Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 01 [1900 hrs.] Nebula Entry

Medical Log, stardate 57505.34. The surgery of Doctor Amelya Duv and the transfer of the Rez symbiont was successful... though I use that word with some liberty.

The initial readings suggested a healthy joining, but while the symbiont seems to be responding well to the new host, the patient has yet to wake up from her anaesthetics, regardless what we give her. A more thorough scan suggested that there may be some time for the symbiont to adjust to its new host body, and the reason - however not apparent in those scans - is alluded to in Edena Lal's medical journal. It described the unique circumstances of when she was joined to the Rez symbiont. The joining to Edena Lal was faulty - as much being known already - but it seems the symbiont learned to overcome the inherent complications of that joining over time. Now, the symbiont has, instead, had a healthy joining, and it may take them both some time to adjust since their neural pathways are misaligned. The Rez symbiont may have to re-learn how to join properly with a new host, and therefore, the host has entered a comatose state.

At this rate, it is not entirely certain that Amelya Duv will wake up again, but neither Nurse Jovela nor I am giving up on her. My staff and I will continue monitoring the patient, and do everything we can to help the symbiont and the host to find a way to join fully.

I have just reported the outcome to Captain Ives... and I was told that it was of the utmost importance that the symbiont that carried the Jona host survived, and that if the patient won't show signs of recovery, the joining attempt may have to be abandoned, and a new Trill host be found aboard the ship. I kindly told Ives that if the symbiont was removed at this advanced stage of the joining, Doctor Duv would die with the same certainty that Edena Lal did, but the only answer I got... was that it was a priority to the mission that the symbiont wasn't compromised in any way, and that I still needed to find other alternatives if Doctor Duv wasn't a viable host. He expects me to prepare for the worst, he said, but do whatever I might to ensure that the joining won't have to be aborted.

For the record, I try to keep my personal feelings out of these logs... but I can't help but think about these orders I am supposed to adhere to, and comparing them to the orders I was given to ensure the survival of Sarresh Morali. I'd hoped Captain Ives would have learned from when he saw Morali wake up - as a human - that what he may deem is a mission priority is not always what's best for my patients. In the case of Morali, I found the best possible solution to meet the 'mission parameters' and to give Morali a decent chance at a full life. Yet the fact remains. Following Ives orders, I have still sentenced an Ash'reem man to lead the rest of his life as a human. I can't even begin to know what that's like. What he said when he woke up... it still haunts me.

I have yet to hear anything from him in about the temporal breach we just witnessed, but I hope McMillan and I did nothing wrong. Whatever Morali knows, he will probably not tell the crew - likely obligated to just speak with Ives about what happened. The winds have mercy on his soul.



[ Captain Jien Ives (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Captain_Jien_Ives) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]Entering the hangar that housed Thea's warp fighters in her female form, Captain Ives led the way for the senior staff of both the Theurgy and the Resolve. In a column, she led them along the transparent blast wall on the port side and did not venture out into the vast, open area in the middle of it. The reason was apparent, since in clusters of four to six people, individuals new to the ship were materialising there. All available transporter personnel were working together with Thea to issue site-to-site transports for all the new crew from the Resolve and the Orcus. Everyone had been alerted first, of course, via the intercom across the ship or from their combadges about being transported there for a briefing about the current situation and the Theurgy's true mission.

Behind her, Ives led those newly enlightened about Starfleet Command and what kind of enemy they were up against. Some had been sceptical, some had been outright shocked, and others had thought it made a lot of sense based on what they had learned about Ian Hawthorne. The last one to have been given the briefing was the Resolve's First Officer, who had made it aboard just shy of being killed by Hawthorne in the Command Center of Starbase 84. The human had just undergone surgery, with Doctor Nicander walking next to him, but understanding the import of this first address to his crew after their ship was destroyed, Lieutenant Commander Leon Marquez had insisted on attending.

Towards the aft bay doors, a podium had been set up using empty ordinance crates, and Ives turned her head to look out over the growing crowd. Behind her, the bay doors were open wide, with a structural integrity field raised between them and the Azure Nebula. The blue glow washed over the faces of those gathered, and lit the backs of the two sets of senior staff that had survived the battle. Jien folded her hands behind her back, refused to think about how much was lost and how much was riding on this moment. In silence, she waited for the signal from Stark that all the new crew had been accounted for except for those still tended to in Thea's medical facilities.

Once the signal was given, seeing it in her peripheral vision, Jien raised her chin and spoke - her voice carrying across the hangar with the use of her combadge - Thea amplifying it through the intercom.

"I am Captain Jien Ives, Commanding Officer of this ship. I welcome you all aboard, but I would have liked it to be under better circumstances," she said, back straight and eyes unwavering. "Make no mistake, we are still pursued by the forces we fought at Starbase 84, yet even if Task Force Archeron would have followed our warp trail straight from the battle - and not been misled by the false warp trails we left behind us - we should still have three hours of respite. A window of time, where they shouldn't be able to reach us. Even if they did, we have just entered the Azure Nebula."

Saying this, she turned her head, indicating the space outside the bay doors and its tell-tale blue glow. "It gives us a tactical advantage, and an opportunity to get away once more if they do find us. Yet the ship needs to be repaired if we are to survive another battle like we just fought, so whoever can pick up a hyperspanner and knows how to use it should submit their names and track record to Chief O'Connell immediately after you are all dismissed. We have four shuttles out there now, making ocular assessment of the damage, and five teams are already walking the hull."

The next thing she needed to address would likely be a more sore topic, but already, some of those gathered would have noticed, so it couldn't wait. "Before you were summoned here, the senior staff of the Resolve were briefed about the mission we've been on since we left Earth in November last year. You will now be given the same. The senior staff was also kindly asked to hand over all the weaponry they kept on their persons to Chief of Security Wenn Cinn here," she said, indicating the large Bajoran standing on the podium, then she turned back. "But in your case, they were instead filtered out when you were beamed here, kept safely in our transporter buffers. The reason for this measure is that the policy concerning weaponry aboard this ship is not the same as it was on the Resolve."

Naturally, there was a reaction from the crowd - where a crew that had been used to be armed all the time were instead rendered unarmed against their will. Jien only gave them a couple of seconds, until her crystal clear tone cut the noise - amplified by the intercom. "There are many reasons for this policy being enforced," she said, then let her voice drop to her previous tone, "and while I fully respect that three years cut off from Starfleet, and most of you being forced to extremes while making it back to Federation space, and how that does merit some interpretation of regulations and protocol when it comes to armament and the availability of such... this ship is still run in adherence to Starfleet protocol. You may apply to get your personal weapons back if they have sentimental value, but this will be granted on a case-to-case basis."

Jien took a couple of steps forward on the podium, the crowd not entirely quiet yet. "Make no mistake. The most important thing is our mission, with the need to overcome the extreme circumstances of what's stake. However, our regulations are what makes Starfleet remain what it is aboard this ship, and added with the chain-of-command, it is our final defence against internal conflict and doubt. Our regulations allow us to function as a crew, no matter the vastly differing view-points upon etiquette, social structure, morals, humility or respect that exist aboard this ship. Protocol is the invisible seam that binds us together, and prevents us from turning on each other."

Having said this, most - but not all - the gathered crew were quiet again, and Jien turned her oaken eyes to Leon Marquez. "Before we speak of the mission this ship is on, Lieutenant Commander Marquez here has something to tell you."

Given the accounts by the boarding team, the Romulan named Drauc T'Laus, and the sensor readings from Starbase 84, the fate of Captain Tristan Kendrick had become certain, and the Resolve's crew deserved to know.

---

OOC: Posting order is free for all, right now or after Striker N7 posts at your leisure. Have at it! Oh, just to be clear, the Resolve's senior staff has yet to be given their new positions aboard the Theurgy in this thread. Personal interviews will be conducted In-Character after this scene, and duties allotted to everyone the next day.

Here is a floor plan for the Fighter Assault Bay. (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Tactical_CONN#The_Fighter_Assault_Bay_.2F_Flight_Hangar_.5BInformal_Term.5D)

Lieutenant Commander Leon "Striker" Marquez + Ensign Jimmy Mariner | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
In something of a statement of defiance or individuality, Leon wore his non-regulation leather jacket zipped up to the collar, and wore a stony, almost impassive expression, eyes fixxed on the Theurgy's captain, much as he wanted to cast a reassuring nod or at least cool gaze to the Resolve's survivors.

Marquez took the news of the new threat to Starfleet Command understandably well, since his still-recovering ribcage injury was still freshly-remembered, but the very idea of Starfleet Officers being compromised was inconceivable just a few days if not hours ago. It wasn't until he first heard Ian Hawthorne's inhuman words that drove the point home and renewed Marquez's phobia of saboteurs; this alone would take many hours of counseling to properly accept. Not even the Changeling threat during the Dominion War was as potentially as widespread as Captain Ives had explained. Alarmed, worried and suddenly mistrustful of anyone who could possibly turn him, Striker did his best to keep Doctor Nicander from getting too close, his glare highlighted a facial expression which clearly spelled, 'don't even think about touching me.'

When beamed to the F.A.B., Jimmy Mariner instinctively patted his holster and uttered "Aw, sh--", it certainly wasn't the slang word 'shucks'. As more personnel, familiar and otherwise appeared around him, Ensign Mariner noticed he still had his still-full knapsack full of datarods and Resolve keepsakes, including the charred and partially-melted dedication plaque of the USS Resolve, which he pulled out and clutched as the speech went on. Soon, a familiar crewman materialized still holding Sharky, Mariner's gray furred blue-nose Pit Bull. "Give that here, Mate." Jimmy took his dog and set him down whispering for him to'sit', which the happy-go-lucky but trained guard dog obeyed, still wagging his tail to the annoyance of anyone behind him. Both dog and owner looked to the transparent blast wall, but Mariner took a moment or two to inspect some of the new female faces and reactively sported his boyish smirk until Captain Ives gave her speech, and the Australian ensign stood at attention.

Marquez regarded the Nebula just outside, and in another time would have found it beautiful to behold and might have even reccomended using a bussard collector for samples in a potential use of the famous Riker Maneuver. Right now, all Striker Marquez could think about as he regarded the natural spatial beauty, was how it could be used as cover in the event of a showdown with his pursuers. As Ives continued, part of Marquez's mind was already running possible scenarios for escape or defense.

As Captain Ives mentioned the issue of sidearms, Mariner gestured to Marquez, discreetly head-gesturing at his empty holster, Marquez narrowed his eyes to slits at Jimmy, keeping his poker face steady before returning his regard to Ives. Mariner understood and visibly pouted, grumbling amidst the crowd, "Put my dog here in a transporter buffer and I'll tear you a new wormhole, Opera-house-face." the Australian griped under his breath to the earshot of those around him.

Marquez cast deliberate gazes at the crew who had endured the endeavor of the last three years and Striker chose his words carefully. He paused for an average of two heartbeats between sentences for his words to settle in, allowing the reality to hit home:


"There is no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it:... Captain of the Resolve, and our friend, Tristan Kendrick, sacrificed his life in for our crew's survival.... The Skipper flew the Aerowing shuttle into Starbase 84's biodome and riddled the EOC with enough firepower to drop a Borg Cube." Marquez knew that despite the shock, the news would need a light lilt of humor, but the former XO soon continued.

"Ken cut the head off the snake, but we're not out of the woods yet. As you heard from our new Captain... we have at least three hours before round two. After that, grief counseling sessions will be made availible with Counselor Ejek for anyone compromised by the mission at hand, but right now, in the name of Kendrick, Resolve and the hope our brothers and sisters died to preserve, we will -not- let this injustice go unchallenged!" Marquez's gravelly voice belied his known indignation.

Mariner's jaw fell for a moment at the revelation of the Skipper's death, followed by a wince with gritted teeth. All at once, Jimmy now felt guilty he'd never have the chance to confess to the pranks he'd pulled on Kendrick and other deceased crew. At the time, he felt it was worth the double shifts just to see the look on Kendrick's face when he awoke to a handful of shaving cream when his nose was tickled, but now, Jimmy felt indescribable guilt.


"Kendrick's-- and our other friends' sacrifice will be in vain if we don't avenge them..." Marquez continued, "I know none of us were expecting this sort of welcome-home reception, but right now, make no mistake, we are in a balance of terror, and the scales are tipped against us... The situation is volatile, and we have to make do with what we have. It is only fitting that four hundred and forty years ago, Admiral 'Bull' Halsey approved the special issuance of Battle Order No. 1."  Marquez let this historical reference settle in. "Steady nerves and stout hearts are needed."

Mariner and the others knew the veiled orders behind this code. During the war, when the Changeling saboteur threat was foremost on Starfleet's minds, Lieutenant Commander Marquez and his Captain designed a seemingly foolproof plan of keeping the crew in groups of no fewer than two crewmates within fixxed eyesight of one another, to watch for suspicious activity and to be on the alert for infiltrators and saboteurs.


"In the name of our late brothers and sisters, we now owe it to them and ourselves to live, to defend and to never, repeat, *never* lose hope. Hope is nothing without the will to enact it."  Marquez leaned as far as he could, for emphasis, "Please... be careful. That is all." Striker concluded his speech with a step back, regarding Ives as he took his previous stance.

---

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[ Commander Carrigan Trent | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Post-battle, an XO who did his job right was run ragged.  There were reports from all departments to compile and digest, repairs to coordinate, combat readiness to be re-established, duty rosters to rearrange due to casualties, and special issue of replicator rations to be dealt with for people who had lost everything they owned when their quarters were blown out into space or had been slagged by a plasma leak.  And what certainly did not factor very high in their list of priorities, normally, was attending an address to the crew of a defunct starship that was being given a chance to join them.

But in this case, the ship's command team needed to be seen together, Captain and XO standing side by side, to show a unified voice in this.  And Trent himself needed to survey these new faces, and get a feel for potential troublemakers.  He himself had been a  fairly recent addition to the crew, although it was hard to credit it considering how he had integrated himself within Theurgy's company and had started to run her day to day operation with a firm and efficient hand.  There was something to be said about having a man who had created a reputation for being a stark disciplinarian when needed in this role, and the ability to bring a crew, any crew, to acceptable levels of operational readiness.

But something else he needed to do was observe the senior officers from the Resolve.  Simply based on rank and experience, there were a number of them who had the skillsets and seniority to take over some roles, and he needed to have a grasp of them before he would sit down with the Captain and make recommendations to that effect.

Once Captain Ives got some of the basic things out of the way and yielded the floor to Resolve's former first officer, the Commander watched him, and listened.  There was a certain exaggeration as to the amount of energy Captain Kendrick had released within the Starbase, for one thing, and he knew how to deal with this crowd.  And  given the recent mutiny, that kind of pull with people who now formed a sizable proportion of Theurgy's crew was enough to make the hairs on the back of the amputee's neck stand on end.  Vasser and T'Rena had substantially less people on Theurgy, even when factoring in the people they brainwashed on the fly, and very nearly managed to pull off their takeover.  And all this talk of Resolve and her legacy and her crew's spirit, on top of mentioning only their Counselor's availability to meet them with regards to their mental health needs with no mention of Theurgy's own resources?  That was dangerously closing in on creating an 'us and them' sort of climate that no starship could ever function properly under. 

And the mention of Admiral Halsey's Battle Order Number One.  Trent had been originally trained as a Tactical Officer, and he had taken as many classes in military history as he could over the four years he spent at the Academy.  And he knew of this order, and could not fail to notice how Marquez had only spoken the last sentence of it, omitting the remainder: "It is part of the tradition of our Navy that, when put to the test, all hands keep cool, keep their heads, and FIGHT"  But, at this time, he showed no reaction, save a somewhat sharper inhalation.  Perhaps he was wrong; hopefully he was wrong in this case, but he had to keep this in mind.

As Marquez stepped back, Trent took the time to step forward himself.  He too would give a short address.  "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Commander Carrigan Trent, and this ship's Executive Officer.  My duties involve crew training, and the ship's operational readiness.  Given the damage we have taken in the recent engagement, the fact this ship is a prototype using technologies that were just hitting the drawing boards when Resolve left on her mission and the current crew integration situation, a number of you will come to heartily dislike me in these coming days and weeks."

It was a good thing Thea was there to amplify his voice, which was at his usual near-whisper level.  But there was very little emotion behind his words, as though he was simply stating well-known facts.  "Some of you may have heard my name if you were around during the Dominion War.  Some of you will look me up, see who I am.  Allow me to cut through the chase.  Yes I once held a command; yes my ship was destroyed in action; yes I was injured and suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder as a result; yes I requested a demotion; and yes I was Admiral Sankolov's staff intelligence officer.  And conversely, yes I assumed command in Captain Ives' name during the mutiny that recently occurred on this ship; yes I was in command against a starship from the future; yes I was at Tactical and then secured a surrender during the engagement at the Black Opal depot; yes I was coordinating the engagement at Starbase 84.  Make of this as you will."

He then took a deep breath, just enough of a pause to let his words sink in.  "As the Captain said, our mission comes first, and it is my job to see that it does.  We need hands for damage control across the ship and to conduct more in-depth repairs of critical systems should Sankolov and Task Force Archeron be on our heels.  You have all given a lot more than is asked from most Starfleet personnel, and I will not lie: I will be demanding nothing but the best from every last one of you.  In the meantime, as soon as is practical the Quartermaster will see you assigned quarters, see to the issue of replicator rations for any essentials you may need, and my adjutant will begin the task of assigning you to departments and watches."

And then, he stepped back and looked to Captain Ives, and offered a discreet nod.

[ Lieutenant Junior Jovela (http://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Jovela) & Ensign Minjae Soh (Callsign: Shinigami) (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Minjae_Soh,_callsign_%22Shinigami%22) | Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Jovela was absolutely exhausted, more mentally than physically. Somewhere in between being revived herself to going back to her duties as a nurse, things had rapidly picked up. It was ... interesting that so much had happened with her gone. Not to say her life prior to being forced into stasis had been horrible, nor one she wanted to repeat experiencing again. But unless her memory was temporarily failing her, Jovela couldn't recall being quite this occupied.

But then, maybe she had and it was acting as if it were out of sight, out of mind? Or ... something similar enough?

Whatever the case, a break had finally arrived for Jovela. While it still remained, she embraced it. Her presence wasn't needed to shift back to Nicander, and thus she wasn't being summoned to help in further assisting attempting to help awaken Miss Duv. Her eyes briefly closed as she thought back, trying to remember the anesthesia team. They had been careful ... hadn't they?

She was relatively sure they had.

So what went wrong? she pondered, frowning as the first response entered her mind and echoed a few times. "That'd be dumb," she muttered, not wanting to believe it may be as easy as Amelya Duv somehow being allergic to the medication. That would have been something she'd know about and therefore informed the medical staff.

Wouldn't it?

Unless she didn't know?

Jovela quickly moved her head from side to side, raising a hand and beginning to rub her forehead. The recent surgery was but one of the very many things she had learned about and began to adapt to. And now, it was giving her the migraine of a lifetime. Alas, it was only getting stronger as opposed to weaker like she would have preferred.

Her head lifted, as she tried her damnedest to pay careful heed to each and everyone that spoke. Still, she couldn't help but notice among all the people surrounding her that Nicander had definitely been right about one thing. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces, human or another race. Whether they had originally been on the Theurgy or not didn't matter anymore.

What did was the fact they were all here. It made a weak smile spread over her face. The sense of union was helping her feel hopeful, despite hearing there had been a huge number of losses recently.

Hopefully, she inwardly prayed, You can contribute once more. And this time, you can be even stronger. Better than before.

Not to say Jovela had been an utter failure or anything. Far from it. However, should her resolve tried to vanish before now, it quickly returned. Now that she had a second chance at her life, she would do everything she could to prevent anyone else from perishing. When all was aid ad done, she was a nurse at heart, literally and metaphorically.

Stasis had made her fail her duties. But she wouldn't do that; not ever, not again. Certainly not easily, and definitely not if Jovela could help herself from being forced in such a state again.

---

---

Minjae was ... what was a good word to use? Something in between lost, scared, uncertain, and yet - despite all the negative emotions - relieved. Glad he had gotten out of the battle alive, even more content to see both Razor and Angel had managed to do the very same. It meant he wasn't alone, that he hadn't lost everyone he knew.

His father had been all but dead for so long. Maybe not literally, but enough that Minjae considered that to be the case.

Sure, every job - especially being a fighter pilot - came with its risks. Sadly, being shot down or somehow killed in action was one of those dangers. Still, even with his call sign translating to 'god of death', Minjae was by no means seeking out Death. Nope, nu-uh, no way. Minjae could be many things and traits, including reckless. He wasn't quite that hasty though.

Anyone with half a mind wouldn't be. At least he doubted that.

"Minjae?"

The soft, feminine voice belonging to Karma made him jump slightly. "Minjae ... what is it?"

"I just --- " Minjae chuckled softly, continuing to walk with Karma into the Fighter Assault Bay. "I sometimes hate it when my instincts are right."

"Still on about Marcus Slayton?"

"Well, yes. It was a big deal." A hand landed on his shoulder. Minjae turned again to see Karma grinning at him.

"I get it. And I can only begin to guess how you're probably feeling. But ... you don't regret the decision so much that you're ready to fly back to him. Right?"

Minjae scoffed, playfully rolling his eyes. "Hell no," he muttered.

"Then stop dwelling on it."

Minjae moved his head from side to side, making a few raven bangs fly in front of his eyes. "I'm not. Well, not that part, anyway. It's the 'what now?' aspect, I suppose, more than anything."

The two silently gazed at one another for what felt like an eternity. Only after Minjae felt his shoulder squeezed slightly did he snap out of his daze.

"Come on," Karma insisted. "We were going to rendezvous with the others for a reason, not simply 'because'. Let's go, before we're late."

By the time they arrived ... they technically were tardy. By how many minutes or even seconds was unknown. Luckily, it was easy enough to blend in with the large sea of other people in the room, respectfully listening to the speeches being given. Admittedly, after a bit, Karma soon found herself wondering about the very same confession Minjae uttered.

Now what indeed? she wondered, feeling both curious and just as anxious as her partner was, indicated by his expression which had subconsciously changed. The formerly neutral look Minjae held now ave away that he truly was torn. Swimming in so many emotions, barely avoiding outright drowning in them.

To some extent though, Karma couldn't blame him too much. This all was a lot to take in.

Even more so given they hadn't originally served on this ship.

[ Deacon | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Deacon stood at the back of the room as he commonly did during convenings of the prides and kitten tests.  He was, as yet, considered too young among the Black Priests to act as conservator or administer the tests himself, and so he was tasked with watching, learning and waiting.  No matter how much circumstances changed, they seemed to stay ever the same.  Some of the faces in the teaming crowd he recognized from the few hours he'd slipped away to the lounge -- Below Decks be believed the computer had called it when he'd first discovered it.  The great majority, though, he didn't know, and truth be told, most monkeys looked alike to him anyway.  Still, the ship did seem to harbor a larger assortment of species than he was used to seeing -- vulcans, andorians, and a few more he'd never seen before.

There was an audible din as commonly happened in such circumstances as dozens of conversations each competed with one another.  At first, he could pick out bits and pieces; comrades reuniting, obligatory confusion over why they'd been assembled, questions about others yet missing.  After long, though, Deacon found the noise unbearable to his sensitive ears as he flattened them against his head to try and shut them out as best he could.  Even his ziirgah was overwhelmed, feeling the mixture of emotions as they filtered through the crowd -- relief, resentment, joy, sorrow, irritation, pensiveness -- to the point he could no longer tell his own emotions from those around him.

At last the persistent murmur died down as a female entered followed by several others who all seemed to hold some position of authority.  The quiet was almost a welcome relief if not for the pestering voice at the back of his head as he observed the female approach the podium and introduce herself.  Another one? he wondered to himself.  Starfleet seemed saturated to the breaching with females in command positions.  Little wonder his people lost so many wars against them.

The female -- Captain Ives she had called herself -- described their situation, and while he was unfamiliar with the players, he could only assume this 'Taskforce Archeron' was the other faction in this Federation pride war.  His eyes turned towards the glowing nebula outside the bay.  All this talk of azure when it seemed far more ultraviolet to him, but, as he understood it, human eyes were far less sensitive.  Maybe azure was as far as they could see.

At mention of personal weaponry, he felt a wave of discontent move through the crowd, prompting him to smirk inwardly as he folded his arms and picked idly at one of fangs with a claw.  They'd have to leave him completely in their transporter buffer to take his weapons.  Fortunately, he'd secured his own transport.  Still, he understood the sentiment, his entire race having been similarly stripped of their armaments and military power following the wars.

The Captain continued to stress the value of Starfleet regulations and following protocols, leaving an empty feeling in the pit of Deacon's stomach.  Starfleet regulations?  But he wasn't a member of Starfleet.  He hadn't enrolled in their service.  He rubbed his chin in thought, eyes half lidded.  Still, there was no returning to the Patriarchy; not after all this.  At best, some Rrit-cub would be wearing his ears on a trophy harness.  Starfleet regulations seemed the only alternative under the circumstances.

A male took the captain's place at the podium.  If he'd introduced himself, Deacon hadn't caught it, lost as he was in his own thoughts.  Hearing that the biodome of Starbase 84 had suffered the brunt of one of their attacks, though, brought a fleeting sense of disappointment.  As much as he'd disparaged it as yet another cage, he'd actually rather enjoyed the biodome to some extent while he'd been on the starbase.  He was sorry to hear it destroyed.

The man continued on about others seemingly lost in the conflict.  The names meant nothing to him, nor did the platitudes of hope, but his words did seem to resonate with some in the audience.

A second man rose to introduce himself and began listing off a series of references, insisting that those assembled could look said records up for themselves.  Deacon couldn't be certain if the man had provided a list of successes or failures, or a mixture of both.  He stared intently at the artificial limb, wondering if that might give him some insight, but the loss of a limb did not necessarily mean a loss of battle nor did it dilute one's accomplishments.  In truth, it might even make later deeds all the more noteworthy.  Perhaps these records would prove worth reading, assuming he would be given access to them.

At last he made mention of a Quartermaster and replicator rations.  Rations.  More evidence that this crew knew nothing of real food.  At least in this he could prove some value to the commanders, if only to avoid being tossed out the airlock to make room for more productive members.  Hyperspanners and technical repairs were beyond his expertise, but he knew food and he knew an army marched better when fed.  He considered the irony of his position, nearly volunteering for what might otherwise be a slave status or a kzintag commoner when he'd once held a position that 80% of the population would surrender all strakh to possess by sheer virtue of the color of his fur.

[ William Robert O’Connell (http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

When Commander Trent was done speaking Master Chief Petty Officer William Robert O’Connell (http://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=William_Robert_%22Billy_Bob%22_O%27Connell) stepped forward and spoke in a loud clear tone that he called his ‘stage voice’.  He was careful to keep it respectful and not drop into his ‘drill instructor voice’ or his ‘master chief voice’. 

“Howdy,” he addressed the assembly with a grave face that undercut his informal greeting.  “Ah’m Master Chief William Robert O’Connell and Ah’m th’ acting chief engineer fur now.  At this time we’d like t’ inform you thet the Theurgy ain’t like other ships you may have served on.  She is a prototype, th’ first in her class and there’s a lotta special things y’ ought’a know afore yuh serve aboard her.

“The USS Theurgy is eleven hundred and forty five meters long three hundred seventy five meters wide an’  two hundred meters high, and weighs in at five million one hundred nine thousand and seven hundred tons in standard operation mode.  She’s got thirty two decks and can separate into three multivector warp capable platforms, each capable of operatin' as an independent vessel.

“The computer system aboard th’ Theurgy is a cuttin' edge prototype that is a mixture of isolinear, positronic, and bioneural processors.  Unlike other ships you’ve served aboard, this here vessel features an honest to goodness A. I., an artificial intelligence that is,” he clarified unnecessarily.  “She kin manifest as a hologram so raight now I’d lahk t’ introduce y’all t’ Theurgy NX-79854, better known t’ all aboard as Thea.”

A slender woman appearing to be around thirty years old appeared at Billy Bob’s side. She wore a formfitting body suit that currently had s dark grey colour with silver highlights.

“Now Ah know she’s th’ ship’s computer, but she’s also a lady and full member of our crew,” O’Connell announced in a fatherly tone.  “Her body may be a bunch of force fields an’ photons but her positronic core houses a heart n’ soul jest as sensitive an’ caring as any biological.  So we expect y’all t’ treat Thea like a lady.  We haven’t processed all of yuh jest yet but she’ll be happy t’ answer any questions of an unclassified nature an’ help y’all git acquainted with th’ basic layout until we assign yuh a position an’ give yuh yer duties.  Thank yuh, Thea, that’ll be all.”

The heavenly hologram nodded back and vanished like a ghost.

Billy glanced at the USS Resolve’s chief engineer who was standing uncomfortably with his shipmates trying not to be noticed.  “In th’ meantime fer y’all in Eningeerin’ Ah want yuh t’ know that Lieutenant Suq Reylin-Efreya Xan an’ I are a gonna be reoranizin’ th’ Engineerin’ department an’ will have some assignments for yuh toot sweet.  In th’ meantime, if y’all need t’ see me, mah office is in Main Engineerin’ on Deck Twentyfour, but after th’ scrape we got into at Starbase 84 Ah could be jest about anywhere.” 

He nodded at Trent and Ives and stepped back to let someone else speak.   

[Wenn Cinn | Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| USS Theurgy] Attn: All

O’Connell’s speech was both professional and folksy, the perfect blend to accurately describe the man. With no others seeming to step forward, Wenn Cinn took the center stage.

“I am Lieutenant Commander Wenn Cinn, Chief of Security and Second Officer aboard.” He started looking over the crowd. So many fresh faces and Cinn wouldn’t help but think of those lost. Moving on, he focused on the here and now. “Welcome aboard Theurgy. Part of my role is help acclimatize new officers and provide support for those in need. I realize that this situation may be difficult but you should not feel like your time with us is different from another other Starfleet posting.” His voice cleared the room easily through the amplification from Thea. Her automatic assistance was often invaluable and once again, Cinn was thankful to have more than a standard Starfleet computer.

“With the number of new crew settling into new lives here, there may be areas of contention. We’ll work together to solve these, but be sure to report anything out of place to a security officer as per normal.” This, quite simply was a veiled plea for vigilance. With everything that had been going on the cult of Morali still graced the security gossip reports regularly. The new crew would have no connection or knowledge of the temporal affairs officer, but any new eyes and ears could help bring the group into line.

“Now, the Captain has already spoke about personal weapons. Those of you wanting to keep such items for sentimental reasons need to apply through me. I will be fair in returning those on an individual basis but do not try to hide them from us. We will find them and you will be reprimanded accordingly.” The last statement was said as a matter of fact. With a previous mutiny attempt by Vasser and the Devoted on the horizon, he couldn’t abhor illegal weapons aboard.

“Aside from that, we follow the Starfleet Uniform Code of Practice. Respect your fellow officer, the captain and the uniform that you wear, for they all respect you.” His speech was almost over. Cinn wasn’t much for public displays. He hoped that had given enough of an impression for those to remember him. In the coming days, they would all hopefully settle into their new positions within the crew. He just prayed that he wouldn’t have to find any in the brig.

“And remember…” He concluded. “…whether you are lost, having trouble settling in or need assistance. Security is here to help.”

[ Captain Jien Ives (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Captain_Jien_Ives) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]While the death of Captain Kendrick was announced, and a few of her staff presented themselves - officers who's departments were key to the current situation aboard the Theurgy - Jien had stood silent, her oaken eyes shifting between the present faces before her. Her shoulders squared, her hands by her sides, she said nothing. Nor had she flinched when Lieutenant Commander Leon Marquez rallied the Resolve crew to the spirit of their lost ship and Captain. She did, of course, take note. but Marquez's words had been for the most part welcome. Trent seemed keen on preemptively answering questions about his past affiliations, to dismantle any weapons made by past shortcoming so his. Then, with repairs and security situation addressed, it was Jien's turn. She remained silent, standing as she was, until she had everyone's complete attention.

"This is a multivector dreadnought with the purpose of exploration, diplomacy and deterrence. It was built in answer to the arms race that the Romulan Star Empire began years ago - a necessity to preserve the peace, as crude as it might seem. I earned the role of Commanding Officer because aside from the years on the Imperator and the Vendetta, I previously served in the Diplomatic Corps, and even as a prototype, Thea's purpose was meant for peace preservation, and to make any galactic power heed the word of the Federation - ensuring that we might prevent another galactic war. The second reason was because I once served in Starfleet Intelligence too, where I witnessed the underlying tapestry of deterrence across the Galaxy. For two years, this crew did just that, until the death of the Reman Praetor Shinzon. Then, together with Captain Riker of the USS Titan, this ship was sent to Romulus with the mission to mend the relationship between the Federation and the Empire. As you know, however... Captain Riker and I failed to keep the Romulan people united - their civil war still raging."

As grave as the continuation of the story was, she had no trouble moving on. "After the failure at Romulus, the Theurgy returned to Earth for shore-leave. By the time, I was supposed to get a new commissioning, but coincidence had it otherwise. Because after the Senior Staff of this ship and I gathered for what was supposed to be the last time, we happened to uncover something in San Francisco. Live transmissions, voices of Starfleet Command, that while not recorded, they were plain to all the staff that heard them. There were talks about the future of the Federation, its downfall at their hands, and how their 'kin' would overturn the Federation presidency. Yet most chilling of all, was that they spoke about each other in third person, belittling each other as if they spoke of strangers, referring to themselves as skin-puppets even if we heard their voices - knew them to be the Commander in Chief, the Chief of Staff and the Chief of Starfleet Operations. It was not just them either, other admirals were mentioned too. Influential people down the ranks. It was clear, as we heard what we did, that these usurpers had been operating for months... perhaps even years."

Even if Jien knew that what she said would be hard to digest, she needed to state the obvious - what some of them might already have guessed. Some of the Black Opal's crew began to stir, so she raised her voice a little - her tone remaining the same.

"The Senior Staff and I opted to try and investigate, collect proof, build a case, and expose how many they were, as would be expected. What else could we do? Yet after mere hours, they were on to us. We knew the order of our arrest would come. We had to run, meaning to take the truth to someone that would hear us out." She paused, giving them the time they needed to wrap their minds around the possibility, or rather the impossibility of it all. "This was over three months ago... and we have been running since then. Persecuted across Federation space. Hounded by our own fleet. We have protected the truth we know, against all odds, forced to fight our brothers and sisters in Starfleet, whom are all ignorant of the usurpers that are giving them orders. Our hails have gone unanswered, our words dismissed. As best as we might, we have tried to disable our pursuers, beseeching them to hear us out, but the enemy is influential, and they are many, all peddling the lies that we defected to the Romulan Star Empire when we were at Romulus. Aye, we have had to fight our own, the cost and burden upon our souls greater than we humanely should bear... but for the greater good, knowing the true enemy. You will all be granted access to the tactical logs of ours in order to verify this."

Jien had put it as simply as she could, since the depth of their grievances were too dark to put into words. The damning lack of choice. "If we die, the truth dies with us. Thus, we survive, until we can spread the truth in a way that the enemy can't contain. We fight for what Starfleet used to be, before it was corrupted from within, upholding the tenets of the Federation until we can restore what has been lost. We cling to the hope that we will be heard, and that all the losses, all the sacrifices and all the things we have been forced to do... won't have been in vain."

Her face straight, without a hint of doubt to what he'd said, she met the eyes of the new crew. "Unfortunately, the original transmissions we overheard in Starfleet Headquarters were never recorded. If we had carried the right equipment, we would have. What we have as proof now comes from a later day, from when we were able to interrogate one of them. The USS Harbinger also uncovered the truth, joined our cause, and captured one of them aboard their ship when she tried to contact Starfleet Command. She was formerly an Ensign aboard the Harbinger by the name Sonja Acreth."

Jien raised her eyes. "Thea, please project the recording titled Acreth-Zero-Two."

In the air before her, a floating holographic screen appeared, showing a woman in a black dress seated on the floor of a holding cell... (https://uss-theurgy.com/forum/index.php/topic,1188.msg9059.html#msg9059)

---

OOC: Please post your characters' reaction to seeing the enemy, especially what was said and what happened at the end of the recording. Furthermore, the old Resolve staff that couldn't post their reactions in Loose Ends will do so here instead! :) After I have 5 replies, I will post with Jien again, and more or less end the scene with yet more proof, and new orders.

[ William Robert O’Connell (http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

A chill went up O’Connell’s spine as he watched the record of Sonja Acreth’s interrogation.    Here was proof positive that every superstitious belief about demons from Hell was absolutely true.   By her own words she was an entity of pure evil from a world of wicked spirits out to corrupt and destroy them all.  Watching the possessed woman in the hologram, Billy found himself wishing for the presence of an old priest and a young priest.   This was something that science was going to have a hard time catching up to and dealing with, but he couldn’t shake the impression that this was something that old school superstition had a contingency for.   When Acreth’s hologram reached the end of her rant, Billy found himself taking an involuntary step backwards, as if he was attempting to avoid a diseased predator in the wild.   He hoped he had his poker face on, but he suspected that his face held the countenance of someone who had to use the head, pronto!

[ Lt. Jg. Suq | Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

It hurt to stand here and be subjected to the truth of his captain's death. He knew in his heart he was gone, he didn't need to be told it again. It interfered with his time-tested method of ignoring everything that causes him stress. However, as the speech went on, he found himself paying rapt attention, despite his eyes being firmly fixed on the ground as if he'd rather not be here.

The Captain, apparently, did not die because of Suq's weaponized warp core. Kendrick must have taken the Aerowing before the core blew. He may have killed many of his crewmembers—but that's one less death he had to feel guilt about. With one death off his shoulders, maybe he could afford to listen to the rest of the talk.

His head lifted, eyes closed so he did not have to look at the Theurgy's crew just yet. He needed a few deep breaths, a few private moments to jus timagine Kendrick, bursting through a biodome, firing with the collective rage of the entire Resolve crew.

Maybe he felt a little bit better about it. He opened his eyes and could now stare down the Theurgy's crew. Hopefully, these Schrodinger's infected wouldn't stay Schrodinger for long. His eyes fell on Trent in particular, who happened to be speaking now. He immediately felt a sense of distrust, but at least the commander acknowledged that many of them would dislike him. A point in his favor, at least.

Finally, he saw Billy Bob speak. Regardless of his growing paranoia, he felt assured that there was at least one person aboard this ship that was not bugged. His rundown of the ship was appreciated, though, he was not aware that the ship had a true A.I. on board--

Jesus christ, he swore with a religion he'd never believed in. There's the A.I., right there, in front of me. And she's pretty.

He heard his name, which snapped him out of his teenage gawking. Yes, of course, he was a professional man doing professional things. He and Billy Bob will be reorganizing the department. Certainly he would not be crushing on a holographic avatar, no sir. He heard Wenn Cinn speak, he heard that hiding weaponry will be reprimanded, but he had long ago decided that the only way this phaser would leave his hands is if he found this new ship to be trustworthy, or if they killed him first. Security is here to help—he privately laughed at the joke, before realizing it wasn't a joke.

And so the assembly began to wind down—or wind up. He had already seen the recording once and it made him sick, but he made himself watch again. He paid attention to how the creature moved, what she said, the detail and quality of her voice, just about anything that could be used as a tip-off that someone was bugged. Just watching it made him feel unclean—but he couldn't trust the Theurgy any more than he could trust the holographic Acreth.

The one thing he couldn't watch though was the broken finger. The first time, he had retched. This time, he plugged his ears. The sound never reached him, so he never felt the urge to puke. He glanced around at his other Resolve crewmates, in case they felt the same urge he did. He'd drop his covered ears just to help them.

[ Ensign Minjae Soh (Callsign: Shinigami) (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Minjae_Soh,_callsign_%22Shinigami%22)| Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

"Minjae?"

A worried expression crossed Karma's face and entered her voice as she turned and saw the pilot looking ... blank. Borderline dead. These were things she wasn't accustomed to seeing on his face, and it made her very concerned.

"I'm fine," he whispered back to his rear interceptor officer. "Really. I promise."

He was being truthful. The Water Câroon could sense that much.

" ... Just ... I mean ... what do you expect from me?" Minjae added. When he heard no immediate answer from Karma, he went on to explain, "I only recently arrived here. These names, faces, everything -- I don't really know them. Hell, a lot of these people may not even end up accepting me. Until I get a better idea on how things will end up going for me, this all really is difficult to take in. More so than most other talks I've had to listen to."

Karma slowly nodded. Unfortunately, she knew Minjae was right. He would need time -- they both would, really.

Furthermore, a lot of the things they were being filled in on had already occurred.  It wasn't like time could be rewound or anything.

So, cold and uncaring as Minjae may sound to others here, the facts remained as they were.

The only thing they could do was take all of these bits of information and move on. With any luck, they could even try to make their future better.

But perhaps most importantly - as Captain Ives was hinting - they could try to avoid allowing history to repeat. There was indeed a reason that old proverb existed. And if Minjae hadn't thought anything of the proverb before today, he was definitely starting to be converted - slowly but surely - into a believer.

[ Hi'Jak |Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Jack listened to the information the crew was being given. Their captain had died to take out his captain. The damage to Starbase 84, pretty much meant that everyone he had known on the station was probably hurt or dead. Even in the unlikely event that the damage was contained to just the command tower, that had connections through the travel core to every floor on the station which the explosion could have been funneled. There was a good chance that the people he cared about on 84 were gone now.

That thought made him feel something. A gushing wave of relief. The only people that had known he was under arrest were probably dead. Which meant that he most likely had a clean bill of health depending on how far the security of 84 had gotten on their paper work. He was also most likely assumed dead in the explosion, after all he had left his comm unit in the command tower.

He was free. The news that he would have to leave all of his weapons behind was slightly disheartening. He didn't have a connection to these weapons but he was also not exactly on friendly terms with anyone yet aside from Sera.

all of this of course raised a good few questions in his mind. As he reviewed the evidence for a second time he remained as unconvinced as he had been the first time he had seen the holographic display. The ship's AI was also a rather curious thing he wanted to learn more about that. Basically everything in this ship had been considered top secret so there was a lot he had wanted to know.

He had followed the news feeds well enough. He knew that this ship was the answer to the Romulan arms race but at the same time it was in flagrant violation of several treaties that existed on the other side of the boarder. The Federation was not supposed to have warships, that was the agreement long and short and there was no other way to describe this ship as beautiful as it was. Of course the Klingons hadn't held to their end of that promise either so accusing the Federation of a crime against them was a political nightmare, the politics involved always made his head spin. The end result was that no one, Federation, Klngon, or Romulan could really protest to this ships creation.

And what a ship it was. She would be a modern Bismark, a simbol of wartime pride for the Federation if she hadn't been stolen. So serving here was kind of a big deal for Jack. Listening to the broadcasts he would have thought that Jien was a mad changeling out to kill babies, but here she was calm resulote but he did have one rather important question.

"Lieutenant junior grade Jack from Starbase 84, what happens if we wish to disembark from this ship?" It was the one puzzle no one seemed to be voicing. He figured no one else really had a choice, but him and Sera? they could leave on the Sabine and flip them off on their way out so it was a valid question. Though not one he necessarily wanted.

"Also if I chose to stay, what other evidence do you have? A holo video can be faked, she could be a hologram or a very convincing member of your crew. Someone struck low with some sort of madness as well. I would like to review any bio scans you have collected of the parasites, as well as any physical samples you took from this woman. Cataloged blood, urine bio samples, as well as an autopsy report, you said the woman was formerly among you so I assume you exumed the parasite from her body once she stopped breathing."

If it had been up to him he would have extracted it from her long before some natural cause of death, but he supposed it was better late than never.

[ Lt.Com. Martin | FIghter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Martin stood stoically and quietly as the proceedings continued, her arms folded behind her back. She could do no more than that, as recent events were fraught with such turmoil as they seemed to stretch on for years in her memory. The news that Kendrick was dead, even though it was not a new revelation to her, was no less painful the second time it reached her ears. Still, Leon’s message had remained clear to her; for all they knew, the Theurgy’s crew could have been compromised by these supposed parasites, and yet here they were, with no choice but to comply, for now at least.

Martin continued listening, most of it seemed fairly straightforward aside from the sheer lunacy contained within Commander Trent’s brief statement and the interesting note regarding the presence of an AI. She took a few brief moments to ponder the idea that they now resided within the confines of another sentient being. But when it came to Ives her thoughts turned to a darker place, as the implications of what it could mean if what the Theurgy thought was true truly came to be. As a woman of science she tried her most earnest to keep an objective mind regarding the evidence before her, despite the myriad of protests from her subconscious mind and the feeling of every neuron in her body screaming at her to run and hide and hope beyond hope that all of this was merely a dream. And yet she remained, her face as passive as possible, betraying almost nothing of the inner turmoil that plagued her.

As Ives continued, the situation began to become more clear. Ives did seem to be intent on ensuring their trust, and Martin made a note to have Suq take a look at the tactical logs. While the proof offered by Ives was compelling, Martin yet still had a number of nagging suspicions. If these things were as the woman in the recording had said, why weren’t they everywhere? Why hadn’t they succeeded with one of the other nations in the galaxy? Surely a species like the Borg would be perfect for them to target, for what better enemy to demolish than a true anathema to their perception of the universe? And wasn’t it just a bit too convenient that the transmissions revealing the true nature of Starfleet Command were never recorded?

Martin’s thoughts were temporarily interrupted as the recording of the woman in the holding cell was played again. Her expression twisted into a grimace as she snapped one of her fingers, her stomach twisting into a knot as the woman’s pleasured moan accompanied by the snapping of phalanges and tendons rang out. It reminded Martin of the time she been rendered paraplegic during the Resolve’s journey, when she had heard the sound of her own spine snapping as she felt her body break and twist and fade. She shut her eyes as the woman’s speech continued and transformed and twisted into the sound of something that Martin had thought only present in her deepest nightmares. It reminded her of one in particular she had as a small girl, where she had stared up between the stars above her, and felt something there in the black, felt it hate them. That was the sound that Acreth’s voice had become.

“Oi Gevalt.” She whispered, opening her eyes and returning to the assembly. Her logical mind told her that nothing like that could be real, but if it was a fake, then it was by far the highest quality fake that she had seen. And even then there was the question of why the Theurgy would even bother. For now it seemed that the horrible truth that the runaway dreadnought’s crew had put before them was the more credible of the possibilities- something which Martin did not think she would have ever thought.

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | Deck 16 – Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Daniel watched as Captain Ives and the Theurgy’s senior staff introduced themselves and explained their situation.  Then they presented the evidence that he had seen before in the conference room.  His feeling on the matter hadn’t really changed and seeing the evidence again just made him want more vengeance.  He had been cast out from his original home on Mars; never able to return and now he had been cast out from his adoptive home in the Federation branded as a traitor.  If the Theurgy was willing to take him in he’d gladly accept it, the Resolve had been his home for the past three years and now it seemed like they Theurgy would be his home for an indeterminable amount of time.

As Commander Marquez stood forward and gave a speech he thought about Captain Kendrick, the man who had seen fit to promote him to SCO, gave him command of the Grey Wolves and while the two had had their share of disagreements there had been no one that Daniel had respected more.  He had trusted Kendrick to get them home and Kendrick had proved worthy of that trust, he now hoped that wherever Kendrick was he was at the very least at some sort of peace.

While he and the others who hadn’t been beamed onboard had managed to hold onto their weapons they had been promptly removed after the meeting.  However during their search of him they had found his cache of mementos stored in his tactical/soft bag.  Each memento was from some part of his past.  While they didn’t have a problem with most of it, they had found his sidearm that had been issued to him when he had entered the Daedalus Academy of Military Science.  The weapon had been crafted by his mother who had been a fabrications engineer, she had hand-crafted the weapon specifically for Daniel’s use.  When he had left Mars he only had a few mementos and keepsakes from that life; his sidearm was all that he had left of his mother who had died.  Daniel had never really had a need to use it but had used it a few times in the past for recreational use.

However on the Resolve’s three year journey home he had been in the middle of cleaning it and lost the firing pin, since then he’s kept the weapon more for its sentimental value than any other reason.  He had explained that to the Theurgy’s staff and they allowed him to keep it, so long as he didn’t replicate a firing pin or ammunition for it.  Even without physical weapons he didn’t really feel disarmed having been trained in hand-to-hand combat and improvised weapons.

When Master Chief O’Connell stepped up to speak he spoke about the ship some and from what he said it really only confirmed what Daniel had already suspected, this ship was a state of the art warship, even if people didn’t want to call it that.  When he mentioned the ship’s computer was actually an AI he was somewhat surprised.  He hadn’t thought that the Federation had advanced to having Artificial Intelligence yet, though more surprising was the fact that the AI was in fact the same Thea he had met just a few hours ago in the lounge.

Daniel stood watching as more of the Theurgy’s officer’s spoke about their mission and how daily life was run on the ship.  Daniel however was far more concerned about the fighter situation than anything else but since Commander Renard hadn’t made it back he wasn’t really sure who was in command of the fighter pilots at the moment.  Hopefully there would be a debriefing later that would lay out their situation.

[ Captain Jien Ives (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Captain_Jien_Ives) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]There was a whole range of reactions to the recording, and Jien had seen it before, only on a smaller scale. Instead of the small Black Opal staff, this gathering represented the majority of a crew complement for a capital ship - or at least those who had medical leave to attend - along with the civilians and those from Starbase 84 and the Orcus. There were gasps, curses, silence and everything in-between.

Immediately after, Jien chose to say nothing, and even if her silence made that blood-curdling laughter linger in the dead silence, she didn't want to obstruct the thoughts of the gathering, letting them process what they had just seen and heard. In the end, there was a voice raised from the crowd, and it asked about the opportunity to leave the ship, and asked for more available evidence. Prudent questions, all in all.

"As for those who wish to leave this ship, such an opportunity will be presented, but we are currently in hiding from Task Force Archeron, with no interest in letting stray shuttles draw attention to our present coordinates. All shuttles will need a shield modification to withstand the delta and thermionic radiation in the part we're hiding in. Moreover, there are no ideal drop-sites close by, and as a tactical choice - aside from the radiation - we are currently in the part of the Azure Nebula that has the most densely clustered sirilium gas pockets. We're virtually in the middle of a mine field, in a highly radiated part of the nebula. So, the circumstances to allow departures are not ideal at the moment, but more importantly, given what happened during the battle, your affiliation with this ship may already have subjected you to the same anathema as the Theurgy's original crew. You all should expect being courtmartialed or at least arrested and interrogated, but based on experiences you'll read about in our tactical logs, you may even be attacked without any quarters given. At one point, when we surrendered to the Archeron, Sankolov would not accept any terms of surrender from us. My promise is this, that if anyone wish to try their luck on their own, such an opportunity will be given as soon as the tactical situation allows it. All I ask... is that those who leave spread the truth as best as they might."

Having said this, there was a pause before Jien looked towards Doctor Nicander, who took the cue with a small inclination of his head. The Câroon Medical Officer cleared his throat, and spoke up, his accent sounding like an exotic variation of the British Standard when the universal translator carried his voice through his combadge. He was wearing a white lab coat, and he removed his tattooed hands from its pockets.

"I am Chief Medical Officer Lucan cin Nicander, and as for Acreth and the nature of the enemy, virtually nothing further has been gleaned since that recording was made. All we have to work with, since sensors and sampling doesn't yield any results, is the qualified assumption that the parasites exist in a state of flux, and aren't detected by any means we presently have aboard the ship. Both the medical and science departments are devoted to solve the mystery of this enemy's nature, using what she said to try and guess at their origin. Yet since we cannot detect the organisms, we were unable to liberate the host you saw from its influence. Moreover, during the battle, Acreth was liberated and vanished through a temporal breach - lost beyond retrival. The one who liberated her is now in the brig, and it has yet to be determined if she also carries one of the parasites."

The crowd stirred somewhat at the mentioning of a temporal breach, and as much was expected, since for the Non-Commissioned officers and those of junior rank, time travel was not such a well-established factor to consider. Some of them were proclaiming themseleves sceptics, order slipping, but Jien cut the ruckus down with the crystal clear tone of her voice - overriding them.

"Indeed, the enemy appears to possess means for time-travel - directly or through another party - and this was the third time it happened during the past month of our voyage. They have made this ship their target, and during the second breach, they sent a starship after us. A starship of Starfleet origin, armed with technology still in theoretical stages, and not yet commissioned. She was the USS Calamity, and we fought her at great expense. What we gained, however, was sensor logs from the engagements... along with this."

Turning her head, Jien nodded, and the signal was passed along. During the silence, there were a lot of low-key discussions held in the crowd, the sceptics being the loudest ones, but soon enough. The thrumming sound of a warp fighter powering up its engines filled the hangar. The wide doors to one of the maintenance bays opened, and from it emerged a craft that seemed like a dark, mean beast of Federation technology. With four nacelles integrated into its skeleton fuselage, and a turbine-like impulse engine dominating its aft end, the Reaver (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=AC-507_Mk_I_Reaver) slowly taxied out in front of the podium. There seemed to be a cockpit there, but it there was no glass canopy - the whole thing armoured without any weak points.

"This is one of the fighters we... stole from the Calamity, and you will all be able to partake in the sensor readings and metal samples from her hull. While we may not have hard evidence of the nature of the parasites, we do have evidence of what they are able to send after us. You will easily be able to see that this is not contemporary to current technology."

---

OOC: Again, after I have 5 replies, I will post with Jien again. It's Rawley in the Reaver's cockpit, btw. Post away!

[ Lieutenant Commander Leon "Striker" Marquez + Ensign Jimmy Mariner | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]Jimmy smirked at O'Connell's speech, and knew they'd probably get along, clearly speaking the same language, albeit different accents. The Ensign stood at attention when the chief of security appeared, and clutched the half-melted dedication plaque of the USS Resolve, almost in a right-shoulder-arms position, while holding Sharky on his leash. The Pit Bull likewise sat at attention, seeming to listen to the speeches, even his normally-wagging tail was still. The Australian security ensign immediately respected his new chief, and would see about getting back his Bajoran phaser pistol "Kira". He bought the weapon's case from a Ferengi Bartender during a shore leave on Deep Space 9 which was shipped via independent transport to his holdings, only to learn the weapon was inert, under the Station Constable's influence. Jimmy, impressed by the weapon's design, named the gun after a Bajoran Colonel who'd broken his heart, but Jimmy thought the name was fitting for the weapon... and he wanted his fire-breathing redhead back, to say nothing of his home-made holdout variant built during his time on Resolve. Jimmy would claim they were a gift from the Bajoran people as a token of gratitude for his role in protecting them from the Dominion; he hoped Commander Cinn would see it that way, and might even ask for a similar model, and Mariner would readily comply.

The Captain's brig recording was... disturbing, and Leon Marquez still wore the scars to remind him that this threat was very real, and capable of unspeakale levels of sabotage and subterfuge; his doubts about the XO went away when he deemed him to be a fellow tough talker in the footage, if only there was a way to overlook the idle fear of other parasites aboard. Marquez wasn't particularly religious, but he did believe in a higher power, and that there had to be hells from which mankind and its allies would need to combat and contain. Marquez reviewed the footage without flinching, only hardened his regard. He had a promise to the Hawthorne neural parasite, and he preferred fried calamari to boiled, though he would enjoy the taste of revenge.

Jimmy, meanwhile was both engaged and horrified by the prisoner and her seemingly-unnatural voice and behavior. He internally scolded himself for finding Ensign Acreth attractive at first sight. Now he knew and understood why Striker was so paranoid, or at least wary about who he should trust, and why Steady Nerves and Stout Hearts were indeed needed. Ensign Mariner clung even slightly more to his Pit Bull's leash and the Resolve dedication plaque that much more. Over lunch earlier, Jimmy learned that his friend had used old-fashioned blunt trauma to incapacitate the 'head of the snake' as he called the SB84's lead parasite, and part of him looked forward to using the Resolve's plaque on the first bugger he met, like smashing an Australian scorpion with a hammer. One more reason to have his phasers' handguards handy.

The Captain was right, Resolve's surviving crew for all he knew were guilty by association anyway, and part of Marquez suspected that if anyone tried to leave, they might be subject to sequestration, arrest, or, outright elimination. After the tape ended, Marquez cast a gaze at his crew that spoke volumes, silently encouraging them to keep the status quo... Time Travel?! <...Chingada*...> Marquez held his tongue, but now was dedicating some of his strategic mind's gears toward temporal mechanics, now he was mindful of the possibility someone could go back and kill him, or others, in the past. There had to be a way to combat this nightmare.

Striker's thoughts turned from worry to awe as he regarded the future four-celled design with a barely-contained half-smile, analyzing
<Now that's more like it. It isn't an assassin's weapon from the future, it's a gift from the enemy.>

In another time, Striker was a member of the Danube-Class Runabout R&D team when he was a cadet at the academy and back then, he considered becoming a full time pilot or helmsman to be first in line to test next-generation shuttlecraft or pilots, but even in the study halls with his classmates, even he didn't think a ship like this keepsake from the Calamity was feasible. An instructor had once berated one of Striker's classmatess for designing something so impractical and outlandish. On the subject of time travel, Marquez wished he could go back and pass along scans to that classmate, who, regrettably, died during the war in a Peregrine fighter during Operation Return, the life lesson was never to try to over-impress one's superiors.

 Marquez wanted to explore and scan this new vessel stem to stern and find a way to run its capabilities in a holodeck to best see how he could incorporate it into his strategies for defense and, possibly, pre-emptive attack. He'd pilot it himself if he absolutely had to, and Striker wasn't known for fighting fair when survival was at stake. All the same, he waited his turn to see where he would fit into this crew, guaging that Jimmy would be in good hands under Commander Cinn's department. LCmdr Marquez suspected Havenborn would be one of the first to explore the vessel and hoped it would respond well to the Resolve SCO's touch if given the chance. Marquez noticed Vivian Martin, who seemed particularly disturbed by what she had seen; No amount of coffee could settle the scientist's nerves, much as he wanted to reassure her in particular. When the junior officers turned to face the new ship, Marquez knew he heard a familiar voice; the same one he was hoping would keep a watchful eye on Martin. Marquez wasn't sure whether to chuckle or clear his throat.

*Wolf-whistle* "Crikey!" true to his character, Jimmy dropped a whistle intended for something he found attractive to the eye, but passed eye contact with a female junior lieutenant pilot, yet kept his smug smile fixed on the fighter.

---

OOC: *((Chiin-gah'dah. A variant of the 'F' word or tabarnack'))

LT JG Alessia Garcia, Callsign "Angel" (https://orig11.deviantart.net/479b/f/2016/363/c/9/alessia_garcia_row1_by_auctor_lucan-datcl6s.png[color=skyblue)|Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy | Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Alessia stood beside her RIO, Sehl, in a pocket near the other Orcus pilots.  She assumed she was just an otherwise unnoticeable face in a crowd of people.  She understood the need for such an address:  three ships worth of crew had just been thrown together.  So naturally, the "play nice speech was expected.

That was not the speech that was given.  Instead, several people of various ranks from different ships took center stage and shared experiences. Some of the names she had heard in passing, while others were more infamous from the Starfleet news vids (like Captain Ives).  Each of them had some important message to relay: trust, solidarity, hope, truth.

She was listening with her eyes half glazed over until the recording began. Suddenly she was at full attention as even the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.  What was she watching? Several others then took the stand to answer questions that the others raised, including inquiries for further evidence.

"It's a chilling tale, but that's just a vid."  Sehl's voice whispered past Alessia's ear as she yelped and nearly jumped our of her skin.

"SEHL!!!! Ayy, Dios Mio¹!!!" One of her caramel hands gripped her chest while the other balled into a fist and punched Sehl in the arm.  "Don't scare me like that, vuela cucaracha²!"

Her Andorian RIO feigned injury with a smirk while rubbing his arm, but continued his line of thought.  "Where's the proof, huh? Think about that for a minute. If what they are all saying is true, they have nothing.  Just a scary video to get into your head and force you to join them. They're worse than the news feeds made them out to be.  The whole ship is insane."  He was speaking to Alessia and keeping his baritone voice somewhat low, but it didn't stop a few from overhearing and flashing him looks. Some approved, others didn't.

Alessia considered his words along with the facts she'd been gathering since she chose to defect. For her, the choice was simpler than for most, and everything that she'd learned thus far justified her conclusion.  It was a matter of faith.  She had been asked to believe in an entity that was unseeable and untraceable despite the current level of technology; a being that could affect each person differently and turn them into something they weren't. And the only proof given was the fear on the faces and in the voices of those who had experience with the invisible creature.  Among those who believed were two men she trusted, Ravon who was on the ship and Renard who gave his life so that this ragtag band of believers could live to tell their incredible story.  It was enough.

She turned her chocolate eyes to look at her RIO, half-noticing a whistle from another crew member.  Was he really cat-calling her? In the middle of a briefing? She was near enough to catch his eye and she shot him a look of disapproval. There was a time and a place, and this was neither.

Her attention returned to Sehl. "They're not insane, they're believers.  These creatures are their demons. This is not so different from my own faith. Do you think I'm insane for believing in a God I can't see and the spiritual battle that rages between the angels of heaven and the devils of hell?"

Sehl scoffed at Alessia's example.  "That's different and you know it."

Alessia shook her head.  "Its not different. It's faith, plain and simple.  I choose to believe them and I will help them fight their demons.  Your choice is up to you. I won't judge you for it, but you need to decide. Do you believe them or not?"

Now it was Sehl's turn to look perplexed as Alessia charted the similarities between her own Christianity and the Thuergy's claims.  This was a choice he'd have to make himself, but it didn't have to be today.  "I'll think about it."

---

1. My god!
2. You flying cockroach!

[ Deacon | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

He watched the recording of the interrogation impassively, and although he could feel nothing beyond what his eyes and ears told him, he could sense the revulsion, the primal fear and even the hints of skepticism that seemed to ripple through the crowd around him.  Deacon, though, could not help but critique the interrogation, noting several flaws in the tactics, obvious attempts by the imprisoned female to bait those questioning her and the ease with which they seemed to take such bait. 

So many in the Federation, it seemed, had abandoned faith in favor of hard science -- a world view that they insisted on applying to everything and everyone they encountered, but this female, this 'parasite' as it were, seemed adamant in opposing that world view.  Someone so obstinate required someone equally unshakable to sit across from them.  He made note to bring such a suggestion to the captain should time and opportunity permit, but given the circumstances presented, he doubted that such a time would manifest in any short order.

When one spoke out asking about the ability to leave the ship, Deacon considered how easily they took such things for granted.  Only a set of doomed flights had brought him thus far and unless and until this vessel risked destruction, he was not so inclined as to disembark.  Besides, while the others might be captured or court martialed, he would likely face execution or extradition -- which ultimately meant the same end where kzinti were concerned.  His choices had delivered him to the Theurgy, and by the will of the Fanged God, he would see them through.

The briefing went further to mentioned time travel, resulting in another round of skepticism and doubt from the assembled crew, but Deacon found himself momentarily fascinated by the prospect, not so much by its application but by the limits of that application -- after all, if these parasites had access to such capability, why, in fact, were any of them around even discussing the issue?  He noted this as another potential line of discussion for the captain.  For beings of chaos, there had to be a certain definable logic behind them and their actions.  Chaos was incoherence and unpredictability, and yet these parasites seemed to treat it more like mayhem and chance.  For an aim so pure, their tactics were woefully watered down.

His thoughts were interrupted as a new vessel made its appearance on the flight deck.  Deacon gave it only a passing glance, however, noting how it seemed gaudy and over-powered for what it was.  There was no grace or elegance to complement the sense of strength it seemed to convey, making the fighter look wholly unwieldy to him.  How fortunate he wasn't among the fighter crew.

[ Krystal “Meony” Tancredi | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Resolve ] Attn: Anyone

[Show/Hide]Meony decided that she rather liked the captain of the Theurgy, Jien Ives. She had been told that the woman was actually a shape-shifter and could take on the form of a man or a woman, depending on the necessity or mood, possibly. Right now, she was a woman, but what the redhead wanted to know was how the crew knew the captain in his/her present form, unless she retained a specific appearance, then that would be more organized. She suspected that would be the case, as her impression of the somber captain was that the woman was extremely disciplined, organized and meticulous. She was like a more wound up Tristan Kendrick, with far less self-doubt, uncertainties or a reluctance for the position of captain.

That said, what her fellow Resolve crewmate had to say left Meony with little ability to do anything beyond stare into space past anyone. “What?” she said softly, and then mumbled something incomprehensible even to herself. In fact, she was merely making noise. Because there was absolutely no way in any reality that Tristan Kendrick, the man who had been a dear older brother to her, was dead. Dead before even her. Not a chance in hell. Hell would freeze over, and pigs would grow wings and fly faster than the speed of light before he died. “He’s not dead,” she said softly, “Captain Kendrick cheats death al’a time. Sure as rain.”

He always did. This would be no exception. Any minute, he was going to show up, or communicate with them and tell them where to pick him up. That would be the third time that happened. It would be business as usual until then. So she could focus on that. There was a feeling like lead weighing down on her heart, but she angrily pushed that aside, because that would mean she believed Marquez’s words. And she loved Marquez and everyone else of the Resolve until it hurt, but she would not accept that.

In the meantime, this Sonya Acreth character intrigued her, and idly the redhead dreamed of having a tussle with one of these infected people. From what she could understand, they were more dangerous than a regular person, and could seemingly do more and were at least equal to a Vulcan in strength. At least by her estimate. And that was why she sparred regularly against stronger opponents, so she could develop counter techniques against them. But the woman was gone now, wasn't she? No more infected crew members? Then again who could tell. These parasites didn't go around advertising themselves. The girl was familiar with subtlety and deception. The whole Resolve crew was. They'd endured too much and faced too much not to know the dangers. And that was why Marquez offered those coded words in his speech. Was he giving the hand signals?

Best to stick to each other like glue. No less than one other partner while going anywhere[. But for now, she needed to get her baby, Fuzzy Flayer, looked after.

She walked up to someone, not even paying attention to who it was, by rank, gender or race, and said, “Howdy!” tipping her cowboy hat with her finger and thumb. “Don’t s’ppose repairs’re bein’ done t’mah baby? The big honkin’ shuttle with weapons all over it? ‘less ya got another birdie lyin’ around, Ah’m a pilot, and Ah belong in some flyin’ machine.”

[ Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attention: Everybody

Keval had kept quiet through everything-the captain's speech, Striker's words of comfort and reassurance, and the other things that came after that including the reveal of the Reaver.

But Keval didn't blink or anything and it wasn't because he'd already been shown the footage that was now being more widely spread to his fellow newcomers ot the Theurgy as the senior staff of the late Starship Resolve had already been shown...but it was the pure and simple truth that right now Striker and his fellow family members needed him to be strong as he had been for the past three years.

But he also knew that Zelosa would quite possbily be watching him as he was actually pretty close to breaking.

They had gotten home after loosing so much only to be thrust into some kind of holonovel written by an Earth that Was author George..something or other..and the man that he actually considered to be as close to him like one of his clan-brothers was dead, died in an attempt to stop the hostiles from killing them.

Keval's eyes stayed ever alert, watching with a bit of joy that Krystal was out of medbay and moving about freely which for a moment brought a warm smile onto his face.

The smile soon dropped as his left antenna quickly jerked right in the Andorian equivalent of a shocked eyebrow raise as he noticed that there was a Gorn standing in the back of the room..he honestly didn't know which of the Castes due to where it was in the room but he made a mental note to look it up for future reference.

He also spotted the Kzin in the crowd as well and quite possibly a civilian at that due to the lack of a fleet uniform on him..

Keval shook his head and slowly started to go over the facts in his head starting with what Hawthorne had spoon fed them followed by what was said by Ives, Trent, and the others..

As his Grand-Shen once said "Once the avalanche has started, the pebbles have no vote."

As much as he loved his late Grand-Shen..he hoped to prove her wrong.

[ Hi'Jak |  Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
With his questions answered Jack was eyeing the ship with suspicion. So this ship was a magnet for time travel? that was interesting for a number of reasons and certainly gave him a desire to stick around if nothing else he could glean something from these designs, and the information kept aboard the ships computer but it didn't sit right with him.

All the evidence outside of that Reaver was testimonial. It was subjective, and the Reaver could just be claimed as what it was Future tech. The Federation had a number of rules when it came to such things as well as alternate timelines, and parallel universes. The Reaver represented one possible future and he could bet that any lab they submitted that evidence too would point to that logic to protect themselves.

So if Jack played devil's advocate he knew that this ship didn't have anything solid enough to actually give evidence against the parasites. Which was a problem. If he looked at the testimonial evidence and went over the video feed it was not impossible, but the existence creatures caused a few problems outside of the trust problem. First off removal of a psionic parasite would be near impossible without some form of brain damage, even if they could liberate a host it would probably damage the host body. Looking at older methods of treating parasites the patient would usually poison themselves intentionally to change the creatures environment into something more hostile forcing it out of the body at the risk of damaging the host, Other forceful methods such as nano surgery presented similar problems though to a lesser degree.

And those were parasites that didn't have the ability to control and contort the host to it's will, not to mention the problem that the creatures were probably pan species, it certianly wasn't native to humans or co evolved like the trill. No this was something more disturbing.

Which also made it seem fantastical. For the moment Jack was torn between his scientific training and keeping an open mind to hearing both arguements, but he was willing to in this case err on the side of caution and take this captain and her crew at their word, after all they weren't the monsters the Federation holo news made them out to be considering one popular theory had been that Thea had ejected the entire crew into space and gone rouge.

[ Captain Jien Ives (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Captain_Jien_Ives) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]The pilot made the Reaver stop just to the side of the podium, so that it didn't get in the line of sight between the two Senior Staffs and the crowd of over 200 people from the Resolve, Orcus and the handful from Starbase 84. The armoured hatch of the cockpit opened up, the air-seal and maglock echoing across the hangar, and a short, female figure in an exosuit climbed out of the dark beast of a warp fighter. One from Fighter Bay Ops pushed forth a boarding ramp for her, and she removed her helmet as she descended the steps and moved away to the side of the hangar. It was Evelyn Rawley, and she didn't acknowledge the crowd or comment, just looking thoughtful as she came to stand by the bulkhead with her helmet under her arm.

Since there were no further questions at the moment, just some hushed talking going on in the crowd, Jien spoke up again. "I respect the fact that this is a lot to take in," she said putting her hands on her hips. She was starting to feel to fixed - too moored to her present body - and wished to change to her male form. Yet she decided against it, since it would likely divert attention from what she said. For those not already familiar with her nature, not even having heard how the media called her the Changeling Captain - even if she was a Chameloid - to paint her up as some monster, she did not wish to stir them by switching forms. She moved on. "There is more."

The quiet conversations taking place died out, as if in trepidation to what might come next after all that had been sprung upon them.

"Even though we can't be entirely certain... we have reason to believe that one of the enemy's temporal breaches have forked the time stream several times, and we are all now in an alternate timeline. That is virtually certain, but we have yet to establish when these forks occurred. I know temporal mechanics is not everyone's forte, neither is it mine, but bear with me as I try to explain this as simply as possible."

Rubbing her hands together - the chill of the hangar getting to her - Jien spoke as she looked at her fingers, ignoring how she could almost see blood on them from all that she'd been forced to do. A trick of her mind. She suppressed the notion and spoke, raising her eyes. "First, the enemy infiltrated our ranks, taking over Starfleet Command. When, we are not sure, but it might be years ago they began to usurp power. Such forethought might seem beyond creatures of chaos, but remember what Acreth said in the recording; 'It is only through the flesh we wear that we abide to the laws of physics in this dimension, and adapt to your detestable societies.' It is possible that the hosts provide them the order and structure needed to efficiently reach their goal. This Revert-Creation they seek. So, the first fork in this would be their arrival.... but the second was when this ship reached the planet Niga in the Mahéwa System, in the uncharted areas of the Borderlands where we sought refuge after the first two months on the run."

Jien considered how much she ought to say, and decided against describing what happened at Niga. "You will all be briefed about the Niga Incident at a later point, but the important thing to mention was that the USS Relativity - a Federation timeship from the 29th century - came to save this ship and crew, and perhaps the whole galaxy, from a virus designed by the enemy. One of the Relativity's operatives stayed behind to aid us - our Temporal Affairs Officer by the name Sarresh Morali - and it is from his expertise we are able to deduce what is happening. We now have every reason to believe that the second fork was when we were able to survive the Niga Incident, and prevented the galactic outbreak of the Niga virus. This fork... is one that the enemy could not predict, and they are as ignorant as we are about what lies ahead."

Having said this, Jien would only add one further thing before letting the questions through. "This fighter here, and the USS Calamity that it came from, was not sent after this ship specifically - not by original intent - but instead sent after the USS Harbinger. The Commanding Officer of the Harbinger - having Acreth aboard - was able to deduce what could have happened to Starfleet Command, and had come to join forces with us. It just so happened that the Calamity found both the Theurgy and the Harbinger after it passed through its temporal breach, even though it had only expected to destroy the Harbinger. Finding the Theurgy too, it engaged us both."

Pausing, she added the final bit. "So, the future is not set. Unknown. Changes are occurring now as we speak. Morali says there is a ripple effect, consequences cascading backwards through our timeline as well as ahead of us. Whatever this crew does, this ship, since it escaped the Niga virus, it affects everyone - past and present. Whatever we do, every minuscule little decision may have consequences in both past and future development. The way he described it, it sounded to me like we are riding a tidal wave, and as we do it, we are also creating it - fuelling our own momentum - and we also stir the past in our wake. It is as well as I can describe it. Most importantly... I want to think it gives us hope. If the future is not set - nor the past - we will be able to rectify this."

Then, she fell silent.

[ Hi'Jak |  Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Jack could hear the confused mutterings of some of the crew around them. He didn't really blame them for that. Temporal Mechanics was not an easy subject to wrap their heads around and most of the people tried not too because of the confusing nature of time travel. It was probably one of the reasons that the temporal prime directive was so adamant about not talking about your own experiences. Doing so you could not only inadvertantly affect someone elses future but also you would confuse the hell out of them.

"It's simpler if you think about it like this." Jack raised his voice, but had to pause for a moment to cover his mouth when he coughed rather suddenly and violently all three of his lungs burning for a moment, before he shook it off. "Sorry."

Rubbing his forehead for a moment he shrugged off the cough adding it up to the stress of the day playing havoc on his body. "If you think of the timeline like air move too quickly through it and you create a sonic boom, and drag trails of wind behind you out of place. Hit time hard enough and you create a time boom, a displacement effect not unlike the sonic boom where lots of little changes occur by being dragged out of place till the future, and past becomes unrecognizable for anyone who wasn't at the epicenter of the change to history."

That is why time travelers often reported some form of illness after the fourth or fifth jump through time unprotected. Future tech for all it's worth couldn't really cut down on the turbulence created by each temporal change, and things were difficult to measure past the few 'big' changes. At least that was what he had been told back at the academy when he had studied all of these things religiously.

"That said, it's also the reason you will find these changes impossible to fix. Once the time stream has been disturbed it's like trying to put a broken window back together, no matter how perfect the reconstruction fractures and cracks will always remain little pieces of evidence that time had changed." It usually wasn't something to draw hope from, but in this instance he could see why that would be the case.

Lieutenant Commander Leon "Striker" Marquez + Ensign Jimmy Mariner | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
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Marquez in his usual wariness tactfully covered his mouth and nose as the LtJg coughed, passing the gesture off as scratching an itch around his moustache area, but mainly to avoid any theoretical vector from which to be medically compromised; his hand stayed a bit longer than he meant, but he didn't care for the appearance of rudeness at this point in time. As it was, he was only standing here at the discretion of Dr. Nicander and would not let himself stay out of action any longer than he had to, least of all due to any common cold or flu.

The Lieutenant Commander had passed Temporal Mechanics with an B-Plus at the academy, but he had a reasonable understanding of the course, thanks to a study hall tutor, Daniel... something. The metaphor that tutor used was that time was likened to cement, in that it took time to solidify, then at some point, it had to be unbreakable, but it was such a fluid concept to properly analogize, but Striker wasn't an expert on that field, aside from knowing when to execute attack patterns or weapons salvos. He paid careful attention to the concept of a forked timeline.

Jimmy Mariner returned his focus to the Captain and her officers, quipping, "She's a beaut." coyly covering his attentions through his regard for the Reaver. He stifled a chuckle at hearing some Spanish--he learned it firsthand from the Resolve XO, but Jimmy himself spoke it with broken enunciacion. Jimmy heard and understood it quite well, making a note of who he thought had spoken it, It must've been from that pilot he noticed a moment ago. He heard Meony's Texan drawl and sighed internally, glad to hear that she made it aboard, it was a relief to hear another friendly voice, after noting Martin, Suq, Ejek and Keval were also around. He noticed his own Andorian friend seemed a bit troubled, but didn't want to break from his stance to advise his former CTO, 'Keep a stiff upper lip, Mate, there's Shens and Zhens watching.... and ladies, in my case.'

When Marquez himself had the opportunity to speak, he did so without taking center stage, using the AI, Thea's, PA feature. "As you have just seen. When these parasites take ahold of a humanoid body, they can twist their minds, their bodies, their sheer existence into something some would consider... demonic.  Physically, these parasites can turn good people into superhuman hosts; monstrosities of indescribable strength, speed and endurance." Marquez panted, speaking deliberately and pausing between sentences, to hide the pain in his side. "Now, I fully respect whether or not some of you believe in or fear demons & hells, but I *have* seen true evil... and then helped this crew prove evil can be sent back to its origin, no matter the cost. The entity that compromised Captain Ian Hawthorne bragged about the USS Resolve's destruction ... he-- it-- would have killed his own daughter, right in front of me, as if it were some sort of cruel, sadistic joke."

Marquez slowly balled a fist on the side of his ribcage injury, he winced internally, but kept a strong expression as his gravelly tone went on, the pain in his side returning as he soothed it with his elbow. It was here that he realized why he was needed to be kept under medical watch. If anyone saw him waver, it might cost him, so he did his best to conceal his injury through his deliberate hand gesture.

"It took a squad of highly skilled combat operatives, and cost the lives of a selfless skipper, a fearless Klingon Warrior and too many others to prove... " Marquez cringed somewhat, doing his best to maintain his composure. "...that whatever species we are, we can defeat any demon, mano a mano. So if any of you here planning on helping these creeps... or turning into parasite hosts yourselves, please don't. I'll kick your ass myself, and I won't be alone, will I?" It was classic Marquez humor: even if he wasn't up to the task of defeating a parasite by himself, his attitude, and pained but  wry smile were unorthodox but needed for morale; he doubted Theurgy's officers would take this claim seriously, but Jimmy and about 30 or so crewmen laughed in support for a moment; Sharky the Pit Bull boomed two barks along with them.

"Damn straight!" Mariner agreed aloud. 

---

Hand to Hand. Misconception disclaimer: it's not 'Mano y mano'.

[ F’Rell of the Twelfth House | Battle Sickbay | Deck 16 ] Attn:
[Show/Hide]
In stark contrast to the variety of reactions and visceral impulses, F’Rell was, quite frankly, unimpressed. She had already undone her alterations to the Theurgy’s deflector as soon as they entered the nebula, and like she had with the Resolve she planned on contributing as little of her skills as possible, only what she needed to ensure her survival. The footage of the humanoid did little for her except further increase her feelings of pessimism regarding her own plight. After all, she reasoned, with all that she had been through ever since she was gathered by the humanoids aboard the Resolve, this might as well happen. Ives’ statement that she could leave if she wished to did equally nothing for her. After all, where could she go? She already knew that she could never return to her own people.

It was the fighter that caught her attention. Having been around the comparatively primitive Federation technology for so long, it was clear to her that this craft was noticeably more advanced, and appeared to even contain elements of construction akin to T’Fanrell shielding technology, or at least that was what she assumed the armor that covered every centimeter of the fighter was for. She was sure the resemblance was a coincidence, but still, technology of this kind appeared to still be beyond the Federation’s capabilities, and went a long way towards convincing her that this craft was indeed from the future. She continued to ponder this for a bit longer, Marquez’s talk of “demons” not particularly mattering to her. More motivation it seemed, for the heavy humanoids that surrounded her. F’Rell didn’t quite care for it, her own motivation at this point having been reduced strictly to just staying alive. For now, staying with this ship appeared to be her best option, and honestly she’d hate to give up some of the bonds she’d formed over the course of her time with the Resolve crew. She made a mental note to ask the commander of this ancillary to take a closer look at one of these mysterious fighters later, for now she simply coiled up and sank low to the floor, her attention drifting from the assembly.

[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Devyrie_Okhala,_callsign_%27%27Dragon%27%27) | Fighter Assault Bay Briefing Room | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]Dev and Vinnie stood, elbow to elbow, with some of the other White Wolf fighter pilots. The past hours were becoming a blur of activity, as the Theurgy struggled to regroup from the events of the battle. It was becoming clear to Devyrie, from the briefing with the new head of the Lone Wolves squad, to the assembly here, that Captain Ives was not what they were portrayed to be.

Her arms folded against her chest gave her a look of defiance, that probably wasn't the best message to convey. Seeing the recording, however, her normally stoic face bore a look of shock. She was not fully unprepared, due partially to the horror stories she found out in old Romulan data rods. But, this was... unsettling. Her feet shuffled, trying to quiet the unease spreading through her. The voice of the infected Ensign would likely haunt her dreams.

The mention of temporal mechanics and the arrival of a fighter, which caused more of stir, gave her a bit of a reprieve. The temporal mechanics talk was winding in to conversations that Dev could follow better. It was a simple concept from science really-that by observing where an electron was you altered it's position and path. So it was with time. Those who came back in time simply altered the position of time.

"I think I actually followed that last part," said Vinnie Ferris at her side.

"That's a first." Slowly, they scooted closer to the rest of the former Orcus pilots, trying to get a better view of the new fighter. Most of the pilots were suckers for new tech, and shared an affinity for learning their capabilities. "We'll have to get the SCO to let us check that out."

But the futuristic warp fighter was not at the forefront of Devyrie's thoughts. No, it was all the new pieces she and Vinnie got. The pieces to the puzzle that might confirm the Theurgy crew's innocence. Acreth, the fighter, the theories about the enemy, and what the objective of the enemies was, it all could fit a theory about why someone in Starfleet had instigated a pending war with her native people beyond the RNZ. It was like the puzzle was finished in parts, but as of yet, she had not learned how it all fit together with what her father had sent her about the operative Auroto and the contact Aidoaan.

Dev knew she had to reserve judgement until she learned more. Now, however, she was more optimistic about coming aboard the Theurgy. Chances were she had been right in following Terror aboard, and that she had not put her RIO at risk in convincing him to trust her on what her father had sent her.

[ Lt. Jg. Suq | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 ]

There was talk, and Suq payed peripheral attention to it. No way to leave, no way to detect the parasites, time travel is now a thing. What he really focused on was the bombshell that just waltzed into his vision. Beautiful, in every sense of the word. He stood up on his tip toes to try to see more of her, and concluded she was exactly his type. Fully armored, powerful, no visible weak points, godlike. If only he could get his hands on her, learn more about her, see what makes her tick. The only flaw Suq could name was that there was some kind of human woman in the way of this beautiful Reaver and he wished she would leave so he could get a better view.

Coming back down to Efros, Suq realized he had missed some important bits. Mainly, that this ship was supposed to be from the future. The future, by the spirits--the potential that could bring. Analysis of material composition alone could create massive breakthroughs in Starship engineering. Wouldn't it be nice to be the very engineer responsible...?
He knew of temporal mechanics. He was certainly no expert, but many parts of the conspiracy underworld dabbled in enough temporal sciences for him to know the basics. This ship seemed to represent a split timeline, meaning any choice made now could be totally meaningless, or immeasurably important. Maybe, he thought, maybe I shouldn't ask about analyzing her. After all, I'm sure somebody might've already tried.

[ Ens. Derik Veradin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Derik_Veradin) |  Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]Derik stood silent through the proceedings. He let every piece of news and fresh emotion was into him like the waves on a beach. He could not allow himself to get caught up in any one of them right now, or else he might lose his emotional fitting and break down. He let it hit him, he recognized it and stuffed it down out of his conscience to deal with later. This was something he was used to doing now. The official news about Captain Kendrick though, that was hard to deal with. He didn’t realize he was clenching his fists until he felt the pain of his nails digging into his palm.

The news almost broke his composure. It did feel like losing a parent. The man who had promised them over and over that he’d get them home, that had protected them, pushed them, supported them, was gone. He closed his eyes as he felt tears begin to form. Not now, he berated himself, the day isn’t over yet, you can collapse and let go when you get your quarters assignment.

When he opened his eyes and regained his composure, the meeting had moved on. They met other members of the Theurgy senior crew and they watched the video of Acreth that the Resolve crew was shown in the conference room earlier. His mind told him to doubt the information, but something in his gut rang true. The actions of this crew, both in doing as least harm as possible, rescuing the Resolve crew, their dedication to their cause, all of it rang through.

The talk of the temporal rifts and what everyone was implying went mostly over Derik’s head, though the sonic boom analogy helped, as a pilot he understood that.

For better or for worse, this was his home, and their fight was his fight.

---

[ Sera vers Aldnoah (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sera_vers_Aldnoah) ]
[Show/Hide]Sera had also been privy to the recording back up in the conference room with the members of the Resolve. She, like Jack, was skeptical, but the circumstantial evidence did seem to weigh in favor of Captain Ives. She stood close to Jack, still one of the only people she knew on board the ship, and took in those around her. She had been relieved of her steel baton when she was beamed here, something she was not thrilled with, especially after her energy weapons had been confiscated and taken, and now lost, on Starbase 84. That rifle was an especially expensive loss.

She and Jack had more or less decided to stay here on the Theurgy, for now. She needed to talk with either Captain Ives or this Commander Trent about her place aboard and what freedoms and responsibilities she might have. She had a few bargaining chips including some maps and firsthand experience in the Azure Nebula. She could help them gather some resources they might otherwise miss while they were here, if they allowed her to help anyway. She, in return, would gain powerful allies in the crew and their warship. While she doubted anyone had had time to make formal reports of her crimes aboard the Starbase, especially following the warp core explosion, she was mostly a free woman and was someone that the Theurgy could use for espionage, diplomatic, or trade missions, as she wouldn’t be immediately recognized by Starfleet security scanners and their facial recognition software.

She also remained silent during the presentation. She didn’t fully believe their story, yet, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t work with them.

[ Lt.Cmdr. Natalie Stark | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ]

Natalie had been granted a scant 15 minutes to leave the bridge and then return to  join the rest of the mixed senior staff to enter the Fighter Assault Bay and address the refugees from the Resolve and the Orcus and bring them up to speed on the mission that lay before them. And on the sacrifice of Captain Tristan Kendrick. She had, in turn, practically bolted down the corridor after she left the bridge lift, making a bee line for her quarters. After the intense  past few hours, and then her stint in the command chair after the battle - she felt wrung out, and haggard. Even if she didn't look it.

Not enough time, she thought, for a proper shower. It had been a quick one and done with the sonics, and a fast change of uniform - pausing only long enough to snag that skirt variant instead of the longer pants. Impractical when crawling about a Jefferires tube but good for putting on a show of authority - and shapely legs. Maybe she just needed the confidence boost in the wake of the battle.

Now, she stood in line with the rest of the mixed senior officers, having singled the Captain, and watching Billy Bob step up to speak. She knew most of her department would be working with the battered chief to help put their lady back to rights. Ops and Engineering really did go hand in hand often enough. If she didn't have the whole department to run, she'd be right in the thick of it too. And who knew? Maybe she would anyway. A somber thought, looking out over the crowd of confused men and women (and other such genders) trying to keep calm and collected.

How would they react to a ships AI that was treated like a person, she wondered, as Thea briefly manifested next to Billy Bob. She managed a small smile, just a curl of her lips, for the hologram, there and gone again. From that point the parade continued, through the stern Sec Chief's admonishments to the new crew, and back to the Captain. As ever, the woman's words drew in Natalie. For her, at least, there was no question of the path they were put upon. Natalie would follow wherever Ives lead.

Her devotion left her feeling hollow hatred at the recording that aired before them all. She did her best to shift her gaze from it, to the assembled masses. Judging, assessing, looking for threats. That was Cinn's job, and yet here she was doing so as well. A mere three months ago, it wouldn't have crossed her mind. These were her brothers and sisters in the Fleet. But now? Funny how three months can change a person.

At least she kept the snarl off her face, the anger, instead of shock, that she felt and suppressed.

And then the questioning began. She shouldn't have been surprised at the outburst, and yet...she was. But Ives handled it smoothly, and she felt a tension slip from her shoulders. That would take some analysis later. Possibly at the bottom of a glass of that ruby red wine she'd had weeks before.  The display of the Reaver drew her thoughts away from the end of everything and back to the task at hand however, and once again she let her gaze sweep over the crowd.

Evidence of Temporal Incursions directly in front of the group did a lot, Natalie imagined, to lend credibility to what followed. Even if she herself still had trouble wrapping her mind around it all. She had to admit that the more vocal junior officer - clearly, a skeptic - had as good analogy as any for the temporal mess they were in. She'd yet to hear Moralli offer up a better explanation. Then again, he was...damaged goods. He wasn't even present here. She'd heard Ives chat briefly with Trent about the Temporal Agent, having been checked over by a medic, was locked way in his lab working through the ramification's and babbling about forks. The time based one's, she assumed.

Regardless, she thought about stepping up to speak, to introduce herself as well, but at this point, there was nothing for her to contribute, nothing worth while to add. Yet. Her time might come. Or, she thought to herself, her task may simply be to stand there and project unity and calm. If she didn't feel it herself, she could fake it now, at least. This, she could do for her Captain, and the newcomers.

[ Commander Carrigan Trent | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

As information was being presented, Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt approached the Theurgy's senior staff and their former counterparts from the Resolve, and she made her way to the XO, PADD in hand.  Politely, she cleared her throat and touched his elbow.  When he turned around, he took the offered device and offered a nod, but she remained there, waiting for new instructions after he'd review the basic headers.

Dewitt was new to the adjutant business, but in the short time she'd been working with Trent, she had learned he preferred concise briefs, and to be brought salient points first.  At the top of the list were possible senior staff appointments for his review and forwarding to the Captain, followed by initial departmental and section reports across the ship following the action at Starbase 84.  And one of them in particular was highlighted for him to look at.  The Torpedo section report had been properly filed in to Arisaka, and in good time at that; but it had not been submitted by Lieutenant Carson; instead, it bore Chief Petty Officer Hirrentz release authorization.  A quick further review showed that it was, in effect, an exemplary report save for the fact that it hadn't come from the section officer.  "Thank you, Jennifer," he quietly replied.  "I'll address those other matters, but I need you to see Chief Hirrentz and find out exactly why he's the one who filed that report."

"Aye Sir," she acknowledged before withdrawing.

As the floor was opened, Trent first turned his attention to the Resolve senior staff.  "Commander Martin, Commander Marquez, Lieutenant Keval, once this meeting is adjourned I will need a few moments of your time to discuss your roles on this ship."  As usual, the XO's tone was unfailingly polite and quiet as ever.  However, there was little there to indicate that, even as politely couched his words were, that it was a suggestion.  But then, he stepped back up towards the assembled crew on the flight deck, and he addressed them.

"Despite our circumstances, this ship is run as a Starfleet vessel.  The Captain and I fully expect everyone to abide by Starfleet regulations, modes of address, standards and discipline.  Granted, regulations on intimacy and fraternization have been slightly relaxed.  But make no mistake, on this ship consent is something we take extremely seriously.  No means no, and anyone found taking advantage of a fellow member of this crew will find themselves answering for it in no uncertain ways."  For a few heartbeats, he let his words hang in the air before continuing.  "Second, I understand some of you are displeased about being disarmed, and I know some of you are thinking of doing something about it; let me point out our Chief of Security is former Bajoran Resistance, which means if there is anyone on board who is better equipped to sniff out weapons of any sort where they're not supposed to be, it is him; especially with Thea and our internal sensors to back him.  Do not test this.  Thirdly, we appear to have an internal security issue with members of the crew having deified our temporal affairs specialist; as such, if you come across any suspicious activities, you will report them to your superiors or to Security.  And this also goes for other members of the Resolve crew attempting to smuggle or assemble weapons, and a willful failure to report such things will be considered complicity.  And lastly,"

He took another deep breath, letting his earlier words sink in, and creating a pause before his next ones.  "I will absolutely not tolerate anyone trying to create any kind of 'us and them' climate on this ship.  I understand a certain kinship, but anything beyond this will leave the culprits answering to me."

"Are there any questions?"

[ Doctor Hayden O'Connor|  Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]

Hayden was exhausted. Of course, that wasn't anything new for her or even for the rest of the crew after everything they'd been through, but leading up to recent events, there had been a sense of hope and anticipation. There was no question this mission would be dangerous and there was no question people with lose their lives in the fight to get the truth out, but the hope was, if any degree of luck was on their side, their message would soon be out and somehow, all of their losses and their suffering wouldn't be in vain. This was the day that was supposed to turn the tide in their favor.

Of course, O'Connor didn't fully realize how much she depended on that hope until she emerged into the chaos of the infirmary and realized in addition to a deep wariness that came with any battle, there was also an underlying sense of melancholy that frankly, Hayden hadn't observed in a very long time. Hayden hadn't been completely out of the loop, naturally, but she had been so focused on making sure Hylota's labor went smoothly any potential offspring were kept alive, that she hadn't been able to fully process just how badly things had gone wrong.

There was a particularly surreal quality to the experience, in fact, as she emerged from the isolation ward and saw the carnage the battle had wrought. She had been so caught up in the joy and anticipation of new life that standing there now felt like the equivalent of crashing back to earth after soaring to untold heights. In the isolation ward, there had definitely been fear, but in the midst of all that was happening, there had also been hope and joy that at times seemed no match for the darkness.

All she wanted to do now was sleep, but as word filtered to her, she knew she wasn't going to be able to do that. They had taken on survivors from the Resolve, and the Captain and the  of the senior staff were addressing them in the Fighter Assault Bay. Hayden needed to be there, not just because as Chief Counselor, it fell to her offer comfort and reassurance to the survivors, but also because in the face of such loss, Hayden needed to be of use, to offer help, and to feel as if she could make a difference somewhere. In the face of such difficult times, it was entirely in O'Connor's maternal nature to draw people closer to her, and in that moment she could think of nothing more she'd rather do than help draw the crew together.

It was an emotional drive that allowed her to put one foot in front of the other as she made her way to the Fighter Assault Bay to greet the weary faces before her. As she listened to Ives and others speak, she watched the faces of those before her. In so many ways, she could identify with their shock and sadness as if it were yesterday, and yet, in others, it felt like a lifetime ago. Their former captain had died sacrificing himself. Her former captain had been corrupted. Even so, she still felt his loss, and an irrational part of her couldn't help but wonder why she had failed to see the truth before it was too late.

She listened carefully, and although she understood all of the information needed to be offered, she expected it to be a bit overwhelming for all of them to take in given the shock of all they'd been through. She stepped forward to speak, motivated by a desire to help calm that confusion more than any planned words. "My name is Doctor Hayden O'Connor. I am the Chief Counselor for the Theurgy, formerly a member of the USS Harbinger. I want to add my condolences for the loss of your Captain and your fallen crew. I don't pretend to understand exactly what all of you are feeling right now and I won't pretend that my condolences will do anything to ease the sense of loss and trauma you've all just experienced, but if you hear nothing else of what I say, please hear this: You are not alone, and whatever decision you make in the future, whether you go or stay, know you will always be part of the Theurgy family."

She looked out at the group, trying to make eye contact with as many people as she could. "We are not a perfect family and I won't deny we still bear the wounds of all we've endured, but I don't think any one of us would disagree that our pain has been more bearable because we've reached out one another and done our best to talk about the things weigh on our hearts . We all share a common goal as well as common struggles, and in our commonality, we have drawn strength from one another. I understand you will all manage your feelings differently, and as much as I obviously believe in the power of counseling to help ease certain burdens, I recognize not all of you are comfortable with people in my profession for various reasons. I'm not asking you to come to me or the people in my department if you're not ready or willing, but I am asking for all of you to be kind to yourselves and others in the face of what you've been through, and to avoid coping in ways that leave you feeling isolated and more depleted than you already are. It’s natural to want to avoid feelings as much as possible after trauma and loss, but more often than not, the more we try to suppress these feelings, the stronger they emerge and overwhelm us.  Try not to fight this.  Acknowledge your feelings, express them.  Support one another.

In the coming days, I expect each of you will at first reach out to the people you know best for comfort. They are the people you trust, and I understand there is safety in that. It is my hope that over time, you will come to see all of us as people you can reach out to for solace as well. Do not be afraid to talk about your experiences before you joined us.  You are here now, but I would never expect you to instantly see yourselves as a member of the Theurgy and to forget your experiences or your Capttain.  For what it's worth, from the moment you all came aboard the Theurgy, in my mind, and in my heart, you became members of my crew, not outsiders who just happened to come aboard." She smiled when she offered, "that may sound like the epitome of counselor sappiness, but that's truly how I feel. Numbness, anger, irritability, difficulty concentrating, sadness, nightmares and even flashbacks are all to be expected in the coming days and weeks. These are normal reactions to trauma, and if they persist or get worse, please, please, don't hesitate to reach out to myself or a member of the counseling staff. There is no shame in it and more than that, we will all need to be at our best if together we are to face our challenges. I'm here for all of you, anytime, whatever you need."

[ CPO Liam Herrold (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Liam_Herrold) | Crowd in Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Triage
[Show/Hide]Hearing all that had been said, Liam Herrold didn't know what to think. He had left K'Ren in Sickbay so that he might attend the briefing, but as more and more things were being revealed, he wondered how he could ever tell Neko all of this without her thinking he'd gone insane. He didn't feel he was in any position to question anything, but for him, the deciding factor had been when they rolled out the Reaver.

Liam, having worked on the fighters in the Valkyrie program since the Mk I, could easily tell that the craft and the weapons mounted on them were so far remote from anything the Federation shipyards could muster. While he had been away since 2378 on the Resolve, three years did not account for the kind of tech before his eyes. Added with everything else, the cold realisation had settled that things might just be as bad as the Captain named Ives said they were.

"Howdy! Don't s'ppose repairs're bein' done t'mah baby? The big honkin' shuttle with weapons all over it? 'less ya got another birdie lyin' around, Ah'm a pilot, and Ah belong in some flyin' machine."

Blinking, Liam turned around, and saw recognition in Meony's face as soon as he did. Even if she hadn't recognised him at first, Liam was glad to see she was okay, and found himself smiling to her. When he spoke, his words were more hushed than Tancredi's. "Figured you'd make it, then again, you always do. Glad to see you, Meony," he said and then raised his eyebrows in thought, "No idea, but I have been asking around as much as I can," he said to her, piecing together the hearsay he had. "I think they have not completed damage assessments on the crafts that were in the battle just yet, but even if the Flayer can't be repaired, I hear they have Mk II Valkryies aboard, and even a couple of those new Mk IIIs. You might just get your wings back!"

After all, as formidable as the Fuzzy Flayer had been (when it didn't glitch on her), it didn't have any wings.

"If you do get a fighter again, and in my interest to keep you alive too... make sure you don't bust your new bird this time, eh?"

He realised he had to tell her about Erik Randall too, but the briefing continued, and he turned back to listen.

---

[ Captain Jien Ives (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Captain_Jien_Ives) | Podium in Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]Two things that had been said lingered in Jien's thoughts after she fell silent. They caused her to want to change form, still feeling moored to her current appearance and wanting to change, to refresh and to move on. Yet in order to not distract the crew before her, she remained a woman where she stood, stoically not letting the two troubling things said get to her.

The first thing was how the Science Officer with the Klingon heritage had said the changes were impossible to fix. While the timing of his comment - right in the wake of her trying to incite hope in the crowd and saying she believed it could be done - was horrendous, and she wasn't at all impressed with how he virtually undermined her word without any kind of respect to the situation at hand and the need to keep the crew from giving up, she hoped he was wrong. Theoretically, he could be, even if the chance was - indeed - almost impossible. The right kind of change in the past could result in a cascade effect. Despite his typical know-it-all scientist disposition, his explanation - however - had been sound, and Jien chose not to make any further comment on the issue... even if it lingered with her.

The second thing had been when Marquez spoke of the eye-to-eye encounter with Captain Hawthorne. It was exemplary that the Lieutenant Commander saw the import of confirming what had been said about the parasites based on his own personal experience on Starbase 84. Indeed, that the crowd heard him speak of the enemy's nature might have some sway with the Resolve's crew, them still trusting his word more than Ives's. Ives could even see it happen, the crowd quietly resigning to accept what they had heard, eyes sinking to the deck plates below their feet. They were slowly coming to accept that their three-year voyage wasn't over, only about to continue upon a new ship.

Yet that hadn't been what was on Ives' mind. No... it was how Marquez had said Hawthorne had almost killed Cameron. Since Jien had talked Cam into going with the boarding team, asking her to use her family bond to Hawthorne in attempt to sway him to their cause and drop the shields, Jien now felt deep guilt about putting her in that kind of situation. Of course, she felt guilt about the mission being a failure as a whole, how she had not been able to prevent Jona Rez from committing sabotage, taken the right precautions, but hearing about Cam...

Jien had asked too much of her. To have her live through that kind of horror... he guilt of that was on a more personal level.

Trent was talking about the Devoted, and Jien slowly turned her head towards him. After what happened on the bridge, when one of them took up arms, that had been the moment when the harmless community of Morali followers aboard had ceased to be a beneficent distraction for hose needing to have faith in something... and instead became a liability for the mission. Because of the Devoted, Edena Rez was dead, and while the Assistant CMO might wake up as the new host and thus preserve Jona's secrets, Jien had left the Devoted to Wenn Cinn to deal with. Security was sanctioned to deal with the issue as best Cinn saw fit, and Jien had confidence he knew what measures needed to be taken. Already, the Devoted had been emboldened by what happened on the bridge, reports about their various actions coming in.

In the end, Doctor O'Connor's voice was a welcome balm, oddly soothing after all that had been said, and Jien could not help but appreciate the counselor's words. They might have their personal differences, the two of them, but it was clear Hayden knew what she was about. Before the Chief Counselor finished, when she spoke of being inclusive towards all the new people on the ship, Jien felt her face let on a faint smile. It was, perhaps, the most important thing said so far. The people before the podium were no outsiders any more. Starfleet was built to acknowledge their own, accepting the chain-of-command and thus including them regardless where they came from. The people before Jien was her crew now, regardless what they might think and however much they chose to cling to what had been lost in the battle.

Even if Jien had ordered the Theurgy to protect the Resolve and let the crew aboard - saving over two hundred people mid-battle - she knew she still had to prove herself as their new Commanding Officer. Given the circumstances aboard, and the bitter challenges ahead, it would not be easy to replace their late Captain Kendrick. Nonetheless, it was either that... or a new mutiny, and she wasn't too keen on having to survive another one...

"Lieutenant O'Connor speaks wisely," she said, trying to hold on to that faint smile that had come to her, "You are all crew of the Theurgy now, and while this ship is not run like the Resolve - and you may see fault in my conduct compared to what you are used to - make no mistake. I still consider you all to be my crew, and I hope this transition will be as easy as possible. Duty assignments will be given as soon as possible, and the Quartermaster - his office being on Deck 10 - will make sure you have accommodations to sleep in tonight. Expect to hear from your Department Heads, and if you are lost, Thea can help you find your way. Further announcements and ship-wide briefings will be made on the intercom."

Jien paused, wondering if there was ought to be said about the mission ahead. In the end, she decided they needed time to digest what had already happened first, so she ended the briefing.

"Dismissed."

- Fin