Gloves are off

Posted on Tue Jun 24th, 2025 @ 8:50am by Avalon [ADMIN NPC] & Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson & Captain Gary Taylor & Commander Sthilg & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Commander Kyle Reece & Lieutenant Commander Alicia Kelea-Salik & Lieutenant Commander Rin & Major Kett V'Laass & Lieutenant Anna Esquivias & Lieutenant Thor Magnus & Consul Andrinn Orin & Lieutenant N'vok Holv

Mission: Season 6: Echoes of the Zynari
Location: Briefing Room
Timeline: MD5 - 21h00
1956 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

IC
By the fifth day, the pranks were no longer funny.

They were relentless.

At 0450 hours, a turbolift in Section D of Deck 13 inverted its internal gravity. Two junior officers were en route to the lower hangar when their world flipped—literally. They floated mid-capsule, scrambled for footing, and collided in a tangle of limbs and confusion. The emergency gravity stabilizer activated 90 seconds later.

They were fine. Minor bruises. Shaken.

But they could have died.

At 0605, Avalon reported a plasma vent in Engineering that began emitting glowing bubbles instead of steam—amusing for a moment—until they clogged a filtration intake and delayed diagnostics on a key EPS manifold. Thor Magnus and his team worked quickly, restoring flow within the hour, but it had been a disruption.

And Tactical? Tactical saw the most terrifying glitch yet.

For a full three seconds at 0720, the ship's phaser grid believed that the forward observation lounge on Deck 3 was an unidentified hostile vessel. It targeted it. Began charging. Fortunately, Avalon intervened before anything fired—but the resulting system lockout forced Tactical into a full security sweep.

Phoenix didn't mince her words. "Gloves are off people. Our crew's safety is paramount. I want ideas on how to deal with the Zynari and how to do so with little damage to us. She looked around. Everyone was standing as all the chairs had vanished. Another 'prank' from the Zynari.

"We have to figure out how to talk to these aliens while figuring out how to stop them in the same breath," Andrinn offered up, leaning against the table since the chair had disappeared due to the Zynari. He looked at Lalor and the rest of the crew, and asked, "What else have they done in the past few hours?"

The one noticeable absence was Naxea who was still in recovery in Sickbay after being attacked by Dese less than twenty-four standard hours ago. In her place was her XO, Warrant Officer Man'darr. The large Capellan sighed angrily. "These...things are the direct result of Colonel Azhul being injured. Their games allowed Desek to escape and attack the Colonel. They need to be removed by any means necessary." His voice was stern and demanding.

Kyle nodded grimly. "I agree. These beings are just like the damn Q! Doing whatever they want to other lifeforms, for their own amusement. We just had a weapons misfire happen in one of the civilian decks! No one was injured, but they're all getting very scared by all of this." He looked over at Phoenix. "Perhaps, Ma'am, we should cone about and head back out of their territory? We have no idea how far their range goes." He looked over at Teevals and asked, "Do we? Are there any recorded lines where their space ends?"

"Actually, they are worse than Q. With a Q you can communicate with them and figure out what their game is. What their after, even if their vague about it. With the Zynari, we have no idea what they want or what they are after. It is all guess work on our part. As for turning around and backing out of their territory. I a, against it. We continue on the path we are on, which is forward. I feel we are closer to the end of their space than the beginning." Gary answered from his spot at the table where his chair would be if it hadn't disappeared.

Kyle looked over at Gary, and almost spat back, asking if the Captain had ever been toyed with by the Q...tortured by them....killed dozens of times, only to be brought back to life over and over again, just for their demented whims. However, he stopped himself in time, his face barely even flickering. Now would not be the time to talk about it, especially in front of the rest of the senior staff. So, instead, he looked back at Teevs, as he awaited the man's reply to his question.

"Mister Taylor is right," Teevs responded. After having to rush to prevent his own ship from performing a plasma flush in the shuttlebay, his interest in these Zynari was more than spent. He had a datapad in his hand and looked at it. "What people label the Zynari territory varies, but we are close to one of the borders that another ship confirmed several months ago. I can consult with someone to produce the fastest flight path to it."

N'vok, not bothered at all by having to stand, spoke, "My hardworking science team, ably assisted by Operations, have mapped out the places on the ship the Zynari seem most attracted to." He brought up a hologram of the ship which initially displayed upside down, he frowned and corrected it. "Blue are Zynari incident, the brighter, the greater number of such." He added another color which was threaded through the blue. "The Orange are Zynari incidents that had dangerous complications; these, as has been noted, are increasing." He added a third color, Green, which highlighted a few areas of the ship. "These are the most interesting areas, ones that have reported no Zynari activity at all. Unfortunately, we do not as yet know why they have avoided these areas, beyond the obvious ones." The warp engines and matter/antimatter reactors glowed softly for a moment.

"Consul Orin and I are working on a potential method of communication," Rin reported. "There was an incident in the holodecks where the Zynari appeared to be accessing and projecting the participants' memories. It's the only case we're aware of that indicates a telepathic aspect to them, and we're wondering if they might be using such memories as a method of communication. At the very least, it indicates the Zynari do have some understanding of our lives and what makes certain memories important. We're still trying to figure out how to use this to our benefit. Lt. N'vok, might you be able to help us with that?"

"I will do my best," replied N'vok. "I have studied the interaction with the holographic simulation and I believe we can replicate the points where the Zynari were communicating with the holodeck interface. The question is if they will hear it."

“Has anyone stopped to think that perhaps our guests could be children?” Alicia looked around those gathered. “At least perhaps of childish demeanour? Pranks and fun things are a-typical of childish behaviour, some children don’t know when to stop.”

"Not children Alicia but more like rambunctious teenagers with the pranks and general mischief." Gary added to what Alicia had said.

" Then here'sss hoping mum and dad ssshow up and given them a sssmacked behind. " the tired doctor said from his seat. Messing up sickbay seemed to be a particular favourite ground for their guest's mischief.

"I'm wondering if it couldn't be a long distance relative of someone like Trelane? He was much like Q, but more childish than Q was. Like it was mentioned before, at least Q knew when to stop or was trying to push an agenda. Trelane messed with the Enterprise crew until mommy and daddy stopped him, much like they were scolding a child," Andrinn mentioned as he picked his PADD up and pulled up the information on the one time trickster that met up with the Enterprise crew. He pulled up the information and put it on the console in the Briefing Room.

Once the information was up on the screen, Andrinn said, "It could make sense if there were more of them and they were more like teenagers. Maybe they're from this part of the universe?"

"Or it is simply a similar phenomena," Anna suggested. "Beings powerful enough to see us as no more than small animals to be toyed with for their amusement until their parents teach them a more responsible attitude. If they do."

"We do not have enough information to speculate about their motives," said N'vok. "It could equally be that they are trying to communicate with us and are becoming increasingly desperate to reach us and are taking greater risks to do so. Or other explanations, we cannot attribute human motives to creatures that are so essentially non-human without greater information."

"Well, the holodeck idea might be one of the best ways to figure out communication. But, we'll have to do it in a way that doesn't harm the person that's going in. We can't wait until anyone else gets hurt," Orin replied, knowing that it was a matter of time before something worse came along.

"Agreed" Alicia nodded. "I'd like to try and help if I can, though it depends on if our guests are willing to communicate on a one to one level."

N'vok looked to Orin. "This is not a time to seek perfect safety, too much is at risk. We must be willing to take risks and face danger, such is the way of Starfleet. I would be willing to venture into the holodeck, again, and try and find a way to communicate. The Zynari seem to have a particular interest in Vulcans, so perhaps I can reach them."

Orin thought about it for a moment before saying, "Well, if anyone should be going in, why not the Chief Diplomatic Officer? I know Captain Richardson might have a few words to say about it, but it should be me going in, as I've prepped for this kind of mission before. However, if this first contact is to succeed, I'm going to need as much help as I can get. You guys up for a challenge?" Orin was talking about N'Vok, Rin, Alicia, and anyone else who would like to help out.

Orin looked next to Commodore Lalor and Captain Taylor before saying, "N'Vok is right. If we let this keep going, we may not have a ship or crew left. I'd like your permission to go in and see what I can't do."

"My thought was that we could use multiple holodecks, one or two people in each," said N'vok. "That way we can try various routes to communicate with them. If one of them works, the others can shift to that and, hopefully, we can bridge this communication gulf."

"I actually like that idea. But, I'd like to expand on that. What if those who went into the holodeck all thought about something similar or had a 'catch phrase?' Something that would allow those inside and out of the holodeck to know when the Zynari latched onto our thoughts?" Orin asked, wanting to see if communication could be controlled in one way or another.

"It is a plan which is more than we had before. I would recommend you also take Dr. Sylorik and Lt. Commander Savar, Major V'Laass and Lt. T'kek as they have had interactions with the Zynari as well and can offer more insight." Gary replied.

"Maybe have a few Betazoid crewmembers help out as a well? Between them and the Vulcan crewmembers you mentioned, they might be able to work together in the holodecks to be able to figure out how to contact the Zynari," Orin offered, knowing that there was strength in numbers.

“That sounds like a good idea, I’ll help out where I can” Alicia smiled warmly.

"Make it happen" Phoenix said softly. "Lets see what happens"

"Indeed we shall, Commodore," said N'vok.

"With permission, I would like to monitor outside the holodecks. I would like to see what comes of this...interesting First Contact situation," Orin asked, knowing this was definitely going to be one of the more interesting diplomatic situations he has been in.

"Make it so." Phoenix dismissed the senior staff.

In Engineering, Thor and his crew were working all over the ship.

OFF