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Semi-Precious Weapons USS Beifong | Crew Quarters
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As Security Chief aboard the USS Beifong as well as doubling as the Chief Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Ian Mackenzie was the go to man when it came to the Beifong's armament be it the weapons the starship fired or the phasers secured in weapons lockers to be used on away mission and defending the starship from intruders. Commander Landon T. Milo had been a rather untested officer in the command chair when going into the Gamma Quadrant, and yet coming out, he had more experience in a few months than most received in several months or a couple of years. He had never been a First Officer before, never assumed command of a Starship until he had been forced to do so. His starship had returned home banged up and with a few lives lost. His starship had been boarded by Jem'Hadar and Consortium forces during the Beifong's time in the quadrant.

It was quite clear that when Lieutenant Mackenzie assumed the mantle of a Department Head, that he was very much the right officer for the job which was undoubtedly why Landon ensured the man was promoted to full Lieutenant and not reassigned to anywhere else. Landon wanted someone he could trust at Tactical and keeping security in shape. Ian was definitely the man. A lot had changed in the past several months and even in the few that the Beifong and her crew had been back to Federation space. Promotions of the crew and upgrades to the Beifong's exterior, interior, and systems were just the tip of the changes. The United Federation of Planets had undergone some changes of its own as had Starfleet. Situations across the galaxy had called for change and the citizens of the Federation had apparently wanted something different than in recent years following the end of the Dominion War.

Fleets were undergoing various transitions such as the Fourth Fleet that the USS Beifong had previously been a part of. Its former Fleet Commanding Officer had retired, a replacement named, but after only a month or so of service, the man resigned. The Consortium plot to overtake Starfleet and the Federation from within was rooted in the Gamma Quadrant. Though it had been crushed, the aftershocks were still being felt as the Federation yanked almost all of it's operations out of the quadrant and rerouted efforts to the Alpha and Beta quadrants. Fleets were changing heads, Task Forces were being closed in some areas and opened in others. Aspirations of expanding and exploring the Gamma and Delta quadrants seemed to be dwindling as more support was being mounted 'back home' in the Alpha and Beta quadrants.

Politics were not Landon's forte, and though he was now an actual Commanding Officer with the rank of Commander worn on his collar, he was towards the bottom of Command structure outside of the confines of his starship. Aboard his starship, he gave orders, but those orders were often funneled down from people a hell of a lot higher than himself. Right now, he wanted to see his one Department Head before the USS Beifong disembarked from the starbase. It was an off duty visit, but with on duty purposes as Landon carried a PaDD in his hand, walking down the corridor with the assistance of a 'cane,' Landon came to a stop outside of Ian's quarters. Leaning inward, his pressed the control panel outside to ring the chime.

Ian snapped upward in his in his now unoccupied quarters, dropping the recently retrieved karambit onto the deck where it lodged into the carpet that now covered the deck. His previous roommate, a Warrant Officer in the Operations Department had posted off to another assignment the previous day, leaving the quarters empty. Kneeling to pickup the karambit, he twirled it in his hand lightly. It had been a tumultuous couple of months "Come in." he said, still twirling the blade around his finger.

"Don't mind if I do, Lieutenant" replied the Commander as the doorway parted, revealing the living quarters...bunk which was significantly smaller than his own living arrangements of course. Though Landon did notice he was without roommate. Landon flashed a small smile in the Security Chief's direction and followed it with a polite nod. It did not take any sort of extra perceptional senses to read and anticipate that Ian was going to go by the book and tense up. "You can relax, Ian. Though my visit is somewhat ship related, we're both off duty" added Landon dismissively. "I see with Mister Mulholland's departure, you have these quarters to yourself."

Ian reluctantly took a seat and turned to the Captain. "Yes, sir. He posted off yesterday- he's headed to an instructor slot at the Academy. "He muttered something about 'Damn kids' on his way out so I think he's going to have a blast." Ian said slightly sarcastic.

"I've guest lectured for some medical classes in the past...don't think I'll ever consider making a career out of it" replied Landon.

Taking a seat Landon made himself at home in the quarters. "Hope you don't mind my dropping by, but I wanted to discuss the new armament with you. The armory itself has been restocked, a report should be waiting for you, but I wanted to get a few words in beforehand" he said, holding a PaDD. Landon gestured for the Security Chief to have a seat next to him and pointed to a section of the PaDD. "Aside from a few Type I phasers that I've slated for cargo storage they have all been for the most part removed. We've taken on the latest updated design of the Type II hand phasers, and you will also find the addition of the Type II-Beta Heavy Phaser which I'm sure you and your security teams will be quite pleased with" teased Landon.

Moving over, he reached for the PADD. "According to this, these Type II Betas are classified as limited release. You'd have to have a damn good reason to obtain them. How did you manage to get your hands on these?" he said, reading over the specs. The Betas had a rapidly replaceable power supply and had an increased 20 shot capacity on the maximum setting. Scrolling down the list, he noted a few things. "20 Isomagnetic Disintegrators, 4 Plasmatic Pulse Device Launchers, and Six Long Range Adhesion Devices. You really pulled out the stops didn't you, sir?" Ian asked, his eyes lighting
up.

"We are a tactical escort, Ian" replied the Commander with a smile. "I did not have to manage much to get my hands on the Heavy Phasers, I had a look at the regions Starfleet Command has been interested in sending the Beifong in coming months and I made my case that unless we were going in with additional support, I did not feel type I and type II hand phasers were going to cut it" commented Landon. "Starfleet Research and Development and Starfleet Tactical were looking for starships willing to field test the Betas. I asserted our way towards the top of the list...maybe I played the sympathy card a little" added Landon.

"The sympathy card?" Ian stopped as he continued through the PADD "Sir, we're more heavily armed than any other Defiant Class- and you managed to get some additional shipboard upgrades. Some isolinear processor upgrades to fire control systems and what looks like new magnetic launch capacitors for the torpedo launchers. Sir, where the hell are we going?" he asked, a serious look in his eye. Defiant Class ships on patrol duty didn't just get handed these sorts of upgrades.

Landon looked at Ian, catching sight of the man in an appealing light. Doctor Evartin would have diagnosed him with an increased heart rate right then and there. All the Commanding Officer could do was suckle his bottom lip and try to not think too much, just stay focused on the meeting with his Chief of Security. "A Hornet's nest" he replied simply at first before delving too much further into it. "Traversing around our boarders with the Klingon Empire which is not the issue. Our problems come when we reach certain areas around the Klingon Badlands, The Triangle, Smuggler's Cover, and The Raeyan Transit Corridor" said Landon.

He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous and on edge. "While we were away in the Gamma Quadrant, some issues had arisen home in the Alpha Quadrant and crept on over to the Beta Quadrant. The Cardassians and the Romulans are still dog fitting it out over the Gavarian Corridor and the subsequent access to the Gavarian Frontier. Meanwhile, in the Beta Quadrant there has been a strong increase of pirate and raider activity namely from the Syndicate and smaller cartels. The Klingon and Gorn Hegemony are having a pissing match, and we've been pulled into it with recent Gorn attacks on several of our colonies and outposts."


TAG
A Porcelain Kingdom Marunochi III (Cthia) Several Months Ago...
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Cthia, a world of light and peace or so it had been until a civil unrest caused an uproar. Peace and prosperity could only go so far with the current ruling family who had ruled over the world of Cthia (recently charted by the Federation as Marunochi III) for centuries but when their ruler had died his eldest child, A'Zaan was rightful heir to the throne. However, his extravagant galas and neglect of those of lower stature, citizens of Cthia who served as the workforce as the backbone to the society caused a severe divide. Those who once supported the Monarchy for centuries were now disenfranchised and displaced. The Monarchy was all but gone, existing only in the name Prince and later King A'Zaan who had replaced his father's closest advisors and silenced the citizens whom he labeled his subjects. This lead to the uprising. A rebellion has started to take shape and attempts on King A'Zaaan's life pushed the world of Cthia to an all out war. In the ashes of the Monarchy, A'Zaan raised his Oligarchy.

Relations with off worlders like the Orion Syndicate, Ferengi Alliance, and the Nausicaans lead to more weapons reaching the planet. The Cthians becoming more militant out of necessity to save their world, but both sides believing their way was the right way for their world. At first, the Rebellion was of little threat. They were nothing but a ragtag bunch of merchants and miners, peasants...but they had a cause, and it was a cause that struck a cord with the minds of those who believed in the true Monarchy which took care of its people no matter how wealthy or poor. Even with the new weapons, the Rebellion stood little chance. They had arms but lacked leadership, unification, a voice.

Then, everything changed. The Rebellion got a voice. A'Zaan's own sister, T'Zala broke from the shadows and challenged her brother for the throne, but was imprisoned by him. When she was freed from the rebels, Princess T'Zala vowed to liberate Cthia and once again unite the people, bringing about light and peace once more. The Rebellion was able to start fighting back and eventually retook the Royal Palace, placing T'Zala on the throne, but she rejected the title of Queen and began work towards a new form of Government and leadership, naming herself Chancellor of Cthia. Her brother and his followers vowed revenge and months of blood shed finally lead to an armistice. However, the killing did not stop. The weapons had been programmed for war, not peace, and they would not stop until every last Cthian was killed.

Valiance and Venom USS Beifong Current
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Several hours of traveling, on a heading for the planet in question the crew of the USS Beifong had been hard at work carrying out their Commanding Officer's orders. Probes were being modified and prepared, research was being done, preparations being made whilst Commander Landon T. Milo had been in his Ready Room brushing up on the latest reports from Starfleet Command on the matter. Things were just getting worse by the hour, the population would be extinct if the crew of the Beifong could not figure out how to stop these weapons of mass destruction that had apparently acquired a thirst for blood or to some extent gone rogue. Landon had made some attempts to call for assistance, but for the most part the USS Beifong would be on her own. Medical relief aide was coming in the form of the USS Claire Fraser, a Federation Hospital ship.

That was at least some good news. A large Olympus class Hospital ship had the medical facilities aboard to help care for and treat the severely wounded, ideally helping save the lives of far more than Doctor Evartin and Landon could with Nican and the Emergency Medical Hologram. Still, the Claire Fraser was roughly twenty hours behind the Beifong, and her Commanding Officer was not willing to let any of her crew set foot on the planet until it was secured and the weapons deactivated or at the very least not an immediate threat to her crew. Excellent thought Landon with a sigh. Nice to know we have plenty of physicians on hand... the strings attached is a downside though, he thought as he exited his small Ready Room.

He immediately made eye contact with Xiulan whom had been in command of the Bridge while Landon was away dealing with the bureaucracy. "Hours of talking to Admiral A, B, C... oh hell I don't know how many I had to deal with, but for wanting US to help these people, they were of little to no help to me," he said shaking his head and clearly frustrated. Maybe it was not the most professional thing for a Commanding Officer to say or do in front of their bridge crew, but Landon never claimed to be anything more than a good humanitarian, a determined physician, and an everyday man at the end of the day. "I have bad news and some good news. The bad is we are on our own as far as dealing with these weapons for the time being until the Federation Council is willing to send combat engineers from the Corps of Engineers. The good news is we have a Hospital ship on our tail coming to provide assistance, but they won't set a foot on the planet's surface until their Captain deems it safe," he added.

OPEN TAG (Dr. Evartin would be beneficial)

Landon wanted to hear some good news. "Bring me up to speed on how we're doing," he said calmly. "How are the probes coming along, were we able to track down who sold these people these... world destroying weapons, and do we know anything about the weapons themselves? Who constructed them?"

"We already launched Frankenprobe and Bride of Frankenprobe and they've been in position for a little while gathering information," Arturo said. "Lucy? Could you tell everyone what we've discovered."

Lucy cleared her throat and glanced over her PaDD. "We've discovered that unmanned weapons probes, powered by a well protected base station deep underground patrols both ground and space around the planet. They're very similar in design to an automated arms dealer that the Enterprise D encountered, but with some distinct differences. These use neutreon particles for power and can self replicate more probes at will, making them far more difficult to deal with. I do have the coordinates for the control system, but I'm not sure we have the firepower to penetrate their defenses. If we could create a way to negate their power systems, we'd be set, but without a few more ships or a dreadnaught, i'm not sure how we'll do it."

Landon absorbed Lucy's information. "Yes, I vaguely recall something about these weapons...the automated arms dealer was from a species from the planet Minos. Those weapons exterminated that civilization" added Landon, shaking his head. "Study the logs of Captain Picard and anything you can on the weapons they encountered. That was over twenty years ago, perhaps our modern technology holds an advantage?"

The Commanding Officer then looked at one of the newer faces on his crew. "Mirok, were you able to get in touch with the Romulans or anyone else potentially useful? Did they have any light they could shed on the situation?" asked Landon.

"I had to make some... promises... But I was able to find out that there's been heavy interaction from the Orions and Nausicaans recently. An increase in what's normal. That and they're an offshoot of both ends of my heritage." Mirok smirked a little, "but the Empire tends to ignore them."

Interesting he thought to himself. "They are Vulcanoid?" he said as he brought his hand up and stroked his chin subtly. "Offshoots of Romulan, that's rather interesting. We know there have been several Vulcanoid species documented aside from the Vulcans, Romulans, and Remans. The Rigelian, Garidian, and Watraii just to name some of them" commented Landon.

"Mirok, I believe you may be less threatening to these people than anyone else. I would like to have you as part of the first Away Team to go down to the planet's surface" he said. "Ian, you as well" added Landon. "You both have experience with sophisticated weapons technology. I also need to ensure the away team's safety."

"I do not know which side they were first, it'll be nice to find out." Mirok mused, since, if they were Romulan offshoots, they had to break off sometime after the Empire was formed.

Ian nodded. "I'd recommend breaking out the Two Betas and Class Five body armor. If we're dealing with Naussican tech, it's going to mean lots of sharp objects and poisons. We'll need to pack antidotes just in case as well. Any thoughts on this, Lieutenant Mirok?

TAG Mirok

The Commanding Officer turned and looked at his Helmsmen. "Arturo, try not to use too many of those lives of yours, the away mission is yours," said Landon. Sorry, Xiulan he thought privately as he felt bad for benching her on this one, but Landon felt she was more of an asset staying with the ship in this case. "Take Lieutenants Kail and Furr with you. Their expertise may be crucial in shutting these weapons down," added the Commander.

"Of course, Captain," Arturo replied. "How are we getting down there? Are we taking the shuttle pod or bringing the ship within transporter range? If the weapons system doesn't recognize the shuttle pod as a threat, we should be fine. If it does think the pod a threat, we could be in real trouble, even with my flying skills, however I may be able to fly the pod through the flak and put us on the ground in something resembling one piece. On the other hand, the weapons system will almost certainly recognize the Beifong as a threat, at which point someone will need to fly us through the flak and then the Beifong will have to sit there and take a few for the team while we transport down to the surface. We can cut the time by beaming me from the bridge to the planet below, while Darzen and Lucy beam down from the transporter room. A skilled transporter operator could put us all in the same location. I am leaning toward advising the use of the pod. If we get blown up in the pod, the Beifong will be safe to try something else. If we get shot down, I make be able to effect a landing the three of us can walk away from, and of course there's a fair chance I can successfully fly through the flak. That chance could be increased if Lucy and Darzen can think of a way to confuse the weapons system's sensors. Lucy? Darzen? Any thoughts?"

Darzen nodded a little. He had been thinking on the situation since the meeting. "If we could find a way to mask the pod's signature then we could possibly convince the system that the ship is something else. It's going to have to be something with a signature as well, but we might be able to come up with something the system would think is harmless. Maybe we could hide as some sort of waste disposal or system upgrade team. I wish I had more information on the type of system it is, then we might be able to fool it enough to get us where we need to be. Is it going to allow us to beam down without having a fit?"

"The shuttle pod is too small to have a transporter," Arturo said. "I was hoping we could just land... oh, wait, are you talking about disguising the Beifong? Would it not be easier to Rube Goldberg some way of making the shuttle less noticeable, rather than trying to convince the weapons system to ignore a powerful, heavily armed starship?"

Lucy had been hard at work on a PaDD for a couple minutes now and glancing up, she decided to speak up. "I think that if I reconfigure the warp field and use an inverted polaric pulse in the theta band with the deflector... With some engineering help, I should be able to make the Beifong look like a falling chunk of ice. We'll just need some good feline piloting skills to make it look realistic and slam the ship into the ground at terminal velocity."

Darzan shook his head. "No... I'm not talking about the entire ship. Just the pod. The shuttle pod." He looked at the others. "I did say pod, didn't I?" He returned his gaze to the Caitian. "And didn't you just suggest that we beam down from the transporter room of the Beifong? and the bridge? I mean if the system is that advanced, wouldn't it perceive any beaming into its territory as a potential threat? No matter where it came from?"

"The pod is too small to mask with what we have on hand..." Lucy muttered as she went back to running calculations on her PaDD.

"How is the pod too small?" Darzan asked. "We'd just need to mask the warp signature, or maybe even better we could give the planet defenses something to attack and maybe slip in unnoticed. We could use a series of false warp signatures to maybe keep the system busy? Have it shooting at ghosts while we slip in the backdoor." He shrugged. "I don't really see the difference between masking the entire ship or masking the shuttle."

"And what about the lifesigns on the shuttlepod? Without some specialized equipment that we don't have that size of, but do have for the whole ship, the system will detect them, ignore the phantoms, and go straight for the pod. As for the transporter..." This is where Lucy got condescending with her voice. "We have ablative armor. We can take a few hits."

"Yes, we can take a few hits, but a sensor-blocking field would hide the lifesigns and it would be much easier to hide them on a shuttle with only a few people on it, then it would be to try and mask the entire ship." He shrugged again, his tone never changing.

Lucy shook her head as she ran more calculations. "And the only equipment on board that can generate a field large enough to cover a shuttlepod is larger than the shuttlepod. or the whole ship if we use the shields."

Darzen crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "I could make you a personal hand-held sensor-blocking field out of a medical tricorder if you like."

"And it would be enough to fool a tricorder. Not the sensors of this weapons platform." Lucy insisted.

"I understand that we want the method with the least casualties." Mirok said, "I have very little training in Engineering, but both of those sound a bit too resource intensive. Did anyone think of maybe a tachyon pulse that goes off every, say, 30 seconds? It might do better at hiding things than other methods." He threw his two cents into the mix.

Darzen nodded once. "Admittedly I don't have enough information to judge what would be needed to boost any signal we would need generate. I'm not certain of how powerful the sensors are down there. A tachyon pulse might work, but we'd have to modify that as well. Normally they're used for draining shields, not weapons." He looked at Lucy. "What do you have?"

"And I thought being attacked telepathically by a Lethean was bad," commented Landon. "Lives are at stake here, I wish we had time to sit at a table and debate how we are we going to proceed with doing this," said the Commander shaking his head. "Time is something that we have very little of. Lucy, if you have something to add or anything to offer... I'm willing to hear it," he added.

Lucy took a deep breath before diving in. "Captain, the issue we have is that we're a very small combat oriented ship. We already used what spare sciencey tools we had on our only two type 9 probes. If we had the resources of even a small cruiser and a slightly larger than coffin sized shuttlepod, I could make it look like a Gekli to even Borg sensors, but we don't. We have 4 decks of critical equipment, weapons, and some spare conduit to work with. We don't even have a proper industrial replicator and our transporter only has three proper pads. On the flip side of that, I've seen reports of these ships taking a beating from Dominion dreadnaughts and coming out on top. If Arturo is even a tenth of the pilot his reputation says he is, in my professional expert recommendation as a science officer and a sensor specialist, taking the ship itself in is our best hope."

Landon took a deep breath. "I do not want to put any of you in unnecessary danger. The Beifong has better shields and more fire power than a shuttlepod does. If we can't find a means to disguise the shuttlepod 100%, I'll risk the Beifong," he offered.

Darzen nodded again. "I was simply hoping for the least amount of life risked, Captain. Needs of the many and all that, but of course I defer to you."

"Send me down alone then," Mirok said, boldly. "I can do my best alone, and if it looks like the weapon is going to activate, you guys warp out. It'll save all the lives aboard the Beifong, and give us at least a chance of disabling the weapon."

Arturo snorted, or at least made noise that might be interpreted as a feline snorting.

"Foolish heroics aside," he said. "That still wouldn't solve the problem of how to get around the sensors. Unless you've got a cloaking device small enough to fit in our tiny Type 18 shuttlepod, a craft so small and cramped that every available nook and cranny is filled with absolutely essential equipment and happen to be a better pilot than I am, all you're going to do is get yourself killed and cost us our only shuttle pod. So, the problem at hand is that we have two answers to one question: Do we disguise the Beifong and use it to deliver the away team or do we use the shuttle pod. Lucy says there's no way to disguise the pod because we haven't got anything on board that can both disguise the pod and fit inside it. Darzen disagrees. He thinks he can whip up a way to disguise the shuttle pod."

Arturo tapped his claws on his console a moment and then spoke.

"What if we took the Beifong in at warp speed?" he said. "We come out of warp in high orbit of the planet, beam down the Away Team, then warp out of range. I can pilot us in. Our transporter technicians should be skilled enough to snatch me off of the bridge so I can do as you asked and lead the Away Team, and then a relief FCO can fly the Beifong back out again. Getting in will be interesting, but getting out should be relatively straightforward. Thoughts?"

"I could use the deflector to scatter our sensor signature, which should throw off their targeting every few shots," Lucy offered. "Do we have another dashing and heroic pilot up to the task, though?"

"I can fly us in, Captain," Arturo said. "It's easy enough for the transporter tech to beam me from the Bridge to the planet with the rest of the Away Team. If you are uncomfortable with that scenario, I can plot the course and program the helm and then one of my relief pilots can easily do the flying. We'll be in orbit in the blink of an eye. They can't target us at warp with an energy weapon, and they can only use projectiles capable of matching our warp speed. The only way to shoot at a ship moving at warp speed is to fire a projectile from another vessel at near the same warp speed or faster. Once we're in transporter range, the Beifong pops out of warp and beams us down to the planet. We didn't detect any kind of transporter inhibitor so the transporters should work fine. The Beifong only has to hold out under fire long enough to beam us down to the planet. Once we're planetside, the Beifong unasses the area at high warp. And before anyone says that the Beifong will have to drop shields to beam us down there are two things you should be aware of. One, we have ablative armor to help mitigate the damage if our shields are down and two, there only has to be a gap in the shields for the transporter signal to get through, and it doesn't have to be a huge gap either. Did I miss anything?"

Darzen nodded. "That would work. After this discussion I would have to say I agree with Arturo. His points are valid and I volunteer to assist however I can, including beaming down there to try and shut it down." He uncrossed his arms and put his hands on his knees, rubbing a little. "I wish the lot of us could go..." he made a gesture to include all that had been part of the discussion. "If anyone can shut that thing down it's this group right here." Even though his customary delivery was relatively flat, almost dispassionate, there was a little hint of pride in it this time.

Commander Landon Milo felt the discussion on the matter had all but exhausted itself. The time to act was now. "Arturo, make it so," said the Commanding Officer, breaking up the small meeting on the Bridge. How do Captain's make these decisions he thought to himself. "Warp us into orbit of the planet and prepare to lead the away team down on the surface," instructed Landon. "We will do the best that we can from here to keep the Beifong safe," added the young Commanding Officer.

"Aye, aye, sir," Arturo said. "Away Team, gear up meet in the Transporter Room in fifteen minutes. Captain, I'm going to go gear up. I'll be back here in ten minutes and ready to go. Mark and move people."
Cheeseburger in Paradise Starbase Backpost
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Arturo guided Xiulan through the busy starbase promenade. Xiulan was on his arm, just where he liked her to be. She didn't really need him to guide her around, but it felt nice to have her there. He appreciated her even more when she took his arm because he knew how fiercely independent she was and how important her independence was to her. She hated letting people help her, so the fact that she'd let Arturo guide her through the station meant a lot to him.

"Here it is," he said, stopping in front of the restaurant they were looking for. Music could be heard coming from inside the restaurant. "I've been to one of these before. It's called the Hard Rock Cafe. They're usually in larger venues, but apparently someone thought it would do well here. Their hamburgers and cheeseburgers are very good, though I commit what I am sure you would call blasphemy and eat them without the bun. Ready to go in?"

"Are you kidding?! A burger without a bun is sacrilege, it's not fit to be called a burger," Xiulan stated firmly. Normally, she didn't like excessive amounts of noise, sometimes there was just too much to take in and it could become distracting, but this place hit the mark just right, plenty of music to give this place energy and a feel-good vibe, but it was not so overpowering that she couldn't think. And the smells! She could smell soot from flames, yummy grease from the burgers, the aeration of potatoes in a classic fryer, and... ice cream? It smelled so good! "Man, it's been a while since I've had a real burger. The replicator can whip a pretty decent burger in a pinch, but there's nothing quite like a patty fresh from the grill," she remarked as he led her to a table. She found her seat and settled in, a big grin of excitement plastered to her face.

Xiulan's grin sent a shiver up Arturo's spine. Making her happy always made him happy.

"I know, I know," he said. "It is criminal to eat a burger without a bun. But felines and grains don't mix."

He called up the menu on his personal PaDD. He tapped a few controls and...

"There," he said. "The menu should be on your braille PaDD now. I could always read it to you, but something tells me that would drive you crazy. Actually, looking at some of these, you'd probably pass out from culinary desire if I read them to you...mmmm...the Atomic Burger sounds...like it's going to light my insides on fire. Sounds perfect!"

Arturo always did his best to balance wanting to 'pamper' Xiulan, for lack of a better word, and making sure the world around them was accessible to her as much on her own terms as possible. Besides the fact that he loved her, and he did indeed love her, he didn't want her to throw her cheeseburger at him...well someone else's cheeseburger because she didn't have one right now. First of all, grease was especially difficult to get out of his fur, and secondly, being blind, Xiulan had terrible aim. She'd likely miss him and hit the largest, most ill-tempered person in the restaurant and Arturo would then have to duel this now infuriated giant in the name of Xiulan's honor. Arturo liked a good duel as much as any other adventurer, but he had hopes for the evening that did not include acquiring a whole new set of bumps and bruises.

"Ha! Jalapenos are for wussies! They're nothing compared to some of the stuff Asians will put on their food," Xiulan exclaimed when her fingers found the Atomic Burger on the menu and took notice of what was on it. "You wanna light your colon on fire, I'll make some traditional stuff that will make you regret ever knowing me," she continued with a snicker as her fingers continued to browse the menu. "Now I think... Mmmm, the local special sounds good... Yeah, mushroom swiss, that's what I'm getting!"

"I'll try anything you cook for me," Arturo said. "For I am brave and true of heart. I will warn you, however, that you might find a four-foot ten inch bipedal feline with the Shanghai Two-Step a bit unpleasant to be around."

A waitress came over, PaDD in hand. She was a tellarite, and an attractive on at that, if you were into tellarites.

"What can I get for you?" she asked. She looked at Arturo. "Come on, sweetie, don't keep it a secret. You know you want to...let the cat out of the bag! (snort) har, har, har! (snort)"

She continued to giggle and snort for a moment or two. Obviously she found herself amusing. Arturo sighed and tried to soldier on.

"The lady will have the mushroom and swiss burger..." Arturo started. "Xiulan, how did you want that done?"

"How do I want it done?" Xiulan asked, her expression stunned and confused, as though she was viewing his heat signature growing a second head. "Cooked, preferably? With mushrooms and swiss?" How else was she supposed to want it done? As long as it wasn't cooked to shoe-leather... "I'm assuming this place knows how to make a proper burger since this seems to be their theme. Oh, but I will take onion rings and a milkshake with that, vanilla please."

"Rare, medium rare, medium well, or well done, sweetie?" the tellarite waitress said. "I gotta know or else you might not like your burger and that would be a...CATastrophe! (snort) har, har, har! (snort)."

Arturo was even less amused this time around but was determined not to make a scene. He waited for Xiulan's answer. Actually, he was surprised she hadn't jumped in an made a few cat jokes at his expense herself. Maybe this would be the last one of the night, maybe Xiulan would answer the annoying waitress' question, and then maybe Arturo could order his Atomic Burger without a bun, medium. He was actually getting quite hungry.

"I don't know, just make sure it ain't tough and hard," Xiulan said. She knew that seeing people used color to determine done-ness, but unable to see color, she determined done-ness by its texture, and she had no means of adequately describing the texture she desired. "No soggy center, but don't cook it to shoe leather, is that so hard to understand?"

"Sure thing, sweetie!" the tellarite said. "Wattaboutchoo, hun?"

Arturo, now feeling like an idiot for not realizing the obvious, decided he'd order his food before their waitress decided to get clever again.

"I'd like an Atomic Burger, medium rare," he said. "And no bun."

The tellarite looked at him funny.

"No bun?" she said. "How can you eat a cheeseburger without a bun?"

Arturo sighed.

"Well," he said. "If everyone is going to make a big deal out of it, felines can't really digest grains. They...clog up the works."

The waitress began to snigger.

"Really?" she said. "Well, I'd better CATalogue that for future reference! (snort) har, har, har! (snort)"

After she recovered from her fit of snorting, snuffling, and laughing, the waitress asked if they wanted anything to drink.

"Hard cider," Arturo said.

Once the annoyance of a waitress finally left, Xiulan offered a somewhat sheepish grin to Arturo. "Sorry, I can navigate a replicator, but I don't really cook," she said. "I suppose in concept, I get that rare is on the raw side and well-done is cooked to the point it might as well not be called food anymore, but trying to describe that sweet spot in the middle is tough when you don't speak the same language as the chef."

"No," Arturo said. "It's my fault. I was distracted by our porcine server's annoying cat jokes. I wasn't really thinking about the fact that you can't tell by how your meat is cooked by its color. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."

The waitress came back with their drinks and thankfully refrained from making another cat pun.

"She placed your drink on the table just above the place mat, almost directly in the center," Arturo said. "There's a coaster under it."

He took a long pull of his cider and sighed. He waited until Xiulan had picked up her drink and gotten some into her mouth, timing his next comment perfectly.

"So," he said, managing a straight face at great effort. "When do I get to meet your father?"

"Yes yes, my shake is colder than the ambient room temperature, so I can find it," Xiulan said dryly, though she did have to feel around for the straw. Once found, she took a nice long drink, slowly so she wouldn't get the dreaded brain freeze, but then she nearly choked when Arturo popped his question. she coughed a few times, then finally answered his question with a raspy "What?"

"I said," Arturo replied with a grin. "When do I get to meet your father? I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. I should have, though, I suppose. Introducing one's lover to one's parents is a big step and I know you and your father don't always see eye to eye. But really, if only you could have seen the look on your face!"

"Yeah, well enjoy it while it lasts..." Xiulan grumbled. Now, how to answer his question? She took another sip of her shake as she thought about it. "If you really want to meet my dad... I suppose if we ever go back to Earth, but who knows when that'll be, so... I could call him? But I'm guessing you were hoping for something more 'in person'?"

"We can wait until we have leave on Earth," Arturo said. "Or we can do it over subspace. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable. Either way, I will be honored to meet your father. By the way, my family is quite eager to meet you, but I told them that I refused to rush you, that we'd come to that only when you felt comfortable and not a moment sooner."

"Thanks," Xiulan said awkwardly. She had never done any of this 'meet the parents' crap before, and talking about it made her feel weird; partly like she just wanted to run from the room and ignore the existence of any parental figure, but there was also some interest; if he wanted to meet her father and for her to meet his family, then he must really be serious about whatever was going on between them! She took another long drink of her shake to try to hide how she felt about all this, but she forgot to pace herself and ended up with a terrible brain freeze. "Ow..." she said with a wince.

Arturo chuckled.

"You're welcome," he said. He could tell he had her thinking and that made him happy...a little worried because Xiulan could really get herself spun up into a good and proper tizzy when she put her mind to it. He didn't want her to mind fuck herself silly.

The waitress arrived with their food. Xiulan must have seen the heat coming off of the plates, because she managed to avoid getting a burger in the face when the waitress set her mushroom and swiss burger in front of her. She set Arturo's Atomic Burger, medium rare, no bun, in front of him.

"Are you sure you don't want a bun, sweetie?" she asked. "When I told the chef that you wanted an Atomic Burger without the bun he went practically CATatonic! (snort) har, har, har, (snort)..."

The tellarite amateur comedian and part time waitress walked away. Even when she was out of sight, Arturo could still hear her snorting and haring. Arturo moved a few things about on the table.

"Do you need help finding anything?" Arturo said. "There's ketchup to your eleven o'clock if you want it."

Arturo was about to dig into his meal when he stopped and looked at Xiulan. If she could see him just looking at her, she would likely complain or say that he was being weird again, but he didn't care. She was beautiful and sometimes just looking at her made everything seem right in the world. Then he decided he was hungry and started eating.

"Mmmm..." he said after taking a bite. "This is perfect."

"Ketchup? Why would I ruin perfectly good onion rings or mushroom swiss burger with ketchup?!" Xiulan said. Damn, this burger smelled so good! "And if that woman makes one more cat joke at you, I'm gonna force-feed her my fist," she added seriously, which was odd because usually she was all for making jokes, especially at her own expense, but she didn't like how these particular jabs annoyed Arturo. But the moment she picked up her burger and took a bite, the waitress and her jokes were forgotten. "Oh man, this is amazing," she said around a mouthful of half-masticated cow. "So glad you had this idea."

"Seeing you have so much fun stuffing your face with ground and grilled bovine with mushrooms and Swiss cheese is worth the price of admission," Arturo said with a grin that carried over into his voice. "This is extremely spicy, but I love it. And it's real meat! That's it! This meal has ruined replicated food for me forever."

"You say that like you've never had real meat before," Xiulan remarked with a chuckle. "Damn, this is good, though."

Arturo chuckled. Xiulan was really digging into her burger, and getting some of it on her face.

"Uhm...Xiulan, dear," he said. "You have a small slice of mushroom on tip of your nose...here, I'll get it."

Arturo reached across the table and removed the offending fungus. Then, on a whim, he reached out again and touched her face gently for a moment.

"I never would have left you behind," he said. "I hope you know that. I believe I know what it took for you to admit that you wanted me to stay, and it means a great deal to me that you did. I hope, as we move forward, you will continue to open yourself up to me, because I care for you, deeply, warts and all."

Left her behind? What was this all about? "Oh, right... well..." Xiulan started, uneasy about all this relationship talk. "I'm glad you decided to stay too..." she admitted, blushing a bit that he managed to coax that much out of her. "Hey, wait, I don't have warts!" she then blurted out.

Arturo laughed.

"It's a figure of speech," he said. "It dates back to the 1600s CE on Earth. The king of England was painted to emphasize his best features. Then he was deposed and replaced by the puritanical Oliver Cromwell, who was entitled the 'Lord Protector'. He despised vanity and a legend started by an author an playwright name Horace Walpole goes that when a painting was to be done of Cromwell, the Lord Protector insisted that the artist's work include not only his appealing features, but also his less appealing or even unappealing features. This legend began around a hundred years after the painting was supposed to have been done and there was no evidence to back it up, but the legend persisted. In 1824 CE a man named Alpheus Cary offered a retelling of Walpole's story, in which Cromwell ordered the artist to "Paint me as I am, warts and all!" Since then it has been used as I use it here, to let a person know that you love them and accept them unconditionally."

Arturo took a longish pull from his bottle of hard cider and eyed Xiulan's milkshake. It looked really good and ice cream and milk his insides could handle. Maybe he'd order one. In the mean time...Arturo knew how this kind of talk made Xiulan uncomfortable so he changed the subject.

"I can't wait to find out what sort of goodies Nerys has brought back with her from leave!" he said. "Her snacks and treats are a definite bonus to being her friend! And the coffee she finds! It rivals what I manage to acquire!"

"Where the hell do you store all this useless information?" Xiulan replied with a shake of her head. If she was capable of it, she would have rolled her eyes. "Point of fact, vanity is lost on the blind," she reminded him, then resumed her attack on her burger. Then he changed the subject to Nerys and her treats, and while Xiulan liked Nerys and her treats, she knew what Arturo was trying to do.

"Stop," Xiulan said, pushing the plate with the remains of her burger off to the side. Resting her wrists on the edge of the table, she tapped her fingers together, a gesture Arturo would by now recognize as one she often did when she was trying to formulate her thoughts, putting her views into terms that others could understand. "Look, I know I have trouble with... emotional talk; I've heard 'emotional constipation' used to describe me from almost every counselor I've talked to, and maybe that's true but you don't need to do that." She wasn't angry, but there was a subtle note of frustration in her tone. "I know you don't mean to, but the way you dance around some things, I know you're just trying to be nice but I don't need special treatment. I put up with enough of that growing up blind, I don't need it now. If there is something you want or need to talk about, just say it. Sure, I'll be uncomfortable, but I'll muscle through it, like I've always done."

Arturo looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I worry sometimes if I'm too affectionate or too expressive or just too open about how I feel about you, you'll retreat from me...and...I couldn't bear that. I love you, Xiulan Song as I said, warts and all. You're the first thing I think about when I wake up and you fill the last thoughts of my day. I've been...afraid to say that so directly, but it feels much better to have said it. And this, which may be another thing I should have said to you before now: You are the strongest, most capable person I have ever met, male or female, sighted or blind. I admire you and at times find you rather awe inspiring. If I haven't made that clear yet, I'm sorry."

"Arturo, I knew exactly the kind of person you were when I decided to get involved with you, and I don't waste effort on people I don't want to be with, so I may not say mushy words and shit, but I'm here with you because I want to be with you; mushy words, warts, and all," Xiulan assured him. "And if you twist my arm, I might actually admit to liking some of that 'affection' stuff when it's just the two of us in my quarters..." she admitted begrudgingly.

Arturo grinned. Realizing Xiulan couldn't of course see his grin, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Then I promise to save as much that 'affection stuff' for when it's just the two of us in your quarters...alone..which, I am not ashamed to admit, I am hoping will include tonight," he said. He downed the last of his cider. "Are you still working on that milkshake?"

Actually, unless he really pissed Xiulan off, he stood a pretty good chance of spending the night in her quarters. He spent nearly every night in Xiulan's quarters. He was considering asking her if they could move in together. It wasn't like the fact that they were seeing each other was a big secret. Arturo wasn't exactly able to be stealthy about entering and exiting the XO's quarters on a ship as small as the Beifong. There was really only one way to and from her quarters and his or between her quarters and the bridge. He had tried both leaving for the bridge earlier and later than Xiulan to try and stagger their arrival, but according to the scuttlebutt, all that did was start a pool with the younger crew members betting on which one of them was going to get to the bridge first on a given day.

"Knock yourself out," Xiulan replied, nudging the milkshake ever so invitingly towards Arturo. "And of course you're coming to my quarters tonight. Why wouldn't you be?" she countered, grabbing an onion ring and then popping it into her mouth in an attempt to be nonchalant.

Arturo smiled, looking for all the world like the cat that ate the canary. His relationship with Xiulan still had that new flitter smell to it and as such, every time it became apparent that he was spending the night with Xiulan, he had to resist the urge to do a happy dance. Not that he had a happy dance. Manly adventurers obviously didn't have happy dances. But if he had a happy dance, he would want to do one every time he spent the night with Xiulan, his Graceful Orchid. Arturo gazed at Xiulan over the top of the milkshake cup as he sipped the cold, sweet ice cream through the straw. Gods she was so beautiful! He was so glad she'd stopped by his quarters for stress relief nookie that fateful night. He'd liked her before then, but from what he knew of her then, he hadn't been sure anything would come of his night...and morning with Xiulan. But they kept coming back to each other until something did come of their early morning coffee and one night...and morning, fling. Arturo liked her eyes. He knew they were just implants and malfunctioning implants at that, but the green suited her. Like her eyes were made of jade. Her black hair, usually messy in that special Xiulan way, was soft and glossy. She claimed not to care about her hair, but he'd been in her shower and seen what she used to clean it. He assumed she used those products because it made her hair feel nice to her. As a bonus, it felt and smelled nice to Arturo. Her skin was soft and slightly golden. Her laugh, often sarcastic, made him laugh. Her smile...melted his heart.

"Oh, no reason," he said. "I've heard that the odds are leaning heavily towards you getting to the bridge first tomorrow. The competition is getting fierce. Janie Fletcher, that mathematics whiz from engineering, has been trying to write an algorithm to predict the odds of each of us arriving first on a given day. No success yet. Should we bet on you and send you up first, or bet on me and upset the odds?"

"Oh jeez, this is getting ridiculous!" Xiulan said with a grin. "We should arrive together tomorrow, no one will know what to make of that; should make things interesting for the odds." She stole her milkshake back for a moment to take one last sip, then nibbled on another onion ring with a pensive tilt of her head. "We're really not fooling anyone, are we? Maybe we should stop worrying about how and when we report for duty; our attempts at discretion are causing a distraction. Not that I wanna take away the crew's fun, but I'd rather not be the source of that fun. We're adults and we're damn near living together with as often as you stay at my place, we told Landon and he's okay with it, so let's just... ya know..." Xiulan punctuated her point with a shrug, then shoved the last two onion rings into her mouth so she'd have an excuse not to say anymore.

For not the first time, Arturo was glad Xiulan couldn't see the expression on his face. She'd laugh her ass off at him if she could. Then again, he thought, why not let her in on the fun. If it meant hearing her laugh, seeing her smile, or even hearing her make some snarky comment about how dorky he was, any and all of which gave him a thrill, it would be worth it.

"Sorry," he said. "You'll have to give me a minute. My jaw has dropped. I am quite literally sitting here, jawless. It's a wonder I can even speak! I'm not kidding! My jaw is actually on the floor. I'll just pick it up and...there. Back in place. That's better. Alright. Now, assuming that 'ya know' was code for 'move in together', and I really hope it was, then I say yes, yes, wholeheartedly, YES!"

Move in with the girl of my dreams: achievement unlocked!

Wait, what just happened?

"Umm.... 'ya know' was code for 'forget about staggering our arrivals because we weren't fooling anyone'," Xiulan said in a slow even tone. "But.... you really want to move in with me?"

OOPS! Well, it's too late to unring that bell...

"Oops!" he said. "Well, now that I'm out of the bag, yes, I would like to move in with you. But if it's too soon for you...I understand of course. I just thought because...you know...wait, I'd better actually say what I mean. 'Ya know' has gotten me in enough hot water for one night. I thought that's where you were headed because we do spent practically every night together that maybe you might want to make that a more official arrangement. But yes, I suppose we should stop staggering our entrances. I'm having fun messing with the junior officers, but it is likely beneath the dignity of an executive officer."

"Yeah, I just meant-"Xiulan said hastily, then went quiet. Her cheeks grew noticeably pink as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "And it is a bit soon, but, uh, o-okay," she finally added.

Arturo reached out and took Xiulan's hands.

"Xiulan, my love," he said. "If you are sure, then I would be happy to move in with you. But, if you're not ready or think it's too soon, it's okay to say so. I promised you I'd stay on the Beifong and be with you and I meant it. If you want to wait, I will still be yours. Waiting until you're ready to have me sharing living space with me won't scare me off. "

"I said okay and I meant it," Xiulan replied. "Just hadn't really thought about it until now, but it makes sense, you do spend more time at my quarters than your own. So 'okay'."

Arturo's canary eating grin returned.

"Then I'll take yes for an answer," he said. "You won't regret this, Graceful Orchid...oops! Sorry! I couldn't help myself! You won't regret this! I'll do everything in my power to ensure that you don't! I'm already in the habit of putting everything in the same place every time in my own quarters in case you come to visit! You'll never trip over my boots, I promise!"

Arturo was already thinking back to an off the record conversation he'd had with one of the engineers about the ability to remove a wall separating two sets of quarters to make one set. He'd check as soon as possible to see if that could be done to Xiulan's quarters. Hers significantly bigger than his, but on a ship the size of the Beifong, 'significantly bigger' didn't amount to much. But he knew that the quarters next to hers were currently empty, so this might work out well.

TAG

OOC Arturo: I thought it would be funny if he took her to Hard Rock Cafe. Seems right up her alley. If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll change it. Oh, and to give you ideas, and probably make you drool:

http://www.hardrock.com/cafes/boston/menu.aspx
Boar's Head | OOC Chat Hogsmeade
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Ray: Did some November cleaning of the OCC Chat. Also, today was a pretty busy day for me looking over some applications. We welcome Karjir Ras (Jeremiah) who will be our Chief Operations Officer and Mirok (Katy) who has applied to our Security/Tactical Department. I look forward to talking to you both and getting you acquainted with our little Defiant class starship.

Katy: This ain't my first Defiant.

Ray: ;) Don't doubt it. Though you might not be used to such a nutty crew.

Az: Welcome aboard! seriously though, this might be my most sane character... same goes for several of the rest of us. We're still awesomely crazy. I play the doctor so i'll expect physicals for both of you.

Katy: Please. I once played a human/vulcan who EMBRACED emotions

Raz, this is also not my first Defiant, I commanded one waaaaay back in the day in AF lol. As to crazy, at least Ras doesnt headbut Klingons on purpose

Kim: Welcome aboard! Looking forward to writing with you! :D

Katy: I've had some weird crews in my 6 years

David/Puss in Boots: Welcome new people. Beware of bandits and road agents in the corridors! Hey Ray: When are we going to start the actual mutiny post? We might have to do what I hate and try to do all the different parts in one post because they are all linked to each other. Example: Nician needs to distract Soroys while Xiulan takes out the Lethean and the infiltrators take out the...whatever the name of that ship is. Arturo is supposed to wait for the signal to warp the Beifong out of the area and then punch Soroys' ticket. I haven't started anything cuz I'm waiting for you guys. If you want I can start the post off.

Katy: Uh...now I'm confused.

Ras: So Katy, do you wanna be in the other ships brig working on an escape plan?

Ray: David, I will poke Monoui about starting what needs started.

David: Awesome. Wasn't trying to be a nudge.

Katy: I responded to things!

Kim: I'm sorry for my slow replies at the moment. I've got a friend that's going through a personal tragedy and I'm trying to be there for her as much as I can. Thank you guys for your patience. Ray, please don't be afraid to prod me if I get too far behind.

Katy: I myself understand completely. I've got a part-time job, go to culinary school, AND I volunteer. I don't know how I have time to me.

Ray: Noted, I'll prod you as needed Kim. I hope your friend is alright. I send hugs! I also wanted to let everyone know that I am around, hit a couple tags today, but got caught up on working on some stuff for Star of India.

Katy: Will be around less for the nest...week, maybe 2. I'm working on my concept of a sim, which is yet unnamed. As well as the (very) complex sim I'm putting in Pegasus Fleet called the RRW B'Rak (yes, mostly Romulan) and I have finals next week for both my kitchen (lab) class and my in seat class.

Ray: No problem, Katy. Good luck on your finals! Also, yes, everyone I am safe and sound in Japan. Thank you for your concerning little hearts.

Ray: James (Ian Mackenzie) is without his computer for a bit, but still has his pad. Though this may make his replying to this a bit slow. On a better note, I have ditched my membership on about 95% of the simms I was on so that I could focus my energy more on my own commands and the commands held by my friends.

On that note, if you are looking for places to write that need crew, check out James' command the USS Hammersely hammersley.split-world.com and David (Arturo)'s command the Juan Cortina. And if anyone is ever in starting their own command and looking for hosting or graphic design needs, talk to Azmaria (Dr. Evartin) who runs Split-World.

Katy: Passed the finals. Waiting on a response from Azmaria (*glares*) and working on some things.

Az: i replied to you in an email the same day i got your message. did you not get it? and don't glare at me. i don't take kindly to it.

Monoui: okay, I know the saboteur thread is going slowly (no rush James, I know you're still without a computer, so no worries), so we're going to proceed under the assumption that it has succeeded and we were able to escape. I'll be starting a thread soon where we make a run on the wormhole, after which we'll be making a stop at Deleth Station for repairs and free time. don't worry about things being posted out of order at this point, I think we're all smart enough to figure out when things happened, so if you want to get a jump on some R&R, then go ahead.

Katy: Posted something I shoulda already posted -_- I feel stupid!

Ray: There is no stupid here. Just crazy and sometimes mind slips ;) I'm happy to say I've been feeling a bit better myself and am looking forward to Landon getting out of Sickbay and back into the center seat.

Katy: I have the crazy part legally, with my Asperger's and such. On a better note, job interview tomorrow!

Ray: Congrats on the interview. *shakes off the sickness* back into the seat I go. Write write write :)

Katy: Ugh. Can 2016 get any worse?

Katy (Again): Anyone else around?

Ray: I am, Katy. On my way to bed shortly, but I am around.

Katy: It just seems...dead...around here

Ray: Unfortunately it does and has seemed pretty dead on several places...I'll be touching base with several people over the next 48 hours and weighing my options as CO. I understand there's a lot going on in some people's lives, some of us with commands or writing elsewhere. Regardless of where things go or the turn of events, I've been happy writing for the years that I have been be it Katana, Camelot, Beifong, or Star of India (and the simms of others), it has been an honorable experience all around.

UPDATE: FULL SPEED AHEAD we sail. I've talked to a few people, have done some personal reordering of things, and thus we shall continue on forward and start a new chapter on these voyages.

Kim: YAY!

UPDATE: Cosmetic changes have occurred faster than a Trump Executive Order thanks to Azmaria and Monoui. As you shall see the silvery grey and black color scheme of 2016 has been changed to a lovely green and gold.

Az: As a further note to that, if you don't see it when logged in, go to your site preferences and change your themes from mythosSilver to mythos.

Kim: Oooo! It's lovely! Thanks! :D

Katy: Excellent as always, Az. Most green skins are hard on the eyes. Not this one.

Jere: very nice skin, I am fond of it as a good vibrant green is my fav.

Ray: I'll be working on typing up some information and history of these "Marunochians" and sending it out to everyone to give them an idea of what we will be getting into.

Katy: Understood, boss!

Ray: Information should have hit your inboxes. New Bridge post started, a few tags in there along with some open ones. If anyone is looking for some canon assistance with what we will be facing in terms of these weapons, refer to the episode of The Next Generation "The Arsenal of Freedom" from Season 1.

Ray: Took a couple of days time to deal with some interview stuff. Apologies for my delay in hitting tags. I'll be starting up the away mission posts shortly.

Katy: Completely understandable =)

Ray: Given the discussion of transporters, Beifong, or shuttlepod I'm going to hold off until the last tags are made and a final decision is made. Keep up the great work! I like the discussion and having options.

Ray: Final TAG(s) in the current Bridge Post! Also, I just published a solo post about the situation on the planet in recent months. Furthermore, a Joint Post for the Away Team has been started.

Ray: LOA ENDED. I am back and will be catching up shortly.

Monoui: sorry I haven't been around much, been a bit under the weather, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. if anyone wants to write with me, let's go! ^_^

Ray: Glad you are feeling better <3 To updated on my situation: Alex was sick for about 2 weeks with influenza followed closely behind with a stomach bug. I ended up dealing with the stomach bug for a few days. I'm currently feeling better but I am getting over a pretty nasty cough and chest congestion (I can do a pretty good Batman voice with it though).

Also, in under 48 hours a lot changed very fast as far as our work and living situation in Japan. Alex is leaving teaching and has taken a job with a travel agency. Usually a job change wouldn't prevent me from being around. But I may be a tad slower for the rest of the week. We are packing up the apartment in Nagoya, Japan and moving a few hours away to Kyoto, Japan. Thank you everyone for your support and well wishes! I'm looking forward to everything and to write with everyone.

Ray: Well, as you all are aware my attempts to get back into things were halted by a deceased laptop. I now have a new one and am back in business. Unfortunately, I do believe the current situation on Beifong is not looking so great due to health problems, people being busy, MIA etc and of course my lack of leadership as of late. That said, I'm going to continue to work with our current mission. There will likely be writers leaving etc, but I will be keeping Beifong up and running.
Blood Treaty Marunochi III (Cthia)
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When T'Zala and A'Zaan reached out to the United Federation of Planets, they had hoped to bring about an end to the civil war, to reunite Cthia. T'Zala and her rebels had more or less successfully ousted A'Zaan and swung the momentum toward their side. The people were still slaughtering one another, but peace was ahead. The two siblings had come together and sought Federation assistance. However, the Federation was not willing to get involved at first. When they finally did, it had been to assist as mediators, a diplomatic team had been sent to Cthia (Maranochi III) in order to oversee the peace proceedings. Appearing together for all to see the two siblings were showing the citizens of Cthia that there was no more need for blood shed, that all could live together again in peace.

The Federation Diplomats had helped the two construct the terms and conditions to the immediate cease fire, the armistice, a treaty of peace. However, on the eve of the signing, T'Zala and A'Zaan were together reviewing the armistice agreement together. They were signing off on everything, finalizing it. T'Zala had been first and then A'Zaan. Though the citizens had all but stopped killing, the weapons had not. Though the Federation representatives had promised to assist as soon as the treaty was signed as it would declare both parties seeking peace. A'Zaan's last breath was signing the treaty as his sister gasped as one of the automated weapons blasted a hole through his chest before being disabled by one of her guardsmen.

A'Zaan's supporters took his death negatively. Despite T'Zala's reassurance that she had nothing to do with his death and that A'Zaan had willingly signed the treaty of peace and immediate cease fire, they resisted her. They took the Federation Diplomatic team hostage and violence continued. It had become quite clear that these weapons were not going to stop until every last man, woman, and child were exterminated. Now, the Chancellor awaits the arrival of a crew from a Federation starship, hoping that they may help her save her world from destruction and preserve as many lives as possible.

Arturo and the Away Team materialized in the streets of the capital, not far from the building that housed Chancellor T'Zala's offices. All four of the Away Team were armed with phaser pistols and phaser carbines. The carbines were less bulky and less threatening than their larger cousins (rifles), which was why they were chosen.

There were ruined buildings and debris everywhere. The streets were mostly deserted except for people darting here and there, trying to find food and other supplies for their families without getting hit with any incoming fire. And there was definitely incoming fire. Two aircraft of some kind, presumably drones because the weapon systems were running on automatic, flew past overhead. From a building near by, a surface to air projectile of some kind shot forth. It was shot down by the drones, who then returned fire, destroying the upper floors of the building. Debris came raining down and the Away Team scrambled to get out of the way.

"Lieutenant Mirok!" Arturo said. "Please guide us to the capitol building. Everyone stay sharp."

Darzen took a deep breath, gripped the shoulder strap of his toolkit tightly with one hand, phaser pistol in the other. He nodded and watched for anything that might be some sort of sign of weakness in the war machines. He paid extra attention to the mobility and maneuverability of the flying units or at least tried to, as he prepared to follow the team.

"Stay close and stay together." Mirok said, switching between his pistol and rifle. He began to move, his head constantly swiveling to take in what the enemy was doing. "If I go down, get out."

"If you go down, we're probably all going down anyway," Darzen said with a rather Machiavellian grin.

"Let's cut the pessimism, shall we?" Arturo said. "I, for one, intend to complete this mission and return to the Beifong alive and intact and I expect the same from all of you. Everyone keep on your toes."

The group continued on, avoiding what looked like automated armored vehicles armed with some sort of energy weapon in a turret configuration. There were an odd assortment. Some were tall and moved by way of mechanical legs. Others were tracked vehicles.

"Does this technology look familiar to anyone?" Arturo asked.

Darzen shook his head. "It sort of reminds me of mechanical Frankenstein monsters. Almost like they were assembled from what was available, but don't quote me on that. I mean I recognize things, but their configuration isn't something I've seen before."

"I imagine you have not," said a voice. The woman revealed herself, deactivating a device that was strapped to her shoulder. She wore robes that were slightly elegant in appearance, but still practical. They were white in color and lined with what looked to be animal fur. "Please, do not be alarmed," she said calmly as she lowered the Vulcan disruptor pistol held in her hand, she holstered it into place along her waist.

She looked at the aliens around her, their technology and their dress. Foreign to her, but not unpresumable. They looked similarly to the Federation diplomats. These people must have been Federation Starfleet. "You must be Starfleet Officers. I've been expecting you" she said simply. "I am Chancellor T'Zala, welcome to Cthia... or what's left of it."

Arturo was surprised, but quickly recovered.

"Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass," he said, introducing himself. "Second Officer of the USS Beifong. These Lieutenants Lucy Furr and Mirok and Lieutenant Junior Grade Darzen Kail. It is an honor to meet you, Chancellor. Perhaps we can find somewhere less exposed where you could update us on the situation?"

The woman nodded. "I would be inclined to agree, Lieutenant," she said gesturing for them to follow her. "These things have already killed my brother and have nearly destroyed my entire world. I have no plans on letting them take what I have left," she added. "Follow me. I'll take you to the entrance of the subterranean tunnels. They were constructed centuries ago and lead to and from my palace. They are stable... mostly. But more importantly those killing machines do not seem to detect life signs in the tunnels," she commented.

She lead them to a spot of oddly shaped earth, and removed what looked to be a triangular manhole cover. "The fit is a bit awkward, but once you get through it is fairly easy to navigate. The clerics say the weapons cannot detect us because of some sacred blessing from the Gods. I find it illogical," she said shaking her head.

Arturo chuckled. "The advantage of being very short is that I fit into tight spaces well," Arturo said. Ha! Xiulan would laugh her gorgeous hindquarters off if she'd heard that! "Mirok, you're first, then Lucy, then Darzen, then you, Chancellor, if you don't mind. I'll follow. Darzen, I'll need your help wrestling the cover back into place."

Mirok muttered something about square pegs and round holes before managing to, somehow, get through the hole.

Lucy squeezed into the opening as instructed.

Darzen nodded to Arturo. "Yes, sir." He waited his turn and slid down into the hole as instructed. He was glad that he had slender frame, although his height made it a little awkward.

Arturo tested the weight of the cover. It wasn't as heavy as it looked. He would be able to pull it into place by himself. "Darzen," he said. "Stay down there. I can get the cover myself." Arturo climbed into the hole and pulled the lid down into place over him.

Darzen nodded, "Gotcha," and stayed put. He adjusted the straps on the toolkit he was carrying to better suit the space, quickly, and prepared to follow the group.

Mirok took a few moments to rub his eyes to help them adjust better. "I don't like this," Mirok said in romulan, but the translator picked it up.

Darzen took several steps back to allow space for others to descend the ladder. "At the moment it's our best option though and better than being targets. Thank you Chancellor for your assistance." He smiled.

"Yes, Chancellor," Arturo said. "We are in your debt. Now, which way?"

"Onward in this direction for a bit" she said gesturing forward. "I will lead the way if you wish. I assure you that I want nothing more than to see peace restored to my planet. I apologize for the actions that were taken in order to get your presence here. Holding your diplomats here against their will was a last resort and a move made out of desperation. However, I promise that they have not been harmed and treated as well our guests" the woman said.

"I will be holding you to that," Arturo said. "If the diplomats were to come to any harm, it would damage relations and alter our mission parameters dramatically. However, as things stand, My team and I are here to help resolve the situation in the best way possible both for the Federation and your people."

She had heard Mirok's Romulan tongue. "You are green blooded, Lieutenant?" she said tilting her head inquiring about the man's heritage. "Forgive me but we do not get many off-worlders as it is here, and an even rarer occurrence of brethren. Are you Vulcan or Romulan?"

"My blood is of both, but I was raised Romulan. I was surprised to find more green blooded people around."

Arturo decided to try and get down to business.

"What can you tell us about these 'war machines' that have nearly destroyed your world?" he asked. "How did you acquire them and from who?"

"I'm ashamed to say that both my brother and I reached out to unsavory sources for the weapons we used to further our causes," T'Zala said. "The deals were shadowy to say the least. Orion crews delivered and set up the weapons to begin with. I got the impression that they really didn't understand the technology themselves, more than how to turn them on. In demonstration, the machines turned on and off when the appropriate command was entered, and seemed to follow orders and perform programmed actions. Over time, however, they became less compliant and more violent. By the time we got them under control again, we'd nearly leveled our cities and populated areas. We thought we had them under control... that is... until one of them killed my... excuse me... killed my brother."

Arturo put his hand on T'zala's arm to comfort her.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said.

T'zala shook her head. "My brother was not a good man," she said. "And he was my enemy, he was the people's enemy, but for all that, he was my brother."

Arturo nodded. "Do you have any of this malevolent tech on hand at the Chancellery that we could take a closer look at?" he asked. "It would be helpful in determining how to disable it."

"We have some pieces of individual units that we've taken down," T'zala replied. "I'll have someone show you those when we arrive."

"When we reach our destination," Arturo said. "Please have someone show Lieutenants Furr and Kail to the non-functional units. They'll get to work right away on a solution to the problem."

"Of course," T'zala replied. "We're almost there."

Darzen frowned, thinking through everything he had heard or read about the sort of planetary defense T'zala was describing. "If you don't mind the questioning... Do you think you could describe to me how the Orions set up this system? Or how they interacted with it? I don't suppose there is any sort of visual record of your meeting or of their set up?" He was thinking that if he could see the initial interaction perhaps he could figure out some way to reverse it, dismantle it, stop it.

"We were in the middle of an illegal arms deal," T'Zala said, somewhat sharply. "I didn't think it appropriate to make a visual record of the event."

"We understand," Arturo said. "Lieutenant Kail is just trying to gather as much useful information as he can so that he and Lieutenant Furr can discover a weakness we can exploit in hopefully bringing down the whole system. For example, these weapons are automated. Presumably you had access to their central control computers at least when this whole...situation began."

Arturo had almost said 'fiasco' but he felt that wasn't the most diplomatic of terms given the circumstances.

"Yes," T'Zala replied. "But they ceased to function. It was as though the machines started to think for themselves."

"What else can you tell us about the Orions?"

T'Zala looked thoughtful for a moment. "The tech they gave us seemed more advanced than the tech they themselves possessed," She said. "I'm no expert, but there was a prominent difference between the level of the technology the Orions possessed and what they themselves were using. I remember thinking that was odd at the time. If they had advanced tech, why not use it themselves? Why only sell it to others?"

Arturo frowned. "Current Orion society is generally on a lower tech level than the Federation," he said. "They live on many planets, several in the Rigel System, but most are unconnected except by the Caju, those are the Orion merchant families and large corporations, and of course the Syndicate. Rigel VII, which calls itself the 'Orion Empire' is just that planet. It's sad because they once had a large and advanced civilization a few hundred thousand years ago, but like all great civilizations, it fell. They lost touch with the knowledge of science and technology that they once possessed. Most Orion technology products these days a cheap knock-offs of someone else's inventions. But.. as I understand it, there are places in the Rigel System and some places out of it, that you can still find some of the Ancient Orion Tech. There's a planet in the Rigel System, if I remember correctly, that way back when was used by the old Orion Empire to test weapons, powerful weapons. The planet as I recall is quite irradiated, and most of what you can find there is complete junk that can't be salvaged. I've heard stories of scavengers finding something usable now and again. And then, there are quite a few wrecks near by in what is essentially a starship graveyard. It's possible these particular Orions found something and somehow figured out how to operate it enough to make some quick latinum selling it to someone else, consequences be damned. That might explain why they don't know how to do much more than turn it on. They might not even know how to stop these things themselves. My people will take a close look at what pieces you have when we arrive. If I'm right, the tech will be above the level of the Federation, but my people are very good at their jobs. If there is a way to set this right, they'll find it."

They came to an open area in the tunnels. Suddenly, lights were aimed at them from multiple directions, blinding them.

"Halt!" cried a strong female voice. "Who goes there?"

Darzen put his hands up in a gesture of peace. His gaze darted between T'Zala, Arturo and the group surrounding them.

Arturo raised his hands.

"Everyone stand down!" he said in a firm, commanding voice. "We are friends, not enemies. We are here at the Chancellor's request! We've come to help, but if you open fire on my people we will defend ourselves."

"He speaks the truth!" T'Zala cried out. "Lower your weapons!"

Slowly the sentries lowered their rifles. Once came forward to speak with T'Zala.

"What can these aliens do for us?" the woman demanded. "Haven't we had enough alien interference?"

Arturo coughed politely.

"Hello," he said. "It is I! Lieutenant Arturo M'Rohass! And, uhm...as I understand the situation, you invited the last 'aliens' in."

"My point exactly!" the woman demanded. "How are you any different from the green ones?"

"I see," Arturo said. "I guess you are just going to have to trust that we are different. I know that if you give us a chance, we will prove our worth to you."

The woman eyed Arturo suspiciously. Finally she made a disgusted noise.

"Fine," she said. "It's not up to me anyway. I suppose we'll have to trust you to make the right decision this time T'Zala. But I'll be keeping an eye on the furry one. I don't trust him at all."

TAG

OOC Arturo: I'm leaving this tag open for the moment. Ray, it would be really helpful if you took on T'Zala or at least some of the other NPCs involved in this. When I play multiple characters in one post it's too easy for me to do most of the writing by myself. I don't mean to cut anyone out, I just get in a groove and before I know it, I've written a lot. So, if you could step in, that would be great.

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