Deep Space Guardian: Season II-Episode 39

[Founder]

-Fierce Shadow, Bridge-

After Oasis reported what Fito ordered, he grew enraged. He wasn't mad at the Imperator or Oasis, but at the situation. How had it come this? Keto shook his head at the figure on the other side of the screen.

"I'm not about to lose the second greatest system that the Imperator controls," He said defiantly, "We can win. If we fall back, that will only empower the Federation."

He wasn't attempting to disobey the Imperator or anything close to that, but he simply feared losing the Bajoran system.

-DSG, Holodeck-

When Kiris explained, Ian suddenly realized why Kiris was behaving the way he was. Ian took a seat across from Kiris and leaned forward.

"Listen," He said, "I...understand completely. You know, when I first killed someone, I was younger then you. It killed me. As far as I know, part of you was raised with Human ideals and our morals, ethics, and most of all, our conciouses cause us to feel the sheer pain of murder. I'm sure even Romulans get that feeling."

He sighed at the memory of his own past.

"I understand your feelings," He said, "Take the time you need to recover from this, but your friends are worried about you lieutenant."

+ 2 Good detail with Ian's reflection on killing

Lord Borg

[Republican_Man]

--Ravencroft, Bridge--
"I'm not about to lose the second greatest system that the Imperator controls," Keto responded, defiantly. "We can win. If we fall back, that will only empower the Federation."

Oasis shook his head. "I sympathize with you, Admiral," he said, "but I would rather not return to the Imperator with news that one of his Admirals disobeyed a direct order. Would you want me to do such a thing, to be forced to express to His Lordship that such defiance has been exemplified by one of his leaders in the Imperial Navy? Is that what you want?" he pressed.

[Founder]

-Fierce Shadow, Bridge-

Admiral Keto hesitated before speaking once more to Oasis. The vice-admiral proved a good point. Even if he won the system back for Fito, the Imperator was sick enough to still kill him for disobeying his orders. If Keto single handedly won the battle, the glory would go to him and not Fito. That is not something the dark lord would ever allow. Fito was the type of vindictive person to award Keto a medal and then follow it with a beheading.

"You are....right," Keto replied, "I'll order my forces to pull back."

He did the standard Nautolian salute to the Nautolian vice-admiral.

"Glory to the Imperator." He said, then closed the channel.

He looked back at Ohula with a defeated look on his face.

"Order the fleet to the moon of Ceti V." He said.

Ohula nodded, "Shall I order a general evacuation of the plant admiral?"

Keto shook his head in response.

"No," He said simply, "Leave them behind."

Ohula bowed his head and relayed the orders.

[Lord Borg]

-USS Nile, Cockpit-

Burns looked to the screen and frowned slightly. Great, just great. The runabout was in no shape to mount a rescue, especialy if Nautolians were involved. However, they had a duty to respone, even though it could be a trap, the Gorn IS involved with the Nautolians...

"Setting a course" Burns said simply.

-Dominion Flagship, Bridge-

The first, Toka'tikla bowed his head slightly to Odo. He was still in awe to be in his pressence. It was strange, calling him Odo. He had the biggest urge to call him "God" or "Founder" but Odo has insisted time and time agian to be called Odo.

-USS Monarch, Bridge-

Archer smiled at the Fleet Admiral. Once again, the met, and not under the best of situations.

"Sorry for the delay, Admiral. The Fifth Fleet is now yours to command, with the others, of course."

[Spellbinder Marik]

-U.s.s. Nile, Cockpit-

Cory listened as the Gorn spoke. It reminded him of a biped dinosaur. Burns had already set a course.
�Ma�am, we should call DSG for backup. A Runabout is no match for any Nautolian ship or Gorn cruiser.� Cory knew it wasn�t right to present his suggestions as an alleviation of fear. He�d almost been killed a while back and with a child on the way he wanted to live that much more.

-IRW M�istal, 2374-

N�Tran wiped the blood off his face.
�Report.� He�s managed to choke out. The bridge was in shambles. They been lured into a Dominion trap and had taken heavy damage.
�The warp core is offline, weapons are failing.� The officer that spoke looked grim. �We lost the V�Tes and the S�lik.� N�Tran cringed. He�d had many friends on both of those ships. A console began emitting a sound.
�Sir, we have D�Tol on sensors, they�re haling.� N�Tran looked up. The view screen had been shattered.
�On speakers.� The officer put the transmission on the speakers.
�This is Commander R�kal of the D�Tol to the Warbird M�istal.� N�Tran regretted being unable to see the man speaking.
�This is Admiral Ditex of the M�istal. We have wounded and extreme damage. We require medics and engineering teams.� There was a short pause.
�We�re on our way Admiral, R�kal out.� N�Tran looked around the bridge. He and the officer at Ops were the only ones left alive on the bridge. He needed to see the rest of the ship. He turned to the officer.
�You have the bridge�what�s left of it.� N�Tran entered a turnolift.

When he stepped off on the level with the medical bay he noticed wounded officers littering the corridor. He entered the medical bay.
�Cortical stimulator!� He heard the shouts of the medical staff. N�Tran looked to where the doctor had shouted. A young Sub-Lieutenant he�d hand picked for the engineering department didn�t look good. He noticed the man jerk as the medical officers were attempting to revive him. His chest began to rise. N�Tran walked over to him. The young mans eyes were open now. He held up his hand. N�Tran took it.
�Did..we..win�?� Before N�Tran could respond the monitor flat lined.
�We will�� From that day forward N�Tran avoided emotional attachment to his officers.

-G�Tarkin, N�Trans Quarters-

N�Tran woke up clearly remembering the dream. He�d lost a third of the crew that day. After they�d been towed back to Romulus the M�istal, now the Salara, had been in space dock for repairs for nearly a month. He remembered that it was a month other Romulans were out there fighting and dieing for the safety of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. N�Tran had a strong dislike for the Dominion. He�d lost many friends and officers during the war. Then there was the combined effort with the Cardassians to assault the Founder homeworld. It had failed and resulted in the loss of most of the people that went on that mission. It was a loss the Cardassians would never recover from and the Tal Shiar would still be feeling the ramifications for several more years.

-DSG, Holodeck-

Kiris listened as Xavier talked. He seemed to understand. He�d told Kiris to take his time recovering but he didn�t want to have time to think about it. If he was working at least he wouldn�t be thinking about what was bothering him. Although, he couldn�t work all the time and he�d only remember everything when he was off duty. He�d never be able to sleep if all he saw was the embodiment of guilt when he closed his eyes.
�If I agree to get some counseling will you talk to the officer in sickbay and get them to lift the off duty command?�

+ 7 Dilithium. Good nod to the Dominion war.

Founder

[La Forge]

Dominion Flagship, Bridge

"If you could contact your forces on Bajor, that would be helpful. We need all the support we can muster." Odo had suggested to Melina, who nodded, in response, before she turned about and made her way to a nearby computer console, pushing a Jem'Hadar out of the way, in the process. The Jem'Hadar looked down, scornfully, at Melina, with a scowl on his spiky face, longing to kill her for such disrespect. However, the Jem'Hadar knew his place and knew that if committed such an action, his "God", Odo would be...displeased, to say the least. In any case, the Jem'Hadar stepped aside, allowing Melina access to the controls.

The Bajoran Colonel looked down at the computer console, for a few minutes, with a look of confusion displayed on her pale face. She had no idea how to use the console. Everything was in Dominionese and the layout was vastly different than any layout she had ever encountered before in her life. However, she wracked her mind, trying to remember how the console operated. After all, she had used a Dominion computer before, during the Dominion War. At length, Melina remember just enough information as to how the console worked to be able to access communications.

After accessing the computer, Melina quickly sent a message to her men down on the ground, on Bajor. The message had to be brief, as communications to and from the planet with the Nautolian blockade in place was difficult, not to mention the tricky Dominion controls. At length, she managed to send the message, informing her men of the impending attack and ordering them to implement her plan she had created, in case an event such as this were to happen. The civilians would be evacuated from the cities and taken to safehouses in the wilderness, while the Resistance would cause as much a ruckus as possible, down on the surface, to distract the Nautolians on the ground.

Melina looked over her shoulder, back at the others, across the bustling Bridge of the Dominion flagship, after completing the message and sending it.

"Done. The bastards should have their hands full, by the time we arrive on the surface." Melina informed the others, with a faint smile. The Bajoran Colonel was anxious to arrive to Bajor...It felt as if an eternity since she had seen her homeworld...

U.S.S. Nile, Cockpit

Juliana was rudely awoken by the sounds of the Gorn message coming from in the front of the runabout. The French woman stirred awake, cursing under her breath, as she did so. She sat up in her bed and stretched, as she usually did when she awoke. She hated to be interrupted while sleeping. Anyways, eventually, after stretching her sore muscles, she stood up on her feet and exited her compartment, walking up into the cockpit of the Nile, to see what was going on.

In the cockpit, Juliana heard the Gorn message, on the emergency channel. On the viewscreen, she saw the remains of a Gorn cruiser. The first thought in her mind was of fear. Had the Nautolians and their cronies found them? However, from the sounds of the emergency message, the Gorn vessel didn't seem to be a threat. After all, the Gorn vessel was in no shape to fight anyone. In fact, the Gorn in the message seemed to be against the Nautolians. Weren't the Gorn a member of Fito's Empire? Just what on Earth was going on? Gorn seperatists? The Black Claw? What did it all mean? Political intrigue always was interesting to Juliana, however, she preferred it when it was in fiction, not in real life. Something fishy was going on...

"Lieutenant? What's going on?" Juliana asked the doctor at the helm, groggily. She was still half-asleep, though, due to the emergency on their hands, she was beginning to come to her senses. However, Juliana needn't ask the question. She had noticed the doctor had set the runabout on a rescue course, towards the remnants of the Gorn vessel. Juliana, a former doctor, understood the reasoning for the move. While the Gorn may be their enemy, these Gorn seemed different. Not to mention a Starfleet officer would never abandon someone in need. In any case, Juliana was about to get her wish. It looks as if something far more exciting than a dull conference was at hand...

+ 7 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Founder]

-USS Jaguar, Bridge-

Ni gave Archer a quick, curt nod and then motioned towards the CONN officer to open a channel to the entire fleet. The 5th fleet was the final fleet to arrive and the battle was now ready to begin. Ten fleets had united for "Operation Methane"; creating a massive fleet that numbered at 368 starships of various classes. This was certainly one of the largest Federation fleets to ever be formed, possibly the largest. It wasn't everyday that Starfleet fought to take an entire system. Wie Ping Ni, fleet admiral of the 8th fleet, was given the task of leading the combined fleet into Hydran space and to liberate their former allies by any means necessary. News of the attack on DS9 was now all over Earth by virtue of the FNS. Ni hadn't been watching and didn't know anything beyond the fact that the battle was still going on and Starfleet demanded we take the fight to the Nautolians who are now completely off guard. Ironically, the end began when Fito assaulted Romulus. He overestimated his empire's power and resources and wasted far too many ships in his attempt to take one of the most powerful Beta quadrant powers. Now, he was suffering for it and slowly recovering, but the Dominion was not allowing a period of rest. Like the Dominion, Starfleet will now allow it any longer and will take the fight to the Nautolians. Ni stared into the viewscreen that depicted the massive fleet.



Every single ship's viewscreen showed fleet admiral Ni and the bridge of the USS Jaguar. He hesitated before speaking to the combined fleet of Federation ships and then finally started to speak.

"You all know me," He said in a soft voice, "I won't sit here and tell you about how glorious this upcoming battle will be, nor will I try and shelter you all from the truth. Many of us will not be going home after this battle. It is inevitable, sadly. William Shaksepeare wrote "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother." Well, that is what I see when I look out to all of those ships around the mine. That is what I see when I look to my left and my right onboard my own ship. I don't care what species, gender, political affiliation, religion, or any other differences you may have. All of you are my brothers and I've read far too many casulty lists. Let us end this so the admirals no longer have to read a long list of names of the deceased and the lower ranks no longer have to crowd around consoles, fearful of the list of names of the deceased for one of them might be a loved one. Fito's dream of spreading his imperialistic nightmare has become our nightmare. It's time to wake up from it. We fight to free an ally under the terrible tyranny that none of haven't seen since the Dominion war. The Nautolian war has gone on for far too long in a quadrant clutching it's wounds from a previous, recent war. It's time that we end this and we will....right now. Good luck to all of you. Ni out."

Once his speech ended, he motioned towards the CONN to cut the visible connection, but left the comm. line open.

"Red alert," He said loudly, "All hands to battle stations. Plot a course....to Hydran space."

The large fleet moved at high impulse speed and crossed the invisible border that seperated the Hydrans from the Federation....

-Dominion Flagship, Bridge-

Odo was about to thank Melina, when Weyoun excitedly began to speak while reading information from a console.

"Excellant news!" He announced, "The Nautolians are fleeing Bajor, well, at least their ships are."

The Changeling stepped forward, baffeled by these sudden turn of events. Had...they won back Bajor? He looked shocked and shook his head, unable to believe it was that easy. As far as he knew, the fleet that Kira dispatched to fight the Nautolians had lost and not made that big of a dent in the blockade.

"Well," Odo said slowly, "This is a series of fortunate events..."

Garak stepped forward, "What about Cardassia? Any news there?"

Weyoun warily eyed the man that "killed" him.

"According to reports," He said, "There are no Nautolian vessels there, save for the orbital defenses but they are under the command of the Cardassians. Apparently, the Cardassians fled the blockade of Bajor some time ago and are now cowering around Cardassia."

Odo looked at both Kira and Melina in surprise. Had they won?

-DSG, Holodeck-

Ian frowned at the "command" his subordinate was giving, but thought that it was unreasonable. No one liked to be in sickbay during the recovery period and it was obvious he wanted to work take his mind off of the debacle with Merik. Ian slowly nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright," He replied, "I'll do it under those conditions."

+ 4 Wonderful speech by Ni

Lord Borg

[Lord Borg]

-USS Monarch, Bridge-

Archer sat in his seat and listend to the Admiral. It was clear, why he was the Fleed Admiral, the man was an inspiration. A small part of him was sad Ian wasn't going to be here, the man deserved to see a battle like this go though.

Archer smiled and cleared his throat, he spoke to his bridge officers, and probably to the fleet, as the line was still open.

"My friends, I am reminded of another engagement, one where a wise man once said, 'Fortune Favors the Bold' they found out then it was true...lets continue that today..."

Archer sat a moment and then stood.

"Ready all of the phasers, and load all of the torpedo bays. Let's go..."

The Monarch moved forward, ready to assist, and combat any ship that it had to.

[Spellbinder Marik]

(Command? It was more like an ultimatum.)

-DSG, Holodeck-

Kiris nodded.
�Thank you sir.� Kiris stood up.
�If there�s nothing else sir I�m going to see about getting an appointment.�

-Ferex, Bridge-

T�Rell was almost sick of just sitting here day after day. There was nothing he could do. He almost wished the Nautolians would attack. Then at least he wouldn�t be bored. He�d be fighting for his life. Part of him also wanted to go home. He missed Romulus and the damage the Nautolians were causing would most likely be irreparable. Maybe I could convince N�Tran to allow me to take a ship and see how Romulus is doing�

-Salara, Holochamber-

�I�m getting tired. I think I�m going to go get some sleep.� Trip nodded to V�Resh.
�As you wish. There are several Klingon simulations I find quite invigorating.� V�Resh nodded.
�Until next time.� After V�Resh was gone Trip switched over to a Klingon exercise program.

-G�Tarkin, Mess Hall-

Tessa yawned.
�I think I�m going to head back to the station and get some sleep.� Laura smiled and nodded. She recalled vividly how tired and easily fatigued she�d get when she was pregnant.
�I�ll take you to the transporter room.� As Tessa got up she noticed her back was aching. It had been for some time but was becoming more noticeable each day.

-G�Tarkin, N�Tran�s Quarters-

N�Tran continued to stare into the bulkhead. He was tired but found it difficult to sleep. It was probably the Klingon beds. They weren�t exactly Risian hotel suites. He considered calling the Salara and ordering some pillows and an extra cushion but didn�t want to think of the laughs his crew would get out of it. He was only middle-aged for a Romulan but sometimes he felt much older. How he longed for the old days. He had been a lot younger when he first came to Earth. In a sense, he wished he could go back, to be there for Kiris and Laura when they really needed him. He�d been gone during the years a father would normally develop a bond with his son and now Kiris was grown and that bond was no longer possible. Of course Kiris and he have been getting along better but that was far from a father-son bond.

+ 3 Dilithium. Nice post.

Founder

[ILoveHarry]

-IKS Jo'tal, Science Lab-

Sofie stares at the device in horror. It is a crude versio of hte transporter sh had used to cross into this universe over a year prior. She continues to back up until she backs into a table. She continues to shake her head in disbelief.

"No," she pleads one more time hopelessly.

Demetrius shifts slightly, finally driftting off again. She remembers the threats that have been made up until now.

Clearly being allowed to walk away at this moment, was out of the relm of possibilities. Drastic measures and blind faith would have to suffice.

"Not with me son,' she bargins. "Send him back to Governor Al-Firdos, of this universe, home... And I shall go with you. Spare my son, and I will do as you wish."

+ 4 Dilithium. Good emotion.

Founder

[La Forge]

Dominion Flagship, Bridge

The two Bajoran women, Melina and Kira, were as shocked as Odo and the others about the startling news of the retreat of the Nautolian space force. What had happened? Why would the Nautolians flee? The battle, while certainly not in the Nautolian's favor, was not unwinnable. The Nautolians had a fighting chance, however, instead, the bastards fled, only leading Melina to reinforce her negative and deragotory thoughts about the Nautolians; spineless cowards, the lot of them. Just as the Cardassians were, the Nautolians fled, when the going got tough. However, Kira was not as naive as her fellow Bajoran Colonel. The cause of the Nautolian retreat was mysterious, however, she wasn't going to think the fight was over, yet. Something fishy was going on. Why had the Nautolians retreated? To boot, the Cardassians were left untouched, to flee to defend their homeworld. The Nautolians would never accept such disobedience. So many questions...However, those questions would have to wait. There were still Nautolian ground forces on Bajor and those forces would need to be eliminated for the Dominion 'victory' to be absolute.

"The bastards are fleeing!?!" Melina muttered, under her breath, gleefully, though dumbfounded by the recent news. Everyone else on the Bridge, minus the Jem'Hadar, of course, seemed to be absolutely shocked by the news, Melina included. "Well? What are we waiting for? Now that the blockade is out of the way, we can head straight on to Bajor. There are still Nautolians down there. My men won't be able to fight 'em forever. Let's go!" Melina snapped, anxious to see her homeworld, again. While it had only been roughly a month or so since she had last seen Bajor, even that small amount of time was too long to be away from her home. Bajor was a...beautiful place, only to be corrupted by the Cardassians and, now, the Nautolians. However, Bajor had survived before and it will, again. Melina would see to that.

"I agree. The Nautolians down on the ground are sure to be an uproar about their Nautolian comrades fleeing. We need to get them, now, while the ground forces are in a state of confusion." Kira stated, reiterating Melina's thoughts, with a curt nod in the Bajoran woman's direction.

"What about Cardassia?" Garak asked, concerned about his homeworld.

"Cardassia can wait. There seems to be no imminent danger there. For now, our focus is Bajor." Kira snapped at the mysterious and persistent Cardassian man. While Garak was an odd fellow, if there was one thing about him that was true, the man certainly had a strong dedication to his people. Kira could understand that and respected him for that. However, Melina was far less willing to accept a Cardassian as an ally, in this day and age.

+ 5 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Sam Kenobi]

-DSG, Sickbay-

Derek enters the sickbay during his off duty hours with a tricorder. He had always been bad about knowing what to do with himself when he wasn't working, so had always taken to minor repairs and tunings. He could give it to his crew, but had a feeling they probably didn't respect himm enough to care about any of his orders. And if there was anything Derek James hated more than being on this station, it was confrontation, so he steered clear of it with his crew.

A slight disruption in one of the systems in a remote part of sickbay had caught his detail-trained eye earlier in the day and had been bothering him. It was a somewhat useless system, one that obviously was never checked routinely, but in his off hours, he thought he'd make time for it, it wouldn't take but a second.

Derek wandered into another quit\et room of sickbay, following his tricorder, finally reaching the wall console he was looking for. He set his tricorder to the side while he pried the panel off the wall.

"There you are," he mumbles to himself, noting a broken connection in the wall. He takes one more scan with the tricorder before reaching in and making the quick fix. "Goddamn gremlins in the machine," he mumbles again with a small smile on his face. He reattaches the panel and turns to grab his tricorder to go.

When he turns, his mind finally out of work mode for the time, he notices the body laying in the bed next to the console.

"Oh no," he whispers, recognizing the woman immediatly. The one from the ball. The one who smiled at him, how could he forget the only smile he had gotten inn over a month? Derek stood there, all he could do was look and think.

How had she gotten here? Something must have happened after she left the bridge to go back to Elerra Prime. He couldn't bnelieve it though, she hadn't been in much danger. He felt a slight sting of responsibility - his job was to notice everything. This woman came for a party and ended up in a coma and he didn't even know how.

Derek turned finally to go out of sickbay and to a communications console. Confrontation wasn't exatly his forte, but asking the Governor if there was anything he could do to help wasn't exactly confrontation. Besides, maybe he could finally make some friends.

-DSG, Communications console, corridor-

Derek comes to the console to speak with the Governor, he hopes, about the woman from the ball. He pauses, realizing he probably won't be remembered, nor will he get through to the governor himself. He rememers the smile again, however, and continues with the transmission to the Governor's residence on Elerra Prime.

When he finally makes the communication, the call is answered almost immediatly by a womman, possibly a maid. She asks his business.

"Hello. I'm uh... I'm Ensign Derek James from Deep Space Guardian, I was hoping to have a word with the Governor?" A thought went quicky through his mind What are you doing, you idiot, like the governor would talk to you. He quickly follows his introduction, "Um... it's regarding the... the status of the woman he brought to the ball with him, I just wanted to express my condolences and ask if there was anything I could do."

+ 8 Dilithium. Really good post.

Founder

[ILoveHarry]

-Governor's Mansion-

Zoe is on her way to bed for the evening when the main communication device beeps. She takes the liberty to anser it herself. The handsome face of a young Starfleet officer comes to the screen. His statement, however, baffles the nanny.

As far as Zoe was concerned she had seen Sofie only a short time ago. She had no idea the woman Derek was reffering to was the counterpart of her young charge's mother.

"Miss Sofie accomanied the Governor... but condolences? I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Sir. She and her child retired to their quarters some time ago."

[Sam Kenobi]

-DSG, communications console-

Also unaware of the mirror universe connection, Derek shakes his head slightly, sure of who he saw in the wing of sickbay.

"Ma'am, I could be mistaken, but I'm almost sure I'm not. I just saw her in the sickbay of our station. I... I think maybe you're mistaken. She can't be in her room if she's here aboard DSG."

[ILoveHarry]

-Elerra Prime, Governors Mansion-

Zoe smiles at the sweet mans concern. "If it will make you feel better... Ensign, I shall go fetch her you can see for yourself that she is fine." She turns and walks toward the quarters assigned to the MU visitor.

"Miss Sofie," she calls out as she rings the chime. And answer does not come so she askes the comouter to open the doors. When nothing happens, Zoe begins to feel concern. She hits the override switch and the door swooshes open to reveal an unoccupied room.

"Computer, locate Sophia abd Demetrius Xavier."

Sophia Xavier is not on the premises. Demetrius Xavier is not on the premises, replies the cool steely voice of the computer.

Zoe rushes back to the comunication console. "She is not here," she reports with confusion. "I will alert security here. You, contact someone on your end. The Commander of the station, or someone... anyone. Find out what happened to her."

Zoe breaks the communication and sends an alert to the mansions security team.

+ 3 Dilithium. Nice post.

Founder

[Sam Kenobi]

-DSG, Corridor-

"But she's here..." Derek says before he is cut off by the termination of the transmission. This throws him off, wondering why the woman would be so concerned if this Sophie woman was safely onboard the station. He turned to walk back toward sickbay to make sure his conviction was correct when he remembers something that stops him in his tracks.

Xavier? He was certain the woman had asked the computer to find Sophie Xavier. Could the woman be related to the commander? He began walking to sickbay again to see the woman.

"Computer," he stated as he walked the short distance. "Locate... Sophie Xavier." He entered the room off of sickbay just at that moment, his eyes falling on the woman. He awaited the computer's affirmative response that he was looking at the woman missing from the governor's mansion.

The computer beeped a negative response. "There is no one aboard by that name. Please re-specify."

Derek furrowed his brow slightly. "Computer, who is the woman in Sickbay Bed B-01?"

"The current occupant of Sickbay Bed B-01 is Lieutenant Sophia Findlay."

Derek cocked his head slightly, not taking his eyes off the woman in the bed. Something must be wrong. Where was the woman from the ball? He tapped his combadge.

"Ensign James to Commander Xavier. I need to speak with you, regaring a... a Miss Sophie Xavier. She seems to have disappeared."

+ 6 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Spellbinder Marik]

-G�Tarkin, Corridor-

N�Tran had walked out of his quarters and looked around. It was quiet, almost too quiet. N�Tran walked along the central bay. He observed a few officers playing some kind of card game. One of the officers noticed him.
�Care to join us Admiral?� N�Tran held up his hand and shook his head.
�Another time.� N�Tran walked out of the central bay and toward the aft hatch. A door slid open behind him and Laura walked out.
�Good morning.� N�Tran stopped.
�I hope so�� Laura noted the concern in his voice.
�Problem?� N�Tran shook his head.
�No. Just a bad dream. I guess it shook me a little more than I realized.� Laura accepted that answer. She could tell when N�Tran was lying. Little did she know that N�Tran was an expert liar and only allowed her to detect them when he wanted to.
�So, when are the building materials coming?� N�Tran turned to her.
�The man at the Federation colony said the materials would be here within the week. No doubt he has to make sure that my requests are cleared with the proper channels. Don�t worry.�

The com sounded.
�Bridge to Admiral Ditex.� N�Tran walked over to a panel and pressed a button.
�Go ahead.� The voice broke through again.
�Admiral T�Rell is requesting to speak with you in person sir.� N�Tran pressed the button again.
�Tell him I�ll be there shortly.� N�Tran turned to Laura.
�I�d better go see what he wants.� Laura took his hand. �I was going to transport to the station and see Kiris anyway. I�ll walk with you to the transporter room.�

-Ferex, Transporter Room-

N�Tran expected to see his faithful Transporter operator when he materialized. The Ferex and the Salara were nearly identical save for a few minor differences and their crews. N�Tran�s gaze shifted to the door when it opened.
�I have a request Admiral.� N�Tran motioned for them to talk in the corridor.

-Ferex, Corridor-

�What�s on your mind T�Rell?� T�Rell handed him a PADD. N�Tran looked it over for a moment.
�You�re not serious.� T�Rell took the PADD back.
�I have to know sir. I have to see it for myself.� N�Tran knew there were many variables and any people or ships lost would be that many that wouldn�t get to go home if Romulus was ever retaken.
�How do you propose to get away without the Starfleet station noticing?� T�Rell showed N�Tran the PADD again.
�In 15 minutes the station will orbit around the planet and need approximately 8 seconds to connect with the sensor network to maintain a sensor scan of the system. I can use those 8 seconds to cloak and go to warp. They�ll never know I was gone.� N�Tran wasn�t sure how to respond.
�I can�t let you take any of the Warbirds. So, if you can find a ship and a crew willing to go.� T�Rell smiled.
�Already done sir. The Science ship Ares is awaiting my arrival.� N�Tran nodded.
�I have a few orders. 1, Don�t get killed, I�d hate to have to appoint another officer to take my place if something goes wrong. 2, Take some pictures, I miss home too.� T�Rell nodded.
�Understood sir.� N�Tran watched as T�Rell walked away. N�Tran wanted to go too but he couldn�t. If he did he may be tempted to fight and he couldn�t risk himself or another ship on a foolish whim.

+ 5 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Founder]

(Ok, I've updated points (mostly) across several RPGs. It's good to see some activity in the RPG area again.)

-DSG, Holodeck-

Ian stood up as Kiris did and nodded as the officer put their meeting to an end. He hoped that the young officer would be able to get past his problem. With personal experiance, he knew that it was not easy and a painful thing to live through. Although, most officers found a way to cope with it. In this day and age, Starfleet was about war, not exploration. A sad reality to Xavier.

"Alright," He said, "Sounds good. Good luck lieutenant and if you ever need to talk, my door is always open."

He turned from Kiris and headed out, turning his head as he walked.

"By the way," Ian called back, "Nice ship."

With that, he walked out of the small mess hall and approached the nearest exist.

-Hydran Starbase, Ops-

A Nautolian captain stood within the alien Ops. It orbited the Hydran home world and had been occupied when the Hydrans were forced into Fito's waning empire. Obviously, the methane was filtered out and the enviornmental systems were altered to emit oxygen. The Hydrans, a strange group of aliens, had a small area of space that was definitly not as big as the Federation. It's influence spread about three systems, including one that that housed a planet with a crashed NX class starship. The DSG crew had gone to that planet in an attempt to retrieve the ancient ship, but failed. The Hydrans called their government, the "Kingdom". They follow a strict monarchy and are heavily religious. They have so many Gods, that each individual starship has their own God. The Hydrans, despite their strange apperance, not being able to breath oxygen, and have three genders, they were very close to the Humans in terms of philosophy. They were very peaceful, which is why they've been conquered by the Lyrans, Klingons, and now Nautolians. However, that does not mean they are push overs by any means. Hydrans specialize in creating fighters and hold over 1,000,000 fighters within their Kingdom. The Hydrans have had shaky relations with the Federation ever since the Federation grew closer to the Klingons after the Dominion war. However, they were still allies and needed to be rescued. Fito had forced them into his empire by threatening to poison the atmosphere of every Hydran colony until they obeyed him. Reluctantly, the government bowed to his demands and agreed to join him, hoping that one day they'd find a way to stop him. That day finally came...

"Captain," A Koinian cried out, "Sensors are reading a massive fleet of Federation ships entering the system."

The Nautolian captain jumped across the steps that led towards the said console and checked the readings. To the sensors, it looked like a giant wall heading directly for them. He took a few steps away from the large console and stumbled forward.

"Put it onscreen!" He demanded.

The Koinian officer nodded and ran his fingers over the console. The viewscreen quickly switched from being black to depicting the source of the large sensor readings. What was on the screen made every Nautolian, Koinian, and Cardassian's blood freeze. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the incredible sight.



News of the fall of Bajor, Cardassia, and DS9 were circulating around Nautolian comm. lines. It seemed that, that was just the beginning.

"Order the Hydran ships forward," He ordered, "Then the Cardassians, then the Koinians, then the Nautolians."

The Koinian officer nodded and quickly relayed his orders, demanding that the Hydrans move forward. The fleet of Hydran ships moved away from their occupied starbase and moved towards the looming Federation fleet. The Nautolian captain watch the fleet press forward, not expecting them to actually survive the battle against hte large fleet. It didn't matter though. The Hydrans were not as "pure" as the Nautolians and their death meant absolutely nothing.



He folded his arms and watched as the two fleets would soon collide in a fury of phaser and torpedo fire. The Hydrans had a special type of torpedo called "hellfire" torpedoes. They could do some serious damage and expected to see them tear some Federation ships apart. To his surprise, the Hydrans didn't unleash a single fighter from within the bowels of each starship. He took a step closer, eyeing the viewscreen in surprise and suspicion. Just as the fleets were about to collide, the Hydran vessels stopped, allowing the Federation ships to pass by them, without firing a single shot.

"BETRAYEL!!!" He said with gritted teeth.

The captain turned and pointed at the Koinian officer that had been relaying orders.

"You!" He yelled, "Order the Cardassian ships to proceed, with the Koinians. Send a distress signal to Nautolian Command! Now!"

The Koinian nodded and quickly rushed to relay the message with lightening speend. The Nautolian captain hunched over a console, fearful of what was coming...

-USS Jaguar, Bridge-

The fleet admiral, Wei Ping Ni, had just spoken the leader of the Hydran fleet and without wasting a second, the Hydrans quickly powered down their vessels and allow the Federation to proceed, not that they would argue. Despite the fact that hundreds of Hydrans will no doubt be killed for this transgression, they gladly faced death over serving Fito a second longer. It was amazing at how fast it had happened. With only a few words, the Hydrans extended their heartfelt thanks and stepped aside, promising to resist as well. Ni was sitting in the rather comfertable chair on the bridge, watching as the fleet roared past the Hydran fleet and continued towards the Hydran home world. Once that feel, the nearby systems would quickly fall. Once more, Fito made a dire mistake in enlisting the Hydrans into his empire. While they were an easy conquest, the Hydrans had the problem of not breathing the same type of air as the Nautolians. Nautolians were forced to construct space stations in orbit of each planet they sought to control or simply place a fleet to guard it. This was difficult because the Hydrans had a lot of freedom within their own planets without the watchful eyes of Nautolians or Koinians.

"Here we go." Ni's half Vulcan, half Human, Aora Tiin, first officer announced.

He looked up to see a Cardassian Galor attempt to hold them off but they were no match. The tactical officer of the Galaxy class ship quickly fired phasers and pushed the vessel aside.



The Cardassian ship exploded and flew aside, unable to withstand the force and might of the Federation phasers. Fleet admiral Ni eyed the viewscreen and saw the Hydran homeworld on the viewscreen. It's atmosphere had a purple tinge too it and the land masses were shaped differently then Earth's. That small planet was the key to this battle. Winning that, meant winning the system. By now, Nautolian ships were being pulled from other occupied Hydran systems and coming here. It was what would be the saving grace of this battle. In an attempt to hold the Hydran home world, they wold be unintentionally making it easier to conquer all of Hydran space. The battle had begun and raged all around the Jaguar. The Koinians and Cardassians, the latter being oblivious to what is going on in Cardassia, were desperately trying to hold back the fleet. Ni noticed more and more Nautolian ships warping into the system and taking a position near the Hydran home world.

"Don't stop for one moment," Ni ordered, "Continue onwards."

The CONN officer nodded her head, "Aye sir."

The ship increased in impulse and masterfully dodged enemy vessels.

-USS Latin, Bridge-

The small bridge of the starship, packed with officers, was already taking some damage from the battle. Unlike some of the other, larger ships, the Latin did not have the luxury of having the strength to push through the enemy fleet. They fired everything they had, unable to avoid return fire. The ship shook again from another hit.

"Shields are down to 67%." The tactical officer reported.

Captain M'Tress nodded to the officer, "Fire everything we have. We can't afford to be conservative with our weapons today."

The officer nodded and unleashed a barrage of torpedoes, forcing them all around them. A Nautolian fighter exploded from a direct hit by a quantum torpedo. The Saber class starship narrowly dodged ramming into a Galor class starship and continued to follow the fast fleet.

-USS Munich, Bridge-

Captain Schweitzer was sitting against his chair, holding the arm rests and trying to stop himself from being thrown across the bridge. The vessel was not as tough as some of the others, nor as fast as some of the smaller ships. It was a light cruiser and had the power to pack a punch. Unfortunately, so did the Koinian vessels. One of their ships fired on the Munich, unleashing the deadly Nautolian torpedoes. Schweitzer watched as a nearby console flickered from the hit.

"Don't stop for one moment," He ordered, "We push our way towards the Hydran home world."

As much as he hated that order, he would obey it. Schweitzer prefered making small pushes int othe system rather then barrelling through a fleet. Now, they would suffer tons of losses as result of it.

"Shields are down to 90%." An officer reported.

Just as he expected, Schweitzer nodded and watched as his ship continued to fly past Nautolian forces and continue with the others.

-USS Nagasaki, Bridge-

The Akira class starship under the command of captain Sovor, masterfully weaved through the enemy vessels, destroying any passing ships. His tactical mind continued to show through his ship's battle capabilities. He was standing next to the helmsman, watching the viewscreen up close. A The Cardassians and Koinians were putting up a tough fight and were not about to give up thie planet so easily.

"Initiate attack pattern Gamma." He ordered.

The helmsman nodded and quickly gave the tactical officer the room to fire and hit the maxium amount of starships. The Akira class starship kept flying through, easily keeping up with the majority of the fleet, unlike the Latin and the Kyoto.

-USS Kyoto, Bridge-

As usual, this Akira class starship was not doing as well as it's "sister" ship, the Nagasaki. The Kyoto, under command of commander Ghaa Thorol, was trapped in between two Koinian starships and was unable to follow the main fleet.

"They've cut us off." The Trill helmsman reported.

Ghaa had been sitting in the captain's chair and quickly stood up, approaching the helm.

"Fire everything we have!" He ordered.

It was a typical order by the brutish Tellarite. He had no strategy like the Vulcan, Sovor. This was what caused them to constantly be pummeled by the Nautolian starships. The Akira class starship unleashed a barrage of photon torpedoes and unsuccessully attempted to push past the ship....

-USS Bailly, Bridge-

Captain Soto was fuming at the fact that her small ship was sent into a battle of this magnitude. Obviously, the use of small science ships in wide scale battles reflected how weak the Federation had become. A large majority of the ships in Starfleet were at this battle. The Bailly, a Nova class starship, was quick and nimble, and managed to keep close to the USS Monarch. The powerful Sovereign class starship was having no problems blowing up the Koinian and Cardassian ships, leaving a wide road open for any following ships.

"Stick close to the Monarch," Soto ordered the helm, "I have a feeling that's the only reason we're still in one piece."

A direct hit by a Cardassian phaser, caused the ship to shake and begin to vent plasma.

-USS Discovery, Bridge-

The bridge of the Intrepid class starship was loud, filled with the red alert sirens, warning sirens from the consoles, explosions, and screaming officers. The vessel, like the Bailley, was built for science, not war. Phasers were firing in a desperate attempt to hold off the three Hideki class starships in close pursuit.

"Shields are down to 44%." Tactical stated.

The Andorian commanding officer, Skolorr, looked to his unofficial first officer, Reed, of the Hippocratic Oath.

"It seems that we're not as quick as some of our counterparts," He said, "We should stay and fight."

Reed looked hesitant with the suggestions given by the Andorian.

"I suppose we have no other choice." He said.

Skolorr cringed as a console exploded.

"It's either that or get destroyed by each passing phaser and torpedo!" He yelled back.

The Andorian looked back at the tactical officer.

"Plot a course to 55 mark 890." He demanded.

The damaged Intrepid class starship turned about and fired phasers...

-USS Cerberus, Sickbay-

Sickbay of the Prometheus class starship was absolutely packed with officers. All of them crying, groaning, or screaming in sheer pain from their injuries. The sounds of biobed monitors going flat as the patients died cast a haunted mood inside sickbay. The doctor, a young inexperianced Human female, was dashing back and forth to assist patients when the doors opened and three officers were carrying an injured officer. She immediatly recognized her as the captain of the Cerberus.

"She's hurt, bad!" One officer said.

The Doctor ran a medical tricorder over her body, trying to ascertain her wounds. She snapped it shut and placed it to the side, snatching another item. Her eyes looked for the nurse for assistance, but she was busy with something else. She needed help and needed it fast.

"Computer," She said, "Activate Emergency Medical Hologram."

The latest EMH shimmered into view, requesting the medical emergency. She looked up at the holographic medical officer.

"We have to save the captain's life." She said.

-USS Madras, Bridge-

The Ambassador class starship was fighting to keep up with the Radical and the San Antonio. The older ship was having difficulty keeping up and suffering a barrage of phaser fire by the Koinian vessels.

"We're so close..." The CONN officer said.

The commanding officer, Michael Westmore, watched the viewscreen and saw the Hydran home world getting closer. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by dozens of Nautolian vessels. Not to mention, they still had a lot of Cardassian and Koinian ships to get through.

"The San Antonio is reporting multiple hull breaches." The OPS officer reported.

Westmore frowned, fearful for the Excelsior class starship. He shook his head, pushing that from his mind.

"Try and fire the pursuing ships of the San Antonio," He ordered, "But don't slow down our speed."

-USS San Antonio, Main Engineering-

The warp core in main engineering began to flucuate as the ship continued to be hit. The chief engineer, a Bolian, rushed past the screaming engineers and attempted to do everything possible to hold the ship together.

"Bridge to engineering." Captain Tulak said.

The Bolian tapped his combadge, "I know, I know. You need more power to the shields. I'm giving you everything I got."

He rushed to a console displaying the current status of the ship and nearly fell over from the sheer damage. The ship shook again from a strong hit.

"Hull breach!!!" An officer screamed.

A massive hole appeared in engineering and sucked out several engineers before the force fields kicked in. The Bolian, who barely survived, rushed towards the warp core and checked the status. Somehow, it was not damaged but any more hits and they'd have definite core breach on their hands. He looked out at the force field and could see the battle from the giant hole in the bulkhead.



He shut his eyes when he noticed some of his engineers floating away into the coldness of space and the heat of the terrible battle.

"Bridge to engineering," Tulak said, "Are you alright?"

The Bolian chief of engineering shook his head, as if the Vulcan captain was there, and quietly whispered.

"No..." He said.

-USS Radical, Bridge-

Unlike many others in the mixed fleet, the Radical was doing amazing and able to hold it's own against the enemy forces. It flew alongside the Madras and the San Antonio.

"Captain Sojah," An officer reported from his console, "The San Antonio's speed has reduced. They're falling back."

Chein frowned, wondering what he should do. Ni's orders were to continue on to the Hydran home world, but he wasn't going to leave others behind in the 5th fleet. As Ni had quoted from Shakespeare, they're a band of brothers.

"Turn about." He ordered.

The CONN officer looked back at the Bajoran captain in utter shock.

"What?" The officer questioned, "Turn about? But our orders..."

Chein slowly nodded his head, "To hell with our orders. We're not leaving the others behind. Now do it."

The officer reluctantly nodded and turned the Defiant class starship back towards the center of the battle. Its pulse cannons fired and destroyed a Koinian vessel that had been attacking the highly damaged San Antonio.



The bridge crew smiled as the Excelsior class starship was now able to continue on with the fleet. The same officer reported to Chien.

"Captain," He said, "The Kyoto is about to be destroyed."

The Bajoran nodded, "Plot a course and engage."

-USS Milky Way, Bridge-

The Galaxy class starship had been been flying alongside the USS Jaguar and firing on any ships that attempted to block their path. The calm British captain, Cain Sebastian, watched the viewscreen and noticed the planet coming up. They were so close. Nautolian ships had continued to drop out of warp and surround the planet in an attempt to protect it. There were many ships and after suffering some painful losses with flying through the mixed fleet of Koinians and Cardassians, they may not be able to take the planet.

"Status report?" Cain ordered.

The first officer looked back at the captain, "So far, so good. Shields are at 70%, but that is the maximum extent of the damage we've suffered."

Cain nodded his head, "Good."

He was pleased to hear the report and knew the real battle would come iwth the Hydrans.

-USS Quasar, Bridge-

The other Galaxy class starship in the 5th fleet was unable to keep up with the other ships and was attempting to fight off Koinian ships with the Discovery.

"Hull breach on deck 14." An officer announced.

Captain Graham frowned at the announcement, fearful of the ship's future. Along with about a dozen others, they had been left behind and were desperately fighting off the enemy ships.

"Continue firing." He ordered.

He noticed the USS Radical fly past them and head towards the damaged Kyoto on the viewscreen.



"Godspeed." He whispered.

-USS Nottingham, Jeffries Tube-

Lieutenant Commander Gozex was inside of a jeffries tube in an attempt to try and regain phasers which had gone off-line. The chief engineer had been killed and the commanding officer, Benson, had ordered Gozex to get phasers back on-line. The Bolian hated Benson and felt like the man was trying to take command from him. He felt it was a slap in the face ordering him to do this rather then another officer. It was just another way to get him off the bridge. Gozex stumbled forward as the Miranda class starship lurched from taking a direct hit. If he didn't get phasers back on-line, then this battle would become even more difficult. He continued to work at an open panel, desperate to fix the damaged phaser array. Judging by internal scans, one of the phaser arrays were irrepairable. He sighed and applied the final device, temporarily fixing the problem. As he tried to leave the jeffries tube, commander Benson called to him from the combadge.

"Benson to Gozex," He said, "I don't know how you did it, but it worked. Great job."

The Bolian rolled his eyes and ran towards the nearest turbolift, desperate to get back onto the bridge, where he belonged...

-USS Monarch, Bridge-

The fleet was mere moments away from passing through the Koinian/Cardassian fleet. Despite being an extremely powerful starship, the Monarch took some damage of it's own. Emma continued to update Archer on the status.

"Captain Archer," She said softly, "We're almost clear, but we've left a lot of people behind. Some of them from the 5th fleet."

She sighed sadly, realizing that her friends were now trapped back in that mess of a battle and they were proceeding directly into a bad battle of their own...

-USS Jaguar, Bridge-



Right there, on the viewscreen, was the Hydran homeworld. Their target for Operation Methane. Ni hadn't realized how hard he was clutching the armrest until he pulled away, feeling his sore hands.

"We've cleared the battle." The CONN officer said.

Ni nodded and quietly responded, "How many ships are with us?"

Jora, the Bajoran helmsman, checked her instruments before responding to the fleet admiral.

"281 ships." She reported.

C'Thane, chief tactical of the Jaguar, stared at his console in sadness.

"That means 87 ships are back there." He reported.

Ni shut his eyes, realizing that a lot of people maybe dead or were about to die.

"Amina," He called out, "Put the fleet on the comm."

The Iraqi communications officer nodded and quickly obeyed the Asian man. The ship was now connected to every vessel in the fleet.

"Oh God!! NO!!!!!

"Hull breach on deck-"

"Turn about!!!"

"Shields are off-line!"

"I'm attempting the attack patern-"

"Someone help us!!! Please!!!"

"Oh no! They're boarding!!! Security to the bridge!"

Ni fought the urge to throw up, listening to the desperate cries of other Starfleet officers. He stood up suddenly, pointing the planet on the viewscreen.

"All vessels that made it through," He said, "Follow my ship!"

The ship flew now into open space and approached the all Nautolian ship fleet....

-Dominion Flagship, Bridge-

The Dominion fleet had been at high warp as they discussed how to proceed. Odo overruled Weyoun and said that all ships would be needed. However, that did not appear to be the case any longer. They had reached Bajor to find it empty of any Nautolian ships. At least, in orbit. Nautolians were on the planet, still running their death camps and no doubt wondering why their own fleet abandoned them. Odo felt it was such a cold thing to do. He folded his arms and listened in silence as Melina, Kira, and Garak spoke about the present situation. He agreed with Kira, Cardassia was not in immediate danger. According to long range sensors, the Nautolians fled Cardassia as well, including the planet itself.

"We're dropping out of warp," Weyoun announced, "And establishing orbit with the planet."

As Kira moved towards a transporter with Melina, Odo reached out and gently grabbed her arm.

"Nerys," He whispered, "You don't need to go down there. It's..."

He didn't want to say it wasn't safe, risking offending her.

"The Jem'Hadar can handle it." He pleaded.

The Changeling still had feelings for her and would probably never lose them. He didn't want to risk her getting hurt or worse, killed in battle with the Nautolians themselves. Garak watched from across the bridge, not particularly interested in liberating Bajor. Although, Kira did assist in liberating Cardassia and he did owe her for that. He contemplated if he should go down to the planet and finally realized that he should. Garak stepped alongside Melina, the rather anti-Cardassian Bajoran colonel.

"I'll be going with you," He taunted, "Oh and please, try and remember that you're targetting the Cardassians in uniform...not me."

-Nautolian Shuttle, Cockpit-

Oyet, no longer really holding a title, flew the shuttle towards Cardassia, hoping he would be well recieved. His face was bloodied and bruised and he no doubt had internal injuries. He didn't care though. What mattered to him was that he managed to escape Terok Nor alive. He sighed in relief when he saw his home world, but to his surprise, there were no Nautolians orbiting the planet. Oyet contacted the planetary control immediatly.

"This is Oyet Bocal," He said, "I need immediate assistance. I-"

One of the Galor class ships opened fire on him. Oyet looked around in shock, not understanding why they would do this. Suddenly, he realized why. It was the same reason the Nautolians were no loner in Cardassian space. His people, were rebelling. Oyet jumped to his controls and attempted to jump to warp. The only place left that he could flee was Nautolia Prime. Despite Fito's cruel treatment towards him, that was his only ally left. Although, Fito would no doubt kill him for his failure. Oyet contemplated jumping to warp and not stopping. What else could he do? He set a course and then jumped to warp, escaping the wrath of his own people...

-DSG, Holodeck-

After stopping for an important item in his quarters, Ian walked back into the Japanese setting program on a holodeck. Ziona seemed to still be inside, but the clash of swords could not be heard. He walked through the beautiful setting, searching for the bridge that he had fought on.



He walked through the archway and found the bridge where Ziona was meditating nearby. The hologram was not fighting for some strange reason and off to the side, meditating with her. He wondered how she did that and then realized she altered the program. Ian's feet crushed the grass as he approached her calm, quiet form.

"Computer," Ian suddenly announced, "Delete hologram."

Ujio quickly dissapeared before he could protest. As Ziona stirred from her meditation, Ian sat next to her and opened a small box. As he held it to her, it exposed three full rank pips, indicating the rank of commander.

"Ziona Andreas," He told her, while pulling the pips off her own neck, "I hereby promote you to the rank of commander and to the position of first officer onboard Deep Space Guardian."

He placed the pips on her neck and stood up, holding his hand out to her to help her up. Ian had been finally chosen his first officer and he felt there was no better choice. Now, she would command the station under him. The program couldn't be more beautiful and the symbolic custom that was special to all Starfleet officers couldn't have had a better place to be done.

"Congradulations." He said.

Unfortnately, before Ziona could respond, Ian's combadge chirped and the voice of his OPS officer was heard.

"Ensign James to Commander Xavier. I need to speak with you, regaring a... a Miss Sophie Xavier. She seems to have disappeared."

Ian arched an eyebrow in surprise. Sophia had gone missing? He looked at Ziona, then tapped his combadge.

"Meet me in holodeck 5 on deck 2 ensign." Ian ordered.

He wondered what happened to the woman and then suddenly remembered how Monroe was obessed with finding her...

-IKS Jo'tal, Science Lab-

Lurta gave a deep laugh at Sophia's pleas for her son. Monroe frowned, displeased with how all of this went. It didn't look good so far, but he needed to be sure that Fito didn't have an army waiting on the other side and he needed Sophia to lead him to it. For some reason, she did not comment on the fact that she and her late husband worked with the Nautolians. No doubt, that meant something.

"No," He told her, then looked at Lurta, "Activate the device."

Lurta nodded and gently laid the multi-dimensional device on a console. She approached another console and began to type something. Monroe moved to assist her, scanning the device into their systems.



He placed it back down when the console reacted to the device. What was new about this specific mutli-dimensional transporter is that, if connected with the ship itself, it can transport the entire ship, rather then just an individual. However, it was a messy prototype, built within the time span of a week based off of old schematics from Chief O'Brien of the space station Deep Space 9.

"We're ready." Lurta said.

Monroe looked back at Sophia.

"Time to go home." He told her.

He turned around and pressed on the console, causing the device attached to it, causing it to blink rapidly and activate. The ship shook for a few moments and a strange whining sound was heard. Suddenly, everything went silent. Monroe looked around, confused.

"Well," He asked Lurta, "Did it work?"

Lurta checked with the bridge, then looked back up to him, revealing her gans as she smiled.

"It appears that we did go through a dimensional shift." She said.

Monroe smiled in relief and looked at Sophia in response.

"Welcome home." He said.

+10 Best. Post. Ever. Words elude me on this...

Lord Borg

BONUS!!!!: + Transwarp Engines. Being all of those people, and doing a super good job with the HUGE post.

Lord Borg

[Sam Kenobi]

-DSG, Sickbay-

"Meet me in holodeck 5 on deck 2 ensign," Derek heard the commander's reply. He felt his heart jump slightly. What the hell had he gotten himself into? He paused momentarily before moving out of the room.

"Yes sir, I'll be right there."

[La Forge]

Jalanda City, Bajor

Talas, an Andorian female and former Starfleet officer turned Resistance member, stood behind a rustic Bajoran computer console inside of a dingy control room in a make-shift bunker, which served as the Headquarters of the Bajoran Resistance on Bajor. On the monitor of the rusty computer console was displayed a message from the leader of the Bajoran Resistance and close friend, Colonel Ryder Melina. Talas had thought the woman to had been killed, long ago, during Oyet�s raids on Bajor�s moon.

Gul Oyet Bocal, in his insanity, had sent out raiding parties across the Bajoran system, in search of Melina, after his capture and eventual escape by the Resistance, at the hands of the Colonel. News of Oyet�s capture had rapidly spread across the system. Rumors of his whereabouts sprang up all over the place. No one could be sure as to what had happened to the leader of the Cardassian people. In reality, the Gul had managed to escape from the clutches of the Resistance by crashing the Bajoran Raider, in which he was being transported from Bajor to a more secure location, into the surface of Bajor�s fifth moon, Jeraddo. However, the Resistance didn�t know this, nor did anyone else in the sector, not even the Cardassians, themselves. On the surface of Jeraddo, the sole survivors of the crash, Colonel Ryder and Gul Oyet, played a dangerous game of cat and mouse, with the apparent winner being the Gul, after Melina had seemingly fallen down a deep chasm. Eventually, Oyet had been rescued, however, Oyet was changed, somehow. His experience with Melina had taken a toll on him, for sure. Revenge was the only thing on his mind. It clouded his thoughts, blocking out anything and everything. While his most trusted advisors were telling him Melina was surely dead, those words were not enough for the deranged Cardassian, as search parties were sent across the sector, looking for some proof of her demise. Oyet had been right about Melina. She had faked her own death and escaped the planet, via a decrepit old Bajoran Raider, which had been hidden on the Lunar V Base during the original Occupation of Bajor, in case such an event were to occur. Melina had fled to Derna, using a secure route, where she was taken in by the small Resistance force there. Talas and the main resistance force on Bajor knew nothing of this, as, due to the craziness which ensued after Oyet�s capture and eventual escape, interstellar communications had been blocked. In any case, Melina had eventually been captured by one of the Cardassian search squads, who had wiped out the entire Derna resistance in the process. She had been taken to Terok Nor, also known as Deep Space Nine, to the Bajorans and their so-called Federation �allies�.

Though, now, apparently, the Colonel was safe and well. Melina had detailed the Resistance�s plan of attack, in the midst of the Dominion invasion of the Bajoran sector, in the brief command order. The scattered resistance cell�s across Bajor were to evacuate the Bajoran civilians and take them to the �safe houses� which had been set up in the wilderness of Bajor, in case something of this magnitude ever were to occur. That was the Colonel for you, always thinking one step ahead. The safe houses were located all over Bajor, in the caves and forests...anywhere away from the obvious hot-spots of a ground fight on the surface of Bajor. After the civilians had been taken to these safehouses, in the Resistance was to cause as much of a ruckus as possible. Anything that could be done to distract the Nautolian and Cardassian forces still left on Bajor would help, she had said. Bombs, assaults...anything. The Resistance may be small and weak, after the recent beating taken by the Cardassian whiplash, due to Oyet�s capture, however, the members of the Resistance were strong and dedicated and could get the job done, no matter the circumstances.

Talas vowed to follow Melina�s orders to a tee. She wouldn�t sit around and let the Dominion fight their war for them. However thankful Talas was to the Dominion, for their assistance in the fight, she wasn�t going to let the Dominion do her job for her. While she might not be a native of Bajor, in her time stranded on the beautiful planet, due to the Occupation, Talas had grown to love the place and its people, with the nuances of the Bajoran culture. In fact, Talas had even taken up the Bajoran�s religion. In a way, Talas was a Bajoran, in spirit. The others had accepted her and the other non-Bajorans who had taken up the fight against the planet�s oppressors. After all, who would pass up much needed help in a war? Most certainly not the Bajorans, who had their fair share of war, despite being such a peaceful people. All help was welcome help, including the help of the Federation. Talas, herself, was disappointed in her own people. While the Federation had their own war to fight, nothing, absolutely nothing, had been done to help Bajor. How could the Federation turn their backs on Bajor, so coldly, without so much as a �Goodbye�? The most outspoken opponent of the Federation in the Resistance happened to be it�s leader, Colonel Ryder.

After reading over the order, to make sure she understood everything it pertained to, Talas exited the dingy office, stepping out into the bright sunshine of a Bajoran afternoon, in the beautiful strictly Bajoran city of Jalanda City, which had been liberated by Melina�s cell months ago, where a large mass of Resistance members, mostly Bajoran, with a scattered few non-Bajorans, including a Cardassian or two, waited. Talas was the second-in-command of the Resistance and in Melina�s absence, took up the role of leader, which was a tough role, especially being an off-worlder. Some of the Bajorans hated the idea of a non-Bajorans in a fight which was not their own, especially when that off-worlder held more power than themselves.

�Alright, boys. You know what we�ve gotta do. It�s payback time.� Talas shouted out, at the silent mob, who cried out in unison, ready to take the fight to the Nautolians and finally reclaim their planet.

Dominion Flagship, Bridge

The group, consisting of the Bajoran Colonels, Kira and Melina, the Changeling leader, Odo, the former Obsidian Order agent, Elim Garak, and a detachment of Jem'Hadar soldiers, headed towards the transporter, to be beamed down to the surface of Bajor, to participate in the embattle planet's liberation, freeing the once beautiful Bajor from Nautolian and Cardassian occupation once and for all. However, as the group made their way towards the transporter on the Bridge of the Dominion flagship, Odo had reached out his hand and gently touched Kira's arm, with a look of intense worry on his artificially-created face, a rarity, for the ascetic and usually emotionless Changeling.

"Nerys...You don't need to go down there. It's...The Jem'Hadar can handle it." Odo had pleaded to Kira, nervous for the woman's safety.

Kira looked to Odo, with her sparkling green eyes, who looked genuinely frightened for her safety. She could see in his Changeling eyes that Odo still deeply cared for her, as she did for him. It was only natural to not wish those who you loved harm. However, Kira knew, deep down, in her pagh, her very soul, she must go to Bajor and fight for her people. She felt exactly the same way as Melina did. She couldn't sit idly by and watch the Dominion fight her battle for her. No good Bajoran, no good citizen of any world, could wish such a thing. It didn't feel right. It was wrong, as simple as that. She had to fight. She simply had to, no matter what Odo said. It was...personal...for her.

"I'm sorry, Odo...I'm going and there is nothing you can do about it." Kira responded, grimly, at length. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. We've been through worse, right? I'll watch your back, you watch mine." she added, with a smile, in an attempt to cheer the Changeling up. She didn't want to worry Odo.

Meanwhile, Garak walked alongside Melina, towards the transporter pad, onboard the Bridge of the Dominion flagship, eyeing her suspiciously, as was his manner. However, Garak had a reason to eye this one, this Colonel Ryder Melina. She was a fiesty one, she was. Stronlgy anti-Cardassian, it seemed. Garak would have to keep both eyes open when it came to dealing with her.

"I'll be going with you. Oh and please, try and remember that you're targetting the Cardassians in uniform...not me." Garak had taunted the rather hot-headed Melina, as was his 'charming' personality. Melina stopped in her tracks and scornfully turned to look at the mid-sized Cardassian man, with a foul scowl on her face. However, suprisingly, the scowl faded to an oddly happy smile.

"I'll try, though, my memory isn't what it used to be. Don't hold it against me if I happen to...forget." Melina sneered, sarcastically, before she strode off, ahead of Garak, onto the transporter pad.

+ 10 Dilithium. Great post, great detail.

Founder

[Lord Borg]

-U.S.S. Nile, Cockpit-

Sue Burns felt like she was about to go nuts, people in differnt directions at once were asking questions about what was going on, all while she was trying to get the runabout to the cordinates of the distress call. Burns wondered where Blake was, he was the commanding rank on board at this time, although no doubt due to regulations, they would have responded anyways. Burns looked to Cory quickly.

"That's a fine idea, send a message to the Station let them know we are responding."

Burns tapped at a few more controls and then glanced back to Julianna. She was amazed that the woman could have fallen asleep on such a noise shuttle.

"We're answering a distress call from a Gorn ship, there is severe damage, and the distress signal was cut off, and is now on the emergancy channel."

Burns looked back to the station she was working at and read a sensor read out, checking for any sort of Nautolian ambush. She hadn't seen anything, but they could be hiding their ships some how, though that would be extreamly doubtful.

However, she kept herself ready for a retreat, if she had to, as the runabout could not possibly survive in a battle with a cruiser. Most likely, it could wiht a fighter or two, the ship had shields, the fighters, did not.

-Starfleet Engineering Transport, T'Sa's Quarters-

T'Sa sat in her seat, staring at the screen waiting for an answer from Nicodemus, when the chime to her door rang. T'Sa raised her eyebrow in a typical Vulcan fashion. She had asked not to be distrubed for a few hours, other then computer updates.

"Pardon me, for a moment, Nicodemus. Someone has arrived to my door."

T'Sa rose and moved for the door, wondering who was there, and why.

-USS Monarch, Bridge-

Archer sat in his seat, almost going limp from the fact they exited the battle. Scans had shown 81 Starships were still in the combat zone. He knew by alrights he should follow the Admiral, but those 81 Starships were going to got to waste alone in there. Although they would do some damage, first. Jon looked over to Creed, conflicted on what to do.

"What ships of ours were left behind?"

+ 5 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[ILoveHarry]

-IKS Jo'tal, Science Lab-

"Welcome home", Monroe sneered.

Sofie feels herself become lightheaded. If it wern't for the fact that she was so hell-bent on protecting her son, she probably would have passed out from sheer fear for their fate.

"What do you hope to accomplish with this," she demands.

She wants to yell. To scream at these people who were not people at all, but monsters. She wants to explain further that she had been an upstanding citizen in their universe for well over a year. That she had no idea Merrik had followed her and stayed on the station. However, whenshe tried to open her mouth, she found that she could produce no sound at all. Save of course her one underlying question of the night. The question that stil had not been answered.

She stand imobile and silent. Clutching her child for dear life.

+ 5 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Spellbinder Marik]

-U.s.s. Nile, Cockpit-

�Acknowledged LT.� Cory collected the data they had and put it all into one file. He used a standard Starfleet encryption and sent it on its way.
�I sent them our position, a copy of the Gorn transmission, our current status and whereabouts.�

-IRW Ares, Bridge-

T�Rell sat on the cramped and rather poorly lit bridge of the science ship Ares. There was a scan diagram on the main viewer showing the orbit of DSG. T�Rell thought it wise to sneak away. If they saw him leaving they may suspect the worst.
�They�re in position sir.� T�Rell looked over to the Ops officer.
�Engage the cloak, helm set a course out of the system at maximum warp. As soon as we�re clear slow to warp 6 and set a course for home.�
�Aye Sir.� T�Rell watched as the helmsman plotted their course. It was like a doctor performing surgery.

-DSG, Holodeck-

Kiris nodded as Xavier said his door was always open. It was nice to know he could talk to Xavier if he had to. Although he wasn�t entirely comfortable being buddy buddy with the commanding officer. He�d always been told that a commanding officer was supposed to maintain a certain distance from the rest of the crew. Kiris shook of his internal monologue.
�Computer, save changes and end program.� The computer beeped and the program vanished leaving Kiris standing in the hologrid. Kiris walked out of the holodeck. He had to find the counselor. It was mighty decent of Xavier to go along with Kiris�s suggestion and Kiris desperately needed to get back on duty.

-DSG, Chief Engineer�s Office-

Laura McKnight figured Kiris would be where he worked. No one had informed her that he had been having trouble. Laura sighed as she passed all the engineers on the way to her destination. Had she stayed on Earth she may have been promoted to captain by now and even been given her own command. Although officers at her age generally held the rank of Admiral. Laura walked into the Chief Engineer�s office. She noticed an Ensign sitting at the desk looking through some PADDs.
�Excuse me; do you know where Kiris Ditex is?�

-DSG, Counselor�s Office-

Kiris stood just outside. He�d never volunteered for counseling ever. This time though his job depended on it. Kiris took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.

+ 6 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Sam Kenobi]

-DSG, Holodeck-

Derek enters the holodeck, taken by surprise at first by the beauty and intricacy of the program. He often steered clear of the holodeck on his own accord, not considering himself an artistic person at all, believing all he could create would be the inside of a plasma filter. He noticed Ian and Ziona sitting on the grass and bit his tongue, angry he had put himself into a social situation he didn't know how to handel... entering on a date or something? He had heard gossip about the two being together, but didn't much care for gossip. Still, he felt out of place.

He cleared his throat slightly. "Sorry to interrupt, sir." when they both looked up, he added a "ma'am" to his greeting. He took a breath.

"Um... it's just that... I called the governor on Ellera Prime. Because of the woman I saw in sickbay." He goes on, knowing that letting them speak will throw him off the words he had thought of on his way.

"I don't pretend to know what happened here before I came, but something is wrong. Because I know the woman in sickbay is the one from the party. But when I called the home of the governor, a woman claimed that she was there., Sophie. but she went to check. and she was gone. I checked with the computer. And she isn't the woman in sickbay."

+ 5 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Founder]

(Points have been updated.)

-USS Monarch, Bridge-

Emma checked the small console on her chair and read the information to captain Archer, who had asked which ships of the 5th fleet were left behind.

"The USS Radical, Quasar, Discovery, Latin, and Kyoto." She reported.

She looked back at Archer, wondering what he would do. He had the option of going back and saving the others, but in doing so, he'd leave the rest of the fleet short of a Sovereign class starship in assault of the Hydran home world. This was one of the difficult parts of being a captain in Starfleet.

-DSG, Holodeck-

Ian listened to Derek's report on the problem and Ian suddenly realized the man was new and did not know about the mirror universe debacle.

"Ensign," He said, "I'm sorry, but I think you're missing a lot of information."

He went on to explain what had happened when the mirror universe Sophia crossed over with the child in an attempt to escape Daien Archer, the counterpart of Jonathan Archer. In confusion, Archer attacked the real universe Sophia Findlay and placed her in a coma. The woman at the party was of course, Sophia Xavier, the counterpart to Sophia Findlay. e explained that she was not related to him, but married to his now dead counterpart on the other side. However, while that explained a lot for Derek. It didn't explain where Sophia Xavier was. She was still missing and goveror Al-Firdos' aide had no record of her leaving with Al-Firdos to the political conference. So...where was she?

"Ensign," Ian finally said, "I want you to go to Ops and try to locate her. She could be lost somewhere on Mythani."

Mythani of course was the only contienent on Elerra Prime to be setteled and was the site of the small Federation colony.

-USS Trek, Bridge-

A Nebula class starship was patrolling the border between Federation and Gorn space. Jacob Sebastian, a distant relative of Cain Sebastian, was sitting in the captain's chair, bored out of his mind. For months, he had been tasked with guarding this border when rumors of a Gorn-Nautolian alliance surfaced. So far, there was absolutely no information on it. He was oblivious that his distant cousin was fighting for his life in Operation Methane. Jacob had been the chief tactical officer of DS7, Thomas Xavier's old station.

"Captain," An officer said, "There is a Federation runabout approaching the border."

He squinted his eyes, confused by the report.

"Hail them." He demanded.

-IKS Jo'tal, Science Lab-

"What do you hope to accomplish with this," she demands.

Monroe looked back at Sofie, "I hope to save the Federation."

Lurta was speaking to a monitor in the room that connected to the bridge.

"Plot a course to Elerra Prime." She demanded.

Monroe took a step forward, "Let's take a trip to the bridge Miss Xavier."

He motioned to walk forward. On the bridge, they'd get to the bottom of all of this...

+ 4 Good post, The USS Trek? Nice one

Lord Borg