Monkeys off the Port Bow

Posted on Mon Dec 31st, 2018 @ 10:53am by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Mona Gonadie

Mission: Escaped Pantheons
Location: Runabout U.S.S. Danu
Timeline: 2395

Walking briskly on to the flight deck of the main Shuttlebay of the U.S.S. Hera, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melanie Dox was focused and straight faced. The young part-Romulan flight control chief had been on desk duty for days after recovering from an attack from one of the mysterious god-creatures that had invaded her mind and the opportunity to do her job for real was a welcome change.

"Ensign Paulson, is the Runabout Danu prepped and ready to go as ordered?" Dox stopped at the side door to the vessel, affectionately called 'the Unlucky Lady' by Commander Rita Paris. It was easily Dox's favorite shuttle to fly as it's handling was the tightest.

"Aye, Chief. Sensor packs are calibrated to mission specs as ordered and all systems are reading green." The young Ensign responded from the control panel.

"Thank you, Ensign." Dox ran a hand against the outer hull of the Danu as she spoke. "Ensign MacNielle is on helm and until I return, this office is in your hands as Ensign Gonadie will be accompanying me." Dox was still finding her proverbial sea-legs where commanding the flight control department was concerned, but it was a welcome distraction from her own thoughts and she was getting a little more comfortable giving orders.

The colorfully plumed Mona skipped up to the Delta class runabout, always eager to go out for a flight, even if it was just for a scanning mission. This was one of her favorite ships on board the Hera as well and any chance to set foot aboard her was one she wouldn't pass up. Snapping to attention, she gave a crisp salute to her senior officer, a hint of a goofy grin on her face. "Ensign Goandie, reporting as ordered, Ma'am!"

As the door closed behind them, Dox slipped into the pilots seat, anxious to fly and responded with a slight chuckle. "Welcome aboard. The Captain has requested we do a close range visual and sensor scan of the entire Worldship. The HERA's sensors get scrambled by the spatial anomaly we're in the middle of after about three thousand kilometers. And we can get a lot more data in a close flyby."

She turned and smiled. "As for 'Ma'am'... I like protocol. It makes me feel comfortable in social situations to know how to talk officially. But we're probably going to be in here for at least ten hours to get all of the ship scanned, as it's so big. I figure we can fly in shifts, but I'm also fine being casual while we work."

In their admittedly short time working together in the Flight Control Office, Dox felt fairly comfortable around the striking Miradonian pilot, and knew Gonadie tended towards a more casual demeanor. Plus, the nervous part-Romulan Lieutenant had always had problems making friends, and didn't want to create unnecessary obstacles.

"And that's one of the things I love about you. You understand that being casual doesn't hurt the chain of command. Protocol is important for what it is, but when you have to get the job done fast, Mona is a lot faster to say than Ensign Gonadie, you know?" Slipping into the science station, Mona logged in and fired up the sensors. "We really need to have dinner some time soon. I can make some of my famous red eggs for you. Don't let Paulson scare you off, either. It's not my fault he's allergic to hot peppers. There should be warnings about such things."

Flicking switches at the helm as she spoke, Dox replied with a slight smirk, the know of near regular anxiety loosening a little. "I love eggs and hot food has never scared me."

Pressing the Conn panel, Dox slipped back into business mode for a moment. "This is Runabout Danu. Requesting permission to depart." Within seconds, they were cleared for departure and spaceborne.

Clear of the Hera, space was surprisingly clear and free of environmental turbulence considering the raging purple swirls of the spatial anomaly they were surrounded by. "Let's start in quadrant s-7 and go from there. If this ship is anything like the makeup of the artifacts Commander sh'Zoarhi has been trying to scan, we may only get surface information. But keep an eye on those sensors and adjust as needed. Thanks."

As Melanie flew them along the surface of the worldship, Mona scanned with the full suite of the runabout's sensors, revealing far more about it than expected. "I'm able to scan pretty far into the worldship. Sensors are picking up at least six hundred different elements and several unidentified particles. I'm also picking up... Recalibrating sensors... Yeah, they have scores of bodies in what I assume is stasis. Their tech level is so primitive, but the worldship is at least six hundred years beyond the Federation. Probably even more. It's hard to believe they could keep in stasis... Billions? It's got to be at least that... What the hell is going on here... We've only just started and already I can't believe what we're getting."

"Thex is going to be happy we're getting data. Even if it's deeply disturbing." Dox looked down from the windows of the Unlucky Lady. "Are the sensors telling us what kind of bodies we're talking about?"

"They're all of the locals... But the readings are a bit odd. I think Doctor Dael is going to have to look over them to figure them out." Logging them for now, Mona made sure the telemetry data from the sensors was being fed back to the Hera and continued scanning. "Trees and plants all scan normal. Buildings... Ground... I think Science is going to have a field day with these readings. Everything looks normal to me, but there's extra layers to everything that I just don't understand."

"The investigation reports are all saying the indigenous life forms are functionally immortal. Why are these in stasis?" Dox was largely thinking out loud with a curious look on her face. "I'm thinking we should swing in lower to do a tighter scan of those stasis pods? Our sensor range is limited, so it might yield more data. Do you agree?"

"Yeah, I think that would help. From this distance, it looks like the bodies are just piled up and drained of bio-energies. I'm not even sure we're getting clear readings, let alone what to make of it. Are these actually people or..." Mona shook her head, brushing off the thought that was forming and instead recalibrated the sensors and prepared for the close up scans.

"Bringing her down to 500 meters." Dox entered new coordinates into the Danu's helm controls as the ship dipped down closer to the edges of the structures on the surface of the Worldship.

"I'm getting someinor atmospheric shearing down here, but it's nothing the lady can't handle." There was a slight shimmy that rattled the Runabout. "How's this looking? Are we seeing anything?"

"Yeah, the short range scanners are definitely picking up a lot more detail now. Those bodies are definitely not in any sort of stasis. They're just... Laying there in piles... Not dead, but not alive? I don't know. Medical will have to analyze this data." Mona got as detailed of scans as she could before checking the long range scanners as well. "Long range estimates... I'd say there are at least twelve billion of them. If that's the case..."

"Nouhha..." Dox muttered, 'God' in Rihan, the native Romulan tounge she was raised in.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the proximity alarms and the brightly plumed Miradonian worked furiously to figure out what was near them. "I have something coming straight at us on an attack vector. It's... A humanoid... On a broom? Followed by winged simians. I'm counting three... four... Six dozen of them. One meter across."

Looking straight out the window of the Runabout, Dox's jaw dropped for a moment, processing what she was seeing. "Uh... Switching controls to manual. Shields up."

Pulling the Runabout out of it's scanning flight pattern, Dox brought the ship to a halt then proceeded to begin backing her up. "Matching speed. What do our sensors say? What are we looking at here tactically, Mona." Then, Dox opened up the ships communications systems. "Computer, transmit on all frequencies and lingual codes."

"This is the U.S.S. Danu. My name is Lieutenant... Melanie Dox with the United Federation of Planets. We are on a peaceful mission of information gathering and mean no harm. Please respond."

"The everloving holy..." Mona was rarely speechless, but in this case, she was.

Over the comms came the reply - a high pitched cackling, followed by a shrill voice. "We're going to get you, my pretties. You and your little ship, too! Fly! Fly my minions!" Then the cackling resumed and broke up into static as the flying winged monkeys came in and started dive bombing the runabout with small bundles of what looked like explosive poo while the 'witch' stayed back on her broom, enjoying the show.

The Danu rattled as the explosive bundles seemed to pass right through the shields of the small ship. "Hnaev!" Dox cursed in Rihan. "Whatever these things are supposed to look like, they clearly can pack a punch. Hull integrity is holding but I'm not in a mood to test that and 'we're going to get you' is generally unfriendly in any language."

Pulling up hard of the stick, Dox pulled the Runabout into a tight vertical turn bringing the ship around before accelerating away. "Let's get closer. Brilliant idea of mine. Well, let's see what these things can do."

"At least we got good scans. I'll work on the shields and see if I can keep those explosions out." Mona furiously worked on recalibrating the multiphasic shields, trying to enhance them so that whatever those explosions were would stay outside the shields and stop impacting directly against the hull.

With Melanie's fancy flying and the impacts rocking the small craft, it wasn't the easiest thing to do, but after almost a minute, Mona called out in triumph. "I think I've got it!" Bringing the enhancements online, the ride smoothed out just a little as the winged monkeys' 'bombs' finally started splattering on the shields instead of the hull. "Hull integrity is at thirty eight percent. Shields are holding at ninety three percent."

"Excellent. The longer we can keep them on us, the more data the sensors can collect on whatever these are supposed to be." Dox brought the speed up and banked hard to port. "And we're pushing twelve hundred KPH, so those little wings are clearly not what's actually propelling them as they're matching. "Any idea what these things are supposed to be, Mona? I know these creatures have taken on bizarre shapes but I have no idea why we're being chased by creepy flying animals in little vests and hats."

"They're winged, feces throwing, circus simians! That's what the sensors are saying! The energy patterns match that of all the other summoned beings and aliens, but other than that, they seem to be exactly what they appear to be." Mona was at a loss at this point as the sensor data kept rolling in. There really was no other way to describe what they were being chased by. "There is a thin ribbon of energy from each of them to that woman on a broom. I assume that's to control them. Other than that, I've got nothing. We're being attacked by some weird and powerful alien that seems to ignore some of the laws of physics like Hera or Apollo or Thor because, I assume, we scanned their home turf."

"Which technically makes us the instagators here, unfortunately." Dox replied, keeping the Runabout just out of range of their attacks.

Then another thought occurred to Mona. "Can you make another pass near that woman and near where she came from? I want to get a more detailed scan of that are and of her and see if we can get any more data."

"Good idea. Hold on." Bringing the aft, port thrusters and bow, starboard thrusters to maximum put the ship into a tight 180° turn on it's center axis, pushing the officers to the sides of their seats as the ship rocketed in the opposite direction as the flying monkies scattered to get out of the way.

As they rapidly approached the lead figure on the broomstick that neither pilot recognized, Dox reduced speed enough for an effective scan. "We've got to slow down for a second to do this, so brace yourself for impact."

As she said so, the green skinned figure raised it's hand towards the Runabout as a blinding array of flaming sparks flew out, slamming hard against the shields as it cackled. "How about a little FIRE!"

Bracing herself, Mona kept an eye on the shields and structural integrity as the fire was only partially stopped by the shields. The majority of it seemed to pass right through and engulf the Delta class runabout in sparkling flames that seemed to eat away at the already greatly reduced structural integrity field. "That's not normal fire! That's the equivalent of a solar flare! If you can keep us in the area for a few more moments though... Scans are coming in now. Cycling the SIF generator... Sensor sweep is complete!"

Without a word, dox brought the Runabout down skirting over the tops of the structures below and slammed the accelerator hard, weaving between the jutting towers. "Hnave, those things are still on our ass. They don't lack for maneuverability."

"I'm going to try and lose them. We're in their space, so I don't want to use weapons unless it's absolutely necessary. But leave those sensors to keep recording and get on weapons just in case, Mona." Bringing the Runabout as low to the tops of the structures as possible, Dox brought the Danu to full maneuvering velocity.

As the monkeys accelerated to keep pace, one of them bounced off the top of a jutting towers as it burst into a spray of brilliant sparks. "Well... that's good to know that they aren't necessarily indestructible."

"Pulling up weapons now." Instead of switching seats, Mona just reconfigured one of her consoles to display the tactical array, adding weapons targeting to the shield readouts. "These things are too small and fast to target individually so if I do have to shoot at them, I'll have to use wide area attacks."

"Got it. I'm bringing our course parallel with the HERA's position. I don't want to bring a fight to our door." Dox pulled the nose of the ship up away from the buildings and maintained the ships speed as they moved further and further from the bodies that had scanned, hoping that a retreat might end the hostility.

"They aren't letting up, are they?" Dox sighed.

Mona checked the sensors again. "Not yet, but I have a theory. The energy threads I'm detecting between those monkeys and that woman are getting weaker the further away they get from each other, which means their range is limited. How limited, I have no idea yet, but I doubt it's much further. Their firing is already getting lethargic."

"And she isn't following. That tells me whatever we scanned is important if it's worth protecting." Dox glanced down to her own displays. "Our shields are holding and if your theory is correct, and I think it is, then they have a range. We can end this by just flying away."

After a few more moments of flying, some of the monkeys broke off pursuit and still more just stopped flying altogether. "I think we're hitting their range. Only a few are still following us and they seem to barely be keeping up." Mona wasn't sure anyone would believe this story - she wouldn't have if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

Maintaining course and speed, Dox kept the Unlucky Lady going for a solid thirty seconds past the point where the last Monkey had dropped off. Bringing the Runabout to a halt, she turned her seat around to face Ensign Gonadie.

"We'll hold here until we're... until we're reasonably certain they aren't still in pursuit." The young part-Romulan pilot slumped back in her chair and looked a little pale as she let out a long, deep breath.

Mona slumped in her chair as well, also exhausted. "I have to say, if that's from someone's mythology, there's some really fucked up worlds out there. What kind of society would even think that's ok? Going to have nightmares from this..."

For the first time since her attack from the trickster god, Anansi just days ago, Dox let out an authentic laugh. "Yeah, no kidding. I don't want to know where flying monkeys come from. That's so crazy, it had to be Earth." She sighed as she chuckled. "Asa's going to kill me for pushing this hard."

She righted herself in her chair and turned to look at the sensor monitors. "Nothing coming. Looks like they are protecting that specific area. The Lady is in good shape, what say we send a secure data packet with copies of our sensor sweeps back to the Hera and continue." She smiled with an awkward half smile. "After all, we only covered 4% of the surface before things went upside-down, and the Captain will want a slightly better picture of this thing."

Mona chuckled softly as well, in her slightly bird-like way. "Actually, as soon as we got in trouble I started feeding back our sensor telemetry back to the Hera just in case. I didn't want to run the risk of losing it if the worst happened. We can't be too careful around these summoned aliens, after all."

Smiling, Dox looked back to Ensign Gonadie. "And yet another reason I'm glad I've got you. Thanks." Turning back to the helm, Dox entered new coordinates. "Resuming scanning sweep...at our original distance from the surface. Let's not invite any more flying monkeys to play."

After a brief pause, Dox turned with a smile. "Actually, I've been hogging her. Let's swap for a while. I'll take the sensors if you want to fly for a bit."

"Yes, ma'am. It's been a while since I've flown this particular bird so you'll have no complaints from me." Switching seats with Melanie, Mona grinned as she took the helm and resumed their prior course to scan the worldship.