Silent No More Part III

Posted on Fri Oct 31st, 2025 @ 7:27am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael Harris & Master Sergeant Flarn & Staff Sergeant Shayla Kunadt & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros & Lieutenant Kolok & Lieutenant Narin Valen & Lieutenant Junior Grade Rachel Sinclair & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Captain Edmund Merrick & Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Ensign Hoa Nhi Nguyen & 1st Lieutenant Edward O'Rourke & Staff Warrant Officer Rommie & Warrant Officer Mercy Ryan & Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr & Gunnery Sergeant Tessia T'Lar & Sergeant Adélaïde Moreau & Sergeant Azure Thompson & Sergeant Andrew Shy & Sergeant Rairror Thoran & Sergeant Tyrigus Fry & Sergeant Miranda Schultz
Edited on on Fri Oct 31st, 2025 @ 7:45am

3,687 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Below the surface of Wren IX
Timeline: MD010 1700 hrs

Last Time On Silent No More Part II...
As Flarn tossed the head of the drone to Ja'sol he fired on two more that were coming up toward the Science team. As luck would have it those two fell into the portal. He then noticed Lachlan fighting in his vicinity. "You know Flarn never thought he would die fighting side by side with a Scot." Lachlan laughed and tossed another Borg toward the portal and Ja'sol. "I never thought I would die fighting side by side with bacon. We aren't dyin so keep fightin." Lachlan replied.

Azure's blade slashed at the enemy. Whichever guise they took, they still bled and that was fine. She let out roar, as she was sure she could feel her Andorian blood flowing through her modified human veins. She was a fusion of two warrior races. She laughed deeply at the thought of her suit being drenched in her enemy's blood.

1st Lieutenant Edward O'Rourke usually made light of his empathic powers, but the mixture of emotions from his fellow Marines, Starfleet crew, the Silence (though he did not remember who they were), and the hostile entity were starting to tear at his psychic defenses. The pressure brought him to knees.

Thoran saw O'Rourke fall to his knees, and ran to the officer, discarding enemy body parts as he ran.

Reaching the Marine engineer, he help the man to his feet. The Orion then secured the 1st Lieutenant to his back and carried him to safety. "Can't let you die on my watch, Sir, they'll bust me back down to Private." He joked.

Rachel’s rifle had run dry, now she was using it as a club, bashing everything that wasn’t wearing a Starfleet uniform that came close to her. Fear she didn’t have time for, her head was full of rage and exhaustion as she bashed in the head of another Borg drone. She fought more like a wild Klingon than a Starfleet trained Romulan.
And Now The Conclusion...
Shayla was neck deep in wiring and control panels when the message from Shultz came through on the emergency channel. "Well if I can get this damn thing working that would be great. Torres I am sure is a great engineer but a piss poor teacher." She sighed heavily as she stared at the spaghetti of wiring that was the deflector control system. "Well, Hawkeye it's just you and me let's go save their butts. Here goes nothing." She made the final connection and the panel hummed with light and life. "Ok now we see if it holds. Thanks for the assist Commander."

Shayla opened the channel. "Hold on to your butts I am on my way. Coming in hot and heavy." She began the descent to the coordinates that had been relayed from Harris.

"Damn I'm good..." Michael said more to himself than anyone else. He looked toward the portal and then toward the battle. It seemed that the Borg had been losing. More and more of them were being tossed into the portal. "It is getting close to that time. Lieutenant Kolok. Do you have the relays ready? We have to get the beam from the Hawkeye to bounce through your relays to the portal. Commander Redstone how are we with your explosives?" Michael may have not had rank but he seemed to have been given the lead in coordinating this experiment of sorts.

On hearing her name, Brianne shakily stood up from behind the rock she had hid behind since she saw the Borg appear. "I'm here... " she almost whispered, still scared.. "I have magnetic charges ready to go, just say where. If they don't work have a block of C4 in my pocket, need a working phaser to denote it."

Her eyes darted around, she was a dash away from the portal. "Can somebody cover me ?" she asked.

"I can," Kolok said. He was using his blade now, both ends dealing death, or as much death as could be dealt to the non-borg. He stepped in front of Commander Redstone's position. Kolok felt no fear. Unlike other races, he would welcome an honorable death. He only felt focused and calm. If it was his time, it was his time. He let out a Klingon battle cry and moved to attack. His bat'leth slashed up and down as he turned on his pivot foot. The drones fell before him.

Andrew scooped and tossed yet another borg into the well...or portal. Or whatever the clot it was they were sending the entity into. Stopping to survey the battle field he was shocked to see that it was mostly cleared and the combined arms Pioneer team were the last ones standing. The portal was fascinating though, and he took a couple more steps forward, peering into the inky depth. Borgy hands started reaching up and pulling themselves out of the pool as his fascination drained away and he was present again in the here and now. Kicking at one of the hands that had wrapped around one of his ankles, he called out over the team net, his mind jumping to an old Earth, obscure movie quote: "They call it 'The Black Lagoon'—a paradise. Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it." Then he ammended. "In this case whatever S626D is, I think it might be trying to come back."

Harris took a look around. As far as he could tell all of the Borg were gone. He also noticed that Shy was more than correct. Something seemed to be trying to get back through the portal. "Right then now is the time to see if we are all good at these jobs of ours. Schultz relay to Hawkeye. Fire the borehole when ready. Redstone, Kolok stand by for my mark."

Schultz sent the exact coordinates of the portal to Shayla. With the entity trying to make a second run at the Marines, they needed to seal it the first time. The pilot was good, but if there was any sort of planetary drift, she could miss. "Shayla, I sent the current coordinates for the target. Then we'll need assistance with the wounded."

Alyssa moved farther from the portal while still keeping an eye on it. Some of the pressure from the Silence had eased now that the entity had switched focus, but she wouldn't feel at ease until she was certain it couldn't return.

The red beam of the Hawkeye's phasers touched the ground just in front of the portal in short order. As soon as they touched, they winked out. "Right, everyone, hold on to your butts. "Now, Hawkeye," Harris yelled as his small fingers danced over the makeshift controls. The wind picked up as a blue colored beam shot forth from the Hawkeye's deflector dish. In a spiral pattern, the beam made its way through the borehole and connected to the portal. The light within the portal turned from blue to purple and then to black. However, it remained open, and those hands that Shy had seen now turned to arms as they pulled themselves out more. "We need more... more... Lieutenant Kolok engage the relays. Perhaps that can give us just enough more juice."

Kolok had just finished clearing the drones anywhere nearby when he heard the request. He turned and moved to the relays, slinging his weapon over his back. He flexed his hands to remove the stiffness he felt from holding the bat'leth so tightly. He looked down at the display on the relays. His fingers flew as he brought the relays online.

"Relays coming online...now," Kolok said in a loud voice.

As the relays came online they sent white colored power streams into the one that came from the Hawkeye. The bluish color and brightness increased. "Yes that's it. We got em. Stand by, Commander Redstone." The light within the portal began to dim and flicker. The Borg hands that had reached through the portal were now falling back through the veil as it were. "So, you fancy yourself fear. Well here is something that you did not count on. When you do the thing you fear the death of fear is certain."

Alyssa sank to her knees, her relief causing her limbs to shake. It was done. As she was still in mental contact with the Silence, she shared the image of the portal being closed. 'You are free." There were other Silence that needed to be released from their bonds, but the other Silence could now take care of them.

Kolok's attention remained firmly fixed on the small console readout. He watched as the pulse intensity grew, moving towards the critical level it needed to start the cascade effect they needed. As he watched, a small red light began flashing.

"The dynamic polymic switch on relays three and seven are failing," Kolok said. "Attempting to compensate." He had to adjust the coherence factor from each relay in such a way that the affected switches wouldn't fail. He didn't mention to anyone that if the switches did fail, the entire thing would detonate with enough force to kill them all.

His vision narrowed until he could only see the screen. All sound fell away. All distractions gone. Kolok lived in the moments, which were counted in his breaths. It was more of an art than a science. He constantly adjusted the power flow through each switch and relay, working them like a conductor, until, finally, they hit the critical mass and the process was complete. He looked up, a sudden weariness falling over him.

Michael did not bother to look up from the computer screen. He wanted to keep an eye on the neutrino and tachyon levels. They dropped substantially. Now was the time to seal the opening. "Commander Redstone now." Brianne had stood behind a rockface, worried about her own existence. When she heard Harris's order, she keyed a sequence into her PADD, and the caves reverberated with explosions. When the dust settled, the pit that was in the ground was now closed by stone. The Pulse from the Hawkeye was disengage, and the blueish hue that was the gate was no more. "Damn, we are so damn good. Kolok blood wine one me." Michael's voice was the only thing that could be heard.

The USS Pioneer glided its way to the only landing platform. A soft thud was heard on the Bridge as the landing struts made contact. "Get me anyone on comms. Get it done yesterday!" Tyler stood in front of the command chair, tense. His friends and family were down there, possibly dead. He was told that the channel was open, but there was no direct response. "Attention all personnel. The cavalry has arrived. EVAC to the landing platform. The ship awaits. Malbrooke out."

Fry disengaged the safeties on his MARVEL suit’s helmet, then rotated his head slowly, causing the faceplate to disengage, and he tasted the air. Beyond the ozone from weapons fire and the smell of explosives hanging in the air, there was a definite funk to the air. S626D might have been tossed into the portal, but the entity had left its stink behind, though he imagined that too would fade. He was glad everything was over, and his comm crackled with the Commodore's message as it broke through.

To one side, Andrew had also unlocked his helmet, and he chuckled. “Trust the fleet to show up when the excitement is over,” he laughed, relief in his voice. Then he caught the eyes of the fleet members of the assault team, “Present company excluded, of course. Besides, the Colonel said before you were part of the Cure now.”

Mercy looked down at the insect blood and guts that soiled her MARVEL suit. "Does anyone know a good dry cleaner?" She asked jokingly.

"I have a plant based cleanser that'll do the trick," Azure replied.

Still carrying 1st Lieutenant O'Rourke in his arms, Rairror roared in triumph.

Kolok looked up as the Pionner descended, flaring as it landed. He took a deep breathe, packed up his gear and began walking.

Edmund gave a look around at the battlefield, it all now quiet. He was also looking for something, something that hit his helmet. The thing that hit him in the head that the being spat out at him. He had to know, he had to find that thing that hit him. He searched, and found it. His mouth going into a thin frown. He didn't know who it belonged to but there was remnants of a leg inside armor. Edmund scooped it up and headed towards the surface. It was time to go home.

Everything happened at once and it was a bit much for Shayla Kunadt and her baby the Hawkeye. As the portal closed and the ground shook from the explosions the Hawkeye sparked and rocked internally as conduits blew out. The auxiliary console burst into flames. "Damn it. This is what happens when you send a pilot to do an Engineer's job. At least you got it done. Semper Fi Hawkwye." She said as she sprayed the console down with an extinguisher. The dust settled and the Argo Class runabout was still airborne. Shayla jumped into the pilots seat and did a systems check. "Weapons offline, shields off line, no warp power. But we have thrusters, impulse engines, and a transporter. Add to that life support and we have a boat back to the Pioneer." A quick message later which informed those on the ground that she could take some people. Wounded was her priority. "The Silence had an illness. Good thing the Cure was around." She said with a smile as she began transporting the wounded.

Miranda Schultz tapped Alyssa on the shoulder. "Come on, ma'am. It's time to go home."

Alyssa paused to be sure other Silence were on their way to rescue those who had been imprisoned by the entity. Then she nodded and stood, then slowly followed the others to the surface.

Flarn took his helmet off and sniffed the air deeply. It smelled of sweat, blood, phaser blasts, and ozone. But to the Tellarite it was fresh and welcome. The closest thing he would ever have to smile crawled across his face which had the effect of bearing his tusks. As he sighed heavily he spoke. "Well, that's that then." Without a further word he walked slowly, heavily toward the tunnel that led to the Pioneer. He stopped only to help people to their feet and dust them off. For the first time in a long time the Tellarite seemed genuinely happy.

Ja'sol sprinkled some powder from his med pouch onto a gash that was bleeding on his right arm and wrapped it with a gauze bandage until he got back to the ship and had access to a dermal regenerator. He looked around to see who was still standing. " HEAD COUNT!! Is everyone present and accounted for?" He smiled as he heard those people who answered up, glad he hadn't heard of anyone reporting as a causality.

Tessia gave a quiet nod, then glanced down and noticed the cut on her arm for the first time. It wasn’t deep, but it had torn through the suit enough to sting. Nothing urgent, she figured but definitely something for sickbay once they got back.

Adélaïde was caught slightly off guard when the Michael Harris actually hugged her and said that she knew things and now he had to get her a drink. She didn't care what he went on about, suffice to say that she would take the free drink. Her breath caught in her lungs, the air was thick and dank.

For the moment Adélaïde Moreau did not want to move, then she realized her quarters were on that ship, a bed was on that ship, and most of all a sonic shower was on that ship. She released her helmet as Lachlan walked by toward the platform and the Pioneer beyond. "Give me a hand Sergeant Major." Lachlan stopped in his tracks and smirked he reached out a gloved hand and helped her to her feet. "Anytime Moreau anytime. Now we have to catch up with Flarn. I have a bet to settle with the pig." He laughed and the two Marines fell into step with each other as they enjoyed each other's company and the energy release that came with the end of battle.

Limping her way back to the ship, Rachel found an unoccupied piece of wall to lean against sand slumped to the floor. Her uniform was drenched in sweat, blood and organic liquids she wouldn’t care to name. After fighting off the waves of bugs and then Borg, she was surprised that she came out of it with little more then a gash to her leg, which she’d haphazardly bandaged with a piece of her uniform jacket and a prayer to the ancestors. Hearing Ja’sol’s call for a head count, she mentally tried to respond, but her body was too exhausted to produce any audible sound.

Tyler invited the Silence to the Bridge. At the moment he stood in the command area next to the ominous being. The Silence stood and watched everything on the viewscreen. There was no sound on the Bridge at the moment, until T'ket broke the quiet and told Tyler that the Hawkeye had the first batch of injuries ready for transport to Sick Bay. With a quick nod Tyler indicated that the Vulcan should proceed with getting those people back on board. His heart was gladdened by the news that no one had paid the ultimate sacrifice. He turned to The Silence. "This is what we do. What Starfleet does, what the Federation does. We risk it all to save some. You will remember even when we all forget. Never forget what the Pioneer has done, what this crew has done this day for your people."

Since The Silence arrived on the bridge it had done nothing but watch the events unfold. Now was the first time it engaged with anyone. It turned its head slightly toward Tyler and it nodded ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly. The Silence would remember. The Silence always remembers.

A Joint Post By

Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael Harris
Science Officer, USS Pioneer