Lt.JG Taelon - Old Fears Borne Anew

[Doz Finch]

Brilliant opening here from @Taelon who goes into Act 3 of our mission torn apart by fatherly worries.

Lt.JG Taelon - Old Fears Borne Anew

Quote

((Unimatrix Seventeen))

Taelon was in a state of mind that blurred reality with something else - an old, long-engrained nightmare. He’d gone past fear into a sort of dreamstate, where he felt like he was watching himself from a distance, hoping to wake up.

Cyri was on the Gorkon. That she wasn’t with him added to his fear; he had to hope the Gorkon held. But if he died - what then? And if she died, and he lived…no, no.

It was all another awful layer to the nightmare of the Unimatrix, the endless web of halls and drones and endless, lifeless machinery. They were at the nightmare’s heart, and death was inevitable.

He tried to focus, to shut that all away. He didn’t succeed. Instead he forced himself to move, instructed his hands to hold his phaser, to walk. ARIA was at his side, trying to moderate the flow of fear through his mind.

Reynolds: =/\= Reynolds to zh'Tisav. =/\=

zh'Tisav: =/\= Here. =/\=

Reynolds: =/\= What’s your status? =/\=

zh'Tisav: =/\= As near as we can tell, right where we planned.  Opposite side of the data node from Tahna’s team and everyone else.  Ready to draw the Borg in the opposite direction. =/\=

Taelon stood and adjusted his own set of tools and weapons; he’d strapped ARIA in them, wrapped himself in strings of small bombs and other disruptions. He’d fabricated as many as he could in the time he’d had.

Standish: =/\= Response =/\=

Reynolds: =/\= I wish I could tell you to do the minimum and get out of there. But you have to cover the other teams for as long as they need. Keep it as subtle as you can—we need the Borg distracted, not on high alert. =/\=

zh'Tisav: =/\= You want subtle but you sent the giant blue Andorian…?=/\=

Taelon almost laughed.

Standish: =/\= Response =/\=

Reynolds: =/\= I’ll let you get to work. Reynolds out. =/\=


zh'Tisav: =/\= We’ll do our best.  zh’Tisav out. =/\=

Standish: =/\= Response =/\=

The channel cut, and it felt like a lifeline had been torn away. Taelon tried not to think about that too much.

zh’Tisav: Any suggestions?  I know the Admiral said subtle, but Borg don’t exactly respond to subtle.  They tend to ignore you until you get their attention.  We’re going to have to wreck stuff.

Wreck stuff, but not too hard….that, Taelon felt he could do.

Standish: Response

Vylaa shook the bag over her shoulder.

zh’Tisav: I’ve brought some toys.  Backup weapons, and some chain detonators, that type of stuff.  You know, Andorian distractions.  But we should probably be careful how we use those.

Taelon: Aye. Um. I have - ::He gestured to the lines of white globes he’d wrapped around himself, the orbs bone-white and gold. Among them were small tear dropped shaped items, too; they looked a bit like a large seed.:: Um, disruptions. Subtler than explosions, I hope.

Standish / zh’Tisav: Response

Taelon: I - as we move, I’ll drop some of these. ::He held up one of the ‘seeds’.:: The Borg will probably repair and assimilate them, but they’re, um, what’s the word. Marftür. ::The word didn’t translate; he tried again.:: Blossomers. They expand and connect to nearby systems. Should disrupt things without registering as an attack…

Standish / zh’Tisav: Response

Taelon looked down the endless hallways. The place was dark, cast in harsh, industrial lighting. The sound of the place was horrid - a low, rumbling groan of the endless machine. He raised his tricorder, ARIA joining him in scanning their surroundings.

Taelon: The nearest datanode is that way. ::He pointed down the seemingly unending hall.:: I suggest we disrupt those?

Standish / zh’Tisav: Response





Lt. JG Taelon
Science Officer
USS Gorkon
O239303T10