SIM:Adyr Rediscovering the Borg

'((Bridge, USS Apollo))

::Watching as the men worked, Cayden found herself hoping that their plan would work without tipping off the Altorans to what they were doing. With the away team on the other vessel, it was a dangerous game they played. On one hand, it was impossible not to find out what was being hidden, while on the other hand, getting their crew back safe was more than just a priority. It was one thing she wasn’t quite sure she would ever get used to. Though Alaryc’s thoughts and memories provided her with stability despite her overwhelming feelings of confusion as to why anyone would put themselves at the mercy of such a horrible race with a horrible track record, she still didn’t like it.::

::Of course she liked it even less when it was Liam over there. There again, though, she could feel Alaryc in her mind telling her how to deal with it all and how to see the work he was doing. It had taken her a bit of time to come to terms with what his thoughts were saying, but she had come to understand it. Being out here, among the stars and on the path of the cosmos meant that you had to stand in harms’ way. It was a sacrifice for all who made the trip, with no promises made as to the future. In fact, there were no promises made at all, save for the chance to possibly make a difference.::

::Yet still, Starfleet was no small organization. Members flocked from around the quadrant to join in the pursuit of knowledge. They ended up on ships exploring the unexplored, facing the unknown, and staring down fear itself in the quest to discover, learn, and explore. The part of her mind that was the young Trill protested saying the payoff wasn’t worth the risk, while all of the prior hosts sought to show her why it was. And no matter how many times the topic came up, they always won.::

::So now, Cayden sat calmly as the gear was transported over and the sound wave was activated. The Captain stood nearby waiting for the results, and in a strange way it made her feel a little bit better. Jaxx had made it; through war and death, destruction and chaos, yet here he stood. Somewhere in her mind, Jazra smiled and it reflected on her face as she watched him step closer to the tactical officer.::

::Then, her thoughts were thrown right back into chaos.::

Ra: Captain, with near 100% certainty, the Altorans have in their possession a Borg Scout Ship, standard crew of five drones. Only a few cubic meters in size, just small enough to fit in their cargo hold. Without power readings it would appear that the ship is completely dormant. Size and shape is similar to that of a crashed Borg ship discovered in the Argolis cluster 20 years ago.

::It was everything that she could do to avoid letting her gasp become an audible one. With wide eyes, she looked over at the console and only confirmed with her mind the information he had already stated. Almost instinctively, she looked over to Jaxx before turning her attention back to the information on the screen. What the hell was a Borg ship doing on a freighter?::

((Flashback, USS Andromeda – 65 Years Ago))

::It was a normal day; at least, that’s what it had started as. Alaryc got up early, went running, showered, dressed, and reported for duty, all without any trouble or delay. Once on duty, he found himself caught in the middle of completed and not-yet-to-be-started experiments, a veritable desert in a sea of work and function. Literally sitting back with nothing to do, he began to relax, thinking it would be an easy day.::

::That was his first mistake.::

::Putting his feet up on the console in front of him and grabbing a padd that contained some of the latest reports and science journals, Alaryc had just gotten halfway comfortable when the shockwave and the resulting jolt that ran through the deckplates of the Andromeda, violently threw him from the chair. Immediately he noted a headache, but a voice rose above the pain and told him to get up.::

::Alaryc pulled himself back into the chair as the lights around him flickered. Some of the crewmen could be heard throughout the lab trying to deal with those who didn’t fare as well as he had and the sudden implementation of an eerie red glow from the red alert lights made the whole scene a bit more than creepy.::

::It seemed like forever had passed by the time he made his way to the bridge in the dimly lit corridors, but eventually he got there and took up his station at the secondary science console. Cory seemed to materialize out of nowhere nearby with his characteristic grin plastered across his face despite the clear emergency. Of course Alaryc hadn’t known just what they were facing until he turned to take in the viewscreen and heard the voice echo through the bridge.::

Mechanical Voice: We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ship. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.

::With wide eyes, the Trill science officer looked at his friend. Though Cory only had a year on him as far as seniority went, Alaryc often found himself looking to the man for information, help, and reassurance even.::

Adyr (Alaryc): What’s that supposed to mean?

::He was clearly failing at keeping the fear from entering his voice.::

Reese: You don’t wanna know.

::The man grinned despite the fear that Alaryc was unable to hide. He turned back to his station and focused on what was happening, but the sound of a transporter caused him to whirl around. A strange humanoid, seemingly encased in wires and metallic additions to his body materialized not far from the auxillary stations where he was sitting with Cory and two other officers. Strangely enough, the science officer found that he wasn’t scared, but extremely curious.::

::He stood and faced the ‘thing’, almost drawn to it. It approached at a steady pace, and for a moment, Alaryc felt as if he had fallen into a moment of pure discovery. The need to know kicked into high gear as it approached, but a voice from behind him pulled him abruptly back to reality mere feet away from the being.::

Reese: Ric! Get back!

::A beam of light shot by him and the being dissolved into nothingness. Frozen in fear of what had just happened, Alaryc nearly fell into the chair and struggled to refocus on the battle raging outside the ship as voices of those around him began updating the staff still sitting in the command center of the bridge.::

((End Flashback))

::Why anyone would want to be so close to those creatures, Cayden still couldn’t understand. Back in the days of Alaryc, the Borg weren’t as known or as widespread as they were today. Simply uttering the word Borg caused some people to tremble in fear, but back in his day few knew of their destructive power. Yet somehow, Alaryc had survived, as had many others. Now, his memories lived on in her mind, causing her to tremble.::

::Cayden shifted uncomfortably in her chair and looked somewhat nervously from the screen in front of the tactical officer to the relative point on the bridge where she halfway expected a drone to materialize and back again. Though she felt somewhat calm and in control, there was a definite uneasiness that caught her somewhat off guard.::

Ra: I would categorize this event as unexpected sir as well as out of what I would have considered as a possibility.

Tel-Ar: response

::Unexpected, and most certainly, unwelcome.::

Adyr: You say it’s dormant, but what’s keeping it that way? Is it that field that hides it?

::While the science made sense in her head thanks to the hosts who had been strong in the field, she was still unsure of the technology in front of her. Alaryc wanted to jump in, but Cayden held back. Things had suddenly changed from a mercy mission to something much, much more, and she wasn’t sure that it was all going to mesh right or if she was just going to go insane.::

Ra/Tel-ar: Response?

::Cayden shook her head. Something about all of this seemed so off.::

Adyr: That ship doesn’t look capable of powering such a thing. Something is really not right. Not at all.

::Turning, she narrowed her eyes at the viewscreen’s image of the dilapidated freighter.::

Ra/Tel-ar: Response?

::Somewhere in the back of her mind, the sound of a familiar voice seemed to break through, but it wasn’t one of the Adyr symbiont’s prior hosts…::

((Flashback, USS Andromeda – 65 Years Ago))

Reese: You can’t subdue them. Our weapons are useless after a single shot. All you can do is cause enough feedback to disrupt the stream and run away as fast as you can.

::The man shrugged as he downed the last of his third beer in the lounge the day following their run in with the Borg.::

Adyr (Alaryc): That’s really scary, Cory. You make them sound like they are gods or something.

::With his characteristic smirk, the tactical officer shook his head.::

Reese: No, they aren’t gods. They are death itself.

((End Flashback))

Adyr: They couldn’t have subdued the ship on their own, even a scout ship. Is it possible they are hiding more than just this ship?

oOLike weapons capable of damaging the Borg…?Oo

Ra/Tel-ar: Response?

::Cayden felt another wave of uneasiness wash over her as she glanced back over to where she expected the first drone to appear, but still nothing appeared. Alaryc, at least in her mind, was on edge and ready to react this time, but Cayden felt the fear of it all coming down on her. In her head, she found herself leaning, and doing so quite heavily, on the man who had been there before.::

TAG/TBC

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Lieutenant Cayden Adyr
Mission Specialist/Command Advisor
USS Apollo

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