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(( Embassy Grounds )) :: Tal E'leck was used to watching, but that did not mean he liked it. He was a soldier, and his duty was to protect what was left of the Romulan Star Empire. Part of that duty was to perform surveillance covertly of the Federation and Starfleet forces currently rebuilding their shattered embassy and restoring their grounds. He hated them..their abundance, their seeming joy and resoluteness at restoring what the bastard hated Klingons and their lapdogs from the Orion Syndicate and the religious zealots from the Scarlet Brotherhood had done to their homes and grounds. Himself and three others were assigned to report on their activities and try to find some weakness that could be exploited at a later date.He concerned himself only with his part of the mission, reporting back on what they saw. What he had found out, secreted in a crater hollowed out by pieces of the late USS Thunder after it came slamming into the Laudean atmosphere during the Klingon invasion. Once their Corps Of Engineers had cleared the site, his team quietly moved in, and set up shop. One thing he and his team had learned...Starfleet was incredibly efficient and through in their construction and rebuilding...they could show the Romulans a thing or two about construction...but they were the enemy, and the day would come when they too would be expelled from this world. He grew up hearing the Federation was weak, soft, unable to fight a real war...a belief shattered by the Dominion War. Now, here he was, his own world destroyed, billions of Romulans dead, and he was essentially hiding in the weeds. He had learned during his time in the service that direct confrontation was no longer an option..subterfuge and nuance were what would be required to wrest Duronis away from Federation influence, and others were involved in those actions. He hoped they had been able to effect more influence to stop Starfleet and the Federation from returning, but those efforts were slow to bear fruit, just as his efforts were..:: :: Armed with the knowledge Starfleet was sending a much more capable...and dangerous...Akira Class starship to replace the much weaker and destroyed Cheyenne Class upped the ante a bit...and he would love to see the day when pieces of this ships' hull adorned the Romulan Embassy as a testament to their regaining their place in the galactic hierarchy, the same as pieces of the hated Enterprise namesake were displayed in the now destroyed Romulan Senate. He also found it ironic that the half breed Sela, child of one of the captured Enterprise officers whom a Romulan had taken as a consort, was trying to pull the pieces of the shattered Empire together. His duty was to the Empire, and he would do whatever was required to make it possible...including hiding in the dirt, watching...and waiting. Merek would take this world and make it his own again, and with his success, he would also succeed, carving out his own niche in Mereks' eyes as a capable officer, one worthy of more responsibility and power...:: :: This was not his way. He would much rather spend his time cutting off the head of the snake...killing the female Starfleet captain and eliminating the Marine garrison. Starfleet Marines had more than proven their worth, and they were indeed a formidable force. Such actions usually had ramifications, but there were ways to kill which left no trail..at least, not one which would point back to them. Perhaps the Laudean agitation will provide such an opportunity to disrupt the Starfleet command structure...but those were matters which did not concern him...yet. His concern was not only what he was seeing, but what he wasn't seeing...things such as how much weaponry they had on hand? What kind of weaponry? What was the brown metallic coating over the top of the armory? These things needed closer observation, and he dared not get closer...being discovered would be considered a failure, and could get him killed...by either Starfleet or Merek. To be killed by Starfleet would be considered honorable, being killed by Merek, and he would be forever known as a failure. He would kill his own men for such incompetence...such things could not be tolerated. For now, he and his men waited...and watched...:: MSPNPC Subcommander Tal E'leck Imperial Romulan Defense Force/ Duronis II Embassy As simmed by: Major Hannibal Tiberious Parker 2nd Officer/Marine Commander/Chief Of Strategic Operations USS Thunder-A/ Duronis II Embassy

((Celes II, Ruin of Abandoned Machinery Storage Warehouse)) ::The building was huge. None of its original equipment functioned any longer, and it had a large gash near one side of it that would have left the building open to the atmosphere had not the Clashing organisers sealed it with ferrofoam. The place had all the hallmarks of a temporary shelter - portable furniture and partitions brought in, generators laying about powering lights and replicators and local atmospheric conditioners.:: ::Only ten years previous, this place had been full and busy, an integral part of a nearby dilithium mining site on a thriving mining planet. The Borg had changed all of that, appearing in the sky without warning and killing or assimilating everyone on the planet within mere hours.. They said there had been some tentative attempts to restart the operations since, but nowadays the Romulan Empire had different concerns, and not enough manpower to tend to them all. So Celes II remained an empty, scarred world, its ground a pale red from oxidised dust.:: ::It was, therefore, perfect for this purpose. The Clashing had taken this place over, sealed the holes, thrown out a bunch of superfluous equipment, and the final contestants had arrived, one by one.:: ::Katy was now safely ensconced in a large 'room' (actually a part of one of the large open spaces set aside with temporary wall partitions and apportioned with a rug, bed, furniture, a replicator, and some basic workout equipment.) She'd arrived late in her sleep cycle, and had slept late as a result. Now she was awake and stretching. Not as in yawn-and-stretch, but the extended stretching regimen that helps one to get in touch with one's body and gives time to calm one's mind. Reduced stiffness and increased flexibility were nice side-effects, of course.:: ::Next to her on the rug sat the small crystalline pedestal upon which sat her friend and advisor Unky. Well, it was really the little hexagonal crystal itself that *was* Unky, but it's much easier to relate to a little holographic man than to something that looks like an expensive ashtray, even if you know that it houses a powerful AI. The little man in question was sitting cross-legged in his usual spot atop the crystal, chin propped up on one hand, looking thoughtful.:: ::Unfolding from a rather relaxing back stretch, Katy found herself unable to repress a gigantic yawn. She put her hand over her mouth, partly out of politeness and partly to cover the slightly embarrassed smile that formed on her lips when the yawn was done.:: ::The little hologram grinned and looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.:: Unky: You'll never live it down if you fall asleep during the match, you know. ::She waved her hand dismissively.:: Orman: I'm fine. The final bout isn't until the mid-afternoon, plenty of time to wake up, even sleeping as late as I... ::She trailed off, brows slowly creasing. Unky tilted his head in an expression of curiosity.:: Unky: Hmm? ::She remained silent for a few moments more, with an expression of growing concern and confusion.:: Orman: ...It doesn't make sense, does it? Unky: What doesn't? Orman: Our sleep cycles. Duty cycles, even. They all match up. People who grew up on all different parts of the world, of many worlds... people with different circadian rhythms, alien cultures, different everything... we're all on the same time schedule. All of us! I mean, we run three shifts, but nothing really happens in the others. Kind of ever. ::Unky's expression darkened for just a flicker, then reverted to a casual, cheery demeanour that matched his tone.:: Unky: Oh, I'm sure if you check you'll find there was some sort of agreement made between galactic political entities to match times. Makes for better trade, diplomacy, et ceter-- Orman: ::shaking her head:: No, that's not enough. What about independent alien races? First contacts? I mean, even if that sort of agreement was ever going to happen--which it isn't, getting the various empires to agree on anything is like pulling teeth... and now I think about it, there's definitely going to be a counter-tendency in the form of each people wanting their own schedule to match the day cycle of their home planet's capital... ::her eyes widened and breathing quickened in rising panic.:: Wait, we visit each others' capitals all the time, no one ever has to adjust their schedules.... Every major capital with the same day/night schedule as the others? That's just not even possible! Unky, nothing makes sen-- ::Her words of realisation were interrupted by a quiet, oscillating tone that matched with the pulsations of a blue light coming from Unky's now-vacant pedestal. As it caught her eye she found herself fixated on the steady pulsing, like the rhythm of a slow heartbeat. She found herself calming, her tight muscles relaxing. She forgot what she'd been saying, or indeed why she'd been speaking at all. In a matter of seconds, she found her eyelids drooping. She was unconscious some moments before she sank to the floor.:: ::Moments later, the light and sound stopped, and the little man appeared again on his crystal, looking over at the prone form. He turned away, and his expression was one of dark, fulminating rage.:: Unky: That was cruel. ::The meaning of that cryptic statement was lost to the empty room as the AI spoke to himself.:: Unky: I'm not speaking to myself. I'm talking to *you.* ::...which was another odd thing to say, but of course Unky was no novice at confusing pronouncements, after all.:: Unky: ::quietly furious:: It's not odd. Quit dodging. I'm talking to you, right now. ::...to ...me?:: Unky: That's right. ::pointing over at Katy:: And what you did there.. it was cruel. She shouldn't have to have an existential crisis like that. Especially right before her big fight. I won't have it, do you hear me? ::Look, it's fine, alright? I knew you were right there to put her out and make her forget her little mental break. I find the idea of characters realising that they're characters to be a really powerful... wait, how are you speaking to me again?:: Unky: You made me the character that ferreted out all the secrets, looked at everything so that I could weave my own plots behind the scenes. You made me incredibly smart and with the full resources of a massive computer system. You made me the wise one that always knows more than everybody else about what's going on. Did you think I wouldn't notice the inconsistencies? ::Umm...:: Unky: A universal translator that is somehow selective when a different language would be culturally interesting or mysterious, and somehow manages to convey clues and jokes based on plays on words? A transport culture based on disintegration and copying that is somehow universally accepted? And let's not even start on the science! Same template or no, the notion that beings with such basic physical incompatibilities as different blood chemistry could mate and reproduce... and then there's the way the stardate keeps jumping ahead-- ::Yes, alright, I get it! Look, no harm done, okay? I apologise. It won't happen again. She's napping, she'll wake up rested and with no memory of this, no lingering trauma or confusion at all.:: ::The little man stared into space, his expression somewhat mollified. The woman next to him slept peacefully, soon to awaken for the big day.:: ::Within her sleeping mind, the hypnotic suggestions activated by Unky's trigger were taking their course. Not only to rest and forget, but also putting her into a state of calm readiness. When she woke she would be in top fighting form, ready to embody all of the principles of her art perfectly.:: ::Wait, I didn't write that!:: Unky: Indeed. I did. ::What... I... that's... You can't do that!:: Unky: ::a little smug:: I believe I just did. ::I wasn't planning... she's supposed to get knocked out really quickly! She doesn't win this fight!:: Unky: ::absolutely smirking, now:: I think she might, you know. ::I can just delete... no. No idle threats. You've already figured out I won't do that, haven't you? I follow the story where it goes. Let me put it this way, then... That doesn't happen again. You keep your hands off the reins. Otherwise... well, I have no particular compunctions against making your personal goals *much* more difficult to achieve. Are we square?:: ::Unky continued to smile a self-satisfied little smirk. Eventually, he nodded.:: ::Good. Oh, also, 'Not only to rest and forget, but also putting her into a state of calm readiness?' Seriously awkward phrasing, there. Your writing skills could use some work.:: Unky: Oh, shut up. ::Soon after, Katy woke up, a peaceful smile on her face. It was time to really prepare for the fight.:: TBC PNPC Unky with Lieutenant Commander Katy Orman Chief of Security, Starbase 118 Currently on leave and, umm, me, I guess.

((Bridge, USS Mercury, moments after Alexanders meeting with Professor Cowens.)) ::Alexander exited the turbolift with ease. He had become used to wheeling himself around, although he missed being able to walk dearly. His reason for being here today was not to 'work' but rather to familiarize himself with the helm controls once again. Although he was the chief of science, it never hurt to keep skills learned fresh. After all, he had unexpectedly found himself at the helm again during the last mission to JB-437.:: ::He rolled down to the helm console and nodded to the rather surprised helmsman who left his post with a little bit of hesitation. It was rather odd for a blue shirt to take the helm, even in a period of downtime.:: ::Isaac stood beside the center chair on the bridge. He wasn't nervous about taking the seat, he was simply far too tense to sit anywhere. He was currently in command of the Mercury by default, and he was feeling the weight of that circumstance now. Captain Kells couldn't get back aboard fast enough as far as Isaac was concerned. After what seemed like an eternity standing there, Isaac heard the turbolift doors open behind him. He turned to see Lt. Richards wheel himself onto the bridge, and the young man wasted no time in heading down to helm control. He probably wanted to make himself useful, and Isaac could only admire his determination. Losing a leg was no small thing, and Isaac appreciated the Lieutenant's desire to overcome that obstacle. With a nod from Isaac toward the current helmsman giving his permission, Richards took up the station.:: RICHARDS: Congratulations on the promotion Commander. That's two since I came aboard the ship. It seems the captain has a lot of faith in you. ::Isaac gave a small sigh before answering. He'd never been one for small talk, but given his past experiences with Lt. Richards, the Intel officer could appreciate the gesture and play nice.:: BALE: ::nodding:: Thank you, Mr. Richards. You should be proud of your own accomplishments as well. Becoming chief of science on a science vessel is no small feat. You are making the most of shore leave, I hope? RICHARDS: Me, just thought I'd use the down time to familiarize myself with the helm controls again. The last mission taught me a thing or two about life in Starfleet. Things I had all but forgotten. ::Isaac couldn't help thinking of Velana then, and how she in particular had managed to remind him of who he really was... who he was meant to be.:: BALE: ::smiling:: Amazing how this life we lead can do that, isn't it? ::Alex couldn't help but crack a smile back to the Commander. They may have had their issues in the past, but as Starfleet officers, they could both look past that. Alex still couldn't consider the commander a friend. That would take longer but he knew enough now and had seen enough to respect him. Intelligence couldn't be an easy job at the best of times, let alone with the pressures of that chair added on. :: RICHARDS: I can't help but notice you are standing rather than sat in the chair Commander. Any particular reason for that? BALE: ::sighing:: It's not my chair. I suppose I don't feel that I've earned the right to sit in it, even temporarily. RICHARDS: That's understandable Commander. I'm glad to be rid of it if I'm honest. The Mercury's little jaunt to JB-437 reaffirmed in me why I'm not ready for the command track yet. It is difficult to make decisions when you know the fate of the entire crew rests on your shoulders. Thankfully, the team left behind whilst you were all away were exemplary in their duties. ::Isaac glanced at Lt. Richards thoughtfully. He was either being modest, or being in command had truly rattled him.:: BALE: I've read the reports, Lieutenant. You made the right call at every step, but I get the feeling you still doubt yourself. Was command really so heavy a burden? ::grinning:: Or was the office not to your liking? RICHARDS: OK, you got me., It's also the fact my office down on deck 26 is more intimate than the Captain's ready room. Sometimes less is more. :: He let out a hearty laugh. :: ::Isaac chuckled a moment before becoming serious again. He still wore a black collar, but he was a command officer now. As such, morale would be as much a part of his duties as anything else. Wonderful. Perhaps he could ask Captain Reynolds for tips on being cheery and optimistic. That thought elicited Isaac's own deep, full-bellied laugh before he turned back to Richards shaking his head. The young man needed some reassurance.:: BALE: Have you studied much of your own people's history, Mr. Richards? Late 20th, early 21st century to be exact? ::Alexander paused for a second. The Commander had just given him a reassuring compliment and was now making small talk. He almost had to do a double take. This certainly wasn't the man he encountered when he first arrived on the Mercury. :: RICHARDS: As an Oxford graduate Commander, I have. Quite a lot actually. It was required reading on any course there. BALE: There was an author on Earth during that time who went by the pen name of Robert Jordan. He wrote a series of fictional works collectively called the Wheel of Time. It was a fascinating read... a new twist on the classic tale of good versus evil. RICHARDS: Ah yes. I know of that series of books My father has a vintage hard back collection that dates from the late 20th century. They are quite worn but considering what they've been through, quite fascinating. :: Alexander recalled in his mind a moment in his childhood where his father was reading to him from book number one. :: BALE: I found something quite profound in one of his books, though I can't recall which one it was at the moment. Jordan, through one of his fictional characters, said that you can never know everything. And part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of courage lies in going on anyway. :: Alexander had never thought of life like that but it did make a lot of sense to him. Especially given his history. :: RICHARDS: That makes a lot of sense now you mention it Commander. In my field, and that of my parents knowledge is tantamount to everything. The field of science is about the quest for knowledge and from that aspect, the sentiment rings true as you never really can know everything. Science continues to move forward at an astronomical pace. There is always something new to learn everyday and theories become outdated or irrelevant with each new discovery. :: He took a deep pause. :: RICHARDS: Unfortunately none of that prepared me for the demands of that chair. :: He motioned to the captain's chair with his right arm. :: BALE: Well... as an Intelligence officer, I make it a point to know as much as possible. Jordan was right, though. All any of us can do is take the information at hand and make the most of it. Trust me, Lieutenant, you did just fine. RICHARDS: Thank you Commander. :: He looked at his body. :: I'm hoping this is only a temporary set back. I'll need to check in with the doctors and the Captain regarding future treatments at some point. :: He pressed a button on the helm console, adjusting the yaw of the ship by 0.2% to prevent her listing. :: ::Isaac took a few moments to consider Richards. Since they were playing nice and opening up, another opinion on a personal matter couldn't hurt.:: BALE: You're a married man, are you not? RICHARDS: Happily for many years sir. My wife means the world to me. BALE: Any children? RICHARDS: Just John. The little tyke managed to break his leg trying to emulate my love for rock climbing. Now he sees my current condition as trying to be like him. :: He let out a smile. Sometimes the innocence of youth still managed to astound him. :: BALE: What's it like? RICHARDS: Being a parent? Being Married? (Beat.) Both are hard to describe Commander simply because there are no situations that can prepare you for either. :: He paused before continuing. :: RICHARDS: With regards to marriage, it's the ultimate expression of love for your partner. It's a sign of commitment and of courage and not something entered into lightly. If you find yourself wanting to spend every waking moment with someone, and can't bear it when you are apart the maybe marriage is the next logical step. :: He took another pause to allow the Commander to assimilate the knowledge. :: RICHARDS: With regards to being a parent, that is different again. To bring a child into this universe requires both parties to know it is what they really want. The child becomes your everything. All you do is for him or her. They can bring you great joy, but also a lot of fear and trepidation. Above all though, they are your future, they grow with the wisdom and strength of both parents and as they learn, so they develop their own personalities. But if you care for and nurture them, they grow to be quite possibly one of the greatest things in the Universe, a unique sentient being born of yourself. ::Years of practice allowed Isaac to keep a neutral face as he listened to the wisdom offered by the young Lieutenant. He was right, but that only led Isaac to doubt himself. It raised the same questions that he was already struggling with. Could he be a good husband? A good father?:: BALE: ::nodding:: Thank you, Lieutenant, for your insight. You've given me more to consider. For now, though, let's get our attention back on that Runabout, shall we? -END- A JP by: Lt. Cmdr Issac Bale Intel Officer/2nd Officer USS Mercury & Lieutenant (JG) Alexander Richards Chief of science USS Mercury

(( USS Drake - Science Lab )) ILWARY: I think we can say with 99% confidence that they are us. ::She gasped and panted few times watching his expression attentively.:: oOHe hates me now.Oo ~I'll go and report to Captain, you can go and report to Commander Brice. Explain her also about the radioactive substance they found out about and tell her I'm going to talk to Captain and ask if we can do the active scan of the planet ourselves to check their findings.~ WORICK: ~...okay~ :: He was already pulling back from contact, afraid not of her but of his own feelings...although Ireya might not be able to tell the difference. :: ILWARY:~ I think that finding out about the substance is now most important. Go, we'll talk later.~ ::She paused for just a moment.::~ If you want to talk to me again.~ WORICK: ~ I... ~ :: Abruptly, the scientist turned and fled. She thought he hated her...he'd sensed that. In fact, he wasn't convinced she didn't hate herself. Hate the weakness she fought every day. Didn't she know how amazingly strong she was? But he couldn't be in her presence right now. He just couldn't. He couldn't stand the look in her eyes, that assumption, that sure and certain knowledge that having seen her so intimately he couldn't help but hate her. The...arrogance that thought she knew what everyone else's feelings were. :: :: He barreled into an unused lab and locked the door, then leaned against the inside of it. :: WORICK: I need the counselor is what. I need...help. :: He wanted the feelings he had to go away. And he couldn't talk to the counselor herself - she was on the bridge running the ship. Maybe one of her assistants. No...none of them were telepaths or empaths, none of them would understand. And he certainly wasn't going to try and talk to a Vulcan. :: :: Carlton Worick sank to the floor, head in hands, waiting until he had enough control over his thoughts and feelings to be able to stand being seen in public. Being seen by her? He...curse it. He wanted so badly to wrap his arms around her, but he knew she would misunderstand, would see it as that thing even worse than hatred. :: :: Pity. :: PNPC Carlton Worick Science Officer USS Drake

((USS Thunder-A - Somers Homestead - Earth)) ::After their little adventure in the Sol system the Thunder had returned to earth, the ship was docked at Earth Station McKinley undergoing repairs, so the crew had time off. While Paul went to visit his Mother and Fathers Family and reacquaint himself with them, Alex spent sometime with her parents.:: Samuel Somers: ::giving his daughter a big hug and holding her at arms length as he looked at her:: Well back so soon, not that I am complaining of course, nasty business out at Hegemone, but that is business, how long are you home for and where is my new Son-in-law? ::Sam asked.:: A. Somers: I am back here till I am recalled as is Paul, but he has gone to visit his side of the family, this will be the first time in a long time that he would have been home for any length of time. So how is mom and where is she? S. Somers: Your mother is out visiting old colleagues, she will be back later ::Sam responded putting his arm around his daughters shoulder as her Sister Karyn and her partner entered, Alex looked puzzled, she knew her Sisters sexual orientation, but her partner was new.:: A. Somers: ::Giving her Sister a big hug:: So Sis you going to tell me who your new partner is? K. Somers: ::Hugging back then stepping back:: This is Danielle, we were just going out hiking, you want to join us? ::Karyn asked.:: A. Somers: No thanks Sis, you go enjoy yourself, pleased to meet you Danielle ::Alex said and the woman only smiled as both left the house, she looked back at her father:: That is what her fourth partner since leaving the Embassy? S. Somers: Its her sixth, but whose counting, she is a big enough girl and lets not go there. A. Somers: Agreed ::pause:: so what have you been doing with yourself since I left so soon after the wedding? S. Somers: Oh Starfleet Diplomatic Corps had Starfleet High Command reactivate my commission, I am still a Colonel but now I am officially the envoy to Kronos, it seems that the Klingon High Council wish now to only deal with a warrior and I am told you had a hand in my new appointment ::Sam said.:: ::Alex broke away and holding out both hands.:: A. Somers: Whoa dad! I did not speak to any Klingon envoy or even to the Chancellor, so how in Hades could I have assisted in your new appointment!? :she asked clearly puzzled.:: S. Somers: Easy there lass, I am not blaming you, but it seems on your Klingon held After Wedding party you got into a drinking contest with a group of Klingon's and apparently drunk all but one under the table and you and the last Klingon apparently collapsed at the same time. ::pause:: That Klingon was their Envoy to Earth and he was impressed at your cast iron constitution and ability in imbibe strong drink and remain coherent. ::beat:: So he put in a request to have the flame haired Terran Warriors Father as the Federation's Official Envoy to Kronos, so now I have a posh office at Starfleet Headquarters and two Advisors and an Aide plus a Secretary and I am missing the days where I was ducking Phaser fire and it is all thanks to you ::he said with a smile, to show he was not mad.:: A. Somers: Wow dad, I never knew getting blasted would get you assigned such a position, but if they had seen me when I returned to the Thunder-A, I do not think they would be too impressed. S. Somers: How so? A. Somers: First Off there was the Upchuck, then just as I thought I had finished I upchucked some more and by the time I had finished the ships Doctor had to replenish my vitals, Paul of course stood there like a pillar of stone totally emotionless, where I was concerned, but he did speak to the Doctor, I was too ill to pay any notice ::she responded.:: ::As the day wore on and her Mother came home and warmly greeted her Daughter and they talked, by 2300 hours the past few days had caught up with her, she yawned and excused herself saying she was retiring for the night so up to her room she went and got into her night-dress and went to sleep and in her sleep, she had the most weird dream, one that she would remember for the rest of her days.:: ((Alex Somers Bedroom - Somers Estate - 2300 hours)) ((Dreamscape)) ::This was one of her more€¦ Craziest dreams, but it would bring her to a revelation, one which she would share in knowledge like an old Historical Starfleet Officer.:: ((USS Yorktown - Personal Quarters - September 1 2421)) ::Alex was walking from one room into another, even though she knew it was a dream, it was surreal, she noticed she was wearing some kind of Marine Uniform, it was not recognisable but she looked in the mirror and gasped, she still had her Red hair, but now it was in a bob and liberally streaked with white, her features were that of and old woman. Then she noticed her rank which showed Colonel rank, she looked at her file and saw that she had recently turned 60.:: Somers: So I finally make it to Colonel but I am an old woman when I do, interesting, still I managed to keep my figure ::she said to herself suddenly she found herself sitting on the bridge which was unfamiliar to her as it was not set out like any ship she had served on before and it mostly had Marines on the bridge.:: ::The ship had just gone to Red Alert and was responding to a distress call from Betazed, with her, she knew, how she did not know, but she knew she had two other Ships on her left and right flanks respectively, she called up her ships name class and registry number and that of her companion ships.:: Somers: ::speaking to herself:: interesting USS Yorktown NCC 1941-C Achilles Class Refit, that is this ship, now what of my wingmen? ::she asked herself:: interesting, things must be bad for Starfleet if they have Marines commanding Starships ::suddenly she knew the Federation was once again at war with a powerful enemy and barely holding their own.:: So my wingmen are the USS Nimitz NCC 96318-A and the USS New Horizon NCC 89071-A, both are also Achilles class refit. ::pause:: [...] I have my own battle group ::she said in surprise, as even on a basic Achilles class; the ship had eight dorsal Micro Quantum torpedo launchers in addition to four forward firing and two rear firing standard size torpedo launchers add in a mix of Pulse Phaser Cannons and High graded Phaser arrays an Achilles Class ship was nothing to be sneered at, even alone it could hold its own in a battle with a much larger ship.:: ((Betazed Foothills - September 15 2421)) ::Now she was standing in a valley in the Betazed foothills, she looked behind and saw some fleeing refugees. She remembered that having lost her Wingmen in a space battle, and the Yorktown shortly after that she had escaped to the Planet with 299 Marines and a Fleet Medical Officer. She had assured the refugees that her 300 troops would hold the enemy at bay while they escaped, now she saw some portable automated Pulse Phaser and Torpedo turrets placed on the hills on the left and right sides of her dug in platoon, she tightened her combat webbing. It was now she realized she carried three types of bladed weapons, her Mek'Leth and Bat'Leth and on her right hip was her D'Tagh Knife and on her left was her collapsible quarterstaff. She also had her Phaser versions of her trusty Desert Eagle Pistols and a standard Mk 40 Pulse Phaser Auto-fire Rifle it resembled in size and style the rifles used in Picards time on the Enterprise-E, but it had more options and was somewhat more powerful. She looked to her left and right and noticed that all her troops carried an assortment of bladed weapons. Somers: So our enemy finds honour in bladed combat, ::it was then she noticed her units patch:: First Platoon 95th Rifle Regiment Starfleet Marine Corps ::pause:: dammit the Federation must be in an all out war if old units had been reformed ::she said to herself.:: ::There was one refugee who she held back so he could carry her last recording to her superiors on Earth, she sealed and coded the device and looked at the refugee.:: Somers: Give this to the First Starfleet Ship Captain or Klingon ship Captain you meet and tell them this ::beat:: This is the last report from Colonel Alexandria Lynne Somers Colonel in the 95th Rifle Regiment and we shall hold out for as long as we can, while we can, do you understand? ::she asked and the guy nodded.:: Good now get to your transport ::she said and watched him flee as sonic booms were heard as enemy drop ships made their decent.:: Raise the Regimental colours ::She said, knowing that one of her own crew would have picked up their battle Colours along with the Federation flag.:: ((USS Yorktown - Betazed Orbit - One day earlier)) ::The Trio of ships commanded by Alex arrived in the Betazed system and was immediately in combat, after years of fighting together these three crews reacted as one and their enemy found out just what the Achilles class was capable of, but despite early victories, they had numbers against them. The enemy had plenty, they were only three Elite ships, but they cut a good sized chunk into the enemy armada. They used their torpedoes sparingly after the first volleys, now the element of surprise had gone and the enemy ships began to cause damage to them, Alex was clinging to her chair as reports from her Comms Officer came in.:: 1st Lieutenant Lane: Captain, the New Horizon has just been lost a number of escape pods are heading for the Betazoid foothills and the Nimitz has gone out in traditional Klingon fashion and we have began to show some damage, we will not last much longer all torpedoes are spent we are only on Phasers now ::she reported.:: Somers: Okay we will take as many with us as we can, order all excess crew to abandon ship use every available shuttle and escape pods and head to the location of the Nimitz escape pods, I will remain with my XO and two Officers, I assume there is enough power to send a distress call and Emergency transporters? ::she asked.:: Officer: Yes Captain, also I have brought these for you, it would be a shame to leave them behind ::the Officer said handing Alex her prized weapons, the Twin Katanas she carried in the past were nowhere to be seen.:: Somers: ::Smiling:: Thank you now send off that distress call and get to an escape pod ::she said and watched as most of her crew left.:: Its bigger than a shuttle, but I think I can fly her ::she said sitting at the Helm, Triome take shields Keral weapons lets show them what riflemen can do shall we? ::she said as she swung her ship around and out to a safe distance and stopped.:: Lt. Col. Triome: Why are they not shooting? ::the Bolian first Officer asked.:: Somers: Well you have one badly beaten up Achilles class ship facing off over a thousand enemy ships, they enemy commander is probably thinking I am either insane, I am going to run or I am going to Kamikaze, if what intel files say about these Grivaan are correct the enemy Commander is either curious or shocked, but expect a communication from him soon, Keral how are those weapons looking? ::she asked her Klingon Second Officer.:: Major Keral: All weapons are functional, but I estimate we will last no more than ten minutes, fifteen if extremely lucky. Somers: ::Looking at the Klingon:: I would like to say today is a good day to die, but we will not be dying this day my friend ::she said and as predicted the enemy commander contacted her.:: Triome: Captain, we have the enemy Commander hailing Somers: Onscreen ::she said and the image of a Grivaan War Leader appeared.:: Who do I have the distinct honour of addressing? ::Alex asked, becoming formal:: oO Now to see if Starfleet Intelligence got something right Oo War Leader K'Faali: ::he puffed up with self-pride at the sudden formality given by this Soldier, he was of the old school, where; when one Officer addressed another, they obeyed a strict protocol; this Soldier bore authority about her and displayed some formality.:: you have the honour of addressing War Leader K'Faali Commander of this Fleet, and who am I speaking to? ::he asked just as formally.:: Somers: ::Stepping around the helm station and coming to Parade rest where she showed her unit patches and rank:: You Sir have the honour of addressing Colonel Alexandria Somers Commander of the USS Yorktown and a Senior Officer in the 95th Rifle Regiment Starfleet Marine Corps, we are one of the many Elite Spec Ops units in the Federation ::she responded.:: K'Faali: I am pleased to meet the commander of the trio of ships that has caused my fleet much damage, now as one warrior to another, I offer you a chance to surrender with honour, you will be shown every respect of a proven warrior. ::beat:: Before you reject my onetime offer think, your ship has no heavy weapons left only beam weapons, your ship is badly damaged and will not survive a short exchange with one of my frigates. So surrender with honour and I shall allow your troops on the planet and those still on your ship to go free, on this you will have my solemn oath ::he said.:: ::Alex looked at her First Officer and made a motion to cut audio as she turned and made her way back around to the helm station. With her back to the viewscreen and no audio going out she spoke.:: Somers: Well bless my cotton socks, Starfleet Intelligence got something right for once, I have set this ship on auto-pilot and it will hold out long enough for us to beam to the planet, get some weapons from your quarters quickly and beam down to the planet, I will join you directly, we have one final duty to perform on the planet, while I have one final duty up here, now go ::she said, both nodded and left the bridge.:: ::Turning back to the viewscreen as she sat, she saw the War Leaders curious look as to why this human had dismissed her visibly remaining crew, now pressing a button on her console she reopened audio.:: Somers: Apologies War Leader, final instructions to my Officers. K'Faali: You are going to surrender with honour? ::he asked hope edging his speech.:: Somers: No, your offer is most generous and I am truly honoured, but you have no idea on my Unit they were not called Somers Renegades for nothing. No Sir, we shall meet again in personal combat on the planet below, there the final result will be decided. Good day to you War Leader K'Faali I will see you on the fields below Qua'pla ::she said and closed the link.:: ::She programmed in an excellent and creative attack pattern and checked to see if her two remaining crew had gone, confirming they had, she set the ship on auto, stepped into the middle of the bridge and put her combat harness on with all her bladed weapons and her Phasers, she stood and looked around.:: Somers: We had some good time huh old friend, but we shall meet again ::she said to her ship:: Computer begin attack run and energize ::she said as she vanished from the bridge and the Yorktown attacked.:: ((Earth - Starfleet Headquarters September 20 2421)) ::Now Alex found herself observing a group of people, it was the CinC of Starfleet, the Intelligence Commander and some Admirals from the Security and external operations Departments. Standing in the middle was her husband Paul Sharpe, his hair was white and he was in Civilian clothes, but had the Kronos Ambassadorial sash on, next to him was the Klingon Chancellor and on his right were their two children, Marine Captain Samantha Lynne Somers and Lieutenant Paul Sharpe Junior plus to her surprise was the Romulan Proconsul. Her daughter was the image of a younger Alex. Now her consciousness watched these people watch her last report recording from her.:: Commander Thompson: Sirs ::an Aide came rushing in, with Paul Sharpe and his two children in tow, both had been told of events with the Yorktown.:: A refugee gave this to me with a direct message from Colonel Somers. Fleet Admiral Jennings: Out with it Commander Thompson: ::clearing his throat:: It reads This is the last report from Colonel Alexandria Lynne Somers Colonel in the 95th Rifle Regiment and we shall hold out for as long as we can, while we can.€ ::pause:: That is the message, also the refugee mentioned that the Starfleet surviving troops had erected their Battle Standard and the Federation flag as enemy drop ships were landing ::he said handing the recording to the Fleet Admiral.:: ::He took it and dismissed the Aide and placed the recording and the first images to greet them was the 95th Rifle Regiment 1st Battalion Flag.:: Somers: Stardate 242115.09 my trio of ships has fallen in orbit of Betazed, The USS Nimitz went with all hands, some survivors from the USS New Horizon landed safely on the planet, plus most of my crew from the USS Yorktown. Send a large Fleet you will need it; I have including myself only 299 Riflemen and one Fleet doctor, we have set up a defensive position at the foothills of Betazed, by the time you get this we will all be dead. My ships faced a large Grivaan Fleet and we accounted for half of that number, unfortunately all their fighter Carriers survived. As this is my last report, I have a few requests ::her recording said.:: Sharpe: 300 troops against thousands of enemy troops, It is a modern Battle of Thermopylae ::Paul said.:: Chancellor Torok: ::Looking at Sharpe:: What is this battle you are on about? Sharpe: ::Looks at the Chancellor:: I would ask Sir that you look up ancient Earth history, Greek Armies, search parameters Spartan Warrior or simply put in Battle of Thermopylae. This will tell you what I am on about, 300 Spartan troops against the Persian Empire, the troops held out for seven days three of which were battles. But considering today's weapons and tactics, Alex's assessment is correct they could hold out for three days max. ::pause:: But knowing Alex she will hold out for six, either way we will be too late getting there. ::As she was dreaming this, Alex wondered what the hell was going on, it was like she was connected to all areas where her mortal self was or recording were, plus watching things unfold as Paul comforted their Daughter and Son.:: Somers: ::Looking directly at the Chancellor, as if she knew he would be there sent a chill up all their spines.:: first request is to you Chancellor, I ask only that you hand my Bat'Leth, Mek'Leth and Dag'TagH to my Daughter, also she is to be put through Klingon bladed Combat training. Passing my weapons to her as they are hers by right of succession and it must be honoured ::she said and the Chancellor absently nodded.:: ::She looked directly at the Fleet Admiral of Starfleet.:: Somers: Any to you Fleet Admiral Sir I ask that our bodies are recovered and given full military honours funerals and that when a memorial is erected; you put on the following passage for the memorial, perhaps it will give our forces courage to overcome our foe, the inscription should read:- €œIf we do not live another Day, Then say this over our Pyre: They died like Riflemen Their Faces to the Fire€ ::The Fleet Admiral would grant this as it would sit well with the Klingon's who were essential in keeping the enemy at bay and the Colonel was correct, it would motivate Federation Alliance Forces.:: Proconsul P'tretil: A touching verse, it would motivate me to be better than those who died ::he said, in typical Romulan fashion.:: Sharpe: Exactly sir, that is what my wife intended ::Paul said and the Proconsul looked contrite.:: Somers: ::Now she looks directly at Paul Sharpe Senior:: and you Paul my love, I will see you again where no Shadows fall. ::she looks at her two children:: My logical little Paul, so inventive and who follows his father, my lovely daughter Samantha; remember that nothing is forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten, ::she looked back at her husband:: Paul on my grave I want the following text placed €œAlexandria Somers, she lived for as she died, in combat€ ::beat:: that the personal stuff out of the way, my report is as stands, until reinforcements arrive, Betazed is in enemy hands. This is Colonel Alexandria Somers signing off, Fly safe and true ::with that the recording ended.:: Jennings: Time to organise that taskforce, you coming Chancellor? Chancellor: Of course, Proconsul, can your people send a cloaked scout ship out and supply transports to carry their valiant dead back? ::the Klingon chancellor said.:: ::The Romulan only nodded and was about to leave as a member of Species 8472 walked into the room in its natural form draped in a cloak and using an injection changed shape to human and spoke.:: Species 8472: Could my troops join you on this, your Warrior was well known to us and treated us with fairness and honour, we wish to repay this. Jennings: By all means Ambassador, we would be honoured ::he replied and all left the room to get things done.:: ((Foothills - Betazed - Early morning September 16 2421)) ::Suddenly she was back in her older body and looked to her rear and there was the two flags fluttering in the breeze as over a thousand Grivaan Elite troops led by War Leader K'Faali, who advanced forward under a flag of truce as he looked admiringly at the elderly humans bladed weapon assortments.:: K'Faali: I offer you this final chance to surrender. Somers: ::Stepping out in front and looking up at the taller being but directly into his eyes:: We shall both die in the days to come War Leader and I must say that it has been my honour to fight a worthy opponent, if only we had met when I was younger, then I would be the only one standing out of both of us. K'Faali: Hmm€¦ Pride, bluster but both backed up by pure courage, I am also similarly honoured to have faced you in honourable combat ::he said and both Grivaan and Human returned to their lines.:: Somers: Truly an honourable warrior race, but I know the effect my death will have on my daughter and I pity any Grivaan that crosses her when she has come of age ::Alex said:: Okay Rifles lock and Load, aim and fire when you have a solid lock ::she said and suited action to words.:: ::Not exactly as predicted, It took five days before the Riflemen's ammunition was exhausted, by now there were craters all around her surviving troops, her flanking Phaser and torpedo turrets had expended their compliment of torpedoes and the Phaser Turrets had been destroyed, but only after taking a heavy toll on the Grivaan shock troops, now under a tattered Battle flag of her Battalion and the UFP flag the remaining Riflemen took out their Phaser Pistols, Alex her Desert Eagle Phaser Pistols and fired at the charging Grivaan. More enemy were cut down and they pulled back, but it was dawn on the sixth day as the surviving riflemen pulled out their bladed weapons, the Fleet Doctor had no such bladed weapon, so Alex loaned her Mek'Leth.:: Somers: Do you know how to use one of these? ::she asked.:: Fleet Doctor: Yes, but only at novice level. Somers: These are Grivaan to'ba; not Klingon Warriors ::Alex said as she looked down at the lifeless body of her Bolian First Officer.:: Commander Simmerson: Understood Colonel ::she replied taking the Mek'Leth.:: ::Alex like her troop stood atop their barrier various blades drawn and glinting in the sunrise, as the Grivaan charge with their bladed weapons drawn, she speaks loudly:: Somers: Okay people, fight and die well, for today is a good day to die ::she said and saw out of the corner of her eye her Klingon Major puff up with pride, ready to die in battle.:: ::Next thing she knew she was watching her older self embed her blade deep into the War Leaders chest, while his blade went right through her heart and was sticking out of her back, with red blood dripping from it. As both warriors collapsed together, all their troops around them dead; both leaders look at each other and gave each other a grudging smile of mutual respect, as the life left the both of them. Somehow Alex who was watching this happen knew that a Federation Alliance Fleet had arrived and that no more enemy troops would be landing.:: Somers: ::Suddenly she knew what she had witnessed, it was her death:: so this is how I am to meet my end ::she said, her father had once told her that her ancestors always knew when they would die, when a certain path they walked had reached a fork and they all ended going down the same road, all her past family they all had a very vivid and profound dream, now Alex had just gotten hers.:: ::She found herself now standing alongside her husband and children on the hill over-looking the battlefield along with Torok, Jennings, P'tretil and Thompson; Jennings Aide. All looked down at the mix of Starfleet and Grivaan bodies and two of those were easily identifiable as both had blades sticking out of their chests and all were under a battle tattered Banner of the 1st Battalion of the 95th Rifle Regiment, the Federation flag had fallen majestically between the two dead leaders of the opposing troops as to signify what both armies had been fighting over. As the group got closer Alex found she floated along with them and all could see a small smile on their faces.:: Sharpe: I never understood it when she had that smile ::he said.:: ((End Dreamscape)) ((Alex Somers Bedroom - Somers Estate - 0800 hours)) ::Alex awoke in a cold sweat and screaming.:: A. Somers: ARRGH!! ::As her parents and sister all rushed in worried, she looked at them:: I hate those type of dreams ::she said realizing her hands were shaking.:: S. Somers: ::her father sat on the side of her bed and hugged her:: what is it sweetie? ::he asked.:: A. Somers: ::She looked at her father:: Dad remember you told me once about that dream few of my ancestors always had at a certain point in their lives? ::she said.:: S. Somers: Yes ::he said hesitantly knowing where this was going, as he too went through it around his daughters age.:: A. Somers: Well I had that dream, daddy, I know when and where I am going to die ::she said as she broke down in tears, not hearing the gasps of her Mother and sister as both had been told of such an event and like Alex all believed in such an occurrence.:: TBC Marine Captain Alexandria €˜Red Vixen' Somers (PNPC) Recon/Demolitions Duronis II Embassy/USS Thunder-A & Colonel (Ret) Samuel Somers Ambassador to Kronos/Father & Warrant Officer Karyn Somers(formerly PNPC) 1st Battalion 21st MACO Regiment Dreamscape Characters Commander Paul Sharpe Senior Ambassador to Kronos & Fleet Admiral Jennings(NPC) CinC Starfleet United Federation of Planets & Chancellor Torok(NPC) Klingon High Chancellor Klingon Empire & Proconsul P'tretil(NPC) Romulan Empire & Lt. Colonel Triome(NPC) First Officer 95th Rifles 1st bn SFMC USS Yorktown NCC 1941-C & Major Keral(NPC) Second Officer/Klingon Exchange Officer 95th Rifles 1st bn SFMC USS Yorktown NCC 1941-C & Commander Simmerson(NPC) Chief Medical Officer USS Yorktown NCC 1941-C & Commander Thompson(NPC) Aide to CinC Starfleet & Unnamed Ambassador(NPC) Species 8472 Envoy & War Leader K'Faali(NPC) Grivaan Fleet Commander 1st Grivaan Expeditionary Fleet Simmed by Lieutenant Paul Sharpe ACTO USS Thunder-A/Duronis II Embassy

((After the Awards – USS Thunder-A – Sharpe/Somers quarters)) ::Paul returned to the bridge and Alex saying she was still feeling under the weather retired to their quarters, she stripped down to her regulation undergarments and laid on the bed and was asleep immediately.:: ((Dreamscape)) ((Somers family Estate – One Month after the Betazed incident 2421)) ::Once again Alex found herself as an observer watching a funeral, she suddenly realized it was hers, most of her family was there as was Paul and her children, she watched as the funeral being an old fashioned affair, saw the coffin descending into a freshly dug grave and felt sorrow. What surprised her the most was that Paul was doing something he never used to do, he had tears running down his face; she thought it sweet and loved him for it. Now all those who were there on Betazed now stood vigil as the honour guard Marines from her old-selfs regiment fired a twelve rifle salute, for those not human they paid respects their way. The Romulan Proconsul gently dropped in an old Romulan blade and moved off.:: Klingon Chancellor Torok: ::the Klingon Chancellor gently placed a bottle of Bloodwine and a ceremonial Dag’TagH in the grave, and spoke.:: Have something to drink in Sto’vor’kor Colonel Somers. ::Other officials and family placed other items not so grand, then came her children’s turn, her son Paul Sharpe Junior placed in an old toy she had gotten for him and her Daughter Samantha Lynne Somers placed a rose in. Paul Senior put in his Katana blade and holding his children walked away.:: ((Betazed Foothills – 16 September 2422 – One year to the day)) ::Now Alex was back on Betazed a little disorientated and she was once again watching a ceremony.:: Somers: oO Oh man this is confusing, what year is it now?Oo ::she asked herself.:: ::The same officials that were at her funeral, were now joined by a Grivaan ambassador, she was really confused now, but listened in.:: Federation President: I thank you all for coming; we are here at the foothills on Betazed one year to the day of the deciding battle of the Federation Alliance/Grivaan Imperium conflict. ::beat:: It was in December that the Grivaan High Command contacted us and asked for a ceasefire and an offer of peace. What we know now, but did not then was the last Stand made by Federation forces on this spot sealed the prospect of a lasting peace-treaty between us and the Grivaan Imperium. ::beat:: Now on this day to honour those who fell here, both Grivaan and Federation, a day of remembrance will commence, a short Human style Ceremony will start this, followed by the Grivaan one, Fleet Admiral Jennings ::he said stepping away and allowing the CinC Starfleet to take the podium.:: Jennings: As requested by the late Colonel Alexandria Somers the following passage has been placed upon this monument, this passage is as follows. “If we do not live another Day, Then say this over our Pyre: They died like Riflemen Their Faces to the Fire” We have honoured her request and agreed that it is fitting for who she was and who her men were. ::As the Admiral droned on Alex looked at one large memorial, elegant in its shape; It was similar in style to the Iwo Jima Monument on Earth. It showed a graven image of Alex and some of her men on the left with the 95th Rifle 1st Battalion Regimental Battle Honours Battle banner fluttering in the breeze, held up by one of the other figures, while the statue of Alex held in her right hand a TR-118 Marine Rifle, this was like a TR-116, but altered for Marine use. On her back in a sheath was a Mek’leth blade, her left arm and hand was outstretched and supporting a UFP flag as its center, while on the right of it was the statue of the Grivaan War Leader whose side of the memorial mirrored the left, but his right hand was also holding the Federation banner but his had was below hers and he held a Grivaan rifle in his other hand and his troops supported the Grivaan Imperium battle standard.:: Jennings: Both Statues hold the Federation Flag between them, this symbolizes two things, the reason why they fought and died for and what finally brought our two species together, Ambassador Sharpe. Somers: Bloody Hell The guy is still a [...] wind bag, he puts Politicians to shame sheesh ::she said, aware that she could not be heard, suddenly Paul being called to the podium was a surprise.:: this should be interesting ::she quietly said to herself.:: Sharpe: Thank you Admiral Jennings ::he said and turned to face the assemble delegates:: Most of you knew Alex after she had left the Duronis II Embassy, by this time she had mellowed somewhat, but before Duronis II she was a wild-fire, she always got into trouble with her Senior Officers, she had a tendency to get things done her own way, while some of the time they worked, but when she was on a Starship things were different, having been there for most of her interesting encounters always brings a smile to my face ::he reflected a moment.:: But that was the past, this is the present, I would like to quote an old Human Prime Minister who spoke these very words in the Aftermath of the early 20th Centuries World War Two conflict the Battle of Britain, as in what happened here a year ago reflected what happened back then, I hope the symbolism is not lost on anyone?. ::pause, then he began:: “Never in the Field of Human conflict, was so much, owed by so many to so few”. ::Alex felt a lump coming to her throat.:: Sharpe: One final honour passage before I hand the stage over to the Grivaan Ambassador ::beat:: They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn them and at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them ::He said and indicated to a bugler who played the Last Post.:: ::After a few minutes bowed silence he looked up.:: Sharpe: Thank You All, Ambassador Gr’taal ::he said using a Grivaan greeting motion with his hands.:: ((End Dreamscape)) ((USS Thunder-A – Sharpe/Somers Quarters – Present day)) ::Alex awoke screaming.:: Somers: ARRRRGH! ::coughing and automatically regulating her breathing patters as she had been trained to do:: In the name of all that is good in the world, I thought this had finished back home, dammit ::she said getting out of bed on shaky legs and spotting the case of Klingon Bloodwine, walking over she picked up the crate and sat at the bottom of the bed and opened the first bottle and took a healthy swig.:: ::She looked around the darkened room with dark thoughts as she began to cry once again.:: TAG, TBC Marine Captain Alexandria ‘Red Vixen’ Somers (PNPC)Recon/Demolitions Duronis II Embassy/USS Thunder-A & (Dreamscape Characters) Unnamed Politician (NPC)United Federation of Planets President Sol Sector – Earth & Chancellor Torok (NPC)Klingon High ChancellorKlingon EmpireQo’noS & Ambassador Paul Sharpe Ambassador to Qo’noS & Fleet Admiral JenningsCommand in Chief Starfleet Command Sol Sector - Earth Simmed by Lieutenant Paul SharpeAssistant Chief Tactical Officer USS Thunder-A/Duronis II Embassy

((Holodeck, Starbase 118)) ::Captain Nicholotti commanded the attention of her staff in much the same way she always managed to do it. The magnetism she projected and the respect she commanded captivated the beach-goers.:: Nicholotti: Hello everyone. ::She smiled.:: I do hope that you will all enjoy the good food and good company we've managed to pull together for this little gathering. ::As she spoke, the intricate, “political” situation seemed to unravel itself before Ben’s very eyes. An explanation was provided regarding Lt. Commander Matthews’ presence, and the Captain managed to frame it as Starfleet Command having great confidence in the Starbase Operations staff. Then, as though to something between a consolation prize and a catalyst for the whole shift, Commander Walker was restored to the rank of captain. :: ::Ben found himself scratching his head as to how events had unfolded to land them where they were. Despite the brief explanation regarding Walker’s history, the whole situation seemed quite strange. However they’d gotten here, Ben foresaw some very difficult conversations between their Commanding Officer, First Officer, and Second Officer resulting from the huge jumble of positions and ranks. Ranks were supposed to make everything more clearly defined, yet here they seemed to do the opposite.:: Nicholotti: I also want to formally offer promotions that were granted in the field during this last mission. Captain Dubeau, and Lieutenant MacLaren, if you would please join me? ::Ben smiled as the pair stepped forward to receive their well-deserved promotions.:: Alex Matthews: ::Speaking from the crowd.:: Captain if you will permit me. I would like to announce the engagement of Captain Dubeau and Doctor MacLaren. If you all would join me in giving them both your best wishes and hearty congratulations. ::He grinned broadly as the two stepped back into the crowd, smiling to one another, then returned his attention to the Captain.:: Nicholotti: Finally, I have a couple of new promotions to add to that list. I would be lost without officers like all of you, and I am proud to be the Captain of this crew. It is my hope that one day, you will be the next generation of Captains, taking Starfleet to new places, and new heights. For now, I consider it a privilege to promote Lieutenant JG Livingston to full Lieutenant, and Lieutenant JG Silveira to full Lieutenant, with all rights and privileges therein. ::Ben stepped back in surprise, catching himself just before he stepped on someone’s foot. His mind raced.:: ((Flashback – USS Columbia, Deck 24, Main Engineering)) ::Ben glanced over to the spot where Kevin had been, moments ago. Now that someone had taken him to medical, he’d receive the proper treatment, at least there was the peace of knowing he was in good hands. The Chief Engineer had done precisely what Ben had wished he had done in protecting his ship, but the ugly outcome was far from desirable. For a moment, he wished their places might have been reversed; that he had gone down fighting and Breeman was still ready and able to secure the ship. Then, they might all have a chance at survival. As it was … :: ::Main Engineering was a busy place again. Those engineers who had escaped the scene had filtered back in, and those who had taken shelter were back at their posts – or what was left of them. Most had no station to work from, and if they had, they wouldn’t know what to do. With Katy still on the line with Commander Walker, Ben took a place atop a damaged piece of equipment.:: Livingston: ::Aloud:: Alright everybody – listen up! Right here, right now, this looks like the aftermath of a terrible event. But elsewhere on Columbia, they’re still in the thick of it! We’re going to help them. And we’re going to keep the rest of these dragons outside the ship, or we won’t stand a chance. ::Ben paused, trying to allow the situation to settle before continuing. Many of the faces looking at him were pale, frightened things and the rest looked so exhausted that he wasn’t sure they’d be help at all. But they had to be – they would have to put everything they could muster into this, just as Livingston himself was putting forward more than he thought he had.:: Livingston: So this is the gameplan. Power teams –get these damaged EPS ducts and conduits up and running. We’re lucky to have energy at all, and anything else will take it out completely. Reactor and warp drive teams, guess what? You’re power engineers now, so help them out. ::Many of the engineers hurried off toward the damaged areas.:: Livingston: Maintenance teams, and everyone else, I want all hull breaches identified and prioritized, and I want any systems down fixed ASAP. Team leads – you’re in my office in three minutes, and bring ideas on how to keep these monsters out. ::As the rest of the went off to their assignments, Ben was left alone to feel the implications of the threat they still faced.:: ((End Flashback)) ::Ben shuddered as he remembered the events. Kevin had stood alone against the monster that invaded their sanctuary. And then, all of a sudden, he was removed from the equation. Kevin had been needed. He had relationships with the other engineers. He had the experience to know what to fix first and what could wait. Ben had been shooting from the hip as he said those words, trying to put forth some illusion that he knew what to do.:: ::It all came down to this: It should not have been Commander Breeman standing against that dragon. It should have been Lieutenant, Junior Grade Livingston. The one who was more expendable; the one who had no idea, in the aftermath, of what to do.:: ((Flashback – NCO Briefing – USS Columbia, Livingston’s Office)) Karzai: Yes, that would work! Livingston: Alright – is that something your folks can do, or do you need the output in a different format? Karzai: We’d need a surface geometry file – but we can convert it. :: A number of other ideas came up, and before long, the list had grown into a true plan. No single idea would keep them safe by itself, but the redundancy and overlap would be a layered defense; a concentric castle that would, hopefully, protect against these dragons better than their medieval counterparts. With a nod, Ben brought the meeting to a conclusion.:: Livingston: Droogendyk, take Yung and put together details of what it’d take to keep it running. Start by checking our inventories for anything we’ve got – I don’t want to use more power on replicators than we’ll get out of the things. Droogendyk: Yes sir. A lot of the parts will be in the lockers already under de west bay. Dat didn't take a lot of damage. Livingston: That’s fine. Anything else? Droogendyk: Nope. Livingston: Alright, Karzai, I want that power output map for Ops ASAP – that’s our short-term solution, so pull in whatever resources you need. Karzai: Yes, sir. Livingston: Alright, everyone else, keep your teams up and running, and let me know immediately if you need any additional resources. Dismissed! ((End Flashback)) ::The previous missions had pushed every officer to their breaking point. For Ben, it had meant being bigger, being stronger, being more certain than he actually was. It meant filling a role for which he was not qualified.:: ::Missions were supposed to strengthen people and accomplish things. At the end of all this, though, Ben felt only less certain. Had they managed to pull through and rescue their crewmembers despite the tremendous obstacles? Yes, they had. But Ben felt wearied by it, as though in the sleepy stupor that lingers when awoken in the night.:: ::Lieutenant Ben Livingston meant more responsibility, not less, than Lieutenant, Junior Grade Ben Livingston. It meant he’d be called on to an even greater extent, though he felt pressed to the limit as it was. What would happen if he was not up to the task? The only way to grow is to stretch outward, but do you know as you approach your limit the moment at which you’ll topple over?:: ::Over to the side, Vitor stepped forward to receive his promotion. What was he thinking about it? Ben had no idea. In that moment, Ben was not certain of the outcome, but seeing no alternative, he gulped down his apprehension and made up his mind to boldly go into the unknown.:: ::He stepped forward.:: Silveira: Thank you Captain. ::he winked as he received the pip.:: LIVINGSTON: ::quietly:: Thank you, Captain. ::As he received the pip in his hand, it seemed heavier than he had expected. His hand dropped slightly under its weight. Was it a pip made of lead, perhaps, or a pip made of gold?:: Nicholotti: Congratulations to you both. ::And then, after a moment, she released all of her officers to the relaxing call of the beach, the festive nature of the circus, and the alluring call of the food.:: And with that complete, enjoy the party! ::As the buzz of excitement began to whirl once more around him, Ben was, for now, still in that moment. Beside him, perhaps, someone had said “congratulations,” but whether to him or someone else, he neither knew nor wanted to find out. Ben remembered what Captain Nicholotti had said. The words rang in his ears.:: ((Flashback – moments before)) Nicholotti: It is my hope that one day, you will be the next generation of Captains, taking Starfleet to new places, and new heights. ((End Flashback)) ::It was most probably something said for dramatic effect, or a token expression used at promotions. But the words had been said, and whatever she’d meant by them, to Ben they heralded the long years of a career filled with the sorts of tragedies and trials that he’d already faced. If there would someday be a Captain Livingston, Ben wondered as a sort of passive observer who it would be. It would not be the Ben Livingston of this day. It certainly would not be the bright-eyed ensign he’d been when he first stepped onto the Starbase. That man had been killed aboard the Columbia.:: ---- Lieutenant Ben Livingston Assistant Chief Engineer Starbase 118 Ops

(( Laudean Military Command, Lokesh City )) :: Blood. Fire. Pain. Blood soaked ground. Fire burning from disruptor blasts. Pain as the shrapnel tore into his body. In many ways, Bomani was one of the lucky ones. He survived the onslaught at Bondi...however, most of his men did not. His unit was decimated, caught between a Klingon and Orion platoons in a murderous pincer movement which cut them off from the rest of their counterparts. The Battle Of Bondi was more than just a battle to repel invaders...it was a slaughterhouse, and Bomani had never seen such ferocious fighting. As the battle raged, he hoped the Starfleet personnel on the ridge above him could keep the Klingons, Orions, and Scarlet Brotherhood at bay. There were so few of them...only four, and two of them were women. When the Federation had returned once the Romulans had been ejected, Nothing had prepared him for the horrors he witnessed on that day, or the bravery of those Starfleet personnel who took their place on that ridge. They refused to yield, even under the rain of mortar fire directed at them. Even when over the comms it was thought they would be overrun, they fought on, with the fervor of brutality Bomani never expected..and even with his platoon suffering ninety percent casualties, he could see Starfleet still holding that ridge..and it heartened him to fight even harder, even more boldly. Here were essentially guests on their world, and they would fight so fiercely for a world upon which they were not born or trying to conquer? No..there was something special about them, and no one had expected them to fight for them, especially after their ship was so badly damaged and burning in space in the skies aove them. :: The battle ebbed and flowed, and the panicked voices on the comms, including his own, were exhorting the platoons where to redeploy to curb the onslaught. Then...the battle turned as the Scarlet Brotherhood forces seemed like they folded into itself, buried under murderous Laudean fire. As the Orions broke off to meet this new threat, Bomani took the rest of his forces and dove straight into their lines..he did not think about his life then, only victory. The Laudean forces overwhelmed them, and comm traffic indicated the Klingons were moving to reinforce. Sustaining the attack would be impossible if the Klingons were able to get more troops in the area...thery were beginning to run short of weaponry, and casualties were mounting, in spite of their advances. Bomani could hear on the comms the Klingons wee coming, but Starfleet was holding them out...and he could see them on the ridge..but one man was bigger than the others...he could see him occasionally through the smoke, and Bomani knew this was no normal Starfleet officer, that Starfleet had warriors among them more than equal to the Klingons, and yet, they were proponents of peace. Once the day had been won, and the wounded and dead were being attended to, Bomani learned that the Starfleet personnel were still fighting...now they were attempting to hunt down the rest of those who may have still been in Lokesh City, and the after action reports say they were quite successful in dealing with the stragglers, especially the huge one..:: :: The slight pain of his still recovering injuries jolted him back from his memories of the battle, to the report on his desk. Actually, he had two reports. Through the Prime Ministers office, he had managed to obtain the names of the Starfleet officers who fought so valiantly on the ridge above them, ensuring victory for the Laudeans, and especially, the name of the huge officer with them. Although much of his Starfleet record was redacted, Bomani did get his name and rank....Major Hannibal Tiberious Parker. Bomani knew he could learn much from this man...he had never seen a soldier...which to Bomani, was exactly what he was....like him before, and it was evident by his record he was no stranger to combat, having served during the Dominion War, and had even served with the Klingons during that conflict. He would have to meet this man, and learn from him what he could...:: :: Many Laudeans felt gratitude towards the Federation and Starfleet, but within the military, sentiments ran both hot and cold. There were some who resented the fact the battle turned on the actions of the Starfleet officers, that the Laudeans could have held out against the forces arrayed against them. Bomani knew the truth was a little different. He was there. If the Klingons had been able to reinforce, he would be dead, and so would most of the Laudeans in that valley. Bondi would have been lost, and Lokesh City would have fallen soon after. They would have lost the planet. Bomani had heard stories of what the Orions would do to their women, selling them into slavery onto far off worlds...the Scarlet Brotherhood using their planet to attack a place called Bajor...and the Klingons to finally destroy their long enemy, the Romulans. Ti'hahn would have been violated, stripped, its people forced into servitude under the rule of dictatorship...he had seen that under Romulan rule, and he wanted no part of that again...:: :: Soon, Starfleet would return, to re-occupy their rebuilt embassy, and with a ship more capable to fending off attacks...a battle cruiser. The subject wasn't taboo, but it was clear the military saw this as an affront to their superiority, that they could not protect their own world. Now, with essentially a battleship returning to their space, how would Starfleet, and the Federation, behave now? Bomani believed that the Federation would be the same, and Starfleet had lost many in defense of their world, and they wanted to make sure they could defend the work they were trying to do here. The new ship, the Thunder-A, would be there soon, only sharpening the debate. He was going to do everything he could to prove many in the military wrong..he was staking his military career and his family on it....:: PNPC Submarshal Bomani Abasi Commander, Laudean Defense Forces Laudean Region As simmed by: Major Hannibal Tiberious Parker 2nd Officer/ Marine Commander/ Chief Of Strategic Operations USS Thunder-A/ Duronis II Embassy

((Matthew's Bedroom - London, England, Earth )) ::Sat in the dark and gloom of his bedroom, a small boy crossed his legs and pulled the covers over his head. Night Light zipped through the covers, phasing through it effortlessly. It was like firefly; a hologram hovering in mid-air and liked to follow him around the room. Night Light knew the purpose of the deed, such was his intelligence.:: :: Matthew's father had sent him the latest in novel history, the pinnacle of the realms of the imagined and the forefront of the Starfleet mission - the new Federation Man comic!:: ::Carefully, he turned the padd on and started his journey into the dark underworld of the Federation aided only by Night Light, his sidekick.:: (( Space, Comic Universe )) ::The blackness of space stuck out like a carrot in a bag of turnips. Stars twinkled and flashed as a mysterious object floated past them, unnoticed by a cluster of meteorites and the occasional lump of space debris. Time seemed to standstill.:: ::There was a great thud and a crash! Suddenly the mysterious object became aflame with bright burning embers! The blinding blue flash of a torpedo whizzed past and sank poetically into the hull of the mysterious object. It turned, trying to hold onto the stability drives as the structural integrity field began to collapse beneath the strain it was put under. As the light shone over the gun metal grey hull plating, the name of the object glimmered like a beacon of forgotten heroism.:: ::The USS Defender exploded.:: ((Matthew's Bedroom - London, England, Earth )) ::Matthew jumped at the final screen as it showed the beautiful USS Defender, the home of Federation Man and the pinnacle of all that was just and wonderful shattered like light into a pit of obscurity. His heart sank. What a way to start the new adventures! Matthew was enticed. He poked his head out from underneath the covers, Night Light darting out, illuminating the shadowy bedroom.:: ::Satisfied there were no monsters, he ducked his head back underneath the blanket and read on.:: (( USS Defender, Comic Universe )) ::24 Hours Before...:: ::The USS Defender floated seamlessly through the unknown sector, touching the intricacies that the universe had to offer as many souls on board spent their time on a little rest and relaxation. The light from a distant sun and moon glinted off the highly polished ablative armour, the forcefield windows glistened as they automatically adjusted the light to an acceptable level for those inside the vessel and the nearby planet shone in a blue hue.:: ::Captain Robin Sharp stood beside the window, his arms crossed over his chest and he surveyed the glinting darkness. His ship cat, Duck, lay on the sofa, swishing his tail back and forth as he dreamt of mice scurrying along old mooring ropes. The feline stretched his back paws into the air, as though catching an invisible ball of yarn.:: Sharp: Night Siege ::A voice behind him echoed in the back of his mind.:: Lockstock: So, you want us to stay here, then, sir? ::Robin didn't smile, his face as stoic as a Vulcan's. His eyes a staunch frown.:: Sharp: Yes, I am connected to this place. Lockstock: If you don't mind me asking, sir, this area of space is entirely unexplored; we needed Starfleet permission to enter here. Other than that wreckage off the port bow, it looks deserted. ::he bristled:: What is this place? ::The floating wreck of a vessel that may have once resembled a Federation starship floated in the distance, captured by space, unwilling to let it go. Robin narrowed his eyes and looked back.:: Sharp: This is where I died. (( Argent Sphere, Comic Universe )) ::Meanwhile....:: ::The ship groaned in the twinkling hue of the starts, flying with a whisper past the great star in the system. The vessel made of spires and spikes, composed of fire and brimstone, crackled through space like lightening through the sky. The engines roared brilliantly, deafening, rising to the sound of a violin string stretched across chasms that would never snap.:: Crazefury: The Federation ::he spat the words:: put their misguided faith in one starship to protect them. ::his fist curled:: We will CRUSH them slowly... painfully ::A fist slammed into the metal table, rattling it to the foundation bolts in the decking. The fists' owner growled, snarling underneath the black brim of the cap resting atop his dark hair, before speaking in voice that shook those present to their very core.:: Night Siege: Federation Man is mine. ::the words dripped like blood:: My plan is proceeding as expected. Sharp will investigate the wreckage and find what he has been looking for. ::The low guttural growl intensified, rolling out of his throat. A green light, a beam the width of a pencil shone onto the viewscreen windows of the dark Argent Sphere, creating a targeted ring around the wreckage and a shuttle with blue nacelles heading towards it.:: ((Matthew's Bedroom - London, England, Earth )) Gillian Brice: Matthew! ::The boy squeaked, pulling the cover off his head, his heart pounding inside his small chest. He looked up into the friendly face of his grandmother who was already tucking the covers back around the boy, taking the PADD from his hands and placing it down on the bedside table.:: Matthew Brice: But... but... ::She shook her head.:: Gillian Brice: No buts, mister. Bedtime. Federation Man can wait until morning. ::With a kiss to his forehead, Gillian left the room, the door closing behind her as Night Light sped across the darkness. He waited until he could hear the footfalls down the corridor before grasping for the PADD again, only this time he reread the letters from his father and his Kolla.:: ::As his eyes started to drift to a close, he began to dream of being Federation Man, out there on the USS Defender, protecting his parents.:: TBC PNPC Matthew Brice Civilian, Child Future Federation Man Earth As simmed by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Brice Research & Development Engineer USS Apollo, NCC-71669

((Backstage, King Levin III Grand Opera House, Va'ku)) ::Baale dipped a slender finger into a small ceramic pot containing a reddish paste. The paste was made from the crushed shells of a type of ocean arachnid. She brought her finger up and smudged a little paste on the prominences of her cheeks, rubbing it until it blended beautifully into her blue skin. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, turning her head from side to side, guiding a wayward lock of hair into its rightful place. Her long glossy black hair was fashioned into a towering sculpture, rivulets of which cascaded down onto her bare shoulders. She hooked large golden hoops to her ears, one for each lobe, and inserted her graceful arms through a string of gilded bracelets and bangles, some of which glittered and shimmered with embedded gemstones the color of the rainbow. Pleased with what she saw in the mirror, she got off her stool and made one gentle turn on her dainty forefeet, her supple neck craning to catch her reflection as she did so. Her gown billowed out around her, suspended in the water. A creation of immaculate beauty, the coral-hued gossamer gown was a sight to behold. It covered her legs under a bell, tapering as it wound tightly around her waspish waist before flaring upwards to drape loosely over her small breasts. She smiled. She touched the heavy gemstones-laden shell-and-coral choker around her neck. Then her smile vanished. The gorgeous dress, the breathtaking jewelry, the awe-inspiring make-up and hairdo they were all not hers. They belonged to the state. To the men who ran the state. She was merely a character chosen to adorn these accessories for the night's performance. She lifted the hem of the gown and swam out of her dressing room, making her way to the main stage through surprisingly lonely aisles and walkways, murmuring the words to the aria she was about to deliver. She was calm and composed, having done this many, many times before. She was gifted with an exceptional voice, a melodious, hypnotic, soul-stirring voice. The men paid good money to come to see her perform every fortnight. That was her purpose, she reminded herself, to please the men in any way she possibly can. She could begin to hear their rushed and coarse voices even now, as she neared the stage. Lascivious voices, teasing and taunting and impatient. A figure swam hurriedly up to her from a side aisle.:: SIMOUX: ::loud whisper:: Baale! BAALE: ::startled:: Simoux! ::looking around anxiously:: What are you doing here? You are supposed to be at the mill. It's your shift! SIMOUX: Oh Baale! ::She clasped the woman's shoulders in her partially webbed hands.:: I come bearing sorrowful news. BAALE: What is it? ::Her heart rate quickening.:: What news? ::She wasn't entirely certain if she wanted to receive it to begin with.:: SIMOUX: The elder women from the center have been summoned to your father's house. Three of them. Tonight. ::Her heart sank to unfathomable depths. For a moment she honestly thought she had died. She felt nothing. Nothing the warm ocean water caressing her skin. Not the beautiful soft dress hugging her body. Not the enticing lights and music beckoning her to the stage. Three female elders summoned to her father's house. When that happens it only means one thing and one thing only. She was to be married off. And by the next reversal of the nebula's magnetic poles.:: SIMOUX: I am so sorry, Baale. ::Baale's lips quivered when she tried to force a smile. Her shaking hands gently held her friend's and coaxed them off her shoulders. She squeezed Simoux's hands in hers. A tear threatened to spill from her eye.:: BAALE: Lom.. .. ::Her voice choked.:: SIMOUX: I can't get word in. The launch site is too heavily guarded. ::She started shedding tears. If not for herself, for her friend. It was the very least she could do at the moment.:: I will try again when this cycle ends. BAALE: No! It's too dangerous! Don't do it, Simoux. I can't bear to lose you. ::She turned her face away to hide a falling tear.:: SIMOUX: ::turning her friend's face back to her:: Don't cry, Baale. You're going to ruin your make-up. ::She carefully wiped away the stray tear and perfected the rouge once more.:: BAALE: Do you know.. ::voice choking again:: who he is? SIMOUX: ::shaking her head:: No. But I heard it's someone important. Someone very high up in the state. ::Her voice trailed off and she bowed her head.:: ::A gong sounded above them.:: BAALE: I must go now. They are calling me. Thank you, Simoux. ::She kissed her friend on both cheeks.:: Now go! Before you get caught. SIMOUX: Oh Baale.. ::Then she swam away, vanishing down a darkened aisle.:: ::Baale inhaled deeply, expanding her chest and collecting her whit and thought. She blinked back another rebel tear threatening to fall. She hoisted the hem of her gown once again and swam upwards. Upwards through a square cutout that led directly onto the wooden stage. She was blinded by the bright lights, just the way she liked it, so that she needn't peer into the lubricious eyes and salivating mouths of the hoards of males spilling over themselves in lust and desperation, spilling out of the ornate viewing boxes and gaudily gilded seats, competing to catch a glimpse of the exquisite soprano. She waited until the rowdy crowd quieted down before opening her lips to begin singing. This part of the aria was a solo with no musical accompaniment. Her voice was both hypnotic and haunting. She sang the tale of two star-crossed lovers, whose fates conspired against them to keep them forever apart. In the end, only Death could bring them together. This tale she sang with all her heart. An irremediably broken heart.:: TBC ============================= Baale Adaali Va'ku Breeding Center as simmed by LtCmdr Raj Blueheart XO USS DISCOVERY-C

((Ensigns Faranster's Quarters)) :: Greg stood by the door. He was still a little nervous. He hadn't been on the ship an enormous length of time and Sun had been here even less time. Still, he felt he had to say his part. He'd been ordered to rest but hated sitting around. He'd tried to catch up on the latest from the Corps of Engineers but reading was still making his head throb. He'd gone down to the main engineering section only to be chased out by the staff who were under orders not to let him resume duties. In truth, save for Ethan, he didn't have much in the way of good friends. He got on well with all his colleagues and was friendly with all the people he worked with but... friends... real friends... were different. Finally plucking up the courage he tapped the door chime. :: :: Sun had woken up a couple times from the nightmares she was having, deciding she was having no luck with sleeping, she had the replicator make a juicer for her to make juice out of the fruits in the basket. She checked the fruit carefully for the right combination and made herself some juice, the yield was just more than enough to fill a glass. She picked up her PADD and got comfortable on the couch in her living area. She was just getting into fantasy story when she heard the chime to her room. She paused. :: .oO Who would be visiting me at this time of the night? Does anyone even know where my quarters are yet? I just got assigned... Oo. :: She was puzzled by the chime of her door, but curiosity won her over. :: Fananster: I'm up. Come on in. :: Greg stuck his head around the door as it slid open, seeing here sitting reading on a couch in the room. He was relieved he hadn't done something like disturbed her in the middle of a shower or dropped by while she was out. :: :: She was surprised to see Lieutenant Able enter through the door, then again, she was surprised anyone had visited her so soon after she was stationed on the ship, and so late at night. :: Able: Oh, hey there. I... err... just dropped by to see how you were. We all took a hell of a beating down there, I... well I wanted to say thanks, too. You did one hell of a job. Faranster: :: Her face relaxed and she put down her PADD on the little table next to the couch. :: Yeah, it was a rough ride. :: She smiled at the compliment. :: No better than you, you know you must be a genius with tools, working together something to fix up Ra like that. Able: Just one of those talents you pick up when you’re an engineer, sometimes you don’t have the right tool, but you can make the right tool from what you have. I’m just glad I could do something to help Ra. Faranster: Well, I am glad that the right combination of people were down there, not sure if I could have done what I did without the support of the rest of you. Able: That’s what teams are for, I doubt we’d even have gotten out of there piece without your talents. :: Greg was glad to see Sun relax a little and talk about what had gone on but wasn’t happy at just swapping platitudes. He needed to talk... really talk. :: Able: So, how are you holding up? :: She thought about the nightmares, was she that transparent? She wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it, but it was nice having someone ask the question with such concern. :: .oO Sun, sometimes it's not about your answer to the question. Oo. :: She realized that she wasn't the only one up at this hour, looking into his dark eyes she wondered if there was more to the question, more to his visit. :: Faranster: I’m managing, I think. Brain is too busy to sleep. :: Her smile this time was forced, she wasn't telling the whole truth, her brain was too busy scaring the crud out of her. :: What about you? Able: If... you don’t want to talk about it feel free to tell me to buzz off, but I... :: He swallowed hard :: I was worried about you. :: She thought about her behavior in the caves, he had been awake on and off for parts of it. She didn't know how much he remembered. She looked down at her cup of juice and took a sip. Truth be told, she had been worried about herself when she came back to the ship, but she distracted herself enough to keep her mind off her outbursts. :: Faranster: My behavior... my anger on the surface... that's not me. I wouldn't tell you to buzz off.:: She looked up at his face once again, taking in his concern, realizing that wasn't all there was he was concerned about. :: Are you alright, Lieutenant Able? Able: :: he sighed :: I dunno, my heads a bit of a mess. It might still be the effects of that gas or maybe... I just can’t believe we nearly died down there. I always thought I was gonna be prepared for this, when I joined Starfleet I knew the risks and always I accepted them as part of the job, but... I guess nothing can prepare you for actually almost dying. Especially on my first away mission. :: Sun thought about that for a moment, she had seen him in critical condition, he might have even been dying. She had worried about him too, but she only knew the experience from her point of view. :: Able: I had some pretty lucid hallucinations, I didn’t know what was real or what was my mind playing me up. Scared me three sides of stupid, I’ve gotta say. :: By now Greg’s body language had changed from that of his usual air of happy confidence to that of a raw, young officer who was scared. Someone whose realisation had just come crashing in on him. Everything grandpa Able had told him about having your wits turned inside out on you, being scared to within inches of your life. It was true. It wasn’t all spring and roses either. Right now it felt like the worst thing in the galaxy. :: Faranster: I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep my promise to bring you and Commander Lanius back. :: She paused again and closed her eyes as she said the rest.:: I was afraid everyone forgot about us. Able: Hey. One thing you can always be sure of is that while you’ve got a crew behind you, no-one forgets you. It... was close though. I don’t think I appreciated how close until I looked back over the mission data from my tricorder logs. :: She took in what he said, and remembered the trouble that the Apollo had in transporting them back, what would a couple more moments have done? She took a deep breath, not knowing how to react to the new information, she had panicked on the surface, she didn't want to know what knowing this would have done. :: Faranster: We almost failed to come back at all, didn't we? :: Greg saw Sun’s face fall a little as she spoke. :: Able: Hey, hey. Nearly failing is succeeding, albeit by a narrow margin. We’re stood here talking, that means we got out. We’re both still alive and so’s Commander Lanius. :: Greg could tell by now the experience had shaken her up badly too. She’d put a brave face on it in sickbay during the quarantine, but now he could see he wasn’t the only one reeling from the experience. :: :: Sun was starting to relive those last moments in her mind with the new knowledge she had, she had to put down her juice to keep herself from spilling it. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself down.:: Faranster: Good thing we didn't know then how close things were, huh? :: She looked him in the eyes again, her eyes showing she wasn't quite recovered from the replay. :: Able: I didn’t even know which way up was by then, I was tripping like I’d had one too many Romulan Ales. I guess that probably helped, one minute I was in a cave the next I was in sickbay, I hadn’t got a clue what was going on. Faranster: I understand why we were left on the planet, during our quarantine I got to see the injuries that were priority. I don't think Lieutenant Williams would have made it if they picked us up. Able: I didn’t see any of that, I only knew Alan was injured when I asked where he was this morning. I still have some last engineering briefs to get from him. He better not peg out on us. Faranster: As for Commander Frost's injury, it was pretty bad too, not nearly as life threatening, but if the scar is any indication, it was a brutal phaser burn. :: She closed her eyes again, remembering picking up Commander Lanius's rifle to defend them, she was shaken up at the time, and she couldn't imagine how shaken up she would have been had they actually been fired upon. So far she's been lucky as to not under fire. :: Able: Hmmm... yeah. I did see him as we left sickbay. He looked a little rough. Faranster: Have you ever been fired upon? :: The words came out of her mouth before she remembered what he said. :: Oh... it was your first mission too. Able: Got shot in a holodeck training simulation once, not really the same thing although it hurt plenty. :: She shook her head. She knew she needed target practice, she could shoot if needed, but she didn't feel too confident in her skill. :: Faranster: I was thinking I needed practice... now I am wondering if I need more than that. I know I don't like to kill, I prefer healing, but if I were fired upon would I be able to hold up? Able: Generally your self preservation instinct takes over automatically. There’s no harm in honing your aim and your reaction times, though. You can do it other ways than just hitting the target range. I played a lot of Parises Squares and Springball at the Academy, it keeps you fit, strong and able to move. But... yeah. Grandpa Able was a Marine, I got good advice. Faranster: A game might make training more interesting... :: She took that thought into consideration, wondering about combining target practice with live targets but in a fun manner, a way to avoid injury.:: Must be easier with more military training...or advice. Able: Yeah... that’s true. Doesn’t scare me any less than others though. He told me himself the day you stop being scared’s the day you get yourself killed. Faranster: Well, that's reassuring... :: It didn't feel too reassuring though. What did it mean? The key to staying alive was being scared? That the only way you won't be afraid is when you die? Or when you forget your fear, you get [...]y and get killed? None of those seemed pleasant, and she was pretty sure her tone expressed her frustration with that piece of advice. :: :: The room fell silent for a moment. Greg’s eyes flicked down to his feet briefly. :: Able: Have... you had any nightmares? I keep having this weird one where I’m lying paralyzed and all the people in my life are walking around me. Maybe I need a counselor... :: She stared at him, he asked the question, did he know the answer? The nightmares, dreams of the crew leaving her behind and telling her how insignificant she was. Nightmares that included their councilor, which she had yet to meet formally. She knew she had to schedule an appointment to get her initial evaluation done, and she didn't know how she felt about it. :: Faranster: Actually, that was why I was awake. :: She paused again, he was leading her down an emotional road, and she couldn't say no, part of her wanted to talk about it, the other part wanted to hide it. She pulled her lower lip in between her teeth, she could feel the pressure in her nose and eyes as her emotions started teetering towards crying. :: Faranster: Every time I closed my eyes, I was in the cave, and someone was telling me that I was unimportant and could be left behind. The exits both walled off, and everyone was walking through the rock, except me... I couldn't. :: She leaned forward, her hands suddenly covered her face, her eyes stinging with the tears that she denied herself on the planet, and in the sickbay. She wanted to be happy, she wanted to recognize that people were concerned about her and cared. She wanted to remember that Captain Jaxx said he would personally fly down to get them, but none of that outweighed the emotions caused by the memories and the dreams. She struggled with trying to control the sobs, trying to prevent judgment of her emotional state, but her shoulders heaved despite her attempts.:: :: Greg suddenly felt a pang of guilt. He’d obviously tripped on a very sore nerve. He had to admit he’d woken up in the night three times himself in cold sweats scared rigid that he might never move again. This was different though. Sun’s emotions were obviuosly boiling just below the surface. He sat down discretely next to her on the sofa, and placed an arm round her shoulders. He felt slightly awkward but at times like this just knowing someone else was there was often enough. :: Able: Hey... hey. It’s okay. :: Sun became aware of the extra weight on the sofa, and the awkward pat of her shoulders. They had just met and been put in a stressful situation, and now she was up to her neck in her emotions, emotions that once again were out of her control. She tried to focus on the analogy that she used with Ensign Pierce earlier that evening, it had been about anger, one of the most unpleasant emotions to feel, fear was the next one, in her mind, but only barely ahead of loneliness. :: :: Greg’s words felt hollow. He didn’t know Sun that well, he also didn’t exactly have a rich history when it came to comforting people in times of emotion. He felt he had to say something, though, just a reassuring word. Being there for people was part of being in Starfleet, or at least that was what he supposed. Crew stuck up for each other and propped each other up when they were down. Team spirit, right? No, right now he was in a strange room with a person he’s flown one mission with. That person needed comfort. He happened to be here, so she needed him. :: :: Her shoulders dropped, she wasn't sure what she wanted to say, or even think. If she had been alone she would have music playing while she cried, it helped her focus on something else while she got the tears out, transitioning her from one mood to a more upbeat mood. She found in the Academy that she became partial to 'Sing Sing Sing' playing during one of these fits, the drum beat going into various brass and woodwinds would almost always make her start feeling better as the instruments sung to her. :: Faranster: I'm... sorry. :: She managed to get out, sniffing slightly between words. :: Trying...to...calm...down. :: Greg gave a gentle squeeze of Sun’s shoulders. His throat suddenly felt desert dry and that familiar ache grated at his consciousness. He felt the familiar itch in the corners of his eye. Hammering back his emotions as best he could, he held himself fast. This wouldn’t help. Get a hold of yourself. He swallowed hard, wondering on the edge of his mind if Sun had noticed the sudden change in his demeanour. A solitary tear slid down his face. :: :: When Sun felt the pressure on her shoulder tighten slightly, she instinctively leaned closer, into the comforting arms. A part of her knew that it was a soothing gesture, the other part knew it was warm arms, both welcomed the gesture. She was still sniffling and struggling to regain control as she listened to Greg ramble. :: Able: I guess this shook us both up pretty bad, huh? I haven’t felt this rough since I got my first rejection letter. But then, that turned out okay in the end. Maybe this will too. :: Greg was just blundering through random thoughts now. Thinking aloud. Wondering if Sun was even listening or if she was completely absorbed in trying to batten down her own emotions. :: :: She wiped away her tears as she paid attention to what he had said. She was finally able to regain her composure, he was amusing her with his awkward attempts at trying to comfort her, and he was also getting emotional about the ordeal. But he was right, everything was going to be okay. They weren't left behind or forgotten, they were sitting here able to talk about the experience, relive the moments. It was something of the past, and they were dwelling on it.:: Faranster: Of course things will turn out alright. :: Her cheeks felt caked with the salt from her tears having dried as she smiled. :: I'd say the sun will be out tomorrow, but being that we're in space, the suns are always out. Able: Hm. :: he smirked and shook his head a little at the unexpectedly lighthearted comment :: You got that right. Faranster: What do you usually do to make yourself feel better when you are feeling blue,... Lieutenant? :: She paused, she almost called him Greg, but wasn't sure if that was appropriate. :: :: She was still leaning towards him, she had made a mental note in the academy not to be overtly friendly, worried about reactions of those who weren't comfortable with the interactions. It took her a moment to shake her mind free and she moved so she wasn't leaning on him, she hoped she didn't make him uncomfortable unintentionally.:: :: Greg felt her suddenly pull away from leaning against him. He’d hardly noticed, he’d been more intent on comforting her. It had made him feel better, if nothing else. :: Able: Game of spring-ball, coffee and a slice of lemon cheesecake, jog round the decks a bit. I used to meet up with friends at the Academy every Friday and fritter the evening away talking about all sorts of... nonsense. That all seems so far away now. Faranster: :: She looked slightly embarrassed, she felt like she was the only one noticing her actions and her sudden shift made them more noticeable. :: I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I... :: She didn't know how to explain her reaction. :: I... I shouldn't let my emotions carry me away. Able: Hey, don’t worry about it. I think we... both... got a little emotional there. Don’t worry. My mom always used to say it’s better to let your demons escape now and again than keep them shut in a box. Missions like this can often lead to a few more demons than you can keep a lid on sometimes, I guess. Faranster: Well, I actually enjoy many of the positive emotions... :: She wasn't sure if someone observing her over the last day would agree. :: Able: Yeah, I suppose when it’s all going well and there’s reason for feeling achievement then it’s all good. I just didn’t really feel like we got what we wanted from that mission, really. We just got shot up bad by a bunch of mercs. :: He sighed :: Anyway, we’re supposed to be cheering ourselves up. What’s your favourite way to recharge? Faranster: I find music helps pick me up, I heard a peculiar saying while in the academy... Music appeases brutal monsters?... No... :: She looked at the ceiling for a couple moments, she knew the saying well, she felt it was true, even before hearing it. :: Music has charms to sooth a savage beast. Yeah, that was it. Able: Ah, yeah. :: He smiled. :: One of my grandpa’s favourite sayings. Music’s something that seems to be pretty universal to most species, in one way or another. Ever been to a Jazz club? I used to love hanging out in Jazz clubs when I was back home. :: She smiled and nodded, feeling his eyes on her. :: Able: Hey, I know. I brought some holodeck programs with me of some of my favourite places, maybe we could kick back in one of them sometime? What do you say? :: She could tell from his tone that he was feeling better. She wondered what these places he had programmed were. He made it sound like music was involved, which sounded good to her. :: Faranster: Good music? Good company? :: She turned toward him slightly, now able to look at him and smiled broadly. :: Able: Deal. I can even lay on some lemon cheesecake if you’re interested. :: He grinned briefly, feeling back to himself a little more .:: Faranster: As long as it's homemade. :: She liked how his face lit up when he grinned, it made him look much more handsome than the concerned look on his face that he started with. They had something in common, a shared experience, and a night of talking between them. It was a start of a good friendship, she thought. :: Able: Oh, you bet. Grandma’s own recipe. A replicator ain’t got nothin’ on this! :: He chuckled a little. :: Faranster: Thank you. For stopping by, and talking with me. It was unexpected, and emotional. :: She smiled at him again, the end of the conversation was definitely better. :: And, pleasant. I'm glad you decided to visit me. Able: Me too. You wouldn’t believe how many times I wandered past your door before I decided to call in. I’m glad I didn’t chicken out. It was... nice to let some demons free. Anyway, I ought to let you get back to your book. I need ot get some shut-eye myself, I’ve been up since 0500 hours. :: Greg stood decisively, straightening his shirt, as if by habit. He smiled and set off towards the door, feeling a little awkward to just walk out.:: :: Sun stood up and followed him to the door, glad to make a new friend, one that knew what she was going through. She almost hugged him before he left her quarters, but she thought that she might want to give him some more time to get to know her to not make him uncomfortable. :: :: Greg turned to face her at the door, he could tell from her face she felt better. He did too, much better. He gave her a light, friendly tap o the shoulder and smiled again.:: Able: Thanks. :: smiling, he stepped backwards out of the door :: :: Greg walked down the corridor with a certain spring in his step. He felt like a thousand tons had been lifted off his shoulders. :: :: When she was alone in her quarters, she drank the rest of her juice, and left her PADD on the table where she put it before heading back to bed, this time, if nightmares haunted her, she was going to use the knowledge of having someone on her side to fight them off. :: -- Lieutenant JG Gregory Able Chief Engineering Officer U.S.S. Apollo NCC-71669 and Ensign Sundassa Faranster Medical Officer USS Apollo

((OOC: This is Very long, so please read through it as I will want feedback on this one as it is the first time I have done somehting like this. also this is from Somers viewpoint and the Dreamscape is just that. to my knowledge only one other Starfleet Captain knew how or when he was going to die, it is in this context that the Dreamscape death is placed.)) :IC: ((USS Thunder-A – Somers Homestead – Earth)) ::After their little adventure in the Sol system the Thunder had returned to earth, the ship was docked at Earth Station McKinley undergoing repairs, so the crew had time off. While Paul went to visit his Mother and Fathers Family and reacquaint himself with them, Alex spent sometime with her parents.:: Samuel Somers: ::giving his daughter a big hug and holding her at arms length as he looked at her:: Well back so soon, not that I am complaining of course, nasty business out at Hegemone, but that is business, how long are you home for and where is my new Son-in-law? ::Sam asked.:: A. Somers: I am back here till I am recalled as is Paul, but he has gone to visit his side of the family, this will be the first time in a long time that he would have been home for any length of time. So how is mom and where is she? S. Somers: Your mother is out visiting old colleagues, she will be back later ::Sam responded putting his arm around his daughters shoulder as her Sister Karyn and her partner entered, Alex looked puzzled, she knew her Sisters sexual orientation, but her partner was new.:: A. Somers: ::Giving her Sister a big hug:: So Sis you going to tell me who your new partner is? K. Somers: ::Hugging back then stepping back:: This is Danielle, we were just going out hiking, you want to join us? ::Karyn asked.:: A. Somers: No thanks Sis, you go enjoy yourself, pleased to meet you Danielle ::Alex said and the woman only smiled as both left the house, she looked back at her father:: That is what her fourth partner since leaving the Embassy? S. Somers: Its her sixth, but whose counting, she is a big enough girl and lets not go there. A. Somers: Agreed ::pause:: so what have you been doing with yourself since I left so soon after the wedding? S. Somers: Oh Starfleet Diplomatic Corps had Starfleet High Command reactivate my commission, I am still a Colonel but now I am officially the envoy to Kronos, it seems that the Klingon High Council wish now to only deal with a warrior and I am told you had a hand in my new appointment ::Sam said.:: ::Alex broke away and holding out both hands.:: A. Somers: Whoa dad! I did not speak to any Klingon envoy or even to the Chancellor, so how in Hades could I have assisted in your new appointment!? :she asked clearly puzzled.:: S. Somers: Easy there lass, I am not blaming you, but it seems on your Klingon held After Wedding party you got into a drinking contest with a group of Klingon’s and apparently drunk all but one under the table and you and the last Klingon apparently collapsed at the same time. ::pause:: That Klingon was their Envoy to Earth and he was impressed at your cast iron constitution and ability in imbibe strong drink and remain coherent. ::beat:: So he put in a request to have the flame haired Terran Warriors Father as the Federation’s Official Envoy to Kronos, so now I have a posh office at Starfleet Headquarters and two Advisors and an Aide plus a Secretary and I am missing the days where I was ducking Phaser fire and it is all thanks to you ::he said with a smile, to show he was not mad.:: A. Somers: Wow dad, I never knew getting blasted would get you assigned such a position, but if they had seen me when I returned to the Thunder-A, I do not think they would be too impressed. S. Somers: How so? A. Somers: First Off there was the Upchuck, then just as I thought I had finished I upchucked some more and by the time I had finished the ships Doctor had to replenish my vitals, Paul of course stood there like a pillar of stone totally emotionless, where I was concerned, but he did speak to the Doctor, I was too ill to pay any notice ::she responded.:: ::As the day wore on and her Mother came home and warmly greeted her Daughter and they talked, by 2300 hours the past few days had caught up with her, she yawned and excused herself saying she was retiring for the night so up to her room she went and got into her night-dress and went to sleep and in her sleep, she had the most weird dream, one that she would remember for the rest of her days.:: ((Alex Somers Bedroom – Somers Estate – 2300 hours)) ((Dreamscape)) ::This was one of her more… Craziest dreams, but it would bring her to a revelation, one which she would share in knowledge like an old Historical Starfleet Officer.:: ((USS Yorktown – Personal Quarters – September 1 2421)) ::Alex was walking from one room into another, even though she knew it was a dream, it was surreal, she noticed she was wearing some kind of Marine Uniform, it was not recognisable but she looked in the mirror and gasped, she still had her Red hair, but now it was in a bob and liberally streaked with white, her features were that of and old woman. Then she noticed her rank which showed Colonel rank, she looked at her file and saw that she had recently turned 60.:: Somers: So I finally make it to Colonel but I am an old woman when I do, interesting, still I managed to keep my figure ::she said to herself suddenly she found herself sitting on the bridge which was unfamiliar to her as it was not set out like any ship she had served on before and it mostly had Marines on the bridge.:: ::The ship had just gone to Red Alert and was responding to a distress call from Betazed, with her, she knew, how she did not know, but she knew she had two other Ships on her left and right flanks respectively, she called up her ships name class and registry number and that of her companion ships.:: Somers: ::speaking to herself:: interesting USS Yorktown NCC 1941-C Achilles Class Refit, that is this ship, now what of my wingmen? ::she asked herself:: interesting, things must be bad for Starfleet if they have Marines commanding Starships ::suddenly she knew the Federation was once again at war with a powerful enemy and barely holding their own.:: So my wingmen are the USS Nimitz NCC 96318-A and the USS New Horizon NCC 89071-A, both are also Achilles class refit. ::pause:: [...] I have my own battle group ::she said in surprise, as even on a basic Achilles class; the ship had eight dorsal Micro Quantum torpedo launchers in addition to four forward firing and two rear firing standard size torpedo launchers add in a mix of Pulse Phaser Cannons and High graded Phaser arrays an Achilles Class ship was nothing to be sneered at, even alone it could hold its own in a battle with a much larger ship.:: ((Betazed Foothills – September 15 2421)) ::Now she was standing in a valley in the Betazed foothills, she looked behind and saw some fleeing refugees. She remembered that having lost her Wingmen in a space battle, and the Yorktown shortly after that she had escaped to the Planet with 299 Marines and a Fleet Medical Officer. She had assured the refugees that her 300 troops would hold the enemy at bay while they escaped, now she saw some portable automated Pulse Phaser and Torpedo turrets placed on the hills on the left and right sides of her dug in platoon, she tightened her combat webbing. It was now she realized she carried three types of bladed weapons, her Mek’Leth and Bat’Leth and on her right hip was her D’Tagh Knife and on her left was her collapsible quarterstaff. She also had her Phaser versions of her trusty Desert Eagle Pistols and a standard Mk 40 Pulse Phaser Auto-fire Rifle it resembled in size and style the rifles used in Picards time on the Enterprise-E, but it had more options and was somewhat more powerful. She looked to her left and right and noticed that all her troops carried an assortment of bladed weapons. Somers: So our enemy finds honour in bladed combat, ::it was then she noticed her units patch:: First Platoon 95th Rifle Regiment Starfleet Marine Corps ::pause:: dammit the Federation must be in an all out war if old units had been reformed ::she said to herself.:: ::There was one refugee who she held back so he could carry her last recording to her superiors on Earth, she sealed and coded the device and looked at the refugee.:: Somers: Give this to the First Starfleet Ship Captain or Klingon ship Captain you meet and tell them this ::beat:: This is the last report from Colonel Alexandria Lynne Somers Colonel in the 95th Rifle Regiment and we shall hold out for as long as we can, while we can, do you understand? ::she asked and the guy nodded.:: Good now get to your transport ::she said and watched him flee as sonic booms were heard as enemy drop ships made their decent.:: Raise the Regimental colours ::She said, knowing that one of her own crew would have picked up their battle Colours along with the Federation flag.:: ((USS Yorktown – Betazed Orbit – One day earlier)) ::The Trio of ships commanded by Alex arrived in the Betazed system and was immediately in combat, after years of fighting together these three crews reacted as one and their enemy found out just what the Achilles class was capable of, but despite early victories, they had numbers against them. The enemy had plenty, they were only three Elite ships, but they cut a good sized chunk into the enemy armada. They used their torpedoes sparingly after the first volleys, now the element of surprise had gone and the enemy ships began to cause damage to them, Alex was clinging to her chair as reports from her Comms Officer came in.:: 1st Lieutenant Lane: Captain, the New Horizon has just been lost a number of escape pods are heading for the Betazoid foothills and the Nimitz has gone out in traditional Klingon fashion and we have began to show some damage, we will not last much longer all torpedoes are spent we are only on Phasers now ::she reported.:: Somers: Okay we will take as many with us as we can, order all excess crew to abandon ship use every available shuttle and escape pods and head to the location of the Nimitz escape pods, I will remain with my XO and two Officers, I assume there is enough power to send a distress call and Emergency transporters? ::she asked.:: Officer: Yes Captain, also I have brought these for you, it would be a shame to leave them behind ::the Officer said handing Alex her prized weapons, the Twin Katanas she carried in the past were nowhere to be seen.:: Somers: ::Smiling:: Thank you now send off that distress call and get to an escape pod ::she said and watched as most of her crew left.:: Its bigger than a shuttle, but I think I can fly her ::she said sitting at the Helm, Triome take shields Keral weapons lets show them what riflemen can do shall we? ::she said as she swung her ship around and out to a safe distance and stopped.:: Lt. Col. Triome: Why are they not shooting? ::the Bolian first Officer asked.:: Somers: Well you have one badly beaten up Achilles class ship facing off over a thousand enemy ships, they enemy commander is probably thinking I am either insane, I am going to run or I am going to Kamikaze, if what intel files say about these Grivaan are correct the enemy Commander is either curious or shocked, but expect a communication from him soon, Keral how are those weapons looking? ::she asked her Klingon Second Officer.:: Major Keral: All weapons are functional, but I estimate we will last no more than ten minutes, fifteen if extremely lucky. Somers: ::Looking at the Klingon:: I would like to say today is a good day to die, but we will not be dying this day my friend ::she said and as predicted the enemy commander contacted her.:: Triome: Captain, we have the enemy Commander hailing Somers: Onscreen ::she said and the image of a Grivaan War Leader appeared.:: Who do I have the distinct honour of addressing? ::Alex asked, becoming formal:: oO Now to see if Starfleet Intelligence got something right Oo War Leader K’Faali: ::he puffed up with self-pride at the sudden formality given by this Soldier, he was of the old school, where; when one Officer addressed another, they obeyed a strict protocol; this Soldier bore authority about her and displayed some formality.:: you have the honour of addressing War Leader K’Faali Commander of this Fleet, and who am I speaking to? ::he asked just as formally.:: Somers: ::Stepping around the helm station and coming to Parade rest where she showed her unit patches and rank:: You Sir have the honour of addressing Colonel Alexandria Somers Commander of the USS Yorktown and a Senior Officer in the 95th Rifle Regiment Starfleet Marine Corps, we are one of the many Elite Spec Ops units in the Federation ::she responded.:: K’Faali: I am pleased to meet the commander of the trio of ships that has caused my fleet much damage, now as one warrior to another, I offer you a chance to surrender with honour, you will be shown every respect of a proven warrior. ::beat:: Before you reject my onetime offer think, your ship has no heavy weapons left only beam weapons, your ship is badly damaged and will not survive a short exchange with one of my frigates. So surrender with honour and I shall allow your troops on the planet and those still on your ship to go free, on this you will have my solemn oath ::he said.:: ::Alex looked at her First Officer and made a motion to cut audio as she turned and made her way back around to the helm station. With her back to the viewscreen and no audio going out she spoke.:: Somers: Well bless my cotton socks, Starfleet Intelligence got something right for once, I have set this ship on auto-pilot and it will hold out long enough for us to beam to the planet, get some weapons from your quarters quickly and beam down to the planet, I will join you directly, we have one final duty to perform on the planet, while I have one final duty up here, now go ::she said, both nodded and left the bridge.:: ::Turning back to the viewscreen as she sat, she saw the War Leaders curious look as to why this human had dismissed her visibly remaining crew, now pressing a button on her console she reopened audio.:: Somers: Apologies War Leader, final instructions to my Officers. K’Faali: You are going to surrender with honour? ::he asked hope edging his speech.:: Somers: No, your offer is most generous and I am truly honoured, but you have no idea on my Unit they were not called Somers Renegades for nothing. No Sir, we shall meet again in personal combat on the planet below, there the final result will be decided. Good day to you War Leader K’Faali I will see you on the fields below Qua’pla ::she said and closed the link.:: ::She programmed in an excellent and creative attack pattern and checked to see if her two remaining crew had gone, confirming they had, she set the ship on auto, stepped into the middle of the bridge and put her combat harness on with all her bladed weapons and her Phasers, she stood and looked around.:: Somers: We had some good time huh old friend, but we shall meet again ::she said to her ship:: Computer begin attack run and energize ::she said as she vanished from the bridge and the Yorktown attacked.:: ((Earth – Starfleet Headquarters September 20 2421)) ::Now Alex found herself observing a group of people, it was the CinC of Starfleet, the Intelligence Commander and some Admirals from the Security and external operations Departments. Standing in the middle was her husband Paul Sharpe, his hair was white and he was in Civilian clothes, but had the Kronos Ambassadorial sash on, next to him was the Klingon Chancellor and on his right were their two children, Marine Captain Samantha Lynne Somers and Lieutenant Paul Sharpe Junior plus to her surprise was the Romulan Proconsul. Her daughter was the image of a younger Alex. Now her consciousness watched these people watch her last report recording from her.:: Commander Thompson: Sirs ::an Aide came rushing in, with Paul Sharpe and his two children in tow, both had been told of events with the Yorktown.:: A refugee gave this to me with a direct message from Colonel Somers. Fleet Admiral Jennings: Out with it Commander Thompson: ::clearing his throat:: It reads “This is the last report from Colonel Alexandria Lynne Somers Colonel in the 95th Rifle Regiment and we shall hold out for as long as we can, while we can.” ::pause:: That is the message, also the refugee mentioned that the Starfleet surviving troops had erected their Battle Standard and the Federation flag as enemy drop ships were landing ::he said handing the recording to the Fleet Admiral.:: ::He took it and dismissed the Aide and placed the recording and the first images to greet them was the 95th Rifle Regiment 1st Battalion Flag.:: Somers: Stardate 242115.09 my trio of ships has fallen in orbit of Betazed, The USS Nimitz went with all hands, some survivors from the USS New Horizon landed safely on the planet, plus most of my crew from the USS Yorktown. Send a large Fleet you will need it; I have including myself only 299 Riflemen and one Fleet doctor, we have set up a defensive position at the foothills of Betazed, by the time you get this we will all be dead. My ships faced a large Grivaan Fleet and we accounted for half of that number, unfortunately all their fighter Carriers survived. As this is my last report, I have a few requests ::her recording said.:: Sharpe: 300 troops against thousands of enemy troops, It is a modern Battle of Thermopylae ::Paul said.:: Chancellor Torok: ::Looking at Sharpe:: What is this battle you are on about? Sharpe: ::Looks at the Chancellor:: I would ask Sir that you look up ancient Earth history, Greek Armies, search parameters Spartan Warrior or simply put in Battle of Thermopylae. This will tell you what I am on about, 300 Spartan troops against the Persian Empire, the troops held out for seven days three of which were battles. But considering today’s weapons and tactics, Alex’s assessment is correct they could hold out for three days max. ::pause:: But knowing Alex she will hold out for six, either way we will be too late getting there. ::As she was dreaming this, Alex wondered what the hell was going on, it was like she was connected to all areas where her mortal self was or recording were, plus watching things unfold as Paul comforted their Daughter and Son.:: Somers: ::Looking directly at the Chancellor, as if she knew he would be there sent a chill up all their spines.:: first request is to you Chancellor, I ask only that you hand my Bat’Leth, Mek’Leth and Dag’TagH to my Daughter, also she is to be put through Klingon bladed Combat training. Passing my weapons to her as they are hers by right of succession and it must be honoured ::she said and the Chancellor absently nodded.:: ::She looked directly at the Fleet Admiral of Starfleet.:: Somers: Any to you Fleet Admiral Sir I ask that our bodies are recovered and given full military honours funerals and that when a memorial is erected; you put on the following passage for the memorial, perhaps it will give our forces courage to overcome our foe, the inscription should read:- “If we do not live another Day,Then say this over our Pyre:They died like RiflemenTheir Faces to the Fire” ::The Fleet Admiral would grant this as it would sit well with the Klingon’s who were essential in keeping the enemy at bay and the Colonel was correct, it would motivate Federation Alliance Forces.:: Proconsul P’tretil: A touching verse, it would motivate me to be better than those who died ::he said, in typical Romulan fashion.:: Sharpe: Exactly sir, that is what my wife intended ::Paul said and the Proconsul looked contrite.:: Somers: ::Now she looks directly at Paul Sharpe Senior:: and you Paul my love, I will see you again where no Shadows fall. ::she looks at her two children:: My logical little Paul, so inventive and who follows his father, my lovely daughter Samantha; remember that nothing is forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten, ::she looked back at her husband:: Paul on my grave I want the following text placed “Alexandria Somers, she lived for as she died, in combat” ::beat:: that the personal stuff out of the way, my report is as stands, until reinforcements arrive, Betazed is in enemy hands. This is Colonel Alexandria Somers signing off, Fly safe and true ::with that the recording ended.:: Jennings: Time to organise that taskforce, you coming Chancellor? Chancellor: Of course, Proconsul, can your people send a cloaked scout ship out and supply transports to carry their valiant dead back? ::the Klingon chancellor said.:: ::The Romulan only nodded and was about to leave as a member of Species 8472 walked into the room in its natural form draped in a cloak and using an injection changed shape to human and spoke.:: Species 8472: Could my troops join you on this, your Warrior was well known to us and treated us with fairness and honour, we wish to repay this. Jennings: By all means Ambassador, we would be honoured ::he replied and all left the room to get things done.:: ((Foothills – Betazed – Early morning September 16 2421)) ::Suddenly she was back in her older body and looked to her rear and there was the two flags fluttering in the breeze as over a thousand Grivaan Elite troops led by War Leader K’Faali, who advanced forward under a flag of truce as he looked admiringly at the elderly humans bladed weapon assortments.:: K’Faali: I offer you this final chance to surrender. Somers: ::Stepping out in front and looking up at the taller being but directly into his eyes:: We shall both die in the days to come War Leader and I must say that it has been my honour to fight a worthy opponent, if only we had met when I was younger, then I would be the only one standing out of both of us. K’Faali: Hmm… Pride, bluster but both backed up by pure courage, I am also similarly honoured to have faced you in honourable combat ::he said and both Grivaan and Human returned to their lines.:: Somers: Truly an honourable warrior race, but I know the effect my death will have on my daughter and I pity any Grivaan that crosses her when she has come of age ::Alex said:: Okay Rifles lock and Load, aim and fire when you have a solid lock ::she said and suited action to words.:: ::Not exactly as predicted, It took five days before the Riflemen’s ammunition was exhausted, by now there were craters all around her surviving troops, her flanking Phaser and torpedo turrets had expended their compliment of torpedoes and the Phaser Turrets had been destroyed, but only after taking a heavy toll on the Grivaan shock troops, now under a tattered Battle flag of her Battalion and the UFP flag the remaining Riflemen took out their Phaser Pistols, Alex her Desert Eagle Phaser Pistols and fired at the charging Grivaan. More enemy were cut down and they pulled back, but it was dawn on the sixth day as the surviving riflemen pulled out their bladed weapons, the Fleet Doctor had no such bladed weapon, so Alex loaned her Mek’Leth.:: Somers: Do you know how to use one of these? ::she asked.:: Fleet Doctor: Yes, but only at novice level. Somers: These are Grivaan to’ba; not Klingon Warriors ::Alex said as she looked down at the lifeless body of her Bolian First Officer.:: Commander Simmerson: Understood Colonel ::she replied taking the Mek’Leth.:: ::Alex like her troop stood atop their barrier various blades drawn and glinting in the sunrise, as the Grivaan charge with their bladed weapons drawn, she speaks loudly:: Somers: Okay people, fight and die well, for today is a good day to die ::she said and saw out of the corner of her eye her Klingon Major puff up with pride, ready to die in battle.:: ::Next thing she knew she was watching her older self embed her blade deep into the War Leaders chest, while his blade went right through her heart and was sticking out of her back, with red blood dripping from it. As both warriors collapsed together, all their troops around them dead; both leaders look at each other and gave each other a grudging smile of mutual respect, as the life left the both of them. Somehow Alex who was watching this happen knew that a Federation Alliance Fleet had arrived and that no more enemy troops would be landing.:: Somers: ::Suddenly she knew what she had witnessed, it was her death:: so this is how I am to meet my end ::she said, her father had once told her that her ancestors always knew when they would die, when a certain path they walked had reached a fork and they all ended going down the same road, all her past family they all had a very vivid and profound dream, now Alex had just gotten hers.:: ::She found herself now standing alongside her husband and children on the hill over-looking the battlefield along with Torok, Jennings, P’tretil and Thompson; Jennings Aide. All looked down at the mix of Starfleet and Grivaan bodies and two of those were easily identifiable as both had blades sticking out of their chests and all were under a battle tattered Banner of the 1st Battalion of the 95th Rifle Regiment, the Federation flag had fallen majestically between the two dead leaders of the opposing troops as to signify what both armies had been fighting over. As the group got closer Alex found she floated along with them and all could see a small smile on their faces.:: Sharpe: I never understood it when she had that smile ::he said.:: ((End Dreamscape)) ((Alex Somers Bedroom – Somers Estate – 0800 hours)) ::Alex awoke in a cold sweat and screaming.:: A. Somers: ARRGH!! ::As her parents and sister all rushed in worried, she looked at them:: I hate those type of dreams ::she said realizing her hands were shaking.:: S. Somers: ::her father sat on the side of her bed and hugged her:: what is it sweetie? ::he asked.:: A. Somers: ::She looked at her father:: Dad remember you told me once about that dream few of my ancestors always had at a certain point in their lives? ::she said.:: S. Somers: Yes ::he said hesitantly knowing where this was going, as he too went through it around his daughters age.:: A. Somers: Well I had that dream, daddy, I know when and where I am going to die ::she said as she broke down in tears, not hearing the gasps of her Mother and sister as both had been told of such an event and like Alex all believed in such an occurrence.:: TBC Marine Captain Alexandria ‘Red Vixen’ Somers (PNPC)Recon/Demolitions Duronis II Embassy/USS Thunder-A & Colonel (Ret) Samuel Somers Ambassador to Kronos/Father & Warrant Officer Karyn Somers(formerly PNPC) 1st Battalion 21st MACO Regiment Dreamscape Characters Commander Paul Sharpe Senior Ambassador to Kronos & Fleet Admiral Jennings(NPC)CinC Starfleet United Federation of Planets & Chancellor Torok(NPC)Klingon High Chancellor Klingon Empire & Proconsul P'tretil(NPC) Romulan Empire & Lt. Colonel Triome(NPC)First Officer95th Rifles 1st bn SFMCUSS Yorktown NCC 1941-C & Major Keral(NPC)Second Officer/Klingon Exchange Officer95th Rifles 1st bn SFMCUSS Yorktown NCC 1941-C & Commander Simmerson(NPC)Chief Medical Officer USS Yorktown NCC 1941-C & Commander Thompson(NPC) Aide to CinC Starfleet & Unnamed Ambassador(NPC) Species 8472 Envoy & War Leader K'Faali(NPC)Grivaan Fleet Commander 1st Grivaan Expeditionary Fleet Simmed by Lieutenant Paul SharpeACTO USS Thunder-A/Duronis II Embassy

((Corridor, USS Apollo)) :: Tal stood tall and straight, his back against the wall as he waited calmly for Sherana. Part of the conversation he had, had with his best friend Lt. Cmdr. Jason Stone replayed in his mind. :: ((Flashback a couple hours, Tal's office)) :: Tal sat at his desk, the image of Jason Stone looking back at him on the monitor. :: Stone: I'm glad to hear it. I was afraid you would just retreat into your work. Tel-ar: Sherana is merely some-one who shares my interests in unusual weapons. Stone: She's female and Orion to boot. Tel-ar: I fail to see why that should make a difference. Stone: Well I will tell you why that makes a difference. She's female and Orion. The only time you start spending time with a female is because she's beautiful and something about her sparks that reclusive male hidden deep inside you. Tel-ar: I will admit that she is attractive but I would have never thought of myself as reclusive. Stone: You may not be but you suppress your male urges a lot. That is until you find a female that interests you and then BAMMM!!! Tel-ar: Bammm?? :: Tal repeated while his left eye brow rose and then returned to its normal position. :: Stone: You sweep the lady off her feet and your relationship becomes extremely physical. :: Tal could feel his face heat up a little. Maybe Jason was right. Every relationship he had ever had with a female had started out slow and then quickly escalated into a passionate firestorm of physical activity. :: Tel-ar: I assure you that is not my intent. Stone: Keep telling yourself that. As your best friend and physician I can tell you that's #$%^&*. Tel-ar: I see... In that case maybe I should stop before it gets physical. Stone: Try if you want but it is basic biology. Males and females need each other. Did it ever occur to you that the reason she wants to spend time with you is that something about you attracts her? Tel-ar: Is that not an illogical assumption? Stone: Under normal circumstances I would probably agree. Especially since you're normally such a cold emotionless @#$%^&*. Still that never seemed to impact on your ability to get the girl. Tel-ar: May I remind you that during our Academy years you arranged all the double dates. Stone: I may have set things up but you closed the deal all on your own. Tel-ar: I see... :: Tal paused to consider that bit of information. He had never really thought about it but in many ways Jason was probably right. :: Jason: Anyway. I hate to cut this off but I am due in surgery in 10 minutes. Tel-ar: I understand. Jason: I knew you would. Take care buddy. Stay out of trouble. :: With that the channel was closed and the image on the screen changed. :: ((Flashback ends, Corridor)) :: Suddenly Tal's antenna detected the faint yet unique aroma that belonged to Sherana. It instantly banished the thoughts of Jason from his mind as he turned to face her. She had changed out of her work clothes and cleaned up. :: :: Tal had to admit to himself that she did indeed spark certain feelings with in him. His conversation with Jason had been helpful in that matter. The only question now was, what should he do and were those feelings mutual. :: :: Last thing in the world that he wanted to do was to offend Sherana. Her company had gone a long way towards his being able to clear his head and it had helped a lot with him getting him past the tempest of hidden angst that he had had to deal with when his wife eradicated their marriage. :: ::Sherana had worked for a while, but she had not been able to focus much on it, no matter how much she tried. It had been a long time that she had been able to see weapon collections and to train with an actual person. She was looking forward to do that. She would lie, if she said she didn't also look forward to see Tal. But she tried to push that thought away into a corner of her mind. This was only weapon training and she did not have much experience with any men, but Klingons. She would not even be able to interpret any signs, if they were even there... is she would even see them.:: :: But she had enjoyed the time she had spent with him so far. He had been thoughtful and calm... rather quiet. Just as she was, unless she was among Klingons. Sherana was still hesitant to just be herself, but she could do this already better with him, than with the others aboard. When she had met K'Nor after so many years she had noticed how much she missed to be among her own people. Maybe it was possible to see this very unusual Andorian as one of her own or at least an equal, as they had much in common.:: :: When she walked around the corner her eyes spotted him already waiting. Almost she wanted to smile but it vanished just as quick as it had come, she was not sure if her face was even able to still do that, she had not smiled in so many years. Of course she had a reason, but she never talked about it and the last time someone asked had been a while ago. The Orion pulled slightly at the black sweater she was wearing to her dark blue jeans, as her boots stepped further forward pulling her with them, making the ponytail bounce from side to side with her steps.:: Sherana: Are you waiting for long? Tel-ar: Not that long. Sherana: Good. :: nodding :: I heard about the quarantine. I hope it was nothing too bad. Tel-ar: Not bad, simply... time consuming. :: As he said it Tal stepped away from the wall. Turing slowly so as to walk beside her in the direction of the lift and eventually his quarters. :: Sherana: Good, then you do not suffer from after effects? Tel-ar: I was not infected. I had no injuries at all. That should make this more interesting. We can both give it our all. Sherana: :: Raising her brows she looked up to the tower of a man. :: I would not let you win if you were still injured, what makes you think that? If you fight while injured it is your fault for losing. Tel-ar: I tend to agree. I was merely reassuring you that I was fit and ready. :: Tal stopped walking and stood waiting for the lift doors to open. As he stood there his antenna twitched, her scent was provocative and this close to her it was hard to ignore. :: Sherana: ::She nodded to his words, walking next to the tall man, matching his steps.:: It is good to hear that. :: The doors opened and Tal stepped in, turned and faced her as the doors closed behind her. She had followed him and stopped dead the moment he turned around, raising her eyes she put her head into her neck. :: Tel-ar: I assure you Sherana. As with most things in life I take training very seriously. Sherana: :: The Orion eyed him up for a moment before she nodded slowly. :: That we have in common, Mister Tel-ar. It is a desirable feature. :: The lift doors opened and Tal stepped out, leading the way to his quarters. :: Tel-ar: I am not sure. I am who I am. :: As he said it they arrived at his quarters and the door slid open. Tal walked right in. :: ((Tel-ar's Personal Quarters)) :: Sherana followed him inside, staying at the door one moment to take it in. She had been curious how he lived. She slowly stepped further inside the room, as her dark eyes scanned her surroundings. :: :: The room was one large open space with only a couple pieces of furniture. A small table with 2 chairs against one wall and a very large bed against the other wall. The floor, walls and ceiling looked like they were made of some kind of light brown stone and the longest wall was covered in weapons. Blades of all kinds, shapes and sizes as well as other unusual things that defied description but obviously had to be weapons as well. :: :: Tal moved over by the bed and removed his tunic, then his boots before he turned to face her again. When he did he saw that she had moved over near his collection. She was slowly wandering down the wall looking more closely at all his toys. :: :: Tal moved soundlessly over to join her. Reaching out and taking the 2 Bat'leth off the wall he faced her, holding one in both hands. She turned to face him and a startled look flashed across her face. It seemed to take her a few moments before she realized he was offering her, her choice of the 2 blades he held. One an ordinary Bat'leth and the other a rare Honour Bat'leth. :: :: The Orion had been surprised at the change of attire of the Andorian leviathan. For a moment she allowed her eyes to roam over the blue skin, reminding herself that she was here for training. It was a very unfamiliar sensation, she usually was not that easily distracted from her task. Blinking she pushed away those strange thoughts and finally saw the blades in his hands. She recognized the markings on one of them right away, she had one herself though had not brought it. That would have been too conspicuous. Her eyes stayed on the blade and the Orion wondered how he had gotten into possession of it. :: :: Tal's antenna twitched again as a new more potent scent mingled with her natural floral aroma. It startled him a little but he steeled himself to ignore it and maintain a proper professional demeanour. After all she was here to practice, to be his sparring partner. :: Sherana: Where did you get this Bat'leth? Tel-ar: It was a gift from my teacher upon completing my training. :: She seemed ill at easy. Had he done something to offend her? Or was she offended by the thought that he owned a Honour Bat'leth? :: Sherana: Your teacher must have been impressed to give you this. Tel-ar: That is my understanding. However I only reached the first level of master with the blade before he was recalled from the Klingon Embassy back to the Empire. :: Tal noticed a slight change in Sherana's breathing. Most likely her preparing for their sparring match. :: Sherana: I will bring my own next time, for now this will have to do. :: She grabbed the other Bat'leth, while she was sure that the Honour Bat'leth was better balanced, it was not hers to take unless she would win a proper fight with him, since he earned it, it was his honour. :: Tel-ar: When-ever you are ready let me know. :: As he said it Tal stepped back, waiting calmly. :: :: While her hands balanced the blade, she stepped back with a last look at his chest and then turned to swing the Bat'leth, warming herself up a little, rotating her shoulders. She had been looking forward to this and knowing that he had learned from a Klingon master made this an even more enjoyable thought. :: :: When she turned to face him again she looked him over. He was much taller than her and probably stronger, but that did not mean that she had no chance. She was smaller, harder to grasp and with that also faster. She had fought against Klingons of many sizes, not always winning, but she also had not always lost. Most just underestimated her, not only because she did not look like a Klingon but also because she was small. :: Sherana: 'oH SoH 'eH? /Are you ready?/ :: She assumed that if he had fought and learned of a Klingon, he would also speak some basics of her language. Since K'Nor had been aboard and visited her, she had more desire to speak in her own tongue again, though she would change back to Standard if she would find Tal having problems to understand her. What good would an opponent do who didn't know what she spoke. :: Tel-ar: Ko'vha / Yes. :: Tal replied simply as he slowly moved the weapon into position. He reminded himself that he needed to take it easy on her at first. At least until she had learned that he was both stronger than any Klingon she might have sparred with in the past but faster as well. :: :: Tal also doubted that she understood just how much of an advantage his antenna gave to him. They could not only detect her faintest movement by sound but the way that the air moved as she changed stance or attacked would be conveyed to him in such a way that he could have easily fought her blindfolded and still have had an advantage over her. Added to that was the fact that he could smell her easily as well and you began to understand just why Andorians had such a reputation as warriors. :: :: Unfortunately it was an ability that he could not turn off. There were times, rare ones where he wished he could. This was one of them. In some ways it did not seem fair but that was the hand he had been dealt at birth. So he had no choice but to accept it. :: :: Tal watched closely as she moved into position. Her movements were fluid, graceful. Again he admired her athletic form, so feminine, curved and desirable yet dangerous. Suddenly she shifted position using her size, speed and co-ordination to make a sudden fake movement followed by a waist high slash. Normally Tal would simply block it but this time he simply dived over it. As he did he looked down into her brown eyes, her face not showing any expression, as usual. Not many people realized just how easily it was for him to move his 6'4'' frame, doing things like this that were completely unexpected in a man his size. :: :: But Sherana had seen him move. She was trained as Warrior, she could see behind the muscles, behind the uniform. Seeing a step in front of another was not just a simple walk for her. It was a message, a part of a puzzle to be able to see what kind of opponent the other was. That was, what the Academy had taught her during her whole childhood and youth. Many underestimated her, just because she was small, a woman, looking like an Orion. That was her advantage. Her little attack had been merely a test to see if her analysis had been correct. And he did not disappoint her.:: Sherana: ghobe' mer naDev. /No Surprise here Tel-ar: Mah'vo drin'cha kav min'dra tov'ul garn sur'teth kiv'ro turb'kovha / Simply because I am tall does not mean I am inflexible. Besides that was not a difficult manoeuvre. Sherana: 'oH ghaHta' ghobe' Daq taH qej /It was not meant to be. :: As he said it Tal completed the roll that brought him back to his feet, spinning to meet her next attack. This time he did block it. Her Bat'leth struck his rebounding as it met an immovable force. :: :: Her dark brown eyes were focussed on him, he could see the spirit and determination gleaming in them and for the first time he could see the twitching in the muscles of her face. Not to a smile, but to that of a wild animal wanting to slay its prey, baring her teeth beneath the dark green lips. He thought for a moment to hear a low growl before she pulled away and in a flowing motion tilted her hand with the Bat'leth, the pointy end of the blade into the direction of his stomach. She deked with her left arm as she only had to swing her right arm in a swing contrarious to her left. :: :: This time Tal moved to meet her attack. Stepping inside her next swing and blocking her forearm was his palm, he closed his hand gaining a grip on her forearm as he did so. However a sudden shifting of her body weight prevented him from completing the move. :: :: She felt his grip around her arm, thankful for the layer of thick fabric between them, that way it was not as distracting as it could be. Therefore she had a free mind and she could react quickly. She moved one foot, shifted her body and swung her free arm to hit him with the blunt hilt of the Bat'leth in the small of his back. She was stronger than women of her size and species usually were, thanks to her training, so that he would feel the blow. :: :: Tal felt the blow strike his lower back. A shot of pure agony lanced up his spine and for a second he lost feeling to his lower body. For a second a flash of fear swept through him. Last thing he wanted was to be a cripple again. He was not sure if he could handle that. :: :: Tal took a step forward, all most uncontrolled, fighting to try and force his legs to work. That's when she hit him again. This time he could not supress the need to cry out in pain. :: Tel-ar: AAAGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! :: Feeling that her arm was free again, maybe in the reflex or in surprise she did neither know nor care, she could twirl around fully, pressing her pointy elbow into the right spot on his spine to trigger the reflex of his knees to bend. To not lose time she raised her foot, setting her boot on his Sacrum, the lower end of the spine and kicked to bring him down onto the floor. :: :: Tal felt something give, a white flash swept his mind as red hot pokers of pain rocketed up his body. He was falling, his legs would not work. He tossed the Bat'leth aside as he tried to catch himself but failing due to the angle of his fall. His elbow slammed into his rock floor, numbing his entire arm but he did not care. :: :: Tal gritted his teeth, trying by force of will to make his legs work. The pain crashed against his will, smashing it, slamming it with wave after wave of pure agony. In the distance he thought he heard a voice mumbling gibberish. Nothing made any sense. He felt like he was sinking, being swallowed up whole by some mysterious other worldly force that try as he might defied his best efforts to fight his way free. :: :: Sherana watched him going down and saw that he threw his blade aside, possibly because he did not want to land in it and kill himself. She still had the red veil of the training over her eyes, staying in her stance. Sherana: Qam Dung 'ej Suv DoH! /Stand up and fight back! :: The Orion watched him and pulled her brows together. It took her a few moments until she noticed that something was wrong. He did not react, did not talk back. Instead he just laid there on the ground, making a noise here and there that made her think he was in pain. She hesitated but then lowered her blade and stepped to him. Was it a trick or was he really down? Was the Andorian physiology so different that she had possibly hit a more sensible spot than she had thought? :: :: Sherana lowered herself down onto her knees next to him, placing the Bat'leth next to her on the ground before she reached out, placing her hand on his bare shoulder.:: Sherana: Tal? 'oH SoH rIQmoH /Are you injured? :: She had never called him by his first name before, but right now she did not care, and the worry for a fellow warrior took over. :: :: Tal sensed someone kneel beside him as a hand touched his shoulder. More words that made no sense seemed to flow over him as he turned to see who it was. Green skin? They had green skin... Sherana... suddenly it all came back to him. They had been sparing, she had struck him in the back, sensed his weakness and taken advantage of it. :: :: She saw that he looked at her, at least some reaction. But he did not say a word and while she had fought many times, this had only been a training session and he was apparently injured even if he did not say it. She switched back to standard and kept her voice unusually soft for her. :: Sherana: Are you injured? Do you need a medic? Tel-ar: No medics... there is nothing they can do... Sherana: But you do look like you need help. Tel-ar: I will survive... I did the last time... :: With-out realizing it Tal's voice had changed, become more cold, hard and unemotional than normal. The memory of being confined to a hover chair, of being half a man crashed through the barriers he had erected in his mind to keep them locked away. :: Sherana: :: Pulling together her brows she looked at him. :: What ... last time? Tel-ar: It is nothing... do not worry about it. :: When he spoke there was a hint of something hidden under his voice by will alone. :: :: She got aware, that her hand was still on his shoulder and she pulled it away, thinking her cheeks suddenly got warmer. What kind of person was she to feel like that when he was lying there in pain? :: Sherana: Obviously I injured you. I do think I have a right to know. Tel-ar: I was injured a few years ago. Repeated blows to the lower back by a steel pipe. I was crippled for a while. It took more than a year before I was able to walk again. :: She kept her eyes on him as she listened, wrinkling her brows. Why didn't he tell her that before? Maybe he did not want her to hold back or show sympathy. This was just a trainings session after all, right? And he was a big and strong man. Who would have known that something like this could happen? :: Sherana: What can I do to help? :: She did not have much experience with that, neither with helping others really apart from standing at their side, or the like. But he was a fellow warrior who apparently did not want to see any doctors, so there had to be something she could do. :: Tel-ar: Look in the closet. You will find 2 black cases. Bring them here. :: In a fluid movement the Orion was on her feet and headed to the closet. Her eyes wandered about the things inside. Everything was in order, and she didn't really expect anything else. :: :: Tal waited while she went to get them. It seemed like forever before she returned. She found the cases quickly and grabbed them to head back to Tal. Flowing down onto her knees she placed them in front of her. :: Tel-ar: Open them. :: She raised the cases slightly, finding the mechanism to unveil their content, while Tal spoke. :: Tel-ar: You should see a medical tricorder. It is programed with my personal medical data. Do a scan. :: The Orion with Klingon upbringing could not say of herself that she had any idea what these things on the screen of the Tricorder meant in detail, that had not been part of her training, but she had to try at least. So she pressed the button that was thankfully labelled to start the scan and watched the lights and listened to the sounds of the medical instrument. :: Sherana: Uhm this here looks... I am not really sure. :: Tal had never heard her like this. She was clearly not sure and in a way out of known waters that it vibrated in her voice.:: But If I were one to guess, I would say that something is pinched... :: Because she thought he would know better what this thing would say she turned the tricorder and showed the display to him. :: :: Tal waited while she did the scan then listened as she spoke before turning the device and showed him what was on the screen. Not as bad as he had feared but still not good news. :: Tel-ar: In the second case you will find a slim black device with a slightly raised ridge down the center. It has to be aligned perfectly with my spine. When you press it against my back tiny lights will come on. When they are all green it is in the right place. :: The woman nodded to let him know that she understood. She opened the second case and saw the devices in it. They were of different sizes and shapes. But they all had those lights on them that right now did not show any life at all. Her hands took some of them and then found the one with the ridge he had talked about. She switched it on with a hit on a button and the lights came to life, turning red. :: :: Leaning over his back she placed it carefully on his spine watching the lights she let it slide along downwards. She had to bring it further down and hit the waistband of his pants. The lights were still red. :: :: Tal waited while she got it and placed it against his back. :: Sherana: Could you shove your pants down a bit? Tel-ar: If they are in the way remove them. You will have to attach 2 more smaller devices to the backs of my thighs and 2 more to my calves. They all work together to allow me to control my lower body. :: Her dark eyes wandered up to him with a raised brow. Remove them? It was not the first time she had seen a half dressed man but she had not assisted with undressing any before. Her gaze wandered back to his pants before she shrugged her shoulders and scooted downwards to be next to his legs. To not hurt his back more than it already did, she carefully bent over, took the sides of the waistband and pulled. When she got stuck she slipped one hand under him. :: Sherana: I have to raise you a little. Tel-ar: I understand. Proceed. :: Tal gritted his teeth and tried to help as he felt her lifting his midsection. It was all he could do to shift his arms and help a little. :: :: As soon as he was high enough the other hand pulled at the fabric and she lowered him again, pulling out her arm. Now she could remove the pants completely, baring his legs as she slipped the fabric off and placed it folded next to him. Sherana had to take a deep breath. It was one thing to have him fighting bare chested, but to see him only in his starfleet boxers was a bit much. She was only a breathing hot blooded woman after all. :: :: So she crawled back next to his spine sliding down the device a bit more until the lights finally jumped to green and to her surprise the device changed its color so it could be barely seen against his skin. A fascinating view. :: Sherana: There... :: she cleared her throat slightly. :: ... we go. :: She quickly grabbed the smaller devices, focussing on the task, hoping he did not notice any of her treacherous signs of her inexplicable attraction. She placed the small devices and moved them ever so slightly until the lights turned green as well. Sherana realized that she had to align them properly top to bottom. And with every single one of them she could see the change of color to match his skin as well. :: Sherana: They are all affixed. Anything else I can do? :: She crawled closer to his top again, bending slightly forward to look at his face, slightly covered by the white hair. She noticed his antennae, that seemed to follow her and she remembered that they were part of his senses. Again she hoped that he had not noticed anything, before turning her eyes down to his. :: :: Tal could feel the pain start to subside. One of the advantages of the larger device attached to the small of his back. As a result he noticed almost instantly when Sherana moved close beside him. His antenna tracked her movement and her scent. Now it danced along his senses containing with in it an almost intoxicating hint of sinful pleasures. :: :: Tal fought the urge to respond even as he sensed the warmth radiating off her body. It had been a while since he had been this close to a woman. One that he felt attracted to. :: :: When she spoke the musical tones of her voice caused a slight tremor to vibrate through his antenna. It did not help that he could feel her warm breath on his cheek. :: Tel-ar: I should be OK in a moment. :: Tal could hear the slight huskiness in his own voice as he spoke. Obviously he was being affected by her presence even more than he had expected. :: Sherana: :: nodding slightly she looked him over. :: Good.. do you need help getting up? :: Tal knew that he should get up. The devices were working properly so he did not need her assistance but if he got up he was not sure how she would react. He could feel his body respond to her presence. :: Tel-ar: I think I can manage. :: As he said it Tal started to get up slowly. :: :: Sherana leaned back to not be in the way, but kept herself ready in case he needed help, even if he thought it would be alright. As he moved slightly she kept him closely in her gaze as she slowly removed herself from the floor as well. :: Sherana: How long will it take until you are fully recovered? Tel-ar: Hopefully I will be back to normal with in a few days. :: As he said it Tal stood up in one quick move from having one hand and his knees on the floor to fully upright. Under normal conditions it would have been an easy move for him. One that he could have done with casual grace. :: :: Not today. No today he stumbled slightly. Falling towards her and she reacted with the speed he expected from a trained warrior. :: :: As soon as she saw him stumbling she stepped forward and raised her hands, placing one of them on his chest and hugging the rest of her body against his side, for the highest leverage, so he would not bury her beneath his body, back on the floor. Her other hand rested on his back and she was not sure why it was a surprise that his skin was so warm; maybe because of the blue colour. It was confusing, why did her mind drift like this?:: Sherana: ::in a soft, slightly throaty voice:: Careful. :: The feel of her soft yet firm hand against his bare skin was electric. Add to that the sudden feeling of her pressed against his side and Tal had a sudden and immediate physical reaction that he needed to conceal from her. :: Tel-ar: Thank you. :: He replied as he stood up straight fighting to try and conceal any emotion that might show in his voice and fearing that he was failing. :: :: Her dark eyes wandered up to him. She was not sure if she was imagining the change in his voice or not. With a questioning gaze she tried to find the answer in his face, in his eyes. :: Sherana: Of course. :: That was so not like her, to behave like this. Holding him still her fingers slightly moved over his skin before she could wonder, what the heck she was doing there. Her green face darkened gradually, her equivalent of blushing, before she checked if he was standing on his own now, and stepped slightly back, her hands brushing over his back and chest as she hesitated to remove them fully. :: :: The feeling of her fingers slowly caressing his skin was pure sensual pleasure. Tal had to close his eyes for a moment as he lost himself in the enjoyment of the moment. It was with difficulty that he managed to slowly clear his mind but once he had he found that he had gently put his arm around her as if to prevent her moving away. :: :: He knew he should do something. She was standing there looking up at him as if she was expecting him to do or say something. What he wanted to do was to pull her into his arms and kiss her but what he did instead was to speak. :: Tel-ar: Sherana I... thank you.... :: He should have said something... Why was it so hard for him to talk about his feelings. :: :: Personal space, she had to remember that weird invention of some species. Not that she searched closeness, even Tao's hug had been weird to her. But she was also not someone who would step away if she got close to someone for certain reasons, she was a warrior who went right into the space of people to be victorious over them. But this time... she did not know why she took so long to step away. They were not fighting anymore, and he could stand alone, so she had no reason, right? :: Sherana: Ex... cuse me. :: her voice was raspy again as she finally took a step back and her eyes avoided to look up at him. :: :: Tal let go of her as she stepped back. It was hard for him to do. He did not want to let go and for a second his arm refused to release her but in the end he did. Instantly he missed the feeling of her being so close. :: :: For a moment he just stood there, looking down at her. She was looking away and for some reason he wanted to look at her, to look into her eyes. He started to lift his hand, paused while his emotions fought with the logical side of his mind and in the end his instincts took over. :: :: Tal lifted his hand to her cheek, turning her head gently so that he could look her in the eyes. As soon as he did he felt a sudden rush, a almost dizzy sensation. What was happening, why was he having such a reaction to her. He knew it could not be the legendary Orion pheromones. He would have sensed them if that was what it was. He seemed to be lost and it was a new feeling for him. :: Tel-ar: Sherana... :: He knew there was something wrong with his voice, but he did not care. :: I... you... :: As she felt the touch of the warm hand on her face her eyes jumped up to meet his. What was he doing? And why didn't she slap his hand away? Something happened with her, something that she had not experienced before. This something turned her insides upside down, created a tumult in her stomach. Not the kind she had when she had seen a dead man for the first time as a child, though she got used to. No, it was that kind she only had heard about in stories her mother had told her. That wasn't possible. Was it? :: :: Tal turned so that his body was now facing her, still lost in those dark brown eyes. His hand was now gently caressing her cheek. :: Sherana: :: Her lips opened slightly, she wanted to say something, but her mind did not find the words. She should possibly turn and leave, but she did not want to. :: Yes? :: She whispered, her voice betraying her. :: You... wanted to say? Tel-ar: I do not know.... I want... need... :: Tal felt frustrated with his inability to make any sense but then nothing about this situation made any sense. Not unless Jason was right and if he was then it all made sense. :: :: She did not think much, though she felt like thinking about what she was doing, but her hand did not agree. It simply raised to cover his mouth with its fingertips, hindering him to speak more. The Orion was surprised of her own gesture, her gaze dropping to the fingers moving like those of a stranger. :: :: At the touch of her fingers covering his mouth Tal gave up trying to express how he was feeling. He simple stood, calmly waiting to see what would happen next. The whole time his blood was pulsing through his veins like a runaway express train. :: :: Again her mouth opened. But no words left. What in Kahless name was going on? They were warriors. And now they stood here as if they were teenagers not knowing what to do with the opposite gender. Well it was not that far off, but it was a pretty stupid behaviour for people like they were. They fought, crossed blades, shed blood, they took what they wanted. Why should that change now? Maybe... because they did not know what they wanted? :: :: Sherana raised her eyes again and something in her kicked her, talked her into that she knew what that was. It flashed up in her eyes, only a moment before a low growl left her throat as if someone had activated it per remote control, not by herself. Her dark green fingers slipped with a brush from his lips, and with a surprising certainty wandered over his neck into his hair to pull him closer. Not close enough to actually touch him, just a sign, a message for the Andorian. :: :: Tal enjoyed the feel of her hand as she slowly pulled him a little closer but when she stopped pulling him it never occurred to him to stop. In fact his arms also moved, reaching out to encircle her. :: :: He pulled her close as his lips made contact with hers. It was a gentle kiss. As soft as a breeze dancing across a flower petal. Yet for all that it was electric for he could feel a surge of energy pounding through his entire body. :: :: Before he knew it he had pulled her closer, pressing her to him. This time when he kissed her it was with an intensity and desire that exploded from his inner core. Like a herd of wild mustangs suddenly making that mad dash to freedom. :: :: The gentleness that they had in this still new experience, the careful feeling their way was washed away just a moment later, when their instincts took over. Sherana shifted, wrapping her arms around his upper body as one of her hands remained in his neck as if she was afraid that he could walk away, the other brushed over his back, though making sure she did not kick off the device on his spine. :: :: Tal could feel her hands on his naked back. One second they were as gentle as could be and the next they were clutching him, pulling him closer and the whole time they were kissing. :: :: She had brought her hands to his shoulder blades, pressing her whole body against his, pulling him close as if she tried to crawl into him. The emotional storm rioting inside, took away her breath, but she did not pull away, as if he was the one refreshing her breath that seemed to dwindle. :: :: Tal ran his hands over her back. In the process one hand was suddenly pressed against her bare skin under her black sweater. Her skin was as soft as silk, warm to the touch. :: :: She gasped in surprise at his touch, not expecting that he would cross this frontier exploring the new area, as dug her nails into his shoulders, though due to her job they were not very long they still could leave marks on his blue skin. As her dark eyes jumped open she stared at the Andorian, tearing her lips from his, breathless and confused. :: :: Suddenly she pulled back, her eyes open staring up at him. He could feel slight tremors running through her body and sense her confusion. He felt it as well. He had never expected this to happen, for them to have lost control so easily. :: :: The Orion tried to grasp any thought, though her mind twirled with so many impressions and questions that she could not single out a single one of them. As much as she tried, she could not remember anything what she had heard about such situations before. :: Sherana: ::breathless:: I ... should maybe... leave.. before it is... too late. :: The last thing Tal wanted was for her to leave, he did not want to let go. It felt so right holding her in his arms and yet he did not want to rush her, to ruin what might be. He lifted one hand to the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair as he replied. :: Tel-ar: Too late.... I understand... :: Sherana wanted to go. Logic told him he should let her while instinct said to heck with that. He knew he should let her go. It seemed to be what she wanted and yet... he felt so confused... :: :: The female warrior was not sure if she really wanted to leave him, but she had the feeling it would be better. This was too fast, even for someone who just grabbed what they wanted. Maybe her inexperience whispered into the back of her mind when she stepped back slightly. :: :: She seemed about to step back even farther from him, with-out even thinking Tal stepped forward, crushed her to him and kissed her neck. If she had to go he was going to leave her with something to think about because he doubted that he was going to get any sleep this night. Not with all the sensory data and sinful thoughts dancing in his head. :: :: Feeling overwhelmed by the sudden 'attack' she gasped in surprise of the force behind his action, and her obvious physical reaction to it. The shiver on her spine, the goose bumps on her skin... the rapid heartbeat. She felt as if a whirlwind took her with it, so she clutched to his chest for security. :: :: Tal forced himself to stop for a second. He did not want to hurt her, to rush her. He knew he was holding her very close, maybe to tightly so he relaxed the grip while letting his hands wander gently. One hand under the sweater on her back and the other on top of the sweater tangled in her hair. He lifted his lips from her neck and pulled back far enough that he could look her in the eyes. :: :: Breathless she returned his gaze, holding his as if she tried to find all the answers in them to the questions twirling in her mind. Why were they doing this? How did this happen all of a sudden? Was it really from one moment to the next or did she just miss the signs in the few occasions they had been spending time together. Should she have seen it when he asked her to accompany him to the officer's party on the station? Or was this all new? :: :: Suddenly Tal forced himself to let her go and he stepped back. Not far mind you, just barely out of reach as he took a couple deep breaths trying to clear his mind. It must have worked because while he still felt the desire and want, his logical mind was able to nudge him towards sanity. :: Tel-ar: Sherana... I understand... this is unexpected... sudden... if you want to leave... I won't stop you... :: As he said it he was kicking himself mentally. He did not want her to leave. He wanted her to stay but his logical mind knew that he could not, must not rush her. If she was going to stay it had to be because she wanted to, not because he seduced her... :: Sherana: :: Blinking her gaze wandered between his eyes. :: Do you want me to leave? Tel-ar: No I don't want you to go... :: As he replied he could hear the emotion in his voice. Strong, vibrant and husky with desire. :: but it has to be your choice... :: It was all he could do not to move closer and sweep her up into his arms. He wanted to feel her skin against his. To feel the warmth of her body next to him. His antenna writhed and swayed, consumed by the scent of her. :: :: She still looked at him, as he spoke, though that she was not able to think clear, was maybe just the sign that she needed. She knew she was passionate, but she had no idea how to handle this. This kind of passion was new and she had to think about it first. How atypical for her kind to think about something first when they could just follow their guts. But even the fiercest warrior would train first before he went into battle. Not that she would train this, but she needed to think. :: :: Sherana nodded slightly and finally stepped back enough to feel his hand slide off her skin. The thoughtful expression on her face was new to him and to her. Slowly the woman turned around and headed to the door, though just a step out of sensor reach she turned around and looked at Tal. :: :: Tal watched her walk away. He clenched his fists and fought back the urge to go after her. It was her choice to make. He would just have to live with it. :: :: She did not want him to think that she did not want to stay. Oh boy did she. But it was the smartest thing to do, even though she was not known to always do the smartest thing. She sighed before taking a few firm steps back to him and with a fast motion she grabbed his face and pulled him down into a toe curling kiss, until they both had no air to breathe left. :: :: When she turned and walked back to him he almost let himself smile. Then she reached up and pulled his face down for a kiss. He let himself go, enjoying the kiss. His antenna leaned forward until they could touch her. Then she broke off the kiss and just stared into his eyes for a moment. He knew before she did it that she was going to leave. He forced himself not to react before she had left and the doors closed behind her. :: :: Just then she took another deep look into his eyes, her face still without any hint of her emotion, only her eyes gleamed in the dim light. She let go of him and finally left his quarters. Just to halt not even a meter away, dropping against the wall to catch her breath, brushing her hair - that had partly left the ponytail it had been in before - out of her face, wondering what in Kahless name this man had done with her to throw her off her balance so much, she could not find it even with warp speed. :: :: For a long minute Tal simply stared at the door. He clenched his fists and took deep breaths while he attempted to gain control of his emotions. They swirled and danced inside of him free of the iron chains that he normally kept locked in place. :: :: It was no good. Even with Elina he had never allowed himself to lose control like this. All of his senses were alive with sensations that reminded him of Sherana. Her smell, the softness of her skin, the feel of her breath on his, the way she felt in his arms and the kisses. His lips could still taste her. :: :: He had to get it under control. Normally meditation or practising martial arts would help him to clear his mind and allow him to suppress his emotions. Unfortunately he knew it would not work this time. :: :: Without another thought Tal turned away from the door and moved over to the single wall panel that was not covered by synthetic stone. This one was covered in a thick padding the same color as the stone. He immediately started to hit it as hard as he could. Putting his entire body into the blows so that he felt it right down to his toes. :: :: He quickly lost all sense of time as he relaxed his mind and let it drift. Blow by blow, punch, kick, jab and then all over again. Slowly, bit by bit he could feel the hurricane of emotions and desire being consumed by the fire of his activity. :: :: Still he could not totally eliminate the image of her, of Sherana. It drove him on, fuelled his drive so that his blows retained their earlier force or in some cases smashed into the padding even harder than before. :: ((Jump ahead 5 hours and 52 minutes)) :: Suddenly the wall panel shattered followed by sparks and the loss of power in his quarters. Even then he still kept hitting it until a jolt of power shot up his arm and shorted out his back brace. He immediately fell, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut. :: PNPC Sherana Civilian Botanist USS Apollo simmed by Lieutenant Jalana Laxyn Chief Medical Officer USS Apollo And Cmdr. Tal Tel-ar Strategic Officer USS Apollo, NCC-71669 Director of the SDC

((A Short Time Later - On the way to the Lounge)) :: Hands set behind his back, Ashley walked with Tallis down the corridor. :: Yael: It has been some time, hasn't it. ::musing:: What have you been doing this past year? Tallis: Euuuugh.... ::He tried to think of some kind of a cover story and drew a firm and resounding blank.:: Let's just say a lot of upheaval, but I'm glad to be back with Toni and all of you now, where I belong. :: Perhaps there was some sense that Tallis didn't want to talk about it... and seeing as how Ashley had his own secrets to keep, he wasn't going to push the subject. :: Yael: It's quite all right, I'm sure you've a handle on things. I think we've both had... stellar years, in some ways... :: It came out sounding slightly sarcastic, and more cryptic than he liked... he didn't want to plant the thought in Tallis' mind that something was being hidden from him. It just turned out he wasn't a very good liar, so deflection was all he could really offer. :: ::Fortunately, it was taking Tallis quite some effort to keep from starting to think negatively and he didn't read anything into the comment other than what was on the surface. Tallis: Oh? I'm sorry that things didn't work out too well. ::He had nearly always thought of Ashley as a younger brother and didn't like the idea of dwelling on things that would make him happy.:: :: They were stepping in through the doorway to the lounge, the doors sliding open at their approach. There were a few crewmembers enjoying the room, but it was sparsely populated, considering they were orbiting the homeworld of a majority of the crew. Most were probably out enjoying the sun and long-unseen family. :: Tallis: So, if we've both had bad years, why don't we talk about what we're planning to do when we get back? ::He much preferred the idea of doing that than reliving almost any of the last year, save the wedding on the Tiger.:: Yael: I rather like that suggestion. :: Choosing a table near the large walled window, Ashley pulled out his seat and waited for his Bajoran companion to do the same before sitting, ever the polite one. One of the few wait staff came over almost immediately as they sat, expecting their order. :: Tallis: I'd like a cup of deka tea and a scone with moba jam, please. Yael: ::skipping the food entirely:: Tomato juice. Thank you. :: The drinks quickly supplied via the replicator, they were left to their own devices and conversation. :: Yael: As an ambassador, what exactly do you plan to do on Duronis? Will you be involved with the local government? I have a tough time thinking of you as a civilian. ::It was still a little strange for him, too.:: Tallis: I have a feeling that what will actually happen is a little different from what I'm expecting will happen. I'm expecting to fill Boyd Lee's shoes, hopefully meet with Vail Daysa to help build some bridges and generally work to consolidate the Federation's reputation. You know as well as I do, though, that it's impossible to predict what will happen next on Til'ahn. I think that's where my Starfleet experience will come in handy. Yael: That sounds like quite the job description. I hope you'll have some help with all that. Perhaps a local adviser chosen from the populace, to speak on behalf of local issues. Tallis: And the advice of a trained counsellor. Have you done much diplomatic work before now? Yael: ::eyebrows raising, then furrowing:: Only... well, I have acted in such a station before. In a limited way. I'd... of course I'd offer my aid, if you have need of me. :: Though he couldn't say if Vail Daysa wanted him around, should he remember the previous year very negatively. Ashley had been accused of everything up to being a traitor and in league with terrorists, so his name might need to stay on the sidelines if he wanted to help Tallis. :: Yael: I'd be happy to let you have the glory of our diplomatic victories, in that case. :: Lifting the glass of thick, red juice, he slowly drank, trying to think of a polite way to say "no" if it was to be a more public appointment... but telling Tallis "no" was not easy for him to do. The Bajoran could simply *look* at him funny and he would probably melt into a worrisome puddle of extremely useful counselor goo, incapable of denying his friend anything he required. For some reason he'd always looked up to the man, and disappointing him wasn't on his list of acceptable activities. :: ::This time, Tallis caught something in the way Ashley had phrased his answer.:: Tallis: Don't worry, I wasn't planning on drafting you into an official position. ::He sipped his tea:: I think I'd just appreciate having someone with a sharp eye for details to run things by every now and again. This ambassadorial job is new to me and I want to make sure I'm making a good go of it. Otherwise it makes everyone's job that bit more difficult, right? Yael: ::chuckling lightly:: I understand, certainly. I'll do everything I can to make you look good. :: Another slight attempt at humor. It had never been the Denobulan's strongest suit, but he could get one in now and then. More so with those who could identify the slight change in his tone as he delivered the almost-entirely-serious comments he meant to be humor. :: Yael: And when it begins to boil, disappear into the shadows and claim no knowledge whatsoever. Plausible deniability is the key to surviving politics, keep that in mind. ::The Bajoran chuckled to himself. That wasn't the first time he'd heard that piece of advice.:: Tallis: I'm with you. Apparently the skill to weave a web every now and again is going to be the key to staying ahead of the game. ::His thoughts turned to Ashley's current predicament.:: How do you plan on beating the crew into shape? Yael: Hmm... ::he couldn't help an ironic smile::... the phrase is surprisingly apt. Do you have a large stick I could borrow? :: But he waved it off with the rest of his bad humor. :: Yael: It will be a process. Some... mostly the ones who already knew me... have already offered to come to me with some current troubles. It's good to see them willing to try to work things out. Tallis: But there are still one or two who are a bit resistant, right? Yael: Yes, the others... there are a few... I imagine you might be capable of guessing who, though I won't say directly... who appear to have made it their mission to break my will. I fear they don't realize they're in over their heads. :: A slight shameless plug, but he was feeling better for the forward thinking conversation, so the bits of humor were coming easier to him now. :: ::Rhul grinned. He knew that if it came down to games then Ashley would be prepared to beam them out of their quarters and into the counsellor's office if necessary. The question was, did they?:: Tallis: You know, if we're lucky some of my command codes might still work. I could help you override a transporter module... Yael: A crew-napping? It just might be necessary. Tallis: ::Laughing:: Well, if any fingers come pointing in my direction then I can just claim diplomatic immunity... Yael: You diplomats are all the same. :: A slight dig, but with a light laugh. Trying not to let the mood change too much, Ashley went in for something he'd been curious about. As the moment they arrived at Duronis grew closer, he found himself wondering on it... or more appropriately stated... worried. Nothing concrete, more like the energy of the place. When he spoke, it was almost as if he were hoping the Thunder would be called out on orders. :: Yael: Will we be beaming down as soon as we arrive at the Embassy? It may be that we have more business via the Thunder...? Perhaps we should make sure before we make our way through the Belt... since it limits the warp ratio and all. ::He had a point. It had now been a little while since the crew had been stationed at the Embassy; the Laudeans had been granted a chance to rebuild, but public opinion had a nasty habit of changing with the wind.:: Tallis: I'm sure Toni is planning to call ahead, but I'll recommend that we test the waters before we beam down so that we can see what kind of a situation we'll be beaming into. Whatever happens, maybe we should make sure we're with her in the advance party. Yael: oO Crap! Oo ::not sounding entirely sold on the idea:: Perhaps we should do that... wouldn't want her beaming into an unknown situation, now would we... ::Rhul was confident that they would still be on good enough terms to be able to speak to their usual contacts just before their arrival.:: Tallis: I'm sure that if we contact Vail Daysa he will give us a frank report on the lay of the land. He's always been honest with us. I think he's been through enough as our ally that he's likely to stay that way. Yael: ::quiet, but trying to allow Tallis' certainty to bolster him:: You're quite right, of course. Tallis: You're worried about what we might find when we get back? :: Purple eyes glanced up to Tallis from the half-empty glass of tomato juice, falling back down to it just as quickly as he thought on the answer. But he couldn't hide the hesitation. :: Yael: After you left, there were... circumstances, which were none too pleasant. Though I doubt it compares to the Klingon attack, several of our crew were... assaulted, variously. Mr. Tindall was nearly poisoned, and certain members of the crew had become targets... among other things... :: Among *many* other things, in fact. :: Yael: I only hope we're... better able to protect our own from the unknown elements found there. If the same discontent exists as did before, or if they blame us for attracting the Klingons attentions to their world... there could be... :: He wasn't sure how to finish the thought, and perhaps he'd given too much away, though he was careful with his tone. He didn't want to see those sort of things happening to his crewmates, no more so than he wanted anything happening to himself. :: ::Tallis nodded absently as he listened to Ashley's concerns. They were all well-founded and he could see why he was worried. He felt himself clenching up a little at the mention of members of the Embassy crew being attacked; that wasn't something he was going to just sit by and allow to happen.:: Tallis: ::Confidently and firmly:: We will be able to protect our own. We have a detachment of marines and I don't intend to let any bad deed against our crew go without chasing it through any and all available channels. ::There were certain people that went doubly for; the children and Toni first and foremost. Ashley's name was high on the list too.:: Yael: I believe you. :: And he did. Except... what of the crew who were likely to go find trouble themselves, rather than simply happening upon it? They couldn't protect everyone all the time, especially the ones bound to get themselves into trouble, and very much with that express purpose. :: :: He would know that quite well, considering... :: :: But he shook his head slightly, as if to shake off the diminishing mood, and he reaffirmed the casual smile, looking up to Tallis again. And then he lied through his teeth. :: Yael: I'm sure it'll be fine. There's probably nothing to worry about at all. Tallis: ::Relaxing a little:: I'm sure you're right. A little optimism will go a long way with this I guess. And besides, I happen to think we make a pretty [...] good team. Yael: How could I disagree with that? Captain Turner's lucky we're here. :: Finishing off the last of his glass of tomato juice, he set the glass carefully back down onto the table. It clinked a couple times, but he ignored it. It was going to be fine, like Tallis said. And the staff would all be sane, and poop rainbows, and kittens would never grow up into snarky old cats. But the snarky images in his mind did go well enough to making the smile genuine. He knew they'd do their best, absent the rainbows. :: Yael: ::changing the subject once more:: Do you plan to visit Earth again before we ship out? Tallis: ::Shaking his head:: No, I think I'm done now. The only reason I'd go back down is if Toni wants to make one last trip. My home is on Til'ahn, as far as I'm concerned. How about you? Yael: If you swear to never tell a soul... I've suffered far too much of my mothers cooking the past year. If we leave this instant it won't be soon enough. :: His inflection wasn't one that said he disliked his mother, but rather that she could kill an army with her efforts in the kitchen. :: ::Tallis found himself chuckling again at the image of Ashley fleeing from an old lady wielding a frying pan.:: Tallis: Well then I guess you won't be complaining about having to eat replicated food, at least for the time being. Talking of food... ::a memory from a while back crossed his mind:: I believe you owe me some hasperat? Yael: ::nodding:: That I do, don't think I've forgotten. And if I recall correctly, you're a fan of the spicier dish. I'll be sure to put your palette to the test. ::Remembering his own track record, Tallis's laughter intensified.:: Tallis: Alright, challenge accepted! Just make sure I'm nowhere near the brine while it's being made, or I'll be taking a trip to sickbay to have my eyes washed out! Yael: Ouch... ::laughing lightly, waving it off with a hand::... we could cut to the chase, I could borrow a Marines mace and give you a good spray. It'll save me on ingredients. ::It would certainly be quicker than waiting for the inevitable eye-splashing accident.:: Tallis: That would certainly cut out the middle man. How about we see what the state of play is when we get there and arrange it for as soon as possible. It's been too long since I've had hasperat. ::And another chance to sit down and chat to Ashley would be greatly appreciated as well.:: Yael: Just say when, and I'll make myself available. But for the moment, I do have some crew resource management to work on. I'd like to have a plan in place before we reach the Embassy. :: That being his plot to contend with the annual evaluations of an entire crew who had thus far gone unevaluated. :: Tallis: Yeah, sounds like you have your work cut out. I kind of have to play things by ear once we get to Til'ahn, so if you need any help then just give me a yell. Yael: Certainly. ::nodding as he stood:: That goes for you as well. :: Giving Tallis a polite nod, as was natural for him to do, he tucked his hands behind his back and made way out of the lounge and to the Counseling Offices. He already had a few appointments in place for the day, including seeing Alice Hendon about a possible adoption. For Tallis, things were going to be relatively quiet; he was hoping to check in with the children so that they didn't have to spend time with the sitter for the whole of the trip back home. He had enjoyed talking to Ashley, much as they had both been reluctant to particularly catch up. He was already considering how he might tell him what had happened over the course of the last year the next time they met.:: JP by~ Ambassador Tallis Rhul Embassy Duronis II USS Thunder NCC - 70605-A & Lt. Ashley Deneve Yael Counselor Embassy Duronis II USS Thunder NCC - 70605-A

((Intelligence Office, Deck 5, USS Drake)) :: Oliver flomped into his chair and twirled around once before cracking his knuckles and calling up the three blue screens at his desk. They each came on with a quiet chime and after a moment to get a fresh mug of tea, Oliver started calling up different data feeds to monitor while he tried tapping into their doppelgangers communications network. The first screen monitored their Drakes subspace communications and the range and impact of their active sensor sweeps. The second watched the same outputs from the Alternate Drake, and the third screen was set to run simulations before Oliver actually put any methods into play. :: WESTON: Here we go. :: The Primary Drake wasn't communicating with anyone for the moment, and on the Captains orders it was essentially running silent, but she was currently actively scanning the Ishkarian Sensor Beacons, the Alternate Drake and the Ishkarian homeworld. And while those scans were passive and generally hard to detect unless you knew to look for them, they were still a liability. So Oliver started to work masking them. :: :: The work was quick and easy as there was nothing to countermand and their was no great rush, but the prospect of next breaking into the Alternate Drakes communications network was altogether different. He'd have to first find a way to listen in without their Operations Officers realising that their was a security breach or hearing an subspace echo and, as Pandora suggested, he'd have to compete with himself nearly every step of the way. The thought of which was as unsettling as it was hard to grasp. Finally finished with making their passive scans nearly untraceable by Federation standards, an alert caused him to nearly jump out of his seat. :: ((Alt Intelligence Office, Alt Deck 5, Alt USS Drake)) :: Something wasn't adding up. Other than the pounding headache he had had since their time displacement, the Comms and Operations Officers had reported a few phantom signatures that they couldn't quite place and Oliver was tasked with figuring it out. Starting in their communications network and rolling back through past sensor sweeps and their burst scans of the Ishkarian beacons Oliver started to notice the phantom signatures for himself. It was a tricky business but he managed to discover that they had even been passively scanned at least once in the last few hours, and the beacons weren't responsible. :: Digging deeper he started actively monitoring their communications network. :: ((Intelligence Office, Deck 5, USS Drake)) WESTON: Not good. :: Speaking to no one in particular, as the room was empty he quickly input a subroutine that made his infiltration look like software malfunction. A simple burst of static on the Alternate Drakes communication net that would hopefully throw off his pursuer. :: ((Alt Intelligence Office, Alt Deck 5, Alt USS Drake)) :: Oliver scrunched his brow at the data read. What a moment ago looked like a piggybacking communication was now just a line of static and distortion. On a different screen he checked the status of the comms array and if any of the extensive damage to the roll bar and sensor pod would have caused the static. The data came back negative. Something was going on. :: :: Quickly he reinitialised his earlier scan and started shutting down the Drakes communications one by one as it scanned. Internal shut down first, killing all comm traffic within the ship for a few seconds. There was no breach there yet. Emergency/Priority went next, but it was seldom used and Oliver found nothing there. Subspace came up negative, but the final passive data communication with the beacons lit up like a firecracker. :: ALT WESTON: Gotcha! ((Intelligence Office, Deck 5, USS Drake)) :: Oliver’s eyes went wide and he made a noise somewhere between a gasp and a bark. He'd been pinged bang on after being chased through four different communication channels. Each one had been silenced as he retreated his scan and eventually he had nowhere to run. From their Internal network he picked up nothing but inane chatter, which was no use to anyone from an Intelligence standpoint, but now that he'd been caught he was on the backfoot. Now his only priority was making the Primary Drakes location and existence impossible to discover. :: :: Working quickly he collapsed the piggybacked comm signal he'd been using and played his first card. A red herring in the form of a real space comms burst from his ship to theirs. It would be nearly untraceable and because it wasn't sent via subspace it would muck up their external comms long enough for him to cover his tracks while they attempted to dig it out. The burst went off without a hitch and he severed the connection with a sigh of relief. The relief was short lived as a scan warning lit up all three monitors and Oliver blanched. :: :: His quarry had either not fallen for his ruse or simply ignored it and now the Primary Drake was faced with an active scan from multiple vectors. :: ((Alt Intelligence Office, Alt Deck 5, Alt USS Drake)) :: The fact that someone was not only following them but also surreptitiously scanning them and attempting to monitor their internal communications made him angry. Doggedly he continued following the digital breadcrumbs left behind and stopped only momentarily as they received a real space communication packet. He ignored it completely, giving not a frell, and instead requisitioned Ops to actively scan the space around them. And to make matters more frustrating for their pursuers he doubled and then tripled the scan output by tapping into the two nearby Ishkarian beacons. The scans all came back with a bevy of data and Oliver filtered it through his station first. They were being pursued along the ion trail they'd left while on their way to the dark side of a nearby planetary body. :: :: The data came back and slowly Oliver’s jaw started to drop. It was a Federation signature. More data spooled in; ship size and displacement, class, configuration, registry number...:: ALT WESTON: Oh... ((Intelligence Office, Deck 5, USS Drake)) WESTON: ...frak. LtCmdr Oliver Weston Intelligence Officer USS Drake

((Corridor, USS Apollo)) ::Ensign Vincent Pierce had just recently returned to the ship from rescuing a shuttle that was abandoned on the surface of the planet of which the Apollo remained in orbit. He had had a rather busy day, the only time he had to relax was right after he reported for duty and he hadn't realized how tired he was until now.:: ::Once he finally had a moment to think, he realized what the date was, March 30th. A date that will forever remain in his memory and not for positive reasons. It was on this date that Rygel VII, the colony on which he grew up, was attacked by Orion slavers who kidnapped all the colonists who would fetch them a nice price and murdered the rest. His mother was one of the rest.:: ::Pierce prepared himself for the inevitable onslaught of unpleasant, angry thoughts that would proliferate inside his mind for the next few hours as he reminisced about his family and friends that were now lost to him:: ::He needed a drink.:: ::As Pierce walked aimlessly down the corridor until he noticed a pair of doors with large windows on them, labelled "Complex 39". He heard the sound of chatter and laughter, and assumed that this was some sort of mess hall.:: ((Complex 39, USS Apollo)) ::Pierce walked into the room and saw a large amount of people. Most gathered around tables which were arranged along the long windows which overlooked the planet the Apollo currently orbited. On the other end of the room was a long bar area with stools, a number of which were empty. Since Pierce didn't know many people on the ship yet, he opted to sit on one of the stools at the bar.:: ::When he sat down the barkeep asked him what he would like, Pierce just asked for a plain, dry scotch. It was a plain, dry scotch kind of evening. He drank his scotch with the firm intention of being alone for the entire time. Then someone walked in, the kind of person he did not expect to see on a Starfleet ship, let alone the ship he was serving on: an Orion.:: :: Sherana had another long day behind her. Not only to do her work in the Arboretum, but also had she seen the most unusual things like an officer stuck in a maintenance shaft. She still was not sure who that had been, but he certainly had not been the usual officer aboard a Starfleet ship. She thought he could have easily served upon a Klingon ship, nobody there had a sunshine and rainbow attitude.:: :: Now she had returned to the Complex, another box of fruits and vegetables in her hand, since most of the delivery she had brought earlier became the victim of Tao's attempt to make that kind of Hasperat that the Bajoran Engineer would enjoy. It had taken quite a few tries and resources. What a luck for the host, that Sherana always planted too much and still had a few reserves.:: :: The Orion wore her usual attire, the bulky wide clothing to hide any signs of femininity, barricading any hint of curve behind the loose working pants with a lot of pants for tools and the like on the sides and a woolen sweater that must had been at least three numbers too big. The working boots just rounded the whole look, with its counterpart on her had, a hat to cover her hair, apart from the ponytail in the back. :: :: Heading into the Complex she noticed that it was not empty. that meant to just hurry in, deliver the box and leave again, instead of any talk with Tao. Though that woman would possibly try to hug her again and Sherana would not mind to escape that. What an awkward gesture when it was not combined with some hitting on the shoulder for a congratulatory moment. She walked to the bar and shoved the box with a flowing motion onto the counter.:: Sherana: Delivery for the kitchen! :: She simply announced her purpose, the barkeep acknowledged her presence and brought the box to its intended destination, while Sherana turned to leave again, just to see that to eyes were upon her. A stranger, though on a ship of that size not really a surprise. She could not interpret the look he gave her, almost as if he was willing to slit her throat right here. Of course that was not possible. He did not know her and from the few things she had heard about the people who she had to thank for her green skin, Orion females were a pleasant company. Not that Sherana would understand any of that. But this look was unnerving, so very unexpected. :: Sherana: Do I have soil in my face? ::Maybe that was the reason he looked at her and the rest was pure imagination. .oO That must be it Oo. ::Pierce's snarl turned into a look of contempt. When Sherana asked him a question, he was unsure how to respond. He turned his head and faced forward, trying his best to ignore her. After taking a gulp from his glass of scotch, he finally spoke with forceful resentment.:: V Pierce: No :: She pulled her brow up slightly, meeting the hem of her hat. The tone of his voice made her wonder if her dismissive reaction to her thoughts was a little too hasty. She turned to him fully, her dark eyes looking into his without hesitation.:: Sherana: Then.. have we met and I forgot? ::Pierce took another gulp of Scotch and set his glass, still half-full, on the table. The anger inside of him was growing, boiling like a pot of water on a stove. As he got more heated, the anger boiled evermore until it reached a critical point. Vincent decided that it would be prudent to extricate himself from the situation before his anger reached that point.:: ::Pierce got up and almost made it to the doorway. Almost.:: :: Sherana looked after him, confused about that reaction. She could not remember ever meeting that man, though his reaction to her was, as if she had and in that meeting offended him somehow. Did she once fight against him? She pulled her brows together trying to remember. Her dark gaze wandered as she thought about it and saw that his glass had a considerable amount of fluids in it.:: :: She never was one for wasting a good drink and while she could just have taken it for herself, according to Tao's attempts in bringing any social customs closer to Sherana that was considered rude. Hesitating for just a moment she had grabbed the glass and stepped after the man.:: Sherana: You forgot your drink. It would be a shame to waste it. ::Pierce turned around to face Sherana. All his efforts to contain his anger seemed to go to waste. In a fit of anger, he slapped the drink out of her hand and went crashing down on the floor, shattering into numerous pieces.:: :: The gaze of the Orion woman followed the movement of the glass, seeing the shards of the shattered beverage on the rug. She was quite sure that Tao would not be happy about it, just after that she wondered why the man had done that. She raised her eyes to look at him, her face not showing any expression, in contrast to the dark brown orbs that shone in confusion.:: :: Suddenly, the complex went quiet and in a strong voice, fueled by fiery emotion, Pierce bellowed.:: V Pierce: I don't care about the drink and I don't want to be be your friend. Just stay away from me, Orion! ::With that, Pierce stormed out of The Complex, searching for somewhere to vent his anger.:: :: The woman stood there, her hand was still extended from the offering, her eyes on the closing doors of the complex. .oO What in Kahless name did just happen? Oo. If she had thought that his action of obviously denying the offer with destroying the glass and wasting the Scotch was confusing her, this topped it by a lot.:: .: Since she had left Quo'nos she had been worried about people judging her for being a warrior, for her Klingon upbringing, because the wars in the past and the tension at present. She had hidden it, did not talk about it much so she would not be judged and accused of being a murderer or a spy.:: :: And now she stood here and she was being judged, quite obviously, because he was angry at her, without ever meeting her. But not for being Klingon, the culture, way of life and customs she grew up with that were in her heart and soul. No, she was judged for something she did not know anything about. For something she did not feel even being part of her, the color of her skin she had wanted to shed so often while she'd been at home. For something she did not know what it meant. For being Orion. And she had no idea how to deal with it.:: :: Sherana blinked a few times finding back to herself before she headed back to the bar and got something to take care of that mess. After all, Tao would hate seeing someone step into glass shards.::

((Maintenance shaft 43-A, USS Apollo)) :: Por'kus grunted as he forced his stocky frame to slide another 5 inches deeper into the bowels of the ship. He should have just used the transporter, it would have been quicker and he would not have had to wriggle along like some kind of bug. :: :: He paused, sweat running into his face messing with his vision. Unfortunately he was so cramped that he could not do anything about it. When had these maintenance shafts gotten so small? He could remember how easy it had been to squirm through them when he was back on the USS Tokyo. :: :: Sure that was over 5 years ago but still. He had not put on that much weight had he? :: :: With another grunt he pulled himself even deeper into the ship. Then tried to do it again. For some reason he could not budge. Try as he might he could not move. Even when he tried to push himself back he could not. He was stuck. :: :: Next he tried to reach his communication badge but it was wedged between his chest and the side of the shaft. There was not enough room for him to try and reach it with his hand. With his arms over his head like they were he could not bend them in any way that would be helpful. :: :: After almost 10 minutes of intense effort that succeeding in doing nothing other than making him sweat like a fat man in a sauna Por'kus finally gave up and started to yell for help. :: Por'kus: HEELLLPPPP!!!!! :: He yelled at the top of his lungs. Then he waited a few minutes before he did it again. :: :: After a while he heard a faint reply. :: ((Corridor, USS Apollo)) :: Loleh's shift had ended and she walked along the corridors reading a fascinating article on Quantum Physics and Time Travel. It was not unusual for her to wander the corridors while she read. Many times she would finish reading and find herself on a completely different deck with no sense of how much time had passed. This time, however to stopped when she heard a faint sound that seemed to resemble a cry for help. Her pointed ears honed in on the sound and she followed it every time she heard the yell. Eventually she found herself at the hatch of a maintenance shaft, which seemed rather peculiar. :: Loleh: ::Leaning into the shaft:: Hello? Por'kus: Hello... Loleh: ::a little louder:: Hello, I am Lieutenant jg Loleh Rejock. Do you require assistance? Por'kus: Of course I need assistance. I wouldn't be yelling for help if I didn't. :: He snapped at her. :: Loleh: oO No need for an attitude... Oo What seems to be the problem? Por'kus: I'm wedged in. Loleh: hmm.. :: her brain began analyzing the situation. :: Can you clarify what you mean by wedged in? Por'kus: STUCK!! As in I can't move. Loleh: I see. And how long have you been stuck up there? Por'kus: I don't know... about 2 hours I think... Loleh: 2 hours?! :: she found herself amused at the situation and took out her tricorder to scan what was trapping him. :: Por'kus: Just get me out... Loleh: I am working on it. :: Worst case scenario, she could input the coordinated in the transporter and beam him out, however the thought of using a transporter made her shudder. Besides, it took more skill to calculate the best way to move the pieces to free him. She climbed into the shaft and started making her way toward the stuck voice. :: ((In the Maintenance Shaft)) Por'kus: Hurry it up... I need to [...] like mad... Loleh: [...]... I am not familiar with that terminology. What does it mean? :: She continued towards him. :: Por'kus: [...]!!! Take a leak... Urinate.... Loleh: There is no need to get agitated. I am, after all, helping you... unless of course you would like me to leave you here? :: She desperately hoped that she outranked this mystery person after talking to him the way she had. :: Por'kus: Agitated... leave me here... are you nuts... I'm sweating like crazy, stiff, sore and now I need to [...] and you want to leave me here?? Loleh: Very well, I will leave you here then. ::She turned back:: Por'kus: Get back here. Of course I want help. I don't plan to spend the rest of my life here. Loleh: :: Smiling :: That is much better. Now. I am almost to you and I will be able to calculate the direction and force to which we will need to move you to break free. Por'kus: Good luck. I've tried everything and not been able to budge myself even a tiny bit. Loleh: Would you please trust me? Por'kus: Trust you... better yet just get me out of here... :: She saw his legs and knew she had a challenge ahead of her. She first theorized that the heat in the shaft must have caused the man to swell and make his size too large for the given space. :: Loleh: How did you get here if you do not fit? Por'kus: Are you trying to say I'm fat? Loleh: I am saying that your size is greater than the circumference of the shaft. Por'kus: I'm just big boned. Besides I managed to get this far... then I got stuck... Loleh: Interesting.. :: She began reaching up to get a feel of the situation. :: Por'kus: The shaft must be smaller here... :: As he said it he could feel her hand slid up his leg towards his waist. :: Loleh: Has the shaft always been this small to you? :: She started feeling around the man to see if his uniform had caught on anything. :: Por'kus: OK.... So maybe I am a little larger than I use to be... what has that to do with getting me out? :: Now he could feel her hand checking to make sure he was not caught on anything. :: Loleh: I am merely pointing out that if you lost some weight, this would no longer be a problem and you could do your job better. :: She took another step up and worked her way around his waist. oO I should have ignored his cry for help.. I could be reading right now! Oo :: Por'kus: I do not need to diet... they need to make these #$%^&* shafts all the same size. :: Somehow she had managed to work around his legs and was now checking his other side. Unfortunately her hand was ticklish as hell and he was not sure how much longer he could stifle the giggles. :: Loleh: I am certain that there is a logical explanation for the size of the shaft. And you would be much healthier if you dropped a few pounds. Por'kus: Ha..ha..ha.. ha.. ha.. Loleh: :: She looked at the man, quite confused. :: I hardly see what is so funny about this situation. Por'kus: I don't find this funny... your tickling me. Loleh: Well stop moving. I can't see up there so I have to feel out if you are caught on something.. I'm just.. about.. finished.. :: She started sliding her hand back towards her. :: Por'kus: Whhooo... watch the hand lady... I don't know you that well... Loleh: :: blushing :: My apologies. Now you are not caught on anything so I will just have to unlodge you myself. Por'kus: Just watch what you push... Last thing I want to do is have to call my mommy and tell her you took my virginity... Now do you really think you can get me free?? Loleh: Uh, sure I can! :: She was thankful he couldn't see how slender she was. She was hardly strong.. she was a scientist, not a security officer. She defeated things with her mind, not biceps.. :: Por'kus: You don't sound too sure... you're not some 85 pound bookworm science geek are you? Nah... the gods couldn't hate me that much... Loleh: What other options do you see? Por'kus: : Well I could hang around while you run and get me about 2 dozen burgers and a couple shakes... or risk getting a rather abrupt proctology examine... go ahead give it your best... Loleh: Okay then, here goes nothing. :: She wrapped her arms around his legs, using one leg to brace herself on the sides of the shaft. She began pulling on the stuck man with no luck, when his comm badge chirped. :: Knight: =/\= Bridge to Crewman Por'kus. =/\= Por'kus: =/\= What?? =/\= Knight: =/\= I need you to go over to the Rigek. They have some systems that could use your tiny fingers on. =/\= Por'kus: =/\= Now! Are you kidding. I'm stuck right in the middle of a very tricky removal problem. =/\= Knight: =/\= Well get your chubby little self unstuck! We need you over there in ten minutes and we do not have time for you to take a little vacation...have you been eating those apple fritters again? =/\= :: She enjoyed talking with him. Sometimes it gave her a chance to be as rude as she wanted to be from time to time, and someone like Por'kus expected it. She could get away with talking to him different from others. She did not always do so, instead, sometimes she was overly nice to him. It was fun to watch him squirm. :: Por'kus: =/\= You have got to be kidding. Take my advice give up cooking and stick to your day job. Those things tasted like used underwear. Yeuucckk. =/\= ((Corridor)) :: Sherana was heading back to the Arboretum when the Orion botanist noticed the hatch to one of the ships maintenance tubes was open. She could hear weird noises echoing from inside. They sounded like sick animals or someone being crushed while carrying an enormous weight, one that was way too much for them. :: :: She walked closer and just when she peeked inside she heard a loud voice of a woman echo down to her. :: Loleh: STOP FIDGETING! :: She continued pulling. :: :: Sherana straightened up again as the words flew into her face, just when a male gruff voice followed. :: Por'kus: I'm not fidgeting... your touching my manhood... by the way what are you doing later? Just thought I would ask as you now know me better than my last girlfriend... now stop playing and start PUSHING... :: The Orion's eyebrows rose. What in Kahless' name where those people doing in that tube? :: Loleh: Well can you try sucking in your stomach or something? :: Loleh looked at the man with disgust. She was starting to want to use the transporter.. despite her phobia she wouldn't mind the risks it brought if used on him. :: Knight: =/\= Is everything okay, Por'kus? =/\= :: A large smiled formed on her face. It was funny listening to the banter back and forth. She was not sure if it was the funnier part, or the fact that he was stuck in the first place. She thought of just beaming him out of there, which would take a few seconds. Instead, since he didn't think of it...she wouldn't bring it up until she had to. Instead, she chose to deal with a few minutes of comic relief from the little Tellarite. Of course, perhaps little was not the best descriptive for the man. :: Por'kus: Again with the fat jokes... I'll give it a try... :: He tried to talk low enough that his helper could hear him but the comms badge did not. A foolish try as he knew the badge would pick up everything. :: =/\= Just my assistant getting a little fresh... nothing to worry about. =/\= :: Loleh continued her futile attempts. There was no physical way for her to pull him out. The math did not work! :: Knight: :: He sounded like he was calming down, and she could not have that. He was much more comical when he was agitated. It was interesting listening to the man squirm, she almost wanted to head down and see it for herself. ::=/\= How long do you think it will be until you are out of there? =/\= Por'kus: =/\= I don't know... as soon as possible. =/\= It's not working, try harder. :: He hissed under his breath as he tried to suck it in even more. :: Loleh: :: grunting :: I'm doing the best I can! It's not my fault you're so big! :: She wasn't normally so rude, but it was the only way to talk to this Porky guy. :: :: This was really too strange, it sounded a lot like they enjoyed their time with each other in this tube, though when it came to that Sherana liked it less talky and more growly. Though she understood when other people liked it differently. But why here and in that way? :: :: She peeked her head back into the tube and cleared her throat. :: Sherana: You might want to close the hatch if you want to copulate, everyone outside can hear you. Por'kus: What did she say? :: He was not sure what the strange female voice had said. :: Loleh: :: holding back the urge to vomit at the thought. :: She thinks we are copulating. Apparently everyone can hear us! :: turning down to the newest member of the party. :: I assure you, we are NOT copulating. Knight: =/\= You seem to be taking your time, Por'kus. Are you enjoying yourself? =/\ :: She figured the jab would get him riled up a bit more. Enjoyment was not among the top things the man was capable of. The fact that he was stuck was probably rough for him. He needed to swallow his pig-headed pride and get help. Now she was doing what she could to keep the fire going. :: Por'kus: =/\= Whoooaaa, I'm just stuck... no need to start throwing around unfounded accusations, heck I still have my pants on for goodness sake. =/\= Sherana: ::raising her voice so he could hear her:: That is beneficial. The friction of the fabric is less than that of skin and will help to get unstuck better than if you have lost them already. Loleh: That is true. Also, I would not be helping if your pants were not on. Knight: =/\= Do we need to send reinforcements? Perhaps replicate some lubricant of some sort? =/\= Por'kus: =/\= Look just get your shapely butt up here and give her a hand, either that or keep your comments to yourself. =/\= :: She could not help but laugh again. Of all the things she was told about her rear end, shapely was not something she heard before. She had no intention of actually going down there to help him pull himself out of the tube. Instead, she would keep laughing until she dangled the thought of beaming him out of there. :: Sherana: My... butt is not shapely. :: At least she never had seen it that way, though others might disagree. The Orion shook her head and sighed. Apparently whoever the woman with him was did not really get him out of it, so she could need a helping hand. Sherana put her things down and climbed into the tube. Though seeing the whole thing from closer made it pretty clear that they could not do much with squeezing in and getting stuck themselves. :: There must be another way to do this without getting wedged in as well. Loleh: If you could get on the other side of the maintenance shaft, you could push while I pull, I suppose. Or we could tie something around him and pull from the corridor? Knight: =/\= Who is that helping to pull our stout little figure out of the hole that you managed to cram yourself into? =/\= Por'kus: =/\= How should I know. I can't see who they are... =/\= Loleh: I told you, I am Lt. jg Loleh Rejock ::rolling her eyes:: Perhaps you should try listening. Sherana: You could ask. ::Looking to Loleh:: I'll check if I can find something to bind around him, so we can pull without getting stuck ourselves. ::With that she crawled backwards again.:: Knight: =/\= Is any progress being made down there? =/\= Por'kus: =/\= I don't know they're too busy playing with my manhood it seems like. =/\= :: She laughed to herself once more. If Tellarite anatomy was consistent, the third leg was even shorter and stubbier than he was. She doubted that either of the women helping him would tell it was even there. Of course there were some things that were to cruel for her to say, even to a Tellarite. :: Loleh: Oh bother! Anatomy is NOT my field of interest... :: She looked at Sherana, shaking her head in disgust. :: Sherana: I'm not playing with anything, you are not my type. Knight: =/\= Trust me Por'kus, I am pretty sure that they are not enjoying it at all. =/\= Por'kus: =/\= If that's true then I should be the one pressing charges for sexual assault... either that or I own them a few bars of latnium for the good time. =/\= Loleh: I assure you there is nothing sexual about this... :: Sherana shook her head. Seeing the figure and hearing that voice, the tone of voice, she had a good idea what species that man belonged too. She had met the one or other, though did not really have a problem with it. Who was raised and trained among Klingons was pretty much used to that kind of talk. Sherana hit the ground again, only half listening to further conversations inside. :: Sherana: ::shouting into the tube:: If you keep complaining, we'll just leave you in that shaft. Knight: =/\= Well payment would be a good compensation, along with the years of counselling they will both have to endure after this little adventure. =/\= Loleh: That's an understatement! Por'kus: =/\= Ha, ha, ha. You're a regular comedian Lt. =/\= Knight: =/\= So...how much longer should I let you try to get unstuck byyourself before just having the transporter room beam you out of there? =/\= :: She listened to the moment of silence when it finally clicked for everyone. In that moment she felt just as cruel as the tube holding his chubby little body in place. She could have shared the solution at the start of the conversation, but with a few minutes to kill it was better to wait. :: :: Loleh kept quiet for a moment. This Knight person had a good head on her shoulders. oO I need to get out more and meet these people! Oo :: Loleh: I was hoping to avoid that... Por'kus: =/\= Avoid it... oh no you're not one of them are you? Listen Lt. Do it. Get me out of here. =/\= Knight: :: letting out a laugh. :: =/\= I could have done it minutes ago, but this is pretty funny stuff. It is like watching a holo-comedy, but I am stuck listening to it instead. =/\= Por'kus: =/\= Oh I'm so glad that you were enjoying it. My day is not complete unless I have brought a smile to your face. Now get me out of here. This is uncomfortable as heck. =/\= Loleh: Well it wasn't pleasant for me either! Por'kus: =/\= Who cares. At least you can climb out on your own. Now if you ladies can stop your gossip fest maybe you can get with the program. Remember I'm still stuck here. =/\= Knight: =/\= I will relay your situation and have them beam you to the nearest corridor. =/\= Loleh: Listen, if you are going to beam out of here, I am leaving. I don't want to be anywhere near that.. Por'kus: I knew it. You are one of them. What makes you wakoos tick. How can anyone in this day and age be so weirded out by simple science? Loleh: I just prefer keeping my molecules together, just the way they are. I'm a physicist, not a matter stream! :: She began climbing back down towards the hatch. :: Por'kus: A scientist??? You're a scientist!!! Well that explains the inexperienced hand massage. :: He should have known. An engineer would have gotten him out in no time. :: Knight: =/\= Just keep your shirt on...they will get you of there in a few seconds. :: snickering :: Bridge out. =/\= Loleh: It's ok. I understand you're lashing out at me. You are intimidated by a female who is smarter than you. Por'kus: Nah, I can handle that. After all I'm an engineer, we actually do things. :: Something about this woman just rubbed him the wrong way and it had nothing to do with her actual hands. Those had felt pretty good even if she had no idea what she was doing. No. It was something else. :: Loleh: The more you deny it, the more I know it is true.. :: She continued climbing down. :: Por'kus: It's not women that bother me. I like women it's egg head scientists I have a problem with. Scientists, think things up and then come to us engineers to make them work. Remember that. :: That was it. She had to be an officer. It was not bad enough that she was a scientist but he was sure of it now. She just had to be an officer as well. :: Loleh: Keep telling yourself that, big man. I'm out of here! Por'kus: Good. We would not want you to be scared of a simple matter stream. They would probably make me clean up the puddle. :: He heard her grunt of disgust and felt pretty good with himself. Best [...] day he had, had in a while other than getting stuck. It wasn't that often that he could let loose and grumble and complain with-out getting into trouble. Last good chance he had, had was back on Starbase 118 in that Tellarite diner. :: :: Just then he felt the familiar tingle as his body was broken down into it's individual molecules and transported elsewhere on the ship. :: ((Main Engineering, USS Apollo)) :: Por'kus materialized in main engineering. A few seconds later his tool kit appeared as well but he did not see it as the second he had fully materialized he made a mad dash for the bathroom. :: :: A few moments later he walked back out of the bathroom looking very pleased or at least as pleased as it was possible for him to look. When he saw his tool kit which reminded him of the job awaiting him his face clouded over and got it's normal grumpy look again. :: :: He considered going back into the bathroom and dropping his comms badge down the toilet but knew it would only result in him having to dig through sewage looking for it so instead he activated it and spoke. :: Por'kus: =/\= Crewman 2nd class Por'kus to Lt. Knight. =/\= Knight: =/\= Go ahead. =/\= Por'kus: =/\= Ok. Tell me more about this problem that needs my special attention. =/\= Knight: =/\= All I know is a transporter repair is needed, and anything else they may need done. Check in with Ensigns Kapoor and Pierce when you get there. =/\= Por'kus: =/\= Would that be an older style Cardassian freighter? =/\= Knight: =/\= Yeah, Groumall type. Pretty old indeed. =/\= Por'kus: =/\= Yeah I'm familiar with the problem. Did you send over the replacement parts yet? =/\= :: As he asked it he picked up his tool kit, opened it to make sure nothing was missing. :: Knight: =/\= All spare parts and supplies have been sent over, we just have a man power shortage. =/\= Por'kus: =/\=Ok. Ok. I understand. Beam me over and I'll get to work. =/\= Knight: =/\= Getting a lock now...happy repairs! Knight out. =/\= :: He stood calmly waiting to be beamed over. Then it dawned on him that he had not eaten yet and just as he was about to talk, to let Lt. Knight know he wanted to eat first the transported effect dissolved him into a couple million particles and deposited him on the aged freighter. :: ((Cargo Hold of The Rigek, Oribitting Quatal Minor)) :: Por'kus materialized inside what was obviously a working freighter. It had about a thousand years worth of smells, age and rust everywhere and it took him a moment to adjust. In some ways it felt a little like coming home. :: ************************************************ This sim brought to you by PNPC - Crewman 3rd class Por'kus a Tellarite Engineer With the help of the following PNPC - Lt. jg. Loleh Rejock a Al-Leyan Scientist PNPC - Lt. jg. Susan Knoght a Human Engineer PNPC - Civilian Sherana Caelin a Orion Botanist

((USS Vigilant, Deck 1: Captain's Ready Room)) ::Deep Space 6 stared at Diego through the window of the captain's ready room. By now, members of the crew would already be filtering onto the promenade to take advantage of the many shops, bars and restaurants that it had to offer. For now, however, he was busy taking advantage of the stack of PADDs that his desk had to offer. Reports had filtered in from various departments relating the actions of the most senior members of his crew, chronicling their achievements and logging their successes. Having spent a good deal of time in sickbay dealing with Resistas, Diego had been somewhat out of the loop and, as he read up, he found himself suitably impressed with one of the team leaders. Enough so that he had summoned him to his ready room.:: ((taJoot's quarters)) ::Dueld was sitting in his quarters, reviewing zoological files on ... red pandas. Seriously. Red pandas. Like, what? The ship had been constructed on Zakdorn, and flown into space-- it was the Ship That Stayed Out In The Cold. It hadn't even gotten within orbit of a temperate forest. How did the Vigilant end up harbouring an arboreal terran omnivore? And what would they have to do to keep it from licking all its fur off in despair? The only vertical spaces higher than 3m were the shuttlebay and the warp core. What kind of sick friends did Eerie have, sending the poor thing out here?:: ::And then the captain called him. As Dueld scrambled to find an unwrinkled uniform, he just gave up on shore leave altogether.:: ((Captain's Ready Room)) ::When the door chimed, Diego travelled towards the replicator as he answered.:: Herrera: Come in! ::The door slid back and Dueld taJoot entered the room as ordered.:: taJoot: You wanted to see me, sir?. Herrera: Right on time, Dueld. Can I get you a drink? taJoot: Uh, sure, uh... lemonade? taJoot Formula Two, please. ::Diego turned his attention towards the replicator for just a moment.:: Herrera: Computer, gimme a raktajino and a lemonade, taJoot Formula Two. ::The drinks were ready almost before he'd finished ordering them. Setting them down on the table in front of the long sofa, he offered the engineer a seat.:: Herrera: Make yourself comfortable for a sec. ::He grabbed one of the PADDs from his desk.:: taJoot: ::lowering himself to the edge of the seat gingerly and picking up his drink, just to have something to clutch:: Yessir. ::Returning to the lower area of the CRR, Diego took a seat himself, perching on the edge of the table.:: Herrera: I have to say, I appreciated the information you sent my way while we were dealing with the Zalkonians. I don't know what we would have done without it. taJoot: ::blinking:: oO So far, not in trouble? Unless this is, like, poisoned. Oo Uh, well, just doing what you asked, sir, really. And we had it pretty easy in Lab Two, I hear, no ruptured EVA suits or infections or spies. Herrera: Well, I gave you a job to do, threw you in the deep end, and you floated. You did better than that actually. Assembled a team. Directed them to find what you thought was relevant information. Collected more intel on the Zalkonians than we've ever had. taJoot: Uh, thank you, sir, but maybe you're giving me credit for being the first engineer to stumble across a pile of unprotected Zalkonian data? And I couldn't have processed even the tiny chunk we got through without the supreme technical expertise of Malik and T'Rella. ::Diego nodded; he had no intention of discrediting the other members of Dueld's team.:: Herrera: That's true, but they were acting under your orders and your direct command. ::He lifted up the PADD.:: It says so right here. I'm looking at clear evidence of leadership skills. taJoot: ::closing jaw slightly agape:: ... If you say so, sir. ::Diego slid further back on the table to secure his perch a little and took a drink of his raktajino. Dueld was supremely capable but exceptionally nervous. He didn't know enough Catullans to know whether that was some kind of racial psychological trait, but he imagined it wasn't. He was looking at a good, healthy dose of nerves from a relatively new assignment that had augmented a naturally nervous personality. That was his assessment from what he had seen so far, at least. If that meant that what he had planned would be met by incredulity or panic then he would deal with it appropriately.:: Herrera: ::Smiling:: I think you're a great officer, and I need great officers to run my departments. If I could have two chief engineers I would, but I'm sure you'll agree that's not really practical. taJoot: Yeah, no, you can't tune a dilithium chamber two ways at once. Herrera: Actually, I could really use a Chief of Operations. There's a lot of crossover with engineering, so you'd still be working closely with Kael Thomas. I think you'd handle to administrative side of it really well because you obviously have a good eye for details. And the position would come with a promotion to full Lieutenant. Can I count on you? ::He knew he could, of course, but wanted to give the Catullan a chance to air any concerns he might have before just slapping an extra full pip on him, hanging an Ops sign round his neck and then turfing him back out onto the bridge.:: taJoot: ::jaw gaping for real this time:: But... you... I... aren't there, like, any ops personnel with actual seniority, or, like, experience? I've only met Block, but... seriously, didn't Fleet send you out here with anybody to wrangle the data? ::It sounded like the concerns were pretty sizeable.:: Herrera: ::Calmly:: I really think it's something you could pick up. Your engineering experience qualifies you for the position. You don't think you're ready? taJoot: I'm just saying that if I had been handling the scheduling and the filing and the agendas and the cleaning, erseyntin the cleaning, for a few years and then some three-year-old got promoted over me, I would be volcanic, I mean, I know you're not dumb enough to do that, but, just... ::running out of steam:: wow. ::Diego broke out into a laugh, partly because he hadn't even considered the 'erseyntin cleaning' and partly at the image of a three year-old Ops officer. The closest thing he could imagine was Fleet Captain Turner's daughter wearing a starfleet uniform and bossing people around.:: Herrera: No-one's going to resent you, or go volcanic. We're all professionals. taJoot: Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, but you know how weird this looks from my end, right? Like, I barely speak one language, I only got out of the Academy four months ago and I'm not in engineering because all the seats in diplomacy were taken, you know what I'm saying? Someone is going to ask you why you put a wrenchnoob in charge of ops. Herrera: ::Regaining his composure:: So I'll tell them that I put the most skilled officer I had into the position and that I have every confidence that they'll excel in it. taJoot: ... I guess. I ... wow. ::looking down at the lemonade he has yet to sip, like he's not sure how it got there, then suddenly back up at Herrera:: Holy cow, helm falls under ops. I can't fly the ship! I mean, I can fly the ship, but I can't do what Fox does. ::eyes narrowing:: Actually, I'm not sure who we have who can. Can you do what Fox does? ::It looked like Dueld still needed some convincing.:: Herrera: Well, I could give it a brave try. I did basic piloting, so, I mean, I could fly the ship forwards and engage the warp engines, maybe even throw out some evasive manoeuvres if the computer was feeling generous enough to help. Other than that, no..., I'd just have to say "I'm a doctor, not an aerial stuntman." In your case you'd just have to organise people to sit in the chair. taJoot: I guess it's no different than you commanding Thomas, I suppose-- assuming that you yourself can't redesign a warp core. ::nodding::... okay. This is just so...I mean, I am related to my sister and my mother, who are both really pushy and take charge, don't even ask, I just... it was always easier to just do things myself, you know, than to get other people to do them? ::face blanks out :: Wow. Wow. Suddenly it is like my sister is right here, and she has her "Okay, I ran out of time for this five minutes ago, yes or no?" face on. ::taking a breath:: Okay, sir, I guess I'm in. If she can herd cats, so can I. It ... can't be harder than hacking a Klingon ship... can it? Herrera: No, compared to that I'd say it's gonna be a walk in the park. taJoot: ::frowning again:: Sir, what about the virus that's chasing me? If it eats anything with my name in it, and suddenly my name is all over the ship's file systems... what if it evolves, and defeats the data echo system we have going? Whoever built it is going to upgrade it eventually, right? Suddenly there'd be gaps everywhere in the ship's operating systems. ::Brow furrowing, Diego thought on that problem for a moment. He'd received notification of that particular problem from Lieutenant Zehn in and amongst the other reports that had been filed, and he'd picked it up relatively quickly due to the urgent flag that showed up next to its title. There was little action that he could take other than grant his Chief of Intelligence all possible latitude to investigate it. There had to be some way around it, though.:: Herrera: I think short term we could probably create you temporary access with a different set of codes? Hopefully we'll get some answers about who's responsible for this quickly enough to do something about it. taJoot: Hmm. I guess we have time to try to think of what we'll do next, or... whoever Zehn knows has time to think of what they'll do next, I mean. ::blowing out a breath:: I'm really glad that you think I'm doing a good job, sir, and I'll do my best. I can handle the systems stuff, but I will need advice on dealing with people. I can think of at least two people in Engineering that I have been glad Thomas had to deal with, not me. Herrera: ::Smiling:: Any advice you need on that, feel free to ask. You seemed to do well enough with your last team and if it makes you feel any better, I've not heard the crew talking trash about you in the corridors, which has to be a good sign. ::Dueld snickered.:: taJoot: True, but you're the captain, right? You'd have to lurk to get the real dirt. ::Diego raised an eyebrow and replied with the wickedest of all possiblegrins.:: Herrera: Who says I don't? taJoot: Cue ominous chord, okay, I got it. ::shaking head with a smile:: ::So, official business seemed to be taken care of. There was still the matter of taJoot's nerves to address, though. If it really was a part of his personality then it was something that was unlikely to ever disappear in a puff of smoke, but there were certainly ways to make him feel a little more comfortable in his working environment. Making him feel like the Vigilant was home and that he was part of the family was one of them.:: Herrera: On a less threatening note... do you have any plans for shore leave? taJoot: Uh, some, not superbooked. I have to take the official hardcopy of the Zalkonian data over to the station in a couple of days, it's a big deal, apparently, there's a marine escort-- Brown, I think it is?-- and a schedule and checkpoints and everything. And Lt. Cmdr. Reinard and I are hoping to get in some time at the Nebula. Herrera: I'm pretty much free at this point. How would you feel about meeting up and doing something on the holodeck? taJoot: ::blinking:: Uh, sure, that'd be great. ::These days, whenever Diego stepped through a set of holodeck doors, he ended up on a Parrises Squares court. He fancied a change.:: Herrera: Something active? I'd like you to choose though. Maybe something that you might find yourself doing back on Catulla? taJoot: Uh, mostly I windsurf, sir. Do you-- I mean, I don't actually know what you do in your free time. Is that interesting to you? ::Despite having grown up in a town next to a bay, windsurfing was one sport that Diego had actually never found his way around to. He'd seen people doing it and it always looked like fun... and a challenge. To his mind, that was the perfect combination.:: Herrera: You bet, although you'd have to teach me how to do it. I'm more of a Parrises Squares guy usually but I'm definitely up for trying something new. I guess windsurfing is another of your CVable skills? taJoot: Well, sailing, surfing, anything you can do with sand or sails or water, for a lot of Catulla that's what you get, you know? But I don't know if I'd say it was, like, an employable skill, except maybe if you were going to teach it on Risa or something. Herrera: ::Shrugging:: Hey, well maybe teaching it to your captain qualifies? It sounds like it should be a blast. Where's your usual setting? taJoot: Well, I normally play the Big Skenemmo surf series, they sim all the big surfing locations. But this time, see, I heard about this cool resort sim, Rubica. It's kind of an all-islands-to-all-people kind of thing? It's got a lot of different open air pavilions, there's a casino lounge and a spa and a sunbathing deck and a tea house, and a couple of different docks on differing water conditions for different activities. It's a mountain peak, so there's hiking and cliff diving and hang-gliding and stuff too. Since it's so multipurpose I don't know if the surf programming will be as good. But the variety might make it worth it. Skenemmo gave it four out of five on his blog, anyway. ::It sounded as though that particular program had been designed with more than just sporting activities in mind. Diego found himself looking forward to testing it out already.:: Herrera: Sounds ideal... taJoot: The real appeal is the easter eggs, apparently-- that's a Terran thing, right? Easter eggs? Like, every so often, at random, the island changes its layout a little. One day there'll be a grotto with hot springs, the next there could be an aviary or a bonsai garden. ::Having been brought up by a vaguely religious immediate family, he had heard of Easter Eggs. He remembered having bought back into that ancient tradition with some of his friends in school all those years ago, but he hadn't heard that term used to describe holoprogramming before.:: Herrera: They call those Easter Eggs? I honestly didn't know that. So it constantly changes its layout to stop people from getting bored? taJoot: Well, the big features stay, I think-- like, the billiards tables and the lounge chairs and the docks are always there, you know. But little things come and go, different hiking trails, little hidden mountain valleys, keeping it fresh. I'm probably just going to stroll around quickly and then head for the waves, though; I need to be on the water and the island could take weeks to explore. Herrera: I'm up for skipping straight to the waves. The island does sound interesting, though. Maybe I'll stick around afterwards to scope out the other facilities? taJoot: Well, then, sure, company would be nice. If you have a wetsuit or water shoes, bring them. My holodeck slot is tomorrow, kind of late, 2200h, is that okay? ::Diego figured that he would either be at some bar on DS6 by 2200 or sat in his quarters reading reports by that time; late night windsurfing sounded more tempting than either.:: Herrera: 2200 is fine. I'll check the replicator patterns and make sure I'm kitted out. Talking of which... ::He stepped over to the desk and picked up a smaller version of the rosewood box he had taken to the last promotions ceremony.:: Herrera: You'll be needing this. Oh, and you get to keep the box too. No expense spared. ::Still firmly in informal mode, he tossed the box over to him from the desk.:: ::With his free hand, Dueld caught the box, a grave look on his face. (Okay, if it hadn't been for all those tools Stoltzy had thrown at him on the Joyous Hope, he probably wouldn't have been able to catch it, it wasn't like he was using his holodeck time for jekker practice, but hey, silver lining there.) Tauscherstin. He was still stuck with the mustard uniforms. Well, too much good fortune attracted the envy of the spirits, right? Or entropy, or.. whatever.:: taJoot: Thank you, sir. Herrera: ::Nodding:: No problem, you earned it. taJoot: I'll see you outside Holodeck 1, tomorrow night? Herrera: Sure. You are qualified as a lifeguard... right? taJoot: Absolutely-- I can call Sickbay in under 5 seconds. ::Diego laughed at the idea of lifeguarding by proxy.:: Herrera: Then I'll leave my oxygen cylinders in my quarters. See you tomorrow night. ::taJoot nodded, and took his leave, glancing down at the box he carried.:: _________________________________________________ Captain Diego Herrera Commanding Officer USS Vigilant NCC-75515 & Lt. Dueld taJoot, Chief of Operations, USS Vigilant NCC-75515

((Blueheart's Quarters, USS Discovery-C)) ::He emptied the fifth glass of whiskey, relishing the bittersweet afterburn at the back of his throat and the stinging vapors snaking up his nostrils, drawing tears from his eyes. His head expanded and contracted with each gulp of the honey-colored liquid. He stood surprisingly steady, staring silently out the view screen, the vivid magenta nebula large and close and painting the bedroom a matte violet. It was akin to watching a sunrise on Earth, the deep purple hues fading into lighter bluer tones, as the starship drew closer to the stellar gas cloud. Only it didn't feel like the dawn of a new day. It felt like the end of time. The crystal pendants, refulgent and dangling from his neck, were obscenely quiet, as if taunting him, teasing him. They had not been so reticent a little while ago, spilling secrets beyond one's imagination. Secrets not necessarily welcomed. He fondled and rolled them between his fingers.:: RAVENSCROFT: Computer, begin personal log. Ravenscroft, Emerson D'Arcy. ::He sat at the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, hands cradling the whiskey glass at a breathtakingly sloping angle, the contents of which came dangerously close to spilling. He never took his eyes off the glorious nebula. He offered it a smug smile. Perhaps, if he was still conscious at the end of the personal log, he would even offer it a toast.:: ((Personal Log of Lt Emerson D'Arcy Ravenscroft – Stardate 239004.04)) Today, I have seen my future self. The Preserver crystals hold within them a technology beyond my comprehension. An unknown intrinsic mechanism allowed for temporal displacement and hence, time travel. We, or our counterparts – I do not know who is whom for this is all still so confusing – had apparently fought the Breen, chased them to their homeworld, crashed on their planet. Thawed back to life from cryostasis, the survivors banded together to travel back in time to prevent the tragic fate that befell the Discovery from ever happening. The plan worked. I know all this from the messages we recorded in the crystal. I know this because I exist in the here and now. And while I applaud their noble endeavor, I find myself asking, am I grateful they sacrificed themselves for us? Yes, I am. Am I happy to be alive knowing what they did for us? This, I am not certain and cannot answer this question now. It is indeed a strange and peculiar place to be knowing time was reversed to keep us alive. I cannot even begin to ponder who and what in some place and time had to disappear from existence when the timeline was corrupted. Once more I cannot say for certain if I will ever be able to live with myself knowing this answer. What is tearing me apart is not that Raj is a corpse or that I am a mad disfigured cripple in the future timeline. Or that I was one of the lucky accursed few to catch a glimpse of the future. What torments me is that I hold, in my hands, what could possibly be the most powerful weapon mankind has ever seen. Someday someone somewhere is going to figure this all out and destroy all of humanity. All life in all universes. I have, in my hands, this very moment, the end of Time itself. So what should I do? What shouldn't I do? The messages are inconsequential. The recipients shall have their messages, including Raj. They will know what transpired 189 years from now. But none will have the crystals. A repeat incident cannot be allowed to take place. The price is too high. And someone somewhere is even right now paying this hefty price. ((End of personal log)) ::The nebula took on a few streaks of green at this distance. The plasma cloud seemed to grow tendrils that began reaching out to embrace the approaching starship. He looked at the crystals at the end of their long tethers, tickling the bare skin of his chest with every breath he took. He finished whatever remained in the glass in one large gulp, then moved to the nearby counter to tilt the contents of a decanter into the emptied glass. How many glasses had he imbibed? He downed the drink in another large gulp, enjoying the singe to his throat and head. He casually slipped the pendants over his head and gave them one final vacuous look, chuckling as he did so. No, none shall have them at all.:: TBC ================================= Lt Emerson Ravenscroft Xenolinguist USS DISCOVERY-C as simmed by LtCmdr Raj Blueheart XO USS DISCOVERY-C

((Kevin Breeman's Bedroom, Breeman Residence - Earth - Several Weeks After our Current Time on SB118)) ::Patri hugged her knees as she sat on the bed. Seated in the chair near Kevin's desk Jan watched her quietly as they discussed what had happened on what turned out to be Odyssey Station, located far outside of the Milky Way Galaxy.:: Patri: I don't know. I... Just didn't want to have to deal with them anymore. ::Jan nodded thoughtfully and smiled.:: Jan Breeman: That's understandable. I think you've had a very unique experience with computers. Computers aren't monsters. I'm sure you've been told that enough times. And I can understand why for you they are. ::Patri nodded.:: Patri: I was a real asset to a lot of people. I could feel what computers were doing, sense it when they were about to perform tasks. I could command them. But there was always so much noise. It was like constant screaming in my head. I couldn't recognize anyone any more. And that was why I found God. ::Jan nodded. A side effect of the slave tag had been a kind of prosopagnosia. Patri had effectively lost her biological parents.:: Jan Breeman: You saw religion as a way to calm your mind? Patri: Yeah.. In jail I'd practice it. There were less computers there. It was more peaceful. And I'd feel him there with me. Like Jesus Christ was someone I was friends with. He understood everything I was going through. It was like he had his own slave tag inside his brain. It jacked him into all the crap people had ever done. So God could obliterate it all just by killing him. ::Across the room Jan smiled slightly. It was understandable. The Christian narrative tended to emphasize the projection of all of human sin into the body of Jesus Christ. The crucifixion then became a kind of final purging.:: Patri: I learned to meditate. I even taught other inmates. I learned labyrinths inside the common prayer room. It was a holosuite devoted to running religious programs for inmates. We'd... Walk through the labyrinths together. It was like nothing else in the world mattered but you, the pattern on the floor, and God. Jan Breeman: I'm glad you did that. I wouldn't be surprised if you helped a lot of those people turn their lives around. Patri: I guess so. But then... This doctor named Emma finally figured out how to take out the slave tag. ::Jan nodded, remembering the lengthy correspondences she'd had with Emma Fengjian about the excision operation. The research that had led up to it had been revolutionary to say the least. And her follow through had been an astounding success.:: ::And yet, there had been something sinister in it all. As though in removing the device Emma had robbed Patri of a part of herself. She'd often brought that up. "Did I do the right thing?" she would ask sometimes during late night chats.:: ::Patri remembered what had turned out to be a kind of surgery.:: ((Flashback - Holodeck - Pamos Prison Colony)) Anger blossomed inside of her, a dagger sprouting in her hand. The throbbing beat harder, a rhythmic pounding driving her forward. She lunged at the creature, pressing her small by comparison form into the monster's midsection, and drove the knife into his stomach. There was a groaning sound from everywhere inside of him as she felt the dog's muzzle fall on top of her head. She smelled the stench of his wheezing breaths as the side of his opened mouth showered her hair with saliva and then blood. “Patri!” Emma, desperate and shocked. She grabbed at the dog and felt herself lifting him over her shoulder. This was instinct, a raw need that gnawed at her for satisfaction. “Patri I need you to talk to me. What are you feeling? I can't be sure this is working if--” How could Emma ever understand? Patri was doing what she'd wanted to do all her life. She was liberating herself finally, trekking into a new life. The ground in the forest in which they stood sloped gently upward, fog parting in front of them and obscuring their path behind. She could still see Emma in the corner of her eye, walking beside her, a pleading look in her eyes. Patri carried the limp Grendellai over her shoulder to... where? “Patri, I need you to talk to me. I'm here to help you.” She wasn't. She was just like all the others, singing a chorus of empty jargon to accompany the arc of Patri's life. Soon it was raining. As they reached the top of the hill Patri saw what she wanted. She set the dog down on the stony structure as a torrent of rain drenched his wound. She could see Emma staring at her, forlorn bewilderment pressed down by a soaked matt of hair, shaking her head in disbelief. Patri still held her knife. She wanted to cut at this dying Grendellai. She wanted to gouge its eyes out. She wanted to slice at its nose and draw blood from the vulnerable moist black skin. But something was wrong. There was a choked sound coming from his throat then a squeak and then a ruff and a bark. She couldn't believe it. The thing was a dog now. He was just a dog. ((Present)) ::At first she'd hated Emma for what she'd done. She'd wanted to kill herself after it, feeling as though she were just a husk and not a human any more. God had left her.:: Jan Breeman: ::Quietly she said,:: I know. Patri: So... When I saw that floor and those Binars told me what they thought it was, I just froze... What if I somehow wrecked it? Or caused it to do something that would damage the station? Jan Breeman: Because computers have always been trouble for you. ::Patri nodded.:: Jan Breeman: Patri... You must have been very scared. Patri: ::Quickly:: I was! Jan Breeman: And I want you to know that I'm very proud of you. Patri: Why? ::Jan got up from the chair she was sitting in and sat down on the bed beside Patri.:: Jan Breeman: Because you didn't want to do anything wrong. You would do anything to prevent yourself from doing something wrong. You're a good kid. And I want you to know that what Emma did to you back there... I know it hurt. I have known Doctor Emma Fengjian a very long time. And I know there isn't a day she doesn't think about how she hurt you. ::Patri burst into tears.:: Patri: What? Why?? Jan: Because, honey... She knew what it was she was taking from you when she extracted that slave tag. She knew you were too smart to let something bad in your life stay bad. You turned it into a part of who you were. And Emma took away that part. ((Flashback - Holodeck - Pamos Prison Colony)) The yellow grid was back, an empty room. Its lone occupant stood soaked in water that slowly faded as the emitters de-integrated the holographic substance from her body, until all that was left was Patri, staring out into a blank room, her real water still soaking her shirt, non-human elements gone. She stared at the flakes of dried mud scattered senselessly everywhere. Her mind, for the first time in her life, was an abyss that could never stare back. She slowly dropped to her knees and held out her hand wanting to clasp the god she'd conjured to get her through life. But the knocking at the door to her heart never came. She couldn't dream up peace beyond understanding or scandalous penetrations of her reality by an eternal divine other. Seated on the floor, dirt all around her, she held her head in her hands and wept. ((Present)) ::Jan calculated her next words, believing Patri would be mature enough to understand them.:: Jan Breeman: She wanted you to have your humanity back. ::Patri continued to cry softly as Jan wrapped her arms around her.:: Jan Breeman: And I think what you can learn from all of this is that people usually try to be good. Just like Emma did. Just like Kevin did. Just like you did. ::Patri wiped a tear from her cheak and said,:: Patri: Okay. Jan Breeman: You're a human being. You can start to trust yourself again. I know it'll be hard. But we're here for you. ::Later that night when Patri finally did fall asleep her dreams returned to being just scattered remnants of the days and weeks before, strung together with a logic all their own by the whims of her entirely human brain.:: Patri Jia Kom Former Computer Hacker as simmed by Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Breeman Chief Engineer Starbase 118

((Main Engineering)) ::Ben scanned over the text that now appeared on the screen. His stomach tightened as he read the words.:: --- Mr. John Livingston, Esq., I am pleased to inform you that after careful review, Starfleet Command and the Starfleet Academy Commandant have decided to accept your application to Starfleet Academy, San Francisco campus, to study in our Law program. If you choose to accept this offer, please reply within two weeks. You will report for duty at the San Francisco campus on Stardate 239004.01. You will find logistics attached to this letter, as well as required reading to be completed prior to your arrival. --- ::The letter continued, but Ben could not.:: B. Livingston: John! What have you done!? ::The screen switched from text back to the image of his brother, doubled over in laughter.:: J. Livingston: Ha ha! You should have seen the look on your face when you read that, Bennie boy! Oh, wait! You can. ::The screen changed to a still of Ben’s face, somewhere between disbelief and rage. Ben clenched his jaw as he sat watching it until John switched the view back. Now able to look at his brother, Ben glowered at him and leveled a finger straight at his brother’s face.:: B. Livingston: You listen to me. You cannot accept that offer. And don’t tell Dad about it, he’ll blow a gasket real quick. You know how he reacted when I applied, and that must have been much easier for him. At least I’d already become an engineer – Starfleet was less of a fall. J. Livingston: ::adopting a particularly sober expression, John nodded slowly.:: You’re right, Ben, you’re right. Dad would be upset. It’s just that, well … well, I already accepted the offer, and I’ve already told him. ::John smiled broadly and slapped the desk.:: And you’re right, he was so mad … oh, jeez, you should have heard him. ::Silence fell between them, and it remained for a moment as Ben thought. There were few situations that got under Ben’s skin. He’d found many more since joining 118, but that was the nature of the beast. The other thing that consistently managed to irritate him was any situation involving John. The man – boy, really – had a knack for finding those things that annoyed people, and poking them right there.:: ::And this was exactly one of those places. Starfleet had become a refuge for Ben – away from corporate life, a place he could excel and make a difference, and a way of feeling useful. But John? He didn’t have the same values as Ben. What values did this jokester even have? The whole reason probably was to annoy him.:: B. Livingston: John, why did you apply? J. Livingston: What do you mean? I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my big brother! ::Ben arched an eyebrow.:: B. Livingston: No you didn’t. ::beat:: Why’d you do it? J. Livingston: Well it’s complicated, Bennie. But here’s the thing. The galaxy is a complicated place, politically, legally, morally … ::John trailed off, implying that the list went on and on, or as John might have said, ad infinitum:: The Federation needs strong minded individuals with skills over a broad range of specialties, not the least of which – B. Livingston: I’ve heard the pitch, John. J. Livingston: ::shifting in his seat.:: I thought you’d be happy. Or at least happy for me. B. Livingston: How’d you get in with your record? J. Livingston: Top 5%, you know that. B. Livingston: Not that record. ::Silence descended once more. This time, Ben was not thinking. John, on the other hand, clearly was. His lips parted slightly a few times before he managed to speak.:: J. Livingston: Ben, please. B. Livingston: How? J. Livingston: Ben, remember … I wasn’t convicted. You know that. B. Livingston: And you remember. About what you put me through. All of us through. ::He shook his head slowly.:: Everything those families had to go through. ::John looked increasingly uncomfortable. He looked stung by an internal agony. It was an expression that Ben had seen before, and for half a moment, the hardness Ben felt was fractured and his own pain managed to find its way through.:: ((Flashback – years ago)) Bailiff: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? ::Ben looked down to find his hand resting upon the cover, his fingertips sensing the book’s beauty and softness. His other arm was midair.:: Livingston: I do. ::The book dropped from beneath his hand; the Bailiff retreated with it under his arm. Ben looked around and the crowded room, then sat. The seat, too, was very comfortable, much as the book had been.:: Judge: Please state your name for the record. Livingston: Ben Livingston. Judge: Your FULL name, Mr. Livingston. Livingston: ::beat:: Benjamin Livingston. Judge: And your relation to the defendant? ::Ben closed his eyes and swallowed what little was in his dry mouth. His tongue tasted like sandpaper. He looked up at the judge, who glowered, jaw clenched and gavel in hand, down at him. The prosecutor, likewise, stood facing him with arms crossed.:: ::He looked over to the table before him, where sat, eyes pleading and sorrowful and contrite, the boy who had looked at him so many times before, after getting himself into trouble with the neighbors or Mom and Dad or his teachers.:: ::Ben gulped down the sandpaper.:: Livingston: He is my brother. Prosecutor: And on the day that … ::sniff:: ahem, that this tragedy occurred, Mr. Livingston. Where were you? ::Ben reached to grab his hand. When had it begun shaking? He leaned in toward the small microphone before him.:: Livingston: I was at home. Prosecutor: And your home is where? Livingston: Boston, Massachusetts. Prosecutor: So you were not with the defendant in New York City on that day. Livingston: No. But I did speak to him that morning. Prosecutor: But to be clear, you were not WITH him, Mr. Livingston? ::Ben’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.:: Judge: I remind you that you are under oath to tell the truth. Livingston: ::beat:: No. I was not. ::Ben’s gaze wandered back to the seat in front of him. His brother held his head in his hands, fingers gripping his hair. Those big, brown eyes had always laughed. Now there was more anguish in them than amusement.:: ((End flashback)) ::Deep inside of him, Ben could feel some kind of emotion welling up – one that he had felt rarely but very recently. He wanted to reach out, through the screen and take hold of his brother, pull him close and hug the man that he had so often wanted to hit.:: J. Livingston: Ben … I don’t know what to say. ::Ben struggled to find some words as he fought back the tears that wanted to burst forth. If he hadn’t just remembered about all this recently, maybe it wouldn’t have been so hard. Maybe he wouldn’t have brought it up. If only he hadn’t been on that mission just before. He sighed, trying desperately to think of what to say.:: J. Livingston: I guess I’d better go. B. Livingston: John, wait -- ::no words seemed to express what he wanted to say.:: oO don’t go? I’m sorry? I know all of that wasn’t your fault? I’m proud of you? What do I say here? Oo Just … promise me something. Let’s talk again soon, huh? It’s been too long. ::John nodded rapidly, those bright eyes now shiny and red as he pursed his lips in an expression Ben had never seen from his brother. They made eye contact again for just an instant before John looked away again and reached out to tap a button in front of him. The screen went black.:: ::Letting an enormous sigh escape, Ben rocked back in his chair and let fingers run through his hair.:: Livingston: oO What have I said to him? What have I done? He was only a kid … Oo ::A minute passed as he thought quietly over all that had transpired before he decided to try to do something productive and take his mind off of it. He searched around for something in front of him, but after picking up a PADD, he tossed it back onto the desk. He sighed again.:: Livingston: Computer – letter composition. Take dictation. My dear brother John. At some point in the future, we’ll talk again about the events that neither of us like to speak about. When we do, I will do my best to make sure it is done in a productive manner, and not brought up in anger. I am also very proud that you have been able to recover yourself and not only succeed in law school, but be accepted by the very selective Starfleet Academy. Despite everything we just said to one another, I’m proud to call you brother. Now, I do want to offer some advice as you embark on this newest adventure. After all, it’s one of the few escapades you’ve taken for which I have advice to give that’s not “don’t.” ::Ben smiled to himself as he imagined his brother laughing at that line. He gathered his thoughts, then continued.:: ----- Lieutenant, J.G. Ben Livingston Assistant Chief Engineer Starbase 118 Ops

((Ship’s Counsellor’s Office, USS Tiger-A, night after the Pirate Adventure)) ::Jorey sat across from the counsellor and looked around the room. He was so embarassed from what had happened in the Tiger’s Den. He had never lost his mind before and had no idea what any of it meant. He felt fine now. He felt like himself and that nothing was wrong with him.:: Jorey: Counsellor, I must first apologize for my bizarre behaviour in the Tiger’s Den. I should have sought you out as soon as I knew that something was wrong. ::Jorey looked up at Zinna and smirked.:: A man’s pride can be both his biggest strength and his biggest weakness. ::Jorey leaned forward slightly and with a raised eyebrow asked joking,:: So I’m pretty sure I’m crazy, doctor... but what kind of crazy am I? ::Jorey sat back in his chair much more relaxed and wondered what the counsellor would have to say about his strange behaviour in the Tiger’s Den the night of the awards ceremony.:: Zinna: No need to apologize ens--lieutenant...everyone goes crazy every once in awhile. It’s just my job to analyze why. So have you been having any after effects since the mission? Jorey: ::His smile fading.:: Some. Nightmares, flashbacks... difficulty sleeping. ::Jorey leaned in and in a low tone continued.:: I can’t seem to shake the feeling of a seemly inevitable doom... like the shadows of other horrible creatures are somehow trapped and following me. ::Saying the words out loud sent chills through his body. He wanted to believe that it was all in his head, but there was a part of him that truly felt the presence of spirits made of fear and despair following him.:: :: The El-Aurian counselor nodded. :: Zinna: I would assume that would be normal for someone who went through with what you did, but the important thing is know that now, you’re safe. Do you feel safe here? ::Jorey wanted to say yes. He knew that he should be able to say it. It was a safe place with a trustworthy person, but...:: Jorey: I know that anyone else would think I am safe. ::Jorey shifted in his chair slightly.:: It’s like I can’t convince my own mind that the nightmare is over. There’s a part of me that believes reality will disintegrate and reveal the truth that I am still in a holding cell on the Reaper’s ship. ::Jorey could feel the shadows cringe slightly... almost like they were gasping to find their breath.:: Jorey: It’s as though something or someone has somehow followed me here. Like they are not finished what was started aboard the Reaper ship. ::Jorey knew he sounded like a madman, but knew the only way to fight was to do so honestly.:: Zinna: Braydon I’m going to suggest some things. One is something I rarely ever suggest but maybe you could ask the CMO for something to help you sleep better. The other is something that I know you will need. You probably need to take it easy. Enjoy your shore leave and anytime you feel like you’re being watched just remind yourself it’s not real. Jorey: The problem, counsellor, is that I know I am not being watched by something outside of me. ::Jorey saw the hint of a shadow race across the surface of Zinna’s desk.:: Its more like its survived inside me and is trying to force its way out. ::Jorey was speaking in a near whisper, afraid that someone other than the counsellor would hear. Talking about the Reapers, the feelings of doom, and the shadows was making Jorey more and more uneasy. :: Zinna could see the despair in him and sense him becoming more and more paranoid. Zinna felt as if she saw something swipe across her desk but she ignored it and tried to remain focused on Brayden. She surely didn’t want to tell him that she was seeing things as well...that would only make him feel like these “shadows” actually were real. :: Zinna: Brayden...I know exactly how you feel. In the past I had the same feeling that there was something evil inside of me trying to make it’s way out as well, but guess what? It eventually went away. oO Or maybe it’s just taking a break... Oo Jorey: So at least I’m not the only crazy one aboard the Tig... ::Jorey stopped abruptly as a strange voice filled his mind. It sounded like the voice of a small, female child:: Child: ~It won’t stop...so much fire...they’re all gunna burn...~ ::The voice sounded like it was getting closer, before it faded back to nothing. Jorey: A child crying... ::He whispered, more to himself, trying to make sense of it.:: Zinna: A child? Brayden what’s wrong? ::Jorey and Zinna looked at each other for a moment that seemed to make time stop in an unnatural and erie way. Sounds of a child screaming in agony seemed to fill the room. Jorey wiped away a bead of sweat that traced down his forehead.:: Jorey: Is it getting hotter in here? ::Jorey said wondering if Zinna heard it, if she felt the heat.:: Zinna: Computer lower temperature by five degrees...:: Zinna thought she had heard a child crying but she was trying to tune it all out. She wanted to appear calm in front of Jorey. :: Can I get you some iced water? Jorey: Maybe we could take a walk, Counsellor? Make our way to sickbay and see about helping me sleep? ::Jorey said, trying to calm his voice. He needed to get out of this room. He need to escape. :: She nodded getting up:: Zinna: Of course, anything to make you feel better. Jorey: Thanks. ::Jorey said getting up quickly and heading out the door.:: ::The hallway seemed cool and whatever was haunting him seemed to have stayed behind in Zinna’s office. They continued talking as they made their way to the Tiger’s sickbay.:: Jorey: Sometimes getting up and moving somewhere else seems to help. ::Jorey smiled at the counsellor beginning to feel more like himself.:: Zinna: And that’s perfectly fine Brayden. ::By then they had reached sickbay since it wasn’t that far away. :: Zinna: Alright Brayden, the nurse will give you a mild sedative to help you get some sleep tonight. I would like to see you again tomorrow morning to check in. ::Jorey nodded in agreement and headed into sickbay. Zinna turned and headed down the hallway toward her quarters. She let down her guard now that she was alone. She wondered how it was she heard and felt Jorey’s delusions in her office. She thought she saw a shadow move across her desk, she heard the child’s cries, and she couldn’t be sure but could swear she felt the room get warmer.:: oOImpossible.Oo ::She thought as she entered her quarters. She was exhausted and fell on her bed. She just needed to lie down for a moment before going through her evening rituals. Meanwhile, Jorey was trying to complete his evening prayers and blessings, but the sedative was taking hold with more force than he expected. He made his way to the bed and seemed to enter into a deep sleep as his head fell gently against the pillow.:: TBC Lt.JG Brayden Jorey USS Tiger-A Chief Helm Officer and Lt. Zinna USS Tiger-A On Leave of Absence

(( Port Escape Pods, Lower Decks )) HOSHINO: Everyone, get to the pods... :: Ryoma didn't move forward to safety, but instead moved back to Devon. Squatting beside he, his hands on her shoulders, he knew that she would fight him. :: HOSHINO: Devon, you get on this one, I'll try and get in a pod on the forward section... ROMJIN: What? Ryoma, no! There isn't time... ::pulling at his arms:: ...you have to come with us. HOSHINO: There are too many people, Devon. They are injured, the counsellor has kids, and you, :: he swallowed hard :: I want you to be safe. ROMJIN: I can't just leave you! ::Her heart was racing. She shook her head and refused to let go of him.:: You have to come! Please, Ryoma. I'm pregnant! ::That's not how she wanted to tell him but she was scared to let him go.:: :: Ryoma blinked, the admission barely even registered in his mind. After a moment he smiled and put the palm of his hand against her cheek. :: HOSHINO: I'll be fine, Devon, don't worry. I'll see you on the other side... :: He kissed her on the forehead. :: Now, go, before they go without you. :: Tears now streaked her smoke smudged face. Hands grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her to her feet. :: ROMJIN: Ryoma... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * :: Ryoma had left Devon at the escape pod, and pushed his way back out into the corridor. Her face was on his mind as he collapsed to the floor, choking from the smoke billowing through the corridor. His hand slapped the floor in front of him, a spike of pain rising through his forearm. His eyes were stinging, his sweat-drenched hair was sticking to his face, and he was running out of time. :: COMPUTER: Two minutes until self-destruct. :: In the darkness of the smokey corridor, Ryoma heard groaning. He crawled ahead to find the source of the moans, finding a young deckhand with a gash across his face and a arm blacked from the near-instant frostbite of the Breen's cryogenic weapons. :: HOSHINO: :: Taking the young enlistee's pulse. :: It's okay, crewman, you're going to be alright. :: The kid's pulse was weak, but his groaning was a sign that he could pull through. :: :: Ryoma lifted the young man to his feet and carried on through the corridor, stepping over the bodies of Starfleet personnel and Breen alike. Then he heard what sounded like a chorus of screaming furies crying out for blood followed by a searing heat as the bulk head melted away in front of him. :: HOSHINO: No! :: The corridor lost pressure as the forward section of the saucer violently blew away taking Ryoma with it, his arms still wrapped around the crewman. His ears popped and he felt a sizzling sensation across his tongue before he succumbed to the darkness. :: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (( Intelligence Office, Lower Decks )) :: The jolt threw Ryoma into consciousness. As a kid, Ryoma had always heard that the falling sensation in our dreams was our heart skipping a beat, that if you hit the ground, you'll never wake up. Well, once again he had cheated death... the problem was, what is the point in cheating death if you wake up at the end of the night shift? Ryoma groaned as he checked the chronometer, wiping his eyes as though the display might just be a result of the sandman's trickery. :: oO How long was I asleep? Thank heavens I was alone... Oo :: With a yawn, he picked up the PADD from his lap and stood up to shake off the snooze. Immediately he noticed the note he had started before dropping off. Drinking his now stone cold coffee, he put the finishing touches to the message. :: ___________________________________________________ | | | Dear Devon, | | | | I just wanted to leave you a note to thank you | | for the time we spent together on Earth. When I | | close my eyes, all I think about is you in the | | morning sun. I really hope we can see each other | | again soon. | | | | If you're free after your shift, let me know - | | I have a bottle of shochu from our trip that I | | can't wait to unscrew, but I felt you deserved | | a chance to enjoy. How about it? | | | | Yours, | | | | Ryoma | | | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ :: Hoshino put the PADD on Romjin's console and turned it face down. He felt good, like a new dawn had risen over his soul... or maybe that was the caffeine talking. :: ===================================================== Ensign Ryoma Hoshino Intelligence Officer USS Discovery-C

((Engineering Lab Two, USS Vigilant)) Matthews: =/\= TaJoot, I heard engineers were like smart and stuff, right? Listen from what we know so far the toxin is transmitted through that gelatinous substance. So how do you normally clean up the gel from one of those packs if they break? Moreover, could you implement that operation on a grander scale? And I really wish we could tell you that this was some freak accident. But I have pieces of a dead Romulan here that screams otherwise. Who knows what other types of sabotage could have implemented aboard that station. So you guys be careful poking around with that stuff ok? Cause you getting sick won't make us come up with a cure any faster. =/\= TaJoot =/\= There you go, I'm getter informed just talking to you. Tajoot out. =/\= ::Matthews was probably hoping exactly what taJoot had hoped-- that Someone Else's Department had a magic Undo button that could be pressed. There were definitely a set of procedures to be followed in the event of neurogel compromise for Intrepid-class vessels. And sure, the Vigilantes could probably apply them to the station as a whole. But StarFleet used neurogel for processing, not storage; you could clean up a broken pack, sterilize the site and replace it without losing anything. The Vigilant could flood the station with something that would break down the Zalkonian gel (and any other biomatter). But then they'd lose all hope of ever figuring out what had happened. Like, why was that Romulan on board? Was there some link between the Romulans and this station? Why didn't anyone tell him these things? T'Rella: The timeline of events is complete, Sir. ::She quickly moved the last few files into place.:: Transferring data to holographic display. taJoot: So, what happened when? ::The central holo was overlaid with a neat timeline, indicating the time, or projected time, of the failure of each system.:: Malik: Impressive... T'Rella: It goes without saying that these logs run through until the failure of the Damage Control systems. First to go offline were the diagnostic systems in a large proportion of the station. Following that, reports indicate problems with some of the data storage capsules, although their specific location does not appear in the logs. I suspect it has been erased, rather than lost. ::She raised an eyebrow.:: Malik: I agree taJoot: Yeah, nobody submits a ticket saying "I have a vague idea that there might be a problem in Accounting somewhere," they submit tickets that say "That tsooderst file server in Requisitions ate my spreadsheet again, when are you going to fix it?" T'Rella: What follows is a list of computer malfunctions that continues right through to the end of the log, followed by our next major error report. It appears that sickbay's ODN network collapsed, triggering a number of issues with equipment and isolating the computer systems within that department. By interpolating data from other files, I have made what I would assess to be a logical deduction... that the EPS flow regulator malfunction occured next. Similar reports have been found in the logs, and each is the trigger for power surges that disabled something more critical. Life support. Air refiltration. Emergency bulkheads. Internal sensors. Internal communications. Everything that would prove useful in the event of stationwide contamination failed first, followed subsequently by every other major system on the station... with the exception of the lights, and a few systems accessible in the command centre. taJoot: Okay, so, yeah, it would seem difficult to attribute that tidal wave of consequences to a random entropy peak. So... ::getting up and stepping over to the display:: then the question is... what stopped it? Why didn't the infection take down the command center too? ::Dueld got up and started to walk slowly around the holo display. That was a significant design flaw in this snug little lab, actually, no room to pace. How the hell did people think without pacing? It was like their feet were totally uninvolved in the cognitive process. Aliens, that's what they were, strange beige people from space.:: taJoot: Computer, run a molecular scan on the gel capsules still present in the Zalkonian command center. Compare used and unused storage sectors. Generate a model of a base gel pac in its default unused state; display a random sector from it here on the holo projector. Display a random used sector from the least damaged of the command center gel pacs. And finally, display a sector from one of the infected sacs outside the command center. Computer: Acknowledged. Working. taJoot: Well, somebody else has probably thought of this, but my idea is that maybe whatever saved the command center systems can be leveraged somehow to engineer a defense or a cure? ::Over the next few minutes, three different models slowly sharpened from a crude initial scan to finer detail in the air before them. He pointed at the middle one.:: taJoot: Okay, see-- magnify to molecular scale here-- look, some of the command center gel has triple-stranded DNA. It's part of the encryption protocols. It's just different enough, structurally, and there's enough of it there, to slow the rate of infection. And... hey.... ::Dueld held out both hands to bracket the lower model, and haul it up to his eye level.:: taJoot: The infection's either not very efficient, or it's super efficient, depending on how your perspective. Look at all those old proteins jumbled up there! Just like the toxin's effect on people, one of the effects the toxin has on the gel, when it converts the gel to toxin production, is that it shuts down garbage collection. If we compensate for a certain amount of signal noise from the damaged ends of the proteins, we can get back-- ::Dueld turned and sat down, tapping and skimming rapidly around on his station's worksurface. A few minutes later, he emerged from his absorption and tapped his comm badge.:: taJoot: Computer, record a message to be queued for Lt. Thomas, Lt. Commander Handley-Page and Lt. Zehn. Attach comparison images in their current resolutions from the holographic display here, and algorithm protocol Zalkonian Gel Alpha. Begin recording. Sirs, I've had a chance to do some analysis of the Zalkonian gel. It looks to me like, as long as the gel hasn't been infected for too long, the infection kind of acts like a preservative for data proteins that would have been discarded and broken down otherwise. It's so efficient at using cell energy for the toxin production that nothing has a chance to get rid of the garbage, so to speak. If we use some careful filtering to ignore bent sections or damaged ends, even the dead proteins have some data on them we can recover. I've attached a first-pass algorithm for noise reduction, which you veterans can probably improve on-- I used it just now on a record fragment associated with one of the survivors. It seems to record that Vorad ordered a lab in the older part of the station sealed for biohazard failures. Are you guys anywhere near the section shown in the attached file? Can you confirm whether or not my algorithm is retrieving useful data? If it is, you can maybe use it on the gel sacs around you to get more of the lost picture. taJoot out. End recording. Transmit with attached files. TBC ___________________________________ Lt. (j.g.) taJoot Engineer USS Vigilant NCC 75515

(( USS Saratoga )) ::Raw ingenuity, inspired brilliance and sheer dumb luck had all come together to keep the Saratoga alive as it languished in the atmosphere of JB-437-2. Tubes and wires criss-crossed engineering, conduits were laid bare in the corridors, decking was pulled up in crew quarters and science labs alike, visual reminders of the dirty tricks used to keep the starship powered for decades longer than it should have been. ::But time takes its toll. Even with the abundance of hydrogen available, the patched Bussard Collectors were failing to gather the fuel they needed to power the ship's fusion reactors. Deuterium conversion was nothing more than a pipe dream. The warp core was cold. ::Strict protocols had been programmed into the computer. What systems were deemed non-essential, what could and could not be shut down as resources became scarce. Whole sections of the ship were dark and cold, cut off years and years ago from the life-blood of the ship to preserve the whole. ::The Saratoga, faithful and determined for over a century, was dying. ::It had one last mission to complete. Sensors, almost blinded by age, touched upon the approaching ship. It fit no profile, but that was not important. All that mattered was that it was there. ::Ports opened. The last remnants of power were pushed through the ship, aged systems pressed into service for one last time. ::On the Mercury's sensors, the Saratoga lit up like a beacon. A few moments later, and they began to register a single lifesign, sequestered in the elderly vessel's sickbay.:: (( Sickbay )) ::There was nothing. No thought, no sensation, not even the passage of time. ::Life, suspended. Stasis. ::Then...:: (( Many, Many Decades Ago )) WIECZOREK: ...hear me? ::She blinked. Hard. For a moment, there was nothing but absolute confusion, until it was blasted away by a tsunami of pain thundering into her head. Her whole body arched and tensed in protest, instinct demanding she scream. The sound was choked dead by muscle spasms before it could escape her throat.:: WIECZOREK: Lieutenant, can you hear me? ::Hands caught her wrists, trying to pry her hands away from her head. When that didn't work, he caught her face in his palms, leaning in close. Had she a rational mind, she would have recognised the face of Konrad Wieczorek, the chief medical officer of the Saratoga. Instead she lashed out, one moment trying to push him away, the next her fingers balling into the fabric of his tunic, hanging on dear life.:: VOICE: We're too late. She's too far gone. WIECZOREK: Listen to me. Jenna, listen to me. We need to put you in stasis, before you... before your brain is permanently damaged. Do you understand? ::She didn't. She didn't understand anything, couldn't react to anything, except the inescapable, indescribable pain reverberating in her skull. Though she didn't see it, Weiczorek's face crumpled in resignation and he turned to his assistant.:: WIECZOREK: Is the stasis chamber ready? VOICE: Yes, it's— ::The voice stilled as this time, she did scream. The sound was enough to raise hairs on even a Vulcan's neck.:: God. Oh, God. Why is it, why's she..? Why's no one else like this? WIECZOREK: Vulcan physiology, Betazoid physiology, the particular way they've combined in her, I don't know. Just help me get her into the chamber. (( Present Day )) ::Sparks flew in sickbay, conduits explosively failing as a jolt of power surged through them. It was the final tipping point for the sole functioning medical system in sickbay. The stasis chamber flickered off, discharging its occupant onto the floor in a tangled mess. ::It was akin to being plunged into ice water and had much the same effect, leaving her gasping for breath, curled into a foetal position on the floor. It had been a century ago for the rest of the universe, but only one heartbeat since she had felt a pain so pure she had been incapable of feeling anything else. ::Now there was nothing. Silence, darkness, cold. She began to shiver, her teeth chattering together. Black eyes squinted into the shadows, trying to make sense of the shapes swimming in front of her. ::Sickbay. In those brief moments of illumination between sparks, she could see she was in sickbay. But why was the power out? Where was Wieczorek? Where were the rest of the staff? ::Nam-tor pthak-bosh vel t'kashek. Kup-putash-tor kashek. Nash-veh Vuhlkansu. Krie'nuv nash-veh ma. ::The ancient mantra brought stillness to her mind, almost Pavlonian in effect. She had many questions, but there were no answers to be found curled up on the floor. With a soft grunt, she hauled herself up; first on all fours, then to her feet. With detached concern, she realised that her fingers and toes were already numb from the cold. ::She decided on her priorities: light, warmth, a weapon, answers. At least the first two could be found in sickbay, she was sure. The others... she'd come to them in due time.:: (OOC: For those interested, the translation is: 'Fear is a thing of the mind. The mind can be controlled. I am Vulcan. I have control.') --The Sole Survivor of the Saratoga simmed by Captain Quinn Reynolds Intelligence OfficerUSS Mercury