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Brighter Horizons USS Beifong | Deck 1 | Briefing Room After 'I want coffee, dammit'
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Landon had entered the small room, ordering himself a nice hot mug of tea before taking a seat at the head of the tiny oddly triangular shaped table. Defiant class Briefing rooms were small, cramped little things that really enforced the 'brief' part of the term Briefing Room. In order to avoid claustrophobia, it was best to keep any sort of briefing down to half an hour at the most. The table sat a handful of people and the room could fit a few more than that if need be.

For the time being, it was just Landon in the room with a mug of tea and a PaDD sitting before him that he was reading through. Though he had summoned his First Officer to join him within the next few minutes before the scheduled meeting with the rest of the ship's Senior Staff. The young man was still holding onto his reluctance to wear the red command uniform, but he was making use of the Captain's chair, the Ready Room, and being the 'head' at the triangular conference table. Small steps and small compromises. Eventually, he might just be willing to wear the red.

As the door chime rang to the Briefing Room, Landon sat the PaDD down and looked up. "Come in Xiulan" he said calmly. He knew who it was on the other side of the door. Aside from having summoned the woman, his empathic and telepathic senses gave him the upper hand advantage...perhaps something he would come to heavily rely on as a starship Captain in survival mode, trying to keep the Beifong from being destroyed before they could reach their destination in a half dozen months. Each day that passed without death or destruction was a day worth celebrating.

"Look, I gotta level with you," Xiulan started as soon as she entered the briefing room and found a chair to sit in; clearly this was not a good sign for her to be starting off this way! "If you don't do something about that- that-" Xiulan had to clench her fists as a visible sign of her restraint in refraining from calling Brott something unsuitable given that she was on duty, but she failed miserably, "that Bolian ass-hat down in the lounge, I swear I'm going to send him out an airlock! Seriously! He yelled at me for ordering coffee and then served the most vile swill I have ever tasted! The mess hall is not his private lounge; most of the crew quarters don't even have private replicators, the mess hall is the only place for them to eat on a ship this size! He doesn't have the right to decide what is and isn't acceptable for service. He is supposed to be enhancing the barely palatable replicator food given our limited resources, not running the place like his own private tea shack!" While her rant may have started because of her own personal discomforts, it still addressed a very important issue regarding the well-being of the rest of the crew!

Landon couldn't help but giggle and snort at his First Officer's tirade. She had a lot energy and when it went towards something, damn did it ever get released full burst. Fortunately, Landon just found the whole matter amusing and did not get too upset with the woman practically screaming at him. "I know...why do you think I drink tea? The guy has practically scared me shitless and steered me far away from looking for coffee in any nebulae" joked the young blue eyed former Chief Medical Officer.

He let out a cooing sigh as he massaged his temples. Everything was giving a headache these days and it wasn't anyone fault really. Well, perhaps the Copernicus or whoever had been aboard her and opened fire on the Beifong. They were surely to blame and Landon as calm and friendly as he was, really wanted to give them a piece of his mind and bitch them out. "Brott is...different. He's a unique personality and he's civilian. It's not like I can demote him or throw him in the Brig for having a strong opinion about beverages" said Landon. "However, civilian or not he is a member of the crew and thus is considered personnel. Oh goodie for me, I don't usually deal with personnel problems. That is the First Officer's job" said Landon with a big broad smile.

"If you are going to leave this up to me, then I will confine him to his quarters until we get to Ophinias. And this is not just about the coffee. Okay, it's a lot about the coffee, but also the fact that he doesn't have the right to deprive the crew nor give them an attitude about what they order. I still assert that he is running a Starfleet mess hall, not his own private lounge, he doesn't have the right to impose his personal standards when the crew have nowhere else to go for sustenance. Literally nowhere! I will reiterate that the shared bunks do not have replicators, the mess hall is all they have!" Xiulan insisted, but much more calmly this time.

Landon playfully teased the woman by raising his mug of hot tea in her direction. "Sounds like you are plotting a 'CUP d'etat'" said Landon with the awkward pun. "Shall I have you transferred to Food Service, Lieutenant? Perhaps you can become the Blind Barista for the crew?" offered the man, poking some fun at her expense. "In all seriousness though, you are correct. He's becoming a damn tea tyrant and its steaming the crew. It's probably time we steep the situation" added Landon with more puns.

"You're doing this just to mess with me, aren't you?" Xiulan asked suspiciously. She sighed. "Okay, you want me to deal with this, then I will, but only on the condition that if he doesn't stop that I get to confine him to quarters and assign someone new to take his place."

"Not it" replied Landon swiftly, touching his index finger to his nose. "Yeah, I'm messing with you. I had to. I mean really...the Captain was placed in stasis, our XO may have been the one firing on us, I allowed our only shuttle to leave on a one way trip and my problem today is what exactly??? A Bolian banning coffee from his little tea party?" asked Landon, not really looking for a reply. "Tell him to cut his shit out and present him with your terms and conditions. If the crew wants to have coffee, then they damn well will have their coffee."

Landon's gesture was completely lost on Xiulan, yet the way he said it seemed to infer that he expected some kind of response from her, something she had no idea how to respond to! "Right... I know it may seem like I was making a big deal out of nothing, but the more I thought about it the more I realized he shouldn't have the right to tell the crew what they can and cannot have, and out here where we have so little, that's an important thing. That affects... what's-it, morale and shit! And I'm not used to be the one in charge who gets to decide these things; I'm used to being like Brott, which now that I think about it makes me feel kinda dirty. Now I need a shower."

Landon smiled broadly. "Morale and shit. That's definitely a unique way of expressing it" he said with a chuckle. "Go take your shower, Lieutenant. Just be back in here in by the time of our scheduled staff meeting. Oh, have you had the chance to meet our Caitian Lieutenant from the rescued shuttle? What are your thoughts on him? I was considering offering the position of Chief Flight Controller if you didn't have any serious concerns?"

"I actually met him in the lounge after my fight with Brott," Xiulan said with a snicker. "Interesting guy, quite the character, but he seems genuine enough, even including the over the top exuberant speech and persona; the way he speaks comes off too naturally for that to be an act. And I don't get the sense that he's one of the pirates trying to pull one over on us, if that's what you're asking?"

"In a way" replied Landon. "I sense no deception from him when I met him, and I've already had Security pull up his personnel files to confirm that he is who he claimed to be. More so, what I am asking is how do you feel about him serving with us? Do you think he can follow orders and adapt to our current situation?"

Xiulan crossed her arms in thought as she leaned back in her chair. "I don't see why not. I mean, he seems like a team player, and I cannot believe those words just came out of my mouth..." She shook her head with a heavy sigh. "Since I'm your First Officer and in charge of personnel and all, I can extend the offer to him and see to it he's here for the briefing if he accepts."

"Then you had go scurry off and find our Feline friend" replied Landon. "The meeting is...roughly an hour and half. Go offer him the position. If he accepts tell him to attend the meeting. You should have enough time to offer him the position and get that shower in" added the man.

And boy did she need that shower! Xiulan had been on the fast track to being a career Ensign, something that she saw no shame in, at the moment she had no desire for advancement, she was too content with sticking it to her superiors, well now she was everyone's superior and the turnabout as well as all this responsibility was making her so unlike herself. Thankfully, it was just a small ship, not like she had to oversee the personnel of a much larger ship, she definitely wouldn't be able to handle that!

"I'll get right on that," Xiulan said, removing herself from her chair and feeling around the other chairs so she didn't stumble over them as she tried to leave. But then she paused at the door. "Oh, before I go, I'd like to request permission to customize my Bridge terminal, install a reading device like I carry around. It would make it significantly easier for me to monitor things when you have me manning the Bridge," she said to Landon as an afterthought.

"Please, by all means" said Landon warmly. "Brexa had to have the science chair on the bridge made more adjustable to compensate for her height" he added. "I'm sure I might need to have some adjustments made to the helm for our Caitian friend should he accept our offer. We have a diverse crew, Lieutenant. Even I have asked for a few changes in my quarters. The previous Captain... the one before Captain Tsu was significantly taller than either she or myself. I couldn't reach the top two shelving units in my closet."

Xiulan couldn't help but laugh. "Nice," she said as she continued to chuckle. "Thank you, sir, see you in an hour and a half!"
Submerging Sanctuary April 2388 | Concurrent with Beifong's Arrival
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“Ion and plasma storm activity intensifying, Sir” chimed the young Tygarian scientist Lau Mept who sat behind a large science console connected to a network of smaller consoles. “We haven't seen storm activity like this since our first few years here” added Lau as he turned around in his chair to report to his superior. The man, Dez Snuka was standing in the center of the watch tower with Duchess Verina. Lau kept his reports to a bare minimal as he quickly understood that the two were engaged in a rather important conversation.

The woman had a look of concern on her pale face. He purple irises widened as she listened to the man's report of a starship in the sector and had been last reported entered the storm and was on a heading to their system. “Could the storm be manipulating our sensors, Minister?” she asked Dez Snuka, her appointed and quite trusted Minister of Science. “We've had issues with the sensors before.”

Dez Snuka, an older Tygarian placed a hand on his Duchess' shoulder, a reassuring and calming gesture. “You are correct, Duchess, we have had sensor issues before due to storms of this magnitude, but no issue that ever resulted in a falsely reported starship” he said to her calmly. “Whatever action we are to take, we must take it soon before they arrive” he added.
“Have we identified the starship? Is it Jem'hadar or another former Dominion member? Is there a Founder aboard? A Vorta?” she asked several formulations of fragmented questions before allowing the man time to respond to her. “We cannot allow them to find us” and by that she definitely meant herself.

Dez shook his head “Duchess, I must insist that you remain calm” he said as he gently took the woman's hand. “There's not a Tygarian on this planet who would not willing die for you. When you came to us, we took you in and swore to protect you from the Dominion. Even after the war, you have always maintained our trust and loyalty. You have been made our Duchess and we are sworn to keep you safe.”

She nodded knowing full well that everything he had said was true. “Have we been able to confirm the identification of the starship?” she asked once more.

The man was reluctant to respond. “It is not wise for us to jump to conclusions at this time and we have not been able to properly identify the starship due to the storm. However, we do not believe it to be Dominion in origin” he reported to her. “Our sensor analyst are doing their best to determine who has ventured into the storm and this close to our planet, though it may take some time.”

“Contact the Minister of Defense and inform him I want planetary security forces standing by and ready” she ordered. “If that starship arrives in our system, we shall go into full defensive mode and submerge the city” she added shaking her head. “Nobody except our security forces is to make contact with these visitors until we know who or what they are.”

Dez of course did just as she instructed. He contacted the Minister of Defense and had subsequently raised the planetary defense level in doing so. Several minuted had passed since he had gotten off the comm channel with the Minister of Defense. “It's done, Duchess” he reported to her as he observed the woman standing near one of the best viewing areas, looking out at the whipping wind and dark waters.

No sooner had he joined her did several defense officers swarm into the science lab. “We must get the Dutchess to safety. The starship has entered our system and is in orbit of the planet. We suspect they may be making an attempt to land” reported the highest ranking soldier.

“Land?” she replied inquisitively. “Full defensive mode!” she shouted. “Submerge the city” she added sharply.
Little Boy Blue USS Beifong | Deck 1 | Briefing Room
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In fifteen minutes or so, Landon would be conducting a Briefing with his Senior Staff which meant the room was about to become quite crowded as all the Department Heads and his First Officer gathered around the small triangular table. It was scheduled to be a full load minus one. Someone had to be out there on the Bridge while the rest of the Senior Staff discussed matters. Landon had already notified Ensign Nician Haro that he was the designated officer in charge of the Bridge for the duration of the meeting. Despite only being practically a stone's throw away in another room, just off the Bridge, the Ensign's duties were somewhat similar to that of the 'Designated Survivor' role that a member of the Federation President's cabinet held anytime all other members were at one single location together. In the event of a catastrophe that may kill or injure all of them, there would still be one survivor to take command.

For the first time, an officer would be present representing the Flight Control Department. Receiving confirmation from his First Officer that Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass had accepted the position as Chief Flight Controller, taking over for the cadet who had been holding the position prior to the lieutenant joining the crew after having been rescued from the storms. Landon had read through several reports including that of Chief Brexa which was partially the reasoning behind calling a meeting of the Senior Staff.

Arturo's tail was twitching with excitement. His first briefing as a member of the Beifong's crew! He'd had the opportunity to fly a Defiant Class ship before and loved it. It was more maneuverable than the larger starships than made up much of the fleet. He felt as though he were embarking on a grand adventure filled with the potential for daredevil aerospace acrobatics and other thrilling feats of derring do.

"Greetings, Captain Milo!" he said as he entered the room. Walking right up to Landon Arturo came to attention, drew himself up to his full height, and saluted. Since the energetic Caitian was only four feet ten inches tall this was a rather amusing sight. "Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass reporting for duty!"

"Light and warmth, Lieutenant" replied Landon with a smile. "I am glad to see you have accepted our offer or rather we have accepted yours."

"Either way, you were most generous to make me your Chief Flight Control Officer," Arturo said, taking a seat at the table. "Most generous indeed! I will not let you down!"

Nerys was the next to arrive. She barely glanced at the others already there as she sat down and waited for the meeting to begin, a PaDD in hand and her eyes scanning the contents.

Chief Engineer Darzan Kail was close behind Nerys. He preferred the company of the ship's engines over people, but Starfleet did hold a lot of meetings so he had forced himself to be okay with them when they had to happen. He chose a chair quickly and sat down, stretching his long legs out in front of him and crossing his arms over his chest like a petulant teenager.

Xiulan followed the other bodies into the briefing room. As of yet, she was unable to distinguish one heat signature from another, so unless she could hear their voice to identify one from another, she had no idea who she was following until they spoke, though she was able to make an assumption of which one was Landon as he was still sitting in the same chair he had occupied when they had their little chat earlier, and Arturo was a bit of a give-away with his diminutive size and swishing tail as an obvious clue. She felt her way along the backs of the chairs with one hand to find an empty seat, taking up residence in the chair to Landon's right, which seemed oddly appropriate. In her other hand she held two steaming travel mugs of coffee, an aromatic blend that smelled so much better than the vile swill she had been served earlier; Landon had given her permission to confront the tea-Nazi Brott and order had been restored to the universe! Coffee (good coffee) was being served in the lounge once again, and Xiulan slid one of the travel mugs closer to Landon as his 'reward' for letting her give that Bolian bastard a piece of her mind. Although, the infusion of caffeine into her system was not helping to ease her growing headache as much as she had hoped...

At the smell and sight of two steaming mugs of coffee, Nerys looked up with genuine surprise on her normally blank or studiously concentrating face. "Is that coffee? I thought I was the last person on the ship to drink it. I've been using the medbay replicator to get mine, but where did you get yours?"

"Oh yes, the tea-Nazi's reign has ended, coffee has been returned to the lounge menu!" Xiulan said with a wide grin.

"Excellent news. I take it you're the one that restored sanity to that walking cardiac arrest?" Nerys commented, looking a bit more relaxed now that she felt safe in drinking her coffee outside of sickbay.

"Yesss, and it felt sooooo gooood!" Xiulan said with childish glee.

Nerys nodded. "If you need anything from me, anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask. Coffee is life." Nerys thought about flashing her Captain Janeway 'There's Coffee in That Nebula' undershirt, but she figured that would be pointless since Xiulan was all but completely blind. To put it simply, coffee was the one thing that could normally instill any sort of emotion in Nerys and she was passionate about it, to say the least.

Brexa came in next with a small stack of PaDDs. She passed them out around the table and left a couple in the still empty spots where officers would be sitting once they arrived. "I feel like the Captain's Yeoman," she said under her breath.

"That position is still open if you want it, Chief," joked Landon, flashing the woman a smile. He then placed his focus on those at the table. "As you've heard and can no doubt smell, there has been some changes to the menu in Mr Brott's Tea Lounge. Coffee is now an option again."

Nerys had returned to reading her PaDD to 'amuse' herself and upon hearing that, she motioned to Xiulian. "All praise to our resident incarnation of Justice."

Ian walked in with a cup of his hazelnut roasted coffee that he had stashed away in his quarters and took a seat. A cross trained Crewman was on the Bridge with Jemison, helping train her during this brief period of downtime. She had been late this morning by about five minutes- a mistake that she would pay dearly for. But for now, he was simply here to observe and occasionally offer his input if it was requested.


"Thank you, Chief," said Landon as he watched Brexa finally take a seat of her own after handing everyone a PaDD to skim over and look through. "The Chief has been busy studying the storm or rather storms as she's determined."

"Yep," added Brexa with a nod. "It looked like one gigantic storm, but it is actually several ion storms swooshing and whirling about close together. There are some outlying plasma storms as well which we will want to avoid at all cost. Getting trapped in an area where a plasma storm and ion storm meet... not fun at all," she explained briefly.

Landon nodded. He understood enough to know that would be a very bad situation to place the Beifong in. "Chief Brexa was also able to make a bit of a discovery, or at least has potentially made one," he said directing her to take over the briefing.

She looked at the others and directed their attention to the PaDD. "At this point I am only about 30% sure, but I believe I have found a star system with planets in the largest storm cell, and the eye of the storm will soon be in that system. It won't be smooth sailing to get towards the eye or that system..."

"But," interjected Landon. "30% or not, I think it merits an attempt to look at and see who or what is in that system. If there are planets and they sustain life, it is possible we might find some shelter from these storms or at the very least people who could help us," he said with optimism. "Lieutenant Song, how are things coming with Communications?" he asked the woman to his right. He had specifically tasked her with trying to contact the USS Blackhawk or USS Nogura.

"Not so good," Xiulan replied with a grim expression. "Nothing is getting in or out of these ion storms. As it is, we were lucky to have been close enough to pick up on the cat's distress call. There's also the matter of that other signal we picked up on; I managed to clear it up, but still no translation on it. At this point, if we want to get a signal to the Blackhawk or the Nogura, we need to get out of this storm system."

"We need to get away from these storms, not go further into them. If we go into any worse storms than the ones we've already encountered then we run the risk having to fly in there blind. I'm pretty sure we don't want to crash land on one of those planets and become permanent residents..." Darzan offered. "Planets shielded with ion storms aren't going to improve our communication issues either."

"In that you're right, but finding a settlement willing to offer us aide means we can get in some much needed repairs, not to mention resupplying," Xiulan countered. She turned to Landon slightly, but as usual she did not look directly at him. "If there is something out there, I'd say it's worth the risk to check it out. If not, then we get the hell out of these storms and try to make contact with another Starfleet vessel."

"Both of you have valid points and I know that we cannot take much worse as far as these storms are concerned," he said replying more so to Darzan. "I we don't find anything of interest, we'll plot a course through the weakest points of the storms and make a run for it," added the Lieutenant Commander at the head of the table. "We also have the issue of our energy and power usage. It is already helpful not having replicator units in crew quarters and of course making seldom use of the holodeck, but facts are facts and the facts as Engineering and Operations have persistently reminded me, we are going to run out if we don't find a way to change things," Landon shot a look at Brexa

She spoke up, "Which brings us to my next gamble," the Ferengi said with hesitance worn on her face. She directed her attention fully upon the heads of Engineering and Operations. "We are running out faster than anticipated yet if we look around us there's more energy than we need for a damn good while. Ion storms and Plasma storms... it's practically a pool of energy," she commented.

Darzan frowned, but his sat forward in his chair, his hands moving to the surface of the table in front of him. He took a deep breath like he wanted to interrupt, but he let the Ferengi finish what she was saying.

"Okay, so this may be crazy, but try to follow me with this," she began as she took a deep breath. "Ancient Earth... 18th century. There was a sadistic guy with too much time on his hands... Franklin I think. Yeah, Benjamin Franklin. He created a metal pole called a lightning rod."

"Yes, but lightning is useless, as far as energy goes. It's more like a bomb going off then it is a power source. Studies even found that harnessing lightning took more effort than the result was worth because the energy didn't have any staying power. So they harnessed it, but only the initial strike had any energy in it."

Noxa looked at Darzan and S'kar "You two know more about energy than I do and you also both have a better understanding of how to make it work... if it can work that is," she began. "My theory is that we could perhaps use the Bussard collectors to gather up the ion particles and plasma... roughly, we'd be collecting the energy we need. It would just be a matter of finding a means of converting it into a way we could use it safely. We would need a lightning rod in order to draw the energy towards a centralized area of the ship and yet not fry everything to uselessness. So... can we modify the deflector?"

Darzan shook his head. "We'd waste more energy than we'd gain. So much Plasma would have to be gathered to even give us, at most..." He teeter-tottered one hand back and forth. "A two to four percent power increase for just a few seconds. If we could enough plasma without using our energy supply to do it, then I would say let's try... but that is going to take time we also don't have... and even if we sat here to gather it all up it would only be enough to perhaps get us through the storms and to the planets." He shrugged. "It could work, but it's going to be a long time waiting." His tipped his head back and forth like he was trying to work things out. "Here's the biggest problem though. Plasma is essentially free floating electrons... with no bonds, no atoms and no structure... we'll have to, somehow, "convince" them that they should bond into something we can use as power... I mean, yes we have plasma and plasma converters, but those are electrons that we've gathered for that purpose, at a controlled rate and movement. This is not that predictable." He looked around the table, but his eyes were mostly on the Ferengi. "We're going to run into the same problem with the ion energy as your Benjamin Franklin. Trying to harness that might go very badly for us."


Landon nodded. He could understand the concerns and the obstacles that they were facing. He was not an engineer by any means, but Darzan had voiced everything well enough to explain it. "We'll proceed to this system to investigate the possibility of a habitable and hopefully peaceful planet. Though I do want Brexa's theory looked at. Lieutenant Kail, work with Operations and Science to see if we can get that theory off the ground...meeting adjourned. I want everyone to keep me updated on their progress and I want departmental evaluations sent to Ensign Nico and Lieutenant Song."
Catching Tailwind USS Beifong | Deck 1 | Bridge April 2388
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It had been a few hours since the Senior Staff concluded their conference in the Briefing Room in which Chief Petty Officer Brexa delivered her report, both citing her scientific discovery as well as offering a potential solution if not a possible temporary bandage on the Beifong's current power and energy usage concerns. Six months was a long journey, especially factoring the potential detours that may easily add several weeks or even a few months depending on what the Beinfong came across chugging through the unexplored and uncharted.

Initially these intense and rather massive ionic storms with outlying plasma storms seemed like a severe danger and navigational hazard. And yet they still were dangerous and extremely hazardous to the small Defiant class starship. However as the old saying went, 'even the darkest of clouds gave a silver lining' and Chief Brexa may have well found the silver lining to these dark clouds, but first and foremost, the USS Beifong needed to undergo several modifications and her Operations and Engineering crew were ordered by Lieutenant Commander Milo to perform a dozen simulations before he could risk the ship and crew on Berxa's theories.

One thing, however, was most definitely not a theory. Chief Brexa had found something within of the largest ionic storm, right dead center in the eye. Though in a few hours, the eye would no longer be in place and the crew's opportunity could potentially be lost forever. Landon had joined the Ferengi at her science station as she monitored sensors, doing her best to coordinate with Operations to get sensors to pierce through the storm at its softest point, the eye. "There she is, Commander" said Brexa as she pointed with one of her digits on her console's screen. "Right in the center of this storm cell, but if my equations are correct, we have a less than three hour window of opportunity" she added.

Landon leaned over the Ferengi's console and had a look at the readings himself. He was no science officer, but he had enough experience with starship operations and sensors to see what the Ferengi had found was no illusion. "Planetary analysis, Chief" inquired the man. He could see her console just fine, but it was the woman's job to tell him regardless of what he could see with his own two eyes.

"A small system of planets, but this is the largest and is presently in the path of the largest storm's eye" the Ferengi said briskly as she changed the image on her display screen. The large blue sphere enlarged and rotated. "Class O Pelagic, Commander. Looks to be somewhere between 85% to 87% covered in water, the higher amount during a powerful rainy season. No Atmospheric domes. Looks like the weather is natural and usually rainy or in today's case extremely stormy," she reported.

"Class O," he said recalling the qualifications needed for that classification. "Life signs?" he asked.

She looked hesitant to report at first but seeing that he wanted a clear answer, she proceeded the best she could. "Probable, but I cannot confirm at this time. The ionic energy in this area of the storm is too strong and is producing a lot of interference. However, I am pretty sure I am detecting structural signs of civilization and technologically advanced but not too far ahead of the Federation. Most likely close to us in some areas yet ahead in others," she added. "I recommend trying to launch a probe. It might be able to penetrate the interference, Sir, and if so, I might be able to get you a better idea at who or what is down there" the Ferengi reported.

Landon nodded "You got it," he said to her before looking up towards the Tactical station. "Lieutenant, do what the nice Ferengi says. Prepare an Atmospheric probe and launch it towards that planet," ordered Landon with a nod at Brexa.

Smirking, Ian acknowledged the order. His fingers danced across the console and locked in the probe. Firing the probe, he felt a slight thump as the magnetic launching mechanism propelled the probe through space. With another tap, the probe was powered up and broadcasting readings.Swiveling in his chair, Ian addressed the Captain. "Sir, probe is away and broadcasting."

Chief Brexa monitored the probe's readings carefully. "Tracking... it's entering the atmosphere now. Still going... alright I have something now," she said with an intrigued smile. "I'm 100% sure there are man made or rather alien made constructions on that planet. I can also tell you that there are lifeforms, Commander. There's a colony on the planet... looks like a fairly large settlement living on what appears to be raised platforms composed of various metallic alloys," reported Brexa.

"Lifeforms? Humanoid?" asked Lieutenant Commander Milo.

The Ferengi looked up from her console and nodded. "Oh yes. There are humanoid life forms on the platforms, and cetacean life in the waters of the planet," she reported. "Sir... I'm also detecting a dozen small vessels on the planet, stationary on the surface of several raised platforms.... Wow, now this is interesting," added the Ferengi

Landon was instantly drawn in by her words. "What is it, Chief?" he asked as his curiosity rose rapidly.

"Technology identified," she said quite triumphantly. "Tygerian, Sir. The humanoid life forms are Tygerian," she added, turning her chair and looking at the acting Captain.

Tygerian? thought Landon quite intrigued and feeling a warm sense of satisfaction and security come over him. The Tygerians were an Alpha Quadrant species though they were not members of the Federation, they had always been peaceful towards the Federation and other galactic powers. They were not known for their hostility, but rather their inviting nature and warm hospitality. They had developed warp technology long before Earth and were rumored to have traveled as far as the reaches of galaxy over centuries of space travel. In the 2370s, they had begun exploring the Gamma Quadrant and apparently had colonized.

"Sir, I'm receiving a message from the planet," Xiulan spoke up as she touched a hand to her earpiece as the Universal Translator worked on translating the message. "Sounds like a welcome message, with an open invitation for visitation."

"I say we head towards the eye of this storm. Lieutenant, prepare an away team. I want you you to take the Tygerians up on their hospitality... they are the first friendly people we've encountered thus far," said Landon.

Xiulan blinked at this order. Oh, right, she was the First Officer now, it was her duty to put together an away team and lead them. "Aye sir," she said once she recalled and accepted that detail. Someone from Security made sense, never know when things would get dangerous, but she suspected she might want to take someone with more diplomatic skills than herself, perhaps Nician?

Landon looked ahead towards the helmsmen "Arturo, lay in a course for the eye of the storm and take us within orbit of Ms. Brexa's planet," instructed Lieutenant Commander Milo.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Arturo replied. Arturo laid in the course and set the ship in motion towards the eye of the ion storm. The ride began to get rough, but once they hit the eye, things would be smoother.

Brexa hated to rain on Landon's parade, but she was gonna have to. "Commander, never count your latinum before you close for the evening," she said quoting one of the great Ferengi businessmen. "There are some issues with your plan, Sir. I'm still gathering data from the probe we launched, but I am fairly certain Lieutenant Song's optical implants will be affected by what I am reading. She'll likely be as blind as a Ferengi mole-rat... no offense, Lieutenant."

"How can I possibly be offended by that?" Xiulan said with a chuckle, but the concern was very real. "But I think she's right, I think the ion storms have already been affecting my implants; I've had the worst headache since we've been here and it's been getting worse the deeper we get into this storm."

"Change of plans then. Someone will beam down with an away team," said Landon.

Brexa snorted. "Yeah, and rematerialize in the ocean if they are even lucky to have all their limbs intact. These ionic storms are heavily charging trinimbic particles in the planet's ionosphere... long story short, trinimbic interference of this magnitude renders transporters highly unstable and communications will be choppy at best."

Landon let out an irritated groan. "Fine," he said sharply. "An away team will take a shuttle down to the planet and land on one of those landing platforms," said the Lieutenant Commander as he was about to ask Arturo to pilot the shuttle.

Yet again the Ferengi interjected, though this time she made a shrieking sound similar to that of a game show buzzer that denoted a wrong answer. "No can do," she said swiftly. "I'm sure the thunder cat over there is an excellent pilot considering he survived the storm in a type 10 shuttlepod, but taking a shuttle down through all of that... no way. If you think the transporter option sounded fun, wait to you hear how the shuttle would be torn to shreds in that turbulence," she said cheerfully grimly.

"My God woman, do you have any good news?" blurted Landon as he placed a hand on his hip. "I thought you were the Chief of Science, not the Bearer of Bad News," added the Commander as he thought things through.

Brexa chuckled to herself. "I'm sorry," she said somewhat apologizing. "It is my duty to inform you of bad news especially bad news backed up by scientific facts and data, Sir," the Ferengi said.

Landon stood there for a moment gathering his thoughts and weighing options. "Is the trinimbic interference a threat to the Beifong?" he asked seeking answers.

"No, not really. We can get as close as we want to the planet and be perfectly fine. Our shields, plating, and armor would handle it just fine. If our shuttle were as well constructed it could make it, but Shuttles were not designed to go through that much trinimbic interference," explained Brexa.

Lieutenant Commander Milo looked at the Ferengi and smiled. "Thank you, Chief. You've given me the solution to our situation," said Landon as he headed back towards his command chair and took a seat. "Lieutenant Mackenzie, blue alert," said Landon calmly a he leaned over his chair, pressing the ship wide com button. "Attention all decks, attention all decks, this is your Captain speaking. Prepare for blue alert... I repeat all hands, blue alert... prepare for landing procedures," announced Landon over the com.

Ian tapped his console to initiate blue alert. Shifting power to the shields and structural integrity fields, he felt the vibrations begin as they approached closer to the atmosphere.

"Lieutenant M'Rohass, proceed towards the planet, cut warp engines and begin landing procedures," ordered Landon.

"At once, Captain!," Arturo replied, fingers flying across his console. He focused intensely on the task at hand. Landing a Defiant Class, despite her small size, was not easy. Landing a Defiant Class through a storm was even more problematic. Nonetheless, Arturo was confident in his ability to accomplish the task set before him. Despite the false accusations leveled at him over the Halsey Incident, Arturo's belief in himself and his abilities was still strong... most of the time. There were nagging doubts at times, but he could not, would not let those nagging doubts stop him now. "Cutting warp engines and moving towards the planet. Landing procedures have begun. I would advise everyone to hold on to their favorite internal organ. This is going to be a very bumpy ride."

Arturo's favorite organ wasn't internal, but he couldn't hang on to that and fly the ship at the same time so he would just have to take his chances.

Chief Engineer Darzan Kail's voice came over the com. "Captain, please tell me we're not going in there," his voice holding all the seriousness he was feeling. Darzan wasn't the warmest of people anyway, but there was no mistaking his concern.

"I won't tell you a thing then, Lieutenant Kail except hold onto to something and prepare for turbulence" replied Landon


Xiulan held tight to her console as the ship began to pass through the storms and into the planet's atmosphere, her stomach churning at the turbulence the ship encountered. Well this sucked!

Arturo's face was a fierce mask of intense concentration, as though he was trying to will the ship into complying with his commands. His fingers traveled his console as he made adjustments for the effects of atmospheric re-entry, or rather 'entry', since they had never left this planet's atmosphere to begin with. Even in the eye, the storm was playing havoc with the planet's upper atmosphere and the Beifong was being knocked around quite a bit as Arturo attempted to steer through the turbulence. As he began to detect patterns in the turbulence, the ride got a little smoother. As they got closer to the planet's lower atmosphere, Arturo adjusted their descent.

"Entering the lower atmosphere now," he said. "Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened and your tray tables in the upright and locked position until we have safely landed. Speaking of landing, do you have a location in mind for me to set us down?"

Landon quickly looked over at Chief Brexa.

"Yeah yeah. I have something for the pretty kitty" said the Ferengi as she sent coordinates over to Arturo's console. "Take us down to the coordinates I just sent to you, Lieutenant. It's a landing pylon that looks empty right now and just looks like a comfortable fit for a Defiant Class starship" she added.

"First I am a Thunder Cat, and now I am pretty," Arturo replied. "I have the pylon on my sensors now. This should not take too long. I shall be as gentle as Caitianly possible. Thunder, Thunder, Thunder Cats, HO!"

Brexa snorted and laughed at the Caitian. "I don't bring up your last profession" she replied teasingly as she made some fun at herself.

Feeling the turbulence and watching people stumble around the Bridge. He himself, nearly falling out of his chair, the man quickly opened the comm channel to Sickbay. "Doctor, things might get a little bumpy as we land. Prepare to treat some minor injuries from crew" he said giving the woman the heads up that she might have patients or need to go make some house calls.

Nerys was actually standing just in the entryway to the bridge when that last bit of turbulence hit and leaned against a bulkhead to the rear, her favorite medkit in hand. "Then the EMH can handle the rest of the crew. I'm here to render assistance if it's needed. Also, Lieutenant M'Rohass needs a current physical on record when he gets a chance. Preferably before we ram into whatever we're flying into so I know where his ganglionic splanchnic goes."

She always manages to do that thought Landon as he was caught off guard by the Chief Medical Officer's sudden presence. It made him feel like he was loosing the sharpness of his empathic and telepathic abilities. Dr. Evartin had on more than one happening, taken the man by surprise and nearly startled him. "Of course, Doctor. We are making a planetary landing...so crashing is not on the itinerary" said Landon.

Nerys had never given it another thought but due to her lack of emotions, it seemed that a lot of empaths had a hard time sensing her and she'd seen a lot of surprised looks because of it. The Captain had one of those looks now. "That would be advisable."

Landon watched the helmsmen at the controls. Sometimes, Landon felt like helmsmen had some sort of magical energy with the quick actions yet gracefulness they were able to do in order to perform their duties. "As soon as we land" said Landon. "You can perform his physical as soon as we land, but I need it done quickly" said Landon perhaps more sharply than he had intended.

"Expedience is one of my greatest abilities. As long as he doesn't need a distemper vaccination, I can have it done in less than a minute." Nerys confirmed, her attempt at humor trying to shine through.

"Lieutenant, get those landing struts ready and touch us down on Chief Brexa's soft spot" ordered Landon with a small smile. "I never thought I'd be so thrilled to see Tygarians" commented Landon.

"Yes, please, hurry," Xiulan grumbled, eager for them to be safe on a solid surface so her stomach would stop churning. And even though they were now safe in a planetary atmosphere, the effects the ion storms had on her eyes was not abating! In fact, she found the signals from her eyes to be incomprehensible, and there was so much feedback it felt like her head was splitting open. She winced as she leaned forward onto her console, trying to block out the stabbing pain in her optic nerves.

Even Nerys was compassionate enough to notice Xiulan's pained expression. Moving up behind her, she popped out a tricorder and started scanning. "Sorry, but I couldn't help but notice you were in pain. Can I give you some Anetrizine? It should help your inflamed cranial nerves and dull the feedback from your implants."

"Can't you just turn them off?" Xiulan asked with another wince. "Seriously, not like being completely blind is new to me; we can turn them back on when we get out of these ion storms."

"We'd have to go to the medbay for that and I don't recommend it as turning them back on could cause even more neural damage from the feedback building in them. as it is now, it's at least being shunted, but if we turn them off, there'll be residual..." Nerys paused, not wanting to bore anyone to death with medical jargon. "Simple answer then. I don't want to risk lobotomizing you and I have Anetrizine with me now." As she spoke, she already had a hypo loaded and ready to go.

"Fine, just give it to me," Xiulan grumped; she'd had enough brain damage as a result of these implants, she wasn't looking to be lobotomized!

Nerys, for the first time since medschool, gently pressed the hypo to Xiulan's neck and pressed the actuator to be as painless as possible. "That's a double dose. There are four more in here if you need it but if you feel too light headed, come see me, ok?" Then she pressed the loaded hypo into Xiulan's hand so she'd have it for later.

"Thank you..." Xiulan said, still in discomfort though it was quickly fading. She took the hypo and put it in her pocket so she could use it later if she needed to, then she straightened up in her seat. "I'm okay now."

"Lieutenant Song," he said, formal due to being on the bridge. "I am most sorry that this landing is causing you such discomfort. I promise I will bring it to a conclusion as quickly as safety will allow! So says Arturo M'Rohass!"

Arturo set to work bringing the Beifong in for a final approach and landing. He needed to slow the ship without losing control of it. Slowing the ship to quickly would result in having less control. Failing to bring the ship to a safe landing speed quickly enough would result in the Beifong and her crew gaining intimate knowledge of the landing pad. This procedure was not helped by the fact that a Defiant Class, quite maneuverable in space, tended to fly like a brick in the atmosphere. However, the ship was only a part of the equation. Conditions were another, but the most important part was the pilot. Even a with the best ship in the best conditions, an unskilled and untalented pilot could crash a good ship. Arturo was, if he said so himself, a highly skilled and very talented pilot. He would not let his crew down! The ship bucked and rocked in the wind as reduced power and slowed the ship. Finally in place, he lowered the landing gear, activated the landing thrusters and gently placed the ship on the landing pad.

"We are at full stop on the the landing pad, Captain," he said, relieved to have lived up to his own expectations. "In one piece as promised!"

Landon sat in his chair, both arms spread and his hands clutching onto the arms rests as the starship shook a bit as they began their descent and the Defiant class was lowering down onto the landing pylon. When they finally made touch down, Landon quickly stood up onto his feet and gave the helmsmen an appreciative series of claps. "Marvelous job, Lieutenant! Nice landing!" shouted the Lieutenant Commander as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are too kind, Captain, too kind," Arturo said in all modesty. "I merely did my job!"

"Doctor Evartin, perform your physical," ordered Landon as he composed himself and began to ponder his next set of moves and orders.

"Roger that. This won't hurt," Nerys replied, moving in on Arturo, tricorder at the ready, already scanning as soon as she spoke. After a head to toe scan, she pulled out a larger scanner and started in with that. Without a biobed, this would take a few more seconds than normal, but she already had a good idea of what to look out for.

"In the interests of propriety, Doctor," Arturo said. "Perhaps we can keep to external scanning? I do not wish to make anyone blush, nor to I wish to become intimately acquainted with any of your medical equipment."

"I assure you, disrobing for a simple physical is completely unnecessary and indecent while on the bridge. Just hold still and everything will be over soon." Nerys said to the flamboyant cat as she scanned him.

"I shall be as still as a stone!" Arturo said. "A stone that is standing still, of course. Not one that is rolling down a hill in an avalanche. No! That would be ridiculous! So I will be as still as...a stone standing still!"

Nerys actually started looking annoyed again momentarily. "You're evoking an emotional response from me yet again. I find it... Unpleasant. I'll have to document this later. And please emulate your stone standing still a little better."

"As you, Milady Physician!" Arturo said, standing even stiller than before.

It was clear what he needed to do if his First Officer was unable to lead this away team. The last thing Landon really wanted to do was leave the starship and lead an away team. Sure, he could have just asked someone else to lead the away team, but he did not want to look weak in front of the crew by quickly passing up the duty and responsibility to leading the away team. However, the man was very nervous and bordering on fearful. The last time the Captain of this starship chose to lead an away team... Landon's thoughts were on the Captain who was presently in stasis due to being near death from her past away team adventure.

"Lieutenant Song, you have the Bridge. Please keep the ship secure and do not allow anyone aboard without my approval unless you deem it necessary to allow them to board. I will be taking an away team off the ship to meet with these Tygarians," said Landon.

"Yes sir," Xiulan said with a nod, though as before she remained at her console instead of taking the Captain's chair; she could monitor things better from her station than the Big Chair. "Try not to get into too much trouble while you're out there!"

Let's hope not he thought to himself. "Any sign of trouble, you get out of here. I mean it. Get Cadet Owens to take the ship up and take the Beifong out of here and head to Ophinias," he instructed her in case things went south.

Xiulan swallowed the lump in her throat and eventually nodded. "Aye sir," she replied in a somewhat diminished tone; the idea that she would be in command of the Beifong in an emergency situation like that was even more daunting than she realized and hearing him say those words weighed heavily on her.

Landon looked at the Security Chief. "Lieutenant Mackenzie, I am not setting foot off this ship without security. You are with me," said Landon sternly. Though he knew damn well that Mackenzie was not about to let Landon go anywhere without proper security protection.

"Sir, did you think I'd let you go unprotected? Ha!" Ian joked weakly, waves of nausea washing over him as his muscles loosened, making him feel wobbly. Removing a Type II phaser and a small Karambit- one of his personal touches- from the compartment. Activating the weapon with a satisfying [i]click[\i], Ian holstered it on his hip. He also took a Tactical Tricorder and pocketed it as he walked towards the lift to get towards the ramp.

Landon reached for the comm panel on his armrest and opened a channel to the small Engineering room. "Lieutenant Kail report to the departure and loading ramp for away team duty. Bring any equipment you deem necessary," ordered the young man, taking charge. Landon was unsure how Darzan would feel about being selected for away team duty, but he doubted the man would be thrilled setting foot on an unknown planet in the middle of severe ion and plasma storms.

"Are you out of your mind?" the Trill came back over the com. "With all these repairs?" He grumbled. "I'll meet you at the ramp?"

Looking back at the Caitian who had just landed the starship on the planet's landing Pylon, Landon smiled. "As soon as your physical is complete, Lieutenant. How about you come stretch your legs on the planet?"

Arturo grinned.

"I would enjoy that very much, Captain!" he said. "Thank you for the opportunity!"

Landon had then looked for confirmation from the Chief Medical Officer. "Is the Lieutenant medically cleared, Doctor?"

Nerys just finished and tucked her scanners away. "He is, though I recommend he come by to see me later to discuss a few things."

"Fair enough," replied Landon with a warm smile. "Go pack a med kit, Doctor and take a quick inventory of what medical supplies we might need, then join us at the ramp. You are coming too," he said to the woman. It was true that Landon would have been able to handle acquiring medical supplies on her own as he had been the ship's Chief Medical Officer and would know what to look for. However, he had to remind himself that he could think as though he were the CMO anymore, just as the Commanding Officer and thus leave medical to Evartin.

Nerys lifted the medkit she was carrying. "I'm already packed and I already know what we need. I'll just accompany you to the ramp, if you don't mind."

Lieutenant Commander Milo nodded and gestured her with a sweeping hand motion towards the lift. "Ladies first... at least this life," he said to the Trill. "You heard the Doctor, Arturo, Ian, let's go meet Darzan down at the ramp after we pick up some tricorders along the way."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Arturo said. "I shall follow your lead!"

Darzan was waiting at the top of the ramp with a utility belt already strapped around his waist, complete with tricorder and flashlight. He did not appear excited and stood there looking at the approaching members of the away team with his arms crossed over his chest. "You do know I have things to do? Right?" He didn't mean to sound insubordinate, he wasn't going to argue with the captain. He just seemed to be making himself clear more than anything else.

"As do we all, Lieutenant," replied Landon defectively. "Right now, your things to do can wait. If there's any technology on this planet that could be of use to us or anything that we could perhaps repair for this people in return for supplies or resources... we don't have too many people aboard with your technical knowledge."

Darzan nodded, mostly in agreement.

Arturo tapped a spot where he concealed his Sicilian knife, a rather longish, nasty looking weapon with a blade that folded into the handle. Yes, it was there. Rising, he went to secure himself a TYpe II phaser and tricorder.

"I shall meet you at the ramp, Captain Milo," Arturo said.

The Tea Rebellion | Part I USS Beifong | Deck 1 | Bridge April 2388
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The Bridge was rather empty aside from the Communication Officer whom Jasmine knew had been appointed the role of First Officer, a female Ferengi who apparently was the only science officer aboard, but who held an enlisted rank of Chief Petty Officer, and then rounding out the Bridge crew aside from her herself of course, was Lieutenant S'kar, a Caitian Operations Officer. The young female cadet had been summoned by her superior before he left, disembarking with the Captain and a few others on some sort away mission. All she knew was the ship had landed and she was on the Bridge. Anything she had to report was to be reported to Lieutenant Song. Fortunately, there was not really much to report from tactical station when the starship was set down, having landed.

She had never thought that she'd actually be aboard a starship when it landed on a planet. There were not that many starship classes that had the capability built into their design specs. Even the ones that did like the Intrepid and a Defiant classes, it was extremely rare for one to actually be given orders to land. Jasmine was finding life aboard the Beifong to be damn well strange. 'Several days or a couple of weeks at most' that was what her instructors at the academy had told her when they assigned her to a senior year experience of a lifetime. She was not supposed to be aboard the starship this long, was not to see much active duty except note taking and observing. Well, all that went out the airlock when Captain T'su was injured and put into stasis, the starship came under attack from another Federation starship, and then Dr. Landon Milo assumed command as acting Captain.

Hell, Jasime was pretty damn sure the Lieutenant who was now First Officer had just been a lowly ranked ensign behind a communications station. This was more than she had bargained for and then some. And yet, I wouldn't trade it in for anything she thought as she breathed deeply and daydreamed as she leaned over the tactical console thinking about her superior and his gorgeous smile, his alluring eyes, and that tight ass.

"Food or a man...or both?" asked the shrilling voice of the Female Ferengi, Brexa as she walked by the tactical station, catching Jasmine by surprise. She had been so lost in her thoughts that the young cadet had failed to even notice people had moved around and Brexa was no longer sitting at her science station. "Wh-what?!" replied the Cadet as she stood up straight. "Oh uh. No ma'am I was just thinking about how lovely that planet must be" added Jasmine.

Brexa snorted "Sure, kid. If you were a Ferengi maybe" replied Brexa as she took her seat again. The Science Chief looked around the Bridge and shook her head. "Girl's night, eh? Looks like the Captain took all the guys with him" commented the Ferengi.

"Eh, we don't need 'em!" Xiulan said with no small amount of false bravado. She rubbed a hand over her still sore eyes and released a heavy sigh. "Hell, I tell ya what, when this day is done, I'm gonna go get wasted. Anyone who wants to join me, drinks are on me," she offered as her fingers returned to her Braille reader to monitor the various readouts at her station.


Cadet Jasmine Jones-Jemison was again at ease over her station when the console came to life and an area started to flash and a low beeping could be heard. She silence the beeping and tapped the controls, ending the flashing which pulled up the security notification. "Oh great" she said aloud. "Ma'ams, we have problem" reported Jasmine to the two Lieutenants specifically.

Oh fuck-balls, what now? "Ya know, a hint of specificity would go a long way, Cadet," Xiulan said dryly as she blew at the shaggy bangs hanging in her eyes with an exasperated huff.


"Sure" she said with a small forced smile. "Your hint of specificity is security issue. There's reports of a fight or at least a disturbance occurring in the Mess Hall...Lounge" she corrected herself. "The reports are contradicting, but Mr. Brott is apparently involved in some way...we don't really have much of a security presence aboard with the Lieutenant off the ship" the Cadet added.

Xiulan couldn't help but but release a heavy sigh as she dragged a hand over her eyes. "What the hell has that ass-hat done this time?" she asked rhetorically, leaning down to reach into her boot for a white rod looking thing; it was her walking stick that she used to get around before she got her implants, but she kept it collapsed and in her boot for situations such as this when her implants had been rendered more or less non-functional. With as much Anetrizine as she had been given combined with the ion interference, Xiulan was essentially completely blind now, though she didn't need her walking stick just yet to navigate the Bridge, she had already memorized the layout and counted the steps in her head to cross the distance to the tactical station. "Let's go see what kind of trouble is brewing in the Lounge," she said to the Cadet.

"Yes ma'am" replied Cadet Jones-Jemison as she reached under the tactical console and felt around. She felt the mounted brackets underneath, but the mounted holster was empty. The lieutenant must have taken it on the away mission she thought to herself as she stepped away from her console and headed over towards the helm station. "One moment, Lieutenant" she said as she crouched down and found it. She retrieved the hand phaser from beneath the helm console.

The Cadet then joined the First Officer. "Do you want me to help you into the lift, Lieutenant?" asked the Cadet politely. "My gram gram lost her sight when she got older. Didn't even attempt corrective surgery and refused to get implants. We tried to convince her to get a VISOR, but she's the stubborn type."

"How about I help you out an airlock, Cadet," Xiulan said sharply, her walking cane unfolding and snapping straight with a well practiced hand, muttering under her breath incoherently. "fucking 'gram gram'... Do I look like your gram gram?!" she added, storming over to the lift without any problems.

"No ma'am, not really...but you do sound like her" replied the Cadet. "She has a tendency to get a little cranky too" added Jasmine with a smile. Okay, so maybe I don't make the smartest decisions in life and let my mouth go at inappropriate times she thought to herself.

"If I were you, I'd learn to keep my mouth shut, otherwise it's going to get you into trouble," Xiulan said sternly as she waited for the Cadet to join her in the lift.

Oh you don't know the half of it thought the cadet as she joined the woman in the lift. "Deck Two" she called out as the doors began to slide shut.

Once the lift doors were shut, Xiulan turned to face the Cadet, through as usual her blind eyes stared into nothingness as she addressed the young aspiring Officer. "Listen well, Cadet, because I will only say this once," Xiulan said seriously, pausing for just a moment to get their thoughts in order. "If you think that for some reason you can assist with something job related, then by all means offer your assistance, but for the sake of your well-being, do not ever ask if I need help doing something as simple as getting into a lift. You see me making an ass of myself because I'm talking to the wrong person, feel free to give me a turn in the right direction, but for fuck's sake, do not make a big deal about it by making it a public spectacle or bringing your grandmother into it. If I need help, I will ask for it. Do you understand?"

Jasmine looked at the woman, glaring at her. "Fine!" shouted the Cadet. "I was just trying to do my job which I think with the Lieutenant away off ship is to ensure the safety of the crew and the ship. I did not mean to offend you in any way by offering to help you...just didn't know how you were doing with the storm causing problems for you and all. I THOUGHT it was the right thing to do to help someone. The Academy taught me that, but maybe I was wrong."

"You do not have the luxury of raising your voice to me," Xiulan said, her tone still measured and serious. "It's all well and good that you want to help people, Cadet, and that is one of the primary objectives of Starfleet, but you need to learn when and how to help. People who are disabled may need help from time to time, but helping too much can hinder their ability to be independent; I have been blind my whole life and I never needed much help getting around, and asking if I needed help in the way you did is an insult to all the hard work that went into learning how to be so independent. If I need help, I'll accept it, but I won't be pandered to."

The doors to the lift opened and Xiulan stepped out, finding her way down the corridors using her cane to guide her and counting her steps to keep track of the length of the hallways.

Tygarian Eye Gamma Quadrant | Tygarus Colony April 2388
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His choice in an away team was probably questionable by Starfleet standards, if not for the mere simplicity of diversity. Spotted Trill and little Caitian tails, and that was just diversity on a purely aesthetic sense. Lieutenant Commander Milo had been a career medical officer, a determined Doctor with a rich knowledge of medicine backed with some grasp on botanical and biological science. He was a wide-eyed optimist who was warm and welcoming. His replacement, Dr. Evartin was not known for her bedside manner and was slowly earning the nickname Dr. Cynicism from some of the crew. Landon took a quick look around before thinking about walking down the ramp and setting foot on the landing pylon that Beifong had been set down upon. He at least felt some safety in having Lieutenant Mackenzie with him. It was standard procedure of course, but still it was reassuring.

Landon had grabbed a tricorder before they all met near the ramp. Others had grabbed whatever supplies and equipment that had needed. Of course Landon noted that Mackenzie had holstered a phaser while back on the Bridge. He suspected the others were carrying as well. Landon, however, did not come armed with a phaser. His only equipment was a tricorder in his hand and a small satchel slung over his shoulder which had a PaDD inside.

Arturo was already carrying a long folding knife Sicilian design. He grabbed a Type II Phaser and a tricorder and joined his captain at the ramp.

Ian had been standing on the edge of the ramp watching his surroundings like a hawk, his head on a constant swivel. The metallic smell of ozone and seawater assaulted his nostrils and stung his eyes as the monstrous waves crashed against the column and created a fine spray that hit his face as he continued his vigil.

Nerys, AKA Dr Cynicism, also was unarmed. She had a medkit slung across her body and that's all she felt she needed as she stepped down the ramp, the sea air burning slightly in her lungs. "Captain, I must question the wisdom of landing so close to this water. It may corrode the ship and cause health concerns for those aboard."

"It's just a little back splash from the waves crashing. A little squall isn't going to hurt anyone for the little amount of time we'll be here. Besides, the Chief assured me the planet could sustain humanoid life and well, nobody has fallen over dead yet," replied Landon as he slowly walked down the ramp towards the Security Chief.

Standing near Ian Mackenzie, Landon noticed the ever vigilant look upon the man's face and his almost avian motions. "Expecting trouble, Lieutenant?" he asked the man he had placed as head of the Security and Tactical Department. "So much for a warm welcoming party," added Landon as there was not a soul in sight and just the crashing waves and oceanic spray to greet them.

Ian continued to look around. "Yes, sir. It's much too quiet here. We made a lot of noise coming through the atmosphere, this place should be swarming with Tygarians but it isn't-" Ian stopped talking and peered downward. "Sir, I think I know where the Tygarians are. Do you fancy a little swim?" he asked

"Oh not particularly, Lieutenant" replied Landon with a sigh. He then looked at Darzan who was responding to the Doctor's structural engineering concerns.

Darzen Kail stomped down the ramp and made a face that wasn't far off the puss he was already wearing. He wrinkled his nose. "I don't think a little salt water is going to hurt anything, the ship is made of stronger stuff than that. Although..." he looked around. "... we seem to be quite aways away from any sort of settlement." He pulled a pair of binoculars from his belt and used them to look around the horizon line.

"That will unnecessarily hinder the expedience with which we can leave if there's trouble," Nerys commented, looking in the same direction. "It will also increase the likelihood of catching a communicable disease from the local lifeforms. I recommend not consuming any foods until we know they're safe and not drinking the water should go without saying."

Landon nodded, "Reasonable precautions, Doctor," replied the man. Landon then looked back at Ian. "Lieutenant, is swimming our only option?" asked Landon, not entirely against the thought, but he did have some concerns about the water, potential hypothermia, parasites in the water, and the fact that he was not the greatest swimmer and had nearly drowned once as a child.

Ian thought for a moment to contemplate some potential plans of action then snapped his fingers as an idea struck him like lightning. "We don't necessarily have to be exposed to the elements. We do have six EVA suits on board with propulsion packs that could protect us from the water, in theory but there's the pressure to consider as we go deeper. The other option is we take the ship below and I'm not sure how much pressure the hull plating can take from the depths, even with the structural integrity fields at maximum," Ian said matter of factly looking to Darzen and Landon for input. Either option was incredibly dangerous and put them at considerable risk, Ian shuddered at the possibility of getting an Away Team killed in his first month aboard.

"Do we have to swim across or dive under?" asked Landon as he approached one of the edges of the raised pylon, looking over the edge at the water several feet below. It was a dark azure and grey, bordering on a midnight blue in color. The water was choppy from the wind and the rain, the storms were having an affect on the weather on the planet as expected. It reminded Landon very much of Ferenginar with the wind and rain, the overly gloomy skies. "We may not need the EVA suits if I can get a water sample and run a quick test on it," offered the man.

Nerys was one step ahead, already scanning the seawater with one of her tricorders and frowning at it. "The salinity type and levels will poison humans and Trill after about an hour or two and cause hair to fall out in most races after prolonged exposure. I believe mister Brott would be the only one that would be comfortable in this water. The microbes present shouldn't be harmful, at least."

Arturo looked mortified.

"I would look positively frightening as a hairless Caitian," Arturo said. "My vote, if I have one, is for the EVA suits."

"EVA suits it is then," said Landon begrudgingly. "Doctor, can you go grab five EVA suits? Oh and please make sure one fits Lieutenant M'Rohass," added the man.

Nerys stared at Landon for a few seconds before responding. "Captain, with all due respect..." Then she thought better of what she was going to say and just headed back inside, shaking her head and muttering something about the transporter.

Darzen was thinking very much the same thing as Nerys. "Exactly..." he aimed in her direction. "If you think I'm getting in there... EVA suit or not... there's not a damn thing wrong with the transporter," he stammered in frustration, waving his hands around a little. "We have no idea how far away more land is or what lives in that water. You did say this was a class O? So eighty percent or more of the surface of this planet is covered in water... we could start in one direction and seriously have to swim to the other side of the planet before we hit land again." He shook his head.


Ian turned to Darzan "Is there a problem, Charge?" Ian asked, using an old nickname for the Chief Engineer. "If you're afraid of getting a little wet, we could try to take a shuttle but that would use twice the resources that we're trying to conserve.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Lieutenant Kail has a point. There was at least 85% water covering this planet which is why structures like the one we landed on exist. Even with the suites, we'd probably exhaust ourselves before we reached any sort of land or another raised structure like this," said Landon calmly. "Doctor, belay my EVA suit order. I may have prematurely leaped to a decision," admitted the man.

Thankfully Nerys hadn't made it far enough into the ship to not hear the Captain's message about the suits. "Roger that," she replied, hanging the one she had back up in its locker, then heading back out to stand with the others.

Ian felt a slight vibration in the deck that seemed to grow the longer they stood there. Sensing a threat, Ian quickly drew his phaser, arming it with a quick motion of his thumb. "Sir, that doesn't sound too good. Get behind me. Now." This last part was a command more than a polite request as his standard protocol for VIP protection was to get the Away Team into a defensive diamond formation, especially because Landon refused to be armed. "The rest you get into a diamond formation!" he commanded, drawing upon his Marine training to quickly bark out commands.

It was as though tectonic activity was occurring, a small quake of sort, causing Landon to quickly consult his tricorder. "Everyone stay put," he said calmly as he spun around slowly with his tricorder in hand. "It's not a quake," he said struggling to properly identify the sudden scene around them that was unfolding. "I'm reading more structures... beneath the surface of the water and... rising?" he said aloud, puzzled by the reading.

Soon, the surface of the choppy dark waters revealed larger structures that were breaking the surface. These structures were much like the pylon they had landed on and yet vastly different, giving the sense of being more like labs, business structures, or perhaps even some being residential. They towered upward all around the landing pylon.

Darzen crossed his arms over his chest and grinned a little. A rather odd expression since he didn't really express himself that way usually. "Now that's more like it..." he said softly, nodding his head in approval.

Arturo looked around at the towering structures rising majestically from beneath the waves as though they were collectively an ancient lost city of sea gods. He smiled broadly. What a grand adventure this assignment was turning out to be! Arturo was in very high spirits. All that was missing was a battle with sea pirates, but who knew what the future held. After all, what self respecting body of water was free of pirates and buccaneers?

Landon looked up as several of these structures rose high above themselves, the Beifong, and the landing pylon. One of the large buildings soon appeared to open up slightly, allowing a large metallic ramp to descend and connect to the landing Pylon. "That's a little better," commented Landon as he looked around.

It was only a matter of a few moments before the ramp that had extended and connected to the landing pylon was occupied by about a dozen Tygarians who did not look as peaceful as Tygarians were said to be. They all were female Tygarians and had various tones of skin ranging from greens and yellows to as dull as grey. All of them were armed with some sort of energy rifle, power source unknown to Landon.

One of the Tygarian women looked more decorated than the others. It was quite possible that she lead this security force. All weapons were raised and pointed at Landon and the other members of the away team. A Tygarian soldier slowly broke line and crept towards Doctor Evartin, Lieutenant Kail, and Lieutenant M'Rohass. "These two are Trill and that one is a Caitian," reported the Tygarian.

Arturo bowed with a flourish.

"Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass," he said. "At your service! May I be so bold as to ask the name of the lovely lady I am addressing?"

"You may ask. You will get nothing in return," she said slyly as she awaited orders from her superior. Soon the orders were given with a simple gesture to lower weapons. She followed the orders as directed and lowered the weapon she had pointed at Arturo.

Landon had been sheltered behind Ian per the Security Chief's instructions and Landon doubted there was anywhere safer to be than very close to his Security Chief. However, when weapons were drawn on the members of the landing party, he knew that he had to calm the tense situation. The young man had reached up and gently placed his hand on Ian's forearm, pushing the man's arm down indicating silently that Landon wanted Lieutenant Mackenzie to lower the phaser.

Ian initially resisted, his grip remaining steady until he finally relented and holstered the phaser, his hand resting on the grip in case he needed to draw again. He couldn't help but be apprehensive- the team out-manned, outgunned, and they were potentially about to be outfoxed.


Tygarians were not easy to read. Their minds were constantly thinking, analyzing and in a way were like Vulcans and yet so very different from them. He sensed a lot of emotion ranging from curiosity to anxiety to fear and protectiveness from the Tygarian 'welcoming party' that had descended down upon their position.

"Please, we mean you no harm," said Landon gently. He gestured to each member of his landing party. "Lieutenant Mackenzie, my Security Chief. Dr Evartin, Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Kail, our Chief Engineer, and Lieutenant M'Rohass, our helmsmen," added the young man as he resorted to diplomacy.

The Tygarian woman in charge approached slowly before bowing slightly. "Aget Malnu, Minister of Defense," the Tygarian said. She made a sweeping gesture toward the several others that came with her. "My security force," she added with a polite tone of voice. "And who may I inquire, are you?" she asked.

Should have started there he told himself. "Doctor Landon T. Milo, Ship's Commanding Officer," he said awkwardly. He then turned and pointed to the Beifong. "That ship. The USS Beifong. We are from the United Federation of Planets," he said slowly making sure to say everything at a careful pace.

"Then you are a very long way from home, Doctor Captain," she said unsure of how to address the man. "Is it Doctor or is it Captain? You are a Scientist or Physician? Yet Command a starship do you?"

Landon smiled. "It's a very long story, Minister. I am a Medical Physician, but the Ship's Captain... she's been injured and cannot command. I've taken her place and now command the Beifong. We are trying to get to Ophinias Colony," he explained. Though he was unsure if she would know of the Federation colony.

Darzen raised his hands as the Tygarian female broke off from the group and came towards him. When she lowered her weapon again, he also lowered his hands, but kept them where their "hosts" could see them. He nodded and waved a little when he was introduced. "We have had some trouble with our engines and were forced to land. Our ship requires repairs," he stated in way of an explanation.

Feeling a great wave of something come over him, Landon winced slightly and felt his knees practically buckle. He clutched the Security Chief's arm, wrapping himself around it as though it were a pole as the half Betazoid steadied himself. "Strong...VERY STRONG Telepath" he muttered sharply as he struggled to concentrate. He was not used to being around someone with this much Psionic energy, not even a full Betazoid or a Deltan. ~Please, calm yourself. My crew and I mean you no harm.~ Landon said reaching out to the telepath.

He could hear her voice as clear as ever in his mind. She was incredibly strong, both as a telepath and as an individual. He sensed leadership from her and concern. She was a threat to them all if she wanted to be, but Landon did not sense any sort of maliciousness from her. She was a kind soul, if not hardened.

She soon made her presence known as she came out from one of the structures and proceeded down the ramp. The Tygarians parting way for her. She looked at Landon, easing her thoughts and releasing the Psionic pressure she had been applying. ~You are from the Alpha Quadrant...Federation.~. The two quickly had a brief exchange of information. It was like a quick flip book or stop motion images with emotions and thoughts associated with them.

"You're Vorta" Said Landon after the two exchanged a very condensed version of their life stories. "You live peacefully with these Tygarians?" asked Landon, still putting what was all shared with him together.

She bowed her head slightly, dismissing most of the soldiers except the Defense Minister. "They have taken me in, made me their Duchess, and keep me safe from the Founders and the Dominion" she said diplomatically. "You are welcome to stay as long as you require to make repairs to your starship" added the Vorta.

Landon thanked her telepathically before expressing his appreciation aloud. "Thank you, Duchess. Would be possible to get some supplies from you? Medical mostly, but we could use just about anything."

The Vorta let out a small sigh. "The Tygarians are very...it would not be possible for them to give you anything of their own. They do not share technology with other species liberally. However, we have traded with several vessels over the years and have acquired technology and supplies from elsewhere. You are welcome to any supplies you may find in our storage centers. If you assist us with repairs on some of our systems, the Tygarians may be more open to assisting you."

Landon nodded. He looked at Arturo, Ian, and Darzan. "I want you to go see what you can do to help the Tygarians. Doctor Evartin and I will look for medical supplies."



The Elephant in Sickbay Tygarus April 2388
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After the slightly tense situation with the Tygarian security force came to an end and diplomatic representatives for the colony could meet with Landon and his crew, the young man gave his crew orders, tasking Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass and the others to work with Duchess Verina and the Tygarians. Arturo was to meet with the stellar scientist in hopes of acquiring more accurate and detailed star charts for the regions of space near by. Lieutenant Kail was to assist in repairing some damaged Tygarian technology in exchange for whatever technology the Tygarians would be able to part with, potentially some power generators. Of course leaving Arturo and Darzan with the Tygarians was a questionable decision. Landon had ordered Ian to keep a close eye on them both and to please ensure neither of them got into trouble.

This left Doctors Milo and Evartin to separate from the other three and be lead to supplies facility a few miles away from the main structures of the city. Here, Landon was hoping to find some medical supplies or any sort of supplies that could serve a medical purpose. There was everything inside ranging from dried plants to medication to foodstuffs. All of it stored away in what was like a massive rounded warehouse, almost like a silo. The two physicians were left alone to take whatever they could use or needed, within reason of course. The Tygarians did not want to be cleared out of everything they had, but by their nature, the Tygarians were a rather generous species of scientist and explorers who often went out on humanitarian missions as well.

"There's a lot of stuff in here, Doctor" commented Landon as he took a look around, spinning slowly to take in the massive warehouse of goods. "We should probably determine if there is some sort of order to this madness. Maybe they keep medicinal items in a specific location?" he said aloud.

"Indeed, Captain," Nerys said as she glanced along a nearby shelf, tricorder at the ready. "Everything has an order to it. We have but to discover that order." Picking up a tin of tobacco looking leaves, she scanned it and nodded. "It's likely that everything here has a medicinal value. this seems to have coagulant and antiseptic qualities. I wonder what they use it for."

Moving to another shelf, Nerys scanned a dried aquatic fern next. "This, I believe, may have hallucinogenic properties. The one next to it has a chemical similar to Terran nicotine.

Moving further in, Nerys scanned more samples, humming and nodding to herself about each. Then she found something of great interest. a small, thin bark sample. "I believe this may aid in nerve regeneration. Anywhere else or on any other ship, I'd love to experiment with it and see if it could be used to aid in grafting nerves or growing new ones in conjunction to biomimetic gel, but for now... The best I could hope for is to make a salve for burns."

Landon nodded "Under any other circumstances we could take some of it and study it for months or years and then put it to full use after some experimentation and trials" he said with a sigh. "But we aren't under any other circumstances and most definitely not ideal ones. Take some with us. Even if we can only use it to male a salve for burns, that's better than nothing" he said calmly as he took started to scan some items.

He found a clear container that had a handwritten label on it, but it was not any written language he knew. It was probably the Tygarian language. Examining the container closer he looked at what appeared to be some sort of creatures in a liquid. "I think these are leeches or something like them" he said shaking his head. "I feel like we are in a museum or just walked into the cargo hold of a Ferengi hoarder." he added.

Setting aside a few various containers, Nerys came across a case of tiny white and blue vials. Scanning them, she sucked in her breath sharply and returned the box to the shelf. "My bet is on Ferengi hoarder. I just found a case of ketrecel white." The cases next to it were all also from the Dominion, ranging from drugs to what seemed to be candy.

"Jem'Hadar" Landon said, muttering the name of the species under his breath with a very agitated expression on his face. "That stuff is highly addictive to Jem'Hadar. It sickens me that Changelings and Vorta pumped that filth into the veins of their Jem'Hadar. I would be more than happy to take all of it and just destroy it, but if we can make some medical use out of it, I'd feel even better."

"Better minds than ours have tried." Nerys said as she found a case full of some pungent oils. "Here's something interesting. I don't want to know what's in it, but this seems to be an excellent vapor rub. It'll be excellent as a nasal suppressant too."

"There's no better minds than medical officers with limited supplies and placed in a survival situation" replied Landon as he ventured over to join the woman. "Vapor rub...wonderful" he said with a small chuckle. "I never thought I'd be rummaging through alien medical supplies and delighted for vapor rub" added Landon shaking his head. There was an elephant in the room, something the two doctors needed to discuss, but Landon had been trying to avoid the topic.

He looked at Doctor Evartin. "How is she? Have you made any progress?" he asked, checking with her in regards to the Captain.

Nerys sighed softly, knowing exactly who he meant. She too preferred to avoid the subject. "She's... frozen... I've run scans and simulations and nothing I do seems to help. I even ran a simulation with keeping her in stasis and using enhanced biofilters in a transporter to filter out the infection. Unfortunately, it'll take so long, the pattern buffer will burn out before we get halfway through."

Landon did not want to hear those words, but he knew they were coming. Had the Doctor made any significant progress he would have been informed already. "I..." he had no words of his own to respond with. The man walked over to a small set of steps and took a seat on the edge of them. He let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know what to do...I just don't" he said as his voice trembled and crackled. "How am I supposed to tell the crew nothing has changed...that her condition isn't any better?"

"Don't." Nerys said simply, setting a box of orange roots aside. "I'll tell them. Most don't seem to like me and I have no feelings about them as it is. I have nothing to lose so I'll tell them. Then you can get the chief engineer to try collaborating with me."

Landon looked up at the Chief Medical Officer, his eyes watery and glossy, a confirmation that he was near tears if not already the victim of his own emotions. "I cannot let you do that. I was the one who failed her to begin with and I am the one that made the call to put her in stasis. Regardless of you taking heat for not finding a way to rid her body of the toxins, I am ultimately the one the crew will look towards."

"The choice was stasis or death for her. I deliver the bad news and you deliver hope. Simple as that." Nerys spoke dispassionately, not bothered by more than her failure to heal someone as a doctor. "If we were on a starbase or a large ship like a Nebula class, I'd have cured her by now, but we have one of the smallest ships in the fleet with a sorry excuse for a med bay. We can barely triage a plasma burn, let alone remove an unknown living toxin."

He shook his head and wiped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his uniform. "I don't give up and I can't accept that we cannot do anything for her. I lost my sister to a rare incurable disease, Doctor Evartin, and I vowed to never let anyone suffer like that again. Whatever we have to do, we will do it. Wherever we have to go, we will go. To the far reaches of this quadrant through ion storms, through plasma storms, right into the heart of Dominion space...we cannot let the Captain die!"

"While she's in stasis, she's neither dead nor alive. Our actions will determine which it will be once we remove her from stasis." Nerys knew that siblings were precious to others, but being an only child and not even having much emotional attachment to her own parents, she couldn't really understand Landon's tears. She could try to comfort him though. Sitting next to him, she offered a cotton pad from her medkit to wipe his tears and placed one hand on his back, roboticly rubbing in circles.

He took a deep breath, a rich inhale that lead to a rough and shaky exhale. "Sometimes, I envy you Doctor Evartin. You do your job and you do it well. You find the issues and problems that your patients have and then you eliminate said issue or problem and send the patient on their way. Not me. No, I never was like that and I never could have been the Doctor that I am today if I had been...but maybe just maybe if I had been more like you and less concerned with my patients emotional needs, I could have saved her and we wouldn't all be in this mess."

"My lack of emotions has aided me greatly in my work, but the crew would prefer to be treated by you. They even prefer talking to the EMH rather than me. You and I may be on different paths as physicians, but neither of us have found a solution. Neither have we failed. As I stated earlier, she may yet live." Nerys was in unfamiliar emotional territory here, but she knew they all needed Landon on his feet and capable of doing his job as CO, hence her actually bothering to try to console him. "I found something that should allow us to keep her in stasis for far longer if necessary, but I would prefer it not come to that."

Landon nodded "I concur with your reluctance to do so, Doctor" he said gently easing his body which had been shaking slightly. "Prolonged stasis has been known to cause some issues of its own, especially with the mind in regards to the psychological well being of the patients in question" added the man. "I couldn't go through practicing medicine without my emotional attachment. It is one thing to be null of emotions when treating adults, but I was a pediatrician before having to take on the responsibilities of broader medicine as a Chief Medical Officer. I lost patients before, and it especially hurts to lose a child's life...they are the most precious of beings."

Nerys nodded slowly, having heard that before. This was why she had chosen cardiology - older people generally needed heart replacements more than the young and her skills were generally enough. In this case, she stayed silent, still rubbing Landon's back.

He scoffed at himself more than anything else. "How am I supposed to be this starship's Captain and the beacon of hope for this crew? They expect me to lead this entire crew to safety, to make tough calls and yet I haven't even passed a Bridge Officer's examination. Hell, the only time I tried my results were terrible. I flat out failed" he said nervously. "I wouldn't even be a Lieutenant Commander if it hadn't been for my work on Teplan and fronting the medical department for Ophinias Colony."

"Most physicians fail it simply because of their oaths." Nerys explained, having had looked into the matter a couple years ago. "It's a well kept secret, but you have to be willing to send someone you know and care for to their death to save the ship, which has to come first as it's the life support system for the rest of the crew. When you take it again, keep that perspective in mind and you should do fine."

Landon smiled "Yeah, I know. It is a little hard to conceal a curveball like that to an empath or telepath, damn near impossible for both" he added. "I couldn't do it though. I wouldn't do it. I did absolutely everything that I could think of not to send them to their death. I even volunteered myself to go in place of anyone else...that didn't go so well."

"Yeah that's instant failure. Difference of professions and command responsibilities." Nerys replied.At the mention of the empath and telepath skills, another curiosity piqued her interest. "Out of curiosity, what do you normally feel from me?"

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You do remember that I was the Chief Medical Officer before you, and prior to that I served at Ophinias Colony in the dual capacity as Chief Medical Officer and Counselor. I feel it would be unprofessional for me to tell you what I sense from you, Doctor Evartin" he said diplomatically. "Also, I do not make it a habit of reading people or listening to their thoughts. I do my best to not read at all, but that is incredibly difficult."

"And yet you seem to be surprised whenever I show up unexpectedly." Nerys studied Landon's face, staring into his eyes literally emotionlessly. "I'm also not your patient."

"My mind is a mess right now. All this weight, the burden of Command, the Captain's Condition, the Security Chief...it's a lot on my mental plate. I wouldn't be surprised if anyone could sneak up on me these days" he added. "No, Doctor, you are not my patient, but you are an officer under my command. I am no longer a medical officer, so I don't feel it appropriate to read your mental or emotional state without your desire."

"I'm expressing my desire in the hopes that it helps calm yours." Nerys explained, as patient as ever, her mind as blank as usual.

Landon let out a heavy sigh. "I've listened before and felt it before or rather the lack of so much. You are practically like reading an icebox, Doctor. A Solitude woman, isolated and cut off...distant as you can be and apathetic" briefed Landon. "You are sometimes like a Vulcan not expressing emotion one way or the other, not positive nor negative. The difference being, you are not a Vulcan and unlike Vulcans, you are not suppressing a damn thing...it just does not a possibility for you" he said cautiously.

Nerys nodded. She'd been told similar by others and expected it. "Do you think you can use my mental state to help calm yourself? Nothing two way, just you using me like a frozen candle flame during meditation. If it'll help, please use me as a panacea when you need to. And before you object again, you're technically my patient now and I see this as an expedient possibility for at least a temporary solution."

"NO" replied Landon quite firmly as he stood up and picked up the satchel. He went back to looking for an acquiring medical supplies. "One way or not, I do not want to use you that way even if you are perfectly consenting to it, Doctor. My emotions may tear me apart from the inside out, but they are also my greatest asset and strength. Maybe I am not the sort of Captain Starfleet wants in command of their starships because I won't sacrifice people so willingly, but I am going to do this my way and on my terms."

"Your choice," Nerys replied, standing back up as well and heading off deeper into the facility to continue her own search for medical supplies. After a few minutes, she found something odd - a Starfleet issue medical tricorder. Judging from the design, it was at least forty years old, but seemed to still be functional. And sitting there next to it, pretty as could be, was a full surgical set from the same era. "Captain, do you have any interest in a forty year old Federation surgical kit?"

Landon scoffed "Lovely museum pieces" he commented. "I think we should take it. It might be old, but in a pinch...anything remotely useful could be crucial" he added. "Alright, take what you've packed and head back to the ship. I'll meet you there later. I want to go see how the boys are doing with the Tygarians." Hopefully they were able to get something good. I want to pick up and set sail soon thought Landon.

"Roger that," Nerys replied, finishing packing up her haul. Soon she was headed out of the store room and back to the ship.

The Tea Rebellion | Part II USS Beifong
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On the other side of the doors, chaos had ensued, and where it had all begun. How a peaceful tea lounge abruptly turned into a rough night at an Orion bar? Who knew. Reports of who started the brawl were seldom in number and vastly contradictory in nature, but one thing was for sure. The former Mess Hall turned Tea Lounge by Mr. Brott was riddled with flipped over tables, broken bar stools and several injured starfleet enlisted crew and a couple of bruised and beaten officers were laid out on the floor as through they had been steam rolled into the carpeting. There were stains on the tablecloths and stains on the carpet. The components of tea and coffee would constitute the stains rather than blood for the most part yet there were a few men and one Bajoran woman with busted lips and black eyes.

The lounge manager was easy enough to spot. All Jasmine had to do was look for the large blue blob of a Bolian in the room. “Shiiiiiiiit” said the Cadet as she looked over the room, her phaser held like a damn tricorder as she moved it about, unsure who to even point the thing at. There were small fights still continuing, a few people running for the doorway to get out. “It's a damn mess in here, Lieutenant. People are still fist fighting” commented the Cadet. "It's pure carnage" she added.

Brott was near his bar with a bag of ice pressed against his bald blue skull. Blood trickling down his face looked like the gooey insides of a blueberry muffin, the deep blue bordering on purple color of the blood was definitely Brott's. Jasmine watch as two crewmen who apparently decided the brawl was not over came charging towards the injured Brott. The Cadet was about to fire her phaser, picking the bigger of the two charging men, but before she could fire they were both taken out by Brott himself. He had double clotheslined the sons of bitches impressively.

If this brawl hadn't been over something as trivial as coffee and she had not been a member of the Command staff, then it was likely Xiulan would have felt right at home here. But as it stood, she was here to break up the fighting, which felt so odd because she was usually the one starting the brawls, but someone had to maintain order in here! She heard most of the fighting come to a halt, but it seemed two individuals were not yet but, but they were quickly silenced; had she know it was Brott who took them down she might have laughed.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Xiulan bellowed to make sure everyone heard her over the sounds of continued shuffling; they better not still be fighting... "Line up against the wall, all of you! Cadet, take down their names and an account of what happened, one by one, and then make sure they get to Sickbay to have their injuries treated, I'll deal with them later. Mr Brott, you will of course stay behind, we have a long discussion ahead of us," Xiulan said sternly as she walked through the wreckage, her cane easily guiding her through even the worst of it as well as giving her an idea of just how bad this fight ended up.

"This is going to be a long day" sighed the Cadet as she picked up random PaDD from the floor and started to take notes. Security mode she told herself as she watched everyone line up. She took information one by one and was noticing the majority of witness reports was painting Brott as the one who started everything. Oh thats just great she thought as she took the reports one by one, dismissing the ones who needed medical care first.

Holding an ice pack against his skull, Brott sat in a bar stool that was probably just barely supporting his weight. "Long discussions give me a headache, Lieutenant...and needless to say, I am due to have one already" said Brott. "May I get you a cup of tea?" he asked with a small chuckle.

"Jasmine white," Xiulan replied, choosing to try a diplomatic approach rather than demand a mug of properly prepared coffee she so desperately needed right now. She followed the sound of his voice to the bar where she felt around for a bar stool, setting it right and hesitantly testing it with her weight before finally committing to sit. "Do you require medical attention before we have this talk, Mr. Brott?" she asked.

The Cadet quickly turned around with a PaDD in her hand as she was continuing to take reports of the incident. "White? White what, Lieutenant?" asked the Cadet, taken aback.

"White Jasmine tea, it's younger than green tea, get some culture Cadet," Xiulan said with a grin.

Brott let out a large laugh, amused by Xiulan's question and also by the Cadet's confusion. "I have been in worse fights and came out looking and feeling a great deal worse than this" he said as he snapped his fingers and had one of his servers make the woman a white jasmine tea. He did not want to get any of his blood on a mug or in her tea. "I may have to shut down for a day or two just to clean this mess up before we can start serving customers again." he said with a heavy sigh.

"Well, you will have no shortage of hands to help you. Once I've been through everyone's statements, find out who contributed to the fight, they'll be assigned to come help you clean up in shifts," Xiulan assured him, listening to him clean up and then start making the tea. "Are you pleased with what you've done, Mr. Brott? I hope we're done with all this rubbish."

Don't be sure about that one thought the Cadet as she finished with the last of the the witnesses.

Brott laughed yet again. "Oh we are done...done with coffee that is" he replied crisply. "I've poured my last pot of that filth on Crewmen Crane's head..and he had it coming. You don't need to investigate a damn thing, Lieutenant. This is the Tea Rebellion. Right now, I have two of my servers in the cargo bay dumping every last bean...every last ground of coffee from this ship" he said with a broad smile.

"Cadet, drop what you're doing and go down to the cargo bay and make sure those idiots do not touch any of the cargo," Xiulan barked out as she rose from the bar stool. "Brott, you are out of line. I told you that this is a Starfleet mess hall, not your private establishment, you do not get to make those kinds of decisions! You do realize that we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a bare minimum crew, most of whom thrive on coffee to function; do you even want to make it back to civilization alive?! You know I'm going to have to throw you in the brig now, right?"

The Bolian rolled his eyes at the woman. "Starfleet Mess Hall my blue Bolian ass" he said bluntly. "It is my lounge, Lieutenant. We have a minimal crew as it is and my staff is limited to three on a busy day. You have just said it yourself...we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere, the Gamma Quadrant and several months until we Might reach Ophinias Colony" he said shaking his head. "This starship is isolated from the Federation and Starfleet. It will only be a matter of time until its a civilian vessel. You'll all abandon your Starfleet ways" he said sharply.

"If you can't tell, I'm rolling my eyes at you," Xiulan said with a heavy sigh as she attempted to roll her eyes at him, but it didn't go over too well. "Need I remind you that the USS Voyager spent seven years stranded in the Delta Quadrant and they managed to do so without resorting to Lord of the Flies" Though if he made the point that Voyager had a greater compliment of crew, she could not refute that, but the fact remained that at the moment this ship and her crew were still Starfleet; it didn't matter what happened months from now, right now this was still a Starfleet matter. "But that doesn't matter; what matters is that you were given a set of conditions for your continued service on the vessel which you not only chose to disregard, but you started a fight and damaged ship property, not to mention attempted destruction of cargo! Assuming you are ever released from the brig, and for as long as this ship remains under Starfleet command, I will make it my personal mission to make every day from here to Ophinias Colony a living hell for you."

Brott looked at the woman rather coldly for a Bolian. "I regret nothing and you can throw me in the Brig if you want. Try keeping me there. Sure, you can erect a force field, but that costs power and little by little power depletes when you don't have the resources and you don't have the support from the Federation and Starfleet. One small ship in one very big and dangerous quadrant" commented Brott. "It's nice that you know your history, Lieutenant. But I counter your Voyager with the Equinox" added the Bolian.

Yeah, he would have to remember the Equinox, but how long did they last after they went native? And yet Voyager was still the one to make it home... "You will remain in the brig until Commander Milo and I can decide what to do with you. Likely, you'll be confined to quarters for the duration of our trip, that is if we don't just leave you here on this world. Though I think that might be a bit cruel to the Tygarians, I think we'd be better off finding some uninhabited planet to dump you," Xiulan said coldly. "Now, are you willing to go to the brig peacefully or am I going to have to kick your ass?"

Brott stood up and peacefully turned himself over to her custody. "I am a peaceful man, leading a peaceful protest. This tea rebellion does not stop here and it does not end with me being taken to the Brig" he said gently. "Do what you will and say what you will, but this is about more than coffee and even more than tea. This is about my rights that I should have to run this lounge however I see fit."

"Mr. Brott, the crew is entitled to eat or drink whatever they want, and you do not have the right to deny them anything. I have no objection to you serving tea, as much as I like coffee I do still enjoy a well prepared cup of tea, but not everyone has the same tastes as you, and with most of the crew unable to replicate even the most basic of sustenance within the privacy of their quarters, you do not reserve the right to deny them or denigrate them for their choices when this Starfleet mess hall is their only option. However, your objection is noted, but I can assure that it will not sway my opinion when it comes time to decide what to do with you," Xiulan said, then turned to lead him to the brig, her cane tapping along the remains of the mess hall furniture to lead them along. "You need to seriously reevaluate your priorities if you thought this was important given our current situation. The reason Starfleet employs civilians for this kind of work is to help with morale and to put the crew at ease; causing strife like this is precisely counter-intuitive to your purpose here."

The Bolian nodded. "I know that you do not agree with me and I see some errors in my actions. Perhaps, I was a bit over zealous. However, I choose not to say anything further on the matter until I have had time to think about everything and prepare to defend myself when Commander Milo returns" said Brott. "Let's just get this over with and go to the Brig."

"Fair enough," Xiulan and walked in silence, listening carefully to his heavy footfalls to ensure he was still with her as she lead him to the brig. Once they made it to the brig, she felt around on the side of the arch for the access panel then turned to face him. "Thank you for being civil about this; you're not the only one with a headache today and I really didn't feel like fighting you over this. Anyway, I'll have someone come down to check on your injuries shortly," she said as she heard his footsteps enter the cell, activating the force field once she felt he was safely inside.

Brott stepped in and had a seat on the bench. "I practically take up this entire cell, myself' he said shaking his head. "You should go have yourself some rosehip tea. It will help with the headache" he offered with a small smile. "And I'd recommend a good sonic shower."

She couldn't see his smile, but she could hear it in his voice and it made her smile as well. "You don't give up, do you?" she said with a chuckle, then released a heavy sigh. "No time for tea or showers, I've got to go help the Cadet chase down your lackeys in the cargo bay in the hopes that all the coffee isn't gone, then I've got hours of paperwork to do over this fight," she said with a shake of her head as she turned to leave the brig. It was going to be a long night...
Coffee Doctor Medbay/Brig
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When Nerys entered the medbay, an unexpected sight greeted her - the room was full of patients. At a cursory glance, none of them seemed bad off, but they all needed some level of medical attention. Thankfully someone had activated the EMH in her absence and he was treating the group as best he could. "EMH, please report on the situation," she requested, setting her loot from earlier on the tiny desk and punching up an order of coffee from her replicator.

"It seems that our Mister Brott has inspired these crew members to revolt against his teamongering. He's currently in the brig awaiting medical treatment." the EMH replied, treating a gashed forehead as he spoke.

Nerys sipped her coffee and thought for a moment. The EMH seemed to have a handle on things here so she could go see to mister blue butt herself and get that out of the way. Looking around the room, it seemed everyone else was nervously awaiting her next words. "I'm prescribing a cup of coffee to everyone here. Have one of your patients handle that while you treat their injuries. As for me..." Picking up her personal medkit, Nerys headed out the door to see Brott. "I'm going to provide my most efficient medical services to our lounge manager."

If she didn't know better, she'd have sworn there was a collective sigh as she left. The EMH wasn't great, but at least it was more gentle than her. Either way, the EMH couldn't operate in the brig so she'd have to go down there anyway.

It wasn't long before she was standing in front of the brig with the giant blueberry stuffed into it, medkit in one hand and mug of coffee in her other. After assessing his injuries and sipping her coffee for a few seconds, she spoke. "Ready for me to treat your wounds?"

Brott had not expected having any visitors and had pretty much forgotten about his little injuries aside from a pretty wicked headache. "Ready to finish that foul substance before you bless me with your award winning brew of bedside manner?" he countered a bit sarcastically. "My wounds will heal. It takes more than a few contusions and scratches to take me down" he said sternly.

"I could treat your dementia and failing heart at the same time, if you like." Nerys replied before sipping her coffee again and staring back. "Either way, I'm a doctor and I can't go about leaving an injured person lying around on this ship." Setting her mug and medkit on the nearby desk, she pulled out a few things she knew she'd need and tucked them into her pockets. And some heavy duty tranquilizers, just in case. Nodding to the security officer, she waited for them to shut the shield off, then stepped inside, the shield snapping back on right behind her.

Brott let out a heavy sigh. "My heart is just fine thank you very much" he said grumbling. Always the big jokes he thought to himself as he waited for the doctor to do whatever it is she planned on doing. "You can half my fat heart if you want. Maybe it will help you gain some bedside manner for change. Don't think I haven't heard about you and your, Sickbay Doctor. People talk and they love to talk about you."

A bit of a sadistic streak entered Nerys at those words. Was that an emotion? she mused momentarily, flipping out her tricorder and scanning Brott. "That may be one of the reasons I left the EMH to treat everyone else and came down here to treat this hairline fracture in your scull. It's a good thing I did, too. You have some minor cranial swelling." Setting her tricorder aside, she pulled a small neuro device from her pocket and stuck it to Brott's forehead, the lights starting to blink instantly. "That should help with the swelling and headache." Satisfied with that, she pulled out an osteo-regenerator and busied herself with his scull.

"Well, that does explain the headaches" he said with a sigh. "I thought perhaps it was the atrocious decorating choices in here, but cranial swelling be it as it may is just a small price to pay" he added triumphantly. "You may not have much range for emotions dear, but you a least practice decent medical care."

"I'm sure I would take pride in that fact if I could." Nerys said as she finished up working on that hairline fracture and pulled out a hypo pre-loaded with a mild painkiller. "Your head will be sore for some time. I recommend not being hit there again for at least two weeks." As she spoke, she did her usual harsh method of using a hypo on Brott's exposed neck.

Brott winced at the Doctor's 'gentle touch' "As delicate as a mother's caress" he replied sharply. "What the hell did you just jab me with, Doctor? A Hypospray or a damn archaic syringe" the Bolian grumbled. "I'll try not get hit again. Though no promises if I piss off her blind highness."

"Hypospray thirteen twenty four, my personal one, loaded with a mild painkiller." Nerys replied calmly as she scanned Brott some more. "I have to recommend you lose some weight. There's undue strain on your heart, lungs, lymphatic system, and your spleen. As for your head, it seems there's little else I can do for now. The swelling has been reduced and should be gone in a few hours."

He looked at her and shook his head. "I know my weight is an issue, Doctor. It has been for quite sometime, but it is not the easiest thing to get off when I'm like this" said Brott as he sat down and raised the line of his right pants leg, showing what was definitely a prosthetic leg. "I know its no excuse not to exercise every now and then, but my mobility has only gotten worse with the weight."

Nerys had scanned the prosthetic as well, to make sure everything with it was working fine, but even so, she didn't consider that much of an excuse to do something about his weight. "My recommendation stands, regardless. If you decide on more surgical means, let me know. I can at least clean your heart out easily enough." She sat down next to him and poked at her tricorder a bit more, waiting for the neuro probe to finish reducing the cranial swelling.

"No" replied Brott. "No, no more surgery and no more experiments. I went through too much of it already and it took me forever to learn how to walk with this thing...to be mobile again, or as mobile as I could be."

"Oh you poor unfortunate soul, cry me a river why dontcha?" came Xuilan's voice accompanied by the tap of her cane as she entered the Brig. The irony was not lost on her that she had complained about the very same thing when Nerys offered to fix Xuilan's nerve damage, "Hey Doc, they said I could find you here. I emptied that hypo you gave me, Please tell me I'm not gonna OD on that stuff," Xuilan said, offering the empty hypo to Nerys. "Also, fair warning, I plan to get very drunk tonight, wanna join me?"

Nerys finished fiddling with her tricorder and looked up to see the one person she might possibly call a friend. Something in her jumped at the mention of drinking, but she wasn't sure if it was an emotion or a reflex. "At your body weight, as long as you don't exceed three ampules a day, you'll be fine. And yes, I think I would like to join you. I have some Trill coffee liqueur I've had the desire to taste for some time." Checking her tricorder once more, she stood and tapped the Neural probe on Brott's forehead, turning it off and releasing it from his skin. "And you should be healed enough for now. if you have any further head pains, please let me know."

"Sure, I'll let you know" he said replying to the Doctor. "Okay, be gone with the two of you and your party plans. I have some important thinking to do."

"Indeed," Nerys replied calmly as she nodded to the security guard as he let her out of the cell. She then returned to her medkit and repacked it meticulously, refilling Xulian's hypo while she was at it.

"Good to hear you're alright, Mr. Brott," Xiulan said; despite whatever animosity was between them, she was still allowed to be concerned for his welfare, right? "Commander Milo and I will be down in a while once we've had our talk. And Doc, come to my quarters after hours, we'll have some fun," she added, sticking the reloaded hypo in her pocket.

"I will endeavor to arrive on time." Nerys replied as she picked up her medkit and coffee mug, sipping the life-giving black liquid and glancing between the two. "I should probably see if the EMH is finished treating the rest of the crew. I prescribed them all coffee before I left."

Brott groaned. "Hearing the two of you talking about coffee could constitute as cruel and unusual means of torture. Please, just leave me in silence" pleaded the Bolian.

"Keep it up you blueberry bastard!" Xiuland said as a warning, but made a tactful retreat, or as tactful as one could be with a white cane tapping on the bulkheads for guidance.

Sipping her coffee and staring at Brott for a moment, Nerys commented idly. "Please refrain from any strenuous activity for the foreseeable future." Then she too walked out muttering to herself about how a blind woman could possibly compare a Bolian to a blueberry.
The Stars Above... Tygarian Observatory Current
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ON

Captain Milo had sent Arturo to liaise with the Tygarians' astronomers with the purpose of obtaining detailed (or as detailed as possible) star maps of the immediate area and any other areas in the Gamma Quadrant they had access to star maps for. He had been told to report to an observatory and that they were expecting him. Apparently they were, because they sent him immediately to the institutes Stellar Cartography Lab. There were a few Tygarians present, most intent on their work. One in particular looked in charge. Arturo went over to introduce himself.

"Greetings!" he said. "I am Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass!"

Dez Snuka, the Tygarian Minister of Science had been made aware of the visitor coming and the visitors on the planet in general being from the United Federation of Planets. He was familiar with them as were most Tygarians. The greeting caught Dez off guard as he first turned ad saw not a soul, but upon lowering his gaze, there stood a Caitian short in stature. Dez bowed his head slightly. "Dez Snuka, Minister of Science" he said in response.

"We were informed that you would be coming" he added. "Our Minister of Defense is concerned with sharing our star maps with you. However, the Duchess believes it necessary. This does not quell our concerns on the matter, though."

Arturo raised an eyebrow...or did his best Caitian imitation of raising an eyebrow.

"Tell me your concerns," Arturo said. "I am confident that I can allay them!"

Dez looked at the smaller Caitian. "Our maps contain several dozen systems, some with inhabitable planets that are indeed populated. We do not want you or anyone else exploiting these people. Many of these species were once members of the Dominion or dominated by them for many years.They do not take warmly to uninvited guest and it had taken my people years to build relations with certain species in this Quadrant. All our life's work could be undone" said the man. "Furthermore, some of these species are technologically inferior. We understand that the Federation holds strongly to their prime directive, but others do not. Our star charts are not to be shared by the Federation. There have already been instances of the Ferengi causing issues on several of the worlds we have visited."

"I cannot guarantee that the Federation will not share this information," Arturo said. "It will be out of my hands once we upload the data to Starfleet. Decisions of what star charts to share are not made by mere lieutenants. I can't even guarantee you that my captain won't share the charts. I think you probably know that to ask me to guarantee something like that is futile. You insult me even by asking such a thing. I also believe that I was not sent here to negotiate. We have been granted access to your star charts by your Duchess. If your defense minister has an issue with this decision, he should take it up with her. I am merely here to collect what we have been so generously offered."


Arturo paused a moment and then went on.

"I realize that your defense minister has put you in a spot," he said. "When I find myself in a situation like yours, I most often follow the orders given by the highest ranking officer, all things being equal. As I see it, your Duchess outranks your defense minister. Your defense minister does not seem to have the courage to take this up with your Duchess, so he has turned to you and put you in the unenviable position of gumming up the acts of diplomacy going on here, acts that are above both your station and mine. So, what do you say we put Tygarian politics aside so both of us can do what we have been ordered to do."

The Tygarian weighed the words heavily as he lead the Caitian towards one of their consoles. "You can access all our star charts here at this work terminal. You are welcome to obtain information of the species we have met during our time in the quadrant as well. Perhaps, with this information your superiors can make better more well informed decisions about which species they will contact and which they should avoid" commented the Science Minister. The man pulled up one map and enlarged a section of it, touching the screen in an area that was illuminated differently than the rest of the map. "Do not go here" he said sharply.

Arturo took a seat at the console. He looked at the area on the map that had been indicated by the Tygarian.

"Is there a particular reason to avoid that area of space?" he asked. "The answer would lend weight to my argument when I suggest to Captain Milo that he not take the Beifong there."

The Minister of Science nodded. "We have found debris on a few planets that alarmed us" said the Minister as he changed the image on the screen and pulled up an enlarged piece of debris. "At first we had suspected it was from some species in this Quadrant. Upon further analysis though, we knew better. Some of the debris we discovered is Borg in origin."

Arturo's eyes widened.

"The Borg!" he said. "Have you discovered any other evidence of their presence? Have there been any sightings of live, active Borg or any evidence to suggest their presence, such as lost ships or colonies?"

The Minister looked at the Caitian. "As soon as we discovered what appeared to be a crash site of a Borg vessel, we pulled all our ships operating in that area. We have very few ships in the Gamma Quadrant as it is, Lieutenant. We could not afford to lose any of them to the Borg." The Tygarian shook his head. "We did not search for any Borg. All we found was the crash site and debris. No sings of activity to our knowledge, but as I was saying, we did not actively seek any signs."

Arturo frowned. While it was best to avoid attracting the attention of the Borg, hiding one's head in the sand and hoping they did not notice you was not smart either.

"I will pass this information on to my captain," Arturo replied. "And if we discover anything more concrete about Borg activity in our travels I will request that we pass this information on to you."

With a bow the Minster showed his appreciation. "On behalf of the Duchess and all Tygarians, I appreciate that. We would be honored if you shared this information so that we may return to that region of space if it is safe for us."

Arturo gave a bow of his head in the Tygarian's direction.

"Of course," he said. Arturo turned to the console and began downloading the cartographic information. While the download was progressing, he took some time to explore the charts, noting anything that might cause problems for them as well as anything that might prove interesting.

OFF

Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Beifong


Straight on 'Till Morning USS Beifong | Deck 1 | Briefing Room
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The USS Beifong had packed with whatever supplies the landing party could manage to get from the Tygarians, which from latest reports Landon had seen had been a fairly decent amount of medical supplies albeit some quite foreign and quite dated. Some random parts for engineering purposes, and Lieutenant M'Rohass had acquired star chart information which was the primary reason for Landon to call this meeting of several members of the Senior Staff. There were some other matters to discuss as well like the Bolian in the Beifong's holding cell.

With the staff present and seated around the triangular shaped table, Landon had entered the room with Lieutenant M'Rohass after seeing to it that the Beifong successfully lifted off from the pylon and broke orbit of the planet on a heading through the weakened storm cell. The USS Beifong was heading for the safety of more calmer space. Taking his seat at the head of the table, Landon had a quick look around the room at the seated members of his crew. "Thanks to the hospitality of the Tygarians, we have been able to stock up significantly on various supplies," said the Lieutenant Commander. "Let's take this meeting point by point. First matter of business... Lieutenant Song. I believe you left me a large talking gift in the Brig?"

"Yeah, something like that," Xiulan said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, an indication she was still in a significant amount of discomfort from the ionic interference. "Mr. Brott thought that the most intelligent thing to do at this point in our voyage was to mount a revolt against coffee and a fight broke out. Everyone has been seen to medically and a full account of the event has been documented and is waiting on your desk to be read. Anyone who took part in the fighting has been ordered on cleaning detail, and we've had a surprising number of volunteers offering to help keep the mess hall operational in the meantime. Mr. Brott sent his waiters down to the cargo bay to dump our coffee, which we managed to stop before too much was destroyed, and they've been detained until they can be dealt with. I really wanted to shove all three of them out an airlock, but somehow I managed to refrain," she reported.

Landon nodded. "I'll make sure to stop by and pay Mister Brott a visit," said Landon shaking his head. "Thank you for not blowing him out the airlock. Though we do have the matter of what to do with him. Keeping in that tiny holding cell of ours for too long could be considered inhumane. It also requires a guard to be present round the clock as well as twenty four - seven power supplied to the force field. We might be able to make that work if need be, but in the long run that's power we could be using elsewhere," said the Commander.

He looked at his Security Chief. "Lieutenant Mackenzie, do you have any recommendations regarding our current detainee?" asked Landon calmly

Ian took a moment to think. "Well, sir. I can think of one thing- If Mister Brott wants to cause trouble, why not give him some extra work where he might be needed? Something tells me that he may feel slightly pent up in that lounge all day. In fact, if you'd like we could have him man the Communications station on the bridge and log any traffic that comes in. Once we're able to get to the colony, we can decide what to do with him then."

"I know it may seem callous, but I recommend confinement in his quarters, that way we're not wasting power in the brig. He did start a fight and advocate for the destruction of Starfleet cargo, not to mention disobeyed direct orders, so I say we let him contemplate what he's done for a while then re-evaluate the situation in a week or two, maybe then he'll be more willing to play nice," Xiulan chimed in.

Ian raised his hand. "Ma'am, keeping him in his quarters means he is of absolutely no use to us and he is still using valuable resources while being confined. At least if he's working somewhere, he's not in a position to cause more trouble," Ian pointed out.

"You're not wrong, and my recommendation was only meant to be short term, but whatever we decide to do, I think it's important that we have clearly defined disciplinary actions that we can take so that things like this don't become a problem in the future," Xiulan said with an agreeing nod.

Weighing the options, Landon found points made by both of his officers to be valuable. "I believe it is safe to say that Mr. Brott takes pleasure in running his lounge. So, let's take that off the table. We will keep in confined to his Quarters for at least seven days," commented Landon. "However, after we feel he has had enough time to mellow, I am inclined to agree with you Ian. Brott should be doing something useful," added Landon.

Then a sweeping smirk came across his face and Landon looked at his XO. "Xiulan, I need you to do some personnel work and get some paperwork in order. We're going to recall Mr. Brott to active duty in Starfleet. He was enlisted before returning to civilian life," said Landon with a nod. Then he glanced over at Ian. "Mr. Brott was in the Security Department. I believe you could use more personnel anyways, so I'm giving you the task of whipping him back into shape."

Landon's order filled Xiulan with an odd mixture of profound frustration and childish glee. "Why do you do this to me?" Xiulan asked, her frustration obviously voicing itself before she realized all the ways she could torture Brott once he was back in uniform, causing the need to stifle a sadistic little snicker. "Nevermind, I think I'm good..."

Ian's face drained of color. "Sir, I don't think it's a good idea. With his temper, I wouldn't feel comfortable giving him a twirling baton, much less a phaser. But if those are your orders, I'll see what I can do," he said, deciding to choose his battles.

"Doctor Evartin, I want you to assist Lieutenant Mackenzie with Brott. As Ship's Chief Medical Officer, I want you to come up with a diet for Brott that will aid the Lieutenant in getting Brott back on his feet and in workable shape."

"That'll be good for his cardiovascular system but I advise the use of monitors during exercise. I can formulate something to clean out his system and give him energy but he may not enjoy the coffee flavor." Doctor Evartin might have had a hint of a glimmer in her eye when she said that, but otherwise, she was her same emotionless self. Was she starting to grow a mischievous side?

Darzan snorted a little. "Don't you have another one of those blue guys that you promoted to ship's counselor? Maybe a little help with his anger issues might be in order?" the Trill suggested. Darzan saw it as they really couldn't afford to lose anyone on the crew and hating coffee was hardly a reason to space someone. He felt that rehabilitation was likely the best option.

Landon then moved onward with the next matter business, one that he was not really prepared for entirely. "Lieutenant M'Rohass, you were able to secure us some stellar cartography maps and star charts from the Tygarians. Anything noteworthy to discuss?"

Arturo cleared his throat and then gave everyone the good news first, turning on display to aid in presentation.

"I found a number of systems of interest to us," he said. "Some because they fall under the criteria that Starfleet uses to determine if a system should be explored, or at least surveyed, and others because they will likely be able to provide us with repair and resupply. I have plotted several courses towards our intended destination that with take us near or even through several of these. That is the good news."

Arturo changed the display.

"Now for the bad news," he said. "The Tygarians have discovered Borg debris on a planet in this system here. We can plot a course to avoid it, but that will add time to our journey and take away from many of the planets that we need attempt repair and resupply at. Further, we must decide whether or not we should attempt to determine if there are any live Borg left there, if their plans were somehow foiled, or if we simply wish to stick our heads in the sand and hope the Borg aren't up to something. As much as I loathe the thought of be turning into a 'cyber-toothed tiger', I am concerned about the Borg suddenly appearing on the scene with no warning. However, this decision is not up to me."

Arturo looked at Landon Milo.

Darzan leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together behind his head. He also turned his gaze to the Captain. Even mere mention of the Borg made his stomach flip nervously, but he wasn't quite willing to share his fear. His species was rather difficult for the Borg to deal with because of the "slug". Nanites and implants and assimilation often killed Trill in the process. Assimilation of a Trill meant disconnecting it from the symbiote and that would kill both host and hosted.

Landon weighed the news on his shoulders heavily. "This throws us a curveball," he said calmly shaking his head. "There have been sparse reports over the past few years... evidence that the Borg were in this Quadrant at one time or another. Though no significant reports of direct confrontation with an active Borg presence," commented the Commanding Officer.

He looked towards his First Officer "I briefly was aboard the USS Katana about a year ago. I rendered my services as an interim Chief Medical Officer. It wasn't while I was aboard, but the USS Katana had located a planet in the Gamma Quadrant and discovered the remains of a crashed Borg sphere on the surface of the planet. That planet is too far away for that ship to have likely been the cause of this debris... I believe this merits an investigation," he said. "Xiulan, I want you to see what you can find from the USS Katana, looks for their Captain's log on the the matter and any official reports or logs made by the crew," ordered Landon.

Xiulan was now thoroughly convinced that Landon was doing this just to torture her. Why did he have to make her his XO?! "Shouldn't we just avoid this planet entirely? I'm not saying that this situation doesn't merit investigation, but we're not equipped to deal with the Borg, and given the limitations on fuel and supplies, shouldn't we get to Ophinias Colony as quickly as possible? Starfleet can send another ship out here to look into the debris later."

He then turned to face his Security Chief. "Lieutenant Mackenzie, in our present condition how prepared is this starship to engage a Borg presence?" asked Landon. He knew very little of the tactical systems of a starship, but knew enough about the reputation of a Defiant class starship being fast, maneuverable, and packing quite the punch.

"I wouldn't recommend it, sir. Weapons will require a lot of power, which would reduce our speed the longer we decide to fight and drain power from everything else. If we can fix that, the only thing I would need to do is create a frequency modulation program to protect against Borg adaptive shielding."

Landon then addressed his First Officer's concerns. "We will not be going to that planet, Xiulan. It's too far out of the way from Ophinias. However, as Arturo has indicated with the star charts... our present course will take us awfully close to where some Borg debris has been found. We have the option of altering our course to avoid these areas and adding more time to our 6 months or pushing on through," he said summarizing.

"Honestly, I am not a fan of putting this ship in possible danger from the Borg, but we do have a duty and responsibility," added Landon. "You suggest sending another starship out here to study the debris, but when? In six months or however long it takes us to make contact with Starfleet again? If there is a true active Borg presence in this quadrant... what if we do avoid it? What if our waiting leads to the Borg having time to launch an attack on this quadrant? Can you live with on your mind?"

Xiulan leaned over to fake whisper to Landon with a smirk, "I'm kind of blind, can't see the charts, ya know." She straightened up in her seat to answer his question more seriously. "You make a fair point, we are the only ship out here. If it turns out to be nothing, that would be awesome, but if there are Borg out here, then I want to be on record as saying 'this sucks ass'."

Is it improper for the Captain to laugh? he pondered to himself. He decided to keep his composure as calm and collected as he could. He did, however, lean over and whisper into Xiulan's ear "I'm kind of gay you know... that expression doesn't necessarily bring negativity," he said softly to her before returning his attention to the others. "Doctor Evartin, is there any way nanoprobes might be able to help the Captain?" he pondered.

Darzen whipped around and looked at Landon. "Are you crazy?" he asked point blank.

"We don't have the facilities to dissect a Borg, let alone reprogram nanoprobes," Nerys stated with a touch more tact. "Get me a science lab and a real sickbay and I might be able to do something in a few weeks. On this ship's resources though? I'm forced to concur with Lieutenant Kail."

"And the minute we turn on any technology they left behind it's going to message home. Then it won't be a question of whether or not they'll come back, but when they'll get here. I mean, granted the ship is in much better shape than it was, but we're still not capable of killing or even outrunning Borg. If we bring that technology aboard then we might as well put out a sign that says "Come Assimilate Us, Please."," Darzan stated flatly with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, we get the picture," Xiulan said with a soft exhale. "We shouldn't play with fire. As much as I'd like Captain T'su to wake up, nanoprobes are too risky with our limited resources." Landon had been the Chief Medical Officer before this whole ordeal started, he should know this! Was he perhaps being overly hopeful that he could relinquish command?

Arturo's ears perked up.

"But isn't risk our business?" he said, paraphrasing James Kirk. "Isn't that what we do everyday? Isn't that our job?"

"Risk is, yes. Inviting probabilistic certain death aboard, not normally. I have no medical countermeasures aboard against Borg nanotechnology, nor any way to control it if we did try to use it." Nerys stated.

Landon sighed "Risk is our business under normal circumstances, but we are not under normal circumstances nor do we have the Federation support needed to come to our aide if we provoke the Borg," said the Captain. "MacKenzie, Evartin, and Kail, you three have made your points. I'll forgo any attempt with Borg Nanoprobes, but I won't alter course to avoid the Borg debris. We'll head to it and through it. We can scan it from afar and if anything draws our attention, we'll make a decision accordingly."

Darzan, seemingly satisfied, as if that was necessary, nodded and unfolded his arms and then refolded them again over his chest. "Although, I would like to suggest, Captain, that we try and keep them away from the ship as much as possible. The horror stories suggest that sometimes ships that bump into debris can end up with homing beacons. Sorry to sound paranoid. I might be able to come up with a rotating polarized shield of some sort to keep the bits from getting any ideas."

"Understood!" Arturo said. "I will plot the appropriate course as soon as we are ready to leave!"

Landon nodded. "Good. Make the course changes" said Landon as he stood up from the table. "Enough Borg talk for now, let's get back to work."

Wake Up Call Cargo Bay 2
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Ian stood in the center of the Cargo Bay in full dress uniform, his ribbons and badges glinting in the harsh light. Subconsciously, he fingered the Starfleet Cross on his chest, the medal bringing back painful memories of the events that resulted in his receiving it. Looking to his rear, Cadet Jemison was standing behind him, eyeing what was about to proceed. Ian had elected to call this small ceremony to teach Jasmine it's place in Starfleet but in addition to the formal discipline that was to be carried out, they were now ordered to re enlist one Senior Chief Master At Arms Brott into Starfleet against his will.

"Cadet Jemison, are we cleared to proceed?" Ian asked her.

The Cadet had a PaDD in her hand and she skimmed through it efficiently. "Oh we're good. We are ready to proceed if the Captain is absolutely sure about this" she said hesitantly. "I mean...Brott is not going to be pleased about this" she said shaking her head.

"He'll get over it," Xiulan said as she rounded the corner and entered the cargo bay, her white cane in front of her to guide her to this little shindig; her infrared sight was improving, but she still relying on her cane until everything cleared up. "He will adapt or he will go out an airlock, won't he?" she said pointedly to the big blue bastard she was leading along.

"Oh yes because he did an excellent job getting over the coffee thing" replied the Cadet.

Brott groaned. "I have ears" he said turning his head. "What am I to get over? Are you going to brand me with a coffee bean?"

As Brott came to a stop, Ian executed a sharp left face and took one stop forward and pivoted to face the massive blue form in front of him. "Prisoner, Aten-hut!" Pausing for a moment, he turned to Xiulan and rendered a sharp salute, lowering it to his side. "Ma'am, respectfully request permission to read the charges?" Ian asked.

"I know my charges" scoffed Brott. "Causing a fight, disorderly conduct, blah blah blah Big Bolian hates coffee issues."

"Oh, it gets better," Xiulan said with a snicker, then offered a nod in the general direction of Ian's voice. "Read the charges," she added with a grin.

Ian came to attention and began to read from the PADD in front of him. "In addition to the charges previously cited by the defendant, the following charges have been brought against the defendant in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice as the Federation Penal Code and will be read as follows: Charge Three- Destruction of Starfleet Property under Article 108, six counts. Charge Four- Attempted Mutiny under Article 94, Section 6, one count. Last, Charge 5- Disrespect to a Superior Commissioned Officer under Article 89 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Do you understand these charges as I have read them to you?" Ian asked Brott.

"Yes, I do" replied Brott with a chuckle. "Trumped up Starfleet charges that you are trying to and quite failing in doing so...applying them to a civilian lounge manager" he said shaking his head. "I demand a lawyer from the United Federation of Planets, and not one your Starfleet JAG ones" he said firmly. "Don't waste your breath any further with your uniform code of Targ shit!"

"No, you're not a civilian any longer," Xiulan said, barely able to contain her glee, "You're being recalled to active service, but feel free to contact the JAG once we reach Ophinias."

Ian also raised his hand. "Technically, if I may point out- under Starfleet Code 399-5, as a civilian technician aboard a Starfleet vessel, you are subject to service discipline and laws as determined by the ranking officer aboard." Pausing for a moment, Ian continued. "Per the prisoners admission, he has indicated full understanding of the charges brought against him. If there are no objections, I will proceed to read the sentence as authorized by Lieutenant Xiulan Song and Lieutenant Landon Milo, MD."

"No objections, please continue," Xiulan said a bit more formally than she usually spoke, though that grin was still plastered to her face!

Clearing his throat, Ian proceeded. "In accordance Starfleet Personnel Code 608.99, Subsection 2 Alpha, Brott is hereby recalled and re-instated into the United Federation of Planets Starfleet at the provisional rank of Crewman, effective immediately. Furthermore, you are hereby ordered to re-train and qualify within Starfleet Service standards within 30 days. Your direct report will be Cadet First Class Jasmine Jemison. Do you understand the sentence as it has been read to you, Crewman Brott?"

The Cadet bit her lip after hearing that little bit. Why is he my problem? she thought to herself. She was not even an officer yet and they were putting more and more responsibility onto her shoulders.

He folded his arms in protest. "Really? You are really going to pull that load of crap on me? Pull a disabled veteran back to active duty and you do not even have the kindness to have me come back in the rank I left Starfleet with?" Brott grumbled. "And you want me in Security? What about my lounge? Why can't I just stay there and work there?"

Ian responded. "Obviously you have become complacent in your role as lounge manager. Enough to incite violence among the crew that I have a duty to protect. You also haven't been a full member of the fleet since 2375, so your tactical qualifications are almost completely out of date. So at the end of your duty shift, if you have spare time between the training assigned to you, you may work the lounge. But each day, you will report to myself and Cadet Jemison no later than 0500 for you assigned shift and you will work." Ian stopped and bent forward, to the point he was in Brott's face and began to speak in a deadly whisper reminiscent of a Marine Drill Instructor. " If there are any other incidents involving members of this crew and your attitude or if you fail to obey Cadet Jemison's orders, I will personally PT you until you pass out. After that, I'll wake you up and we'll do it all over again. Do you get me?" he asked, a razor's edge in his voice.

Yep, just let me wait for you get back from this ego trip thought the Bolian. "I understand that you are all using my past service to Starfleet to brutally punish me and make me serve again which I state for the record is against my will" he said firmly. "I do not appreciate this and I most certainly do not agree with it, but I do your training and I will perform these duties until you finally release me from this personal hell you've all had fun creating for me."

"I must admit that I do get a perverse amount of amusement from this, but you did this to yourself Crewman," Xiulan addressed him sternly, or she tried to, she wasn't facing him completely. Holy Fuck, she'd always wanted to dress someone down, this was awesome! "As you still seem to be missing the point of this course of action, I think it only affirms that we have done the right thing. We are in the middle of no and where, we need every able bodied hand available, that includes you, Crewman, and since you cannot be trusted with something as simple as managing a lounge without causing a riot, then we will make you useful elsewhere. Now, if you do not turn yourself into a respectable member of this crew within the 30 days allotted to you, then I will become your task master, and I can promise you that you do not want that."

Ian came to attention. "Crewman Brott, you are dismissed. Report to the bridge tomorrow morning."

"AYE SIR" said Brott sharply as he turned and vacated the room...he had wanted to knock Ian on his ass, but decided against it.
Confused Arrival Various,
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Loud. Cold. Nauseous. The latter made itself abundantly clear and Sabrina pitched forward, leaning over at the waist and attempting to vomit.
Her stomach was completely empty however, and all that managed to do was leave her esophagus burning with what little bile she managed to
bring up. She hadn't eaten in thirty hours. Not when things were rationed, and the small child who hid behind her mother's legs continually looked like that scruffy puppy her mother refused to let her take in. She'd snuck scraps to the child, just as she had to that puppy so many years ago.

She felt a hand on her sleeve and panicked. She was vaguely aware that she'd been transported, she'd learned to identify the feeling, she had no
idea where though. She bolted towards the door, hoping to avoid any Jem'Hadar. The monsters that hid under your bed weren't suppose to be real.
They weren't suppose to be real. They weren't suppose to be real. The mantra started playing in her head. Sabrina darted down the corridor, until confronted with a T intersection. She hurriedly looked left, than right, than left again. Her mother would be so proud. She bolted left and continued to run as fast
as she could. A wave of dizziness washed over her just as she heard voices from up ahead. She looked around, and spotted some kind of hatch. God, she knew the name for it, why couldn't she think of the name for it! Remembered name or not, she hurriedly opened it, then bent down to clear the top of the hatch.

She pulled the hatch closed behind her, then sunk to the cold metal deck with a relieved sigh. "Hello Bob." The Jeffries Tube Junction seemed honored that it had just been named by a slightly concussed crewman. "Sabrina Corbin, nice to meet you." She waved at the small junction that surrounded her. "Why don't we just stay here. We'll be safe here. I hope we'll be safe here. Do you like dogs?" Sabrina asked. She spent the next twenty minutes pelting questions at the Jeffries Tube Junction until she slipped into sleep, curled into a tight ball against the back wall of the small Junction.

Crewman Sabrina Corbin
Repair Technician
Gathering Supplies Tygarus
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ON:

Ian looked around the massive steel domed room that dwarfed its many inhabitants. He could feel the salt stinging his lungs as he breathed in the chilled air- here in the massive room that served as the generator core for this sector, the air was supercooled due to a slurry of chemicals that was used to keep the reactor cool. Looking around, Ian could barely comprehend the scope of it all due it's sheer size. Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and sensing an uncharacteristic buzzing feeling in the back of his skull, Ian wheeled around to face the Vorta who was leaning on a bulkhead eyeing him.

Verina had followed the two men into the domed room and was trying to watch one of them in particular from afar. He seemed very different from the other members of the Beifong's landing party. Perhaps one clear distinction was this man had come armed with a Federation phaser whereas most of the others had not weapons, just scientific tools. "You are a very curious one, aren't you?" she said as she departed from the bulkhead.

"The man who lead your team, the Lieutenant Commander did not come armed with any weapons. You did," she said observingly. "Do you expect trouble more than he? It was noticed that when the Tygarians appeared, you took on a more commanding posture and tone. Security officer?" she asked further.

Ian raised his eyebrow at the woman slinking toward him. "It's my job to anticipate and deal with trouble, ma'am. Respectfully, the Federation has interacted very little with the Tygarians and I had no way of knowing your intent when we landed, especially with the armed landing party that came to greet us," Ian said in a matter of fact tone.

Verina gave a simple nod. "The Tygrians have traveled across the galaxy, their stories have suggested that a group of them headed for the Delta Quadrant many centuries ago," explained the Vorta. "I have found them to be excellent scientist and explorers. They are not usually militant, but can be out of necessity. They have offered me protection and have kept me away from harm for years."

Darzen hadn't heard any of the conversation. He was busy poking around the generator. Of course he wasn't touching anything, he was just getting a better look at the mammoth piece of equipment. He thought at one point that he might have heard voices and looked back at the other people in the room like he was just noticing them for the first time in awhile.

"And what of you?" she said looking at Darzen.

"This is a pretty amazing generator," the Trill replied in a rather flat tone for someone claiming to be amazed. He stopped looking at the massive generator and turned his full attention back to the actual living organisms in the room. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the railing, alternating his gaze between Ian and Verina. "What about you?" he asked of Verina.

Verina smiled slightly. "Me? I'm as I have said," she said shaking her head. "A Vorta who was considered defective because of my personal beliefs. I once believed the Founders to be Gods, but I began to question why and how my Gods could be so cruel," she explained slowly. "Defying one's own Gods is what lead me to this world and to be in the company of the Tygarians."

"I don't think you should feel bad about that. A lot of people fell for that Founders thing," Darzan said, looking back at the generator. "I'm not much of a religious person myself, to be honest. I've never really had much use for it. Not that I don't get it, I'm just not personally inclined." He smiled a little. "It might have to do with having too many lifetimes."

Thinking about the concept of the Founders disgusted him. Their manipulation of countless races had caused a war that had decimated the populations of hundreds of worlds and brought them under their thumb. "So you're here and you're enjoying the company and shelter of the Tygarians? Do I have that right?" Ian said, his tone tinged with sarcasm.

Darzan eyed Ian a bit, but he didn't comment. He sincerely felt it wasn't his place to judge anyone. All races had a peppered past. Some overcame their particular difficulty and some didn't and that was pretty much all there was to it. "So when was it that you got your head screwed on straight and came here?" he asked Verina.

"Not long after the Founders declared their war on the Alpha Quadrant," she responded. "I did not see it as a justified response. I did not believe in the war and I did not want to fight for the Founders. It was obviously something I felt but did not share openly. To do so would have led to my immediate termination of life," she explained.

Darzan snorted. "Immediate termination is always bad," he drolled, stating the obvious. "But your being here says that you rose to the challenge and survived in adversity. War is hard. It's evil and cruel and doesn't care about anything, not even itself. And a war you can't get behind..." he shrugged. "Some people would say that was running away or not being loyal, but your life should be your choice and if you don't wish to risk it you shouldn't have to. Nor should opposition be met with death threats. It is what it is. No sense in worrying about it now. It's over." He sort of smiled. His smiles always looked strained, like someone that didn't practice smiling often.

Ian scoffed at this. He had never been familiar with the concept of running from a fight by virtue of his training. Switching back to business, he looked over the reactor and decided to chime in with incredibly basic engineering knowledge "It looks like you're using an optical induction cooling system that's a couple of hundred years old. How have you kept from slagging this thing?" Ian asked.

Darzan eyed Ian for a moment, like he was trying to decide something, then he pressed his lips together and looked at the reactor as well. "You know that lasers don't really wear out," Darzan said sort of matter of factly. "As long as they keep the other parts in good working order it shouldn't be too much of a problem. At least you won't have to worry about it melting down. Although I do have to say it's an interesting approach. I mean usually they only use those kinds of cooling systems for quantum physics. Is it Doppler or Sisyphus? Or maybe Zeeman?"

"The Tygarians use whatever they can find out here in the Gamma quadrant," replied the Vorta woman. "They are not scavengers by nature. They very much are scientists and explorers, but everyone in this Quadrant has had to learn to be a scavenger to survive. You take parts from wherever you can get them... there are plenty of old ships out there adrift from fights long since passed." Verra shook her head "Sisyphus I believe," she added.

Darzan looked up at the reactor again and whistled. It sounded a little bit impressed. "So that's pretty cold, huh?" He shook his head. "The Sisyphus was made to be colder than the Doppler and it runs on two lasers instead of one." He made a little wavy motion with one arm. "One that goes in a wave, then the other one goes the other way in an opposite wave... so it's really important that you keep those aligned. They are aligned right? Can I take a look?" He looked at the other two people in the room and realized that he might be speaking a foreign language.

"By all means, Lieutenant," she said gesturing for the man to proceed. "You are welcomed guests here. You may roam freely so long as you do not remove anything from this planet or take anything without the consent of the Tygarians or myself," she added. "If there is anything that may be of use to your starship, simply let us know."

Darzan nodded and headed for the main reactor chamber, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "I'm sure that Lieutenant Mackenzie there can give you list of things we might need." He was way more excited about the reactor then was really necessary. At the moment he wasn't much interested in supplies.

OFF:

Lieutenant JG Ian MacKenzie
Chief Tactical Officer
&
Lieutenant JG Darzan Kail
Chief Engineer

Sending Out an SOS Gamma Quadrant
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Most of the crew were to be off duty and asleep during the 'Night Watch' where Landon had tasked his First Officer to stand watch on the Bridge of the small Defiant class Beifong. Though she may have problems with her natural sight, she made for an excellent listener and could give a mighty good metaphorical kick in the ass when Landon needed it. He had left her with Chief Brexa and Cadet Jones as her Bridge crew and a random member of the crew with some piloting ability to sit at Flight Control. What Landon had planned for was to sleep through the remainder of the night as Beifong broke clear of the storm. However, he had only managed a couple of hours before he started experiencing terrible nightmares and hearing voices in his head. It was enough to make him restless to say the least.

Landon had been lying in his bunk feeling a barrage of emotions. People in the storm? he wondered to himself. Though he couldn't rule out feeling the emotions or hearing the thoughts of his own crew, yet these felt more distant and not nearly as close to him. Confirmation came when he was called over the comm channel to report to the Bridge by Cadet Jones-Jemison. He quickly threw on a uniform and headed out of his quarters on a heading for the Bridge.

"Captain on Deck" said the Cadet rather loudly causing Brexa's sensitive Ferengi ears to ring a bit as she winced.

She turned in her seat and glared at the cadet. "This isn't the 23rd Century Cadet and we aren't on an Academy training vessel!" shouted the Ferengi. "I have eyes...I can see the Captain is on the Bridge" she added shaking her head and cursing in Ferengi under her breathe.

When he got there he found the sparsely occupied Bridge with Xiulan in a chair at a station she used for communications. "What is it?" he asked her knowing all too well that if she were over at communications, she had picked something up.

"We're still picking up some interference from the storm, I've almost got the signal cleared up," Xiulan informed Landon as her fingers moved over the console. A moment later, a distress call was heard over the speakers:

Landon calmed his nerves and tried to allow his senses to hone in on the message:

"This is Metis Paril in command of the Trill Science Commission ship Little Gelti. We are in need of immediate assistance from any Federation ships nearby... or any ship that isn't going to shoot at us. Please, we have wounded, we have nowhere else to turn. We're in a runabout, we've lost all navigational sensors. Require immediate assistance. Message repeating."

Xiulan shut off the message before it could actually repeat, then sent the coordinates for the origin of the signal to the helmsman. "Sounds like we're picking up another hitchhiker," Xiulan said, then opened a channel to the runabout. "Little Gelti, this is the USS Beifong; we received your message, we'll be at your position shortly."

There definitely was no way Landon was going to turn away from the pleas of anyone in distress. "Helm, alter course. Increase speed to Warp 9...engage" he said as he headed towards his seat and sat down in the Captain's chair. "Keep the channel open, Lieutenant" instructed Landon. "And wake Doctor Evartin" he added.

"Aye sir," Xiulan replied, she started accessing the internal comms to call for the doctor, but then the broadcast continued.

“Beifong, are we glad to hear from you! Please hurry, we have wounded. Beam the two of us in the front compartment to your sickbay as soon as you’re in range.”

That put Xiulan into quicktime, and she punched up the comm for Nerys. "Wakey wakey Nerys, we got injured incoming."

Nerys looked up from the PaDD she'd fallen asleep on and wiped the drool from her face before tapping her comm badge. "Roger that. Beam them straight to me and I'll be ready."

===========

"...ceived your message, we'll be at your position shortly."

Metis almost went back to sleep, but the logical part of her brain stopped her. She didn’t recognize that voice. Who could have…? She bolted upright and activated the pilot’s control panel in front of her. Her eyes stung—the ship’s air filtration system was beginning to break down, and she could practically taste the smoky haze that had started filling the runabout over the past day or so. Oh, please, let me it be…

“Computer, replay last received communication.”

“Little Gelti, this is the USS Beifong. We received your messa—”

That was enough. She keyed for communications. “Beifong, are we glad to hear from you! Please hurry, we have wounded. Beam the two of us in the front compartment to your sickbay as soon as you’re in range.” Navigational sensors having gone down when they encountered the most recent of the ion storms, she wasn’t able to transmit their location, but she did boost power to the communications system. With a little luck, they’d pick up the transmission and be able to follow it in.

“Wake up!” Metis shouted into the back compartment as she entered the crew quarters they’d jury rigged into a medical bay. Or the closest thing to it. There were only four of them left on the Gelti, and the two in the back hadn’t been much help in caring for their injured comrade. Too busy trying to cobble repairs together and keep the ship from falling apart around their ears.

Antiseptics won out over smoky haze in the cramped medical compartment. Bemoni lay on the bed, managing to look almost peaceful despite the nasty gash that ran across her forehead and nearly past her ear. Right across the spots, too. Metis’s spots twinged sympathetically. “Bem. Bem, are you awake?”

The woman blinked blearily at her. “Close enough,” she said, and immediately winced. “Hypo?”

Metis checked the ship’s time. “Not yet, Bem.”

“What, am I not… the ideal patient?” Bemoni forced a smile. “Look at me, I’m the picture of health. Or I will be, with a little help from my friend… what’s it called again?”

She checked. “Well, you used up all the terakine and metorapan. Next up would be… bicaridine. But we won’t need it. There’s a ship, Bem.”

“Here?”

“Soon.”

Bem gave a minute shake of her head. “Then why’d you wake me up?”

Metis bit back a sarcastic reply. “Just rest, then.” As she turned to leave, Bemoni mumbled something. “What?”

“I said, ‘don’t leave.’”

So she didn’t leave. Metis sat with Bemoni and did her best to distract her from the pain until they felt the telltale shimmer of a transporter. And not a moment too soon.

===========

With the channel still open, everyone on the bridge (and Sickbay as Xiulan had fed the channel there too) heard the touching exchange between the crew of the Little Gelti. 'Poor bastard,' Xiulan thought. 'What the hell happened to them?!'

"That's what we will soon find out, number one" said Landon with a small smile. "Sometimes, I just like to read your thoughts to catch you off guard" he teased. "Especially when it comes to Brott. Though right now your thoughts and feelings are accurately placed. I'll stay on the Bridge. I want you to head to Sickbay and see what happened to our guests" instructed Landon.

"Sometimes I hate you, so much," Xiulan said bluntly but knowing he would find it funny anyway. She got her cane out and removed herself from her station so she could head down to Sickbay. "You're the Doctor, you could go help, you know!" she jabbed at him as she passed the Command chair.

He looked at her and nodded. "A Doctor, yes. Though we both know I have to let Doctor Evartin do her job and that my place more often than not is to be here on the Bridge" he said simply.

There was only a few minutes of silence before all calamity. The calm before the storm thought Landon as he immediately sensed a rise in tension from the Cadet at tactical behind him. Before she could even utter a single syllable, Landon made the call and gave the order "Yellow Alert!' he shouted, triggering Cadet Jones-Jemison to comply, raising the ship's alert status. The Captain leaned over the side of his chair and hit the comm channel "All hands, Yellow Alert...I repeat Yellow Alert. Lieutenant MacKenzie to the Bridge" announced Landon.

Brexa swung around in her chair "The storm is still playing havok with our sensors Sir, it could be some sort of ghost or echo" she offered soundly.

Landon shook his head. "Echoes don't leave voices in my head" he said calmly. "Cadet, I want their identity...now" he said nervously. He practically knew the answer before she provided it.

"Jem Hadar, Sir. Two attack vessels and they are approaching fast...port side" she announced.

"HELM!" shouted Landon, uncharacteristically of him. "Bring us about. I want to face them bow to bow" he instructed. Helm complied quickly and began turning the small starship around to face the approaching attack vessels. "We are a long way from Dominion space. They shouldn't be out here" said Landon shaking his head.

Ian was lying in his bunk when he received the call. Before he could even register, he complied with the order and quickly dressed, pulling the yellow turtleneck over his head. Pulling on his boots, he quickly hopped out of the door and into the corridor. With his jacket hanging from his shoulders, Ian quickly slid his arms into the sleeves and rushed up the ladderwell. Entering the bridge, Ian zipped up his jacket and rushed over to the Tactical I station that Cadet Jones was manning. As she moved over to Tactical II, Ian took a seat and began running scans from his side. "Sir, the Jem Hadar are powering weapons? Should I bring us to Red Alert?" Ian asked as his hands began to sweat.

"I'd be sorely disappointed if you didn't Lieutenant" said Landon with a quick nod. "Hail them while you are at it. Have weapons on standby, I do not want to make the first shot...allow them to have that honor. How much of a beating can we take from the two of them?"

"Not much of one, sir. Our shields are draining rapidly due to the ionic interference from the storm." Ian tapped the panel and watched as the bridge became bathed in low red light. Tracking one of the ships, Ian couldn't manage to get a target lock due to the ion interference. Maintaining a manual track, he swiveled to face Jasmine. "Jones, keep your eye on the second fighter on our port side." Turning around, Ian readied two torpedos on a proximity detonation before he opened a channel. "Jem Hadar fighters on my port side, this is the Federation Starship Beifong. Stop or break off your pursuit or I will fire upon you." Closing the channel, Ian's finger hovered above the firing console.

It felt like an eternity had passed and there was no response. "Sir, the fighters are not responding to our hails and are not slowing, permission to fire a warning shot?"

Landon nodded. "Gladly" said the Commanding Officer with a heavy sigh. "Brexa, page Lieutenant M'Rohass...his piloting will be useful right about now."

Brexa quickly scrambled to page the Caitian to the Bridge.

Ian quickly aligned the phasers and fired two warning shot bursts 20 yards ahead of the bow- close enough to scorch and blacken their hulls but not enough to do any real damage.

Arturo arrived on the bridge and relieved the swing shift helmsman.

"I have the helm, sir," Arturo said. "Mister Mackenzie, I will match my course to your firing pattern."

"Mackenzie, if they do not yield to the warning shots...start targeting their weak spots and fire at will" commanded Landon.

Watching for a few seconds, the Jem'Hadar ships failed to slow. Tracking the ships, Ian fired repeated pulse phaser bursts and hoped for a hit. Hearing an alarm on his console, he instinctively braced as the ship took some hard hits. "Sir, shields are at 40 percent and falling. They've hit us with polaron torpedoes!" Finally managing to get a lock, Ian returned the favor tenfold and fired a spread of photon torpedoes and watched them flash out of the tubes, twinkling a dull red before they struck their targets at their ventral shield junction and unleashed a white hot, incandescent antimatter explosion that caused the shields to wink out of existence. As the flash faded, Ian checked his readouts and noted that the ships were now heavily damaged. Following up with a few bursts of the pulse phasers,one of the ships exploded in a flash of light, causing the ship to lurch to starboard. "Captain, one fighter is down and the second is dead in space. I'm detecting a transporter signal-" Ian tapped his console rapidly and let out a whispered curse. "Captain, we've been boarded!"

"WHAT?!" shouted Landon. Leaning over and opening a shipwide comm channel, he added "All hands, take arms!...I repeat we have been boarded. Take arms immediately" he said quickly. "Mackenzie, start securing off as many vital areas as you can then get down there and give them hell."

Ian rose from his station and walked aft of the bridge where a weapons locker awaited him. Pressing his thumb to the scanner, the locker door slid open to reveal several Type II and Type III phasers as well as several tactical earpieces and tricorders Pulling one of each from the rack, Ian holstered the hand phaser and activated the rifle with a satisfying click. Turning to face Jasmine, he began rattling off commands. "Cadet, take Tactical I and maintain a weapons lock on the remaining fighter. If it moves, kill it. Post guards on all critical spaces and activate forcefields throughout the Jeffries tubes-" Ian walked back over to his console and removed his Karambit from underneath. Turning to address the Captain "-and one last thing- If I don't kill or capture this thing, seal the section and vent it." With that, Ian rushed off of the bridge and down the ladderwell.

Landon knew what was at stake and he did not need to respond to Ian's recommendation. If need be, he would be forced to make that call. "Arturo, we'll need some of that fancy flying of yours. Evasive maneuvers" ordered Landon.

Arturo grinned.

"Aye, aye, sir," he said. "Dyno-therms connected, infracells up, megathrusters are go! Entering evasive pattern M'Rohass Alpha One now. Ready to engage the moment we have anything to evade...Captain, might this be a good time to mention that Jem'Hadar fighters travel in threes? This begs the question: where is the third fighter?"

Landon shook his head. "I'll count my blessings that there are just two today, Lieutenant, if that's alright with you" said the young half Betazoid. "Thy had to travel quite a ways from Dominion space to even get here...it's possible there were more and that something or someone took care of them, Arturo" added the man. Let's hope it was not the Borg thought Landon, not daring to voice that thought.

Arturo frowned.

"As you say, Captain," he said. "But I will keep an eye out for it on my scanner's anyway."



Knock Down, Drag Out Various Locations Immediately following 'Sending Out An SOS'
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Ian held his phaser rifle up, checking his corners for any sign of their unwanted guest. He had seen the Jem'Hadar up close previously only once- aboard the Cassiopeia after they had decimated most of her crew and he had no particular love for them. Flanked by Brott, Ian continued down the corridor, checking each individual door that he came across and Brott following behind him. The tactical tricorder wasn't giving him any readings and it was becoming frustrating. "Sierra Four-Two to bridge, I need a fix on our friend," he said, moving forward towards Main Engineering.

Brott moved as agile as he could with a prosthetic leg and more weight than Bolian was to have in service to Starfleet. He had taken up arms as ordered, a phaser rifle to match that of Ian Mackenzie's. He was definitely glad to have been found by the Lieutenant. The last thing Brott had wanted was to be pinned down by himself and taking fire from these ruthless bastards. From the war, he knew how deadly Jem'Hadar could be. In his opinion, they were only second to the Breen.

Cadet Jones-Jemison had stayed on the Bridge to secure it with the Captain, though even she knew that her weapons experience was far superior than that of the Captain. Thought the Captain did prove to be quite clever and provided some sound guidance at the tactical station surprisingly enough. "The Jem'Hadar are obscuring our internal sensors, Sir. We practically could not read them... but Captain Milo adjusted scans for the proteins in ketracel white. It's provided a solid lock on them."

Landon moved closer to the Tactical console. "I'd recommend adjusting tricorders to scan for Ketracel white," said Landon over the Cadet's comm. "With the amount of that junk pumping into their systems, you'll be able to detect them," offered Landon.

The Cadet then broke in to give MacKenzie what he wanted. "Friend is down the corridor that you and Brott are in, Sir. Take the corridor to the end and swing a right to the crossing corridor," she added.

Ian moved down the corridor slowly, his head on a swivel. Reaching the end of the corridor he turned to the right, sweeping his rifle in all directions. Hearing a faint hiss, Ian snapped his view upward and was blindsided by a flash of black and grey. Slammed to the deck, Ian couldn't bring his weapon quickly enough before the massive reptilian form was on top of him. Bringing the butt of his rifle up, Ian slammed it against the chest of the Jem'Hadar warrior but his strike failed to faze the thing. It pinned Ian's arms against his chest with one arm and began raining down strikes upon Ian's chest and face almost like he was beating a drum. Feeling his ribs crack, Ian fought the urge to scream. Working his way through the grip of the reptilian fighter, he watched as several crewman came around the corner and fired orange bursts from their phasers but for all the good it did, the beams may as well have been raindrops. The Jem'Hadar kept going and he could feel his head snapping from side to side. Managing to work one of his arms free, he took hold of his Karambit and slammed it into the first spot he could reach, which turned out to just aggravate the creature as it howled in pain. As the massive form moved off of him, Ian edged backward towards safety and drew his secondary phaser. Feeling lightheaded, Ian wiped a trickle of blood from his swollen eye as the warrior tried to rush the team with the knife still in its neck. Adjusting the setting to maximum, he fired three shots right into the center of mass. Instead of vaporizing the thing, violent wounds erupted against the armor and it kept coming. Ian could barely fight as the pain overwhelmed his entire body and he nearly passed out.

Brott was by no means back into fighting shape or even in shape at all to be very physical. He had his own struggle with the Jem'Hadar at this time and it did not go any better for him than it had Ian. Brott fired off his phaser rifle and hit the thing dead center, but that did not stop the Reptilian Jem'Hadar from charging at him full force and striking the Bolian across the face with its weapons, knocking the large Bolian out cold.

Ian fought the fog that indicated that he probably had a concussion and pulled himself up to lean against the bulkhead and weakly tapped his commbadge. "Mackenzie to bridge. Vent it. Vent it now!" he said through gritted teeth.


The first thing that came to mind when Xiulan came to was, 'Owww, I think I broke my... everything.' She had been walking along on her way to Sickbay when enemy fire rocked the ship, sending the blind officer stumbling and tumbling down one of the quick access ladder shafts, dislocating her shoulder on one of the rungs on her way down. She had no idea what level she was on now, she was injured, she had no cane to guide her along, and now she could hear the heavy thump of boots on the deck plating. They sounded like really heavy boots; had they been boarded?! Better play it safe; Xiulan pressed herself against the wall at the corner of the corridor intersection, her athletic little build tense and ready to fight for her life! Even with only one good arm, Xiulan was still a Wushu master and felt confident that she could take on any opponent, except maybe Jem'Hadar... Even still, she would rather go out swinging than hiding away like a coward! Shit, she still hoped it hadn't been Jem'Hadar that had attacked them!

===

“What does that mean?” Metis asked the EMH angrily. The shaking of the deck and the crashing sounds she understood, and they filled her with adrenaline. The new alarm she didn’t understand, which filled her with fear.

“Ma’am, please, stand aside—” the EMH—he looked like a Human, of course—tried to shoulder his way past her to a tray of medical supplies.

“No! Tell me what it means!”

The door to the medical bay opened and two Humans in Starfleet yellow ducked in, both armed with phaser rifles. Security guards. One of them took up a position in the corner where he would be hidden from the door, and took up a firing position. The other went back out into the corridor, weapon raised.

“You! What’s happening?” she demanded, running up to the Human. “We’re under attack?”

He nodded. “Jem’Hadar, we’ve been boarded. Now get out of my field of fire.”

Memories of the Dominion War skirmishes fought over Trill flooded back to Metis. Broken starships tumbling to the ground. The flashes of weapon fire, visible in the night sky, making it as bright as morning. The sonic booms of Jem’Hadar attack ships entering the atmosphere, the screaming of their thruster engines. Waiting in the basement of her family’s home. Cowering. Hoping for an all clear, no casualties report that came far too infrequently. Watching her mother finger a phaser pistol that was older than she was, fearing that it wouldn’t be enough.

Time slowed for just an instant. She saw Bemoni lying on the biobed. The EMH had said she would be fine, given time and care. There was nothing she could do for her copilot. Nothing to do but destroy the kriffing Jem’Hadar on this ship so they wouldn’t get a chance to hurt her. There was a time when Metis would have cowered in this medical bay waiting for the Jem’Hadar to come to her. She was done cowering.

Making her decision, Metis pulled her sidearm from its leg holster and left the medical bay before the security officer could stop her. They’d all carried phasers on the Little Gelti after they ended up adrift, but she hadn’t expected to need it. She’d never fired one at a living creature before, only holograms, and then only infrequently. Fear started to freeze her up and she almost turned back, but then she pictured one of the Jem’Hadar, and continued onward.

She passed an open ladder shaft and could hear the sounds of a struggle—grunts, shouts, phaser fire, something that sounded terribly like blood splattering against bulkhead. Holding her aim at the bottom of the shaft as steadily as she could, she climbed down one-handed. Paril, I’m really sorry if your first host is your last, she thought in the direction of her abdominal pouch. This was feeling like a worse idea by the rung.

Landing at the bottom of the shaft, she poked the snub-nosed phaser around entrance frame. A Jem’Hadar was struggling with someone in a Starfleet uniform. A woman with long dark hair, clearly injured, was putting up a valiant struggle. Metis aimed, and squeezed out one shot. The purple bolt sizzled into a bulkhead and ricocheted harmlessly down the corridor. Startled, the Jem’Hadar turned, and the woman dropped to the floor. Acting on instinct, Metis held down the trigger, sending a flurry of bolts in his general direction.

Most of the shots went wide or glanced off his armor, but one phaser bolt was lucky and bounced off the bulkhead and right into the Jem’Hadar’s left eye. He spun to the floor and was still. Metis remembered to take her finger off the trigger, and managed to drop the pistol entirely. She held her hand to her mouth. Killing a Jem’Hadar hadn’t felt anything like she’d expected it to. Paril squirmed in her abdominal pouch. The intruder alarms were oddly muted in her ears.

She realized the Human officer was saying something and refocused her eyes. “What?”

"HOLY SHIT ON A STICK!" Xiulan bellowed in surprise as she staggered back when her opponent fell; her eyes may have been on the fritz, but she had caught the heat signatures of those rifle blasts and now she was suddenly more afraid of her rescuer than she had been of the Jem'Hadar lying on the deck plating. "Who the fuck are you and how the fuck did you ever qualify to hold that weapon?!" Xiulan barked out. She had lost track of her bearings and was now feeling around blindly for the wall. Her fingers brushed up against the bulkhead and she took a step closer so she could find the corner, then she paused, seemingly looking around but she was actually listening for the hum of the engine room so she could know which way was forward and aft. All the while her mind was replaying the fight in gruesome slow motion and recalling how close those shots had been sent a shiver through her. "Okay, seriously, I think I could have done a better job with that thing than you, and I'm fucking blind," Xiulan insisted in a grumpy tone.

Metis blinked and looked down at the phaser pistol lying on the deck. “I don’t… I didn’t...” She looked at the Jem’Hadar. “Is he dead?” Of course he’s dead, you shot him. In the face. The Trill refocused on the human. She really did look blind. Interesting. “Metis. Paril. Metis Paril. Your ship… we just beamed over from the Gelti.

"Gelti, right," Xiulan said with a nod. "Xiulan Song, I'm the XO and I was on my way to Sickbay to check in on you guys; skies were clear when I left the bridge, so when the ship shook I was caught by surprise, I fell down a ladder shaft! What deck am I on, by the way? And you wouldn't happened to see my cane anywhere, would you?" she asked, holding her dislocated shoulder.

“Uhhh…” She looked around and found some lettering on the wall. “Deck three.” No cane. She saw a discarded Jem’Hadar kar’takin on the ground and picked up the bladed weapon. Maybe a little short... “Will this do?” she asked, holding it out to the XO, handle first.

Xiulan reached out and waited for the cold metal to touch her hand, then wrapped her fingers around the shaft of the weapon. Right away, she could tell that this was far too heavy to be used as an effective cane, but she felt around the dimensions of it anyway in case it could be useful; long, good balance, bladed... it was a polearm! Recognizing this as a weapon, she wanted to keep it, if for no other reason than having a cool souvenir, but if they came across another Jem'Hadar it could prove to be useful for their defense. "Too short and way too heavy for a blind cane, but I'll hang onto it just in case. I'll just have to let you lead me around," Xiulan replied, though she didn't need much leading to find her way back to the ladder shaft, though climbing it would be something of a problem with her shoulder being dislocated. "This might be tricky..." she mused aloud as she contemplated the mechanics of scaling the ladder while injured and carrying a weapon.

Awkwardly, Metis took the kar’takin from the Human and started to climb, then stopped. She went back to the corridor, retrieved and re-holstered her phaser, then started to climb. We could beam back to sickbay, but I wouldn’t trust those security officers to not shoot as soon as they see someone rematerializing. “The ladder rungs are about 25 centimeters apart,” she called down. Arriving on deck two, she poked her head around the corner and didn’t see any Jem’Hadar—or Starfleet, for that matter. There was a ruptured conduit spewing some sort of gas down the corridor that she didn’t remember from before. Not good.

"I know, just like I know how many rungs there are between levels, too," Xiulan said, mounting the ladder behind Metis. She was managing to climb even with one good arm, but she didn't get very far before she bumped into Metis' legs. "You have very nice legs, by the way," she offered, just to be creepy. "So why have we stopped?"

Metis almost kicked her in the face, although whether that was purely a reflex she wasn’t able to say. “Come on,” she said. She intended for it to come out as a growl, but if she was being honest with herself, she was still too shaken to growl. Climbing out onto the deck, she held out the kar’tarkin for Xiulan to take. How blind is blind? she wondered as she un-holstered her phaser and swept the corridor with her eyes. “We’re alone.” The phaser shook badly in her hand. The aftereffects of adrenaline?

Of course, Xiulan couldn't really see the offered weapon, she had to bump into it to realize Metis was holding it out for her. "Good," Xiulan said with relief at Metis' assessment that they were alone. "Are you alright? I can hear your rifle rattling," she commented, pausing to use what senses she had available to take in her surroundings; she could hear a hissing, 'see' a bloom of heat near them, and taste something sharp in the air... a conduit must have ruptured and was likely leaking something not too good for them. "And how good are you with your hands?" she asked, knowing that conduit would have to get shut off if they were to get to Sickbay.

“What?” Metis took the pistol in both hands to stop it from shaking. “What do my hands have anything to do with anything?” Some of the gas wafted into her nose, and she started coughing. “Is there any way around that stuff? Or turn it off?” she asked, trying to usher Xiulan away from the conduit. "I've never been on a ship like this."

"If we're going to get to Sickbay, we need to shut off this leak, and I can't do it," Xiulan explained. "Now, I can show you how to remove the bulkhead plating to expose all the conduits underneath, describe the right parts and talk you through shutting off the flow to this conduit; can you handle that?"

Gritting her teeth, she said, “Sure,” and passed the phaser pistol to the blind woman. What could go wrong? She looked at where the gas was leaking from and imagined where she would put a conduit access panel if she were a Starfleet engineer. “Here?” she asked, wrapping her knuckles on what she hoped was the right bulkhead.

As best she could tell, they were pretty close to the break, so Xiulan nodded. "All these bulkhead panels come off, like this," Xiulan said, kneeling down to press against the corner and push up, which didn't work too well with one hand, but the panel came free when Metis knelt in to help. "Okay, now we're looking for the conduit that is broken. Look for similarities in color and relative location. Once you think you've found the right conduit, we need to follow it upstream to a manifold, a big round looking doodad. Now this is very important because if we follow the conduit to the wrong manifold, because I don't know what the hell I'm doing and we can seriously fuck shit up if we do this wrong. Now let's just hope the right manifold is on this side of the leak..." Of course a real Engineer could fix this from just about anywhere, but their experiences and capabilities were highly limited.

Metis did as she was told. “They wouldn’t put anything too dangerous where people like us could mess it up, right?” she muttered as she traced the piping. One of them was warmer than the others, and the inside of her nose still stung and felt warm, so she made an educated guess that it was the one to follow. It seemed to match up with what she could see through the billowing smoke. She followed it back and found a ‘big round looking doodad’ with a bunch of other conduits feeding into it. Good enough. Metis turned the manual valve for the leaky conduit, and sure enough, the flow of gas into the corridor began to lessen, then dissipated.

"I'm not hearing anymore hissing...." Xiulan said as she listened for the leak. A few seconds later, the heat signature began to dissipate and fade from her limited field of vision. "Okay, I think we're good. Leave this panel open so the Engineers know which one we messed with, I'll contact them once we're in Sickbay," she added, retrieving the Jem'Hadar polearm as she returned to her feet.

“Right,” Metis told her, but closed the panel anyway. If the Jem’Hadar returned to this part of the ship, a firefight would risk damaging or igniting the conduits behind the bulkhead. They were Starfleet engineers, they would figure it out. And it’s not like she can tell. She started off down the corridor towards the medical bay. “Come on,” she called over her shoulder. “Let’s get that arm of yours sorted.”

"You closed it, didn't you?" Xiulan asked. Like she couldn't hear Metis doing something with that panel?! As if! But Xiulan didn't care at this point, she just wanted someone to pop her shoulder back into place and give her some drugs, so she followed Metis without complaint.

Metis pretended not to hear her. Someday she would learn how to interact with Lieutenant Song, but today was not that day. Today was for surviving. She thought again of the Jem’Hadar on the deck below them, and shuddered. After calling out to make sure the security officers wouldn’t shoot them on approach, the pair made it into Sickbay without further catastrophe.


==Bridge==

Lieutenant Commander Landon Milo was hovering over the Cadet at tactical watching her return fire to the Jem'Hadar as the starship took its pounding. The shields had been drained and the Jem'Hadar were aboard. His crew were doing their best to take care of them, and Brexa had managed to find some reserve power to get a low level of shielding back to the Beifong, but another hit or two and then the shields would be down for good. After that, any further hits of significant strength would have surely destroyed the starship. "Cadet keep firing with everything we got. Target their weapons systems and take them out!" shouted Landon.

The young Cadet was doing her best, though she was not nearly as experienced or skillful as Ian MacKenzie. She had started by targeting their engines, but was not making much progress. She adjusted to targeting their weapons with little effect at first, but was eventually able to knock out one of the attacking vessels weapons systems. "Nailed one of them, Sir," she said triumphantly.

Chief Brexa was still at the science station doing whatever she could to help the cadet by boosting targeting sensors, but she had more than supporting tactical on her plate. She was trying her damn best to keep life support from completely failing ship wide. We're not going to survive this she thought. Then something came to her and she quickly took action. "I'm about to make their lives harder," she said sharply. "Got it!... blinding their sensors, Captain," announced the Ferengi.

Landon did not know what Brexa had done but every little bit was going to help them survive this encounter. Though a miracle was certainly welcomed. "Arturo..." began Landon, but the Cadet interrupted him.

"Captain!" she shouted. "Jem'Hadar are breaking off their attack... another ship has arrived," she added with a near sigh of relief.

"Tygarians?" asked Landon, knowing they were still close enough to the planet that the Tygarians may have detected the Jem'Hadar.

The Cadet shook her head. "No, Sir. Federation Starship. The USS T'Pava," she said cheerfully.

It was enough of a miracle for Landon. Thank the four deities he thought to himself. "Lieutenant M'Rohass, take us away from this battle and out of the line of fire," ordered Landon. He felt terrible fleeing the scene and leaving the T'Pava to handle the Jem'Hadar ships, but the Beifong was barely holding herself together.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Arturo replied. "Maneuvering us away from the conflict."

Arturo was a smooth hand at the helm when he wanted to be and the crew barely felt any movement at all between the Caitian's skill and the inertial dampeners of course."

Watching the Caitian take the starship away from the Jem'Hadar and the USS T'Pava he made his next decision. "Brexa, you have the Bridge," he said swiftly. "Arturo, with me," said Landon picking up a tricorder and holstering it to a belt around his waist as he took arms. Picking up a Type-I phaser and and a phaser rifle. Though he quickly handed the rifle over to the helmsmen. "Let's help the others," said Landon with a nod at Arturo.

Arturo looked at the rifle a moment. It wasn't his favorite weapon, but he could use it well. After a very brief moment, he took the weapon in hand. If push came to shove he also hand his Sicilian knife with him.

"At once, Captain," Arturo said as he rose to join his commanding officer.

==Engineering==

Lieutenant JG Darzan Kail was screaming orders and running frantically around Engineering, trying desperately to keep the damage being done by the invaders under control. Two Jem'Hadar had entered Engineering earlier, but Darzan and one of his youngest Ensigns had managed to take them out, but it had been a surprise. The doors had slid open and shots had been fired before anyone really understood what was going on. One of his engineers was dead and two others seriously injured. Once the Jem'Hadar were down, he had posted two people on the doors and done his best to take care of the wounded himself. They were stable, but one of them needed medical attention soon. Coolant leaks had been cropping up all over the ship and the few people he had were trying their best to do the repairs, armed with weapons and heads on swivels, looking for more enemies.

"Lieutenant Reish and Ensign Matters! Go to deck 3 and lock down those leaks! They're way too close to the antimatter storage! And keep your eyes open... watch each other's backs! We don't know how many of them there are." While he talked he was rapidly disassembling a power board that had blown in the firefight and rerouting the power it was losing the ship currently. =/\=Engineering to Medical! We've got wounded down here! I'm sure you've heard that a lot lately,=/\= he said over the comm. Right as the words left his lips the panel next to the one he was working on made a loud popping noise and burst into flame, shooting sparks and little jets of fire everywhere, mostly at Darzan.

He could feel the heat just a moment before it erupted out of the panel. He tried to pull back away from the heat and did manage to at least get his eyes closed in time, but he could feel and smell his burning hair and the skin on his face go tight with exposure to the heat. It didn't hurt as much as he expected, but it was definitely hot. The main problem was that when the fire had erupted he had had one hand inside the panel next to it. When he tried to pull back a small piece inside had caught the sleeve of his uniform almost like setting a fishhook. For a moment he couldn't get free, caught just on the hem of his sleeve, the fabric there much more resistant to tearing. Although, with a few good yanks he was free and rolling away from the fire while another crew member put it out.

==Bridge==

Holding the Bridge down, Chief Brexa made the calls she felt were necessary. "Bridge to all hands... venting deck four... I repeat we are venting deck four," she said making the announcement. She could not wait much longer and took the action. Opening a channel to the Security Chief "Ian, we are going to vent deck four. Stand by" she said before turning in her seat and giving the nod to the Cadet to obey her decision. In the technical sense, the Cadet somewhat had rank over her, but Brexa had been appointed Science Chief until a replacement was found. As a member of the Senior Staff she held a position of authority.

Through the pain of his broken ribs, Ian did his best to hold his breath and close his eyes. In the few seconds before the vent occurred, he could hear almost every man inhale and grab hold of something. From EVA training at the Academy, the instructors taught that the average human had between 45 and 105 seconds to survive in a vacuum before their lungs gave out or they froze to death. A second later, Ian felt an icy cold wind as the air rushed out of the corridor. He could boots thumping towards him on the corridor. Opening his eyes and feeling the intense burn of the incredibly low temperature, Ian picked up an errant phaser rifle that was now drifting, adjusted it to maximum, and fired a three round burst. Two of the glowing orbs collided with the chest of the Jem Hadar and one caught it in the neck, leaving a gaping, burning hole. Losing the ability to continue to concentrate, Ian finally lost consciousness and collapsed to the deck.


Brexa knew there would be some issues. She waited the few moments before bringing everything back to operating conditions on the fourth deck. Her immediate call was shipwide "Medical to deck four. All medical trained personnel to deck four, please" she screeched over the comm.
The Hangover Xiulan's Quarters Current
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Xiulan dreaded waking up; she was not what one would call a 'morning person' even on her best days, but after the fun-filled week she had recently experienced topped off with a Tea Revolution and Borg research, Xiulan had made the brilliant decision to have a few friends over and get drunk. She had at least been intelligent enough to not drink on an empty stomach which minimized the morning after effects, but there was no avoiding the headache that greeted her as consciousness dawned her. Uhg, today was gonna suck...

Arturo hummed to himself as he made his way to Graceful Orchid's cabin. He would have whistled but with his cat-like muzzle whistling was awkward. Arturo carried a tray in front of him. On the tray were a french press, a small can with freshly ground French Roast coffee, a scoop to measure out the coffee, as well and sugar and cream in case Xiulan wanted either or both. He certainly wanted both, but he had a feline's love of cream, especially sweet cream. He arrived at Xiulan's quarters and, after a moment's consideration about how best to ring her bell...er...hit her buzzer...er...oh...let her know he was there. That was it. Anyway, he choose to use his elbow.

Oh shit, who the hell was bugging her at this hour?! Xiulan rolled out of bed to avoid smacking her head on the bunk stacked above; the top bunk was currently occupied with a glass terrarium, the fire krayt that should be inside nowhere to be found. With a heavy yawn, Xiulan pilfered through the scattered remnants of her uniform for the hypo Nerys had given her to help subdue her headache, and once the blessed medicine was administered, she dropped the hypo ans stumbled to the door, not bothering to change or cover up as she answered the door.

"What?" Xiulan asked grumpily as she stood in the doorway wearing a tank top and some thin shorts that left her short yet athletic build on full display. And her hair, heaven help her, her dark hair was sticking up every which way and hanging in her face; it would be a miracle if her visitor could even see the scowl on her face!

"Good morning!" Arturo said enthusiastically. He could smell liquor seeping through Xiulan's pores and the state of her hair made him smile. Well, he would have laughed but to spare Xiulan's dignity, such as it was, he choose to smile, since she couldn't see that. He took in her strong body and intersting curves without making any suggestive comments. Xiulan was very attractive and Arturo immediately decided that he'd like to see her with even less on than she had now. That could wait, though, until a more appropriate time. "It is I! Arturo M'Rohass. I come bearing the gift of soon to be brewed fresh and real coffee. You look like you could use a cup, as well as several glasses of water. Rough night?"

For a long while, Xiulan was silent and still, that is until she uttered, "I love you," in serious tone. she stepped back into her quarters to let him in. "Be careful, don't step or sit on Gerri, I don't know where he is," she said as she stumbled her way over to the bathroom to try to wash up.

"Uhm...Gerri?" Arturo said as he entered. There wasn't much room but he made do. Laying the tray on the bed for a moment, he unfolded the small table from where it was reccessed into the wall and then transferred the tray to that. He measured out the coffee grinds for the press and poured them in. He measure out hot water and pour it in after the grinds and put the top on. He set his chrono for five minutes and, while he waited, he filled a glass of water for Xiulan for when she came out of the bathroom. He stood where he could block Xiulan from running into the table when she came out of the bathroom. "I take it you have some kind of animal for a roommate? It's not a snake, is it? I never did like snakes. All that slithering...ugh."

Xiulan bumped right into him as she came out, indicating her 'vision' had not returned enough to detect that he was there. Though at least she looked better with her face washed and her hair combed out. "Hey, you weren't there before," she comment with her hands on his shoulders to steady herself and get a better sense of where he was. "Holy hell, you are short, aren't you..." she said, her hands feeling their way up to the top of his head, grinning slightly. "Oh, uh, Gerri is my fire krayt, he likes to hide from me; little bastard knows I can't see him very well."

Arturo purred when Xiulan rubbed his head.

"Meeeowrrr," Arturo said, nuzzling into Xiulan's hands. "I'm short, but substantial! Do not fear! Gerri is safe with me in the room."

Arturo's chrono went off.

"Ah ha!" he said. He turned and pressed the coffee and poured out two cups' worth before it got too bitter. "Now, there is a table here in front of you. I know that your eyes are 'turned off', so if you would like I could help you around it. However, I also know that you are very independent and I do not see you as broken or helpless. So, if you would like my assistance, I am here. Please, do not take offense in the offer. None is intended."

"I'm only accepting help because you brought me coffee," Xiulan said, letting him lead her around to where it was safe to be. She took a seat and waited for him to place the steam cup in her hands, smiling as she breathed deep the fragrant aroma. "Ah my god, this right here is better than sex," she said, then took a sip, offering a pleased hum at the excellently prepared brew. "As for my eyes, they're still on, there's just some rather extensive nerve damage; my visual center only understands a small portion of the signals it receives from the implants, and with the ion interference I get so much feedback that nothing makes sense. I wanted to turn them off, but sparing me the pain now just would have led to problems later when they were turned back on; so yay, headaches."

"I'm sorry," Arturo said. "That must be very painful and uncomfortable. Where is the pain the worst? In your temples? Near the eyes?"

"Uh, yeah. Nerys gave me something for the nerve pain, but that doesn't do much for the tension in the temples and optic muscles. But it's alright, it won't be this way for much longer; once we're out of this area of space, the feedback will stop," Xiulan said, then took another sip of coffee. "Oh god, that's delicious!"

Arturo smiled.

"I am glad you are enjoying it," he said. "Have you always been blind? Is that too personal a question? Perhaps not an offensive one, I hope."

"It's alright, I don't mind," Xiulan said, then took another sip of coffee as she leaned back in her bunk, leaning against the side frame. "Doctors said nothing was wrong with me from a genetic standpoint, I should be able to see, but my mom died in an accident and I was born really early, and something about light and preemies don't mix, it burns the retinas. So yeah..." Xiulan shrugged with a nonchalant grin to show that it didn't bother her. "Then I got the implants to join Starfleet, but then power arching off an exploded conduit fried the visual center of my brain, so now all I can interpret from the implants is infrared."

"Then it is a good thing there is more to me than stunning good looks!" he said with a grin in his voice.

Xiulan snickered. "Wow, you aren't shy at all, are you?" she said with a grin. "To be honest, even when I could see, appearances weren't all that important to me. I know seeing people put a lot of importance on appearance, but it just seems to me a big lie. It's like... dunno, putting a new casing on a ship; the ship may look pretty, but all the inner workings are still falling apart. All the same, a person may look nice, but do people really pay attention to what comes out of their mouth?"

"I agree with you," Arturo said. "But for the sake of argument, does your lack of interest in appearance apply to your sense of touch? For example, do some people feel more attractive than others when you explore them with your sense of touch?"

Xiulan remained silent for a moment as she pondered this question; no one had ever asked her anything like that before, nor had she ever thought about tactile appearance in that way before. "You know, I don't know if I have answer to that!" she said with a laugh. "I mean, when I want to put a face to the voice, I'll touch someone's face, and of course if I'm getting busy with someone there's that kind of contact, but it's not something I equate to attractiveness."

"Hmm..." Arturo replied. "Interesting. Yikes!"

A small lizard shimmied up Arturo's back and up onto his left shoulder and began to sniff at the Caitian's ear.

"Uhm, I think I found Gerri," Arturo said. He raised right hand up to Gerri and let the lizard sniff his fingers. Gerri seemed to find Arturo acceptable, because it hopped off of his chest and down into the cat's lap. Once there it snuggled in comfortably.

"And he didn't bite you? That's unusual for him," Xiulan said, feeling her way to the little table so she could set down her coffee mug, then she hopped up to feel around Gerri's terrarium, dropping some food pellets into the feed bowl and turning the heat lamp on. "He can sometimes get really hot to hold, so just put him in there if he becomes a nuisance," she added, then plopped back down on her bed.

"Of course," Arturo replied. "We're fine for now...ah...okay...now he's getting a bit...warm. Sorry, my scaly little friend, but I think I am going to put you back in you're habitat."

Arturo gently lifted Gerri out of his lap, stood, walked over to the terrarium, and gently, as if holding precious cargo, set the small lizard down inside. Gerri nuzzled Arturo's hand once and then went to eat. Arturo chuckled and then sat down again.

"I think Gerri likes me," Arturo said. "Or maybe I'm just a source of warmth. What species is he?"

"Soluvian Winged Fire Krayt," Xiulan said proudly. "Back on DS11, I raised all kinds of reptiles, mostly lizards and chameleons but I had a few really impressive stick-bugs, but I bring Gerri along with me when I travel because the fire krayts are so hard to maintain; they really like a hot environment, and it's a lot to expect my crewmates back on DS11 to try to care for him. He likes traveling with me, I think he knows he's special like that," she continued with a smile. "I miss my other buddies, though... Had a pair of chameleons I was tryna breed, I was really looking forward to all those itty bitty chameleons!"

"I had Terran kittens growing up," Arturo said. "Let me tell you, that was a little strange, like owning a primitive ancestor! I found them in a box on the corner of my street. We took them to the vet, but only four survived so we kept them, one for each sibling. I think they enjoyed growing up in a Caitian household. Their owners certainly understood them better than other species might have!"

Xiulan snickered, amused at the idea of a Caitian owning cats. "I bet that was interesting." She felt around for her mug and finished off her coffee. "Hey, got anymore coffee?" she asked, holding out her mug. "You know, I never understood the concept of abandoning pets; if you're not going to be responsible for your pet, and that includes any offspring, why the hell do you even have a pet in the first place?!"

"Wait," Arturo said. "I'll make some more."

Arturo carefully measured out the coffee grounds, then ordered water of the precise temperature required, then poured in the water, put on the lid with the plunger up and set the timer for five minutes.

"There!" he said. "Five minutes and we'll have more coffee! I have never really understood the abandonment of pets...well, that's not true. I understand the reason's that people do it, but I do not condone it. And I see no reason why, in the twenty-fourth century, a person can't ensure that their pets don't breed!"

"I know, right!" Xiulan replied. "What kind of cats were they? For that matter, what kind of cat are you? Or is that a taboo to ask?"

"I look a great deal like a bipedal orange Terran tabby cat," Arturo replied. "I'm afraid I am not one of those 'big cat' Caitians. But I do not regret being me! What I lack in stature, I make up for with enthusiasm! And the cats we adopted were also tabbies so we looked a lot a like."

"Uh, tabby, that's the one with tonal stripes, right?" Xiulan asked. "Sorry, I only had full sight for a couple of years, and to be honest, all cats look the same to my hands," she offered with a sheepish chuckle. But she was able to kind of get a mental image of him from that description.

"And the 'm' on the forehead, yes," Arturo said. "And I'm sorry. As soon as I answered your question I realized that you might not ever have seen a tabby cat before. Suffice to say that I look, and probably feel, like most domestic, short hair, Terran cats. I'm soft and furry and even a bit cuddly. That is, in a handsome, dashing, swashbuckler sort of way of course!"

The timer for the coffee dinged. Arturo pressed the plunger all the way to the bottom of the press and then poured out two more cups of coffee.

"Here you are," he said, gently taking Xiulan's hands and guiding them to the cup. "Be careful. It is very hot."

"Yeah, not shy at all," Xiulan said with an amused shake of her head. She again let him guide her to the cup, nodding when he said it was hot. "Oh man, I gotta say, this is probably one of the best wake ups I've had in a while. Ever since I left DS11, it's been one disaster after another, and after fighting with that fat blue Tea Nazi bastard, I really wasn't looking forward to stumbling down to the mess hall for the piss water they call coffee. So I really appreciate this,

"It is my pleasure," Arturo said. "I welcome the company."

Xiulan's hands were interesting. The skin was soft in places, but there were callouses and her knuckles felt like fighter's knuckles. Her wrists were strong.

"When I touched your hands," he went on. "I couldn't help noticing. You have fighter's hands. I'm right, aren't I?"

"Wow, not many people notice that," Xiulan said, genuinely impressed. "My father is a Wushu Master, runs a Hung Ga temple that he trained me to inherit, but I also picked up Chu Gar from street fighting. Though the callouses on the fingertips are from using tactile interfaces and my Braille reader," she explained.

"Feel mine," Arturo said. He took Xiulan's hands as soon as she put down her coffee. "Italian martial arts. Sticks, swords, daggers, knives, even open hand fighting. I was on the fencing team in high school and at the academy. I still train regularly."

Xiulan chuckled, amused by this exchange; she took his hands, at first feeling nothing but fur and rough toe pads, but as she explored the digits, she could feel tough tendons and firm muscles, her explorations taking her up his forearm where she felt more of the same. "Impressive," Xiulan said with a nod. "Wushu occasionally employs a variety of weapons, but I could never really get into them, always preferred using my hands," Xiulan said with a grin.

Arturo enjoyed the physical contact and purred a little when Xiulan slid her hands up to his forearms and probed them with her fingers.

"Well, I was a swashbuckler in the making as a child," Arturo said, reluctantly pulling his hands away so Xiulan could drink. "I ran around the house attacking things with my wooden sword. Finally my father decided that if I liked the sword so much, I should really know how to use one. Besides, regular lessons and practice kept me from hacking and slashing and stabbing the furniture, the walls, the trees in the garden, and from chasing my siblings around threatening to skewer them. It was much harder than I anticipated it would be and, at first, not as much fun. Once I discovered all the Nova Scrimia group had to offer me, though, I was hooked. Swords from Roman times to hand and a half swords to rapiers to sword canes, daggers, and knives. Sticks, too. Mostly those were used for practice, but some styles were compatible with cane fighting. Being able to fight with a stick and sometimes a knife came in very handy in some of the ports I visited when I was with the Nyberite Alliance."

Arturo paused a moment and then went on.

"Serving with the Alliance wasn't really where I saw my career going," he said. "But after a JAG court found me negligent and added a conduct unbecoming charge to that, well, there really wasn't anywhere else for me to go. I had friends, though, and they kept fighting for me. I was recently cleared of all charges and reinstated. Not everyone at Starfleet Command agreed with my return to active duty. That's why I was flying shuttles for Deep Space Eleven. In a way, our situation is a boon for me. I was concered that I might never helm a starship again, and yet, here I am! Life is a mystery!"

Xiulan drew a heel up onto the edge of her bunk, resting her mug of coffee on her raised knee as she listened with a small grin. "It's kinda funny, your fighting discipline was your passion, mine wasn't... My dad wanted me to be strong so I wouldn't let my disability get the better of me, but at the same time he was so afraid of me getting hurt, and just the thought of losing me was more than enough to turn that discipline into a cage for me. I joined Starfleet to get away from him. I do love fighting though, but I couldn't stand the idea of one day inheriting the temple," Xiulan shared with a rare softness to her usually bold speech patterns. "I was a linguist, I loved untangling new languages, it was like this wonderful puzzle I could literally get inside of. My instructors think I'm so good at it because I pay attention to things most others don't because of my blindness, and maybe that's true, but I can't imaging doing anything else. I was actually kind of pissed when Milo made me his XO, I didn't want this kind of responsibility, but I guess I'm starting to embrace it."

"You are doing a fine job!" Arturo said. "For one so young to be thrust into the executive officer's seat is unusual. You, from what I have seen, are adjusting to your new situation nicely. So says Arturo M'Rohass!"

Arturo chuckled and sipped at his coffee.

"I don't know if fighting was my passion," he went on. "I was certainly passionate about learning how it worked. It gave me something to both channel my adventurous spirit, and temper it. Channel because I was using sticks and sharp pointy things for much of the day, learning both the practical and sport uses of the arts. Learning was exciting and fun and...well...an adventure! And I got to compete! That was a tempering influence as well. I learned quickly that the clang of steel was not heard as often as the shuffling of feet as each swordsman and swordswoman danced around each other trying to find an opening and a strike that would not leave them open to being skewered. Things got a little more compressed in sport fencing, where I had to stay inside the boundaries. Abracar, the open hand fighting style, was a bit different. The moves were designed more for the street and...well, enough about me. You mentioned picking up a martial art from what you called street fighting? Street fighting gives me the image of you wearing a mask, leaping from roof top to roof top, kicking ass and sticking it to the man whenever possible. How far off am I?"

"I wasn't a masked vigilante!" Xiulan replied with a laugh. "It was more 'underground' fighting, some mixed martial arts cage matches, even a few backyard brawls, all with illegal gambling and I won a ton of credits! I had a lot of anger to get out, I was so frustrated with my father holding me back and not seeing me for me, so it was fun to just go wild for a while. I was already advanced in my Hung Ga discipline at the time, but I met this guy who practiced Chu Gar, he whooped my ass every time I met him in the ring, so I started picking things up from him to fight on his level; later a bad back injury took him out of the game, but he'd had a lot of fun competing against me so he decided to pay it forward by teaching me. Officially speaking, I'm only ranked as a Master of Hung Ga since that's all my father ever saw when he tested me, but honestly I like Chuu Gar better, it feels better suited to me, more natural; Hung Ga uses very deep, low stances, making the user rooted and unmovable and capable of very powerful brute force attacks, but Chu Gar focuses on the hands with the footwork being more defensive than offensive, and combined they a lethal force."

"Remind me not to make you angry with me," Arturo said. "How's the head?"

"Eh, it's tolerable, and getting better now that I've had an infusion of good coffee," Xiulan replied, grinning her mischievous grin. "I really appreciate it; I think more than anything, the talk has helped. I don't often talk about myself this much, but with everything going on it felt good to have someone to, thanks."

"It was my pleasure!" Arturo replied. "Shall we do this another time?"

"Yeah, come by anytime; coffee is appreciated, but not necessary," she said with a nod. She finished off her second mug, then set it on the table. "Now I need to get ready for my shift," she added as she pulled herself from her bunk and started to shuffle her feet around on the deck plating to find the crumpled remains of her uniform; she had no intentions of wearing a wrinkled uniform, she had a clean one she would wear, but she needed to get her dirty clothes through the recycler first. She picked up the clothes strewn about and shoved them haphazardly into the replicator, felt around for the cleaning settings. "Hey, you know I could use some help later! Since I'm the XO, I've been offered nicer quarters, you can help me move Geri's terrarium!" she said

"Absolutely! My pleasure," Arturo said, gathering up his belongings. "Just call me when you are ready! Thank you for a most pleasant morning."

"Can do!" Xiulan said with an upbeat tone. "Now get out, unless you really wanna see me naked," she said in jest.

Arturo laughed.

"I will go," he said. "Because I am a gentleman, NOT because I don't want to see you naked! Good day, Graceful Orchid!"

Hearing him call her 'Graceful Orchid' had her sputter, but she couldn't contain her laughter at the rest of his response. "Alright, catch you later," she said with a grin.

OFF

Lieutenant Xiulan Song
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass
Chief Flight Control Officer
Impromptu Rescue Deck 2, Jeffries Tube Junction Three-Robert 'Bob'
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ON:

Ian walked through the corridor, limping slightly as his newly repaired femur continued to trouble him with a throbbing pain. His only objective was to reach his quarters and collapse into his bed, hoping that he'd be in any shape to take on his shift in a few short hours. His department had been decimated in terms of injuries and several of his people would be in sickbay for the next few days as their injuries healed or they were kept for observation, so he would be working double duty on the Bridge and taking on periodic patrols throughout the ship.

Continuing his leisurely limp through the corridor, he stopped as he thought he heard a noise. With the trouble the ship had been having with boarders, Ian didn't need another incident to add to his list of worries that the Captain would probably bring to his attention. Looking around, he thought he could hear singing...

Sabrina should have the good sense to stay quiet. But the adrenaline had worn off, she was dehydrated, mildly concussed and frankly bored. She was telling Bob about hunting for sand dollars, and the Jeffries Tube junction did not seem impressed, so she started singing him the song she'd made up when she was four. At the time she'd thought it was brilliant, and in her current state she was still rather impressed with herself.

Ian looked up again as he heard a song echoing in an almost ghostly fashion through the halls. The thought that he was going crazy from the painkillers was becoming more plausible with every passing second. "Hello?" he called out. Hearing a slight rustle, he reached for the phaser that was no longer there. Swearing to himself, he called out again. "Hello? Is anyone up there?" he asked again, questioning his sanity further.

Sabrina froze. Was somebody calling for her? She doubted a Jem'Hadar would just announce themselves so pleasantly. A rescue? Sabrina needed to take the chance, she was starving, beyond thirsty, and the light headedness was beginning to plague her almost constantly. She stepped over to the hatch and slower opened it, then poked her head out cautiously. "Hello?"

Wheeling around, Ian jumped as he saw the impish face of a woman poke her head out of the Jeffries Tube. Slowly walking over, he kneeled. "Are you okay and how the hell did you get in there?" he asked, his eyebrow raised. He was being cautious because he didn't know whether he was hallucinating or if this was an honest to God woman staring at him.

"Ohmygod, you're Starfleet." Sabrina completely ignored his questions as she realized she was safe, she was actually rescued. She flung her arms around the man. "Please don't be a hallucination." She muttered into his shoulder.

Taken aback, Ian's arms were slack at his side. Finally getting over the shock, he wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace and chuckled. "I can promise you that I am one hundred percent real. Who, might I ask, are you?" he inquired into the ear of the woman who was practically burrowing into his shoulder, causing him to wince every time she moved.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She realized she was hurting him when the shock of discovering he was Starfleet wore off. Starfleet, and an officer, and she'd just hugged him. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry, sir." She pulled back and wavered on her feet, but remained upright. "Crewman Sabrina Corbin, sir." She tried to come to some kind of attention, still half in and half out of the hatch of The Jeffries Tube. She probably looked ridiculous. Had she just cursed in front of him too? Sabrina flushed crimson.

Ian flashed her a pained smile. "Nice to meet you, Crewman, my name's Ian. Ian McKenzie." he said simply, sticking out his hand. Looking her over, he could see that she was cute and trying her best to make a good first impression, despite the circumstances. "You know, we should probably get the doc to check you over and make sure you're not too torn up. Where did you come from anyway?" he asked further, beckoning for her to latch on to his elbow. Stopping for a moment, he realized how stupid of a question that he had asked. "You're from the ship we rescued, aren't you?"

Sabrina didn't have a chance to answer his question before he answered it himself. But she confirmed anyway. "Yes. I thought we were being beamed to another ship of Jem'Hadar, so I hid. I should have realized it was a Starfleet ship." She clutched at his elbow for balance, and finally stepped fully out of the hatch. "Thank you." She let go, still embarrassed that she'd flung herself at him and cursed. Could you get written up while being rescued?

Looking around and poking his head inside of the Jeffries Tube. "You know, the markings should have tipped you off but no hard feelings. I'm glad we managed to get you back. I'd probably thank the rest of the bridge crew when you get a chance, they were primarily responsible for saving you." he said."Now let's get you to sickbay, I'm sure Doctor Evartin would want to take a look at you and keep you for observation."

She dropped her head and just nodded, feeling utterly stupid. She should have realized. She felt wobbly on her feet, but had embarrassed herself enough for one day, thank you very much. She kept her eyes resolutely on the deck in front of her.

Ian laughed a little, his body tightening as he did so. "You know, I did the same thing when my ship was rescued from the Jem Hadar. I literally hugged the Chief that came in and told me that the coast was clear. It was literally one of the happiest days of my life because before that, I didn't know if I was going to live or die." he said thoughtfully.

Sabrina's mental filter was never the best to begin with. She tended to say what was on her mind before actually thinking about it, but in her current state, the weak filter was totally absent. "I thought I was going to die without a lobster dinner and with my virginity intact. How pathetic is that?" As soon as it was out of her mouth, she of course realized how monumentally embarrassing that had been to say. "I'm just going to fall through the deck now, don't mind me." She sighed, and hid her face into his upper arm. God, why couldn't the deck actually just suck her down right now?

Ian laughed hysterically, his newly repaired ribs aching as he did so. This new crewman had a sense of humor and it didn't help that she was cute or Ian might have dressed her down rather severely in the middle of the corridor. "You know something, Corbin. You make me laugh, I like that. Now let's get you to the doctor and see if we can get you that lobster dinner." he said in a faux stern voice. Whether he knew it or not, he was flirting with a dangerous line when it came to his comments towards a junior enlisted woman.

He seemed to take it well, and didn't tease her so Sabrina finally lifted her head and gave a small smile. "Alright, lead on."

Bloody Paws USS Beifong | Deck 2
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The Caitian let out a loud hiss as she swung around with her type II hand phaser and fired off a few blasts at the approaching Jem'Hadar who were on their way to take Beifong's Main Engineering. Lieutenant L'sira S'kar was no security officer. Her phaser accuracy was decent enough to get through the academy and her physicality was reasonable for what she did with her career in Starfleet which was serving as an Operations Officer. Being in charge of power management and rerouting power where it was needed when it was needed. She had a few away missions under her belt, but she mostly kept her paws dirty helping out in Engineering by repairing what she could or ensuring that the starship was not abusing power and conserving enough reserve energy to last in an emergency situation. This was not the emergency situation she tended to prepare for.

Taking up arms? Participating in a shootout with Jem'Hadar? Hell no. Starfleet may have trained her for something like this happening, but it was always so far from being an actual reality. Well, that was the case until now. She had instructed Darzen to secure himself and his Engineering personnel in Main Engineering, leaving her on the other side of the doorway, out in the naked corridor where she stood watch. Part of her knew the Jem'Hadar were coming and she had even made peace with her fate before they started firing. L'sira S'kar, proud daughter of her home world of Cait would make her final resting place right here right now.

She managed to kill two of the Jem'Hadar but it was a four on one situation. The fact that she had been able to cut the number of her foes into half was an accomplishment. Landon and Arturo were heading towards her position from an adjoining corridor, having heard the exchange of weapons fire. However, just as they came upon the scene, what they caught sight off was tragic. The Operations Officer turned her head and looked at Landon and Arturo. "It wasss an honor," she said with a small purring. Several blasts hit her in the chest sending her backwards into the closed doors to Engineering, blood smeared down the closed doors as she slumped down to the floor.

Landon pulled Arturo back instinctively, keeping them behind a bulkhead. "There's two of them left," said Landon still in shock over what he had just seen. He wanted to check on the fallen officer, but his experience and medical knowledge told him well before he heard the last dying thoughts that the woman was dead. "We need to... her death can't be in vain," added Landon. "They cannot get into Engineering. We have to stop them," continued Landon.

Arturo nodded. Knowing that Jem'Hadar we could resist phaser stun, he adjusted the setting on his carbine to lethal and fired off a few shots to keep his enemy pinned down. He frowned. They were too exposed here. This would not do. Arturo exposed himself... that is to say, he exposed his body... that is to say he peeked out from behind cover and fired a barrage at the Jem'Hadar, but instead of ducking back behind cover to avoid incoming fire, he stayed exactly where he was, gambling that the incoming fire would not hit him. He took a breath and, when the Jem'Hadar popped up to shoot at him, he took careful aim and fired off a shot. The beam hit one of the Jem'Hadar directly between the eyes. It was a one in a million shot. The other Jem'Hadar stayed concealed and held his fire for the moment. It was a stalemate. The Jem'Hadar was stuck until he figured a way to come out and shoot without getting shot and Arturo was stuck in position. If he lowered his guard for even a moment and the Jem'Hadar noticed, they'd be under fire again.

All Landon really could do with his Type I phaser, the infamously known "Cricket" was watch Arturo at work. He had to give the Caitian props for being so brave and just boldly diving into a firefight with two Jem'Hadar. Though as Landon soon saw, his Caitian helmsmen was not only daring, but also pretty deadly with his carbine as one of the two remaining Jem'Hadar was taken out by the helmsmen. "Not your ordinary navigator and pilot, are you Lieutenant?" said Landon with a nod.

"I am no one's ordinary anything," Arturo replied without taking his eyes off of the corridor.

Landon knew the situation in they were in was not ideal. Though the odds were better now. In fact, two on one was in their favor, but Landon's cricket was practically just a small light show and noise maker than a legit weapon against a Jem'Hadar. It had a kill setting of course... one that Landon was tinkering with whether to use or not. The physician in him was screaming at him to find another way, but the newly discovered Captain's blood pumping through his veins had no sympathy for the murderers that killed his Chief Operations Officer and were endangering his crew.

"I'll draw him out," said Landon closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Just... stay put and don't miss when you have the shot," added Landon as he looked at Arturo with a nod. Then, the Beifong's Commanding Officer raised his hands and started to walk out exposing his presence and making himself a vulnerable target. "Jem'Hadar soldier, listen to me... I'm Lieutenant Commander Landon Milo, Commanding Officer of this starship. It's over. This fight ends now," said Landon, knowing the Jem'Hadar would eventually pop up or out and take the shot at him.

Arturo slowed his breathing and waited for Landon to make his move. The Caitian was well aware of the stakes. If he missed, Landon would probably be killed. Arturo scanned the corridor looking for any movement. A moment later, a Jem'Hadar carbine poked out. In a split second Arturo realized that the Jem'Hadar was going to fire blindly at Landon. In the corridor, Landon was bound to be hit. Changing the rate of fire settings with a flick of his thumb, Arturo fired off a series of three-pulse bursts aimed at the weapon and what little of the Jem'Hadar he could see. One of the bursts severed the Jem'Hadar's arm at the elbow. Another his weapon which was rendered useless. With his other hand, the Jem'Hadar drew a pistol and made as if to charge the Starfleet officers. Arturo easily cut him down. Arturo stepped out from behind cover, his weapon focused on his fallen enemy.

"Captain," he said. "Would you be so kind as to make sure our friends are both fully and completely dead so we might relax?"

Landon looked at the officer. "I don't make it a habit of killing anyone, Arturo," replied the Captain. "But I see little choice in the matter," added Landon as he went to ensure each fallen Jem'Hadar was indeed dead.

"If either one is alive," Arturo said. "We can always throw them in the brig after the doctor patches them up."

The young man nodded. "It would be more preferable to do so. Even if we cannot hold them long term, I am not opposed to dropping them off at the next habitable planet or moon" commented Landon. "I just do not know how Security will feel having a Jem'Hadar to guard."

The thought of needing to supply any captive Jem'Hadar with ketracel white brought to Arturo's mind some information he had come across while working for the Nyberite Alliance.

"During my hiatus from Starfleet, I encountered Jem'Hadar who had hired themselves out in exchange for ketracel white," Arturo said. "If you can afford to produce ketracel white, you can hire any number of Jem'Hadar disgruntled with the Founders and the Dominion. These might not even be in league with the Dominion. There have even been some rumors flying about both the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants that there are parties that are perfecting the process of creating Jem'Hadar themselves. Even Vorta. The science is complicated but if the Founders can do it, theoretically so could others."

Landon nodded at this interesting tidbit of information. "Well, then maybe alive is not a bad idea. If we can actually reason with them...having some Jem'Hadar on our side might make this voyage a lot easier."

=ENGINEERING=

Darzan herded the remaining engineer crew back away from the doors, made sure they were armed and ordered them to take up positions to protect themselves in case the enemy burst through the door. Crouched behind a panel, with just enough space to see the door, his face burning from the electrical discharge earlier, he beat one fist into his leg in frustration and tried to keep his head on straight. He wanted to run out there, phasers blazing and take down as many of the Jem'Hadar as he could, but one look at the frightened Ensign hiding behind a panel across from him and he knew he had to keep his place and keep his head down. He knew in his heart that the Operations officer was dead and it tore at his soul. He had heard something wet and heavy hit the doors before everyone had taken cover, not to mention the phaser fire. She had been a good officer, one of the best and had made the ultimate sacrifice for her ship, her department and her crew. He swore to her, right then and there, that if he lived through all of this he would give her proper respect at her burial.

He tapped his comm badge, hoping beyond all hope that help was on their way, or he was going to have to come up with a plan and soon. "Captain? Captain can you hear me?" he asked softly into the comm.

After all was said and done outside in the corridor, Landon answered the comm call. "I'm here. The situation outside Engineering has been neutralized, Darzan. The last of the intruders are being dealt with," said Landon. "Arturo and I are out here in the corridor outside Engineering," added the man.

Then, after taking a breath and gathering his thoughts, Landon reached across his chest and hit his comm badge again. "Landon to Xiulan, Lieutenant M'Rohass and I outside Main Engineering on Deck 2. What is your location?" he asked his First Officer.

"I've got people that need medical attention," Darzan said into the comm at Landon as he stood slowly. One of his more seasoned engineers stood as well. Both of them kept their phasers trained on the door. Darzan looked over at the other man. He was human and a good engineer. Always willing to do whatever it took. Of course not like Lieutenant L'sira S'kar, but he still appreciated the man. Slowly, together, they edged toward the door.

When they arrived at the door, Darzan indicated for the other man to take one side and he himself would take the other. He hit the panel for the door to slide open and it did just that. L'sira S'kar's body lay just outside, the sight of it making Darzan's chest hurt with sadness. The human whipped around the door, phaser raised and Darzan knelt, reaching out to grab the fallen engineer's body and haul it back inside the doors. While he was out there he took a quick look up and down the hallway, only seeing bodies of the Jen'Hadar.

"I think we're clear," the human engineer said softly as Darzan pulled the dead Caitian through the open doorway.

"Don't count on it, they might be hidden," Darzan responded, although since there wasn't any phaser fire when they poked their heads out, he imagined the man was probably correct. Once they had the body secured Darzan pulled back into main engineering and let the doors slide shut again.

=DECK TWO -ELSEWHERE-=

"SONOFBITCH!" Xiulan bellowed as Nerys popped her shoulder back in its socket. "I, uh, fuck, I'm Sickbay, we're relatively secure, I think..." Xiulan replied over the comm as she gripped arm with a grimace, waiting for Nerys to give her something for the pain. "Gimme a minute, I can give you a better assessment of our situation," she half-groaned out as she attempted to remove herself from the biobed to check on the others.

Holding Xiulan on the biobed for a moment longer, Nerys popped a hypo against her neck, then released her. "There. Now you can go off and try to get yourself killed again."

"Ohhhh yeah..." Xiulan said with relief as she sagged against Nerys. "Forget what I said about your bedside manner, I love you," Xiulan said, slightly buzzed from the pain killers, completely unaware that Landon and Arturo were still listening over the comms.

"Xiulan, you might want to just stay where you are. I'll talk to Doctor Evartin though," said Landon shaking his head. Pain medication he thought.

"If you need medical attention as well, hurry up and get here," Nerys replied to the comms as she started working on her next patient.

Landon shook his head even though the Doctor could not see that from Sickbay. "No, I am fine, Doctor. I need to make sure the ship is secure, but we have a fallen crew member outside of engineering. There was nothing that could be done. You'll need to make use of what you have in Sickbay and reconfigure a biobed or something to serve as a morgue for the time being."

"You mean something like the six stasis tubes I have prepped?" Nerys asked, giving a poor soul another rough hypo and eliciting a yelp.

Landon sighed. "Whatever you come up with. I'll start sending you injured so be prepared. Milo out" he said terminating the comm channel.

Golden Scritches Mess Hall After "Finding Order"
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ON

Arturo entered the mess hall and saw Xiulan sitting at a table, nursing a cup of coffee and eating a sandwich. He ordered himself a shaken sweet green ice tea and a sandwich. When his order was ready he approached Xiulan's table.

"Xiulan?" he said. "It is I, Arturo M'Rohass! May I join you?"

"Yeah, sure," Xiulan said as she kicked out a chair for him to sit in. "So what's new, Puss in Boots?" she asked with a somewhat failed attempt at a grin.

Arturo chuckled and took a seat.

"How have you been?" he said. "You seem well recovered from our recent adventure."

"Well, I'm alive, so guess I can't complain," Xiulan said around a bite of sandwich, then paused to finish chewing and swallow. "Though I will complain profusely about a job the Captain just dumped on me, so fair warning," she offered, then rubbed at her shoulder which was still bothering her.

"For you, I am a as a giant ear!" Arturo replied. "Here for you to pour in your troubles!"

"A giant ear, well that is somewhat disturbing," Xiulan replied with a grin. "Eh, don't need an ear, just a friend. Anyway, Landon told me to wait on this Soroys-person hand and foot, and then she strolls right in and tries to take over! I don't know what to do, man..."

"Wait," Arturo said. "Captain Soroys has taken over? What's going to happen Captain Milo? I suppose I'll have to start calling him Commander Milo from now on."

"I honestly have no idea, she just muscled right in. Landon said he can't sense anything from her; uh, he's a strong empath, but he can't sense anything from her. Granted, she's a telepath and obviously more mentally disciplined to be able to shut him out, but it doesn't sit well with either of us that she's so guarded. And something about her explanation about the reason we were fired upon by the Copernicus, there's just something off about it... I can't put my finger on it, Arturo, but something is definitely wrong here," Xiulan said, pushing her plate with the remnants of her lunch aside.

"Yes," Arturo said. "Something is definitely wrong. What reason did she give for Copernicus firing on you?"

"I'm not sure I should be talking about this..." Xiulan said, suddenly very uncomfortable, her brow furrowed with worry. It wasn't that she didn't trust Arturo, but the proverbial walls had ears and she worried about this getting back to the Queen Bitch. "She said that our bring fired upon was a 'misfortune' and that they didn't know we weren't part of the Separatists. I've been working this area out of DS11 for years, I've never heard anything about a Separatist movement, and believe me, I've translated all kinds of sensitive junk! And it gets worse; when we finally met up with the Copernicus, they open fired without attempting to make contact, they didn't answer our hails, and there were other ships of non-Starfleet design with them," she continued in a hushed tone.

"Other ships?" Arturo asked. "As a department head, I have access to the ship's sensor logs, at least I think I do. When we're done here, I will take a look at the sensor logs at the time of the encounter. I'd like to see the design of the other ships. I will keep your confidence and I will be at your side should this Captain Soroys proof false!"

"Don't do anything to draw attention to yourself," Xiulan cautioned. "Check, but be discreet about it. I don't like where this is headed and I don't want to be blind-sided, but I don't want to arouse any suspicion if there really is something going on here. Just be careful, don't get into trouble."

"Me? Trouble?" Artiuro said. "I will be the very picture of discretion! You have my word, and the word of Arturo M'Rohass is as true as...as...as something that is very true!"

Xiulan snickered; well, he at least had enthusiasm! "Just be careful, you dolt! If you get caught, I'm not busting you out of the brig!" she said in jest. Of course she would bust him out; if he got caught, then that meant there was something going on and she would need his help figuring out what to do!

Arturo sipped at his cold iced green tea (sweetened, of course) and watched Xiulan a moment. She was quite beautiful but it was obvious that she was also quite concerned. Arturo reached out his hand and placed it on top of hers.

"I promise you, Graceful Orchid," he said. "I will take no unnecessary risk. While I am sure you can face any challenge without my help, still, I will be there to help."

"Yeah, if you could just forget that whole 'Graceful Orchid' thing, that would be great," Xiulan said with a chuckle. His hand was warm and it felt nice, but she wasn't used to such shows of affection; she was the kind of person who liked to show affection with a jab to the arm. Even still, she didn't flinch or draw her hand away, instead letting his hand rest there for a moment while using her other hand to claim her mug of coffee and taking a swig. "I know I'm still getting used to this XO gig, but if there's something going then I need to be looking out for the crew. Let me know what you find. If you can't tell me directly, you can send it to my tactile PaDD so no one can see it."

"Absolutely, Graceful Orchid," Arturo replied with a grin. "Or rather Aye, aye, Lieutenant.. I can access them from the terminal in my quarters. I shall make it seem as though I am reviewing flight and sensor logs against the cartographic information we obtained in our last adventure. It will be one of many things that I'll do. Unless someone pours through the entire session, my detective work will go unnoticed."

"Good kitty," Xiulan said and reached over to ruffle the fur atop his head.

"Prrrr..." Arturo...well...purred. "Keep that up and you'll have me eating out of your hands...among other things."

"Nice," Xiulan said simply with a grin as she rose from her chair. "I might hold you to that later," she said teasingly as she grabbed her new walking cane and her cup of coffee so she could return to her duty shift.

"You can hold me to it anytime you'd like," Arturo said, believe it or not, gallantly. "Arrivederci."



Lieutenant Xiulan Song
Executive Officer/Language Specialist

&

Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass
Chief Flight Control
Meeting of the Minds USS Beifong, command deck Several hours after Jem'Hadar attack
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Metis Paril had found her first good thing to say about Starfleet: they maintained their procedures even in the worst of times. Even with what seemed like half the security division in their tiny sickbay, they had assigned a security officer to escort her to the captain’s ready room. As a scientist, she appreciated procedure—at least when it wasn’t getting in the way of making progress.

“Are we there yet?” she asked the Human leading her to the captain’s ready room.

He didn’t even turn. “You’ll know when we’re there, ma’am.”

“I did save your executive officer when she fell down a ladder shaft,” she reminded him. If I didn’t know better, I would say that I’m being given the runaround. Actually, I guess I don’t know better, now that I think about it. Who knows what kind of mindgames a Starfleet captain plays with her guests? Especially when rescuing her guests gets her ship attacked by Jem’Hadar.

“Yes, ma’am, you did,” the security officer agreed. “You also nearly shot our XO, according to her.”

She bristled. “You can’t hold that against me! I’m a civilian! I’ve never shot at anyone before! And I didn’t actually hit her. Now, take me to your captain, I’m sure she won’t want to be kept waiting like this.”

Now, the security officer did turn. For just a second, Metis thought she saw his Starfleet veneer of civility crack, and felt a flash of satisfaction. “Ma’am, the captain’s a busy man. And believe it or not, this is the fastest way to the ready room, there was some damage to this deck. Unless you want a face full of plasma leak, follow me, and be quiet. For your own safety, of course,” he added.

Oh, great. The captain’s a man. No chance he’s a Trill, either. She’d been briefly excited to meet the ship’s doctor, another Trill woman, but hadn’t been impressed by her bedside manner. This rescue’s getting worse all the time. Not for the first time, she wondered if the Gelti could be repaired, and if she and Bemoni could be on their way.

Finally, they reached an otherwise unremarkable door marked Captain’s Ready Room in blocky Human lettering. The security officer hit the com panel on the bulkhead. “Metis Peril to see you, sir.”

“Metis Paril,” she interjected, glaring at the back of his head. “Puh-RIL.”

The doors opened upon Landon's acceptance of the announcement. He had been expecting to meet the woman, but with the Jem'Hadar showing up, his planned schedule was thrown out the nearest airlock in a hurry. Now, there was the matter of the Federation starship the Beifong had briefly encountered, the one that had shown up out of no where to take care of the Jem'Hadar while the Beifong tucked tail and ran. Not Landon's favorite order to give, but even the Defiant class was not much of a match against those odds.

He had set everything aside and gestured for the woman to come in and motioned for the security guard to leave them be. "I'm sorry" he said quickly apologizing. "You'll have to excuse my Security Department. We have very few of them and they take their jobs seriously" he added, trying to excuse the guard that had escorted her. "I can assure you that you won't have a guard following you constantly. I'll be sure to see to that immediately" added Landon apologetically.

"May I get you something to drink? A nice hot tea perhaps?" he said as he approached the replicator. "I believe we spoke through communications channel while we were rescuing the survivors of your ship, but I'll politely extend my welcome aboard the USS Beifong."

Finding Order USS Beifong | Conference/Briefing Room
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The Jem'Hadar attack had put the USS Beifong is a dismal state in need of repairs. They had gotten away from the fight thanks to another Federation starship, one that Landon Milo and his crew had not been expecting to find out in the middle of no where in the Gamma Quadrant. Last check for Federation vessels reported to be operating in the area left the Beifong months away from finding a friendly face in the great wide abyss and yet when they needed it most, a Deus ex machina arrived in the form of Captain Helena Soroys and her starship.

It was her starship that had come to the Beifong's aide and had successfully taken out the Jem'Hadar, now it had been her starship that was towing the Beinfong to saftey, clear out of the path of the storm and into a nebula in order to patch up the Beifong to the best of the two crews abilities. Engineering and Medical personnel came first aboard the Beifong to help lift the burden and weight, the stress on Beifong's limited personnel. Then immediately came some security forces to ensure all the Jem'Hadar had been taken care of. To an extent that Landon was not all too pleased about as He and Arturo had managed to subdue some and have then brought to the Brig, only for them to be 'euthanized' to prevent further danger to the starship according to someone from Soroy's starship.

Then came the woman herself. A Betazoid like no other that Landon had ever encountered. She had such mental discipline about her that she was not easily read. Neither her thoughts not emotions. She had built herself a mental shield that kept others out, and it was hardened by her evident years in Starfleet service. The woman requested a meeting with the Captain to discuss a situation, a threat to the Gamma Quadrant, and to Starfleet.

Landon of course consented as he did not hold rank above her and he was not even supposed to be in command of the USS Beifong. However, Captain Soroys was not scheduled to meet with him for another ten minutes or so. This gave him time to summon his First Officer and Chief of Security to the room for the approaching meeting. He also wanted to get a grasp on the Beifong's situation and the two officer's thoughts.

Looking at them both as the three entered the room together and each took a seat at the table, Landon interlocked his fingers and placed his hands and part of his arms onto the table. "Both of you" he said calmly. "I need to know our present situation. What is the status of the ship and the of the crew?" he asked with a heavy sigh.

Ian thought for a moment. "We've suffered heavy casualties throughout the ship- almost 20 people in all with severe injuries. From what I can tell, the Jem Hadar were aboard with a simple objective of exterminating us. Luckily, we put up a fight and we managed to repel most of them- with the exception of one stubborn one that was trying to rip his way through a bulkhead outside of the tea lounge." Ian said quickly. "Tactical systems are pretty much shot, our targeting systems are still going haywire and we won't have enough power to put up another fight like that."

"The newcomers are rattled, but grateful. Those that are able are already being put to work, but we're stretched thin," Xiulan stated, wincing as she leaned back in her chair, her shoulder still aching from being dislocated earlier. "This ship and her crew are tore up plenty, but we've still got some fight in us. But we need a reprieve and refit, badly."

"Understood" said Landon with a sigh. "We will continue repairs as scheduled then and hope that we can be back underway and able to defend ourselves soon. Though I do not know how much of this will be in my hands much longer" commented the young man. "Captain Soroys is aboard and has left her starship in command of her most senior officer available. She came aboard with some luggage which I suspect is more than just some overnight clothes."

Landon looked at his First Officer "I do not want to make her feel unwelcome here. So whatever she wants or needs she will get or be given." He smiled at the blind woman. "Yes, I know it sounds like I want you to wait on her hand and foot and well...maybe I kind of do."

"Okay, setting aside the detail that you just loooooove to torture me with this shit, why the hell are you letting some stranger come aboard our ship like this?" Xiulan said, a little more blunt than usual considering she was still a little loopy on pain medication. "Don't get me wrong, if she's gonna help us, I'm all for it, but why roll out the red carpet? This ain't exactly the time or the place for pampering; maybe a little ass kissing if everything is on the level and we're getting something out of it, but I don't like that she's coming aboard like she owns the place. And coming outta nowhere like that, after the ordeal with the pirates, how the hell do we know we can trust her?!"

Ian spoke softly. "If I may say so, Lieutenant- we may no other choice but to trust them. They did rescue us, after all. We should take what we can get from them and see what we can provide within reason. Nothing more, nothing less." he said. He was hurting and tired due to the lack of sleep after his little tangle with the Jem Hadar.

Landon stood up from his seat and headed over to the replicator to order himself a hot cup of tea. His back was to the others as he retrieved the tea and answered the questioning. "Trust is a relative term at this point, Xiulan" commented Landon with a heavy sigh. "I cannot read anything from her. Nothing at all. I sense no deception, but I also cannot sense that she's being entirely honest and forth coming" added Landon as he turned with the tea in hand, holding a saucer underneath it as he sat it down and retook his seat. "Why am I rolling out the red carpet for her? Because, that starship of hers is Federation. Her uniform and her crew...Starfleet --er mostly Starfleet" he said making note of the woman's choice of 'Security Chief' who was a Lethean.

"The fact that you can read neither truth nor lies should be telling enough... I say we let the fat Bolian bastard lead her around," Xiulan grumbled.

He looked at Ian "You are also right. They rescued us and at this point we owe them for that if not for the sake she is a Starfleet Captain and I'm just a Lieutenant Commander" added Landon nodding. "I do want you to check out her story when we know more of it. But do it as discretely as possible. I may not be able to read her thoughts or feelings, but my gut is telling me to handle this with caution. The last Federation starship we came across nearly destroyed us."

Ian raised his hand slightly again " Based on the misgivings in the room it would be wise to keep an eye on her, sir. Based on her rank, she is authorized the commandeer either the ship or our resources for anything she requires if she can justify an objective. All the same, I'd keep her at arms length until we can determine her true intentions. If you'd like, I can do some digging and assign Cadet Jemison as her personal guard to keep her corralled if necessary."

Landon looked at Ian. "Carefully. Very carefully" he said in a softened tone. "I don't want the Cadet to know that we are...being cautious with this woman. If the Cadet says the wrong thing, she may cause more problems" commented Landon. He hated to say that the young woman was incapable of discrete, but so far as Captain...Landon was not about to trust his won life with hers.

"On the one hand, I can't blame you for being cautious and not cluing in Jameson, but on the other hand, this could really come back to bite you in the ass," Xiulan pointed out. "Especially assigning me to be her personal servant. I mean, you know me, I am probably going to say something to piss her off!"

The doors the the Briefing room had slid open and Captain Helena Soroys with her menacing Lethean 'Security Chief' came into the room and cast upon Xiulan a stone cold look. "Then I recommend you not saying or doing anything to piss me off, Lieutenant" said the woman as she took as seat at the table. "Or I will reduce you back to your proper rank of Ensign. As I understand it that was your rank when you boarded this starship" she said swiftly as she laid down as stack of PaDD's and snapped her fingers.

Xiulan had to literally bite her tongue to keep herself from saying something that would result in the demotion Soroys threatened, and if she could have she would have given Soroys a scathing glare regardless, but instead she simply gazed blindly ahead of herself as always.

Her Lethean security chief came to her side and dispersed the PaDDs around the table to each of the officers present. "This Briefing should not be with the three of you, but rather with Captain T'su and the First Officer you had not taken aboard" she said sharply.

Landon tensed up and looked at her. He did not know if he should speak or not, but he did regardless. "We were on our way to take on our First Officer when our starship was attacked by another Federation starship. We do not know why nor do we know who was behind the attack" he said as calmly as he could manage. "We were not about to destroy another Federation starship. Even if we could have...I gave the order to evade and run until we could contact someone higher up."

Helena nodded "Yes, it was a misfortune that you were fired upon. Had we known you were not under control of the Separatists, you would have been deemed a friendly starship" she replied simply. "You were ordered to the Ophinias Colony as I understand it. That was because it was not safe for you to head back to Deep Space 11. The safest course for you was to keep you heading towards Ophinias until one of us could intercept you and that was my job" she said with a heavy sigh.

Xiulan pulled out her tactile PaDD from her duty jacket, failing to suppress a wince at the pain shooting through her shoulder with this action. She set her PaDD over the one the Lethean had given her, the two PaDDs automatically interfacing and translating the data into raised bumps for Xiulan's fingers to read. "You know, there's this magical thing called a 'hailing frequency'," Xiulan snarked back as her fingers took in the information provided on the PaDD given to her. "The Copernicus should have confirmed whether or not we were legit before firing on us. Could have avoided all this mess if they had just dropped a hello." This Captain Soroys just made Xiulan more suspicious of the situation and she made no attempt to hide this feeling from either of the two empaths in the room.

The woman nodded "Negligence on the Copernicus' part. Our intelligence reports that the Beifong was under Separatist control was clearly a mistake. All of this information you are receiving is way above your ranks. You all should have at least four pips on your uniforms, but the situation is dire. We have had to shut off access to the wormhole" she informed them.

Xiulan frowned; she was liking this situation less and less as things went on. What this woman clearly didn't know was that despite being an Ensign until just recently, Xiulan's Linguistics skills actually earned her top-level Security clearance and unrestricted access of the Comm feeds going through DS11, and she had never once heard anything about any Separatists before departing on the Beifong. Not that she was going to tell Soroys that, it suited her purposes to keep that little tidbit to herself for the moment. "So, these Separatists are taking over Starfleet ships, making a power play for the Sector," she inferred from the conversation and the data on the PaDD; it was a list of ships suspected to have ties to this Separatists group. "No, this list has to be wrong..." Xiulan said with another frown as her fingers found 'Black Hawk' on this list. "This says the Black Hawk has turned, that can't be right. I used to hang out with a bunch of the guys when they would dock at DS11 to resupply, and I coordinated with their Comms Officers to do some translations just after I left on the Beifong; they're all good people, I can't believe they would ever let their ship be used this way!"

Landon too had saw the name Black Hawk listed as hostile and that Captain Geisler was still listed as its Commanding Officer. "I second Xiulan. I served as Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Black Hawk last year...I KNOW Harvey Geisler and he is not man that would turn his back on Starfleet. He breaks no rules, no laws, and doesn't even bend a guideline" said Landon Milo shaking his head. "Your intelligence reports are more than wrong. They are fucking blasphemous!" shouted Landon throwing the PaDD across the room.

The Lethean advanced in upon Landon's seat and locked his eyes onto the man. Landon cringed in sharp shooting pain in his head, momentarily crippling him as he shouted out in painful agony. "NAAAAAAAAA!" he shouted. STOP STOP STOP!!!!! NOOOO!!!! he thought as he tried frivolously and frantically to push the Lethean out of his head to no avail.

Ian rose from his chair and in a single motion pulled his phaser and dug his muzzle into the small of the Lethean's back. "I've got something that'll cure all your ills so sit.Down. Now." he growled, his words measured. He had already let the man get too close and that was a monumental failure. Suddenly, he had to fight the urge to lean on the table as a rush of memories overwhelmed him. He flashed back to the memory of the bodies, split open and bleeding from the brutal treatment of the Jem Hadar, to the pain of leaving his family behind. Stepping back, Ian flashed back to reality, his face draining of color and a sense of cold spreading to the core of his being.

Helena looked at her security guard and snapped her fingers. "STOP IT! NOW!" she ordered and the Lethean broke off his attack and recoiled into the shadows of the Briefing room. "Doctor, Milo...you would be wise not to anger my Security Chief. He is...quite protective of me" she said with a smirk. "The facts remain the facts. The USS Black Hawk and her Captain are enemies of the Federation and Starfleet. Geisler and his crew disobeyed direct orders from an Admiral, We had a loyal man aboard that starship who seized command. Geisler and his First Officer were thrown into the Brig, but we can assume the crew betrayed Starfleet. We lost contact with our man inside."

"Your Intel was wrong when the Copernicus fired on us, and it's wrong now; the Black Hawk is not one of them," Xiulan insisted as she rose from her chair, making her way around the table to where Landon sat, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?" she asked, uncertain as to what exactly had just happened; that Lethean hadn't laid a hand on Landon and yet he had clearly been in pain! "Do you need me to call Nerys to bring you anything from Sickbay?" As unconventional as their Command partnership was, Xiulan had grown fond of Landon and considered him a friend, and while in most cases she would gladly tell a friend to man up to the pain, somehow she got the feeling that this wasn't the kind of pain that could be overcome with willpower, which made Xiulan loathe these strangers all the more for man-handling her Commanding Officer and friend in this way.

Landon was still reeling from the near crippling pain, but he managed to grab her hand and give it a small squeeze. "No, no. I am fine...I'm fine Xiulan" she said to his First Officer. However, he was anything but fine. I can't challenge her. I can't read her...she's a blank space he thought to himself.

Xiulan didn't bother returning to her chair, she simply pulled up another one so she could remain beside Landon as he collected himself. "So we have this Separatist faction, what do we do?" Xiulan asked Soroys numbly. "I mean seriously, how are we going to be of any help? We're under staffed, low on supplies, and we're in desperate need of repairs; what good can the Beifong do with the condition we're in?"

"You are not as helpless as you may seem" she said briskly. "We have control of various stations, planets, and starships" she added. "I will place my starship under the command of my First Officer and take command of the Beifong. I will take the Beifong to one of our nearest facilities for repairs. We will then make our way back towards DS11 which has been secured."

Ian holstered his phaser and slowly took his seat. After all of the proceedings today, he felt a growing sense of unease growing in the pit of his stomach. Everything about this situation seemed odd, with details out of place, but they were powerless to stop it. The presence and demeanor of this Captain was the oddest thing of all. She seemed... frigid, almost like a murderous psychopath. He could practically see the gears turning in her head as she plotted and planned and it was throwing Ian off. If there was one thing he could be sure of, he would not allow her to take command of this ship- not if his life and the lives of others depended upon it.

Landon looked at the woman. I cannot go a round with her with the Lethean around. Yes, I know you can here me you ugly bastard...I do not know what you are up to, but I will find out thought Landon, focusing his attention of the Lethean. Though his eyes wandered back to the woman. "You may have command of the Beifong, Captain. You have your orders and I will respect your rank in this matter."

She nodded "A wise move, Doctor. I would not want to have to forcefully remove you from command. That can be bad on morale" she quipped.

"I stand relieved" said Landon, standing up from his seat. "If you shall need me, I will be in Sickbay with Doctor Evartin or in my Quarters" added the young man a he proceeded to leave the room. "This is not really the place for a Medical Officer" he added leaving the room.

Captain Helena Soroys looked pleased at the man's abrupt departure. A good place for you. Run away little man she thought to herself. "Lieutenant Song, you will continue your duties as First Officer. Lieutenant MacKenzie, you will continue your duties as well. We have a bit of a journey ahead of us and may have to punch our way through to get back to the station. Be prepared. We very well may have to fire on some of those Federation starships no longer under our control. Dismissed" she finished.
Altered Course USS Beifong | Bridge & Shipwide
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The Briefing with Lieutenant Commander Milo and Lieutenants Song and McKenzie had been successfully cleared from her itinerary. There was only a few things left to do now that she was aboard the Starfleet controlled starship, the USS Beifong, and that was to seize command of it which was not difficult to do considering the former CMO had been in Command. He lacked rank and he lacked experience, but most of all he lacked the spine to stand up to her. Planting herself in the Captain's chair on the Bridge of the USS Beifong was an act of declaring the Beifong for the Consortium.

With the small yet tactically advanced escort, The Consortium could bring Starfleet to their knees. The destruction and devastation was endless, and the power was all at her control. Now was the time. It was time to bring the Beifong out of the shadows and show the Federation and Starfleet exactly what the Consortium meant. Captain Soroys looked towards Xiulan at the Communications station. "You," she said, not even addressing the woman by a rank or name. "Open a ship wide comm channel."

Xiulan assumed Soroys was speaking to her since she asked for a comm channel and complied without a word. An understanding had formed between Xiulan and the crew, they knew how to address her so she was aware that people were talking to her, but this woman, what the hell was her problem?!

Now that the channel was open, Helena continued. "Now here this... crew of the USS Beifong, this is Captain Helena Soroys. By order of Starfleet and the authority bestowed upon me as Captain, I now seize control of this starship and officially relieve Lieutenant Commander Landon T. Milo of command. You will now follow my orders and obey them to the T. There will be no questioning of orders," she said. "Communications, terminate channel."

Xiulan closed the channel as ordered, a heavy frown on her face. This whole ordeal was not sitting well with her and she was worried how the crew would handle the way this Soroys woman was manhandling the situation. Xiulan had been on the receiving end of a lot of Commanding Officer's ire, but it had been her experience that despite her own bad attitude earning that ire, that she could recognize that good Commanding Officers inspired their crew to earn their respect and authority; not like this Soroys character who burst into the place and demanded the command without any respect for the crew who had gotten the Beifong this far. Landon may not have had the spine to stand up to Soroys, but he had gotten them this far, and both he and the crew deserved so much better than the disrespect this woman was giving them!

Ian had been in the lounge finally partaking in some tea when he heard the announcement. He placed the cup slowly upon the table and quickly strode out of the door. He had known this was coming since their unfortunate meeting and he had rushed to develop a plan. Tapping his comm badge twice, he deactivated it and placed it in his pocket as he headed for Sickbay. He had no desire to be overheard for what he was about to do.

After a short walk, he reached the sickbay that was now guarded by two of his remaining crewmen. Nodding solemnly, he motioned for them to accompany him. Walking into the sickbay, he stopped beside Landon's bed, who he could see was surprisingly alert despite his encounter with a Lethean, which usually proved fatal for those unlucky enough to be caught in their telepathic grasp.

"How are you feeling, Captain?" Ian asked, the concern evident in his voice.

Darzen Kail crawled out from under the control panel he was currently working on and sat up, glaring up at the ship wide comm panel as if he could kill it with his mind. It infuriated him, the way that things had been handled and it wasn't getting any better quickly. The ship was in a horrible state of disrepair and he had crews working around the clock to try and at least provide them with enough power to get them wherever they were going without exploding. He grumbled under his breath. Something about filthy pirate hookers, before crawling back under the panel.

The Captain sat in her chair and contemplated her next move. She knew the multiple targets in the area. "All stations," she said sternly. "Report," she added.

"Helm answers ready, ma'am," Arturo said. "Green across the board. "If I may ask, ma'am, what will Captain... excuse me...Commander Milo's duties be from here on out? Will he be assuming the role of of Executive Officer? I find it important to understand the chain of command. It prevents... misunderstandings."

She looked at the Caitian, glaringly. "Doctor Milo lacks the experience and necessary skills to hold a command position. As I understand it we have a Captain in stasis down in Sickbay. I believe your 'Commander' Milo" she continued with a scoffing tone of voice, "...was responsible for placing the Captain in stasis. Until further notice, Doctor Milo is removed from the chain of command. He will assist Doctor Evartin in Sickbay and nothing more."

"As you wish, Captain," Arturo said, trying to keep his tone respectful. The closest he could manage was an exaggerated politeness with a side order of unspoken contempt.

Helena knew this crew did not like her nor did they trust her, neither of which they should. However, she knew that so long as she held the mantle of Captain, they would honor her orders. They would have to, especially if Landon Milo stayed in line and did not do anything to ruin the Consortium's plans.

"It would be helpful to know our intended destination, Captain Soroys," Arturo said. "So that I might better plan our trip. I assume we are headed somewhere?"

The Captain nodded, "Yes, Lieutenant. Set course for Deep Space 11, best speed," she said sternly. "Alter course as necessary," she added.

Arturo frowned. "Aye, aye, Captain," he replied. "Deep Space Eleven at best possible speed. Which in our current state of disrepair is Warp Five, give or take."

"Very well" she said a bit frustrated.

She then shot a look towards the tactical station. "Any sign of Federation starships, Lieutenant MacKenzie, raise us to yellow alert. Identify the starship. If not listed as a loyalist, standby for my orders to fire," she instructed.

What was this about loyalists? And orders to fire? The Beifong wouldn't survive a battle with anything more than a runabout at the moment, yet neither could they outrun most potential hostiles.

Coming To Main Sickbay 8 Hours following 'Knock Down, Drag Out'
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Ian moved his head to the side slowly and felt like swords were penetrating the sides of his skull. Opening his eyes, the bright fluorescent lights triggered a headache like nothing he had ever felt before. Attempting to sit up, he immediately fell backwards, clutching his ribs as an intense stinging sensation overwhelmed him. Fighting the urge to vomit from the pain, he simply laid there with his eyes half open. Through the pain, he could hear the agony filled moans of his comrades in sickbay as they experienced the same pain he did.

Placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him down, Nerys popped a painkiller into a hypo with her other hand and shot it into his neck. She figured he was in enough pain so she tried to miss the nerve bundle, but she was still in a hurry. "Stay still, ok?" Then she called over to the EMH. "I'll treat this one. You get that one and we'll work from there. Computer, please tell me we have a holographic orderly program." With a 'negative' from the computer, Nerys steeled herself and looked back down at Ian. "You're not going to like me much. Can you tell me what happened? Knowing how you got torn up like this might help me treat you." Before he could say anything else though, she already had a tricorder in one hand and a surgical tool that looked like a hammer with LEDs in the other, using it on his torso.

Ian groaned as he felt his ribs threading and fusing back together. "It was a Jem Hadar. The bastards boarded us and I tried to take on one on my own. As you can see, it didn't go well for me." He said sarcastically

"Well it sure the hell didn't go well for me either" said Brott after having been given something for the pain. "I told you it was a bad idea bringing me along. Didn't I?" said Brott shaking his head. "You would have been better off bringing the Cadet and leaving me on the Bridge to take care of the tactical station" he added. "But nope, you have me arm up and try to play security."

"I don't think it went well for anyone, judging from the injuries." Nerys continued to work expediently, making sure everything knit back together properly.

"Well at least the bastard's good and dead. At least he should be." Ian said, gritting his teeth as Nerys continued using the osteo-regenerator on him. Fighting the urge to move, he let himself lie back on the biobed. "Any casualties?" he asked as he stared up at the overhead.

"They're inbound. The official report will come out later." Nerys replied as she kept up with the treatment.

Ian sighed as the pain gradually subsided. Looking around, he saw what little of the Security Department he had either in biobeds or on the deck, nursing injuries of various levels of severity from sprained wrists to a broken leg, everyone was gritting their teeth and simply waiting for help. A sense of disappointment welled up in him, he was supposed to look out for his people but he had failed miserably and there would be hell to pay.

After a few more moments, Nerys finished up and scanned the site with a tricorder again, murmuring and nodding slightly.

"I could use a damn good cup of tea" said Brott with a sigh. "Days like this...I almost understand why you all are so obsessed with that coffee sludge you all drink."

"It gives us the energy to deal with life as we know it." Nerys commented wryly as she finished up and headed over to the replicator and punched up a mug of hot water. She then reached into her sorry excuse of a desk and pulled out a small infuser and plopped it into the mug. She then offered it to Brott. "Bajoran herbal tea. No one else can stand the smell, but maybe you can enjoy it. The natural pain relievers will do wonders for your pain."

Brott was quite pleased to receive the tea. "Oh this is a truly sensual experience!" he exclaimed. "Thank you, Doctor. Truly truly thank you. I shall consider putting this on the menu as a regular" he added.

Fake It! USS Beifong | Medical Bay
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Ensign Nician Haro paced his office. When the announcement was made he stopped and stood still in the room wringing his hands. Something about this whole situation didn't sit right with him. He wanted desperately to speak to Landon. He knew the man had to be at his wits end if this was the treatment he was receiving after he had brought them so far, mostly safely. In mind was spinning. Bolians weren't always the best at deception, matter of fact they were rather known for their lack of ability to lie well, but slowly he was beginning to formulate a plan. When it hit him in its fully formulated state he immediately began to to frantically search his office. The former occupant of the counselor's office was obviously into art therapy. There had been many, many supplies in the room when he had taken over. Along with those supplies was a large tub of colorful markers. He had put everything into storage, because he had never been good at art or instructing people on how to do art, but he was looking for those very supplies now.

A few moments later he had found what he wanted. In the bathroom, he stood in front of the wide mirror and uncapped a dark blue marker. Fortunately for him, the markers were not permanent, because he carefully began to place tiny little dots on every piece of blue exposed skin. He was hoping that this new "captain" had sent Landon back to where he came from, which was medical. If he could pass off being ill enough to merit going there immediately, then perhaps he would get a chance to talk to their former Captain and find out exactly what was going on. He could very easily use his status as ship's counselor to fly under the radar, since he wasn't a bridge officer, nor was he needed on the bridge.

It took him several moments and many deep breaths before he could leave his office and make his way to the medical bay, coughing and sneezing. Fortunately, his plan seemed to be working and many people in the hallways gave him a wide berth. "Bolian pox..." he kept repeating to them as he passed. "Terrible... so contagious..." he would cough and sputter and keep moving.

Landon was still reeling from the painful attack he suffered at the hands of Helena Soroy's Lethean muscle, but he was still on his feet which was something. He had been stripped of his CO duties and sent down to the Medical Bay to 'work with Doctor Evartin,' but Landon knew better. He may have not been able to penetrate the woman's thoughts or feelings, but he could read her actions loud and clear. In the Medical Bay, Landon was cut off from most of his crew and more importantly the Bridge.

She had my starship and she has my crew. I have no idea what she is planning, but I know it isn't right. None of this makes any sense. Captain Geisler... the Black Hawk? There's no way they would disobey orders from an Admiral without reason thought Landon as he sat on an empty bio bed twiddling his thumbs no less. "I do not believe her," he said aloud to Doctor Evartin. "Betazoids are very open. They rarely use any mental filters, they don't erect 'walls' to block their thoughts and feelings from others," he added.

"I can synthesize a Betazoid truth serum that can be deployed through the ventilation system if you'd like," Nerys offered from the desk, not looking up from her PaDD. She'd requested medical files from Starfleet on both of the new people and wasn't liking the excuses they were sending her. "By the way, has Command confirmed her orders yet?"

It was then that the young Bolian came through the doors of the Medical Bay. Landon looked at Ensign Nician Haro, scooted off the bio bed hopping onto his feet and grabbing a medical tricorder. "Hello, Ensign," said Landon with as pleasant of a smile as he could muster given the circumstances. "What is bothering you today?" asked the man as he started to perform some basic scans "Other than clearly being stressed... your heart rate is up as is your blood pressure," commented Landon.

Nerys didn't need a tricorder to diagnose Ensign Haro, she just needed one glance and a sniff of the air. "Computer, enact quarantine level three." With a chirrup, the computer complying and forcefields popping up around the small medbay and the doors sealed. She then stood and headed to a tray of tools, plugging a sonic probe into a tricorder and causing it to emit a low level whine. "Between the blue marker all over your skin and the stressed look, I'm diagnosing a need for privacy. You're not really sick, are you?"

Nician shook his head, no. "Bolian pox... I'm afraid," he said anyway, not really understanding that he was safe to speak freely. He took several deep breaths. He'd also repeated the phrase so often on his way to sickbay that it had sort of become an automatic response to any questions, but he was so happy to see Landon that he couldn't hide the cheerful Bolian smile that was typical of his species. "I heard that the new Captain is in place and we seem to be headed out." There was a small questioning tone in his voice, even though he was trying to keep it conversational. Once again, Bolians were terrible liars.

Landon nodded as he made a quick medical log that Nician had come in for suspected Bolian pox.

"You don't want us to treat you for a fake case of Bolian pox - it'll be worse than the disease. Now speak freely before that sonic probe burns out and the computer starts recording what we're saying again." This wasn't Nerys' first bout into medical espionage and as the CMO the computer had alerted her to a potential breach of patient-doctor confidentiality a while ago.

Nician visibly relaxed. "Oh thank goodness. Thank you. It's been very stressful for me to be deceptive. I'm afraid I'm not terribly good at it." He fanned himself with one hand a little and turned his gaze to Landon. "Captain, what is going on? Something's not right about this new captain and she's just terrible. No manners or respect at all. I know it is not my place to speak out against Starfleet, but what were they thinking? You were doing just fine. Yes, we were limping a little, but please tell me that this is not the usual protocol. I'm very alarmed." He paused for a moment, giving Landon a closer inspection. "Captain! Are you injured? What has happened?" His tone turned from one of cautious alarm to one of great concern.

"I am fine, Nician," said Landon dismissively. "It is just a headache... a la Lethean," commented the man with a sigh. "He did not like some of the things I said in a meeting with our new Captain. You are right to not like her and to suspect things. I cannot read her at all. She's a powerful Betazoid with some well disciplined mental shielding, and having that Lethean around isn't helping matters," explained Landon.

Landon looked at Nician and Doctor Evartin, lowering his voice, though for the time being the Medical bay was secure as it could be. "She's spinning a tale of some sort of division within Starfleet and the Federation, that good men and women I know have turned against the Federation and have control over several starships in the Task Force, possibly elsewhere. I do not believe it. I may not be able to read her, but I know my friends," continued Landon.

For a moment, Ensign Haro couldn't believe his ears. He blinked at the Captain and then sat down heavily on the biobed. He began to wring his hands. "Oh dear, this will not do. What do we do Captain? Who all knows? Have you spoken to anyone else? We... we're going to have to make a plan. This... can't happen, but how do you overthrow a fake captain with a killer, telepathic bodyguard? It's going to be sort of hard to sneak up on them." He stopped wringing his hands so he could fan himself. "I'm hot... is it hot in here?"

Landon pointed to the replicator unit. "Get yourself some cold water and try to calm down, Nician. You are going to hyperventilate" cautioned the man who had been Captain.

"You both need to be careful. We all do," he added shaking his head. "That Lethean could have killed me if it wanted to. I think I was fortunate that I walked away from that attack. It was a warning to me," he said with concern. "Letheans are extremely dangerous. None of us are safe. Our thoughts are not safe either... if that Lethean is near, he will read everything. They have a crippling telepathic attack and some are capable of telekinesis."

"Oh dear, dear, dear... Telekinesis too?" It was one of the first times ever that Nician Haro wasn't wearing a smile. In fact, he looked a little verklempt. "We have to get information to the rest of the crew. Maybe... maybe I could call people to my office... for... for evaluations? If... if she questions why... we... we just changed captains... I could present it to her as an opportunity to find out if anyone was... disloyal to her?"

Landon shook his head. "I don't want to raise her suspicions. She may be able to sense that she isn't trusted, but I don't want you stirring that up. Xiulan and Lieutenant MacKenzie are already aware and we seem to be on the same page," he said calmly. "Nician, you are the best for moving about unnoticed. Bolians stress over everything... no offense intended," commented Landon. "Avoid the Lethean and work with Xiulan and Ian. Get the Senior Staff together."

"I'll keep sickbay as safe of a place as I can. Also, I think I can rig a neuro-inhibitor that might be able to knock that Lethean into a coma but someone will have to get it onto his forehead." Nerys added. Even to her emotionless butt something about them seemed off.

"No offense taken, Captain. It is an accurate observation. I will do what I can. I'm not sure how I should get in contact with the senior staff though, other than to call them for their appointments. Should I just continue as I am?" He looked from Landon to Nerys and back again. "I don't know who we'll have to get to get close enough to her bodyguard to put that on his head. Too bad we don't seem to have anyone with sneaky assassin skills or they could just slip into his room while he's sleeping." Nician frowned. "We don't have anyone like that, do we?"

Landon shook his head. "No, we have no assassins aboard our Defiant class starship. Our Security Chief is the best trained but I do not want to risk it" he commented. "Continue as you are. Have a meal with some in the Mess if the Lethean or Captain Soroys is not around. Other than that proceed with your plan of calling a meeting."

It was then that the sonic probe decided to burn out, a small shower of sparks coming from the device as the emitter blew out. Nerys glanced at it, then looked back to Nician and Landon. "And I'll want to see you back here daily for a while. At least until we can get your stress levels down enough to prevent another Bolian pox flare up. I may not be a counselor myself, but perhaps my lack of emotions can help sooth you like... like... a well placed metaphor or an analgesic cream on a rash."

"Of course, Doctor. I will return tomorrow. Am I cleared to return to my quarters?" Nician asked innocently.

"Yes, Ensign" replied Landon with a small nod. "Return to your quarters and rest" he added.

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