S12 - M4: The Delta Quadrant Vultures

[Alexander Wu]

[Shuttlecraft Stockwin]

Without being able to communicate, Alex couldn't direct or coordinate an attack with the other shuttles, nor with Discovery. Instead, they followed standard protocol and O'Brian followed their lead, targeting the lead enemy ship. They were agile enough to dodge most of the enemy disruptor fire, but with the possibilty of Borg inhancements, he didn't relish what would happen if they got hit. Off to the side, he could see the other two shuttles working on Discovery's target, to limited results. Though the shields shimmered, they all held, except...they shimmered green.

"If they adapted the Borg technology for their weapons, maybe they did the same for their shields too." Alex mused, bringing up the phaser control settings. "And unless they have alot of experience with adaptive shielding, maybe they used the same rotating frequency as the cube..."While the shuttle didn't have the sensor history from their attack on the Borg cube, there was an automated modulation program which had been installed in preparation for the assault, in case their initial plan had gone critically wrong. As it turned out, they never had to use the shuttles for a final desperate bid, but with the extensive damage to Discovery, they hadn't removed any of the modifications yet.

Activating the program, Alex brought them even closer to their target, grimacing as their chances of avoiding the deadly beams decreased. "Malvar, target their weapons and cycle through the modulations, we need to find a frequency that'll punch through those shields!"

[Demlion Riverbank V]

[Planet]

Kirok's right eye arched slightly when the link did not connect.  "I'm not getting a signal.  Odd" he said.

Then he tapped his com badge again.  -/\- Kirok to Science Team and Dr. Riverbank.  Have any of you heard from the ship recently?  -/\- he asked.

[planet side]

The Vorta bright violet eyes looked up from the medical tricorder. The way his eyes looked like a cat lifting its head up as saying, I hear it. The Admiral had asked if they heard from the ship. He was not aware they had to call in. Which was not bad, but don't they have scanners to keep an eye on them.

The snob of his personality took a long sigh. He had tapped his combadge.    Doctor Riverbank to USS DiscoverÁ¢â,¬"    he frowned as he stopped from the dead silence. He tapped his com badge once and twice. Then three times in a beat.

He frowned. That was strange. "Any of your combadges working...." he observed all his fellow crew member. He tapped his combadge to reply to the Admiral    Sir,   he had decided not to use Admiral because it was like saluting to a high rank officer in a battlefield.  No. There is no signal 

That was when the Vorta felt there was something bad. It was an extinct. Fear was a trait of his kind. Especially when you feel the people hate you.

So he had spun around looking desperate for the mans at arms. Black. The security officer. "Sir Black," He asked as he was back tracking or attempt to track the man down. Poor eye sight gives a limit perception. "We have lost contact the Discovery," he shared.

Now splitting the team up was not a wise idea.  Away team...please reply... he asked. They could lost contact with other members too. They need to stay together. Splitting up was no good. Vorta rather be in large groups. Being alone was scary. Like hiding from those who hunted his people before the Founders.

[Kirok]

[Shuttlecraft Stockwin]

Without being able to communicate, Alex couldn't direct or coordinate an attack with the other shuttles, nor with Discovery. Instead, they followed standard protocol and O'Brian followed their lead, targeting the lead enemy ship. They were agile enough to dodge most of the enemy disruptor fire, but with the possibilty of Borg inhancements, he didn't relish what would happen if they got hit. Off to the side, he could see the other two shuttles working on Discovery's target, to limited results. Though the shields shimmered, they all held, except...they shimmered green.

"If they adapted the Borg technology for their weapons, maybe they did the same for their shields too." Alex mused, bringing up the phaser control settings. "And unless they have alot of experience with adaptive shielding, maybe they used the same rotating frequency as the cube..."While the shuttle didn't have the sensor history from their attack on the Borg cube, there was an automated modulation program which had been installed in preparation for the assault, in case their initial plan had gone critically wrong. As it turned out, they never had to use the shuttles for a final desperate bid, but with the extensive damage to Discovery, they hadn't removed any of the modifications yet.

Activating the program, Alex brought them even closer to their target, grimacing as their chances of avoiding the deadly beams decreased. "Malvar, target their weapons and cycle through the modulations, we need to find a frequency that'll punch through those shields!"

[Shuttlecraft - NPC Malvar]

Malvar nodded his head.  It was a good idea.  He kicked himself for not thinking of it.

"Aye, Sir" Malvar said.  "Modulating frequency commenced.  We'll find that one to do the trick" he added.  Phaser blast after phaser blast fired.

[Bridge]

"I've found the file, Sir" EQ said.  He began reading and immediately knew it was out of his dept.  -/\-EQ to Declan Vincent.  I need your help on a project.  Can you report to the Bridge-/\- he said after tapping his combadge.

[LK Reede]

[Bridge]

While LK was tending to bruises, cuts and bumps, the scene on screen was flashing with phaser blasts. If the 'vultures' had incorporated Borg technology into their shields, phasers probably wouldn't be able to match it and override the built in defense. She sighed. That issue wasn't her job.

"Blast it!" she cursed under her breath. The dermal stimulator slipped from her hand as another wave of bumping and grinding coursed through the ship. She fell to her knees, her hand reaching out to grab her small instrument before it got all the way across the room. Okay, that would have been impossible but it was just the exaggeration she needed at the moment.

Her fingertips touched the tool, her nails grabbing and sliding it closer to herself. Another shudder and she jerked sideways, clutching the regenerator firmly. Off balance, LK let herself fall onto her hip. Scrambling upright, she reached for the crewman's hand to finish stemming the flow of blood and heal his wound.

"Need my hand real bad right now, doctor. You done?"

LK nodded, released his arm and closed her eyes for a moment to get her wits back. Within seconds, she glanced around the bridge hoping she'd finished with everyone. It looked like she had.

Moving back to the science console she'd been working with, LK continued scanning the planet below.

[Declan Vincent]

[Engineering]

Vincent, like most of the engineers, were heap deep in all sorts of calamity. Damage control teams had been dispatched in a valiant attempt to secure the breaches and  while others were still working on replacing gel packs in order to bring back systems. Not to mention the MVA. His group was trying to get additional power to the shields and ordinance by putting some non-essential structures offline and bypassing several corrupted feeds that seem to have exponentially replicated since the battle commenced.

"I've found the file, Sir" EQ said.  He began reading and immediately knew it was out of his dept.  -/\-EQ to Declan Vincent.  I need your help on a project.  Can you report to the Bridge-/\- he said after tapping his combadge.

Vincent tapped his combadge. Vincent here, on my way.

He motioned for another crewman to watch his station - his direct superior, a young ensign, already nodding his consent - and headed for the exit, wondering what else could possibly happen.

[Kirok]

[planet side]

The Vorta bright violet eyes looked up from the medical tricorder. The way his eyes looked like a cat lifting its head up as saying, I hear it. The Admiral had asked if they heard from the ship. He was not aware they had to call in. Which was not bad, but don't they have scanners to keep an eye on them.

The snob of his personality took a long sigh. He had tapped his combadge.    Doctor Riverbank to USS DiscoverÁ¢â,¬"    he frowned as he stopped from the dead silence. He tapped his com badge once and twice. Then three times in a beat.

He frowned. That was strange. "Any of your combadges working...." he observed all his fellow crew member. He tapped his combadge to reply to the Admiral    Sir,   he had decided not to use Admiral because it was like saluting to a high rank officer in a battlefield.  No. There is no signal 

That was when the Vorta felt there was something bad. It was an extinct. Fear was a trait of his kind. Especially when you feel the people hate you.

So he had spun around looking desperate for the mans at arms. Black. The security officer. "Sir Black," He asked as he was back tracking or attempt to track the man down. Poor eye sight gives a limit perception. "We have lost contact the Discovery," he shared.

Now splitting the team up was not a wise idea.  Away team...please reply... he asked. They could lost contact with other members too. They need to stay together. Splitting up was no good. Vorta rather be in large groups. Being alone was scary. Like hiding from those who hunted his people before the Founders.

[Planet]

Kirok frowned then the reply came.  -/\-Acknowledged, Dr. Riverbank.  Are the scans picking up anything that might explain the break in communication?   A geological structure or something that might be interfering with the signal?-/\- Kirok asked.

Geefix brought over the hot tea.  He laid it in front of Kirok.  "Problems?" he asked.

[Fala Awen]

[Planet, Abandoned City]

Keeping her tricorder mostly out of sight, Awen carefully moved her thumb to mute the device. She really wanted to see what kind of data was coming through, but considering the fact that the Talaxians had already shown interest in it, she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to the tricorder. Before the Talaxian could answer her questions, Awen heard her comm badge chirp and she stepped away, saying, "Please excuse me for a moment."

Then he tapped his com badge again.  -/\- Kirok to Science Team and Dr. Riverbank.  Have any of you heard from the ship recently?-/\- he asked.

Awen frowned as she heard Kirok's message. Why would she have heard from the ship? Surely the ship would've contacted Kirok directly, rather than a lowly ensign. Still, the Admiral had asked. Tapping her comm badge, she spoke quietly yet clearly, =A=Fala here, Admiral. I have not heard from the ship since we've been here, sir. If I do, I'll be sure to let you know. Right now I'm exploring as you asked - I've been taking a look at the city we saw. If you require anything else, just ask Admiral. Fala out.=A=

Just as she was about to go back over to the Talaxians, her comm badge chirped again. Perhaps the Admiral needed her for something else... Hopefully he didn't though; she still felt she could learn more from the city or from the other Talaxians. Then again, if they had lost contact with the Discovery it would be a good idea to find out why and re-establish contact.

Now splitting the team up was not a wise idea.  Away team...please reply... he asked. They could lost contact with other members too. They need to stay together. Splitting up was no good. Vorta rather be in large groups. Being alone was scary. Like hiding from those who hunted his people before the Founders.

Hearing the Vorta's voice, Awen sighed. She'd gotten away from him before by going off to the abandoned city, but she couldn't avoid him now. Not when they were trying to establish how extensively their communications were being affected. The Bajoran tapped her comm badge, =A=Fala here. I can hear you. I believe our communications are fine; it's probably communications between us and the ship that are the issue. Fala out.=A=

Technically, she could have given him more information, but he was not her superior officer. Awen didn't have to report to him, so she chose instead to keep her response relevant to the question at hand so she could get back to work. It seemed like a silly question anyway; if they had heard Kirok, it was good bet they could communicate with each other.

Awen moved back towards the Talaxians and nodded to them. "My apologies for the interruption. You were saying?"

As she waited for their response, her mind wandered a moment. Could the Talaxians be using some kind of equipment they acquired to prevent the away team from contacting their ship? Was there some kind of issue with the ship itself? There wouldn't be much they could do from here, unless her guess about jamming equipment was correct. If it was, she wasn't the person to fix it though. Awen might be able to locate it, but other than some very basic repairs, she wasn't qualified to do much more than that.

OFF: Tag Tekin (my last post & this one), Kirok, Riverbank, soft tag away team

[Alexander Wu]

[Shuttlecraft - NPC Malvar]

Malvar nodded his head.  It was a good idea.  He kicked himself for not thinking of it.

"Aye, Sir" Malvar said.  "Modulating frequency commenced.  We'll find that one to do the trick" he added.  Phaser blast after phaser blast fired.

[Shuttlecraft Stockwin]

"Hurry it up Malvar." Alex stated tersely through gritted teeth, throwing their shuttle into a corkscrewing roll to avoid a near-miss. Inverted, he spotted one of the other shuttles disintegrate as it was caught by their opponent's cutting beam, a silent explosion in space as it's warp core detonated. Debris peppered the Discovery and forced her remaining shuttle off course. Alex could only the crew had time to activate their emergency transporter.

"Tabernac, that's it!" He turned his attention back to their target as the phaser beams punched through, a second volley taking out shield generators. Alex fired off their remaining two microtorpedoes, destroying the enemy ship's engines and sending it drifting down towards the planet below; helpless to stop their uncontrolled descent, it would burn up in the atmosphere like a meteorite. Hopefully one of their away team would be looking up, if they didn't already how much trouble their shipmates were in.

Pulling hard to join the melee around Discovery, Alex glanced at Malnar. "Keep that frequency locked in and target the next ship. Discovery can't run with their damaged nacelles, we'll have to finish this fight one way or another."

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge]

"I've found the file, Sir" EQ said.  He began reading and immediately knew it was out of his dept.  -/\-EQ to Declan Vincent.  I need your help on a project.  Can you report to the Bridge-/\- he said after tapping his combadge.

[Bridge]

"Excellent, Mr. Kimball.  The sooner the better, we have to alert the Admiral..." he said, before stopping.  A chilled realization came to him... if the Talaxians were willing to to attack a Starfleet vessel... what about Starfleet personnel?

Another borg torpedo flew towards the ship, and it hit the shields before shimmering and conitnuing through to the hull.  The ship gave a giant rock as the blast hit, and several more LCAR panels blew out.  Why did that also happen?

"Sir! They penetrated the shields!  We've lost one of the shuttles!"

"Sickbay to Bridge, we have casualties from all over the ship, we're getting overwhelmed." 

Nevir swung around to Reed, a grim look on his face.

"Ms Reede, get down to sickbay.  Triage protocols.  I doubt things will get better before we take these people out."

"Alright, they figured out a way through the shields, begin advanced rotating modulation.  Set torpedoes on a rotational modulation as well.  I don't want to destroy them, but we may have no choice." he said, watching the battle before them.  Their shuttles zipped through like fighter jets, hitting what they can, though it wasn't much.  As long as those adaptive shields held, the Talaxian fighters held the advantage... especially with the ship caught surprised and already damaged.

"Where is that engineer?!"

[Planet, Abandoned City]

Keeping her tricorder mostly out of sight, Awen carefully moved her thumb to mute the device. She really wanted to see what kind of data was coming through, but considering the fact that the Talaxians had already shown interest in it, she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to the tricorder. Before the Talaxian could answer her questions, Awen heard her comm badge chirp and she stepped away, saying, "Please excuse me for a moment."

Awen frowned as she heard Kirok's message. Why would she have heard from the ship? Surely the ship would've contacted Kirok directly, rather than a lowly ensign. Still, the Admiral had asked. Tapping her comm badge, she spoke quietly yet clearly, =A=Fala here, Admiral. I have not heard from the ship since we've been here, sir. If I do, I'll be sure to let you know. Right now I'm exploring as you asked - I've been taking a look at the city we saw. If you require anything else, just ask Admiral. Fala out.=A=

Just as she was about to go back over to the Talaxians, her comm badge chirped again. Perhaps the Admiral needed her for something else... Hopefully he didn't though; she still felt she could learn more from the city or from the other Talaxians. Then again, if they had lost contact with the Discovery it would be a good idea to find out why and re-establish contact.

Hearing the Vorta's voice, Awen sighed. She'd gotten away from him before by going off to the abandoned city, but she couldn't avoid him now. Not when they were trying to establish how extensively their communications were being affected. The Bajoran tapped her comm badge, =A=Fala here. I can hear you. I believe our communications are fine; it's probably communications between us and the ship that are the issue. Fala out.=A=

Technically, she could have given him more information, but he was not her superior officer. Awen didn't have to report to him, so she chose instead to keep her response relevant to the question at hand so she could get back to work. It seemed like a silly question anyway; if they had heard Kirok, it was good bet they could communicate with each other.

Awen moved back towards the Talaxians and nodded to them. "My apologies for the interruption. You were saying?"

As she waited for their response, her mind wandered a moment. Could the Talaxians be using some kind of equipment they acquired to prevent the away team from contacting their ship? Was there some kind of issue with the ship itself? There wouldn't be much they could do from here, unless her guess about jamming equipment was correct. If it was, she wasn't the person to fix it though. Awen might be able to locate it, but other than some very basic repairs, she wasn't qualified to do much more than that.

OFF: Tag Tekin (my last post & this one), Kirok, Riverbank, soft tag away team

[Planet]

As soon as Fala turned away to answer her commbadge, Eividx's fake smile dropped off his face.  Even though she stepped away, the others around him knew exactly what was going on.  No communication with the ship... that meant the plan was in action.  In a few minutes, they imagined, they would have an entire Federation starship to dismantle and sell.  There were a few groups in this sector alone who wanted access to the technological secrets of the Federation.  It was a pleasent stroke of luck that they found the ship still damaged from the Borg ship they undoubtedly went to recover.

She turned back, and the smile was back.  He would try one more time... if this girl was smart, she would take it.  Of course, the Federation weren't types to just give in to a good deal.  Thats why Geefix had taken the Admiral separately.  It was the best way to... well... that would come in time.

"No, not at all.  I believe this place used to be inhabited by the Dryan... long since abandoned.  Now, it's our staging area and will soon be the center of commerce for this sector.  Now.... about those devices you have?" he said, suddenly pulling out what looked like a disruptor from his back.  The others around them stopped what they were doing, and watched the scene... they were in on it.

"There are plenty of races who would pay a lot for Federation technology." he then looked her up and down.  "And a couple who would be interested in a woman like you."

[Kirok]

[Planet, Abandoned City]

Keeping her tricorder mostly out of sight, Awen carefully moved her thumb to mute the device. She really wanted to see what kind of data was coming through, but considering the fact that the Talaxians had already shown interest in it, she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to the tricorder. Before the Talaxian could answer her questions, Awen heard her comm badge chirp and she stepped away, saying, "Please excuse me for a moment."

Awen frowned as she heard Kirok's message. Why would she have heard from the ship? Surely the ship would've contacted Kirok directly, rather than a lowly ensign. Still, the Admiral had asked. Tapping her comm badge, she spoke quietly yet clearly, =A=Fala here, Admiral. I have not heard from the ship since we've been here, sir. If I do, I'll be sure to let you know. Right now I'm exploring as you asked - I've been taking a look at the city we saw. If you require anything else, just ask Admiral. Fala out.=A=

Just as she was about to go back over to the Talaxians, her comm badge chirped again. Perhaps the Admiral needed her for something else... Hopefully he didn't though; she still felt she could learn more from the city or from the other Talaxians. Then again, if they had lost contact with the Discovery it would be a good idea to find out why and re-establish contact.

Hearing the Vorta's voice, Awen sighed. She'd gotten away from him before by going off to the abandoned city, but she couldn't avoid him now. Not when they were trying to establish how extensively their communications were being affected. The Bajoran tapped her comm badge, =A=Fala here. I can hear you. I believe our communications are fine; it's probably communications between us and the ship that are the issue. Fala out.=A=

Technically, she could have given him more information, but he was not her superior officer. Awen didn't have to report to him, so she chose instead to keep her response relevant to the question at hand so she could get back to work. It seemed like a silly question anyway; if they had heard Kirok, it was good bet they could communicate with each other.

Awen moved back towards the Talaxians and nodded to them. "My apologies for the interruption. You were saying?"

As she waited for their response, her mind wandered a moment. Could the Talaxians be using some kind of equipment they acquired to prevent the away team from contacting their ship? Was there some kind of issue with the ship itself? There wouldn't be much they could do from here, unless her guess about jamming equipment was correct. If it was, she wasn't the person to fix it though. Awen might be able to locate it, but other than some very basic repairs, she wasn't qualified to do much more than that.

OFF: Tag Tekin (my last post & this one), Kirok, Riverbank, soft tag away team

[Planet]

Kirok did remember that there had been some interference with sensors on this side of the planet.  Perhaps that was what was causing the current problem.  But still, the issue bothered him slightly.

-/\-Thank you, Ms. Fala.  Kirok out-/\- he replied.  Then he turned to Geefix.  "We are having some issues communicating with our ship.  Would you have any idea why?" the half Vulcan asked.

Before Geefix could answer, Kirok turned to his Engineer.  "What do you think, Mr. Campbell?  Any ideas why we might not be able to reach the ship with our standard equipment?" he asked.

[Kirok]

[Shuttlecraft Stockwin]

"Hurry it up Malvar." Alex stated tersely through gritted teeth, throwing their shuttle into a corkscrewing roll to avoid a near-miss. Inverted, he spotted one of the other shuttles disintegrate as it was caught by their opponent's cutting beam, a silent explosion in space as it's warp core detonated. Debris peppered the Discovery and forced her remaining shuttle off course. Alex could only the crew had time to activate their emergency transporter.

"Tabernac, that's it!" He turned his attention back to their target as the phaser beams punched through, a second volley taking out shield generators. Alex fired off their remaining two microtorpedoes, destroying the enemy ship's engines and sending it drifting down towards the planet below; helpless to stop their uncontrolled descent, it would burn up in the atmosphere like a meteorite. Hopefully one of their away team would be looking up, if they didn't already how much trouble their shipmates were in.

Pulling hard to join the melee around Discovery, Alex glanced at Malnar. "Keep that frequency locked in and target the next ship. Discovery can't run with their damaged nacelles, we'll have to finish this fight one way or another."

[Shuttel - NPC Malnar]

"Just have to give it time.  Cycling threw the frequencies"  Malnar called out.  He fired again, but had now effect.

'Try, try, again' he chanted to himself.  Another frequency rotation and fire.  This one struck gold.  "Got it" he called out as he threw his fist in the air.

[Engineering]

Vincent, like most of the engineers, were heap deep in all sorts of calamity. Damage control teams had been dispatched in a valiant attempt to secure the breaches and  while others were still working on replacing gel packs in order to bring back systems. Not to mention the MVA. His group was trying to get additional power to the shields and ordinance by putting some non-essential structures offline and bypassing several corrupted feeds that seem to have exponentially replicated since the battle commenced.

Vincent tapped his combadge. Vincent here, on my way.

He motioned for another crewman to watch his station - his direct superior, a young ensign, already nodding his consent - and headed for the exit, wondering what else could possibly happen.

[Bridge]

-/\-Roger that.  See you when you get her.  Kimball out-/\- EQ replied.  He tapped his badge to end the signal.  Then he turned to Tekin again.

[Bridge]

"Excellent, Mr. Kimball.  The sooner the better, we have to alert the Admiral..." he said, before stopping.  A chilled realization came to him... if the Talaxians were willing to to attack a Starfleet vessel... what about Starfleet personnel?

Another borg torpedo flew towards the ship, and it hit the shields before shimmering and conitnuing through to the hull.  The ship gave a giant rock as the blast hit, and several more LCAR panels blew out.  Why did that also happen?

"Sir! They penetrated the shields!  We've lost one of the shuttles!"

"Sickbay to Bridge, we have casualties from all over the ship, we're getting overwhelmed." 

Nevir swung around to Reed, a grim look on his face.

"Ms Reede, get down to sickbay.  Triage protocols.  I doubt things will get better before we take these people out."

"Alright, they figured out a way through the shields, begin advanced rotating modulation.  Set torpedoes on a rotational modulation as well.  I don't want to destroy them, but we may have no choice." he said, watching the battle before them.  Their shuttles zipped through like fighter jets, hitting what they can, though it wasn't much.  As long as those adaptive shields held, the Talaxian fighters held the advantage... especially with the ship caught surprised and already damaged.

"Where is that engineer?!"

[Bridge]

"He's coming, Sir.  Any minute.  He will be here" EQ replied.

He looked back down at his board.  Reading Wu's notes from before.  Yeah, he would definitely need the Engineer to help implement the idea.

[Alex Campbell]

[Planetside]

Alex had stood silently a few feet away from the Admiral and the Talaxian. Unlike the rest of the away team he chose to simply gaze at the area he was already in.

The camp had a ragged sense to it. Houses were quickly put up, with the priority being to showcase the technology rather than provide comfort. People were strewn about, though most seemed to avoid approaching the tent that the Admiral and Geefix were in.

[Planet]

Before Geefix could answer, Kirok turned to his Engineer.  "What do you think, Mr. Campbell?  Any ideas why we might not be able to reach the ship with our standard equipment?" he asked.

Alex jumped slightly, in surprise - he did not expect the Admiral to call upon him for, well, anything. Quickly thinking, Alex found it strikingly odd that communications would be lost with the ship. However, nothing had ever indicated that we were in communication during our tenure on the planet.

"Well, uh, Captain" Alex said in a hushed and timid voice, "I'm not sure we ever actually established contact with the Discovery. It's possible that the atmosphere is interfering with our communications, but I doubt it's that - the Discovery surely would have noticed it before we beamed down" Alex was more confident as he continued to speak

"It's also possible that the Discovery's Communications have been disrupted somehow. Perhaps the system went down during repairs?" Alex finished his thought being very perplexed. It seemed highly unlikely to him that a Starfleet Engineering staff would do something that would cause the Communication Array to go down.

[Demlion Riverbank V]

[Planet side]

The Vorta had decided he was not going to wonder away from the Admiral. Staying with the main group was the safest strategy. So, he had headed the direction the location. If people want to wonder off to play solo. So be it. He was not ordered to head off to far. His concern was being a doctor and find what they needed. He figured he could do that near the Admiral.

As the Vorta had walked in. His eye saw the tea. The Vorta walked over to it. "Admiral, your safety is our concern. As being a Doctor I need to ask? Did you drink this yet? I need to see it if it's poison..." he smiled as he looked at Geeflix. "I can test taste it. My people are immune to MOST poisons." Then he the Vorta had a dare look to the feathered head alien.

After all, the Admiral was being treated as his superior like he was looking over a God. The Admiral was far being a God, but his safety was the Doctor's concern. The Admiral was the leader and the leader are usually the ones who will do what they can to protect those who are under them.

[Declan Vincent]

"Alright, they figured out a way through the shields, begin advanced rotating modulation.  Set torpedoes on a rotational modulation as well.  I don't want to destroy them, but we may have no choice." he said, watching the battle before them.  Their shuttles zipped through like fighter jets, hitting what they can, though it wasn't much.  As long as those adaptive shields held, the Talaxian fighters held the advantage... especially with the ship caught surprised and already damaged.

"Where is that engineer?!"

[Bridge]

As if on que, the turbolift doors swooshed open and Vincent stepped out into a whirlwind. Yes, as he had thought, things could get a lot worse. He saw Kimball, the liberated Borg, who had contacted him and was taken a back, just a moment. He had been a civilian when the Borg incursions happened over the past thirty years but every parsec of Federation space was well aware of the ominous destructive force.

He shook the thought out of his mind, since it was obvious Kimball wasn't going to assimilate him or anyone else. Call it first time Borg jitters. Before he even had time to marvel over the Bridge, he made the detour from Kimball to the XO after the man's utterance, his eyes darting between the two men as he spoke.

"Crewman Vincent reporting as ordered." The engineer stated, keeping his tone and demeanor calm and formal as if the crisis around him was only in his peripheral.  "Where do you want me?"

tag Kimball, Nevir

[Fala Awen]

[Planet, Abandoned City]

As the Talaxian and his two friends looked at her, Awen couldn't help but feel unsettled. Their friendly expressions seemed forced and the look in their eyes... They were trying not to let it show, but the instincts she'd developed from conversations with her family and her militia training told her something was wrong. Very wrong.

"No, not at all.  I believe this place used to be inhabited by the Dryan... long since abandoned.  Now, it's our staging area and will soon be the center of commerce for this sector.  Now.... about those devices you have?" he said, suddenly pulling out what looked like a disruptor from his back.  The others around them stopped what they were doing, and watched the scene... they were in on it.

"There are plenty of races who would pay a lot for Federation technology." he then looked her up and down.  "And a couple who would be interested in a woman like you."

As he drew a weapon, Awen froze. It had been stupid of her to go alone, she now realized, but from what she had understood about the Talaxians, she hadn't thought she would be in danger from them. Technically, Awen did have a phaser, but she was also outnumbered. Usually she was overly cautious, but her curiosity about this city got the best of her. At the very least, she should have been more careful about not being spotted.

Awen knew she had limited choices in this scenario. She could just go along with them and hope that someone noticed her absence, or she could try to stall them long enough that help would arrive. Of course, she would have to do something to get people's attention.

"I.."  the Bajoran began speaking, but was interrupted by Kirok's response.

-/\-Thank you, Ms. Fala.  Kirok out-/\- he replied.

"I should respond so they know I received the message," she said quickly. Seizing the opportunity, Awen quickly tapped her comm badge and left the channel open so that any away team member could hear it, =A=Understood. SOS protocol required. Hopefully we can clear it up.=A=

Awen wasn't sure that any of the away team would understand her message. SOS was an Earth signal to indicate trouble; hopefully the Talaxians weren't well versed in Terran signals. She also neglected to close the comm channel - if their communications on the planet weren't affected, someone should hear her conversation as well.

Not wanting to give the Talaxians the satisfaction of seeing her concern, Awen kept a neutral expression on her face. "I have to wonder if you've really thought this through... You have to know that my crewmates will realize I'm missing. They aren't in the habit of leaving someone behind. And before you tell me that you plan to capture all of us, you should also be aware that StarFleet would find out and they'll come after you. They don't take kindly to these sorts of actions."

As she spoke, Awen very slowly started walking backwards. There was a house behind her. Perhaps she could find a place to take cover and draw her own weapon. The odds right now were not in favor, but perhaps she could tip things her way or at least hold them off until help arrived...

OFF: Tag Tekin and away team