Star Trek: Theurgy

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[ Holographic Martok (MCWO Larant in disguise) | Slum Alley | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

Sera couldn't have picked a better location to crash the Sabine. The sarcasm of the thought failed to register on the holographic face Larrant now wore. His idea to pose as Martok was a calculated strategy. Larrant had run the calculus of probabilities. The greatest chance of improving Martok and the Captain's mission to the High Council building would be by luring any suspecting assassins away from the real Chancellor. Larrant only hoped that he could successfully imitate the Chancellor's mannerism.

The Medusan POD, home to Larrant while interacting with corporeal beings, continuously recorded its' surroundings. Larrant would be able to replicate any of Martok's observable actions and replay any of his previous speeches. But that was the extent of his acting capabilities. Any serious assassin familiar with the Chancellor or novice with a scanner would see through the disguise.  But Larrant knew that most Klingons shot first and scanned the corpses later.

The Medusan disguised Klingon cautiously stepped from the crashed Sabine. Sera had managed to maneuver the ship between two upper-level streets and threaded it between two ancient buildings in the lower sections of an Old Quarter slum. It was the undercity, the place where the flames of the Klingon city's furnaces were flamed. It was here that the lower rungs of Klingon society resided, the servants, the non-warriors, those scrounging for honor and glory.

Larrant turned to look back on the damaged Sabine. It was salvageable but its condition aided it in its camouflage in this place. Everything was steaming piles of refuse and recycling. The Old Quarter underground was a hodgepodge of industrialized urban blight by Federation standards. Larrant spotted the quickest way to the cleaner surface streets. He knew that would be the route the real Chancellor needed to take. The sensors in his pod began to alert him of the approaching of patrol vessels, most likely filled with Klingon First City Guard. He needed to draw them away from the Chancellor and the Sabine. With the political situation as it was there was no way of knowing who one could or could not trust.

A young Klingon boy suddenly bumped into Larrant's holographic form. "Hey, watch where you are goi......" The boy began to exclaim and then jaw agape, "you you're you're.... sorry Chancellor." With that, the boy ran off toward a Klingon bodega where a group had started to gather searching for the impact site of the Sabine. Larrant pulled up his POD's listing of Martok audio recordings and quick edited clips of the many public files available.

"There is no greater enemy than one's own fears. Fear not my friends. This is a moment worth savoring. As I predicted the day is ours! To victory. Hard fought and well-earned." Larrant had reviewed the Chancellor's file, knew that he came from a low birth, like many living in this part of the city. He was the people's Chancellor after all.

After an awkward period of silence, a chant began to emanate from the crowd. "Martok..... Martok..... Martok....." The crowd engulfed Larrant and began moving him forward through the lower streets toward the Great Hall. Larrant hoped that this distraction would serve two purposes. One, clear a path for the real Chancellor, and two, draw the attention of any assassins that may be attempting to prevent him from reaching the Great Hall.

He did not have to wait long. After a few blocks, the first disrupter shots interrupted the crowd's chants, turning them into screams of pain, vengeance, and battle. Larrant abhorred violence and was beginning to regret this decision. The loyal followers of Martok continued to position themselves as shields protecting the fake Chancellor. Larrant wanted to reveal his true self if only to protect these innocent Klingons, but he knew he couldn't do that until confident he could no longer protect the real Chancellor, not to mention his captain.

[Lt. jg. Jonas Arisaka | Bridge |Deck 01| Vector 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Tae @RyeTanker
The image of the Klingon K'Tal had just vanished from the main viewscreen. The Head of Imperial Intelligence had notified the acting captain of the Starfleet vessel orbiting Qo'noS that the craft carrying its captain and the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire was shot down on approach to the First City. He had forcefully informed the commanding officer of the Theurgy that the survival of the Sabine crew could not be assured. The situation among the High Council prevented him from acting directly. Those loyal to House Mo'Kai were embedded deep within all facets of Klingon society. He informed them that he had dispatched a recovering team to investigate the crash and recover any survivors, but he could not vouch for the loyalties of those assigned to that team.

A few exchanges were made by the bridge crew and a decision made. With a tap of a few LCARS buttons, Lt. Arisaka sent an order for the assembly of a rapid response hazard team. He had been pushing for such a team from the beginning of Theurgy's mission, now he would get to assemble one.

Thea had taken but a nanosecond to provide Arisaka the list of active-duty officers not already assigned to repair the ship and tending to the current situation taking place in orbit of Qo'noS. The standard rapid response team consisted of a platoon of three to four squads of highly trained specialists. Theurgy did not have such a pre-existing team, therefore, Arisaka had to assemble one from scratch.

RRHT - CO / Scout ------------ Lt. jg. Jonas Arisaka
RRHT - XO / Field Medic ------ Lt. jg. Xamot Zark zh'Ptrell
RRHT - Scout/Sniper ---------- CPO Amlas Keyah
RRHT - Demolitionist --------- PO1 Jean-Paul Rivard
RRHT - Technician / Pilot ----- CPO Victor van Vinter
RRHT - Weapons Specialist  -- CPO Douglas Marcaida

Tapping his combadge, Arisaka notified his selected team, "Priority One Alert. Report for combat duty to the lower shuttlebay immediately and board the Tesla." With a few more commands on his tactical terminal, Arisaka notified the shuttle ops team to prepare the Tesla and equip it for ground combat and rescue. This would include equipping the modified four-seat, two-turret Tesla LMUV, as well as loading Exo-suits, weapons, medical and engineering supplies. The Tesla's shuttle specs were not labeled as a military dropship but as a Heavy Cargo Transport, it was the closest thing they had.

With that, Arisaka turned and exited the bridge and headed to meet his team.

CPO Victor vanVinter | Lower Shuttlebay| Deck 21| Vector 03| USS Theurgy | Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Auctor Lucan


1745:Deck 16: Fighter Bay Operations: Deck Crew mess/Lounge

Victor was getting a meal, realizing that he hadn't managed to eat something in well, the last six months. Being in stasis would do that to someone, though he was hungry enough to get a light meal at least.  So Victor was in the Deck Crew mess eating some hasperat when the call came over his combadge and the need to get to the lower shuttle bay. But he did the only thing that he could do, the NCO taps his combadge and makes his way out of the Fighter Bay to head to the shuttle bay for an away mission.  "Orders acknowledged, on my way, Sir." And so Victor departed the bay, giving a wave to Ensign Herrold on his way out, giving a shrug. Victor had been tasked with orders and was sure that Thea would relay the orders to his direct Report, Thea being quick and efficient like that.  Making his way into the Turbolift while shoving the rest of his interrupted meal into his face, he taps in the manual orders for 'Deck 21, Shuttle bay.' He wouldn't have long, so he'd go over an inventory of what was needed.

1747: Deck 21: Lower Shuttlebay

Of what the Lieutenant had listed in the orders he saw on his PADD for, engineering supplies would be his responsibilities, and if he was required, it was because they needed a mechanic and maybe a pilot. Not knowing what the situation was precisely for, so he finally takes a detailed look at his PADD while shoving the rest of his meal into his mouth.

And there it was, he was assigned as a Technician and Pilot, this was undoubtedly an exciting day for him, and he hoped that he could be a part of it. Thankfully the Turbolift was indeed turbo, so he stepped out into the corridor and jogged the rest of the way into the shuttle bay. Spotting the Tesla right where it should be, Victor continues his jog over to an industrial replicator and enters in some commands for precisely what he wanted for this mission; a portable field maintenance kit for Starfleet fighters. One that wouldn't be coming from the FBO so that the kit would be classified as 'expendable' at least to him and Ensign Herrold. Taking the new toolkit from the replicator, Victor worries about stowing it on the Tesla, in the embarked buggy that the vehicle had. He wanted to make sure that 'his' tools were stored correctly. That was, even if the whole shuttle was his responsibility, or would be soon enough.

Most of the other team were faces that he didn't recognize very well; if they weren't TAC CONN or FBO he didn't exactly know them from his time, not in stasis from before. So after he got 'his' duties taken care of, Victor stands by the boarding ramp of the Tesla, and nods politely to the rest of the team. "Thank you all for choosing to fly Tesla spaceways this evening. I'm Chief vanVinter, I'll be your pilot for this mission. While I can make no promises that this should be an easy ride, it should be a quick in and out. However, we are expecting a fifty percent chance of thunderstorms once we hit atmo, and an even greater chance of Klingons at ground level. Please keep your hands, feet, and other appendages inside the craft at all times. Although we regret to inform you that there will be no inflight meal or entertainment. Other than myself, and overall the ride on the Tesla should hopefully not be a shocking experience." His delivery had been jovial and sarcastic in a way reminiscent of old-style air travel on so many worlds and even with current transport services. With that Victor smirks cheerily, praying that someone will groan over his pun, and stays by the entry ramp to greet the team he'd be transporting, taking care to meet everyone in their eye. He wanted to remember these people that he was taking care of today, hoping that all six embarking would be debarking later. The humor was his way of defusing a tense situation, and he knew it was going to be a shitshow if the entire team, minus himself, were wearing exosuits for this.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | USS Allegiant | Cargo 2]

@jreeves1701 @Tae

1710 Hours to mission launch

Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell let out a sigh of relief as she examined her exosuit in it's cargo container. Her usual smile and bright aware eyes were uncommonly unfocused and she wearing a poker face.  She was tired after being shot up, repaired, and having gone on a hasty rescue mission only to come back empty handed.  Her mind played over the whole mission but seemed to slow at a bright light and searing pain.  Her hand unconciously moved to her abdomen and she facce twisted in a grimace and her breath picked up though the sensation was more of a phantom in her mind.  She closed her eyes and shook her head to get the memory out and it subsided as she turned her head back to the viewscreen in the cargo bay.  She'd come here to examine, run down the fault her exosuit, and get ready for whatever came next.  She'd accessed the Allegiant's exterior pickups to see what the situation with Theurgy was and the carnage was apalling.  The newly repaired ship was scorched again and there was wreckage of various Klingon craft floating around.  She anticipated she'd be needed either doing search and rescue in the Klingon ships or in Theurgy herself.  As much as she'd like to just place the suit in a charging station to restore the power reserves, she left the suit running and punched a combination onto the arm mounted LCARS pad. The suit shut down and the power cell popped out.  It was in rough shape after after the mission to Breen, maybe 50% charge, so she grabbed the spare cell from a pouch on the suit and swapped it out. She'd have to grab a new one before heading out again.  It didn't look like she'd be getting any sleep yet.  She'd have to settle for medical stimulants.

"All hands, this is the bridge." The disembodied voice of Lt. Commander Stark's came out over the intercom. "We are going to execute a rather risky manoeuvre to propel our vessel toward Qo'noS, in an effort to arrive in time to assist Captain Ives and Chancellor Martok. Set status, yellow alert. Sound general quarters. Batten down anything loose and hold on tight."

Zark barely had time to get the container closed and the mag lock engaged before the whatever hurtled the ship caused her to lose her footing and send her into the opposite wall.  Clearly the inertial dampening field wasn't ready for whatver had hit them.  Luckily she'd managed to get her arms up in time, still the impact was hard enough elicit a grunt of pain.  That's going to bruise. she thought to herself.  The computer's voice then sounded.  "Attention all hands, arriving in Qo'noS space in 25 minutes, complete all necessary repairs and prepare for arrival.  We are at yellow alert at this time."

The Andorian's eyes widened fractionally and a grin split her face. Shelat! More Klingons, the ship's might get boarded. I'll need to suit up.  With a sigh, she made her way over to the case and opened it again.  First grabbing a pain killer, anti-inflammatory, and a combat stim from various pouches, she quickly injected herself before going after her armour as quickly as possible.  She took several more minutes putting her armour back on, a little more gingerly around the arms since the pain killer was still kicking in before inventorying what medical items she'd likely need.  Lots of pain killers and spray suture for sure.  Lt. Zark quickly identified the crate that held some of the supplies she'd packed previously and ransacked it for more supplies before strapping the medical kit she'd taken to Breen and the field stretcher to her back and activating the mag locks, Zark left cargo bay for the armoury to grab her phaser rifle, pistol, and a the grenades she'd just put back.  A different disembodied voice came through the comms again, male this time.   "Priority One Alert. Report for combat duty to the lower shuttlebay immediately and board the Tesla."

The Andorian combat medic stopped for a moment in utter confusion, pausing as she was stuffing a spare energy cell in a pouch.  What the Shelat??! "Thea, what's the situation for that call?".  The computer's voice was back. "Lt. Jonas Arisaka has been placed in charge of a combat search and rescue team.  The objective is to ascertain the condition of the Sabine and rescue any survivors.  You have been designated the medic for the mission." A shapely eyebrow rose in intrigue.  Interesting!

Stepping onto the transporter pad.  The Andorian thought furiously for a second.  "Thea, search the cargo bays for two more spare field medical kits, a case of field stasis generators, a half dozen collapsible stretchers, a portable shield generator, a case to carry all that, and a grav palette.  Beam it all to the shuttle.  Give me a site to site transport to the shuttle."  The ship's computer beeped in acknowledgement.  As she thought for one more moment before tapping her combadge. "Zark to anyone on Allegiant, I've been called away for a mission to Qo'noS, good luck and see you on the flip side. Thea, energize." 

The computer beeped again and a familiar shimmer engulfed Lt.Zark and disappeared as she found herself in a scene of organized chaos.  She didn't recognize anyone, but she saw her cargo container with a the medical symbol on it floating on the grav palette.  Nodding to the various members of her new team, she quickly stepped by them to open the case and check it's contents. Wow, good job Thea, all here. she thought to herself as she pursed her lips in a silent whistle.

A Bajoran looking man was welcoming everyone on board and she paused as the sight of all the prosthesis and damage he'd clearly suffered at some point in his life.  Mentally shaking her head, she began pushing the palette into the cargo shuttle as she activated the suit speakers. "I'm sure we'll all have a chance to get to know each other when we take off.  I'm your medic.  You can call me Zark. My full name's more of a mouthful."   With that Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell quickly made her way into the shuttle's cargo bay and upon seeing the buggy, immediately made for the cargo compartments to begin loading her medical supplies.

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk | Slum Alley | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Tae @Griff @RyeTanker

The Klingon was being pulled in two directions between the real Martok and the replica created by the Federation box. He had studied the thing that now sported the appearance of his Chancellor while on the Sabine. It appeared to be a containment pod for a gaseous alien entity, a Medusan. He tried hard during that time not to glare at the box, studying it, fearing that it was somehow a bomb planted by one of the Empire's many foes. Kudesh did not like not knowing everything there was to know about this Larrant as the box had been identified as. And now he was ordered to abandon his duty to protect his Chancellor and to follow and protect this imposter.

Perhaps it was Kudesh's reluctance to abandon the side of the real Martok until he was out of sight that caused him to let the fake Markok to slip past his guard.

"ghuy'" exclaimed the Klingon as he ran in the direction that the Martok imposter was heading.

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[ Holographic Martok (MCWO Larant in disguise) | Lower Streets | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ]

On second Larrant was surrounded by citizens of the First City, all chanting the name of the Chancellor whose face his pod now projected. He did not understand the emotion the crowd exhibited. Such feelings toward another individual were foreign to the Medusans. Larrant hesitated in his responses and perhaps that is why he didn't register the hatred coming from one of the citizens, hatred toward the man whose face he wore nor the following attack.

Despite the confusion the cheering group caused Larrant, the sensation caused by a knife blade penetrating the holographic matrix created by his containment pod snapped his mind into focus. Had he been the real Martok the blade would have severed his spinal cord causing instant paralysis and possibly death.

"QI'yaH! It's another Changling imposter!" cried a lone Klingon as he slowly backed away from the crowd. The explanation caused the remaining Klingons to see the qhonDoq sticking protruding from the back of the Martok hologram.

"He does not bleed!" screamed one of the citizens as they all pulled their own weapons. Klingons were always armed in some fashion and ready to fight. How swiftly this crowd had turned from loving followers to angry mob. It all left Larrant more confused. Then the energy weapons began firing, not from the crowd surrounding Larrant, but from the massive thoroughfares from above. No one was safe, as the target was anything moving, be it Larrant or the Klingon citizens of the First City.

Using the situation to cover his departure, the initial assassin turned and bolted away from the scene only to turn a corner and slam into the very solid chest of Kudesh who had finally caught up with Larrant. If their mission was to draw attention away from the real Martok, it was a resounding success. House Mo'Kai assassins had been drawn to the fake Martok and the growing crowd and they had pounced, not only at an opportunity to kill the Chancellor but also those most loyal to him, the Klingon lower classes. The First City Guard would be responding to the conflict in the street, but where would their loyalty be? Would they be as divided as the rest of the Empire?

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[Lt. jg. Jonas Arisaka | Lower Shuttlebay |Deck 21| Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ]

Leiutenant Arisaka walked toward the Type-17, Argus-class shuttlecraft Tesla. It was his hope that this craft would soon become a staple in the future Hazard team arsenal. As a heavy cargo shuttle, it easily checked off all the boxes for a rapid response drop ship and transport. His team was assembling, all the essential cargo was being loaded. The MUV buggy was recently modified to seat four and was waiting to be driven aboard when Arisaka cleared his throat announcing his presence.

"Team!" oh how he loved the sound of that. "Team, I hope this will be the first of many missions that we will be assembled to complete. Since the very beginning of our journey as outlaws fighting for the very survival of not only the Federation, nor for even the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, but for the entire Galaxy; I have envisioned a team like this. An elite force of tactical officers, medics, marksmen, and pilots utilized to take control of extreme situations and high-risk away team missions. The Lone Wolfs serves Theurgy in the vacuum of space, but who will serve Theurgy planetside? Arisaka thought about the ground forces of the Dominion War, the dedicated and depleted soldiers of Starfleet's Marine division, the modern-day MACOS. Theurgy lacked such a group. "I have assembled this Hazard Team to step up when the mission at hand is too risky for the average officer. Your records are testament enough to your skill and abilities to achieve success whatever the cost. The captain is in danger, there are hostiles on the ground. This is a search and rescue and possible extraction mission. I need your best. The Chancellor needs your best. The Captain needs your best. Do I have it?"

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OOC: @Griff this would be a good point for you to jump in. Arisaka just gave a rousing pep talk in the middle of the shuttlebay. Fairly sure Lillee would be insulted that she was not selected as one of the best to join this team. In fact possibly even see Arisaka's speech as an insult calling her average. Your call, play it like you want. TAG YOUR IT.

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Lower Shuttlebay | Deck 21 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae

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After the frantic fight to protect Martok's grandson, Lillee went to the packed Sickbay to get patched up, . The medic kindly pried her fingers off the honour-blade's hilt before working on her cuts and bruises, then gave Lillee a couple of hyposprays that almost instantly cured the concussion and lingering shock. However the Theurgy was still at yellow alert, and the mission wasn't done; everyone was needed back at their posts, injured or not. He therefore told Lillee that she was fit for duty, and moved on to the next patient without another word.

The last thing Lillee wanted to do was get back to work. Really, she just wanted to find her bunk, crawl into it and stay there for a solid twelve hours. Nevertheless she gamely replicated a new uniform and got dressed in a curtained part of Sickbay, noting that Drauc had done his usual vanishing act while she was being treated. By the time Lillee returned to the shuttlebay, she looked like a mess; her long blonde hair was wild, she was clearly in need of a shower, and the uniform clung to her body as the sweat dried. From Lillee's slightly heavy walk, it was clear that she had been through some things.

The Romulan pilot entered the shuttlebay, half expecting the fighting to still be ongoing despite the Klingons having all beamed away, and was relieved to see that everything was back to normal. Well, mostly normal. The Klingon bodies had been collected, but the place was still a mess after the hard fighting, the deckhands working hard. A sizeable hole was still present in the flight deck, a Type-9 shuttle having fallen into the lower hangar deck, and Lillee winced at the memory. That had been...an hour ago? Less? She wasn't sure. It felt like an eternity.

As she went to an arms locker on a bulkhead to equip herself with a belt and a phaser, she noticed a group standing around the Tesla, the Theurgy's only Argo-class shuttlecraft, undamaged after the fighting. They were clearly preparing for a mission of some sort, and seeing them from behind, Lillee could've sworn she recognised one. The man's shoulders, haircut, how he held himself...Lillee felt that flicker of recognition, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. Still, the officer's speech caught her attention first, and she frowned.

Lillee didn't care a whit for the pomposity of it, long used to the speeches of young officers still figuring out how to lead, but she realised as the man spoke that she would be needed. It stung a little that the lieutenant hadn't thought to call her. Who else was going to fly a dangerous shuttle mission if not her, with so many of the other CONN personnel off the ship? Sure, the last thing Lillee wanted to do was get in a fragile little shuttle and fly off to be a hero, but it stung her pride all the same. Thus she sighed and, making for a startling sight with the sheathed sword slung on her back, she moved up to the group, her eyes on the leader.

"Lieutenant?" she said in polite greeting, catching the rank pips. "PO3 Lillee t'Jellaieu. Lillee, if it is easier for your tongue. I am the shuttle pilot on call. I think you will need me, sir."

CPO Victor vanVinter | Lower Shuttlebay| Deck 21| Vector 03| USS Theurgy | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor was paying attention to everyone as they boarded, and he nodded politely to the Andorian Lieutenant, Zark apparently. "Good to meet you then Zark, I aim to bring you back safe and sound." He'd noted the look that he'd gotten from Zark, and he smiles politely at her. "Don't worry, none of this is from crashing. The face is courtesy of the Borg at Earth, and the arm, well, that's new, woke up with it a few hours ago, feels nice though." Yep, he'd just said he'd woke up with the arm a few hours ago, but it seemed to be well integrated; maybe it was the rest of his cybernetics that were already integrated that made the use of the arm as natural as it was. "Don't worry, already kicked some Gorn ass with this, without pants." Then to lighten the mood, Victor wiggles his eyebrows letting out a rich bass chuckle, hoping that he hadn't just scared Zark. Was he joking about fighting Gorn without pants?

And then the Mission CO begins his briefing that was more of a gung ho speech. He idled against the side of the Tesla listening to this, and he simply had to think of him as a gasbag. Sure, the mission planning was proper, but they were doing a recovery mission, right? Where was the second Pilot anyway? There was a nearly impossible to read look on his scarred and twisted visage, something bordering on contempt for this speech. It felt like Victor was about to go right into a meat grinder again, like both times against the Borg at Earth. His thoughts about Arisaka somewhat less than favorable, even if only because they'd never worked together before. He wasn't going to be disrespectful, but there was indeed a salient point that he needed to bring up. So he spoke up in a polite and professional tone, with only a hint of irony to his voice. "Thank you kindly for the inspiring words, Sir, but we're doing a recovery mission of a craft that may or may not be in operational condition, and we only have one pilot, unless one of you..."  Then it happens, like absolute kismet, he gets interrupted by a familiar firey voice. The nearly melted part of his face turns into something that could be a grin. "By the elements, Bloodwing, get over here!"

"And there's our second pilot." His attention was shifting from Arisaka then to Lillee. "I was just telling the Lieutenant that we needed another pilot for this boondoggle we're getting in. Happy to have you Lillee, good to see that you survived." His tone of voice cheerful then, and he regards the Romulan for a brief moment, letting out a relieved sigh. "I'll take your right seat on the flight down, Lillee." Grabbing up his PADD he pulls up the map of the first City and the area around it, holding it to show Lillee. "I thought that we should come in low and fast on top of the Qam Chee from about a hundred klicks out. Hopefully, we'll come in under most of the defensive systems that way. It is up to you on how we want to come in for insertion, but that's what I was going to do. Honestly, I hope that our security team can hold their stomachs for whatever you decide to do." There it was, the bright, cheerful tone again, though there was a rather serious undertone. This time, the cheery style was more geeking out about making up potential flight plans with a pilot that he respected. "On the way out, well, we will have to see what shape the Sabine is in and if I can get her flying again. From what I can tell, she looks like an old Valkyrie prototype? If that's right, either of us can fly her. And we should probably keep the same pilot for the Tesla. So up to you on which one you want to fly." Clearly Victor valued her input from how quickly he'd deferred to the more junior NCO.

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Lower Shuttlebay | Deck 21 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae

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"Chief?" Lillee said, stunned as she realised who it was , then endured the hug, barely believing it. "Chief! I thought you were still in stasis! Oh thank you Elements, it's good to see you!" Lillee was grinning as Victor pulled back, and she took a moment to look him over, noting that her friend wasn't in any better shape than she was. The cybernetic eye wasn't new, but the burns and new prosthetic hand were. No wonder they had waited so long to do the surgery on Victor. The man looked as if he had been through the fires of Hell, quite literally.

Buoyed by the surprise, Lillee looked cheerful as Victor showed her the PADD, and she considered it carefully. "Agreed," she said after a moment's thought. "I've simulated this approach before. It's normally impossible even in a cloaked fighter, but if these sensor readings are correct, and their defence networks are compromised, then the Qam Chee...it's a good idea. If we can get below the orbital defence grid and avoid their AA, I can get us to the river...around here." She pointed an area far too the east, where there was only sparsely populated hills. "I can submerge us in the river if I need to. Getting back to the Theurgy will be interesting, but maybe we can get some Wolves or the Theurgy to cover us."

Lillee nodded gratefully when Victor deferred to her judgement, remembering just how much she liked the man. "Yes, the Sabine is a retrofitted Valkyrie, but its owner is civilian. I haven't had the chance to get inside it." She paused, thinking about Victor's question. She would've preferred to fly the Sabine herself, knowing that it was the more dangerous task and would require more skill to handle, but logic got in the way. "I'll never be as good a fixer as you, Chief. They'll need you at the Sabine to get that thing back up into the black. I'll cover you all with the Tesla."

She looked at Lieutenant Arisaka and the others. "We'll get you down there and bring you back up, Lieutenant. Don't worry about that."

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Lower Shuttlebay| Deck 21| Vector 03| USS Theurgy]

@Tae @jreeves1701 @Griff

Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell's eyebrows went up and a smile creased her face as Chief Victor doled out a quick resume on his abilities, only to come to a bit of a halt as she processed the fact that he had fought a Gorn with no pants.  Her head whipped about and her eyes narrowed filing this little tidbit of information away. I so need to find that video and watch it.  Shaking her head again, she proceeded into the Tesla's cramped cargo compartment, she proceeded to the buggy and flipped open a side cargo compartment.  Taking off her helmet and leaving it on the rim, she got to the business of stowing. Making everything fit wasn't the easiest and she was glad that most of the items she'd brought were collapsible. It was a bit of tight fit and she was only partially complete when she heard the team leader call for everyone to assemble.  With her ears perking up she went to the hatch frame to see what was going on.

Zark crossed her arms under her breasts and a large smile split her face as the team leader gave a rousing speach for the troops. Okay, not the most rousing, but definitely 10 points for enthusiasm.  I like this!  When the team leader finished, there was only one possible response. Dropping her arms to her side and straightening herself, a loud "Aye Aye Sir!" followed from her and most of the other enlisted.  The only real flaw in the response being the somewhat irreverent Victor and his sudden enthusiasm as a blonde Romulan showed up. Bloodwing? That can't be her name, it's got to be a nickname of some sort.  Resolving to ask about this another time

Chuckling and shaking her head, the Andorian turned back into the cargo shuttle to finish stowing her medical supplies.  It took a bit of grunt work to get the last bits in, but the hatch closed and satisfyingly locked in place.  At least, hopefully the supplies wouldn't go flying out of the buggy if they had to go around at high speed.  Sighing then looking around, she spotted Chief Douglas Marcaida struggling to grab a couple of cases in his hands while carrying a couple of other cases in his arms.  Heading over, she grabbed one of the cases under his arm as a Bolian with the name plate A.Keyas moved to grab the other.

"Thank you ma'am." came a deep and elegant baritone. The accent was very similar to a classmate she'd had from a place on Earth called Panama."You're welcome Chief.  What have you got here?" curiosity piqued at what appeared to be some heavy ordnance.  A snort and a chuckle followed from Keyas "Probably all of Douglas' toys."  Douglas let out a short sharp laugh. "You only call them toys since they're bigger than that pea shooter you call a gun on your back.  Begging the Lieutenant's pardon." The Chief said after seeing a similar rifle on Lt. Zark's back. "Just a couple of Mark II Isomagnetic Disintigrators, and more grenades.  Never know when we're really going to need to uhmmm...... exercise creative barrier production.". Keyas snorted at this.  "He just wants to blow something up Ma'am" Chief Douglas made an indignant sound and the two went back and forth trading friendly barbs.

Lt.Zark could only chuckle as the banter continued into the shuttle before helping the chief to stow his gear.  With launch time approaching, the Andorian combat medic grabbed her exosuit helmet off the buggy and made a final check of her equipment before making her way to the passenger compartment and grabbing a seat.  Taking a centring breath and closing her eyes, she was aware of the hydraulic sound of the shuttle hatch closing as they were about to get underway.

[Lt. jg. Jonas Arisaka | Lower Shuttlebay |Deck 21| Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Tae @Griff @RyeTanker

With his team assembled, it was time to head out. "There will be time for formal and informal acquaintances later. Things are getting hotter by the second down there. We can hammer out the details of our mission on our descent." Arisaka turned to enter the Tesla only to pause at the entry hatch to look over his shoulder and add, "Oh, and don't think the Klingons are going to make it easy to get to our target zone."

There would be Klingon fighters on their tail as soon as they left the shuttle bay. Then, there were the orbital defense platforms and the surface-to-air defenses. With the political situation unfolding within and without the Empire, Arisaka would be surprised if every other rooftop of the first city wasn't laced with Mo'kai snipers waiting to fire.

---

MEANWHILE.....

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  Holographic Martok (MCWO Larant in disguise) | Slum Alley | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ]

Kudesh cursed as he fought his way to the surrounded Martok fake. Mo'Kai soldiers descended upon the disguised box at a remarkable pace. As horrifying as that was, the real horror was how they indiscriminately targeted everyone on the street. Kudesh's anger grew to a boiling point as he stepped over a Klingon youth of no more than five solar cycles. Any future glory and honor fated for the youth were snuffed out by the ruthless rain of disrupter fire coming from above.  "How could the House of Mo'Kai be so uncaring? They fight without honor," Kudesh thought.

When the Klingon guard finally reached the Starfleet officer disguised as the Chancellor, he noticed the assassin's blade in his back. A lethal strike, for all accounts the man should be dead. "What sort of creature is this?" Larrant had taken cover behind a pile of Klingon citizens murdered in the first moments of House Mo'Kai's attack.

"Are you injured?" he asked as he took aim at their attackers. The fact that they were using the dead as a shield did not bother Kudesh.

Larrant as Martok replied, "I am unharmed. It would seem however the true nature of my disguise has been revealed." A disrupter shot struck the Martok imposter in the shoulder, causing a ripple of energy to spread across the holographic matrix surrounding the Medusan's EMU-POD. The moment the energy wave connected with the dagger still protruding from his back, the entire holographic proton matrix popped out of existence, the dagger clanging on the ground upon impact.

Kudesh stood staring at the alien pod he had come to know on their journey to Qo'noS. It just hovered there. "Does that thing not have weapons? Does the Federation Starfleet truly possess such weak soldiers?"

_{"IT IS NOT THAT SIMPLE, KLINGON."} Larrant's pod reverting back to its mechanical voice. _{"MY PEOPLE ARE VERY... PERCEPTIVE OF THE LIFE AROUND US. I CAN FEEL THE ATTACKERS HATRED AS STRONGLY AS I FEEL THE PAIN OF THOSE DEAD AND DIEING AROUND US. TO CAUSE FURTHER PAIN AND SUFFERING WOULD BE TO FEEL IT AS WELL."}

Kudesh fired at their attackers in response. "If you must feel the pain of those dying, better it be those attacking us, rather than ourselves. Look, you garbage scow, if today is a good day to die, it is my decision to die with honor protecting this Empire and its citizens." Kudesh motioned his head toward the bodies in the street and the moans of those injured. "I thought it was Starfleet's mission to serve and protect its citizens and allies. So I ask again, does that thing not have weapons?"

Larrant processed the impassioned Klingon's words. In a silent response, the lights on his containment pod changed from a neutral peaceful arrangement to a crimson aggressive one. Twin phaser beams shot from the Medusan chassis. They did not strike any of the attackers but instead hit points near them.

"Bah, your aim is worse than my grandmother's." Kudesh complained, "but don't stop firing."

CPO Victor vanVinter | Lower Shuttlebay| Deck 21| Vector 03| USS Theurgy | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor was quite pleased by the reaction that he'd gotten from Zark. Giving the Andorian woman a wink, he made a note to buy her a drink if they all made it back alright. Two since she was their medic, and Victor knew how important Medics could be. Victor went back to his discussion with Lillee about flight paths and how they'd get to the landing zone. He was about to say more but looks over to Arisaka when he boards the Tesla and speaks agon. Victor nods, and his demeanor shifts. Suddenly he wasn't so upbeat and cheerful, there were hints of that still in his demeanor, but now he became serious. "Alright, everyone, strap in. We're getting out of here fast."

And with that, Victor heads to the flight deck of the Tesla and takes the co-pilot seat. He was beginning the start sequence to get the ship out of there. "Alright, engines are primed and ready to go. The shield generator is good, and phaser arrays are good to go. And we've got a full load of micro torpedoes. And I'll handle your comms so you can focus on flying." Taking a moment to run it all through his head, they had seven people on board, and Lillee was the pilot. Victor hits the Comm panel and speaks in a professional tone of voice. "Tesla to Theurgy, we are ready to Depart for Qo'nos and Qam'Chee. We have seven souls aboard. Requesting clearance to depart." He always hated that part, calling how many 'souls' were on board a ship when it left a port. It had always felt like it was tempting the reaper as it were, even if it did drive home the seriousness of any mission. It may have been an Earth custom, but it had stuck around much to his chagrin.

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Shuttlecraft Tesla | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae

[Show/Hide]
With the reminder that they were on the clock, Lillee began to settle into her cool frame of mind, the warrior's focus that she had learned all those years ago. She still felt less than optimal after the fights with the Klingons, but there was nothing for it. Without another word, Lillee went to the shuttle's cockpit, taking off her honour-blade and hanging from her chair, tightening the strap. The Chief beat her there, and with him handling pre-flight, Lillee began re-arranging the the Tesla's control layout to her preferences. Her preset was already loaded in the shuttle computer, an advantage of actually being permanently part of the Theurgy crew, but she made some tweaks anyway. Atmospheric flight was different to spaceflight, after all, and given how hairy this one could get, Lillee wanted every advantage possible.

After Victor asked for and received clearance to launch, Lillee tapped one specific control, then confirmed it. Ahead, the shuttlebay's doors began to open, air being held inside by the forcefield, and Lillee smoothly lifted the shuttle off the deck before gliding out of the bay. She flipped the shuttle over, and flying along the length of the Theurgy as they accelerated, Lillee idly noted the damage as they passed. Given the extreme odds that the Theurgy had faced, Lillee was pleasantly surprised to see that the ship was relatively unhurt; battle-scarred, perhaps, but undaunted and all the more dangerous for what it had survived in the past few hours alone.

Still, there was no time for reflection. "I'm going to make a hard vertical burn," she announced to everyone, her eyes up ahead at the curve of Qo'nos, as the emerald world met the blackness of space. "Inertial dampeners might not catch it all, so strap in now and try not to throw up." Lillee was automatically putting on her own harness as she spoke. "Chief, redistribute shields forward, configure for maximum aerodynamic drag now, that's our shield profile for de-orbit. Convert to minimum hydrodynamic drag at twenty kilometers altitude, repeat, minimum hydrodynamic drag at twenty kilometers altitude. Set inertial dampeners for maximum load." Lillee's hands began to dance over her panel as the shuttle changed course, diverging a few kilometers from the Theurgy's orbit. With that, she took a breath and began accelerating the shuttle even more, zooming around Qo'nos even faster, all thoughts of her physical and mental shock completely gone as she focused on her flying.

"This maneuver is technically a Romulan state secret," Lillee said, breathing deeply, glancing at Victor. "I hope you like it. Everyone, brace now, the first hit will be the hardest."

With that, Lillee entered the parameters into the computer, which returned the computation instantly, giving a series of times, all calculated to the microsecond. Lillee tapped the autopilot on one of the options, knowing that her reflexes were woefully insufficient for such precision, and her hands went still as she waited. A few seconds passed, then a few more seconds, and then...

SLAM! The shuttle felt as if it had hit a brick wall as the shuttle suddenly flipped over on its axis, impulse engines pushing madly in the opposite direction that they had just been flying. The Tesla began falling into atmosphere, all of the shuttle's orbital velocity being dumped within seconds. The shuttle began to fall and the computer fired thrusters, aiming the shuttle right down at the planet's surface. The impulse engines lit again, the Tesla accelerating right down at the planet in a death dive, fire starting to fill up the entire forward viewpoint. Lillee's hands remained still, the entire maneuver automated, the shuttle's hull creaking and groaning alarmingly at the abuse. The shuttle accelerated further and further until all they could see out the forward viewport was roaring fire, all they could hear was the protesting whine of the shuttle's hull.

"Standby," Lillee called out, focused with total concentration on her controls, her fingers starting to work the controls. "Flipping impulse thrust, we're on course." She vaguely heard Victor on the comms but Lillee tuned it out, focusing on the numbers and on her sensors, the fire in front of the shuttle beginning to fade. "Fifty km...forty...thirty...twenty, switch to minimum hydro drag!" The shuttle was zooming towards the ground at impossible speed, a huge river snaking through the ground, so much so that it seemed impossible that they could stop in time...and they couldn't. "Brace for impact!"

Even though everyone was braced for hitting the water, it proved strangely unnecessary as the impact was heavy, all of them flung forward into their harnesses, but nothing painful or dangerous. Even as she recovered, Lillee's hands were back on her control panel and changing their course. The shuttle was suddenly very smooth and peaceful, only murky darkness ahead in the water. "Setting course for the First City, underwater transit, 200kph. ETA, four minutes. No underwater hazards on sensors."

CPO Victor vanVinter |Shuttlecraft Tesla| Qo'nos | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan


Victor was more than happy to take the Co-pilot duties. And he made sure that power was primarily routed to engines and shields. He didn't want them gettings hot out of the sky and considering what they were going to do, Victor hits the Comm panel, setting it to record, and then he speaks in a robust and aggressive tone of voice, loud and clear. "This is the Shuttlecraft Tesla. We are entering Qam Chee Airspace to recovery our crashed ship. We are from the USS Theurgy, friends of House Martok! I say again; we are friends of House Martok, do not open Fire!" He taps a button on the console to broadcast that message on repeat. "Well, that will probably get House Mo'Kai shooting at us, but that was going to happen anyway. It should keep anyone loyal to Martok off of our backs, hopefully."  He frowns a little at that, hoping and praying that he was right about that. As necessary, Victor cycled the shields and used whatever countermeasures the Tesla had to keep them protected. 

Sure enough, they took a few hits from orbital defenses as they neared the planet. he did his work silently, eyes to the boards and thoughts on his tasks as he made sure they stayed in one piece. He'd be chewing on a lip, trying to work through it, but the turbulence from taking the few hits they did would have had him bite through his lip instead. Every now and again, he'd cast a look towards Lillee, both in respect and in horror with the maneuvers he knew she was pulling. Then the order came, and he frowns. "Copy, shields focused forward for Aerodynamic drag." The turbulence from reentry was terrible enough. The intense friction that the shields were taking made it that much worse.  Feeling like he was inside of a blender almost, and he felt a little heavier, the inertial dampeners absolutely not catching all of the reentry forces this time around, enough so that the crew of the shuttle was experiencing increased G-forces. The groans and pops of metal around them are not worrying in the slightest. He knew what metals fatigue sounded like, and this wasn't a problem yet.

The second part of that order had him worried, though. Watching the altitude readout, Victor changes the alignment of the shields to allow for Hydrodynamic drag. "Changing to Hydrodynamic configuration, but we're going to hit that water with our hull still a few hundred degrees! Also, changing the display settings you've got to a sensor overlay so you can actually see what you're about to do." It wasn't so much a protest as a statement of fact, as Victor reroutes life support and cooling to do his best to bring down the temperature of the hull. "Rerouting power to structural integrity, trying to get us cooled down, impact with the surface in three.. two..." The 'one' being drowned out by a veritable explosion of steam around them as the still-hot hull meets the much cooler water of the Qam Chee river and enrobes the hull in boiling clouds of steam until the hull cools. "State secret because it's crazy as hell Lillee, deflector shields knock aside bits of dust and particulate, we run into something solid, and we're going to have a problem." Victor certainly wasn't pleased by taking the shuttle underwater at such speeds, but it couldn't be helped.

He shakes his head and sighs a little at that; looking to the Comm panel again, he taps it for Internal communications this time. "Say again, four minutes to target. Get ready for egress from the Tesla, someone warm that Buggy up for me, and then strap in." No, Victor wasn't anywhere close to being senior ranking here, but he was currently one of the two pilots, so he 'could' give that order at the very least. He certainly trusted Arisaka to take command on the ground and would absolutely follow his orders. Victor earnestly hoped that Arisaka knew what they were doing, though. He was starting to get a bad feeling about this, but at least he had Lille here, and Zark seemed capable. The Lieutenant, though, that guy was chasing medals, so Victor didn't hold much hope that the Lieutenant would make it back unscathed.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Shuttlecraft Tesla | Qo'nos]

@jreeves1701 @Tae @Griff @Auctor Lucan

Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell to all external view looked to be either asleep or meditating.  The second state was closer to the truth, but she was very aware of what was going on around her.  The comm chatter that the shuttle pilot's were trading back and forth was definitely a good way to know what was going on and she simply absorbed it. Her face was a mask for the butterfly's that were currently occupying her innards. She didn't have much choice. When she got on the ground, she could control her fate, but until then, it was up to the shuttle crew she'd never met and hoped they were as exceptional as Theurgy seemed to attract.

When the Romulan Petty Officer described her descent plan, her breathing hiccuped.  Roman state secrets were one thing in theory, now she was going to live it.  Oh how I wish for a straightforward transporter insertion. Lt. Zark thought to herself while cursing the plethora of transport inhibitors that made the shuttle descent necessary.  Her eyes opened and her head whipped towards the piloting section as the inertial dampening field wasn't able to cope with the sudden manoeuvre for an orbital insertion.  The buggy creaked in it's mooring at the sudden change in g-forces as there was a sudden sensation of her stomach and its contents attempting to escape through the top of her head and she had to fight the sudden wave of vomit inducing nausea.  Chief Keyah wasn't as lucky in this battle, but luckily her helmet was off as she projectile vomited a multi-colour stream at the side of buggy and all over herself.  Oooooh. That's not going to come out easily. Chief Marcaida was made of crazier stuff as he laughed at the Bolian's ejection and whooped with glee.  The wretched scent of stomach contents assailed Lt. Zark's senses and bile rose in her throat, but a quick series of air sucking  and swallowing motions managed to keep everything down.  The computer noted the noxious fumes and increased ventilation as Chief Keyah moaned and swore viciously at her momentary weakness, then quickly horcked a nasty pile of stomach contents and spat it at the feet of Chief Marcaida.  This only made him laugh while she glared daggers at him.

Shifting her head toward the viewport, the blackness of space gave way to the brown of the Qo'nos atmosphere.  The Andorian's eyes widened as the pilot compartment was highlighted with bright green flashes passing by at high speed. Disruptor fire. Oh Shelat! Get me on the ground!  Gripping her restraints and a manic smile on her face, she held on for dear life, not being able to do much else as the shuttle bucked from the turbulence of a super rapid orbital entry. Panic almost set in as the PO t'Jellaieu made the call of water entry. Numerous cries of shock, mainly in the form of Oh Shit! came from the passenger compartment came loud and fast as the planet surface came up quickly followed by a sudden motion of being hurled towards the bow the shuttle.

Lt. Zark was breathing hard as she realized she was still alive, but now under water and making their way towards the First City.  As she leaned back an closed her eyes to bring her breathing under control, she could hear several others doing the same.  One or two others were even laughing their relief at such an intense insertion.  This was definitely going to be story to be told over drinks if they got through this escapade alive.  With the reminder from Chief vanVinter to check the buggy, Lt. Zark opened her eyes and undid her restraints. Getting up rock steady, she made her way over to the replicator as others began checking the buggy.

"Computer, a pair of Bolian antacids, a glass of water, and an empty bowl." The computer beeped and a hum filled the small replicator bay as the computer produced the requested items on a tray.  Making her way over to Chief Keyah who was standing next to a cargo compartment re-securing some of the medical supplies.  "Take these chief.".  The Bolian turned towards the combat medic. "I'm fine ma'am" .  Lt. Zark gave the the Bolian sniper a warm sympathetic smile. "Don't make me make it an order Chief."

Chief Keyah sighed, snorted, and smirked. "Of course not ma'am" as she took the contents of the tray, washed out her mouth, and took the antacids. "Thank you."

Lt. Zark smiled and nodded as she went to return the items to the replicator.  They should be at the First City really soon.

---

‘echHom Klavek | First City | Qo'nos

‘echHom Klavek was an impressive specimen for a Klingon, and his current anger and frustration added an even greater level of menace to his already imposing physique.  The fighting that had flared up in the First City when the traitors from House Mo'Kai had risen against Chancellor Martok had taken his house by surprise. The street fighting had been vicious but he'd survived the initial onslaught while amassing great glory in sending numerous traitors to their deaths.  Knowing he had to support the rightful leader of the Klingon Empire, he'd led his forces towards the Great Hall initially until word had reached him that the Chancellor was with a Starfleet vessel and the shuttle carrying him had crashed nearby. He was leading his host of 800 warriors towards the crash site, but traitor forces were contesting every meter of his advance.  His forces had just overrun an air defence battery whose loyalty was with House Mo'Kai, slaughtering it's crew who had been busy shooting at something else coming down planet side.

Wiping the blood off from his d'k tahg, Klavek made his way to the main command console to see what had distracted the battery crew.  He found one of his subordinates looking over a command console very intently.  Having known the man for years he could tell he was engrossed in what he was seeing meaning it must be important.  Barging his way passed several of his troops, Klavek made his way over to the console. "What is it la’Hom?"

"Sir, I beleive we easily overtook this battery because the crew was firing at something coming down from orbit.  It wasn't a Klingon ship or the Federation shuttle. I believe the Federation starship has launched a rescue mission for their shuttle." replied his subordinate.

"Let me see" Klavek  said pushing aside his subordinate.  Looking at the data and seeing the signature of another Starfleet shuttle make planet fall at such a rapid rate, he was ready to dismiss it as being shot down when he noticed there were no telltales of the ship being hit. No explosions, no debris.  Thinking furiously, he punched a rapid series of commands into the computer and brought up the communications section.

"Unidentified Federation shuttle.  This is ‘echHom Klavek.  I assume you are here to support the rightful leader of the Klingon Empire, Chancellor Martok.  I have warriors who are needed to secure the crash site and the Chancellor.  Make your way to the location I'm transmitting now.  We will continue to press towards the crash site with the rest of the troops and draw the traitorous warriors away from you. Receive these warriors and deliver them to the crash site to secure the future of the Empire!"

---

OOC:
‘echHom = Colonel
la’Hom = sub-commander

[ Karreka, Daughter of Lyyroq, ghintaq of the House of Palkar | Palkar Estate on the Qam-chee River | Qo'noS ] Attn: @RyeTanker @Tae @Griff @Auctor Lucan

The Palkar Estate spread across the riverbank across from the First City. Since the days of Emperor Sompek its occupants had served the Empire with honored distinction. One of its former leaders had even risen to the seat of Chancellor following the death of Chancellor M'Rek in the 791st Year of Kahless. It was from one of the windows of the estate that Lady Larreka looked out across the river at the Hall of Heroes. One day her son would be among the many statues immortalizing the Empire's greatest warriors. She had made sure of it by laying the foundations of his destiny. Karreka was originally for the relatively minor House of Krolt. The only way she could have improved her station was to marry into a larger house and so she did. She never truly loved Leskit of the House of Graf. It was merely a marriage of convenience but did produce one child, Ch’Kan. The child anchored Karreka’s position. Leskit would not divorce her leaving both her and Ch’Kan houseless and him without honor for abandoning them.

Convenience was presented with an opportunity when Leskit initiated an affair with Kurak, daughter of Haleka, of the Great House of Palkar. Kurak, like Karreka, was an ambitious Klingon female. She too was trapped by the male-dominated society of the Empire. Forced to adhere to the wishes of a typical male house head and male ghintaq. But sometimes fate needs a feminine touch to help guide it. And so it was that the aged Moloj, the Palkar ghintaq who ordered Kurak to remain in the Defense Force and service to the Empire until her nephew Gevnar reached the Age of Ascension and made head of the house, met his death. With Moloj out of the way, Kurak given special dispensation to lead the house, something only a few females in the history of the Empire had achieved. Her first act declaring Karreka the new ghintaq and Karreka’s first act was renouncing the selection of Gevnar as future house head and naming her son Ch’kan instead. With her son’s and her positions secure, she and Leskit could divorce, he could bond with Kurak. It was a win for all but Ch’kan.

At the thought of the would-be head of house, Karreka turned to face both Gevnar, now seventeen DIS old, and Ch’kan, eight, sparing on the Mok’bara mat in the Palkar Estate’s dojo.

“I will best you yet cousin,” the younger Klingon cried as he displayed his clawed hands preparing to strike in a series of fast, rough movements.

The elder Klingon boy met the attack with calculated precision demonstrating years of training. “You lack discipline. Focus,” Gevnar responded.

Fury filled Ch’kan as he was thrown to the ground by Gevnar’s block. “Arrrrrggggggg!” he screamed as he leaped back to his feet and charged Gevnar, who easily sidestepped the Klingon youth. Ch’Kan’s momentum sent him beyond the edge of the mat into the arms of his mother.

“Calm yourself!” she ordered. “Gevnar is correct.” Ch’kan thrashed in the arms of Karreka as he attempted to escape and seek vengeance on his opponent. “You will never beat Gevnar as long as you act like a feral targ. Besides, that is enough practice for today. We have other things to prepare for today.”

“Do you mean you have agreed to have my ascension rite, Lady Karreka?” Ch’Kan asked. He had grown anxious ever since reaching the typical age of ascension. It would mean that he would be eligible to take on the leadership of the house should something befall his aunt, uncle, and step-cousin.

“No. Lady Kurak and Lord Leskit are currently away from Qo’noS. Their attendance though not mandatory is highly desired. Besides, it would bring honor for them to be present, perhaps even the Chancellor himself would accept an invitation from Lord Leskit. And General Klag would also attend. No, we must wait until word of the Fifth Battle Fleet’s return before we have any more talk about ascension rites.”

Gevnar’s face remained stoic but deep inside his emotions were as feral as those Ch’kan continued to express as he tried to wiggle his way free of his mother’s grasp. “Understandable,” was his only response.

"We have a lop’no^[1] to attend. I have been informed that your friend R’Ton, has completed his chontay^[2] and will complete ‘his’ Second Rite of Ascension this evening. He is General Klag’s grand-nephew and as such a member of the House of M’Raq, deserving the greatest of cha’nobs.^[3] So I need you two loDHoms ^[4] to help me pick out the best.” Karreka was aware that denying Gevnar’s rite of passage only to attend that of another was a grave insult. She did not care. The only ascension taking place in the House of Palkar while she was ghintaq would be Ch’kan’s.

---

[ Gevnar | Pao’la Open Air Bazaar | First City | Qo’noS ]

Ditching Lady Karreka and Ch’kan was easy in the busy bazaar. Finding the tag graffiti leading to the insurrectionist gathering was not. Ever since his Rite of Ascension was postponed and the declaration that he would not be made head of House Palkar by Lady Karreka, Gevnar had been searching for a way to reclaim his birthright. It wasn’t long until he found this group. Hidden in the underbelly of the First City with connections throughout the Empire existed a radical and extremist group of Klingons opposed to the leadership of Martok and the societal changes he brought. Its members consisted of the discontented, the discommendation, and the dishonorable. A true Klingon’s rogue gallery if such a thing existed. It was here that the survivors of the House of Varnak and similar houses that supported Morjod’s coup against Martok fled. It was here that the impassioned speeches of Kajek were heard in secret. Kajek belonged to a group of Klingons that believed the Empire was weak and had become tamed lapdogs of the Federation.

"We are the only true Klingons left in the Galaxy today. All others have sold out their birthright, their heritage, their right to kill - and for what? For a household and a smile."

Those were the words Gevnar had heard at the first meeting he had managed to locate and they were the words that convinced him it was here that he would find his path to glory. The old ways were the best ways he was preached. Today would be the day that the true Klingons take back control of their Empire. No more being led by the lower castes. No more taking orders by those acting above their station.

The plan was simple. Storm the Great Hall and eliminate the Chancellor and all who followed him. Rumor had it that another cell was planning to take the Federation Embassy as well. The streets of the First City would run with the blood of those that stood in their way.[/color]

---

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larant | Slum Alley | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ]

The longer that Kudesh and Larrant fought the worse the situation got. Pinned as they were with only the corpses of those caught in the crossfire for cover.

"You are a useless warrior Starfleet." Kudesh cursed as he continued to fire at their attackers both on ground level and from above. For everyone he hit, it was as if two replaced them. There was no way House Mo'Kai was this prepared for the Chancellor's return. There had to be more at play here.

_{"I ASSURE YOU. THE VALUE OF MY SERVICE IS FAR GREATER THAN YOU THINK... KLINGON."} Larrant added that last word more or less as an attempt to mimic Kudesh. He knew that in a firefight he was less than efficient. Already his higher conscience began calculating the probabilities and calculus of success. In the time it took Kudesh to form a retort, Larrant had found an exit strategy.

"Why you....."

_{"DO FORGIVE MY INTERRUPTION OF WHAT WAS SURELY TO BE A PROFOUND KLINGON RESPONSE. BUT I BELIEVE I FOUND OUR VICTORY STRATEGY."} Without another word, two compartments opened on the sides of Larrants POD and two extendable manipulator tentacles emerged. Their pincers opened and faced the ground and discharge a jet of plasma that sent the pod soaring to the heavens.

Kudesh stared only a moment at what he thought was the cowardice of a Starfleet officer, then was immediately drawn to the fire the plasma ignited on his uniform pants. While distracted extinguishing himself the surly Klingon missed the fireworks above his head.

Larrant's pod slowed its acceleration a few stories above the highest perched attacker. At that moment his pod's sensors pinged the surrounding horizon. He detected the Sabine. He picked up on life signs approaching it. Klingon but no indications of friend or foe. Having scanned the real Martok, he pinpointed his whereabouts approaching the Great Hall, as well as energy weapons discharge in that area. And off in the distance, a faint Starfleet identifier signal blipped out of existence before vanishing above the nearby river.

"You metallic PetaQ, come back here!"

Even at this height, Larrant could pick up on Kudesh's curses. With a precisely calculated spin maneuver, Larrant blanketed the surrounding area with blue wide-beam phaser fire, targeted specifically to strike targets in the least lethal manner. When Larrant's pod finally came down to hover next to Kudesh, the Klingon could only glare at the swirly gas through the filtered visor.

_{"IF MY CALCULATIONS ARE CORRECT AND THEY USUALLY ARE. WE HAVE EXACTLY 30.25698 SECONDS BEFORE THE LARGEST AND HEAVIEST ARMORED OF OUR ATTACKERS WAKE UP."}

"Stunned. They deserve death for attacking their Chancellor!"

_{"I AM NOT THEIR CHANCELLOR."}

"Bah!" Kudesh turned away from the sight of Larrant and pulled out a communicator. "This is Kudesh, Yan-Isleth to Chancellor Martok. Respond."

_{"IS THAT WISE? DOES THAT NOT GIVE AWAY OUR POSITION?"}

"Like your little light show didn't?" Kudesh was growing impatient with this floating trash compactor.

The impending debate over whose actions were more detrimental toward giving away their position was interrupted by a response from Kudesh's communicator. "This is 'echHom Klavek responding. I have warriors moving toward your position to secure the Chancellor and the crashed Starfleet vessel. However, I am getting reports from throughout the city. It is as if all Grethor has broken loose."

"Acknowledged," Kudesh responded before placing his communicator back in its holster. "Now, we should move."

_{"AGREED, OUR ATTACKERS ARE STARTING TO WAKE UP."}

Kudesh and Larrant dashed away from their recent combat zone. The echoes of recently stunned now very angry Mo'Kai aligned Klingons in pursuit.

CPO Victor vanVinter |Shuttlecraft Tesla| Qo'nos | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan


Victor could swear that he'd heard the sounds of retching coming from the back of the Tesla. The descent had been rough, but not so jarring as impacting the water's surface then, as it was, he was sure that he'd heard more than a little swearing coming from the cargo compartment, the langue he'd heard bringing a smile to his scarred visage. Then, he winks over to Lillee and laughs brightly. "You've still got it, but I think that was more turbulence from the shield configuration than you twisting our bodies into knots. You're losing your touch, Bloodwing." Victor was certainly amused, but it was time to get things ready to deploy. Of course, he couldn't help but tease his friend, however slightly. Taking a brief moment, Victor looked at a camera feed from the cargo compartment and counted what looked like two, maybe three puddles of vomit. "Only three of them hurled. You really are losing your touch." Victor smirked again and cut out the video feed, but not before saving an image from the camera, call it a souvenir for his crazy as the pah-wraiths friend. "Alright, time to start thinking about us going airborne again. We're probably going to be scorching rooftops as soon as we get back above water." Still professional and even as he watches the readout of the distance, and then something else takes his attention, a blinking light on the Comm panel!

Victor finally got an actual reply to his open channel hails; accepting the call and terminating the repeating broadcast, he hears a robust Klingon voice on the other end, voice only for now, and Victor pumps his fist in victory! "Acknowledged 'echHom Klavek, this is the shuttlecraft, Tesla from the USS Theurgy. We support Chancellor Martok. And we have your coordinates." Victor accepted the data packet that had the coordinates and shot that over to Lillee's piloting display so she'd know where to go. "We are currently inbound and will be on-site for your warriors shortly. If you can get us air cover at the crash site, I'll buy you three barrels of Blood wine. And a keg to any pilot crazy enough to fly cover." Victor might also try to appeal to the nature of the Klingons and throw in some alcohol to sweeten the deal, so to speak. 

The pacing of his words quick and professional, but there was an excitement to his voice then. This crazy plan might work. A makeshift hazard team, a shuttle full of Klingon warriors? Yeah, it seemed like they actually had a shot.  Victor was glad that he wasn't a betting man, though, because he still wouldn't actually bet money that everyone was going to get out of here.  His cross-talk with Lillee had stopped for the moment while he was on a channel with the Klingons, and Lillee didn't need his assistance at the present moment. Victor dearly hoped that the Klingons would be able to get them at least some sort of air cover, the Tesla was nice, but it was far from the most maneuverable thing in the air.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sera_vers_Aldnoah) | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]On the Sabine, Sera vers Aldnoah had her helmet off, hair matted to her forehead as she struggled to somehow get her ship space worthy again. Blood and bloody ashes... Haul me over and plough my sideways, this blasted spanner isn't working!

Since box-boy had sauntered off before Kudesh and the Security officers even saw he was gone - parading around as a Martok-copy - Sera was left alone with the broken damn bot on the deck. She certainly wasn't helping, just lying there like a heap of scrap metal and making odd blip-noises, so Sera had to keep an eye out the airlock now and again to make sure she wasn't getting jumped by Klingons, which certainly wasn't any kind of distraction from her repair work. Not at all. The bloody Security officers had run after Kudesh too, following the big cat's orders, so she was all alone. She'd shouted for one of them to remain if that wouldn't have called unwanted attention from the shady figures out there in the darkness.

"What was that about Starfleet looking out for their own?" she asked V-Nine as she tore another panel open, not expecting an answer. "Not leaving anyone behind? Oh, that's right. I'm not Starfleet. Burn me, my mistake. That's fine. Totally fine. Yeah. while they all go save the Galaxy, I'll just try to fix my ship all by my bloody self, thank you very much. Now, don't blame me if I just take off and leave you all to burn in the wind, you blasted hypocrites!"

"Miss Aldnoah?"

Sera jumped from the male voice, and struck her head on the edge of the open panel. Ignoring the pain, she spun around, disruptor raised, only to see a golden exosuit with raised hands standing in the opening of the airlock, the wearer being one of the Security officers that had left a while ago. "Hey, hey! It's us. We couldn't find the Medusan, and Kudesh told us to return here. I'm just letting you know that we've set up a perimeter. Were you talking to someone?"

"No, burn you, I wasn't," she murmured and returned to what she was doing. "You have eyes in your neck or something? Watch the blasted alley then!"

"Understood, we're just outside. Call us if you need anything."

"Sure. Right now, I just need to focus and get what I need from the replicator. Check your comms in case you hear from the others, because I can't bloody well be on top of that as well."

"Yes, ma'am."

Meanwhile, V-Nine just stuttered some monosyllabic static, and Sera had really just hoped she could play some music instead, so that she could be of some damn use.

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae

[Show/Hide]
Lillee was mostly quiet as Victor teased her, only giving him a half smile every now and then, too focused to distract herself with banter. She knew that they were making a complete mess of the Qam Chee river up on the surface, smashing through the water at such an absurd velocity, but Lillee didn't care a wit if some Klingons got wet at the riverside. Complying with Victor's suggestion, she began taking the Tesla higher, the shields deflecting the water away like an arrow.

"Okay, time to come up, reconfigure shields for normal flight when we leave the water. Keep an eye on sensors and standby phasers," Lillee ordered, still concentrating on her sensors as she zoomed the Tesla through the river, navigating its twists and turns. She was flying (well, diving) mostly from memory; it had been, what, ten years since she'd done this in the simulator? Eleven? Still, it seemed to be working so far. Keeping one eye on the holographic map to her side, one eye ahead and one eye on sensors (all good pilots required three eyes, at the least), Lillee judged that the moment had come. She pulled the Tesla up out of the river into the chaos of the First City, smoke rising high from fires all over the city, emerald flashes signifying battles still in progress between Martok loyalists and Gorka's rebels.

"Oh Elements, what a mess," Lillee muttered, eyes wide. She turned into the city itself, flying only just above the rooftops. Disruptor fire from rooftop flashed against the Tesla's shields and Lillee turned a corner to avoid it. "Take care of yourself Chief, please," she said quietly, not even looking at Victor, her eyes fixed ahead. "This looks ugly, even for a Klingon city. Let all the other people be heroic idiots first, yes?"

It didn't take long before they reached the co-ordinates of the Klingon warriors, and Lillee landed the shuttle as quickly as she could inside their cordon, a squad of armed Klingons ready and waiting at the landing area. She called up the aft cameras she opened the door, but Lillee otherwise trusted the team to handle things and the Klingons to behave. That was one thing Lillee had to give the brutes. They were many things, but they weren't the type to use deceit as a battle tactic, not like that.

As the Klingons boarded, Lillee glanced at the map that Victor had pulled up. "I can't drop you right on top of the Sabine," Lillee said, frowning as she examined the hologram, generated by the Theurgy's most recent scans before the Tesla had launched. "I can land...here, in this courtyard, in front of that monument. It has a tall wall around the perimeter, that gives us cover when we land. You will still have distance to travel, but it is the best I can do." Seeing that the Klingons had finished boarding, one of the warriors gesturing at the internal camera, Lillee wasted no time closing the aft door and taking off, heading back down the streets at a relatively modest velocity, even dipping below the rooftops whenever she could.

Lillee tapped the internal comms. "All hands, standby aft for landing in one minute, be ready to disembark fast," she said calmly, concentrating as she slalomed the shuttle from one street to another, zig-zagging her way to the next landing zone. Disruptor fire flashed up at the shields from a ground vehicle up ahead, shield readings fluctuating alarmingly, and Lillee took a detour to bypass it. Soon enough they reached the courtyard and Lillee dropped them inside it. The statue was enormous, representing some Klingon grappling a mythical beast, and Lillee rolled her eyes, repressing the urge to vaporise the thing on general aesthetic principle. Instead, she tapped her internal comms once more.

"We're down. Go, go go."

CPO Victor vanVinter |Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy | First City streets | Qo'nos | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor performed his co-pilot duties well for Lillee, changing up the shields, managing power, handling everything that she was too busy to mess with on a ship this size. Still, his friend did everything exceptionally well, and Victor wasn't going to critique her performance.  With the sights of the city on fire and with disruptor blasts going off in so many directions, it was clear that there was another civil war well underway, or at the very least, the beginnings of one. He dearly hoped that the Klingons would worry mostly about themselves, ideally obviating the need for air cover, but he wouldn't hold his breath there.

Victor glances over to Lillee, and he gets up, prepared to head into the back to take the driver's spot for the Tesla buggy, giving Lillee a pat on the shoulder with his new cybernetic arm before he does go back there. "Elements watch over you, Lillee t'Jellaieu, and I won't be more of a hero today than you."  There was so much that Victor could have said in response. He could have been snarky or full of humor, anything really, but no. Now it was time to be serious.

With a heavy sigh, Victor heads back to the now crowded cargo compartment and wends his way through the Klingons and the rest of the hazard team, the lanky Chief Petty officer taking a phaser off the rack and clipping it to his waist as he goes. His movements not jubilant or excited. There was a grim professional air to Victor even as he goes about the tasks of downloading the maps to the dash of the buggy and starting it up. "Lieutenant Arisaka, Mission's all yours, I'll be your driver from here on out. We've got a few klicks to get to the Sabine Crash site. I'm ready to go as soon as the shuttle is down." He looks to Zark then, giving the Andorian woman a polite nod. "You too, Lieutenant, hop on, and we'll get going soon as the shuttle is down. Anyone else that can hang on to this crazy thing, do so; this is going to be a bumpy ride!"

There was still that grim and ready tone to his voice, and the Senior NCO knew his job. Get to the site with as much of the team as he could, patch the Sabine up enough so that it could break orbit at minimum, and ideally make it back to the Theurgy. He breathes a heavy sigh, not knowing if the Sabine was even recoverable, but at the very least, he'd be doing his best to make sure that the recovery mission was a success.

Victor grips the steering wheel of the buggy tightly enough to make his knuckles go white, and popping sounds come from his organic hand as the knuckles pop. Looking at the altitude readout on the buggy's dashboard, he counts down silently until the Tesla is only a few meters from the ground.  Once the craft is at the 5-meter mark, Victor shouts out in a booming voice. "Tonight we will feast to the honored dead, for today is a good day to die, Qa'pla!" As soon as he hears Lillee shouting over the internal comms, Victor guns the engines of the buggy, and the moment the Tesla's cargo doors open, the buggy would tear out of the cargo compartment like a bat out of hell. It might not be a shuttle, fighter, or an ancient aircraft, but damn did it feel good to unleash his brand of piloting chaos on the streets of the First City.

Lieutenant Arisaka | Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy| First City streets | Qo'nos

Lieutenant Arisaka seated himself in the passenger seat and punched in the Sabine crash site based on the map information they had.  He was peripherally aware of his Andorian Medic taking a seat behind him.  The map provided the quickest route and he nodded at the result. Smiling at the prospect of action he agreed with the sentiments of Chief vanVictor.  "Absolutely Chief!  We get to the crash site, we set up a perimeter and cover vanVictor till he can get the Sabine back up and running. Chief Keyah, find a position to setup top cover for us.  Chief Marcaida go with Chief Keyah.  The rest of us will form a roving perimeter.  Let's roll!"

lagh Yuhmila Pos | Skies above First City | Qo'nos

Lagh Yuhmila Pos finally knew the glory of battle as war raged across Qo'nos and especially in the area around the First City.  Truth be told, she'd never thought this day would come after she'd graduated from flight school and had selected to become a fighter pilot.  The Empire had become decadent and fat under the so called Chancellor, Martok.  The Empire thrived on war and glory and the Federation had robbed the Klingon people of their rightful place as ruling the galaxy and smashing the honour-less Founders.  She'd found her calling when she'd stumbled on an insurrectionist meeting and devoted herself to the cause in secret.  Destroying the Federation would be the first step in putting the Klingon people back on the right path.

She flipped her fighter on it's back and pulled hard back on the control stick trading altitude for energy before diving on another fighter from a rival that supported Martok.  A sustained burst of fire disintegrated the enemy fighter she'd been tangling with and sent another traitor to Grethor, also claiming her third kill of the day.  Scanning around she realized she'd lost her wingman in the melee.  Shrugging it off as no concern, there was still plenty of fighting to be had.  Taking a scan of her instruments, she noticed a very odd energy signature, it definitely wasn't Klingon.  A quick query of her computer pulled up a slew information, mainly several Starlfeet based technologies.  Her mouth pulled back in a feral smile as she increased the throttle of her fighter and headed towards the shuttle.

Arriving just as the shuttle was landing, Yuhmila lined up her sights on the shuttle but had to pull off as it landed behind a building that covered it from any fire.  Pulling around for another run, she lined up again on the shuttle and was distracted as something drove out of the back of the shuttle at high speed.  This caused her fire to slew towards the rear of the shuttle, missing it entirely.  Energy fire exploded around the back of the shuttle doing no appreciable damage in the darkness.

Cursing, she pulled back on her stick to make a top down attack on the shuttle.  Gaining altitude she prepared to pull back over to initiate her attack when warnings began to light up and beep indicating she'd been locked up by a ground based installation.  Yuhmila blanched and attempted to jink out of the way.  She wasn't successful as a pair of disruptor bolts slammed into her fighter's wing and fuselage.  Yuhmila cried out in anger and pain as the fuselage shot exploded into the cockpit and her body. Her training took over as she worked by instinct to stabilize her craft with dying controls.  Juking the stick and adjusting the throttle as well as kicking in the anti-grav system managed to level out the craft around 200 meters above ground. 

Grunting with pain, she knew her fight was over and she needed to find a place to put down.  Burnt flesh and metal assailed her nostrils getting her blood worked up again for a fight, but she controlled the urge sternly. Her controls were shorting out and flickering and she began punching and slamming on the various consoles trying to get them to work, losing all awareness of her situation.  Her fight did end when she suddenly felt her fighter thumping and exploding around her as another trio of fighters shattered her fighter into flaming debris over the First City.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

Lt. Zark took a couple of steadying breaths and grabbed onto the frame of the buggy as the shuttle ramp came down and they went flying out of the rear at high speed.  Chaos exploded behind them as the distinctive sound of rapid disruptor fire and explosions erupted behind her.  The scream of a fighter rapidly passed over head.  Her head whipped around and her eyes widened as the majority of the warriors that were supposed to be accompanying them lay torn or thrown around the impact sites.  Her instincts took over as she opened the comm channel in her suit. "Lieutenant Arisaka, we need to turn around and help those people."   Her heart sank as she saw Arisaka's head shake. "Negative Lieutenant, time is of the essence here.  More Mo'Kai troops are headed towards the crash site and we need to reinforce the site now.  I'm sorry, but they'll have to look after themselves."

Lt. Zark's professional duty stubbornly insisted on helping them anyway as she leaned forward towards the front compartment. "But Sir, there's no way they'll survive.  The city is coming apart around us, there's a good chance..."

"I realize that, but we have a mission" Arisaka interjected, cutting her off. "We're headed to the crash site, do you have a problem with that Lt. Zark?" an edge creeping into his voice.

"No sir." was her formal reply as they sat back in her seat and raised her rifle out the side of the buggy. Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell spared a moment to look back towards the direction of the fallen warriors and her eyes were sad as the buggy sped away from the blasted landing site.

---

lagh = Ensign

---

[Lt. (JG) Jonas Arisaka | Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy| First City streets | Qo'noS] Attn: @Tae @Griff @Auctor Lucan @RyeTanker

Not since the Klingon Civil War of 2368 had the streets of the First City burned with such intensity. Arisaka was not unfamiliar with such chaos but despite that, the sight still caused knots in his gut. Klingon citizens openly engaged in battle in the streets. Off-world tourists ran for cover. Less honorable types took to looting. Fires burned while the streets began to fill with blood. If you asked anyone unfamiliar with the day-to-day life on Qo'noS they may say that this was a typical Thursday.

Directing Chief VanVictor to head down a street filled with smoke may have been a poor decision, however, it was the quickest and most direct path to the Sabine crash site. At least according to the topographical map of the First City on the dash monitor of the buggy. "Cover me," he ordered as he stood to utilize a pair of powered binoculars to see through the haze.

Moments upon standing the Starfleet rover was bombarded by plasma fire. Most of the hits landed against the sparse armor plating of the vehicle, but one managed to strike Arisaka directly in his right shoulder. In an instant, the lieutenant's body went limp, collapsing back into his seat as Rivard grabbed the Tetryon Pulse Launcher that he had mounted in place of the High Powered Phaser Cannon typically installed on the buggy. "Take this you Klingon bastards!" Rivard's face contorted into that of a berserker as he began to vaporize the source of the attack. Perhaps the man had issues best handled by a counselor or maybe there was something darker within him taking hold.

From their pitch high above the city on a spire of one of the buildings, CPOs Marcaida and Keyah witness the whole thing. Marcaida had retrofitted some flight vests and rocket boots to help their quick ascent but now they needed to get to work. "We need to give them cover fire!" exclaimed Keyah. "Agreed," Marcaida responded.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy | First City Streets | Qo'nos]  @Tae @Griff @jreeves1701

The explosion of fire that came from the front came as a complete shock.  One second she was sitting in her seat keeping an eye out potential threats while Chief vanVinter drove like madman through the streets.  Next, they'd stopped and the team leader had decided to see what was going on ahead.  Lt.Zark was about to tell Arisaka to get back in the vehicle when a mass of energy fire erupted at them dropping the team leader in an instant. Rivard, Marcaida , and Keyah sprang into action and began returning fire.  Explosions rocked a building in the distance.

"Chief, back us into cover!" Lt.Zark screamed as her unconscious caught up with the fact that command of the team had just landed on her shoulders.  The vehicle suddenly lurched into reverse around the street corner covering the vehicle from the masses of hostile fire.  If Rivard's return fire had reduced the volume of fire, it was hard to notice.

Kicking her door open, she activated the comm on her wrist PADD "Team, maintain perimeter, starting CFA" she rushed to the seat where Lt. Arisaka was down and slumped.  Pulling out the medical tricorder she began hastily scanning the injured team leader. The results that came back were not good.  His armour was scored in several areas and had taken the majority of the strength of the shot, but an ugly blackened crater covered his shoulder where the shoulder joint met his chest plate.  In other words, it was damned unlucky shot that had penetrated a weak spot on the suit.  The combat medic grimaced at the damage, the shoulder was cauterized, essentially gone, and his life signs were fluctuating madly. 

Ripping his helmet off, the Andorian was greeted by the sight of a Arisaka bleeding from the nose and mouth.  He was also turning slightly blue. "Rivard, get me a med kit!" Grabbing Arisaka's arm, she punched in a combination that overrode the chest plate and pulled it off, then pulling out her combat knife, she cut the heat insulation, sending a spray of liquid in all directions.  Grabbing a hypospray with a combat stabilizer from a pouch, she quickly injected his chest, removed her own helmet, and pulled the unconscious human out of the vehicle onto the ground, then knelt and began madly compressing his chest rapidly to start CPR.  Rivard soon arrived and dumped the med kit next to Lt. Zark before going back to man the vehicle weapon. Finishing her compressions, she tilted his head back, bent over and placed her mouth over his to pump two quick breaths into his lungs.  Looking at the med pack, Lt.Zark quickly opened the kit and found the cardiostimulator and slapping it on his chest.  The on board computer quickly responded. "Scanning, no heart beat detected, initiating charge, stay clear of body, stay clear of body. Delivering charge."  Arisaka's body jumped with the charge when the computer continued.  "Scanning, no heart beat detected, initiating charge." "Computer set charge to 350 millijoules." Lt.Zark overrode the computer. "Acknowledged. Charging. Stay clear of body, Stay clear of body. Delivering charge."  The Lieutenant's body seemed to jump a bit more with this charge. "Scanning, heart beat detected, continue administering medical aid."

Letting out a slight sigh of relief, Lt.Zark didn't feel the corners of her mouth twitch into a grin as she scanned the wound again. Spraying it with a general anti-sceptic to stave off infection, she grabbed the cellular micro-sture to seal off the worst of the damage.  Taking a moment to inject a pain killer, she let out another breath of relief.  Lt. Arisaka would live, but he was definitely out of this fight and probably several more after this.  Movement and a war cry caught her attention as several Klingons came charging out of an alley across the street from the buggy.  Rivard was looking the wrong way and there was no time to swing the vehicle weapon around.  Grabbing the phaser rifle off her back, Lt. Zark quickly threw herself onto the ground blocking Lt. Arisaka with her body and pulled the trigger sending a hail of phaser fire at the attackers.  The wild spray of fire managed to hit most of them, stunning them.  The combat medic grunted as a disruptor shot from the last Klingon hit her square the in the chest knocking her into the unconscious human.  Mildly stunned, her actions were like being mired in syrup to get her rifle back on target. A sudden shot came from above and hit the Klingon in the head causing him to to collapse bonelessly on Lt. Zark.

Breathing hard "Shelat! That was too damned close." the Andorian exclaimed.

"No kidding" came back the Keyah over the team net. "The idiot was going to try to gut you.  Good thing I hit him."

Lt. Zark's breathing began to steady and the mad grin she'd been holding relaxed. "That was a good shot. Thanks".  Pushing the body off and standing up she took stock of the situation, Lt. Zark had some decisions to make.  With a quick nod of her head, she began issuing orders.  "Bloodwing, see if you can plot us another route around the blocking position ahead of us, pass it to Chief VanVictor soonest. Rivard, help me load Arisaka into the buggy.  Keyah, Marcaida maintain overwatch till we're ready to go.".

---

CFA = Combat First Aid

CPO Victor vanVinter |Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy | First City streets | Qo'nos | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan



Tearing through the crowded streets of Qam Chee Victor kept a peripheral awareness of the skies to prevent being strafed by fighters. This nearly happens right as the Tesla's buggy tears out of the bay with a squealing of tires on the deck plating. The green disruptor bolts form the Fighter scorching hot over their heads, impacting against what might've been a storefront of some sort.  Tanks burst and various fluids sluiced out of the shattered windows. From the smells assailing his nose, Victor took the aromas to be blood wine and oils, that is, until he gets a worm in his face. The heavy fragrance of Targ blood about the thing, leaving a reddish ichor on his uniform as the worm of Wistan-Gagh stares him straight in the face.  Victor rips the worm off of himself with a quick motion and shoves it, still squirming down his throat while driving. "Lunch!" While some may think him mad, and indeed, he very well may be, whatever his quirks, Victor made one hell of a driver.

The man was slick as they come and not from the gagh juices that soaked his uniform either. Victor weaved in and out of the First City streets, only glancing at the map display to make turns. Every once in a while, he'd feel more squirming, and Victor would blindly reach for the offending piece of gagh and shove that into his mouth. At the very least, the man was finally getting a meal in the strangest way possible. Calories were calories, though, and he wouldn't argue with it, though he'd have preferred nearly any other species of gagh. Wistan-gagh would ruin his uniform. The squeals of tires and brake pads alternate as Victor takes corners like a madman, downshifting as needed, popping the hand brake when needed to make an exceptionally sharp turn around the corner.

Zark was right, and Victor was indeed driving as a man possessed. The look of sheer focus and determination wouldn't be out of place behind the stick of a Valkyrie, and here he was in a ground vehicle that he made to scream and squeal around every corner. Sometimes the showiness was warranted when they needed to evade what looked like an armored personnel carrier of some sort, the Chief driving through a narrow alley barely wide enough for the vehicle to fit, though. Pieces of brick and mortar flying out behind them as the rear driver side panel clips the building sending a spray of debris out behind them just before a disruptor cannon hits where the buggy should have been.

When Zark gives him the order to find cover for the buggy while they were passing through what looks like a market square, Victor sees an alcove he can just squeeze the buggy into and jams the handbrake and wheel brake, causing an unholy racket of metallic shrieks to fill the air. The efforts are most successful as the buggy drives around a central fountain that probably depicted Kahless, and the buggy comes to rest, slamming into a wall of containers, which happen to burst, showering the passengers and intrepid Cheif in warm Bloodwine. At the very least, they were in an alcove about 4 meters by 4 meters, with buildings overhanging them, and backed into the spot. He hoped that it would give Zark time to do what she needed to do. However, his focus was on the surrounding area, not whatever the medal-chasing Arisaka was doing, dying apparently.

That's when the APC chasing them comes around the corner, and the Klingons open fire. Victor ducks down behind the dash as the disruptor fire scores the front of the buggy.  "Lieutenant, whatever you're doing, we gotta do it on the move! This is becoming too blasted unfriendly!"

After Zark and company are loaded back up

Victor doesn't even wait for new directions or orders. Instead, he guns the engine hitting the pedal to the metal. The away team was tearing out of the cover into hell itself, the firing Klingons. And just when it looks like the course is set, the Chief pulls the hand brake and powerslides the buggy into the group of Klingons, likely hitting a few, possibly killing some. Then, without a moment's hesitation, Victor takes off away from the APC down the nearest street that he could see the other end of. The last thing he wanted to do was get trapped in a dead-end.

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae

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It was the height of irony that despite the rest of the team being in a primitive wheeled vehicle, and Lillee flying a maneuverable and shielded craft capable of travelling faster than light, it was Lillee who was having the most trouble getting to the Sabine crash site. She had hoped that the raging civil war in the streets, not to mention the enormous Federation dreadnought orbiting a couple hundred kilometers overhead, would be a powerful distraction.

Instead, the Klingons reacted faster than Lillee could've ever imagined. It had only been fifteen minutes since she'd flown out of the river, barely five since she'd dropped off the away team, and already the Klingons were reacting to destroy the Starfleet shuttlecraft flying in their city. Lillee tried to follow the team, at first noting Victor's psychotic driving with amusement, but increasing Klingon resistance forced her to get creative with her evasive maneuvers. She had tried to venture over the rooftops only for an emerald disruptor beam from one of the tallest buildings to miss her by a hair, the shuttle's shields crackling at the near miss, and Lillee had been shaken at the realisation that the ground-to-space weapon was designed to destroy starships, not shuttles. If it had hit her, she would've been dead in an instant, shields or no shields.

Confined to claustrophobic low altitudes, Lillee still had to contend with some very determined Klingons who took objection to her flying in their city. She followed the buggy around one corner only to see a bulky vehicle with a humungous disruptor cannon on its back waiting at the end of the street, and only quick reflexes had Lillee fire her weapons first, a phaser beam destroying the artillery. The ambush was well-laid, though, and even as the buggy zoomed down the street, the shuttle rattled as Klingon troops on rooftops to either side opened fire. The handheld disruptors were little more than a nuisance, but the anti-vehicle heavy weapons (flecked with antimatter, of course, the Klingons being complete lunatics) caused the shields to flicker and alarms to flash on Lillee's panel. She reversed, spun around and flew back the way she'd come, muttering rihannsu curses under her breath. She couldn't survive another ambush like that one.

As she tried to navigate the war-torn streets, keeping an eye on the holographic map and the buggy as she tried to catch up, Lillee noted when the buggy stopped for a brief period, then proceeded to start driving again. Busy keeping an eye on her sensors, having ordered the computer them to detect Klingon lifesigns and overlay them on her forward viewport, Lillee dodged yet another heavy weapons team, and took some satisfaction in vaporising them with a phaser hit, annihilating an entire floor of the large shopping centre they'd been firing from. She was still working off the fright and raging adrenaline of that encounter when she recognised a woman's voice over the comms. The Andorian lieutenant? Had to be, right?

"Bloodwing, see if you can plot us another route around the blocking position ahead of us, pass it to Chief VanVictor soonest."

Taking a moment for some peace and quiet as she lowered the shuttle into the (questionable) cover of a destroyed building, Lillee checked her holographic map, happy to see that the buildings around her were free of infestation. She was a good three hundred meters behind the buggy now, having been strategically driven further and further away by Klingon heavy weapons teams, mobile artillery and even an adventurous Klingon fighter. The buggy was only a hundred meters away from the Sabine, but sure enough, the shuttle's sensors detected the mass of Klingon lifesigns in their path, and indeed, in every possible path between the away team and Sabine.

"Fvadt," Lillee cursed under her breath, examining the holo-map closely. "The Klingons are learning. I hate it when they do that." She winced as she realised that there was only one option, and it was surely only an option because the KIingons assumed nobody would be psychotic enough to try it. "Bloodwing to vanVinter. I'm cut off, I can't get to you. The Klingons have barricaded every direct ground access point to Sabine against you, but there's a ramp eighty meters northwest of you to an elevated highway that spans across the commercial district. Get up to it, drive north for a hundred meters, and the Sabine will be directly below you, twenty meters below, to your left. I'm transmitting the route to your buggy's computer now. I'm reading nine Klingon lifesigns on that highway. Do you copy?"

CPO Victor vanVinter |Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy | First City streets | Qo'nos | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor drove like a madman, slamming into the Mo'kai that were firing on them, the sounds of armor and bone-crunching as he slams them aside with the heavy vehicle., the sound of tires, and brakes screeching into the night along with Klingon howls of pain and anguish. Victor drove. Continuing towards the rough location of the Sabine was the only goal right now. And getting the team to the site, well, that was half of why he was here. So the madman drove.

Hearing Lillee's voice buzzing in his comm, a devilish smile comes to his face as he notices what she's talking about. How could he miss it, the barricades, and then an accidental ramp that looked to be formed from shipping containers? It wouldn't last long under the weight of the buggy, and they'd come down badly, but it wasn't like he saw any other options. There were no good ones that didn't have them dismounting and fighting their way over the obstruction slowly and bloodily at the very least. Victor slams his foot down and activates the comms, knuckles giving the steering wheel a death grip, knuckles white with tension.

"Troubleshooter copies Bloodwing. Ramp eighty meters northwest, I see it!" There was an excited tone in his voice, one that Lillee would be all too familiar with from their time flying together. The away team quickly approaches the gauntlet of House Mo'Kai troops. Their weapons fire was closing in, disruptor blasts frying the air creating a sizzling sound and a flash of green light whenever one of them hit the buggy. It was now or never, no time for evasive maneuvers! Victor guns the engine. With a soft whine, the engine spins up, and the wheels squeal against the flagstone streets of Qam Chee!

Nearing the ramp moving at maximum acceleration if not maximum speed, Victor shouts out to the rest of the team. "Hold on, everybody, this is gonna be cool!" keying the coms once more, Victor speaks up in a cheerful tone of voice.

"Troubleshooter to Bloodwing, you better be recording this because..." And at that moment, the buggy hits the ramp, and pictures of old Earth entertainment and the cultural zeitgeist of Earth hit him full force, The Half-Bajoran letting out a rebel yell into the blazing Qo'nos night. "Yeeeeee-Hawwwww!!!" The sound of sheer delight and madness ringing out in time with the new silence of the sound of wheels moving against nothing, pure air, the buggy airborne.  As a disruptor blast hits the roll bar behind Victor for a moment, the briefest of instants really, there's a green halo of dissipating energy forming a ghostly halo around his head that to a particular eye may resemble a long extant piece of Earth headwear.

The flight through the air lasts only a few seconds, and then the buggy comes down hard on the front axle. The snapping and shearing of metal echoes through the courtyard near where the sabine was. The chaos and carnage weren't quite over then, as the whole vehicle bounces and spins. The crew restraint system triggering, everyone becoming covered in crash safety foam, sealing them up for the time it would take for the vehicle to come to a full and complete crash stop. Skittering and spinning, the entire vehicle rotates on three axes like a demented ballerina. Enshrouded in crash foam, the away team feels little of this, save for the vector changes and disorientation of being trapped in something akin to a giant marshmallow. After another few meters of the demented ballet of a wreck, the crash foam begins to dissolve, the vehicle sensors noticing no more dangerous vector changes. And so they all found themselves in the wrecked Tesla buggy, upside down.

Victor pipes up in that same dry yet cheerful tone of voice he'd used when giving the flight safety brief back on the Theurgy. Clearly, he'd had fun. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your trip with vanVinter speedways. We hope you have enjoyed our driving experience." And with that, Victor hits the release on his safety harness and carefully drops out of the inverted vehicle. He then scrambles to his feet, already moving to get his toolbox for the shuttle repairs.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@Tae @jreeves1701 @Griff @Auctor Lucan

Trying to perform first aid procedures while vanVinter drove around was more akin to waiter trying to deliver a full cup of tea in middle of a hurricane.  It seemed like every time Lt. Zark tried to get the precautionary cervical collar on to Arisaka's neck, vanVinter would have to dodge something hostile and potentially life ending, thus a procedure that should have taken a minute or two was taking exponentially longer than anticipated.

Stupid APC showing up at damn stupid time. The Andorian thought to herself petulantly.  It was a good thing she'd wedged herself securely between seats otherwise she'd have been tossed about and then the combat first aid would have been up to vanVinter to execute.  It would be enough to make her shiver if she hadn't been so busy.  The last turn vanVinter made was almost too sharp causing Lt.Zark to fall across the unconscious Lt.Arisaka.  She was about to turn and tell the mad Chief to keep the buggy stable for a short period of time when she saw the ramp ahead of them. He can't be serious. she thought as her mouth dropped in disbelief as she was pressed towards the back of the buggy as it was gunned for max acceleration.  Deciding there was no time, Zark snapped the cervical collar in place and quickly got back in her seat while hoping for the best, then slamming the restraint button on Lt. Arisaka's seat as they flew through the air.  vanVinter's exultant rebel cry echoed through the war torn and emerald lit night; and all Zark could really do was stare bug eyed and wide mouthed as the buggy made it's way serene way down to solid ground with a loud violent metal snap and crash.

Lt.Zark was almost violently thrown and whipsawed from the vehicle, then the restraint system lashed out and caught her like a set of metallic tentacles.  This was followed by the crash foam system engaging and all of a sudden seeing nothing but white, but being brought to an oh so sudden, but comparatively gentle stop.  The computer was much quicker at bringing her back to reality as the counter agent was dispensed and the foam began to dissolve.  Sensations began to return and the first was gravity. What in Shelat?? We're upside down?  A quick look out the side showed nothing but ground and debris. Huh, I guess we are.  The mad driver's bubbly irreverence brought the combat medic back to the situation at hand as he quickly broke his way out of overturned buggy and rushed off to begin repairs on the Sabine. 

Incoming fire impacts caused Lt.Zark to jerk suddenly and encouraged her into action as she released her safety harness and fell onto her back with a grunt.  Quickly reorienting herself towards Arisaka as dents and holes began to appear in the door. Quickly slapping the comm on her PADD "Team, gimme a sitrep and I need help in here to move Arisaka."

"Mierda, that was some crazy shit.  Not the craziest, but still crazy." came Marcaida over the comm. 

Keyah could only grunt in acknowledgement as phaser fire and disruptor impacts sounded over her comm channel.  "Moving to higher ground." Keyah updated as she took flight to a position above the battlefield.  Several disruptor bolts followed her flight, but only served to pock mark the building she was heading to.

Chief Rivard precluded the need for a report as he grunted and landed on his back next to the door Lt.Zark needed to exit with a heavy thump.  His chest plate was smoking having clearly been shot, but he groaned and got up onto his elbows before crawling over to the buggy door and ripping it open.  Lt.Zark looked over for a second to see who it was before nodding and outlining her hasty plan. Chief, grab his shoulders and cradle his neck! I'll release his straps and get the rest of the body!"  Rivard nodded in return and held on tight to the hanging Lieutenant as Zark hit the strap release and catching him just as gravity got ahold of his body.  Gently carrying Arisaka out of the quickly collandarizing buggy, to two Starfleet rescuers carried him to a half destroyed section of wall.  Green disruptor fire flew all around them, a near miss almost causing Zark to almost trip and drop Arisaka, but she recovered and kept on going.

Zark and Rivard propped Arisaka against the wall and she continued to check his vitals with the medical tricorder.  Rivard popped back over the wall and returned fire into the night.  Zark needed more supplies and looking around she realized there was only one place they could be.

The jump while undeniably effective in getting the group to the crash site had also completely buggered their ability to offload the desperately needed weapons, medical supplies, and parts.  Surveying the scene, Lt.Zark quickly came to the uncomfortable conclusion, they were going to need to combat mule the supplies out as quickly as possible. "Marcaida, Keyah, give Rivard and I covering fire, we're going for the supplies in the buggy."  A chorus of acknowledgements flowed in.  Taking a few steadying breaths and forming the crazy grin on her face, Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell got to her feet, and ran towards the buggy firing her rifle from the hip.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sera_vers_Aldnoah) | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]Meanwhile, Sera had been trying to repair the Sabine while the House Mo'Kai Klingons were advancing on her crashed ship. All that stood between her dear, trusted craft and its destruction were two desperate Starfleet officers from the Oneida, whom had taken cover and were holding off the Klingons as best as they might with the power cells they had to spare for their phaser rifles. During the dire circumstances, it wasn't lost on Sera that trying to repair the Sabine while it was being shot at was like trying to pour sand into a leaking basket, or if she'd been from the Water Region on Câroon, she supposed the analogy would have something to do with bailing a boat with a leaking hull.

"Yes!" she exclaimed when the display before her told her that the anti grav emitters on the ventral side of the ship were online, only to see the running diagnostic announcing that the hull was compromised in another place. "Blast it!"

V-Nine's only comment was a sad bleeping sound.

In a fit of sudden rage, Sera left her helmet behind, raked her hair back from her yellow eyes and strode out of the airlock with her disruptor raised. "Burn you!" she screamed across the helmets of the two Starfleet officers that had bunkered down behind some solid stone cover, and she opened fire against the moving shadows in the wide alley, who ducked into cover. "Burn you all!"

That was when the figure of something large came down unto the alley... and the massive impact of some kind of vehicle had Sera crouch down and take some cover. Metal pieces clattered across the cobblestones and whatever the vehicle had been before, it was hard to make out what it was in the darkness. The flickering lights of fire and renewed disruptor bolts revealed a Starfleet insignia, however, which had Sera frown. If that was their rescue, it had just crashed, and they were on their own nonetheless. Sera would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact that it was her own flaming arse on the line. "Blood and ashes, are you kidding me?"

The blasted ground vehicle couldn't be on it's own, however, because Sera believed it had to have come from some deployment craft. It meant there might be more coming, and it renewed her hope that her efforts with the Sabine hadn't been in vain. More so, when she could see figures crawling out of the overturned ground vehicle. "Give them some cover fire, burn you!" she told the two Oneida officers, who saw what she'd seen, and began to fire against the Mo'Kai warriors in the shadows once more. And when she said that....

...she got an idea. Given the repairs she'd made already, perhaps...?

"Keep firing! I'm powering up her pulse phase cannon!" she announced, and ducked back inside her ship once more. She'd kept the Sabine powered down, running on the stand-alone repair energy reserve for diagnostics, but if the cavalry was there, it was time to bite back for real. She ran to the cockpit, put her disruptor aside, and ran a systems check to make sure her ship wouldn't blow up before she engaged the small warp core. It would flare up on all sensors within miles, even orbital sensors, but with the pressure House Mo'Kai were applying in the belief Martok was still in the neighbourhood, Sera had no choice. They were no longer alone, so it was now or never. "Computer, speak to me!"

[Direction unclear. Please repeat request.] Music to her ears. There wasn't enough juice for shields, but...

"Access fore phaser cannon! Initiate sentry mode!" Sera looked out the cracked glass of her cockpit. "Target hostile forces!"

[Automatic defence procedures initiated,] said the Computer, and below the nose-cone, the Sabine's swivelling pulse phase cannon deployed itself, and opened rapid fire against the Klingons that were shooting at her. That had to be enough to help the newcomers clear away from the crashed shuttle, at least, and she could hear one of the Oneida officers speak to one of them through the open airlock.

"You're a welcome sight, Chief Petty Officer! Petty Officers Nilheimer and Demander, and we're from the USS Oneida, codename 'Freedom Sentinel'!" More weapons fire was heard, before Nilheimer continued. "The pilot is inside, but Captain Ives and Chancellor Martok have already headed for the Great Hall! We have no comms system online, but they ought to be there already unless something happened to them on the way! Are you from the Theurgy?"

Sera left the cockpit to see who their new company was, and picked her helmet up on the way. She spotted a scarred guy, while others were yet to reach the Sabine, so she cocked a hip and addressed the man with the toolkit. "What took you so long?" she asked in good enough humour, her hopes up. "Sera vers Aldnoah. By the looks of that thing you landed with, it seems my ship is our only means of escape now, so let's have at it, shall we?"

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

Their escape was narrow. The Mo'Kai warriors descended on them quickly. Kudesh demanded that the metallic sphere accompanying him follow him to protect the Chancellor. However, the monotonic computer-generated voice would not comply, instead, it droned on about the need to return to the Sabine. In then the surly Klingon conceded. With a squad of Mo'Kai warriors tailing them, the duo managed to reach their destination. What they found was a dangerously pinned-down Sabine, flanked on all sides. The remnants of an all-terrain vehicle smoldering off to the side suggested that much had happened since they left.

"Grrrrr... see what your masquerade has caused!" Kudesh exclaimed as he punched Larrant's metal casing.

"PERHAPS. BUT NOT UNEXPECTED. THERE WAS A PROBABILITY RISK THAT THE SABINE WOULD HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH OR WITHOUT MY RUSE. THE PROBABILITY OF THE CHANCELLOR BEING ATTACKED ON THE WAY TO THE HIGH COUNCIL AS WELL. NEITHER WAS 0 PERCENT. THE ONLY MANIPULATABLE...."

"Silence. Never tell me the odds of combat." Kudesh interrupted as he took aim at the nearest Mo'Kai warrior. They now flanked the ones in front of them but soon the ones coming up their rear would flank them. The time for debate was over.

"OUR SUCCESS PROBABILITY RATE WOULD BE GREATER FROM A NUMERICALLY HIGHER VANTAGE POINT."

"What?" Kudesh responded with a confused look as Larrant's pod secured itself against Kudesh's back. The medusan's manipulator arms wrapped themselves around Kudesh and then jets of plasma exhaust propelled the duo upwards to the rooftops.

"HIGH GROUND ADVANTAGE."

The duo landed on a rooftop above the crash site surprising two Mo'Kai warriors who had already had placed themselves there. Larrant released Kudesh who landed on top of one of the warriors. Kudesh quickly overpowered the Mo'Kai warrior and threw him over the rooftop, sending him crashing to the ground below. Kudesh's wish to savor the sound of his victim's splat was ruined when he turned to check on the Medusan.

Larrant's pacifism would not allow him to harm the other Mo'Kai warrior. Instead, the two were in a hand-to-hand competition with neither taking advantage of the other. For every strike the warrior made, Larrant would block.

"Kill him already or shall I."

"LIFE ENERGIES ARE SACRED."

"I promise you he doesn't see it that way and will snuff yours if you don't finish him." Kudesh couldn't see how Medusan's had advanced so far with such weakness.

"PLEASE KLINGON, YIELD," Larrant instructed to his opponent.

"I will rip you to scrap!!!" The Mo'Kai warrior screamed as he charged toward Larrant.

With agility only possibly through mechanical means, Larrant maneuvered sideways as the warrior's forward momentum propelled him forward and over the roof ledge. Neither Kudesh nor Larrant could relish the victory of not one but two street splats fore the first one had drawn attention to their position and both were being attack by phaser blasts from the street.

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan


Victor nodded politely to Zark, and he smirks. This was the last chance he'd get for levity until they were in the air again, so he took it. "Yeah, well, you haven't seen what I can do in a stripped-down starfighter." Victor gave a showy wink then as he begins heading towards the Sabine. Noting that the Sabine seemed to be powering up and then failing, that put him immediately on edge. It was a battlefield, disruptor blasts lighting up the sky, fires in the distance, absolute chaos as if the Klingons were well on their way to yet another Civil War. It could have been anyone who had entered the modified fighter and tried to get it to take off.

His pace slows from a run to a cautious walk. The tall Senior NCO was undoubtedly on edge, having no clue if these were Klingons, Starfleet, or even allies of any sort that were trying to power the craft up. And then it happens, the pulse phase cannon on the Sabine roars to life, and bolts of energy start flying over their heads, but not at them. That sent a shock through him. He was used to simulations of space combat and had only ever received minimal ground forces training, but the lanky gentleman knew the basics. Hit the dirt when the shooting starts.

Not immediately recognizing the trajectory of the blasts, Victor throws himself to the ground dropping the toolbox with him. The sound of banging and metal clattering echoing slightly from when he hits the deck. Hearing the sound of ostensibly friendly voices, Victor looks up and slowly picks himself up, grabbing the toolbox. Blinking dust and confusion from his eyes while doing so.

"No shit, your comms are offline. We thought there weren't any survivors, or you'd all bugged out!"  He sounded mildly winded then, like he'd just taken a rock, or piece of debris to the chest when he'd hit the ground. Taking a moment to try to process that, he'd indeed recognized the names of Martok and Ives, but everything else might as well have been Elvish as far as he was concerned.

"Look, I was an Ice Cube not even 12 hours ago. So long as you're not going to shoot our asses off, we're here to help you fix your ship." He regards Sera curiously, taking her in. Yep, she was absolutely a civilian, like the manifest had said for the Sabine. He'd taken a brief amount of time before the Tesla had entered the atmosphere of Qo'nos to access files on the Sabine and its pilot. Though the look he gives the Sabine is far more critical, the experienced NCO is doing his best to assess any visible damage. From how the ship had failed to lift, it was clear that the anti-gravity systems were at least partially offline, and likely the engines as well. He almost gets lost in the quick visual inspection before returning to himself to answer Sera.

"We're from the Theurgy, yes.  We've got a shuttle that's trying not to get shot down. Anyway, let's all be friends here. I brought a repair kit. How about you tell me what you need me working on, and we get this bird back in the air, yeah? Other than the anti-gravity systems and comms." Victor still wasn't sure about all of this, and he'd wished that Arisaka had given an actual briefing instead of a medal-winning pep-talk to start things off. As far as he was concerned, though, the medal chaser had gotten what he'd deserved. Shot, and probably killed. Honestly, the man had learned more about the mission from looking at maps and files on the ship and Lillee's work playing air cover and guide than he had at the start of the mission.

Victor looks for confirmation to Zark, and the rest of the away team, hoping that someone else could verify at least some of what he'd just gotten from Sera and the Security officers. Right now, he seemed inclined to trust them and get the hell out of here, but he wasn't the one in command.  Despite taking charge conversationally, Victor relents and defers the Andorian combat medic, the actual officer. "What do you think, Lieutenant Zark? You're mission commander right now, and this is your call.  Do we trust them?"

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@jreeves1701 @Tae @Griff @Auctor Lucan @BipSpoon

The mad dash back to the overturned and smoking buggy must have taken the Klingons by surprise.  Zark and Rivard ran as fast as they could being briefly highlighted by emerald fire, but it was no where near as much as was being directed to another position and the Sabine.  Maybe some of the surprise suppressive fire worked, who knew?  A few shots came close and kicked up sparks and dust as they landed nearby.  A few shots could have singed her head if it hadn't been for the exosuits helmet and all the protection it afforded.  Dropping onto her knees at full speed, she slid and twisted towards the buggy.  A quick application of thrust got her to stabilize and she felt a thump as her right arm hit buggy.  Rivard slammed in behind her then worked his way ahead, using the buggy as cover before leaning out.  Zark opened up a compartment and began sorting out what she could get at, the sound of impacts against the opposite side grew louder and more close together as disruptor shots struck home.  A sudden electric explosion on the opposite side seemed to rock the buggy slightly and her head shot up.  Taking a moment to finish securing the medical backpack, she poked her head over the top of the buggy and grimaced.  "Looks like they hit a power generator.  I think a power cell blew up." Ducking back down quickly as a flash of sparks erupted in front of her face, Rivard quickly localized and began firing in the direction of the shot that had almost hit the Andorian in the head.  She grabbed a collapsible stretcher and quickly opened it before piling more supplies on.  Opening another compartment, she paused and smiled as she laid eyes on the portable shield generator.  The increasing amount of incoming fire was telling as a series of shots punched straight through the buggy and exploded beside her.  Grabbing the generator, she quickly set it up and oriented it towards the enemy. 

Spotting one last container of supplies that vanVinter had packed, she mag locked it to Rivard's back.  She hoped the Chief could use what was in the container.  Giving herself a second to see if there was anything else she could grab and deciding there was nothing else for the moment, Zark tapped her comm.  "Rivard, time to go.  I'm going to activate the shield generator, we grab the stretcher with the supplies and run back to Arisaka."  Rivard acknowledged and fired a few more shots in the enemy's direction before moving to one end of a heavily loaded stretcher. "Let's go!." Lt.Zark shouted as she hit the activation button on the shield generator.  The generator made a distinct powering up sound and with a snap thrum, it projected a shield out to the maximum aperture setting of the system.  The generator wouldn't hold for long, and the shield surface began to ripple as disruptor shots slammed into the energy field.  Rivard and Zark grabbed each end of the stretcher and ran back to the wall where they left Arisaka.  Lt.Zark took a moment to catch her breath. 

"Looks like the shield' still good ma'am.  I'm going back for more stuff."  With that, Rivard dropped his load and leapt over the wall and ran off towards the buggy.  Lt.Zark was about to tell Rivard to hold his position when her comm came to life with vanVinter's voice detailing what the Sabine was doing on Qo'nos. "What do you think, Lieutenant Zark? You're mission commander right now, and this is your call.  Do we trust them?" Lt.Zark's eyebrows shot up in shock.  The Captain and Martok aren't here?  They've gone to the Great Hall?   Her mind racing a mile a minute with all the possibilities and consequences.  Her subconscious awareness registered several Klingons attempting to flank Rivard and she leaned over the wall to fire several bursts in their direction she might have hit one, she wasn't sure as they scurried back into cover.

Her mind returned to the issue at hand. "Computer, display all Starfleet personnel within 100m of the Sabine in blue and all Klingons in red."  The computer pulled up a holographic map that showed a sparse number of blue dots with several red surrounding them.  It looked like the fighting around the Sabine and potential presence of the Chancellor had drawn several more loyalists to the area.  A couple of dots with the names Nilheimer and Demander showed up and Zark's brow furrowed at this.  Below their names showed Security and USS Oneida which caused her eyebrows to go back up again. USS Oneida? What ship is that?  What's she doing here?  Is she here to help? "Computer, show the general arcs of fire for the Oneida crew" A blue wedge extened out from their position away from the Sabine.  In a fight, this was the best evidence the two unknowns were here to help.

"Chief, unless you can see any evidence to the contrary, we trust them. Get those repairs expedited and give me an eta soonest. Out. She tapped another combination on her suit PADD. "Bloodwing, see if you can tie together all the Starfleet sensors around the crash site for battle management. I need a better picture of who is where and who's shooting at what. Keep me updated on threats and potential penetrations. Try to keep an eye out to 2 kilometers. Out"

With those immediate tasks completed, Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell remembered it was time to report in to Theurgy.  Tapping on her PADD once more, the beeps of a connection sounded. "This is Lt.Zark to Theurgy. The shuttle Tesla has made plane fall. The away team has encountered stiff resistance and made it to the crash site.  Chief vanVinter is commencing repair and will provide ETA.  Lt. Arisaka is down and I've assumed command.  We have encountered Starfleet personnel from the Oneida at the crash site engaging hostile forces at this time. Please advise on purpose here.  The Captain and Chancellor Martok are not, repeat NOT at the crash site. They are headed to the Great Hall. Our perimeter is holding for the time being and there are friendly Klingon forces fighting their way to our location.  Requesting reinforcements and air support. Out"

Hopefully she'd covered all the necessary information and she had to get back to her immediate situation. Tapping her PADD one last time, she opened a broadcast to all Starfleet personnel. "This is Lt.Zark of USS Theurgy.  I'm assuming command of the Sabine perimeter.  Marcaida,  head to the location of the Oneida crew and relieve them. Nilheimer and Demander, when a Starfleet exosuit appears, head to the Sabine one at a time and I'll guide you over for more munitions. Friendly Klingon forces are on the way and Theurgy has been made aware of our situation.  Keyah, after Marcaida reaches the Oneida crew, shift your fires to cover Rivard.  Okay people, now we just need to hang on."

With that, Lt. Zark closed the comm channel and pulled her medical backpack off to work on the unconscious Lt. Arisaka.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sera_vers_Aldnoah) | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]That the scarred man brought a repair kit was music to Sera's ears, and her yellow eyes lit up in joy. "Burn me, I could bloody kiss you. Come, this way, I'll show you."

As she made it back inside the Sabine, she could hear chatter over the comms from the repairman's combadge, but she didn't pay much attention to it. Her priority was the Sabine and getting away from the war zone and off the blasted planet. Once inside, she put her helmet aside again, never having put it on in the first place, along with her disruptor. "Don't mind the Savi robot on the deck. She's broken too, but she won't be able to take us off this planet anyway." V-Nine made stutter of hurt bleeps before Sera continued. "First of all, cut me some slack here, because I don't speak Starfleet when it comes to the guts of this girl. I call it as I see it, and you just translate it as best as you might, okay?" she said and brought up her running diagnostic, which showed the steady ebb and flow of the power levels - synced with the staccato discharges of the pulse phaser cannon.

"The hit she took from the the bloody AA turret on the way down was partially dampened by the escape pods beneath our feet. I've more or less given up on the compromised hull, instead prioritised the bloody integrity field to patch the holes long enough to get her back on the Theurgy for proper repairs. Three shield emitters looks fine, two needs replacement or repairs. Still, can't generate enough power to raise shields 'cause a couple of power conduits are compromised but I have rerouted past those sections. That means output is at... what? 40 blasted percent, at best? Comms isn't a priority, inertial dampeners are dodgy, and you already know about the anti grav emitters for launching. I've got partial weapon systems online, as one of the Rawley cannons not responding."

Sera raked some hair back from her eyes and turned to the scarred Starfleeter. Winter something? "Had the computer put the phaser on sentry mode, but if we're to do something about the flaming power grid, then I suppose we have to power down the bloody warp core again, and those outside won't get any help from the cannon I deployed. Your call, I guess, because you may know something I don't about this Federation tech and the safety of working on them when there is juice in the relays."

She would definitely defer to the Starfleeter in that regard, because since the Sabine underwent a refit on Starbase 84, he didn't feel too confident about tinkering with the more advanced components. The old, rusty version of the Sabine that she'd bought in a scrapyard? Oh, he'd known the guts of that bird inside out after all they'd been through together.

Whatever was happening outside the Sabine, Sera didn't know, but eventually, Nilheimer and Demander showed up, taking cover and asking for directions to get new power cells or something. By that time, Sera was already hard at work, following the instructions of the actual repair expert on board.

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Hearing Zark's affirmative answer to trust the personnel from the Oneida was a relief to Victor. A small smile tugs at the corner of his scarred features as she starts forward, holding the toolbox with both hands. He begins running the last few meters to the sabine, having to sidestep pieces of debris and the ground around the craft. Edging around a small pile of rubble from something he couldn't identify, probably masonry, the lanky half Bajoran has to twist himself to get through the rough ground. The twist to the left is the only thing that saves him.

A pair of long-range disruptor bolts fly through the air on a course towards Victor. The first of the blasts impact his freshly installed cybernetic arm. The green energy sizzles quickly through the thin plating and delicate electronics beneath it. A jolt of pain from the disruptor wracks Victor. He collapses to the ground with the ground on top of the toolbox. The surprised and pained scream surprising even him. He wasn't aware that the arm even had pain sensitivity. The quick collapse to the ground manages to save him as well, the second of the paired disruptor bolts searing a burning line across his back. The smell of cooked flesh permeating his nostrils. That one just plain hurts, though.

The functionality in his arm ceasing, the fingers splay open, letting go of the handle of the repair case. The pain sensitivity of the arm ceasing the moment it shuts down. Letting out a loud Curse, Victor hauls himself to his feet and drags the case one-handed the final few meters into the Sabine. With clenched teeth, he takes cover inside the small craft, thankful to be out of the line of fire. Casting a look at Sera, Victor holds up a finger to signal that he needs a moment.

Raising his non-functioning hand, he turns it around, inspecting it as much as showing it off. "I just got this blasted thing. This messed-up hand is going to slow me down. How about you work on the anti-gravity, and I work on the inertial dampeners. I'll do what I can, Ma'am, but with one hand, this is going to be a bear of a task."

His words were pained, and his breathing was harsh and labored. This injury wasn't as bad as being burned in the explosive landing of a Peregrine Fighter against the Borg at earth. And it wasn't the come necessitating exposure to hard vacuum, Jovian radiation belts, and plasma fire melting his arm. But it was still pretty bad.  He was running on pure Adrenaline right now, heart racing, sweating profusely, all while covered in the Targ blood from the Wistan Gagh and some blood wine.

Hitting his combadge with his right hand, just as his vision begins to swim from the dazzling pain he was in, Victor screams into the comms. "Medic! I'm about to pass out!" Forcing himself to think, Victor unseals the repair kit for Sera and slumps back. The man needed some painkillers to be more functional right now. The angry charred flesh on his back signaling just how close he'd come to dying a fourth time in his life.  If anything were keeping him going now, few people on the Theurgy would know what it was. His consciousness slipping in and out, steadied only by the familiar residue of a perfume he notes on board. There was no way that Enyd had been on this ship, right? that had to be a phantom scent, something from his past coming back and giving him a reason to live.

Looking to Sera with a harsh gaze, his sights unfocused, he speaks up, forcing himself to stay conscious. "Miss Madsen was on board." It wasn't a question, more a statement of fact than anything else. Smelling that had given him a reason to stay alive, stay awake. "Fix the ship, save Enyd, give her a kiss." The words repeated like a mantra. The surrounding crewpersons probably thought he was insane. Well, he probably was just a bit. Victor still had work to do, and he hadn't completed any of it yet. Now, he had a reason to finish instead of just his duty.

[General Hu'ler | Command Post | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae, @Auctor Lucan

Atop a tall tower in the First City, surrounded by Klingon warriors working on their instruments in the hastily set up command post, General Hu'ler looked down at the city below in disgust. She was a tall woman, older than most, her armour thick, night-black and adorned with battle honours. Hu'ler's eyes were stern and uncompromising, enough to intimidate even the Klingons she commanded, and today, such a thing could be useful. Right now, that skill, long honed over decades of military experience, could be the difference between life and death for the entire Klingon Empire.

"Tell me again," Hu'ler said in a harsh whisper that still somehow carried over the sounds of war from the city below, "how you have failed to take a mere shuttlecraft in the past few hours that I have spent fighting across half this city?"

"It is no ordinary shuttlecraft," Nev'rov said firmly, standing strong despite Hu'ler's glare. "It is defended by the Federation elites. Ives, the shapeshifter, is there, and where Ives is, Martok is also! The Starfleeters are devoting many resources to save them; Ives and Martok are the only reason to justify it. We need only mount one last assault-"

"-and you will all die like the incompetent pigs that you are," Hu'ler hissed furiously. "You fool. Martok and Ives are in the Imperial District at this moment! This is only a ruse to draw our attention! And you call one shuttlecraft 'many resources'? How did an idiot like you survive the Jem'hadar?" Nev'rov bared his teeth at the insult, but the warning look from Hu'ler was enough to make him realise how close to the edge he was getting (quite literally), and the colonel lowered his eyes. "Rest easy, Colonel. You can still salvage your honour, if you have more courage than brains...a low bar, I know, but even fools must aspire to something."

A low rumble of laughter spread around the Klingons operating the command post's stations, and Nev'rov, unable to fight back, was forced to just bear the humiliation. "What do you command of me, General?" he forced out through gritted teeth.

Hu'ler didn't respond immediately. Instead she moved to the edge of the tower, looking down on the city below. Fires were everywhere, the automated fire suppression systems only working in some areas, as the fighting continued. It was a complete mess. Hu'ler glanced at the strategic overview of the city, displaying various Gorka's, Martok's and Starfleet's forces, but it was such a confused mess that she didn't pay it much heed beyond her command post's immediate vicinity. Instead, Hu'ler trusted her eyes. She looked down first at the 'Sabine', flashes of Federation red and Klingon green weapons fire visible even from afar.

The Starfleet defenders were cut off, the Martok loyalists unable to break through the perimeter set up to besiege the Sabine, but even from that distance, Hu'ler could see the truth of it. The Starfleeters were clever, courageous and determined, and they were making the best of a bad situation, and the craft, originally built for war, made for a reasonable makeshift fortification. Too many Klingons had died already trying to take the thing. Brute force simply wasn't going to do it.

Hu'ler scowled, her nose wrinkling at the harsh stink of smoke. "How many do you have left, Colonel?" she asked grudgingly, using the fool's rank so that he could salvage some dignity.

"A hundred including your troops," Nev'rov answered promptly and enthusiastically. "More than enough with the reinforcements from your division."

Hu'ler looked upwards in disbelief, as if beseeching the aid of the gods whom the Klingons had killed so long ago to deal with the moron. "And you would claim victory over a mountain of our own dead, crying out about your glory in this battle for decades to come? Idiot. For now, watch how a true Klingon fights." Hu'ler turned around, moving to one of the controllers. The Klingon comms specialist wore no armour, but his job was vital all the same, more so than anyone would suspect. "Are they in position?"

"Yes, General," the specialist said curtly, his eyes focused on his readouts. "They encountered a Martok team en route but eliminated them. The Starfleeters have not detected them."

"Good," Hu'ler said. She stepped towards the tower's edge again, looking down, and she pointed at an entirely different area, where a white Federation shuttlecraft was taking refuge in a half-destroyed building. "That shuttlecraft. You didn't even destroy that one? Not with all the resources at your disposal? An entire company of heavy weapons teams?"

Nev'rov, frustrated, could only shake his head, hearing the biting . "No, General. There is only one lifeform aboard, Romulan. I judged the shuttle to be secondary to the main prize. Our heavy weapons teams have forced it back, but I didn't want to waste resources destroying it, not yet. It's trapped where it is by our forces and cannot interfere. They merely provide sensor support from afar to the Federation soldiers."

"Good," Hu'ler mused thoughtfully, and Nev'rov's head snapped up in surprise. "There may be some small wit to you after all. And Romulan...perhaps there is indeed some truth to the rumours about the Theurgy defecting to the Romulans. For now, we will make that Romulan work for us. Comms specialist! On my order, on my order and not before, our heavy weapons teams will jam that shuttle's communications! All assault troops are to prepare for an immediate attack on the Sabine from the west, massed infantry charge! And you, Colonel Nev'rov, will lead them!"

"Yes General!" Nev'rov answered instinctively, excited at the prospect of battle, but he then frowned as realisation struck. He looked down, confused at how he was supposed to launch an "immediate" attack when he was several hundred meters away and a good two hundred meters up, with transporter function impossible. He looked back at Hu'ler, who was now holding a rather large gun-like device of some sort with a large drum latched beneath it. The evil toothy grin that old Hu'ler bore scared Nev'rov more than the Jem'hadar ever did.



[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ]

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Meanwhile, still in her shuttle, Lillee concentrated on her sensors. It was clear that the Klingons, after a small period of inactivity, were moving once more. It was difficult to tell who were Martok loyalists and who were Gorka rebels, but it was clear enough that the Klingons besieging the Sabine crash site were getting heavily reinforced after the failure of their last assault. Worse, it was very clear what the Klingons were planning. They weren't being subtle about it, but then again, Lillee doubted that the filthy beasts even had a word for "subtle" in their language.

"Bloodwing to Zark," Lillee said curtly. "I'm detecting a hundred additional lifesigns approaching from your west, all hostile, assembling in formation. The enemy are planning an all out assault, there is no doubt. Suggest you focus your defences to your west."

With that, Lillee frowned at her sensors in frustration. The sensors were giving potential indications of additional lifesigns near the Sabine, but they kept scattering; one moment they were right outside the craft, the next they were twenty meters above it, then five meters below it, then forty meters away. The ever-so-helpful computer suggested they were 'ghost' signals, the inevitable result of a stressed sensor array trying to make sense of a complex warzone full of jamming, weapons fire and explosions that was getting worse by the minute. It made sense, but Lillee tried to calibrate her sensors anyway, painfully aware of how vulnerable her position was.

It was a fruitless endeavour, however. Lillee just wasn't trained for such delicate sensor operation, and the Tesla wasn't designed for it in any event. The best she could do was narrow the signals down a little, but the area seemed to angle down, more and more of them appearing underground. But that didn't make sense, did it? Lillee hesitated for precious seconds, unwilling to distract Zark with such a flimsy warning, trying to work it out. What could it be? Sensor spoofing? Reflected lifesigns from elsewhere? The lifesigns did seem to be getting stronger and more concentrated, but they were still underground, and her sensors hadn't detected anything underground there before, no tunnels, no sewers, nothing whatsoever...

Before she react, alarms began ringing in the Tesla cockpit, and Lillee cursed under her breath. She had been expecting this, but the timing was appalling; the Klingons had finally decided to jam her communications with the Sabine team. The Tesla computer would find a way through the jamming within a few minutes, Federation technology being what it was, but until then, Lillee was deaf and mute.


[General Hu'ler | Command Post | First City | Qo'nos ][/b] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae, @Auctor Lucan

Hu'ler, for the first time that day, was enjoying herself. Everything was ready, and unless she was very much mistaken, she was about to win a victory. It was a minor victory if (as she suspected) Ives and Martok weren't actually cowering in the Sabine, but it was a victory all the same. And really, there were times when the quality of an act's glory wasn't the most important thing. Sometimes, style was far more important.

"You will lead the assault," Hu'ler said firmly to Nev'rov, who looked extremely nervous, "but it will be a feint. Only ten of your troops will actually finish the charge with you, the ten biggest and stupidest of your troops. The rest, all of the other troops, will take cover and stay alive partway through . That is an order, Colonel, and you will see it followed." Hu'ler stepped closer, baring her fanged teeth, and Nev'rov recoiled, stepping back perilously close to the edge. "I have other plans to take that craft. I will make myself clear, fool. Very clear."

The dark intense amusement in Hu'ler's eyes was downright frightening. "Defy my orders, like ordering all of the troops to charge with you, and I will castrate you in the Great Hall before the entire High Council for the entire Empire to watch and laugh at. Die well, and I will meet you one day in the halls of Sto'vo'kor. But if you follow my orders, if you fight well and live, I will make you a hero."

Nev'rov (still plainly terrified) glanced over his shoulder at the sheer drop below, but he mustered enough courage to nod. "I...I will try, General...but I do not expect to live. You send me to die."

Hu'ler shrugged. "Perhaps. Starfleet can fight well, when threatened." She raised a leg and pulled up her pants, revealing the silvery metal of a prosthetic limb underneath...and then she did the same with her other leg, showing the other prosthetic. "The last time I fought Starfleet, a human did this to me, and I am ten times the warrior you are. Still, not all is lost. You can claim some glory and honour this day, should you have the courage, and I promise, the enemy will have much bigger problems when fighting you. You do not fight alone."

Hu'lev waited for a moment for Nev'rov's timid nod, and with that, Hu'lev grinned toothily. "Good! Today is a good day to die, Nev'rov, son of Barkor! Qa'pla!" With that, without even a moment of hesitation, Hu'lev hooked Nev'rov up to the line and gleefully shoved him off the edge.


[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ]

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Waiting impatiently for the computer to break through the jamming, while Lillee tried to find a way to break through the Klingon barricade and join the fight, Lillee frowned as she heard something from outside...what was that? Crying? Screaming? Sobbing? All three? Baffled, she leaned forward in her chair and looked up through the glass, only to be greeted by the bizarre sight of a fully armed and armoured Klingon warrior zooming down a zipline right above her, arms flailing madly, screeching in fright the whole way down.

"Huh," Lillee said to herself in bemusement. "Alright, then."



Meanwhile, to the east of the Sabine and below the ground, an entirely new threat was preparing to emerge for the beleaguered Sabine crew...

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

Things were getting intense as the battle around the Sabine continued. Larrant was torn between his duties as a Starfleet officer and his strict personal code of nonviolence. As the Klingon Kudesh grinned in delight as he welcomed the rising disrupter blasts from below, Larrant's pod made slow oscillating rotations as if scanning the perimeter. Inside the pod, the gases that made up the Medusan churned in what could be interpreted as maelstrom of anxiety.

"Do you intend to let me have all the glory!" Kudesh exclaimed.

"SORRY.... TRYING TO CALCULATE THE MOST EFFICIENT NONLETHAL MEANS OF PACIFYING OUR ATTACKERS."

"Nonlethal? Bah... You sound like a Vulcan. But fight like a Ferengi." Kudesh took a moment to turn and grasp the sides of the Medusan pod. Looking through the visor that served as a window to the pod's occupant, Kudesh attempted to lock eyes with his reluctant partner. "Preservation of life is an honorable cause. Many Klingons have fought and died preserving their way of life and the lives of their family, friends, and allies. But don't expect to never spill any blood walking that path. The universe is full of things that don't care where your morals stand, only that you don't stand in their way. Because if you do, I promise they will not hesitate to end your life. So the time is now for you to swallow that..."

While Kudesh was busy monologuing, a Mo'Kai loyalist managed to reach the rooftop and aim at the two Martok loyalists, Larrant and Kudesh. The following events happened swiftly. Larrant's internal sensors had alerted him of the surprise attack and moments before a disrupter blast could strike a killing shot to Kudesh's head, Larrant's arms moved Kudesh out of the way, slamming him hard against the ground. However, the blast found a target. A lucky hit to be sure as it struck a weakened spot in the pod's casing.

A loud klaxon began to be broadcasted throughout the area notifying all those in the area of the impending danger.

WARNING MEDUSAN CONTAINMENT BREACH IMMINENT! WARNING MEDUSAN CONTAINMENT BREACH IMMINENT!

It must have been one of the features in the new pod's design to prevent exposure to the effects of looking directly at a Medusan unprotected. The sound startled the Klingon attacker who stared directly at Larrant. Larrant could feel parts of his gaseous form being pulled from the pod through a sliver of a crack in the corner of the pod's view screen. The psychedelic mist swirled and pulsated. The Mo'Kai warrior was fixated on it like a moth to a flame.

Larrant could sense the warrior's mind, his emotions. Thinking quickly Larrant decided a violation of Starfleet regulations and Federation law was acceptable in this situation. To preserve life. It would have been easier had this Klingon been a telepath, also less painful for both parties.

"RELAX...... I MEAN YOU NO HARM...... RELAX...." Larrant tried to project the thoughts into Klingon's mind. He could already sense the man's mental pathways began to disconnect and reconnect as it tried to rationalize the sliver of non-euclidean geometries that it had witnessed.

While Larrant tried to wrap a protective bubble around the Klingon's mind, one of his manipulator arms had taken a pair of protective visors that had produced themselves on the side of the pod as soon as the containment alarm had activated, and placed it securely on Kudesh's face. Meanwhile, the other manipulator arm was attempting to patch and seal the breach.

Things seemed to be going from grim to worse. How long would this continue?

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@Tae @jreeves1701 @Griff @Auctor Lucan
 
Although Lt. Zark didn't like the idea of killing, the crash site was becoming hip deep in alligators and keeping as many Klingons from killing her people was what took priority.  She was busy firing at several more Klingons attempting to flank Rivard and wondering where the Onedia crew had gone when vanVinter's call for help spurred into action on a different front.  Rushing for the Sabine, she found the two Onedia milling about looking for the supplies he had brought.  A dark smile creased her face as she felt fury surge forth.  She leashed it firmly with duty, but her voice was cold from her the glaciers of Andoria.    "Get outside, turn left and grab more munitions weapons from the pile outside.  Hurry back and hold the ramp till I come back."  The two officers rushed to obey as she turned and went inside to find vanVinter propped up against a console. She would have been appalled at the damage he'd taken, especially since he was missing his artificial arm, except he was repeating something about giving someone a kiss.  Her fury soothed as her eyes warmed and her smile softened.    "Let's get you patched up and out of here Chief Lovebird."  A quick scan with her tricorder revealed shrapnel damage all along his flank.  It looked a lot more terrible than it really was, but most wounds usually were.  She first injected him with a general stabilizer, then a combat stim.  awareness began to return to his eyes as he became more focused.  She then began the laborious process of removing bits of metal from his body and sealing the wounds.  She was half way through the various punctures when Bloodwing sent the warning of massing enemy forces. "Chief, get ready to defend yourself." She opened the all team frequency with her communicator and got ready to give her orders.

CPO Douglas Marcaida | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS

Chief Marcaida reached the position indicated in his helmet map and found the two Starfleet security officers from the Oneida already gone.  Quickly putting the weapons case carrying the Isomagnetic Disintegrator down and ducking behind a blasted half wall that once held a window frame, he peaked out and surprisingly didn't draw any fire.  The comm chirped and his holographic HUD brought up a text box identifying the speaker as the team commander. “All ground units, Bloodwing has detected enemy forces gathering near Marcaida’s position. Marcaida, engage at your discretion. Keyah, provide support.” There was a pregnant pause as Zark had not yet closed the channel as she weighed a tough decision.  “You are authorized to set weapons to kill. We can’t afford to have anyone getting up to keep coming at us. Zark out.” Marcaida’s eyebrows tried to rise into his head at the escalation in the conflict, but nonetheless set his phaser to Level 7.  Ducking back, he opened the case and laid the Isomagnetic Disintegrator out for quick use. "Computer, show tactical map." The computer obediently chirped and a holographic map sprung to life in front of his eyes. The situation was grim, a few sparse blue spots indicating Starfleet personnel were clustered around the Sabine with a rash of angry red of confirmed hostile with several more orange marked presumed hostile indicators nearby.

What's taking them long? Marcaida thought of the Oneida security team and Lt. Zark. A quick check of the map showed the orange markers starting to bunch together with the red markers. He tensed as a sudden war cry erupted over the battlefield as the markers began to surge forth from the buildings the forces loyal to House Mo'Kai had been hiding in. Tapping the PADD Common button "This is Marcaida, they're charging, engaging!" . As he put his head out, a fusillade of emerald green smashed into his position sending sparks and debris flying in every direction. Calmly bringing his phaser rifle to his shoulder, the team weapon expert aimed over the lip of the trashed window and sent murderous precise bursts of orange fire into the screaming raging mass. He scarcely noticed a few bottles of cooking oil explode nearby and set several pieces of furniture on fire. Hopefully the rest of the crew would show up soon to provide backup.

CPO Keyah | Above Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS

Chief Keyah had been doing her level best to suppress the amount of incoming fire. She'd target a Klingon head and gently squeeze the trigger. She'd managed to hit over two dozen warriors in their unprotected heads with full stun knocking them out for the fight.

Her luck had eventually run out when her target happened to be looking in her direction when she'd pulled the trigger. She could remember seeing the widening of his eyes at the orange bolt headed in his direction. He must have had super reflexes or mad luck as the shot had missed by the thinnest of margins. That miss has cost her dearly in efficiency as she now had to shoot and scoot to avoid the increasing amounts of return fire looking to suppress her.  She found herself scowling more and more with less time to aim at targets as they appeared.

She had just left a window that came apart under fire when Marcaida’s warning came through.  She quickly flipped her weapon Level 7 and began laying down a withering hail of orange fire into the charging mass with scalpel-like precision.  Aiming down the sight as best she could, it was like being on the range, with nothing but her rifle and the targets. Aim, pull the trigger, a head exploded. Aim, pull the trigger, an arm came off. Aim, pull the trigger, a chest exploded, blood spraying everywhere.  Aim, pull the trigger, pull the trigger over and over and her brain noticed the mass still kept coming.  Keyah stayed still too long as another mass of fire piled into the window she was using and the laws of probabilities caught up with her.  The shot glanced off her cheek and the Bolian was tossed to the ground as her helmet shattered.  She lay there dazed and became acutely aware of her helmet's HUD flickering.  Her jaw was in massive pain as she groggily got to her hands and pulled her helmet off.  The pain that exploded in her jaw was not like anything she'd ever experienced and she almost passed out, but her physical toughness combined with the rush of adrenaline and endorphins kept her awake.  Her mind fogged, as she slowly reached for rifle to continue the fight.  The struggle to get back up on the window felt like an eternity, and she tried to speak as her vision swam as her jaw throbbed from placing the rifle against her shoulder.  No words came. Keyah knew she was on her own and pulled the trigger and hoped to hit something.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  |Sabine  | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

Lt.Zark's manic grin returned as she saw Chief Keyah's icon switch from green to orange of badly injured. She stopped treating vanVinter and brought up the tactical map.  It looked like Marcaida was trying to fight an avalanche with a fire hose and was going to lose badly soon. She sprayed disinfectant, coagulant, and a pain killer on the wounds she no longer had time to treat and turned on her external speakers. ”Chief, bad guys coming, get ready to repel boarders.  Nilheimer and Demander with me!

Zark grabbed her rifle and charged down the ramp as Nilheimer and Demander, now with tactical vests and webbing got up to follow her. "Spread out, advance by fire! Shoot anything that looks Klingon!"  Almost as if they on the parade ground, the three Starfleet officers raised rifles to their shoulders and spraying fire into the Klingons.  The Klingons had been so focused on getting Marcaida that they had started to bunch up and crowd in on him making the fusillade all the more deadly as shots that missed one warrior tended to hit another one behind.  Blood, sparks and gore exploded causing bodies to fall and some warriors to trip over their newly martyred comrades.  The momentum of the charge had been broken as confusion began to take hold.  Marcaida suddenly stood up and fired the isomagnetic disintegrator at something and a new fireball erupted into the tortured city's sky.

Whatever success Marcaida had just achieved was short lived as he was smashed off his feet by disruptor fire and crashed heavily on his back.  Zark distantly noted that Marcaida's icon went from green to yellow and flashed between the two as the computer tried to decide how badly hurt he was.  A big Klingon, a bit more resplendent than the rest vaulted over the window and prepared to drive his sword into the downed security officer when Zark brought her sight to bear on him and fired a 3 shot burst, centre of mass.  The sword seemed to shatter as his chest exploded in a fountain of gore.  The Klingon staggered back staring numbly at his chest before smiling an ironic smile and falling backwards dead.  The others looked about in confusion as they were uncertain what to do next.  Some saw Lt. Zark and her party and charged over the wall Marcaida had been using as cover and were quickly shot for their trouble.  Zark saw a blast of green head her way and felt her shoulder jerk back from the hit, she leaned into the blast and brought her rifle back to the front.  Marcaida got his wits back, pulled out his phaser pistol and shot a warrior as he ran passed, then another.  Nilheimer screamed as a flurry of shots smashed into him and pierced his chest plate, sending him flying back staring at the darkened sky lifeless.  Zark and Demander crouched behind another wall as more shots came in from those warriors who had more sense.  Zark and Demander returned fire throwing off their aim and effectively suppressing the Klingons  The didn't save them for too long as Marcaida back crawled behind a fallen table and plucked two grenades from his belt, quickly arming them, he tossed them over the table to behind the wall where they detonated in a flash of orange and white.   "Cover me." Zark ordered Demander as she grabbed a pair of grenades off her belt.  Demander brought his rifle to bear and sprayed the opposing wall.  Lt. Zark placed her rifle on the ground and quickly consulted the tactical map for where the remaining Klingons were hiding behind the wall, pressing the arming button, she gave a 2 second count and tossed them.  A couple of flashes later and there were no Klingons concious in the area.

There was no more firing and Zark got on her knees to look out over her piece of cover. "Marcaida, you okay?" she asked.  "Yeah, the amour caught all of it".  Lt.Zark breathed a sigh of relief then brought her tactical map back up and lost her smile.  Several dozen more Klingons had executed a wider flanking maneuver and were descending on the Sabine and Keyah's exposed position.  It was a cruel choice she had to make.  "More Klingons heading towards the Sabine, Marcaida, Demander, let's go."  The other two security officers got up and followed her back to the ship while Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell knew that with the transporter inhibitors active, extracting the severly injured Keyah was extremely unlikely and she'd have to come to grips with the fact she'd just left one of her team members to die.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sera_vers_Aldnoah) | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]At first, Sera hadn't caught on at all to the scarred human being hurt. He'd been fine when he'd asked his question about the status of the Sabine, and then, he must have been shot on the way through the airlock or something. As it where, when the human just collapsed and called for a medic, Sera rolled her eyes and began to curse under her breath, resuming the repairs instead since she'd just wasted her breath and time and they were all in as much shit as they were before the Starfleet vehicle crashed into the alley. V-Nine began to make worried bleeps from where she laid on the floor, while Sera tried to think of some other blasted thing to do in order to get out of the current mess.

An Andorian Starfleeter showed up to try and patch up the useless repair guy on her deck, while she gauged the possible output of her lit little warp core. The Andorian left while she desperately tried to tinker and get a reading, and on the wall screen, where she'd routed the sensor input, she saw the incoming life signs of more Klingons than she could count. "Blast it... They just keep coming..."

Feeling her hopes of survival vane, seeing how while the Starfleet officers gave everything they had to try and keep House Mo'Kai from reaching the Sabine, Sera was on the verge of giving up on her dear old ship and pick up her disruptor. Yet... when she ran the diagnostic on the warp core a second time... she thought there had do be some kind of malfunction, because the readings in the cockpit hadn't granted the amount of power output that the directed diagnostic now showed. That's when she realised it...

...and she looked at V-Nine where she laid on the floor. The good for nothing bot may just have saved them all.

"Haul my ashes... Yes, that has to be it..."

The bloody cyborg, Ravenholm, had used parts of the robot as instructed and boosted the warp drive with that ZPE thing in the storage room, which had let them blast their way to Qo'noS from the Oneida. The bloody thing was still intact, and it was boosting the warp drive enough to... do what? What would be ideal? The Sabine wasn't space worthy...

...but it had plenty of more weapon systems.

"Hey! Are you still around?" she called to the repairman, "I'm rerouting power I thought my girl never had to the anti grav units, and then I am going to turn her around so that we face the Klingon horde! I'm going to melt the bloody alley down!"

She hit the command prompt to engage the sequence she'd laid in, and true enough, the warp core being overclocked worked in thanks to the ZPE booster, which let the remaining anti-grav units come alive. The deck shifted below Sera's feet while the Sabine lurched into the air. She almost didn't make it to the cockpit before she fell down. She climbed up and got into her seat so that she could activate the flight controls - the stick rising up between her knees.

"Come on!" she called through the cracked canopy of the cockpit, while she made the Sabine swivel towards the side of the alley in which the Klingon horde was advancing. "You want to bloody dance?! Blast you, you ugly bastards!"

And then she armed her remaining Rawley cannon, and opened fire against the advancing enemies. With the airlock still open, the sound it made as it lay waste to the alley was glorious. She made sure to just target Klingon life signs ahead of the Sabine, avoiding the friendlies closer to the Sabine. When her sentry-mode pulse phase cannon wasn't enough, and she found the Rawley cannon to be too slow... she armed a couple of micro torpedoes.

She sent them off, and saw one of the emptied buildings collapse on top of the bulk of the horde.

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor was in a world of pain the likes of which he hadn't ever felt before. Getting hit with the glancing blows from the twin disruptor bolts. The pain narrowed Victor's vision to a tight slit through tightly shut eyelids, and then he's back to full consciousness. Victor had no idea what Zark had in those hyposprays, but the cocktail of adrenaline and other enzymes released as part of a pain response immediately had him at full alertness and in an almost stoned state of mind. All of the natural chemicals were still in his system, and then there was had just been pumped into him. So Victor was back on his feet, and he looked to Zark, nodding to the Andorian. He was still obviously woozy as hell, though, but he knew what needed to be done.

"I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn right now, but I can still help fix the ship." That's when he heard sera shouting at him, something about the anti-gravity generators. Right, stabilize those, and they could get out of here. Seal any breaches with local containment fields. They didn't need to stand and fight. They needed to run like hell. That lurching, yeah, the Sabine could get off the ground. Getting to orbit would be a whole different matter.

Victor snatches up his toolbox and runs towards the nearby engine compartment, and he opens up the power management systems. Plugging in the diagnostic equipment he brought with him gave him some answers, at the very least. If he hadn't just been shot and had drugs coursing through his system finding a solution would be so much easier, but he was resilient. Zark getting him back on his feet had helped of course. But no obvious solutions were coming to him, this class of power core was only rated for a certain output, so why were the power readings so far beyond normal? Investigating further, Victor finds the ZPE.

"What in the name of the Prophets is that..." he'd found the ZPE providing energy to the ship, and furrows his eyebrows then thinks for a moment. With as much energy as that thing had, they could get to orbit. Victor immediately begins rerouting power to engines, structural integrity, and inertial dampeners. The power draw was slow as he shunted the energy to capacitors and worked on patching up the power systems simultaneously.

"Hey Sera, this is Victor, your mechanic. If we shunt all of this power to where it has to go, we can get the hell out of here in the next five minutes. We can either run like hell or stay and fight, and we can't do both. It looks like I can either give us full weapons and shields for ten minutes or engines and some structural integrity for the same, and we might be able to make orbit. At the very least, we can get away from here. One or the other, ma'am. This is your ship; pick one." Victor, for one, was dearly hoping that the pilot would pick 'run like hell' because if Lillee was right about the Klingons massing an assault, then it wouldn't end well for the what was it.. seven Starfleet officers? Great, a magnificent Seven situation just when they didn't need one.

[General Hu'ler | Command Post | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae, @Auctor Lucan

Atop a tall building in the First City, General Hu'ler and her staff were thoroughly occupied in the business of war. Equipment ringed the rooftop, Klingon warriors working various portable consoles or  other devices. The mobile command post was being well used today.

On one side, General Hu'ler and a half dozen of her warriors stood, looking down on the city below. The battle was still raging, the air thick with the sound of disruptor fire and explosions. Smoke rose above the city, testament to a civil war that showed no signs of abating.

"QI'yaH," Hu'ler swore under her breath as she watched a business center collapse, crushing two dozen Klingon commandos as they tried to charge the Sabine. The unlamented Nev'rov had died in his diversionary assault, much as Hu'ler had expected. The hard part however was that the real attack, the commandos, had been caught completely offguard as the Federation shuttle floated up in the air, rapidly spinning around and ripping apart the commandos.

"SIj'ejyo," Hu'ler grumbled. She glanced back at her staff who were manning the comms and sensors. "What word of our warriors to the south, and to the northwest?" she called out, her voice carrying easily despite the tumult of battle.

"Both advancing, General," one of the comms specialists reported sourly. "Martok's forces have been crushed. Leph'bor reports that they should have the entire riverfront secured within an hour. General Fuv's brigade has secured the MIqta district. We now control most of the city."

"Most," Hu'ler said darkly, glancing out at the Sabine, which still defiantly held out against assault. Red phaser fire could still be discerned even at a distance, but the Klingon assault was clearly faltering. Hu'ler sighed. Fighting against Jem'hadar and Cardassians had been so much simpler, cleaner. Fighting against Starfleet and her fellow Klingons, however, always left a foul taste in her mouth.

"General!" one of her aides said, his voice still carrying enthusiasm as he gestured out at the Sabine. "Should we not order another assault? They will launch soon!"

Hu'ler shook her head even before he finished talking. "For what purpose? Ives and Martok are not there. That was just some deception by the Medusan. There is no strategic reason to capture that area, and we have lost too many warriors already. No. There is only a fool's glory to be had in a meaningless battle. Let the Starfleeters have their victory. They have earned it. We have other objectives if we are to take the city."

With considerable reluctance, Hu'ler turned away and moved back to the center of her command post. "Order our assault troops to fall back. Abandon the assault on the Sabine." One of officers manning a comms station turned around, appalled at the order, and Hu'ler glared at the younger woman until the officer backed down. "The assault troops will regroup near the Monument of Caleb. We will need them for the push on the Great Hall. Order the artillery in the east to-"

Hu'ler was suddenly interrupted by a loud cry from the warrior manning a sensor station. Unimpressed by his lack of discipline, Hu'ler strode up behind the warrior and smacked him on the back of the head. "The next time you shout like that, you had better have a good reason," Hu'ler hissed at the warrior, who rubbed the back of his head gingerly.

"Yes, General," he said sheepishly, his eyes still on his display. "The Ta'rom, it is crippled. They have lost a nacelle. Main power is offline. House K'tal and the Federation ships have ceased fire. The Ta'rom is out of the fight. The Theurgy is still battleworthy. Our reinforcements are almost inside weapons range. They...the Theurgy has hailed them."

Hu'ler waited patiently, glancing out around at the burning First City. "I wish someone would destroy that wretched dreadnought," she muttered to herself. "Typical Starfleet. Build the most powerful ship in the quadrant, then let the cursed thing be stolen by a traitor and completely fail to hunt them down."

"General!" the warrior said loudly. "We have received word from our reinforcements. They are...they are quitting the field."

"What!?" Hu'ler said in shock. "Cowards!"

"The commander claims that...'destroying an empire to win a war is no victory, and ending a battle to save an empire is no defeat'." The warrior sounded deflated. "They have gone to warp. We are on our own. There is no word from Gorka, not a long time now."

Hu'ler just stood there for a long moment. Finally she took a breath, realising what needed to be done and hating herself for it. "Attention! All of you! We have lost control of orbit. The enemy have space superiority, and soon air superiority. We cannot hold the city against that, or else we will no longer have a city after the fighting is done." Hu'ler tried to look into the eyes of her warriors as they looked back at her, all true Klingons, all what the inevitable next order would be. "We must disperse, or the enemy will pick us off with orbital bombardment. All forces are to disperse. All brigades, companies and platoons must fragment into squads and fireteams. We must spread out into the countryside before the enemy have a chance to destroy us. From the countryside, we can mount a real resistance when Gorka gives the order."

Assuming Gorka was still alive, of course, but Hu'ler didn't voice that. "The commandos and assault troops from the Sabine battle will regroup at the Monument of Caleb. They are to advance on the Great Hall and reinforce Gorka, and capture the fool Martok, if they catch him. All other troops, disperse now. Give the orders, warriors, then take your disruptors and go. Leave the equipment. We will have no need of it."

The Klingons, unhappy but professional, went about their duties. Hu'ler sighed, stepping back to the edge of the roof where she had watched the Sabine battle continue. Her personal team of elite warriors were still there. Some of them had been with her since the Dominion War; others, since the war with the Federation that had preceded it. Others had been with her since the first civil war, thirteen years past. They were the finest warriors in the Empire, a mere six warriors who could do the work of a hundred, and they waited for their general's orders.

Hu'ler looked out at the Sabine. The fighting had died down as the Klingons retreated, giving the Starfleeters some breathing room...and that gave Hu'ler an idea. The Sabine was still floating just above the ground, but was still stationary, clearly visible from the rooftop, a distance of a kilometer, at most.

An idea came to Hu'ler, and she grinned with deep pleasure. "Our troops will need a distraction if they are to find safety before the enemy start bombardment," she said to her team, seeing them smile back as they recognised the glint in their leader's eyes. "What better distraction can we manage than by finally taking that accursed shuttlecraft? Gugi, do you think you can get a stable zipline shot on the Federation shuttle from so far away?"

Gugi laughed, a deep belly-clearing sound. "You know I can, old woman. This will be fun!"

The team didn't waste any time setting up the zipline, even as their comrades abandoned the rooftop and began moving downstairs. Hu'ler hummed merrily as she checked her blades and disruptor pistol, then set herself in the line. All seven Klingons stood, one in front of the other, the zipline anchored by a tall post behind them, waiting for Gugi to do his usual magic. Gugi knelt down on the very edge of the roof, a large rifle aimed carefully out into the city, and after a few seconds, Gugi fired the grapple. He was rewarded as, over a kilometer away, the grapple hit the Sabine, magnetically latching onto the craft.

"Today is a good day to die!" Hu'ler cried out, grinning fiercely as she latched herself onto the zipline, and without further prompting, the seven Klingons leapt off the rooftop, howling madly into the wind as they flew into one final assault on the Starfleet defenders.

---

"QI'yaH," - a strong Klingon curse
SIj'ejyo - 'clever Starfleet'

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

Larrant slowly approached the panicked Klingon warrior.

"Ah, back Fek'lhr! I will not be dragged by you to Gre'thor. You will not claim this warrior's soul. I am bound by honor to join my house in the halls of Sto-vo-kor!"

Larrant was unfamiliar with the Klingon's references. Kudesh however didn't miss any of them. Recovering from Larrant's tackle, he pulled himself upright ready for round two. "P'tach, what are you ranting about. The Barge of the Dead is not yet docked to claim your worthless soul. Not till my blade has pierced your traitor's heart." Kudesh's battle rage obscured his awareness of the Federation visor now distorting his vision. He merely thought the red hue the world had taken was his own bloodlust filling his eyesight.

Larrant slowly reached out toward the Mo'Kai warrior with his robotic arms, disregarding the bluster coming from Kudesh. "PLEASE BE CALM... WHAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ARE HALLUCINATIONS FROM SEEING MY TRUE FORM."

"Your Kos'Karii serpents do not frighten me, Fek'lhr!" The maddening Klingon fired his disruptor at Larrant's tentacled arms.

"Good distract him so I can put this traitorous dog down."

"NO! HE IS UNDER THE EFFECTS OF MEDUSAN MADNESS. I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ONE'S LIFE AND DEATH." Reaching out with psychic tendrils Larrant penetrates the crazed Klingon's mind.

His name was Kij'qa and the hallucinations plaguing him at the moment were those of death and the journey through the Klingon afterlife. It made sense to Larrant that this was what the victim of witnessing a Medusan's true form would be focused on. Their body was dying, after all, their minds shattered.

"Fek'lhr you will not take me!"

"Your hallucinations bear no logic." came a disembodied voice.

"Your mind is too weak primitive Klingon." came another.

"How does death always generate so much fear," interrupted yet another.

"Bow down before the might of a true god," concluded a fourth.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

"THEY ARE ECHOES OF THE MINDS I HAVE ONCE SHARED. AS I NOW SHARE, HOWEVER FAINTLY, WITH YOU."

"Get out of my head Fek'lhr!" blood began to seep from the warrior's nose.

The screams of the Mo'Kai warrior were enough to cause Kudesh to paused his advances. "What is happening to him."

"HE IS DYING."

"Just by looking at you! Ha! Where were you during the Dominion War when I faced off with ten legions of Jem'Hadar?"

"HELD PRISONER BY THE DOMINION AND LATER LIBERATING BETAZED. I DO NOT SEE HOW SUCH INFORMATION IS RELEVANT AT THIS TIME."

The rooftop exchange was soon interrupted by a sudden quake. A fracture tore its way across the rooftop separating the three individuals and began widening. Larrant's sensors quickly ascertained that the foundation of the building had been compromised by the sudden impact of weapon detonations emanating from the Sabine.

"FASCINATING." he thought out loud. How had the shuttle generated enough power to manage such a defense? As the first pieces of the building began to collapse, Larrant knew he would only have time to save one of the two Klingons. The needs of the many he heard echoed in his mind. Kij'qa's body was dying anyway. Kudesh on the other hand was beyond healthy. No, Larrant could not make such an absolute choice, he would not give up on trying to save Kij'qa.

With determination, Larrant hovered toward Kudesh and secured his arms around the Klingon bodyguard.

"What are you.... no I am not some Targ pup for you to carry," he protested.

"The River of Blood consumes us all!" Kij'qa proclaimed as his body was consumed by the collapsing building.

"IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE YOU BOTH."

"Both? Did you not see that traitor fall to his death."

"IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN. IF YOU WILL PLEASE HOLD STILL."

Kudesh didn't have time to respond as he was no longer standing on the rooftop. The building had collapsed beneath his feet. He know hovered above the collapsing structure, Larrant strapped to his back like a jet pack.

"I WILL BRING US TO THE SURFACE WHERE WE CAN CONTINUE OUR DISCUSSION AND HOPEFULLY JOIN OUR ALLIES."

There was no further complaint from Kudesh as Larrant began their descent into the rising ash cloud of the falling building. To those on the ground, it must have been a heroic sight. Moments before reaching the ground, Larrant released Kudesh who landed securely on one knee and stabilized on one fist, the rubble remains of Klingon architecture framing his background.

In those final moments, Larrant scanned the surrounding area and assessed the situation. A wire had appeared from outside the perimeter and attached itself to the Sabine. He detected incoming Klingon life signs along its path. Without thinking he shot a plasma blast from one of his tentacled arms that impacted the cable and one of the Klingons descending from it.

"WHAT HAVE ....."  Larrant stammered as he tried to rationalize his aggressive action. He had effectively killed one Klingon who now fell from the zip line in a ball of fire while dooming the others whose lifeline was literally melting and would soon snap.

"You have acted like a Klingon!" came the new voice within his mind. "You acted on instinct and honored preservation of your spirit. However, I had wished you had targeted that p'taq you chose to save."

Larrant could not have saved Kij'qa's body, it was impossible. His mind, however, or a fraction of it, was within his ability to save. It violated Starfleet and Federation law. Something Larrant would have to deal with eventually. Surely, the JAG office would understand the logic of the situation and be lenient on his punishment. Though Larrant could not imagine a worse punishment than being stuck with the aggressive psyche of a Klingon whispering in his nonexistent ears.

"You acted logically, if Vulcans can suppress their violent natures, so too can you tame this one." came the voice of T'Vella.

"That is what is wrong with Vulcans, they deny their passions. No, you must embrace this warrior spirit and temper it, control it, use it." came the voice of Sollek.

"Both are correct, while both sadly wrong and misguided. We all have raw emotions we must contend with. Medusans are no different, regardless of how to advance and evolved they are. You are in control." came the reassuring voice of Yemma.

"Kill all the solids! Great god of gods!" came the obsessing voice of the Vorta Loriss - 1.

The image of a warm hug flooded Larrant's mind indicating the presence of Hedril.

"Arrrrrrggggg! You are all weak! This Medusan has imprisoned you all within the labrynth of his mind! I will not be caged!" the voice of Kij'qa screamed.

Larrant knew that they all represented echoes of minds he had touched, but unlike corporal encounters, these lingered and created lasting effects on the thoughts of Medusans. They literally become part of their being.

"Ha who thought you had it in you?" interrupted Kudesh as he aimed at the incoming Klingons along the zip line. "Stay on Qo'noS long enough and anyone will become Klingon. Forged in the fires of battle!"

Larrant remained silent as the alley around them prepared for another assault.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@Tae @jreeves1701 @Griff @Auctor Lucan

The sight of the Sabine taking off was enough to get Lt.Zark's party to skid to a halt in wonder and relief.  Their mission was just about accomplished and they could leave soon.  The sight of the Sabine firing it's weapons to smash a building to pieces was enough to cause the Andorian to laugh out loud.  We're going to get out of here! she thought exultantly as she waved the team forward toward the now hovering ship.  More emerald fire chased the fleeing Starfleet officers as they ran for salvation.  It was time to pull in the crew and get out of dodge.
Hitting her padd for comms, she got in touch with Rivard, who was still single handidly holding a flank.  "Time to leave Rivard, scuttle the buggy, then grab Arisaka and carry him to the Sabine. Marcaida, Demader, setup a perimeter around the hatch. Demander, setup your fire towards our line of retreat, Marcaida, cover towards Rivard." The two officers acknowledged their orders and began moving to their positions.

CPO Keyah | Above Sabine Crash Site | First City | Qo'noS

Keyah was nearly delirious with pain.  The building she occupying was scarred with disruptor blasts and holes from other attempts to kill her.  She continued to lay down a withering hail of fire to cover her commander's retreat back the now floating Sabine.  She thought about trying to make it back to the crash site as best she could when a plasma blast seem to fly into mid air and hit something.  She shook her head as her eyes refused to focus and she saw a body seeming falling out of mid air.  Her rifle all of a sudden seemed so heavy as she used her whole body to heave it onto a window sill and fired on full auto towards the rapidly descending figures in the dark.  Her accuracy was still atrocious as most of shots missed, but quantity is a quality all it's own and the rear most figure was blasted off the line and fell to ground.

Someone one the ground took a shot at the descending figures, hitting another, then it was too late as the Klingons were on the crash site.There was nothing she could do from here, dropping her rifle, she unsteadily grabbed a railing and made her way down the stairs and hopefully to the Sabine.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

Lt.Zark's first impression that she'd missed something was when she was checking her map and noticed red markers moving towards her at high speed. Swivelling her head left and right, she didn't see any Klingon s moving at high speed.  It was only after a few seconds of fruitless searching did she realized she'd almost forgotten a key data point, they were fighting on a planet, so up and down were major directions of battle.  She barely got her rifle up to in time to shoot one oncoming Klingon, but a second finely armoured Klingon woman quickly followed and planted two massive armoured feet into the Andorian medic's face sending her cartwheeling in the air and landing with a massive grunt.  The kick would have been fatal it not for the helmet and armour, but it did nothing for the sudden transfer of kinetic energy from all directions that was inflicted on her body.  Groggily getting on to her hands and knees, she suddenly cried out as an armoured boot smashed into her armoured rib cage with enough force to flip her over several more times.  It seemed to take an eternity for her to get up and assume a defensive hand to hand stance.  Her opponent, the finely armoured Klingon smiled and approached, putting away her dagger.  Zark's arms seemed to explode as she barely managed to block a two punch combination aimed at her head, but this was a feint as a hand grabbed the back of her helmet and series of vicious uppercuts slammed into her mid section causing her to grunt and become winded again. 

With a strength born of desperation, Zark's head flew up and the back of her helmet hit the Klingon in the face, stunning her opponent.  A quick elbow strike was followed by a quick kick to the Klingon's chest.  The Klingon staggered back from the strike and the Zark threw a punch at her opponent's head.  The Klingon caught the punch and the Andorian felt herself get pulled in before a large hand grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground before ripping Zark's helmet off.  The Klingon smiled again and said something as Zark clawed at the strangling arms.  The Klingon responded by slamming her forehead into Zark's face several times causing an explosion of pain and stars with each massive blow and sending blood flying from a squashed nose and split lips. Dazed, Lt.Zark grunted as her back was slammed to the ground.  The Klingon leapt onto the downed Andorian and Zark was barely able to get her arms up in time before her opponent began pummelling her senseless.

An orange shot blazed in and struck the Klingon, knocking her over.  Zark gasped at her reprieve and managed the strength to look around and see where the shot had come from.  Arisaka stood there with his phaser pistol pointed in her direction and one arm around Rivard who was busy holding Arisaka with one arm and firing his rifle with the other.  Zark could only smile at being saved from being turned into a punching bag, but her expression turned to one of horror as Arisaka's head exploded like an overripe melon and Rivard's back sparked and exploded as shots came in from the rear.  Three more Klingons appeared behind the two officers and quickly levelled their pistols at the two officers before firing more shots into their backs. With a strength fueled by rage, Zark pulled her phaser pistol from it's holster and  set it to kill shooting the standing Klingons, and blowing great bloody chunks from their bodies and dropping them like sacks of meat. 

It was clear that Rivard and Arisaka were dead, and as Zark unsteadily got up, she checked her surroundings as a the volume of shooting in the area took an eerie quiet.  Her eyes moved to where Marcaida and Demander were and she caught sight of Marcaida busy smashing in the head of an assailant with his rifle butt.  Demander was in a worse situation as he continued grappling rolling on the ground with another attacker.  Zark got up and stumbled a little towards Demander just as he took an elbow to the head, stunning him.  His attacker drew his dagger held it in both hands above his head, taking a moment to savour his victory.  It was not his moment as the stumbling Andorian got close enough and steady enough to jam her pistol into the Klingon's side and triggered a five round burst causing his chest to explode.  The severed head rolled a few meters away and came to a stop with a look of complete surprise on it.

"Demander, you okay?" She asked the prone Oneida officer.  Getting a nod in reply, she extended her hand to help him up.  Looking at Marcaida, she walked over and grabbed his shoulder.  Marcaida almost took a swing at her in his fury before stopping.  "I think you got him.".  Marcaida could only stare at her incomprehensibly for a moment before grunting.  "Son of a bitch had it coming."  Shaking his head, he checked his rifle and surprisingly, it was still intact. "Now what Ma'am?"

Zark didn't really know.  As her head began to clear and settle, she looked over to where the female Klingon had tried to turn her into jam and saw her helmet nearby.  Walking over and putting it on, she called up a map and team status and her heart sank again.  The building with Keyah in it was now swarming with hostile red markers.  The computer also confirmed that Arisaka and Rivard were dead.  There were also indications that more Klingons were coming towards the crash site as other seemed to be headed away from the fight.  As if to punctuate this, a flurry of green bolts came screaming in causing her to duck. "Everyone onto the Sabine now!  We're leaving!"  She turned to run with everyone else.  Just as she was a few meters away from the hatch, a force slammed into her leg causing her to fall. Shelat! Not now! Almost there. Lt. Zark struggled to her feet and a sledgehammer force sent her flying into the air momentarily and crashing into the ground knocking her out.

CPO Keyah | Above Sabine Crash Site | First City | Qo'noS

Chief Keyah didn't give up easily and she hobbled faster when she heard the message to evacuate.  I'm gonna make it, just one more floor. she thought to herself.  The Bolian rounded the corner of the stairwell and never saw the Bat'leth that slammed into her face and knocked backwards into a wall where she bounced off and face planted into the floor.  She barely had time to recognize the sound of metal slicing air before the tip of the blade slammed into the back of her head.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sera_vers_Aldnoah) | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]"One or the other, ma'am. This is your ship; pick one."

"Burn you, I don't have a bloody death wish. We're leaving!" Sera called back, and thankfully enough, she didn't have to emphasise that wish to the Starfleeters still outside the Sabine. They fought tooth and nails to get back aboard, even as more Klingons came at them from across the alley, since the collapsing building hadn't caught them all. She'd noticed the metallic 'thunk' of something attaching to the hull of her ship. She didn't think much of it at first, focusing on picking off Klingons that rushed down the alley with her weapon systems. Yet when she heard feet stomping loudly against her hull, Sera leaned forward, she could see through her canopy how a few Klingons had ziplined down from on high. "Blast it..."

Barely did she have the time to pick up her disruptor and turn around in her seat, aiming with one hand towards the airlock. A Klingon appeared, then two, and she shot them both in rapid succession. They tumbled back out of the airlock again, before a third one showed his face. "Get off my ship!" she called, and when the Klingon rushed towards the cockpit, her shots caught his face twice and he fell heavily against the carpeted deck. Hearing no more of them, seeing as a few of them had engaged the Starfleeters, she returned her attention to her controls, and  several Klingons had almost made it across the fire-lit alley.

She realised that she couldn't fire her torpedoes, since behind her some of the Theurgy crew were making it aboard, and the airlock was stupidly enough set right in front of the starboard torpedo launcher. She did notice on her sensors, however, that there was a straggler. The Andorian, she believed, and she wasn't moving. "Hey! Mechanic! You flaming Starfleeters don't like to leave people behind, right? Then move it! There is someone still out there! Get her and get back aboard so that I can fly out of here!"

With renewed focus, Sera tried to keep the Sabine as close to the ground as possible, hovering above the debris of the alley, and she hoped she wasn't depleting too much energy in her final stand against House Mo'Kai's advancing forces. She had no interest in being stuck there, power reserves gone, so she paced herself. Tried to be as conservative as possible, which for a Fire Regioneer was more difficult than for many others. Single shot firing into the smoke, catching movements as best as she might. "Come on... Come on.. Come on..."

As soon as the mechanic would give the green light, she'd seal that bloody airlock shut and blast out of there - going outside the city and gently putting her dear ship down on the ground. She dared not hope the thing could actually make it past the atmosphere in the sorry state it was in...

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Lillee_t%27Jellaieu) | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae

[Show/Hide]
Time passed, and Lillee had little to do but sit in her chair and watch her sensors, her frustration building minute by minute at being pinned down and unable to intervene. The Tesla's sensors kept a clear view of the battle raging only a few hundred meters away from Lillee, and she kept an obsessive eye on the Andorian, human, Câroon and other non-Klingon lifesigns, silently pleading for them to hurry up.

She saw the surprise attacks, not one but two different attacks, one from below and one from above. Lillee saw Klingon lifesigns vanishing, but she also saw other lifesigns begin to disappear or fade. People were fighting, dying, and Lillee was just sat there like a helpless pup! She gritted her teeth, clenching a fist as she reflexively checked the sensor readings close to her position. Sensor readings that were completely clear of Klingon lifesigns for some distance around Lillee's shuttle.

"What?" Lillee exclaimed in shock, double-checking her sensors, but there could be no doubt. The heavy weapons teams were all busy retreating, abandoning their task of pinning the Tesla down where Lillee had hidden. There was no sign of why they were leaving, no sign that anything had changed; all that was clear was that they were gone, and had indeed been gone for at least a couple of minutes. Even the heavy anti-air cannons set up on the taller buildings had powered down.

"Lillee i-Fennheii t'Jellaieu, you fool!" Lillee scolded herself viciously, her hands flying over her panel and launching her shuttle up into the air. "Staring at your sensors like some untrained moron instead of watching your surroundings! Fvadt, how could I be so stupid?"

No longer trapped by the anti-air cannons or heavy weapons teams, Lillee was free to fly however she liked, and thus it took mere moments to reach the Sabine crash site. The battle site looked hellish, with bodies strewn everywhere, both Klingon and Starfleet. The surrounding buildings were wrecked by disruptor and phaser fire, weapons fire that was continuing still. Yet more Klingons had evidently not gotten the retreat order, and consumed by vengeance and bloodlust, they continued their attacks on the Sabine from all sides, helped by the elite commandoes already next to the Sabine who continued struggling to get inside the craft.

Lillee watched from a hundred meters up as one blue-skinned figure was hit by an explosion, sent flying, and left completely exposed to Klingon weapons fire. Lillee saw a quartet of Klingons running at the Sabine, disruptors blazing, hoping to kill yet more before the ship launched, and she inhaled as lethal green bolts came awfully close to Zark.

My phasers are too precise to kill all four of them in time... Lillee thought in that split second before she grinned, bloodlust of her own filling her eyes as an idea sparked. Her hands flew with inhuman speed over her controls and abruptly the shuttle nosed down and dived for the ground. Glaring with an almost primal intensity, Lillee pulled up at the last moment, the bulky 70 ton shuttle missing the ground by scant meters, and savagely Lillee flew directly at the Klingon squad, accelerating all the way.

When the 70-ton shuttle hit them, It was not a pretty sight.

With that threat neutralised, Lillee decelerated hard and spun her shuttle around. Not trusting her weapons to safely hit the Klingons close to the Sabine, Lillee focused instead on the few remaining Klingons on the perimeter. She deftly moved her shuttle inbetween the Sabine and the majority of the Klingons on the perimeter, the Tesla's shields absorbing the disruptor fire, and Lillee answered with her own phasers. Still the weapons were designed for space combat, not anti-personnel targeting, and the results were limited.

"Come on, hurry up, hurry up..." Lillee muttered as she worked.

---

fvadt - a mild Romulan curse

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor had mostly finished with the power transfer, and was just keeping an eye on it as he takes a few moments to work on his cybernetic hand. the design was elegant, but simple to work on, fairly simple to restore basic functionality. he wouldn't have anything like fine motor control, but at least he'd have two hands. He's distracted to the point that he misses the first Klingon entering the Sabine until Sera's phaser lances through the first Klingon. With the reflexes of a veteran NCO Victor drew the phaser on his hip and fired, not checking the setting. His aim was high, perhaps too high. The bean lancing out in a sharp sizzling sound, and the Klingon warrior's head and neck disintegrate in a brilliant flash.  At least, there wouldn't be a mess, with the heat of the phaser cauterizing the wound it left behind. The beam caught him simultaneously with Sera's, the Klingon's body disintegrating into a pile of ash. There was a moment of blinking agape-ness, unsure who had made the killing shot.

He took a brief moment to process and got back to work, shunting the power from the Zero point module to the engines, glad that Sera had made the right call. But seeing the survivors from the rescue mission come aboard and without Zark. She had to be the last one in, right? Still no Zark after a heartbeat, and even as Sera yells at him to get her, he is already moving. The tall mechanic snatched up the phaser rifle from one of the security team and holstering his own in the process, and Victor leaps from the shuttle into a roll to not make himself into a target. Impacting the shattered ground at the roll wasn't fun for him and would leave bruises; the disruptor burns along his back, flaring with pain when the flesh gets punctured with some minor debris from the plaza.

Victor comes up firing at where it looked like shots were still coming from as he runs towards the down Andorian. a moment of goggling shock when Lillee crashes out of her hiding space and mows down some Klingons with the Tesla itself. He had to buy her a drink for pulling off a move that blasted crazy. But there wasn't time to marvel at the insanity of his friend right now, and he had to get to Zark. She wasn't too far from the Sabine, but a Klingon that had been lying in wait pops up from behind a pile of debris and fires at him, twin disruptor pistols sending emerald bolts firing in his general direction. With a shot more of luck than anything, Victor fires the rifle, the beam lancing through the air in an arc from the poor firing position, luckily catching the warrior in his right arm. The close range and shock of the warrior's pain gave victor an advantage. Instead of firing again, he charges the Klingon standing so close to Zark, bringing the rifle up with both hands, and slams the butt of the rifle into the Klingon's face putting his full weight and leverage into the strike. The crunching of bone and polymerized alloys is heard as both the buttstock of the phaser rifle and the Klingon's facial bones shatter.

Being close enough now, he spotted Zark stirring, and seeing no more Klingon's around, the mechanic opened up the power management panel on the rifle and set an overload that should go on in twenty seconds. If any Klingons were hiding nearby, that would take care of that surprise. Throwing the rifle with all of his might, he doesn't wait for the overloading weapon to land. With the ease and strength born of adrenaline, Victor scoops Zark up with one arm and hoists the Andorian across his shoulders. She was nearly thirty centimeters shorter than him, and she didn't weigh too much, even with her combat loadout. "Hey Zark, it's Victor. I'm getting you outta here." There wasn't much that Victor cared about right now. They'd lost too many people on this mission, and he'd be damned to burn with the pah-wraiths before he left the woman that saved him behind. It wasn't far to the shuttle, only about two dozen meters, and Victor ran as far as possible, not caring about the burning of his back or in his legs. He cared even less about the emerald disruptor bolts erupting from concealed positions aiming at the Tesla, Sabine, and him.

The sound of the phaser rifle overloading creating an explosive sound, and the sizzling of the air roughly forty meters back, the bright flaring of light had told him what that was. That was paired with the sound of a few screaming Klingons. The disruptor blasts aimed at him were fewer now, though they were getting closer. With one last burst of effort, Victor leaps up to the hovering Sabine. Victor was unsure how he managed to clear the jump, but he fucking made it, and Zark still seemed to be alive. Slapping the control panel for the airlock, it closes behind him, and breathing heavily, the half-Bajoran shouts. "Get us the fuck outta here. All of us that are alive are on board. I think I saw something headed this way, to the northeast, no clue what it is. Maybe have Lillee check it out. We need to get out of here. No clue how long that power shunt will hold."

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

The narrow battlefield was filled with smoking debris. The bodies of dead Klingons scattered about. Through the haze, the sound of the Sabine lifting off could be heard, along with the shouts and mad scramble of its passengers fleeing.

"Grrr, you Starfleeters give up too soon. The battle is just getting good!" Kudesh exclaims as he unsheathed his blade from the chest of one of the Klingon attackers. "How else can you know your true skill and the worth of your warrior's heart if you never accept a battle when the odds are against you?"

Larrant did not respond. He was still wrestling with the new voice in his mind.

"The traitor is right. Stay and fight. Let my comrades gut the lot of you that support the usurper Martok."

It was Kudesh's bloody hand hitting the casing of Larrant's pod that brought him back to reality. "It looks like your friends are leaving you behind."

Analyzing his pod's sensor readings, Kudesh was correct. The Sabine had limited power, it was fluctuating, but stable enough for a limited flight out of the city. He also noted the combadge readings of the Theurgy team. They had casualties, the survivors all had elevated heart rates. All the survivors were aboard the Sabine except Kudesh and Larrant.

"Ha, pe'taQs all of you. The House of Martok will fall if you are the strongest of its allies!"

"NO." It was a response to both Klingons present, Kudesh, and the voice echoing inside his head. Larrant rotated to face Kudesh. "FORGIVE ME AGAIN."

"For what?"

"THIS." Larrant's tentacle arms wrapped around Kudesh and secured the pod to the Klingon's back.

"No! You blasted gas pot, not this again." the Klingon protested.

Larrant activated the antigravs of his pod to maximum capacity and used his plasma vents at the ends of his tenticles to maneuver.  Kudesh dropped his bloodied blade as his was propelled up above the skyline and positioned adjacent to the escaping Sabine. His motion to wiped bug splatter off the protective visor Larrant had placed on him earlier resembled a salute as he rocketeered next to the Sabine cockpit window.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sera_vers_Aldnoah) | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]Seeing the power levels of the Sabine deplete gradually as she fired against the remaining House Mo'Kai forces, Sera ran the quick calculation in that she had more lives aboard the shuttle than outside, and if she were to save the most - herself and the bloody robot on the floor included - then she might have to seal the airlock and leave both the mechanic and the Andorian behind. It wouldn't be a popular call when returning to the Theurgy, for sure, but the alternative would be them all dying in that bloody alley.

With her yellow eyes darting back and forth to the power readout, seeing the phaser bolts she fired depleting it more and more, she was just about to reach for the airlock controls... when a new shuttle entered the alley from above - interjecting itself between the Sabine and the advancing Klingons in the smoke. A wide grin spread on Sera's face and she removed her hand from the controls of the airlock and eased her finger off the trigger on her stick, conserving her ship's energy for the possibility of escaping. Watching the Starfleet shuttle before the canopy of her cockpit, she thought to herself, Damn, I owe whomever is piloting that thing a drink...

It didn't take long before the mechanic was back on board, sealing the airlock after himself, the Andorian accounted for. "Noted, and hold on to something! We have no inertial dampeners!"

The elation and relief that flooded through Sera when she finally could pull her sick back and ascend over the rooftops would stay with her for quite some time, with the Qo'noS sunset in her eyes and the silhouette of the Great Hall in the distance. Below, she left behind an alley covered in rubble, bodies and flames. She had expected to see the Starfleet shuttle appear on one side when she looked out there, but what she didn't count on was...

"Box-boy?" she said incredulously, only giving the unmistakable figure with its metal appendages a quick glance, seeing that he was carrying Martok's bodyguard with him. "Fuck it, he won't be able to keep up." Already, he was falling behind, and Sera checked the power levels, seeing that that she still had some left. It would make for a shorter flight, but they would still get out of the city, she hoped, if she did what she decided to do. She veered to the side, so that the Medusan was directly to the aft and below her. She flipped her LCARS screen to that of her tractor beam controls, and locked on. Given the proximity, it wasn't difficult to hit them with the beam, and once she'd caught them, she accelerated - leaving the First City behind.

"All right, people, we won't make orbit, much less to the Theurgy, so we're landing up in the Kannaga Mountains. I'll find a plateau and tell the Theurgy where we are so that those who need medical attention can get beamed up there. I'm staying on the blasted ship, though, until repairs are complete, because I don't trust this flaming neighbourhood. Oh, remember to take the blasted bot with you, as well as the booster in my cargo hold. It was made using parts of her, and Ravenholm would be the one who knows how to reassemble her." Sera turned around to look over the shoulder of her red exosuit, giving her passengers a grin. "Thank you for the save guys! Let's hope Ives and Martok made it and the Klingons will settle down a bit."

And behind them, the strife of the First City was indeed dying down, because the usurper was dead and his House in disarray.

- FIN