~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mission: A Dream of the Past, Day 10 Stardate: 2406.10.19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List of Headers: (USS Boudicca - Corridor outside Sickbay - ACEO Enaj - 0452) (USS Boudicca - Corridor outside Sickbay -TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 0452) (USS Boudicca - Corridor outside Sickbay - ACEO Enaj - 0452) (USS Boudicca - Empty lab - TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 0453) (USS Boudicca - Jefferies Tubes between decks 12 & 13 - Major 'Spider' Drizzt - 0454) (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - OPS Lt. Yalta Schafio - 0500) (USS Boudicca - Security Office - TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 0510) (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Motel Room, FO, Commander Grailik, 0549) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 0549) (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Motel Room - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0549) (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Motel Room, Lt jg Trevan West, 0550) (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Motel Room – Ensign (jg) John Fredericks - 0550) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - SO- Dr. Madsin Munroe- 0600) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - CSO/2O Kyle Morie Rin - 0600) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0601) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Lt jg Trevan West- 0601) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City somewhere in a large mud puddle- Ensign (jg) John Fredericks - 0601) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0603) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – Ensign (jg) John Fredericks - 0603) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 0655) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0700) (USS Boudicca-Security office- TAC/SC-0700) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Lt jg Trevan West -0701) (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Nurse Natalie Ko'hain - 0701) (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Dr Ellen Farley - 0702) (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Nurse Natalie Ko'hain - 0703) Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - COUNS Domini Alizara-0705) (Ceti Sigma IV, Outside Kurgarian City, FO, Commander Grailik, 0705) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – AST/TAC John Fredericks Ensign (jg)-0705) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0705) (USS Boudicca - Jefferies Tubes between decks 12 & 13 - Major 'Spider' Drizzt - 0706) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – John Fredericks, AST/TAC - 0706) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – TAC/AST John Fredericks-0707) (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – AST/AST John Fredericks-0708) (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0711) (USS Boudicca, Ready Room, MCO Major Straton, 0714) (USS Boudicca- Bridge - TAC/SC - 0715) (USS Boudicca - Bridge, Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0715) (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, ACMO, Dr Ellen Farley, 0723) (Boudicca - Bridge, Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0725) (Boudicca - Sickbay - Capt Sevant - 0728) (Boudicca - Sickbay - Dr Farley - 0728) (Boudicca - Sickbay - Capt Sevant - 0728) (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Commander Grailik, 0835) (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Depository lobby - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0835) (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Lt jg Trevan West, 0837) (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Commander Grailik, 0837) (Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 0840) (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Lt jg Trevan West, 0840) (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Outside the Depository, Director Sloon, 0845) (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Depository lobby - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0855) (Steel Talons - Admirals Office - Admiral Robert LoDona - 2310) (Steel Talons - Ten Forward - Robert LoDona & Noël Rhia - 2340) (Steel Talons - Admiral's Quarter, Admirals War Room - Robert LoDona - 0834) (Steel Talons - Transporter Room 2 - Robert LoDona - 0848) (Starbase Geneva - Ambassadorial Section, Ambassadors Quarters - Ambassador Miador Tane - 0900) (High Chancellery of Qo'Nos - Waiting Chamber - Ambassador Miador Tane - 1200) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Start of Compile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Corridor outside Sickbay - ACEO Enaj - 0452) ==================================== Saim, making her way to sickbay wondered who it was in engineering had been hurt. Going in she spotted Ryko and decided to ask him if he knew what had happened. Walking up to him she asked, "Do you know what is going on?" ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Corridor outside Sickbay -TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 0452) ==================================== Ryko had successfully made a discreet exit from the Sickbay, but he was paused by a troubled looking Ensign Enaj as he ambled along the corridor attempting to find somewhere private to talk to Drizzt. "Do you know what is going on?" she said, short and to-the-point. "Someone collapsed in a turbolift," Ryko said. He had an odd feeling about whether or not it was an accident. "My guess, it's yet another thing in connection with these strange attacks we've been having," he said. His badge bleeped again. Drizzt was getting impatient. He hadn't struck Ryko as being the impatient sort. Ryko decided he had to hurry. "If you'll excuse me, ensign," Ryko said, and wandered past. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Corridor outside Sickbay - ACEO Enaj - 0452) ==================================== "Do you know what is going on?" Saim said to Ryko, short and to-the-point. "Someone collapsed in a turbolift," Ryko said, "My guess, it's yet another thing in connection with these strange attacks we've been having." At that moment Ryko's badge bleeped. "If you'll excuse me, ensign," Ryko said. "Ok course," Saim replied, bowing her head and moving to the side. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Empty lab - TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 0453) ==================================== "Alright, Drizzt, what is it?" Ryko said once the room was sealed. Spider took a moment, "I've found a good portion of the explosive, I need you to clear all decks around me for at least 300 feet in a sphere." Ryko heard an odd crack. "Even if I fail, this stuff won't have full potency, but it will have enough to do some serious damage." Ryko accessed a secure data post and checked for drizzt's location. Junction 23N, Deck 2. "It's going to be difficult, I'll have to clear it with the captain first," Ryko said. (Reply Drizzt) Ryko admittedly felt relieved that Sevant already approved. "Consider it done, Major. I'll make sure those decks are clear. What shall I tell the crew, I don't think letting them know that a highly-volatile superexplosive is about to go off will allow for the quickest and calmest of evacs," he said, still looking at the area Drizzt needed clearing. ~This is gonna be a hell of a bang,~ Ryko thought. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Jefferies Tubes between decks 12 & 13 - Major 'Spider' Drizzt - 0454) ==================================== "Even if I fail, this stuff won't have full potency, but it will have enough to do some serious damage." =^=It's going to be difficult, I'll have to clear it with the captain first,=^= The Marine paused in his working, "The Captain already knows Chief, and we don't have a lot of time here. The longer this stuff sits, the more time our resident assassin has to push the little red button." =^=Consider it done, Major. I'll make sure those decks are clear. What shall I tell the crew, I don't think letting them know that a highly-volatile super explosive is about to go off will allow for the quickest and calmest of evacs,=^= "Easy," The Andorian said as he unsealed the gloves to his BDU and stuffed them in his weapons belt, "Tell em there is an outbreak of Terelian Flu, or maybe the toilets backed up." He put himself in position over the detonator, "In either case, you have about ten minutes. This stuff gets cranky when it's sprayed down and detected, I can't hold off longer then that." He prayed he wouldn't have to explain what Explosives did when they got 'cranky'. At the very least, Drizzt was going to be having a very bad day should that happen... for the tenth of a second he had before he was eaten up by a gush of blue flame. (reply: Ryko) The channel cut off, leaving the Andorian to take a deep breath. His first order of business would be to neutralize the detonator so it couldn't be hit by the Shadow. Once that was done, he could take his sweet time setting up the decon process for the DDZ itself. Detradydrazine was not unstable, but the detonators were. The same element that forced DDZ to glow would set up an unstoppable chain-reaction in the chemical detonator within fifteen minutes of being discovered. IT was a side-effect that nobody had ever worked to get around. Part of the CE's mandate was to destroy friendly ships, with crews who would conceivably know of this stuff. It took time to disable the detonator. He couldn't just remove it, that would detonate all the DDZ at full strength and probably destroy the ship. He had to go through a more complicated scenario, one that took time and steady hands... Spider was pushing the limit now. He was skilled, he was quick, but he wasn't God. He had exaggerated to the TAC/SC a bit, the DDZ would blow at full power if he didn't do his job right here... but it was a white lie, because the Security Chief (nor anybody else on the ship) would know the difference if he did. With a carefully whispered prayer, he took out a spray-bottle and a couple of tools and went to work... ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - OPS Lt. Yalta Schafio - 0500) ==================================== Yalta saw Major Straton coming in and then walking out. Sky had left and hope that everything would be alright. She saw a nurse taking care of the woman that reported the aggression and decided to walk out of sickbay. She ran after the major. “Major Straton, I have a strange feeling about that woman inside... Am I right or wrong about it?” (Reply from Straton) “Ok... I hope we didn't tip her off... got to go back to the bridge. If you need anything, I'm there.” Yalta gave an affirmative head sign and made her way to the turbolift. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Security Office - TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 0510) ==================================== Ryko sighed as he finished marking out the areas that needed clearing. He tapped his badge. "Skylynx to all personnel on decks 12 and 13. This is a full security alert. All personnel are required to evacuate decks 12 and 13 immediately. I repeat, all personnel evacuate decks 12 and 13 immediately. You have 10 minutes. Skylynx out." Ryko sighed and tapped his badge again. "Skylynx to security posts Sigma, Delta, Omega and Beta, report as soon as your sweep areas are empty," Ryko said. The waiting began. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Motel Room, FO, Commander Grailik, 0549) ==================================== =/\=...You are on sight, this is your decision to make, can you hold out there?=/\= "Sir, I believe we can. If we escape through the back area here and make a run for it. There is a bunker type house about 700 yards due east of here. I believe it is the control station for the 'bank'. It is unmanned and I can disable any sensing systems it may have. It's our only shot." Trevan waited for the reply. "I find the notion of an unmanned control bunker highly unlikely, Lt." Grailik said, matter-of-factly. "Well, frankly sir, we don't have much to lose. If we go back to the ship, we will be stuck here forever and die. If we stay here, we may have a chance to live. Your call, but I think our best bet is the bunker house," West replied. "Lt, this is the largest monetary depository on the planet. Do you honestly think they would leave the control bunker unmanned at ANY time? That is complete foolishness. As is your statement that if we return to the ship we will be trapped here to die. This away teams purpose was NOT to rob the bank but to gather intelligence for that purpose at a latter time with more than merely 7 people." Grailik turned his attention back to the still open comm-link to the Boudicca. "Captain, Ensign Fredericks has recommended using one of the shuttles transporters to beam us out of here. Doubtful the saboteur would of bothered sabotaging them. I would prefer to avoid a significant lose of life on either side. We can not hold current position without revealing our superior weaponry. Site to site transport to a remote deserted rural location outside of town till you are in a position to send the other teams down and we are ready to hit the target." ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 0549) ==================================== Sevant folded his hands together and sat back in the chair as he listened to a running debate from the planet. His eyebrow quirked as sounds of breaking glass filled the room and the CEO reported he had been shot. Sevant tapped the arm of his chair, "Bridge to Shuttlebay, launch the ready-shuttle now, and get ready to mass-transport the away team." =^=Captain, Ensign Fredericks has recommended using one of the shuttles transporters to beam us out of here. Doubtful the saboteur would've bothered sabotaging them. I would prefer to avoid a significant loss of life on either side. We can not hold current position without revealing our superior weaponry. Site to site transport to a remote deserted rural location outside of town till you are in a position to send the other teams down and we are ready to hit the target.=^= "Working on it, hold the fort until then, use your weaponry only if required... but don't get caught there Commander. Boudicca out." (reply: if desired) =^=Shuttlebay 3 to Bridge. Sir, the Dauntless has launched.=^= Sevant stood and pointed to the tactical officer, "Open a channel to the Dauntless!" Sevant waited for the channel to open, and then said "Boudicca to Dauntless, Get low enough, lock onto the away team, and beam them to a clean location outside of the city immediately." ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Motel Room - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0549) ==================================== =/\=...You are on sight, this is your decision to make, can you hold out there?=/\= "I'm sorry," Maddie interrupted, "but doesn't it seem strange that this is happening. None of our research showed that this was such a police state. I mean it was supposed to be post-cold war. This is the height of cold war. It just doesn't make sense." The First Officer continued talking to the CEO, Melody was only paying half a mind; she was mostly looking out the window. "Who knows, Doc, maybe they spotted us in orbit. We didn't exactly hang around for a long time. Maybe we should have stayed in orbit a bit longer." (reply: Maddie) Trevan was just saying something about transporter enhancers when a small flash caught Melodies attention from the far-side of the window. The glass shattered inward, spattering against the curtain and falling to the ground, and a neat hole appeared in the curtain. Melody cursed and looked back briefly, Trevan had a quaint little hole in him. She turned her gaze back, and then looked down at the tricorder. There had been no significant movement, perhaps this was their version of a warning? =^=Working on it, hold the fort until then, use your weaponry only if required... but don't get caught there Commander. Boudicca out.=^= Melody suddenly went to her knee, "Everyone, down!" she bellowed. "They're on the move!" She pulled out her weapon and set it to a high-stun level. After about a minute a voice suddenly shouted out. "SURRENDER!" "They don't waste time with diplomacy, how comforting." Melody muttered as she turned the tricorder to the room two-rooms down where even more gun-men were waiting. She shook her head, things were not looking good. "IF YOU DO NOT SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY, YOU WILL BE-" Melody never got to hear the last of that, a transporter beam caught her a moment later. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Motel Room, Lt jg Trevan West, 0550) ==================================== "Lt, this is the largest monetary depository on the planet. Do you honestly think they would leave the control bunker unmanned at ANY time? That is complete foolishness. As is your statement that if we return to the ship we will be trapped here to die. This away teams purpose was NOT to rob the bank but to gather intelligence for that purpose at a latter time with more than merely 7 people." Grailik turned his attention back to the still open comm-link to the Boudicca. "Captain, Ensign Fredericks has recommended using one of the shuttles transporters to beam us out of here. Doubtful the saboteur would of bothered sabotaging them. I would prefer to avoid a significant lose of life on either side. We can not hold current position without revealing our superior weaponry. Site to site transport to a remote deserted rural location outside of town till you are in a position to send the other teams down and we are ready to hit the target." Trevan waited until the rest had finished speaking and reached into his backpack to grab some emergency pattern enhancers. "Sir, the shuttles sensor system will not fully penetrate to beam us out. These," he gestured to the enhancers, "need to be placed around us to get a complete lock." As Trevan was placing one of the units a shot rang out, the window exploded into a mass of glass and debris. Trevan slammed backwards on the ground, he had been shot. Blood was pouring out of his right shoulder. Trevan crawled over to the enhancers trying to make them operational. "I suggest we get these online now," he said as he grabbed his arm and grimaced in pain. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Motel Room – Ensign (jg) John Fredericks - 0550) ==================================== Fredericks heard a small sound like an explosion from far off at the same time the window blew inward. That was followed by a gasp of pain from Trevan as he fell backward and hit the floor. Having been the owner of a few small projectile weapons John recognized the sound as well as the hole running through the CEO’s shoulder. “Everybody Down”!!! He yelled as he himself dove for cover, rolling toward the fallen CEO. Just then he along with the rest of the away team was enveloped by the transporter beam. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - SO- Dr. Madsin Munroe- 0600) ==================================== Maddie felt the transporter effect take hold of her and she held onto her tricorder. She had been recording from the information and entertainment unit. She had managed to expande the output of the reciever and had been able to gather information from a much wider source. As she realigned in her molecules she took in her surroundings. Maddie had been sitting on the floor, next to Domini. She was now sitting on a carpet of damp grass. She looked over to see Haverstaad kneeling in a mud puddle. ~Eww.~ "All clear," the security chief announced. She then went over to West, who was bleeding from a nasty looking sholder wound. Maddie didn't hear what she was muttering. But she was already moving over to them when she called out, "Who has the medical kit?" "I have mine," Maddie replied, reaching into her shoulder bag. She pulled out the kit and went to work with the medical tricorder. West had a nice, clean hole through his shoulder. The projectile weapon that this planet used was very messy, and produced a lot of cellular damage. "Now I know what was meant by gun control." West was going to live, but it was going to hurt. "If you would move your hand Chief?" As soon as her hand came away, blood poured profusely from the wound. Maddie hit the wound with the hypo sray and injected it with a clotting agent. The blood flow began to slow down immediately. She changed the agent in the spray and injuected West with an analgesic. That should, at least, take the edge off the pain. Then with another quick move she changed the agent again, and sent a spray of antibiotic into the wound. Maddie reached into the kit and took out a large badage, and placed it over the wound. "You can apply pressure again, Chief," Maddie told her. Maddie found the adhesive strips and set the bandage in place. She waved the medical probe over Wests shoulder again then turned it off. "You'll survive Mr. West," she told him, "but you must try and take it easy for a little while." (reply West) So, she turned to the group, just where in this world are we? ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - CSO/2O Kyle Morie Rin - 0600) ==================================== Taking a moment of his time Rin noticed the team wasn't in the cozy warmth of the motel room anymore. On top of that the soft bed which he had occupied just a few seconds ago was nowhere to be found. Rin watched as Maddie attended to a wound which West had recieved unaware to exactly how he had recieved it. "Um... Sir... this may seem dumbfounded and unprofessional to say but... what the hell just happened?" Rin's question loomed around the away team causing a short silence until Grailik's voice broke through with the answer Rin was searching for. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0601) ==================================== ... and dumped them in the middle of, well... in the middle of no-where. Melody, who had been kneeling on a carpet, found herself knee-deep in mud. ~So much for the suit.~ "Well, that's that." She said as she stood up and scanned the area around them. She looked at her departmental superior, "All clear." (reply: Fredricks) Melody holstered her weapon and walked quickly over to West, who was bleeding nicely from a large-caliber bullet hole. "Beastly things, projectile weapons." She muttered as she put a hand over his shoulder. "Who has the medical kit?" she asked louder. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Lt jg Trevan West- 0601) ==================================== "All clear," the security chief announced. Trevan was lying on the ground, still bleeding from a nasty looking shoulder wound. "Who has the medical kit?" someone shouted. He wasn't sure what was going on, the pain was intense. "I have mine," Maddie replied, reaching into her shoulder bag. She pulled out the kit and went to work with the medical tricorder. West had a nice, clean hole through his shoulder. The projectile weapon that this planet used was very messy, and produced a lot of cellular damage. West was going to live, but it was going to hurt. "If you would move your hand Chief?" As soon as her hand came away, blood poured profusely from the wound. Trevan felt a hypo against his neck, and then another. The pain faded only slightly. "You'll survive Mr. West," she told him, "but you must try and take it easy for a little while." He looked up at her bleary eyed, "Easy for you to say, you don't have a hole in your body." he said thickly, "Sorry," he paused to regain his composure, "thanks for the shot. Still hurts like the dickens." Trevan looked around and had no idea where they were, outside for sure but where. He knew his job just got a bit harder considering every time he moved his arm pain shot through him. "I'm going to need some help up." he stretched out his arm and Melody gave him a lift, "Good thing I'm left handed!" he said through gritted teeth. ==================================== Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City somewhere in a large mud puddle- Ensign (jg) John Fredericks - 0601) ==================================== Suddenly John was laying face down in a large puddle of mud. “All clear” came the voice of Chief Haverstaad who was looking at him from a somewhat more vertical position; she too was covered in mud but only from the knees down having still been standing in motel as the beam took them. John stood up and spit out a mouthful of the local terrain as Melody put away her Phaser and went top check on West. “Who has the med kit” she called as John pulled his from an interior pocket and handed it to her. “Glad you know what to do with this, I have only had basic training on them” He told her. “Guess I need to add that to my list of things to pick up on.” John scanned the area visually for a moment. “I guess beggars can’t be choosers but all things considering I think I would have preferred a dryer area”. He said sarcastically as he futiley tried to wipe the mud from his cloths. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0603) ==================================== "I have mine," Melody took one more scan of the area, then moved opposite of West as the Cultural Anthropologist pulled out her gear and took position beside him. "Now I know what was meant by gun control." Melody looked up and quirked an eyebrow, but didn’t interrupt her as she began her emergency medical practices. There wasn’t a lot she could do, granted, but it would be enough. Melody sat quietly as she slapped a bandage on him and had West put pressure on it. "You'll survive Mr. West," Maddie told him, "but you must try and take it easy for a little while." He looked up at her bleary eyed, "Easy for you to say, you don't have a hole in your body." Melody snorted as he said, "Sorry, thanks for the shot. Still hurts like the dickens." "That means it didn’t hit your nerve trunk, be glad you can still feel it, Chief." The Engineer looked around, and then said; "I'm going to need some help up." Melody grabbed his arm and lifted gently, getting him to his feet. His clothing had a nice red hole in it, probably matched by the hole in his shoulder. "Good thing I'm left handed!" "So, just where in this world are we?" Maddie said a moment later. Melody let go of West after making sure he had his feet, then looked over and shrugged. "Outside the city, not far." ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – Ensign (jg) John Fredericks - 0603) ==================================== DR. Munroe arrived just as Fredericks was handing the med kit to Melody, obviously the Dr was better prepared to deal with this than either of them and also had a MUCH cleaner kit with her. Feeling slightly in the way John turned and stumbled up to the wet grass for more firm footing. Taking out his tricorder he began to scan the surrounding area . After a few moments he began to receive data . “Looks like we are about 10 Kilometers south of the city. I am trying to get the local news station again and see what they are doing. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 0655) ==================================== Sevant rubbed his brow and looked at the PADD he had been reading. It was a report on the Anomaly, complied by the astrophysicist that had done the first work on it. And with the CSO on the planet, he was in charge of figuring out all that could be figured out about getting the Boudicca about home. What he had discovered set Sevant's teeth on edge. He shook his head just as one of the engineers came up to him, "Captain, all transporters are reported clear." The Captain looked up, and then nodded. He pulled out a second PADD, "All away teams to the surface immediately, and give this to Commander Grailik." He handed the PADD over. The Security officer nodded and was off. Sevant shook his head briefly. They were about to do things that the Prime Directive expressly forbid. Except, in this case, the prime directive didn't apply. There was no way this planet could achieve anything that could save their lives in the time allotted; the planet and civilization were dead in his own time. Just by being here, he would be creating a larger timeline problem then a mere robbery would create on a pre-warp planet. In fact, they now knew precisely why the planet was destroyed. It was a problem, one that he had to put aside for the moment. It would most certainly not become public knowledge. He sat back in his chair, a troubled expression on his face. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0700) ==================================== Melody, ever on guard, had her weapon out and pointed into the direction of problems within moments of the hairs rising on the back of her neck. After a few seconds, however, she quietly put her altered phaser back in her pocket and grinned. Fifteen crew and officers stood in the quiet clearing, where before there had only been leaves and empty hair. Before these fifteen even had a chance to blink, another transporter took hold and several boxes were deposited behind them. Each of the fifteen were dressed in Military style uniforms, Melody vaguely recognized them, she had seen them on the streets of Kurgarian City. They were the uniforms of the Military Forces of this Nation-State. One of them stepped forward and handed a PADD over to the Commander, "Your orders, Commander, Captain Sevant wanted to keep communications to a minimum. It's generally believed that someone might be eavesdropping." (reply: Grailik) Melody walked up, she recognized these men and women. Most of them were security, though a handful were part of an Engineering team. "What's going on up there?" Melody asked as Grailik and the head of this team talked. "It's a mess, Senior Chief, but they found the traitor. Even as we left, one of the Marine CE's was disabling a mass of explosive." The woman she was speaking too smiled and jerked a thumb over to the box, "You might want to grab your new duds, Senior Chief; we're going back in style if what I've heard is right." She turned, "Commander?" (reply: Grailik) "Yes Sir." She said as she looked back. The uniforms were a black material, with silver rank insignia and pins; very little other color was in evidence. They were sharp enough; she had to admit as she pulled one out to her size and looked it over. Very sleek, they gave the impression of being very dangerous... how wonderful. She found a tree and quietly changed into her uniform after tossing her old business suit aside. She stepped back out again and smoothed down the jacket, "Well, how do I look?" (reply: West, any) By this time, everyone was digging through the crates provided. Uniforms were not all that had been beamed down. Melody began to get a glimmering of the plan as one of the crates was knocked open and weapons were broken out. Another held some sort of body armor, done up in the same style as the uniforms so they could be worn every-day and still be 'in style'. She walked over and took a pro-offered rifle. It was large, heavy, and very sleek. "The projectile rounds this thing uses are still sealed up, Chief." The armory officer said. "You have two types, 7.62 millimeter rounds, and a 50.5 millimeter grenade launcher." Melody quirked and eyebrow and hefted the weapon, giving it a good look. "I have a very bad feeling about this." ==================================== (USS Boudicca-Security office- TAC/SC-0700) ==================================== Ryko watched as the last of the blips on the sensor screen in front of him disappeared, confirming that decks 12 and 13 were empty. He tapped his badge. "Skylynx to Drizzt," Ryko said, "All clear. You're go for detonation." =/\=I'm ready to begin the final containment procedure. If you hear a boom, it means I've joined the great party in the sky.=/\= ~If you screw this up, we all will,~ Ryko thought, and waited. A few minutes later, Ryko's attention was disturbed by Drizzt's ecstatic voice coming through the comm. =^=HOT D*MN!=^= Ryko smiled. Drizzt had been successful, and a huge weight lifted from Ryko's shoulders. "Great job, major," Ryko said. He was almost lost for words so he said it again. "Great job." (Reply Drizzt if desired) Ryko smiled, then Sevant's voice came onto the comm. =/\=Skylynx and Straton to my ready room immediately.=/\= Ryko could have sworn he had heard a twinge of pride in the Captain's voice. He smiled and made his way out of the security office. "On my way, captain," Ryko said. He stepped inside a turbolift and said simply, "bridge." The turbolift moved. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Lt jg Trevan West -0701) ==================================== After finding the uniform that wasn't too tight in his, um, well needless to say the uniform fit. He looked over at Melody, gazed at her for perhaps a little longer than normal and commented, "You look swell." 'Swell?" he thought to himself, 'What the hell are you doing?" "Sorry", he said to her, "You look rough and ready for action." that sounded better. His arm hurt more then anything and he had to let it sit there without a sling. A sling would give them away, becuase from the looks of things, these people didn't let injured officers serve for very long. A sign of weakness may show the population they were letting their guard down. "Mel, can you give me a hand getting the straps connected to my back," (Reply Melody) "Thanks," He looked at everyone dressed in black ready to go. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Nurse Natalie Ko'hain - 0701) ==================================== Natalie sighed as she closed her eyes and rolled her head slowly. It had been a very long night, it was only going to get longer. With their medical department being so very understaffed and the ship being on constant alert... ~Ah well, there is nothing for it.~ She looked at the time, noticed it right on the hour, and pulled out her package of stims and popped one dry. At this point in time she would almost be willing to marry the maker of these stim-pills, they were her best friend. A small beep at her monitor distracted her for a moment, one of the patient monitors showed increased brain activity. "About time!" she said as she stood and walked over to the patient-in-question. She shivered slightly as she looked at her exterior, but quickly overcame the repulsion and tapped her bio-bed monitors. Sure enough, she was starting to wake up. "About time, Doctor." She said in an amused tone as she pulled out a hypospray filled with a cornucopia of drugs designed to help her come out of her surgery and injury induced stupor. "We need you here and now." She placed the hypospray against her neck and injected the full recommended dose. With practiced patience, the nurse waited until the count of ten, looking at the monitors and its updated readings, then turned and looked her in the face. In a gentle voice she said, "Are you awake, Doctor Farley, any problems hearing me?" ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Dr Ellen Farley - 0702) ==================================== "About time, Doctor." She said in an amused tone as she pulled out a hypospray filled with a cornucopia of drugs designed to help her come out of her surgery and injury induced stupor. "We need you here and now." She placed the hypospray against her neck and injected the full recommended dose. With practiced patience, the nurse waited until the count of ten, looking at the monitors and its updated readings, then turned and looked her in the face. In a gentle voice she said, "Are you awake, Doctor Farley, any problems hearing me?" Ellen looked around for a minit and said i a tired and drowsey voice "nurce Ko'hain, how long have i been here?" (reply from ko'hain) Ellen got up and saw the consol that exploded in her face and rememberd the battlet, she grabbed her comunicator and said =/\= Farley to Bridge, Whats out status?=/\= (reply from bridge) Ellen started to become disorient and afraid from the effects of the drug, She took a deep breath and calmed down then said "Nurse, you have been most helpful, you may leave if you wish" then she proceded "but could you ask the captain to come and see me please nurse, thankyou" ellen then went to a computor consol to find out what happend. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Nurse Natalie Ko'hain - 0703) ==================================== "nurse Ko'hain, how long have I been here?" The nurse quirked her head, "Just over a day, how much do you remember?" "Farley to Bridge, Whats out status?" After a few seconds, the doctor's communicator came to life with, =^=Stable for the moment, Doctor. But your services may be required after none too long, what is your own status?=^= (reply: Doc) While the Captain was talking, the Nurse was checking the doctors vitals and test results. She prepared another dose of sedative to counter-act some of the more interesting effects of the wake-up cornucopia she had ejected Farley with earlier, and pressed it to her neck as the Doctor was talking. Once they were done, she said, "Nurse, you have been most helpful, you may leave if you wish. But could you ask the captain to come and see me please nurse, thankyou" The nurse nodded, "Of course, Doctor." ==================================== Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - COUNS Domini Alizara-0705) ==================================== Domini waltzed out from behind a tree to the approving eye of her beloved Maddie. She looked over at Fredericks, and sent ::So what do you think?:: Sending along the appropriate emotions in case he couldn't hear her. ::You look pretty hot yourself:: She said, sending the approval tinged with sexual desire that she knew he would understand better than words. She picked up one of the smaller guns and walked over to him. "What do I do with this?" She asked, her eyes wide and innocent, holding the wrong side of the gun. "I don't know how to use it." She said honestly. "Knives I can do. Guns I don't get." And with that, Domini threw a knife and hit the dead center of the tree. She walked over, took it out nad wiped the blade clean on her legs. "Not a skill you'd take for a Betazoid maiden huh?" ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Outside Kurgarian City, FO, Commander Grailik, 0705) ==================================== Grailik after having put on his uniform, grabbed an item from the medical kit he had sent down and moved over to Lt. West. "Let me look at that arm Lt," He said, holding up the medical devise. Grailik gently took West's injured arm and worked the tissue regenerator over the wound with practiced ease. Within a few seconds, West's arm was fully healed. "Good as new," He said, smiling at West as he tucked the tissue regenerator back into the medical kit. "Can't have you going into the depository injured. It will be a little tender for a day or two. Try not to over use it." (Reply West IWY) Grailik then moved over to the supply of replicated native weapons, and picked one up. "I haven't used one these in ages," He said, looking the weapon over. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – AST/TAC John Fredericks Ensign (jg)-0705) ==================================== John reached over and took the offered cloths and weapon. He walked apart slightly from the group and removed the suits coat that he was wearing and placed it on the ground and carefully set the weapon on the coat. He dressed as quickly as he could, then checked out the new projectile weapon he had been given. ~Nice~, he thought. Over and under projectile and grenade launcher combo. Effective, intimidating and quite deadly. ~I wonder if they would miss one of these later if it just happened to wind up on my wall~? Gathering his discarded clothing up into a pile he stuffed it into the reversed coat making a small ball and returned to the rest of the group. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0705) ==================================== "Mel, can you give me a hand getting the straps connected to my back," Melody nodded, and made a note to kick him in the shin when he was feeling better for calling her 'Mel'. "Thanks," She was just starting to work when Commander Grailik walked up. "Let me look at that arm Lt," Melody stepped back. Apparently the team had also brought a medical pack with them. So much the better, at least West wouldn't be a liability to them. They needed everyone in good condition. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Jefferies Tubes between decks 12 & 13 - Major 'Spider' Drizzt - 0706) ==================================== Spider sat back and shook his head, then blinked his eyes a couple times against the sweat that had worked its way down while he was staring at the slightly-glowing blue mass of DDZ. After disabling the detonator, he had immediately set out to making the DDZ inert. As it was now, it had been fiddled with; if it were to suddenly and spontaneously explode... it would do so with far less strength then if it had been left alone. However, 'significantly less' strength was still more then enough to blow Spider into tiny pieces, along with a good portion of the decks around him. He hadn't time for fear at first, not with ten minutes to disable the detonator. Now, he'd had two hours of think about the results of he screwed up. Thankfully this wasn't his first time; his hands remained steady, even as he considered his blue-hide spread over several hundred feet. Now came the moment of truth. He had spent two hours messing with this liquid explosive, changing its chemical composition a little at a time, spraying and injecting the disabling compounds into it in precisely the right amounts at precisely the right times. Now he would find out if he did things correctly. "Drizzt to Straton and Skylynx. I'm ready to begin the final containment procedure. If you hear a boom, it means I've joined the great party in the sky." (reply: any) He took a deep breath and pulled out a small hypospray-like device. The problem with DDZ and most of its family, was that it always remained a sticky liquid. It couldn't simply be moved and blown up; it couldn't be disarmed like a device. It had to be dissolved, made chemically inert. That was what the CE had been doing for the last two hours, prepping to make it harmless. With fussy precision he placed the sprayer down and pulled his BDU armored gloves out of his belt. The BDU would be little protection in an explosion, if he had done this wrong, but there was always the chance for a miracle... He locked the gloves into place and picked the spray up again ~God, if there is a God... prepare to save my soul, if I have a soul.~ With infinite care he placed the spray at left-most edge of the DDZ zone. Then, almost like a man pulling the trigger in a suicide, he pushed the button. Several CC's of a silver-liquid sprayed onto the DDZ, and at once there was a mini-fireworks show. Fire rippled across the entire surface of the bulkhead where DDZ had spread, much like a sheet of flame over an oil-coated surface. The initial fire died out, leaving ripples of sparks as the DDZ began melting and dribbling everywhere. And then, twenty seconds after he had begun, it was over. The DDZ stopped sparking and chemically bonded with the silver'ish material, becoming a dark-gray crust. Spider let out a deep breath and tapped the crust gently; it broke apart into a heavy dust that rapidly fell to the deck. "Hot d*mn" he said quietly. And then, much louder and on open frequency to the Captain, MCO and TAC/SC he repeated himself: "HOT D*MN!" ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – John Fredericks, AST/TAC - 0706) ==================================== Well, How do I look? Came the question from Melody John turned and saw her coming out from behind a tree in the new black uniform. He had to admit that she struck an interesting pose. ~Back up John old boy. Your still smoldering in spots from the last crash and burn~. He limited himself to a medium loud wolf whistle just to see what she would do and also because she deserved it for the question. ==================================== Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – TAC/AST John Fredericks-0707) ==================================== As he was checking out Melody John felt/heard an interesting emotion. The emotion wasn’t what caused him to jerk back to reality though, he had encountered lust and desire before. The Odd thing was that once again he was starting to hear thoughts. John had always been a strong empathy but until recently he had not been able to hear or send thoughts. Within the last two or three days he had begun hearing and at least one time sent thoughts. ~It had to be the over work I did on the ship, I must have broken through some form of barrier I didn’t even know I had~. John absently searched out the counselor while deciding he would need to speak with her later about this. It looked like he would need to start a lot of training in order to make full use of his mental abilities. Just then he saw Domini staring at him and replayed the message he had picked up on as he saw her staring at him with a completely non professional look, although a quite direct one. Trying to project the thought to her he answered ::I think you look extremely HOT::. ~I sincerely hope that went where I was hoping it would go and not out across the field for everyone to here~ he thought at the last moment. ==================================== Ceti Sigma IV - Outside Kurgarian City – AST/AST John Fredericks-0708) ==================================== Domini bent over and selected a smaller projectile weapon and approached him asking how to use it. She professed to knowing how to use a knife and proved it by trying to murder a tree. John was impressed remembering as he did how long it had taken “him” to master that particular skill. “Let me show you, it isn’t hard to look like you know what you are doing”. “First off, lets turn the business end around to the front” he said jokingly so as to let her know he wasn’t making fun of her. He then showed her how to load the magazines that supplied the small pistol and then how to first insert them into the weapons grip and how to eject the spent mag. John moved behind Domini and reached both arms around her and tried to show her the proper way to hold the weapon, unfortunately he kept getting side tracked with stray (?) thoughts from her. After showing the Counselor how to hold the weapon, aim it correctly and brace for the recoil John showed her how to wear the weapon belt, placing it on her himself and buckeling it securely, then making sure all of the magazines were full and wouldn’t jam. “This one should work nicely for you Counselor, it is fairly small about a 9 millimeter where as the rifle I have is a 7.62. basically just remember what I showed you. Point it like you were pointing your finger at something and pull the trigger, if it keeps moving pull it again. If it doesn’t stop, holler and I’ll take it down” John said pulling his rifle of his back with an evil grin. He had to break off then as the missions orders were being given at that point. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0711) ==================================== =^=HOT D*MN!=^= "I will assume that means the ship is out of danger from the explosives, Major." Sevant said dryly. "Good work. Skylynx and Straton to my ready room immediately." ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Ready Room, MCO Major Straton, 0714) ==================================== Eva walked into the Ready Room and came to attention. "Reporting as ordered Sir," She said coldly. ==================================== (USS Boudicca- Bridge - TAC/SC - 0715) ==================================== Ryko wandered happily across the bridge, catching Yalta's eye he winked, and in response to her quizzical look he simply laughed. He approached the ready room and slipped in behind Straton. "Major Straton reporting as ordered, sir," came Eva's clipped greeting. "Ensign Skylynx, captain," Ryko said, determined that his greeting should be shorter. He mimicked Straton's rigid pose and couldn't help a chuckle. Seeing Straton eye him icily Ryko relaxed and cleared his throat. He stood normally and paid attention. ~Party pooper,~ Ryko thought amusedly as he listened to the Captain. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Bridge, Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0715) ==================================== "Reporting as ordered, sir," came Eva's clipped greeting. "Ensign Skylynx, captain," Sevant sat back in his chair and looked at the two officers. "The operation to retrieve the necessary materials is now underway. I want this ship ready for battle. There is no guarantee that the jump will work, or when we will come out, but I want our forces ready to deal with the enemy as soon as our sensors clear." He looked at both of them for a moment, "Since our status won't be known after leaving the anomaly, I'm going to assume most of our defenses will be down. Therefore, I want security and Marine teams ready for anti-boarding. Questions?" ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, ACMO, Dr Ellen Farley, 0723) ==================================== That Morning Had been quiet until a crewman walked in with what looked like a burse to his head he said ";can you take a look at my head, I hit it whilst I was cleaning the plasma conduits on deck 9" ellen replied "Well crewman lets take a look" She walked over to her desk and picked up a medical scanner and walked back to crewman Saunders, she scanned him and asked, "do you feel dizzy or sick in any way?" he replied "yes a little dizzy and I feel weak" Ellen’s face was puzzled, after a few short moments she said, "crewman I need to do some additional scans to the area around the wound, is that ok?" he hesitated and then said "yes its ok, why do you need to do the scans, is there something wrong?" she looked the crewman in the eyes and said "you have a growth a kind of tama, I am going to attempt to find out what it is, now lye down imp going to sedate you" she smiled and said "it will be ok" the next thing Saunders knew he was asleep Ellen walked over to a comm. panel and activated it and said =/\= Dr Farley to captain Sevant please come to sickbay=/\= ==================================== (Boudicca - Bridge, Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0725) ==================================== =/\= Dr Farley to captain Sevant please come to sickbay=/\= "Be right there, Doctor." Sevant said quickly. He frowned as he stood, "Ops has the bridge." ==================================== (Boudicca - Sickbay - Capt Sevant - 0728) ==================================== Sevant stepped into the sickbay and paused. He began looking around for the doctor, she wouldn't be hard to pick out of a crowd. After a few seconds he spied her and walked up. "Report, Doctor." ==================================== (Boudicca - Sickbay - Dr Farley - 0728) ==================================== Sevant stepped into the sickbay and paused. He began looking around for the doctor, she wouldn't be hard to pick out of a crowd. After a few seconds he spied her and walked up. "Report, Doctor." Ellen looking quite concerned said to the captain "Captain, thank god it's you, i think there is somthing," She paused for a few moments trying to gather the words to say "there is somthing in the air, as it were, a kind of toxon that targets wounds, and then grows on the inside of the body" She ran to her desk and handed the captain a padd with all her results on (reply from sevent) Ellen said to the captain "I need some people to help me develop some sort of antibody for it, and i'd like to run some scanns of any one who has been on the planet and reterned, starting with you" She went and picked up a medical tricoder and walked over to him and waited for a responce ==================================== (Boudicca - Sickbay - Capt Sevant - 0728) ==================================== "Report, Doctor." "Captain, thank god it's you, I think there is something," She paused for a few moments trying to gather the words to say "there is something in the air, as it were, a kind of toxin that targets wounds, and then grows on the inside of the body" Sevant frowned, something like that was all too likely, they had only just released "Have you located it?" Ellen said to the captain "I need some people to help me develop some sort of antibody for it, and I'd like to run some scans of any one who has been on the planet and returned, starting with you" The Captain shook his head, "I haven't been on the planet." He tapped his badge, "Sevant to bridge, send a full transcript of everything going on with the Away team to Sickbay." He crossed his arms, "No one has been aboard yet, in fact, from the planet. The origin wouldn't be terrestrial." Sevant turned his head to look around, and then focused on the doctor again. "However, we have just captured a would-be assassin and terrorist, I could imagine this to be one of Doenitz's tricks." He took a breath, "Scan me, and get to work. Coordinate with engineering, perhaps this airborne... whatever... can be filtered out of the air." (reply: Doc) He tapped his badge while she ran the tricorder over him, "Sevant to Ensign Enaj, report to engineering immediately." ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Commander Grailik, 0835) ==================================== Grailik strode confidently into the lobby of the Depository. His plan, so far, was working perfectly. With a little covert assistance from Lt. West intercepting all transmissions coming from the depository and providing the appropriate responses, along with Domini and Fredericks proving subtle telepathic and empathic nudges when required, Grailik had managed to talk them past the perimeter guards. Their guise as military re-enforcements intact. "What going on here?" A man, obviously the one in charge, asked walking up to Grailik, a pair of armed guards behind him. "Command has received evidence of a planed raid on this establishment," Grailik said confidently. "We have been dispatched to secure the building and perimeter and ensure the integrity of the vault." "Why was I not notified of this?" The Director asked, obviously angry at being left out of the loop. "We only received our orders a short time ago," Grailik said, "There was no time to inform through proper channels. The terrorists could attack at any second. We must secure the vault and get into position. Tell your people to evacuate immediately." "What?" The Director said, bristling. "I will not leave!" "Yes, you will," Grailik said firmly, "You might be a government employee, but you are not a member of the military. My troops and I are trained to handle situations like this. You and your staff are not. You will secure the vault then evacuate to a safe location till the crisis has passed." Grailik handed the Director the forged orders, and nodded toward Fredericks. "Begin deploying the troops." Then he turned back toward the Director. "Secure the vault, now!" The Director seemed to hesitate for a second, before nodding. Grailik, followed the Director with West and Domini following him. When they arrived at the huge vault door, Grailik watched impassively as the Director entered his code to close and seal the huge vault door. The door closed with a loud boom and huge bolts slid into the walls, floor and ceiling, securing the vault and the precious metal inside. Lt. West was more than close enough to have intercepted all the information the Director had entered, Grailik was confident that he would have no problems re-opening the vault once all the natives had been evacuated. "Now," Grailik said to the Director, "Time for you and your staff to leave." The Director nodded, still unsure, but convinced enough with the orders to obey them. He gave the order and soon the evacuation was well under way. A short time latter, Grailik watched the last of the native staff leave the building, hurrying out through the perimeter gate. Grailik smiled and looked over at West. "Go open the vault and start beaming the metal up to the ship." He then looked over at Fredericks. "Tell your men to stay sharp. They will learn in a short order that they have been duped. I expect their response will be most violent." Lastly he looked over at Domini. "You and I will need to be ready to tend any wounded we might have till Mr. West can get all the metal we need up to the ship." Grailik then tapped his comm-badge. "Doc to Grumpy. Prepare to receive the poisoned apple." with the code phrase sent the Boudicca would be ready to begin receiving the metal once West and Rin had everything in place. Grailik sighed, looking around for a good place to set up a triage area. He was sure they would be receiving wounded soon. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Depository lobby - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0835) ==================================== Melody took a breath as they slipped passed the perimeter guards. She had left her rifle with the half of the security team that was still waiting outside. The general plan was to get them in once everything had been 'smoothed' over here. That left her only with a shoulder-slung weapon that looked like a phaser had been melded with a dagger. It was a wicked side-arm, but it was only that... a sidearm. "What going on here?" A man, obviously the one in charge, asked walking up to Grailik, a pair of armed guards behind him. "Command has received evidence of a planed raid on this establishment," the First Officer said. "We have been dispatched to secure the building and perimeter and ensure the integrity of the vault." "Why was I not notified of this?" The Director asked, obviously angry at being left out of the loop. "We only received our orders a short time ago," Grailik said, "There was no time to inform through proper channels. The terrorists could attack at any second. We must secure the vault and get into position. Tell your people to evacuate immediately." "What?" The Director said, bristling. "I will not leave!" "Yes, you will," Grailik said firmly, "You might be a government employee, but you are not a member of the military. My troops and I are trained to handle situations like this. You and your staff are not. You will secure the vault then evacuate to a safe location till the crisis has passed." Grailik handed the Director the forged orders, and nodded toward Fredericks. "Begin deploying the troops." Then he turned back toward the Director. "Secure the vault, now!" (Reply: Fredericks) With her marching orders given, Melody turned on her heel and barked, "Bring in the gear, pass the word and cordon off this place! I want lookouts at the door, snipers to the back, I want a perimeter around this entire god-forsaken place, Move it!" While Grailik and the director of the place disappeared, Melody did the job as she had been trained to do it... interpret and pass orders from the Security Chief to the men. One of the incoming guards handed her the assault rifle, she felt better with it in her hands. She had to admit, there was something comforting about the weight of the weapon as compared to her standard Phaser rifles. Still, she didn't look forward to getting into battle with such archaic weapons. A short time later, Grailik showed back up again. Melody turned to listen, just in case. "Go open the vault and start beaming the metal up to the ship." He then looked over at Fredericks. "Tell your men to stay sharp. They will learn in a short order that they have been duped. I expect their response will be most violent." Lastly he looked over at Domini. "You and I will need to be ready to tend any wounded we might have till Mr. West can get all the metal we need up to the ship." "Sir, I need two people to place these damn enhancers around the perimeter. 30 Meters apart please, otherwise the Boudicca will not be able to beam anything up. Sir," the CEO said. "That is why you have an engineering team, Mr. West. I suggest you use them," (reply: West) Melody held up her rifle in a ready position and walked up to the CEO, "Sir, how much space here are you going to require clear and safe to beam up the material? Or, are you going to beam it up from just outside the vault?" (reply: West) Melody nodded and walked over to Fredericks. "Sir, any further orders?" she asked while looking at the placement of the security team. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Lt jg Trevan West, 0837) ==================================== "Go open the vault and start beaming the metal up to the ship." He then looked over at Fredericks. "Tell your men to stay sharp. They will learn in a short order that they have been duped. I expect their response will be most violent." Lastly he looked over at Domini. "You and I will need to be ready to tend any wounded we might have till Mr. West can get all the metal we need up to the ship." Trevan spoke up, "Sir, I need two people to place these damn enhancers around the perimeter. 30 Meters apart please, otherwise the Boudicca will not be able to beam anything up. Sir." ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Commander Grailik, 0837) ==================================== "Sir, I need two people to place these damn enhancers around the perimeter. 30 Meters apart please, otherwise the Boudicca will not be able to beam anything up. Sir," Lt. West said, his voice sounding agitated. Grailik looked back at the CEO with raised brow. He pointed at a group of 5 people standing nearby. "That is why you have an engineering team, Mr. West. I suggest you use them," Grailik said, before turning his attention back toward finding a suitable triage center. ==================================== (Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 0840) ==================================== =^=Doc to Grumpy. Prepare to receive the poisoned apple.=^= Sevant leaned forward in his command chair, "All transporter rooms, stand by. Emergency Security teams to Transporter room 1, Extra engineering teams to Cargo bay 1 for material redistribution. Now." He took a breath, "Watch our power levels, give the cargo transporters as much as they need." He said to ops. (reply: Shafio) He leaned back again, "Captain to Science department, do you have the final revised figures for the amount of metal required?" =^=Yes Sir, estimate unchanged. The numbers Lieutenants West and Rin are using are correct.=^= "Very well, Sevant out." That was that, the Boudicca was ready to receive. ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Depository lobby, Lt jg Trevan West, 0840) ==================================== "Sir, I need two people to place these damn enhancers around the perimeter. 30 Meters apart please, otherwise the Boudicca will not be able to beam anything up. Sir," Lt. West said, his voice sounding agitated. Grailik looked back at the CEO with raised brow. He pointed at a group of 5 people standing nearby. "That is why you have an engineering team, Mr. West. I suggest you use them," Grailik said Melody held up her rifle in a ready position and walked up to the CEO, "Sir, how much space here are you going to require clear and safe to beam up the material? Or, are you going to beam it up from just outside the vault?" Trevan looked over to her, "Can't beam outside the vault, some sort of interference with the scanners. Going to have to go in and beam it all up in one shot." he said smiling for some unknown reason. "Lt Rin, you and I will disable the vaults' sensor system. I need at least 4 minutes to set everything up and beam it away. Grab three engineering techs to assist you." Trevan was fumbling with his tricorder, his arm was still a little banged up but at least it was moveable now. "Ok, I think a nice sensor screen should...." he paused, looking at his tricorder, "Sir!," he shouted towards the First Officer, "there are floor sensors in the vault. If we so much as put more then 5 pounds on that floor, I don't want to know what would happen. But whatever it is, it will be bad news." Trevan thought for a moment, "How about a bait and switch? We beam out the metal and beam in from the Boudicca, the equal amount of weight back in. It would be a tricky transport but do-able." ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV, Kurgarian City, Outside the Depository, Director Sloon, 0845) ==================================== "Sir... yes sir... no, no si... aye." The director hung up his small secure phone and looked blankly at the wall for several long moments. Finally, one of the guards could take it no more. "Sir, what's the problem?" "Huh?" The director looked over. "The Military is sending units to us." "More units, Sir?" "No, yes... no." He held up the orders that he had been given earlier. "These are false, I handed the depository over to a group of rebels. I'm finished." The guard looked blank for long moments, "Then... we're supposed to take it back." "Yes, you're in charge." ==================================== (Ceti Sigma IV - Kurgarian City, Depository lobby - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0855) ==================================== "Flippin' wonderful," Melody muttered as she tapped her badge... "Chief, we've got movement outside, looks like several Military style troop transports." She turned her head slightly from the inside walkway and looked closely at them. The backs of the vehicles opened up on one of them, and fully armed troops popped out moments later. Melody cursed on open line, then said "Yeah, we've got troopers on the scene. Looks like Grailik's story just became toast. I'm pulling out." (reply: Fredericks) Melody pulled out of the walkway and into the main lobby, her rifle held carefully and never turning her back. It was their luck that the building was built like a fortress, and that most of the important personages were below them underground by several levels. If Security was overwhelmed, they could pull deeper into the building and continue to harass incoming soldiers until West's job was complete. Her forces had already ringed the entire lobby, upturned the few desks and benches and made fire-barriers. There was only one way in or out of the building, and it would be near-to-impossible for anyone to blast through the walls... which were reinforced concrete with metal sheeting. Melody knew they would eventually be forced back, but for the mean time, they were secure. She jumped behind one of the thick metal benches and pulled the load-cock on her rifle. "Things are about to get interesting." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stardate: 2406.11.25 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==================================== (Steel Talons - Admirals Office - Admiral Robert LoDona - 2310) ==================================== Robert's face was a scowl as he slammed his fist into the table. The metal of his implants clicked ominously against the holo-table and the man standing with him looked over, his face just as grim. "There is nothing more we can do for the moment," he finally said. "Dismissed, report back to the 'Watch." "Sir," the man said quietly as he departed. Robert remained standing before the map, which showed the Strategic situation as far as the 52nd was concerned. All other fleets that had signed on were far enough away that they couldn't provide any assistance to his position; all of them were doing their own general thing. One fleet had even folded already, it's Admiral in Command having been over-thrown by several of his aides. He shook his head as he shut the map down, his lines were as strong and mobile as they were going to be for the time being. Most everyone had a lot to learn about guerilla-style fighting. The doors opened behind him, and only the hint of light perfume indicated who it could be. He turned on his heel, slowly, to behold the Captain of the Talons. "Captain," he said to the bajoran woman. She was every inch the warrior, as it should be considering the Talons had been a combat vessel long before he'd had it retro-fitted to be his headquarters and Flagship. Considering the nature of their missions, he had retained her as Captain and kept the weapons-systems on the ship untouched. He expected they would trade torpedoes before too long. She stopped just before him and put her hands behind her back. She wasn't old, but had just enough age to remember older friends and family fighting Cardassians and their Occupational army before liberation. Her religious ear-piece was simple, her bearing was completely military. She took nothing from anyone that wasn't deserved; it was lucky she was good at what she did and required very little correction. Robert, a long-time warrior himself, was glad to have her aboard. "Admiral," she said simply. "We have a date." The Admiral's eyebrows flared slightly, though one raised slightly higher then the rest as he looked at her in askance. "You've been on duty far to long, you're abilities as a Strategic Commander is going to be useless if you don't unwind, and get some sleep, in that order." Her own eyebrow quirked ever so slightly, her face was relaxed but her posture booked no argument. Robert didn't feel like giving it to her, in either case, he realized he had been working too long without enough breaks. Such was the nature of war, however. "Then by all means, Captain, let's unwind. I assume you have a destination in mind?" ==================================== (Steel Talons - Ten Forward - Robert LoDona & Noël Rhia - 2340) ==================================== Robert took a sip of his drink... the bartender called it something absurd, it was Andorian and phonetically sounded something like 'hammered dawn'... and carefully put it back on the table. Ten-Forward was hopping and lively, even if two dour battle-commanders happened to be in the room (or perhaps, in spite of it). "So you were saying," she said in continuing. "That it felt like a cold liquid running through your veins?" Robert had never fully gotten over the memory of his partial assimilation. It was a morbid subject to be speaking about while they were supposed to be relaxing, but neither had ever pulled punches. With his hand still wrapped around the mug, he nodded soberly. "It can't accurately be described. They surged through my system, and I could feel some of the changes they made to me." He shrugged. "I was lucky." She was about to answer when the Captains communicator chirped. =^=Captain to the bridge, multiple bogies departing the river and in route for our position! They are confirmed as Starfleet, but they aren't ours, and they aren't broadcasting as friendlies!=^= The Bajoran was on her feet in an instant calling for red alert and all hands to battle-stations. In one shocked instant, everyone who had heard the communication was already on the move. "Oh God, LoDona to fleet communications!" he bellowed as the ship came to Red Alert. =^=Sir!=^= "Get on the horn and pull the 225th Tactical Wing to the coordinates of the incoming battle group, along with a general battle call to anything else in the area, Move it!" =^=Siryessir!=^= and the line broke off. There were 24 ships in the 225th, which was the only Tactical Wing anywhere near Geneva, simply because they were in for repairs at the shipyard. There were a handful of other ships, maybe, that could join the fight. Everyone was moving around them, officers and crew going to their battle-stations mostly. He broke off from the Captain so he could go to the Office, he wasn't needed to fly the ship, but he had to coordinate the attack with all the other Captains. Besides, he had to figure out just how Doenitz had snuck a battle-group past his sensor nets. He ran into his office just behind a few others of his staff. Strategic Operations, his Marine Divisional Commander, Tactical Command planners, and various other aides. "Get real-time communications up with the 225th and all the stragglers!" he bellowed, "And warn every ship in the fleet, warn em that Doenitz is slipping in ships somehow and to be on their toes!" "Yes Sir!" said one of the underling Stratops personnel. "Sir, the Trident is reporting her warp drive as in-operational, taken down at the yards for repair. It won't be up for at least five hours." "Which is just about the time we make contact," LoDona mused as he came up to the planning table. "Alright, have her fall back." He folded his hands and looked at the map. "Numbers?" "Thirty ships Sir, Various classes, but they tend towards cruiser and battle-cruiser." That wasn't good; not considering that half of the 225th's strength was Destroyer or Frigate. They were smaller ships mostly, part of the exploratory fleet before this mess. They had other ships around though, they would come up about even in fire-power, not the least of which because the Talons herself was en-route, along with the Firebrande and the Night's Watch and some other heavy-hitting ships that were near Geneva or the Shipyards for various reasons. "Alright, let's get a battle-plan together people. We've got slightly over five hours before contact." ~So much for rest.~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stardate: 2406.11.26 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==================================== (Steel Talons - Admiral's Quarter, Admirals War Room - Robert LoDona - 0834) ==================================== Red Alert blinkers were still going off, though Robert had the sound long-since disabled within his quarter. He rubbed his eyes, and as if that was a herald, a moment later the ship stood down to yellow alert. "Sir, we've grabbed the Indifference, her captain just surrendered to our boarding parties." said one of his aides, in as tired a voice as he himself felt. Robert took the PADD proffered him, "Transfer over a prize crew from the..." he looked at another PADD, "The Nighthawk, and escort her under guard with the others." "Yes Sir." came the weary response, and the PADD was taken from him. He sat back in the chair and looked at the room-monitor. Of the original 32 ships that had gone into battle on his side, fourteen had been destroyed. OF the enemy ships, five had been captured, two had managed to escape... the rest had been destroyed or were life-less hulks that -possibly- could be retrieved later. There was still an active boarding party on one, but with the bulk of fighting over, more marine and security teams had been beamed over. CE's had disabled her self-destruct; it was only a matter of time. Six new ships to cover fourteen, whatever Doenitz had done to sneak this battle-group in was effective. They couldn't fight like this for very long. "Sir, we are getting a transmission from the 'Watch, Lee requesting visual communications." The Admiral nodded and turned to his wall-screen. The image that came on was one he had come to know well, the long, carefree face of Rich Lee. Currently however, Lee wouldn't win any prizes for masculine beauty. His face was covered in soot, there was at least one blown out console within LoDona's visual range. He had a small cut over one eye, but it didn't look serious. The Night's Watch was a Keltoi class ship, a born Tactical Battle Cruiser; she had been in the thick of fighting... Stratops Command ship or not. Lee's expression, LoDona noted, as utter stone. =^=Sir, we've just gotten more transmissions from assets inside the Federation. There are two more battle-groups en-route, and at least two fleets are assembling.=^= Robert's own face went to stone as Lee continued, =^=They made it official, Admiral. We're traitors, this is a Civil War. Earth has been placed under martial law and the fleet is being 'purged' of traitors to the cause. They are also launching something interesting; there have been whispers among the echelon about something called 'Operation Mystery Train'. Ill advise you to that when I have more information, its being kept curiously quiet, it might have something to do with out this group snuck in.=^= Fleet Admiral LoDona's eyes closed on their own accord. This is what he had hoped to avoid, now it -was- a civil war, not a quasi-military action. And in the resulting political chaos, Doenitz would be able to achieve total control. Thousands, Millions maybe, would die within the next year. =^=And there is more, Admiral. Three Klingon ships are en-route to our position. One Negh-va, two vor-cha.=^= Robert groaned, "Dare I ask..." =^=Nothing more is known, Sir=^= "Very well," he tapped a button on his desk, "LoDona to Captain Rhia, disengage the cloak, we have visitors coming; Three Klingon ships, ships-of-the-line all." =^=Understood Admiral, Rhia out.=^= "Just when things couldn't get worse," he muttered. "Thank you Captain Lee, Talon's out." He closed the connection and sat back for a brief moment. "Sir," one of his Stratops people said, "The Klingon Vessels are coming into communications range." "Put them on screen." He turned in his chair to a large-size screen hung from the bulkhead. The image of the Klingon Arms appeared on the screen, and then was replaced. =^=Steel Talons, this is IKV Ja'Cho. Ambassador Plak'Ta of Qo'Nos. Requesting permission to beam aboard, once we're close enough.=^= Robert frowned slightly, "Be advised, Ambassador, you are entering a combat area. You are welcome to come aboard, but be aware of your safety." The Klingon waved disdainfully, =^=You've cleaned up this mess, I've no fear for my immediate future. Ill be there in ten minutes, Ja'Cho out.=^= The screen blinked off, leaving the federation Seal on the screen. In that moment, it struck Robert as almost humorous, claiming the Great Federation Seal as his own. The amusement washed away a moment later when a PADD was thrust into his realm of vision. "Sir, updated casualty reports." Robert took them and turned back to the room. "Very well, contact the appropriate people on the ship and make ready for an Ambassadorial visit... here, now." He frowned again, this was no time to be entertaining Ambassadors. The war had just taken a major upscale, he had plans to make. ==================================== (Steel Talons - Transporter Room 2 - Robert LoDona - 0848) ==================================== The image of a Klingon with entourage beaming onto his ship wasn't one of the strangest things he had seen, but considering the circumstances and the timing... he was willing to put it well within the top five. "Ambassador, welcome to the Steel Talons. My apologies for the minimal welcoming committee, we are still on full battle alert." The Klingon, who had both hands on his belt (and close to weapons), nodded. "I am a man of battle, Admiral. I don't need fancy ceremony." He stepped off the PADD with his entourage, "Steel Talons, mmmm, a fine name, it rolls off the tongue and drips strength; even in your watered down Starfleet common tongue. And she did fine; we watched a good portion of the battle to see how you would fare. Our Chancellor is most interested in your little rebellion." In the game of diplomacy, Plak'Ta had pretty much slapped down with the word 'rebellion' that LoDona's fleet was in the wrong. The Federation had a great many treaties with the Klingon Empire; such a distinction could mean the 52nd's death. The Fleet Admiral gestured to the door, "I can assure you we didn't do this for our health," he said as the door opened. "This is our last stand against the true traitor in the fleet." "So your propaganda says, Admiral." The Klingon agreed, "I've been sent to ascertain your part in this, and the validity of the statements you made. As well, there is a certain man in your employ that my Chancellor wishes to speak too." Robert said nothing for a moment, though he finally said; "You've come to decide if your obligations to Starfleet include wiping out a rebel band of ships and their commander." "Very astute, Admiral." It was better then nothing, they hadn't decided to do so out of hand. That, at least, was a start. Plak'Ta further surprised him by saying, "In the mean time, I'm to give you every aid my ships can afford without utterly compromising my safety." His tone indicated how well he intended to follow the last part of that statement, but it was still surprising as hell. Robert looked over, long years keeping the shock from his face. The Klingon almost grinned, "I love long odds, they make glorious songs." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stardate: 2406.11.27 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==================================== (Starbase Geneva - Ambassadorial Section, Ambassadors Quarters - Ambassador Miador Tane - 0900) ==================================== Miador looked out over the railing at some of the new Ambassadors coming in; they were usually a good sight to watch, but not this time. This time, the mood was dark. It was well known by the Ambassadors coming in their Starbase Geneva and the Fleet she supported was in the middle of a Civil War. Tane had debated with a dozen of them at the strengths of their actions, at the inherent honor in which his CO, Admiral LoDona, fought. So far though, so many had chosen to pull representation. He had been called back from the Paladin just to put a stop to this mass defection. It was disappointing. Since he had come aboard he'd had no end of fun, it had been nothing like the high-stress of the Klingon Court, and there were none of the strange ceremonies to be conducted by their Chancellor. Tane hung his head for a moment as he clasped his hands together and leaned on the railing. For all the strange ceremonies and high-visibility at being named Miador Tane of the House of Tane by the Klingon Chancellor himself, he would rather be there now then in the middle of no-where fighting what appeared to be a lost cause. Steps rang behind him, sure and hard. There was a metallic scrape; very few races used metal in their boots. ~I must be psychic, or afflicted with a muse of the perverse.~ He turned to confront the two people who had walked up behind him. One he recognized right off, and Miador nodded his head to the Fleet Admiral of the 52nd. "Admiral LoDona," he said in a polite tone. His attention returned to the second individual, a Klingon. "And I don't think I know you." He said, in the same tone. "Plak'Ta." The Klingon said, just before slapping his closed fist over his breast. "Ambassador to Starbase Geneva and Admiral LoDona, Political Attaché to the 52nd Fleet." Miador's eyebrow quirked slightly, "The Klingons are choosing to recognize us?" he asked, with just a slight bit of surprise. "Not yet," LoDona said in his typical gravely voice. "But you are going to help convince them." Miador blinked. Twice. "The High Chancellor has requested your presence, Miador Tane of the House of Tane, at his side for counseling as to the current actions of the 52nd and your Fleet Commander." The Klingon's voice was gravel, and the look he gave LoDona was nothing less then bloodthirsty. Miador thought about it for a few moments, the conclusion he reached was that Klingons love fights for honor, especially an underdog fighting for honor. Plak'Ta was going to be happy as a Clam in Wine being here, in the middle of a War of Retribution. "I don't have to tell you what this means, Ambassador." The Admiral said quietly. "I don't have to tell you that things are not going well. Doenitz has secured most of Starfleet and his attacks are becoming stronger, soon, there will be no stopping him on Earth. He has already gone public; we are officially in a full Civil War." Miador put his hands behind his back, "I understand." He paused to look at the Klingon again, then back at the Admiral. "When do I leave?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stardate: 2406.12.01 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==================================== (High Chancellery of Qo'Nos - Waiting Chamber - Ambassador Miador Tane - 1200) ==================================== Miador shrugged his shoulders, and then rolled them back. The bat'leth strapped to his back moved itself into a more comfortable position immediately thereafter. The Chancellery, as it always was, was piping hot. The fact he was wearing heavy robes with the symbol of his House didn’t help anything, Klingon robes were nothing if not stifling. It was always a source of amazement to him, the fact that a Federation Trill/Betazoid could be the head of a Klingon House, and that he was bestowed such honors by the Chancellor himself. Once that proclamation had been made, the Klingon Empire had spared no expense in seeing him outfitting with the best, and trained as any Klingon Warrior should be. He had more memories of pain and broken bones from his years on Qo'Nos then any other time in his life. He also had proof that he had been to a great many wild parties, though he couldn’t back that up with memory. He still had some scars of bite marks on his inner thigh though... Such is what happens when one saves the Chancellor and his honor. He put his left hand lightly on the dagger with the symbol of his house, and the representation of his honor, his D'ktang. He wasn’t overly nervous, he had no reason to be, he was only going to petition for the Strength of the Klingons to aid in his Cause, that being the Freedom and Honor of Starfleet and the Federation from a man who had a tight strange-hold. What was there to stress? The doors opened and a Klingon with a staff slammed it hard against the stone floor. "Miador Tane, of the House of Tane, Ambassador of the Federation. Come forward and be heard by the Council." Miador took a breath, this was it. He stepped forward into the darkness of the outer chamber and made his way forward to the Grand Audience Chamber. The Council surrounded the great Throne that the Chancellor used for his seat. The only real lighting in the place was provided by Spotlights in that area. With dignity he stepped forward into the lights, his hand never left his D'ktang and his eyes never left the Chancellor. The Klingon had not changed noticeably in the two years he was gone, and his Empire was still secure. "Ah, Tane." The Chancellor said in his native tongue of Klingon. "It is good to see you among my halls again." Miador, who had spent more then a few years here, answered in as flawless Klingon as his throat could produce. "It is dark tidings that bring me before you, my Brother Chancellor." He said formally. "Deeds most dire have afflicted the Friends you keep, men of no honor seek to supplant the Starfleet and the Federation of which she serves. Even so, there are men that fight such honor-less dogs, and it is such men that I now serve." He turned, slowly, to all the members of the council. "You all know me, my heart is pure and my anger in this, righteous. I request, I DEMAND, The strength of Klingon hearts and blades to join in combat with Admiral LoDona and fight the black scourge that threatens the beauty and strength of the Federation!" It was straight forward, it was strong, and it was what he had come to say. He finished his turn again facing the Chancellor, who wore a smirk of apparent satisfaction in his one-time student. Tane kept his own face neutral; it was the safest course in this. He *was* angry over the corruption of his own government, the abuse of her military forces, but to show to much righteous anger would weaken his own position. It was a paradox of Klingon society; really, one that Tane had taken a long time studying. Before the Chancellor could say a word to his old protégé, another Klingon stepped forward. "I say no!" he bellowed in Klingon, "There is no proof that this Admiral Doenitz has done anything wrong. I name LoDona a coward for pulling back, and fouled in honor for fighting the rightful command of the Starfleet!" Tane stiffened as several Klingons murmured amongst themselves. It had occurred to him on the trip here that Doenitz, as highly placed and influential he was, might have bought off a few Klingons on the council. The likelihood that a Klingon Counselor would actually disagree with his words was possible, but not likely. In either case, there was one good way to test the theory, one that might prove dangerous. He loosened again and with infinite patience tilted his head back, and took a theatrical deep sniff of the air. "I smell... an honor-less lackwit," he finally said after 'tasting' the air. "I smell cowardice, I smell a fool who has been bought off." He tilted his head forward again and quirked his head slightly as he turned to face the speaker. "I smell treachery." The Klingon sneered, "You smell your imagination, I speak for the good of the Empire." "If the good of the Empire is also the good of your personal finances, we might be in agreement. Tell me, lack-wit, how much were you paid?" The sneer turned into a scowl, "You talk to much Traitor Scum, and you are speaking to your better, I am a Klingon... you are but a pretender!" Tane snorted, "A rodent, you mean to call yourself. Mind your tongue before I have it out, you speak to a man who still follows his ideals and his honor, fool." Miador said with a voice that practically dripped disdain, very little of it feigned. "I have proven my metal, you dog, time and time again. I am Miador Tane of the House of TANE! I have placed my House's honor into the greatest fight I could, the defense of my home and ideals! You rule nothing more then a house of Whores!" Tane's hand gripped his knife tightly; his tone hardened and his words shot out in short bursts. "How long has it been since you were bought, what kind of price did your honor have, how much latinum did it take to ignore the stain on your Family's name and go along? Tell me, honorless one, what were you promised?" The mixed-breed smiled evilly, "It was probably to much for the support of such a worthless cur as yourself! I could probably re-buy your honor for fifty credits!" Tane reached into his robes and tosses several credit chips on the floor before the Klingon's feet. "There, you've been paid. Now get out of my sight, you disgust me!" The Chancellor barked amusement and slapped his hand on the chair, but Tane wasn’t paying any attention. Both of his eyes were on the Klingon, who was huffing in anger. The Klingon screamed a battle cry and ripped a bat'leth from his back. Tane ripped his own away half a moment later and used it to block a hit that would have cleanly taken his had off his shoulders had he been a fraction of a second slower. Several other Counselors rushed forward to stop the fight, but unseen by Tane, the Chancellor waved them off. They took their places again as other Klingons grunted support for one or another of the combatants. Miador had kept up with practice, he had known that one day he would be back in the Empire, but he had never been an expert at the weapon, he hadn’t grown up with such things and his Betazoid mother had been a pacifist. He had learned well enough, however, to keep this elderly Klingon at bay for a bit. "My invalid mother fights me better then this!" he bellowed as he shoved away and attack and kicked at the Klingon. "Hell, I get more of a fight out of my pet dog!" "The same dog you're trying to get a litter from, no doubt!" The Klingon bellowed back as he made yet another attack. The Elderly Counselor might have been old, but he definitely had strength, and Tane's arms were hurting after a bare minute of attack. His taunts continued unbroken however, and his Klingon opponent was getting ever angrier. "No worse a littler then what your father produced!" he sneered. It almost ended when Tane slipped on the stones of the floor and the Counselors blade made it past his defenses. Miador bellowed in pain and anger as his left arm flashed in pain, after being sliced nearly to the bone by the razor-edge of the others bat'leth. His eyes flashed and be bellowed his War-cry of "TANE!", the name of his house, and jumped forward to hit the Klingon with a flurry of blows. The older Klingon backed up several steps under the berserker strength of Tane in righteous anger, and after several spark-producing blows, made his first mistake by being a fraction slow in blocking Tane's blade. His first mistake, and his last. Tane buried his blade deep into the chest of the armored warrior, and ducked a half-hearted blow a moment later from the gaping agent of Doenitz. He spit on the Klingon a moment before the Counselor fell to his Knees, and then yanked the blade out with all his strength. The Counselor covered the hole in his chest; his eyes locked on Tane in shock and denial, and then he fell over without ever uttering a word. Miador spun on his heel amidst the turmoil and cheering of the Klingons. Several raised their voices in a Death Knell, to speed the soul of the departed into the Hallowed Halls. The Counselor was simply sitting back laughing, pounding on the arm of his chair, hard enough that the robe of his office slipped off his shoulders. Tane, of the House of Tane, Ambassador of the Federation, held his bat'leth over his head and bellowed. "THIS, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO MY ENEMIES, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THE ENEMIES OF MY PEOPLE. THIS IS WHAT I WOULD HAVE THE KLINGONS DO TO THE ENEMIES OF THE FEDERATION, WHO BY TREATY ARE ALSO THE ENEMIES OF THE EMPIRE!" The Chaos of the room absolutely erupted; battle-cries filled the room and general bellows echoed after them. Tane turned in a circle, letting the blood of his enemy drip onto his robe, as etiquette demanded in a situation such as this. He did so uncaring; his blood was pumping and his anger plain for all to see. After several long moments he turned back to the Chancellor and brought the bat'leth down. He said nothing, he simply stared, defiance written in his face and Death written in his posture. The Klingon Chancellor, a man he could honestly call his friend, the man who had made him head of a Klingon House, stood and brought both of his arms up to silence the Council again. Silence was slow in coming, but it came. The Chancellor took a few moments to look at the expressions written on the faces of his Council, and then looked back at Tane with an evil expression on his face. "I have heard your words, Miador Tane. Let your Words be heard in the Empire, let your House be an example to the Klingon People. Let your anger and outrage join with ours and shake the very foundations of the galaxy!" He brought his arms down and in a louder voice continued, "For to long have we sat behind our safe borders, to long have we watched our Friends in the Starfleet fight their battles on their own. The Klingons stand by their word, and we have pledged to help defend the Federation as they have done with us! I judge that Admiral LoDona has honor and is fighting for the Greater Good, yet he is out-gunned! Let us add our strength to his struggle, let us unite with the brave and join their desperate and Glorious mission. Great battles awaits us, my people; let us not linger for Doenitz to strengthen his position. Let the very Gods tremble in fear before our united cause..." "LET US ARM FOR WAR!" The Council went absolutely mad; several rushed off to communications panels and to other parts of the Governmental building to give orders as the Chancellor stepped down from his podium to join the bleeding Ambassador. "You have done well, my former student." He said as he took hold of Tane's good arm and directed him to walk with him. "Let us go, Brother, and plan our glorious victories! Together we will purge your Federation of its twice-d*mned Traitors." And so, side by side; the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire and the Federation Ambassador left the Grand Audience chamber; while Ceremonial Drummers beat the mythic and savage Klingon Drums of War in a furious tattoo that echoed from the Great Tower and was sent via PA systems to every corner of the Capital City... and the Empire.