S2 M10 - Advenæ

[Finn Moreno]

[En route to drop off- Freighter 'Wonderland'- Finn Moreno]

Of course the generous payment and warning had put Finn on high alert. He had told his two crew members to keep a very good eye on the scanners and kept the shields up while they were on their journey.
Their freighter didn't have big on board weapons, nor was it made for combat. Finn had no experience in that field anyway. After all he had never joined any sort of military organization or militia.

Nervously he was watching the screen as they were taking off and getting on their way . The prospect of running into trouble made Finn feel sick to his stomach.

For a second he closed his eyes to focus when suddenly the freighter was shaken and the on board alerts started blaring and switched the internal lights to red so even the last idiot knew something was wrong.

The human captain froze and stared at the console. Then he shouted to his copilot. "What happened? This has never happened before."

For a moment he blamed it some sort of an asteroid but then a second blast hit the ship frying some of the circuits, so the lights were flickering and the star board shield went down.
"What the f++? Is someone firing at us? The scanners aren't picking up any ships out there!"

Duros' warning came to mind. Was this someone trying to get their hands on the cargo?
A third blast shook the ship throwing it slightly off course.

"All energy to the shields....where are these shots coming from?" He gave Cathy a very irritated, helpless look.

The freighters sensors weren't picking up on the stealth ships thanks to their sensor sheath, but at least they had picked up on where the last shot was fired from.

"Juuran....activate the on board weapons! Fire back...that console to your right....hurry! Sending you the coordinates!" His voice was clearly agitated by now.

[Kirok]

[Tholian embassy]

"Of course.  I would assume that the Captain and Beja will be there as well.  Can you hale me just before the meeting starts to help me make sure I do not miss it?" she asked before leaving.

[OCC]

"The Thinkers?  This is the first I am hearing of it.  Did Tess and Reyek go down as well?" she asked, trying to discern who was the 'in charge' at this moment in time.

"Certainly.  I'm happy to help out at the Science station, but I may need to leave then the Tholian/Klingon meeting starts" she said.

[Rayek trLhoell]

NPC Cathy Daniels

[Nimbus III]

[Nimus III]

Finn was used to shady places but this sort of nightly operation carried out by tough as nails armed Mars Legionairs was something else. It instantly made the freighter captain second guess his agreement.
Had it not been so lucrative, he would have stepped away.

"Is the stuff dangerous?" He asked obviously oblivious to the nature of his cargo.

With knitted brow and his hand close to his own phaser he watched as the ship was loaded. His own crew showed them where to put it.

Finn drew his tripple layered coat closer around him because the temperatures out here at night were dropping rapidly.
"I was told I get paid upfront."
The men and women weren't hiding their own weapons so he spotted one of them. Since he knew much more about phaser rifles than minerals, he asked. "Sell me the 2373..Looks like I could use it."

"We have to be careful. Keep everything powered up." Finn told Kathy's over the com badge.

Then he opened the loading doors and allowed the strangers to load his ship. Inside he trusted Juuran to keep an eye on them, while he was receiving a payment so large that it made him break out in nervous sweat.
Yet he told them. "Pleasure doing business with you. Anytime again."

It took a while but when everything was on board and the doors closed he let out a long cheer.
"We're rich, baby!"
Then he sat down in the pilot seat, fastened his seat belt and looked at Kathy and Juuran.
"Have you ever flown a ship through a worm hole?"
The wonderland took off with the precious cargo and a mostly inexperienced crew.

Cathy was seated in the co-pilots seat, monitoring the transaction.  The visual was up on the ships viewscreen while she also kept an eye on the ship's sensors.  Reading from her console what the cargo actually was, Cathy whistled in surprise.  She may not have been a good Science crewman... but she'd picked up enough to know just how rare and valuable that amount of Tetracellium was.  Damn.   That amount would draw out folks looking to steal it.

Finn's warning was a bit of an understatement.

She gnawed on her bottom lip as she called up what science she could remember - trying to figure out a way to 'hide' the cargo that was about to be loaded.   She knew if Niles were here, he'd have had a solution.   But Cathy wasn't as smart as the Orion.   The best that she could think of was swamping the energy signature with a strong radiation source.

She made the suggestion to Finn when he got back aboard a short while later crowing about being rich.  She hated to burst his bubble.

His mention of the going through a wormhole however distracted her brief.  "We're headed to the Gamma Quadrant? That's like a months travel from here!"

The Bajoran wormhole was the only stable wormhole know to her.   She wondered how Juraan would take that news.

Getting back on track, Cathy brought up the idea of 'hiding' the cargo.

"Finn, you got anything on this ship that can produce about 100 MBq of radiation so that we can try and hide its presence in our hold from the sensor readings of others?  Maybe leak out some of our dilithium - feign we have some warp core problems?"

Nimbus III - Coordinates: 25° 45' 42.0516'' N and 80° 11' 30.4368'' W

Not long after, the cargo loading was completed.  With no official traffic control to contend with, the Wonderland was free to go on their way.  There were no hostile forces in sight, and no danger presented itself on sensors.   However, when the Wonderland broke orbit with the goods, three vessels were indeed waiting for them.  While the Wonderland saw nothing amiss, these ships received an alert on their sensor scopes.

"Racer One to Racer Two and Three," Vettice said over their encrypted channel, "I have target on passive lock.  Follow me in close pursuit.  We will wait for them to begin to engage their warp engines, and then fire controlled phaser bursts to disable their warp core.   Remember: We need that cargo.  So, minimal fire only.  Once their core is down, we'll initiate Quick Transport of boarding parties."

Each of the Eclipses had one pilot in the cockpit, and two boarders in a cramped space behind the cockpit.  The cramped conditions weren't the reason why few volunteered to be boarders.  The craft wasn't made for long trips, and used a mother-ship to move between systems.  That meant the 'boarding chamber' didn't have to be endured for long.

No, comfort was a secondary concern.   The primary concern was the 'Quick Transport.'  In order to board a ship as quickly as possible, all safeties were removed from the transport process.  It was one quick burst, and if anything went wrong, there was nothing to save you.  About one in every hundred transports resulted in a fatality due to failure to materialize.  One in every thousand resulted in a fatality due to transporting inside a solid object... or worse, a scrambled pattern.

Some people with a sense of historical irony had called the boarders 'Forlorn Hopes.'  Men and women willing to risk a hideous demise for a chance at a fat paycheck.  Those who made it might never need to do it again.  Not only would they get a year's salary in one go, but they'd be promoted to a better job.  That was the lure.

Still, Vettice wouldn't have done that job for all the latinum in the galaxy.  A botched transport was the worst way to go.  Anyone willing to risk that was crazy.

"Reading buildup to warp.  Fire on Three... Two... One... MARK!"

[En route to drop off- Freighter 'Wonderland'- Finn Moreno]

Of course the generous payment and warning had put Finn on high alert. He had told his two crew members to keep a very good eye on the scanners.
Their freighter didn't have big on board weapons, nor was it made for combat. Finn had no experience in that field anyway. After all he had never joined any sort of military organization or militia.
...
For a second he closed his eyes to focus when suddenly the freighter was shaken and the on board alerts started blaring and switched the internal lights to red so even the last idiot knew something was wrong.

The human captain froze and stared at the console. Then he shouted to his copilot. "What happened? This has never happened before."

For a moment he blamed it some sort of an asteroid but then a second blast hit the ship frying some of the circuits, so the lights were flickering and the star board shield went down.
"What the f++? Is someone firing at us? The scanners aren't picking up any ships out there!"

Duros' warning came to mind. Was this someone trying to get their hands on the cargo?
A third blast shook the ship throwing it slightly off course.

"All energy to the shields....where are these shots coming from?" He gave Cathy a very irritated, helpless look.

The freighters sensors weren't picking up on the stealth ships thanks to their sensor sheath, but at least they had picked up on where the last shot was fired from.

"Juuran....activate the on board weapons! Fire back...that console to your right....hurry! Sending you the coordinates!" His voice was clearly agitated by now.

Cathy was still working on trying to figure out how to 'leak out' a bit of their cores radiation to help mask the presence of their rather precious cargo.  She'd tried to insist on having it done before they took off but the Captain was a bit impatient.

"Juraan, what if we 'micro-vent' the manifolds? Was that even a thing?  Cathy wasn't even sure if what she was talking about made sense... sometimes engineering terms and concepts were completely foreign to her...  much like Science.  "Just bleed out a little bit of radiation?  Would that effect our speed or the warp bubble too much?"

She noted Finn opening up the warp field bubble about to jump to warp speed.. when suddenly the ship shuddered.   What the hell?!  She hadn't touched anything yet?!  "I haven't touch anything yet." she was quick to point out as he yelled at her cause she just happened to be handy in the co-pilots seat.

Then she noted the shields on one side go down and this was sudden reminiscent of the battle simulations she and Niles had been run through.   "Yeah it's weapons fire, Captain. Whoever it is they're cloaked"  Which suggested to Cathy Romulans... besides which they were in the Neutral Zone - that area of space bordering the Romulan Territory.   But she'd heard they were having government problems... so likely these were raiders.  Dammit!

"Finding them won't help up much, Captain.  We need to make an evasive run back to Federation space.  Open up the Wonderland to it's top speed and hope to hell they aren't ballsy enough to follow as we get near to one of the Federation Starbases."

Even as she was suggesting this she was trying shunting all available extra power to the shields as ordered.  Oh well, if nothing else, Starfleet taught her to follow orders.  God, she hoped she survived this.

[Beja]

Katra Station - Surface of Meridian - Meeting Site

The wheels had been working inside Beja, spinning around as she went silently through her own memories and the classes she'd taken at the Academy. There was something familiar about what the Thinkers were talking about.

Sargon.

Then everything clicked into place, and Beja cleared her throat when she saw the Captain didn't recognize the name, "œSir, The Thinkers are talking about a first contact that was made with Starfleet's Captain Kirk when he was in charge of the Enterprise. It is a famous case study that was taught in my diplomatic courses at the academy."

"œSargon is a disembodied form, originally a highly advanced humanoid species that had so evolved with their mental powers, that others described them as god-like. Captain Kirk and the Enterprise had first contact with him and others like him. He and his crew willingly became the host for Sargon and his people's consciousness. It was a very fascinating case to be sure, but ended up that human bodies were not a good vessel for their mental powers, both because of stress on the body and the temptation upon the alien consciousness to remain. Sargon and his people eventually departed from their Enterprise hosts," Beja explained to the Captain and others.

"œI am not sure why Sargon is going to destroy the galaxy after showing the self-restraint to willingly give up their hosts," Beja hoped the Captain and others would understand what she was trying to say, without saying it all out loud. It was most likely that The Thinkers found Sargon's mental powers and intelligence a rival to The Thinkers' own vast knowledge, and wanted to get rid of their rival.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Lt Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Meridian - Meeting site]

Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - s'Lhoell quarters] (October 17th - later that day)

The sudden appearance of Kurros surprised even Tess although it didn't have that much of a strong effect on her because she wasn't personally there. With growing skepticism she followed Kurros' report. Tess could not help but doubt his statements. He was vague and made promises that no one knew if he could or would ever keep. Everything about his account made her stomach ache as she tried to fight the leaden fatigue that seemed to weigh even harder on her after the hot shower.

Tess also knew immediately that Kurros was asking them to make a decision that they could not make. But she did not want to hide her doubts. However, she addressed them to her captain, and not to Kurros.

"Captain, in all these many words, there was very little substantial information, not to speak of proof. We do not know who or what this mysterious superior power is, or if it even exists. Nor do we know who were those who apparently have been successful in fighting this power and how they did it. Besides, I don't deny that it would be tempting and useful to have even one of these highly developed technologies, but the knowledge of these technologies has been stolen by force." Tess voice shook only slightly, but she had to make a brief pause to clear her throat. Memories of her time in the Thinkers headquarters swapped to the surface, memories that still got to her.

"I'm not sure that the situation described justifies us doing business with a criminal organization like Thinkers, Incorporated."

The slight tremor to Tess' voice as she pointed out the lack of proof in the replicants words hadn't been missed by her husband who wish more than ever that he could just kill the replicant before him for what it's original had put them through.   His expression darkened as he stared towards the clone.

Tess' bold advice to the Captain however prompted a slight smile.  His wife never ceased to amaze him with how suited to Command she was.  She wasn't overly wary of speaking her mind, which is what the Captain needed at this time.

Surface of Meridian - Meeting Site

Solluk listened to Tess, and then turned his attention back to Kurros.

Replicant Kurros.

Who knows... maybe no one had ever met the real Kurros.

"In order for there to be any chance at an agreement," Solluk said, "there must first be trust.  But there is no trust between us, Kurros.  You've given us no evidence that what you say is true."

"And what would be sufficient to convince you of a power capable of destroying the galaxy, Captain?" Kurros asked, "Why surely, only the destruction of the galaxy would be sufficient evidence.  And that would hardly be useful."

Solluk frowned, "So you expect us to take everything you say on faith?"

Kurros smiled, "No.  I expect you to act in self-interest.  Choose a technology.  Dominate the other quadrants of the galaxy, if you wish.  Or sing songs of peace and joy.  Just get out of our way.  It's a simple transaction."

Solluk's lips turned down at the corners of his mouth, in an expression of distaste.  "Nothing is simple if you can't be trusted to hold your end."

Kurros nodded, "Of course.  We'll let you test the tech we give you, before you withdraw.  How about that?"

Solluk gritted his teeth, and then forced his jaw to relax, "If it were up to me, there is nothing you could offer to make us go away.  I would not surrender the people of this quadrant to your tender mercies for one year, let alone ten.  I certainly would not trust you to withdraw at the end of it.  And given what we know of your Thinkers, Kurros, you are as grave a threat to this galaxy as any I can imagine, and that includes the Borg."

Kurros laughed, "Then I think you need a better imagination.  What if I told you that you are already familiar with this threat?  Do you remember an entity who called himself... Sargon?  Do they still teach about him at your Academy?"

Solluk couldn't recall such a person, beyond remembering an ancient Earth figure by that name.  But surely that had nothing to do with this.  He looked to his companions at the Federation side of the table, a question in his eyes.  Do any of you know what he's talking about?

Rayek prided himself in knowing more than he technically should about the Federation history and past missions.  Not only had he had access to past Federation mission logs gathered from Romulan spies within Starfleet while he was part of the Tal'Shiar, Rayek once named XO of Katra had done a bit of research on his own - thoroughly enjoying the higher-level access to files.

So when the Kurros replicant questioned about being taught about Sargon in the Academy, despite not having attended Starfleet Academy for 4 years like so many other officers, Rayek still recognized the name.  It took a minute however to recall the details of that particular Enterprise mission.  It had remained in Rayek's memory because of the telepathy and other mental capabilities the alien consciousnesses were capable of.

Beja also seemed familiar with the Enterprise mission.

Katra Station - Surface of Meridian - Meeting Site

The wheels had been working inside Beja, spinning around as she went silently through her own memories and the classes she'd taken at the Academy. There was something familiar about what the Thinkers were talking about.

Sargon.

Then everything clicked into place, and Beja cleared her throat when she saw the Captain didn't recognize the name, "œSir, The Thinkers are talking about a first contact that was made with Starfleet's Captain Kirk when he was in charge of the Enterprise. It is a famous case study that was taught in my diplomatic courses at the academy."

"œSargon is a disembodied form, originally a highly advanced humanoid species that had so evolved with their mental powers, that others described them as god-like. Captain Kirk and the Enterprise had first contact with him and others like him. He and his crew willingly became the host for Sargon and his people's consciousness. It was a very fascinating case to be sure, but ended up that human bodies were not a good vessel for their mental powers, both because of stress on the body and the temptation upon the alien consciousness to remain. Sargon and his people eventually departed from their Enterprise hosts," Beja explained to the Captain and others.

"œI am not sure why Sargon is going to destroy the galaxy after showing the self-restraint to willingly give up their hosts," Beja hoped the Captain and others would understand what she was trying to say, without saying it all out loud. It was most likely that The Thinkers found Sargon's mental powers and intelligence a rival to The Thinkers' own vast knowledge, and wanted to get rid of their rival.

It was curious that the counselor recalled only the voluntary release of the human hosts by Sargon, and not the attempt to keep their hosts by force by Sargon's wife and the other... what was his name?  Henry?  No.. ah! Henoch.

Rayek, who had turned to regard Beja at her report, now looked to Solluk briefly as he as he addressed the Captain to offer is own perspective.  But the Romulan moved his attention back to the Kurros replicant watching for reaction after just a few words..  "As I recall the mission file, Captain, one of their number was not so willing to give up his host body - that of Commander Spock who withstood the transfer much better than the humans.   The report read that he attempted to kill Captain Kirk and Sargon within him in order to remain a 'God' instead of transferring to the android bodies they were supposed to be making."

Rayek had long wondered others of that species had survived - the report had commented that they believed they may have seeded the galaxy.

"Perhaps it is not Sargon himself that the replicant refers but one of his kind or that other that desired to be deemed a 'God'?  Henoch... or one like him."

NPC Ensign Nadia Oloze  and NPC Lt JG Saqa7 Mountain-Khan
[USS Healy - Bridge]

USS Healy, in Orbit above Meridian near Katra Station

Aboard the Healy, the Ops and Science consoles simultaneously detected something different.  The temperature of the shuttle's power core increased by 72 degrees for one second.  Then, it gradually returned to normal.  The increase of temperature suggested that the core had momentarily produced additional energy.  However, there was nothing obvious to show where that energy might have gone.  The shuttle remained in stationary orbit.  Nothing seemed to be amiss.[/quote]

Almost simultaneously Nadia and Saqa7 called out to the Captain. "Captain." "Sir, the Thinker ship." "The shuttles' core spiked in output for a moment." "Sensors aren't reading any noteable reason for that level of energy output." "He's up to something foul, I just know it!"

[Paul Wessex]

It was one of these times Wessex realised the disadvantage he had being from a non-spacefaring (or rather, limited space-faring) Federation organisation like the Naval Patrol and not a career officer within Starfleet from an early age. Certainly, he had his fair share of first contacts, but 99% were hitherto unknown aquatic lifeforms, with only perhaps 10% of those sentient civilisations content to remain undisturbed and untended deep in their respective depths, with only an agreement to enter official dialogue with authorised Federation representatives at a some undisclosed point in their future.

So when Kurros spoke of some being that had once Starfleet encountered, and then details filled in by Rayek and Beja about the classified escapes of one Captain James Kirk (whom even NavPat knew of, such was his acclaim...and notoriety) Paul could do nothing but remain quiet and somewhat clueless to the developments before him. If he could have, he would have shrugged helplessly at Solluk, who - perhaps comfortingly - seemed to be equally abyssal about the name.

But it was the first time that Wessex felt out of his depth as Chief of Security; like a Scycion whale out of water.

[L'mar Camili Rhade]

[ Ensign L'mar Rhade ] - [ USS Healy - Bridge ]

With the ship now just sitting, Rhade left Darek in charge in Main Engineering and walked off the turbolift onto the Bridge. He was bored, though he had Maximillian in his arms and the black cat was just glaring at everyone, Rhade had an half amused half embarrassed smile on his face as he went to the engineering table at the back of the Bridge and tapped at the controls. In moments the table lit up and Rhade walked over to stand by the Operations console, he spoke up. He heard the ladies announce that the Thinker shuttle's energy was spiking. "Isss therrre sssome forrrm of tarrrgetting sssensssorrr lock?" L'mar asked Oloze.

[Tess tLhoell]

Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 2 - s'Lhoell quarters] (October 17th)

Tess wasn't sure what Solluk thought of her words, there was not reaction at all before he continued to speak with Kurros. She continued to listen, her attention diverted to baby Fvienn as he grimaced a little in his sleep. It made her smile more than she showed outwardly. Then Kurros revealed who that overly powerful being was. Sargon.

Tess could not say that this name rang any bells. Beja's and Rayek's explanations were very interesting. In any case, she would look at this case later in the database.

"There is still some information missing, Replicant Kurros," Tess said, "You spoke of a prison. What kind of prison is that? And who are the jailers?" Tess just found it hard to trust him.

NPC Juraan Ren
[Nimbus III - Freighter 'Wonderland']

Ever since Juraan had learned that her destination would be the Gamma Quadrant, the Bajoran had been lost in his own head. Why there of all places? He had left that place and never wanted to return. But the Prophets seemed to have intended something else for him. Yes, Juraan was not a believing Bajoran. He wore the earring, but that was out of reverence and in memory of his mother who had died in the Cardassian labor camp Batal and for whom faith had been very important. Juraan had lost his with his parents. But that he came across a stranger here in the Alpha Quadrant so many light-years away, who hired him and then brought him back to his home quadrant ... Juraan couldn't help but see a greater destiny in this.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice Cathy's suggestion to camouflage the charge with a minimal amount of radiation. Only when the ship was shaken by the incoming phaser fire and he was hurled forward, did he emerge from his thoughts.

He cursed a Bajoran curse when he looked at his blinking and wailing console. "They're targeting our warp core!" Another impact. Juraan gripped the edge of the console. "I can't aim target, they're cloaked!" He gritted his teeth. "How the hell are they even able to fire?!" He agreed with Cathy. Finding their attackers would be useless. At her suggestion to run away, Juraan looked over at them. "I don't think we have time for this! They want our cargo and I'm afraid we'll have to defend it face-to-face!"

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Replimat - Katra Station]

[As NPC Dr. Anthony McCutcheon]

Anth debated moving, he was getting bored, his right leg had gone dead and now had 'pins and needles' and his people watching had dried up.  He nursed the last of his now cold Ratkajino and pulled a face as he tried a mouthful.

Standing, he noticed a beautiful girl being pulled along by a Nausicaan, and a switch in his mind went off.  She looked so like Louise, the rage at how the monster as he thought of the creature in his sights was tugging her along was too much for Anth.

Without thinking, and forgetting his half-dead leg so his gait to the Promenade from the Replimat was somewhat ungainly, especially as he was holding the chair he had been sitting on over his head, and screaming profanities hurled himself at the Nausicaan without a care to himself.

"MOVE!" he screamed at the girl who instinctively jumped backwards behind the burly warrior she'd been with.

Unbeknown to Anth, the Nausicaan was actually her partner and the bickering was actually some domestic argument which was about something she'd wanted to spend credits on.  It wouldn't have resulted in harm to the girl, nor was her partner hurting her, just hurrying her along because he hated public displays of emotion be that affection or anger or embarrassment in this case, he would get her back to the rented accommodation on the base and let her rail and throw things at him in private.

The chair hit the Nausicaan squarely in the chest causing him to roar, then turn to his partner and scream at her to "Go to our quarters!"

Anth, in his frenzied brain thought this was aggressive and that the poor woman was some kind of hostage going to be used for purposes he didn't want to think about.  So following the chair he launched himself at the fellow who was about twice his size, and certainly more adept at fighting than his puny, scientific self!  While he worked out, he was no pugilist, and didn't know any martial arts either.

"Do or die, Anth..." he muttered to himself.  "You're not going to use my Louise!  You're not having her!" he screamed throwing ineffective kicks and punches at the Nausicaan.

At this point his would be assailant was holding him off with one hand, rather bemused if somewhat angered, it was only when Anth unfortunately but somewhat by a miracle landed a kick to the poor guys genitals which... in any species rather enrages, that he let go of the Scientist's head and started fighting.

Anth's glasses were the first to go, thankfully he could still see, they were mostly for when he worked on the consoles to stop the glare from hurting his eyes... plus you couldn't miss the hulking figure before him.

He tried to dodge but a few punches landed on his face, and the swelling started, the bruising would be a vibrant purple and green technicolour show soon, a step onto his ankle resulted in a large 'crack' and yet he still limped around dragging the leg with the broken ankle, but now with tears streaming down his face.

The Nausicaan could have walked away at this point but Anth started insulting his manhood, and that wasn't going to be taken by any male... now it was personal rather than just a misunderstanding.

It was only when he was being straddled by the Nausicaan who was now using his face as a punchbag, that Anth thought he'd probably bitten off more than he could chew...

A bystander, not wanting to get involved, put out a call to Security and Medical figuring it was the right thing to do, both to get the fight broken up, and get the poor guy that was now a mess of blood and broken bones, patched up.

[Dr. ta li yo-na]

[Replimat katra  station

[As NPC Dr. Anthony McCutcheon]

Anth debated moving, he was getting bored, his right leg had gone dead and now had 'pins and needles' and his people watching had dried up.  He nursed the last of his now cold Ratkajino and pulled a face as he tried a mouthful.

Standing, he noticed a beautiful girl being pulled along by a Nausicaan, and a switch in his mind went off.  She looked so like Louise, the rage at how the monster as he thought of the creature in his sights was tugging her along was too much for Anth.

Without thinking, and forgetting his half-dead leg so his gait to the Promenade from the Replimat was somewhat ungainly, especially as he was holding the chair he had been sitting on over his head, and screaming profanities hurled himself at the Nausicaan without a care to himself.

"MOVE!" he screamed at the girl who instinctively jumped backwards behind the burly warrior she'd been with.

Unbeknown to Anth, the Nausicaan was actually her partner and the bickering was actually some domestic argument which was about something she'd wanted to spend credits on.  It wouldn't have resulted in harm to the girl, nor was her partner hurting her, just hurrying her along because he hated public displays of emotion be that affection or anger or embarrassment in this case, he would get her back to the rented accommodation on the base and let her rail and throw things at him in private.

The chair hit the Nausicaan squarely in the chest causing him to roar, then turn to his partner and scream at her to "Go to our quarters!"

Anth, in his frenzied brain thought this was aggressive and that the poor woman was some kind of hostage going to be used for purposes he didn't want to think about.  So following the chair he launched himself at the fellow who was about twice his size, and certainly more adept at fighting than his puny, scientific self!  While he worked out, he was no pugilist, and didn't know any martial arts either.

"Do or die, Anth..." he muttered to himself.  "You're not going to use my Louise!  You're not having her!" he screamed throwing ineffective kicks and punches at the Nausicaan.

At this point his would be assailant was holding him off with one hand, rather bemused if somewhat angered, it was only when Anth unfortunately but somewhat by a miracle landed a kick to the poor guys genitals which... in any species rather enrages, that he let go of the Scientist's head and started fighting.

Anth's glasses were the first to go, thankfully he could still see, they were mostly for when he worked on the consoles to stop the glare from hurting his eyes... plus you couldn't miss the hulking figure before him.

He tried to dodge but a few punches landed on his face, and the swelling started, the bruising would be a vibrant purple and green technicolour show soon, a step onto his ankle resulted in a large 'crack' and yet he still limped around dragging the leg with the broken ankle, but now with tears streaming down his face.

The Nausicaan could have walked away at this point but Anth started insulting his manhood, and that wasn't going to be taken by any male... now it was personal rather than just a misunderstanding.

It was only when he was being straddled by the Nausicaan who was now using his face as a punchbag, that Anth thought he'd probably bitten off more than he could chew...

A bystander, not wanting to get involved, put out a call to Security and Medical figuring it was the right thing to do, both to get the fight broken up, and get the poor guy that was now a mess of blood and broken bones, patched up.

[replimat katra station]

The dr was first to the scene "lets get you to safety can you move" asked dr Ta Li Yo-na  "two to transport tosickbay" he said rushing to the injured man and assessing him with his trusty tricorder

Moments later in the sickbay a bed was made ready and the appropriate tools were made available like the dermal regenerator and bone knitter amongst other's and the Klingon went to work fixing the dr up "damn drs make the worst patients" he said to himself and giggled

[Finn Moreno]

[En route- Freighter Wonderland]
The idea of hiding their cargo in a stinking trail of radiation was great but neither one of them had enough time to actually think this through further or execute it.
"How on earth did they find us this fast?" Finn wondered to himself, which was now absolutely useless. So was he. He wasn't a fighter pilot but a freighter pilot.
A battle against cloaked ships was damn near impossible.

And Kathy saw it the same way. When she suggested evading them instead of fighting, Finn nodded.
"You're right. Find me the closest Federation space!"
He pulled himself closer to the screens and blinking lights of the console and switched off the autopilot to take over manually.
"Hold on to your seats!" He told he small crew and with a determined expression tried his best to fly a large spiraling circle in order to shake the attackers.
Feverishly he scanned the displays for anything that could be helpful...a nearby planet, black hole, asteroids....
The only thing he could find were a few smaller planets, not close enough though, yet he headed towards them.

Juurans words almost made him break out in hysterical laughter. "Oh really, you're great, man, why don't you grab a flame thrower and light up whatever species is going to try to kill us to get their hands on this? We're three...against...who knows how many!"

No, the best option was to shake them. Getting closer to one of the planets Finn suddenly went into a nose dive towards it's surface in hopes of finding some sort of 'shelter'.

But just in case Juuran was right. "There's a weapon storage near the loading area. Go! Go!"

[Eydis]

[Tholian cruisers Arashi and Hildr] The two captains had been in contact with Eydis and the the Acrux. There was some increase communications and new sensor contact. It has been decided that Hildr and Arashi would remain at 10 km from the station. The four widow escorts were patrolling around the pair of Tholian cruisers. Zex might be able to hear a increase of noise over the lattice.

The tholians were collective at unease. Both the other captains had voiced a distrust of the Station command staff. How did the Klingon warship manage to get passed the stations sensors. And now a small shuttle had been detected. Eydis had managed to keep the other commanders at ease for now. Having some more experience then the other captains. Shi had finished getting her specialized evo suit and waited for skaldyr to finish getting his own suit on. The two tholians depart the embassy for the Klingon one.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[replimat katra station]

The dr was first to the scene "lets get you to safety can you move" asked dr Ta Li Yo-na  "two to transport tosickbay" he said rushing to the injured man and assessing him with his trusty tricorder

Moments later in the sickbay a bed was made ready and the appropriate tools were made available like the dermal regenerator and bone knitter amongst other's and the Klingon went to work fixing the dr up "damn drs make the worst patients" he said to himself and giggled

[Replimat > Sickbay, Katra Station, 17th October]

[As NPC Anth McCutcheon]

Security arrived and hauled the Nausicaan off the unfortunate doctor who had seriously bitten off more than he could chew.

"We'll be wanting to speak to him later too but you've probably got enough to do for now, doc!" the Ensign said to Dr. Yona  "Tho, to be honest, he's got bigger problems than the physical if he kicks a Nausicaan in the nuts being the scrawing so n so he is! Dr. Beja might be a better person for him, tho he'll still need you to patch him up first!  I know Lt. Falleg has her... strangeness... but she's positively sane compared to this one, even when she was going round being an evil Queen!  Might be 'normal' for Scientists!" he continued. chuckling and tapping a forefinger to his temple to indicate that the Daystrom Scientist was a bit 'cuckoo'.

Anth groaned and soon found himself in the Sickbay.

"He was going to hurt her, I'm sure he was going to hurt her...genitals was a mistake, a...nacident..." he mumbled through the swelling and broken teeth.  Thankfully, the punches hadn't broken his jaw or eye socket, it was just going to look a bit of a mess with bruising for a while.  Someone had thoughtfully found his spectacles and shoved them by one arm onto the front of his shirt, they were rather grubby with dust and blood and cracked across one lens but he could get them fixed.

"Lou....Louise....my ankle bloody hurts, left one...still not got rid of pins and needles either!  Need to tell them get ... nice...nicer chairs in the Replimat!" he said

[Solluk]

In Space near Nimbus III

"He's rabbiting," Vettice said as the Wonderland veered towards a nearby planetoid.  "But I'm reading fluctuations to their shields.  Push transport, now!"

"Fluctuations?!"  A male voice complained loudly over comms, "We're not going unless the shields are firmly down!"

"You speak as though you have a choice," she replied, punching the transport button for her boarding team.

Aboard the Wonderland - Cargo Bay

As the Wonderland descended towards a nearby object in space, a familiar whine filled the cargo bay of the craft.  It was a brief whine, lasting about half the time of a traditional transport.  Three figures materialized.  There had been six, originally.  Such was the fate of those who signed on for the Forlorn Hope assignment.

The three figures carried heavy disruptor rifles, and wore combat vac suits, just in case they beamed into an area that was in breach.  They were loaded for war, though there was little chance the civilian crew of this freighter would pose any trouble for them.

Surface of Meridian...

Fortunately, although Solluk had no recollection of this 'Sargon,' his officers were much better informed.  Not unexpectedly, Beja's take on the incident was more optimistic, while Rayek's was more critical.  As before, Tess had some incisive questions.  Kurros addressed her holoprojection directly, although his comments were for everyone.

"I see that your understanding of the incident is incomplete," Kurros said, "Not surprising, considering how long ago it happened, and how information tends to be compartmentalized.  Perhaps Sargon and his people themselves had failed to tell the full tale, for it implicates them in dark deeds.

I will not withhold the uncomfortable truth from you.  I will tell you the whole story.

Sargon was a member of a species called the Arretans.  Over time, they became powerful, almost godlike.  But they turned to squabbles among themselves over what they should be allowed to do with their great power.  A war began to tear their empire apart.  Eventually, a few Arretans who desired peace made a series of technological breakthroughs that gave them an advantage over their foes.  They found a way to transfer their consciousnesses into a receptacle, becoming immortal.  But this process would need to be tested.

The extremists who favored war were unaware of this plot, but they knew that some prominent leaders, like Sargon, were planning a bold move to end the conflict.  As a precaution, they stashed their most terrible weapons and technologies in secret places, planning to feign agreement with the plans for peace.  They would claim to have disarmed, surrendering themselves to the peace faction.  They planned to return to their caches later, and obliterate their enemies.

However, they were arrested before they could complete their ruse.  Sargon and his fellows were not about to perform their consciousness transfers without testing them, first.  They used the technology on the extremists who'd surrendered.  Then, after they saw that their process worked, they placed these captured consciousnesses in a dimensional-pocket prison.   Sophisticated AI automation systems were placed to monitor the prisoners, and see how their consciousnesses fared over the long term.  This would identify any problems with the process that might arise over time.

Finally, when they were content with the efficacy of their process, Sargon and his chosen people submitted themselves to immortality.  They lived as consciousnesses in storage until they encountered the Enterprise, and found people willing to act as hosts for them until they could build machine bodies to house them for the rest of eternity.

Sargon succumbed to his ideals and abandoned his ambitions for immortality.  He and his people are now gone.  But their legacy is a curse that the galaxy must bear.

The extremists they left behind spent millenia in their dimensional prison, gradually learning how to control the machines that were placed to monitor them.  Entropy eventually ate the stability of their pocket-dimension, until it unfolded into our reality.  We Thinkers were not able to find their weapons cache in time.  Nor were we able to find their dimensional prison.  We searched in vain for over a century.  Now it is too late.  They are here.  They are doubtless gathering their ancient weapons, their already extreme minds amplified by thousands of years in captivity.  With no force for peace to oppose them, it will not be long before they dominate the galaxy."

Outside Tholian Embassy - Katra Station

Kurros appeared in front of the Tholians.  "Greetings.  I am here to speak to Ambassador Eydis.  Is shi available?"

To the Tholian eyes, it would quickly become apparent that this was no organic creature standing before them.  Merely an illusion of light and sound, created by the vibration of molecules in the air by some mysterious technology.

Unknown to the Tholians, they were not the only ones being approached by this kind of ghostlike presence.  Other ambassadors throughout the station received similar visitations...

[Kirok]

[OCC]

Zex felt a bit of panic rise in her.  She could hear over the lattis device that the Tholain's were prepared to meet with the Klingon's.  In fact, it seemed the Eydis was on hir way presently to meet with them.

Without an available senior officer to accompany her, it might be up to the Deltan to represent the federation in this matter.  The Ops Officer had not answerer her question yet.  So she texted her boss:

"Beja, sorry to bother you.  I know you are busy, but the Tholian's are about to sit down with the Klingons.  I've been told that all of the senior officers are off site.  Who would you suggest I bring to the meeting with the Klingons?" she typed out.