S1 - M9: Pollice Verso

[Auzual Knox]

[Arena]

^{Knox's Internal Battle} She had always remained in full control over her thoughts, surpassing all other initiates by being the only newly joined Trill to successfully incorporate all of her past memories. Thus, it was extremely difficult for Knox to realize she was losing herself into her five other host's opinions and feelings. She had put off the Rite of Emergence as to not wanting to lose the balance she had created within herself (she knew just losing one of her host's memories would destabilize her balance). Now, during one of the worst times imaginable, it was happening, all at once, within herself. The bacterial infection was winning, and now she was simply expressing the strongest of Nazar's flirtations and Darzem's military mentality. Whilst Sirzi remained calm and somewhat supportive, Izu was the complete opposite. And, Jorzon simply trying to mediate between her and the rest of them.^{Knox's Internal Battle}

Excuse, me, what? Ramona said with a hint of indignation We don't have time for this kind of conversation. Anyways, yes, I can climb up there as long as you give me some kind of cover to get there. Anything fancy I need to do to it?

Knox was mortified as to what she had just expressed. Whilst she understood that anything she said was going to sound completely and utterly incoherent, it was still hard to hear! But, there was no time to explain anything but the mission to her companion. Though Knox did smile at her last comment, it was adorable how she said anything fancy I need to do with it. NAZAR - NO. no no no no no. No. What she said was helpful. Thank you, Jorzon.

(Darzem) "It is about proximity - Jalen the Tall needs to be incapacitated by it. Stay alive long enough to place it directly next to him. Blue, this is on you."

(Jorzon) "It has been reconfigured to emit a 5 minute mobile level 10 field. Once activated you have control over its movement."

(Izu) "Lift him high into the Arena, and then release the field, killing him. That should stop everything."

(Sirzi) "Hold him long enough for us to address the Xa'zii people and find a diplomatic solution to this chaos."

(And, finally, Nazar emerged. He felt he should be rewarded for his patience.) "Be careful, my dear Blue. If we succeed, I of course would be indebted to you and happy to oblige any desire you may have. A massage perhaps?"

Knox smiled and rolled her eyes at herself. Though, it was no use. She was as much Nazar, as he was apart of her. Only a joined Trill could ever understand how much she loved him! Looking around to avoid eye contact, Knox noticed that the Arena was literally a red and mauve bloody mess. Xa'zii were paying little attention to them, though the occasional arrow came dangerously too close, they preferred to fight the large and skilled.

"Let's go. We shall take your weapon and cover you once we reach our target."

[Daniel Howell]

Excuse, me, what? Ramona said with a hint of indignation We don't have time for this kind of conversation. Anyways, yes, I can climb up there as long as you give me some kind of cover to get there. Anything fancy I need to do to it?

She was taken a bit of guard by the flirtation, but it was nothing new. The Trill was attractive, but it definitely wasn't the time not the place.

Her hammer would be the only issue, but that could be a problem the higher she got. She would have no choice but to leave it with her new crewmate.

Knox was mortified as to what she had just expressed. Whilst she understood that anything she said was going to sound completely and utterly incoherent, it was still hard to hear! But, there was no time to explain anything but the mission to her companion. Though Knox did smile at her last comment, it was adorable how she said anything fancy I need to do with it. NAZAR - NO. no no no no no. No. What she said was helpful. Thank you, Jorzon.

(Darzem) "It is about proximity - Jalen the Tall needs to be incapacitated by it. Stay alive long enough to place it directly next to him. Blue, this is on you."

(Jorzon) "It has been reconfigured to emit a 5 minute mobile level 10 field. Once activated you have control over its movement."

(Izu) "Lift him high into the Arena, and then release the field, killing him. That should stop everything."

(Sirzi) "Hold him long enough for us to address the Xa'zii people and find a diplomatic solution to this chaos."

(And, finally, Nazar emerged. He felt he should be rewarded for his patience.) "Be careful, my dear Blue. If we succeed, I of course would be indebted to you and happy to oblige any desire you may have. A massage perhaps?"

Knox smiled and rolled her eyes at herself. Though, it was no use. She was as much Nazar, as he was apart of her. Only a joined Trill could ever understand how much she loved him! Looking around to avoid eye contact, Knox noticed that the Arena was literally a red and mauve bloody mess. Xa'zii were paying little attention to them, though the occasional arrow came dangerously too close, they preferred to fight the large and skilled.

"Let's go. We shall take your weapon and cover you once we reach our target."

Arena
Dan was starting to tire at this point in time. He had various injuries, mainly cuts, particularly to his hands and his head after he had been thrown quite a substantial distance. In the background, he was two officers discussing what in his mind looked like a plan. He moved over to them, with relativly slow progress, downing a couple of Xa'zii in the process.

Checking behind him, what checked to be clear for a few moments, he spoke to them saying "Ladies, it looks to me like you have a plan. Care to tell me?"

[Auzual Knox]

[Arena]

Checking behind him, what checked to be clear for a few moments, he spoke to them saying "Ladies, it looks to me like you have a plan. Care to tell me?"

The Collector quickly flashed into Knox's mind. She had not spoken with the Commander since then. It was difficult, he reminded her of her son.

(Jorzon) "It is good to see you again. Are you ok? You appear injured?"

(Sirzi) "We are going to capture and subdue Jalen the Tall, and hopefully put an end to this madness."

(Nazar) "The more the merrier, my boy. Come join the beautiful Blue and I."

"Commander, we need to make it to the platform and provide cover for the crewman to place the emitter. After this, we have to decide how best to ......"

Her words were cut short as arrow heads began to rain around them.

[Ramona Pilgrim]

[Arena]

^{Knox's Internal Battle} She had always remained in full control over her thoughts, surpassing all other initiates by being the only newly joined Trill to successfully incorporate all of her past memories. Thus, it was extremely difficult for Knox to realize she was losing herself into her five other host's opinions and feelings. She had put off the Rite of Emergence as to not wanting to lose the balance she had created within herself (she knew just losing one of her host's memories would destabilize her balance). Now, during one of the worst times imaginable, it was happening, all at once, within herself. The bacterial infection was winning, and now she was simply expressing the strongest of Nazar's flirtations and Darzem's military mentality. Whilst Sirzi remained calm and somewhat supportive, Izu was the complete opposite. And, Jorzon simply trying to mediate between her and the rest of them.^{Knox's Internal Battle}

Knox was mortified as to what she had just expressed. Whilst she understood that anything she said was going to sound completely and utterly incoherent, it was still hard to hear! But, there was no time to explain anything but the mission to her companion. Though Knox did smile at her last comment, it was adorable how she said anything fancy I need to do with it. NAZAR - NO. no no no no no. No. What she said was helpful. Thank you, Jorzon.

(Darzem) "It is about proximity - Jalen the Tall needs to be incapacitated by it. Stay alive long enough to place it directly next to him. Blue, this is on you."

(Jorzon) "It has been reconfigured to emit a 5 minute mobile level 10 field. Once activated you have control over its movement."

(Izu) "Lift him high into the Arena, and then release the field, killing him. That should stop everything."

(Sirzi) "Hold him long enough for us to address the Xa'zii people and find a diplomatic solution to this chaos."

(And, finally, Nazar emerged. He felt he should be rewarded for his patience.) "Be careful, my dear Blue. If we succeed, I of course would be indebted to you and happy to oblige any desire you may have. A massage perhaps?"

Knox smiled and rolled her eyes at herself. Though, it was no use. She was as much Nazar, as he was apart of her. Only a joined Trill could ever understand how much she loved him! Looking around to avoid eye contact, Knox noticed that the Arena was literally a red and mauve bloody mess. Xa'zii were paying little attention to them, though the occasional arrow came dangerously too close, they preferred to fight the large and skilled.

"Let's go. We shall take your weapon and cover you once we reach our target."

Ok, definitely joined Trill, Ramona thought to herself. This was certainly an interesting way to meet a crewmate.

"Gotcha, sweetheart," she replied with a wink and a click of her tongue. "Just one request, focus more on those Gorn wannabes than me as I climb. It'll be best for us both that way."

She chuckled a bit as she finished. It was then that another Starfleet officer approached.

Arena
Dan was starting to tire at this point in time. He had various injuries, mainly cuts, particularly to his hands and his head after he had been thrown quite a substantial distance. In the background, he was two officers discussing what in his mind looked like a plan. He moved over to them, with relativly slow progress, downing a couple of Xa'zii in the process.

Checking behind him, what checked to be clear for a few moments, he spoke to them saying "Ladies, it looks to me like you have a plan. Care to tell me?"

Ramona deferred to the Trill as it was her plan.

[Arena]

The Collector quickly flashed into Knox's mind. She had not spoken with the Commander since then. It was difficult, he reminded her of her son.

(Jorzon) "It is good to see you again. Are you ok? You appear injured?"

(Sirzi) "We are going to capture and subdue Jalen the Tall, and hopefully put an end to this madness."

(Nazar) "The more the merrier, my boy. Come join the beautiful Blue and I."

"Commander, we need to make it to the platform and provide cover for the crewman to place the emitter. After this, we have to decide how best to ......"

Her words were cut short as arrow heads began to rain around them.

One of the arrows grazed Ramona's arm. She clutched at the injury. She slowly removed her hand. There was a bit of blood, but nothing terrible. She tore off the rest of the sleeve that had been cut.

"Hey, Trill, could you be a doll and tie this around my cut?" she asked her new partner in crime before turning to their senior.

"And yes, sir, that is our plan for now. I'll do my best to keep the bastard up in the statis, but if things go any further south, I'm just going to give him his final flight."

She was ready to end this cluster as quickly as possible.

[Michael J. Tritter]

Tritter had come to a sliding halt, back hitting against the the wall of the arena. It was a hard hit that took the wind out of him, he was greeted by the Xa'zii jumping square ontop of the Executive Officer. Tritter growled lowly, the Xa'zii had started to rain down a cascade of hard hits to the face and chest of the Executive Officer. What little did they know is he had been in similar positions before and he had an idea of how to handle it. The Xa'zii had hit unlike anything he had experienced before and it didn't take long for him to start seeing stars, as well as making it hard for him to breathe as they were starting to crack his ribs. But he had a plan and he executed it in his traditionally flawless nature. He grabbed the Xa'zii's hand with his right hand, pulling them towards him, he than used his left hand to grab their left scapula, and shoved them down in such a fashion that they face planted into the ground. He than hopped onto their back, pile driving his right knee into the left of the Xa'zii's spine, it was a pressure point he knew worked well. The Xa'zii howled out in pain, Tritter than grabbed a restraint that was strapped to the Xa'zii's belt, he than tied their hands behind them. He than proceeded to do the same with their legs... Although they put up more of a fight this time, he used a pressure point located in the upper leg to take the fight out of them. There was no reason for Tritter to kill them at this point, it was more fun for him to leave them subdued and unable to fight.

Tritter was sore, between busted ribs and the fact that he had been hit in the head repeatedly, he felt like he had been ran over by a bus. But he was largely free of visible signs of being injured, minus the large three claw marks that were on his chest. Tritter was undeterred however, he picked up the flail as he rose to his feet. He scanned the area, checking for the science officer who had stayed with him, they had hid during the fight, as much as they could, they were obviously not a fighter. Tritter handed them the Xa'zii's sword, which was very heavy for the science officer, but they carried it with two hands and followed Tritter.

He than located the Captain who was not far away, he proceeded to fight his way towards them, most of the Xa'zii that were in-between him and the Captain were easily knocked out with the Flail as Tritter had hit them in the head with it and placed the hits such that they came into contact with the side of their head, which he noticed was a weak spot on them. He than nodded slightly to the Captain, as well as T'Prina as he approached, he also kept a close eye on the science officer, as he knew they were an easy target.

[Daniel Howell]

[Arena]

The Collector quickly flashed into Knox's mind. She had not spoken with the Commander since then. It was difficult, he reminded her of her son.

(Jorzon) "It is good to see you again. Are you ok? You appear injured?"

(Sirzi) "We are going to capture and subdue Jalen the Tall, and hopefully put an end to this madness."

(Nazar) "The more the merrier, my boy. Come join the beautiful Blue and I."

"Commander, we need to make it to the platform and provide cover for the crewman to place the emitter. After this, we have to decide how best to ......"

Her words were cut short as arrow heads began to rain around them.

Arena
Dan was listening to Knox when a shadow caught his eye. He looked round to see the arena lights being blocked by a shower of arrows. Oh you have GOT to be kidding me... he thought to himself. A split second later he shouted at the top of his lungs "COVER!" and pushed Knox over. He couldn't get to the crewman so took cover himself. A couple of seconds later the arrows had all landed and people started to get back up from the floor. There were various injuries, some scratches, others more seriously and some officers weren't moving at all, he presumed they had been fatally caught by the arrows.

"Hey, Trill, could you be a doll and tie this around my cut?" she asked her new partner in crime before turning to their senior.

"And yes, sir, that is our plan for now. I'll do my best to keep the bastard up in the statis, but if things go any further south, I'm just going to give him his final flight."

She was ready to end this cluster as quickly as possible.

Dan looked around as he saw the Crewman ask Knox to tie something round her cut. It seemed the arrow caught her arm, though the wound wasn't a bad wound. "You ok? You still ok to climb that wall and place the emitter?" He asked.

[Auzual Knox]

[Arena]

"Gotcha, sweetheart," she replied with a wink and a click of her tongue. "Just one request, focus more on those Gorn wannabes than me as I climb. It'll be best for us both that way."

Knox raised her right eyebrow at the wink. Sweetheart? This is a first. See, Blue likes us. Blue probably thinks we are insane. I think Blue has a nice laugh. I trust her, young, but clearly knows how to call it. Can we get on with it now?

"You make a very a necessary point. I shall do my best to not get too distracted. Though, it shall be difficult. I know who I would rather be looking at..."

A split second later he shouted at the top of his lungs "COVER!" and pushed Knox over. He couldn't get to the crewman so took cover himself. A couple of seconds later the arrows had all landed and people started to get back up from the floor.

Though the impact hurt, Knox appreciated the Commander's efforts. It would have been far worse for them all if he had not given the warning call. She had been struck, though fortunately the padd that the Captain had given to her at the beginning of the mission took the impact.

"Hey, Trill, could you be a doll and tie this around my cut?"

Smiling, Knox happily took the torn material, momentarily eyeing up her new friend before focusing on the job at hand. As she carefully applied pressure, the wound seemed superficial. She listened whilst Blue explained to the Commander their plan. Nazar ever more infatuated, Izu agreed with her approach, Jorzon appreciated her directness, and Sirzi contemplated how and what to negotiate for once they had Jalen the Tall. Even Darzem approved of her attitude.

"You ok? You still ok to climb that wall and place the emitter?" He asked.

Knox awaited Blue's reply.

[Ramona Pilgrim]

Arena

Dan looked around as he saw the Crewman ask Knox to tie something round her cut. It seemed the arrow caught her arm, though the wound wasn't a bad wound. "You ok? You still ok to climb that wall and place the emitter?" He asked.

"I'm ok, sir," Ramona replied. "I've had worse wounds and had to do more with it."

[Arena]

Knox raised her right eyebrow at the wink. Sweetheart? This is a first. See, Blue likes us. Blue probably thinks we are insane. I think Blue has a nice laugh. I trust her, young, but clearly knows how to call it. Can we get on with it now?

"You make a very a necessary point. I shall do my best to not get too distracted. Though, it shall be difficult. I know who I would rather be looking at..."

Though the impact hurt, Knox appreciated the Commander's efforts. It would have been far worse for them all if he had not given the warning call. She had been struck, though fortunately the padd that the Captain had given to her at the beginning of the mission took the impact.

Smiling, Knox happily took the torn material, momentarily eyeing up her new friend before focusing on the job at hand. As she carefully applied pressure, the wound seemed superficial. She listened whilst Blue explained to the Commander their plan. Nazar ever more infatuated, Izu agreed with her approach, Jorzon appreciated her directness, and Sirzi contemplated how and what to negotiate for once they had Jalen the Tall. Even Darzem approved of her attitude.

Knox awaited Blue's reply.

"Thanks, Spots," she said as the Trill finished up tying the makeshift field dressing.

It was nice that there was at least some kind of chemistry with this new crew. She was definitely going to need to talk with her new Trill buddy about this to get the full story, but for now it made for instant trust.

"So, shall we get started?" Ramona asked.

[Thomas Jett]

[Starfleet Academy Á¢â,¬"œ 17 years Ago]

A bright eye young officer sat in the front row of his academy class taking copious notes on his Padd.  They were talking about different types of psychological warfare.  The ability to help control the opponent by getting the reaction that they seek.

"Cadet Jett, was psychological warfare used on the Kitomer Accords?"  The instructor asked

With his tidy almost perfect cadet uniform, Jett stood up and responded "Yes,  I believe so, Sir"

The instructor looked intrigued and said "Unconventional answer, but please explain"

Jett stood up and said "The Kithomer Accord incident between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of planets was almost sabotaged by psychological warfare.  Both the Federation and the Klingon had an extremist faction that not only wanted war.  The Federation and the incident with Captain James T. Kirk was almost a catalyst and part of the plan.  Both extremist groups not only used each other prejudices but fed it and ultimately used it.  That's textbook Psychological warfare...they used the distraction to keep the enemy offbase.  History would be very different if Captain Spock and Captain Kirk would not have been distracted...distraction, prejudice are key elements of the psychological warfare"  Jett answered

As he finished he sat down at his desk, taking notes.  Little did he know what awaited him in the future.

[Arena]

Jett was placed in a different area of the Arena was given his sword.  He was still grimacing in pain from his last fight and he wondered how he would survive another encounter.  He heard the sounds of weapons clashing with one another.

Jett could tell that there was a fight going on and his plan to try and protect everyone else failed.  He acted like he wanted and appreciated money more than the fight itself.

He knew he would not outfight them in his current state, however, he did know that he could confuse everyone.  Giving him time to move or other people enable their plans.

As the gates opened Jett rushed into the Arena, he heard of chorus of "BOOOOOS"

"Really?  No love for the away team?!"  Jett said

He ran into the middle of the Arena and he quickly noticed that he was surrounded by people.  Apparently they all wanted to kill and wanted the honor of his killing.   Jett counted several of them with different weapons around him.

He looked at everyone and said "BEFORE WE CONTINUE, I HAVE SOME WORDS OF WISDOM TO GIVE YOU HONORABLE WARRIORS"

"I want y' all to think about the meaning of this, if you do you will not only conquer my body but my mind as well,"  Jett said

Jett began dancing slightly and began signing

"Dog goes "woof"
Cat goes "meow"
Bird goes "tweet"
And mouse goes "squeek"
Cow goes "moo"
Frog goes "croak"
And the elephant goes "toot"
Ducks say "quack"
And fish go "blub"
And the seal goes "ow ow ow"
But there's one sound
That no one knows
What does the fox say?
"Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!"
What the fox say?"

Jett pointed of what he thought is the leader and said: "C'mon your turn, let's see if you want to figure out this puzzle".  He did hope that a lot more of the people in the ring would stop their fighting and paid attention giving the crew some openings.

[Auzual Knox]

[Arena]

"So, shall we get started?" Ramona asked.

"Let's."

Knox sprinted towards the platform, inhaling deeply. The heat of the two suns made the smell of the Xa'zii corpses unbearable and the dying cries of the injured were in unison with the chanting from the stands. As they arrived, the jagged rocks presented little to no hand or foot holds. Knox nodded to Blue and the Commander. Nothing more needed to be said, they all knew what needed to be done.

Darzem I've got this.

She began to establish a protective parameter, ensuring that any Xa'zii that did happen to take note of what they were doing met the sharp end of one her knives. Checking now and again on Blue as she climbed and on the Commander as he guarded.

Knox held her breath as she climbed out of sight.

Nazar She is as brilliant as she is beautiful. She shall be fine.

They would only know if Blue had been successful once Jalen the Tall hovered above the platform. In her mind she imagined that the entire Arena would fall silent, the chanting and the fighting would cease as each Xa'zii looked up to the sky at their leader. She also knew that if they were successful, it would then be down to the Captain.

I hope Blue is ....

Knox collapsed.

The bacterial infection had progressed to the forth and final stage. Her vital organs and nervous system simply began shutting down. Her symbiont was in danger and the host's protective instincts had taken over. Her heart rate lowered, metabolic processes slowed down and her core temperature dropped.

Her last memory was of her host's. She told them that it had been a privilege. They told her that they were glad to have had this time together.

Sirzi Too short a time, my dear. I shall miss your smile.

Darzem I am proud. You did us all proud.

Jorzon Boosting that stasis field was impressive. I could not have done it better myself!

Izu We could have done so much more. It is a shame.

Nazar You have to admit, it would have been fun with ...

Knox could no longer hear them, the sadness she felt was unbearable and the emptiness began to spread throughout her body. A single tear trickled down her cheek as she breathed her final word.

"Goodbye."

[Ramona Pilgrim]

[Arena]

"Let's."

Knox sprinted towards the platform, inhaling deeply. The heat of the two suns made the smell of the Xa'zii corpses unbearable and the dying cries of the injured were in unison with the chanting from the stands. As they arrived, the jagged rocks presented little to no hand or foot holds. Knox nodded to Blue and the Commander. Nothing more needed to be said, they all knew what needed to be done.

Darzem I've got this.

She began to establish a protective parameter, ensuring that any Xa'zii that did happen to take note of what they were doing met the sharp end of one her knives. Checking now and again on Blue as she climbed and on the Commander as he guarded.

Knox held her breath as she climbed out of sight.

Nazar She is as brilliant as she is beautiful. She shall be fine.

They would only know if Blue had been successful once Jalen the Tall hovered above the platform. In her mind she imagined that the entire Arena would fall silent, the chanting and the fighting would cease as each Xa'zii looked up to the sky at their leader. She also knew that if they were successful, it would then be down to the Captain.

I hope Blue is ....

Knox collapsed.

The bacterial infection had progressed to the forth and final stage. Her vital organs and nervous system simply began shutting down. Her symbiont was in danger and the host's protective instincts had taken over. Her heart rate lowered, metabolic processes slowed down and her core temperature dropped.

Her last memory was of her host's. She told them that it had been a privilege. They told her that they were glad to have had this time together.

Sirzi Too short a time, my dear. I shall miss your smile.

Darzem I am proud. You did us all proud.

Jorzon Boosting that stasis field was impressive. I could not have done it better myself!

Izu We could have done so much more. It is a shame.

Nazar You have to admit, it would have been fun with ...

Knox could no longer hear them, the sadness she felt was unbearable and the emptiness began to spread throughout her body. A single tear trickled down her cheek as she breathed her final word.

"Goodbye."

With that, Ramona got a running start and begin her ascent. There were small hand holds. Some were no bigger than her ring and middle finger's tips. She kicked at the face to get a better footing.

Good thing I'm not picky about my nails, she thought to herself.

Every few feet, she'd look back down to see how her defense was doing. She made it about half way up when she noticed her new friend slump over.

"SPOTS!" Ramona called out. "The Commander needs your help! I need you to get up!"

She could see that their time was growing short and a squad of the Gorn wannabes were closing in.

She hastened her pace, throwing caution to the wind now as she bound from tiny ledge to tiny ledge. She got to within the distance needed to activate the statis.

Ramona's footing started to slip a bit. She fell back and to the left. As she swung back, she noticed a plateau that was just under Jalen The Tall. All she needed to do was swing back to the right and her hand could reach it. As she did, she used the momentum to get her whole body on top of it.

She activated the statis field. She backed up away from the edge and sat cross-legged against the wall. She began to move the creature back and forth like a ragdoll, laughing maniacally the whole time. She finally decided to bring him over the battling crowd.

"Hey, Lizard-lips!" she shouted at him. "Looks like I've got your goat now! A couple of things: One, end this madness. Two, whatever the hell you did to Spots, undo it! She doesn't deserve whatever you did. Three, if you don't do these, I'll introduce you to 'To the Pain.'"

Ramona's emotions kinda took control. She knew she wasn't supposed to say anything, but she couldn't help herself.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Arena]

Adeyemi took stock of himself, an inventory of the body. His arm was still stripped bare of flesh in a few places, striped in red and white. Thankfully his uniform mostly contained the bleeding. His temple was streaked with an ugly purplish wound from a sharp rock or an arrow. It hadn't bled but it was sensitive and pulsating on the side of his head.  The wound throbbed as he bent over and dug out an object in the sand. It was a crossbow, a crude but well constructed weapon. Adeyemi brushed sand off of it and saw that it was loaded with plenty of quarrels.

When Tritter and T'Prina had assembled the captain nodded to them briefly, his face slick with sweat.

"We're ending this," He said in a determined voice. "Go for the transport inhibitors while their leadership is distracted."

He showed them how it was done. Kneeling, the captain shouldered the crossbow with the skill of a man used to handling weapons. Though the crossbow was unfamiliar to him, he managed to hit the transport inhibitor with his third quarrel.

"Go!"

[Naira]

Dan was listening to Knox when a shadow caught his eye. He looked round to see the arena lights being blocked by a shower of arrows.

Lunn took a deep breath and started to answer her questions when Naira turned and dove over him to shield her fellow doctor and his patient from the barrage of arrows that rained down upon them. Naira took one in the thigh and another sliced open her opposing shoulder as she crouched over the two men. Neither of the men were hit, but it was already too late for their patient.

Naira tried to stand back up but found that she was unable to put weight on the leg. She glanced around their nearby surroundings and found that many crewmen and Xa'zii alike had fallen to the arrows, many were injured and some were unmoving. "We need to see to the injured," she advised the man.

[Arena]

He ran into the middle of the Arena and he quickly noticed that he was surrounded by people.  Apparently they all wanted to kill and wanted the honor of his killing.   Jett counted several of them with different weapons around him.

He looked at everyone and said "BEFORE WE CONTINUE, I HAVE SOME WORDS OF WISDOM TO GIVE YOU HONORABLE WARRIORS"

"I want y' all to think about the meaning of this, if you do you will not only conquer my body but my mind as well,"  Jett said

Jett began dancing slightly and began signing

"Dog goes "woof"
Cat goes "meow"
Bird goes "tweet"
And mouse goes "squeek"
Cow goes "moo"
Frog goes "croak"
And the elephant goes "toot"
Ducks say "quack"
And fish go "blub"
And the seal goes "ow ow ow"
But there's one sound
That no one knows
What does the fox say?
"Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!"
What the fox say?"

Jett pointed of what he thought is the leader and said: "C'mon your turn, let's see if you want to figure out this puzzle".  He did hope that a lot more of the people in the ring would stop their fighting and paid attention giving the crew some openings.

"Is he...singing?" She asked her companion.

"I believe so..." Lunn stopped what he was doing to stare at the man making a spectacle of himself. In fact, many of those gathered in the area stopped fighting long enough to stare at the strange behavior.

"When we get out of here, I want to preform a brain scan on him and I'd like for you to handle a psychological evaluation. Now...," she grunted in pain as she attempted to move. "While everyone is distracted. I'm going to retrieve my scalpel and dig out this arrow. I want you to retrieve my equipment from the holding cells."

She slowly pulled herself up to her feet, keeping her weight on her good leg. She exhaled and took in another short breath and she grunted through the pain.

"Stay low and avoid contact with them."

He nodded in agreement and turned to leave her.

"Oh...," she added. "I scanned the Trill woman, Knox, before we were taken here to fight. She showed signs of an infection. I have some Dylovene in my medkit if you can get to it."

While Lunn took advantage of the Xa'zii warriors being distracted to sneak back to the cells, Niara slowly made her way back to where she had left the paralyzed crocodile-man. She dragged her leg behind her as she forced herself to make each slow step. Dark green blood now stained a good portion of her body. Her forehead broke out in sweat, her damp hair frizzled and clung to the back of her neck, she ground her teeth and forced herself onward.

Just a little bit more. I can do this. We're going to get out of here. She was trying to encourage herself to keep going.

She stopped for a second to catch her breath. She slowly lowered herself to a sitting position and scooted across the ground the last few feet. When she reached the crocodile-man, she leaned over his body to pull the scalpel out of his back. He stared at her, blinked one large reptilian eye at her and let out a low growl, but he was unable to move.

Naira leaned against his back as she made an incision in her own leg around the base or the arrowhead. Under any other circumstance, she would not operate on herself and she'd insist on a sterile working environment, but these weren't normal circumstances. Carefully, she pulled free the arrow. She ripped off a piece of her skirt that still hung from the mouth of the Xa'zii and tightly bound her wound.

She activated the statis field. She backed up away from the edge and sat cross-legged against the wall. She began to move the creature back and forth like a ragdoll, laughing maniacally the whole time. She finally decided to bring him over the battling crowd.

Meanwhile, Ensign Lunn was able to sneak past the gathered Xa'zii as they stared in awe at their leader being hoisted up into the air above the arena. He made his way out of the arena, down the steps to the cells and headed straight for the medical equipment left beside where the weapons cart had been. He gathered up all the bags, not wasting the time to dig through them, and headed back to the arena.

He made his way across the arena, stopping only when he found Naira. He deposited the bags on the ground next to her and bent over as he opened the medkit and started digging through it.

"I'll be fine, go help the others," she waved him away.

He picked up the medkit and continued onward.

Knox collapsed.

The bacterial infection had progressed to the forth and final stage. Her vital organs and nervous system simply began shutting down. Her symbiont was in danger and the host's protective instincts had taken over. Her heart rate lowered, metabolic processes slowed down and her core temperature dropped.

Knox could no longer hear them, the sadness she felt was unbearable and the emptiness began to spread throughout her body. A single tear trickled down her cheek as she breathed her final word.

Dr. Lunn found Ensign Knox collapsed at the far end of the arena. He administered the Dylovene, a broad spectrum antitoxin, as they had little idea as to what it was that was making her ill. He then gave her some Polyadrenaline in the hopes that it would keep her body from shutting down long enough that they could run tests on her.

"Ensign," he spoke calmly to her. "Can you hear me? I'm going to need you to hang on. We are doing everything we can to keep you alive but I'm going to need you to help us. Can you open your eyes? Say something to us."

[Michael J. Tritter]

[Arena]

Adeyemi took stock of himself, an inventory of the body. His arm was still stripped bare of flesh in a few places, striped in red and white. Thankfully his uniform mostly contained the bleeding. His temple was streaked with an ugly purplish wound from a sharp rock or an arrow. It hadn't bled but it was sensitive and pulsating on the side of his head.  The wound throbbed as he bent over and dug out an object in the sand. It was a crossbow, a crude but well constructed weapon. Adeyemi brushed sand off of it and saw that it was loaded with plenty of quarrels.

When Tritter and T'Prina had assembled the captain nodded to them briefly, his face slick with sweat.

"We're ending this," He said in a determined voice. "Go for the transport inhibitors while their leadership is distracted."

He showed them how it was done. Kneeling, the captain shouldered the crossbow with the skill of a man used to handling weapons. Though the crossbow was unfamiliar to him, he managed to hit the transport inhibitor with his third quarrel.

"Go!"

[Location: Arena]

Tritter nodded slightly to the Captain, he replied with an even keeled "Aye Sir" His gaze shifted to the squint who had stuck with him for protection. He had a close quarters weapon and he would have to get within range to deliver a blow to the Inhibitor if he was to be successful. He than stated the following to the squint, "Stay close, unless you want to die" The squint went wide eyed, pale a ghost, but simply nodded to the Executive Officer, they did not have a good reply past that for the large man.

Tritter than began a dead sprint towards the Inhibitor he had planned to "crush". The squint wasn't really able to keep up with him, they were not nearly in as good of shape as the Executive Officer, but he did his best to keep within eye sight for protection purposes. Tritter than came to a stop not far from the Inhibitor, he dispatched a few heavily weakened Xa'zii with well placed strikes of his Flail, there was not much fight in them after they had already been beat down several times.

Once he got a few moments of peace, he than took a few moments, getting into a proper position to deliver a very strong two handed blow to the Inhibitor, it almost toppled and crashed into a million pieces, but it wasn't quite there, he than delivered a quick strike using just one hand to finish the job. The inhibitor fell to the sandy floor and shattered into a bunch of tiny pieces. He proceeded to remain in place, as he had a feeling that he may have more... visitors soon.

[Daniel Howell]

Arena
Dan was fighting more Xa'zii. To his surprise he was winning. His injures thus far were only superficial, the odd cut here and there. Finally, it looked to be that the Xa'zii were starting to tire from this fight. Plans were starting to get in place to be able to beam out so Dan's focus turned to helping out injured crew members.

Knox collapsed.

The bacterial infection had progressed to the forth and final stage. Her vital organs and nervous system simply began shutting down. Her symbiont was in danger and the host's protective instincts had taken over. Her heart rate lowered, metabolic processes slowed down and her core temperature dropped.

Her last memory was of her host's. She told them that it had been a privilege. They told her that they were glad to have had this time together.

Sirzi Too short a time, my dear. I shall miss your smile.

Darzem I am proud. You did us all proud.

Jorzon Boosting that stasis field was impressive. I could not have done it better myself!

Izu We could have done so much more. It is a shame.

Nazar You have to admit, it would have been fun with ...

Knox could no longer hear them, the sadness she felt was unbearable and the emptiness began to spread throughout her body. A single tear trickled down her cheek as she breathed her final word.

"Goodbye."

He turned to see Knox collapse. He stood still for a couple of seconds, before running over to her. Katheroz, can you hear me. Dr. Lunn came over to administer some medication. Dr, report, do you know what is causing her to fall ill? He inquired. He suspected the arrows that were launched had something to do with it, but wasn't sure enough to put a safe bet on it.