptiste's mouth twitched

The doors opened in front of him and it was immediately obvious to everyone just what the android was being sent into. A pair of bodies lay at the entrance, eviscerated and unidentifiable. They had been torn apart so badly that entire limbs were simply missing. The streaks of blood that ran down the halls, the shattered and overturned furniture... A cry echoed down the hall that was so inhuman it would have made the hair on Jean-Baptiste's neck stand up had he not been made of titanium and pseudo-flesh. Another long moment of silence... "I will return shortly from my evening stroll,"

The doors shut behind him.

T'Sala stood beside the captain's chair. She dared not sit in it, not with Vaughan's faintly disapproving visage playing in her mind. Her hand gripped the top, white knuckled. T'sala was doing her best to not show her emotions right now. Her crew mates needed her to be all calm and authority, and that's what she intended to be.

Time to make preparations, should her presence on the base be necessary.

The engineer, the doctor, the captain, and the droid stood in the hall near the turbo-lift, waiting for the droid to make his descent into the madness that had taken over an entire starbase... an entire planet.

Sahara enjoyed 7B far more than she enjoyed any of the other crew on the ship. He was logical, mathematical, and precise. He was a machine, and almost perfect at that. Not quite life, but not quite just a computer either. He had no emotion, like a Vulcan, but he had one advantage; he had no physical pain either. His skin was like the living tissue of biological creatures, but with no true brain or nervous system, there was nothing to send or receive the message "PAIN". If he was broken, he could be repaired. His downfall though, was that in being a computer, he was imperfect. Glitches could occur. Systems could be overridden. Software could be altered or changed. Sahara arched her brow at the droid as he walked through the door. No one but a Vulcan would have noticed, but his machine-muscles had moved as he mouthed a word before entering the door... a very living thing to do. She opened her communicator.

"7B, what do you see?"
"Blood. Destruction. Exactly what one would expect. There was a scream. It sounded very... inhuman."
"Of course it did. You know the layout of this facility, am I correct."
"You are."
"Is the path to the labs clear?"
"It would appear that way."
"Get there. Set your phaser to heavy stun. If you are attacked, shoot, but do not, I repeat, do not kill these people. Do you understand my orders, 7B?"
"Yes, captain. Do not kill. I presume, under any circumstance?"
"Correct."
"Captain?"
"Yes?"
"If I die, what will you do then?"
"You cannot die 7B, you are an android, and androids are not alive."
"If I am rendered useless, then."
"You are just as good at calculating your chances of success as I am. Are you malfunctioning 7B?"
"This would certainly be no time for that, would it?"
"Agreed. Onward. Vaughn out."

Sahara turned to engineer Nathan Marc.

"Marc, head to the upper-most engineering deck. There should be a ladder in the Admirals office for emergency use. Use it. It will lead you up there and you should be able to run a scan on the ventilation and get a better idea as to what is blocking it."
"Aye, aye, captain." Nathan sighed.
"Doctor Lynch and I will follow you into the office to further examine the admiral's body. I want to make sure he is not infected. No I do not want to risk the lives of anymo-" a loud noise from the admiral's office interrupted Captain Vaughn.
"What in the hell was that?" Dr. Lynch grabbed his phaser.
"Heavy stun, gentlemen."
"Stun? If it's the admiral he already died once, no bringing him back from the dead either way."
"Your logic is sound, doctor. Set phasers to kill."
"Three versus one; the odds are looking good." Nathan chimed in.
"We don't know how many took out those two security men... for all we know, it could have been two versus one."
"Right." Nathan swallowed hard.
"Stay behind me."
"No problem with that" Whispered Lynch. Nathan chuckled. Sahara inched slowly toward the door. The two men jumped as the door opened, but Sahara fired immediately at the heart of what appeared to be the admiral, risen from the dead. The shot did nothing.
"Fall back."
"WHERE?" Nathan yelled.
"Transporter pad, now."
"But captain, someone has to operate the controls!" Dr. Lynch was frantic.
"I'll do that, you two get on the pad and tell T'Sala to beam me up immediately, preferably."
"Captain we can't jus-" The captain cut Nathan off.
"That is an order, gentlemen." Sahara kept firing at the admiral to keep him away from the others while she went toward the transporter controls. She set the two men to beam up, all the while, calm and collected.

Now Sahara was alone, with the admiral... or what was left of him. She'd shot ten precise holes in chest. She could concentrate on him now that her human landing party members were safe. She aimed for his left knee; gone. The admiral fell to the ground, kicking his remaining leg. She shot out his right knee. He continued to crawl toward her with his hands. The brain, of course! The brain! She shot the admiral in his head and became motionless. She opened her communicator.

"Captain to Enterprise."
"Getting ready to beam you up."
"Cancel that. Beam down the doctor and the engineer immediately. And yourself, T'Sala."
"Captain?"
"The situation is under control now. I still need Marc to commence scans on the ventilation system.. and I'll need you to work with Lynch once 7B makes it to the lab."
"If he makes it, you mean."
"T'Sala, you're a Vulcan who embraces her emotions, where is your hope? Get down here. Captain out."

Rodger looks at Nathan. "We'll shoot the transporter controls or something so we can't go back to that mad house!" Rodger paces back and forth trying to figure this out. He talks out loud to himself as he paces. "The pituitary glad? No no that can't be it. There has to be something... It has to be in the brain in order for the corps to be animate. Yes that's it!" Rodger taps his com. "Captain this is Lynch. The brain is the key. Shoot for the head!"