Echoes of the Enemy

Posted on Wed Feb 5th, 2025 @ 7:11pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Ensign Gianna Djokovic & Petty Officer 1st Class Baris Demir

2,315 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Interlude 1 Gamma Quadrant
Location: DS18

[ON]

Baris Demir studied the jumbled collection of alien weapons, sensors, and armor that had been recently unloaded from crates. Crates where they had been meticulously stored, tagged, and stowed in specific order. There would be time later for him to remind the staff of his precise orders. For now, he gave the assortment with a cautious, appraising exam while Ensign Djokovic examined an alien weapon in her hand. Baris thought it was a mixture of fascination and doubt.

"This is the best of what we gathered after the first assaults, minus whatever things some crew covertly stole for their own purposes. The captain refused my recommendations of writing up their conduct because,..." Baris's voice drifted into a soft grumble of gravelly syllables. "Point is, this is it. What do you think?"

Gia turned the weapon over in her hand, silently comparing it to the beam weapons she was already familiar with in her time at Starfleet Academy, Firebird, and Iowa. She'd seen many different energy weapons from lots of cultures, but none quite like the one before her: an elongated, almost skeletal housing that looked bone-like in composition but was unmistakably metallic to the touch, a grip contoured for a much larger hand or at least one with more articulated finger joints than Gia possessed, a set of ridges running along the upper side of the housing that seemed to carry a sense of raw malice, and a lack of any visible trigger or control mechanisms -- the last fact Gia was very aware of as she handled it.

"What exactly is the goal here?" she queried Baris directly as she set the thing down gently on the large work surface. "We could just as easily trigger an overload and kill us both if we're not careful."

"Your goal is to test these for usefulness within our tactical plans. My goal is to keep the inventory safe. And assist your research." Baris glanced at the weapon in Gia's hands. "Also, make sure you don't kill us."

"Not helpful, Baris," Gia said lightly as she mulled over the other pieces on the table, some of which were much more traditional and some of which were not weapons at all. She picked up a piece that was clearly a wrist brace of some kind and slipped it on. It powered up and she examined the control panel. "Maybe some kind of personal shield emitter?" she wondered aloud.

There was a small chuffing sound and then a soft voice spoke. "That is a communication device preferred by the Ambzan." The speaker shuffled into view. It was child-like in stature, with four arms and two owl-shaped heads. It wore a makeshift Starfleet tunic that fit poorly and bandages covered part of its shoulder and neck. Its eyes blinked in unison as it took in the sight of all the equipment. "I have been assigned to assist you in your work here. I am thankful not to have been eaten or destroyed, as is your right. Please be so kind as to refer to me as Uluv. I am of the Ygin," it said and then bowed at the waist.

Baris looked up from the array of alien devices, his eyes narrowing as he took in the unexpected figure of Uluv. A beat passed and then he crossed his arms, arching a blue brow.

"If you’re here to help, Uluv of the Ygin, I hope you know a little more about these devices than just the Ambzan’s communication preferences," said Baris tightly. The alien's polite tone sounded thin and ratty in his ears, but what stirred his innards was new hands mixing up his inventory. "I have an eye open so don’t go moving things around or deciding something goes in a new pile because it 'feels right,' clear? Now, just who assigned you to help us?"

Uluv bowed again. "I have had the great honor of speaking with one of your greatest representatives while in your healing bay. He was called Commander EEmmmhhhh," the Ygin said and waved all four arms in what appeared to be a little dance. "He spoke with your leader, Yeoman Lak who said that I should come here and assist you as commanded by your high god Llwyedd. Hallowed be his name."

"Hallowed be his name," Gia repeated as solemnly as she could manage. She barely suppressed a laughing fit and had to bite her lip to prevent an outburst as she looked over to read Baris' expression.

As grating as "EEmmmhhhh" was, it was Gia's response that caused a twitch in Baris's neck. He fixed his gaze on a spot just over Uluv's shoulder, his jaw clenched like a Bolian gravipress as he mentally calculated the exact number of hours this intrusion would likely add to his day.

"I see. So Captain Llweyedd thought you could help. Captain Llweyedd. What do you know about armaments and shielding, Uluv?" He gestured at the items spread across several tables, all while casting a smothering look at Gia. It did not seem to quell the humor in her face.

Uluv's eyes scanned the items before him and gave a chuffing sound. "I am the Chief Armament Director for the Ygin. I have trained at Research-In-The-Clouds for seven-eighths of my life. I am considered an expert in energy weapons and the production of Wiholian defensive energy fields," Uluv said. "I can tell you that the majority of these parts are not Ygin but rather Lorcan. Lorcans provided much weaponry to the Coalition." The small being's heads rotated from side to side and it let out a soft cooing sound. "Sad flights, sad nights."

Gia read Baris' dagger-filled glares and tried to move beyond his fiery temper. She had respect for him, but he could be such a tight-ass sometimes and clearly had no concept of tact or relationship building. She cleared her throat, "That sounds like very impressive experience," she said, sidling up a bit closer with Uluv.

"Lorcan, hmm. The size, the coloring..." sinister. She had a flash of recall from her own encounter in the cargo bay with Daw and scanned across the weaponry on the table. "I've seen one carrying something like this," she said, pointing out a larger model. "How does their weapons technology compare with the Federation?" she asked coyly. "Surely, you've seen our phasers and phaser rifles. You must have an impression?"

Uluv crept closer to one of the pieces of Lorcan debris. He scanned it carefully and then picked it up. "This is part of a Lorcan plasma thrower. It is crude but effective at close range," he said. His four hands moved rapidly, manipulating the debris. There was a high pinging sound and the plasma thrower split into three pieces. The Ygin had no problems holding them.

"I have had the pleasure of seeing your Federation phaser pistol at close range. It is most impressive. The Coalition has many different types of weapons. Some are likely as powerful as the Federation phaser but they are much more bulky and highly prone to failure."

"That is what Coalition weapons don't do well," Baris spoke as levelly as possible, his voice almost monotone as he controlled his frustrations. Gia's look reminded him that ore is rarely mined in pure form; dilution with other materials is often necessary at first. Uluv offered information as native metal which he needed. "Well, you must have also studied our shielding. What do their weapons do better? Which tech could be melded with our own for improvement?"

Uluv bowed his head and held up his top two arms, palms up. "I apologize but I don't know enough about your Federation power systems to hypothesize on melding the weaponry. The Coalition shielding systems are poor at best. There is an issue with transmission from the jumping drives to the emitters that has not been solved. It is more complicated by the fact that all members have slightly or radically different technology levels."

"So they are larger, prone to failure, and there's a weakness in the shielding systems," Gia summarized thoughtfully as she cast Baris a glance. "How do we leverage all of this effectively, though?"

Baris stared at the various devices. Stared through them as if drilling straight into Uluv. The Ygin nodded solemnly, his four hands clasping together as if he expected Baris to declare the Coalition’s technology worthless.

"Their tech also left a Federation starbase in ruins. That means there’s something in their design that we can use." Baris said, his sharp Bolian eyes narrowing at the plasma thrower parts in Uluv's hands. "Take this thing. It's crude but it's powerful and probably easier to repair in the field. Can we replicate that modularity in some of our own designs without surrendering power?

"The shielding issues are, well,... Coalition tech integration is a mess," Baris continued, turning his attention back to Uluv. "They also run many different systems through a single interface that manages to be operational—even though flawed—so they must have tech we haven’t thought of yet. Some kind of algorithm or process for managing power flow or efficiency that could help us with..." He gestured vaguely at the room around them and he sounded as though the walls themselves had disappointed him. "Whatever hybrid tech we’re trying to patch together on this station. So yes, there’s room for improvement. Start with either of those ideas Ensign, and then give me more."

Gia took a step back from the table, her mind churning as she reviewed everything Uluv had shared. The Lorcan plasma thrower pieces caught her eye again, their crude design sparking an idea.

"Modularity," she said, almost to herself. She glanced at Uluv, then at Baris, before picking up one of the plasma thrower components. "Plasma dischargers like this are against Federation treaties anyway, they would fall into the same classification as disruptors, I think. So integration of that technology is technically forbidden, but what these have going for them is that they can be disassembled and reassembled so easily."

She rubbed her chin as she thought for a second. "Maybe we don’t have to replicate the entire weapon system. We could adapt the modular design for Federation tools—maybe a field modification kit to boost our own phaser power, or a shield emitter, or something we can integrate into our tech for quick reconfiguration. Take the innovations and make them our own, but not the faultiness of the power source itself."

Uluv's eyes whirled. "Modularity is a superior construction technique for a number of reasons. I think that modularity with shields can also benefit from telescoping the shield emitters so as to exponentially increase the shield strength," they said. But then they let out a sad, high-pitched sound. "However, that much energy would not be sustainable for your shield emitters I suspect, and might burn them out over time."

"Make our shield emitters stronger," said Baris. "The ensign made a suggestion with value worth pursuing. Add more emitters from Coalition ships. Tie them into existing emitters or create a whole new layer of redundancy. When the first array overheats then switch to the second for cool down." He rubbed a hand across his scalp. "Uluv, your shields have a problem but they held off our weapons. Do you have a type of power amplification system for them? Ideas. We need ideas."

Uluv's two heads bobbed from side to side and he made a humming sound for a moment. "The Coalition ships use trimonolithium crystals as their main power source. They are very rare and are only found in the Proxima Obscura system. I am not familiar with the Starfleet power system. Do you use the same?"

"The Federation uses dilithium," Gia answered, leaning forward on the table slightly as her eyes scanned across the weaponry yet again. She wondered many things like if the emitters would even be compatible with dilithium or if there were weaknesses to exploit with the other power crystal but she didn't want to muddy the air with too many questions. "I agree with Baris, we need ideas that can be implemented quickly and this all feels like a wild goose chase."

Uluv held up his four arms. "Please rend my arms from my body. Crush my bones! I am a useless servant and do not deserve to continue to exist," he said shaking.

An image flashed inside Baris, a solar flare of irritation erupting from the tired surfaces of his brain. Then he looked more carefully at Uluv, this small trembling alien who had come to aid them. Baris and Gia were the aliens in this sector. He pushed a long, deep breath out from his stomach, and drew in cleansing air.

"Uluv, I never said thanks for your help. The three of us are going to compare schematics for every part of the shielding system. Drag in a team of volunteers if needed. We'll find answers but only if you help lead the team. Will you do that?" said Baris.

Uluv lowered his arms and slowly stopped shaking. "My people are... not good at fighting. But, I would like to help you fight the Lorcans for what they did to my planet. It would please me greatly to help you."

"We are grateful for your help," Gia emphasized with a comforting nod Uluv and a bit of a smile thrown toward Baris and his sudden and welcome streak of humanity. "Let's get started right away."

[OFF]

Ensign Gianna Djokovic (NPC by Woodhouse)
Tactical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Petty Officer 1st Class Baris Demir (NPC by Leed)
Quartermaster
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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