Her internal alarm poking her, Vara awoke with a start. This was neither her room, nor her bed and it startled her for a moment waking elsewhere before she remembered that last night she and Quentin had made their way to his quarters.

Comfortable and not quite ready to get up, she rested her head back on his shoulder, wrapping her arm back around his chest. There was still an hour before duty so there was a bit of time to enjoy things.

A dreamless sleep fell away from Quentin's consciousness as he felt Vara's warm wonderful body shift against his. Sleeping without remembering his dream had never happened to the Human cadet before. Coiling an arm around the Lagashi woman to hold her tighter, Quentin wondered with a sigh if that was because there was nothing left to dream ... if they had already come true. Quentin sleepily turned over to snuggle against Vara, bringing his larger muscular leg up to nestle between her soft supple thighs. He kept his eyes closed as he nuzzled into her shoulder, his full lips pressing softly against her neck.

Vara purred at the tender touch of Quentin's lips, pressing her body against his in reaction. "Good morning." She said, that same predatory smile gracing her face. "Would you like breakfast, or are you still on last night's desserts?"

Quentin looked up at Vara and opened his eyes. God, she was beautiful. He wished in that moment that he could wake up to her face every morning for the rest of his life. "Dessert, definitely," he sighed with a sleepy smile.

Vara moves in a bit closer, kissing Quentin passionately. after a minute, she breaks the kiss and stares deep into his eyes. "Unfortunately, it's almost time for duty. We'll have to get up."

Quentin groaned in protest, his lips searching out Vara's for a few more hungry kisses before allowing the rest of the world to intrude upon their lives again.

Allowing herself to fall into his kisses for a few more minutes, Vara starts to break contact, slipping out of bed and stretching the sleep from her muscles. Her joints popping, she begins getting dressed while peeking glances back at Quentin.

Rubbing the last bit of sleep from his eyes, Quentin finally sat up in bed. He took a moment to admire the view of Vara's naked form, his eyes paying particular attention to the five implant ports that ran from the back of the Lagashi girl's neck, down the length of her spine. Quentin crawled across the rumpled bedsheets until he reached where Vara stood with her back to him, stretching. Gently, Quentin reached up to trace a finger along the back of her neck, until his digit reached the point where the cold metallic implant port jutted out from Vara's warm honey-tan skin.

"Does that hurt?" Quentin asked softly, eying the implant's dark-grey finish suspiciously.

Vara giggles a bit at the touch. "No not really. When they're first installed they itch a bit, but nothing too bad. And when they're touched like that it kind of tickles a bit. The one you're touching is a rear sensory node." Before pulling her undershirt on, she turns back to face Quentin directly. "Do they bother you?"

Quentin looked into Vara's gold, almond-shaped and thought for a bit. "They ... take some getting used to I guess," he said, trying to avoid sounding negative. The young Human male realized that such implants were a common part of Lagashi culture. Still though, he couldn't help but feel that the unforgiving gear-shaped devices did not seem to belong on Vara's body. In his opinion, they only distracted from her flawless form, and marred that perfect skin. At the moment, however, there was something else that had replaced the implants as the sole target of Quentin's dissatisfaction: Vara's undershirt. The offending garment had slipped on to hide the wonder of Vara's topless frame from view. "Come on," Quentin pleaded, drawing Vara in close and playfully tugging upwards against her undershirt, coaxing the Lagashi girl to remove it again. "Why are you in such a rush to get dressed?"

Vara smiles and kisses Quentin on the nose. "Training and discipline, I guess." In reality, she knew that her implants reminded most people in the Federation of the Borg and while Quentin's reactions weren't necessarily negative, she still didn't want him to feel uncomfortable around her because of them. "So what would you like for breakfast? Other than me, of course." Vara smiles and stares deeply into Quentin's chocolate eyes, losing herself in their depths.

"There is nothing else I want beside you," Quentin insisted, succeeding in raising the hem of Vara's tank top above her belly button. "Let's just stay in bed together all day today," he smiled, planting another plump kiss on her lips. His thumbs stroked the sides of her tummy, doing their best to coax the Lagashi girl into remaining with him. "Doesn't that sound like more fun than going to classes?"

Vara kisses him back, her plump lips pressing against his. "Mmmm as nice as that sounds, I'd rather not get yelled at again for missing classes." Standing and heading over to the replicator, she punches up what she guessed he might like. "Bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, sausage... And a bowl of spiced oatmeal for myself." Taking the dishes to the table, she sets them out and sits down. A smile on her face, she waves to Quentin hoping he would join her for a family meal. "Come on. It'll mean a lot to me to eat with you like this."

"Okay," Quentin relented, with a long sigh. "Breakfast it is." The brown skinned Human climbed out of bed and gave a long luxurious stretch and a yawn, choose to eschew clothing as he walked over to the small table by the replicator and pulled up a seat. Dragging the chair around to be closer to his love, Quentin sat and leaned forward to take Vara's long shapely legs in his arms. He placed another kiss on both of her ankles before laying the Lagashi woman's limbs across his naked lap, then reached forward to sample a bite of his scrambled eggs.

"I could get used to treatment like this." Vara says, a bright smile on her face. "If we go close enough to Lagash to stop by for a day or two, I'll have to introduce you to the rest of the family. I'll make you a real breakfast out of real food, too. I may not look it, but I'm not a bad cook."

"Really?" Quentin smiled, as he tickled Vara's feet playfully. "So what do you like to cook? I noticed that you seem to be a vegetarian."

Picking up a piece of his bacon, she presses it against his lips softly. "By more necessity than anything else. Meat was a rare commodity in the arcology I grew up in, so I just never got used to eating it, I guess. It's bad enough I have to eat such flavorless foods and adding meat to it just doesn't taste that good to me. I'll have to try to program a few of the dishes I grew up on again."

Quentin smiled and bit the offered morsel of bacon, chewing it a bit before swallowing to respond. "Flavorless or not, I'd love to try anything you want to make. And I'd really like to see Lagashi with you ..." Quentin trailed off, looking down at his plate for a moment in thought. A frown wrinkled at the corners of his mouth.

Looking down at his plate with a concerned expression, Vara wonders what's wrong. "Is something missing love?"

"No, it's just ..." Quentin looked up at Vara, his eyes sad with the realization of his predicament. "It's just that you're already married," Quentin said, a slight tinge of bitterness in his voice. "What will your spouses think of you bringing me home? Your wife ... your husband ..." Quentin sat in his chair, and gently stroked Vara's dainty little feet. "I can't imagine that they'll be happy to see me, you know?"

Vara giggles at the notion that they wouldn't accept him. "We've made love and we're eating our meals together. We only do that with family, and remember that we're a polygamous society. I'm sure there'll be some society misunderstandings, like money and commerce and power... but it'll work out. I know it will. You might not be able to marry into the family for a while though - we don't have the required male/female ratio for another man to enter into the union yet." Vara looks down at her hands blushing and smiling. "I mean... If you want to, that is..."

Quentin stopped and thought about that for a moment. His first gut reaction was immediately say 'yes', to convince Vara that spending the rest of his life with her was the thing he wanted most of all. However, Quentin's recent folly concerning Lieutenant Commander Telvan seemed to have left the 20 year-old Human somewhat wiser for his wounded heart. He decided that maybe he should look before leaping this time.

"I mean ... yeah, I think I'd like to marry you someday," Quentin smiled, before a look of hesitation melted the smile away a bit. "I'm just ... not so sure I'd want to share you ..." Quentin shrugged and looked down again at Vara's feet, unable to meet her eyes. "I've never been in a relationship like that before. I'm not sure if I'd be happy."

"And I don't think I'd be happy with only one spouse. It just seems so lonely to me, is all. Also, rather than sharing me, try to think of it as an even bigger family you can love and cherish. Either way, you don't have to decide now or anything. I probably shouldn't have brought it up." Vara looked and sounded a bit crestfallen, but hope still gleamed a little. "You're still meeting the rest of my family though. And I do plan on spending a lot of my life in Starfleet, so there's plenty of time to love each other before an actual decision on things needs to be made."

Tenderly reaching out to his chin, she turns his face so they could see each other fully, the love she felt for Quentin pouring from her eyes as both a dreamy gleam and as happy tears. "Right now I know with all my heart that I love you and I couldn't imagine living my life without you. Ok?"

Quentin nodded, his grin widening with joy as he stood up, leaned over and gave Vara another deep, passionate kiss. "I love you too, Vara," he said softly. He looked into her golden eyes and knew ... absolutely knew ... that it was the Goddess' honest truth.

"Ma'am, we're in visual range of the nebula now." The cadet at the helm said.

Enalia stands and adjusts her shirt. "Excellent. On screen." The image of the nebula flashes on screen in all its glory. "That is quite beautiful. Take us to the outer edges and hold position there."

The cadet at the comm panel presses a few buttons to silence a sudden alarm. "Ma'am, distress signal coming from the nebula itself. It seems to be an automated beacon."

"Plot an intercept course. We'll be blind and defenseless in that soup cadets. Let's take it nice and easy." Enalia punched a button on her chair, activating the shipwide comm. "Attention all hands. We have arrived at the Arachnid Nebula and have received a distress signal coming from inside. Prepare for possible rescue operations."

Emilie looked up from her desk. She immediately stood up and tapped her combadge, "Emilie to shuttlebay 1, get a shuttle prepped just in case the nebula blocks our use of the transporters." she said walking out of her office. She jogged to the turbolift and headed towards the bridge. As she entered she relieved the current helmsman and sat down.

Quentin's eyes went wide at Enalia's announcement. The 20 year-old cadet and acting Chief-of-the-Boat looked up at the main viewer to see a large cloud of swirling pink gases that seemed to spread out with the long spindly legs of an arachnid. The call had gone out to the crew to prep for rescue operations, and that meant Hera's mobile academy students, as well. The red-shirted human cadet tapped his combadge and hailed the starship's lead position cadets.

"This is the COB to all Cadet Leaders," announced Quentin Cross to the upperclassmen that served at key positions as part of the Hera's crew. "Meet me in Transporter Room Three."

"Michaela Mercy, Master-at-Arms," responded the glamorous gold-shirted Angelite female. "Heading to Transporter Room 3 as ordered."

"Kamal Kiritmani, Diplomatic Corpsman," came the smooth response of a purple-shirted Kriosian boy. "Roger that."

"Ryan Volos, on the way."

Tara was in the middle of her studies when she got the comm message, she hit her badge, "Kast to Cross, I'm heading there now." She stood from her piles of PADDs and headed towards the transporter bay.

"Cadet Cho'ren Vara," Quentin called out over comms to the Lagashi cadet serving as a tactical officer. "Would you like to accompany us?"

"I'd love to. I'll meet you in transporter room 3 shortly." Vara says back over the comms.

Mac was down in Medical preparing for possible incoming injured, "Sick Bay standing by Bridge" he said after tapping his comms badge quickly.

After giving the crew a minute to prepare, she gave the order to enter the pink swirling nebula. "Red alert. Take us in at half impulse, Commander Wolf. Forward sensors at maximum and launch a probe to pinpoint the location of the beacon." This was her first test as a CO and the tension of it filled her as she leaned back in her chair, her knuckles turning white from gripping the armrests and her eyes glued to the viewscreen. Something about this distress call seemed wrong and felt like a trap to her, but her duty to respond came first.

"Aye," Emilie said as she put in some commands into her console. The Hera moved closer and closer into the Nebula. She put in some other commands and a probe whirled across the view screen and into the Nebula, "Probe away." she said.

Watching the pink swirling mass envelop them from the viewscreen, Enalia glanced at a couple consoles in sight as the sensors and shields both went dead in the soup. They were blind and she didn't like it at all. "Steady as she goes, everyone. Do we have anything from the probe yet?"

A bald teal-shirted Bolian male peered into a scanner as telemetric data from the Class IX probe began to stream into his science station. The light from the optical scanner washed over his mottled blue-skinned features as holographic images, graphs, charts and numbers began dancing across his readout. "Ma'am," announced the Bolian, "I'm reading uncommonly high levels of theta radiation out there at 800 yottabecquerels ... I've got isotope spikes of up to 2,400 counts per second ... traces of matter/antimatter reactions, but I ... I can't identify the source yet, Ma'am."

"Keep me informed of anything new then." Enalia ordered.

//A few minutes pass...//

A cadet at one of the science stations at the back of the bridge suddenly spoke up. "Captain, I'm picking up a lifepod of some sort dead ahead. No life signs detected at this range."

Nodding gravely, Enalia relaxes just a bit, leaning back in her chair. "Beam it to cargo bay 4. Medical and security teams are to head there immediately."

That same ensign spoke up again, cutting off the rest of her orders. "Captain, transporter signals... Someone is beaming aboard. Cargo bay one... Engineering... Cargo bay 3... And a medical storage locker."

"Put a security lockdown on those areas and send security teams to them immediately. That pod was probably their sensor link and they're hiding in this soup where we can't see them but they can see us clearly. Trace any signals to and from that pod. I want them found and I want to know who we're up against." Enalia was clearly pissed, but reigning in her temper well, considering her ship was just boarded.

"Captain, ships sensors reports several of our cargo containers have been beamed out. They've also taken control of engineering and sealed the doors." That same ensign called out.

"Pirates..." The word was spat out like venom. Clicking a control on her console, Enalia calls out. "Telvan to Transporter room three. Beam the team directly to main engineering. We've been boarded so expect heavy resistance."

[Transporter Room Three]

Ryan had been the first to arrive but that wasn't all that surprising. He happened to be very near the room when he'd gotten the call from Cross. He already grabbed the standard equipment, a phaser and a tricorder, and strapped on his belt by the time anyone else arrived.

It was only moment after Ryan had finished gearing up, when Quentin entered the transporter room. He laid eyes on the tall handsome half-El-Aurian cadet and smiled, recognizing the young man's spiky black hair, hazel eyes and teal-accented uniform from yesterday morning's class.

"Whoa. That was pretty fast," said Quentin, grinning eagerly. "You know ... there's supposed to be this tradition. The second guy to show up to the Transporter Room always has to buy the first one there a round when they both get back." Quentin laughed as he approached Ryan and held out a hand in greeting. "I don't think we've formally met yet. I'm Quentin. Your last name's 'Volos', right?"

Ryan extended his hand with a smile. "Do I seem excited?" He asked with a chuckle. "Yup, I'm Volos. And I believe you are Cross, our Chief of the Boat."

"Guilty as charged," nodded Quentin, shaking Ryan's hand. "Sorry I haven't had the chance to talk to you yet. I planned on introducing myself to all of the other cadets, but there just wasn't time. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. My door is always open. So ... how are things for you so far?" Quentin asked as he got out his own phaser and tricorder. "You settling in okay?"

The man in the blue uniform smiled. "Certainly no complaints here, it's nice actually helping crew a ship rather than just being a passenger. I feel to be settling in just fine, thanks for asking." Before any more could be said, the rest of the crew entered.

"Oh. My. Goddess, you are such a moron!" sighed Cadet Michaela Mercy, as she burst into the Transporter Room, followed by Cadet Kamal Kiritmani.

"What is so moronic about wondering if she sleeps in the nude?" demanded the devastatingly debonair Kamal, whose conspicuous dark-brown spots bespoke his Kriosian heritage. Kamal turned and gave a curt, though still courteous, nod to both Quentin and Ryan as the door swished closed behind him.

The stunning, statuesque Angelite girl let out an exasperated sigh up at the ceiling. "Please stop talking," she growled, dismissively.

Kamal swooped forward to stand directly in front of Michaela, and adopted an almost imperious stance, with his fists on his hips. "Please stop talking, Your Highness," corrected the Kriosian royal, challenging the acerbic Angelite's attitude.

Michaela crossed her arms in front of her chest and stuck out her hip, a pose that made it clear that there would be no way in hell she would ever address the posh young prince by his honorific title.

"You two are like an old married couple," observed Quentin, producing a couple of away kits and tossing one each to Michaela and Kamal. "In the classroom, or in the mess hall ... on the battleball grid, or on the way to your first real-life away mission. With you two, it's always just bicker, bicker, bicker."

"You're one to talk about married couples," sneered Michaela playfully, clipping a Type-3 phaser pistol to her waist and securing the away kit's tricorder about her person. "What about you and that sweet little slice of Lagashi pie you snuck into your quarters last night? You two set a date yet, or what?"

Quentin shot Michaela a disapproving look as he clipped on his own phaser. "And what's that supposed to mean?" challenged the brown-skinned Human cadet.

"Oh, come on, Romeo," continued Michaela, oblivious to the opening of the Transporter Room door behind her. "I know you too well. You probably already proposed to her twice ... unless she's totally worthless in bed, that is ..."

Stepping through the door at just the right time, Vara had to say something about that. "Actually, he has yet to propose once, though I've asked him about it. As for being good in bed or not..." Picking up her gear and strapping it on, Vara checks the setting on her phaser. "...that's none of your business unless you're interested in watching." Smiling at Michaela in her sweetest 'predator about to eat you' smile, Vara just stared at her unblinkingly for a few seconds.

Breaking eye contact, Vara strode over to Quentin and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Reporting for duty, sir." She said meekly. For him, her eyes melted and her perpetually predatory look faded as she looked into his eyes.

Ryan couldn't help but laugh quietly at the exchange taking place in the transporter room. "Chief, when you get a moment, perhaps you can tell us what we're beaming into?" He suggested, hoping to change the subject from lovers to something more task related, at least until they got to the other side.

Enalia calls out over the comm suddenly. "Telvan to Transporter Room Three. Beam the team directly to Main Engineering. We've been boarded ... so expect heavy resistance."

This is where Ryan would have normally made some kind of joke to hide his slight disappointment about not actually going "away" anywhere but the news of them being boarded was more than enough to draw his attention to other matters. "Boarded?" He said to himself as he drew his phaser from his belt.

Shit, thought Quentin as he drew his phaser and checked it down. The small, sleek hand phaser suddenly seemed somewhat inadequate in his hand. "Okay, people!" he shouted to his fellow cadets. "Change of plans! This is officially an I-shit-you-not intruder alert! Cadets Volos and Kiritmani: break out the Type-4 compression phaser rifles."

"Aye, Chief." He holstered his phaser as he stepped over to a locker. Opening it up he started pulling out the compression rifles and handing them out to the others.

"Cadet Cho'ren:" said Quentin, turning to Vara, "I need a sitrep from the Bridge. Who are they? How many? How are they armed? What are they up to?"

Stepping over to the wall console, Vara accesses the internal sensors. "There are 4 lifesigns in engineering. There's been phaser and disruptor fire... and something else..." Hitting a few more keys, Vara's expression soured as she looked back to Quentin and grabbing one of the compression rifles in the rack. "They have a Directional ElectroMagnetic Pulse device. It won't affect ship's systems too much, but it'll disable our weapons if we get hit... And it would do significant harm to me since I'm about 32% synthetic by weight..." Stepping up onto the transporter pad, she continues. "I should probably remind you of the micro-fusion generator in my back..."

Quentin nodded as he absorbed everything Vara told him. "Right then," Quentin replied, in regards to the hazards Vara's upgrades posed in the face of an EMP. "Guess you just signed up to bring up the rear, Gorgeous. Cadet Mercy:" Quentin said to the amazonian Angelite girl. "How do you feel about taking point on our first enemy action?"

"It would be my pleasure!" answered Michaela eagerly, and she quickly clapped a full charge into her compression rifle with emphasis. The haughty Angelite shot the shorter Lagashi girl a smug, self-satisfied look at being awarded the point position of their fireteam.

"Just keep your rear out of the line of fire and you'll be fine." Vara shot Michaela a scathing glare.

"Alright, people," sighed Quentin, clacking his own compression carbine to life. "I'm not going to tell you guys to do this by the numbers, because - let's face it - cadets suck at math." Quentin glanced at the other four cadets on his team with a smirk on his face. "So ... in lieu of some kind rousing pre-battle speech, I have only one simple request. Please don't shoot the freaking warp core, you guys?"

Vara grins at Quentin. "That's the big blue glowing column, right?"

Quentin's smirk grew into a full smile. "We're all gonna die," he said, shaking his head. "Mister Volos! I believe we're ready to beam out. Would you like to do the honors?"

After stepping onto the transporter pad he turned to face the Ensign behind the control panel. "Make it so... sir." The group faded away in a shimmer of light.

Richard was sad to see his time on the Denova had come to an end but he was out here on official Marshal business. He was hunting down a group of pirates that had been terrorizing the surrounding space. As his ship the SS Outsider, a delta class flyer, had entered the nebula he had picked up the signal of the USS Hera go in. As he followed in he sensed a trap.

"Hera this is Federation Marshal shuttle Outsider please respond." And Richard waited for his signal to find its home.

On the bridge of the Hera, the comm cadet reports the signal to Commander Telvan and she replies within a few moments. "This is Commander Telvan of the USS Hera. We're a bit occupied at the moment, but please go ahead."

Richard heart sank he was to late. "Commander this is Lt. Wayne Federation Marshal's Service I can tell by your reaction you have found the band of pirates I have been sent to take in for crimes against Federation vessels in the area. I can either come on-board and help to repel them or if you like I can try and run wing in my flyer out here your choice." Richard started to scan the nebula with what limited success he could have with all the interference.

After confirming the comm signal codes with the cadet at the communications console quickly, Enalia decides to trust this new Lt Wayne. "We've been boarded, they've beamed supplies off, and killed several of my crew. They're currently holed up in main engineering where I have a team fighting them. If you could get a fix on their ship, that would be awesome. We found a sensor pod disguised as an escape pod that they can see us with but we can't see them in this nebula."

Some results where coming in and it wasn't much Richard took the Outsider on a looping pattern around the area the Hera was in looking for anything that could tip him off to the location of the pirates. As he was looking through the front view screen he noticed a tick of energy detected off to the right. It looked like an energy spike could have been a transport activation. He swung his ship out and around to where the readings were hoping to have an element of surprise.

On the Bird of Prey, the pirates were too busy securing the kidnapped Cadet Cho'ren Vara to notice the sensors going off, warning of a new ship in the area. Only 2 of the 3 teams had beamed back and though their holds were now full of valuable cargo, they still had to wait on the command crew to get back with the dilithium crystals to even run away at this point, let alone fire their disruptors more than once or twice. There it blinked though, trying to warn them of the impending disaster for their plans.

Richard saw it come up on the View Screen and he immediately launched a pulse beacon in the direction of the old rusty Bird of Prey and opened the channel to the Hera. "Hera this is Outsider I have a visual of a Bird of Prey I have launched a pulse beacon right at the nose of their ship I am turning back to your ship requesting emergency docking permission." Richard knew even with it being a pirate crew he was no match out here time to let the big dog eat.

"Roger that Outsider." Enalia replied before calling out orders to her bridge crew. "Ready tractor beams and weapons and bring us as close to the pirate ship as you can. As for the Outsider, bring him into the main docking bay as soon as possible. Emilie, don't lose track of that beacon no matter what and target their engines as soon as we're in range."

Richard made a huge bend and swung the little delta flyer straight for the Hera's main shuttlebay. As he made his approach he was unstrapping his belts lined up the computers gave control to the shuttlebay and was waiting at the back door for it to come to a stop. As soon as the ship was secure Richard opened the rear hatched and took off at a sprint for the turbolift. He hit the button for the bridge and waited.

N'vak could feel a slight shift in the shuttle as it took a deep dive towards the Hera main shuttle bay. As the ship came in on final approach the Hera tractor beams grabbed the shuttle and pulled it down deep inside the shuttle bay. N'vak stood up as the shuttle came to a sudden stop and seconds later a thump could be felt as it came of a stop on the landing pad. N'vak stood by as the other Starfleet crewman rose from their sits and lined up at the door preparing to disembark. The shuttle doors cracked open and the noise of a busy shuttle bay filled the small shuttle, N'vak waited patiently at the back of the line of crewman as they walked off. N'vak finally reached the door and took a quick look around, the shuttle bay was fully loaded from wall to wall with every type of shuttle available to the Federation.

“Romulan get out” the pilot spoke down to N'vak as he stood at the doorway.

With a hint of anger N'vak stomped down and away from the shuttle. As he moved to the middle of the shuttle bay he looking around know that someone from the higher chain of command would surly be there to confront him. After a moment N'vak noticed a lieutenant on a course directly for him. Straightening his Romulan uniform he prepared himself for whatever would come of this encounter.

Emilie was standing at the entrance of the shuttle bay watching the shuttle land in the bay. It was a pretty smooth landing, although she could have made it better. As she watched the aft door open she began to walk across the busy bay floor, she went to go meet the new Shuttlebay Manager. Usually she wouldn't personally meet the crew but as she has a history in Flight Control and as the Chief Flight Control officer she felt it was the right thing to to.

She smiled and walked along the side of the shuttle and viewed the young romulan exit the shuttle. She smiled and walked up to him "Ensign N'Vak?" She asked double checking to make sure it was him.

N'Vak squared off against the human female as he towered over her, "Sub Lieutenant N'Vak, yes" he sad slightly annoyed that his Romulan rank had been stripped for the Federation one.

Emilie's smile turned to a straight face, "Sorry....Sub Lieutenant. I didn't realize you used your romulan rank instead of the starfleet one. Well Sub Lieutenant N'Vak, I am Lieutenant Commander Emilie Wolf, Executive Officer and Chief Flight Control Officer of the USS Hera." She said looking directly into the Sublieutenant's eyes.

"I would prefer my rank but your Starfleet has reassigned me as what you refer to as a ensign, I was order to assimilate to your system but you may call me by either." N'Vak said as he lost interest and looked away from the short human woman.

Emilie looked at the sub lieutenant, "Is something wrong Sub Lieutenant, am I boring you?" She asked getting annoyed with this officer's respect of her.

N'Vak was silent for a few moments contemplating what to say. "Not at all Commander." He said more pleasantly, "So what is it Starfleet does in their Flight Control Department?" he asked the Commander while turning to her.

Emilie walked along the Shuttle bay, "This is your station." she said pointing to the Shuttle Bay Operations. "Your job will be to Manage incoming and departing shuttles or runabouts. You are also our lead Support Craft Pilot, I trust you have read up on our Shuttle specs and operations?" she asked.

N'Vak paused for a moment, "Obviously." He said in a low voice. "May I see inside the Shuttle Bay Operations?" he asked.

"Of course." Emilie said smiling and waling up the stairs leading to the room. There were two other officers sitting and directing shuttle traffic. "You must put in your pin code before you can enter this room. The only people who have access to this room are Shuttle bay staff, me, the Chief of Security, and the Captain." she told T'Vak.

The doors of the Operations Center opened and a small room with various consoles and Stations. "There should be at least one crewmen in this room at any given time." Emilie explained to T'Vak.

"It is...small to say the least." T'Vak said examining the room and its stations. He walked over and looked out of the glass window looking over the shuttle bay. He could see all of the shuttles in the bay.

"Yes it is. But there is no reason for it to be any larger. We just dont need it, and it would be a waste of space." She explained to T'Vak.

Tag:

Zalilia was a bit lost after walking out of the transporter room, she noticed these giant black touch screens running the length of the corridor, wondering what they did she reached out her hand and touch the panel.

Zalilia jumped back when the panel bleep at her and lit up, she quickly looked around to make sure no one had seen her getting a scare, then walk back up the panel, and once more touched it as Zalilia had taken so long the panel had power down to standby mode again.

After looking at the panel for a few minutes she found, that with a few presses it could guide her to Sickbay, with the last button tapped a yellow line appear heading down one side of the corridor showing Zalilia where to go.

After making it to outside of Sickbay she straighten her uniform and walked into Sickbay, she didn’t see anyone and so called out “Hello? Is anyone here? I had orders to report here for a full Medical?”

"Oh! Hello!"

The greeting came from a young woman's head which had appeared from behind the doorway leading into the Sickbay's medical offices. Her short chin-length hair was snow-white, and gently framed her pale angelic features. In a flash, the rest of the girl's body appeared from behind the doorway, and began jogging up to where Zalilia Eru stood. The white-haired girl's slender and shapely figure was clad in a Starfleet cadet's uniform, and the pip on her teal-accented collar denoted her rank as a Cadet Junior Grade. As she finally came to stand in front of the young Trill cadet, a warm inviting smile spread across the white-haired girl's elfin face, and her amethyst purple eyes twinkled merrily as he spoke.

"Welcome to Sickbay, Cadet!" she said. "Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alura Aeden. I am a 3rd-year cadet and I've been appointed to serve as Head Nurse of the Hera's Medical Department. It's so very nice to meet you!" Alura held out her hand for the Trill cadet to shake. "And may I ask your name?"

When Zalilia heard Alura first speak she moved to attention, but as soon as Alura mentioned she was a fellow cadet, Zalilia relaxed and brushed a strand of blonde hair that had got un-stuck from the pony-tail behind her ear.

As Zalilia watch Alura jog up to her, she thought “Wow, she cute, but most likely straight, shame”

Zalilia then replied to Alura question with “Zalilia Eru, also cadet 3rd year, I’m working in Stellar Cartography, so are you going to be doing my Medical?” Zalilia gave Alura another quick once over hoping the answer was yes and that Alura hadn’t seen her checking her out.

"Yes, I will ..." answered Alura, eagerly, only to temper that statement with a tentative, "... that is, if you don't mind?" Alura inched closer toward the pretty blonde Trill, her soft smile almost sensual as she spoke. "I can understand if you'd rather have an officer attend to you, since I'm still only a cadet," Alura intimated, placing a comforting hand on Zalilia's slender shoulder. "Honestly, though, I'm really quite competent. I promise you're in good hands with me."

With a shy smile at Alura, Zalilia replied “Hey us cadets are equal to ten stiff old officers…” Zalilia laughed and winked at Alura “…we still know how to enjoy life. So do your worse Head Nurse!” With that quick step over to a bio bed she jump on.

"Awesome!" grinned Alura, as she initiated the bio bed's diagnostic protocols and produced a medical tricorder. "So how long have you been aboard the Hera?" asked the pretty Edo nurse. "I only just came aboard an hour or so ago myself. Have you had the chance to look around?"

Zalilia tried to remain still as Alura scanned her, but was still able to reply with “Almost a total of 20mins, and no got orders as soon as I step on-board to come here.”

"I'm glad you did," Alura said, her bright purple eyes looking intently at Zalilia as she bit her bottom lip. Alura seemed ready to say something else to the pretty young Trill cadet, but for some reason decided against it. "So ... Stellar Cartography, huh?" asked Alura, setting down the tricorder and picking up a hand scanner to begin a comprehensive head-to-toe bioscan. "What made you decide on that particular career?" Alura held up the small metallic cylinder and activated, causing a soft aquamarine laser to dance across Zalilia Eru's forehead.

Zalilia tried not to squirm as the laser played over her face, “Well, I grow up on a trade ship, I’m the youngest of 5, it a family owned and run ship.” Zalilia paused for a second.
“My oldest brother is the ship’s pilot; I spent a lot of time watching him and the stars, with such a small ship there is no need for two pilots, I also always seemed to be able to plot better course than my brother, and I loved finding out about the space around us. On one of the stops I was given control of the ship to dock us, mum needed help in the cargo bay.”

Zalilia rubbed the back of her neck and continued “Will some targ, almost rammed us on final docking approach I had to pull some moves off, I came to the attention of a Starfleet Captain. So you would assume I’d go pilot, right, but I love the stars more, also I’ve got a ‘problem’ with obeying rules, there are a few instructors back at the academy that must be breathing easier knowing they don’t have me in their class anymore. Some other time I’ll tell you about how I almost got a nova training ship sucked into a white dwarf, I just wanted a closer look at something I saw on the sensors, honest.”

Zalilia asked “So what called you to be a nurse?”

Alura smiled at Zalilia's question as she guided the benign turquoise beam down to strobe across the soft brown spots that trailed down the young Trill cadet's slender neck. "Actually I kind of always knew I wanted to do something where I got to take care of people. Back home, on Rubicun III, I used to volunteer to help out the adult childrearers in my commune, even though I was still only a child myself. As I got older, it became more about taking care not only of the young or the elderly, but also the sick and the injured. I don't know ... I was good at it, I liked doing it, and everyone I met seemed to like that I liked doing it. I don't know if that sounds weird or not, but it feels like this is something I was always going to do. I think the only reason I decided to do it with Starfleet, is for the opportunity to help a lot more people than I would have if I'd stayed in the commune back home."

Alura's smiled wistfully as her amethyst eyes followed Zalilia's spots as they cascaded down into the collar of her uniform. "I really like your spots," Alura sighed, reaching out the stroke them gently with the crook of her finger. "They're really pretty. Um ... just ... how far down do they go?"

Zalilia smiled at Alura and teasingly said “Won’t you like to know”

"I would indeed," Alura grinned, her voice soft and inviting. "Why don't you come around by my quarters after our shifts end and show me? My quarters are on Deck 8-Starboard."

"Cadet Eru," came the voice of the young man who had directed Zalilia to report to Sickbay. "Please report to the Astrometrics Lab as soon as you've been cleared by Medical. Acknowledge."

"Message received," answered the young Trill woman after tapping her combadge. "After waiting a moment for the channel to clear, Zalilia turned to Alura and gave a wry, playful smile. "Guess we'll have to postpone until later, Miss Aeden."

"I look forward to it, Miss Eru," smiled Alura, eagerly.

Three of the four invaders were standing guard around the warp core while the third had the dilithium chamber open and was in the process of stealing the backup chips. Upon hearing the transporter beams though, the tall Orion woman in charge readied a rather cannon looking weapon. Assumedly, that was the dEMP gun that Vara had mentioned earlier.

On the other side of the room, as the transporter beam materialized the team into the Main Engineering offices, Vara readies her weapon, ready to duck for cover as soon as she materialized.

"What's taking so long?" asked a tall Orion woman in a pretentious purr, as she strutted around the reactor pit with the large directed electromagnetic pulse gun at the ready. The jade-skinned woman paced impatiently around the circumference of Hera's warp core. Her tall black leather boots clanged upon the metal grating of the floor with every cat-like step. A coiled bullwhip hung from the utility belt on her curvaceous hips. Long, black leather opera gloves covered the Orion woman's slender arms, and the black corset she wore accented her formidable figure. "Ugh!" spat the Orion woman, placing her free hand on her hip as she eyed the Human female who worked in the open dilithium chamber.

"I'm working as fast as I can, bitch. Just wait a second and I'll have all the crystals we need." The human female working in the dilithium chamber yelled. Her garish garb was more for flash than utility, though she had more weapons strapped to her than she could have sanely used at any time.

Coming up behind them, the part Orion human female purred sensuously. "I think we have company, Mistress. And they brought the Lagashi with them so we don't have to hunt her down, too." Her red leather form fitting outfit squeaked as she readied her 2 disruptors.

"No one mentioned that she looked so ... tasty," commented super-strong human male, as he simultaneously pumped charges into the twin sawed-off disruptor shotguns he dual-wielded. A bandolier sporting grenades draped across his chiseled bare chest, and a snub-nosed grenade launcher sat slung across the dark-grey duster coat he wore. "Yes," nodded the augment. "A delectable little morsel indeed. Once she is in our possession, I think I will take her ... and break her. Such a beauty deserves to be bedded vigorously and often before she dies."

The red leather clad woman spoke up at the man's words. "Just remember to save some for me, please."

Ducking behind the desk in the office with her rifle pointing over it, Vara calls out to the others. "From what they're saying, I seem to be their target as well."

Ryan, having ducked down immediately as well inched up toward the door, pressing himself against the wall before leaning over to steal a peak out into main engineering. He jerked his head back as a loud pop and maniacal laughter came from outside. Yup, he thought, they know we're here. "What's the plan?" He asked, looking over at Cross.

Cross knitted his brow as he quickly assessed the situation. It seemed to the 20 year old cadet that the dEMP gun seemed to pose the greatest immediate threat to them all. "We've got to neutralize that directed EMP weapon," he said, making eye contact with both Ryan and Vara. "If we can take that thing out, we stand a chance." Quentin thought for a moment, glancing at the positions of the intruders around the warp core. "Damn it!" swore Cadet Cross, "and they're pretty well entrenched in there. They've got decent cover ... and a pretty good view of the surrounding area. If we could sneak a couple of our rifles around to their left flank ..." Quentin trailed off, thinking some more. If they wanted to move and not get shot by the pirates, then the cadets needed something to mask their maneuver. "We need to either create cover or a distraction, so that we can get a fireteam over there," Quentin gestured to an overwatch position around on the pirate's left.

"Covering fire?" offered Michaela, steeling her mist grey eyes at the position Quentin was gesturing to.

"Looks like," nodded Quentin. "Vara, you and Michaela are going to take up that flanking position. Ryan, Kamal and I will provide covering fire while you maneuver. Understood?"

"Roger that." Vara replied quickly, intent on the pirates.

"Acknowledged," nodded Michaela, resisting the urge to flash Vara a dirty look.

"Kamal, concentrate your suppressing ,fire to the right of the warp core. Ryan, I want your fire to combine with mine to the left, to screen Michaela and Vara as they move.

"Got it," nodded Kamal, letting out a ragged nervous breath.

The young-looking science officer nodded.

"Execute on 'three'. One. Two. THREE!"

Ryan lifted his rifle and fired once of twice in a direction he knew wasn't the warp core before popping his head out hesitantly. Taking his cues from Cross he fired in the same general direction, except likely not quite as accurately. He didn't spend more than the required time at the firing range as violence in general wasn't really his thing.

Orange beams lanced out angrily at the handful of invaders, forcing the boarding party to flinch back behind cover, if only for a heartbeat. It was enough time to allow Vara and Michaela to scurry off around to the left, and into position to begin a textbook 'sweep-and-clear' tactical maneuver. The two cadet girls made it behind cover just as a shout of alarm came from one of the enemy Orion women, and suddenly the invaders began concentrating their return fire upon the scorched and shattered bulkhead behind which Cadets Michaela Mercy and Cho'ren Vara hid.

Michaela gritted her teeth as an errant disruptor blast slammed into the steelwork of her and Vara's broken wall, leaving a scorched black hole rimmed by glowing green plasma just inches from her gorgeous face.

"Great!" Michaela yelled, holding out her rifle to blind fire a series of 3 second phaser beams back at the enemy. "We're pinned down. So much for that 'flanking maneuver' idea. I wonder what your little boyfriend's got planned for us next!"

"Hopefully he'll draw some more of their fire so we can get over there." Ducking further under their limited cover, Vara fires a few slightly less than random shots in the direction of the pirates, her facial expressions twisted from their normal cold predatory look to one of controlled rage. She hated pirates. Hunting them was one of the biggest 'hobbies' of her people and to be attacked by them now and unable to do anything about it was frustrating beyond measure.

Meanwhile, Quentin and Ryan were doing their best to maintain their covering fire in an effort to screen Vara and Michaela. The hot orange beams lancing out from the carbines of Cadets Volos and Cross were the only thing keeping the invaders from advancing upon Michaela and Vara's position and finishing them. Suddenly, one of the enemy combatants appeared to scoot forward, darting into the stream of phaser fire coming from Ryan and Quentin, and quickly hiding behind a burnt-out diagnostic console. Quentin was about to order Ryan and Kamal to try and pin down the pirate, when a large woofing blast of crackling electric-blue energy struck the overturned master systems display table that Cadet Cross and Cadet Volos were hiding behind.

"Damn it!" swore Quentin, ducking behind cover as static discharge from the directed electromagnetic pulse prickled against the back of his hand. It wasn't a direct hit, but the static from the dEMP cannon's fire was enough to make Quentin's compression carbine blink repeatedly and threaten to die. Quentin's blood ran cold as he watched the phaser rifle in his hands almost lose all power ... only to somehow miraculously recover its charge. "We've got to disable that damned dEMP gun!" Quentin cried out to Ryan. "Any ideas?"

"Well..." Volos started as his compression rifle shimmered as well. "If we damage the collar it won't direct as efficiently, or I suppose we could just shoot it." Clearly, he didn't have any real advice when it came to getting that close.

Seeing a slight dip in the fire from the pirates and recognizing the sound of the dEMP cannon being fired, Vara assumed it would have to take a few seconds to recharge so she peeked up over their cover and fired a blast into the chest of the male human. From how little it affected him though, she might as well have just thrown marshmallows at him. He was obviously augmented rather drastically to be able to take a full stun blast at that level and not even care.

It didn't stop her plan though. Activating all of her muscular augments, Vara kicked off of the nearby wall to help propel her towards a distant console. She fired a few more blasts in the direction of the pirates, hitting that augmented human male again, with no effect. In fact, he looked happy. Too happy... Halfway to the console, time seemed to slow for those two. His hand was under his coat and was pulling out another dEMP cannon.

As Vara tried to move faster, he leveled it with it aimed just perfectly in front of her and pulled the trigger. As the blue ball of energy crackled through the air, she tried to change directions or twist out of the way of it, but she wasn't fast enough to completely avoid the blast. It grazed her just enough to shut down almost all of her implants. Suddenly barely able to think and unable to move at all, she slammed into the deck almost to the cover she was trying to reach. Her eyes were wide, her breathing ragged. Barely able to process what was going on around her, she just laid there as the human male re-holstered his dEMP gun and pulled out a smaller weapon, shooting a tag at Vara. Moments after it struck her motionless body, she shimmered away in a transporter beam.

The augment chuckled quickly to himself as the woman's body vanished, then a phaser beam flashed just over his head. He blinked and reached up to feel his head only to notice a chunk of his hair missing. His eyes narrowed as they snapped to someone standing just outside of the Chief Engineer's office in a grey and blue uniform. "Oh I'm going to kill you, motherfucker." He growled.

Ryan's eyes widened as he immediately started regretting his attempt at courage. He tried to step back into the office in his rising panic but somehow the man was instantly on top of him and easily slapped the rifle out of his hands to the floor. "I-" is all Ryan managed before the augment gave him a hard right hook to the face, grabbed his uniform to keep him from falling, then almost effortlessly flung the cadet across engineering.

Now zoned in on someone, the pirate ignored anyone else and marched toward his new target.

Unbeknownst by the crew in Engineering, Commander Telvan orders Hal, the holographic combat instructor to enter combat modes and transfer to Main Engineering to assist with repelling the invaders. As he appears in the office next to Quentin, Enalia comes over the comms. "Cadet Cross, I've sent Instructor Hal to help out. We've also detected another transporter beam. What did they take this time?"

"They've taken Cadet Cho'ren!" cried out Quentin in alarm. "I repeat: Cadet Cho'ren has been kidnapped by the enemy boarding party! Bridge: Can you get a lock on the beam's origin?"

The stress of the situation was obvious in Enalia's voice, even over the comms as she replied. "We're working on it. Let me know if anything else happens. Telvan out."

Materializing next to Quentin, Hal glanced around before noticing the cadet crouched by his feet. "Good morning, Cadet Senior Grade Cross. How may I assist you?"

"Mister Hal!" said a panicked Quentin, who hurriedly recharged his plasma rifle as he watched the big Human pirate stalked toward the fallen Ryan Volos. "Assist Mister Volos!"

"Affirmative." Hal said with a curt nod before he stepped out of the office. "Cease and desist." Hal ordered the man who had just hauled up Ryan by the uniform. Hal paced quickly toward him, the pirate glancing over his shoulder and noticing Hal as he shoved Ryan back to the floor.

"You got a problem, pretty boy?" The man turned and stepped toward Hal, throwing a hook toward the hologram's face. Unfortunately for the pirate this man seemed to have reflexes as fast as his and he lean just enough out of reach that the man missed and was thrown off balance. Hal took advantage of it and gave the man a quick jab in the face.

As the two fought Ryan dizzily scrambled to his feet and tried to move away from them while getting his bearings back.

"Volos, you okay?" cried out Quentin, heading over to Ryan with his recharged rifle at the ready. Ryan and Quentin were soon joined by Michaela Mercy and Kamal Kiritmani, who both kept a wary eye on the close-quarters brawl taking place only a few meters away between the Holographic combat instructor, and the augmented Human pirate.

Ryan coughed as he steadied himself on the wall. "I think so, yeah." He touched his rib cage lightly with his other hand.

"They took your girlfriend, Quentin," interject Michaela, her voice sharp with bitterness. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to get her back, of course," replied Kamal, his eyes searching the faces of his comrades expectantly. "Aren't we?"

Quentin's brow knitted together in fury as he offered his back-up phaser pistol to Ryan Volos so that the El-Aurian cadet now had two. =^=COB to Bridge!=^= Cross called out over his open commline. =^=Away Team prepared for beam out. Please tell me that you can get a transporter lock on the enemy's vessel!=^=

Instead of Enalia, one of the female cadets on the bridge replied. =^=We're working on it sir. We should have a lock shortly.=^=

As the three female pirates activated their comms, they ducked behind the warp core and beamed out. As they dematerialized, one of them called out to the man. "Hurry up asshole! We're not waiting on you."

The fight between Hal and the pirate came suddenly closer as one of them failed to get their footing as they stumbled back toward the group. For better or worse, it was Hal. He got quickly back to his feet. "That is an exceptionally strong human." The holographic instructor commented as he prepared to make his way back toward the augment.

"Well, that's enough fun for one day." The male pirate said loudly. Shortly after, and with great force, Ryan's phaser rifle was returned. Hal and his computer-fast thinking ability easily dodged the flung rifle and even Ryan was able to slid out of the way. As it smashed into the wall on which Ryan had been leaning it started beeping incessantly as it's display flashed red with "WARNING."

Oh ... shit! Quentin barely had time to think before he yelled out over comms, =^=Bridge! We need emergency beam out, RIGHT NOW!!!=^=

The same lady from earlier replied this time too. =^=We can't sir, the emergency shielding is up around all of engineering because of the damage. No one is transporting out of there until we can override them.=^=

"EVERYBODY TAKE COVER!" yelled Quentin, as the hum of the overloading phaser rifle reached a high-pitched whine. Quentin was still in mid-leap when the weapon exploded with a bright and deafening roar. The shockwave from the blast caught Quentin's body as it sailed through the air and sent it twisting into space. The 20 year-old cadet felt himself tumbling through the phaser-heated air like a ragdoll, experienced the unique sensation of ricocheting off of the Master Systems Display Table at the center of Main Engineering the way a stone skips across the surface of a pond, and slamming into the far bulkhead by the Engineering Bay's main doors with enough force to shatter every bone on the right side of his body. As Quentin Cross' body slumped into unconsciousness on the floor, the last thing he saw were the bodies of two of Ensigns George Lucas and Jenny V7. Both of the gold-shirted adult crewmembers lay face down upon the debris strewn carpet, with smoldering disruptor blast wounds on their backs. Quentin's last thought was the realization that they never stood a chance.

Enalia was sitting on the edge of her seat as the Hera pulled around towards the beacon. Through the nebula gasses could barely be seen the outline of a Bird of Prey scout class ship. If they hadn't known where to look, they would have missed them entirely, but there they were. "Bring us to tractor range, as limited as it may be, and lock weapons on their engines. I want them alive."

"Aye captain." Emilie said setting a course to get in range of the Raptor. She set the course to come up from behind them and with any luck be invisible to their sensors.

Hearing the turbolift open behind her, Enalia glances over her shoulder at the new arrival. "Lt Wayne, I presume. Welcome aboard."

Richard strode onto the bridge. He was not your typical Starfleet officer. He had on black 8"combat boots and had his grey bdu bloused at the top of his boots. He was wearing a class C uniform top hidden under his large grey duster jacket. To top it all off he had his large flat brimmed Stetson on. As he looked around he saw a cadet manning the Tactical station, but not wanting to step on any toes. "Maam, what can I do to assist."

"Take the back sensors station. We need transporter and weapons locks on them. If you need Help, Ensign Cadis at the Engineering station knows those systems well." Enalia motioned towards a female Trill in a gold cadet's uniform at the back of the bridge. "And please lose the headgear while on the bridge. Your brim is a bit too much." She said offhand, grinning wryly.

Richard chuckled as he caught the grin and removed his hat and made his way over to the sensor station. He started to work on both targeting the transporter lock and targeting the weapons on the engines. "I have a solution for the engines but the interference is not allowing me to get a lock on anyone or anything right now." Richard didn't look up as he worked feverously on the console.

"Try refocusing the pod sensors with the rest to increase scan resolution. This old bird has a few tricks left in her and I want to see them." Enalia was obviously stressed but still holding up, though her discomfort in this chair was growing painful. The damn slug in her belly was uncomfortable and it made the rest of her uncomfortable as well - especially sitting on the edge of her seat like she was. She still had trouble telling where it ended and she began, especially being its first host, and she didn't need that stress coupled with the stress of the situation as well.

Emilie focused on piloting, she had switched to manual as the sensors where useless. Her hands moved across the control panel touching one command after another to keep the Hera steady on its course. She was enjoying herself quite a lot as it was a rare opportunity that she got to fly manual especially such a large vessel as the Hera. "Coming up on the Raptor." she announced.

"Captain I have a lock on the engines and shield generators, waiting for your command." Richard looked up from his station waiting for the word to disable the BoP before it got away.

Nodding and happy at the efficiency of her crew, Enalia stood up and took a step from her chair, almost posing dramatically. The Bird of Prey was just visible on the forward cameras and the sight of the back of the pirate ship filled her with an emotion she was unfamiliar with. She wanted to destroy them and watch the pieces of their ship scatter. It was like a craving for revenge.

She would have to hold back though. Enalia knew she needed them alive. "Fire." That single word was all she said and the cadet at tactical fired promptly, hitting the Raptor twice in their aft section, sending them adrift. As the small ship turned a bit now with no engines keeping her in place, she issued her next order. "Lock on tractor beams. As soon as you can, beam their crew directly to the brig and any of our people directly to sickbay."

Emilie pulled the Hera up directly above the Klingon Bird of Prey. She knew that if she was above the Raptor they couldn't hit the Hera as their weapons are facing the wrong direction. She powered down the impulse engines until she received further orders. "In position, activate tractor beam now." she said.

Watching the blue beam ensnare the old bird of prey in front of them, Enalia felt a small thrill of triumph. "Get my crewmember back on my ship now."

Suddenly, Cadet Cadis pipes up from the back with urgent news. "Captain, there was a pretty big explosion in engineering. They requested an emergency beamout but I couldn't get the emergency forcefields down in time. They were triggered by an overloaded phaser rifle and I'm not getting good readings from internal sensors so I don't even know if our team is still alive. On the bright side, the warp core is stable enough but I don't recommend warp speed until we can get in there."

Enalia's face fell at the news, obviously pissed. "Wayne, get me my crewmember back no matter what it takes. Cadis, get those fields down and get in there with medics and engineers. Wolf, get us ready for the pirate ship to blow up in our faces without shields." Pausing for a moment, she stared at the cadet at tactical. "Prepare photons, full spread at maximum yield."

Emilie moved her hands swiftly across the control panel and engaged evasive maneuvers. "Engaging evasive maneuvers pattern delta-5, Captain." she said as the ship moved to a safe distance and then began a firing pattern.

Richard had his orders he worked to lock on to the targets. It helped that after the Dominion War Pirate activity had picked up. This forced the Federation to start putting transponder beacons on all there cargo so if stolen and retrieved they can be identified. As Richard looked at the readings coming in he found not only the goods from the Hera but stuff tagged but multiple other ships. He started to beam up Hera's goods and then opened a channel to the main Cargo bay. "Cargo Bay 1 the is Lt. Wayne we have all of our stuff returned prepare room for more contraband. Tag it for evidence. Wayne out."

He noticed a glance from the busy Captain at the news of the goods back on board. Richard didn't wait he located the captured Cadet. He was unable to lock on due to a force field holding cell erected on the BoP. Without looking up he shouted for the Cadet on the tactical station. "Cadet I am sending you coordinates for there power generator you have to hit it with our forward phasers you miss by a half inch the whole ship goes boom boom"

Glancing over her shoulder nervously, the cadet recalibrates the forward phasers for a tighter beam. "Yes sir, coordinates received and tweaking the phasers."

Having paid attention to the exchange, Enalia gave the required order. "Fire when ready cadet." Watching the viewscreen, a thin orange beam shot out and lanced through the ship's hull into the power generator.

That was the opening Richard needed he locked on before anything else could go wrong and beamed the captive directly to sickbay. "Bridge to sickbay one of ours that was captive just beamed in." With that Richard turned his attention to the Captain. "Maam, I do have orders to take them in for many crimes against the Federation or we could just vaporize them in the nebula and my report would reflect that we had no choice."

Sitting back in her chair finally, Enalia crosses her legs and tries to relax a bit. "I'd rather not destroy them, but if they force us to, we need to be ready. To make it simple though, see if you can beam them and none of their equipment or weapons directly to the brig. If you can't separate their equipment, drain the power cells in the transporter buffer."

A grin came on Richard's face the powers that be will be glad to see them brought in and maybe give up other rings. They were a dangerous bunch and had to be handled with the utmost care. Richard tapped a couple comm buttons. "Brig this is Lt. Wayne with the Federation Marshals I am beaming the remainder of the crew to the brig. Have teams ready Response team on standby to subdue them in to segregated cells."

A cadet who was OIC of the Brig at this time heard the call and sounded an alarm to alert the Emergency Response Team into action. When the team was assembled he hit his comm button. Lt. we are ready for the transport. The remaining crew was beamed in and take in to custody with no further fight.

Richard saw the reports coming in downloaded it to a PADD and walked up to the Captain's chair. "Maam, we have all in custody and all cargo transferred even some from other raids. You have an out dated Bird dead in space." As he handed her the PADD with the completed Incident report.

Taking the PADD, Enalia looks over it for a second before Cadet Cadis spoke up. "Captain, I have main engineering open. The security team is getting the injured to Sickbay and Mr Hal has a prisoner he's escorting to the brig now, whom will need medical attention as well. Permission to get down there and get us flying again?"

Without looking up, Enalia repliesto the cadet. "Granted. And Provisional Ensign Cadis, you're my new Engineering Chief until further notice. I'll replicate you a rank pip once we finish licking our wounds."

Looking suddenly nervous and out of place, Laura Cadis wasn't sure what to do so she ended up just looking between the turbolift and the Captain for a few seconds before simply saying "Yes Captain." before escaping off the bridge into the waiting turbolift.

"Lt Wayne, excellent job. Would you consider staying aboard as our new Chief of Security? For a while at least." Enalia asked as she looked up to the cowboy-esque officer.

A far off look came over Richard's eyes as he took a minute. He looked out at the BoP on the view screen and thought about how busy his year had been starting on the the USS Indeftangble to his couple months on Starbase Denova and now he had landed here. This was the most fun he had had in sometime. "I would be honored" A simple reply was all was needed and with that he headed down to the Brig to see his new home.

"And now we have a choice to make. Tow their ship or blow it up. What do you think Emilie? Either way, set course for Starbase 206 and set yellow alert." Enalia was clearly relaxing as the crisis seemed to have somewhat passed.

Emilie plotted the course then turned to the Captain, "I'd say tow it back to the starbase. We dont know what kind of information they could have on their computer core, and if we cant get what we need out of them we can always use their ship." she said to Enalia.

"Make it so, then" Standing up, Enalia tugs down on the bottom of her uniform top before walking towards her ready room. "As soon as engineering is ready, get us underway. I'll be in my ready room. You have the bridge."

Emilie nodded at Enalia but choose to stay in her helm seat as she wanted to manually take the Hera out from the nebula. She set a course for the starbase and tugged the Raptor along at max impulse power.

"No! Freaking! Way!"

The exclamation was, perhaps, louder than it needed to be, but the stunning, statuesque Angelite female who had uttered it could honestly care less who the volume of her voice bothered at the moment. Her attention was fixed solely on the young Bajoran male who stood in front of her, and the insane proposal that he had just put to her.

"We need a new 'left guard' on defense," insisted Cadet Joram Jaden, an athletic Bajoran lad of average height, who crossed his arms across his chest.

"I'll play 'left guard', then," replied Cadet Michaela Mercy, likewise crossing her own arms, albeit with noticeably more attitude that the Hera's Chief-of-the-Boat had.

Jaden snorted his disbelief. "You can't play 'left guard'," he pointed out, frustration evident in his smooth even tenor. "You're already playing 'keeper'."

"I'm the team captain, Jaden," announced Michaela, her light soprano colored by her superior attitude. "I can play whatever position I like."

"Oh really?" demanded Jaden. "Then who's going to play 'keeper' if you move down to 'guard'?"

A faintest hint of uncertainty flickered behind the tall Angelite cadet's misty-grey eyes as she sighed up at the ceiling. It had never been this hard sorting out their battleball team lineup before ... but then she had never had to figure it out without her co-captain before either. Michaela allowed an errant thought to dwell on her missing compatriot, Cadet Quentin Cross, who was still recovering in the Hera's Sickbay following the attack. Michaela suppressed the twinge of guilt she felt at wishing the young Human cadet were here to foist this work upon. She absolutely refused to think about the horrifying idea that Quentin might never walk - let alone step onto a battleball court - again.

"Didn't Quentin put the -"

The mention aloud of her best friend's name caused Michaela Mercy to cut her misty-grey eyes at the Bajoran boy in a shriveling stare. Anger caused the gorgeous Angelite's peaches-and-cream complexion to redden. Joram Jaden had said nothing to rile her up so. So then why? Why was she suddenly so angry with him?

"... 'Didn't Quentin' what, Jaden?" asked Michaela with false sweetness in her voice, daring him to say something stupid regarding Cadet Cross in her presence.

The 21 year-old Bajoran guy balked. He knew better than to get on Michaela's bad side. The other cadets back at the Academy on Earth had not taken to calling her 'Mistress Mercy' for nothing. The woman was a sadist. Jaden had learned that during the first - and last - time she had been designated to lead the team in conditioning drills. Michaela's penchant for doling out both insult and injury seemed to know no bounds.

"Calm down," pleaded Jaden, holding his hands up non-threateningly. "I was just thinking: Didn't Quentin mention that he was gonna put the word out that we're recruiting?"

"I don't think he got around to it, Jaden," answered Michaela, her soft, sarcastic voice growing deadlier with each syllable. "I think he was too busy almost getting killed by fucking pirates. 'Kay?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," winced the Bajoran boy, taking a step back from the taller, stronger Angelite girl. "Prophets, just take it easy."

Alex stood leaning against the wall watching the cadets. He walked up towards the group and stepped in between the Bajoran boy and the Angelite woman. "Looks like you need another player for your team." he said with a grin to the Angelite girl. "I can play." he offered.

TAG (1/11)

---
OOC-Damian: This is where you come in Emily! Let me know what thoughts or ideas you have on how you want to play the relationship between these two. :)

Settling into her seat in the conference room, Enalia sighed and closed her eyes for a few seconds, doing a quick meditation technique. Twenty Three people. How was she going to write the letters? Logically, she knew it wasn't her fault - she had followed protocol to the letter. She couldn't help but blame herself though. Everything kept running through her mind. Her first mission, her first command... It was the first real test of the academy ship and she had failed it miserably.

But she had prisoners and she knew just who to call to interrogate them. Tapping her comm badge, she spoke to the air. "Captain Lucas and Commander Wolf, please report to the bridge conference room." Wiggling in her chair, she tries to get comfortable, though that damned worm was back to driving her mad again now that the tensions of recent events had lessened.

Emilie moved her head slightly as the order came in. "Lieutenant, you have the bridge." she told the Lieutenant who was at the helm station. Emilie stood up and walked into the conference room. She walked around the large table and took a seat next to Enalia, "Whats going on?" she asked the Commander.

It was going to be a long day. That was Taylor's inner thoughts as he walked through the ship. His face was a grim sheet of barely contained emotion which seemed to contort with each thud of his combat boots against the deck plating. He was so caught up in being in automatic flight mode that the door of the conference room was staring at him before he knew it.

With a blink he opened the door and stepped inside the room. A crisp salute followed at both of the other officers. "Captain Lucas. Reporting ma'am." he said before lowering his hand and unslung his carbine. "Something I can do for you, ma'am?"

Leaning forward and refusing to make eye contact with either one, Enalia tapped at the PADD before her. "Please, have a seat. We need to discuss the interrogation of our prisoners. Captain Lucas, I want you to be in charge of it."

A small 'mmm' sound left Taylor as he settled into the seat. It felt like it was the first time he had gotten off his feet in hours. "Alright..." he said as he processed the order. "How exactly do you want me to proceed? What is it you want to know ma'am? Mmm...base of operations?"

"I want to know why they boarded my ship and killed 23 of my crew. I know torture is illegal in the Federation, but quite frankly I don't care how you get the information. Commander Wolf, I want you to act as a conscience and a witness to this meeting and review the records of the interrogations as you can." Enalia's voice was cold as she spoke but under that coldness was a bit of a waver.

"Yes ma'am." replied Taylor who nodded slowly. It made sense. Pirates were after something. Wealth normally but Starfleet ships weren't exactly laden with precious metals and currency. "Are you giving me free leash on this, ma'am?"

Enalia nodded slowly, still staring at her PADD "I recommend you stay within Starfleet regulations, however as I said earlier, I don't much care how you get the information. Emilie, what are your thoughts on this?"

Emilie observed the conversation, "Ma'am, the thought of even torturing them makes my stomach turn. But we have to do what needs to be done. If it means to torture them to get the information that is needed, Its fine by me." she told the two.

"Then that's your answer Captain. As much as I hate to order it, I hate losing people even more." Enalia said in that same tone, her voice cracking a bit as she said 'people'.

With a small breath Taylor leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "Commander..." he said, ditching the Starfleet tradition of calling the one of the Big Chair 'captain'. For some reason Taylor found it rolled off the tongue better. "As much as I understand the pain you're facing I urge you to reconsider your recommendation to a full order. This is a...very slippery slope."

Finally looking up from her blank PADD, Enalia looks the Captain in the eyes. "As the Captain of this vessel, I am responsible for the actions and conduct of my crew. As such, anything you do to those prisoners will ultimately be my responsibility. The official order is that you do what you can to find out why they boarded the Hera and what they were after." A hint of a smile was starting to creep onto her face as she spoke. "Don't do anything that would compromise your integrity though."

His integrity? What exactly was that? He was willing to crawl through mud-filled trenches and face off against the Federation's enemies because he was told to. It was orders. That was it. His desire to do so however was one of those over-done clichés; his fellow marines. The process of thought had been battered into his head and now he was thrown into a situation to think like a spook. He was a spook now. A military mind for intelligence but intelligence nonetheless.

"I will....skim the line....ma'am...." said Taylor in a quiet voice as he seemed to ponder about his next move. "And after we get the information?"

"We still have to go to Starbase 206 for medical treatment of our injured and to turn them over, but after that, we'll see. I'd rather give the information to command and let them send a patrol ship out to take care of it, but we might end up doing it ourselves depending on what you get out of them." Enalia shifted in her chair uncomfortably when she finished. She still didn't have her new chairs installed and the one she was in was bothering her again.

With a small nod Taylor stood up and slung his carbine across his chest. "Find out information. Turn it over to you. Try not to break them too much. Aye ma'am." he said before inclining his head. "Anything else?"

As he stood, Enalia kept her face to his. "That should be it. Thank you."

For a moment Taylor's eyebrows upturned with concern. Normally ship captains were to be the supporting beam for all others. He wasn't sure if the woman was finding some dark reserve of energy to keep herself going or if she was close to cracking. "If you need me ma'am, just contact me." he said before giving a salute and moving towards the door. After all, he had orders to follow.

Emilie made eye contact with the young Commander. She wasn't 100% sure that torture was what should be done to the prisoners, but it wasn't her ship. She stood up and walked out behind Captain Lucas. When they both exited and she was sure that they where far enough, she grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. "Captain, if I find that any of the hostages are injured in a serious way..." she told Taylor looking him in the eye with a firm voice.

A small sigh left Taylor's lips as he was yanked to bear. For a moment he simply looked at her face, searching for some words before shaking his head. "Scare them maybe. Look...I'm tense ma'am. We're all tense. So we scare them. We threaten them. We play this smart and we may be able to get everything we need without having to lift a finger. Trust me. I want to be able to sleep at night."

He looked at her eyes before shaking his head once more as if trying to punctuate a point. "We'll find a way. I need you to trust me to do the right thing. Can you do that, lieutenant commander?"

Emilie put her hands on her hips and contemplated. She wasn't sure about him, he could do as she asks, he could ignore her. She decided to take a leap of faith and trust him. "Fine. Get to it." she told Taylor with a slight sigh. She stood there staring at him for a few more moments then turned and walked back onto the bridge.

Mach had already woken up and was working a breakfast for himself and Emilie, he wasn't sure what to make of the situation on one hand he was glad they had reconnected in a way that was normal for them both but he was worried that tit would end up just the same. Picking up the plates of food and walked into the bedroom. "Morning" He said simply setting himself down on the edge of the bed.

Emilie woke up and looked at Mac as he brought plates into the bedroom. She smiled as he sat next to her. "Whatcha got there?" she asked sitting up and looking up to see what he had made.

Mach finished his bite of waffle, swallowing before speaking "Just some waffles and cream" he said displaying the plate full of waffles and cream. "Care a try?" He asked.

TAG

Cadet A'lura Aeden brushed away a snow-white curl of hair from her face, and let out a long tired sigh. [[ It had been a little under 20 hours ]] since the USS Hera had come under attack by what appeared to be pirates. Mean, nasty, murderous pirates, who had massacred everyone present in Main Engineering when they beamed aboard. A'lura reflected upon that for a moment. [[ Twenty-three crewmates. Twenty-three ]] living, breathing beings ... each one with hopes and dreams - slain ... without mercy. Indeed, without reason, as even now, [[ hours later, it was still unclear why these killers had stolen aboard the Nebula-class starship in the first place. ]] The pretty snowy-haired Edo girl turned to glance in the direction of the biobed at the end of Sickbay's Intensive Care Unit. Around the biobed were four gold-shirted Starfleet security officers, each one brandishing a Type III-Mark 6 compression phaser rifle, and a grim expression on his face. The brief tell-tale shimmer of glowing red energy hinted at the presence of an isolation and containment forcefield around the biobed. Under the IAC field, behind the burly figure of a security sentry, lay one of the pirates.

He was naked, except for the light aquamarine sheet that had been draped across his middle for modesty. It had been a bit of a surprise to learn from his lab results that he was a Human Augment, although once she'd had a look at his massive, muscular physique, it was easier to believe. The burns that had scored the Augment's pale skin had all but disappeared, due as much to his advanced healing factor as to the medical staff's efforts. A'lura felt a nervous flutter down in her core, as she glanced at the Augment's dark red hair and handsome features. The homicidal superhuman both attracted and repulsed her, and the thought of what his rock-hewn muscles could do to the petite Edo girl made her shiver in fear ... and excitement. Silently chiding herself, A'lura forced herself to ignore the Augment's biobed, and turned to glance at the others that lined the walls of the ICU. In the four nearest beds lay crewmembers - cadets, just like A'lura - who had been caught in the blast that rocked Main Engineering and had felled the muscular Augment invader.

A'lura's eyes began to mist over as she glided over to the nearest one that held Cadet Ryan Volos. He had been in pretty bad shape when he had first arrived. Burns and hydrostatic shock from the explosion had threatened to finish off what a fractured skull and internal injuries from blunt-force trauma had begun. The defensive wounds on the El-Aurian boys' face and hands indicated the physical confrontation he had found himself in with the monstrous Augment. A'lura thought that Ryan must be the bravest guy in the world to withstand such a beating from that brute. Next to Ryan lay Cadet Michaela Mercy, who had been the cadet farthest away from the blast. The tall glamorous Angelite's wounds had been relatively minor, and she had been the only one to regain consciousness so far, despite a serious concussion. Thankfully, the bossy Angelite had gone back to sleep, and A'lura gave a wry little smile as she wondered what hell Michaela would raise when she finally woke up again.

Reluctantly, Alura turned to the last two ICU patients. Cadets Quentin Cross and Cho'ren Vara lay in separate beds, side-by-side, competing to see who could be the worse off. It had been touch-and-go for Quentin for a while there. Quentin had practically been at ground zero of the blast, only managing to leap clear at the last second. The shockwave had sent the poor Human cadet hurtling through the air, and slammed him into the bulkhead at the forward section of the Engineering Bay. Quentin had suffered extensive injuries. Almost every bone in his left side had been broken, including a left-sided skull fracture that could have killed him for sure. Quentin lay sedated for the moment, as even now, the glowing aquamarine beams of the biobed's endoscopic tissue regenerators pulsed from head to toe down his supine body. In Vara's case, however, it was not as simple as turning on a regenerator and hoping for the best. The beautiful Lagashi girl's cybernetic implants had been shutdown after she had been shot with a directed EMP pulse. It had been all the Hera's medical staff could do to get the most critical of those implants operational again. However, it seemed that during her brief abduction from the Hera, the pirates had interfered with Vara's cerebral implants in such a way that perplexed Hera's doctors. And so it was that Cadet Cho'ren Vara remained in a coma, where she would remain until someone with expertise in Lagashi implants could be found.

A tear fell from A'lura Aeden's amethyst-purple eyes, as the soft swishing sound of the Sickbay's double doors opening announced the arrival of visitors.

Stepping through those doors was none other than the captain of the ship, Commander Enalia Telvan. Her hair was tied back well and her uniform was fresh, but the look on her face betrayed her weariness. Glancing at the PADD she carried, she walked over to A'lura. Looking between the biobeds, her voice wavered just a tiny bit as she spoke softly. "Cadet Aeden, right? I've sent a request to Lagash requesting a specialist be sent out to meet us for Cadet Cho'ren. How are the rest doing?"

A'lura wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and gave a half-hearted smile of welcome to the Commander Telvan. The pretty young Edo girl hated that their first time speaking together had to be under these circumstances.

"Well, Ma'am," began A'lura, her voice trembling, "Cadet Cho'ren's situation remains the same. She has stabilized since coming out of surgery, but without anyway to repair her cerebral implants, it looks like she'll stay in her coma. Cadet Cross is ..." A'lura paused and looked over at Quentin's biobed, and the strobing aquamarine lasers that washed over his broken body. "... he's in prett bad shape, Ma'am. The surgeons were able to manage all the life-threatening complications, but he's suffered extreme musculoskeletal damage ..."

A'lura trailed off. She didn't want to have to explain that it would be a longshot if Quentin were to recover full use of his left arm and leg. So she moved on.

"Cadet Volos suffered a good deal of damage himself," continued the Edo Head Nurse, "but thankfully, it looks like he'll pull through. So far Cadet Mercy has been the luckiest out of all of them. She woke up a few hours ago, and I believe she checked out okay."

"That's good at least. Hopefully everyone will be back to good health soon." Enalia sighs heavily. "The first mission under my command and the first mission for this ship and we lose twenty three people and I all but consigned these four to their deaths as well. I know I'm the one that should be comforting everyone right now, but I could use some myself, to be honest."

TAG: A'lura (1/8)

A quiet, short sigh came from Ryan's bed as his eyes slowly opened. Calmly his eyes moved around, scanning the ceiling as he tried to figure out where he was, but everything was a bit dark and blurry. His whole body felt swollen, tight, and numb and he couldn't move his head. In fact, he couldn't really move the rest of his body either, or at least he couldn't tell if he was moving it. What was I doing again? He wondered silently to himself.

TAG: ALL (1/8)

Mach entered the Medical bay he had been dealing with several severely burned members down in engineering before being called to Medical to help with the situation there, upon entering he could see huddles of people and nurses tending to their patients. Moving to one of the beds he looked over the information to see with was Cadet Volos. Moving to the side of the Bio bed he began to check his vitals and seeing him breath was a good even thought small sign of life. "Don't worry cadet you'll be back to full health shortly. Now I need a few things from you, just make any sign if you're happy with that" He waited for his response.

Ryan's eyes were still mostly closed. Was that someone talking? He groaned quietly.

Heaving a sighed Mach proceeded to attach a cardio stimulator in hopes that he will at the very least be able to talk and drink fluids. "Now Mr Volos, I am attaching a Cardio stimulator to your chest there is nothing to worry about it is completely painless" He said whilst performing the treatment. Mach wasn't one-hundred percent sure whether or not the cadet could hear him but at the least if he knew what he was doing maybe it would help with his recovery.

TAG Ryan, Any observers

---
OOC-Azmaria: This is the medbay aftermath of the disaster in engineering. No specific goals. Vara's brain implants were fried, Quentin and Ryan and Michaela were blown up, and there's that augmented human prisoner.

OOC-Damian: Sorry for the length. Writing it out like that helps make it clearer in my head. The information that I was unsure of, I placed in brackets [[ ]] for you guys to alter, so that it makes more sense with whats been posted previously, or whatever. Has a report on what happened been made to the CO and XO yet?

OOC-Chris: I shall wait until said visitors arrive (and possibly depart) before having Ryan wake up as to avoid everything happening at once.

Kids. Taylor hated kids. Oh he loved babies when they were all cute and burping and gazing up at you with big orb-like eyes. Kids on the other hand were noisy and prone to trigger migraines. Now he was on a ship surrounded by kids! Kids in uniform! With learning PADDs and questions upon questions. He was supposed to teach the little bastards how to fight as well. How was he supposed to do that? It was like herding cats.

Yet they were his kids. They were his cadets just like they were the cadets of every other officer on board and these...people. Animals. Intended to do them harm. His intense blue stare pierced the invisible forcefield as he stood in his combat gear; a blast vest and marine phaser carbine. His hands were placed on his hips to allow his weapon to hang across his chest by the sling.

"Just wanted to visit the zoo. Hope you don't mind." he said in his growl-like accent.

"Then welcome to the party. The more the merrier." The olive skinned Orion woman said. The way she carried herself she was obviously their leader, strutting about the cell in an almost relaxed and comfortable manner.

"Lucky this is a Starfleet vessel. Cell is too good for you, darlin'." he stated as he drummed his fingers against his forearm. "So you got a name? I feel like we're connecting here. You behind a forcefield, pacing like a trapped rodent. Me enjoying the show because I'm free...and you're not."

Grinning like the predator she was, the captive Orion woman couldn't help but oblige the Marine Captain. "I'm Azrhianna. My quarter Orion wife's name is Lydia. The human woman I was with is Christina and the human male was named Kai. I assume he didn't make it out of your main engineering alive. Any other questions?"

With a small nod he clicked his tongue and leaned against a nearby bulkhead. "He's dead." lied Taylor who gave a small shrug of indifference. "Flushed him out of the airlock myself. He's the lucky one though. Because now you get to enjoy the...hospitality of Starfleet. Wouldn't it be a shame if the life support systems just went on the blink all of a sudden?"

Turning away from the heavily armed man, Azrhianna scoffed as she sat on the shelf that passed for a sleeping spot. "I know Starfleet's prisoner policies. You won't do anything that could hurt us."

"Exactly right!" shouted Taylor who clapped his hands together in a show of sound of display. If anything it was like being at some Las Vagas magic show. Come one, come all! After all they believed the uniform that he wore would protect them but he had orders. Part of him felt dirty for it. Like he was dipping his hands in blood. Yet duty came first.

"But no one said anything about the engineering teams being diverted when the air was sucked out of here...unless you want to tell me why you came on board?"

Staring blankly at the green uniformed man, Azrhianna broke into laughter a moment later. "You might have made a wonderful pirate if things were different." Sitting back and sighing, she continued. "We're pirates. We were after loot. Why else would we board your ship? It could have been any ship that fell into our trap but it was yours, unfortunately for us. Now we're captured, our ship is likely destroyed, and we didn't get any booty."

"Good try but you attacked a Federation vessel for loot. Looting what? Our wide assortment of jewels and gold pressed latinum?" queried Taylor who tilted his head. "Or were you after the cadets' homework? Is that it? Is question five really keeping you up at night? You know if you skip it and come back to it after the answer might just...pop out at you."

Smiling like the cat that ate the canary, the green skinned woman stifled another laugh as he spoke. "That's it exactly. We wanted their homework. And don't underestimate your cargo - it's hard to get a lot of what you carry as spare parts. Your dilithium crystals, for example. On the black market they fetch a pretty good price and there aren't many ships that can go places without them these days."

Taylor crossed the room and leaned against the wall next to the forcefield of the cell. "You know something? I know exactly the shade of green an Orion goes after your body cools. But I've never, ever watched one suffocate. Maybe I'll come back in an EVA suit and just...watch." he said in a low voice. "Unless of course you have something to tell me that might keep the air on."

Suddenly serious, the Orion woman stood and crossed the short space to the forcefield, bringing her face as close as she could to the Marine's. "How about this then. You kill me or my wife and the bombs will go off. We planted quite a few of them throughout your ship."

A smile crossed his lips as he moved towards the door of the brig. "Thank you for your co-operation, madam. I bid you a good day." He had something! Bombs. A bluff or a promise? That was something he had to confirm. He opened the door and walked along the corridor away from the held Orions.

He connected his communication headset to Enalia's commbadge. "Commander? This is Lucas. The prisoners have made mention of explosive devices. Probably around power exchange units for engines and weapons. Recommend you get the engineers and security on it."

Enalia's voice came over the headset almost immediately. "Thanks Captain. I'd rather not cause a panic if it can be avoided so we'll have to handle this discreetly. I'll have a team check over all the areas we detected the pirates and we'll go from there. Did you find anything else out?"

"I think she likes me." he replied with a voice devoid of any warmth or humour. "Right now she' sticking with the story of the fact that we're a tasty target with a lot of spare parts. I figure if we find her bombs she'll buckle with another threat."

"It's probably a bluff then, but we need to be sure. Head to engineering and see if Cadet Cadis found anything unusual in the dilithium chamber. They took a lot of our crystals while they were in there and might have left a surprise." Enalia said just as dryly.

"Confirmed. Objectives as follows; link with Cadet Cadis and search for explosives. Will update in one hour. Lucas out." the marine explained before he closed off the commlink. Dealing with a cadet wasn't exactly what Taylor wanted to do right now but he had orders. While he was sure he could disable any sort of device he wasn't an engineer. This was a ship with a hull separating the people on board from cold, airless space. Probably best to let the experts root around power conduits.

As he marched down towards the main engineering deck he connected his headset to the Cadet's badge. "Cadis. This is Lucas. How you feelin' about going on a little bomb hunt?"

"Roger that. Where am I meeting you?" The voice of the Cadet and Provisional Ensign said quickly. She sounded occupied, but was still prompt in her reply.

"The skipper seems to think that the dilithium chamber is the best bet." he said as he broke into a light jog. He did his best to skim past people has he thudded down the ship towards his destination. "I have some experience with Orion bomb tech. They tend to have some kind of anti-tamper device. I need you to replicate me some cold water in a glass. See you there."

With that said he thundered into a full run. People jumped out of the way. After all wouldn't you if a man in armour with a weapon came rushing towards you? Bluff or not he needed to take care of this bomb threat. It also gave him a chance to interact with one of the cadets. Get a sense of exactly what kind of person she was.

It took him a while after a few turnarounds but he finally entered main engineering with a red face and a small groan. "Cadis! Front and centre!" he bellowed out, heads turning to the loud Scotsman's voice.

Standing next to the door he just ran through, Laura was just looking at him and holding a glass of water, her cadet rank pin and her provisional ensign rank pin twinkling in the light from a flickering console. "I'm right here, this is your water, and my warp core is over there. Now what's this about a bomb?"

Taylor took the glass from Laura and gulped down the contents without a word before handing the glass back. Afterwards he let out a deep 'gaaaaaa' of satisfaction as the cold water refreshed him. "Thank you cadet." he said gruffly before rolling his shoulders. He stepped a little closer so he could speak in a more hushed voice. As the captain had told him; a panic was not required.

"Best we keep the bomb thing to ourselves. But just in case...let's erm...suggest fire and damage control teams stand on ready? Maybe a drill? As for the bomb the skipper thinks it'll be where our crystals are. Also I'm thinking...critical system nodes?"

Setting the glass back in the replicator, Laura sighs lightly. "Thanks to the explosion, we had to replace the whole dilithium chamber." Stepping away from the heavily armed marine and towards another cadet, she spoke to them for a moment. "Cadet Whilfred, where did you take the old dilithium chamber?"

"Recycling bay 3, Ma'am." The young man replied.

"Thanks. Keep working on the main EPS conduits and let me know if you find anything unusual ASAP. Don't touch it, just call me, ok?" Laura said sternly, getting a nod from the cadet.

Turning back to Taylor, Laura motioned towards the back of engineering. "If you'll follow me please."

"So....enjoying the black pip, Cadis?" asked Taylor as he followed the cadet to the back of the engineering deck. He warily eyed the warp core with an air of a marine's suspicion. It was as if he expected the complex device to simply explode at the slightest cue.

Instead he decided to focus his eyes on the task at hand because at least he knew that would explode given the chance. "If you were to plant bombs to cripple but not destroy a ship of this design...where would you place them?"

"I hoped to get the experience to be a good engineer but to be handed the position of Chief Engineer like this?" Laura sighs heavily. "Anyway, I'd put one on the primary and secondary EPS manifolds. Putting one in the dilithium chamber would likely cause a warp core breach."

"Dead man's trigger..." whispered Taylor who paused on the spot. "It's a dead man's trigger. The Orion. She said that if she or her wife was to die the explosives would be detonated. Why cripple a ship if you're not able to take it? Get two engineers to the EPS manifolds and run checks. We're going for the chamber. You want to enjoy your stint of being the Chief Engineering Officer you best have a steady hand for pliers. Because if you help me pull off this Cadis I will write you a glowing report that they'll think I used uranium as ink."

"Whilfred is working on the EPS manifolds, so let's look at that chamber then." Grabbing a tricorder and a tool kit, Cadis heads back to the recycling area and straight to the old dilithium chamber. "There it is then. What's our first step? Another glass of cool water?"

"Do not use that tricorder!" hissed Taylor who glared towards Laura. "They might have rigged it to be triggered by scans. We need an x-ray. Something to see wires. Connectors. Something that is gentle enough not to trigger any anti-tamper devices. We need to see what's under the hood cadet and without turning ourselves into a warp-breach smear."

Looking down at her tricorder and back up at the man she now thought was a bit crazy, she popped open her tricorder and pointed it at the damaged casing, still staring at him. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. "You realize that we had to use scanners and tricorders of all sorts to even get it out, right? And that we don't use x-ray scanners here in engineering? The only X band emitters we have are in the science labs and in the main sensor strip along the saucer section. I mean, I know this ship is an antique, but we're not operating with tools from that era. In fact... Computer, pull up the analysis of this Dilithium chamber." After a confirmation bleep, a holographic image of the parts in question were constructed in midair before them within moments, showing detailed analysis reports of every damaged piece. "We used a holoimager tuned to the theta band on it and got this." If Laura wasn't so tired, she would have been smiling. As it was, her face was perfectly deadpan.

"Consider me amazed." growled Taylor who tapped his fingers against his carbine. He wasn't in a mood to discuss the finer points of engineering equipment. "Just during the Thesa Prime campaign Orions loved to lay explosives on the dirt roads. So we'd mark them. Get an engineer up. They were triggered by tricoders. Poor bastards had to be scooped up into a black bin bag."

With that piece of history said and done Taylor examined the chamber with the holo-projection that was being provided to him. He looked up, down and around before pointing and a small twist of odd wires. "That isn't supposed to be there, is it?" he asked as he frowned, prodding the hologram with a finger. "Think we can open this thing up?"

Reaching into the remains, Laura pulled out that twist of wire with a sensor node on the end of it. "You're right, it's not supposed to be there. It's normally mounted on the underside of the dilithium clamps to measure pressure so the system can recrystalize the crystals. The blast knocked it clean off since that part of the drawer was outside of the emergency force fields when that phaser rifle exploded and Cadet Cross bounced off of it."

"You're saying it's a misplaced wire rather than a bomb component?" asked Taylor who stared at the hologram warily before wincing as the cable was pulled out. "So what, the chamber is clean? At least of explosives...."

Pulling up a particular bit in the holo-display, Laura zoomed in on the analysis of it. "We found this residue on the armature that didn't check out. It was some sort of EM sensitive strip. Does it look familiar?"

A small groan of defeat left Taylor as he lowered his head. "Yes Cadet. Yes it does." he said before he shook his head. "That's the part that detects sensor scans. Obviously it was damaged by the blast you mentioned which was why your lot were removing it...the scans didn't trigger the bomb."

He cracked his neck and nodded as he licked his lips. "Get me a set of cable snips. After that...crack this case open. It'll probably be nestled somewhere to prevent detection..."

Handing over the modern tool kit, Laura musters enough energy to smile. "Everything you'll need is in here."

With a sigh Taylor opened up the casing and connected a fibre optic cable to a headset which he used to poke around. "Mmm. Wires. Detonator. Half pound charge. Unknown compound." he said as he picked up the cable clippers. Once more Taylor licked his lips before he placed the clips over one of the cables.

"Careful...careful...." he said before he clipped that wire clean. For a moment he was sure it had been the wrong wire. That they had twisted the detonator and the trigger wires up to confuse anyone attempting to disarm them. Yet he had managed to pull through. Shakily he dropped his tools and connected his headset to the CO's comm badge.

"Captain Telvan...bomb disarmed. Engineering deck..."

"And here I was hoping you wouldn't find anything... Let me know if you find anything else. Telvan out."

"Hidden in the seams so the scanners would misread it, too..." Laura muttered under her breath.

"We're just too good." replied Taylor who smiled weakly before standing up. "Right now I think I'll...get some food....I could use some pie after that....then I can see about getting more info from our lovely green skinned guests."

Chuckling weakly, Laura let out a small smile. "Enjoy. I still have too much work to do here, so if you need me further, let me know."

Taylor stuck his hands in his pockets before ambling away from the engineering deck. "Nice work, cadet."

Mach stood ready in the already crowded medical bay lucky for them they had a good staff and he had chosen himself and one of the cadets to conduct housecall's to the rest of crew he was knew that this was only a potion of the injured and those who could still work most likly were. "Cadet Skaseth, please hurry" He said tapping the standard issue medical kit.

Hurrying down the hall behind the doctor and trying not to drop the medical supplies she was carrying, Silvia mewed softly. "I'm coming, I'm coming. This is a lot to carry."

He couldn't help but break a grin "Yes well if the crew isn't going to come to us then we will have to go to the crew, did you bring everything I asked for?" He said heading to the turbo lift cutting his speed in half allowing her to catch up. "We're heading to the bridge first"

Almost dropping one of the cases she was carrying, Silvia replied quickly. "Yes, I found everything in the medical supply room like you said. I just wish there was a better way to carry all these cases..."

"There is its called more crewman however right now everyone is hands down in sickbay so right now its me and you" He turned around almost being knocked over by the woman "Here let me take some of that" He took of two cased and held them stepping back into the turbo lift "Come come"

The cat-like biologist mewed as he took a couple cases and she followed him into the turbolift. "Yeah those pirates caused a lot of pain. Lots to do. Bridge first and then where?" Her eyes were rather shifty and she was nervous. She almost expected the turbolift door to open out onto a group of pirates wanting to kill them, which was odd for her as she loved tight confined places.

"Well we are heading to the bridge now then we will be heading to the mess hall, science labs, security and finally a quick sweep of the general crew quarters. Turbo lift Bridge" He said as she stepped in and the doors closed behind her.

"I know all the pirates have been captured, but I'm still worried they're roaming the ship. You know what I mean?" Silvia said softly.

"Dont worry yourself Cadet you know how to use your phaser correct?" He standing with both arms drooping along side his body whilst they were in motion on the turbo lift.

Worriedly looking at the Doctor, Silvia patted at the spot where a phaser would normally be. "Uh... I'm not wearing one... I haven't been issued one, nor has the order been made to wear one..."

Mach looked down to his hips where his phaser would have usually rested but it was most definitely absent "Well darn" He scratched his head the grey plastic box of the medical first aid kit. "Its seem's the stress from the past few days have been getting to me" He rested his arm back down to his side as the turbo lift stopped and the doors opened, hissings its familiar sound.

TAG

With a plate of pecan pie in one hand and a fork in the other Taylor strolled into the brig with a small smile of satisfaction on his face. After all he had more or less blue the pirate's bluff out of the water and now it was time for him to begin the process of a little chat with the guests. After stepping inside of the room he pulled a metal chair over and sat in front of the forcefield.

"We found your bomb." he said as he used the fork to slice off a chunk of the pie away before scooping it up. "In the dilithium chamber." added Taylor before he placed the fork into his mouth. He savoured the taste. Chewed the pie's sliver slowly as he watched the pirates' faces with his eyes for a sign of fear or some kind of other emotional reaction.

After swallowing the delicious pecan pie chunk he slowly cut away another piece. "So this is the part where you start spilling your guts before I start helping you. What was it you said? If you died the bombs would go off? Well we found them. So...I'd start talking if I were you."

Rolling over on the bunk, Azrhianna waved him off. "Talk to Christina. She's the one that set us up the bombs."

Christina frowned at Azrhianna and crossed her arms. She stood up and leaned against the wall close to the forcefield. She smiled and looked into the Intel officer's eyes. "Is that so?" she asked the intelligence officer. She thought about the odds of this perky young officer finding her bomb, they where slim but possible. "Maybe you found one bomb, but who knows, maybe I have other bombs planted throughout the ship. They might go off at any moment." a wicked grin came across her face.

"Mhm." said Taylor as he licked the fork before crossing his legs at the ankles. "You're not willing to sacrifice your lives. As long as you're on board the bombs won't go off. And you did profess your beautiful love for each other should one of you die. Shame your other crew member isn't covered by the same policy."

With a shrug Taylor placed the plate down and cradled his carbine on his lap. "So you going to tell me what you came here to do or am I just...going to have to see how well your friend floats?"

Christina smiled at this pathetic excuse for an Intelligence Officer, "Empty threats." she told him. "You as a member of Starfleet, have a book rules. Believe it or not I was an Intelligence officer, much better than you, but still. You wouldn't dare hurt any of us. If you do, I know that you will be punished. What is it these days? Jail? Court Martial? Are you willing to risk your carrier to maybe get information, which could also lead to your death." she told Taylor. "Oh and another thing. I'm gonna give you a little hint, the minute you lower this forcefield you're all going to die." she said with a villainous smile.

"It's 'career' actually." said Taylor who shrugged before giving a little smile. "And like I said. All it takes is for life support to fail and for me to...oh I don't know...disable the internal sensors so the engineers wouldn't notice? I wouldn't even have to disable the forcefields. So tell me...how empty is my threat still empty?"

"Ah, but your still forgetting something, if you kill us it will trigger the other bombs. Yes bombs, that means more than one." she said as another smiled crept across her face. "What is this a Nebula? So give or take 800 crew members, most of which are cadets. So, even if you do kill us, moments later you will be killing yourself as well as the hundreds of cadets onboard." she told Taylor. "I wonder what the Chief of Starfleet will have to say to their parents? It must be hard for him." she said pacing the floor of the brig. "Imagine all of those parents, crying, asking why? How? Who? And the truth will come out. A young inexperienced officer had to push the button killing a few people that caused a bomb to explode."

"Are you scared, Captain?" she asked with a serious tone and face looking him dead in the eye.

Richard had been sitting in his office nearby listening to what was going on letting the Intel Officer do his things his security teams had scoured the ship and had found nothing out of place. It was an all out lie or they had cloaked bombs. Either way Richard had heard enough and threw on his black duster and brown stetson and stroad out of his office and into the main brig area.

"Are you kidding me he is a god damn marine you think he is scared of your bull shit bombs?" Richard had heard enough and let in on Christina. Look you scum are on my wanted list and I get paid whether I bring you in dead or alive. I get payed more if you alive..." Richard thought for a second. "But I ain't in it for the money. Plus I am pretty damn sure your full of shit about you doing anything if we drop the field so I am gonna call your bluff." Richard looked at the cadet running the control panel and gave a nod.

"Taylor Lucas mate, nice to meet you." said the marine who disabled his carbine's safety and ramped up the power level to something more lethal. He stood up and raised it at those within the cell, aiming down the sights. Sure, he wasn't scared but he was cautious.

Christina began to laugh. The fools did exactly as she asked. "This is too easy." she whispered. She walked to the middle of the brig cell and looked at the Lieutenant while in the positing to take down the Captain.

"Down girl." said Taylor who tapped a setting on the side of the carbine. The weapon hummed dangerously as he aimed at the woman, the carbine now at a less than lethal setting. "This is a marine issued phaser carbine and I've just set it to a wide spread mode. So please. Stay." he said before firing into the cell.

Christina fell unconscious. Her heart came to stop for a full second, and a shake fell upon the ship. The moment the phaser hit Christina a small bomb exploded in a nearby cargo bay. It killed four cadets and destroyed several crew quarters, including the Chief Intel's. It also happened to hit an auxiliary impulse relay and the impulse engines where taken offline. The ship went to red alert as the prisoners all fell to the floor.

For a moment Taylor staggered to his knees before managed to pull himself up. "Get them into separate cells!" snarled the marine in his Scottish accent towards Richard. "I want to tear them apart piece by piece in my own time. I'm off to see what the hell is going on!"

Richard tapped his comm badge "QRT team Alpha report to the affected Cargo bay team Bravo to the Brig."

With that said Taylor stormed out of the brig and connected his headset to the commbadges of both the captain and her first office. "Ma'ams. This is Captain Lucas. The hell is going on the entire ship feels like she's been yanked by a tractor beam?!"

Instead of either woman replying, a male voice came over the headset. "This is the bridge. There's been an explosion. Main cargobay has been decompressed and impulse is offline... Please stand by." From the background sounds, the ship was in chaos.

Richard worked with his Quick Response Team to secure the captives in Segregation cells. All he could do was smirk and think to himself 'That had to be Renee's brother'

Sitting in her ready room and trying to write up the death reports and letters to families for the 23 lost under her command, Enalia couldn't help but just stare blankly at her screen while tapping through the profiles of those lost. This was getting her nowhere though. Tapping her commbadge, she leaned back in her chair. "Lieutenant Witley, this is Commander Telvan. Do you have an appointment available soon? I need someone to talk with."

"It just so happens I was about to take a raktajino break," Laural replied over the comm. Inwardly, she was surprised to receive the call but also pleased she had. "My house or yours?"

"Yours is fine. I'll be there momentarily." Clicking the screen off, she stands and makes to leave her ready room.

"See you soon," Laural replied. In the meantime, she moved herself and her hoverchair away from her desk and parked herself before the chais and couch in her office seating area where she still had a direct line of sight to her office door. In spontaneous situations like this, she thought it best to position herself in such a way as to indicate she was ready and willing to listen.

"How did I ever agree to this?" Tycho asked himself.

~~~~~

"Really?" He asked.

LIeutenant Tycho Pierce sat across from his superior officer. Commander Lisa McDowell was the commander of the starbase Tycho had been stationed at for almost three years. The commander had just finished telling Tycho that he was being assigned to the USS Hera as their chief science officer. He was glad to be finally posted to a starship. After all, that's where the real discoveries are made.

"Cadets?" He added.

"They're the best of the best, Pierce. The Hera is a special ship and it presents a special opportunity for the cadets assigned to her." McDowell said.

"Didn't Starfleet stop putting kids on starships? I thought they finally figured out that that was a bad idea." Tycho said. He got up and paced the office of the commander. "Couldn't I be assigned to the Enterprise or something?"

"First off, the Enterprise doesn't need another science officer. Second, you don't have any real space legs to speak of. The Hera needed a highly experienced scientist, and you're who they had in mind."

Lisa knew the Lieutenant well. His ego has been known to eclipse several planets in the past.

"Forget it. I quit." Tycho exclaimed, leaving the commander's office.

Lisa sat there and shook her head.

"I don't have to tuck them in at night or anything, do I?" Tycho asked, reappearing in the commander's door.

"That's up to you, Tye."

With a defeated sigh, he nodded his head. "Fine. When do I leave?"

"The Hera will be arriving at Starbase 206 within the next two days. You'll take a shuttle to 206 and then report aboard." She said.

"Oh, and Tye, it's been an honor serving with you."

Tycho turned to face the commander. "You too, Commander." He said, leaving her office.

~~~~~~~

After spending a full day on a transport shuttle, Tycho couldn't wait to stretch his legs. The shuttle was due to arrive at 206 in two hours, and it couldn't come any sooner.