Shielded - To Stand Alone

Posted on Fri Oct 1st, 2021 @ 9:55pm by Commodore Keiben Haistro & Lieutenant Commander Melanie D’BrooNi- Haistro & Commander Peter Horn & Connor Horn

2,171 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 3 - Fear Is Fear Itself
Location: ???...???...???
Timeline: Mission Day 4 @ 1715 Hours

ON

The large muscular frame of Keiben Haistro rolled from the Jefferies tube within the central core of the station, having found they were tighter than the Starfleet versions which gave him no room to turn or look back. All he had been able to do was press forward and hope they had been heading in the right general direction. The clatter of the grate hitting the deck was in stark contract to the silence around them. The silence that was only punctuated by the tapping of a foot. He saw nothing on the first look around before starting to help Connor out of the tube, when he stood again the owner of the tapping was leaning against the wall beside them, Yelena, or what was trying to pass for her at least.

"Ha ha you have made it this far! I am surprised. You won't be making it any further than this. "

Next he helped Shailyn out of the tube which was exhausting him more than he believed he could cope with. He could already feel the machine forcing into his mind, it was conjuring up a smell of burnt flesh, screams of the dying and a haze that was either a Cardassian Station surrounding him, or was it Copernicus?

"There!" Connor cried out towards Shailyn, pointing at one of the black things, "and there's another one!" He was panting for breath, his shirt sticking to his skin and the boy was just exhausted. He crouched, rubbing his temples with his fingers, then tucking his shaggy hair behind his pointed ears. He shook his head, as if to try and shake the descending fog.

It was now that he could feel his control slipping away, being torn away from him piece by piece until finally his telepathic shield shattered like crystal being hit by the sweet resonance it took to destroy beauty. It hit him so hard that Keiben fell, hitting the deck on all fours, he breathing shallow as the panic swept over him.
"We need to move quickly... I can't protect you any longer!"

Connor screamed as panic washed over him and he pressed his hands against his ears as if to hold it at bay. "Stop it!" he screamed as he wrenched his eyes shut and rolled himself up into a fetal ball, "stop it stop it stop it! Make it go away!"

Shailyn nodded "its okay Captain you've done enough-" then she stared as she watched another apparition of Yelena appear.

"I am not happy with you, how dare you hurt my friends, my comrades!" the other Yelena screamed out. "You... I .. We killed Jelanie!! I won't ever forgive you!" The second Yelena moved towards the first and grabbed her by the throat. "I am going to kill you!!"

Yelena A was slammed against the wall by the other and they disappeared from view.

"Captain, I think we had better move!" Shailyn said as she went to help Keiben from the floor. Then went over to Connor, "Let's get going."

==== At the same time on the same level ===

Amalia gave out a gasp turning toward Horn and Matthews. "I've got signs of life, I don't know who but its down this way, come on!" leading the way towards where the signs of life were at, following the readings.

Momentarily Yelena appeared battling with herself, she looked at Horn, Amalia and Matthews. Then she focused more on Horn. "Go help Keiben, now!" she then disappeared back to her battle.

Amalia called out. "This way!" setting off down the corridor at a jog.

Peter blinked, breaking into a run and running faster the closer they got. "Connor!" he called out, releasing Khione's leash to let her run on her own.

Connor looked up as he heard his name, then crawled up to the captain. "Daddy's here," he whispered, patting the man's shoulder. He perked up at the sound of a sharp bark, a white blur coming at him at full speed. "Daddy!" he yelled back, "the captain's hurt, he needs help!"

“I've got this,” Charlie started, appearing with a medical recorder. “If you weren't killing that one Yelena id be saying RUDE ditching me and travelling however you just did that. Come on Keiben lets get you conscious and in your own facilities again so you can ground me for stunning 3 of your officers,” she muttered locating a hypo spray.

"I can still feel the thing pushing, trying to find a way around my telepathic block... Its weakened now that its fighting itself but its still there. We need to get to the Computer Core and delete active memory at best, delete the operating system at worst and hope the Cardassians had a back up drive isolated from the main system!"

The Captain's words came in a tumble, the exhaustion of the continual fight wearing him down past breaking point.

Charlie injected him with a Stimulant. “This going to give you some energy,” she muttered slamming a hypo spray in his neck. “And this will help with mental clarity hopefully temporally enough for you to slam back the assault.”

Keiben was finally standing, all be it weakly and feeling very unsure about his ability to walk when the comm system crackled to life.

“This is Lieutenant Carter in Operations. If anyone can here me listen carefully. The station is somehow manifesting our fears. Just ignore them. They aren’t real. Captain if you can here me, please respond!”

Keiben slapped his combadge. "Lieutenant, am I glad to hear your voice... It goes beyond just manifesting. There is a telepathic component to it. I'm fighting it as best I can but I'm afraid unless you have a telepath with you, you are on your own to weather the effects".

"Acknowledged Captain. I'll try and restore as many systems as I can from here."

"Can you try and get the Station to release the consoles in the main Computer... We are here and will try and delete the AI from the system.... Also see if you can find the location of any T'Kon devise that is hooked directly into the stations mainframe!"

Two very simply tasks but he knew this wouldn't be easy by a long shot.

Connor clung to the captain as if to keep him on his feet with all his might. "Dad!" he called out again.

The white pup came running out first, shortly followed by a stumbling counselor. He tried to push the shadows from his mind, but it was a losing battle. As he approached, he saw his son hold up the Betazoid captain, who looked just about as bad as he felt. Felt as bad as he felt... "Captain..." he said by way of formality, fully expecting some kind of orders now that he and his small group were here. He cast his son a look of approval, needing him to continue what he was doing.

Connor just nodded, glad to see his father, but feeling the captain needed his support more.

"Peter, I'm losing this fight... Can you sense it. Its almost the same as the computer from the Planet..."
Keiben winced as it again started to push into his mind and he had to fight it back, push back the cold slender fingers that had started to squeeze around his throat.

"Dad please help him," the boy pleaded, feeling the wince as he tried to keep the captain to his feet.

Nodding, Peter moved closer. "You take care of Khione," he instructed the boy as he used his healthy left hand to sling the captain's left arm across his own shoulders, wrapping his injured right arm around his waist to help keep him to his feet. "We can do this," he told Keiben, "you can do this."

Amalia looked over towards Shailyn who nodded, as if there was some silent communication between them. "Right so, down the hall and to the right to get to that computer core." Amalia called out. "Horn, Keiben, put your minds together, literally! Two brains, one spirit against that AI." Amalia was frustrated as all get out, besides being angry. She also itched at the back of her neck. "Who's with me?" and she set off down the corridor being followed after by Shailyn.

She could see from time seeing Yelena locked in her battle, ducking as it seemed they were coming way too close. A bit more closer, Amalia could feel the hair on her arms rise. They were getting close, she could feel it.

Shailyn just kept her mind just on following after Amalia, the woman seeming to be rather determined. She almost bumped into Amalia who paused in front of the door which led into the computer core area itself. She turned to see if the others had followed.

The Captain had followed as best he could but with the extra minds to cast a barrier over was draining him. Once in the computer core central access he collapsed, drained beyond exhaustion and instantly his telepathic defences crumbled like a house of cards caught in a breeze. In that instant the machine was in his mind, dragging him by the heels to the planet, to the feelings of helplessness, disgust at his own inability and the futility he felt at trying to fight it knowing that his body and mind would be and had been used to kill his crew... to kill Yelena.

The machine took no time in stretching out its fingers, like pulled through tussled hair and revelling in the sensation. Each person in turn, pulling at their fears, their desires... It was too late, he could do no more!
"I'm sorry!" the Betazoid whispered falling into a pit of his own dispair.

Slowly, Peter lowered the man towards the deck and knelt next to him. "Forgive me," he whispered as he splayed the fingers of his left hand out across the man's katra points. "My mind to your mind..." he continued, casting his own mind forth, hoping to strengthen that of the captain. Together... he thought, we will beat this, together. Tell me what to do.

'All I'm doing is creating a telepathic barrier, usually its within a Betazoids own mind but I have been forceing it outwards, projecting it like a bubble to keep the other safe... Peter, I'm exhausted. I'm not laxed but I have no more strength in me!'
The Captain's thoughts came back as a tumble, each word almost falling over the last as he just downloaded everything he had been through over the last few hours. He knew that Peter would understand the massive strain it had taken on the Captain, how he had come so very close to burning out his telepathic abilities.

Use mine... It was a simple offer though Peter wasn't quite sure if that was possible at all. I have felt the shadows, the tugging of despair. But I am telepathically strong....we are linked now, use my ability to strengthen your resolve.

The two men, both unique and individual had become one in mind. Their eyes locked as Keiben started to muster whatever he had left knowing that between them they would be the only hope anyone had. He took a deep breath and with as much force as he could muster he once again started to push forward, forcing his own internal telepathic barrier to push out like a bubble once more, it was weaker than before but it might be enough.
"Do it.... Now!" he hissed through gritted teeth, feeling the fears and despairs start to fall away from the others. "QUICKLY!"

Knowing this wasn't directed towards him, but rather those around him, Peter maintained his focus on the captain, remaining immobile, linking their minds for as long as possible. He could feel the strength draining from him, like a battery that was getting the energy sucked from it, but he held on. Stay with me! he urged, leaning forward just a little to make himself more comfortable. Focus!

Amalia and Shailyn looked at one another gave a nod and they went to work. While Shailyn monitored things, Amalia dove into the realm of the AI core, getting rather focused, and hearing a sort of wail coming from the intercom.

"No you can't, please!"

Amalia continued on changing the isolinear chips around, unhooking something that didn't look like it belonged, and then, the voice fades away. She looked up towards the side to see Yelena's ghost who smiled and disappeared. Amalia leaned her forehead against the upper part of the console taking a deep breath. "It is finished." she breathed out.

"Lets get this up and running properly shall we?"

Shailyn nodded and smiled, looking back towards where Keiben and the others were.

Keiben exhaled, all of his strength gone and his slid from the fingers pressed against his temples and hit the deck with a thud.

END

 

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