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61
Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Chapter 2: DIS Engage [ Day 1 | 1259 ]
Last post by Krajin -
Dominic Winters | Fighter Assault Bay (FAB) | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | U.S.S Theurgy ATTN: @Relatively Insane @Brutus @rae @Pierce @Ellen Fitz @Nero @Nolan @Dumedion @joshs1000 @tongieboi @Number6 @Havenborn

Standing in the shower after meeting with Janus, Dominic happily hummed as he scrubbed down his furry form and thoroughly enjoyed a real water shower that soaked him through. Hot water, ALL the hot water. Honestly, despite this being a little small, Dominic adapted fairly well to working in the shower and enjoying himself. Though not enjoying himself as that would be quite the stunt to leave that kind of mark first day he arrived on the Theurgy. Things had been going well for the most part and when he came out from the shower, hot, damp, and happy with himself.

He headed over to his new and somewhat larger locker, punched in the code and dried himself off, and then got into the form-fitting undersuit and then started getting into the actual exosuit. Unfortunately, things began to get just a tiny bit weird as he felt the ship shudder and a sudden deceleration that a good pilot would be all to familiar with. Not to mention that strange feeling in the stomach as the gravitational forces inside and with the smaller jumps and jerks picked up from when he was in the shower.

While he got his left boot on and balanced precariously on his right foot with his tail providing added balance but even that didn’t account for the sudden surprise of the ship decelerating which threw his balance off and sent him nearly tipping head over foot. Instead, the Kzint slammed his right-hand claws into the lockers adjacent to his and dragged them along, gouging into the metal with a few sparks and a scream of grinding metal from the implant claws in said hand. He did catch himself at least from face-planting with half an exo-suit on and his left boot only partly on! The adjacent two lockers on the other hand did not fare so nicely now and looked like either a rabid animal or a horror flick got filmed in here. Pulling his claws free from the metal he shook his hand out “Hot. Hot. Fuuuck. What fucking conn-monkey cannot keep the speed regulated while in the slipstream?” He cursed out. Hopping comically over to a wall he could brace his back against and get the boots on. Dominic quickly finished getting into the Exo-suit properly and collected the rest before heading out to the main floor to see the chaos unfolding. Coupled with the unmistakable scent of puke hitting his nose, it wrinkled and slowly Dom made his way through towards Janus and what appeared to be medics tending to a downed Chief.

“What is going on?” He asked. The big cat looked rather imposing in the exosuit.
62
Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Chapter 1: Triggered Much? [ Day 1 | 1800hrs ]
Last post by Dree -
[Lt. Reika Sh'laan | Corridor | Romulan Station | Romulan Space ] Attn: @Ellen Fitz  @Nesota Kynnovan  @Number6 @RyeTanker @P.C. Haring  @Hans Applegate @BipSpoon

The mech was down, and Reika heaved a sigh of relief.  Lorad had downed an attacker. 

Reika nodded her acknowledgement of Amanda’s statement.  “It was your suggestion,” she deflected.  “I’ll continue monitoring the monstrocity and make sure it stays offline, so the rest of you can find the triggers.”

She didn’t like the idea of letting others do the hard work, but she knew that her job was to keep others safe as much as it was to find the triggers, and this was where she needed to be.  Her eyes kept sweeping over the area, and she listened to see if there were other skirmishes going on somewhere else.

And as Amanda and others were looking for the triggers, Reika heard another series of shots.  “Shit,” she murmered under her breath.  She lifted her rifle into position as much as she could since her arm was injured.  Her eyes continued flitting from the control panel where she was monitoring the status of the Mech and the door beyond which the noises came.

But Amanda’s words momentarily drew her attention away from both.  “I don’t know what’s outside the door,” she answered into her helmet, hoping that whoever was outside hadn’t heard them.  “I’m watching the door, but work as quickly as you can.”

Quickly….well, quickly was relative.  It felt like an absolute eternity with everything that could go wrong.  The seconds ticked painstakingly by, but eventually, Amanda said that she found them. 

As soon as Sh'laan heard the words, she activated her comms.  “Triggers have been found.  Everyone, we’re evacuating now.  Let’s move.”

She moved to the hallway supporting the rifle with both of her hands.  As she peeked around the corner and saw a Romulan holding a phrase rifle on a member of the Thuergy crew.  She didn’t hesitate but shot her in the back, right between the shoulder blades.  “We’re heading out,” Reika said tipping her head toward the exit.
63
Director's Cut / Re: [2381 USS Theurgy] Cohabitation
Last post by Dree -
Lt Reika Sh’laan|  Turbolift  and Sh'laan/JeenQuarters | Deck 11 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy @Dumedion

Reika loved the feeling of her long blue fingers wrapped in creamy ones, but when Kino raised their hands to her lips and kissed the back of Reika’s hand, she could have just melted into the floor.  It was such an innocent yet deeply touching gesture.  And while she kept on a pace, her antenna did wobble slightly with the intense peace and joy she felt.

And Kino was right.  Their hearts - they were already one and the same.  But Reika could see her love searching for the words to adequately answer her question about Jeen.  Reika just wanted to wrap her up so Kino would feel the love that her heart exuded and not worry about searching for the right words.  Any words would do at this point, but then the Andorian saw the raw emotion that nearly overwhelmed the Trill.  Reika couldn't help but feel it alongside her.  But instead of saying something, the Andorian gave her girl the space to pull herself back together - which she did amazingly.

The blue-skinned woman learned that her love had been married twice - once as a man, once as a woman and that she had kids.  That one thought nearly brought tears to Reika’s eyes.  She knew that the neither of the two of them could never have kids.  Kids - it was something she had never given much thought to.  In many ways she had accepted her fate, but with someone by her side…did that change the equation for her?  Her mind started in on her question, but Kino kept going.  Returning her thoughts to the beauty before her.

This - moving in together - was a first for Kino and that brought a smile to pale blue lips.  She got to be a ‘first’ with the Trill.

But it was only a moment later, when the turbolift doors opened, and they were in the quiet solitude of each other’s presence in a closed space again.  Kino dropped her bag, backed up to the wall, and pulled Reika firmly against her.  Those blue eyes roamed her face, her antennae, and returned to Reika's eyes.  But it wasn’t the contact that weakened the Andorian’s knees, it was the way that her love looked at her.   That “I don’t know how you could make me happier than I am this moment,” look.  That “I am so excited to be on this journey with you,” look.  That “I’m filled with joy - just being with you,” look.  And blue antennae, which had stabilized, were once again wobbly.  How she loved this.  Yes, this woman, but not just the woman.  It was what she made her heart feel, how she made her body react, how she felt completely safe in her arms.

Reika laughed at Kino’s teasing remarks about whether or not the Trill needed to worry about Reika seducing other people. “Well, you know about Barak.  We spent the night at each other’s place often, but, no, we never moved in together.”  She paused for a moment closing her eyes as she tried to work through her thoughts on the matter - her lips only centimeters from Kino’s forehead.  Instead, she leaned her head down and rested a blue forehead against a creamy one.  “Looking back,” she nearly whispered, “while we enjoyed each other, he always kept an emotional distance between us.”  She opened her eyes and continued softly.  “I think that’s why we never moved in together.  So no, no need to worry,” she winked.  “And yeah, this is new for me too, Gorgeous.  But I love the thought of having this first for both of us - together.”

Reika brushed her lips softly against Kino’s and had the turbolift doors not opened again at that moment, that gentle touch of her lips would have lingered much longer.  But with a giddy smile plastered on her face, she leaned over and picked up Kino’s bag, slung it over her shoulder, and once again wrapped her fingers in white.  Her quarters were close to the turbolift and Reika didn’t want to break the precious silence just yet. 

She drew the Till along the corridor until they came to the door.  She input the code and stepped inside.  Slipping Kino’s bag off of her shoulder to the floor just inside the door, she took the Trill by both hands and led her to the center of the living room.  She held her breath the whole time until she pulled Kino to her and was able to breathe out the words. “Welcome, home, Gorgeous.”
64
Director's Cut / Re: [2374] USS Hamburg: Meditate on the Way of the Targ
Last post by Dumedion -
[PO3 Kino Taer | Extraction Zone | J’rovia | 2374] Attn: @JacenSoloDjo 

Once they’d made the ascent, Kino set her rifle down on an empty cargo container and spent the next several seconds just trying to breathe. Her legs were jelly; everything hurt. Drenched in sweat, she fumbled with the zipper of her duty jacket and shrugged it off, desperate for some airflow; the kiss of the hot, gentle breeze of higher elevation was a blessing and a curse – but it was something. Once she was fairly certain she wasn’t going to pass out, Taer grimaced as her hands felt around her nose, braced, then reset it with a jerked motion; the crunch of bone and cartilage drowned out with a groan. A muffled curse followed as she wiped the worst of the blood and sweat from her head and face on her jacket, then slung the rifle over her chest to look around the platform.

It was carved stone blanketed in a carpet of dry grass; ancient, like all the other ruins. Crumbled pillars stood in each corner, three sides protected by sheer rock outcrops roughly three meters high. Various crates and boxes lay scattered about the perimeter. Kino busied herself by moving them to the entrance for use as a makeshift barricade. She doubted they’d do much as cover, but at least it gave her something to do while they waited. The temptation to respond to the Bajoran’s little speech was there the whole time, but Kino managed to swallow it down; if only to spare herself from another lecture.

Like it’d make a difference now anyway, Taer shook her head. The damage was done; words alone wouldn’t repair it, for either side. The truth was – as Kino saw it – there was no right course of action. She’d volunteered to stay back because she was one of the few of them that wasn’t wounded, that could move unhindered and hold the rear just long enough to buy them a few minutes at most before falling back; uninterested in glory, and certainly not interested in dying, she only wanted to give them all the best odds of getting out. It made the most sense, tactically, even if no one wanted to hear it.

But the pips words stung, regardless.

Kino hadn’t considered the fact that without her knowledge of the terrain, the group could have easily gotten lost, ambushed, or worse. She certainly didn’t consider anyone dying for her, either; not when other options existed. Hell, if she hadn’t gotten sucker-punched mid-sentence, maybe they would’ve understood that. In the end, it didn’t matter much what Kino thought though, because MacFarlane held rank, and apparently no one had ever had the stones to speak up in opposition. Taer couldn’t help but wonder how far that style of authoritative leadership would get the LT, before someone threw it back in her face.

As far as her attitude? Well…

People assumed a great deal about her, and Kino was no better. Assumption; the mother of all fuck ups. Yes, they’d all made plenty of those already, but Taer didn’t owe any of them an explanation; she was who she was, and if that hurt their precious feelings, then oh well. Once they got extracted, there’d be the dog-and-pony show waiting: the ass-chewing, the finger-pointing, and eventually, a price to pay. Kino could practically hear them laying it all on her already.

So fuckin’ be it.

The Bajoran thought Kino was lost in her own pity; the Trill almost laughed at that. Almost. The truth was Taer simply didn’t care what happened to her anymore – she was fucked either way – but they deserved a chance to get out and carry on, chests shining with all the medals won with heroic deeds, no doubt. Kino wanted no part in it. She was no hero; she fought because she was good at it and for the people next to her, even if they couldn’t stand her. Feelings didn’t mean shit under fire.

And yet...

Kino glanced at the others: the Chief, setting up the comms signal, aided by the one-handed Bajoran – the Klingon and Vulcan. The latter exchanged words where they stood, waiting. Taer shook her head again but kept her own counsel, even if it rankled to sit and do nothing while the LT was likely dying; MacFarlane chose her fate, now it was on her to see it through. They’d made it very apparent that the Trill’s opinion on the matter meant little, even in the face of common sense, and she just couldn’t figure out why.

With the last of the boxes in place, Kino rolled up the sleeves of her sweat-soaked, gold-turned-mustard undershirt and opened the one she’d just set down, surprised to find three AP mines within, along with a few rations and a canteen of water. She took the satchel of mines with one hand and the canteen with another. The water was handed to the Vulcan as she passed towards the stairs.

“Where are you going,” the Klingon growled at her.

Taer turned the bruised side of her face and cold eyes to meet her glare, indifferent to the officer’s ire. “Found some mines in that ration crate; I can deploy them there, just in case -” she pointed at the second lowest tier of four that led up the ascension, fifty meters or so down.

Newcrotch promptly shook her head at the idea.

“No. Use the tier closest to us then get back here. That is not a request. Go,” she ordered curtly, then turned to the Vulcan. With a wordless exchange, he handed over the canteen, as the Klingon walked away towards the Chief and Bajoran that knelt in the center of the platform, still fiddling with the comms relay. “Talk to me, Chief,” Kino heard the LT say as her eyes moved to the Vulcan that watched her stoically; one of his brows twitched up at the non-com expectantly.

Kino turned away and stepped down the stairs onto the lower platform without another word, only to freeze at the sound of his quiet, perfectly emotionless voice.

“Self-control is not a weakness, Petty Officer Taer; it is the epitome of self-empowerment – an axiom I emphatically suggest you consider in the future.”

Unsure how to respond to that, Kino just nodded wearily and got to work.

[A few moments later…]

“Uplink established,” the Chief hollered, “stand-by for beam-out!”

Taer watched through her sights as the Vulcan and Klingon hauled the LT to her feet, eyes peeled for the slightest shimmer of movement, teeth clenched at the sight of MacFarlane; not in anger at the LT – only furious at what she had chosen to put herself through. The human had literally crawled through hell for her team and someone she barely knew and would likely never want to know. In that moment, Kino realized the heat she felt burning in her cheeks and heart wasn’t fury – it was shame. If given the chance, one day, Taer decided to make amends, or at least reach some understanding with her, but she doubted she’d ever get the opportunity.

Movement forced her attention back to the present, as four shimmers of light drifted into being just beyond the mined platform. Kino opened fire before the bastards dropped their cloaks, then rose out of cover with a shouted warning, moving to contact on instinct; beams of phaser fire joined her a second later from behind. Her eyes stayed locked on her targets, but her ears picked up with tell-tale whine of the mines' proximity warning. The lead Jem’Hadar dropped with three holes burned through his chest, then his buddy fell with a smoking hole where his face used to be.

Two more climbed the steps behind them, firing from their hips.

NuQach and Karatek were almost clear, each of them supporting MacFarlane.

The mines armed with an audible chirp and cycled up to detonate.

Kino had three seconds to act.

“COVER!” Taer scrambled to them; a hand reached out and grabbed a fist full of tactical vest to shove the three of them behind her, beyond the makeshift barricade, then managed a single backwards step before the world exploded in an agonizing burst of light, sound, and pressure. Kino’s vision tumbled, burned, blacked-out; it happened in an instant, faster than a blink, faster than her mind could even process – one second she was on her feet, the next...she couldn’t tell.

Everything was red, red, red; she couldn’t breathe – couldn’t move – couldn’t think.

Instinctively, Taer searched for her weapon; she couldn’t find it, or most of her right arm, and half of her left leg.

Wait...wait. Where..?
 
Kino couldn’t look away from the bloody, meaty strings of what used to be muscle and sinew as they twitched in vain; the mutilated remains of her limbs trying to obey her brain.

Where’s my...

Taer coughed out a mouthful of blood.

Somebody find my rifle, she tried to say, but couldn’t even hear her own voice. An odd, surreal calm took hold somehow, despite the pain – I’m in shock, Kino’s misfiring brain realized. I’m...dying. Shapes moved into view, blurred and unfocused; muffled sounds followed, voices she couldn’t understand.

Seconds or a lifetime later, a curtain of light grew in her dim, red-stained vision – it swallowed her up, faded to agony-infused gray, then drifted to black oblivion – taking Taer along with it.
65
Interregnum 01-02 S2 / Re: Day 19 [1430 hrs] A Quick Course in Cardiovascular Acceleration
Last post by RyeTanker -
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Jefferies Tube Junction 12 Alpha | Deck ?? | Vector ?? | USS Theurgy] Attn: @P.C. Haring

Pulsating liquid warmth rolled through Zark as she felt Reggie's body brush against her silky blue skin.  The scent of the Betazoids pheromone laced sweat was an intoxicant a her own moans of pleasure mixed with her partner's in a symphony of pleasure.  The fingers inside her indigo folds pulsed waves of pure pleasure as they raced through her body while her erect nipples added their own edge of pleasure that suffused her mind.  The blue body rocked with her partner's in the dance of intimate pleasure as instinct sought to add more to the sensations already running amok.

That rythm was changing as the two began moving faster and faster.  The feel of the cold bulkhead behind Reggie's body didn't matter they both began to run hot.  Zark locked lips once more as her tongue lanced into the Betazoid's once more to taste the sweet nectar of their shared lust in that moment and deep moans of passionate delight pushed themselves into her partner's being.  The pressure was building as waves of fiery warmth pulsed faster and faster.

Pants rapidly mixed with moans as Zark pulled off and she let the sensation ride till finally the peak hit and a torrent flowed as she pulled her head back and let out a yell of undiluted orgasm that reverberated through the tubes.  A slight twist, flick, and a gentle squeeze from her own fingers on Reggie's nethers caught the Wolf up quickly as she let out her own exultation of euphoria.  The busty blue woman was mildly aware of the gush of warm liquid on her hand as her partner released, but that was only more lubrication as her fingers continued rubbing and stretching the pilot's walls of pleasure to let her ride the continuing waves of pleasure while she did the same.

Eventually the sensations began to subside and Zark gently pulled on her partner, guiding her on to the deck, letting the pilot use her body as a warm cushion against the cold deck, which bothered the Andorian not a wit.  The blue body squirmed slightly to get more comfortable as she brought her hand up and took a moment to inspect the sheen it had acquired before giving  Reggie and steamy smile and sticking her pinkie in her mouth, tasting the Wolf's juices and chuckling then offering her long index finger as one shaped white eyebrow bounced in inquiry.
66
Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Chapter 1: The (hopefully) Great Romulan Smash and Grab [Day 1 | 1800hrs ]
Last post by Hans Applegate -
[ CPO Knox | Aboard the Tal’Shiar Ihnerha Faehht Emaifha Laeosa Mniohr (Tal’Shiar Second Secret Disease and Weapons Research Space Station) |  Romulan Space, approximately 24ly from Romulus ]  ATTN: @BipSpoon    @Stegro88    @Sqweloookle    @Ellen Fitz    @P.C. Haring    @RyeTanker 

Knox studies himself as he stood up in a deserted hallway. He had just survived getting rattled by an immense explosion a few decks below while hiding in the turbolift tube. After prying the door open he collapsed on the floor of this empty place. Regaining his ability to retain a solid form and change shape he took on the form of his human male Starfleet persona and rose to his feet. He definitely would need some time in his bucket when he got to wherever he was going. But, after a short rest laying on the floor, he was good enough to continue. Gathering up the weapons that he brought from the armory, Knox picked up a call on his Starfleet com badge. Something about finding ‘thalaron triggers.’ That didn’t mean a whole lot to Knox who was not in the know about such things, but it did sound important given the tone of voice of the person making the announcement. However, it was the next bit of information that got Knox’s attention. It was a general evacuation order. Everyone was supposed to find their way off the Romulese o Romularian research station. Apparently some personnel had EV suits. Knox was in the group of people that did not have EV suits. But there were several shuttle bays and hangers.

Knox’s new mission, as he understood it, was to find something really cool that could fly fast and steal it. He was also encouraged to steal anything else that might be fun to play with later and load it into the space vehicle he was going to abscond with.

"I have just been ordered to commit larceny and grand theft spaceship!” Knox exclaimed to himself in the empty hallway. At this moment Knox new that throwing in with these human space pirates called the Federation was the best idea he had ever had. He loved his time living as non-sentient predatory animals on various planets but missed the intrigue and complexities his mind craved. Living with and mimicking other sentient species in the galaxy had been more intellectually stimulating but rather boring. The weight of morals crushing the fun out of society until Knox became board and sought adventure elsewhere. Humans were different. They got it. The universe was dangerous and only the apex predators survived to become the dominant species on any planet Knox had yet to come across. Finally, a spacefaring species that is aiming to be the apex predator of the galaxy!

Knox had worked to kill other members of Starfleet right after meeting Admiral Anderson because they were infested or something. Then he had been sent to join a rouge spaceship crew on a rampage and actively disobeying orders. Then he had been ordered to cause chaos. Now is new marching orders were to steal cool shit and hijack a sweet space vehicle of his choosing! He loved these amoral murder hobos of Starfleet! Knox, for the first time in his millennia-long life, felt at home with solids. He even shed a single tear of happiness as he picked up his new shiny weapons.

Just then the door at the end of the hallway opened. There was screaming and hysteria as a Romulan male ran into the hallway and then closed the door behind himself while others were left screaming with the sounds of flesh being torn apart. Quickly, Knox grew a sword out of his left hand and sliced the Romulan male’s head off. It fell to the ground and rolled away as his body slumped against the door slowly sliding to the floor.

The screaming on the other side of the door stopped as Knox strapped the weapons to his back and then jabbed his sword hand into the narrow gap in the sliding doors. The point of the sword made it to the other side. Knox concentrated and grew an eyeball out of the tip of the sword and had a look at what was going on. There were two large black and dangerous-looking creatures. One was eating a leg of a Romulan. The other one was eating the apparent previous owner of that leg. Each creature had wet-looking spins and bladed tails. Knox then saw mechanical accouterments embedded in them. What faction were they from? Knox wanted to know. As the one closest to the door pulled its muzzle out of the Romulan woman’s torso pulling ropes of intestine out, Knox felt jealousy for the first time. There were laser-like weapons next to this creature’s eyes! It could look and shoot simultaneously. Knox wanted to be friends with them. Knox wanted to be one of them. But were they sentient? The creature slurped up the woman’s intestines and dove its head back into her nude torso, tugging at her guts causing her body to jiggle on the floor with her dead eyes staring at the ceiling.

Knox retracted his eyeball and then pulled his blade arm free. He could not go back into the turbolift. The only way out was through these two things. He hoped there were more of them that he could possibly befriend later. But now, he knew he had to fight them and kill them. At least he could inspect them and possibly learn to change into them from a quick dissection after they were dispatched.

Knox pressed the button to open the door with a woosh. Both of the living weapons looked at liquid death incarnate as Knox strode into the small antechamber. Knox had the upper body of a Lorvalikin scorpion and a Kiv’Nar swamp monster's lower half. The creatures eye’d this new monstrosity. Two mechanical-infused genetic abominations were about to face off with the second most dangerous person to ever serve in Starfleet. (Only Locutus of Borg had a higher body count than Knox, at this point.) The first Experiment 9238 fired its lasers at Knox. Knox blocked the laser fire with his large pincers, then returned fire with his new lightning weapon. Neither energy weapon had any effect on the two beasts. The jet-black Experimental creatures made low growls and mechanical clicking sounds to each other as they separated and circled Knox in different directions eyeing this new thing to kill. Know felt a chill of excitement run up his slimy core. It had been quite some time since he had been hunted openly. Then both of the creatures attacked. The one on the left lunged at him with its fangs to bite him, while the other whipped its bladed tail at him using it like a thagomizer. Knox hoped that both creatures would bite first, but was not so lucky. He focused on the second one to his right and used his pincher to grab its tail just up from the deadly sharp thagomizer. He held in firmly by the tale and used the other pincher to snap its hind leg and twist it out of the socket. The creature struggled mightily and turned to bite at Knox’s chitinous armor. With two strong mandibles, Knox bit down on the experimental horror’s neck and chewed while trying to rip its back leg off with a frenzy of powerful yanks and twists from his pincers. The other creature had a firm and deep bite into Knox’s lower body’s slug-like hide. The fleshy trap had worked. The creature aimed for the unarmored area and injected venom into Knox’s hide. Knox quickly pumped the venom out and secreted even more of his Kiv’Nar swamp monster slime around the bite. The creature had no idea that its bite was not delivering a killing amount of toxin. However, it started to panic when it realized that it could not let go. The slime had extremely powerful adhesive properties and now its face was covered. It tried to pull away but was unable to. The clear sticky substance coated the entirety of the creature’s head. It’s eyes and eye lasers were now uselessly clogged shut. It could not even breathe. Its air supply was running out. The creature thrashed and desperately tried to pull away and disengage from this foul tasting sticky thing. Knox ignored it and focused on the other one that he was holding by the tail. Soon Knox had chewed his way through the creature’s neck and it’s head came off. Then Knox turned to the suffocating one on his left and used his pincers to sever its head also. The fight was over.

Knox looked at the two defeated things and wanted to study them closer. He glanced around the room and made ready to change back into his Starfleet identity but then he saw something that actually scared him. There was a camera. It was focused right on him. It had watched and presumably recorded the whole fight. Knox stopped himself from changing at the last moment. He could not risk losing his anonymity. He was not about to let the Romulans know that he, a changeling, was onboard their station. Knox picked up one of the body’s of his freshly defeated foes and studied it as best he could ignoring the camera for now and keeping his current form. After a careful examination he ambled over to the other door and with a quick flick of his left pincer, he broke the camera. With the camera broken, Knox morphed his body into the likeness of his Starfleet persona and made his way towards more sounds of chaos further into the station. He was looking for a hanger bay and any cool stuff to steal along the way.
67
Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 3 : The Meeting of Heroes (or Villains) [ Day 1 | 1500+]
Last post by Nesota Kynnovan -
[Ensign Jaya Thorne | Hallway | Deck 04 | Vector 01]
Attn: @Ellen Fitz, @Brutus, @Stegro88, @Dumedion, @P.C. Haring, @JacenSoloDjo, @Juzzie, @GroundPetrel, @Eirual

A cold shiver ran down Jaya’s spine when Kelistina spoke up and said that the turbolift wasn’t responding. Realizing that a similar thing likely happened to Lieutenant Commander Akoni and the others, the brunette Assistant Chief CONN Officer began to feel increasingly affected by the stress that was now placed upon them. After all, if an experienced Chief of Security like Kai Akoni could fall to whatever was down here, even though he was a hulking man and had been the closest thing to siege equipment in the collective arsenals of the Security- and Intelligence Departments, at least as far as she knew, Jaya gave preciously little for their own chances. In fact, she hadn’t even held a Type-II Pulse Phase Pistol in her hands since Basic Training and even then it had only been one hour to supplement the mandatory training she’d received for the standard Type-II Phaser. As such, feeling the unfamiliar weapon in her hands gave her some relief and confidence, but not nearly as much as a normal Type-II Phaser would have given her.

She swallowed against her now increasingly dry throat and took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself, or at least force herself to calm down as much as possible given the circumstances, before rounding the corner and following Kelistina. As she did so, her brown-eyed attention was drawn to a wall console located on the far bulkhead of the hallway; so much, in fact, that she nearly collided into Kelistina when the tall woman suddenly came to a halt. Jaya only prevented hitting the other woman by sidestepping and, while she was on it, taking up a crouched position on the other side of the hallway, directly underneath the console. Jaya turned her attention to Kelistina and was about to speak up but, as she realized the woman was concentrated on something else, the Assistant Chief CONN Officer quickly closed her mouth again.

Jaya’s reasoning was simple though. While it was relatively easy to erect a very localized dampening field to block commbadges or disable the button to call a turbolift, it was an entirely different thing to disable entire wall consoles. After all, wall consoles were directly connected to the main computer system and deliberately tampering with one of those consoles without the proper authorization from the Engineering Department would send out an alert. Jaya knew it all too well because she’d once attempted to tamper with a wall console a couple of years ago, when she was still a Crewman aboard Starbase 10. In her defense, she had been on the receiving end of a dare and had no nefarious intentions whatsoever, but it prompted an Engineer and two Security Officers to show up and they had been less than amused by the situation. Regardless, tampering with the wall consoles on deck 4 would have likely prompted a much stronger response given the diplomatic niceties that were going on just three decks above them so Jaya reasoned that, whoever or whatever was out here, wouldn’t have tampered with the wall consoles and would have taken out everyone before they could get close to one.

If so, that meant that Lieutenant Commander Kai Akoni had possibly wounded whoever was stalking around on this deck to the extent that it now gave them a chance. ”Kelistina!” As she spoke, Jaya’s voice was but a mere whisper. When she was confident that she’d drawn the Zaroodian’s attention, she slid the Type-II Pulse Phase Pistol across the surface of the deck towards the other woman. ”Cover me!”

Confident that Kelistina would pick up the weapon and cover her, Jaya quickly rose to her feet and accessed the wall console. As expected given the ongoing diplomatic niceties, the console was locked out by the Security Department. When Jaya manually entered her access code, despite being a Command-grade Starfleet Officer, only the most basic functions opened up to her while the more advanced controls remained safely locked out for those with higher clearance. ”Come on… come on…” While Jaya navigated through the menu, getting blocked by the security protocols at every turn, she could feel how her stress levels were rising once more. After what felt like an eternity to her but must have been only mere seconds, her brown eyes finally came to rest upon the menu she was looking for; the alarms. It was positioned right on the main display but initially overlooked because she immediately accessed the menu due to a combination of stress and haste. She tapped the alarm button, thankful that it wasn’t locked out to her, and hit the one with the label she was looking for.

Intruder alert.

And that activated it. While it was visual only, likely to not cause unnecessary alarm during the diplomatic niceties, the warning lights on the wall panels immediately began to flash a dim shade of red. ”Oh yes!” As she whispered, Jaya immediately ducked back down and turned her brown-eyed attention back to Kelistina. ”I managed to trigger the intruder alert.”
68
Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 4: S [Day 1 | 1810 hrs] A Friend Indeed...
Last post by TWilkins -
[ Ensign Sylvain Llewellyn-Kth | Maintenance Tube | Biological Laboratory Quintus | Aft Tertiary Research Deck | Erudite ] @Dumedion

“I don’t know how you expect me to move around when I’m curled up like a prawn with you laying on top of my legs!” Sylvain replied with a sharp hiss, his body trembling from a toxic blend of adrenaline, anxiety, discomfort and only slightly tempered fury. He tried to crane his neck enough to see what was ahead of him, rolling his head at a near-impossible angle before he was able to spot the opening in the tunnel a few metres ahead of them, no-doubt the location that Cora was indicating to. “Argh, hang on.” He huffed, anger dimming in the wake of possibly not having to have Cora’s limbs draped across his legs, and deciding to make an effort to move anyway.

He manoeuvred himself as gently as he could manage, but his attempts to flatten himself down enough to be able to straighten his body, resulted in barraging Cora with a salvo of knees, boots and ankles; not that she wasn’t deserving of the barrage. Eventually however, he managed to get into a position that allowed him to straighten up his neck, crawling his way forwards in the tunnel with as much gusto as he had left in him, and making a beeline towards the upcoming opening.

The larger space wasn’t enormous, but it was roomy enough that he could sit up without having to crane his neck, knees tight to his chest as Cora emerged through the opening behind him, the space ignited with the same ghostly-blue glow as the tunnel had been, but doubled in its intensity on account of the larger concentration of tubes that ran around them. The light danced off of the surface of the chrome sheen of the bulkheads, and lent into an almost psychedelic echo of light that danced across the room. Sylvain waited patiently for Cora to straighten herself up, before he defiantly struck a hand to his combadge, keeping eye-contact with her as he did so. Whatever ‘intelligence’ game that Cora was playing, he was certainly not planning on being a party to it any longer.

“Ensign Llewellyn-Kth to Commander Leavitt.” Sylvain spoke quietly, his brows furrowing into a steely expression that he hoped would express how disappointed he was in Cora’s conduct; this was hardly what he wanted from his first interaction with the Commander. “Ensign Llewellyn-Kth to Commander Leavitt?” He repeated, his first message going unanswered, his voice losing a little of his certainty as he did so. After another moment without recognition from the Commander, Sylvain tapped his fingers to his combadge a third time. “Ensign Llewellyn-Kth to anyone on the Theurgy crew, please respond.” A few more agnoising moments passed them by, before Sylvain simply huffed in indignation as he let his hand withdraw, pushing his head back into the bulkhead behind him, something of a scowl blooming across his face.

“Something must be jamming our communications.” He advised Cora, though he considered that she’d probably be overjoyed at such a prospect, given the lengths she’d taken to prevent him from signalling for assistance earlier. He sighed deeply, and tried to prevent a new deluge of emotions rushing into his head in the face of their newest obstacle, shutting his eyes for a moment to collect himself, before glaring at her with venom in his eyes.

“I think you owe me a lot more than a decent explanation.” Sylvain responded to her earlier statement, trying to remain collected even whilst he trembled from the cocktail of unpleasantness that was coursing through his body. “I just want to make it very clear to you, that being ‘with intelligence’, does not give you carte blanche to circumnavigate the chain of command and…” Mid-sentence, Sylvain noticed the soft glow illuminating Cora’s side, distracting his words away from his tongue as the Ensign realised that, secreted against her person, was a piece of Savi tech that she'd evidently stolen from the lab, some sort of datapad by its appearance, her tricorder clamped tightly against its sleek surface and thrumming away with the telltale blinking lights of a data transfer…

“Are you…? Did you…?” Sylvain was speechless as he focussed in on the device, acknowledging that sheer dumb luck wasn’t enough of an excuse to justify how someone in intelligence had ‘happened’ to stumble into acquiring some sort of Savi research tech and having the safe oppertunity to download its data... As the evening’s events began to unravel and reform within his mind, it began to dawn upon him that when he had blacked-out in the Common Area earlier, Cora had been the only person with him, and yet instead of ending up back with the Starfleet crew that were sitting not fifty feet away, both of them had somehow ended up in Savi research quarters… Had she used him as a distraction to get herself in some Savi lab? Had she been the one to release that poison upon him in the first place? Had she just endangered both of their lives in an attempt to get her hands on some Savi tech and make a good first impression to her superiors? Outrage filled Sylvain’s mind as he considered that, when he’d first met her, his mind had been overwhelmed with anxiety and stress, an intense feeling of unease and danger… Evidently, this woman’s intentions had been clear enough from the start.

“I… I can’t…” He was lost for words, swallowing down the flurry of fear and anger that bubbled up in his throat. “If you think there is any excuse that would justify you putting another officer at risk for personal gain, I would love to hear it.” Sylvain exploded at her, keeping his voice low, but his tone sharp as ice. “Because from where I am standing, it looks as though you took advantage of my friendliness, so that you’d have someone to help you out in case your little ‘heist’ went sideways.” He seethed, gesturing pointedly at the Savi item secreted against her side, before wiping at his face with the back of his hand to dislodge the stray tears of anger that had blossomed upon his eyelids.

“And now…” He gestured around them. “You’ve stolen Savi tech, they know that we’re out of bounds, and nobody from the Starfleet crew has any idea that we’re in danger.” His admonishment continued with a painful tone of betrayal upon his voice. He’d accepted her approach in the interest of possibly having a friend aboard, and she’d been intending to betray him from the start. “So there’s now a high likelihood that we’re going to get caught, probably be killed at best, jeopardise the alliance, and put the entire crew aboard the Erudite at risk.”

He blinked away more tears of anger as he spoke, feelings of betrayal and hatred at his own naivety spilling out; of course she had some sort of motive when she approached him, why would anyone go out of their way to try and befriend some Ensign in over-his-head? Either she thought he looked youthful and naive enough that he’d just go along with her crazy schemes without question, or she saw someone with a few muscles and decided that he could take a Savi in a fight… Sylvain was decidedly in neither of those camps.

“Struth, I’m the Chief CONN officer!” He snapped at her, his volume raising a degree. “Even if we get out of this, by some miracle, do you have any idea what sort of repercussions there might be for potentially jeopardising the alliance?” It took everything for Sylvain not to simply slump himself back against the wall in defeat. He was a pilot; he barely ever even went on away missions, let alone whatever twisted attempt at espionage he was currently a party to... The grim reality was that he didn’t have the skills that he’d need to get out of this situation alone, and he, unlike Cora, was enough of a Starfleet officer that he wasn’t going to get himself out of this situation at her expense…

He’d wait until they were safely back aboard the Theurgy before he sought out some repercussions for her to face…

“Right, so whatever ‘decent explanation’ you have, is going to have to wait, because right now, I need to hear your plan for how exactly we’re going to get out of this, because getting caught is not an option for us, or for the rest of our crew.” Sylvain responded grimly, straightening himself up and attempting to look slightly more severe than his tears made him out to be. “Your conduct thus far has been entirely unbefitting a Starfleet officer, so it’s about time that…” Sylvain coughed loudly, immediately stamping his hands over his mouth as he did so, in a better attempt to stifle the noise that erupted from him.

He’d been speaking with such ferocity that he scarcely realised how stagnant the air felt in the tunnels, how exhausted he felt as he attempted to breathe… When Cora had said that it was hard to breathe, he had been too stressed at their predicament to be able to pay attention, but now, he found his mind slipping back into the information that Commander Cross had given him about the Savi, recalling with a dour expression, that the Savi did not breathe a composition of air that was suitable for most other humanoids…

“I’m guessing that you didn’t put enough thought into this little heist, to bring along anything to help us breathe, did you?”
69
Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 4: S [Day 1 | 1810 hrs] A Friend Indeed...
Last post by TWilkins -
[ Ensign Sylvain Llewellyn-Kth | Maintenance Tube | Biological Laboratory Quintus | Aft Tertiary Research Deck | Erudite ] @Dumedion

Sylvain had been in Starfleet long enough to know that there was a tendency amongst non-commissioned officers, to explore the concept of professionality a little looser than Starfleet guidelines intended. His initial months of serving as an Ensign aboard the Bowman, had given him a rude awakening as to how flexibly Regulation 256.15 could be adopted; he’d learned curse words in about twenty-seven different languages in his first week alone. But, as time had passed, and he’d accepted his promotion to department head, he’d learned that sometimes, it was easier to lend a little flexibility when it came to implementing professionality and that confronting some of his colleague’s less-professional behaviours, ultimately, was rarely worth the hassle… After all, as much as some of their rambunctious behaviours bothered him, what were a few lapses in professionalism compared to a happy and efficient staff?

As such, he’d learned to wince and forget when people used inappropriate language around him, he’d developed a tolerance for a certain degree of playful banter during duty shifts, he had taught himself how to politely refute ideas that blatantly ignored protocol, and in this case, he’d established an understanding that stressful situations could lead people to speak without thinking… However, Sylvain’s flexibility when it came to such things did have a limit, and Cora’s abrupt change in demeanour had shot at least two light-years past that particular line in the sand… The swift transition from her previously demure disposition, to this new, far sharper persona, was almost enough to give him whiplash, leaving him stunned enough that he couldn’t find the words to react to her sudden frenzy of hushed whispers, that so vehemently criticised his intention to contact Commander Leavitt, to follow protocol…

Had her only offence been to openly criticise his plan to contact their commanding officer, to follow Starfleet protocol, Sylvain would have forgiven her; it was a high pressure situation, and he was the first person to acknowledge that unfamiliar circumstances could make it easy for people to lose their heads… However, her decision to begin physically manhandling him, had certainly crossed a line; quite frankly, it was borderline insubordination; to physically grab him by the crook of the arm, and to actually drag him across the lab, quickly ignited his typically calm demeanour into something incandescent…

Physically apprehending any colleague, let alone a senior officer, was one thing, an act unacceptable in all but the most dire of circumstances. However, in her decision to physically restrain and drag him, not only did Cora breach Starfleet protocol in a most offensive of ways, she also defiled Sylvain’s own personal boundaries beyond any justifiable reason. For an individual so distinctly adverse to touch as he was, her choosing to put her hand on his arm and drag him, was an action so intensely intimate that the Ensign felt utterly violated by her choice of action; the only other physical contact he’d had in the past month, had been his extremely uncomfortable handshake with Chief Lok in the turbolift, and that had been agonising enough. He was only thankful that her grab had been over his uniform and not on his bare skin…

What right did Cora, no, officer Davidson, have, to manhandle him like they were participants in some sort of debaucherous Orion sex-pit?

He felt violated, so much so that his lips were a hair's-breadth away from delivering a rather fiery admonishment of her conduct, when her tone sharply changed once again, her full lips suddenly alight with promises to explain everything, implorations for him to trust her, all the while manoeuvring about the room with the ferocity of a woman possessed. Sylvain was still half-stunned, unsure of whether to admonish her, or to afford her the tiniest sliver of leniency, when the woman flung open a chrome port from the floor, most likely a maintenance hatch, and then dropped the bombshell that, apparently, she was an intelligence officer.

Then, before he could even begin to process that, several things happened at once.

A soft mechanical hiss echoed from behind him, at the same time that he suddenly felt a clammy grip crush into his fingers, his bare hand seized as he was once again yanked forwards, this time half-dragged and half-pushed into the maintenance tube that his companion had just revealed. The hand against his own was burning hot as much as it was cold as stone, Sylvain’s head spinning as Cora’s voice flung whispered pleas at him, begging him to speed up as his larger body crunched into the maintenance hatch, back practically one with the top of the tunnel, whilst his head was squashed down somewhere between his legs. Before he could even think about what had happened, Cora had shoved herself behind him and the hatch was sealed, her legs tangled within his own as he uncomfortably stared at the floor, his mind such a hellish miasma of emotions that he could barely comprehend what had just occurred.

More emotions rattled through Sylvain’s head than he could easily comprehend, but chief amongst them was the sound of a series of dull footsteps above their heads, a confirmation that whatever had entered the room as Cora had shoved him into the hatch, had noticed that they were gone… He swallowed down a shallow breath of nerves, shuddering at the feeling of ice that had enveloped his entire body, shuddering from this unforeseen chill as the space around them pulsed with a fallow blue glow, bathing the pair of them in a baneful light as they waited with baited breath.

As the footsteps continued, Sylvain felt a cool clarity salve his overheating mind, quashing the abundance of different emotion that was roiling through his head, and aiding his overwhelmedness to shrink in the face of cold logic, his genuine horror fading in the face of the life-or-death scenario that he’d suddenly found himself in; he could threat over the fact that he’d just experienced more physical contact than he had since he’d last hugged his own mother, later… And then, in that moment of clarity, Cora sharply dug her heel into the back of his thigh, and had the audacity to shush him for the inadvertent yelp that fled from his lips… Perhaps if she didn’t want him to make any noise, she shouldn’t kick him? Between the heel in his thigh, the phaser digging into his hip, the chest harness that was caught on his combadge and cutting into his back, the fact that he most decidedly wasn’t supposed to bend in this direction, that his entire body still hurt from the last ordeal that he’d been subject to, and the general mental anguish he was feeling, it was nothing short of a miracle that he wasn’t simply screaming.

Instead of obeying his more primal instincts and kicking Cora back in response, he refocused the stinking miasma of his own head into the space around him, attempting to analyse the tube the best he could, with the limited perspective he had, which wasn’t much considering that his cheek was squashed into the floor and his eyes were observing a glowing conduit… But even from that little information, he could hazard a guess that the space around them didn’t serve the same purpose as a jefferies tube… The Savi he had seen thus far had all been at least a foot taller than him, with vastly longer arms and legs, and the tight space that Cora had just bundled them both into, surely wasn’t designed to accommodate one of the creatures...

He wagered that this might well have been a ventilation duct, or perhaps a maintenance tunnel used only by drones or some such automated repair system… From what he’d read in the information that Commander Cross had provided him, he certainly couldn’t imagine a Savi crawling its way through a tube this small.

As the seconds ticked by with naught but the sound of the ragged breathing of the pair, the urgency that had prompted Cora to shush him faded, and before long, her voice had whispered a-thousand echos into the tube around them once again, instructions and recommendations, as if she wasn’t the one who had caught them in this predicament in the first place. A flush of irritation dawned on Sylvain’s face, recalling that he’d been a millisecond away from alerting Commander Leavitt of their situation, and leaving an avenue of diplomacy to their situation… But alas, Cora’s brilliant thinking had got them stuck in a maintenance tube, with the woman bleating at him to move to a location that he could neither see, nor likely move to, at least not without kicking the woman in the face multiple times.

Not that she wouldn’t entirely deserve it… 
70
Director's Cut / Re: [2374] USS Hamburg: Meditate on the Way of the Targ
Last post by JacenSoloDjo -
J'rovia Reclusiam | 2374 | Attn: @Dumedion‍ 

Kath closed her eyes and felt her entire body go numb. Not numb that she could not stand anymore. But numb because she was tired of trying to do the right thing. Tired of the fact she was wounded and could not be the 'Eternal Soldier' that she was. Tired that the war kept trundling on and she had her father all but begging her to bug out. To go back to fucking Earth where she would be 'safe'. Hah. There were fucking Changelings in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. How exactly was Earth safer than where she was getting sent into? Her place was in the field. Her selfless nature had ensured she had numerous scars and war stories. Her hip would not be in the condition it was in if she wasn't the kind of person who put herself directly and purposely in harm's way.

Opening her eyes, Kath watched as the taller Lieutenant laid into Taer like Kath's glare had threatened she would do if she heard more arguments, but Kath did not move to stop her. And a little voice inside her said Taer would probably find fault with trying to save her from getting creamed by the loyal, protective Klingon hybrid, too. Taer had fucked around and then found out what happens when you're insubordinate around the squad. How in the hell had all of her attempts to be friendly, to try to keep morale up, led to all of this? But then, there was nothing to be done was there if someone was just determined to find fault with everything you did? Kath was not responsible for how someone reacted to her words, only how she herself spoke and responded to people.

"Nuke!" Adelaide shouted then instead, yanking the larger Klingon hybrid backward out of range of going after the Trill again even though NuQach outranked her by a lot. Kath grabbed the back of NuQach's tactical vest, pulling her further backward to create more of a gap between the Petty Officer and the Klingon hybrid.

"You're the one with fucking stupid ideas," No'a finally and suddenly burst out. They had had enough. Kath watched, shock registering through her system. NuQach looked as startled as her Klingon features would allow her. Adelaide's mouth was partially open. Karatek stared, almost in abject horror that No'a had actually swore.

"It isn't our fault you don't have the social intelligence, the discipline, the fucking decency to understand when people are trying to help you and be grateful for it. You're alive. You're alive because every single Jem'Hadar that had you in their sights was shot down. By us. Even though clearly you don't deserve it. You really wanna be 'nobody', ksil? Forget to count yourself in who is left to save, huh? You stay behind and then what? You get cut off from the rest of us? And die when we are here especially and only to get you off this planet, like Mac said? Making all of our sacrifices be in vain which is the real stupid idea! You're so damn preoccupied with 'everyone who outranks me is an idiot'! But at least, oh at least you can die knowing you threw everything into everyone else's face no matter how hard they tried to help you! Even, damn, to be nice to you despite how little you even deserved it! All any of us has done since we got here was try to be friendly and to keep you alive but all you've been wanting to do is treat us like shit for daring to care what happens to you. An attitude that would never fly if we weren't in the middle of retreating!"

The senior Lieutenant was surprised by No'a's passionate response. She reached out to grab their good arm but No'a pulled away, their gaze still on Kino.

"You wanna know what half of us 'try hards' have been thinking about this whole time? How it wouldn't even matter if we went back while leaving you behind and shrugged, saying every single person down here, including one Petty Officer Taer, had died. Because we're known for being able to scrape by with at least a Pyrrhic Victory, they would believe that we tried everything and ended up failing. And you'd rather sit here and sulk and make everyone around you wonder how you even survived basic training because you have zero cooperation skills and zero respect for anyone or anything. You don't have to like us. You don't have to like our CO. But what you do have to do? Is fucking understand that being Starfleet means people actually do care about what happens to you even when they should just leave you by yourself to eventually get killed, surrounded by dead bodies, with not a single soul to watch your last moments. What Mac was trying to tell you was that you are just as important as anyone else was down here. You don't want the uniform? Too bad. You're in it and that makes you Starfleet which means you're going to be treated like any other person in Starfleet whether you like it or not. But all you've cared about this whole time is apparently figuring out how insufferable you can be until we just leave your ass behind and call you a casualty that couldn't be helped, even though we can't do that because that isn't how we operate!"

"No'a--" Karatek started but No'a shook their head, their jaw set.

A scoff from No'a then, cradling their mangled hand to their chest. They could feel tears pricking their eyes because they understood what Kath was implying, understood that Kath had given Kino one of her very last battery packs because at least someone would still be alive to use it. Kath's possible last acts were devoted to giving everyone else the best chance to survive.

"We thought maybe you were like this because of survivor's guilt, or some other trauma. So Mac and NuQach gave you a lot of leeway, because hey, sometimes people can't help it if it's just their trauma response. But that can't be it. Your shitty personality is simply you all the way down. So you got a lot of leeway you never deserved in the first place. You go ahead and bite your nose to spite your face. You continue being the ungrateful little snot that you are. It's a sick cosmic joke you're the one to survive for this long, isn't it? You don't get it, do you? The Lieutenant was saying she wanted to go last because she knows she will slow the rest of us down and would rather be the one sacrificed," No'a's voice broke then as their throat grew tight.

"She was doing triage and she lost but you won even though you don't deserve it. But you're too Prophets-damn self-absorbed in your pity party to get that she was offering to possibly die in your place! She essentially put you in charge of the rest of us, despite not even deserving to be in command of the cleaning bots on a ship, because she doesn't know the area; but you do. And she isn't sure if she will even be able to keep up with us. She chose the option that she did even though it gives her a lousy survival rate because it gives us more of one. It isn't a stupid order, it's a lethal one; for her! Mac's fucking implacable and that's why she gets the hard ass missions and drags us along with her. And you wanna know why we follow her? We stay with her because we know she cares far more about us than herself, unlike a lot of commanding officers who just fling their troops wherever and don't care how many of them die so long as the objective is achieved. Instead she will fling herself at the enemy to give the people under her command a chance, however slim, to get to safety. Which is what she was telling you she was going to do; that's why she told you to start moving! If the spot she chose were to get overrun, then at least we would have you to tell us where we could possibly go next and then get us there. But that can't happen if you swap places! She has to cover the retreat herself."

As No'a finally finished, they stood there breathing hard. Their mangled hand throbbed but they ignored it. Adjusting the 'holdout' phaser from Kath in their good hand, No'a growled and started to set off. Kath, NuQach, Karatek, and Adelaide were all staring after the Bajoran. None of the squad was sure they had ever heard No'a speak that much at once and sound so damn angry. Perhaps because they were defending their Commanding Officer-- The Lieutenant who was already feeling lousy because she had gotten wounded and was now more of a liability than anything else. And if, oh if things went in one direction, her boots would be the last off the ground not on purpose but because she had lagged and her squad's loyalty to following her orders sometimes transcended their loyalty to Kath as a person, as their friend.

"If it were me, I would've never asked you for next steps," NuQach growled before following after No'a.

"Enough. Lieutenant NuQach, Petty Officer Taer, you're both going on report. Ensign Asher, I appreciate the defense but you will not speak that way again," Kath said sharply, coming back to herself as the surprise over No'a's outburst faded. "Let's just get to the extraction point with as little bickering as possible."

"Yes, Sir," she heard both NuQach and No'a mutter, pausing to look over at their CO.

Kath had completely stopped trying to play nice. All she was focused on now was getting everyone off this God forsaken rock and go to a battle that actually mattered and wasn't fucked because of communication issues. Or, indeed, dealing with people less than glad for the assist.

"Surprise all of us by being at least a little more pleasant until we get back to the ship, huh, Petty Officer Rebel Without a Cause?" Adelaide warned as she moved after No'a and NuQach, cradling the IR light in her arms.

"Chief," Kath said in a low voice. Adelaide shrugged at being brought up for her own comment.

They all knew the after action report was going to be brutal. It remained to be seen just how brutal it would be and who would have to be listed down as a casualty. The whole squad was worried their commanding officer would be on that list and it reflected in their eyes. They all knew every mission it was Kath not so much playing hero but just making sure her subordinates made it through to the other side of things.

Adjusting the stretcher under her arm, Kath waited for everyone to go ahead of her then brought up the rear as she had intended, holding her rifle one handed.

USS Hamburg

As the Galaxy-class performed a slingshot maneuver of sorts around the planet, her Captain was unsure how much time they actually had left. That was of course before they watched as a Constitution-class burst onto the scene, phasers all releasing at the same time towards the enemy Dominion ships, wounding one badly enough it fell towards the planet. The Colorado had all the intel fit to transmit. It used the rudimentary and rarely used kind of Morse code using the front lights on the ship usually used to see their way through debris or through any number of enclosed places in space such as a hollowed out asteroid.

Back and forth the two ships spoke to each other without having actual audio communication. It would, perhaps, make for an amazing story few would believe as together they enacted a plan. While the Colorado kept the now only two Dominion ships busy, the Hamburg would work at getting their people off the ground.

The Hamburg made a few circuits around the planet, looking for the signal, for the ground team's COMMbadges to show up. Where did the signal go? Where did the Starfleet crew go? Had they all been killed in the time it took to lead the Dominion on a chase?

Too Far Behind Everyone Else | 2374

Kath stumbled as she continued walking the best she could even with the support of the damaged repulsor stretcher. Sweat trickled down her face from the effort. Every other step sent pain searing through her body, originating from her hip and terminating a few inches below her neck. She could not say why that spot. Just that it hurt like hell. Kath's gaze rose to the distance, her mind drifting back to the last time she had sacrificed herself in order to save her squadmates. What was more wounds or even death when it meant five others would be safe? As the Vulcan saying went: the needs of the many.

She had fallen behind by a number of meters. Every time NuQach or Karatek had looked back at her, she had simply ordered them to keep going. Until eventually they stopped looking back.

She almost started thinking maybe they had killed all of the Jem'Hadar in the area. But that was before two of them uncloaked and one of them bashed the butt of his rifle into her collar bone. She stifled a cry of pain before slamming the barrel of her own rifle into the Jem's stomach and pulling the trigger. He barely made a sound before collapsing at her feet. The second one got a good hit on her too, swiping her legs out from under her with his gun and sending her crashing to the ground on her back. Face twisted into a snarl of both pain and anger, she swung her rifle around-- grateful for the strap she used for it so it did not go flying when she was knocked down-- and fired. One more down.

Rolling over despite the pain, Kath began to crawl before she could grab some debris that was sturdy enough to take her weight. Where had the damn repulsor stretcher gone? Oh, well. Dragging her bad leg along with her as she walked, she began the arduous climb up the hill. With luck, her unit had continued to follow orders.

A sudden bright light up above drew her attention. She watched as one of the Dominion ships entered the atmosphere but clearly not under its own power and began to peel apart like an orange. A soft, incredulous laugh escaped her. Finally, space support!


Extraction Zone/Former LZ | 2374

No'a dropped to the grass, panting from the effort of the almost marathon. Everyone except NuQach and Karatek showed their fatigue. NuQach was the first to begin looking around to find where Kath was. But there was no Lieutenant MacFarlane to be found. And then they all heard the phaser fire some distance down and away from where they were. They exchanged looks. Who would disobey orders first? Kath had told them don't look back, don't double back. Not for her. But... she was still their friend.

Adelaide looked away and instead busied herself with setting up the IR to begin broadcasting the SOS message again so the Hamburg could find them. As much as she wanted to go find her Lieutenant she had a job to do. She understood her part in the play.

A few moments later they all looked up to watch the defeated Dominion ship streak through the sky like an asteroid.

Still no Kath.


Still too far away | 2374

Kath found a good spot to sit and protect the bottom of the high ground she had sent everyone to. Her lungs were on fire and so were her hip and torso. Not to mention her back from landing on it thanks to that one Dominion slave.

Checking her rifle again for any issues, she bit back a moan of pain as it ran through her like a wave from head to toe and back again. She looked down at herself, at the spot that still burned in her gut. She wasn't bleeding out anymore but it still fucking stung. Her gaze snapped up when the ground half a foot to her left exploded and flung dirt and concrete over her. She fired as soon as she sighted the Jem'Hadar who had fired at her.

When two more appeared, she flung herself off the debris she was sitting on and crawled behind it even though her entire body disagreed with this plan. Sitting up, she used the debris as her cover as she fired at the stupid goddamn--

Her shoulder slammed backward from a bolt hitting the strap of the tactical vest she wore. She howled her anger and pain before firing back almost blind with pent-up fury. There was no way in hell she was getting taken out or her unit. She flicked a control on her phaser rifle then fired. The two Jem'Hadar transformed into nothing-- not even ash. It took a lot of power so she tried not to use that setting a lot. But now was as good a time as any, right?

Panting with the pain and effort, she climbed back up to her feet. That had to be the last of them. It had to be. But she could no longer stay here. So she began her trek further up. Her body screamed at her to stop but she ignored it. Nothing was taking her out of this fight. Not yet. Not here.

Extraction Zone

The sound of phaser fire was closer this time and it made Adelaide stop what she was doing to look off to where they all expected Kath to be cresting the hill. But no.

"I'm going to go find Mac--" Karatek said but NuQach cut him off with a glare, her arms folded across her chest.

"She'll be here," NuQach said firmly. Though there was an air of anxiety. After all, Kath was still her best friend on the ship. Every single one of them knew there were two outcomes here: Either Kath made it, or they went home without their leader.

Further, closer phaser fire made NuQach and Karatek yank their rifles up and aim below them. Waiting for the moment when it was revealed the wounded Lieutenant had been overrun by the Jem'Hadar.


Some meters outside the EZ

Kath's body was shutting down. She knew it and there was nothing she could do about it except keep going anyway. To get as close to the extraction zone as possible. Her COMMbadge would give her location away; so long as she was close enough to everyone else she could be found and transported up. That was the only thing keeping her going. Just a little bit further.

Was her shoulder broken? It would not be the first time. But still she crawled over everything on her way up. It wasn't good for her hip either. But still she dragged her almost-carcass along until she was hopefully spotted like that golden retriever at the end of that one movie from centuries ago.

OOC: Ksil=dumbass, Hebrew masquerading as Bajoran.
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