Unexpected Arrival

Posted on Mon May 11th, 2026 @ 8:03pm by Admiral Deela T'Lar & Lieutenant JG Paul Harrison & Colonel Ezekiel Bagwell & Lieutenant JG Deezell Vox

1,523 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 120 - Guardian at the Gate
Location: USS Essex
Timeline: Current

ON:

The escape pod settled onto the deck of the shuttle bay with a metallic groan, its hull still steaming from the violent transit. Emergency teams were already in position, medics rushing forward as the pod’s hatch was forced open manually.

A hiss of escaping pressure filled the bay.

Inside, three Starfleet officers lay slumped in their restraints — uniforms torn, faces bruised, but unmistakably alive.

“Life signs are weak but stable,” the lead medic reported. “They’ve been through hell, but I’m not seeing any signs of cellular degradation or foreign contamination.”

Deela exhaled quietly. That was one fear she could cross off the list.

“Get them to Sickbay,” she ordered. “Full trauma protocol. I want continuous monitoring and a complete medical workup.”

The medics moved quickly, lifting the survivors onto anti‑grav stretchers and guiding them toward the turbolift. The doors closed behind them with a soft chime.

Tag: Medical

The Borg Queen’s voice returned to the bridge, but this time her tone was measured, almost clinical.

“Admiral T’Lar, the pod’s hull carries residual theta‑band energy. That is all. The survivors themselves appear… untouched.”

Deela’s brow lifted. “Untouched?”

“Yes,” the Queen replied. “The organisms reacted to the pod’s passage, not to the individuals inside it. They were shielded by the escape craft’s structural integrity field. Fortunate… for all of us.”

There was no malice in her voice — only observation.

“The conduit remains stable,” she continued. “But its equilibrium is delicate. I recommend maintaining your dampening field until your… ‘GM’ returns to guide the next phase.”

Deela blinked. “My what?”

“Your… commanding mind,” the Queen clarified, as if selecting the closest word she could find. “The one who shapes your decisions beyond your awareness. They will return. And when they do, the conduit will require… direction.”

The channel closed before Deela could respond. That was one strange conversation. She wasn't quite sure what she meant by that but it didn't matter. Right now, they needed to check on the survivors and make sure that the escape pod is not a threat. Time passed as the survivors were being treated for their injuries in sickbay. Deela was waiting for to let her know their condition.

The conduit in the Alpha Quadrant had been quiet for hours, so Deela decided to leave the bridge to check on sickbay. She made her way to the turbolift but before she could enter, the ship shook. A sudden gamma‑ray burst registered across the sector. The flash was brief but strong enough to trip every sensor net in range. A few seconds later, the conduit began to distort. Its surface rippled, then pushed outward as if something on the far side was testing the boundary.

Thin, mechanical tendrils emerged—jointed, metallic, and moving with a slow, deliberate motion. They didn’t strike or lash out. They simply extended, feeling along the edge of the aperture as though searching for stability. More followed, each one probing the surrounding space. The conduit widened slightly under the pressure, but not enough to allow anything larger through. For the moment, the tendrils were all that managed to appear.

Deela turned back, "Report. What was that?"

Before anyone on the bridge could answer, the Borg Queen’s voice cut through the comm channel—calm, but with an urgency Deela had learned not to ignore.

“Admiral T’Lar,” Jurati said, “I’ve identified the signatures. Those constructs attempting to emerge from the conduit… they are the same synthetic entities Picard and I encountered over Coppelius in 2399.”

She paused only long enough to confirm her readings.

“Their mechanical extensions match the Alliance of Synthetic Life. They’re probing for stability. If they gain a foothold, they will attempt full emergence.”

Jurati’s tone remained even, matter‑of‑fact.

“We need to act before they try again.”

Jurati’s image remained on Deela’s display as the mechanical extensions continued to push through the conduit.

“They’re testing the boundary,” Jurati said. “If they stabilize it, more will follow.”

Before Deela could respond, the first tendril brushed against a starship’s shields. The distortion was enough to prompt immediate action.

“Admiral,” Jurati added, “I’m initiating a counter‑harmonic pulse. Recommend the fleet reinforce with graviton beams.”

Deela gave the order, and the task force moved in unison. Jurati’s ship released a controlled subspace pulse that caused the tendrils to recoil slightly. Federation vessels followed with coordinated graviton bursts, each one pushing the extensions a little farther back toward the aperture.

The conduit flickered under the combined pressure. The tendrils withdrew in uneven motions, losing their grip on the surrounding space. Another pulse from Jurati’s ship forced the last of them to slip back through the opening.

A moment later, the conduit contracted and went still.

“For now,” Jurati said quietly, “they’re contained.”

the aperture contracted to its previous, dormant state. The bridge lights steadied as the sensor alarms tapered off.

Deela exhaled once, controlled. “Status.”

Her operations officer scanned the readings. “The conduit is inactive again, Admiral. No further attempts to breach. Energy levels are dropping.”

“Any indication they left anything behind?”

“Negative. No residual constructs or anchors.”

Deela then turned to her tactical officer. “Maintain a full sensor lock on the conduit. If it fluctuates by even a fraction, I want to know immediately.” The officer acknowledged. She also ordered all ships to report their status. She stood up and walked again towards the turbolift door, "I'll be in sickbay."

"Admiral, reinforcements are about 4 hours away at maximum warp." Ezekiel notice a large Fleet of ships coming their direction, they had Federation signatures on them. He wasn't sure if they were coming because they actually received a signal from this Fleet or if they were coming because they hadn't received a signal from the fleet.

Deela stopped and turned, "I’m not surprised,” she said, her voice steady. “Finding the Gladiator is taking much longer than it should. Command must be getting nervous." She started to walk towards the turbolift, then turned back to Ezekiel, "When they arrive, they can tow the Saratoga back and replace it. Command wouldn’t leave us short‑handed out here.”

"Aye Admiral." Ezekiel said as he watched Deela head over to the turbo lift. He walked towards the command chair. And then he called out, "Will keep you updated." Ezekiel said, knowing is still going to be 4 hours before they arrived.

"Lieutenant Vox, status report on the engines?" Ezekiel called out, not wanting to take the chair but a hovered by it and then decided to head over towards the engineering station. As of next ranking officer, he would temporarily placing command of the bridge.

“We’ve got full impulse, but warp performance is still partially restricted. The regenerative quantum flywheel is the culprit. It becomes unstable at anything above Warp 7. I could stabilise it, but we don’t exactly have the luxury of time for a full recalibration. For now, we’ll have to hope Warp 7 is fast enough.”

"Understood, tell your engineering team to keep working on it but do not take it offline." Ezekiel said, knowing that they weren't ready to leave yet. He appreciated the fact that Dee didn't try to sugarcoat it and just directly told him.

"Already on it, sir. Taking it offline is a last resort and one only with approval. "

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Tell the engineering team I really appreciate all their efforts instead of the Admiral." Ezekiel felt confident that he could speak for the admiral on this. He was very proud of her; he had gotten to know her when they all took a trip to Trill. Thinking about that trip made a mess, and his wife and his son. For the moment, though he knew they were safe, he had to focus on his own duties.

"Yes, sir. Will do. Good to see you again, by the way." Dee added with a smile

"You too, Dee, when we get back to the station, you and Jax should come over for dinner. I know Sarah and the baby would love to see you both." Ezekiel said with a warm smile.

"Oh yes, absolutely. Jax and I would love to. It has been a while since we all got together. "

Vox commented.

Each parted their ways.

USS Repulse

MacLeod was looking over sensor data with Lieutenant Metsker.

“Looking at the sensor data from the encounter over Coppelius in 2399 Jurati mentioned from La Sirena. Its sensors aren’t Starfleet level, but the readings are good enough. I believe those…tentacle things are the same that were previously encountered. A few had scorch marks from the collapse of the conduit in 2399.” Metsker explained.

Mac nodded as continued to look over the data, “Send that over to Admiral T’Lar.”

“Commander, we lost three shield emitters during that engagement, all in the dorsal hull. Engineering teams are working on repairs right now.” The Ensign at Operations report.

Mac looked over at the Ensign, “Tell them to work fast, we don’t know when those things will be back.

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