Star Trek RPG - Mission #2: "Primum Nil Nocere"

"If possible," T'Var says in a determined tone, "we will all leave this station together."

The doctor directs her gaze to Mrs. Porr, then to Kylah. "When I give the order, you may take action, Ensign," she says. "Not a moment before. Do I make myself clear?"

"How are you coming with the transporter, Mr. Delaney?" T'Var asks.

"We've got company!"Collins shouts over the comm. She scans the Sakathian ship for weapons capability and shield status. "How soon before everyone can beam over?" she asks whomever might answer.

"I think I can do it," Delaney says, working quickly with his toolkit and tricorder. He is sweating and stressed. "It's going to take me a few minutes. I'm going as fast as I can."

Mrs. Porr's eyes fly open and she trembles as she lies there, but does not get up. The zombies outside cry more loudly, and begin pounding on the door.

Collins's scan and the subspace transponder signal shows that the approaching vessel is a Royal Sakathian Navy warship, HSMS Vigilant. It has two phaser banks, ten fusion-warhead torpedoes and pretty good deflector shields. Although no match for the Yorktown, it could blow the Meitner to bits quite easily. The Starfleet shuttle has deflector shields but is, like most such craft, unarmed.

Collins hears Security Chief Porr begin to stir behind her; the phaser stun effect is apparently wearing off. He is still handcuffed. Jovan coughs nervously.

Though her stomach twists and jumps at the sounds outside the door, Kylah keeps both her gaze and aim square on the reanimating body in front of her, the phaser trembling only a little with effort--as well as the frustration roiling within her.

"I repeat that this woman--" Kylah flicks a acknowledging glance at Rangin, then returns it to Porr-- "this thing is aware of its brethren trying to get in, just as they are of her. And I suspect they gain strength through their shared existence!"

Kylah lowers her voice as best she can, knowing T'Var will not be swayed by emotion. "So what is your order, Doctor," she whispers. "Shall I wait until she attacks and the creatures attack with her?"

Collins stuns Porr again. Wouldn't want him giving the Vigilant orders to blow this ship out of the sky, she thinks. She hails the approaching ship. "This is Lieutenant JG Jeremi Collins of the Starfleet Vessel USS Yorktown. We are here in a peaceful capacity. But we have wounded and limited resources."

Does Rangin find anything unusual when he scans his shoulder given the apparent infectious nature of the Zombies?

"Mr. Delaney is working on the transporter right now," T'Var answers Collins. "We will hopefully be able to join you on the shuttle soon."

The doctor then advises Collins of the situation with Mrs. Porr and the altered Sakathians just beyond the door.

"As a physician, I find myself in a difficult position," she tells Collins. "Despite the obvious condition of Chief Porr's wife, I do not wish to give the order to fire upon her."

T'Var allows Collins a moment to digest what she's been told. "However, if your orders are to end any possible threat Mrs. Porr poses to us, I will comply with that order."

Collins tells T'Var "Hold her off as best you can. Kill only if necessary. There is a Sakathian ship out here - they ay be better equipped to deal with the Saka-zombies." Collins turns back to her comm to await a response from the Vigilant.

Stunned by Collins, Security Chief Porr slumps to the deck of the shuttle again without a word.

"Why do you know so much about these zombies, Ensign?" Pourtash asks Kylah.

Hayes says to Collins over the comm channel, "Why doesn't Kylah set her phaser on stun, Pourtash sets his on heavy stun, and I'll set mine on kill? We'll try them in that order, if there's time; I'll fire only if the other two seem to have no effect, or if she evades them."

Rangin is no doctor, but his scan of himself shows that he has some kind of viral infection. There is nothing like it in the Starfleet medical database. It is similar to that which affected Fujishiro, but seems less severe, and has not spread through his bloodstream the way hers did. His shoulder is slightly tender, but he otherwise feels all right.

The small viewscreen on the front control console of the shuttle fuzzes over, and a black-uniformed Sakathian man appears. He says gruffly, "This is Captain Grevers of the Royal Sakathian Navy. We're responding to a distress call from the Uminnel Space Station. Our scans have shown that the station has been overrun by what appear to be criminals or the insane. What's going on?"

"Do it." Collins tells Hayes.

Kylah tenses at Hayes's suggestion and the subsequent agreement from Collins. "Aye ma'am," she mutters while lowering the setting of her phaser, but her resentment only grows. Are these people mad? Collins stuns Porr twice while this monster-to-be is allowed to survive? What is the purpose of waiting? Kindness? Not from Collins. And meanwhile T'Var will not even listen to my suggestion of euthenasia. Her nausea is building along with her anger and it takes all her will not to edge her thumb over the settings to push the phaser a notch or two back into the kill range.

Then she realizes Pourtash has asked her a question. This human should acting on what she knows, not wondering how she knows it. But Kylah has no difficulty responding.

"As for 'why' I know so much of these creatures, Lieutenant, for those with eyes to observe and ears to hear, it is not a difficult conclusion to make," she says with barely a look in Pourtash's direction. "Did you not notice that it was only when the creatures approached that Mrs. Porr began displaying this reanimating activity? That with every groan and cry from outside, her movements and awareness have increased? And the awareness of her presence seems to be spurring their activity just as much."

She swallows more bile rising from her stomach. The more she hears the creatures, the worse she feels, and it's taking all she can to concentrate on her words. "Further, my specialty is xenolinguistics. I'm not saying their grunts and subvocalizations are actual language used to speak with one another, but--but there are other ways of communicating."

Despite her lack of complete candor, she's genuinely astonished that such a question would even be raised. It seems clear as daylight to her that there's a link between these creatures. The tie binding them might as well be a visible chain made of titanium. She shakes her head infinitesimally. One expects such ignorance from parochial humans, but how can T'Var not recognize it? Her fingers tighten on the phaser.

Pourtash looks skeptical at Kylah's explanation, but says nothing else.

Mrs. Porr abruptly sits up and places her hands on the deck. She looks around, not seeming to focus on anything, then throws her head back and gives an unearthly scream, which is answered by the zombies outside in the hall.

Delaney glances over his shoulder worriedly, and says, "Just another minute or two...."

The Sakathian captain scowls. "Why do you not answer my question, Lt. JG Collins?"

because the person controlling my character missed that paragraph

"My apologies, Captain" Collins turns back to the view screen. "I am unclear as to the specifics but apparently, an experiment being conducted on the station went horribly wrong. Some sort of virus has been loosed and is altering the DNA of the Sakathians aboard the station. Once Doctor Waite is safely aboard this shuttle, he will be the one to answer your questions in details. Meanwhile, several of the Miskatonic scholars have been fatally wounded, the animals we brought with us from the Yorktown have not fared any better, and several of my crew have been severely injured. We are trying to get them to safety but they need medical attention beyond our current means."

"Oh great. Whatever is causing the alteration looks to have a nasty viral component like nothing I have seen. and I would guess that Fujishiro and I both have it. We may require quarantine facilities for the pair of us at some point in the near future. I wonder if the genetic alteration was on more than just Sakathian by mistake."

At hearing the unearthly wails, "Looks like they are communicating, probably food in here."

T'Var watches Mrs. Porr calmly as only a Vulcan can do.

She orders Pourtash to use his phaser on her -- which is set to heavy stun.

If that doesn't control Mrs. Porr until Delaney can finish with the transporter, T'Var will order Hayes to use her phaser and hopefully end Mrs. Porr's suffering -- and any threat she may pose.

The instant Mrs. Porr sits up and lets out her wail, Kylah backs up a step in both alarm and preparation. Rangin's words are barely audible through her churning thoughts, but she hears enough to cast a defiant glance at Pourtash at the Cordanite's agreement with her own judgment.

But her attention quickly returns to Mrs. Porr, petty victories not being very important right now. The plan to stun the reanimated woman seems ridiculous, an attempt to fob off the ultimate responsibility to the Sakathian ship above--or worse, to leave her to the slavering jaws of her fellow creatures.

But Kylah's been rendered impotent by Hayes's suggestion and Collins and T'Var's implementation of it, and all she can do is hope the two with weapons calibrated to useful settings can finish this ghoulish stalemate. And hopefully, the chaos within Kylah will decrease.

Is Collins purposefully deceiving the Sakathian officer? Dr. Waite is already aboard the shuttle.

Capt. Grevers replies, "We've been picking up lifepods from the station and have heard several strange stories about what happened, but yours makes some sense. Do you have any Sakathians with you? How many of your people remain on the station?"

Pourtash does not need to hear Dr. T'Var's order a second time. He presses the trigger button on his phaser-2 and a bright beam of blue-white light hits Mrs. Porr, who falls over, moaning and shaking a little, but apparently not fully unconscious. The zombies outside get even louder. The door is now shaking with their blows.

no deceit intended - I just forgot

Collins suddenly remembers that Dr Waite is sitting right there and wonders why she is so scatterbrained and unfocused lately "Again my apologies Captain Grevers," she grabs Waite's arm and pulls him towards to the screen, "This is the man who can answer any questions you have about the experiments that were conducted on the station" she does not let go of his arm as she prods him to address the Sakathian looking down on them.

"Progress report, Mr. Delaney," T'Var says. "We are running out of time."

Waite looks startled to be thrust in front of the comm screen. "Um...." he says to the Sakathian officer. "Hello, Captain. Uh... I was one of the Earth scientists working on...."

Grevers says, "Just a moment. Lt. Collins, I repeat my earlier questions: Do you have any Sakathians with you? How many of your people remain on the station?"

Delaney says to T'Var, "Almost there...." He is clearly working as quickly as he can.

Mrs. Porr glares balefully at Pourtash and his phaser. She hisses at him and then begins hunching herself towards the door, almost crawling. She moves in a very creepy, inhuman - even insakathian - way.

"There are two Sakathians on the shuttle with me - Security Chief Porr and Merrike Jovan. Director Geb's whereabouts are unknown. One of my crew is on the shuttle as well, but she is in need of medical attention. There are six others, the rest my crew, still on the station - some of whom also need medical attention. One of my crew has been working on the station's transporter to be able to operate it remotely to get them all off safely." Collins realizes she's been speaking very quickly, and pauses to take a breath, "Any help would be appreciated."

Staring at Mrs. Porr, Kylah is perplexed and fascinated despite herself to see that the Sakathian woman is crawling toward the creatures on the other side of the door, rather than attacking either Pourtash or any of the targets inside the room. She knows these new altered beings are connected, but would have expected Mrs. Porr to exhibit far more violent and predatory behavior after transformation. What does she need from the others? Kylah wonders. Do they seek each other right after being... born?

Kylah's eyes narrow. Still aiming her phaser at Mrs. Porr's head, she doesn't wait for T'Var's order before pushing the weapon's setting back up to the lethal range now that they know a heavy stun has little effect. And her mind focuses on trying to identify what these creatures' ultimate goal is.

"Please tell me she is not trying to open the door" blurts out Rangin horrified by the sight in front of him.

T'Var continues to remain calm despite everything going on around her. She updates Collins on the current situation.

"Is it possible for the Sakathian ship to transport us out of here?" the doctor asks.

"Director Geb was already picked up from a lifepod, and is now on her way to Sakath IV for debriefing," Capt. Grevers says. "Tell Porr and Jovan to stand by for beamout. I regret that, due to my orders, we will be unable to assist you. Once your crewmates are removed from the station, leave the system immediately. The King has declared the system closed to offworlders until further notice."

Pourtash noticed what Kylah did, and says sharply, "You weren't ordered to change the setting of your phaser, Ensign. Change it back."

Mrs. Porr draws closer to the door and begins to stand.

Trembling, Kylah ignores Pourtash. "Dr. T'Var," she says in a voice as firm as her grasp on the phaser. "I know Lieutenant Pourtash is my superior but I have believed him not in his full faculties ever since he was attacked, continually hesitating rather than acting as he should. So I beg you listen to me. My instincts--my suggestions and suspicions about our circumstances--have been proven right multiple times on this mission. You know that!" She whips her glance around wildly to Rangin and Delaney and Hayes before returning to T'Var. "All of you have seen it! And I am just as certain at this moment that Mrs. Porr aims to open that door unless we stop her. Doctor, if you have any trust in me at all, or even if you do not, use your own logic and let us kill this creature now!"

Finally Kylah lifts her chin and swallows. "Else you had better have Lieutenant Pourtash stun me, for I swear, to save all our lives I will kill her myself if she gets an inch closer to that door."

Collins goes to wake Porr and get him to his feet "Jovan, please help me. Captain Greavers will beam the two of you to his ship." Once they are ready, she signals the Vigilant. When they have dematerialized, she hails T'Var. "We won't be getting any help from the Sakathians. You and Pourtash stay with Delaney and beam the others to the shuttle now. Get that remote working. We have been 'uninvited' with prejudice. Collins out."

T'Var sighs.

"Mr. Delaney, transport Hayes, Rangin and Kylah to the shuttle."

The doctor holds out her hand. "Mr. Kylah, your phaser please."

Kylah cannot believe her ears. This mission crew seems to be made up of arrogant and distracted officers and blind, passive followers of orders without an ounce of instinct or initiative among them. Is this Vulcan so unwilling to shift from protocol that she'll just listen to Collins's command without even updating her on what's happening in this room?

Instructed for years to distrust the Federation despite entering Starfleet, Kylah can almost hear her guardian's insidious voice telling her to let the three superior officers commit suicide. The Sakathians will overtake them all, and good riddance, Aldaan would say.

But despite T'Var's infuriating stoicism and reluctance to act on her own initiative, Kylah likes the older woman, as much as one can like anyone who clearly doesn't respect her. Kylah certainly doesn't want T'Var dead.

Yet if she shoots the Sakathian now, Kylah will probably be stunned, possibly even placed under arrest, eventually called to task for disobeying multiple orders, and then likely drummed out of Starfleet. Surely she wouldn't be allowed to remain after so many problems on her very first mission.

And there will be grim consequences for her back on Elas if this happens.

Kylah can think of only one last tactic to save these hidebound fools. Keeping her phaser on Mrs. Porr with her left hand, she flips open her communicator.

"Kylah to Collins," she blurts as quickly as she can. "There is a dire situation here. Mrs.--" Do not mention her name, Porr will go mad in the shuttle, she realizes in a flash before hurrying on. "The--the transformed Sakathian was hit by Pourtash's heavy stun but kept moving and is heading straight for the door. I am absolutely certain its aim is to let in the other altered creatures, as it is definitely aware of the others' presence, as they are hers. If we do not kill this thing now--as you ordered earlier--the three officers left behind while we transport will be overrun and murdered by a stream of up to fourteen of these beings!"

Blinking the sweat from her eyes, Kylah stops only to gasp for breath. "You have seen that my judgment is sound before, Lieutenant, and I swear to you that there is no more time to waste: this creature must not be allowed to open this door or your three highest ranking crewmates will be dead!"

T'Var places her hand on Kylah's shoulder. "Trust me," she says softly. "Give me your phaser and transport to the shuttle."

The doctor then confirms for Collins the current condition of Mrs. Porr. "With your permission, I will deal with Mrs. Porr myself."

T'Var's main concern is for the safety of those left on the station. If Porr's wife is to be killed, these young officers should not have to take on that responsibility.

"Do what you have to," Collins tells T'Var, "just get off the station as fast as possible. Delaney, how's that remote coming?"

When Kylah materializes on the shuttle, Collins points at one of the rear seats "Sit." she tells the young ensign "I don't want to hear a word from you until we are safely away."

When Kylah feels T'Var's hand on her shoulder, she's both surprised by the gesture--it's been a long time since anyone, even her family, touched her with any gentleness--and suddenly alert. She only dimly hears T'Var talk to Collins. Then Kylah's right hand abruptly drops her communicator, and in a swift move latches onto the older woman's arm. Maintaining the physical connection, she stares at the Vulcan with desperate eyes but says nothing.

Kylah is still on the station. Pourtash, startled by her move, turns and points his phaser directly at her. "Drop your phaser, Ensign, right now," he says firmly, "and let go of the doctor."

Delaney pauses in his work, staring at the confrontation.

Hayes says, her voice quavering a little, "Uh... we really have to do something about Mrs. Porr."

Chief Porr remains unconscious, of course, Collins having phaser-stunned him again just a few minutes earlier. Jovan says to her, "Thank you for all of your help. I'm... I'm really sorry this didn't end any better for you," just as she and Chief Porr disappear into the Sakathian warship's transporter effect.

T'Var can sense Kylah's thoughts.

"Stand down, Mr. Pourtash," the doctor orders.

T'Var takes hold of Kylah's phaser, hoping the young ensign will release it. "Let me do this," she tells Kylah.

The doctor notices that Delaney has stopped working on the transporter. "Finish the task at hand," she tells him.

Kylah keeps looking at T'Var and, with a sudden exhale, relinquishes her hold on the phaser and the other woman's arm, letting her arms drop to her sides. Exhausted, all Kylah wants to do now is collapse or lean against the wall for support. Instead she just slumps slightly while standing in place, hoping against hope that she's just made the right decision. She continues to stare at T'Var, though shifting her gaze to take in Mrs. Porr's actions as well.

While the rest of the crew seem intent on arguing about Ensign Kylah's action, Rangin decides that the best place for him to be to prevent anything further is between the the door control and the late lamented Mrs Porr. He was over there as he was monitoring outside and its easier to get a scan when closer to the door, despite the banging on it.

He's been bitten once, so better him than another and it might ensure they get a move on. He drops the tricorder on its strap and raises the cutter waiting to see if anyone will do something or if Mrs Porr decides to try and do something about him.

T'Var checks the phaser to make sure it is indeed on the strongest possible setting. She takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly.

The doctor fires the phaser at Mrs. Porr.

Pourtash raises an eyebrow but obeys Dr. T'Var and points his phaser back at Mrs. Porr. Kylah is now disarmed.

Delaney resumes his work with the tricorder.

Dr. T'Var fires her phaser, set on kill, at Mrs. Porr, and the Sakathian woman falls to the deck in a nimbus of blue light. She does not move, makes no sound, and appears to be completely dead. Again.

The zombies in the hallway now scream and howl even louder. With a ear-shattering CRASH, the door falls into the room, and three zombies crowd through. Many others are right behind them. Rangin, standing near the door, is immediately attacked by one of the three, and bitten badly on the right forearm.

If you had asked Rangin, a few days ago, what he was expecting on this tour, being face-to-face with a zombie Sakathian who wants to eat him, would have not have been even close to the list. He feels sharp, vicious pain as the creature sinks its teeth in to his arm and reacts with slightly less decorum than might be expected of Federation personnel, but perhaps might be expected given the circumstances.

"GET IT OFF ME!!!", screams Rangin as he swings the raised cutter around as hard as he can towards the creature holding him.

Written by WES and posted at her request:

T'Var aims her phaser at the altered Sakathian attacking Rangin and fires. She then fires on the other Sakathian zombies nearby.

As soon as the door bursts open, Kylah stares in abject horror at the creatures swarming into the room. Two heartbeats later, she spins around, eyes searching wildly for the phasers beamed in moments ago. Rangin's desperate cries of pain and fear go right through her, competing with the Sakathians' vicious roars for dominance. The sheer hatred overwhelms her but also gives her a much-needed singleminded sense of purpose.

She spots a phaser. Lunges forward, grabs it, pushes the setting to its highest. With all her years of knife target practice she chooses a target, the first Sakathian T'Var has not yet hit. And fires. She backs away but continues to fire at every being who is not a member of her crew.

"You will die!" she screams in Sakathian. "Retreat or all of you will die!"

Dr. T'Var picks her targets carefully, doing her best not to hit any of her crewmates.

The doctor's years of training and experience with the V'Shar take over completely now. She is no longer a physician with a desire to heal. In this moment, she is a Federation officer who will kill any and all enemies within range of her phaser.

T'Var hits the zombie biting Rangin and it falls to the deck, dead. Rangin is caught on the fringes of the phaser blast, however, and also falls, stunned. His forearm is bleeding badly.

Kylah hits the zombie she was firing at with a Sakathian phaser, and it too is killed. She misses the next one and it races towards her.

Hayes and Pourtash also begin firing as more zombies crowd into the room, snarling and screaming incoherently.

Delaney's voice, half scared and half exultant, carries over the bedlam: "I finished! It's ready!"

With obviously no time to test the transporter, T'Var orders Hayes and Pourtash to help Rangin to the transporter and get off the station while the rest of the group continues to fight the altered Sakathians.

Once those three are safely to the shuttle, T'Var will then order Delaney and Kylah to the transporter. She will join them and they will all hopefully transport to the shuttle without further delay or complications.

Collins helps Rangin to a seat once they materialize. "Collins to T'Var. They're here. Come aboard." She breathes a brief sigh of relief "Lieutenant Pourtash, take the helm and be ready - I want full impulse once everyone is aboard." She sits at the comm "Shuttle Meitner to USS Yorktown. We'll be heading to the rendezvous as soon as the rest of the crew is on board. How quickly can you meet us? We have injured. Collins out"

Kylah sees the Sakathian continuing toward her and re-aims her phaser. She's terrified but filled with increasing rage--and she's all too aware that some instinct inside her wants to tear into her enemies with her bare hands, as if she's one of the animal-like horde herself. She pushes the feeling back and fires.

If she's successful, she'll do her best to kill any of the creatures near poor Rangin, clearing a path for Hayes and Pourtash while being careful to avoid her crewmates.

If not, she'll keep blasting her phaser at this charging Sakathian--taking out her knife with her free hand, just in case.

Once again, don't assume that complicated actions - especially in the middle of a battle - happen just as you intend. State what your character wants to do, and I'll let you know if it works or not.

There are still several zombies between Rangin and the rest of the party; fortunately, they seem to be ignoring him at the moment. As soon as one altered Sakathian is hit and falls to the deck, though, another has rushed into the room. Hayes realizes that the Starfleet boarding party has now seen several more zombies than Rangin's earlier scans showed. Are they converging from elsewhere on the station?

As it lunges towards her, Kylah squarely hits the Sakathian which she'd earlier missed. It falls on its face with a hoarse scream, skidding to a halt with its bloodied hand just a meter from the toe of her boot.

T'Var, Hayes and Pourtash each fire repeatedly, choosing their targets carefully and hitting far more often than missing. Eight Sakathians soon litter the floor, but more are crowding in. The noise and smell are indescribable.

Delaney calls to T'Var, "There are five transporter pads, and six of us. Someone should go over to the shuttle now."

Doing her best to ignore the dead body at her feet, Kylah turns her attention to the Sakathians blocking Hayes and Pourtash from Rangin. After firing a shot, she glances over their heads to the hallway beyond, wishing in vain that the teeming mass of creatures would prove to be decreasing in number--but the opposite appears to be true.

We have to stop them from entering somehow, she thinks desperately. Else we'll have never thin out the herd of Sakathians in here!

A thought strikes her, and suddenly she looks down toward the makeshift incendiary devices Jovan helped create earlier. Without further hesitation she makes a dive to grab one of the Molotov cocktail flasks.

Trusting Delaney's engineering expertise and judgment, she whirls and yells at him. "Will a blast in the hallway endanger Rangin or any of us?"

Delaney blanches. "I don't know... it probably would. Better to stick to phasers for now, I think."

Disappointed, Kylah nods. I'll save it as a goodbye gift as we're leaving, she thinks grimly, leaving the flask at her feet and returning to blast the phaser at the creatures blocking Hayes and Pourtash from saving Rangin. Or just Pourtash. Hayes could be the one to leave; Pourtash can likely grab Rangin by himself.

But these strategic thoughts vanish swiftly. Mostly it's emotion that's surging through her. Anger blocks out the pain of knowing she's killing sentient beings, those whom only yesterday--perhaps just this morning--she likely passed in the corridors or ate meals with in the dining hall.

All she knows now is that she wants them dead.