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Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #25 –
[ Ambassador Marian Visser | Basement | Breen Federation Embassy ]
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After having left the turret on automatic targeting, her own bio signature exempt in its system, Ambassador Marian Visser could step out of hiding in confidence - smiling in the direction which the insurgents had gone to hiding.

"I am not entirely sure how you got here, but I know you Lieutenant Zaryn Kolari," she said, smiling at the wounded woman in the exosuit, and how she was trying to tend to her own wounds. Marian quite enjoyed the sight of the blue blood spilling forth from the entry-point of her carefully placed shot. Her overclocked TR-116 rifle had been loaded with tritanium rounds, and while the new exosuits of Starfleet were durable indeed, it granted better protection against energy weapons. Her smiling face was lit by the turret laying blanket fire towards the general direction of the intruders, and she raised her voice over the noise. "One of my likeminded sat in a cell opposite yours on the Theurgy. He saw you there, and so I could see you as well. Fascinating how you could have come all the way out here... Makes me wonder, did you get a lift, or did you manage to develop slipstream technology all on your own?"

"It's Arn now," came a tight-lipped shout from behind one of the pillars, suggesting that the Trill had a passenger altogether different from Marian's own inside him. He seemed to be the leader as well, as he continued to speak. "Is that thing what I think it is?"

Marian spared no glance towards the cylindrical device she'd set up in secrecy, raising her rifle as she ambled around the room and its many pillars so that she might get a better shot. Her smile remained, however, and her eyes were wide in excitement. She quite enjoyed the murderous glee that filled her. It was shared with the parasite inside, which wanted naught than to crack more suits and spill the delicious insides unto the floor. "Perhaps..." she said in a coy fashion, and saw the sillouette of the Trill behind one of the pillars. "What do you think it is?"

"That's a Genesis Device!" The Trill spat and tried to spot her, looking out from behind the pillar even as the turret blasted chunks of stone off from it. "You must have taken it out of the vaults below Starfleet Headquarters!"

Marian raised her rifle to her shoulder, took aim, and fired in quick succession. The sound of the tritanium round shattering the visor of Zaryn Arn's helmet was followed by his blood-curdling scream, and the metallic noise of his dying body trashing upon the floor. He fell into the sights of the turret, which finished him off with rapid, consecutive bolts.

"Correct," she said, and switched the setting on her rifle to automatic, meaning to kill the rest of the Theurgy crew that were hiding in the large room. "It's armed, and it will decimate this entire planet in five minutes. I am the only one with access to stop the count-down, so whatever you thought to do here... you are far too late."

With naught more to say, she laughed at their folly, and raised her rifle again. She saw their shadows moving and began to set a quicker step, firing continuously at those still alive. The parasite made her quicker, stronger than any of them, and she would relish picking them apart like the bugs they were.

[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt | Bridge | USS Allegiant ]
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T'Less had caught on to the fact that they might have been compromised by the atmospheric shifts around the Allegiant's fuselage, and told Thorne to come to a halt. A sound order, which Jennifer had no intention to rescind. She caught herself holding her breath, anticipating that the Breen ship would try to smoke them out, but for the time being, nothing happened.

"Halliwell. On screen," she said, her voice lower than usual, as if the Breen patrol ship could somehow hear them.

"Aye," said the halfblood Klingon, and on the side of the viewscreen not directly in front of Thorne, the image of the patrol ship could be seen. It had yet to catch up to them, and Dewitt hoped that it would sail right past them without seeing them. It was still a long way off, and Jennifer reckoned - with her own background in Tactical - that their best option was to keep still and lay their trust in their cloaking device. Therefore, she gave another order instead.

"Can you give me the IFF identification of that patrol ship from sensors?" she asked, having an idea of what they could do. She had hoped for better odds than those T'Less had given her, but if she was right, they might not have to deal with the situation alone.

"It's on your armrest now, Captain," said Halliwell, her fingers tapping away at her bright console. "Shall I hail the Eirene, using the Breen voice scrambler? I've pulled it out of the UT."

Dewitt took a deep breath, her eyes still on the patrol ship on the screen, which was creeping closer, but still hadn't passed them by. "Yes, go ahead," she said, and then collected her thoughts so that she might phrase herself clearly. On the other end, they would just hear the Breen static that came out of their refrigeration suits. She glanced towards her arm rest. "This is patrol ship six-niner-alpha-two to the Eirene. We demand to speak with Captain Julius Bellum immediately." Too little time. The Breen Council was convening in the Hall of Heroes. What else could she say? "Otherwise, the entirety of the present Breen forces will open fire."

There was silence at first, during which time Dewitt kept looking at the patrol ship they were impersonating, anticipating that it might open fire any second in order to smoke out whatever it was they thought they had spotted leaving Breen atmosphere.

[This is the Eirene. The Captain is on his way. Please stand by.]

Jennifer felt like she was sweating bullets, watching that Breen ship approaching them from the aft. Come on...

[This is Captain Julius Bellum of the Federation starship Eirene. I demand to know why we are being threatened. Firing upon a Starf-]

"Be silent!" she snapped, the echo of the Breen translation heard on the other end. "The Diplomatic attachés you brought to Breen has smuggled a bomb with proto-matter payload into our capital, hiding it below your Federation Embassy. This is an act of war against the Confederacy, and we will not stand for it. Dare not deny it!"

[A bomb? That's preposterous, Starfleet would never dream of bombi-]

"Yet a bomb there is, nonetheless, and should our sensors be wrong and you deny this claim, we demand you verify that our readings are seeing something else, hidden underneath the dampening field you've raised around your Embassy." Jennifer leaned forward, even though the transmission was audio-only. "Mind you, if this is a misunderstanding, and you can explain what we're seeing, your ship and crew will be spared."

[Stand by,] came the voice, followed shortly by a more concerned addendum, [We... can't raise communications with the Embassy. We're sending a security detail down there. Stand by for verification.]

"Acknowledged," said Jennifer, and killed the comm line...

...only to see the patrol ship beginning to fire in their general direction - following their general trajectory out of the atmosphere.

Jennifer's eyes widened. "Evasive manoeuvres!" she called to Thorne, then turned her head to T'Less. "Do not fire just yet!"

Luckily, the Eirene were a couple of thousands of kilometres away, and whatever might happen next could escape their notice...

OOC: All right! Seven days of posting begins now! This is a brilliant chance to kill off Halliwell which we shouldn't miss, along with the cloak being compromised for a bit after sustaining fire from the patrol fit, until Ji can fix it, which will spark a need for some action. As for the team down in the Embassy, please don't kill off the Ambassador (she being an Infested, she would survive quite a lot anyway), and be innovative in how they might disable the phaser turret. Zark needs to get into relative safety and away from both the Turret and the Infested. Reinforcements from the Eirene can appear and get mowed down by Marian and the turret, forcing the Eirene to send more officers in the next round as well! Most importantly, have fun!!

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #26 –
[PO2 T’Kolla | Federation Embassy | Breen] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @RyeTanker @BZ
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The Petty Officer embedded in the new formation as they left the lift, his eyes still focused on the data his suit gave him about their current location. Every meter they advanced the amount of Protomatter grew on his screen and as they reached the door of the source he even had to shut the sensors down to avoid them from distracting him. At the door nonetheless the group had to wait till the last security measures were overwritten.

If they would have had any other option Taa’gur would have insisted that they should take another way. The whole room screamed that it was any kind of trap, but unfortunately also the only possible way to the bomb. Arn gave them the order to split up till they reached their destination and while at least Arn and Zark scanned the area in front, Taa’gur walked slightly sidewards to watch their backs. The last thing they wanted was to get trapped in a crossfire with nothing more than some pillars to cover them. Then before they even passed said pillars a bright flash turned the Devores attention back to their target. To his unpleasant surprise he found there, instead of Zark, a good view on the two phaser turrets and an unknown character. To avoid the incoming barrage of their gunfire Taa’gur threw himself behind the next pillar just moments before the first phaser turret had detected him and begun to shoot. Kneeling behind the pillar he spotted the downed Lieutenant Zark just an arms length next to him. So close and still if he would even reach his hand out to her to get her back in safety, those turrets would probably shoot his arm off. Except the shooting of the turrets he also heard that the other Lieutenant and whoever the woman was talked about the Protomatter device. The phrase Genesis Device was mentioned, but the Petty Officer was completely unaware about that thing and if he wasn’t occupied currently he could maybe search the little databank his suit had for that Genesis thing. At the end of their dialogue another one of the bullets that already have penetrated the suit of Zark hit through the helmet of Arn. His body smashed down shortly after. “Man down! Lieutenant Arn has been hit.” Taa’gur yelled through the Teams Intercom. He was sure that Lorad wouldn’t have missed that, but it was standard doctrine to inform the squad.

Taa’gurs mind crossed another thought almost immediately after the Lieutenant was killed. That woman will probably kill the other Lieutenant now. He stuck his head slightly out of his cover to get a good view of their positions and just as soon as his head was visible hit another one of those bullets the pillar. He pulled back, especially since the bullet has demolished the pillar. He had to find a way to get the woman behind that pillar without getting shot in the process. Then he began frantically searching through his equipment if he would have anything to irritate at least the turrets and just as he gave up searching for something, the door they have entered earlier opened again. In its frame stood now three other Federation Officers. “Cont...” came from Taa’gurs mouth, but right before he could finish it the ambassador and the two turrets covered the three Officers in energy bolts and some physical bullets. The Officer in the middle received almost all of the shoots and since he didn’t wore an exosuit like Arn or Zark the bullets of the ambassador ripped off almost unstopped his left arm and tore out major parts of his abdomen. Whatever was left then got shredded by the phaser turrets. His left comrade also received at least a couple of phaser shoots and collapsed dead beside him. Only the Officer on the right was lucky enough to just receive two phasers and then fall behind the wall and out of the turrets range.

In one fast move Taa’gur reached out of his cover to tear Lieutenant Zark to him. Even though the turrets were still locked on the door, the ambassador already aimed back at the Petty Officer. Luckly the woman didn’t hit the Devore but she scratched the visor of his helmet. The impact of the hit shook him back and at least for a moment he almost lost his balance. With the scratch in his visor he decided to remove it completely. There wasn’t much sense in shooting while seeing only half of your actual view.
[PO2 T’Kolla]
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Oh and if there's anything fundamentally wrong with the text above, then please don't hesitate to point it out to me.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #27 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Federation Embassy Basement | Breen]

@Auctor Lucan @BZ @Stegro88 @DaValle

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Lt. Zark was dying, she could feel her life slipping away.  She could also feel her will fighting with everything she had to keep her alive.  It was a precarious balance in her mind that helped by the training that had taken over.  She momentarily paused as her assailant briefly looked her over before moving on to continue her killing spree.  There was no relief in this respite, if she didn't find some way to stop the bleeding, it didn't matter how many reprieves she got, she would be dead.  Every movement introduced some wave of ache or a lance of pain as she fought to find the right equipment in her pouches to stem the horrendous internal damage she'd taken.  Gritting her teeth, Lt. Zark mustered the strength to find out what state she was in

"Computer, scan for internal damage." Lt. Zark coughed out and was rewarded with blobs of spittle and blood covering the the bottom of her helmet.

"Wor....wor...king"  came back the computer's reply.  More red flashed all over her HUD and static and snow intermittently covered the window on the internal damage readout.  Damage to large intestine, stomach, small intestine, liver, bladder, blood loss at 2L/Hour. "Warni.....War......Catastrphic operator da-da-damage received. Seeeeeee........Seeeeeek Emergency medical attention immediately."

No shelat.  Then it got worse as PO T'Kolla's report on Lt. Arn came through.  Despair began to break through her confusing haze of emotions as everything was falling apart even faster than she thought could happen.  A flurry of phaser fire and rifle shots sounded out followed by wet messy sounds of meat and bone being incinerated and pulverized. Wha..? and any thoughts were brutally chopped off as a strong force yanked her from behind into cover.  Lt. Zark let out another scream as pain lanced through her abused midsection, barely hanging on to consciousness.  Her head was swimming and her vision blurry.  Another series of hacking coughs wracked her body and projectiles of blood covered her helmet visor. 

Her senses returned in what felt like hours, but her thoughts were still slurry and she had little to no awareness around her, just the pain and the need to survive.  Taking a deep breath, and it hurt like hell, she reached into a pouch and pulled out a vial. "Computer, identify vial." "Coagulant 100 milileters" came the reply. Lt. Zark didn't hesitate as she snapped the vial and poured it all over her wound.  She knew she would need surgery to undo everything the coagulant was going to seal, but it was better than bleeding out.  She screamed again through gritted teeth as the blood reactive disinfectant went to work prior to the coagulant kicking in.  The pain slowly ebbed away as her body pumped out more endorphins to counteract her haywiring pain receptors.  With nothing else to do Lt.Zark searched for and found a vial of adrenaline.  If it came down to a fight, this would be the only thing that would make her mobile and aware enough to go into action.  It took a try or two, but she got the vial into the hypospray. 

It was then that the state of her helmet registered, flickering and half covered in blood.  She noticed the blood loss number was going down, it wasn't great, but it could be worse.  Ripping her helmet off she was assailed by the smells and horrors of battle.  Her rifle obviously no where nearby, Lt. Zark placed the adrenaline in her left hand and unholstered her phaser pistol in her right, her sweat covered hair flat and matted to her head, breathing heavily, and a look of murderous determination in her eyes, she waited for the coagulant and her fate.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #28 –
[ Lieutenant T’Less | Bridge | USS Allegiant | Breen Space ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @BZ @RyeTanker @DaValle
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The Vulcan had researched everything she could about the Breen in anticipation of an encounter with them at some point. She had calculated that some sort of exchange with their forces was likely with a statistically high probability that Commander Dewitt would then attempt to bluff her way to a more advantageous position, much as she was trying to do now. T’Less was Vulcan, she was trained to express no emotion to events and to remain calm and logical. Yet, she felt, something, pride, satisfaction maybe, she wasn’t sure, at having both correctly prepared for and predicted their needing to imitate a Breen vessel.

T’Less’ introspection was interrupted as her console warned her that the Breen patrol vessel that had been closing to investigate the wake of atmospheric disturbance behind the Allegiant was now powering weapons. It was not unexpected, T’Less mused. They would have been tracking a climbing disturbance that had now vanished. Their altitude was still too low for it to have trailed off into space which meant that the crew of their assailant was not only well trained, but experienced. And if they were powering weapons, she knew what they would be doing next.

“Evasive manoeuvres!” came the order from Dewitt even as the T’Less noted the Breen opening fire. “Do not fire just yet!” Dewitt commanded. T’Less felt the instinctive need to object but held it back as she tried to examine the problem logically.

“Erratic and rapid movements will all allow the Breen to triangulate our position, enhancing their aim,” T’Less pointed out. “It will only be a matter of time before we must either break away for orbit so as to eliminate their ability to track us by our wake, or we are forced to return fire to protect ourselves.”


[ PO3 Lorad | Federation Embassey | Breen ]
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As directed, Lorad had swept right into the room, his Accipiter rifle up as he begun to clear his area. He hadn’t advanced far before the lights in the room disappeared. While not an issue given the vision filters in the suit, he was still learning the operations of the forearm PADD and it took a moment for him to switch to infra-red and by the time he had done so, much had begun to happen. First, the crash of something falling from height followed by two sharp cracks, not booming like the first sound but more ominous in their conciseness. That was when the phaserfire began. A turret had deployed from its concealed mounting and began to spray pulsed shots around the room. Lorad barely had time to dive behind a column and out of sight before he was shot. Finally, Zark, the Andorian medic, called out announcing she was injured.

Pinned as he was behind the pillar, Lorad was unable to move without bringing himself into the line of fire of the phaser turret and being shot at. That left him with little option but to listen to the discourse between their assailant, a female by her tone, and the Trill Lieutenant. He didn’t follow all of it, but he understood enough to be worried. A weapon powerful enough to decimate the planet, armed and on a 5-minute countdown. Unfortunately, he also heard the sharp cracks again from what he assumed was her weapon before a thud, something he instantly recognised as a body hitting the floor. Hearing no further words from him, Lorad could only assume that Arn had, at best, been rendered unconscious. Further shots changed his belief to a deathlier one, T’Kolla’s shouted words confirming it, as he tried to gauge the woman’s movement by the sound of the shots. She was hunting them.

Glancing out for a moment, Lorad chanced a look at the turret before diving back as phaser bolts tore at the pillar he was hiding behind. Knowing what he was shooting at now, the Reman dialled up the power levels and switched to a three-round burst. Taking a calming breath, Lorad leaned out and fired at the turret. His accuracy was impressive with the unfamiliar weapon, but his shots were intercepted by an energy shield flaring into existence around the autonomous weapon. Biting back a curse, Lorad ducked back as turret rotated back to reacquire him, showering him in more debris from the column. It was chewing it apart and soon enough the support would offer no more protection to him. 

“Support protection!” Lorad almost shouted as an idea struck him. Adjusting his weapon again, he waited until the turret stopped firing, counted to 5 and then crouched out, his weapon already raised. Sighting in carefully as he imagined his target, Lorad pulled the trigger and sent 10-round burst after 10-round burst into the wall at the base of the turret. The weapon was shielded but the power feeds for it wouldn’t be. The encapsulated tritanium rounds tore at the wall, carving through it with the 3rd burst and exposing his target for the next one. Even as the phaser locked onto Lorad, the Reman’s fire cut through the cabling and rendered the weapon inoperable, saving himself from a grisly death. 

Now safe to move around a little, Lorad moved position to try and ascertain the condition of his teammates. He found the Trill dead on the ground while T’Kolla had managed to pull Zark back into cover. He was about to ask where their huntress had gone when movement to his side drew his attention and he saw 4 Starfleet officers standing in the doorway they themselves had entered through, above the smoking bodies of two more, answering Lorad’s question of what else the turret had been shooting at.

No warning could be shouted before the remaining turret opened fire on them, stitching one of the men with multiple bolts as his comrades dived into cover. Lorad was adjusting his rifle again, returning to single fire when he saw the head of one of the men in cover explode. Combat instincts took over and Lorad rolled over himself to line up a shot on the predator stalking them. The shot was accurate, catching the woman in her left shoulder and sending her flying back into a pillar, dusting and debris showering her impact.

The Reman was about to climbing to his feet to confirm the kill when movement from his target stalled his speech. The redhead was still on her feet, her weapon held at her side as she glared at him through several strands of hair.

“That hurt!” she stated as her right arm brought her rifle up again.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #29 –
[Ens Jaya Thorne | Fly or Die | Wish I Had a Wingman |  Do We Get Hazard Pay?]
@Auctor Lucan




Full stop.

Jaya brought the ship to a stand still in exactly 4.36 seconds, well there abouts.  She wasn't really counting but she was pretty good at estimating at this point and later she could ask the computer exactly how well she had done on her estimations but for now she was just going to have to go with that being the actual time.  Because, it sounded good, and the bonus of it all was no one was complaining about whiplash, so she hadn't stopped too sharply.  She probably could have lowered it down to half but then people would be visiting sickbay with slipped disks, and belted imprints on their chests from restraints and there would be too many complaints, and then Ives would give her that 'you can do better' look from behind his/her Captain chair, and well.. no one wanted to disappoint the parents.

4.36 seconds was just fine.
 
“We have stopped fully.” she reported.

Jen wasn't in the mood to tease and play, which was a shame because she could be so fun when she was.  But she had put her Captain hat back on and the situation was a cluster so it was just better that Jaya tried to bring light into the situation and help the Bridge stay grounded.  Dewitt was all serious and orders, everyone else was getting that animal in the headlights look, and Jaya found herself just wanting to make everyone laugh but knowing that this was neither the time nor the place.  Plus people were getting used to her joking comments which meant she was likely going to have to change up her witty banter to something more fresh. Problem was, witty was just her thing.

Jen was pretending to be a Breen and was doing a damn fine job of it, if you asked Jaya, not that anyone was or would, but they could and she would certainly have an opinion.  Still, as much as she wanted to say nice things about her Captain at the moment she knew this was a serious moment.  Jaya was watching the screen while they viewed the ship that was communicating with them.  They were Federation and it was imperitive that no one knew that they were speaking to other Federation officers because then things got inky and murky and .. then just flat nasty. 

Jaya didn't like nasty.

The talk didn't end well, suddenly they were being shot at.  “I knew I was going to get hit on today, I just didn't expect it in such a direct manner.” she commented as Jen called for evasive maneuvers.  “Oh we want to dance?  Fine, we'll dance.”

She grinned darkly but with a great deal of glee.  Given the full reign of the speed stick was one of her favorite things in life.  The ship went from full stop to moving gracefully around the shooting.  She knew that she had to walk a fine line, they were cloaked and if they moved too fast and utilized too much energy then they would lose the cloak and be ousted for who they were.  Then it would get real, and while Jen was amazing, they had a strike team out there somewhere that needed to finish a job, and gettig found out right now would really put a kink in the ol' evening plans so to speak.

“Don't worry, I know about the cloak.” she called out to .. well who ever it was that voiced concern over such a thing.  “You're talking to Amazing Pilot Extraordinaire Jaya Thorne, I think you forgot so I felt the need to remind you.  I'll take interviews and give autographs after saving our asses later.” she teased.

Jaya was graceful when she flew and could do as she wished, she saved the engines for when they needed them the most. Evasive maneuvers weren't something that had to be harsh and fast, they had to be ahead of the game.  Jaya was not a tactician but it didn't really take one to figure out their next move.  She would stay still lone enough and count... 5... 4.... 3... 2... MOVE and she would shift the stick, a barrel roll later the shots newly fired missed into empty space.  Jaya wasn't an idiot, back and forth would only get figured out and get them shot.  So no, she had a random system.  First West, then South east, then North, then south west, then center, sometimes two rolls, but mostly one if she could manage, the take on the engine wasn't much and thus wouldn't tax the cloak any more than necessary.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #30 –
[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt | Bridge | USS Allegiant ]
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As Jaya began to have the Allegiant dodge and dance away from the energy beams from the type-3 disruptor cannons on the patrol ship, there was still no word from Bellum on the Eirene. T'Less warning was sound, and it seemed the right option.

"Agreed. Thorne, ascend as quickly as you can, but don't let them hit us, because even if our powered-down shields might save us, the cloak will fail as power levels compensate for the hit," she said through clenched teeth as the Manta-class scoutship rolled and danced. As long as there was no confirmed hit, and if they were lucky, it could still be that the patrol ship would think they'd seen a naturally occurring shift in the atmosphere. They couldn't return fire before that point.

[This is Captain Bellum, we have deployed personnel to the Embassy, but there is indeed a dampening field raised around the building, so we have yet to receive any answers. We assure you that whatever is happening, we are not responsible.]

If you are one of the Infested, Captain Bellum, I am sure you would say that, thought Dewitt, her knuckles white as she held on to the armrests of her chair. There was simply no way of knowing, but at least the away team wasn't alone down there. Hard-pressed as their situation was, with disruptor beams piercing the thinning air around the scoutship, Jennifer tried to think of something to say. When she spoke, she had to take a deep breath in order to sound like she wasn't on a ship about to sustain a devastating hit any moment. Speaking of 'hits', Thorne's jesting had drawn a quick smile from Jennifer, however fleeting given the circumstances.

"This is patrol ship six-niner-alpha-two," she said through the Universal Translator filter, wondering if the bridge crew was questioning why a simple patrol ship would contact them instead of... some 'High-Thot' down there on the planet, "planetary defences will be armed and your ship will be destroyed unless you drop the dampening field around your Embassy. Do this immediately, so that we might verify the absence of the proto-matter bomb!"

And also, so that we might have a chance of beaming out our team, she added silently after she killed the transmission, hissing through her teeth as a shot nearly hit straight through their viewport. Arn, if your team is still down there, you better disarm that thing you found... Otherwise I'll have to drop this charade and warn the Breen directly.

A reading showed up in the corner of the screen. Another patrol ship.

"Thorne!" he barely managed to say in warning, before the introduction of another source of enemy fire came out of nowhere - catching them all unawares. Obviously, the first patrol ship had called on reinforcements. Two disruptor beams chased them, followed by a third, which caught them over the ventral side of the ship. Sparks and a hissing noise of leaking plasma erupted at the front of the bridge. Dewitt nearly fell out of her chair, but luckily, it was a glancing hit to the ship itself. Warning chirps erupted all over their consoles, but there was no sign of a hull breach. The overload of the already strained EPS grid, however, made a conduit burst in the deckhead above Thorne and Halliwell. The former barely escaped the fiery out-pour, but the latter...

"Halliwell!" Dewitt exclaimed, far too late, the woman already lost. Moreover, the Reman cloak was failing them, their existence flickering on and off in the thinning atomsphere, alerting the Breen forces of their presence. Realising this, and knowing they had no shields either, Jennifer, tried to contact Engineering. "Ji! Get the cloak back up, but if that's impossible, we need shields now. T'Less! They are arming torpedoes. Target them with whatever we can muster from our phaser emitters!"

Their only hope of survival now, as Dewitt saw it, was to cloak after leaving the mists of the atmosphere, or surrender.

[ Ambassador Marian Visser | Basement | Breen Federation Embassy ]
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It had been a pleasure to kill the ignorant fools that had spilled through the doors, Visser recognising them as crew from the Eirene. She had bit her lower lip in elation, seeing the effects the weapons fire had on their flesh. Seeing them, she had also realised someone tipped off Captain Bellum, but it was far too late to stop the count-down.

The hit she'd sustained in her shoulder, oh what force! What ecstatic feeling of pain! The sensory overload of her Host body's nervous system was almost orgasmic to Visser, and she was up on her feet in short order - firing her rifle single-handed since the other arm wasn't working any more. Oh, it had hurt, as she told the shooter in the golden exosuit, and she'd quite enjoyed it. Her overclocked TR-116 rifle wasn't supposed to outlast the defence of the Genesis Device, since no manner of maintenance would save it, so she had no compunction about sustained automatic fire against the officers still alive, starting with the one that shot her. She was strong enough to fire it one-handed, but the accentuated recoil set her otherwise impeccable aim off. As practised as her Host was as a marksman, having learned to shoot in the Academy, she ended up chasing the figure among the pillars with a hailstorm of bullets instead of hitting him.

"Come out and play! We have so little time!" she called into the smoke-filled room, her shout emphasised by the second turret opening fire anew - targets unseen.

She debated whether or not she'd try to beam up to the Eirene, but knowing that Bellum might be on to her, she knew she'd have to spin quite a story after she'd been brought to sickbay.

A story, that would definitely involve the newly arrived crew of the Theurgy, and how they were responsible for the decimation of the Breen homeworld. She just wanted to stay a little bit longer, just so that she could toy a little bit more with the feeble skin puppets, before she finally dropped the dampening field and had the Embassy's transporter system beam her up to the orbiting Intrepid-class ship.

"No? Well, if you'd rather play hide and seek," she called to them playfully, "I suppose I just have to find you..."

With a grin, eyes wide, she searched the smoke with her rifle extended in front of her self - listening for movements.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..."

OOC: All right! Seven days of posting begins now! Feel free to illustrate how Halliwell died on the bridge from that plasma conduit. Also, please feel free to coordinate some manner of multi-faceted attack against the Ambassador, but don't forget about the second turret and the potential arrival of more Starfleet officers from the Eirene! Leave the results of attacks against her open-ended so that I can write the outcome in my next post? :)

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #31 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Federation Embassy Basement | Breen]

@Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @DaValle

Awareness returned suddenly to Lt. Zark in a grunt of anguish as a fresh lance of fire shot through her body.  Her head began swivelling and Lt. Zark felt her temperature drop as the swinging of her head cooled her face off.  Her automatic reaction was to bring up her phaser pistol as well and nothing seemed to happen.  Her eyes dropped to her right hand and bugged out.  Her hand hadn't moved, she didn't even feel the strain of trying and failing to lift the weapon.  Focusing more, her arm responded and she saw the weapon come up off the ground; the movement seemed a little syrupy.

Whoever had pulled her into cover had taken off and the sound of wild firing in all directions could be heard throughout the room. "Come out, come out, wherever you are...".  The Infested Ambassador's taunt could be heard loud and clear, mixing equal parts invitation and arrogance.

Grimacing in pain and instinctually placing her left hand on the gaping hole in her armour, Lt. Zark heaved herself forward on to her knees and moved forward to the support beam.  Each movement released it's own grunt of pain and her vision swam.  She reached the support beam and took a steadying breath before peaking out passed the beam.  The phaser turrets were swinging back and forth spewing orange death at an unknown target.  The firing was dimly noticed by the Andorian as small amount of movement attracted her attention below the turret.  It looked like power cables were hanging below the turret.  Unsure if it was sloppiness on the Ambassador's part or inexperience in engineering matters became irrelevant as the turret swung towards her position.  Her ears picked the telltale sound signature of transport in progress and the turret swung mercilessly back toward the sound before releasing another stream of energy fire. Sparks and screams quickly resulted. 

More chemical rifle shots sounded trading fire with something that was very unfamiliar, presumably The Accipiter.  Taking a moment to steady her pistol on the support beam, Lt. Zark steadied her aim at the base of the wall mounted turret and pulled the trigger.  A long stream of phaser pulses flew at the turret striking an energy shield that contemptuously absorbed the fire.  Her arm slipped a bit further down and the next stream of phaser fire impacted on the unshielded cables sending a shower of sparks and debris flying toward the back wall.  The turret which had been pointed at Lt. Zark's head fired one shot that impacted the support beam then shut down.

The concussion of the shot with shower of sparks and alloy forced Lt. Zark to pull back around the beam faster than she could control and she let out another shout as the wound responded badly to the abuse.  Grimacing, she pulled herself back towards the wall and sat up breathing heavily and moaning.  Her head rolled to one side and she had time to see a human head and a phaser rifle pointing out peaking passed a power bank and looking right at her.  She looked like a Starfleet security officer who was clearly terrified and working hard to control it. "This is Keegan to Eirene, my team is down and I'm injured!  Many casualties from previous teams!  Starfleet officers currently engaged and under heavy fire!  I can see one now in armour.  She looks like an Andorian and is critical. Send reinforcements in armour to my signal!  Do not use, repeat, do not use previous transporter coordinates! It's a killzone."

"You knocked out my turret you rodent, I'm going to enjoy making you suffer for that." the Ambassador added to the din.

Lt. Zark could only groan and cough out more blood as she began losing awareness again.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #32 –
[PO2 T’Kolla | Federation Embassy | Breen] @Auctor Lucan  @Stegro88 @RyeTanker
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Their situation was dire to say the least. One out the rest under heavy fire with no way to escape. The Devore waited till he would see a chance to get to the Protomatter bomb. Not that he actually knew how these thing would work. He has obviously prepared himself for this mission but he has never heard about a device like that. It wouldn’t change anything nonetheless. There was maybe a chance that he could disarm it, but not as long as the turret keeps shooting anything that moves in the room. This problem anyway got solved pretty effective by the Andorian he saved earlier. Even in her current situation she was able to hit the unprotected places of the turret.

The ambassador didn’t took the destruction of her turret as calm as she took the first one. The Petty Officer saw his chance though. Well actually he heard his chance. With the lights still out, his sight was pretty limited without the suits visor to help him, but when the woman screamed out her location he was able to shoot in her direction. More or less her direction. In the end only two of eight shoots hit their target. Under better circumstances this number would be an embarrassment. Right now though it was acceptable. For the ambassador the shoots were nothing serious though, for someone who could easily survive the Accipiter a normal phaser rifle was nothing more than a toy gun. Still the shoots delivered the message he wanted to send her: “You’re alone and vulnerable now.” Without her turrets and with the certainty that the whole city will explode sooner or later she may try to escape and this could give Taa’gur the time he needed to deal with the bomb. He may not know how exactly it worked but in the end there’re a couple of natural laws even this object had to obey.
[PO2 T’Kolla]
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Oh and if there's anything fundamentally wrong with the text above, then please don't hesitate to point it out to me.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #33 –
[ Lieutenant T’Less | Bridge | USS Allegiant | Breen Space ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @DaValle @RyeTanker
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"Hit, ventral facing,” T’Less catalogue as she read her screens. “Shields depleted; EPS grid strained.” As if to punctuate her thoughts, a conduit in the bulkhead above them breached, filling the space beyond it with a fiery gout. Commander Dewitt was lucky in avoiding it. Ensign Halliwell, however, was less fortunate as her head and shoulders were engulfed in the scorching outburst. T’Less heard the Commander’s exclamation but like her, knew that it was far too late to save the officer. Idlily, T’Less hoped that the young woman felt nothing as death embraced her. Still, there was much to do as she noted the arming of torpedoes aboard the Breen vessels even as Dewitt stated the same thing.

“With the cloak down, they can both identify us and target us freely,” T’Less analysed, going over their current tactical situation in her mind even as she recalibrated the Allegiant’s Type-VII phaser arrays. Short bursts would both make it easier for her to hit any torpedoes fired at them while making it harder for their position to be triangulated in the clouds. “Except they can see us on their sensors,” T’Less chastised herself. “Until we disappear again!” she realised, her hands rushing over her console, searching for the relevant protocols.

“Activating Aldean Scrambler!” T’Less advised. Unfortunately, she was too late to prevent the launch of a pair of torpedoes from the closest Breen vessel. Thorne had noticed the launch as well and immediately threw the Allegiant into an evasive manoeuvre; something that T’Less had to compensate for as she opened fire at the pair of projectiles. Her first burst missed but her next was accurate and the torpedo’s detonation bloomed in the atmosphere for everyone to see. Refocusing, the Vulcan targeted the second torpedo and quickly turned it into a similar visage as the first.

“Torpedoes intercepted.”


[ PO3 Lorad | Federation Embassey | Breen ]
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Lorad, despite having been briefed on the capabilities of an infested individual, was still surprised when the woman had so casually shaken off the shot from the Accipiter in his hands. He had attempted to bring the weapon to bare for a second shot but was forced to evade instead, ducking behind a pillar as the infested beat him to the draw. Projectiles zipped by him through the smoke and Lorad ducked out to return fire; his attempt unsuccessful as he dodged again to avoid a stream of solid rounds.

Her voice echoed through the smoke and dark, taunting him to come out and play. And as much as Lorad wanted to face her, he knew that in a straight up melee, he could, at best, match her strength; and that was a tall ask. But time was running out. The bomb was present, and no doubt, activated. Lorad himself couldn’t disarm it which only left him one role to play in the current situation. The announcement that her second turret had been knocked out was a welcome sound and gave Lorad an idea. Darkness and obscurity were a Reman’s home. “Time to play my advantage,” Lorad thought as he stalked off through the dark and smoke.

His suit wasn’t built for stealth movement but there was thankfully enough background noise that he was able to sneak into position without alerting the infested. The fact that she was focused on murdering his companions and the other arrivals also aided him. As the flame-haired woman advanced past him, Lorad stepped out from behind the column concealing him, booted the odd rifle from her one-handed grasp before leveling his accipiter at her abdomen and pulling the trigger to fire the weapon on its highest setting.

And unlike last time, as the woman sailed away, Lorad kept his aim fixed on her, ready to fire again if the first shot proved insufficient.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #34 –
[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt | Bridge | USS Allegiant ]
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With her brow furrowed and beaded with sweat, Jennifer Dewitt's green eyes darted between Thorne at the helm and T'Less at the tactical station. The viewscreen was filled with criss-crossing disruptor fire from the Breen patrol ships and the explosions of torpedoes that the Vulcan managed to hit. The air of the small bridge smelled of burned human flesh and singed hair - spreading from Halliwell's body as it lay slumped across the LCARS screen she'd operated. The computer was chirping warnings about damage sustained, and the answer from Chief Ji came over the static of the intercom.

[Engineering here! I can't restore the cloak if you want shields too, and if you keep firing up there, you can have neither!] The Asian woman's voice was laced tightly to keep any panic from coming through, and Dewitt realised that the mission was about to fail. Captain Bellum wasn't making progress by the sound of it, and they had no idea if they away team of theirs was even alive. The Breen Council was convened, and the protomatter bomb, whatever it might do, could go off any second for all they knew.

"Ji... give us shields."

[Aye, Captain!]

The only reason the Allegiant wasn't completely compromised was because of the Aldean sensor scrambler that T'Less had activated, which at least kept the Eirene and the Breen both from knowing whom they were. It made them no less a target for the latter, unfortunately, and Jennifer saw no other recourse. She shut her eyes tightly, knowing that as far as they had come... they had no choice.

"T'Less... Signal our surrender to the Breen, and hail them. I need to warn them before it is too late, and before we can no longer say anything. Just... keep the Eirene out of it for now," she said, and got to her feet. Thorne's head whipped around and her friend from the Black Opal looked at her with dismay, but she said nothing. For once, she had no joke to offer. She turned to T'Less, making sure she got no objection.

“Commander, I…” The Vulcan tried; her voice dying off as Dewitt’s demand registered.

"Now, Lieutenant," she insisted, but she took the edge of it with a small smile.

“As you order,”  T’Less replied reluctantly as she ceased firing while opening a channel to the Breen ships pursuing them. “Breen vessels, please cease fire. We surrender, I repeat, we surrender. Please acknowledge this transmission.”

Once the Breen ceased firing upon them, Jennifer took a deep breath, before the viewscreen came alive with the sight of the four Breen on the patrol ship that had spotted them. Thorne had turned the Allegiant around to face their pursuer at this point, and Jennifer straightened where she stood. "I'm Commander Jennifer Dewitt, and our intentions are peaceful. We are here to prevent a bomb from detonating in the Federation Embassy building. A bomb set by a common enemy, merely having used Starfleet's presence to deliver it. We are here, acting to prevent disaster upon the Breen and the heart of your Confederacy, and perhaps in error, we opted to do so without your awareness and involvement... merely because we believed the chances of success would be greater in doing so," she said, speaking quickly but clearly.

In reaction, the Breen talked among themselves, their helmets distorting their voices into static chatter, but one of them addressed the Allegiant. "Continue," the Breen said, the Federation Standard word sounding strange through the mouth-piece of the suit.

"We hope that given the gravity of the situation, you do not destroy this ship, but let us assist you in preventing the detonation." By the look of the Breen and how they talked amongst themselves, it was evident she hadn't won them over, even if she was being listened to. She had no choice, she realised, as she looked towards T'Less for a brief moment. They would have to understand. "Time is short, and you must deploy forces inside the Embassy building. Leave my crew alive... while I offer myself to your custody. I will answer all the questions you may have, as long as you heed my warning, and save the capital. I swear by the truth of my words, and merely ask that you do not cast blame on the Eirene, for they knew not what they delivered."

At least I hope that's the truth of it, she thought, heart beating fast while the Breen debated on what to do amongst themselves, I may not know if Bellum is one of them, but there are hundreds of Federation officers on that ship...

Thorne and T'Less might have objections, but whatever they said to try and stop her, she had to put the mission first. Her own life mattered naught. The Federation could not have the Breen as an enemy in any war to come. "Bridge to Engineering! Lower shields. Now, Chief Ji..." she said, and closed her fists at her sides. She mustered her confidence, and her voice cut through the debate the Breen held on the patrol ship. "Beam me over now, and put me in contact with whomever I need to speak to. Time is short."

Before the Breen could act on it, however, she turned her eyes to T'Less, her voice much lower. "As soon as you have enough power for it... cloak, and once the dampening field is down.... get the away team out of there. You're in command now, and my orders are for you to make sure this ship returns to the Theurgy. Do not try to rescue me... for regardless if the bomb goes off or not, I will try to keep the Confederacy from turning on the Federation. Even if it's the last thing I'll do in this life."

She then looked towards Thorne, and she smiled. "It has been a privilege, Jaya. Make sure to hold the Voice to his promise."

And then, she vanished from the bridge, and the feed from the control ship was cut.

[ Ambassador Marian Visser | Basement | Breen Federation Embassy ]
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Picking herself up from the wall, Ambassador Visser was laughing under her breath, which made the broken body of her Host hurt all the more - the pain an experience beyond she'd ever felt before. Her laughing grew a bit louder still when she saw how quite a lot of her lower torso was missing. Her spine had merely been grazed by the close-proximity shot, so she could still stand, even if she had to carry herself at an odd angle. Her once impeccable dress showed signs of phaser burns as well, having been hit by more than just the large rifle that the biggest one carried. She really didn't think she could return to the Eirene any more in her present state, but what did it matter? The Genesis Device would ensure that the Breen joined the war.

"Exquisite," she said, and her booming voice wasn't contained by the restrictions of the present reality, echoing between the pillars. She felt blood running down her lower lip as she grinned at the survivors in the darkness. Unarmed, having lost her toy, she walked towards them with swaying hips - eyes wide as she stared at them. "Give me more..."

Though she wouldn't make it easy on them, of course. What was the fun in that?

Using the floor beneath her feet for leverage, she leapt eight feet up into the air, against the side of a pillar, and then launched herself straight down towards the tall officer with the big rifle. Her strength and quickness was no longer bound by the physical laws of her Host body, the flux in which she existed lending force to the blow she dealt unto the exosuit. She went for the head, meaning to crack the helmet and shatter the visor so that she might reach the gooey insides next. The big one wasn't alone, however, and she spotted the one with the ridges above his eyes. The one who had shot her with his rifle moments ago. She smiled at him, before she left the big guy behind and closed the distance, meaning to tear the shooter's suit apart with her fingers and split his chest open with equal ease.

Ambassador Visser never saw the Andorian, however, whom had been shrouded by smoke.

OOC: All right! Seven days of posting begins now! @RyeTanker , feel free to finish off the Infested next. Keep in mind that she'll more or less have to be completely destroyed before she stops moving. @DaValle , time is overdue to start working on the Genesis Device. @Stegro88 , I leave it to you how much he can help with that. The three of you should now work together to disarm it, and I will not be posting again until that happens, so set the pace you want. If a medical officer from the Eirene comes down there to stabilise Zark, no worries, as long as she doesn't end up on the Eirene. :)

Thanks to @Stegro88 for the T'Less dialogue!

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #35 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Federation Embassy Basement | Breen]

@Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @DaValle

It's hard to imagine that a body missing a large amount of mass was capable of making a lot of noise, but the Infested Ambassador's body hit the ground with a solid thud followed by the sharp clacking of alloy bouncing off hard surfaces as the TR-116 rattled off into the back of the room.  The injured Andorian's eyes went wide in shock and almost instantly followed flashed with a vicious smile as it was pretty clear the Ambassador was out for the count.  Looking over to where the Eirene security officer was, she saw nothing.  It looked like Keegan had taken off to check out the sound.  Lt. Zark's intuition on this was rewarded when a strangled scream came from the security officer's direction and the Andorian whipped her head back towards the Ambassador and her eyes tried to leave her sockets as her antennae shot straight up in shock.

Somehow the Ambassador had gotten up and was moving. It couldn't be possible!  Any being that took that much damage was done for! Dead!  Even the Borg would be out of commission from that much damage, but the Ambassador was up and moving and if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, she was enjoying this as her hips were swaying.

Reaching really deep for any reserves of will and energy she had left, Lt. Zark placed the unused adrenaline hypospray to her neck and gave pressed the trigger.  She barely heard the hiss when a sudden rush of energy infused her system and the syrupy numbness in her limbs fell away.  She knew she had to help and she vaulted up from her sitting position and her strength almost gave out on her as pain lanced it's way through her body causing her to stumble.  Lt. Zark kept a death grip on her pistol and managed to use one of the power banks to stabilize herself as she kept moving forward.  Dropping the now empty hypospray and clutching the hole in her exosuit she moved with a speed born of desperation and adrenaline.  Her sensitive hearing picked up the Ambassador calling out to the rest of her party and then a ruffle of clothing and what sounded like air rushing.

Lt.Zark didn't know the full capabilities of the Infested, but any being that could move after losing that much of their body was bound to be terrifyingly powerful and she knew that rush of air meant one of her team would die.  She just reached the corner and was bringing her pistol to bear in the direction of the Ambassador was headed and could see death and doom land right in front of Lorad.  She would never get her pistol aimed in time and Lorad was dead.  It didn't matter how much stronger the Reman was compared to her, the Ambassador was literally inhumanly strong.  She had even taken the time to land just a little further away from Lorad to walk up to him and bring his death.

It was a complete shock then when phaser fire erupted from behind her and a stream of orange pulses flew passed her and slammed into the Ambassador.  The Ambassador stumbled and like a feral beast operating on instinct forgot about Lorad as she whipped around to face Lt.Zark's direction.  Keegan screamed a war cry and let loose.  She was clearly a natural shot as even her terror induced fire all struck the Ambassador all over her torso.  That should have ended the fight except that Keegan in her terror had forgotten to ramp up the power settings on her phaser rifle.  Lt. Zark had no such problem as with the flick of her left index finger, she slid the power setting to maximum and another flick with her thumb, changed the fire setting to single. The Ambassador had been momentarily checked by the incoming fire, a motionless target, and Lt. Zark could see every detail in adrenaline induced sharpness, the blood leaking out of the Ambassador's mouth, the wild excitement in her ice eyes, the sheen of sweat covering her face, the tongue sticking out in  sexual ecstasy..... Also, her eyes and brows tightening, a feral smile on her mouth, and pistol sight lining up with Ambassador Marian Visser's nose.  An orange nova bloomed in her sight at the end of pistol and dissipated just as quickly to be replaced by an explosion of blood, bone, and brain matter where Marian Visser's head once was.  An eyeball spiralled off into the room spinning like a mad top as singed and burning bits of red hear fluttered in every direction.

All fire ceased and collective breaths were held to see if that was the end.  One breath, two breaths.  The headless body started to shamble forward, zombie like and an ancient feral part of Lt. Zark's brain gibbered at what she was seeing, but her training took over as she licked her lips and aimed lower for the legs and fired.  Another explosion of organic matter as left leg was severed at the thigh and the headless body fell over.  It would crawl, it had too, and there was only one way to deal with this.  Zark stepped out and shot off the arms creating a macabre tapestry on the floor, blood and tissue fanning out behind the body, the smell of burnt meat assailing her nose. Bile was rising in her throat, but she couldn't throw up yet, she had to finish this.  She made it to the limbless body that was thrashing about and dropped her pistol.  Instead she grabbed one grenade from her belt and dropped her knee on the body to keep it still. Breathing heavily, Lt.Zark screamed her pain and frustration as she jammed the first grenade into cavity of the Marian's torso, spilling blood and guts out. She could barely feel thumb depressing the arming button on the grenade as he withdrew her gore covered arm.

"Run!" was all she got out as she vaulted over the body. 

Lt.Zark made it three steps when a bang and a concussion slammed into her knocking over.  She managed to get her arms up but it wasn't enough as the cumulative stress and injury she'd taken caused her body to call it quits.  She had the vague sensation of flying to the ground and her head slamming into the ground.  There might have been a crunch in front of her face, and then blessed darkness.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #36 –
[PO2 T’Kolla | Federation Embassy | Breen] @Auctor Lucan @BZ @Stegro88 @RyeTanker 
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While human in form the Ambassador move more like a reptile that searched for its next victim. This time her victim was the Reman that had despite his physical superiority against the most humanoid species no chance to stand against the overwhelming power of the Infested. After she was finish with him she turned her attention toward her next victim, which was the Petty Officer, but before she had the chance to get him the other two Officers interfered. This was Taa’gurs likely last chance to deal with the genesis device now. By the flickering lights that came from it he estimated the remaining time on less than two minutes. Let’s break the record then.

He reached the Device and started a full scan of its inner process. Carefully he examined the readings of his scanners doubting as to what it showed him. The Protomatter was concentrated in the main chamber underneath a small antimatter fusion generator. Not the newest model according to his high energy lost ratio. But yet there wasn’t anything special about it. The really fascinating aspect was build in the lowest part of the small pillar. A submitter, not larger than 2 inches, from which the cabling led to the wall behind the genesis device. Taa’gur scanned this part as well. The cables were connected to a huge energy source, very likely the embassy's own power generator. The resulting devastating of such a power input would be unmatched to any kind of weapon Taa’gur has ever seen or heard of. Even the worst Doomsday weapons were just merely able to destroy one planet at a time, but this thing would trigger the Protomatter to collapse and as a result expand in form of an energetic shock wave that could reach even the borders of this sun system. Every single atom in its way would get absorbed and reused to create a new star system. The very lives it will murder during this process will be used to create a system where the circle of life started all over again. Ironical brutal. No wonder it was invented by humans.

A normal defusing was never an option for this device and the Devore needed to get a little bit more creative to find a way to crack this challenge. His first thought was to change the submitters frequency, but even in a lab at the Daystrom Institute this could take days if not months. Not to mention the fact that he couldn’t even say in which way he needed to change the frequency to disarm it. Then his attention drifted on the cables behind the device. If there was a chance to cut off the main power supply of the device, he could use the resulting time to remove the Protomatter container.

The Devore moved from the device to the wall where the cables ended and removed the panel in front of it. The chaotic cabling behind was now visual. Apparently the Ambassador hasn’t thought that she wouldn’t have to deal with this any further. Taa’gur tried to figure out which of the incoming cables was connected to the generator. After seconds that almost felt like hours for the Petty Officer he finally found the right one. As he tried to remove it from its attachment point though the genesis device begun to increase its Protomatter radiation outbreak. He turned around to analyse the device and why it reacted so aggressive on the lost of its main power and found on the other side of where he scanned earlier the answer to his problem. While he thought earlier that the genesis device consisted of two separate parts he now saw that in fact the embassy's power was also used to contain the Protomatter. If he would remove it he would have to cut off the main power and link the Protomatter to a new power source in the very same moment.

Glancing around in the room seeing the chaos and devastation of the battle he came up with an idea. Rushing towards the junction again he scanned the remaining cables and found the one he needed now. The embassy's dampening field was still running but he now had to get message through to the Allegiant. His last hope was that they could simply blast up the power generator on his signal. It wouldn’t just destroy the generator, but also the dampening field transmitter and the team could get beamed out of their misery when the bomb is no thread any longer. But the only way to get a message out of the embassy was by using the embassy, or at least its one communication array. That was the cable he was looking for right now. Fortunately for him he found it fast enough and send out a message with a standard Starfleet encryption. “Here’s Petty Officer T’Kolla to the Allegiant. I’m sending you the coordinates for an orbital strike on my signal.” He send a little countdown of seven seconds after he finished his transmission. Now all they had to do was destroying this power generator and he could disarm the device.

Waiting for the countdown to finish he made himself ready to replace the energy source of the Protomatter container. Actually he changed the power source of the containment field for the Protomatter and its radiation. Now Taa’gur just needed one more ingredient to finalise this, another power source. This was nonetheless his easiest problem now since he could just use the remaining backup charges from his phaser rifle as some sort of portable battery. It wouldn’t last for long but it didn’t need to anyhow. The timer hit zero and the Devore opened the genesis device to connect his charges with the only hand sized tube in which the Protomatter was enriched. What he did forget though was the fact that even if the Allegiant would have hit the generator immediately there would still be a short delay between the impact and the shut down of the energy network of the embassy. In a fracture of a moment the tube was cut off from the network and therefore a tiny amount of radiation passed out the tube. Not enough to have to any kind of serious destabilising of the surrounding matter, but before Taa’gur could contain the radiation his left arm was penetrated by a larger amount of it. The strange matter begun immediately to consume the first layers of his suit. Every single molecule that got consumed heated up his left arm and after a short while the now almost plasma like burning mass reached his uniform.

The device was thus far stabilized and when the Petty Officer stretched out his hand to pick up the Protomatter, he saw the contamination on his arm. Yet it hasn’t had any significant size just some millimetre but this amount was already enough to burn his arm off. To prevent it from happening he grabbed one of the remaining power cells and cracked it open. Inside of the cell was a highly energised substance. Power plasma how he called it lovely. It may was still unhealthy to drop something like this on your wounds but still it was the better alternative to what the Protomatter would do. The pain was almost unbearable but the Petty Officer needed to focus on the tube now.

Storing the device, and linked power cell, in one of his suits remaining spare rooms Taa’gur stepped further away from the leftover of the genesis device. With the phaser rifle in his right arm he aimed for the emitter at the ground smelted the rest of the pillar down. Whoever may found this will never figure out how to use it.

Still the team wasn’t safe yet with both Zark and Lorad being out and at least on of them needed serious help. The Petty Officer returned to his crewmates as he saw that there were another Eirene Officer now beside the one who helped the Andorian earlier. By the colour of her uniform Taa’gur could tell that she was a medical Officer and as she saw the Andorian laying on the ground she did her best to stabilize the woman. As T’Kolla approached them he asked the medic a little bit exhausted: “How’s her status?”

“She will get through for now but I have to take her up to the Eirene for further treatment.” The medic responded while holding one of her devices above the wound of the Andorian Officer. Before the other Officer could ask the Devore something though, Taa’gur stunned either of the Officers with his Phaser. “Allegiant, three to transport.”
[PO2 T’Kolla]
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Oh and if there's anything fundamentally wrong with the text above, then please don't hesitate to point it out to me.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #37 –
[ Lieutenant T’Less | Bridge | USS Allegiant | Breen Space ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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"Tactical situation, worsening,” T’Less summarised mentally as she targeted another incoming torpedo. “Our only advantage at present is the cloud cover and the Aldean sensor scrambler. They are having to target us visually and Ensign Thorne is making that as difficult for them as she can. But it is still only a matter of time until they can bring more ships to bare or our cloak can be restored. Without it, we cannot escape.”

It seemed that Commander Dewitt had come to the same conclusion as the Vulcan Tactical officer about their dwindling odds of success and had chosen a course of action. One that T’Less did not agree with. Time slowed as the expected commands were given by the Human female before her and T’Less found herself pausing, not wanting to follow through with them as her mind tried to find an alternative.

“Commander, I…” The Vulcan tried; her voice dying off as Dewitt’s demand registered. Logically, she knew that it was the course of action with the highest percentage chance of success at this point, given known factors. Logically, she should have no difficulty in carrying out the order given to her. But, as the gravity of what the Commander before her intended to do sank in, T’Less found herself reacting emotionally. She did not want to carry out the order as it would mean losing another member of their crew. And while it was not to death as many had been, what the future may hold for Commander Dewitt at the hands of the Breen could possibly be a far worse fate for the Human officer. “As you order,” T’Less replied reluctantly, Dewitt’s offering of a small smile doing little to ease the guilt within the Vulcan as she ceased firing while opening a channel to the Breen vessels pursuing them.

“Breen vessels, please cease fire. We surrender, I repeat, we surrender. Please acknowledge this transmission.” Her heart was in her throat as she waited for the Breen to ceasefire but when they finally did, T’Less found herself unable to calm, knowing what was to come next. Transferring the Breen the main viewscreen, T’Less could only sit back and watch as Dewitt attempted to negotiate the mission to success. She wanted to object, her heart was telling her to, but logic dictated that this was the course of action with the highest probability of success. And T’Less found herself offering no objection when Commander Dewitt offered herself up to the Breen.

With a final set of orders issued, to rescue the away team if possible and then escape back to the Theurgy, Dewitt was transported away, leaving the bridge empty except for Jaya Thorne, the late Ensign Halliwell and T’Less herself.

“Chief Ji,” T’Less called out after opening a channel to the Allegiant’s engineering section. “Inform me the moment you can restore the cloak,” she directed as the Vulcan set about finding a way to fulfill Commander Dewitt’s final orders to her. “Ensign Thorne, the moment we are cloaked, set a course for the Embassy. Bring us close to the storm as you can manage so that we can use the atmospheric turbulence to disguise our wake.”


[ PO3 Lorad | Federation Embassey | Breen ] Attn: @DaValle @RyeTanker
[Show/Hide]


Lorad could scarcely believe what he was seeing. He had been briefed about how formidable an Infested was, along with their ability to receive a positively obscene amount of damage and remain a threat. A small part of him had remained doubtful that the briefing was entirely accurate and yet, before his eyes, the Terran female stood, laughing even as her could see through a significant portion of her lower torso. 

She was bleeding, burnt, and seemingly enjoying what had been done to her if her words were to be believed. Incredulous, Lorad centred his sights on her upper chest, his aim to decapitate her completely. Yet even as he squeezed his weapon’s trigger, he knew his shot would miss as the Terran moved in a manner impossible for her species.

She was on him in an instant, having leapt into the air and then springing off a pillar to dive at the Reman. Unable to resist, Lorad was carried to the ground, the Infested straddling him. He saw the blow coming as if in slow motion but there was nothing he could do as her fist impacted against the armoured visor of his helmet, cracking it. The Reman watched as the cracks spread under her fist and then felt the transparent panel shatter, cutting his face in multiple places. 

“I’m sorry Samala,” Lorad thought to himself, his last thoughts being of his beloved sister as the Ambassador’s fist cracked the helmet around the now fragmented visor.


Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #38 –
[Ens Jaya Thorne | Bridge | USS Allegiant ]
It had all happened so bloody quickly, and Jaya hadn't had the damn chance to say anything. It had been such a rapid decision on Dewitt's part to just surrender that - as winded and riled up by adrenaline that she's been at the helm - by the time the combat came to a close her mind had become entirely blank. Surrender? What the hell? Jen? What are you even...?

And suddenly, the moment came... and went.

"It has been a privilege, Jaya. Make sure to hold the Voice to his promise."

And then she was gone.

"Wha- Wait, no! What the...! Jen!" she managed, even as her friend and commander vanished in shimmering light, off to be some damn hero or something. Did she just sacrifice herself for the sake of the mission? Who the hell knows what the Breen might do to her! Will they even bother agreeing to the terms and spare us here? Jaya looked at the patrol ship on the viewscreen, knowing Dewitt was there now, trying to tell the Breen there was an emergency. A threat to the Hall of Heroes, or whatever they called it. Would they even listen to her? Wasn't it too late? I guess it depends on the away team still...

"Ensign Thorne," said T'Less to her, bringing her train of thought short, "the moment we are cloaked, set a course for the Embassy. Bring us close to the storm as you can manage so that we can use the atmospheric turbulence to disguise our wake."

Numbly, feeling like sh'd missed the opportunity to say what she thought of Jen's idea to her face, she realised the Vulcan had already ordered Ji down in Engineering to restore the cloak asap. She realised that Jen had even ordered them to get away, knowing that if the Allegiant would just vanish from underneath the masked noses of the Breen, it would look even worse for her. Is she insane?

[Engineering to bridge, plasma levels are restoring... I am repairing a conduit down here. We should have the cloaking device back online in... one minute. Tops. Ji, out.]

"Lieutenant," said Jaya and looked at the Vulcan. "We can't seriously leave Jen behind. She wouldn't leave any of us behind, would she? You are not seriously going to follow that order, right?" she said, any kind of humour that frequented her mind now gone. At least for the moment. Before there was any time to answer her question, it seemed the dampening field had been lifted from the Federation Embassy, or one of the away team members found some other means of communication.

[Here's Petty Officer T'Kolla to the Allegiant. I'm sending you the coordinates for an orbital strike on my signal.]

"What? Orbital strike?" Jaya cued the info up on the targeting displays superimposed on the viewscreen. "Sensors say that's the building's power supply lines. They want us to turn off the lights?"

[Seven, six, five...]

"What the fuck! I have to get in position!" she realised and took the helm once more, throttling up at full impulse so that they had a direct line of fire down next to the Embassy building.

[...three, two...]

"I'm in position!" she shouted to T'Less, and ignoring any kind of reaction from the Breen ships that monitored them, and turned the ship's cannons towards where they needed to be for the Vulcan's targeting displays.

[...one. Fire.]

OOC: Please go ahead and write Ji cloaking the Allegiant in your post, Stegro, and picking up the away team. Jaya will fly as ordered through the blissard to get into transporter range. T'Less might want to head to the transporter room to greet the dishevelled team?

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #39 –
[ Lieutenant T’Less | Bridge | USS Allegiant | Breen Space ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @BZ @DaValle @RyeTanker
[Show/Hide]


Ensign Ji’s assertion that they were less than a minute away brought a moment of relief to the Vulcan tactical officer as she worked at trying to keep her remaining crewmates alive and attempt to complete the mission. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; or the one. She had been taught that back on Vulcan, during her earliest lessons in logic. And as she worked at her console, she clung to those words like a drowning woman to a life preserver. 

And then Jaya spoke up, saying only what T’Less had already told herself. But she had her orders. Cloak, rescue the away team and make sure that they returned to the Theurgy. Do not try to rescue her. T’Less was in command. Very clear. Very direct. Very Human. Before she could respond though, the dampening field was breached, somehow, as Petty Officer T’Kolla requested an orbital strike, before beginning to count down. 

Logic was discarded as T’Less acted on instinct and training, arming the primary phaser cannons and adjusting the yield to suppress as much of the collateral damage as she could manage. As she did so, Jaya brought the Allegiant around, granting T’Less a clear line of fire. A part of her wondered how the Breen were reacting at the Allegiant’s movements and the arming of its weapons. She could only hope that the Chief was accurate in her repair assessment.

“Firing,” T’Less called out as she issued the computerised command. The Allegiant hummed, as energy was released and the viewscreen tracked the pulses all the way into impact. The Vulcans accuracy had been good, but she had not accounted ground destabilisation from the high-energy impact. As a result, a neighbouring building lurched as part of it collapsed as the ground under it buckled from the blast. 

“Cloak restored. Go!” came Chief Ji’s voice and Jaya did not have to be told twice as the Allegiant lurched forward, heading directly for the blizzard that was beginning to engulf the capital. The ship bucked as the storm began to exert itself, nature once again showing that it was not a force to be underestimated.

“Ensign Thorne, I will go to the transporter room to facilitate the teams beam out. Once they are aboard, I want you to set a course a quiet, out of the way spot in the system so that we can evaluate and debrief about the mission,” T’Less said as she stood, her back cracking audibly as stress and tension was released. “Once there, I will attempt to contact Captain Ives and update him.” Orders issued, T’Less exited the bridge, sparing only a single glance at the deceased Halliwell.

In the passageway beyond, T’Less entered the first door on her right and stepped behind the console that housed the transporter controls. Bringing them online, the Vulcan began searching for the 4 members of the away team. When the call came through from T’Kolla that there were three to transport, T’Less idly wondered which of the team had not made it. Yet she had a job to do and the homed in on the locator beacons in the team’s suits. Unfortunately, she was only able to lock onto to two of the beacons. Choosing an alternative approach, T’Less locked onto the unique composition of their upgraded suits and transported them all four sets.

“Away team aboard, Ensign Thorne,” T’Less called out once the shimmering dissipated. “Execute!” That taken care of, the Vulcan looked over the team, cataloguing their apparent condition. Lieutenant Arn was clearly dead while the status of Petty Officer Lorad was not visible beyond his initial signs of life. The Andorian medic, Lieutenant zh’Ptrell appeared severely injured while the Devore was seemingly in the best condition of the bunch.

“Petty Officer,” T’Less said, addressing the Devore. “Meet Zark in the medical bay and see what you can do for her. I will take care of moving Lorad and Arn into the mess hall for now before joining you. Then you can tell me if your mission was successful or not.” Orders issued; the Vulcan proceeded to perform a pair of site-to-site transports to match her directions before shutting down the transporter systems. Going next door, T’Less confirmed Lorad’s condition before leaving him and stepping across to the medical bay where T’Kolla was with Zark.

“Please recap your mission, beginning with if you were successful or not,” T’Less requested as she reached for a medical tricorder.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #40 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Med Bay | USS Allegiant]

@Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @DaValle 

Voices swim at the edge of the dark.  One of them sounded like the Petty Officer T'Kolla.

There's a musical shimmering noise.  What's going on? There's beeping and another voice.  Sounds female.

So sleepy.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #41 –
[PO2 T’Kolla | USS Allegiant | Breen] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @RyeTanker @BZ
[Show/Hide]


Before the transporter could beam him and the other team members up to the Allegiant Taa’gur glanced around the dark room. At least half of the pillars were either fully vaporized or damaged beyond repair, Ambassadors Vissers body was spread across half of the room and the liquid metal of the genesis device slowly flowed away in all directions until it eventually cooled down again. It was the sight of a battlefield they left behind. They maybe have saved millions of lives now, but even the most stupidest propaganda agent of the Infested could spin an horrific story out of this. How about the brutal assassination of the Ambassador and the following try to slaughter all those innocent citizens of the Breen homeworld.

After a couple of moments they ended up on on the Allegiant, greeted by a Vulcan Officer who ordered him to get Zark to the sickbay. Wondering why they weren’t encountered by the actual CO, Taa’gur kneed down to heave up his andorian crewmate. Her wounds were still visible and so close it looked even worse than before. With one arm behind her back and the other under her knees he stood up and made his way to the sickbay. After he left the transporter room he started to realize why it wasn’t the actual captain he encountered before. The ship has obviously taken some hits earlier that caused massive damage. Avoiding a couple of flicking cables in the hallway before the sickbay he finally made his way into the medical station. Carefully he placed the body of the andorian woman on the bed in the middle of the room.

“Computer initiate Emergency Medical Hologram.”

“Your request couldn’t get processed.” The computer responded in its calm voice.

“What?”

“The Allegiant has no EMH in its database. Please contact a medical Officer for your issue.”

Taa’gur slammed his fist on the wall of the medical bay. Why has this flying piece of shit no damned EMH. Looking to the Andorian he knew he had to do something or she would die there. “Computer scan Officer Zark and give me a list of her injuries. Order them by the likelihood they could kill the Lieutenant.” Some moments passed while the scans were performed and Taa’gur used the time to open the exo-suit of her. After inserting the maintenance code the main parts of the suit softly divaricated giving the Petty Officer a clear view of her injuries. “The scan of Lieutenant Zarks abdomen shows that she’s been hit by a metallic object. Her blood lost will reach a lethal amount in six minutes. The wound itself has been contaminated by various substances and splinter. The estimated probability of dying from an infection is...”

The door opened again as T’Less entered the room. “Computer stop.” He turned around to the Vulcan and listened to her order. “Yes Ma’am. We’ve encountered one infested inside of the Embassy, the Ambassador herself. She was also the one who killed Lieutenant Arn, but got finally eliminated by Officer Zark.” Taa’gur reached with his hand in the pocket where he stored the Antimatter. “Antimatter. Enough to blow up the city, maybe even more, but it wasn’t used in that way.” He stored it back in his pocket and returned to Zark. “The infested have installed in an object called Genesis Device and as you can see I was able to disarm it and destroyed anything left to find there.”
[PO2 T’Kolla]
[Show/Hide]

Oh and if there's anything fundamentally wrong with the text above, then please don't hesitate to point it out to me.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #42 –
[ Lieutenant T’Less | Medical Bay | USS Allegiant | Breen Space ] Attn: @RyeTanker @DaValle @BZ @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]


Listening to the debriefing, as succinct as it was, informed T’Less about the major points of what the away team had encountered on the surface. The fact that he was still carrying around a container of protomatter notwithstanding, the mission had been a success. They had prevented a bombing and killed another of the Infested. Yet that tally did nothing to soothe the Vulcan against the losses they had suffered in completing their tasks.

“Well done,” T’Less acknowledged, glancing at the display behind where Lieutenant Zark was laying. She was no expert, but it seemed that the only person who could save the Andorian, was the Andorian herself. Unfortunately, she was currently unconscious and without drastic measures, was likely to remain that way until her life expired. Neither she, nor the petty officer were able to treat her. “The burdens of command,” T’Less mused as she reached for a hypospray, programming in an analgesic.

“I am authorising the awakening of the Lieutenant,” T’Less declared as she injected the Andorian before reprogramming the hypospray with a stimulant. “You will only have a few minutes once she awakens to receive treatment instructions from her to prolong her life. Focus on life-threatening injuries and blood loss. I will check on Lorad in case we have a need to ask Zark about treating him.”

“Are you ready?” T’Less asked, pausing for only a moment before injecting the Andorian. Setting the hypo down, the Vulcan picked up a medical tricorder and left the medical bay, tapping her combadge. "Ensign Thorne, Chief Ji, an update on our status please."


OOC: Hope this gives everyone something to work with. I'm looking forward to reading the hurried pace in the sickbay. Can Zark and T'Kolla save her life in 4 minutes?

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #43 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Med Bay | USS Allegiant]

@Auctor Lucan  @Stegro88 @DaValle 

Awareness oozed back into Lt.Zark's brain and sound began to pierce the syrup that was her mind.  It took a moment for her brain to register the sound.  It was the piercing shrill of a dying patient.  Who's dying?  Wait, I'm lying down.

With this last thought, Lt. Zark's eyes flew open and she rapidly began searching the room for the biomonitor.  When she found it, her heart sank.  She only had a few minutes before her body would give out.  Her mind began moving moving at a light second a minute for a solution.  She couldn't be alone, and her eyes found the Devore.  Before he had a chance to say anything, she hurled into into a desperate bid to save her life.

"T'Kolla, listen to me. Get the cortical stimulator and put it on my head. Get the cardiac stimulator and attach it to my chest. Attach a biomonitor to my temple. When the medical tricorder shows I have life signs, put me in a coma." Her desperate need to tell T'Kolla what to do was taking it's toll as she swallowed then her eyes began to flutter from her impending loss of consiousness.

"Put me on the transporter pad" the last breath seemed to take everything she had as the biomonitor began wailing from immenent cardiac arrest.  "Set it to" a final pained breath"diagnostic level 4"

As Lt. Zark's eyes closed, her head lolled to one side. The biomonitor shrilled the fatal tone of a heart ceasing to function.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #44 –
[Ens Jaya Thorne & CPO Eun Sae Ji | Not the Plan | Figuring it Out | Fucking Shit!!]





Jaya was still ridiculously pissed off at Jen.  In fact she was fairly certain that she would have a little welcome home present for Jen when she stepped foot on this ship again. And she had better come back.  It wasn't an option that she didn't come back because Jaya was the kind of friend that would turn over all hell's creation and then some to find the people that were important to her.  She may brush off a lot of things in her life with witty comments however she was also the kind of person that needed the right people in her life to stay surrounding her.  She would do anything that she could to make sure that they stayed close and lived as long as possible.

Jen's choice was absolutely unacceptable.

You didn't even cover it with me... I would have told you the eight million reasons it was wrong..

While the team headed down to the lower decks to make sure that everyone came home properly... Except Jen she was tasked with flying them over to a 'quiet' spot of the sector they were in while they assessed, had pow wows, and tried not to think about all the ways that Jen was probably being punished or messed with on her end. 

Pulling up the map of the area around them she decided where they should hide out.  She needed to be close enough that if Jen pinged them and wanted to come on board for a fresh black eye and a lot of angry curse words in her they could grab her too.  Or something.  Jaya definitely had something to say when the red head was back in her presence again.  Finding a spot that was close ish and seemed like it was something that would be safe enough they could hopefully hide long enough to figure out their next step.

Once she got the all clear from down below she began to make their way in the direction of the spot she had picked out in the shadow of a moon.  She began to head that way as she chimed in with the Chief.  “CJ, how is it going down there?” she asked.

“Who the fuck is CJ?' came the voice of the Korean woman down below.

“You obviously.”  she admitted with a flare of her free hand.

“My. Name. Is. Ji.” she said short and to the point.

“Well that doesn't answer my question, does it?”

If glares could burn through multiple decks of a ship then Ji's would burn holes straight through and singe the asshole of Jaya Thorne, but luckily laser eye balls hadn't become a thing yet.  “We're fucking red lined over here because of the fucking cloak and everything else going on.  But we're making it well enough just don't ask too much.” she stated over coms.  “Call me CJ again and I'll brand my name on the back of your fucking fist.” she grumbled cutting the line.

Jaya grinned.  “Aye Aye”

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #45 –
[ Lieutenant T’Less | Sickbay | USS Allegiant | Breen Space ] Attn: @RyeTanker @DaValle @BZ @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]


T’Less listened as the updates came while she used the tricorder to examine the Reman. She was not a trained doctor or nurse but if she was using the tricorder correctly and understanding what it was telling her, then Lorad, while badly beaten and in terrible condition, was not in danger of dying. He would wake up eventually and be in terrible pain until someone with more training could treat him but for now, it seemed safe enough to leave him be. The Vulcan felt the need to check in T’Kolla and his treatment of Zark. It turned out to be the right thing to do as she found the Devore in the passageway, Andorian in arms as he struggled to shift her deadweight somewhere.

“Petty Officer, please explain,” T’Less requested, trying to remain calm despite her internal clock telling her that Zark could not have many minutes left for dying. As she listened, and tried to understand what Zark had told T’Kolla, that clock inside her kept ticking down. Finally, she had a basic understanding of what the Andorian was trying to do but instinctively knew that there was more to it than just the diagnostic. She couldn’t remember the specifics but that just meant that it wasn’t safe.

“I cannot allow you to do that, Petty Officer, for more reasons than I have time to share right now,” T’Less declared, knowing that with her words she was consigning Zark to the executioner’s block. Now she had to keep the axe from falling. “Help me put her back on the bed.”

Once Zark was repositioned and hooked back up to the computer, T’Less read over the screens quickly, seeing that time was shorter than she had expected. She moved around the bed, positioning herself above the Andorian’s head.

“Wake her,” T’Less commanded as she laid her hands carefully upon Zark’s face. "And the standby for instructions." As the system responded to the Devore’s ministrations and the Andorian was forced back into consciousness, T’Less began to murmur, her eyes closed as she focused.

“My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts. Tell me how to save you.”

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #46 –
[PO2 T’Kolla | USS Allegiant | Breen]
At: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @RyeTanker @BZ
[Show/Hide]


The events in the small medical chamber came thick and fast after the Vulcan gave Taa’gur the command to wake up Zark. Soon after T'Less inserted the Injection in the neck of the Andorian Officer her body showed the first reactions to the drugs that now floated her System. Before she was fully back though T’Less left the room to look for Lorad. All that the Devore could do now was to wait till Zark was able to give any advice for her treatment. Even the sightliest hint would have helped the Petty Officer. Normally he was the one who caused such damages with his weapons not the poor soul that had to deal with the aftermath of them.

The Andorian woman almost jumped back to life as her brain has eventually been kicked back on by the Injection and Taa’gur waisted no second that they may not have right now. “Lieutenant Zark can you hear me?” The Devore asked her with his best loud and clear voice he had. “Ma’am, you’re dying and I’m not the best trained doctor here, so I need your help! What should I do?”

Her answer followed soon, though Taa’gur had the impression that she wasn’t even completely back when he started to yell at her earlier. It didn’t matter. Somehow Zark has definitely understood what was happening and the Devore could tell by the ways her eyes scanned everything in the room that she was currently searching for a way to treat herself. The answer she gave was… well… interesting. Not the first part though, that was simple. Attach two stimulator and one Biomonitor to her and then throw her mind back into stasis. Even with his limited knowledge Taa’gur should be able to do that.

Her second request was what hit him off-guard. Zark wanted him to put her on a transporter pad to then set it on some kind of diagnostic level. He surely heard about the theory to save people in the short term memory of a transporter. Theory was maybe to much credit for it, some sort of modern space myth would be more suitable to describe it. In theory, anyway, there wasn’t even a problem to do it, if he remembers his short lessons about transporters correctly, but in practise there wasn’t any kind of example where this method had succeeded. At least Taa’gur has never heard of one before.

The stimulator were placed and with some help of the ship computer he was able to put the Andorian back in an artificial coma. There wasn’t anything he could do to save her from dying as of right now so why don’t give the transporter thing a shot. Couldn’t be worse than letting him doctor around on her.

He tried to carry her body out of the medical while preventing all of the newly attached devices to fall off her, but before he reached the transporter room he got intercepted by the Vulcan Scientist. Very vulcan-like she demanded an explantation from the Petty Officer, one that he wasn’t really able to give her, as he wasn’t the one who came up with this insane transporter idea. “Ma’am, the Lieutenant has requested me to upload her in the memory of the transporter pad in an attempt to save her from dying till we meet up with the Theurgy again.” Explaining this plan out loud sounded even more desperate. The Vulcan Officer reacted the only way Taa’gur expected any Officer to react to such a plan. She forbade it and ordered him to put the unconscious body of Lieutenant Zark back on the medical bed. After that T’Less gave him the order to wake her up again and he did just that. Then he awaited her next commands even though he didn’t know how Zark could tell them anything useful in her current situation. While waiting there right next to the bed, ready to strike as soon as T’Less would know how to deal with Zark’s injuries, he begun to realize what the Vulcan was doing there in front of him.

He never witnessed a Vulcan mind meld before, but he didn’t take long to identify her movements as such. His mindset changed in a blink of a second, what was once the readiness to help Zark changed to an agressive view on the Vulcan. "Gahallars" It screamed through his head "It's your duty to kill them, Soldier!". Every single muscle in his body begun to tense on the sight of T’Less’ hands moving towards Zarks face. His stance shifted automagically in an battle ready one and at least one of his hands moved toward his hand phaser. It all happened so fast, but before he could start to actively resit his reflexes his body has already started to build up a mental blockade and only in the last moment he was able to restrict his body from acting even more on its own. Luckliy for him he didn’t carry any hand phaser on him right now and the rifle was still laying in the transporter room.

Apparently his little intern struggle wasn’t as invisible as he hoped it would have been. As he came back from his physical as well as mental defensive stance, he realized that the Vulcan has already gave him a new order. “I’m sorry Ma’am, what did you’ve just said?” He asked wondering how long he was away.

OOC:
Gahallars = extremely insulting word for Telepaths. (Translation: Mind-digging-head-worms)

Sorry for the long absence Its the finnal month for this Semester and somehow i thought that I've already replied here.
[PO2 T’Kolla]
[Show/Hide]

Oh and if there's anything fundamentally wrong with the text above, then please don't hesitate to point it out to me.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #47 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Med Bay | USS Allegiant]

@Auctor Lucan @Stegro88  @DaValle  @BZ

Lt. Zark woke groggily and unsteadily. The light was blinding and painful.  That was all she knew at the moment.  A dull throb in her abdomen brought back memories of her situation and she mustered the strength to open her eyes. I guess I'm on Theurgy now? Surgery over? she asked herself.  As she began to take in her vision, hope turned to dismay as she saw the face of the impassive Vulcan T'Less and T'Kolla.  She was still on Allegiant and still dying.  A flicker of an experience surfaced in her mind of something otherworldly and foreign.  Lt.Zark's eye brows shot up as she remembered the mind meld.  T'Less had performed a mind meld to bring her up to speed on the situation and it was grim. Zark knew she needed to perform surgery on herself.  She remembered her training at the Academy about certain field expedient operations that medics had learned to do that would make Starfleet medical most displeased during the Dominon War and it looked it this would be one of those situations.  With a smile and sigh she took in her setup. 

Lt. Zark felt her head and felt the cortical stimulator.  Looking down she saw the dual linked grey boxes of the cardiac stimulator.  Good at least I have a chance at being revived.  Looking around, she saw a surgery kit had been laid out and the biobeds monitor showed the steri-field was up and running, she also had a brace on her arm with tubes and fluids running into it.  Looking at T'Less, "Has the local anaesthetic been applied?" Receving a nod in reply, the Andorian turned to T'Kolla.  "I need you to keep an eye on the heart rate and blood pressure monitor.  When the number on there starts turning amber, tell me to stop. I could continue for a bit, but then I need you to press the button for the general stabilizer.  You're not a trained anesthesiologist, so this is the best we can do.  Make sure the plasma packs are constantly full.  It's going to get chilly in here for me to operate most efficiently as I need you to lower the room temperature to 5 celcius.  I also need you to strap down my legs, feet, and waist soon." She turned her attention back to the Vulcan.  "Lt.T'less there should be enough time for you to get some cold weather gear for the PO after we start." 

Staring at the ugly flesh crater in her abdomen before taking a steadying breath and reaching for the probe on the medical tricorder and began scanning the injury while watching the monitor. "Computer, begin forming image of my abdominal injury. Pattern for projectile weapon and shrapnel."  The biomonitor next to her bed indicated working and forming and image as she moved the wand over the wound.  Angry splotches of red peppered their way through the image of her abdomen indicating various breaks, debris, and trauma. There was too much on the screen for her to parse out. "Computer, adjust image for coagulant affected areas and foreign debris, leave still bleeding as red."  The computer obediently recoloured the screen and her eye brow quirked as the damage was terrible but no where near as fatal as she'd thought. It was a distinct possibility that the Infested Ambassador's choice of round was a severe case of overkill as the tritanium round had more penetrating power than was needed. A duranium round would have tumbled and lodged itself inside her killing her for sure, but the tritanium tipped round had gone pretty much clean through.  There was a large amount of shock damage, but not as much shrapnel as she'd originally anticipated.

"T'Kolla, I need you to close my back before we begin. Use the auto-suture and ready another one after this."  Steeling her self, Lt Zark grunted as the Devore turned her on her side and held her there while he sprayed the compound all over her back.  It was a total relief to be put onto her back again after as the Devore set about restraining her.

As the room began to cool, her focus became better as metabolic efficiency went up.  Lt.Zark put on a pair of gloves and grabbed the suction tube and jammed it into the wound eliciting a grunt.  Pausing momentarily to catch her breath and to make sure the tube wouldn't move too much, she grabbed a pair of tractor forceps off the tray and began probing the wound.  "Computer, set forcep target to identified debris."  The computer beeped in acknowledgement and indicated all systems ready.  The one thing they tell medics about but she had never experienced till now was the fact that you still generally feel everything.  In this case, there was a substantial amount of rubbing around the wound and inside her.  Her eyes were focused on the screen in front of her as the computer generated an image of everything going on inside her.  It still caused some pain and noticeable grunts of exertion warred with queasiness as she plucked her way through the wound to pluck out the bits of armour that had gotten lodged in her body.  The first time was the worst, with the wet slurping followed by rivulets of blue blood and other liquids that made it passed the suction system. The tractor forceps made tiny adjustments to the direction it travelled using the image she'd scanned in and virtually guided itself to each piece of debris and using a extremely low powered forcefield to gently push the various body parts out of the way. When she reached the offending piece of metal, the tractors engaged and notified Lt. Zark on the monitor.  As she pulled the forceps out, a disgusting wet slurping sound could be heard in the room.  Her nostrils flared as her chest gently heaved with exertion as she examined the jagged blue coated metal before dumping it in a sanitizing solution. She needed more air to keep going. "Computer, increase oxygen and air flow by 10%."  Each time a new piece was pulled out, it elicited a grunt followed by a wet sucking sound and a little plink as the foreign piece of metal was dropped into a beaker.  This was followed up with some  additional suction to get a clearer view of the internal wound and jamming in applicator of autosuture.  It was good thing that the medical technology of the 25th century the suture material also acted as a disinfectant.  She could only hope she was pulling and putting all her parts back together in the right place, otherwise the real surgeons were going to have to destroy all the work inside her, then repatch and replace the bits they'd taken out.

She'd totally lost track of time, but fifteen times, the forceps went in and came out with little pieces of metal or cloth.  Fifteen times, the autosuture went in afterwards to seal the damage.  Some times, she got some water from a cup with a straw to keep her throat from getting parched.  In 5 of those extractions, she'd nearly thrown up as she'd also had to put in a laser scalpel to remove bits of her small intestine that had been seared by hot metal.  It didn't really get easier with each piece.  Steadily though, each affected area turned green for repaired. When she was done with this evolution, she removed the gloves with a snapping sound and laid them on the tray.

Now for the hard part and for this she needed a few minutes for a breather.  There was a major hole in part of her small intestine that would need to be cut out and sealed.  It was routine but challenging for a surgeon who had two hands.  For a wounded person,  nearing the end of her strength, this was possibly an act of heroic suicide, but if the small intestine wasn't reattached, who knew what havoc the leaking liquids would wreak.  She was more exhausted than she'd thought possible.  The only thing she wanted at this point was a cup of hot tea, her pet Saucer sleeping on her chest, and a soft bed with a week of sleep.  Her eyes turned to T'Kolla who was watching the screens, still as a statue.  "Thank you for everything." she said to his back. "Computer, set new forceps for intestinal tissue." She grabbed another set of gloves and put them on before grabbing a new set forceps and an tube spray with a surgical disinfectant.  Taking a breath, she dove in again.  It was clear the anaesthetic was starting to lose effectiveness as little pins of pain poked at her as she made her way deeper inside.  She used the pain to focus herself.  The sooner she was done, the sooner it would end.  Steady was the winner here, do it right.  The mantra repeated itself blending with the pain into focus for the goal.  Reaching the damaged section, she used the disinfectant to spray down the entire area before pulling the tool out and grabbing the laser scalpel then diving in again to slice away the damaged parts. Noxious liquids began bubbling out of the wound.  "Computer, increase suction by 25% and set ventilation to max." She couldn't afford to stop now and the biomonitor began beeping as her vitals hit amber and some spiked red. The wound cleared as Lt. Zark yanked out the first piece of intestine and dumped it on the tray before diving in again.  This time she moved faster than the forceps could cope with and the pushing sensation in her caused wave of nausea threatened to make her throw up.  She paused momentarily to regain her breath as the increased amount of general stabilizer took hold before proceeding.  She neatly sliced of the other damaged portion before pulling out the damaged tissue liquid coated scalpel. Grabbing the autosuture, adrenaline pumping she dove in again, ignoring all warnings, and manoeuvred the separated ends of the small intestine together before applying the autosuture.  When she was done she pulled all the tools out and was gratified to see all the angry red splotches now showing green of a repair.  Her bio readings also flowed back to green, though a few hovered around amber for a bit before turning green.

Seeing she was out of danger, she prompty turned to the side of the bed away from T'Kolla and threw up all over the floor.  Nobody ever said anything about the smell.  Maybe she should have gotten a mask.  Looking back at the monitor, the repairs were still holding for now.  Taking off her gloves, she turned to the Devore.   "Water please." When she got the water, she used it to rinse out her mouth and spat the contents back into the glass.  "Sorry about the mess.  I think there's a tractor vacuum on the ship somewhere.  Put on a set of gloves and dump everything into the sterilization tray down there. She pointed at a drawer with a bioahazard sign. "You can raise the temperature, and attach a new IV, plasma, and anesthazine bag, tie down my upper body....." A grateful smile creased her lips and eyes as her antennae turned towards him. "and thank you again for everything."  With that, the Andorian medic closed her eyes and fell asleep to the rhythmic beeping of the biomonitor.


OOC:

Apologies for lateness of the reply, it took a certain something to watch a video of a gsw surgery being done before coming up with this.  Anyway, our smiling maniac lives and we can get the rest of this show on the road.  Thanks for everyone's patience.

Re: Chapter 04: Horns of a Dilemma [ Day 02 | 1245 hrs. ]

Reply #48 –
EARLIER

[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt | Breen Patrol Ship ]
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For all good it had done to stand her ground and make the Breen officers on that patrol ship heed her, to agree beaming her aboard and spare the lives of her crew in exchange of hearing her warning about the threat to the Hall of Heroes, Jennifer Dewitt hadn't had the time to say her piece. Much less speak to anyone of import.

The Allegiant had fired straight down into the Breen Condeferacy's capital, dealing an orbital strike right next to the Federation Embassy and subsequently the Hall of Heroes. This, at a time when the Breen Council had convened. Eyes wide, she'd seen it happen from aboard the patrol ship. The Breen officers had begun shouting in their distorted voices, leaping at the task to destroy the Allegiant as soon as it began to move and power up its weapon systems. They had made the mistake of beaming Dewitt to their small bridge, however. Seeing what was about to happen, Jennifer was certain that what T'Less and Thorne were doing had to be affiliated with their mission. So, she had followed her gut instinct. Knowing it might compromise her further, perhaps even jeopardising the chances of speaking with the Breen leadership, she just couldn't stand there and see the Allegiant destroyed.

Using the moment of distraction, she had disarmed the Breen that had a disruptor rifle aimed at her, struck him to the deck with it, and screamed at the bridge crew to not open fire. One of them hadn't listened, so she'd shot his console to make her point. Then, the Allegiant had cloaked once more... and it had made a cursory smile cross Jennifer's face, knowing that her small crew had made it. She'd surrendered her newly acquired weapon, putting it down on the deck, and raised her hands in submission. This... might not have looked so innocent, she thought, but she'd really not had any choice, had she?

One of the Breen had struck her across the head from behind, and then everything went dark.

- FIN
 
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