Deep Space Guardian: Season II-Episode 38

[La Forge]

Deep Space Guardian, OPS

"You got anything on your sensors, Lieutenant?" Jones had asked Juliana, from across the bustling Operations Center aboard the Federation space station, Deep Space Guardian. Juliana quickly scanned her computer console, running a quick scan of the surface of the planet below, Elerra Prime. After a moment or two, Juliana shook her head, in dismay.

"No, sir." Juliana replied, simply. "The interference is still too strong. I can't do anything about it." Juliana lamented, with a soft sigh, knowing there was nothing she could do to help the away team trapped on the planet, with the Nautolians above. She could only hope for Captain Xavier and the other's safety and Merik's capture or death.

Deep Space Nine, Captain's Office

"I tire of you. You're a liability I can no longer afford. I'm executing you within the hour." Gul Oyet Bocal informed Colonel Ryder Melina, who sat at her place, chained to the Cardassian Gul's desk, sitting on the cold floor, enveloped in shadows.

The hardened Bajoran woman scoffed at the words, no longer caring as to whether she lived or died. After all, there was nothing left that she could do. However, by the look on the worried Cardassian's face, she could tell something was up. Something bad for the Cardassians and their Nautolian allies. A part of her longed to know what had happened. The Gamma Quadrant? Cardassian against Cardassians? Could it be...?

"I don't give a damn." Melina sneered, as she looked up at the Cardassian Gul with a look of pure hatred. "Kill me and someone will replace me. The Resistance won't die, no matter what you do. No matter what you say, we are the real winners. I have faith. The Prophets will protect my people." Melina preached to the Cardassian. "Now, get out of my sight. I don't want to spend my last hour staring at your ugly face, you Cardie bastard." Melina spat, with a weak laugh, which turned into a cough.

+ 4 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[ILoveHarry]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown Continent-

Sofie watches Ian start to walk away. She takes a few steps after him but stops. She looks to the man then back at Ian. She takes another step toward him. "You're just going to leave him," she asks. "We can't just leave him... He's your crew."

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Kiris noticed Merik go rigid and then turn to face him. Kiris smiled evilly and chucked the power cell off the side.
�You�re coming back with me Merik dead or alive.� Kiris still was unsure about Merik.
�Just one question Merik. Why? Why did you stay here and not go back to where you�re from?�

-DSG, Transporter Room-

�Computer, Locate Kiris Ditex.� Cory ordered the computer.
�Lt. Ditex is not on the station.� Cory looked to N�Tran and then back to the panel.
�What was his last known location?� The computer responded.
�Lt. Ditex was last recorded in the shuttle Dakota descending to the surface of Elerra Prime.� N�Tran stepped forward.
�He�s probably just getting some alone time. We can wait for him here. By the way, I need some navigational data. Perhaps you can help me?� Cory nodded.
�Of course. We can get anything you need from Astrometrics.�

[Ziona]

DSG, OPS

Ziona shook her head and sighed heavily, turning to look at Bengali.

"For now," she hesitated, "I don't think there's much we can do. I am sorry, but once this chaos has settled, I will immediately send out a team to find him." She clapped a hand on his shoulder gently before returning to her tactical station.

Ziona reviewed the information pouring into her console, reading the information about weapons that had been damaged, reviewing information other stations were sending to her console. With a heavy sigh, Ziona shut her eyes for a few moments, calming herself before going to work again.

+ 1 Dilithium. Small details are always good.

Founder

[Lord Borg]

-Deep Space Guardian, Promenade-

Alicia moved though the promenade, and watching people enjoy themselves. Alicia paused for a moment and streatched out, and lost her balance, and stumbled into a young woman who was in a civilian outfit, which was a red T-Shirt, and a pair of black slacks. Obviously clothing to move around in, probably on the dance floor. For a moment, Alicia thought the woman thought she looked farmiliar, she had black hair and her irises were completly black. A normal trait for the woman's species, betazoid.

"Sssssfforry" Alicia slured.

The Woman couldnt help but smile, as she could tell Alicia had obviously had a few drinks. She studied the woman for a moment, wondering if she should help Alicia to a table or even her quarters so she could sleep it off.

"It's quite alright," the woman said, "Ms?"

Alicia squinted as if she had to think for a moment, though all the woman was asking was Alicia's name.

"Alissshia Stfone..." Alicia slured out, she shook her head and cleared her throat, "No, no... I mean, Alicia Stone."

The beatazoid female nodded her head and smirked, now understanding what Alicia was saying, she noticed her sway a little bit. This woman definitly had a bit to drink, the interesting fact is she didnt have to actually drink much in this day and age to get drunk like that.

"Emorie Helban" She said and held out a hand.

Alicia stared at her hand for a moment as if she wasn't sure what to make of it. With a slight grunt she stuck out her own hand and shook Emorie's. Emorie rubbed her hand slightly from Alicia's thight grip. She noticed her division color shirt which was partially uncovered as her outer jacket was unziped. From the yellow/gold she placed Alicia in either Engineering or Security, due to her strong grip.

She offered a polite smile to Alicia and shifted her weight, the party was looking up, and then the red alert happened. There wasn't much she could do, she had checked in but her department told her there wasn't any use for her at that time. With that, and due to the fact the party was being continued by the Civilians and a rebelious few, Emorie decided to return to the party.

Emorie snaped out of her thoughts when she heard a giggle, and saw that Alicia was standing there, she had said something to Emorie, and never got an answer. Emorie blushed in embarresment.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Alicia giggled again, and restated her question, "I asked, if you had anything to drink."

Emorie shook her head slowly, she indeed had not had anything to drink yet. She didn't really care for Alcohol, or Synthehol. The taste of both bothered her, and the lack of control from excess consuption of the aformentioned bothered her worst. However, she had been known to ocassionally indulge for social occaions.

"No" she said, "I have not yet. I think you've had plenty though"

Alicia scoffed with a slight hicup and made a small chuckle.

"No, no deary. I've just got started. What do you say we share a few, Hmmm?"

Emorie raised an eyebrow in a very Vulcan fashion when Alicia had said that. It was a rather odd thing to say. She knew she wouldnt mind the company though, even if she was wasted, being new enough to not be considared new, but enough to have not really met anyone, Emorie decided to make some aquaintences today.

Emorie nodded in agreement and smiled. She shifted her weight and looked towards one of the bar set ups. A part of her felt a pang of guilt feeding the woman more alcohol, but she sounded sure, however, it was a party. Besides like she thought earlier, for all Emorie knew, Alicia only had a drink, one alien in origin. There were a few that were quite...strong.

"What should we get, Alicia?"

Alicia stifled a giggle and leaned in and whispered to Emorie. Yes, Alicia was definitly drunk, Emorie would keep the company, but not do much drinking, or let her do much more drinking.

"I want an Andorian Ale, double with Ice."

Emorie looked over to Alicia, and wondered if that's what she had been drinking, she had heard about the drink. It was a rather strong one made by the Andorian species. The fact she ordered a double told her a few things, which she tucked away to analyze further later on.

Emorie nodded to Alicia who made a slight noise as she stood up strait. She smiled sheepishly and pointed behind her where some tables were.

"I'll go find us some tables, Emorie."

Emorie nodded and the two parted, Alicia for a table, Emorie for the drinks. She noticed how Alicia had to work at not sluring her words, which was not always easy for the girl. She was roughly 5'9" or so, maybe up to 11", Emorie was never good with hieghts, especialy when it came to getting it more to within a couple inches or so. This meant that she cant have been much more then 165 or so, despite her rather strong grip. As such, alcohol was going to get to her rather rapidly, no matter how much she had, or didnt have, and with something like Andorian Ale...

Emorie sighed as she steped up to the bar and thought over what she would order.

-U.S.S. Blalock (Monarch Scout), Cockpit-

Archer winced as the ship shuddered from weapons fire hitting the shields. One advanage the Federation fighters and other small craft had againts the Nautolians were the shields. The Nautolians had the advantage in numbers, however, due to the shielding and weaponry on the Federation craft, that was quickly changing. Not fast enough, sadly, several federation fighters had already been destroyed. Archer felt a pang of guilt towards the families of the fallen.

A fireball lit up in Archer's viewport as a small craft, one larger then a fighter exploded. It was a Nautolian shuttle of some sort, but he had not fired on it. The Radical flew by Acher's ship, with only a mere meters between the two craft. The ship had disapeared somplace and come back, Archer was distressed to not be able to find the discovery anywheres in the chaos, he had managed to find the other ships. The Nova ship worried him, it was increasing in damage. Why Starfleet put a Nova class on a fleet in the front lines, he'd never understand. Then again, a ship with weapons, was a ship with weapons. It was a short range though, how it kept going for so long with so little, Soto must be one hell of a rescoucful Captain.

Jon worked at the helm part of his consol and preformed several evasive manuvers while targeting his torpedos and phasers on several fighters that were clustered together in some sort of attack formation. Archer made a slight growling sound from his throat as he looked towards his target, and reached towards the button to fire. He grined in an almost dark manner when he tapped the button and it made the sound of the weapons being fired.

The pulse phaser system fired several burst of the energy weapon towards the cluster. The torpedoes fired in a simlar pattern, launching in between the burst of the phasers. The weapons slammed into several differnt fighters, causing a chain reaction which engulfed the entire cluster in a massive fireball. A voice came over a comline that Archer had made with several of the other ships and shuttles and fighters.

"Yes! Way to go, Captain!"

Archer made no real reaction to the voice, he worked at the helm and did a few erratic manuvers to keep the enemy from getting a lock on to him. Archer slected a few random targets for the phasers to fire on as he came about, and activated them.

"All apart of the job" Archer replied as his phasers fired, "I want everyone to attack the larger ship as soon as possible, we need to prevent any more figters from being launched if they have anymore."

-Terra Nova, Starfleet R&D, Crew Lounge-

T'Sa sat in a darkened corner of the rather large crew lounge. It was also shaped oddly, with several differnt sections in the room that could allow for some privacy in an almost squared off area. T'Sa was in one of these areas now, with a couple candels lit. She had her eyes closed and ber back rigid in an upright position, and her legs crossed. She had her arms on her legs, with her hands facing up, her fingers relaxed to an open position. T'Sa had her breathing slowed to a controled rate, and chanted to herself in her mind as she meditated quickly, while she had some time. She was in a way, alone this end of the room was not occupied as others elected to go outside on a break.

You are in control if your emotions. They do not control you.

+ 10 Dilithium. Good post, time and effort and all.

Founder

[Founder]

-DSG, Ops-

Bengali nodded to the very busy Ziona, understanding that she couldn't focus on one missing officer amidst the chaos. He turned and walked out of Ops, feeling a sense of sadness for his missing friend. Jones watched him leave and looked back at his console for a moment. He felt it was sad that this battle, while small, had take a toll for the worst. It just went to show how bad this war can be...

"I'm continuing monitering the away team." Jones announced.

He wanted to keep busy so he didn't have to focus on the fact that many of his friends were on that planet...possibly dying...

-Elerra Prime, Unknown Continent-

Ian stopped, surprised by Sofie's sudden question towards him.

"What?" He asked, completel confused.

She didn't seem so distant anymore and cared about the fallen Starfleet officer. He might have misinterepreted her earlier, but he did found it strange that she wanted to not leave this dead body, but the other she said nothing about.

"I can't drag his corpse with me," He told her, "I promise, I'll have his body, and the other officer's body retrieved. Ok?"

-USS Bailey, Bridge-

Captain Soto eyed the small scoutship dashing through the fighters and assisting in the battle. Whoever was the pilot certainly had talent and skill

"The fighters are giving their lives to offer cover fire," She announced, "Lets not dissapoint them. Open fire."

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Merik chuckled ath Kiris' threat towards him. Dead or alive? It didn't sound very Starfleet like to him. He slowly began to circle Kiris as he replied to the question.

"Where?" He asked, "The other universe? Do you have any idea what is over there?"

He stopped circling Kiris and clenched his fist.

"I'll tell you," He told Kiris, "It's a nightmare. I'm not going back and some Starfleet punk is not going to change that."

His eyes scanned the sky and noticed a shuttle about to fly over them. He looked back at Kiris.

"I'm afraid that the Nautolians came to pick up one halfling..." He said.

Merik charged forward and punched Kiris in the face. Taking advantage of the fact he was caught off-guard, Merik gripped Kiris' shoulders and attempted to throw him off the side...

+ 2 good post and details

Lord Borg

[Spellbinder Marik]

-DSG, Astrometrics-

�Computer, Lab on.� Cory said as they entered. The lights and the main astrometric viewer came on. Cory stopped at a nearby panel. N�Tran waited patiently as Cory activated all the gizmos and things in the room.
�What did you need then?� N�Tran pulled a PADD out of his pocket and handed it to Cory. Cory looked the PADD over.
�You don�t have the data on these systems?� N�Tran half shrugged.
�We have some data but there are several planets in those systems that aren�t on our files. We left Romulus rather hastily and didn�t have time to update our database. So several files in our computer remain incomplete.� Cory nodded.
�Well, it�s quite a bit of data. I�ll take a little while to download.� N�Tran nodded.
�We have the time.� Cory wanted to hear more about Kiris when he was young.
�So you and Commander McKnight took Kiris to Vulcan?� N�Tran nodded.

-Planet Vulcan, Vulcan Institute of Mental Health, 2359-

Kiris fidgeted with one of the logic puzzles they had in the sparsely decorated waiting area. If he didn�t match up the geometric lines just right it reset to the beginning. Kiris put the puzzle down, bored with it. N�Tran picked it up and activated it. A moment later it made a small chime to indicate the right answer. He tossed it to Kiris.
�You have to keep a level head and you�ll get it every time.� Kiris sat the puzzle down. If it was anything he hated it was waiting. Several minutes later a younger Vulcan girl, about Kiris� age came out.

�Doctor R�Nal can see you now.� Kiris got up and walked with her to a room. When the door opened Kiris was greeted by the sight of a Vulcan women lighting some meditation candles. The younger Vulcan nodded to her elder and left Kiris in the company of R�Nal.
�Have a seat Mr. Ditex.� She instructed. Kiris took a seat and waited. He was as still as he�d ever been in his life. R�Nal turned around.
�Did your parents explain the procedure?� Kiris nodded.
�Yes. You�re going to read my mind.� R�Nal pulled a chair closer to Kiris and sat down.
�It is a little more in depth than that but you are essentially correct.� Kiris was intimidated by this women. Her voice was as solid as stone and didn�t waiver or give any sign of emotion.
�Will it hurt?� R�Nal shook her head.
�No. Now I need you to close your eyes and remain perfectly still.� Kiris complied. Kiris felt R�Nal place her fingertips on different points on his head.

�My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts. Our minds are merging. Our minds are one.�

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Kiris was caught of guard as Merik punched him in the face and attempted to throw him off the side. Kiris managed to grab a wooded pole and stop himself from falling off the side. Kiris�s weapon had been knocked away from him. He couldn�t see it anywhere. He reached for the hand phaser at his belt only to remember he�d left it behind. He looked up at Merik.
�I never said you�d go back to your universe. All I said is you were coming back with me. I�d just a soon that it be alive. The Commander will have questions for you.� Kiris knew that his words wouldn�t sink in. Merik was all bad and any amount of words wouldn�t change that. Kiris charged Merik pummeling his face and chest with a salvo of punches. Merik stumbled back and hit the floor. Kiris proceeded to kick him in the side. Merik caught Kiris�s foot and began to twist�

+ 6 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Founder]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Merik was taken aback by the chief engineers sudden ferocity and fell back when Kiris attacked him. Kiris attempted to kick him in the side, by Merik grabbed his foot and twisted it, bringing the other halfling down to the ground. Merik quickly rolled away and stood up, wiping a small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Impressive," He said, "You have a lot of spirit boy. It's a shame you won't use it against Starfleet."

He waited for Kiris to get back up, wanting to give him a fair chance. If only because he was like him.

"You must realize it by now," He said, "Starfleet will lose this war. So...why fight?"

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Kiris felt a pain in his ankle. It was probably sprained because it didn�t feel broken. Kiris wiped a splinter of wood off of his face and with it blood from a newly formed wound. Kiris got up and locked eyes with Merik.
�Boy?� Kiris stated.
�I�m older than you Merik. So which of us is acting childish here, hmm?� Kiris paced around Merik the way he had just moments ago.
�Starfleet didn�t lose against the Borg, we didn�t lose against the Dominion, we didn�t lose against ourselves and we damned sure will not lose against the Nautolians. We fight because a man has the right to defend his existence and when that is threatened we will do anything to keep that existence.� Kiris charged Merik again. This time knocking him onto an adjacent platform. Kiris body slammed Merik and began beating him against the head with his elbow.

[ILoveHarry]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown Continent-

She shakes her head at him. "If you remember, right? Or if they're still here... In the mean time if they become a meal for one of those creatures who cares, right?" Sofie surprises herself at her own boldness. She certainly never spoke to men in this manor in her old life. Ever since she was forced to evacuate, she seems to have discoverd new things within herself on an almost daily basis... as if in her old life she had never fully been herself.

She crosses to the fallen man. "It's OK, I understand. After all they've both served their purpose to you, haven't they?"

After the first death she had expected... something, anything out of Ian. She had thought he'd surely at least hide the man, an ws appalled when he did not. She hung back a few seconds to pay her respects to the man. Not that she knew him, but it didn't feel right to her to go on without aknowledging his death. Now that Ian was about to leave another of his officers behind she couldn't help but say something.

She kneels beside the man and begins to cover him him with fallen leaves and sticks. "This man's life has ended because he was fighting your cause, Ian. Surely He's earned a few seconds of your respect. To think... you call my people monsters."

+ 5 Dilithium. Nice post.

Founder

[La Forge]

Elerra Prime, Unknown Continent

Caroline had been standing several feet away from Commander Xavier and the Mirror Universe woman, Sophia Findlay, a woman whom Caroline had never seen before, while on the station. The El-Aurian woman had her arms tightly crossed over her chest, while she tapped her booted foot, impatiently, on the muddy soil beneath her. She was flanked on both sides by her officers, Pran, the Breen armory officer with his disruptor rifle still in hand, after killing the Elerran creature, and Shi'Vang, the Klingon, who had quickly recovered from his wounds at the hand of the feline creature.

The El-Aurian Captain was beginning to grow irritated about the idle banter between the two. Who cares about the bodies of some dead officers? Caroline, personally, couldn't care less, though, she was a cold-hearted person. She had a bar of latinum for a heart, one could say. However, there had been a time, many, many years ago, when Caroline still...felt for others. That was before they came and destroyed her world, killing everyone she knew and loved...her parents included. Those goddamn Borg.

In any case, Caroline, while intrigued by this Sophia woman, who seemed to have a bit of an attitude towards her Captain, Caroline was more concerned about her own safety and one thing was for sure, she didn't want Commander Xavier and his away team drawing the attention of the Nautolians to her and her crew's camp. That was the last thing that Caroline needed at the moments. Nautolians hassling her. She already had to deal with rogue Starfleet officers, dangerous Elerran creatures, and, Elerra Prime, itself. She didn't know if she would be able to handle the bloody Nautolians, on top of that.

"That's enough, both of you!" Caroline snapped at the two, Commander Xavier and the Findlay woman, stepping between the two. "I'll watch the damn bodies. Now, get the hell outta here!" Caroline suggested, forcefully, stomping her foot on the muddy ground, in the process. By now, Caroline was willing to do anything to get Starfleet out of her hair. If that meant watching a couple dead bodies for a few hours, she would do it.

+ 6 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Valathous]

~ Unknown Continent, Elerra Prime ~

Blake and his security officers moved through the trees of the unknown continent as quickly as they could. The forest was thick and lush. Because of this it made it rather difficult to move through at top speed so the ground had to make due moving as fast as their surround area would let them. The foliage also restricted their vision as it did not let them see as far ahead as they would like. They were picking up a weird signature on their tricorders however they could not identify exactly what it was. Never the less, that was their destination in hopes that it was the Mirror Universe Merik Naruul. Their lives could quite possibly have rested on this very small hope.

As they continued, the lack of any form of path became more and more apparent as the group constantly was force to leap over large roots or rocks within their path. Ducking under low branches was also not out of the norm as they trudged through the thick brush of the unknown continent. Blake curse as he got whipped by a branch with thorns across his arm, which ripped his uniform and small amounts of blood began to seep from the minor wound. Blake also had several other scratches, including one across his right cheek, also from a branch while running through the the vast amounts of various plants. With each stride the security officers took towards the unknown signal being displayed by the tricorder through the interference they had to ensure they were careful while maintaining speed. Any wrong footing with the uneven and rocky group could result in a sprained ankle and Blake and his men would obviously be forced to slow their pace if they had to carry another officer.

The group trudged on following closely behind Blake, who leap and got footing on a large fallen tree and jumped down off of it, leaving it wobbling slightly behind him due to being elevated from a large boulder to their left. The other officers followed suit. The group had remained running for the past 15 minutes and several grew rather anxious as they declared having heard growling noises coming from around them as they moved.

As Blake was about to order him to ignore it and continue one of the large cat-like creatures found only on this continent lept from a fairly thick arrangement of bushes on the forest floor and took down one of Blake's officers with his emense weight. Luckily Blake reacted quickly as he stopped and turned around quickly, swinging his phaser rifle into position with one arm and firing an accurate shot at the animal as it was getting ready to bite ensign Reinprecht. The shot did not kill the beast, however it did succeed in burning a small patch of flesh and catch its attention, drawing it away from the ensign. It also gave the rest of the team the time necessary to react as they all opened fire on the beast. An instant later it dropped dead with massive burns from the phasers firing pulse blasts at it repeatedly. Blake walked up to the smoking corpse and brought the butt end of the rifle down on it's skull, effectively breaking it to ensure its death. Blake then walked over and helped the ensign to his feet.

"Thanks..." the ensign remarked, slightly stunned from what had happened. Blake just nodded in acknowledgement.

There was one other thing that the barrage of phaser fire did. The signal they'd been tracking all this way began to turn into several signals which came closer and closer to the group rather quickly.

"Find cover! Phasers ready!" Blake ordered to his men, who all scattered in different positions, crouching behind boulders and tree trunks, both live and fallen.

"They'll be no need for that, Commander!" came a voice from the forest as lieutenant, junior grade Conroy stepped into view, behind him the whole team of officers who were on the 3rd shuttle to come down to the planet.

Blake got to his feet and lowered his rifle and he chuckled, happy to see that the missing shuttle team had survived the unexpected Nautolian fighters. "It's good to see you all alive and well," Blake said to the team, "However, while I'm glad to see you're all alive, this makes it quite obvious we've been chasing the wrong signal to find Merik and the data he has for the Nautolians. We're in the dark for his location, again..."

+ 8 Dilithium. Good detail.

Founder

[Founder]

-Elerra Prime, Federation Colony Defense Cannon-

"Ok," The engineer said, "We're good to go. I have to activate the others."

He scooped up his engineering tool kit and ran towards another of the defense cannons to activate them manually. Emma took a step forward towards the console and pressed a finger against one of the glowign buttons. A small screen on the console showed a cross arrow and coordinates where the cannon was aimed. She typed in where battle was going and took aim...

"Time to end this." She whispered.

-Elerra Prime, Unknown Continent-

Ian stared at Sofie in surprise, not expecting this from her at all. She had changed a lot since he last spoke to her. A part of him felt furious at her condemnation towards him since this entire situation was arguably her fault. If it wasn't for her fleeing to this universe to escape Daien, Merik would never have been here and officers would not be giving their lives to stop him now. A part of him wanted to leave her there, tired of having to stop and constantly dealing with her complaints and accusations. Especially, since what she said was hurtful. No commanding officer should ever be told that he didn't care about his own officers. He stepped up to her, inches from her face.

"You listen to me, and you listen damn good," He said, "Not a day goes by when I don't think of how if I had stopped Fito on that holodeck, we wouldn't be here now. I don't need to sit here and honor the dead. They won't be honored until Fito is stopped. If I don't stop Merik now, a lot more officers like them will be piling up. Now, I don't know if you've become this stuck up and self rightous from your time hobnobbing with the social elite or maybe you had time to reflect on the evils of your universe, I don't know, nor do I care. But I sure as hell won't have you condenming me or my actions. This war has been going on since before you came to my station. It is bigger then me, you, or the fallen. Now, if you have anything else to add, keep it to yourself, because I'm done playing the kind, concerned Starfleet officer. I don't care about your damn opinion!"

Caroline put an end to fight by demanding they leave. Ian was glad to oblige her. With that, he turned away and rushed through the trees, leaving Sofie behind. She was probably safer with Caroline's group anyways. He hoped so at least. Despite her cruel words, he didn't want anything to happen to her. She certainly did not deserve to die by the local wild life on the planet. A part of him wondered if all of this was personal for her. She had two reasons to be bitter towards Ian. One, her husband died somewhat because of him and his crew. Two, Ian was supposed to be there a lot more for her and her son, but honestly, he didn't want that role. He didn't want to be a forced father and felt that if he took up the mantle, he would essentially be living as MU Ian. This was not something he wanted. Ian felt conflicted because a part of him didn't like punishing an innocent child for the sins of the father. All of that rushed through his mind as he continued to run, desperately searching for Merik. Without a tricorder, it would have to be dumb luck for Ian to find him...

-USS Cerberus, Bridge-

The Prometheus class starship was having difficulty navigating through the atmoshphere as fast as it would in space. Two hull breaches and four dead officers later, they continued the fight. The Nautolian vessel was heavily damaged, but determined to wait for Merik. Whatever information he had, it was painfully obvious that it was important somehow.

"Captain," The OPS officer called out, "Incoming torpedoes."

Captain Ut looked back at the young girl, "Source?"

The officer checked her instruments and looked back at the captain.

"The Mythani continent," She replied, "Apparently, from the Federation colony."

The alien captain looked back at the viewscreen and watched a barrage of photon torpedoes ram into the Nautolian vessel.

"Damage to the vessel has increased." The tactical officer reported.

Saij Ut smiled, "Then by all means, continue firing everything we have..."

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Merik blocked managed to block one of Kiris' attacks and push him away. He jumped up, but with more blood and bruising on his face. They were now on the roof of another wooden hut as the fight continued. Merik felt it was ironic that Kiris talked about fighting for the right to exist. Wasn't that what he preached about other halflings on the station? He slammed his foot against Kiris' side and watched him roll across the ground. He quickly recovered however. It seemed he was determined to stop Merik and didn't care about the physical punishment that he was recieving. Merik noticed the Nautolian shuttle slowly approaching. He turned and jumped to the roof of one hut, then quickly jumped towards another. Fighting Kiris was a dangerous risk this high up. One slip up, one mistake, and Kiris could manage to defeat him. He would see how strong the halfling was when a group of Nautolians were fighting by his side....

"OVER HERE!!!!" Merik yelled.

+6 wonderful post

Lord Borg

[Lord Borg]

-Deep Space Guardian, Promenade-

Emorie moved away from the bar after smiling sweetly, and cooing out a thank you to the bar tender. She held a drink in each hand, the Andorian Ale, double with ice in one hand, and a glass of red wine for her in the other hand, a Chateau Picard. Despite not liking to drink, she was more then aware of Chateau Picard, a famous wine from the family of the Starfleet Captain, Jean-Luc Picard.

Emorie let out a small sigh and nodded towards a group of people that watched her walk by. She blushed slightly when she saw that a couple of them were not just giving a glance to see who was walking by. She cleared her throat and let out a smirk as she continued on for the tables.

Alicia looked over to Emorie and smiled to greet her as she approched the table. Emorie set the glasses down on the table and sat down across from Alicia. She noticed how Alicia seemed to study her glass, as if she were questioning if she should drink it or not. Emorie wondered if something was bothering the woman across from her, and if maybe she should try and act in her offical compacity to find out even though she had the day off.

-USS Blalock, Cockpit-

Archer readied another round of torpedoes and phaser fire and checked his display. He smiled when he saw that the Bailey was laying fire on to the enemy targets. Several of the phaser shots were aimed at the larger Nautolian ship. Archer targeted the exact same spot and fired his phasered and torpedoes. The weapons flew to their target and slammed into the sheilds. His sensors recorded incoming weapons fire, from the federation colony. It would seem Emma had done her job and got the weapons working.

-Terra Nova, Starfleet R&D, Corridor-

T'Sa moved though the sparse corridor, towards a simulation area, even though a Simulation would not start for some time, she wanted to be prompt and on time. T'Sa turned a corridor and stoped, looking ahead of her down the corridor, was the Romulan Subcommander Torol was staring out a window, looking lost in thought. Perhaps he was thinking of his family. T'Sa let out a soft groan, still feeling tired, and was in hopes that Torol would not pick a fight. She moved towards the man, and stoped a few feet away, and did not say a word.

+5 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Kiris felt his internal organs make a �slosh� feeling when Merik kicked him in the side.
�You�re friends might get me in a rush but not before I turn your head into a mess on the ground.� Kiris charged Merik a final time. This charge took them both over the edge of the tower or tree house they�d been standing on. Merik was pummeling Kiris in mid air and Kiris was doing his best to maintain a grip on Merik. The next thing Kiris knew he hit the ground. The wind had been knocked out of him. This time he knew he�d have broken bones. He was beginning to feel lightheaded. Merik had taken to an attempt at strangling Kiris. Kiris began to see images, prior life events flash before his eyes. It had been said that just prior to dying one would see the life which they had lived. Kiris� hands began shaking. He was losing consciousness. He couldn�t do it though.

He couldn�t allow Merik to escape. Kiris� hand involuntarily grabbed something while it was twitching. His head rolled over to see. It was a pointed stick. Kiris gripped it tighter and summed his remaining strength. He rolled his head back to see an inhumane look on Meriks face. Kiris had the most perfect opportunity.
�Forgive me.� Kiris brought the pointed stick up and stabbed it into the back of Meriks neck. Kiris could feel the blood of the man pouring on to his hand. Just before passing out the last thing Kiris saw was Merik stumbling back�

+ 5 Dilithium. Good job with Merik's death.

Founder

[Founder]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown City-

Merik clutched the wooden object potruding from his neck and tried to yell, but he couldn't. He stumbled backwards, reeling from the sheer pain that he felt. Blood oozed out from his neck and poured onto his uniform. The Nautolian shuttle, not seeing anyone, passed over them and headed back towards the ship. Merik extended his hand out to them, desperately hoping they would see him and help. He could literally feel his internal organs shut down and his legs felt weak. Merik fell over, crashing to the wooden floor. He began to think about his future and how it ended so fast. It seemed fate didn't allow him to live in either universe. He knew that in the other universe, he'd probably have died at some point as well. Merik wasn't a fighter, he never was. He was more sneaky then anything else. However, he was surprised to meet his end by Kiris. It wasn't that Kiris wasn't strong or determined, but it was because he assumed his end would be from threats he knew. Merik had never heard of the man in this universe or the other. For him to die so randomly...

"N-n-n-n..." He murmmured.

Merik shut his eyes as he died. The last thing he saw was the Nautolian shuttle fly past them. His hopes.....gone. Merik slumped still, his hand sliding from the deadly object in his neck...

-USS Bailey, Bridge-

The sky rained torpedo fire from Mythani and landed on the Nautolian ship. The fighters had thinned out and tried to flee, as did the shuttles. The search for Merik had ended when the Nautolian ship began to explode and slowly fall towards the planet.

"Move! Move! Move!" Captain Soto ordered the helm.

The Nova class starship was under the Nautolian ship, but managed to narrowly escape it as it crashed onto the planet. The crew cheered in unison, grateful the battle had ended...

+ 6 good details with Meriks surprise

Lord Borg

[ILoveHarry]

-Elerra Prime, Unknown Continent-

Sofie seethes at Ian's words. She obviously struck a cord with him, causing his harsh attitude. She is somewhat surprised that a Starfleet officer would talk to a civilian woman this way. Especially a civilian HE forced into this mess. She hadn't asked to come along. HE had asked her... again she turns to the thought that he had asked her here to get rid of her. Her concerns are confirmed when he runs off trying to ditch her. He won't get rid of me that easily, she thinks to herself. I'll be damned if I let Rusty become an orphan because of this arrogant prick. She hikes up the bottom of her tattered dress and runs after him. The fact that she is still wearing her heels from the party does not seem to slow her down.

+ 3 Dilithium. Nice job with Sofie's attitude.

Founder

[Founder]

(Points have been updated. I'm moving the story along...)

-Elerra Prime, Unknown Continent-

Ian heard the loud sounds of the massive Nautolian ship exploding and crashing into the nearby jungle. He turned to see Sofie rushing after him, but didn't say anything to her. Now was not the time to. Nautolian fighters and shuttles rushed to escape the falling ship. He saw several Federation starships dash by, including the USS Radical. Before Ian could tell Sofie to run, he felt his body break apart...as did hers...

-USS Radical, Transporter Room-

Ian and Sofie rematrialized onboard the Defiant class starship's transporter room.



He looked around in surprise, not expecting to have been beamed aboard the ship. The transporter was small and to make things more difficult, it was currently packed. He saw Blake and some other DSG officer, an unconcious Kiris, Caroline and her crew, all of them surrounded by the medical staff of the Radical. His eyes darted towards a body that was covered by a white sheet. He approached it, concerned with another officer he lost and pulled the sheet off. To his surprise, it was a dead Merik. Ian sighed in relief and allowed the medical officers to examine him. Finally...he could go back home...

[Lord Borg]

-Monarch Scout-

Archer watched with a feeling of victory as the Nautolian ship crashed towards the surface of the planet. He let out a sigh, the battle was over, but at what cost? Many good officers were now dead, scores more injured, and for one man? It was strange to think how one person could be such a threat. Then again, look at Sit Fito, he was a threat, and was well, one...thing. Archer gave a sigh and ran a scan. Some fighters were attempting to flee, but were being chased by the Federation ones.

Jon leaned back in his seat for a moment, yet another person, supposedly one of Ian's staff had managed to hide who they truely were. He wondered how Ian was going to deal with that, or how Starfleet even was going to deal with that. Archer started to wonder just who else could be hiding something, it was strange to think of it, but anyone on the staff, or on the station could be hiding a dark secret, one that could be a danger to the Federation, or Starfleet.

A consol beeped on Jon's consol, the ships were cordinating with efforts to find the away teams, and the fallen Starfleet ship, which with a once over revealed it could be taken to the station and fully repaird...again. Archer wondered what the casualty numbers where. Shaking that thought off, Archer worked at his consol to follow the Radical which went for the away teams.

A few minutes of moving briskly though the planet, the teams were on the Radical, and the ships heading for space. Archer worked at his consol, and opened a channel, to Ian, to see if he was alright.

+ 4 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Founder]

-Terra Nova, Starfleet R&D-

Sub-commander Torol had been staring out a window for what seemed like forever before T'Sa had approached him. He didn't turn to her, but knew she was nearby, standing quietly. A part of him wondered why she was just...there, saying nothing.

"I heard it is considered rude to stare at others on Earth," He said, continuing to look out the window, "Yet, you do this with me."

He watched a small shuttle dash across the sky and head into space. Somewhere, in space, his homeworld was being overrun by Nautolians. The very thought of those brutish thugs sickened him to his core.

"You know," He said stiffly, "I was a centurion aboard the warbird, Jenulla, during the Romulan-Nautolian war. I'll never forget when I first boarded a Nautolian ship. I had planned to kill more Nautolians then my fellow officers. I would do what it took to be noticed and advance in the ranks, just like any good Romulan would do. The loss of life was of no consequence. I killed exactly seven and all of them with master preccesion. One of them was a child..."

The Romulan finally looked back at her. He gave a cold, Romulan smile as he spoke. His eyes scanned her neutral and blank face.

"I'm sure you dissaprove," He said, "You are mired by Vulcan logic and Starfleet morality. I can not fathom the sheer limitations and standards you place on yourself. Perhaps, that is why you all are losing this war?"

He turned to look back at the window, thinking of his home world.

"Poetic justic," He said, "That is what some would call this. I murdered one of their children and now...they are probably murdering mine. Poetic justice. I don't care about such concepts. It means...so little to me. I care about winning this war and beating back those savages. I will not lie. I hate the Federation and every pathetic thing it stands for. I am only here, because I am using Starfleet ingenuity to aid my people, nothing more or less."

Torol was unsure of why he said all of that to T'Sa, but a part of him wanted to tell one of the Starfleet officers the truth. With Ross, he had to maintain an air of diplomacy because his superiors demanded it. Demeaning T'Sa would have no real affect, he presumed.

-USS Radical, Transporter Room-

Ian continued to stare at Merik's dead body. He wondered who had killed him, but his guess was Blake Robitaille. It looked like a brutal death too. He wondered how Kiris was mixed up in all of this and looked forward to the reports from everyone. Ian covered up the dead body and stood up, preparing to speak to Sofie. An officer approached Ian and tapped his shoulder.

"Commander Xavier," She said, "Excuse me sir, but captain Archer is attempting to contact you."

Ian nodded and began to walk away. He stopped and stole one last glance at Sofie before heading out into the corridor.

-DS9, Captain's Office-

Oyet eyed Melina with contempt and thought of how he could kill her. Simply shooting her would be the easiest and cleanest thing to do. He didn't want that though. The sadistic look on her face when she hacked his arm off crossed his mind. Perhaps he could cut her head off? Oyet stood up from his seat and swiftly grabbed her by the throat. He leaned forward until his face was inches from her.

"I'm going to enjoy watching you die...and reclaiming my sanity..." He whispered.

-USS Radical, Mess Hall-

Ian approached the console in the mess hall and opened the channel to Archer's vessel. His face appeared from within the cockpit.

"Nice ship." Ian joked.

Meanwhile, the ship had made it back into space and prepared to beam the crew back to DSG...

+ 6 good post, nice details with Torol and Oyet

Lord Borg

[La Forge]

Deep Space Nine, Captain's Office

"I'm going to enjoy watching you die...and reclaiming my sanity..." Gul Oyet Bocal had seethed to the captured Bajoran's face, while forcefully holding her cheeks with his strong grey Cardassian fingers.

Melina scoffed at the Cardassian's comment, having lost any hope of surviving her ordeal with Oyet, anyways. She no longer cared about whether she lived or died. Oyet was the one who had truly lost, no matter what the deranged Cardassian said. Someone would replace the Bajoran Colonel, as the leader of the Resistance. More and more people were beginning to resist Oyet and his regime, including his own people. It was only a matter of time...

"I think you're beyond reclaiming it..." the Bajoran woman thought to herself, with a strained smile and a soft chuckle, while the Cardassian man held her. She locked eyes with the vile man, staring into the Cardassian man's eyes for a moment, looking into deep black pits of emptiness. Oyet was a bad man, on all accounts. The only thing that Melina would regret, after she died, would be the fact that she wouldn't be around to see the bastard get what he had coming. That would have been a sweet sight. A pity, indeed.

"Do you think I give a damn? Go right on ahead, you damn spoon-head." Melina seethed, in reply, before she spat in the Cardassian man's face and pushed him back, with her chained hands. She was fed up with Oyet. "Kill me, already! What the hell are you waiting for? You've been wanting this ever since our time on Jeraddo, haven't you? Well...Now's your chance. Kill me!"

With that, Melina closed her eyes and prepared to join the Prophets...

+ 4 Dilithium. Good detail.

Founder

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Planet Vulcan, Vulcan Institute of Mental Health, 2359-

�Our minds are one.� Kiris recited as R�Nal established the link. Kiris felt a curious sensation. He felt a strong and disciplined mind. He was drawn to it. He was able to reach out and see segments of memory and view them as if they were his own. He saw the birth of a child. It was the younger female Vulcan that had led him back here. She was R�Nals daughter. Then Kiris saw a man standing in the shadows. A brief flash of light revealed the man as a Romulan. The �V� shaped ridge was unmistakable.
Another flash and then Kiris felt intense pain. It was very controlled but it was still pain. Not physical but emotional. The pain he felt wasn�t his own. Then Kiris began seeing events from his own life. The look on his parents faces when he first learned how to walk. The fear he�d felt on his first day in the public school system. The hatred and negativity he felt towards people who spoke ill of him and his father.
Then he saw his last Parrises Squares match. The thrill of the game wasn�t something he�d ever forget. Kiris then felt something. His hate and negativity seemed to ebb. Everything that made him angry seemed to not hit as direct as it once did.

R�Nal pulled away from Kiris. Kiris opened his eyes.
�How do you feel?� Kiris felt�at peace.
�I feel peaceful�serene.� R�Nal nodded.
�You can return to your parents. I�ll be out momentarily to speak with them.� Kiris walked out of the room. R�Nal joined them a moment later.
�Kiris, why don�t you wait outside while I talk with your parents.� Kiris walked out and waited. R�Nal turned back to Laura and N�Tran.
�I�ve placed several reinforced barriers in his mind that should allow him to better control his emotions. They will degrade over time but hopefully he�ll be better able to handle things himself by the time they do.� Laura shook R�Nals hand.
�I can�t thank you enough for doing this for us.� R�Nal shook Lauras hand.
�No thanks is necessary. Do be sure to keep me informed. Mind-Melds sometimes have after effects that aren�t immediately noticed.� Laura nodded and joined Kiris outside. N�Tran was about to leave when R�Nal stopped him.
�How is T�Rell doing?� N�Tran paused. Was this concern or curiosity?
�Last time I knew he was doing quite well. He�d just been promoted to Sub-Commander.� R�Nal gave a curt nod.
�When you speak with him, would you please tell him that V�Nel and I understand his decision to leave us?� N�Tran nodded.
�I will.�

-DSG, Astrometrics, Present Day-

�I never had any idea.� Cory said as N�Tran stopped speaking.
�Kiris had it rough for a long time. He still has difficulty sometimes but he has improved much over the years.� Cory was about to speak again when the computer interrupted him.
�Download Complete.� Cory plucked the PADD up and handed it back to N�Tran.
�Thank you Ensign. Your assistance has been most valuable.� Cory nodded. The story of Kiris�s life seemed to open a new line of sight for him. Maybe not all Romulans were bad as he�d always thought. Perhaps, they were just not given a chance to show their good side.
�I�m glad I could help. Is there anything else you need?� N�Tran shook his head.
�No. I should be returning to my ship. Should you wish to talk more feel free to contact me any time.� Cory nodded. N�Tran left the lab to return to the Salara. Cory shut the lab down and walked out himself.
Where is Kiris now�?

+ 5 Dilithium. Good post.

Founder

[Lord Borg]

-Terra Nova, Starfleet R&D-

T'Sa stood there, with her hands behind her back, studying Torol in silence. When he spoke, about how rude he heard it was, she pursed her lips to apologize when he spoke again, not giving her a chance. She contained her reaction, but recognized the name of the Warbird Jenulla, it had quite an impressive combat record. She recalled almost being assigned to it, however at the last moment several people were shifted around to meet special requirements for a classified mission.

If T'Sa was feeling her emotions, she would have shuddered when he smiled at her, that cold stare from the Romuan could disturb anyone. T'Sa held her place, she found it rather Ironic how he expressed such hatred for the Federation, and now he needed them more then ever. She did indeed disproove of his action towards the Nautolian children, though it would never, nor had never stoped them in the reverse situation.

The most interesting aspect was how he thought he was using Starfleet, it certainly looked to be the other way around, particuarly with the matters of the situation that lead up to the invasion of the Romulan home world. Torol certainly seemed disturbed, anyone would in his situation. She placed her self in his position, and it definitly disturbed her.

T'Sa wondered why he said all of that to her, he certainly seemed to have a dislike for her. T'Sa let out a soft small sigh of slight fusteration. She took a step forward and regarded Torol for a moment.

"I am certain that you simply did what you thought was best. Regardless of what I, or anyone else would think."

T'Sa did wonder about Torol's morals, her own Morals, and Starfleets Morals. Everyone was turning their attention away from the shady and seedy activity lately.

-Monarch Scout-

Archer chuckled at Ian's crack at the size of the scout. It was a small one, but it was definitly something you did not want to under estimate. It was good to see that it appeared Ian was in once piece.

"Haha" Archer said sarcasticly, "Very funny. Are you ok?"

-DSG, Promenade-

Emorie sipped at her wine, and noticed that Alicia was taking several sips of her drink to. Emorie studied Alicia for a moment, and wondered how things should move, Alicia looked like she had a burden on her shoulders. Emorie cleared her throat.

"So, Alicia, tell me about your self."

Alicia frowned and looked up to Emorie and cleared her throat.

"What is it you want to know?"

Emorie waited a beat then spoke up.

"What made you sink to alcohol addiction?"

+ 5 Dilithium. Nice post.

Founder

[Founder]

-Terra Nova, Starfleet R&D-

Torol scoffed at her comment towards him. It was as if she was trying to console him. The two made a strange sight, a Vulcan Starfleet officer and a Romulan officer. He looked back at her, no longer able to stare into the stars.

"I don't need your pity Starfleet," He said, "I have no regrets of what I did, nor do I feel sorrow for the death of my family. They will die to protect Romulus, the state. There is no higher honor then that."

He began to walk away, but stopped short.

"I hope that your weapon kills many of them," He told her, "Once Romulus is taken back, I'll be sure to remember your contribution here and I'll be sure to return it to Romulus. Good day captain."

With that, Torol walked off into the dark corridor. Conrad, the Starfleet engineer that had worked closely with T'Sa, rushed past the Romulan and approached the Vulcan with excitement.

"Captain!" He called, "Did you hear? We just ran a simulation and the weapon worked perfectly! After some more trial and error...admiral Ross is going to put the weapon into immediate production..."

The Federation's defense would now change...

-USS Radical, Mess Hall-

Ian thought about Archers question for a moment. It was strange, since it was a simple yes or no answer, but he didn't know. A lot of thoughts ran through his mind at that moment. Merik was dead, but the idea that Ian was tricked by an officer once more caused great concern. He thought about the war, about Sofie's cold remarks, and finally, about Ziona. An idea raced through his mind, one that he needed to speak to her about...in private. A part of him wanted to wait for the war to end before talking to her, but he could be dead by then and he didn't want to die without knowing how he felt. Ian looked back at Archer and slowly nodded.

"I will be..." He responded quietly.

-DS9, Captain's Office-

Oyet smiled at Melina's bravado towards him. He didn't care though. Breaking her was no longer something he wanted. Death was all. He looked back at the officer that was assigned to guarding her.

"Give me your phaser." He ordered.

The officer handed the Cardassian leader his phaser and watched the exchange with curiosity. Oyet pressed the muzzle of the phaser against Melina's face. His finger pressed against the cold trigger.

"Good-bye..." He whispered.

Oyet smiled and slowly began to press down on the trigger when suddenly the communicator on his deck rang out.

"Ops to Gul Oyet!" Jeilor called out, "Report to Ops quickly!"

The Cardassian cursed in his natural language and slammed the side of the phaser against Melina's face. Oyet didn't want to be interrupted or rushed from his killing of Melina. He would finish it later until the problem in Ops was solved. The Cardassian tossed the phaser to the guard and stepped into Ops.

-DS9, Ops-

"What is it Jeilor!?" Oyet screamed.

Oyet noticed that everyone was staring at the viewscreen in Ops. He followed their line of sight and his jaw dropped in shock.



The wormhole was open and Dominion ships were flooding through it.

"So many..." Jeilor whispered.

Oyet leaned against a console to help him stand. The sight of the Dominion fleet was daunting.

"They're being led by a Cardassian vessel." Din Fomeh observed.

Oyet squinted his eyes and noticed the Hideki class starship flying ahead of the fleet.

"Garak." He muttered.

In the past, the Cardassians would love to see Dominion ships pouring through the wormhole. Now, it was horrifying.

"Red alert." Oyet ordered.

-END EPISODE-

+ 8 Good post! nice cliffhanger!

Lord Borg