Deep Space Guardian: Season II-Episode 32

[Republican_Man]

--Imperial Star, Bridge--
"What the hell!" Surak proclaimed, rocking with the ship.
"Three Federation ships broke off and made a surprise attack against us," Toyal reported.
"Return fire!" he ordered. "How did they break through the fifth, sixth, and seventh fleets?" he asked Toyal, surprised.
"I have no idea," the Captain replied. "But I recognize the lead ship. It's the Guardian."
"Return fire, full spread," he ordered. "I want that whole in our defensives dealt with. Have our defensive fighter wing target the Guardian. Call in the three nearest ships for assistance."
Toyal nodded and did as he was told. Three Nautolian cruisers immediately changed course and headed directly for the Guardian.
"Report!" the Grand Admiral shouted.
"Shields down to 76%," the Secondary Tactical Officer reported. "One of the Federation ships has been destroyed. Deflector shields are holding."
Surak nodded. "Return fire on the secondary ship," he ordered. "Have one of the cruisers concentrate on it as well, and have the two others and fighter squadron continue firing on the Guardian."
"Yes, sir," the officer replied, relaying orders and returning fire at the Excelsior-class ship, firing a volly of quantum torpedoes at the large craft, the one ship concentrating fire on it as well.

[Founder]

-USS Guardian, Bridge-

Jones stared at the console, what parts were still working at least. Torpedoes were definitly off-line. Ablative armor was the only thing holding them together. Taking on the Imperial Star was definitly not going to work. They would need more fire power. The ship shook as Nautolian cruisers attacked them.

"Damn," Jones yelled, "Plot a course to DSG!"

The helmsman nodded and diverted course to the massive station. They would need to find a hole in the two fleets once more to get back to the station. Jones cursed at their situation. It may have been bold to fly through the small opening in the fleets, but alone? The Guardian continued towards the station.

"Open a channel to lead ship!" He ordered.

A channel was opened to Blake's ship, the Parallax.

"Blake!" Jones yelled, "We're getting killed over here. Please assist!"

Jones cursed and saw his communication cut off as soon as he had said killed. Hopefully, Blake got the message...

[Lord Borg]

-Space-

A Klingon bird of Prey exploded as several other Klingon vessels flew though the fireball and towards the Nautolian vessel that had destroyed it They opened fired all at once on the Nuatolian ship, sending disrupter fire, and torepedos to inflict samage...

[Republican_Man]

--Imperial Star, Bridge--
Toyal looked up from his console. "The Guardian is pulling back, Admiral," the Captain reported. "It looks like its destination is the station."
Surak nodded. "Have the Thundrex continue pursuit. The squadron, on the other hand, is to target that remaining ship."
Suddenly the Excelsior-class vessel exploded
"What remaining ship?" Toyal inquired, smiling. "The ship has been destroyed."
"Excellent," Surak said, smiling. "Have the ships remain nearby. We'll need cover if the enemy fleet initiates a foolish assault again." He then paused in thought. "Helm, pull us back a few kilometers. I want a good distance between us and the main battle."
The officer, down in the left pit, nodded and pulled the ship back.

[Spellbinder Marik]

Romulan Warship Terminator

�We�re receiving a hail from Admiral T�Rell.� S�atil shook his head.
�Tell him to save the what ifs and hows for later. We got a fight going on here.�
The officer nodded. Another ship was blown to pieces by the awesome weaponry of the Terminator. Debris bounced of the shields.
�I think we got their attention sir.� S�atil smiled.
�Good.�

Romulan Warbird Salara

�We�re down to 6 ships including us sir.� Kiris was feeling upset. Until now he�d always seen his people as proud and powerful. T�Rell made a mental note of the information.
�Bring us along side the Terminator and keep the smaller craft off their back.� The helmsman nodded. The Salara and two other Romulan ships broke formation and went to fend off the smaller craft plauging the Terminator.

[Republican_Man]

--Flagship 4, Bridge--
On the bridge of Flagship 4, command ship of Admiral C'utra, commander of the Imperial Fourth Fleet, Lieutenant Gornic reviewed reports coming in from the sensors of a powerful Romulan ship picking off Nautolian ships with ease. He ran quick memory sweep of the ship, realizing what it was.
"Admiral," he said, standing from his seat in the right ditch. "That large ship picking off the 4th's ships?" he said. "It's another Terminator."
"That ship that was destroyed at Shipyard 16?" C'utra inquired.
"Yes, sir," Gornic replied.
"Have the nearest ten available ships target the Terminator," he ordered. "I want you to run some databank searches and scans and find out what we can do to destroy that ship."
"Aye, sir," the Lieutenant of the ship, distant from the Terminator, replied.

[Valathous]

~ Bridge, USS Parallax ~

The USS Parallax was not disappointing. Under the leadership of Fleet Captain Blake Robitaille, his highly upgraded Sovereign class ship, which included the additional upgrades of the ablative hull armour that had been studied from Voyager and installed on many ships before Earth fell, was putting up quite the fight.

The hull shook as the Parallax was hit by the lasers of one of the Nautolian ships.

"Evasive maneuvres! Turn about and fire on the weapons of that ship!" Blake ordered to the tactical officer.

"Sir! We're receiving a hail from the USS Guardian," the Ops reported.

"Put it through..."

"Blake!" Jones yelled, "We're getting killed..."

After the word 'killed' the transmission was cut off. Blake stood up from his chair and looked at Lieutenant O'Byrne at Ops,

"Has the Guardian been destroyed?" Blake asked O'Byrne.

"No, sir. But their shields are down and they're behind enemy lines..."

"Mon dit tabernack esti..." Blake muttered under his breath, "Quickly, take us to them. Lets see what we can do..."

Blake then sat back down in his captain's seat and punched in a few keys on his arm-rest control panel... The signal was sent.

[Spellbinder Marik]

Romulan Warship Terminator

�Commander, 10 ships are converging on our location!!!!�
�Increase our fire and continue.� Another Nautolian ship burst under the multiple fire points. �We�re taking heavy fire. Shields are holding.�

[Republican_Man]

--Flagship 4, Bridge--
Several minutes later, Gornic's scans and searches were complete. He then contemplated in his mind a final assessment of the ship, realizing one way to defeat it.
After another Nautolian ship exploded from the Terminator's onslaught, further thinning the number within the task force just sent after it, Gornic looked up.
"Admiral," he said. "I think I've found it. It'll take a few minutes for preparations, but what we need to do is fire a high-intensity disruptor pulse on a negative frequency on the ship. If we had more than one ship carrying out this action it would better ensure it's success, but I think it's doable."
C'utra thought for a second. "Very well, Mr. Gornic. Captain Chorkon, contact the Relativity and the Audacity. Relay to them Lieutenant Gornic's findings and order them to carry them one. I want to know when they're ready. Once they are, send in a wave of Koinian fighters after the Romulan ships to divert attention. Then, once they're in position and I give the order, they'll fire."
"As you wish," Chorkon replied, bending down to his console and relaying the messages.
The ships received the word and began preparations for the operation.

[Founder]

-Imperial Star, Meditation Room-

A group of Nautolians, mystical masters, were kneeling and praying. All of them had the dark red and black colors that Nautolians did. At least, those embraced Fito's way. They were waiting for any orders from the admiral. At least, that is the way it looked to most. A device on the belt of one of the Nautolians beeped, causing all six if them to stir from their meditation. It beeped several times in a morse code, only made for them to understand. They didn't even speak to each other and rose from their comfertable seats and left the room. The screams of the sirens rang out, while officers ran back and forth. The group ignored them all and made their way to the bridge....

-USS Guardian, Bridge-

The bridge shook again as the small vessel rushed to escape the Nautolians in pursuit.

"Did the Parallax get the message?" Jones asked.

The officer at the helm shrugged.

"Communications are off-line!" She said.

Jones cursed and hoped that help was on the way...

-Imperial Star, Bridge-

The group of Nautolians stopped in front of the doors where two Cardassian guards stood. They noticed the strangely quiet Nautolians and blocked their way in.

"Sorry masters," One said, "But admiral Surak does not want any interruptions during the battle. Please step away."

One of the Nautolians looked at the others and then quickly activated their energy swords, cutting the guards in half. Another Nautolian approached the door and saw it was locked. He pulled out a device and placed it over the locking mechanism. The doors were forced open and the group of Nautolians entered the massive room. Officers were too busy to care about them walking in. To them, it was just more officers. Although, these Nautolians were dressed in sacred robes of the mystical masters, not military uniforms. One Nautolian noticed them and approached them.

"Masters?" He asked, confused at their entrance.

The lead Nautolian master backhanded the officer away. He fell into the pit area, causing officers to react in surprise. The Nautolians began to attack the others, while two continued towards Surak who stood at the end of the bridge. Before Surak could say anything, the lead Nautolian spoke.

"Admiral," He said, "You must do something about Nautolian security procedures. The wrong...elements could be brought onboard."

The Nautolian, much to everyone's surprise shape shifted into the humanoid form of a Founder. The second Nautolian immediatly went to a console and placed a device on it which downloaded something. Captain Toyal rushed to defend the admiral and fired a phaser at the Founder. The changeling quickly forced his upper body to detach from his lower body and the phaser fire harmlessly hit a console. The Founder quickly reattach and knocked Toyal away with his strength. No Nautolian approached Surak, mainly because the others were busy fighting officers. The second "Nautolian" looked back at the fellow Founder.

"Cascade virus in place." He said.

The sound of the power going off was heard on the bridge. Consoles went black and sounds went silent, save for the battle. The Founder looked back at Surak.

"Section 31 sends their regards," He said, "Oh and admiral? If you survive this battle, tell the good emperor that death awaits him in the Gamma quadrant."

He had no intention of killing Surak. Seeing the Nautolian flee would be so much more pleasing. The group of Founders, recruited by S31, had been living as Nautolians for nearly a year. Ironically, their employers tried to kill them two decades ago. A bigger threat was found in Fito's empire and old hatres were set aside. The Founders, masters of disguise, had stayed on a Nautolian ship and learned all they could about the Nautolians beforehand. They had devices to ensure the Nautolian's unique abilities couldn't detect them. Finally, all their work was paying off. They would no doubt die on the shieldless ship, but that didn't matter...

"We're about to be up in our necks with Nautolian troops!" A Founder shouted, still in Nautolian form.

The lead Founder looked back at Surak and smiled, "Any minute the Federation will break through those lines. Run admiral...I doubt your delicate flesh will handle the cold of space..."

There was a cold silence that was broken by the sounds of the activate of self destruct.

"Self destruct sequence activate," A Nautolian voice said, "It is set to explode in 1 minute. No authorization code can prevent destruction. All hands abandon ship, this is not a drill."

The Founder continued to smile at Surak.

-Xavier City, Governor's Office-

Ian, still staring out the window, finally spoke.

"How goes the battle?" He asked.

Demitrius checked the console.

"The Federation, Klingon, and Romulans are giving the Nautolians a lot of hurt," He reported, "But...there's too many of them..."

Ian slowly nodded. It was only a matter of time until Fito came to the planet...then it would all end...finally. His thoughts drited to Ziona. He wondered what happened to her...

[Spellbinder Marik]

Romulan Warbird Salara

T�Rell has been near death many times in his life. This time he knew he wouldn�t walk away lucky. Perhaps this was the fate he was to endure for his wrong doings. It didn�t matter if they won now. Their space was occupied. There wouldn�t be materials or resources to build new ships. There were less than 600 Romulan military officers left. By the end of this day there would be none. The few thousand on the planet would also be gone by the time night fell. The 3 Warbirds that had stayed behind were gone. The only Romulan ships left were the three with T�Rell and the Terminator. His body ached. His mind ached. He made a silent vow that if there was ever a chance to get back at the Nautolians in a way he could defeat them he would. Just then he disappeared in a white flash.

Unknown Space, Unknown time

T�Rell saw Romulus as he remembered when he was a child.
�This isn�t real. Is it?� A voice spoke from behind him.
�Indeed it is not old friend.� T�Rell turned around shocked. It was N�Tran.
�What is this place?� N�Tran didn�t know himself yet.
�This is where we�ll be when we die. The battle is lost.� T�Rell was shocked again.
�You think I don�t know that? Wait� Am I dead?� N�Tran shook his head.
�Not yet, but it won�t be long. Don�t feel bad about the outcome of this war. There is a second chance.� T�Rell stood confused.
�What do you mean?� N�Tran proceeded to explain.
�There are forces at work in this galaxy that we cannot comprehend. Some are in our favor and some are not.� T�Rell was still confused. N�Tran wasn�t one to talk in riddles.
�I still do not understand.� N�Tran began to fade.
�You don�t have to my friend. Let yourself be at ease. The war is lost, for now��

The next thing T�Rell knew he was back on the bridge of the Salara as though he�d never left.

Romulan Warship Terminator

�We�ve destroyed 3 more of their frigates sir.� S�atil also had a sense of doomed existence. Another barrage hit the ship.
�Aft starboard shields at 43% Supports in that section are breaking under the stress.�
�Rout emergency power to Structural integrity.�

[Republican_Man]

--Imperial Star, Bridge--
"*beep* hell!" Surak proclaimed, glaring at the Founders with pure rage. "By Sion's command you will pay for this, you filthy bastards!" He shouted. In rage, feeling a surge of power, he used his powers to squeeze the creature so hard, at an atomic level, that, by the time Toyal called to the Audacity and the two were beamed away, he may very well have been eliminated (which I'm thinking happened, but that could be god-modding, so I'm not going to say it. In my mind that's what happened.)

--Nautolian 4th Fleet--
The two directed ships of the Nautolian 4th Fleet were ready and moved into position. The Romulan ships, distracted by the attacking crafts, didn't notice the two ships, which came in and fired their special weapons at the Terminator, leading to its destruction.

[Spellbinder Marik]

Romulan Warbird Salara

Two ships had broken pursuit. The Salara stayed on course with the Terminator. 2 ships approached and fired some sort of beam at it.

Romulan Warship Terminator

One more Nautolian ship burst before the beams from two other attacking beams struck. The beams rippled through the shields like they weren�t there. For a moment S�atil was dumbstruck. How could they have determined the ships one weakness? S�atil could hear the explosions and destruction rushing toward him. He stood up and spoke.

"So, now all is gone�Empire, Body and Soul!"

Space

The Terminator breaks apart and explodes. Three of the fragments impacted on the Salara causing the ship to be destroyed.

[Republican_Man]

--Audacity, Bridge--
Grand Admiral Surak and Captain Toyal rematerialized on the bridge of the Audacity. Surak immediately shook his head, looked up, and realized something. They still had to have at least twenty seconds. There was still time to execute the prevention of the Imperial Star's destruction.
"Comm," he said, walking down the aisle. "Send a message to the Imperial Star's computer. Order it to execute defensive protocol 47. Then end the transmission and send a message to the Seventh Fleet to terminate their communications with the Imperial Star immediately."
"Sir?" he inquired, looking up.
"Just do it!" Surak shouted.
The officer did as he was told, with 8 seconds to spare until the ship's destruction. He sent the message to the Imperial Star, ended the conversation, and ordered the closing of all communications with the capitol ship.
Unfortunately not one of the ships managed to comply with that order quickly, and at the expense of saving this single yet important ship, twenty-five ships suddenly exploded out of nowhere.
"Admiral!" the tactical officer proclaimed. "The entire Seventh Fleet has been destroyed!"
"They didn't work fast enough," Surak interjected. He was furious. The slow imbeciles didn't follow through with his orders in time. "The loss of the fleet will be of little consequence."
He turned to Toyal. "Captain," he began, "return to the Imperial Star. There I want you to regain complete control of the craft. I will shuffle on over to the Grabthar's Hammer, from where I will command the battle. I cannot be bogged down by the situation on the flagship."
"Understood," Toyal replied, nodding his head. Seconds later he dematerialized and rematerialized on the Imperial Star, and the Audacity transmitted a message to and headed for the Grabthar's Hammer.
The virus on his flagship was dismantled. Success was on that issue, and he was glad to know of it. The GH was nearby, behind the lines as well.

--Flagship 4, Bridge--
There was much hooting and hollering at the site of the destruction of the Romulan vessels. The greatest threat to their effort was now foiled.
"Have the fleet concentrate all their fire power on the remaining Romulan ships," Admiral C'utra ordered indiscriminantly. He turned directly towards Lieutenant Gornic and said, "Good work, Lieutenant. You may very well see a promotion in your future."
Gornic smiled and continued about his business as the Fourth Fleet began to engage the few remaining Romulan ships.

--Grabthar's Hammer, Bridge--
Immediately after Grand Admiral Surak rematerialized on the bridge of the Grabthar's Hammer he once again took control of the massive fleet.
He was told that the fourth fleet was engaging the Romulans, the third and fifth fleets the Federation and Klingons. The First and Second Fleets�the largest of them all�however, held the lines. It was time to speed things up and begin the ground invasion and send for the Ground Force, which was stationed in a nearby system.
"Order the Second Fleet to clear a path to the planet," he ordered. "The ground invasion must begin now."
The ship's comm officer nodded and sent out the message. The First Fleet would maintain the lines well enough on its own. Success was imminent as the numbers engaging the Federation increased even further. Roughly two hundred ships� big ships, small ships, battleships, warships�now engaged the small, yet powerful Federation-Romulan-Klingon defense task force, and the station.

--DSG, OPS--
"Report!" Admiral Kyle Katran proclaimed.
"Shields down to 56%, Admiral!" the tactical officer replied. "Weapons holding."
"Fire at will!" Katran ordered, and weapons began to blaze at the attacking Nautolian vessels.
Another officer looked up from his station. "The Guardian is heading back here, sir! Its shields are down and it is beyond repair!"
Katran cursed under his break and nodded. "I want a tactical analysis of the Nautoliam movements, Lieutenant," he said, looking at Jack. "We need a plan to do as much damage as possible."
The lieutenant nodded and began to run scans and an anlysis.
"The Nautolians have just lost an entire fleet!" an officer proclaimed.
"What? How?" Katran asked, surprised.
"I don't know, sir!" the reply came.
Kyle smiled. "Perhaps the tide may very well be turning in our favor, gentlemen," he said, with satisfaction.

--Eclipse, Bridge--
Imperator Obsidian sat in his special chair on the bridge of the Imperial Flagship Eclipse. The original expectation was that the ship would enter the battlefield and merely stay behind the Nautolian lines, but a change of plans was decided and the ship was instead moved to the Omitran system, a neighboring system of the Vega system, where the Ground Forces of Supreme General Koon, standing on the bridge of his flagship, the Imperator's Hand, lying in wait for the word to move in and begin the ground assault on Elerra Prime. The reason for the relocation from the Vega system to the Omitran system by the flagship was so that the powerful ship could lead the other ships through, destroying anything in its path to lead them through to the planet. The strategy was solid, and it was predicted that the practice itself would be.
"Report," Obsidian said.
"Weapons and shields are at full capacity, My Lord," the ship's primary tactical officer reported. "The (enhanced) Gravity Well Projector has been charged and is ready."
He turned to the ship's Captain. "Captain Mor," he said, "what is the status of the battle?"
"The tide of battle is in our favor, My Lord," Mor replied, looking up from his upper console. "The Federation force is much larger than we originally thought, with Romulans and Klingon ships and more Starfleet ships present. The battle is tough, but it is in our favor."
Obsidian nodded. "What else?"
Mor tapped a few keys and then got a report in from Surak. "At the expense of the entire Seventh Fleet, Lord Obsidian, the Imperial Star survived an assault by enemy personnel.�
�What!?� Obsidian shouted, looking back, furious.
�Yes, sir. Several Changeling spies infiltrated the ship and carried out an operation to destroy the Imperial Star. It was foiled, but the entire Seventh Fleet was destroyed in the process.�
The Dark Lord shook his head. Good thing it wasn�t the First or Second Fleets, he thought. �Very well then,� he said, plainly. �What else?�

--Black Plague, Bridge--
On board the Black Plague, flagship of the Imperial 2nd Fleet, Admiral Solan Tru stood, watching the situation unfold as his fleet began to clear a secure path from the Nautolian lines to the planet. This accomplishment was nearly complete, and the Eclipse, along with the Ground Force min-fleet, would soon be able to return to the system and land on Elerra Prime's surface.

[Ziona]

Daystrom Annex

Ziona sunk down on the nearest seat, her hands resting on the arms of the chair as she took in everything that she had just learned... Ian's changes, her inability to bear children, everything that had gone wrong.

"Dear God," She whispered, putting a hand across her eyes and resting her elbows on her knees. "Things... things changed so much. How... how did everything go wrong so quickly? everything seemed so... so perfect."

She glanced up at T'Sa and then at Field Marshal Andreas.

"I have to get back to my time... I have to fix this. You don't deserve this... we don't deserve this. No one deserves this sort of... of hell in reality."

[Lord Borg]

Daystrom Annex

T'Sa looked down to Past Ziona, keeping a distance away from the current one.

"How....wait....I mean, what is it we can do? We don't even know how it is you got here."

[Founder]

-Xavier City, Governor's Office-

Ian turned his chair to face Demitrius after having watched the sunset on Elerra Prime. He had a feeling it would be the last time he would.

"I'll take it from here Demetrius." He said in a low voice.

His "son" looked at him in surprise.

"What!?" He said, "Where am I supposed to go? DSG is under attack. They won't beam me up. It's too late for them. We'll make our final stand here."

Ian slowly nodded and motioned for the door.

"Stop anyone who tries to come in." He said.

Demetrius, realizing he won't get anymore from his father, slowly nodded and headed out the door. He had a feeling it would be the last time he spoke to his father.

"Governor...Ian....father," He said, "Were you proud of me? Of...what I've become?"

Ian looked at him, not saying anything for the longest while. He gave a weak smile and didn't respond, going over something in his computer. Demetrius turned away, a look of hurt on his face, and walked out...

[Ziona]

Daystrom Annex

Ziona and Field Marshal Andreas both turned, their arms crossed on the chests, their backs facing each other and they both started pacing, their heads bent down in thought in an almost mirror image of the other. The two walked to the edges of the room before turning and walking towards each other again. Both glanced up to see each other staring at the other, their eyes locking for a few seconds.

Ziona looked into the Field Marshal's dark eyes and for a few moments caught a glimpse of the pain and torture she had been put through, the longing for attention and the affection that she had once had from the Ian Xavier that now ruled with an iron fist.

A spark jumped through Ziona's eyes a moment and she took a few steps closer to the Field Marshal.

"You never had Ian's child." Ziona spoke, half to herself and half to the others in the room. The Field Marshal simply nodded and spun on her heel to keep her eyes on Ziona as she circled the Field Marshal.

"Yes, but I don't see how that has anything to do with our situation." Field Marshal Andreas watched Ziona carefully.

"I... I think that... that might be..." She paused a moment, her eyes turning to the floor and then to Field Marshal Andreas, then to T'Sa. "Ian... he... he wanted a child didn't he, T'Sa? Did he ever talk to you about it?"

[Lord Borg]

Daystrom Annex

T'Sa thought a moment. She sighed slightly.

"The Xaviers....they....family is important to them..."

She looked to both Zionas. She looked over to the one of her time, and then back to the past one.

"Yes,...he wanted a family of his own. He never would come out and say it, but...its....something I know after all of these years being in the family...."

T'Sa blushed slightly at the intuatuion she was making, having practicly raised Ian, it basicly made her a mother figure.

[Ziona]

Daystrom Annex

Ziona turned to look at Field Marshal Andreas who had a slight look of shock on her face. The Field Marshal swallowed hard before turning to look at Ziona.

"It's not... it was the... the virus." Andreas stammered. "I couldn't have... have children." Andreas turned and headed towards a window, clasping her hands behind her back, watching out the window. "There's nothing I could do... nothing you can do."

"To hell there's nothing I can do." Ziona spat at the Field Marshal. "I need to see Ian." Ziona turned on her heel quickly and dashed out the doors of the Daystrom Annex.

Field Marshal Andreas watched for a second before turning to look at T'Sa. A second later, Andreas was running after Ziona, yelling for her to stop at the top of her voice.

"Nothing you do is going to change this!" Andreas yelled. "What's the point?"

Ziona stopped a few yards away to turn and look at Andreas.

"There's a point... there's always a point!" Ziona yelled back. "Even if I can't do anything to change it, I'm not going to say I didn't try!" Ziona took off running again, heading towards Ian's offices.

[Lord Borg]

Daystrom Annex

T'Sa looked down as if trying to hide when the field Marshal Andreas looked at her. When she took off, T'Sa hesitated. But she knew she couldnt let Ziona be alone in all of this. T'Sa ran out the door, sprinting faster and faster using her vulcan physic to catch up to the women. Her ears were already picking up their voices. T'Sa started to alter her breathing so she wouldnt get worn out by the running, not that she would for some time yet, anyways. She started to near the woment, and yelled.

"Ziona! It's much faster if we arrange transportation!"

[Ziona]

Streets of Elerra Prime

Ziona heard T'Sa calling to her about transportation being faster but she was pumping with adrenaline and couldn't stop now. Her lungs were burning slightly from lack of oxygen but she could hear Field Marshal Andreas catching up to her. The Field Marshal was obviously in great physical shape and Ziona was doing her best to keep away from Andreas. Ziona summoned as much strength as she could and continued running, biting her lip, her legs burning with lactic acid.

"Just keep running..." Ziona whispered to herself. "Keep going... keep going."

Andreas was running behind Ziona, listening as she heard T'Sa behind her, the Vulcan's agility far surpassing her own. She only hoped that she could catch Ziona before she made it to Xavier's office.

[Founder]

-Xavier City, Reception-

Demetrius was standing in the reception room, right outside of the doors to Ian's office. No matter what Ian did to him, he would be loyal. He had a phaser rifle slung across his chest while weilding two of the special swords he created. The secretary was no where to be found. Probably fled and hid. The planet was under a lock down anyways. If anyone wanted to get to Ian, they'd have to go through him. Ian's office was shielded and direct transport was not permitted. Security officers approached Demetrius.

"Sir," A female officer said, "We're the seucrity for the governor. Your orders?"

Demetrius motioned for them to guard the entrance.

"I have this door," He said, "Spread out and make sure no one gets in. NO ONE."

[Lord Borg]

Streets of Elerra Prime

T'Sa sighed in a breath and pushed her self foward. She fought the impulse to slow down and move away from Andreas, as she'd have to pass her to get to Ziona. She feared Andreas, like she feared many others. T'Sa could remember a time where Andreas wasn't one to be feared. That was before everything changed though.

[Ziona]

Xavier's Office, Exterior

Ziona could see Ian's offices up ahead and she pushed herself harder, her legs nearly giving way under her as she charged up the steps, burst through the door and saw a young man standing at the end of the entrance hall. She rushed towards the doors, slowing only near the man where she dropped to her knees, panting heavily, nearly collapsing from exhaustion.

"Ple... please... I need... I need to talk to Ian..."

Ziona heard Field Marshal Andreas as she skidded into the entrance hall to Xavier's Office, a scoff leaving Andreas' lips as she saw Demetrius standing in the reception room.