Star Trek: Sentinel

[Spellbinder Marik]

-U.s.s. Washington, Cockpit-

Captain McGowan was silent until they had gotten close enough to get detailed scans. Haley wasn�t sure what to make of this man, not yet. Haley watched as McGowan probed the nebula. Haley turned her head away after a moment. When McGowan spoke again Haley detected concern in his voice.

"Haley!" McGowan yelled, "Turn us about! Away from the nebula!!!!"

Haley almost jumped because of the shout but quickly recomposed herself.
�Firing thrusters.� The shuttle turned away from the nebula. Suddenly the shuttle started to lose speed.
�We�re losing speed.� Haley tried to overburn the thrusters but it only caused them to slow. Haley immediately thought of this in comparison to the Chinese finger trap. The harder you tried to get out the harder it held you in.

�Captain, I recommend shutting down all systems but life support. I believe I have a theory on why the nebula is acting strangely.�

[Ziona]

USS Sentinel, Savur's Sanctuary

"I'm pretty sure they have red tea. Let me go look," Kiyra got up quickly and gracefully headed over to a replicator where, indeed, they had what the lt. commander was looking for. She came back with a large cup and set it before her. "There you are ma'am." She also set down a few packets of sugar and a bit of cream. "I'm not sure how you like your tea, so I brought these just in case." Kiyra offered the woman a smile as well before she sat down again.

[squiggy]

USS SentinelBrig
Sytok weeded through more and more of his memories. He found himself continually confused by memories... that didn't quite seem REAL to him... but he ignored that.
He had figured out how to "dial down" his psychic abilities, and "dial up" them too. He was deep within meditation, when he noticed a general sense of panic comming from the nebula.
He snapped out of his meditative state...
He tapped his chest in a comm-badge hunt, and remembered where he was.
He stared out the forcefield. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn't the forcefield hat was dampening his abilities, but his own mind. It was attempting to keep him from discovering things locked within it's dark depths.
Like it was....almost....programmed... or something.
He brushed that though away.
"YOU THERE! SECURITY GAURD GUY! You have to call the bridge, and let them know that there is trouble in the nebula! HEY! YOU! WAKE UP!" He yelled through the forcefield.
Sytok sighed, and wondered how futile this was, as there was a chance the audible filter was set up on the forcefield.

[Lord Borg]

USS Sentinel, Savur's Sanctuary

Elora delicatly took the cup and smiled in appreciation. She took a moment to smell and savor the aroma the hot tea gave off before looking to Kiyra.

"Thank you, Lieutenant" she said.

Elora brought the cup to her lips and sipped the hot liquid carefully and smiled in appreciation.

"This is good tea" she commented.


Elora sat the cup down and looked to Kiyra again, and pondered her a moment.

"You are...the Captain's daughter" she commented, "Must be differnt, your father being your commanding officer."

[Ziona]

USS Sentinel, Savur's Sanctuary

Kiyra smiled and nodded slightly.

"It is quite a bit different. But I manage." She looked out towards the stars again before turning her eyes on Elora. "I guess I couldn't ask for a better captain however. He's been leading my life for the past, oh, for as long as I've been alive. I can trust him now as well."

A slight laugh escaped her lips and Kiyra glanced down at the PADD in her hands.

[squiggy]

USS SentinelBrig
Sytok cursed. After much ranting, waving, hollering, and screaming, he decided that either:
A) Security thought he had lost his marbles
B) Security didn't care
C) Security was not currently manned
or
D) The security gaurd was a moron.
Any which way, he didn't care. He wanted SOMEONE to know there was trouble in the nebula.
He had punched, kicked, and urinated on the force field, but had yet to produce any results.
He sat down on the bench, and put his head down between his legs, trying to figure out what to do next.
Laying there on the floor, under the bench, lay the PADD he had slipped in his shoe.
He raised an eyebrow.
He punched up the communications window, and asked for others using a PADD.

[Lord Borg]

U.S.S. Sentinel, Savur's Sanctuary

Elora made mental notes on what Kiyra was saying about her father, it would seem that his...past, according to his personel record, anyways, seemed to be of no consenquence to her. Rayne thought on the subject of trust, it would seem that Kiyra placed it with her father, as a duaghter should. This made her wonder about Andrew's other daughter, and what happened between the two. Elora glanced down to the PADD the woman infront of her was holding.

"What have you got there?"

[Ziona]

USS Sentinel, Savur's Sanctuary

Kiyra glanced up at Elora again.

"Oh, this is just some research regarding gas emissions and the reaction time when ignited in a vacuum. Just... nerdy stuff I suppose," she smiled gently and moved the PADD towards Elora incase she wanted to take a look. "I'm always studying. It's a curse."

[Lord Borg]

U.S.S. Sentinel, Savur's Sanctuary

Elora smiled and allowed a soft chuckle.

"Studying's not so bad, I did it obessivly in the academy when I took all of those science courses. I had intentions to be a science officer, but fate gave me another option."

Elora took a sip of her tea and sat it back down to the table.

"What's the radioactive propties?"

[Ziona]

USS Sentinel, Savur's Sanctuary

Kiyra smiled at Elora and took back her PADD when she got a message from the brig on her PADD. She arched an eyebrow and looked down at it. It stated something regarding...

Kiyra suddenly got up, her eyes on the PADD.

"Oh my god." She managed to half-squeak out. "They're in trouble." With that, Kiyra rushed from the table, heading towards the bridge.

[squiggy]

USS SentinelBrig
Sytok hoped that he got through to her, and he kinda felt bad about leaving not only a pathetic first impression on the captain's daughter, but also that he had to resort to urinating on the forcefield.
The aromas produced were... unpleasant.
His stomach gurgled.
Sytok realized he STILL hadn't eaten yet.
He sighed, and began meditating, in an attempt to bring his metabolism down to the point where nutrition wasn't needed.
He had got the word out. That was good enough for him.
He began searching deep in his memories, sifting the real out from the unreal.
He noted with interest that the dominion slave camp... hit the unreal pile. He wondered what else he had lost in his mind, and he dug deeper.

[La Forge]

U.S.S. Sentinel, Bridge

Mere seconds after Valentina had given Vincent his orders, Vincent chimed in, informing the Russian commander that the suspect, Doctor Sytok, had already been 'captured' and was sitting in the brig. Oblivious to Valentina was the fact that the Vulcan doctor had turned himself in to Security before the search could even begin.

"Fast and efficient. Maybe I judged Mister Pominville too soon. We'll see." Valentina thought, while simultaneously maintaining a completely blank look on her stern face.

One thing's for sure, one wouldn't want to play a hand of poker with this particular Russian. Her face was nigh unreadable, a blank slate, if you will. The perfect poker face. She had great control of her emotions, through mental and physical training and...other means. She rarely let anyone see what she was feeling on the inside unless she wanted them to and she rarely wanted to. After all, she was a Starfleet officer. No one needed to know about her thoughts or her emotions. No, she only needed to follow orders and do her job, without hesitation. Emotions and feelings only got in the way of the job and the job was her life...literally.

[Founder]

-USS Sentinel, Bridge-

The relief tactical officer, Jane Smith, known also as Dark Wolf, stood at the tactical console and softly tapped at the controls. There was little for her to do as they were not really in a state of battle at the moment. The Sentinel was hovering in space over a thousand kilometers away from the unusual nebula. It was massive and potentially even spanned half a light year. The massive phenomenon was glowing and there were unusual energy surges that could be seen from the viewscreen, which looked like lightning erupting inside of a cloud. Jane found it beautiful though and thought back to her tribe. Her ancestors used to believe that phenomena like this always had some type of mythological connection. Obviously, that wasn't necessarily the case, but it was still fascinating to think about. She thought about sending a message to her parents on Dorvan V. The captain had revealed that Starfleet Command changed this to a five-year mission. While she felt surprised by that sudden turn of event, she had expected that possibility. Starfleet said that this was potentially a long-range mission and could take time to complete. Although, five years seemed a bit much to her. McGowan had lightly explained their mission and she wondered if the Sentinel was up to the task of acting as a guardian to the Federation. The powerful Sovereign class starships seemed like a much better choice for this task, but sadly there weren't many of them and Starfleet no doubted wanted the ones that were built to remain close to home. The Sentinel wasn't weak or anything, but certainly not the most powerful in the fleet. The captain revealed that they would in fact have reinforcements in the future...one year into the future it seemed. She hoped that they would last that long. As ensign Smith continued to idly tap at her console and delve into her thoughts, she noticed a warning coming from her console. The nebula was...literally...moving and the energy was reaching dangerous levels.

"What the hell?" She whispered.

She suddenly realized that the others on the bridge would no doubt want an explanation and not care about her idle cursing. Dark Wolf looked up at Valentina, the first officer who had just finished speaking to Vincent.

"Commander," She called out, "Something is happening in the nebula, but I'm unable to understand what is going on..."

If anyone could better scan this problem, it would probably be Jessica Wakefield, the chief operations officer. The young woman was sitting at the operations console, the very same that her relief officer, cadet Brooks, had been sitting in when they first arrived in this space. However, before she could do something, the unbelievable occurred in space...

-USS Washington, Cockpit-

Haley had told McGowan that she had an idea as to what is causing this behavior from the nebula, which had caused the shuttle's engines to die. Sadly, this prevented the Washington from reaching the starship. McGowan didn't immediately respond as he noticed the nebula shifting in space and coming together to make...something.

"Your theory wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it?" He asked, nodding to the nebula.

The interstellar phenomenon continued to "morph" until it began to shape into a large...face.



The sight of this was utterly shocking for McGowan. As a former science officer, the idea that a nebula would do this was unthinkable and defied everything science believed in when it came to nebulas. McGowan assumed that it had to be some type of science that did this. Perhaps Ezuxa? He didn't think the Ak-Hao were capable of something of this magnitude, at least not from what he saw of them. McGowan was about to speak when he saw one of the eyes of the nebula-face glow and emit a strange energy being. It fired past the USS Washington and hit the Sentinel...

-USS Sentinel, Bridge-

The unusual beam of light penetrated the bridge and slammed into Dark Wolf, the relief tactical officer. She belted out a loud scream and was flung backwards into the console behind her station. The force of her landing caused the console to explode, shooting out sparks and electricity. Jane felt this...immense power, as that was the only way she could describe it, fill her entire body. Not just physically, but mentally she could feel someone else within her mind. Being electrocuted meant nothing to her as this unusual feeling took up everything she could possibly feel. Jane wanted to scream, but it simply was not possible. She felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside by something...unimaginable and incomprehensible by any Human. Whatever was happening to her internally, she could tell that she was in fact dying. As some type of...consciousness began to spread through her mind, she felt something for a split second. Jane could almost understand the universe on another level, impossible to understand as a Human. Her understanding did not come from death, but from the being that was taking her body. As her own mind began to shut down, her last thoughts were on how much she regretted not sending that communiqu� to her parents and how they would never hear from their beloved daughter again. The console gave one more roaring explosion and tossed her smoke-covered body to the ground...

-USS Washington, Cockpit-

McGowan watched as the glowing eye finally dimmed and the face looked pained. It was almost as if it had done something terrible and was feeling the consequences of it. McGowan was about to order Haley to find some possible way to move them towards the Sentinel, as he feared the worst. However, he'd never get that chance as the massive nebula being opened it's mouth and "fell" forward, enveloping the USS Washington completely. McGowan watched from the cockpit and saw that the nebula was now all around them, but they were not destroyed. Somehow, the shuttle remained intact and both of them were alive. How long that would be, he had no clue. McGowan felt his body being "pulled" from the shuttle and almost becoming transparent, as if he had become a ghost. For a moment, McGowan believed himself to be dead and his new ethereal form was floating away. However, it seemed like only his consciousness was being separated and moving somewhere else. As he continued to "float" out of the shuttle and into the orange nebula, it was then that it happened. A voice so loud that it filled his entire mind. If he could have, he would have clasped his hands over his ears, but he was unable to.

"FREEDOM." It boomed.

McGowan had never trembled before a voice before, but if he could have, he would have right then and there. The voice exuded power, strength, and a rigid authority all in one. As it spoke, there was almost this powerful vibration as if its very voice shook the sound barrier. He wanted to speak, but the only thing that came from his "mouth" was a pitiful squeak. The being felt pained and McGowan in turn felt it as well. He wondered if somehow the being had connected himself to McGowan. He also wondered what happened to Haley and feared that she may have been killed. However, McGowan didn't have long to worry about his chief of engineering as the being of inscrutable power reached into his mind. He felt his memories being tossed around as if someone was passing the pages of a book to find a suitable chapter to read.

"Stop," McGowan pleaded, "Please stop..."

He felt so utterly helpless against the grips of this infinite being. There was nothing he could do to fight against it. If it wanted to look into his mind, it would do so. Unfortunately for McGowan, as the being looked into his memory, so too would McGowan be forced to look at it. He felt himself being pulled back to another time...another place.

He watched as he and this...being left the nebula. While the being had no physical form, McGowan could almost sense that he was next to him. As they looked on, McGowan realized he knew this place all too well as he thought about it often. It was the gravesite of his wife, Sana. She had been buried on Luna, by her own request years previously before her death. Sana had always seen a strange beauty in Earth's moon that McGowan himself never could. Going back to Luna was now even harder due to her deceased form being laid to rest there. The captain watched his memory unfold just as it did years ago. He was weeping over her grave, while his daughter, Kiyra, held him closely. His other daughter, Kyleigh, dropped a bouquet of flowers atop the grave and stared at it for a few moments. Finally, she turned away and coldly walked past her father as he extended his hand out to her. The captain stared at the memory and felt fury and sadness for being forced to return here.

"STOP!!!!!!" McGowan felt himself scream.

The being pulled him back to the nebula with a blink of an eye and McGowan struggled to break free, but it was useless.

"SADNESS," It boomed, "YOUR FRAIL AND OLD MIND SHOWS ONLY SADNESS, AN EMOTION I KNOW ALL TOO WELL."

McGowan had no idea what this thing was talking about and continued to resist in a futile effort. Meanwhile, the being slowly focused on another figure that was floating in the nebula, floating as impossibly as McGowan was. It was Haley Taydan and this...being wished to peer into her inner thoughts and memories, where it could search for more emotions to feed on. Newer ones...

-USS Sentinel, Bridge-

Smoke filled the bridge for a few moments, but had finally died down after the rough explosion from the destroyed console. Ensign Jota Kisanan had been at the engineering console on the bridge when the energy beam hit Jane at tactical. He carefully poked his head up, after having been ducking behind a console, and watched the frame of Jane Smith on the floor. Her body was nothing more then charred skeletal remains. The Trill felt absolute horror when he saw that and realized that whatever had happened, the nebula...killed her. The holographic viewscreen was malfunctioning, so the bridge crew was unable to see what happened to the Washington. However, some of them no doubt saw the nebula turning into a giant face. Before anyone could say anything, however, the smoke emanating from Jane's body began to swirl around until it too, like the nebula, took a humanoid shape. Jota watched in shock as the bridge cleared of smoke because it had focused on this one spot and turned into...a figure. The figure was dressed in a lavish, red cloak and it was adorned with unusual symbols. It appeared to be humanoid, but his skin was the epitome of pale white and his eyes were yellowish in color. He looked around in confusion while stepped out of Jane's remains.



"Freedom." It simply said.

[squiggy]

USS SentinelBrig
The second the beam hit the ship, sytok knew he had taken too long to inform anyone the captain was in trouble.
The power, both electric, and psychic was so over-powering that sytok went from meditative state to unconcious the instant it hit the ship.
He lay there on the floor of the brig, crumpled in a pile, unconcious.

[Josi Rockholt]

USS Sentinel,Bridge

Jessica was sititing at her station and was busily scanning. At the same time that Jane noticed something in the nebula,she did also. She saw the beam strike Jane and not much more. There was a lot of smoke and after the smoked cleared,she noticed Jane's remains and felt a little to blame since she didn't get the scan before her. She didn't even realize the creature that said the word freedom. She did realized she may need to talk to someone about her feelings though. She felt as if she caused the young officers life. Maybe she didn't deserve this position in the first place.

[Ziona]

USS Sentinel, Bridge

Kiyra entered the bridge just in time to see the man appear. She hesitated, almost wanting to back into the turbolift, but instead she stepped onto bridge, her back pressed up against whatever was behind her. She swallowed heavily.

There was a body on the floor, smoldering. Kiyra refused to look at it and instead tried to make her way towards Valentina.

[La Forge]

U.S.S. Sentinel, Bridge

For Valentina, the last few minutes or so had felt as if an eternity. She could vaguely remember the relief tactical officer, Jane Smith, say something. What she had said, Valentina could not remember, as what had happened mere seconds later dominated her thoughts, pushing out any others. In a spectacular display of lights, the nebula which the Sentinel had been investigating the last few days suddenly morphed into the image of an enormous face, the eyes, deep and dark, seeming to go on forever. It was almost hypnotizing, looking into those eyes. However, what happened next was even more shocking, as, from one of those haunting and enchanting eyes spewed a beam of light, a beam which went hurtling directly for the Sentinel. The beam penetrated the thick outer hull of the Steamrunner-class starship and made a bee-line straight for Ensign Smith. The light beam slammed into the young woman, causing her to cry out in terror. The Native American woman was lifted off of her feet and pushed back into the computer console behind her, the console exploding upon impact, sending up a shower of sparks and computer parts. Electricity flowed coursed through her body. Within seconds, her body literally began to smoke, her sking seeming to melt. It was a truly grotesque sight. A few seconds later, a second explosion came from the damaged computer console, tossing the charred remains of Ensign Jane 'Dark Wolf' Smith aside, as if a used napkin. Unbeknowest to Valentina and the others yet, the Indian woman's purpose had already been served. What would happen next would only be more bizarre than what had already just happened.

Valentina looked on, in horror, at the grotesque sight before her. The ruins of a computer console in flames and the skeletal remains of a Starfleet officer lying in a crumpled heap on the carpeted floor of the bridge. Smoke seemed to fill the bridge. Valentina let out a hoarse cough as the detestable substance filled her lungs. Instinctively, she raised a hand to cover her mouth, while the air reclamators soon recycled the smoky air and replaced it with new breathable air.

The Russian commander, finally able to muster up the strength to break through her trance and take power over her body, turned her head from left to right, examining the scene. She peered into the eyes of the rest of the crew, to see how they were taking it. The Trill engineer, Ensign Kisanan, who was hiding behind his computer console, looked visibly shaken up from the events which had transpired. For once, Valentina couldn't blame someone like Jota for his fear and cowardice. A part of her was afraid right now, too, although she did her damndest not to reveal it. She had to keep a calm head and be a role model to the others in an intense situation. She couldn't afford to show weakness at any time. If she did, than that would be a signal to the rest of the crew that all was hopeless. After all, if a woman like Valentina, a hard-as-nails Russian ex-marine, can be frightened by something, then, things were bad. Very bad.

Suddenly, as if a phoenix rising from the ashes, a mysterious new being emerged from the crumpled remains of Ensign Smith, forming itself out of her dusty ashes. The figure was in humanoid form, dressed in extravagent red robes, complete with exotic alien symbols, had ghostly white skin and eyes a sickly yellow. The man, at least he looked like a man, looked odd. He looked...confused, distraught. But...why? And, more importantly, who was he, anyways?

As Valentina contemplated these questions and more, the mysterious man opened his mouth and spoke.

"Freedom." the alien-looking form spoke, simply.

"'Freedom'? Freedom from what, I wonder?" Valentina pondered, though, she quickly pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She had more pressing matters to tend with. She could contemplate such issues at a later time, when the current crisis had subsided.

Her hand instinctively snaked its way towards the holster at her side, her long slender fingers wrapping themselves around the rubber grip of her phaser. She began to release her weapon from its 'cage', as it were, slowly lifting it out of the holster. A few seconds later, Valentina held the phaser before her, aimed high at the alien man's forehead. A cold and emotionless look adorned her face, as usual. It was time to get to business.

"Don't move!" Valentina ordered the alien man, strictly, in a no-nonsense kind of way. "Now, who are you and just what the hell are you doing here?" Valentina asked the outlandish-looking being, in an almost aggressive tone of voice. She made sure to raise her phaser a few more centimeters, only to get her point across. Valentina was most certainly not a Russian that you'd like to cross. No, she was the kind of Russian who would shoot you dead for looking at her the wrong way, if she had her way.

As she waited for an answer from the phoenix-like man, Valentina could see, out of the corner of her eye, Lieutenant Kirya McGowan, the captain's elder daughter, step out of the turbolift and make her way towards Valentina. She ignored Kirya for now, waiting for an answer from the alien.

Just then, due to Kirya's appearance, Valentina had remembered something that she knew she was forgetting, the captain. What had happened to Captain McGowan out in the nebula? The last thing that she could remember seeing was the nebula transforming into the massive face. When the beam of light came at the Sentinel, the holographic viewscreen was knocked out and now the only thing she could see was a wall of metal. She tried not to think about the issue of the captain, for the moment. She would deal with that particular issue, like everything else, when the time came. One thing at a time, after all. That's what she had been taught, anyways. You have to have your priorities straight, that's what her father had always told her. Smart man. Not to mention, Captain McGowan, despite his age and reclusive nature, seemed to be a resourceful man, when he needed to be. With that engineer with him, Lieutenant Taydan, he should be alright or so Valentina hoped. She didn't need to have a dead captain on her hands in the middle of the current crisis. That wouldn't help things at all.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-U.s.s. Washington, Cockpit-

Haley felt out of body. As if she was seeing herself from her own perspective. She began to feel anger. Something was in her mind sifting through her memories like pictures in a photo album. She again felt very small and as if she wasn�t in control. She�d felt like that a few times in her life. Unfortunate as it was she couldn�t change them now. She�d read a quote by the famous Captain James T. Kirk. �It�s the things we carry with us that make us who we are.� She remembered it clearly. She didn�t know if it was the being or the fact she was watching her life before her eyes.

She�d also read that when you died your life flashed before your eyes. Had she failed to turn the shuttle soon enough? Haley felt another presence nearby. It was Captain McGowan, she was sure of it. But why would he be present in her memories if she was dying? She didn�t know him well enough to form a lasting memory. Then again some other force could be at work. Haley opened her mouth and spoke.
�Captain! Captain can you hear me?�

[squiggy]

Sytok's Mind
Sytok was lost in an unconcious state, unable to control the floodgate of memories. Sadness was all around him, and he didn't understand why.

17 years ago, Vulcan
Sytok sat in the center hall, with all the other vulcans.
They were listening to the high priest.
Sytok was meditating. Within his mind.
He had always been sad. Ever since he could remember, and unlike most vulcans, he did not even remember his own birth.
His father sat on the "defendant" seat.
"You have been charged with failure to comply with vulcan teaching protocols, Savij. Why would you not want your son to learn the techniques that will keep his mind at peace?" She asked him.
His father stared at her, and replied quietly:
"I do so because of his uniqueness. IDIC. His mind can't handle the teachings."
"Then prove that logic still rules your mind and body."
His father's head fell.
The test the priestess had forced him to take was simple.
You go out, in the middle of the night, walking a perfectly straight line, 40 miles into the desert, to reach a pillar. You read the inscriptions on the pillar, turn around, and walk back.
His father never made it back.



**OOC: Edited for storyline**

[Founder]

-USS Sentinel, Bridge-

The old-looking being looked confused as he took in the surroundings. His presence was still highly...unusual and confusing for the entire bridge crew. While he looked humanoid, he certainly had some features that distinguished him from Humans. His skin was a ghostly white and he looked like he had been dead for hours. His eyes were an unusual, but piercing yellow color. Another unusual factor was that his fingers were extremely long and bonely thin. It gave him a very monstrous look in some ways, but that term was subjective as beings in the 24th century came in all shapes and sizes. Despite this, his demeanor was still highly unusual and the twisted way he moved was disconcerting. He gave a really twisted smile, which revealed a row of white fangs. There was this strange realization in his eyes as he continued to look around. Valentina had pointed a phaser at him and demanded him to explain himself. He eyed the phaser, having limited understanding on what it was. However, judging by her pointing it at him in a threatening manner, he presumed it was a weapon. In addition, the fledgling thoughts of someone else were within his mind. They were fleeting, but remained constanst, as if this being could not get them out of his mind. He finally responded to Valentina in a cold, but strangely accented voice.

"I...am Dark Wolf," He said to her, using ensign Smith's former name, "And this vessel...belongs to me now."

He extended his long, thin fingers and caused the phaser to literarlly disentigrate in her hands. A security officer stepped forward and clasped his hand on the alien's shoulder in effort to silently order him to stand down. The being gave a loud hiss and caused the officer to fly backwards until he slammed into the turbolift doors. He dropped to the floor with a thud and caused the doors to swoosh open. Dark Wolf looked back at Valentina and smiled.

"My ressurection is at hand," He said, "But more must be done."

-Nebula-

McGowan felt another consciousness nearby, a familiar one. It was Haley's voice and she was calling out to him. He couldn't see her, but it seemed that she was in the same unusual state that he was in.

"Lieutenant!?" He called out to her, "Are you there!?"

He tried to break free of the alien grip, but found himself unable to. The captain could only float in space and allow this...powerful alien to continue what he was doing.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Nebula-

Haley heard the Captain�s voice.
�I�m here! I can�t see you! Where are you?� Haley too felt the grip of an unseen hand holding her in this place. Haley hated feeling this powerless to the control of another being. She didn�t like it one bit.

[La Forge]

U.S.S. Sentinel, Bridge

The mysterious alien being had finally addressed himself as 'Dark Wolf', the nickname of the woman who had been violently slain only moments earlier. In fact, the alien man standing on the bridge now had sprung from Ensign Smith's ashes, as if a phoenix being born anew. After naming himself, this 'Dark Wolf' had declared himself the new owner of the Steamrunner-class U.S.S. Sentinel, a bit presumptuous for one with a phaser held to his head by the vessel's actual first officer. However, the alien man quickly solved the problem as, with a mere flick of his long bony fingers, distentegrated Valentina's phaser as she held it in her hands. The once firm and very real form of the phaser melted away into nothingness, leaving Valentina holding nothing but air.

The Russian woman wore a look of shock and disbelief on her typically emotionless face as she looked at her hands, which were empty, grasping for a phaser that was not there. In her entire forty years of life, she had never seen anything like what she had just seen and she had seen her fair share of the bizarre.

Valentina took a deep breath, finally coming to the realization that this being, this 'Dark Wolf' was simply too poweful to try and deal with through force. No, she would have to play it his way, through words. Force would get her nowhere, as evidenced by the new Dark Wolf sending a security officer flying into the shiny metallic turbolift doors for the slightest touch. Valentina winced as the security officer slammed into the turbolift doors with a loud, bone-shattering 'thud'.

As Valentina contemplated her next move, the alien entity who had addressed himself as Dark Wolf had opened his thin mouth, once more, to speak.

"My ressurection is at hand. "But more must be done." Dark Wolf had spoken, with a sinister smile displayed on his ugly pale face. Valentina decided that it would be best to play along with him, for now, until she could figure out what to do next.

"'Resurrection'? What are you talking about? What more must be done?" Valentina asked, simply, trying to keep a cool-head in the thick of a dangerous situation involving an apparently hostile alien being. Being able to remain calm when things got tough was one of Valentina's greatest assets. After all, if you can't keep it together in the midst of a crisis, how can you expect to get anything done?

[Josi Rockholt]

USS Sentinel,Bridge

Jessica watched this alien being as he injured tyhe security officer and disentegrated the phasor that was pointing at him by the First Officer. She felt compelled to do something,but it looked like things were under control for the time being. She quickly began scanning for Haley or the Captain on the nebula. After several scans she picked up a lifeline.

"Commander,I've picked up a lifeline,but not sure who,or even what, it is. It's not registering as the Captain's or Haley's,but it seems human."

[Founder]

(Sorry for the lack of posts. I'll try and move things a little faster to make up for the time.)

-USS Sentinel, Bridge-

Jessica had called out to Valentina and reported something unusual on sensors. The single life sign she detected was the fusion of McGowan, Haley, and the nebula being. They had become one, if only momentarily. Dark Wolf looked at the nebula for a moment and realized that whatever had occurred, it did not go according to plan. His rebirth through Jane Smith was altered somehow. No doubt a result of the barrier that locked him in his nebula prison...

"Silence." He ordered simply to Jessica.

Dark Wolf, as this new being has come to call himself, ignored Valentina, not knowing, nor caring for the chain of command aboard the starship. It didn't matter to him that she was in charge of the vessel; it wouldn't even have mattered had she been the president of the entire Federation. No, what mattered to him was his own agenda and the starship was simply a means to an end as he waited for his powers to grow. He eyed Valentina for a moment, then looked towards the Andorian at the helm. Tarvos had been careful to remain silent and stare at his console, fearful of this unusual being. He didn't want to catch his attention, but it didn't seem like that would happen. Dark Wolf raised his hand and forced the Andorian to enter a set of coordinates. Tarvos looked at Jessica, who sat next to him in Ops, helpless and in despair. He entered an unusual set of coordinates and the ship jumped to warp. Dark Wolf sat down in the captain's chair, still ignoring Valentina. Despite his calm demeanor, chaotic thoughts filled his mind and he fought to push them aside, but he was unable to. Images of a world called Dorvan V filled his mind. Then images of a place called Starfleet Academy appeared. His long fingers rubbed his forehead as he attempted to push these thoughts from his mind.

"No more." He whispered in pain.

Despite his displayed power, it seemed that this was no omnipotent being and that he could feel pain. The images that ran though his mind were from Jane Smith, the officer he had inhabited to be reborn. Her death brought his birth, but it seemed like some part of her...lived on inside of him. He wanted to speak in the native tongue of her people, but resisted it, feeling that any language from primitive beings such as Humans was beneath him. It was partially why he did not speak to Valentina or anyone on the bridge for that matter. For centuries, possibly longer, he had not spoken in such a manner.

"Commander!" Tarvos shouted, "I'm sorry...but...I can't alter our course..."

Dark Wolf looked up at the Andorian and frowned at him. He was also displeased with how slow the vessel.

"How primitive." He said to no one, but himself.

The being shut his eyes and the vessel was ripped out of warp at a rather dangerous velocity. The Sentinel spun about violently in space as Dark Wolf focused his newfound energy. He reached out into space and forced the formation of a wormhole. Going to warp would take far too long for his tastes. A bright yellow wormhole erupted in space and swallowed the ship as it helplessly spun into its mouth. Dark Wolf used his advanced knowledge of the phenomena in space and found such things to be child's play. As the ship shook violently, Jota rushed towards the engineering console, no longer as frightened by the being. He felt more focused on dealing with the ship. As he eyed the console, he lamented that Haley was not aboard and dealing with this.

"Commander Zaitsev," He called out, "Structural integrity is failing! We have a hull breach on deck 10!"

One of the consoles exploded, but despite this, Dark Wolf ignored it. He could sense the ship was breaking apart, but he didn't really care. It would make it to the destination that he desired. Dark Wolf toyed with the idea of simply forcing all of the crew off of the ship, as they meant nothing to him, but he realized he didn't yet have that power. While he was able to do some things, he still felt limited as his body slowly regenerated to what he once was. He still felt disoriented as part of him was still back in the nebula and Jane Smith, his life line into this corporeal world, was still within him. After being trapped for so long, it was all so...disorienting. However, despite this, he was able to focus on something that had plagued his mind for centuries. His keepers, the four beings that had trapped him in the nebula still existed and watched over his bright prison in space. Getting rid of them would fully free him and allow him the ultimate power that he had desired for so long.

"Silence," He said in a barely audible tone to the Trill, "Your vessel shall survive this ordeal, but you will not if you continue your incessant babbling."

As the Sentinel flew out of the wormhole, the ancient being fought the urge to stand at tactical and take over Jane's role aboard the ship. He looked at Kiyra and felt a raw power within her and immediately he regretted not taking her form. It could have strengthened his physical abilities. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed they dropped out of warp at a nearby star. Tarvos looked at the viewscreen, still feeling the non-corporeal grip of Dark Wolf.

"Commander," He said through gritted teeth, "We're in the Beta quadrant."

He would have told her more in a detailed fashion, but he didn't have control of his hands and he couldn't scan the system. However, he was able to tell from the readouts where it was that they were. Dark Wolf stood from the seat and approached the viewscreen, an angry and vengeful look on his face as he eyed the sun.

"My old nemesis," He said, "How I've waited for this for so long..."

As time slowly progressed, he slowly began to become more adept at speaking in the way everyone on the ship could. He looked at Valentina with a twisted look on his face.

"Ah," He said, "Your services have been exemplary. I'll remember that when I deal with you all later..."

He shut his eyes tightly and reached out with ten inch long fingers. There was a moment of silence as nothing happened, before it was finally shattered in a loud way. The sun erupted and went nova right before their very eyes. The Sentinel was far enough so that it would not affect them. Tarvos' eyes widened in horror as he realized what had just occured.

"How could you!?" He shouted, "You've destroyed all the worlds in this solar system!"

Dark Wolf ignored the Andorian and waited for something, obviously something to emerge from the remains of the sun. The blast was so bright that it lit up the bridge for a moment, but as the light rescinded, a rather...unusual site appeared.



Jota eyed the screen in surprise, "How many faces live in space!?"

Dark Wolf laced his long fingers together and watched as the massive...being in the sky. It was an unusual site, but looked almost like some type of "mask" covering an energy being. Whatever it was, the thing looked furious at what had occurred and immediately noticed the Sentinel in the distance.

"So it begins..." He said in whisper.

-Nebula-

As the Sentinel jumped to warp, McGowan and Haley remained trapped within the grip of this god-like foe. Their emotions had become one and McGowan could feel Haley and the being, just like the other two could no doubt feel him. He strained against the grip, but it was futile to do so. McGowan felt absolute fear, but not because he could die. No, it was because of the absolute helplessness he felt and how much it was frightening to not be in control. It was reasons like this that he didn't believe in fate or destiny as he didn't like the idea that he wasn't in control of his own future. Sana, his deceased wife, had always chided him for his lack of faith in fate.

"Why are you doing this!?" McGowan shouted.

Haley had called out to him and it seemed that she was in fact alive and nearby. McGowan felt relieved, but realized that he had to deal with this...thing if he wanted to get out of the situation. He wondered if the Sentinel was attempting to free them. By now, they realized something had happened to the Washington. McGowan felt a...response from the being in the nebula as once more his mind was touched.

"NO," It said in a lamenting tone, "MY FREEDOM...GONE."

"Who are you?" McGowan shot back, "Why are you doing this to us!?"

He felt the mind tap into him once more and felt the terrible power of something so mammoth reaching into his mind.

"I WILL SHOW YOU." It said.

McGowan felt himself and Haley being whisked from the nebula and to a distant place, far far away. They were not really moving as it was more of their mental state. He saw dozens of solar systems pass by until he zoomed to a specific planet. It was chaotic as there was activity everywhere. Ships were encircling the planet and over a dozen stations orbited a bright green planet. McGowan, or some type of non-corporeal form, appeared on the surface of the planet. He looked around and saw he was back in his phsyical form, but no one on the planet noticed him. Humanoid aliens walked past him in a busy manner. Whereever he was brought to, it was a busy place and the city was filled with many people, all the same species. They had ears similiar to a Vorta and ridges on the side of their heads. However, for the most part, they looked somewhat Human. Hovering vehicles raced around and holograms on the street attempted to sell products for their creators. McGowan turned his head and saw Haley, much to his surprise and relief.

"Haley!" He said in a grateful tone.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Unknown Place-

Haley found herself standing in a place bustle with activity. She turned her head when she heard the captain�s voice.
�Captain, where the heck are we?�