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Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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Hi'Jak had become a bit of a lap dog of sorts, every time someone got a job he was pretty much dispatched since he was currently working on Aldea representing the KDF, and he had the most knowledge of the Theurgy crew it seemed like he was constantly being assigned to work with them. Even so this job felt a little different from the usual labor he had been put too. It was a lot less 'roll this rock up a hill' and more of a 'hey shit is actually going wrong and your the most expendable person we have around.'

Chu'vok had not used either of those words, but the general had asked him to look into why a subspace relay had started to give off a red alert, and do so quietly. He had plenty of experience abusing subspace communications technology, so for once be it scientist pretending to be a spy, or spy pretending to be a scientist he actually felt qualified for this job. Add to that he had requested a pilot from the Theurgy and they had actually agreed to his request.

that had to mean his luck was changing right? that this was a sign of good fortune that he could carry forward with his head held high. Part of him had really hoped that he would get to work with Jaya, but instead he got a romulan Pilot Lillee.

"We're close to the location of the beacon, I'll let you in on the details we know so far."
Jack said leaning back.

"Approximately 24 hundred yesterday a subspace relay belonging to the empire started to give off a red alert distress call. This station, Phaldos is about as large as the earth's first international space station, no artificial gravity but it does support oxygen inside of it's interior." He brought up what he could of the interior design. It was small cramped, and narrow. "We don't know the full extent of the damage, so we will have to dock manually with the relay."


"Best case scenario, it's a false trigger, worst case scenario."
He held up his false arm. "this is what happened the last time I was aboard an old Klingon relic."

"Lastly due to the thin walls, no energy weapons, we don't want to punch a hole in the side of the station and get exposed to the vacuum of space."



Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #1
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @masorin

Sat at the helm of the shuttlecraft, Lillee tried not to react as the Klingon moved up near her, but she still couldn't help her lip curling in instinctive distaste. Unfortunately, however, she could hardly ignore him. Her own orders had been clear: fly the shuttle, do as Klingon said and treat him with respect. The man had apparently been a Starfleet officer once, so Lillee hoped fervently that she could do the first two. As for the third...well, she was an experienced solider and combat pilot. She could manage a modicum of professional respect for a few hours.

Probably.

With the shuttle comfortably moving along at Warp 4, Lillee turned her seat around to regard Hi'Jak. The briefing was curt and surprisingly well spoken, but at the mention of his last experience boarding a subspace relay, Lillee frowned at the prosthetic arm. She had noticed it earlier, of course, but if he'd suffered that injury on a similar mission, it didn't bode well.

Lovely. Well, at least the beast doesn't smell like most Klingons. Perhaps this one has discovered bathing?

Shaking away the errant thought, Lillee focused. "You are not seriously expecting hostile activity, are you?" she asked skeptically. "I have not heard many reports of pirates and scavengers near Aldea. Even if there were, what would they want with a subspace relay station? They are almost worthless." She paused as her console beeped, and she turned in her seat. "We have the relay station on sensors. There don't appear to be any other ships, but this shuttlecraft's sensors are limited at this range. We won't know for certain until we drop out of warp."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #2
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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The Romulan asked him if he anticapted any hostile activity Jack pulled forward his D'k Tahg the klingon hunting knife, looking it over for a moment checking that it was cared for, oiled and sharp. Once they were in the cramped space of the relay it would be one of the few actually dependable weapons they would have access too. "Yes."

"Or rather it is more to say, that it would be foolish not to expect hostile activity. We are going into an active red alert. We can't assume any form of safety. That's how you loose an arm and an eye."
Jack smiled a bit trying to lighten the mood with a bad joke, but it was true that he didn't want to feel easy this time around. He had slacked off before, and it had cost him deeply now he was trying to claw his way into a better life and honestly it was a harsh climb.

"As for relay's like this being worthless, you do know what these things do right?" He pointed out at the sensors they were using to read the area around them. "It's this, these relay stations are giant sensors, every day these stations carry thousands of terabytes of information and messages between every world in the empire, and they don't just transfer it, every message and piece of information is copied onto it's massive internal hard drives. These relay's carry every single message they have sent out or recieved for about a month, and then those are transmitted out to listening posts that intelegence officers are stationed at for recording. They keep copies of every ship that has passed them, every minor disturbance, every subspace anomaly, most of which are caused by cloaked ships in the area."

"This relay likely has everything from the first messages that the Theurgy transmitted to Aldea when it first arrived, to the manifest of every cargo ship that has passed through here in the last 3 weeks. You could use that information to plot everything from an assassination on a world leader to leak the location of a particular ship to a task force that will stop at nothing to find it." Jack hoped he was getting his point across without being patronizing, but he wanted to stress how important these relays actually were. "Information technology is the single most important advantage we have in a war, and Imperial Intelligence has been working round the clock to make sure no one knows that the Theurgy is here, If someone or something is accessing these relays and gets their hands on that information everything we work for could very easily be undone." He was a bit suprised that a romulan underestimated the value of subspace communications technology, but he also didn't want to stereotype his pilot to her face.

"Now take us out of warp, and lets hope there isn't a cloaked bird of prey ready to blow us to bits."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #3
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @masorin

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At the Klingon's extensive explanation, Lillee's crenelated forehead furrowed. Oh, the Klingon was most certainly being patronising, even if the short briefing was both necessary and relevant. She bristled in irritation until he gave the order to decelerate.

"Dropping to impulse," she announced as she spun her chair back forward, working the controls, and the shuttle dropped out of warp. Out of the viewport, the whizzing stars were replaced by star-speckled blackness, with a clunky structure in the distance. "No ships in sight yet. We appear to be alone, unless the saboteurs are cloaked. Moving to dock with the relay station."

Then, quite unable to resist a jibe as she flew the shuttle in to dock, , she added, "It is curious that Klingon relay stations are so primitive. Romulan and Federation relays are much more sophisticated and have ways of protecting their data from intruders. Perhaps once we are done here, you can petition Captain Ives to replace this station with a new relay, one without such inferior technology?"

Lillee regretted her taunt as soon as she said it, but she could hardly pull the words back from thin air. "No apparent damage to the station," she said, hoping to gloss things over. "No lifesigns readings either, although it wouldn't take much to camouflage against this shuttle's sensors. The automated docking system is responding and is bringing us in."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #4
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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"Oh hell yeah, Klingon infrastructure basically hasn't changed since the days of the one hundred years war, for proof of that just look at the Bird Of Prey and how it's constantly getting refitted." Hi'Jak knew for a fact that she was trying to get under his skin when it came to the talk about technology, but he had to agree, and in fact he did so readily putting down the infostructure that they were coming here to protect. "If I have learned anything from spying on the Federation it's that the Empire is in desperate need of infrastructural and agricultural reform. Heck even when I sent them plans for a brand new warp core taken from drydock plans, does anyone listen to me? The empire chooses numbers over scientific progress mass production over firewall protection, makes my job a lot harder I tell you that."

"If there is a cloaked ship they will probably wait till we have boarded the relay station to attack, blowing it up and taking our shuttle with it since it's a larger and slower target." Jack shrugged having voiced the morbid thought after the pilot had already started the docking process. He shrugged after a tense moment of silence followed his words.  "It's what I would do."

Still the fact that there was no exterior damage made him relax a little, even if he was terrified of the possibility of an enemy encounter he had to admit that not finding anything wrong immediately was both elating and also terrifying because it would make whatever was on the station tat much more terrifying. He got out of his seat and went to the back of the shuttle waiting for the door to open, once the place was online the lights of the relay station slowly turned on, and immidately Jack had a sinking feeling about this mission.

The moment his feet left the shuttle he started to float freely with no artifical gravity survaying the insides of the relay station where there was thankfully air for him to breath, it just smelled awful. "It stinks in here, the air is cleared no form of pathogen but it smells like..."

He reached the second room of the station, where a body greeted him, one that had been mummified in the sterile environment. It's flesh was so dried up that he couldn't immediately tell what race it was, turn it around however he recognized that it wasn't klingon, nor was it human. It's ears, and the dried green blood gave away it's origin point. If he had to guess, the thing had once been Romulan like his pilot. "A tomb."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #5
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @masorin

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Well, it was hardly any fun if the Klingon agreed with her taunt. Lillee huffed privately as she followed the man into the relay station. her hand on her phaser. Weren't the Klingons supposed to be all prideful morons? Who gave this one permission to break the rules?

Of course, Lillee's private ruminations was all just a way of avoiding the deep apprehension in her stomach, but all levity vanished as they came upon the desiccated corpse. The stench was so rancid that Lillee gagged, turning away and covering her mouth. It took her a good few seconds to find the stomach to look back, but even then, she very nearly threw up, a thoroughly unpleasant thing to do in zero-G.

"Definitely...urgh...Romulan," she got out, trying very hard not to breathe. "Scavenger or...oh by all the Elements, that is revolting!" Not keen to stay, she drew her phaser and pushed off a bulkhead to glide on into the next room, a decision borne less out of bravery and more out of a desire to keep her stomach contents where they belonged. Confirming that the room was clear, she took a hesitant breath and was grateful that the stench didn't reach far.

Of course, the new room was little better. It was dark, claustrophobic and dirty; when Lillee came to a stop by grabbing a bulkhead, she winced at the grime that stuck to her hand. A small display was perched atop a piece of equipment on one side of the room, and Lillee gave it only a cursory glance. "Auxiliary life support control, not what we're looking for." She glanced back at her companion. "What could have killed that Romulan? A disruptor would have inflicted more damage than that."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #6
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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"Beats me, I'm not a medical doctor, my doctorate was in agricultural studies," He did however check the body for any wounds or marks, finding a few things, but as far as he could tell the injuries were probably internal. If he had to guess the guy was probably left here by scavengers or his crew, pushed into a metal tube enough air to breath but no food or water. "I think it's one of the pirates." He said with a nod after checking for any identifying uniform and coming up blank.

"I've heard of this before, it's a form of capital punishment. You throw a guy you disagree with into one of these and let them starve to death no external communications or anyway to be found I imagine that there are probably a few of these relays that have bodies in them." He moved further into the relay passing under her due to how cramped this place was he did for a moment brush up against her but kept the contact completely professional a hand on her shoulder as he pushed past her.

He started to check the consoles, and download the information they had came for. "Still that wouldn't have triggered a red alert, leaving some guy to die inside one of these is cruel and unusual but it wouldn't have triggered an alert." After all it was a capital punishment, and one once employed by the empire.

As he was downloading files he noticed a red blinking light, attached to a small black box. Hi'Jak didn't know too much about incendiary devices, but he knew a bomb when he saw one. A countdown, he had started when he had accessed the console began. "We need to leave now."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #7
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @masorin

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"What?" Lillee asked, confused. She glanced around her companion to see the inconspicuous black box attached the side of the console...and the steadily changing characters on its red digital display. Lillee was far from knowledgeable when it came to alien languages, but like most children, she'd learned basic alien numerals at school, from human to Cardassian to Klingon. Her eyes widened at the realisation that the numbers were flicking downward, and they were in double digits.

"Fvadt!" she swore loudly, launching herself back through the doorway and sprinting full tilt past the corpse. Rushing into the shuttle, she jumped into the pilot's chair, her hands immediately rushing to the controls.

"Hang on!" she shouted, not even bothering to check that Hi'Jak was with her as the shuttle detatched from the station. "Raise-"

And then an almighty bang hit the shuttle, sending both occupants flying.  Lillee was dazed for a moment, her ears ringing painfully as she lay on the deck, blinking dumbly.  "Ow," she said simply. The sheer idiocy of that snapped her to some semblance of rational thought, and she gingerly sat up, wincing at a sudden sharp pain from her left shoulder. The entire arm felt strangely numb. She preferred not to think too hard on why.

Another small problem: there was a hole in the shuttle. Nearly half a meter in diameter, Lillee looked through the hull breach directly out in space, she and Hi'Jak protected only by a flickering blue forcefield. The stars were a blur as the shuttle spun wildly out of control, and Lillee looked away at a sudden feeling of vertigo.

"Urgh," Lillee grunted as she awkwardly levered herself up onto the pilot's chair. She glanced back at Hi'Jak, realising that he was probably injured too, but she had no compassion to share. Besides, didn't all Klingons abstain from any external aid along with bathing? With one arm, Lillee worked the controls in front of her, blinking at a sudden wetness in one eye. A head wound. Wonderful. The green blood would look horrible in her hair.

"Warp drive is offline," she reported out of sheer habit. "Impulse engine is barely functional, weapons are offline, structural integrity...fvadt, it won't last more than a few minutes. This Aldean trash can doesn't have a transporter either. We need to land somewhere, somewhere where we can breathe." She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, focusing on the problem. "I can...I can put us down on just thrusters with a good glide trajectory. The shields weren't damaged in the blast, I think, they can handle atmospheric friction. Klin...ah, Hi'Jak, are there any class-M worlds in this system? Anywhere with a depot or an outpost? Anything we can use to make repairs? I know that this system is uninhabited, but there must be something we can use, yes?"

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #8
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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Jack had made it aboard the shuttle in the nick of time, the Romulan pilot closing the airlock and literally pushing him unto the deck. He'd been fine at that point, if a bit winded, his pulse beating in his ears, but when the explosion came, he'd been propelled into the bulkhead, smashing his shoulder and cutting his jaw on the edge of a console at the front of the Aldean shuttle. He wasn't even sure if he'd been cursing in Klingon or Federation Standard by the time the Petty Officer started to run through their options.

"Unless you can reroute power to the warp engines on this thing, we'll have to settle for Phaldos, but this dwarf planet below us has no atmo, and we'll have to get a distress call out immediately. We'll have to conserve all remaining power to keep life support online while we wait. Just try to get her down safe and sound first, and we'll think of something..."

Raking his mind for further options, Jack crawled over to a seat and began working on that distress call. He had the subspace frequencies to reach the shipyards and his handler - whom would never let him hear the end of this embarrassment - but communications were offline. "Damn it... I need to get this working, try to keep her as steady as possible while we go down! "

He was a spy, not a bloody engineer, but he knew his way around comm systems well enough. Preferably Klingon ones, though, or Federation. But this was an Aldean shuttle, and he really didn't have time to figure out what was what in the middle of an emergency landing. He had no room for thought about why there had been a bomb on the relay, much less whom might have placed it there. It made little sense, there being a pirate body left behind on it. Was it a punishment... or a message? For whom? With the relay gone, several comm feeds on Aldea Prime must have just gone dark too. Was that the ultimate purpose? Could it even be first step for an attack on the Aldeans?

Mind running rampant with possibilities, Jack bared his teeth and pushed it all away for the sake of deciphering the stuff behind the panel of the shuttle's console. "What's our status?" he called over the din inside the shuttle as the damage sent sparks flying over them. The fire suppression systems weren't online either, and they were bathed in the flare of leaking plasma in the aft compartments of the shuttle as well. "I think I know how to get the distress call out... I just need another minute..."

If they had that much. Jack sure hoped the Theurgy had sent him a good pilot...

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #9
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean Shuttlecraft] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

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Amidst the screaming of alarms, Lillee concentrated on the controls as the Klingon answered her question. A dwarf planet wasn't ideal, but it was something. Even without atmosphere, it meant that they could land, shut down some systems and have some gravity to work with, not to mention have a place to hide if the pirates returned. The alarms quickly grew grating, and Lillee hissed in irritation as she navigated the unfamiliar Aldean control panel before finding the control sequence to squelch them. The idea that only an unstable forcefield sealed the hull breach chilled Lillee's blood, and she tried not to look at it.

"Phaldos, then," she said through gritted teeth, her working right arm flying over the controls. A loud ping shrilled as debris bounced off the hull, and Lillee looked up in alarm before refocusing on her controls. Phaldos wasn't far away, the now-destroyed relay having been using it as a gravitational anchor, but damaged as the shuttle was, even a few hundred thousand kilometers could be too much. Nevertheless, Lillee carefully corrected their roll with thrusters and gingerly brought the impulse engines up to minimum thrust for a hard burn to Phaldos.

The shuttle's damaged engines whined in distress but the shuttle accelerated nevertheless, and Lillee focused on keeping them steady. Hi'Jak said something about repairs, but she ignored him as irrelevant, rolling her left shoulder experimentally then gasping at the lance of pain that resulted. Her eyes watering, she just let the numb arm hang. It wasn't long before the 'dwarf' planet began to grow very large in the viewport.

"What's our status?" The Klingon's loud query broke through to Lillee, and she glanced at him. The Klingon looked like a mess, bloodied and sooty as sparks fizzled on him. Lillee glanced back, saw the smoke slowly starting to fill the cabin behind them, and cursed in Rihannsu.

"The impulse reaction chamber is cracked," she reported. Her hand blurred over the controls, frantically trying to do several things at once. "Ignore the plasma fire, it won't kill us for a few minutes. I've got a landing site...hang on!" The damaged impulse engines whined painfully, but nevertheless the shuttle slowed drastically, the grey dwarf planet now filling the entire viewport as they raced towards it.

"I think I know how to get the distress call out... I just need another minute..."

"Then do it quick, we're landing soon!" Lillee hissed, her hand moving even faster as the impulse engine whined even louder, further feeding the growing plasma fire behind them. Grey rock zipped down the viewport at dizzying speed, far too fast to land, but then Lillee did something desperate.

The impulse engine, already stressed, now screamed in raw agony, but the shuttle slowed dramatically. Aiming for a small cliff, Lillee flipped the shuttle around, and flying backward, the shuttle decelerated yet further, steadily growing lower, until they finally made contact with the ground, jolting both Lillee and Hi'Jak in their chairs. The shuttle skidded roughly for a few moments before coming to a sharp stop, jolting both its wounded occupants even more, Lillee's numb arm smacking the console.

"AIEEEEEE!" she gasped in pain, buckling over in her chair at the jolt of agony. Shuddering, she reached back to the controls with her working arm. "Shutting down impulse engines...aiiiiiieeee...and non...non-essential systems...redirecting everything to structural integrity and life support." Panting and sweating profusely, painfully aware of the green blood on her brow, she looked to Hi'Jak. "How...are you okay?"

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #10
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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The shuttle was going down, and a quick glance out the viewport confirmed it as Phaldos' surface began to fill the whole screen.

Clearly not a verification Jack needed, just as he was about to bypass the damage done to the Aldean shuttle just to get a smidgen of power into the subspace comm system. While clearly hurt, the Romulan at the helm seemed to keep her wits about her, and was taking them down as safely as she could given the poor circumstances. This, if anything, helped Jack to focus on his own task - knowing that he wouldn't have to bypass navigation to his own console as well. Eventually, as they were near the end of the descent to Phaldos' surface, Jack got verification that he had comm access. Knowing the subspace frequencies he needed, he tapped them into the Aldean interface and made the broadcast. There was no need to say anything for that part, the automated signal wordless and clear by Klingon coding. Given the state of the shuttle, however, he would have to direct himself to anyone else who might hear them as well.

"Aldean shuttle X-9 52 to anyone listening, vessel in distress. I repeat, vessel in distress. To any and all travellers passing within range of the planet Phaldos, I send you an urgent appeal for help. My pilot and I are attempting an emergency landing, and we have minimal life support. If we have enough power, an emergency beacon will help you find us. Current trajectory towards Phaldos... is two-five-zero mark six. Estimated to land somewhere in the northern hemisphere. This is Aldean shuttle X-9 52, we need help now!"

After setting the message to repeat, he turned in time to see the Romulan swivel the shuttle about mid-decent, and Jack lost his balance since the inertial dampeners were out. He fell off his chair as t'Jellaieu came about, and when they touched down, he momentarily lifted off the deck plating, only to slam right down again. Discombobulated, he looked around for the expected second or third hull breach, but miraculously enough, it seemed they'd made it down somewhat safely. Through his headache and the pain lacing his cut jaw, he heard the Petty Officer from the Theurgy announce that she was shutting down systems they didn't need. He almost missed her query about his well-being.

"I'll live," he said sourly since the nasty cut in his jaw forced him to talk through his teeth. "You?"

Even before hearing the reply, he'd gone for the manual fire suppressant system on the Aldean shuttle, the cylinder reminiscent of Starfleet fabrication and essentially having the same contents, he guessed. He went to the aft compartment and began to spray the fire that lingered after the impulse engine was shut down, irritably quenching the flames before putting the thing aside so that he might find a first-aid kit of some sort.

"Need help cutting off the cloth around your shoulder?" he asked, going to the woman and pulling his simple d'k tahg, ready to assist if she so needed. While the woman was more than just fetching, Jack had yet to get any notions in relation to the exposure of her skin - the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #11
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean Shuttlecraft] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

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"I'll live," he said sourly since the nasty cut in his jaw forced him to talk through his teeth. "You?"

"Nothing that shall kill me," Lillee answered, matching his sourness with her own. She watched Hi'Jak  extinguish the plasma fire, but she didn't move to help him, aching awfully from head to toe in the aftermath of their rough landing. As he worked, she tapped more slowly at the controls, carefully adjusting small things here and there, taking her time now that they were safely landed.

Of course, "safe" was relative. The hole in the side of the shuttle was still glaring, the forcefield flickering steadily. Unable to help herself, Lillee looked out through the breach at the desolate landscape beyond.  The grey desolation was, despite its ubiquity, oddly captivating. A mountain range was visible in the distance, the sharp peaks looming atop the horizon, illuminated by distant sunlight. It was, strangely enough, beautiful in its own way.

She then turned her chair around and directed her gaze to her Klingon companion as he finished extinguishing the fire.

"Need help cutting off the cloth around your shoulder?"

Lillee nodded reluctantly, but when Hi'Jak drew his d'k'tahg, she recoiled instinctively. It took a moment before Lillee unbent with serious effort.  His offer was perfectly reasonable, and the man had been remarkably pleasant so far, despite her expectations.

"Apologies, Hi'Jak," she said softly, turning slightly to proffer her useless left arm. "My father taught me to beware Klingons bearing blades." Letting him work, she added drily, "Do all your missions involve such drama? Bombs, shuttle crashes, vengeful pirates?"

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #12
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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"Sound advise, I suppose," said Jack in comment to what the Petty Officer's father had said to her, and he couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. More over the situation, of course, than the actual advise itself. She'd proffered her shoulder to him, so he took a deep breath with his three lungs to still the adrenaline coursing through his veins, just so that he might keep his hands steady. The both of them having survived the emergency landing, it would be a bloody irony if he'd end up cutting her whilst treating her injury.

"Do all your missions involve such drama? Bombs, shuttle crashes, vengeful pirates?"

It did sound like the merry life of an interstellar spy. Like some trite holonovel story. If only...

"I might be in Imperial Intelligence," he commented as he bared the top of her chest on the side where she was hurt, as well as the forearm - his dagger slicking the cloth open. The shoulder had taken the blunt of the trauma, as much was evident in the dimmed lights of the powered-down shuttle. Tilting his head, he kept his eyes away from the bared skin, for even if it drew is gaze, he knew when it wasn't the time to sate famished eyes. "But so far, I'd say my life has been filled with failure and guilt. The duties of a spy doesn't become me. I did far better as a scientist, though, only the Infested suppressed my accomplishments. I learned this on the Versant, after the Savi made me fully Human."

The Aldean medkit was a tad perplexing, but he thought he knew a dermal regenerator when he saw one. Frowning, he carefully pushed the skin together with his free hand. "Pardon, I'll make this quick..." he said quietly, and applied the light from the medical instrument to the area, seeing it closing slowly. "How about you? If you're from the Theurgy, I bet you've seen your share of drama as well. That ship just can't catch a break."

Right then, he missed Starbase 84, and the simple life he'd led. He missed Lieutenant Dotnihl, despite her loathing of him... though reports on the Theurgy had her die in the base's reactor core. Perhaps he just couldn't catch a break either?

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #13
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean Shuttlecraft] Attn: @masorin

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Permitting a Klingon to treat her was deeply unsettling, but Lillee quenched her instinct to flee. There was nowhere to go, in any event, and as Hi'Jak worked, she felt the sharp stabbing pain of her arm fade into a dull ache. It was no substitute for attention from a real medic but it helped considerably, and Lillee couldn't help but sigh in relief as the Klingon finished.

"This ship certainly cannot catch a break," she replied laconically. Glancing at the shuttle readouts once more, she made an attempt to cover her bare shoulder with her cut uniform before realising that it was futile. Instead, with a scowl, she used her good arm to rip the uniform sleeve off entirely, along with the undershirt sleeve. It just about maintained her dignity with the remaining cloth covering her torso, but nevertheless Lillee felt illogically exposed with her shoulder the side of her neck bare to the air.

Glancing at Hi'Jak, she scowled once more, noting the still bleeding cut to his jaw. "Kneel," she commanded firmly, taking the medkit out of his hands. Pulling out the medical tricorder, she scanned him at length. "I am no medic, but you appear to have damage to your lungs from the fire," she said. "Nothing lethal in the short term, so long as your distress call got out. The cut to your jaw is easy enough to fix, I believe."

Folding up the tricorder, she swapped it for a dermal regenerator, moving to apply it to Hi'Jak's jaw. "The Theurgy is a cursed vessel, it is true. I was in cryostasis for the past several months before we reached the nebula, but the ship has survived unfathomable things, nightmarish things. Even in the nebula, I fought Asurians, Klingons and Borg all in the span of a few days. Others fought Savi and Starfleet. It was only two weeks ago that I flew a Valkyrie through a Borg cube with a drone hanging on my hull, trying to punch his way in."

Lillee shuddered at the memory. As was often the case with battle, it was more terrifying after the fact than during the actual event, and the thought of the drone's dispassionate face as it battered upon on her cockpit had been the subject of more than one mightmare since. Not that she would ever admit such to anyone, least of all a Klingon spy.

"Your shoulder aches too, yes?" she asked, accidentally meeting the Klingon's eyes and realising how close the man was to her personal space. It made her hand twitch down towards the phaser on her hip, but Lillee resisted the impulse. "I can alleviate the pain, but you would need to take off your shirt so I can inject your shoulder directly." Her discomfort increasing, Lillee fixed the Klingon with a glare. "And if you should happen to get any ideas about our situation, I shall take your knife, cut off your little warrior and stuff it down your throat. Just so that we are clear, Klingon."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #14
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | En route to Phaldos Klingon Subspace Relay] Attn: @Griff
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As she told him to kneel, he got on his knees he didn't really have a complaint when it came to a firm hand of a woman, but those thoughts were best left away from the current situation. Instead he was trying to assess the situation with how badly the two of them were harmed, and as he felt his jaw numb and the pain stop in that regard he nodded slowly listening to her story. The battle with the klingons was unfortunate, and completely his fault.

Good intentions which ended up harming many people, names he would have to work on remembering, all because he thought he knew better, and acted out of his own mistrust and issues. "In the time that I've met theurgy, I've had an arm eaten, an eye melted, my body ripped apart on a genetic level, and that was all one day. The next day I woke up and had to fight my way through an entire lab of aliens." He let out a sigh as he stretched himself out for a moment.

He wasn't sure what it was about this woman, she always seemed on edge, like she was ready to shoot him, but the moment she threatened his dick Jack couldn't help but laugh for a moment. Not because he didn't believe her, if anything she sold the fact that she would do it if he gave her literally any reason to do so, but it was just... such a bizarre situation to begin with. "Sorry, I believe you really I do, and I don't want to cause trouble. It was more that you caught me off guard with that." He did however back up a touch, and clearly gave her a bit more room to do whatever she needed. "Besides, as far as I know, I think I have a girlfriend... or at least I'm trying too, never really been in a commited relationship before so it's all new ground."

Jack worked to pull off his shirt. in doing so he showed off his body. Jack was at least in shape, as he had kept up with physical training during his time on starbase 84, he even had a punching bag in his office to practice boxing with. So his upper body had remained toned despite him being a shut in nerd most of his life. His arm was however another story, the flesh part of his arm ended just above where his elbow should have been, replaced with a mechanical limb that was smooth and dark, clearly of Federation make, the theurgy's last real gift to him aside from putting him back together. The klingons he served with often considered the arm a point of shame, that he should have embraced the loss of the limb and work only with his spare. To a warrior the use of such a prosthetic was a point of shame, as was the replacement eye Jack had installed rather than simply choosing an eye patch.

His chest was smooth however, his ribs were displayed proudly as he breathed in, but Jack had apparently taken to waxing his chest at some point. which at least kept his body clean as his shoulder had been badly bruised as he had been smacked about, it hurt a lot but he wasn't going to complain about twists and bashes to his remaining human limb, he knew from experience it could have been much much worse.


Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #15
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean Shuttlecraft | Surface of desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @masorin

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Working slowly on the Klingon's injuries, Lillee huffed in bemusement. "This is a strange time for romance,"she commented wryly. "Warships are poor settings for date night, no? Unless your idea of romance is beheading people together with your bath...batílet...whatever you call it." She carefully injected Hi'Jak's shoulder with the hypospray before replacing it with the tricorder, scanning him again. "That is all I can do. I do not think you shall die in the next hour, but I barely understand these tricorder readings."

Packing the medkit up and closing it, Lillee got up out of her chair, glancing out the sizeable hull breach. The forcefield was flickering steadily but the shuttle was still uncomfortably warm, suggesting that the forcefield was holding well enough. Out of simple boredom Lillee moved to the back of the shuttle to look over the engines, but it was clearly a burnt out wreck. The panels that normally concealed the circuity and engines had ripped, buckled and burned, exposing the hardware underneath. It was obvious even at a glance: the combination of plasma fire, fire extinguisher and the concussive impacts of the rough landing had thoroughly ruined both the shuttle's small warp core and impulse reactor.

"Aldean rubbish," Lillee cursed under her breath as she examined the damage. "This is impossible to repair. The emergency batteries will keep us alive for a few hours, though. That should be enough time for the Klingons to come and rescue us, or one of the Theurgy's vectors." At that, befuddled by the lack of anything else to do, Lillee turned around and sat on the deck, sighing. She flexed her bare injured arm and winced; the skin was already starting to turn an unhealthy green. Flicking her blonde hair back behind her ears, she looked at Hi'Jak. "You said you were a scientist, yes? What sort of science do you do? I was unaware that Klingons even have scientists."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #16
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldean shuttle craft | Surface of desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @Griff
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Oddly the news that the two of them would be alive for a few more hours trapped in the metal husk of the shuttle was reassuring. It gave plenty of time for a patrol to come along and help them. he rotated his shoulder feeling the muscles loosen and his entire body seemed less in pain. He got up to his feet using his metal arm to help him move about as he took a seat near the shuttles sensors he wanted to know when help would arrive soon enough.

She asked him what type of scientist he was and he chuckled for a moment thinking about how to explain his former job within the Federation. "In Klingon the word for scientist better translates as 'builder of better weapon' but I got all of my doctorates from Starfleet."

He sighed for a moment thinking about it for a long moment. "My main degree was in temporal mechanics, but my research was blocked constantly. I was the assistant chief of the science department for starbase 84, my boss ignored his work, and my own so almost nothing of note got published in my job for the duration of that assignment. My secondary degree was a mix of xenobiology and archeology, my thesis paper was about the use of animal labor in post warp civilizations. I imagine that sounds... really boring."

"The truth is, I kinda wasted my life I was more a professional procrastinator. There was a time when I tried, genuinely wanted to be helpful, but the first academy rejected my attempt to become a warrior, and my superiors in Starfleet constantly blocked or ignored my work. So eventually I just stopped doing my job." He sighed for a moment as he looked at the far wall for a moment thinking about his life, before there was a beep at the sensors. He glanced at it for a moment, he thought it was a bird of prey decloaking but paled a little.

The tacheon burst was a romulan pattern. "We have company, ship decloaking but it's romulan, the patterns don't match a klingon cloak." What was a romulan ship doing out in Klingon space? He blinked for a few secodns, Tal Shiar? It was the only thing that made sense they had a limited presence.

Getting to his feet he started to look for weapons, but caught sight of Lillee's clothing for a moment. "Take off your clothes." He paused knowing how that sounded before further explaining. "You're wearing a Federation uniform, if they see it, we could end up exposing the theurgy's location, you need to ditch your clothes and burn them quickly."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #17
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Aldean Shuttlecraft | Surface of desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @masorin

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Temporal mechanics? The use of animal labour? The subjects were so esoteric that Lillee half wondered if the Klingon was lying, but she quashed the thought. He was surely telling the truth, even if that truth was bizarre; the Klingon had no reason to lie. Resting her back against the warm aft bulkhead, she sighed. Of all the beings to be stuck in a crashed shuttle with...

The insistent beeping from the forward consoles was odd, but welcome. "That was remarkably fast," she mused, not bothering to get up. "They must have left Aldea at high warp to get here so quickly." Then Hi'Jak reported what he saw, and Lillee shot to her feet, rushing to the console herself. "Fvadt! That is a Romulan frigate! It is an old design, they were all decommissioned years ago..." Then Lillee swore again, her left hand clenched into a fist. "Pirates!"

"Take off your clothes." Hi'Jak said, and Lillee did a double take, not certain she'd heard correctly. "You're wearing a Federation uniform, if they see it, we could end up exposing the Theurgy's location, you need to ditch your clothes and burn them quickly."

"What!?" Lillee hissed furiously, glaring at Hi'Jak as if she wanted to tear him in half, but common sense won out. She looked around the small cabin in desperation, but there was nothing in sight and no time to search. "Fvadt!" she cried out in frustration before ripping her uniform off as quickly she could. "Urru Areinnye bi'wort. fvadt fvadt fvadt, dha'rudh klivam, faelirh ih'wort nnea mogain...there!"

With that, Lillee was reduced to being barefoot with a simple black bra and underwear, leaving her toned body far too exposed for her liking. Wincing at her protesting arm, she rushed to strap her belt back around her waist, tightening the belt to its maximum extent to fit. Not wasting time, she drew her phaser, adjusted the setting and fired it at the pile of clothing on the deck, vaporising the lot.

That done, Lillee spun back around to glare at Hi'Jak. "Not a word," she hissed furiously. "Not a word!"

It was just as well that Hi'Jak never had the chance to respond as the green fizzle of a transporter beam took hold of them. Moments later, both Lillee and Hi'Jak rematerialised on what could only be the bridge of the frigate. The instant they appeared, laughter rang out around them from the various Romulans manning the consoles and the tall woman in the center chair. Outraged and humiliated, Lillee's hand dove for her phaser before a strong hand caught her wrist from behind.

"None of that, now," the Romulan captain said, plainly amused. A half dozen disruptors were aimed squarely at Lillee and Hi'Jak the moment they appeared, and Lillee reluctantly forced herself to let go of her phaser, although angry and humiliated as she was, it took immense effort. The laughter died down, a couple of the Romulans leering openly at Lillee while the others just watched and waited..

Now, with time to observe, Lillee suppressed the urge to swear again. There was no question or shadow of a doubt: these were pirates. All were Romulan, but they were a far cry from soldiers of the Star Empire. None of them wore what could even remotely be called a uniform. One man was completely shirtless, plainly to show off his impressive musculature, while the brunette woman next to him wore a loose red shirt adorned with a dozen Klingon crests and a couple of Starfleet combadges. Another man standing behind the captain's chair exuded cool arrogance, with long blonde hair much like Lillee's and an open shirt that also showed off his impressive torso. He smirked, holstering his disruptor as his comrades disarmed Lillee and Hi'Jak.

The captain herself, though, was the centerpiece. Her hair was a bright shocking red, cut short and clearly well taken off, much like her clothes. The black halter top verged on gaudy, with golden braid inlaid throughout the fabric, sticking close to and supporting the captain's impressively large breasts. Her stomach was bare and equally well-muscled, unadorned save for the tattoo of a green flower and a bright red jewel in her stomach. The short leather jacket was at least a nod to modesty, useless though it might be for that purpose while open.

Though she looked like a stripper, Lillee's eyes darted down to the captain's belt, noting the long knife and disruptor in its holster. More than that, she glanced up to the captain's eyes, and fought the urge to recoil. Lillee was a soldier, accustomed to hard people and hard fights, but the total lack of empathy in those green eyes was deeply unsettling.

The captain, seeing Lillee's appraisal, sneered. "Such surprises today, my children!" she crooned, and the pirates laughed again in response. "A Klingon and his whore, alone in a crashed shuttle...it's like the start of a bad erotic holoprogram!"As she spoke, strong hands from behind Lillee and Hi'Jak gripped their wrists and pulled them behind their backs, locking them in restraints. "But what brings them to this system, I wonder? The communications relay? Such a shame to lose that, but the bounty of you two makes up for our loss..."

The captain stepped up closer to Lillee, smirking. "What kind of uncultured Rihanna fucks a beast, hm? My children and I do not hold ourselves to law, but even we do not sully ourselves with Klingon barbarians." The captain glanced at Hi'Jak and walked over to him, her eyes flickering over the man. "Is he such a beast that he takes his pet whore on a mission to fix a relay? Is he so stupid?" The captain's hand reached down, cupping Hi'Jak's genitals and finding his flaccid shaft through his pants. "Tell me, Rihanna, is he big? Is he a good fuck, good enough to shame your species?" At Lillee's lack of response, the captain laughed again before slamming her other fist into Hi'Jak's gut with all her considerable strength.



fvadt: a Romulan curse word that roughly translates to "damn"
Rihanna: a female adult Romulan

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #18
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Romulan Friggate| in orbit around the desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @Griff
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So finding themselves captured, and surrounded by guns Jack quickly raised his hands, and submitted as he had his hands pulled behind his back, and he looked at Lillee now wondering how exactly he was going to get them out of this situation. He had to put up some level of a fight of course, but they were currently cuffed, and surrounded. What's more the captain was quickly coming up to approach him. He felt her hands slip under his pants, and he felt sickly violated.

He glared for a moment as he was called a barbarian asked if he was large, and then finally her hand retracted after touching him way too much. He felt his stomach hit and he curled for a moment coughing as he lost his wind for a moment, but managed to keep his lunch down, it would bruise but it didn't break anything. He looked up and spat at the captain. Watching as his loogie hit her face earing him another harsh punch knocking him down to the ground, which he slowly dragged himself up from.

"To big for a frigid bitch like you. Not enough lube in the world to make your dusty pussy wet enough to ride." He said through grit teeth and groans, though he was in pain he wasn't about to back down, or show fear. he was still in a KDF uniform after all, and he was determined to get them out of this.

Why was it this was the third kidnapping he was somehow a victim in as little as two months. He was starting to question his life choices and how he got to this position.

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #19
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Romulan Pirate Vessel | Orbit of the desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @masorin

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Laughter rippled around the Bridge while the Romulan captain wiped the spit off her cheek, glaring down at Hi'Jak's prone form. "Filthy beast," she hissed hatefully, slamming a hard kick into Hi'Jak's ribs for good measure. Lillee rushed forward instinctively, but in a flash the captain drew her dagger and had it at Lillee's throat. The two Romulans glared at each other, but Lillee's indignant rage was no match for the coldness in the captain's eyes, a strange contrast to her gloating and temper.

"Hm," the captain mused, then pushed Lillee a step back before sheathing her knife. "The whore has spirit to her. Good. The Orions like their slaves to have fire in them when they sell them on. They are so much more valuable." She snapped her fingers and behind Hi"'Jak, a burly Romulan seized the Klingon and hauled him to his feet. "Know this. I am the Blood Lily. I am a killer, a pirate and much worse, but I have honour. You stand among my crew. If you cause no trouble, you will come to no harm with us. If you are lucky, you will be sold on the markets to a good master. There are many mewling Federation idealists who buy such slaves and free them, and many more who simply require slaves for menial things. You have hope."

Then the captain gave a truly evil smile. "If you cause trouble, however....oh, there are so many ways for us to punish you." She stepped in front of Lillee again, sneering. "You, whore, will be treated for what you are. It will take many weeks before we can meet a slaver ship, and if you try to escape or misbehave, my men shall use you however they like, whenever they like. I warn you, some of them can be truly nasty. What happened to that last one, Benni? The Andorian female?"

One of the Romulans, a brute with no shirt and a sadistic look, sneered. "She didn't stop crying for days after I was finished. That female was supposed to be a murderer, but when t'Mastihi started on her afterwards, she was screaming within five minutes. Maybe the evil blue bitch liked men more than women?"

Laughter erupted again, and the self-styled Blood Lily moved to face Hí'Jak. "None of my crew would sully themselves with a beast like you, even if I ordered them to punish you. Some might enjoy some torture, I suppose, but that is so dull. No, I think that if you resist, we are going to cut things off. That thing between your legs to start with, and your eyes, perhaps your tongue...it will depend on how angry I am with you."

While the pirate captain delivered her threats, Lillee shook with frustration. Still half-naked and humiliated, wearing only her underwear, she felt a deep burning urge to murder everything and anything in sight. She glanced behind her at the viewscreen, which showed the pale grey moon of Phaldros, so the pirates hadn't fled after capturing their prey. Then again, the slightly dimmed lighting made it clear that the frigate was still cloaked, so why bother? Even if the Theurgy itself flew in to rescue them, the starship's powerful sensors still couldn't penetrate a Romulan cloak.

And, Lillee mused sullenly, Captain Ives wouldn't risk exposing the Theurgy's survival and endangering the mission just to save two crewmen.

The Blood Lily had stopped talking, accepting a padd from one of her crewmen and reading it. "Now, let us see who you are. Hi'Jak. A curious name for a Klingon. This...oh. Oh my, you are quite a character, aren't you? A scientist, hm? Last known to be serving the Federation...so how come you wear that uniform, so far from Federation borders? Curious that the KIlingon Empire would take you back, or assign you to Aldea."

Then the Blood Lily looked at Lillee, her upper lip curling in disdain. "Now, you, whore. You...what is this?" The redhead Romulan smiled slowly. "Oh my. A traitress. Former pilot of the Romulan Star Navy...a daughter of Eisn, hm? You were a hero before you murdered a thousand of your kin and destroyed an entire warbird, all to run away to the Federation. The warrant for your arrest is still active, I believe. Most interesting. And then of course, Starfleet, but that is really quite-"

The Blood Lily stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening, before she wordlessly handed the padd to her first officer, a powerful looking man with blonde hair much like Lillee's. The silence stretched as the first officer read the padd, undisturbed save for the occasional beep or grunt from the pirates. Lillee glanced at Ji'Jak, confused, wondering what the hell was happening. Then the first officer seemed to finish reading. He locked eyes with his captain, something unspoken passing between them.

"Clear the Bridge," the man said, his voice hard and unyielding.

"What?" one of the pirates, the sadistic brute, exclaimed in disbelief. "Aren't we going to have more fun with them? I wanted to see the Klingon rut his woman, give us a show! It's hardly punishment if they were about to do it anyway!"

The Blood Lily spun, eyeing him with cold fury. "Such carnality on my Bridge, Benni? Are you like this whore, then, some uncultured animal? Spout such vile garbage again and I cut off your ears! Now begone!"  Benni, for all his bravado, visibly quailed beneath his captain's threat and hurried off the Bridge, followed swiftly by the rest of the crew. Only the Blood Lily and her first officer remained.

The first officer stepped forward, his own expression utterly blank, his tone almost robotic. "Traitress. Formerly pilot of Rhea's Shades, then of the warbird Sunheart, honoured as a daughter of Eisn. Murderer of a thousand Romulan soldiers and the destruction of the Sunheart, defected to the Federation. Disgraced, dishonoured, your name thrice written and burned by the Senate itself. Later a pilot of Starfleet, last known to be aboard the USS Theurgy and presumed dead when the ship fled Earth."

Lillee shook, a powerful fear roiling in her gut. Something about the man, the way he spouted off her life in such a dispassionate and uncaring tone, was horrendously unsettling. She stepped back, her breathing unsteady until she felt the smooth edge of the helm console at her back.

"No pirate could know so much about us that quickly," she whispered, realisation setting in and her body shaking even more. "You are Tal Shiar."

The two 'pirates' glanced at each other before the Blood Lily shrugged. "Yes, we are," she said casually. "Just myself and Jetoui, of course. The others are merely part of our cover. Now, the Senate want you, traitress, but that isn't what interests me. We know of the Theurgy. The Tal Shiar have standing orders to locate the Theurgy, in fact. We know that you were aboard it, and that the last sighting of that vessel was two weeks ago at the Azure Nebula."

The Blood Lily took the padd back from her first officer, reading it again. "And you, Hi'Jak, were last reported aboard Starbase 84, which was attacked by the Theurgy nearly three weeks ago. This is not a coincidence. I do not know how the Theurgy came to be in this sector, so far from the Azure Nebula, but your presence suggests that it is indeed here. Given the evidence..."

The Blood Lily's eyes flicked over Lillee's half-naked body. "You were wearing a Starfleet uniform before we captured you. A foolish mistake. Normal pirates could never have connected you to the Theurgy from just a uniform, and we would've done so regardless. You could have kept your uniform on and saved yourself the humiliation."

Lillee's cheeks blushed green in frustration, and she looked away. The Blood Lily turned to Hi'Jak.

"Hi'Jak, I am Centurion t'Faen of the Tal Shiar. I apologise for our treatment of you. The Blood Lily is a facade, an unpleasant but necessary one." She stepped closer, looking him in the eye. "We came to Aldea for a different mission, but the opportunity to contact the Theurgy takes a priority. We have standing orders to make contact with your captain, and would appreciate your cooperation in doing so. We would act as representatives of the Romulan Star Empire and you are, of course, be free to go to facilitate that contact. Captain Ives, if they are still in command, would no doubt appreciate contact with a potential ally, especially one as powerful as the Empire."

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #20
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Romulan Friggate| in orbit around the desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @Griff
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threats to their body, and comfort were to be expected when dealing with pirates and slavers, but the moment they started listing their names, Jack blinked. It was too quick a connection, the fact that they seemed to know his name at all when he was just a Bekk was deeply concerning and when it came out about Lillee's past that she had detonated a warbird he had a number of questions.

As the bridge became clear, he got his answer. He sighed for a moment, the last time he had been made to deliver a message to a potential ally, a lot of people died. This time was a little different he supposed, and could actually be used as a way forward. He nodded when the introduced themselves properly.

"Hi'Jak Imperial Intelligence." He had been the one to order the ditch of Lillee's uniform so it was kinda awkward to hear that. It had been a moment of panic that had caused him to tell her to ditch the uniform and burn it aboard their shuttle. Now he was concerned about how much information to give the Tal'Shiar, versus how much they already knew.

"Ives is still captain of the vessel Theurgy, and I can't explain the full details of how we arrived in this sector because I don't know them. As for delivering a message, my eye is a holo recorder, capable of storing several days worth of information without the ability to edit, and my arm contains a smugglers compartment for any physical device." He gestured towards his artificial arm.

"We also have a message for the star empire." Jack gave a slow breath knowing what he would say would sound crazy, but he would have to try and say it as best he could. "There is evidence that Starfleet admiralty has been taken over either partially or completely by a malevolent, alien force. We have discovered a few methods of detection of which I can share, and while it sounds crazy these are highly interconnected alien parasites. There is also some evidence to suggest that the Klingon Empire has some of these intruders as well, and if the Klingons and the Federation have a bug problem, than we can also include the Romulan Star Empire as having at least a few of these creatures as well."

"The Theurgy has developed some level of counter measure, and Imperial Intelligence does take this threat seriously, but so far the best course of screening so far the infested have demonstrated several mental instabilities and physical abilities far outmatching their races, they are also able to shrug off even the highest stun setting, which is one method of detection that we have managed to discover. If we can get you into contact with Ives I am sure that they will share more current data and information on this threat than I have access too without my research."

He had tried to hinder the flow of this information once, and had learned a great number of lessons from that first attempt, mostly don't. He was pretty low on the totem pole, and while he could facilitate the introduction of this information, he couldn't really advise anyone with what to do with it. "If you look into the former captain of Starbase 84 Captain Ian Hawthorne, and Admiral Slankove of the task force assigned to hunt the theurgy you will likely find that both have a questionable history, though they have hidden it well both were infested. Ian Hawthorne even set a bomb loose on his own station."

"We do not know their motives, or where they come from, but they have become the highest level threat we have considered. If you know about the Azure Nebula you likely know that there was an encounter with the Borg in that location, this too was an event masterminded by these creatures as they were trying to introduce a parasite to the borg Queen, which was halted thanks to the detonation of a subspace bomb. The details are well hidden, but you should be able to find them if you look hard enough, you are the foremost intelligence agency." Jack actually sounded like he was rolling his eyes at that, but the Tal'shiar were smart, and he had just given them all the information he could about this threat without directly giving away anything more about the theurgy.

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #21
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Romulan Pirate Vessel | Orbit of the desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @masorin

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By rights, the story was simply insane. Alien parasites at the head of all three superpowers, battles against the Borg, a wild scheme to infect the Borg Queen. It was the stuff of fantasy. Nevertheless the two Tal Shiar agents listened intently, occasionally glancing at each other to gauge the other's reaction. Halfway through Hi'Jak's explanation, Jetoui moved to one of the consoles at the back of the Bridge, working it silently.

Lillee, for her part, half-sat on the helm console throughout. Shacked though her hands were, she flexed her fingers experimentally behind her back, testing her dexterity where neither of the Tal Shiar agents could see. An idea had formed in the back of her mind, a desperate one.

"There is proof," Lillee cut in, hoping against hope that they could get out peacefully. "Much of it. One of the Parasites is a prisoner onboard the Theurgy, and the Klingons destroyed another when we were fighting the Borg." The look that t'Faen shot her was poisonous, but Lillee met her glare dead-on. "I don't care what you think of me, Tal Shiar susse-thrai. This is a threat to the Empire, to all Romulans everywhere. Ignore it and you're as much a traitor as the fools who ignored the threat of Dominion shapeshifters."

The agent frowned at that, although her thoughtful look made it clear that the jab had hit. Then Jetoui cut in, looking at Hi'Jak. "Very well. A Klingon cruiser shall arrive soon. We will launch you alone in an escape pod with a method for communicating with us, and through us, with our superiors in the Empire. Instruct Captain Ives to do so as soon as she...he...as soon  as they can."

Then, in a casual off-hand, t''Faen added "The traitress remains with us. She will be returned to Romulus to face her punishment."

"What?" Lillee cried out furiously. "You would endanger an alliance with the Theurgy for something so petty?"

T'Faen's disregard was scathing. "Yes," she said mildly, "because Captain Ives is not fool enough to risk her ship and mission over one worthless traitress." The redhead Romulan glanced at Hi'Jak before stepping forward, closing on Lillee in a mockery of intimacy, her lips close to Lillee's ear.

"Know this, traitress," she whispered, so quiet that Hi'Jak couldn't hear, "as you stand there, helpless, looking at the last ally you will ever see. We will work with the Theurgy, but I know my superiors within the Tal Shiar...and we don't need alien filth to triumph. Once all Parasites in the Empire are found and destroyed, we will betray the Theurgy. Your precious ship will burn. The Federation will burn. The Klingons will burn. The Parasites will burn. We will control the chaos, dominate it, and we will win. When all is done, all that remains will be Rihannsu, ruling over all you hold dear."

Frozen and pinned, Lillee could do nothing but listen, horrified. She could scream a warning to Hi'Jak, but why would he believe her when her warning was so self-serving? Why would Captain Ives? Why would they spurn such a precious alliance on the word of a desperate pilot who was trying to save her own skin? The cold certainty roiled in Lillee's gut as she realised just how brilliantly sadistic t'Faen was.

T'Faen stepped away, her expression grave, giving no hint of what she'd whispered to Lillee. She glanced at Hi'Jak. "Normally, I would expect some sentimental protest over our taking this traitress with us, but I suspect that you are a pragmatist, Hi'Jak. You are surely not the type to risk your mission over a stranger, yes?"



susse-thrai: she-wolf, bitch
Rihannsu: Romulan

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #22
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Romulan Friggate| in orbit around the desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @Griff
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Jack was relieved as he watched the way that the Romulan partners seemed to listen to him the way they worked he was being passed over, he was just a klingon in the court of romulans so there was some underestimation allowed which he was very glad for. He didn't trust them, they were Tal'shiar after all. Still they seemed to believe the story he wound and worked. They mentioned that a cruiser would do a pick up of an escape pod and he would go back to the empire to report to his masters and to Ives.

Then the 'but' came in. He had been expecting it since the moment things started to come their way. The old Klingon saying went, the enemy of my enemy is still an enemy. They said Ives wouldn't risk the mission for one traitor, something about that was slightly amusing to him. It was weird that they would tell Hi'Jak that of all the people they could have spoken too today.

He knew better than anyone that Ives would in fact risk their life, and reputation for the life of one person. When they arrived at Aldea he was to be executed, but Ives had garanteed a stay of execution, kept him alive. no matter how pragmatic he was, he had to admit that this was a rather amusing turn of events. As she approached Lillee he stepped back looking shocked for a moment as his hands worked quickly and dilegently trying his best to do so without moving his shoulders, but thankfully both the romulans were watching her, threatening her, one so close and intimately that everyone ignored the Klingon which was perfect.

By the time he was adressed again he was done fidgiting as he looked at the romulan woman the captain who told him to be pragmatic about the solution. He nodded. "Yes very pragmatic but also."

In one quick motion he brought his hand forward brandishing a type phaser, his artificial hand dangled till attached to the cuffs as he held up his other arm revealing he had taken off his hand while no one was looking and accessed his smugglers compartment. "Pragmatic with a gun." He smiled. "The arm comes apart for ease of cleaning... it's a really useful feature."

He looked at the other guy. "Ah, before you try to shoot me, lets go over how this works. You move I shoot your boss, she dies, I die, alarms go off, Lillee dies, you loose your chance to talk to Ives. You have to report to your superiors that your commanding officer died, and you lost the only connection to the Theurgy you will ever get."

"On the other hand, if you move captain, I shoot you, you die, I die, Your second here can possibly send Lillee back to the Klingon's to facilitate your communications with Ives. Not great for me, not super for you but the mission could continue."

"And on the third hand, you grant a stay of execution, me and Lilllee go back the Empire, she carries the message back to Ives, and we all get a positive to report to our superiors. You two get to be the front connection between Ives and the Tal'Shiar, Lillee gets to go home and report to Ives that there is a possibility to talk with the Star Empire, and I get to go home with a story to my superiors about how I outfoxed a couple of Romulan Tal'Shiar agents... Literally everyone wins, and no one dies. That is pragmatic... Trust but verify as they say."

"See Ives would and has risked their life for a traitor, I know that better than anyone. If I don't bring Lillee back with me, I'm dead anyway, as I would loose the last connection I have that is keeping me useful to the Klingon Empire. I'm not a member of Ives crew she is, and they take that very personally." Jack sighed this was the third stand off where he was holding a gun to someones head. "So if you kill her, I gain nothing, and you would be damned sure that Ives won't be talking to the Star Empire."

 

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #23
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu |  Romulan Pirate Vessel | Orbit of the desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @masorin

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Although t'Faen froze, Jetoui's disruptor was out in a flash, aimed directly at Hi'Jak's heart. Nobody moved as Hi'Jak delivered his own threat; t'Faen standing between the helm and her command chair, Hi'Jak to the side, Lillee with her back to the helm, and the cold Jetoui at the back of the Bridge. It was a standoff, the three Romulans and one Klingon glaring at each other, the moment standing on a knife edge.

Then t'Faen visibly relaxed, bending her legs slightly, smirking slightly. This wasn't the smirk of the pirate, but the far more dangerous amusement of a Tal Shiar agent who knew she had the upper hand and was bound to be victorious. She glanced at Lillee in askance, an eyebrow raised.

"These are the sentimental fools you betrayed us for?" she said darkly. "Those who would risk their lives, their mission, for something so trivial? If what you claim is true, this man gambles the lives of billions just to save one. It is weak, cowardly. Sacrifice is far harder, more courageous, than this.."

Lillee scowled. "And you are too comfortable sacrificing anyone when it's convenient, just to please some fat senators who have done more damage to the Empire than I ever could. This has nothing to do with humans and Romulans, or Klingons and Romulans, just people like you."

T'Faen snorted derisively. "An idealist. No matter." She looked back at Hi'Jak. "You have been Starfleet for a long time, even if you are a Klingon, and Starfleet never set their phasers to kill by default. You have not had time to change the settings. It is possible that you set it to kill against regulations, yes, but it is unlikely. Jetoui?"

Her fellow agent's voice was ice. "Yes, Centurion. I have him. Fire your weapon, Hi'Jak, and I will shoot your arm off. You would be delivered, unconscious, directly to a position where the Theurgy crew pick you up, with a communicator that can reach us. Captain Ives will contact us and the mission will proceed, even if you kill t'Faen."

T'Faen smiled. "You see? We always win."

Then, just as she finished speaking, a quiet alarm rang out from one of the consoles. "Not today, susse-thrai," Lillee hissed, and behind her back, her fingers danced. It may have been many years since she'd flown a Romulan vessel, but there were some things she never forgot: the distinctive and unique alarm for a ship dropping out of a warp: the layout of a helm console, how the impulse throttle was half a handspan from the bottom edge of the console, how the power balance for the nacelles was a full handspan to the left of that...and engage.

The ship surged forward with ferocious acceleration, sending everyone flying. Lillee found herself sprawled in the captain''s chair. She scrambled to get back up, a task complicated by her bound hands, everything too chaotic to make sense of as the impulse engine screamed wildly. Lillee had barely gotten back on her feet when an almighty impact slammed the ship, sending everyone flying again, and suddenly the impulse engines were silent.

Now on the deck, Lillee cursed under her breath as she rolled onto her back and forced herself to sit up. She watched as around the Bridge, five shimmering green figures appeared, which swiftly materialised into Klingon warriors. The Tal Shiar agents sprang up firing, killing two of the Klingons instantly before disruptor fire riddled them both, sending the two smoking Romulan bodies to the deck.

The surviving Klingons moved around with professionalism, one of them aiming a disruptor at Lillee on the deck, who had the good sense to sit as still as she could.



susse-thrai: she-wolf, bitch

Re: Day 15 [0930 hrs.] Agony, and Red Alert

Reply #24
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Romulan Friggate| in orbit around the desolate moon Phaldos] Attn: @Griff
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As the inertial dampaners were shifted and everyone stumbled Jack lost his footing and pressed the button to fire his shot went wide, but set a deep scar into the metal showing that he had indeed kept it on the highest possible setting as the lights dimmed around them Klingons started to beam aboard and soon everyone on the bridge was dead. The two Tal Shiar operatives shot by invading forces a loss to the mission, but frankly far more welcome than the alternative.

"meH taHtaHvIS." The warriors claimed as Jack got back onto their feet, many started to run down the halls the sounds of combat filling the ship as they went to secure the ship. One of the warriors went to the console about to touch something when Jack stepped in.

"Qo' De'wI' Hot." Jack claimed quickly stepping in, displaying some authoriziaton as Klingon Intellegence. "De' chaq mej shiar tal." He was quick to command in his own language.  Ordering them to leave the computer core alone. He would probably be spending the rest of his time in Aldea ripping this ship apart piece by piece, but they did score a new romulan cloaking device off of it, a good day for the empire.

The klingon who pointed a gun at Lillee looked around for a moment trying to figure out what they would do with her. "nuq vIHtaHbogh be'"

"DIvI' yaS." Jack said, walking over to Lillee. Finally he started to speak english so she could follow along with the conversation. "She's been assisting Klingon Intellegence with our work on Aldea, beam us aboard your ship, and diploy a tractor beam, do not touch the computer systems they are now property of Klingon Intellegence to rip apart, we had two Tal'Shair agents here who knows what they could have left behind."

"It's gonna take days to rip apart this ship, but finally have some worthwhile work. Thank you Lillee for your quick thinking dropping the cloak and out of warp... I could use your help ripping this place apart when we get back to Aldea."

~~~~
meH taHtaHvIS (Bridge Secure)
Qo' De'wI' Hot (Don't touch the computer)
De' chaq mej shiar tal. (Tal Shair agents, may have left information)
nuq vIHtaHbogh be' (what about the woman?)
DIvI' yaS (Federation officer)

 
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