Star Trek: Theurgy

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #25 – October 03, 2019, 05:35:18 PM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Aldea Prime | The Beyond] Attn: @Havenborn @Brutus @Griff @patches @Auctor Lucan

The Trill listened to the both aliens that walked to the team. One of them was armed with some kind of rifle, obviously the security guard of the other one. As the unarmed continued to talk, Kaylon tried to find out who those aliens were. The unarmed finished his sentence and Kaylon came in mind which species they could be. Well, it’s not like there are actually so many species with superior technology, we’ve fought with and who would fit in those suits. His thought proved to be right.

The two individuals made their way up to the away team and Kaylon heard a whispered curse from the scientist. At least thought the Lieutenant that what ever the scientist had whispered was a curse, since he had never heard of a short and friendly expression that ended on ck. Nevertheless was the expression not wrong here. In front of those aliens and considering his past.

Kaylon understood the reaction of Morali, it was a though thing to stand in front of those who took someone from you. Even thougher to not start shooting at them on sight, but the Lieutenant JG did a good job to hide his emotions. At least as good as it was possible in the moment. Kaylon had a strange luck with this situation, he was the highest officer of the three and therefore he was compelled to be the one with the most professional attitude of them and since he had no actual hatred for the Savi he was able to, at least, act like he didn't considered their deeds and actions to be disgusting. Oh and he thought only once about the phaser in front of him. Just in case they’ll give me any reason.

The guard or executer, not sure what fitted more in this case, ended his introduction of the Voice and Kaylon was reminded on the diplomatic missions of his farther, but not the funny ones. It additionally reminded him on something his dad used to say, when they had met one of those over-important ambassadors. To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy. The unarmed Savi introduced himself too and Kaylon couldn’t resist to roll his eyes. Was this introduction actually necessary? Echtand ordered Morali to give him his communicator to signal the fighters that the three officers were in no danger. Or at least not yet.

After he contacted the fighters asked the scientist the Savi for the purpose of this action. The Trill added with one of the forced smiles he ever had: “A good question, since you’re definitely not here for small talk.”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #26 – October 04, 2019, 05:27:38 PM

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie "Hellcat"] Attn: @Brutus, @patches, @Griff, @DaValle

A full domed force field didn’t really mean much.  Most force field projectors formed simple geometric shapes, either because it was basic or for other reasons.  He thought to himself for a moment, trying to decide which course of action to take.  On the one hand if he was too aggressive he ran the risk of hurting the away team, but on the other hand they had had no communication with them and Daniel wasn’t really happy with that.  He had originally assumed that it had just been the storm, but not it seemed like the domed force field was the culprit and if Bloodwing had already exhausted all options to contact them then he was really left with no other choice but to have her fire on the dome.

Actually the more that he thought about it, the reports had been a ship that had slipped by Klingons and Aldean defense nets, so technically in a manner of speaking these unknowns had already committed a hostile act, and they were now illegally detaining fellow Starfleet officers on a mission for the Aldeans, so he was completely justified in having Bloodwing open fire on the force field, but he decided that he’d move down and see the force field first before he gave the order.  If he was going to have her fire on it he wanted to be there as well ready to support.

“Understood Bloodwing, hold position, I’m coming down.”  Daniel said over the communications channel.  He maneuvered his fighter down, using delicate bursts of his thrusters to control his descent, letting the gravity of the planet do most of the work.  It didn’t take long for him to see Bloodwing’s fighter, albeit with his sensors not his eyes, the domed force field however was hard to miss, and he took aim, locking onto the area with his mass drivers, if there was anything hostile there he wanted to make sure that he used the most accurate weapons so that he didn’t hit any of the away team.

Well it seemed like now was as good as time as any, nothing else was happening.  “Salvo to Bloodwing…”  He paused for a moment, hoping that something would happen, but nothing did.  “Open fi-Hold!”  He shouted as he heard the communications channel crackle and he heard the voice of Junior Lieutenant Morali.  “Salvo to Morali, understood.  Would you ask your guests if they would mind if we listened in?”  Daniel asked, it was partly out of curiosity but it would also be a good way for him and Bloodwing to make sure that the away team was safe while they kept any locals away that came too close.  “Salvo to Bloodwing, rise to my indicated marker and hold position.”  Daniel said as he placed a waypoint marker just above the storm and began to maneuver his fighter alongside Bloodwing’s heading towards the waypoint marker.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #27 – October 04, 2019, 06:54:14 PM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ] @Auctor Lucan @Brutus @DaValle

Walton kept a close eye on the suited figures that walked out of the saucer. It didn’t escape her that the more experienced Lieutenant of the two went very still, clearly recognizing the visitors. He was a hard man for her to read but it was clear that he wasn’t overjoyed at the sight. It wasn’t until the introduction that the pilot finally managed to put two and two together.

Oh shit.

She had heard snippets here and there as the crew played a game of telephone with the stories told by abducted crew after the battle with the Borg. A lot of them sounded quite frankly impossible, but she couldn’t deny that these Savi clearly were clearly advanced technologically. The tunnel she had flown through in that Borg Cube was ample evidence of that. She frowned as the introduction finished and rose an eyebrow at Sarresh’s comment about looking spry for a dead guy.

Just what the hell happened on that ship?

Liliana was thankful that some communications were restored with the escort fighters because she knew what their first response was likely going to be. She would have ordered the same – destroy the shield, get friendlies out by any means necessary. As Kaylon and Morali spoke, she crossed her arms and leaned back on one foot as she stood there and waited for this Echtand’s response. This morning was already far too interesting for her tastes. Where was a coffee machine when she needed one so much?

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #28 – October 07, 2019, 12:01:00 PM

[ Echtand qi Versant | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ]
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The comment about him being dead was not very surprising. Of course, Echtand realised, they did not stay on amiable terms long enough to learn what happened.

After receiving the communicator native to the planet and the Aldean civilisation, Echtand held it in his hand and tapped an encryption protocol into the shimmering buttons above his forearm. While he did so, he replied without anything to hide. "While unorthodox practice in the Federation, the possibility of using a secondary annular containment beam when utilising a site-to-site transport has its advantages. While I remained in a pattern buffer in wait for proper medical care, my copy spent his last minutes calling for a rebellion against the Scion Directive. Had to be done before I was removed from the succession of command by the High Council. It was not until your crew beamed off the bridge and the fighting with the remaining Scions ended that I could return to lead the Antecedents."

The actions of his mate, Sclergyn, had been both unsurprising and understandable - doing as well as she might given the knowledge she had of the specimens from Starfleet. At the same time, he understood the actions of the abducted individuals cornered on the bridge. A tragedy, learning what had happened in his absence, and even more so when knowing the motivations behind both sides.

Before he answered Specimen Nine-Zero-Six's query, he had overheard the request from the tactical escort, and the request to listen in. Echtand knew that it was customary to shake one's head, but it seemed too... familiar, especially in the context of the necessary precautions. At least the escort had the wits to ask instead of just expect compliance. He had kept his voice low enough to not carry over the transmission when he gave his reply to the one named Morali. "Unfortunately not, since your hosts are likely already listening," he said, and he had waited for the former Ash'reem officer to end the conversation. Only when he was confident the away team were the only ones to hear did he expand upon his answer. "My apologies for the precautions, but already, the Savi Flotilla might be compromised by your A.I:s decision to assume command of the Versant's systems."

Echtand decided to address that particular matter first, before he spoke of what he'd learned about the Infested. To 'clear the air', as some in the Federation called it. Moronic idiom. Air and neonox are both clear.

"In plain sight," he said gravely, knowing he might no look very pleased, "before the eyes of a Klingon fleet and a Federation ship, you engaged the Borg. Already, the Klingons are singing songs of the battle, in which 'a ship as white as bone turned the tide, skewering the enemy's side, carving paths through which we rode, and saw the Queen and cube both explode'. I need not tell you that in all of Savi history, our existence has never been so bared - before or after the Scions corrupted us. There is nothing akin to that in our Archive, and many fear that the damage done upon our ongoing research might be irreparable."

He did represent his people, divided as they were, and while he understood the motivations behind the Theurgy's mission - even more so in recent days of discovery of their own part in it all - there were some things that the abductees had to be held accountable for. While his words were sharp, neither he nor the captain next to him offered any threat upon them. "We could forgive that, knowing as we are that you defended yourselves on the bridge, and prevented the Borg from invading this half of the galaxy. Far worse, even by your ethics, was the manner in which one individual deliberately sabotaged the systems of the Versant, threatening to expose the whole population of the ship to a catastrophic slipstream reactor failure. The entirety of the ship, including our young, were on the verge of being lost to the overload of our quantum slipstream systems. Surveillance of the bridge module might suggest that this wasn't sanctioned by the Aspect Maker...."

Echtand tilted his head forward, his browridge cutting a sharp line over his black eyes. "...but we know exactly who did it amongst you, and her Federation name is Kelleshar sh'Zenne. Fortune was on our side, no lives lost, but with her sabotage she could have ended our rebellion before it could spread to the rest of the Flotilla. Nor could I have stood here, before you, meaning to speak on mutual terms about our common foe. My demand before this conversation can continue, is that this Andorian specimen is reported for what she did, and will undergo disciplinary action in level with her breach of Starfleet ethics."

The captain of the guard made a subtle movement, likely not liking the modest repercussions that Echtand made a demand for, but unlike his fellow Antecedent, Echtand knew what was most likely to be accepted by the present officers, and their time was much too short. Of course he would have liked the Andorian turned over, but he already knew that - given recent history between the Theurgy crew and his own people - any diplomatic relations would be forfeit if he did so. The Aspect Maker would never agree to those terms. No Captain in the whole of Starfleet would agree to hand over a crewmember for what they believed would be execution - even if such barbaric practises had been outlawed by the reinstatement of the Old Code.

"If the three of you agree to take this to your Commanding Officer..." he said, knowing that the term 'Aspect Maker' might elude them, "we can speak further."

---

OOC: Seven more days to post, and for sake of reference, as of this thread, Kelleshar sh'Zenne is no longer aboard the Theurgy, having vanished several days ago, deserting or being AWOL. I will leave it to you all, however, what is said to Echtand in this regard. *grin* Play ignorant of the fact or be honest? Your call...

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #29 – October 07, 2019, 02:30:14 PM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Aldea Prime | The Beyond] @Auctor Lucan @Havenborn @patches @Brutus @Griff

The Echtand spoke, finally, about the reason of his appearance in the Mynos System. A prisoner swap. Not in the traditional sense, but still the same Idea. They said that they had information about the Infested and in return they wanted a member of the Theurgy. The former Asst. Chief of Operations Kelleshar sh'Zenne. Fortunately for the away team, since the Andorian had left the ship anyhow. I've never thought that a deserter could make me so happy, as I'm right now. One could even have said we have a blessing in disguise here.

The situation offered them the unique chance to check how good those Savi were in Pocker. “Sure, if the information you’ve got about the Infested are good enough, I’m… confident that we can arrange some kind of trial for sh'Zenne, if you’re wishing to accuse her.” It was the same forced smile upon his face, but the feelings behind this smile have changed dramatically in the last minutes. The trick now was to get as much as possible with the fewest possible effort. Everything Kaylon has promised the Savi wasn’t a lie. Probably not the whole truth, but still not a lie. A member of the Starfleet that has committed a crime got accused for their deeds, even in absentia. “Still, the Captain will definitely not arrest random crewmembers just cause a grey skin alien demands it, no matter who you are, or what kind of titles you bring with you.” He stopped shortly and recognized during this moment what kind of scene the other two officers see here. The one an abducted of the Savi, who would probably shot them on sight, the other one a fighter pilot, or with other words the even more unpredictable and trigger-friendly one of them. The Trill whispered a short curse and continued his more mono-than-dia-logue with this Echtand. Before the others would do anything to avoid the ‘sell’ of a crewmember for information, the Lieutenant decided to send them a message via the communicator in his hand. I hope you both knew that this whole dialogue is nothing more than a phrase to see how valuable his information is. “So Mister… Echtand. I’ve to admit I haven’t actually listened to your friendly companion, when he has mentioned your titles. No offens, I’ve just considered you to be hostile and therefore I haven’t had the desire to respect your titles anyhow.” The smile changed to a more hearty, still quite fake but less then before. “The point is, we definitely need some sort of clear evidence that you aren’t any longer the, and please excuse my expression, psychotic abductors you were, when the ship met you first. So consider this to be… a sign of good will.”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #30 – October 08, 2019, 09:37:43 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @patches @Havenborn @Auctor Lucan  @DaValle
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The great problem, Sarresh Morali decided, with upholding Starfleet ethics and ideals, is that people will hold you to them, even when they themselves do not adhere to anything remotely similar. See peoples eveidince number one, a bunch of twisted, self superior 'scientists' that donst view sentience as a stopping ponit for fucking around with peoples lives against their will. The sides of his jaw were pulsing again as Morali ground his teeth back and forth, listening to Echtand's requirements. On the one hand, the visceral part of Sarresh that had been in captivity agreed with everything the 'accused' had done. On the other hand, the Trill had taken over the conversation, essentially absolving Sarresh of any culpability in the matter.

He had already relayed the so-called 'Voice of the Savi's' refusal to their aerial escort. And then killed the comms entirely for the time being. That had been easy enough to do. And Ectands explanation about his miraculous recovery made sense. A sense he should have seen coming.  After all, the Savi leader had used the same trick before, to make everyone think that the 'specimens' from the Theurgy and Endeavour had all been recycled into their base components by the order of the Versant's corrupted Scion.That he had done the same thing to save his own skin was hardly a surprise. Federation law and Starfleet safety protocols existed to prevent that kind of thing from happening, but the Savi were hardly the only species out there with less moral fiber than the Federation.

Which again, brought them back to the issue at hand. Lt. Jeen had no issue selling the andorian in question up the theoretical river. Sarresh had no idea just how Ives would act. He didn't know much either about the Andorian in question, just what she had done on the Versant. At least, by requiring Shar be brought up on Starfleet charges and not handed over, it could be handled in house. He doubted the Savi would like whatever punishment was given. A slap on the wrist, if Sarresh had anything to do with it.

"Calling the ship directly, right now, to tell the Captain would likely draw the kind of attention you don't want," he finally said, his voice laden down with a false calm tone. That urge was still there, for violence, just beneath the surface. The kind that did not at all live up to 'Starfleet ethics'. A kind surprisingly easy to fall into. Very...primitive urges. He'd keep them reigned in for now, simply adding, "I assume you will be satisfied then with a promise to relay the request after this is done?"

Jeen could posture all he wanted. Sarresh wanted to get down to the brass tax, as humans apparently once said. And then crawl into a bottle of one of Blue Trian's finest concoctions.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #31 – October 11, 2019, 10:13:14 PM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ] @Auctor Lucan @Brutus @DaValle

The Savi dropped an Andorian’s name that Liliana wasn’t familiar with but the story he told of her was familiar enough. She had had to talk down bloodthirsty pilots during the Dominion War that wanted nothing more than vengeance for lives lost to the war. Given what she heard of what happened on the alien ship, the veteran pilot could hardly be surprised that one of the Starfleet officers present wanted to exact some revenge for their treatment. Perhaps this Kelleshar sh’Zenne even justified it as ending the Savi or Scion threat for good. Who knows how many Federation citizens that they had abducted in the name of their cruel scientific pursuit?

Jeen took the opportunity to start talking again, this time seemingly promising the Savi everything under the sun, which elicited a soft sigh. She raised a hand as if to interrupt him, but decided to let him finish. It was almost worth it for the sly insults at the end and she put a hand up to her face to scratch at the spot between her eyebrows.

Wow, and here I thought officers all had leadership and basic diplomacy training.

Sarresh’s response was more in line with Walton’s own thoughts on the subject. She cleared her throat and stepped a little closer to Jeen so that she could “accidentally” elbow him in the ribs. It was too bad the situation prevented her from dressing him down for being so ready to sell another officer like this, even if he was bluffing. Perhaps later if she could get him somewhere for a private discussion.

“In any case, as you’re clearly aware of Starfleet protocols and ethics, you should be aware that our regulations regarding officer misbehavior means that we would need to investigate this independently before any conclusions can be made. It is certainly in violation of how Starfleet expects its officers to act even during war,” Lily said as she gave Jeen a sidelong glance and decided not to add on that Starfleet typically expected a certain level of professionalism and tact. “Such indiscriminate killing through an act of sabotage is a serious violation of the rules we serve by. We’ll certainly take any evidence you have of sh’Zenne’s act and report it to Captain Ives upon our return. Anything that happens after that is, of course, at the captain’s discretion.”

Oh! Now I remember the name. Isn’t she listed AWOL? Huh, no wonder Jeen was so ready to give her up, Still scummy of him.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #32 – October 15, 2019, 05:58:44 PM

[ Echtand qi Versant | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ]
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While the three officers in the Theurgy away team spoke, Echtand stood silently before them - observing them. The range of their reactions and interactions were not too surprising, noticing how the Trill specimen typed some kind of note or message into his Aldean communicator. He also saw the Human female nudge the Trill, perhaps being unsatisfied with the development. Morali - the former abductee - seemed to have taken some kind of tolerant stance in regard to the development. There were demands for a sign of good faith, and promises to speak with the Aspect Maker about the Andorian's actions. He ignored the glib remarks about his titles. He wasn't fond of them either. Very well.

When they fell silent, Echtand raised his forearm and began tap with his fingers, making the necessary commands to accommodate their request. "Speaking with your Commanding Officer once this meeting is over is perfectly satisfactory, and I will arrange for a way to let hir contact me in forty-eight hours. I am sending the evidence to your communicators now," he said quietly, and as he did, he realised that showing them a sign of good faith might be preferable to immediately addressing present concerns and facilitating the exchange he had in mind.

"Burden of proof... that we are no longer 'psychotic abductors'," he said, taking no offence to the choice words, even though the captain next to him had shifted his stance a little. "I suppose that might be fair, as difficult as it might be. I think the most easy way to show you that we are here in good faith and willingness to cooperate in addressing the threat of the.... 'Infested' - as you call them - would be to show you that while we have every opportunity to do so, we are neither foraging your ship again, nor are we destroying it for exposing our existence to the Klingon Empire. I am sending you a live feed from the systems of our saucer, to show you the means at our disposal."

Idly, Echtand watched their faces while they looked at their Aldean communicators and saw what floated above Aldea. It was the means in which Echtand had been able to reach the Epsilon Mynos System after the transwarp systems on the Versant were destroyed by the Andorian. In the past two weeks - by Federation time-measurements - he had not been idle in bringing the revolution of the Old Code to the Flotilla. Indeed, what they could see would likely humble them, but perhaps also see the credence in his claims.

"It's the Erudite, which we've had deployed here to the Beta Quadrant for the last hundred years." [Show/Hide]

Indeed, while the Versant had been deployed to the Alpha Quadrant, the Obiquitous and the Panacea remained deployed to the Delta and Gamma Quadrants respectively. There was no fifth Precept ship under development, but the Scion High Council were rumoured to be devoting vast resources towards something else in the Flotilla. It had been no easy task to overthrow the Scion Admiral on the Erudite, but at least he hadn't been Infested - like Semathal had been on the Versant. It had actually been the findings on the Erudite that begot the need to contact the Theurgy, since they coincided with what Echtand had learned when he claimed the command of the Versant. As it were, his mate - Sclergyn - held command of their crippled home in the Flotilla, while Echtand was evaluating Antecedents that could take a permanent commanding role on the Erudite.

The implications for the away team ought to be clear, since they had seen what a Precept-class ship could do to a Borg cube. At Echtand's command, he could have the cloaked Erudite open fire against the Aldea Prime Shipyards and destroy the Theurgy. The Aspect Maker would have no means to scramble hir ship in time, and the thinned-out Klingon forces would have no means to defend her either. In the feed on their communicators, Aldea could be seen far below the Erudite, yet the dreadnought did not linger in any hostile manner - with no graviton cannons directed towards the shipyards.

"I might speak at length of what the discovery of the Old Code has done for my people..." he said in his contralto voice, "but because of what happened on the Versant whilst we served the Scions, I suspect that our reformation and my words of the fact will fall on deaf ears. Instead, I ask you plainly, is the fact that I am down here - in person - during a civil war that rage through the Flotilla of my people, not satisfactory to show you that we bear no ill intent?"

He let that linger with them, to let them consider alternatives as best as they might, before he made his suggestion.

"I wish to make an exchange. Information for resources, and an alliance made that protects both your interests and ours."

There was a chirp, suddenly, from Echtand's tablet and he raised his forearm to verify what he suspected. On the sensor readings that came from the saucer, it was plain that the Klingon General had mobilised raiders and sent them out into the sandstorm. Mostly likely, the Aldeans had demanded that the Theurgy away team got aid. Or more likely, the Aldeans were getting suspicious because of the silence from the Theurgy officers. The ETA of the Phantom raiders appeared to be less than five minutes, and the three officers on the ground could see the same thing Echtand did on their communicators. No doubt the warp fighters above the shield were being contacted too.

"It appears like our time is short," he said, looking between the three faces before him. "What say you?"

---

OOC: Seven more days to post! I think the questions ought to be plain in this situation. "Why?" might be the foremost one, for many reasons. As for the approaching Klingon raiders, @Griff and @Havenborn , one of you please NPC the Klingon squadleader and stall for time, or try to convince him to turn around? The other pilot can be contacted by First Appointee Radue himself. Your call and have fun with it.  

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #33 – October 17, 2019, 09:44:34 PM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (Bloodwing) | Wolf 12 | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Aldea Prime] Attn: @Havenborn @patches @DaValle @Brutus 

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Together with Havenborn, hovering in front of the domed shield, Lillee waited for the order to fire on the shield. Her fingers rested gently on the trigger for her tetryon cannon, waiting for Havenborn to give the order.

"Salvo to Bloodwing..." Hearing Havenborn's words over the comm, Lillee focused, her fingers tightening on the trigger. "Open fi-Hold!"

The sudden change of mind struck Lillee like a heart attack; a fraction of a second later and she'd have fired. Swearing in Rihannsu under her breath, she listened to Havenborn talk to the away team, requesting permission to participate in the conversation with the mystery people. At the refusal, Lillee just kept on swearing. She was a combat pilot; all of this bizarre nonsense was beyond her.

At Havenborn's order, Lillee gratefully began her ascent up out of the storm. She was far too tempted to simply raise her nose to the vertical axis and tap the impulse engine to rocket directly out, but instead she took the more sedate approach. Using her thrusters for a steady ascent while maintaining position on Havenborn's wing took longer, but soon enough, the two fighters were high above the raging sandstorm. It was weirdly peaceful by contrast, with beautiful blue sky stretching out in all directions while Aldea's sun shined brightly.

In the following few minutes, while they waited, Lillee didn't make conversation. Given that Salvo appeared to have a rod rammed firmly up his rear-end, such a conversation would be as dry as the sandstorm down below. Finally, however, as they waited for the away team to contact them again, Lillee's computer beeped in warning as she picked up new sensor contacts.

"Salvo, Bloodwing, I have four Klingon Phantom-class raiders on approach, bearing 067-mark 1," she said as she rotated her Valkyrie around to face where the Klingons were coming from. "ETA four minutes. Those idiots won't hesitate to fire on that shield."

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #34 – October 19, 2019, 05:40:17 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @DaValle @Havenborn @patches @Griff @Auctor Lucan 

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Morali had lapsed into silence after he'd said his piece, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. The lack of wind let his attire settle about him, and he tried hard to look more collected than he felt. Which was hard to do, dressed in such a ridiculous fashion of the local attire. Sure, he'd look like a native, but he felt like a child at a fancy dress party. It certainly did not help things that his original, native species preferred close clinging fabrics, when they bothered to dress at all. Human skin needed such different treatment though, and his physical discomfort at the situation did little to settle the inner tumult that battered him.

The desire to rend the grey-skinned alien's into tiny bits regressed somewhat into an angry simmer as Echtand continued to make his case. Agreeing to the common sense measures was fine with Sarresh, if one could ignore the acts of the Savi prior to now. Echtand, or a version of him, had been the best ally they had on the Versant and there was little that Sarresh could do in the moment in any case. He'd just bottle, and wait. 

Even his efforts could not restrain his surprise as the holographic images began to appear above the communication devices the local government had allowed the Theurgy crew to use in place of their Starfleet comm badges. Dark eyebrows shot high upon his forehead, his jaw slackening slightly in shock. There it was, the familiar, crescent bladed forward hull, and long tapped rear of the a Savi Precept-class vessel. A giant thing of nightmares. One that had apparently been in the quadrant for some time, and now held position somewhere high above them. As the Voice of the Savi made his point, Sarresh could only nod and swallow in mute (unhappy) agreement. There was nothing at all, no real warning that could be given to the ship, docked as it was, that would allow it to escape before the Savi ship destroyed it - if they so chose. 

"Sword of Damocles," the former Ash'reem muttered, in regards to the threat that hung above them. The old human proverb seemed apt then, if not a perfect fit, a close one. In this case, the implication was 'we could do this, but we're not, so we're good.' Aloud, Sarresh added, "I can see the point you are making."

Not that he found it reassuring. Not that he agreed with it. All he said, committed to, is that he could see it. There was little better that he could come up with, in any case, so what was the point? He ran his tongue over his teeth, behind his lips, and drew in a long, slow breath through his nose, nodding once. Conceding to Echtand the logic of the moment, if not the displeasure at seeing the Savi again. Distrust such as what he had - and the PTSD he was surely suffering from - would take time to fully overcome. He just hoped no one noticed the way his hands were twitching, trapped under his arms. 

"You'll have to forgive us if we seem more than a little surprised by this," Sarresh pointed out. "You, yourself have a history of helping -" when in your best interests - "But trust will take time. Without making any commitments on Ives behalf...I would be greatly interested in seeing what exactly you purpose and offer. And...would recommend the same to Captain Ives."

There, he said it, loath as he was to do so. The threat of approaching patrol craft was less than welcome. He would allow Jeen, or the grounded fighter pilot, to decide what to do about those. They were not his concern. The Infestation was. Better the devil you know, he thought to himself, borrowing another saying of the species he'd become. He detested the Savi and what they had done, what they had taken from him, directly or indirectly, just as he did the Borg, But the infestation that wracked the galaxy, that was the real threat. 

He could work with the Savi to deal with them.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #35 – October 19, 2019, 08:51:59 PM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ] @Auctor Lucan @Brutus @DaValle

Echtand’s response was both expected and not. Liliana had glanced over the reports on Savi tech – at least bits about it that weren’t classified above her grade. The mention of advanced cloaking technology was one of the first and more prominently discussed technologies on display as well as conjecture on the nature of their weapons based on available data. The proof of these Savi no longer being “psychotic abductor” being that there was a dreadnought sized ship securely cloaked in Aldean orbit and not fucking up the entire system was an … interesting choice, but also an illuminating one. It was identified as the Erudite. So there were at least two. The alien’s words suggested more. How many more? She mentally acknowledge the receipt of the proof she had requested, filing it away to be looked at later, as Echtand spoke of an Old Code and a civil war in their Flotilla.

Normally, she would have stayed quiet and let the officers handle this but her concerns about Lieutenant Jeen’s response compelled her to speak up quickly so that she could be first after pulling the scarf away from her mouth.

Is it just mean or does the air feel a little thinner?

Sarresh was quicker on the draw and she had to wait for him to finish before speaking. He at least wasn't calling Echtand psychotic.

“I was one of the pilots that flew through the holes your ship punched in that Cube. There’s no doubt your guns are exceedingly powerful and your technology far beyond ours,” Walton acknowledged with a small smile. “Your people are quite capable and clearly have access to vast stores of information. The Theurgy would definitely benefit from any assistance you can give us."

She put up a hand, palms up, as if forestalling a response.“I know we’re short on time, but I need to know as to what specific benefits you’d get from any alliance or exchange us when you outstrip us in just about every respect. Especially when it’s prompting you to take on this level of risk.”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #36 – October 20, 2019, 04:34:31 PM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Aldea Prime | The Beyond] ^{@Auctor Lucan @Brutus @Havenborn @patches @Griff}

Kaylon knew it was probably unwise, at least, to call this alien a psychotic abductor, still it wasn’t Kaylons opinion, he tried to show there, it was the opinion of the most other crewmembers of the Theurgy. The armed one beside Echtand hasn’t understood this way to make things clear obviously not so good or was just searching for any kind of reason to kill them all. In both cases, you thought about your choice of words a little bit more now. And during Kaylon thought about his own words a little bit more, Echtand explained his reason for being here and basically threatened them, as a sign of good will. Kaylon checked the live feed short if there was something the Theurgy could use as a weakness against the Savi, but as he had thought there was nothing usable.

Kaylon realised gradually that the Savi had no problem to speaking openly about their superiority or more threatening with this superiority. Still Echtand was right about the rest the only reason for his presence right here was that the Savi needed something badly from the Theurgy. Kaylon had no idea if the story of this civil war was right or not, but from what he knew of them have they at least changed their greetings dramatically and maybe more than just that.

Sarresh was the fastest of them, not that Kaylon had much intention to answer Echtand very fast. The Officer muttered something and Kaylon wasn’t sure what the scientist actually meant, but he thought that it wasn’t that friendly. After Morali has finished his sentences added the fighter pilot quite fast that she has seen the devastating force of a Savi ship and was additionally very enthusiastic about a possible alliance with them. In the end she asked Echtand the same question Kaylon has thought about the whole time. What did we have that you have not?

Kaylon smiled now, but this time there was a real smile on his face. This was a potential ally and such was rare right now. He decided to simply accept his requests thus far. “I guess as the most senior Officer here it will be my… ‘duty’ to report your request Ives later. The Captain will definitely deal with the request very carefully then.” Kaylon stopped shortly and glanced over his shoulder at the pilot and then at the Savi guarding Echtand. He decided not to provocate after that he spoke again to Echtand. “So Echtand, Voice of the Savi and the rest of those titles...” He made an overdramatic stop and added with a bright smile on his face: “Show us what you got.”

Again? Another provocation? You wanna find out who, the Savi or Walton, will kill you first?

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #37 – October 24, 2019, 11:08:17 AM

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie “Hellcat”] Attn: @Brutus, @patches, @Griff, @DaValle

“Daniel I’m receiving a hail from First Appointee Radue.”  Knight said from behind him.  Daniel switched the communications channel and spoke.  “What can I do for you First Appointee?”  He said.  “I’ve tasked a KDF Flight to help support you, use them to resolve this situation Lieutenant.”  Came the response.  It wasn’t the response Daniel was hoping to hear.  He really didn’t want or need help from the Klingons, honestly he’d prefer it if the Klingons hadn’t been dispatched.  “Understood sir.”  Daniel said before closing the channel.  “Fucking asshole.”  He said after the channel closed.  “A typical politician.”  Knight said in agreement.

A moment later and Bloodwing reported the Klingons bearing and estimated time of arrival.  He was acutely aware that the Klingons wouldn’t hesitate to open fire on the shield.  He had to try and convince them that they had everything under control, not an easy feat considering that Klingons were uncivilized barbarians.

“Knight, contact the KDF flight leader, maybe we can convince them that we’ve got things under control.”  Daniel said as he swung his fighter around to face the incoming Klingons.  “Channel open.”  Knight said.  Daniel took a breath and then spoke using a tone he hadn’t used since his days as an SCO.  “Attention approaching KDF Flight, this is Lieutenant Daniel Havenborn, while your assistance in this matter is appreciated our ground team has the situation under control and is in the process of resolving the issue.”  Daniel paused for a moment.  “I would appreciate it if you turned back now as the sandstorm can be quite dangerous.”  Daniel added.

There was a crackle before the response from the Klingons was heard.  “We have our orders Lieutenant and we shall carry them out regardless of the storm!”  Came the loud and gruff reply from the Klingons.  Not even an introduction, how very typical of them Daniel thought to himself.  As he watched his screen he saw the Klingon Flight ident, Lomqa’ Flight.  It took his computer a moment to translate the word, which roughly came out to Ghost or Spectre, the computer wasn’t really sure which was correct.  “Lieutenant Havenborn to Lomqa’ Flight Leader, I am ordering you to turn back, we have this situation under control, if you continue on your current path I will consider that a hostile action and be forced to defend my ground team.”  Daniel said.

There was a long pause and Daniel was sure that the Klingons were just going to ignore him and continue on their path, he wasn’t entirely bluffing, he would fire on the Klingons if they tried to fire on the dome, he was just hoping that his threat would be enough to get them to turn around.  He’d deal with the consequences later, there was likely a reprimand and possibly some brig time for what he’d done but if it got the Klingons to turn back it’d be worth it.  Suddenly there was another crackle.  “Understood Lieutenant, but know that I will report your threat to my superiors.”  Came the response, it was clear that the Klingon officer wasn't really happy about being ordered to turn back but Daniel really could care less about his happiness right now.  He watched as the Klingon Raiders began to turn around and move off.  “Are you sure that was a good idea?”  Knight asked him.  “Damned if I know, but what I do know is that we needed to buy our ground team some time and I’ve done that.  I’ll deal with the damned consequences later.”  Daniel replied. This had better be fucking worth it he thought to himself.

“Salvo to Bloodwing, maintain geosynchronous orbit above the damned dome.”  Daniel said as he allowed himself to relax for a moment before he moved his fighter back into position above the dome.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #38 – October 24, 2019, 01:03:22 PM

[ Echtand qi Versant | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ]
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It appeared to Echtand that the three before him - on some level - understood the logic he tried to illustrate by showing them the circumstances in which they found themselves. Given their lack of trust towards his people, he'd had little to offer otherwise, so he was content that they accepted his word for the time being. Now that he'd presented this burden of proof they wanted, it was time to speak of what the Savi needed, and their questions already prompted him to move on while they still had the time.

"Correct," he said, his black eyes leaving the sensor readings showing the approaching Klingon raiders and focusing on them instead. "We have little more to wish for in terms of resources at our disposal, but we are scientists, not soldiers. Even more so now when we adhere to the Old Code, which forbids us using any armament unless in self-defence. We may not, and will not, bear arms against the species of this galaxy which we study. The time under the Scion Directive has armed our Flotilla and given us a skewed amount of means to wage war. The ultimate intents of the Scion High Council remains unknown, but clearly they did not seek for the Flotilla to stay hidden indefinitely. What use are cannons and squadrons of interceptors if not built for a purpose? We do know that one part of their plans were to replace us Antecendents with android labour, automating functions and shutting down research projects to accommodate efficient wartime operations."

Did he have to be more overt in his explanation? Perhaps it was for the better. While he spoke, he slowly began to pace the still sand dune below their feet - the storm still raging violently outside the saucer's extended shield. "To be perfectly clear, our civil war against the Scions concerns you as well. All the species we have been observing, abducting and experimented upon in this past century, in which our culture and efforts were corrupted, should fear what the High Council means to do with the Flotilla. This, merely based on what means they sought to have at their disposal before our civil war began. That, however, is not all..."

Echtand paused his steps and looked away from the tempests of sand that smote the shimmering protection around them. His mien was grave as he stared upon the three that had walked all the way from their shuttle. "What I have found, is that Admiral Semathal qi Versant - whom your shipmates and I killed together in order to both liberate the Aspect Maker and give me command of the Versant - was not the only Infested Scion in our Flotilla." He turned to face them fully, the light of the shield shimmering over his hardsuit. "In fact, information on the Eurdite corroborated the truth of it... that most - if not all - the Scions in our High Council are the same as Semathal. Possessed... by a chaotic force of atrophy beyond our dimension."

Just like their leaders in Starfleet, if the information about the Theurgy's mission was accurate.

"As a species, we are the Vigilant of Sa. We have already learned that you have an Infested person in your care. Moreover, second-hand information suggest that you have provided High Cancellor Martok with means to dephase the parasitic presence inside the Infested - killing both the host and the entity inside them - by use of subatomic emissions. This clearly suggests that your source of information, this 'Doctor Nicander', is cooperating with you, and can help you in your mission. Furthermore, we have also intercepted proof that your Doctor possess something called Farsight, and can see through the eyes of other Infested. He could learn what the High Council is doing from within their very midst."

Slowly, he had paced back to the three Starfleet officers while he spoke. "I think I need not explain further. We have the same enemy. As the Voice of the Antecedents, I am asking you now, that we pool our resources, and you arm my people with the knowledge you glean from your Doctor and your research. In exchange, we offer means to upgrade your ship for the mission to come. Our technologies might not be entirely compatible, but I am positive that we can do more than the Aldeans and the Klingons can. You will merely not divulge the source of your ship's new features. If you do, you can consider the alliance broken."

Echtand hoped that his offer was tempting enough, because the Scions still held two of the Precept-class ships, as well as the majority of Flotilla. The rebellion had merely begun, and anything might happen.

"While I am not willing to violate the Old Code by openly support you in battle, or let our presence become common knowledge across all four Quadrants, the Antecendents will be your hidden ally. We fight together... but on different front lines. Will you take this offer to the Aspect Maker, your Commanding Officer?"

---

OOC: Seven more days to post for you all! @Griff , could you NPC Radue when he contacts both Lillee and Daniel, going at them with something along the lines of "WTF are you doing?" @Havenborn could then reply to that as well. Hope this post makes sense but please PM me or write me on Discord if something is unclear! What Echtand is alluding to is stuff brought up in Scrying Through the Storm Front as well as New Hope Rising.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #39 – October 30, 2019, 08:46:00 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | Conference Room | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @Havenborn @DaValle @patches @Auctor Lucan 
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When he'd first been called into the staff meeting, befuddled at the stupidity of assigning him to an away mission, and risking his person in such a way, Sarresh had not at all imagined the day would unfold as it did. Yet here he stood, shielded in the middle of a vicious sand storm, looking into the faces of the creatures that had experimented on him, and truly tore from him any last visage of his former race, save for the memories that he'd somehow been allowed to keep. Standing right there, within arms reach - and offering them information and technology, in exchange for secrecy, and the same in return - information. 

That information came in the form of Lucan Nicander, formerly Chief Medical Officer of the USS Theurgy, and current prisoner/science experiment/spy. Arguably, one of a few, if not the only, person on the ship possibly more screwed than Sarresh himself. All the grey skinned bobble heads wanted was whatever Nicander could share, and they'd pass off advanced tech and intel in return. A common enemy, infested the upper echelons of the Savi as much as it did the Federation. His mind raced as he tried to suss out a good reason to say no. He had a half a dozen bad reasons readily at hand, but every time he compared them to the mission he'd been given (or taken upon himself, according to Ducane and Ives), Sarresh found the reasons wanting. 

Face it, Sarresh. You might wish that they all destroy each other in their richly deserved little Civil War, but you know deep down you need them. Since the future tech programming in his head wasn't screaming or sending him into a seizure, he had to conclude that this wasn't some kind of timeline breach. Though after the massive edit to reality that he'd already helped execute - the sever lack of Borg Invasion - Sarresh had to wonder if Ducane and those that programmed him still existed UpTime, and if the Memory Engrams' still functioned properly. Or if he'd be getting a visit from any fell time travelers, though more on the enforcement, than the analytical side of things. 

Shaking his head to dismiss the errant wanderings of his mind, he looked between Jeen and Walton, trying to get a read for either of them. In the mother of all irony's, he once again found that he missed the enhanced medical cybernetic ocular implants that he'd had been outfitted with to replace the destroyed Ash'rem orbs when he'd nearly died. He was no doctor, but they had been engineered with medical sensors that he'd learned to read decently well, when deciphering the general well being of those around him. Things like elevated heart rate could tell you a lot about someone, and Sarresh wished he had that insight now. Instead, he had completely human eyes, with all the benefits and detriments inherit to the species. 

"While the call is ultimately yours, Lieutenant," Sarresh said, carefully keeping his sarcasm out of his voice now, because he didn't give a damn about anyone's position or rank, but he wanted to be taken seriously, "This seems like a reasonable gift horse. And Terran's have some sort of saying about not looking those in a mouth. I say we accept the deal." Following his words with a shrug and a smile that didn't reach his eyes, Sarresh put his vote in, for what good or ill would come. When it came down to it, he didn't see how the crew of the Theurgy could reasonably refuse.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #40 – October 31, 2019, 01:36:58 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (Bloodwing) | Wolf 12 | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Aldea Prime] Attn: @Havenborn @patches @DaValle @Brutus 

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Havenborn's ploy bought time, but not much. Scarce minutes later, Lillee's sensors again picked up the four Klingon fighters on approach.

"Salvo, Bloodwing," she said into her comm. "The Klingons are back, bearing 070 mark 2, ETA three minutes. Their disruptors are powered and they're coming in faster this time."

Then the two Wolves were hailed, and this time, First Appointee Radue sounded as if he was on the warpath. "Lieutenant Havenborn!" the Aldean politican shouted angrily. In her own fighter, Lillee winced at the politician's disregard to protocol; the Theurgy crew's names weren't supposed to be used in communications. "I have been informed that you threatened to fire upon the pilots that I sent to aid you! Have you lost your mind!?"

"Two minutes, Salvo," Lillee warned, her eyes glued to the dots on her sensor readout. Almost without thinking, she reached up to power up her own phasers as she aimed her craft at the oncoming Klingons. It wasn't even malicious, not really, how Lillee prepared to kill the coming Klingon fighters. For many Romulan soldiers, killing Klingons was considered more akin to play than war, hardly something to be considered a challenge.

"Havenborn, you are here on my planet, our homeworld! You do not give orders to us, you do not make threats, and you do not defy our orders while on Aldean soil!" Radue was clearly not being shy with his browbeating. "Since you are so eager to hide whatever is in that sandstorm, and since we have lost contact with your away team, we will find out what is happening ourselves. You will join the Klingon fighters and follow their orders. Interfere and they will stop you."

Lillee snorted. "Not likely, Salvo," she scoffed on their private comm channel. "Even one of us alone could best those four idiots. What are your orders?"

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #41 – October 31, 2019, 03:26:57 AM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Aldea Prime | The Beyond] ^{@Havenborn @patches @Brutus @Griff @Auctor Lucan}

The Trill listened carefully to the offer the Savi made and it was definitely worth to listen to it. The chance to upgrade the Theurgy with some Savi-tech would improve their chances to win the fight against the infested. Nevertheless, Kaylon hadn’t expected that the Savi would actually gave them their latest technology. There were many reasons why the Savi shouldn’t offer the Theurgy some of their best technologies. Echtand used the phrase ‘not compatible‘ but for sure he also meant ‘We’re not going to boost your technology in one day over 300 years in the future‘. Still, even if they just jump the next couple of years, this would mean a significant benefit and maybe exactly the benefit they had needed.

Sarresh spoke first and he had obviously the same opinion about the offer, Kaylon had. Not that any of their acceptance would be necessary in first place, since the captain had to decide how they should handle the offer. Nevertheless, the knowledge to have at least one of the away team on his side was very helpful for Kaylon. Especially since he had the slightly feeling that whatever he’s going to do from now on Walton would definitely issue a formal complaint about his behaviour... or simply show him the next airlock, whatever was easier.

“A good point, Mister Morali. We’re definitely not going to stare in this mouth, but unfortunately it’s neither yours nor my final decision if we accept the deal. We’re just letting the captain know that a lot of Federation researchers loose their jobs or have to search a new one. Oh, and despite the ethical question this is, I would have no hard feelings to simply accept it too.” Hoping this would at least calm down the Savi guard beside Echtand, Kaylon glanced now directly at Echtand. “Alright, Echtand, I’m positive that the captain will know about this proposal, especially since I’m not only mentioning it as a side note in my report. Well, I mean I’ll also mention it in the report, but that’s more a formality.”

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #42 – November 01, 2019, 03:37:24 AM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ] @Auctor Lucan @Brutus @DaValle

As she listened intently to Echtand’s explanation, Liliana kept her eyes on the sensor readings depicting the Klingon raiders. For a moment, it seemed like Salvo and Bloodwing managed to dissuade them but now they were returning and at an angle that suggested weapons were going to be running hot. The former flight instructor idly noted that a situation like this would have made for a simulation to train pilots on nonaggressive forms of deterrence. Most officers had some basic training in diplomacy, at least enough to not fuck it up entirely for the actual diplomats that would take over after initial contacts. Fighter pilots ostensibly received all that same basic training. Most simply let it get buried under all the specialized knowledge required to fly a fighter well. Usually, by the time fighters were sent out, the situation no longer called for a diplomatic touch.

Usually. Havenborn was lead pilot in a particularly novel situation and she was keen to see how well he could handle it. From what she was hearing Echtand say, such novel situations were going to be a bit more common.

The chief warrant officer looked up at both men next to her and refocused her gaze on Echtand as he finished speaking. Whoever these Infested were, they sounded like immensely bad news for everyone involved. She was going to have to see what reports on them her clearances gave her access to at some point. It certainly made a lot more sense now as to why the Savi were offering this. Whoever this Nicander person was, it seemed he was going to be in high demand. Damned if Walton wasn’t now finding out just how weird shit on the Theurgy got.

Infested. Farsight. Alien technology from a species that has likely studied us for centuries. All before noon.

Morali’s response was much more subdued than she would’ve expected from a Science officer in this situation, but a good one. For once during this away mission, Jeen didn’t sneak in some insult when he spoke up though the pilot was a little exasperated at the amount of hedging he was doing.

Why doesn't he just say we'll make sure the captain knows about this and leave it at that?

“Looks like we’re decided then?” Liliana said as she pulled the scarf back over her face. “It looks like Salvo can't buy us any more time. Those raiders are almost in weapons range even with this storm. I recommend we get going, sirs, before today gets real spicy.”

She waved at Echtand and his guards and then started walking towards where she set down her weapons, leaving it to the officers to wrap it up and follow when they could. Ideally, they could avoid being targeted by Klingon raiders today. That would be too much of a headache to deal with without more coffee.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #43 – November 04, 2019, 11:03:52 AM

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie “Hellcat”] Attn: @Brutus, @patches, @Griff, @DaValle

Hearing Radue speak over the channel using his name and rank instantly caused Daniel to become angry, sure he threatened and told the Klingons to leave but that was just basic etiquette when dealing with Klingons, if you didn’t show your strength they’d think you weak.  Apparently this politician didn’t seem to understand that, but at the moment Daniel didn’t really care what the man had to say, he needed to warn the away team that the Klingons were coming and there was nothing he could do to stall them anymore.

Hearing the two minute warning from Bloodwing made up Daniel’s mind for him.  “Form up with the Klingons, I’m going to make a run to warn the away team.”  Daniel said over the private communications channel.  Then he immediately maneuvered his fighter towards the ground and pushed his engines to full throttle.  “What the hell are you doing?”   Knight said from behind him.  “Don’t worry, I got this.”  Daniel said confidently.  Deep down he really hoped he was right, the last thing he needed was the death of another friend on his hands.

Daniel smiled a little as he listened to the storm against his shields, it really made him miss his homeworld.  He watched as his altitude dropped fast and the ground was approaching even faster, when he was a fifty meters from the ground he straightened out and from the amount of dust he added to the storm he hoped that his fighter would be masked for at least moment or two.  He slowed his speed down as he approached the dome then activated the fighter’s external communications system.  “Salvo to Away Team, the Klingons are coming and I cannot stall them any longer, you need to evacuate.”  He said as he activated his engines again and maneuvered his fighter back towards the incoming Klingons, hopefully they heard him over the storm and would get out before the Klingons arrived.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #44 – November 04, 2019, 12:19:31 PM

[ Echtand qi Versant | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ]
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The three from the Theurgy agreed to the offer, about to speak with the Aspect Maker. Echtand had expected they would, but was nonetheless pleased. He raised his left forearm and concluded their business, momentarily distracted by the white shape in the sandstorm that came to hover outside the shield - the pilot to his credit announcing that their time had come to an end without having to resort to subcom usage.

"I am sending you a program that your Commanding Officer can use in order to reach me, which will prevent any Klingons and Aldeans from listening in. Tell the Aspect Maker that he has to decide within ten hours, otherwise the Erudite will have to leave and continue the war without your aid," he said, tapping at the interface above his arm. He did so while slowly walking backwards, the necessity to cloak the saucer paramount because of the incoming Klingon crafts. His fellow Savi were talking to him in his native language, urging him to step inside. He was almost finished, having accessed one more program.

"I am transporting you back to your shuttle using a Federation signature containment beam. If asked, I suggest you tell your hosts that you used your shuttle to issue the transport, and that the conditions of this storm prevented you from finding anything." He dropped his arm and looked at the three one last time. "When they search this area later, they will find something that will explain all of this. My gratitude for listening, despite what the Scions made us do to your crew."

Without any further ado, Echtand stepped aboard the saucer, and just when the three officers were lit up by the transport protocol he'd written, the operators cloaked their vessel and dropped the shield. Those form the Theurgy were gone, just like the saucer, and any other evidence about what had transpired was gone from sight by the time the Klingons reached the area. Even their footsteps, erased by yet another storm front.

I wonder if I ought to have sweetened this exchange with.... that did they call it? 'Twinkies'? Echtand thought while he withdrew into his own research lab on the saucer, Then again, perhaps it was only Commander Tiran that appreciated those sweetened atrocities to the palette. Idly, he wondered if the woman who'd aided him in taking over command of the Versant would be willing to speak while the Erudite remained in orbit.

---

OOC: After the storm passes, the Aldeans will find debris of a crashed shuttle - too destroyed to reveal much. It will be written off as a pirate activity, because of parts of a destroyed Romulan cloak found in the debris, likely stolen since the shuttle seemed to originally have been a cobbled together piece of garbage. One last post from you all within 7 days, where you ought to clear up the mess with the Aldeans and the Klingons using NPCs. I will not post with Echtand again, so just give this a fitting end? After that, objective complete!

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #45 – November 04, 2019, 10:47:07 PM

[ Lt (jg) Sarresh Morali | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ] Attn: @Griff @Havenborn @patches @DaValle @Auctor Lucan
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Pulling a face, Sarresh looked up at the bright light and hull of the fighter overhead, listening as Havenborn delivered his warning. As with Echtand, the time traveler was pleasantly surprised by the fighter jock's ingenuity in finding a way to deliver a warning that couldn't easily be intercepted by the locals. Perhaps their escort deserved a bit more credit than Sarresh was usually prone to giving, well, anyone really. He still squinted up all the same, and his face bore a scowl as he turned back to the Savi and the rest of his team, taking it all in. A protocol program for contact made sense, but he privately wondreed just what it might do to the ships communications system.

Comm's wasn't his particular focus, of course, but he occasionally suborned the array to help with his own temporal monitoring. He decided he'd want a look at this program, to see what he might glean from it to refine his own methods. Assuming, of course, that bastard Ives lets me anywhere near it. Or Hirself. There was bad blood there, in the wake of the events on the Versant and neither officer had as of yet made all that much effort at reconciliation, each clinging to the trappings of 'decorum' and duty. It served, after a fashion, and while Morali thought Ives foolish for how they had handled Hi'Jak, and the immediate dismissal of Sarresh himself, he gave no outward impression of this disdain. Nothing he said or did, he'd determined, would be able to be construed as anything other than loyalty. He'd made his bed with Ives in this little fiasco. If he'd wanted someone else in charge, that time had passed to do something about it.

"I imagine the captain won't need all 10 hours to make a decision," Sarresh noted, in a tone about as dry as their surroundings. One thing Ives had never been was indecisive. He looked up at Echtand, scowling again at his parting words, but held his tongue. The desire to say something bitter and harsh was strong. The desire to deal a blow to the parasites infesting the galaxy was stronger however. He contented himself with a curt nod, wondering just what the Klingon's would eventually find.  He stood a little straighter, readying himself, and sure enough, the confinement beam took a hold. The world shifted, in a bright blue white light -

- and returned to focus once more in the hold of their tiny shuttle. Letting out a puff of air, Sarresh discarded his scarf and re-breather unit, as well as the goggles and rubbed at his face, feeling suddenly weary. "Well, that was fucking delightful," he swore, striding the few short steps to the auxiliary station he'd re-purposed for sensors and a bare bones science protocol suite. He glanced at the readings and grunted again, turning and moving over to the other lieutenant. "Deal with the Klingon's. I want to run this through a security scan," he not quite ordered, taking the protocol disk that Echtand had delivered from Jeen and moving back toward his own station before pausing and detouring to the ships small replicator.

"Water, cold." He paused, "Three cups. You two had better drink up as well. Oh, we probably should lift off pretty soon, yeah?" Sarresh added the words almost as if an after thought, letting the others grab their own drinks, and downing half of his in one go. He was so terribly parched, but worked to push past that, sliding the cup into a holder by his station and placing the disk with the communications software atop a small sensor panel for reading externally stored files. He keyed up every security protocol on the shuttle and began his scan, trying to see if anything looked familiar, based on his own efforts aboard the Versant. He grunted a bit as he ran it through the patchwork translation protocol he and Hi'Jak had come up with, lamenting the Klingon's spy's absence in that moment. Not that they'll let him anywhere near this, he thought. But he hadn't exactly been keeping up with ships scuttlebutt, and could be wrong about that. He only listened with half an ear to whatever passed between Jeen, Walton, and the Klingon's. He needed to make sure there was nothing overtly malicious on the disk before it was introduced to the Theurgy's ODN network and computer core. A shuttle made a fairly secure location to do just that.

Worse case scenario, its a massively disruptive virus and we have to blow the shuttle up. But it'll be contained. Of course, he didn't tell the others that. And it wasn't as if he actually expected that to be the case. The Savi had far more efficient ways of destroying the Theurgy, if that had been their goal. No need for this cloak and dagger bullshit. The words were bitter, but as he delved into the code, he felt his scruffy lips curl up into a genuine, if dark, smile for the first time in ages.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #46 – November 06, 2019, 06:25:02 AM

[ CWO3 Liliana Walton | The Beyond | Epsilon Mynos III: Aldea ] @Auctor Lucan @Brutus @DaValle  @Havenborn @Griff

Liliana had to raise her rating of Salvo a bit for the way he warned the away party about the incoming Klingons. She managed to get to her weapons soon enough to holster the pistol and grab the rifle before she cottoned on to Echtand stating they were going to be beamed back to the shuttle. She grinned, silently thankful to the Savi for saving them the return walk through the storm.

Once she registered their presence back in the small shuttle, the pilot wasted no time in returning to the pilot’s seat to start the process of getting it back in the air, shedding the scarf and goggles in the process. Sarresh told the other lieutenant to deal with the Klingons and Walton was initially content to let him do that until she saw the incoming communications request from another source.

That must be Radue.

She waved Jeen off before he could hail the Klingon flight leader and gestured to the comms request light with a smirk. “I’ll handle the Klingon flight. Our gracious Aldean hosts want to speak with the man in charge here.”

The petite woman winked at the Trill playfully before opening a channel to the Klingons and escort fighters.

“This is callsign Meerkat to … Lomqa’ Flight and escort. Away team secured in the shuttle,” she said with a strange yet practiced mix of authority and cheer. “Found nothing of interest at the site. Returning to base now. Appreciate the welfare check, boys!”

Walton hummed quietly to herself as she finished the last of the preflight checks and grabbed the cup of water from the replicator, all while listening to Jeen’s conversation with Radue. As soon as they got into the air and far enough from the surface to engage the shuttle’s autopilot, she leaned back and let her eyes rest on the view while her mind could finally run riot at imagining what Savi tech could for improving her Valravn’s flight and combat capabilities.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #47 – November 06, 2019, 02:17:45 PM

[Lt. Kaylon Jeen | Aldea Prime | The Beyond] ^{@Havenborn  @patches  @Brutus  @Griff @Auctor Lucan} 

Kaylon took his weapon after the Savi went to their vessel and before they would left and shut down the forcefield around them the Trill put the equipment again on. The last thing he wanted to be in was a sandstorm without wearing this equipment, but after the Savi left the away team was beamed back to their shuttle.

The scientist offered them something to drink after he requested the protocol disk from Kaylon. Lieutenant Jeen took the water and went to the seat beside Walton. He thought that he could start to work out some excuse why they haven’t responded to the Aldeans and Klingons. Before he was able to actually drink the water mentioned the pilot that Radue was hailing them. Everyone but not him now.

Kaylon opened the channel and the face of Radue offered the Lieutenant a very detailed imagination of the choice of words the escort fighters have used during their dialogues. “Hello, Mr Radue, how can I help you?”

[Lieutenant, I’m certainly hope that you’re giving me now a good explanation why your escort pilots threatened to attack the Klingons and why your away team hasn’t responded till now!] Kaylon shifted his stance and was obviously annoyed by this. Before he could answer to Radues questions he heard what Walton said to the Klingons. Kaylons response was obviously not fast enough for Radue and therefore he continued. [Those Klingon fighters were your allies and a threat to attack…]

Kaylon stopped the politician from continuing his sentence. Maybe it wasn’t the polite way, but he wouldn’t waste a single minute for Radue the captain could use to decide about the Savi deal. “Mr. Radue, with all due respect an intervention of the Klingon fighters could have lead to a catastrophic disaster and probably to the death of one of the crewmen under my command. We had the situation under control and the only problem was a malfunction of the comm system. My report will give you a detailed explanation of the problem and I’m positive that we’ll all see that this mess was just a huge misunderstanding, on both sides.”

[I’m looking forward to read this report and check the data of it, but still your pilots have threatened the Klingons.]

“Of course I’m apologising for the message our escort fighters have sent either you or the Klingons. They were just very stressed, due to the problem with the comm system. It was very messy situation there, but I assure you they had only the best intentions.”

Kaylon closed the channel and turned back to the others. “So, I’m going to need your communicators now to… modify them.” Later Kaylon would write down that ‘the tetryon compositor of the stolen Romulan cloak had a major malfunction that led to the problem with the comm system’ and not that a mad engineer had tortured those little devices with some tetryon emitters in one of the cargo bays.

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #48 – November 16, 2019, 08:28:51 PM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu (Bloodwing) | Wolf 12 | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Aldea Prime Orbit ] Attn: @@Havenborn [member=116@patches[/member] @@DaValle @Brutus 

[Show/Hide]

As Havenborn darted down into the storm to warn the away team, Lillee accelerated forward to intercept the oncoming Klingon flight. It was with sad regret that she reached up to power down her phasers, knowing that the Klingon sensors would detect that she was powering down. It was the right choice; not even a Klingon pilot would be dumb enough to fire upon an unarmed ally. Still, Lillee sighed wistfully as she feathered her impulse engines.

Of course, that didn't mean that she couldn't have at least a little fun...

With the sandstorm far behind her, Lillee finally got a visual on the oncoming Klingons. She aimed her Valkyrie for a narrow gap in their formation between two Phantoms, relying on the computer to show her the precise gap on her HUD, and without slowing down a whit, she zoomed directly through the Klingon formation as a lightning grey blur. Immediately after shooting through she flipped her Valkyrie through 180 degrees, rolled around and pumped her impulse engines, this time zooming through another gap in their formation.

A moment later, Lillee decelerated until she neatly settled in at the head of the Klingon formation. She noted irritably (and with grudging respect) that the Klingons had maintained perfect formation discipline at her wild maneuver, not reacting in the slightest.

"Lom'qa Flight, this is Bloodwing," she said over her comm with a far-too-sweet voice. "Follow me to the landing zone, and watch for the stormwinds and low visibility."

"Acknowledged," the Klingon flight leader grumbled, plainly trying very hard to conceal his annoyance. "Who taught you how to fly, Bloodwing? Are all fools like you so reckless and stupid in military fighters?"

Lillee laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Lom'qa leader. Did I scare you?"  The frustrated silence was all the answer she needed, and Lillee's grin widened as she aimed her Valkyrie at the sandstorm, although she saw that it was weakening rapidly. She saw Havenborn's older Gryphon and subtly shifted a few meters to the side, giving him space to slot into the formation.

There was no time to wonder what was happening at the LZ. The storm seemed to dissipate with unnatural speed, permitting a view of the LZ which was far less exciting than any of the six pilots had expected.

The Theurgy shuttlecraft sat on the desert, its white hull coated with sand, with no sign of anything nearby. Lillee checked her sensors, which reported some wreckage some distance away from the shuttle. Even though she knew no more about what had happened than the Klingons, Lillee couldn't help but chuckle as the Klingon fighters raced away to scan the wreckage at close range.

"Go ahead, scan away," she said to herself softly, smirking at the Klingon fighters ahead of her as she decelerated her own Valkyrie to hover over the shuttle. "Stupid beasts."

Meanwhile, the comm activated again as First Appointee Radue called. "Salvo," he said with an ill-tempered tone, although he was at least observing proper communications discipline this time. "Please report what has happened. My pilots report that there is only wreckage on the desert floor."

Re: Day 12 [0830 hrs.] Hide and Seek in the Beyond

Reply #49 – November 18, 2019, 12:18:59 PM

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie “Hellcat”] Attn: @Brutus, @patches, @Griff, @DaValle

As Daniel slid his fighter into the formation alongside Bloodwing’s Valkyrie he had to hand it to her, she may not be an officer but she knew how to handle the fighter just about as good as any TacCONN commissioned officer.  He wondered if she had any plans on becoming a Warrant Officer, maybe that’d be something he could bring up to her later.

As the storm was beginning to clear Daniel spotted the shuttlecraft, it had been weathered by the sand and part of him was sad that the storm was dissipating.  He had enjoyed the storm while it had lasted but he knew that all good things must come to an end.  He also wasn’t really looking forward to the consequences that would be waiting for him back on the Theurgy.  He had threatened the Klingons sure, but when it really came down to it he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have gone through with it as much as he might have wanted to.  He was a Starfleet officer after all and not a military officer of the Neo-ECON.

Knight spoke up from behind him interrupting his thoughts.  “Salvo, I’m detecting some debris a few meters from the shuttle.”  Daniel checked the sensor readout that Knight had forwarded to his console.  Sure enough a few meters from the shuttle and near where the dome had been there was metallic debris.  After a few short moments his communications channel activated again, First Appointee Radue was asking him question, this time calling him by his callsign like he should have earlier.

Daniel smirked, he honestly had no idea, he could guess as to what happened but that wasn’t hard fact and the First Apointee would want facts not opinions.  “I don’t know sir, your pilots interfered in a critical moment.  We may never know what happened down there now.”  Daniel said with a smirk, he was glad that this call was audio only.

~ FIN