SD 57654.79: The Real Simulcast

December 29, 2022, 04:30:55 PM

THE REAL SIMULCAST OF SD 57654.79

This was the recording included in the transmission Chancellor Martok sent from the Great Hall at the time when Gorka was defeated after the Battle of the Houses. This happened on the 18^th of April 2381, AKA Stardate 57654.79. The false version of the Simulcast was sent from Starbase 84 on the 6th of March aka Stardate 57547.63.

The recording showed Captain Ives, standing in full uniform and with his hands behind his back.

"I am Captain Jien Ives of the Federation starship USS Theurgy. After returning to base in San Francisco, on Stardate 57277.16, at the end of a long diplomatic mission to Romulus, my crew managed to pick up transmissions that revealed how officers in Starfleet Command were impersonators of the people they once were - possessed by a new enemy to the Federation and in fact, all intelligent life in the Galaxy.

"Before the truth came out, my crew's secretive efforts to deal with this threat was compromised, and we had to flee Earth in order to save ourselves and protect the truth we learned. Since then, we have been hunted by our own fleet, our pursuers merely following orders and whatever fabricated truth Command had given them about me being a Romulan defector. Admiral Ian Sankolov is one of the enemy behind what is happening, leading Task Force Archeron and giving specific instructions to not accept our hails, saying that the A.I. aboard our ship will gain access their computers via the subspace frequency. He has also claimed that my crew is long dead, and that the A.I. is manning the ship with holograms of my crew. At every turn of these past months, the Federation News Network have inflated these lies, and failed to report how in every engagement with Sankolov's task force, we have been on the defensive, fighting for survival.

"More importantly, they had neglected to mention how we never opted to cross the Romulan Neutral Zone, even if we've had every opportunity to do so. Surely, if we reported to Romulus, we would set a course for there and not linger in Federation space? If our ship was the prize to hand to the Star Empire, why would we remain here, beset by our own fleet?

"Starfleet's operational authority are no longer themselves, including the Commander in Chief, the Chief of Staff and the Chief of Starfleet Operations. These three individuals, along with an unknown number of others in the organization, are just a few of these Infested. We have learned that they are victims of parasites from beyond our own dimension of reality, and included in this message are recordings of them speaking amongst each other and from the confines of our brig, alluding to their nature. These parasites do not appear on tricorder scans, and while my crew is still investigating their nature, we know they exist in a state of flux. It is evident that the parasites are of chaotic origin, meaning to tear down the structure of all societies - actively trying to dissolve the Federation and all other galactic powers from within.

"The diverse fauna in the Galaxy have a multitude of examples wherein a parasite controls its host, and in principle, these seem no different in that respect. Yet these parasites are linked somehow to their origin; an apparent gravitational anomaly in intergalactic space at the centre of the Laniakea Supercluster, in the Zone of Avoidance, which is impossible to observe in visible wavelengths due to the obscuring effects of our own galactic plane. It is a concentration of mass... thousands of times more massive than our Milky Way. It is observable by its effect on the motion of galaxies and their associated clusters over a region hundreds of millions of light-years across.

"This simulcast is a call to arms against this enemy, which means to destroy us all and everything we have accomplished. We have yet to find a means to free the Hosts from the hold of these parasites, and they can be anywhere... Heed us, and let us fight back before they have turned us against each other. Please, see the evidence we have so far, and heed the truth, regardless the cost."

The Commanding Officer of the Theurgy paused, his oaken gaze heavy with the implications of what he'd just said.

"This is Jien Ives, signing off."

The above was what Chancellor Martok sent out, the simulcast that had meant to leave Starbase 84, but he also had his own words to say, and a demonstration to make.

The recording below was sent out to the Klingon Empire after Gorka's defeat, showing the end of the battle in the Great Hall, where the Infested Kopek, Son of Nargor, lay dead on the floor, and Captain Ives had stopped Gorka from stabbing Chancellor Martok in the back.

Preventing the Klingon usurper from reaching Martok with his two-handed grip on the hilt of his blade, Jien's body shook from the effort of keeping the Klingon right there, and not let him tear the long hilt out of his hands. With that singular purpose on his mind, a sole focal point for his thoughts, Jien knew his crew was right there to do the rest - ending the Klingon usurper's life.

Shivering from the nausea of trying to retain his stance, and straining that body to the edge of its ability, Jien closed his eyes to focus on the essential functions he needed. He focused on his skeletal linkage, tendons and musculature, leverage and force. These were things his Chameloid nature granted him without conscious effort, but not now, when he most needed it. So he willed himself to remain intact, and not feel the glancing strikes the usurper dealt unto him in the commotion that followed.

Until, eventually, Jien could feel the trashing of the Klingon abate - the pressure loosening around his blade.

Jien opened his eyes then, his features not fixed, and saw Mickayla close next to him, having seized one arm of the assailant. He could see Lieutenant Rra there, claws embedded deep into the Klingon's armour and flesh. Gorka was on one knee, and Lieutenant Madsen stood not far off, blade bloodied and ready to strike anew. Breathing laboriously into lungs not fully formed, Jien then looked into Gorka's dark eyes, and heard him spit his last words through his reddened teeth.

"QamvISHeghqaq... law' torvISyInqaqpuS...." he rasped, blood pooling below him in thick rivulets down his armour. The hate withered in his eyes only when his life bled out of him - his head falling forward.

With legs barely supporting him, Jien stepped back, twisted his grip, and tore his long blade free - the edge grating against the armour. The mountain of a Klingon fell limp in the grip of the two female Starfleet officers that held him. Jien swayed where he stood, and clenched his jaw, making his face regain its normal features. "HeghneHchavqoH..."

"Ives!" Martok barked, but Jien raised a hand to stop him.

"I just need a moment," he said hoarsely and sank down on one knee, supporting himself with the tip of his sword. "The Romulan ship, and Praxis..."

"These threats are known," shouted Councillor K'Tal, face and neck still red from the altercation with Kopek, but on his feet still. He raised his datapad. "The Theurgy has destroyed the Ta'rom, and the Liaison, Zyrao Natauna, say that Commander Stark has already deployed your crew to deal with the situation on Praxis as well as the warbird. Apparently, it has lost its warp capability and is presently hounded by your warp fighters, as well as the Freedom Sentinel."

Trying to collect himself, and for his form settle, Jien nodded, and then glanced towards Martok. "Show it."

It took the Chancellor a moment before he answered. "Your crew is wounded, and so are you, old friend. Let's call the physicians..."

"No... Show it," Jien swallowed and shook his head, glancing towards the confused Councillors. "Unite them."

It could not wait. What had been seen might be forgotten, the attention lost. Grimly, Martok nodded once. Solemnly, he stepped away, back to where Kopek lay on the stone floor. There were no words with which he might heal his Empire. Only action. Kopek, for all the years of rivalry and bickering in the High Council, had done the right thing in his last moments, so Martok crouched down and gently brushed the old Klingon's eyes open, looking deep into them. Then, he raised his own face to the vaulted ceiling and roared, long and loud, a warning to the dead in Sto'vo'kor. They ought to beware, for a Klingon warrior was about to arrive. And in respect towards this act, the Councillors in the Great Hall joined him.

Though as the air ran out of Martok's lungs... he drew his dagger and violently carved Kopek open. The shock swept through the room, and it didn't dissipate as Martok rammed his gloved hand into the bared innards. Only the truth laid bare before their eyes would silence them, as the Chancellor seized the fused remains of the parasite and thrust it high into the air in his bloodied grip. Joined with ichor and organs, a demon-like serpent unlike which the galaxy had ever seen.

"This, is the enemy!" Martok roared into the faces of the High Council, who stepped back when he shook the beast in display before them. "These spawn of darkness infest our flesh and turn us against each other! Like Gorka, son of Margon, whom they made made heir to House Mo'Kai in order to divide our great Empire! Look at it! Remember it! For this is what we fight! The unseen! Beasts from beyond what we know! They have claimed the Praetor! They have claimed Starfleet Command! And yet these past days we have fought each other! House against House instead of an Empire as one, against demons of the dark!"

Gradually, the atmosphere in the Great Hall shifted from confusion, uncertainty, scepticism and scorn...

...into a unifying hatred against a common foe. These were warriors whom had just heard a call to arms.

"Heed me," said Martok, and threw the remains of the parasite to the floor, "and spread the word to every world, every fleet and all lesser Houses not present here today... that the Klingon Empire will stand ready. These demons can hide no more, because this hour, from here on, our eyes are open! 'ang'eghQo' quvHutlhboghjaghneHghobtaHvISghaH! "

Martok stomped the parasite with his heel, and the Klingon High Council roared in assent - fists raised to the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Jien - weary and weakened - looked towards his harried crew, seeing equally weary faces looking back at him. He inclined his head to them, for it was the acknowledgement he could muster. A 'well done', before he straightened, shook the blood from his blade, and sheathed it at his side.

OOC: If you wish, you could post with your character(s) in reaction to seeing the recording of Martok and the real simulcast. These recordings are widely distributed by Martok after Episode 01: Advent of War's conclusion, make sure you pick a time and place where it would be plausible that your character(s) saw them.

Translation:
- QamvISHeghqaq law' torvISyInqaqpuS. = Better to die on my feet than live on my knees.
- HeghneHchavqoH. = A fool's only achievement is death.
- 'ang'eghQo' quvHutlhboghjaghneHghobtaHvISghaH! = Only an enemy without honour refuses to show himself in battle!