USS HORIZON NCC-825002
SD 10.0609 to 1X.XXXX
"The Keeper"
Orders
Not on record.
Summary
(written by Aly Shapiro)
Answering a distress call, the USS HIKARU, NCC NCC-87093, a Thunderbolt Class escort corvette (Lachlan Dowds' rendering of a Thunderbolt class vessel) and former support ship of DS 101 has encountered the Nebula Dwellers, though they don't know it. After the encounter, the FO thinks himself to be Selak. While that is his real name, he has gone by Taavek for his own safety for years as the Vulcan Isolationist movement wanted Selak dead and Selak faked his own death, becoming Taavek. This change in name confused everyone on the Hikaru who knew him only as Taavek, the 2O/CSO excepting...Zack also calling Taavek Selak. The CEO Romana has been replaced by someone else, named Holloway but no one on the Hikaru noticed, in fact, Bel Shaane thinks he is married to the replacement.
Capt Alyza, feeling that some was wrong with Taavek, contacted the Hikaru. The use by her first officer of the name Selak confirmed her suspicions. She thus ordered scans done by the CMO on board the Hikaru, to be forwarded to Dr. Ling on the station. She also ordered the CNS, who had not gone on the mission to answer the distress call, to investigate. Following the subspace transmission, Tink popped over and has begun looking into the matter.
The Hikaru towed the frieghter back to DS 101, with the "survivors". These "survivors" were taken to sickbay, by order of the Captain, the crew of the Hikaru was likewise taken to sickbay, as their was definitely something amiss.
Questioned by the Captain, Taavek could not recall his encounter with the isolationist movement, nor when he had assumeed the name Taavek, a name change only know by a few, including Alyza, due to their mind melds.
While in the sickbay, Lt Platt called the captain. It seems the alien computer core, dormant for all the time they had been here, with a few odd incidents excepting, had come back on-line. Furthermore, the station was moving! It was active. Little did they know at the time that the Keeper, the living station, had awakened at the presence of an old threat.
The Nebula Dwellers were comming, in fact, some of them were already here. It was them who fooled the Hikaru with the freighter, they who altered the memories of the crew so that they could come aboard their enemy, the Keeper that is DS 101!
The Curie was docked at the station when it began to move, and all crew on leave were recalled, including a young ens who was in Morwenna's coffee shop, who spilled tea on his pants just as he was beamed out. The Curie pulled away from from the station, trying to find out what was happening.
The Hetgarot evacuated at the first sign of trouble, even before the order to evacuate was given, brought in freighters to supplement the civilian freighters nearby as the order to evacuate all civilians and non-essential personell was soon given by Capt Alzya. The Shagrira commeneted cryptically "And so, it begins...". At least one Guinen class Hetgarot vessel was there almost immediately.
The Plisho too brought in freighters to help in the evacuation. All those DS 101 staff who could be sent to the Hikaru were so sent, and more joined them after the civilians were off the station.
Some civilians and crew of DS 101 were taken by shuttle and runabout to the Curie as well. Sadly, hundereds lost their lives when the Keeper destroyed them for needed matter.
The station itself was growing, the Federation patches made to the gaping hull were expelled, opening some areas to vacume. The non-Federation hull that remained turned green with life and began to grow over the holes, regenerating its skin, the skin that made up most of the hull of the station.
In the end, only 3 remained, Taavek, Hogan, and Capt Alyza. Taavek still though himself Selak and Hogan still refered to him as Capt, while calling Alyza Captian as well. Missing was Hogan's wife, Rissa.
Meanwhile, as the three tried to figure out what had happened to the station, how to regain control, and what had happened to Rissa, a battle begun to rage outside and in, as the Nebula Dwellers attacked. The station seemed not to want them to know, and blocked their way as they walked in their environmental suits in areas that now had no air.
A couple of Caeser class vessels arrived to aid the Curie and Hikaru in fighting the Nebula dwellers. They were soon destroyed. The station itself fired with its arms, the docking pilons also being weapons, now raised.
A pincher movement, designed by Hogan and executed by Hogan, Taavek (who know knew who he was), and Alyza, having somehow been brought into the alien computer core, with a bit of a push by Tink, was carried out on the outside also with Hikaru and Curie to either side, and the Keeper in the middle. It repelled the dwellers for a short bit.
A worm hole of sorts, with a yellow pudding light issue, also opened, and more Keeper looking entities emerged, an epic battle beginning. Hikaur picked up the surviers of the Ceasers, while the Cuire dissapeared into the worm hole.
The HIKARU, overloaded with survivors of the destroyed Caeser class vessels, headed to the freighters, lest their life support give out. They watched entities around DS 101 battled with the Nebula dwellers, 3 entities being destroyed and one badly damaged before the Nebula dwellers were defeated. The worm hole anomoly suddenly closed to the size of a shuttle craft.
Inside the computer core, Taavek sacrificed himself to save the station and this area of the cocoon, becomming a perminant part of the brain of the Keeper that had been called the alien computer core. Rissa had been acting as in interface for the brain. Hogan and Alyza were deposited in the mall and soon able to go to Hikaru.
Once there, the CO greived for the loss of her FO and freind in her own way in the privacy of her ready room. Her 2O was determined that he would be the one to get her when she was needed, knowing that she had suffered a great loss and didn't know if her twins or her sister were alive. He did this dispite the fact that he too may have lost someone close, his own wife.
Alyza returned to the bridge with an idea on how to destroy the worm hole anomoly. After a probe was sent in by HIKARU to attempt to get a message to the CURIE on execute this idea was destroyed, the anomoly vanished completely. It is possible that this is a result of some actions on the part of the USS CURIE, missing and presumed lost on the other side of the worm hole (though an odd ens named Perigrin on the Hikaru said they were still alive, just on the other side of the cocoon).
Meanwhile, in response to the closing of the wormhole, the DS 101 like entities headed at high speed for the other end of the cocoon, leaving DS 101 herself in a dormant state.
Slowly, after assuring that it was safe, they DS 101 staff began to return to the station. A new CEO shortly arrived, as did a new FCO.
The CEO fixed the damaged cargobay and cargobay doors of the HIKARU. Tink spoke with the CO, though perhaps not at the right time or place, about the death of her FO and friend, Taavek. Hogan's security team declared that no hostiles were found on the station, but that the federation technology there had been largely destroyed. The alien hull and docking rings having been completely regenerated, the station shell made whole.
Repairs have been began on DS 101, starting with the console room. Power has been restored also to the mall level, where some of the damage has been repaired. With a few decks of civilian quarters and some crew quarters now repaired, it is thought that those still on the frighters and those on M'Sagro III, where the shuttles and runabouts with civilians had gone from the Curie before the battle was engaged, as well as a Hetgarot freighter full of civilians brought there due to the damage of the frieghter, hopefully will be able to beging returning slowly to the station.
Repairs on the station continue, the new CEO being kept quite busy with them. The new CSciO decided to keep her staff working for 72 hours on her investigation of a piece of station organic skin obtained by LtCmdr Hogan. The CO paid the temp lab visit and sent them all to bed, having had to use a Vulcan nerve pinch to render one who was hallucinating unconscious. The new FO and CMO arrived and are in the CO's office, the three were soon joined by the new Kzinti FCO.