S2 M7 - The Two Wolves

[John Saxon]

[Katra Station - Operational Control Center]

"Lieutenant Saxon and Lieutenant Goodspeed, I need a plan to get Commander t'Lhoell out of there.  If Rhade made it to our brig, loop him in.  We don't have to trust him- or let him out- to recognize any good ideas he may have to offer us."

John nodded, pleased that he was being asked to do something more than stand at his station and fire aimlessly at an enemy ship that was now beyond the station weapons at a range that even he couldn't immediately overcome - at least, not without turning to more destructive methods. Now there was a hostage situation, the most elderly Lieutentant in StarFleet could turn his hand to something more...well, hands-on.

"By now you must be furious and planning on some elaborate rescue of your wife.  Let me save you the trouble by saying... anything you can think of... I'm already working on a counter to.  Your options are limited but allow me to suggest one that you might not otherwise have thought of.

I am you.  I don't want to hurt your Tess any more than I would want to hurt my own... but I will if forced to... and you know it.  So rather than work against us, work with us. Help us escape by doing what you can to negate whatever plan Solluk and Saxon come up with and I will promise you no harm will come to Tess and will see to it that she is returned to you safely."

With that interesting intercepted communique in mind, which clearly demonstrated the Romulan trait of arrogance as innate as paranoia, Saxon threw a sharp nod to the waiting Bolian tactical officer to take over his now-pointless post, and strode over to the white-haired Engineer, waiting for an opportune moment - tied up as she was with damage control actions - to start the brainstorm a solution to the problem that the Captain had set. He already had 7 ways in mind to take the fake Healy and rescue Commander t'Lhoell. All he needed was reliable a way to penetrate the ship from afar; and no-one knew the New Orleans-class like Lt Goodspeed. But he also needed a way to get there - and Lt Rhade, despite his extremely questionable actions, be them merely grossly insubordinate or that of an enemy agent, knew the station better than anyone aboard.

So. One to get him there. One to get him in. And one to do the dirty work. And all before the real Rayek did something characteristically martyristic to save his beloved wife. Feels like a mission from the good old days.

He turned to Ensign Ricci at Ops and requested an update to his ordered extraction of the Felinoid engineer as he waited for Goodspeed.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Replicant - Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]
and
Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

Replicant Lt. Cmdr. rTess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant) and Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[USS rHealy - Bridge]
Tess blinked and took another deep breath. She had to think positive. She didn't want Rayek to see how scared she was. He needed to focus on his duty now. She hoped he did. If she could she would let Rayek know that she was okay, that she would be fine. And maybe there was a way she would be able to manipulate herself and the false Rayek.
Tess glanced over to her replicated self, but the other Tess kept her gaze fixated on the view screen.

As such while he still had access to the Healy, rRayek worked on a number of backup plans.  Since he knew his counterpart would be working to retake control of their ship with likely a  reset of the prefix code... again - this time with either a random generated code or selected by someone outside the bridge crew, rRayek began writing up a background program that would have the Healy computer screenshot the prefix reset screen every half second that it was open with the command to send the images to him in an encrypted transmission the moment the prefix was changed.

As he set up that, he recorded a discreet audio message for his original.

Fvadt, is that what she would want now?  For him to sit back and not do anything to rescue her?  His heart ached at the notion.

Before he could make a decision one way or the other, a discreet communication was sent to his earbud automatically.  It was difficult to make out the words due to the high pitched ringing that continued to sound in his ear.  But though it was muffled and overlapped by the ringing, fake Rayek's message was understood.

Rayek stilled, a nauseous feeling overtaking his stomach as he considered his doppleganger's offer.

Rayek had to turn away from the screen, unable to look at the sight of his wife being held hostage - not while the voice in his ear was urging him betray his Captain and crew to keep her safe.  It was tempting.  If the other Rayek had any of his mnhei'sahe, his promise to return Tess safely would not be a lie.

But Rayek knew that he would lose Tess regardless if he did.  There was a world of difference between disobeying and firing on an enemy first to save her and the station, versus actively betraying and working against the others to save just her.  There would be no way he could hide such from her... and the moment she knew her trust in him would be lost - forever.

No.  He couldn't.  There had to be another way... though at the moment he couldn't see it.

Rather than make an attempt to trick his doppleganger feigning to be in alliance, Rayek chose to answer honestly.  Being on discreet mode he needn't speak aloud merely mouth the words. "No.  That is a mistake I will not make.  You say you know what my plans for rescue may be then I'll have to trust in my shipmates to find a way that I would not think of.  You will not escape and if Tess or the babe is harmed in any way... you are dead."
.
.
The response back was not at all what rRayek had expected.  He opened his mouth to try a little subtle threatening when an intruder alert chime sounded from his console and he read about a Caitian running amuck in engineering.   Scowling the replicant Romulan cut the connection and called up the security video and viewed the past several minutes of it on high speed to get caught up on the situation.

[ Provisional Junior Lieutenant L'mar Rhade ] | [ Deck 12 - Main Engineering | USS rHealy ] - [ DAY 3. AFTERNOON. ]

Since his forcefield had shocked those above him and he didn't see anymore coming that way, Rhade decided it was best to act. He waited for a moment that rDarek wasn't firing and dropped the fields. Rhade fired directly at rDarek's head with his type 1 phaser set to kill.

The Romulan's head was gone a few moments before the rest of him vaporised. Rhade quickly fired on all the others in the room, though he sustained a shot to his hip and left leg as he leaned against the dividing wall. A transporter sound came from his jacket he left on the console and it vanished.

Oh o, L'mar thought but quickly ambled over to another console that was closer. He put engineering into a lockdown with Campbell's codes and added his own encryption codes. Rhade then had the idea to dump the core and worked on it while he used the internal sensors to track anyone coming to Engineering.

"Fvadt!" he cursed aloud before glancing back apologetically to rTess who might have been still in talks with the Healy.   A check of the security status in engineering showed it in lockdown with a forcefield around which meant Rayek couldn't beam in his security personnel.

From the visuals, the engineers on duty were all dead.  That came as a surprise to the replicant Romulan.  Most Starfleet personnel seemed to revere life - apparently Caitian's were more pragmatic.  Well, that just meant rRayek didn't need to concern himself with harming the crew with his methods of eliminating the pest from engineering.

One of the things with anti-boarding measures, they were not affected by area lockdowns, for exactly this reason.

Without any forewarning to Caitian to stop what he was doing, rRayek activated the ship's anesthizine gas protocol in engineering only.  After beginning this rRayek send to rTess' arm console a message informing her of his lack of success in recruiting his original and the problem in Engineering.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

NPC Ensign Javed Kumar (Medical)
[USS Healy - Deck 6 - Sickbay >>> Bridge]

He moved over to Rayek, checking him over with his tricorder. The readings showed acoustic shock and Javed administered a solution of Hydroxyethyl starch to improve perfusion; additionally to that he gave him Procain, a local anesthetic together with cotisone to help take away any swelling that might have caused by the nasty bang. "Your hearing should improve any moment", Javed informed him. "Any other discomforts you feel right now?", he asked, waiting to hear back from Rayek before he would to turn to Hrafn if she needed treatment. As he understood she was in conversation at the moment with ... two Tesses. Javed glanced to Rayek, pondering if he should ask what was going on, but he figured it wasn't the right moment for that.

Rayek's long fingered hands shook unsteadily over his console board as the comm line to his ear bud suddenly cut.   By the Elements, please let him not have just assured Tess' death... or their own, he realized, recalling that he still hadn't reset the prefix codes!

He worked on finishing that, inputting Hrafn's random code and then committing the code to memory before tucking the slip of paper into one of his many pouches on his security utility belt.

They had control of the ship once more.  Rayek immediately raised shields before his doppleganger realized that they'd missed their opportunity to fire.

A movement to his left startled and he turned hands rising defensively before realizing it was just the medic... Kumar.  He turned back to his console while the man ran the medical scanner over him.   While Rayek wasn't too concerned about the hearing damage being permanent - this not being the first concussive force he had been too close to over the course of his career - it was still problematic as he couldn't hear orders issued to him.

Behind him, he could make out just that Hrafn was talking, by the low-timbre buzz but individual words were not at all legible.

He would have loved to know what was being said.

While the medic worked on what he hoped was an effective treatment, Rayek kept watch on things.

The ringing faded out after a moment or two and Rayek nodded acknowledging his return to proper hearing.  "No other injury of note. Thank you Ensign" Rayek answered before turning his attention back to the sensors of both the station and the ship.

He tried to listen in to the conversation on the screen.

Katra Station - Operational Control Center

Then she send the secured message to Eli as instructed and the fighters.  She completed her tasks by open a channel.  =/\-Katra to all fighters.  Withdraw from fight.  Cease fire-/\= she said, preparing to 'yell' at them for disobeying.

For whatever reason - maybe Tess' being captured -  the Cobra's had ceased attacking and were actually falling back.

This was a surprise to Rayek.  It was generally not Starfleet policy to give in to hostage demands.   However, nor was it policy to abandon hostages either, instead alternatives were sought.  What alternative had Solluk and Saxon come up with? he wondered.  He could only hope they were effective.

Thinking of them, Rayek briefly turned his sensors back towards the station... the subspace distortions has eased quite significantly now that they were not actively causing them... which meant short range comms and sensors were possible now.   This allowed Rayek to view in a rather timely fashion, the Tholian vessel undock from the station and turn towards them.

As you wish zex the deltan With that the Acrux would move off after the rogue or fake Healy. As three widows would leave the tri hull cruiser. The widows staying behind the Acrux as it began to max out at sub light speed. Energizing its deflector shield to full power   while not powering up its own weapons. The widows fell back a little more now trailing behind the acrux at 35 meters or so in a diamond formation with each other

Had Solluk enlisted the aid of the Tholian's and Klingons?  The thought cause a worried frown envisioning the fake Healy in a fire fight against the Tholian cruiser.

But the advance of the Tholian ships, and that of the Klingon's in case they too were also planning to intervene, were brought to an abrupt halt as the station's multiple tractor beams each locked onto to a Tholian or Klingon vessel and held it tight.
.
.

From her position sitting in the usually vacant auxiliary seat on the Bridge, rSaqa7 pumped her fist into the air.  "Booyah! I was hoping I'd get to see my efforts put into play."

Her task had been to sabotage the transporters and the tractor beam... unfortunately with the unexpected early activation... and Tess' annoying decision of keeping the Healy on ready status, she'd only gotten to the one - the tractor beam.

Saqa7 had made good use of being called to Hrafn's office that first night.  She might have offered to 'babysit your console to grab a cup of coffee and use the Head' during the deadest part of Gamma shift, and while he was away from his station inputted a few additional code into the system to seize both the Tholian and Klingon vessels if they showed movement during an Activation.

[Katra Station - Operational Control Center]

He turned to Ensign Ricci at Ops and requested an update to his ordered extraction of the Felinoid engineer as he waited for Goodspeed.

Ricci looked to the ancient warrior was an apologetic look and shook her head.  "I'm sorry sir.  There was a forcefield preventing our locking onto him for the longest time... and then when the forcefield finally went down.... well, um..  we were at the very edge of our range and we suddenly had a faint lock on his commbadge.. so we used that as our lock... but... he'd taken off his jacket sir, so we only got that... and now they are out of range."

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Operational Control Center

Solluk uttered an ancient Vulcan curse as the tractor emitters came alive to ensnare the Tholian and Klingon cruisers.  It was obvious to him what the likely response to that action would be.  Neither the Tholians nor the Klingons were renowned for their restraint.

"Have any personnel near the tractor emitters evacuate the area immediately!" he shouted the general order, not knowing or caring whether Ops or Communications would get to it first.

"Order all departments who have received these PADDs to wire them into the optronic inputs on their local subsystems and disconnect those systems from main computer control.  There's no telling what else has been sabotaged with software overrides, and we can't afford any more surprises."

His ad-hoc shuttle computer network had been negatively impacted by the loss of two shuttles during the shuttlebay explosion.  This would make the network very sluggish as it suffered from a lack of needed computing power, but Solluk decided it was better to have a slow computer that could be relied upon, rather than an efficient computer that was efficiently carrying out enemy orders.

IKS Lod Qan - Bridge

"They have us in a tractor beam!" Vilka growled the report.  She was still trying to get through to the station, and now they had been attacked.

"HoD," Tolec chimed in from the Science station, "these tractor emitters are unusually powerful, almost as though they were constructed to be auxiliary combat weapons rather than merely aids for ships approaching the station's inner berths.  They are potentially even powerful enough to batter down shield systems.  I estimate that we will not be able to break free from them."

"QI'yaH!" Noh'ves cursed violently, "Do we have any firing arcs on the tractor emitters?"

Vilka shook her head, "The disruptor emplacements on this cruiser are limited in scope.  We are parallel to the station, and our disruptors only have a 45 degree forward firing arc.  I could launch a torpedo and have it circle about, but we are so close to the station, such an action would damage us as well as the tractor emitter."

"What about our shuttles," Noh'ves asked, "Can their weapons disable the tractor beams?"

Vilka considered this.  "Their weapons may not be powerful enough, HoD.  If these emitters are robust enough to handle the kind of graviton output Tolec says, shuttle disruptors might not do the job."

Noh'ves made an animal sound like a low growl.  Then, "Can we remote-control a shuttle?"

Tolec answered this question, "With the proper preparation, yes.  But they need to be specially configured for that kind of operation beforehand.  The computers on these old D-7 cruisers are not as versatile as those on the K'tinga refit.  The preparation of the interface would take several minutes."

Noh'ves dipped his head for a moment.  Then, making a decision, he lifted his chin.  "Ask for a volunteer to launch one of our shuttles and ram the emitter.  Tell them this is battle."

This assurance would remind any volunteers that they would have a place waiting for them in Sto'vo'kor.

Tolec nodded, and then sent a message to the shuttle bay using his station.  "bekk Rotek has volunteered.  He is not a qualified pilot, but he is right there, guarding the shuttle bay.  He says he knows enough to crash a shuttle."

Noh'Ves nodded, "I will commend him to the Klingon Defense Force Command... and also to his father."

Momentarily, a shuttle launched from the shuttle bay of the Lod Qan.  For a moment, it seemed that it, too, might get caught in the tractor beam effect.  But after a moment of intense turbulence, it broke clear of the graviton beams' peripheral interaction zone.   The shuttle turned abruptly and clumsily towards the station, aiming generally at the tractor emitter.  Then it engaged its impulse engines.

"Qapla!""Qapla!""Qapla!"

The bridge crew watched the final moment unfold on the main viewscreen, their hearts filled with pride and respect for the noble warrior who had just given his life for the Empire and his fellow crew.

[Hrafn Falleg]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant) and Replicant Lt. Cmdr. rTess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[USS rHealy - Bridge]

The Healy shook once more when the volley of torpedoes hit the side of the rHealy. rRayek shouted orders to helm for evasive maneuvre while rTess waited for them to hack the prefix code of he ship. Shields were down to around 70% by only the hits the station's defenses had inflicted on them. They'd have to think of something else to get out of here.

rTess looked to rHrafn at her comment about their initiated plan to kidnap the real Tess. She wasn't sure infanticide was the right word but she shook her head. "Our measures will be as drastic as necessary to achieve our goal. We need to escape, no matter what."

rRayek called out that they were in and rTess nodded, picking up what rHrafn had last said. "We'll see how much leverage this situation will get us."

***

Before Tess knew what happened, she found herself on the bridge of the Healy - of the fake Healy! With two security officers leveling their phasers at her head. Slowly Tess raised her hands, palms facing their way. Tess blinked and looked around. Everything looked the same ... everything was so familiar. Including the people on the bridge. Her eyes lingered on Rayek in amazement - and that amazement only grew when she regarded herself. A perfect copy! It actually was rather creepy.

rHrafn's snarky comment made Tess glance to her hesitantly. Maybe the characters had been tweaked on? 'What do you want?' - That question was on the tip of her tongue, but really ... she knew what they wanted. They took her as a hostage to escape.

"Looks like I'm speechless", rTess commented and a moment later the security officers approached her to follow rRayek's order to bind her before she was made to sit down in the XO's chair next to ... well, herself. "You won't get through with this", Tess said quietly. She noticed a side-glance from her doppelganger. "You'll see that I'm not like you ... I am capable of things my original is not. We all are. We might not choose that drastic measures naturally, but we still will be taking them as you see for yourself right now."

Tess swallowed hard and then glanced over to the fake Rayek, wondering if he felt the same love for her replicant self ... or herself, like the real Rayek did. In her head she tried to think of a strategy to manipulate either herself or the fake Rayek to her advantage. But first she was distracted by the Healy hailing the fake ship and a moment later she saw Hrafn on the command chair. Her heart clenched when she thought about what Rayek must be going through now. She needed to make this easy for him. She sat up a little straighter and tried to look unbothered despite the security officers still leveling their phasers at her head. She was unsure if they were set to stun or kill.

"On screen", rTess ordered rOloze. "Hrafn, power down Healy's weapons and shields and we won't harm her." It was clear she meant Tess beside her. It must look so strange. "Same for the station. And I want them to whistle back the cobras."

[USS rHealy - Bridge (rHrafn)]

rHrafn had done as asked and sat giving a rather bemused look at the two Tess's.  "I wonder..." she pondered aloud. "...if the two of you have had the same pregnancy cravings!  I wonder if we could test that one out on our new guest, give her a few new ones to think about, all in the name of Scientific research of course!" she said with a sardonic grin.

"Maybe if my counterpart won't play ball?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[USS Healy - Bridge (Hrafn)]

Hrafn looked worriedly at Rayek when she saw the two Tess's sat side by side.  Since one was bound and silent it was easy enough to tell them apart.  Her worry was both for the safety of their Tess, and for the emotions of Rayek.  It was one thing being a stone-faced Romulan under normal circumstances... quite something else if his wife and child were involved.

Hearing the demands she looked at Rayek once more wondering what she should do.  The Starfleet Officer in her was telling her not to give into demands.  The friend side of her was saying that they should do anything to save Tess and the baby...but even then there was the gnawing feeling in her gut that it would mean her career if she endangered an entire crew for one...and a half people.

"Give me a moment..." she said to the dominant rTess on the viewscreen, while rolling her head from side to side and patting her ears first the left and then the right as if to restore her hearing after the grenade blast,  "...we're still a little disorientated after your little gift that you sent over."

Without killing the viewfinder but tapping something on her arm padd... which could have been an instruction to power down weapons and shields to the casual onlooker, she typed a message to Rayek

I can't do this... I am stuck here, any ideas?  I don't want to put our Tess in danger by non-compliance, but I can't endanger the entire crew of the Healy...our Healy either.  Any ideas?

A single tear trickled down her face as she looked at her friend but she didn't wipe it away for fear of betraying her feelings to those on the fake Healy.

Muting the sound to the viewfinder she asked generally "Do we have any orders from Katra regarding this yet?  I have noticed the Cobras seem to have eased off and we have some 'friends'..."

[John Saxon]

[Katra Station - Operational Control Center]

Turning from Goodspeed momentarily, John stared hard in succession at the report that both Rhade had failed to be extracted, and then that tractor beams now also began to operate without consent from the OCC. At this rate, he was surprised that he was still surprised that not only was his own personal checks, of every system that came under his purview, consistently failing to detect any new hostile coding, but that unless the fake Rayek had been a busy man in those brief 15 minutes in the Centre, every fake operative that somehow had access to the station seemed to have incredible hacking skills across an impressive range of functions that slipped past even the most strident and focused of security protocols.

Sighing, Saxon decided to leave that problem to someone else. He had his own job to do.

At this rate, he wondered why they just didn't spin the station into the orbit of Meridian.

But they hadn't. In fact, most of their actions to date were designed to cripple, but not destroy, the station. Which meant they needed Katra intact. Which meant someone, or someones, wanted something aboard. Which probably meant information contained locally, since they already had a near perfect copy of the Healy.

Which meant Thinkers.

Perhaps he should have allowed that Hunter ship to slam into their Worldbase after all.

[Eydis]

Katra Station - Operational Control Center

Solluk uttered an ancient Vulcan curse as the tractor emitters came alive to ensnare the Tholian and Klingon cruisers.  It was obvious to him what the likely response to that action would be.  Neither the Tholians nor the Klingons were renowned for their restraint.

"Have any personnel near the tractor emitters evacuate the area immediately!" he shouted the general order, not knowing or caring whether Ops or Communications would get to it first.

"Order all departments who have received these PADDs to wire them into the optronic inputs on their local subsystems and disconnect those systems from main computer control.  There's no telling what else has been sabotaged with software overrides, and we can't afford any more surprises."

His ad-hoc shuttle computer network had been negatively impacted by the loss of two shuttles during the shuttlebay explosion.  This would make the network very sluggish as it suffered from a lack of needed computing power, but Solluk decided it was better to have a slow computer that could be relied upon, rather than an efficient computer that was efficiently carrying out enemy orders.

IKS Lod Qan - Bridge

"They have us in a tractor beam!" Vilka growled the report.  She was still trying to get through to the station, and now they had been attacked.

"HoD," Tolec chimed in from the Science station, "these tractor emitters are unusually powerful, almost as though they were constructed to be auxiliary combat weapons rather than merely aids for ships approaching the station's inner berths.  They are potentially even powerful enough to batter down shield systems.  I estimate that we will not be able to break free from them."

"QI'yaH!" Noh'ves cursed violently, "Do we have any firing arcs on the tractor emitters?"

Vilka shook her head, "The disruptor emplacements on this cruiser are limited in scope.  We are parallel to the station, and our disruptors only have a 45 degree forward firing arc.  I could launch a torpedo and have it circle about, but we are so close to the station, such an action would damage us as well as the tractor emitter."

"What about our shuttles," Noh'ves asked, "Can their weapons disable the tractor beams?"

Vilka considered this.  "Their weapons may not be powerful enough, HoD.  If these emitters are robust enough to handle the kind of graviton output Tolec says, shuttle disruptors might not do the job."

Noh'ves made an animal sound like a low growl.  Then, "Can we remote-control a shuttle?"

Tolec answered this question, "With the proper preparation, yes.  But they need to be specially configured for that kind of operation beforehand.  The computers on these old D-7 cruisers are not as versatile as those on the K'tinga refit.  The preparation of the interface would take several minutes."

Noh'ves dipped his head for a moment.  Then, making a decision, he lifted his chin.  "Ask for a volunteer to launch one of our shuttles and ram the emitter.  Tell them this is battle."

This assurance would remind any volunteers that they would have a place waiting for them in Sto'vo'kor.

Tolec nodded, and then sent a message to the shuttle bay using his station.  "bekk Rotek has volunteered.  He is not a qualified pilot, but he is right there, guarding the shuttle bay.  He says he knows enough to crash a shuttle."

Noh'Ves nodded, "I will commend him to the Klingon Defense Force Command... and also to his father."

Momentarily, a shuttle launched from the shuttle bay of the Lod Qan.  For a moment, it seemed that it, too, might get caught in the tractor beam effect.  But after a moment of intense turbulence, it broke clear of the graviton beams' peripheral interaction zone.   The shuttle turned abruptly and clumsily towards the station, aiming generally at the tractor emitter.  Then it engaged its impulse engines.

"Qapla!""Qapla!""Qapla!"

The bridge crew watched the final moment unfold on the main viewscreen, their hearts filled with pride and respect for the noble warrior who had just given his life for the Empire and his fellow crew.

[Tholian Cruiser] Eydis would suddenly be filled with annoyance at the delay. But whoever this was clearly underestimated tholian web/tractor tech. To attempt and use it on a tholian cruiser was the height of insult to its captain. She thought of simply turning hir cruisers own energy web/tractor beam against the rather strong but primitive in comparison station tractor beam. Sort of like using a using water cutter against a garden hose. But that would take some time for the web emitter to force its way through the graviton field created by the station. Witnessing the Klingon kamikaze run which was respectful to say the least.

Eydis would order the widows to be launch early all three off them and they would use their own tholian webs on each other linking up together to disrupt the graviton tractor beams effect on them. One the three widows break free they would turn and head  towards the tractor emitter. Breaking their joint web that help them together they would each target the emitter with their energy webs. And using their thrusters Simply rip the tractor section emitter free. Thus freeing the acrux as the tractor emitter would  now be little more then a piece of junk towed behind the three widows.
Eydis would watch on the heads up holographic display in the center of the command bridge. IKS Lod Qan perhaps now your suspicions are raised ? I would like to suggest we broad the false interloping federation ship. I'm guessing that even Klingons put out to pasture still have that fire in their bellies.

[L'mar Camili Rhade]

[ Provisional Junior Lieutenant L'mar Rhade ] | [ Deck 12 - Main Engineering | USS rHealy ] - [ DAY 3. AFTERNOON. ]

A faint smell of Anesthizine gas and Rhade quickly took a long breath and held it. He disabled the sensor feeds in Engineering and made his way over to the emergency kit box. It had a backpack, door latch, phaser rifle, tricorder, dermal regenerator, knife, 2 type 2 phasers. He put the belt on and put the rest of the equipment in the backpack. He held onto the rifle as he put the backpack on.

Inside the kit box was also a rebreather and he put that on, allowing him some time to stay awake. Rhade went to the other consoles this time and he programmed his other tricorder, now that he had 2, to scatter his lifesigns. He put that tricorder in his pack and continued using sensors around the ship.

[Tess tLhoell]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant) and Lt. Cmdr. rTess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[USS rHealy - Bridge]

While rTess still waited, a couple of things happened.

First she noted that the Cobras seemed to withdraw but the leading pilot seemed to continue his course - that was unusual. Before rTess could find out what this was about, both the Tholian and the Klingon ship - undoubtedly to support the Healy in stopping them - were trapped by the station's own tractor beams. rTess looked over to rSaqa7 when she cheered about her successful sabotage. Excellent.

The ping of an incoming message at the control panel directed her attention to it. Her eyebrow rose in surprise when rRayek reported he had been unsuccessful to recruit the real Rayek. He should give in so easily in a situation with a phaser pointed at his wife's head!
Her face darkened even more when she read the news of Rhade being on the ship. She looked up sharply to rRayek. "How the hell did he get on board? Find him and make sure he won't get in our way no matter what it takes!"

[USS rHealy - Bridge (rHrafn)]

rHrafn had done as asked and sat giving a rather bemused look at the two Tess's.  "I wonder..." she pondered aloud. "...if the two of you have had the same pregnancy cravings!  I wonder if we could test that one out on our new guest, give her a few new ones to think about, all in the name of Scientific research of course!" she said with a sardonic grin.

"Maybe if my counterpart won't play ball?!"

Tess looked over to rHrafn at her suggestion with a clueless frown. What did that mean? She could not imagine this was what she meant, but she didn't like the sound of 'testing something out' on her. Was she suggesting some kind of human experiment on her?? Tess' stomach churned - mainly because she couldn't be sure they wouldn't really do it.

rTess glanced to the science officer. While she was surprised that the science officer would suggest such she could very well take this and build a little more pressure while she tried to ignore the feeling of knowing that it would scare her - that was the real Tess.
rTess looked back to the view screen where the real Healy's bridge could be seen. "Did you hear that, Rayek?"

[USS Healy - Bridge (Hrafn)]

Hrafn looked worriedly at Rayek when she saw the two Tess's sat side by side.  Since one was bound and silent it was easy enough to tell them apart.  Her worry was both for the safety of their Tess, and for the emotions of Rayek.  It was one thing being a stone-faced Romulan under normal circumstances... quite something else if his wife and child were involved.

Hearing the demands she looked at Rayek once more wondering what she should do.  The Starfleet Officer in her was telling her not to give into demands.  The friend side of her was saying that they should do anything to save Tess and the baby...but even then there was the gnawing feeling in her gut that it would mean her career if she endangered an entire crew for one...and a half people.

"Give me a moment..." she said to the dominant rTess on the viewscreen, while rolling her head from side to side and patting her ears first the left and then the right as if to restore her hearing after the grenade blast,  "...we're still a little disorientated after your little gift that you sent over."

Without killing the viewfinder but tapping something on her arm padd... which could have been an instruction to power down weapons and shields to the casual onlooker, she typed a message to Rayek

I can't do this... I am stuck here, any ideas?  I don't want to put our Tess in danger by non-compliance, but I can't endanger the entire crew of the Healy...our Healy either.  Any ideas?

A single tear trickled down her face as she looked at her friend but she didn't wipe it away for fear of betraying her feelings to those on the fake Healy.

Muting the sound to the viewfinder she asked generally "Do we have any orders from Katra regarding this yet?  I have noticed the Cobras seem to have eased off and we have some 'friends'..."

Then Hrafn finally spoke, but it was just her asking for more patience. rTess frowned and watched as Hrafn typed something on the commad console ... then, she muted the channel.

rTess' patience wore thin. They were just stalling them. Knowing that the officers on the real Healy could still hear her since they only muted their end of the communication, rTess spoke up. "I am not willing to play your games any longer." She looked to the side to the two security officers who held their phasers to Tess' head before she looke back to the view screen. "I will give you ten seconds to make your decision to power down weapons and drop shields or this Tess will be killed. If that is not enough for you to let us leave, there is another officer of yours aboard this ship who will be killed as well should you or anyone else still try to stop us!"

**

Tess tensed up when at the false Tess' words the security officers took a step closer so the phasers were just inches away from her head. Her heart ached with the effort of continuing to pump blood through her body to keep her from fainting. Her breath hitched, her body rigid with fear - yes, it was pure fear now. Had she tried to sooth herself with brave thoughts, it was gone completely now. All she wanted was to not to be here.

A wave of thoughts rolled through her head. Should she try to plead with her capturers? Try to make her false self or the fake Rayek to have mercy with her? Or should she lunge herself on the fake Tess and cause confusion? No, not possible. Her hands were bound, she'd fail immediately.
Fear gripped her once more, more violent than before as she looked to the view screen. Was it right of her to plead in her mind for Hrafn to comply and let them escape? She was sure she had chances to escape if they would take her with her - or they returned her after they successfully escaped. But it would mean to let the saboteurs escape with sensitive knowledge. She realized ... they couldn't let them escape.

So she waited with bated breath, trying to wrap her mind around the notion that she could be killed now ... or die in an attack of the real Healy - with Rayek sitting at tactical it would even be him to initiate it. Tess squeezed her eyes shut to keep the upwelling tears from rolling down.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Replicant - Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS rHealy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]
and
Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge - Day 3 - 3pm]

Too much was happening all at once.  Rayek tried to keep his attention focused on his console noting Hrafn's message to him and his heart clenched.  He had nothing, every move he could possibly make was the wrong one.  He would lose Tess in every situation.  He forwarded on the Captain's orders like a man heading to the gallows.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant) and Lt. Cmdr. rTess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[USS rHealy - Bridge]

While rTess still waited, a couple of things happened.

First she noted that the Cobras seemed to withdraw but the leading pilot seemed to continue his course - that was unusual. Before rTess could find out what this was about, both the Tholian and the Klingon ship - undoubtedly to support the Healy in stopping them - were trapped by the station's own tractor beams. rTess looked over to rSaqa7 when she cheered about her successful sabotage. Excellent.

The ping of an incoming message at the control panel directed her attention to it. Her eyebrow rose in surprise when rRayek reported he had been unsuccessful to recruit the real Rayek. He should give in so easily in a situation with a phaser pointed at his wife's head!
Her face darkened even more when she read the news of Rhade being on the ship. She looked up sharply to rRayek. "How the hell did he get on board? Find him and make sure he won't get in our way no matter what it takes!"

rRayek gave a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to his console frowning; he was trying.  Who knew the Caitian hybrid could be so problematic?

The sharpness of rTess' voice drew his unwilling attention and Rayek glanced up from his console missing the Klingon cruisers launch of their shuttle.  His attention instead was on the viewscreen and the fact that there was some unexpected intruder aboard the enemy vessel.  Who? What were they doing?  And could this be used to help retrieve Tess?

Glancing away again he tried scanning the other ship as he heard rHrafn's threat of experimentation on Tess. Rayek couldn't help but glance then to his Hrafn, who was near to tears at the situation.   How could the same person be so different having such different values, or was that the inner Hrafn?

As much as he hated to admit it his doppleganger was very much true to his personality. Do what it takes to survive - and protect those dear to you?  Was it any wonder these fakes knew to use him as the weak link.

The scan of the other Healy showed only a single lifeform in engineering behind forcefields... that of a Felinoid.  Rhade?  Last Rayek knew, Rhade had been on the station.  He hadn't trapped with them in the subspace rift.  Thus he likely wasn't one of this fake Healy's crew.

Hope flared. Maybe his wife had a chance of being rescued.

rTess glanced to the science officer.

While she was surprised that the science officer would suggest such she could very well take this and build a little more pressure while she tried to ignore the feeling of knowing that it would scare her - that was the real Tess.
rTess looked back to the view screen where the real Healy's bridge could be seen. "Did you hear that, Rayek?"

Rayek grimaced as the fake Tess called to him, pointing out the threat to his wife.

Then Hrafn finally spoke, but it was just her asking for more patience. rTess frowned and watched as Hrafn typed something on the command console ... then, she muted the channel.

rTess' patience wore thin. They were just stalling them. Knowing that the officers on the real Healy could still hear her since they only muted their end of the communication, rTess spoke up. "I am not willing to play your games any longer." She looked to the side to the two security officers who held their phasers to Tess' head before she looke back to the view screen. "I will give you ten seconds to make your decision to power down weapons and drop shields or this Tess will be killed. If that is not enough for you to let us leave, there is another officer of yours aboard this ship who will be killed as well should you or anyone else still try to stop us!"

**
So she (Tess) waited with bated breath, trying to wrap her mind around the notion that she could be killed now ... or die in an attack of the real Healy - with Rayek sitting at tactical it would even be him to initiate it. Tess squeezed her eyes shut to keep the upwelling tears from rolling down.

Rayek needed to act fast.  This was likely going to get him court-martial again.. but his wife was worth that risk.

Glancing to Hrafn, Rayek slipped into her mind.  ~tele~ Rhade is aboard the fake Healy... sabotaging the vessel I think.  Contact him... my ability is too limited.  Tell him to drop his forcefield as he calls for a Medical beam out for himself and Tess to sickbay.   It is the most protected place on the ship.  If Tess has any chance at surviving a battle it will be there.   Tell him he'll need to take out the medical staff and the fake Tess as well.  I'm relying on him! And if he can help bring down the shields that would be a help as well. Then we can beam them out.  But first I need you to trust me no matter what I say or do.  Can you? ~tele~

Rayek stood up looking towards Hrafn.  The Romulan waited a moment until he felt the mental impulse of Hrafn agreeing to the plan, and then began his ruse.

He couldn't be sure if the fake Tess was counting out loud or not but Rayek jumped over the railing once more, to stand in front of Hrafn, looking towards the view screen towards his wife.  He needed to stall to give Hrafn time to contact Rhade and Rhade time to get Tess to safety.

He let his panic and turmoil show as he looked to the fake Tess.  "No! Don't harm her! Please! I'll do as you say." At this point, Rayek pulled his phaser and stunned the two security personnel stationed at the turbolift before pointing it toward Hrafn. "Give up the chair.  I'm in command now."

He then quick-glanced to Tess on the viewscreen.  "I'm sorry it's come to this e'lev.  I know you will not ever be able to forgive me but I am doing this for us.  For our family."

[Kirok]

[Katra OCC]

Zex continued working.  Her eyes were fixed on the hologram.  She was surprised by what happened next.

The Tholian and Klingon ships were captured by a tractor beam.  That was coming from the Katra.  She looked from the hologram to the Captain.

He delivered another order to which she immediately completed. =/\-Katra OCC to all departments who received the special padds.  Wire them directly into the optronic inputs.  Then disconnect them from the main computer-/\= she said over the open channel.

[John Saxon]

[USS rHealy - Deck 14 - Cargo Transporter A]

The transporter operator jumped around 2 feet in the air when his until-then-dormant console began to light up. He had been trained, and then subsequently programmed, to be alert to any attempts for the agents of Katra to attempt beam aboard, no matter how unlikely that was with the shields up. He drew his Type-II phaser, ready to reduce the intruder(s) into quantum mist.

Nothing appeared, as the console and platform then powered down as quickly as it started. In fact, there was not even the hint of a form materialising. The operator then frowned, and moved towards the console to read the transport log. No record of a transport had registeted, although a notification sat in its place: "Phase Coil Test: Successful."

That seemed to indicate a diagnostic of the transmission mechanics had been actioned. Ordinarily a manual instruction, but sometimes the artificially intelligent system performed its own spot test to ensure functionality when all-too fallible biological operators erred. It was a rare occurrence, and Bobkins had never seen it happen himself, but it was in the standard Starfleet Transporter Operator's Handbook.

He recoiled in surprise as the console he was studying so closely, and chamber, once again lit up. His eyes narrowed. What now?

"Chain Transition Test: Successful."

Odd. That was a simple diagnostic to test the site-to-site-

Bobkins's head disappeared into a red mist.

A ripple in the aether scant two meters from the now-lifeless body of Harcourt Bobkins began, a slow drawing down on the vertical, revealing something thin and sinewy, clad in black tactical armour.

And a white scraggly beard.

The tale of how he got aboard the fake Healy, with the help of Lt Catherine Goodspeed, was a daring and remarkable tale for another day. As were the medical procedures needed to repair his now-damaged physiology in light of the unconventional infiltration method. But right now, John 'Century' Saxon stood on the deck of an abominable copy of a ship he had served on decades before - and then reunited when it came to Katra - shrugging off the anthropological sensor-suit and storing it in the armoured backpack that came with him. He was glad to rid of the damned thing; useful for short durations but useless and cumbersome for what lay ahead.

The Warrior of Womac, the Devil of Delphi Ardu IV, the Battler of B'Riton Beta, was going to war.

Moving forward, the TR-116Retro ballistic rifle braced to his shoulder, the old soldier swept out of the door towards his intended goals, one hand on the pistol grip, the other on a modified vertical foregrip.

Straight into a random Security Patrol.

Before a hurried palm could slap a combadge, a sub-sonic projectile turned one broad chest into just a distant memory, and the temple of another- well. It just wasn't there any more.

Jemp and Salto. Good people. The former a mother of two. The latter pursuing an unconventional, but loving, relationship with a Horta. But these weren't them. These were copies, shallow homunculi who dared to share their faces with those he served with; no lesser a viable target than all the Vorta or Jem'Hadar clones during the War. He'd not shed a single tear for their demise.

At least not today.

He continued, the antique tricorder on his left hip generating a pattern that was exactly the inverse of his own biometric readings. On the right hip another, smaller, tricorder set to vibrate - from light to heavy - in the proximity of other life signs in the vicinity- each small vibration a number of meters distant; no giveaway bleeps or blurts, but plenty of notice for the weary warrior.

As if on cue, his right hip buzzed - a slightly uncomfortable sensation against wiry skin and bone. Either a random patrol or a back-up to check in on the ones that had gone dark. At this point, he wished he had more complex and useful technology on him; however, it was an unfortunate fact of warfare that the 'the more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain'. Too much technology would be a hindrance right now - be it traceable, or somehow causing it all to work against him through neurolytic shocks or whatever those kids were slapping themselves on the back about these days. No, Saxon was going old school.

He waited until a foot could be seen coming around the junction corner, then dialled up the integral rail coils, putting a single projectile through two layers of duranium. The foot fell back.

A pause.

No sound. But the vibrations continued. So, at least one more. But yet not calling for reinforcements. Not perfect copies, then.

A head peeked around the corner, following a the node of a Type-II phaser. Rookie mistake.

The vibrations stopped.

Moving on, he stepped over the bodies of Achmet and Reynolds.

Yet, still no sign of an intruder alert being called, or indeed anything resembling frantic counter-insurgent action. At least here. The turbolift arrived dutifully and empty, and while John inched in hesitantly, there was no attempt to impede his progress.

"Deck 12".

[rHealy- Deck 12]

The air was rich in scent of recently deployed anti-personnel gas. Anesthizine? Neurozine? Axonol? Didn't matter; the shots of tri-ox in his system, from his own personal stock in his quarters - and probably five times the usual safe dosage - aided in the protection from the remnants that he was no doubt inhaling. In many ways, he was lucky he was so old - his original lungs, heart and other organs had failed, through damage or wear-and-tear, many times. Within him, therefore, new - stronger - plumbing kept this goat going and was far more tolerant of the chemicals surrounding him.

There. His first, but certainly not primary, target was in sight. Another injection, from the replicators before transit, had served to negate his numerous biological scents; specially formulated to counter certain known parameters. Important for what came next. Usefully, the target had a face mask on, no doubt a barrier against the same gases that continued to disperse. Interesting. But not enough to go off-mission.

The face of his skin tingled with static as he inched forward. Forcefield. But since that was one of the most common barriers to go up against in any conflict, they proved to be the easiest to circumvent.

His battlesuit's conductive EM field didn't even cause the merest buzz as he, and his equipment, passed through. A hand briefly left the foregrip and muted the proximity detection before returning to ensure a steady bead.

Inching forward, the rifle's cold barrel slowly pressed against the top of the cervival vertebrae. "Don't. Move." he growled quietly to Acting Lt L'mar Camili Rhade.

Whether he was real or fake, his next action would determine how this ended.

[Beja]

Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sick Bay

Beja wasn't exactly sure why they were doing things the 'old school' way, as the old human saying went. But now wasn't the time to question it either, Benjin's survival required their quick acting. She grabbed the dressings and hurried over to Roberto with the requested items. All of their ancestors survived without fancy hyposprays, tricorders, and advanced computer equipment. They would have to tap into their ancestral fortitude and survive again without such things.

"Here you go," Beja nodded her encouragement to Roberto, while she watched him work. "What else do you need? Let me know and it will be done." If anyone could get Benjin through it would be Roberto. She still wasn't sure exactly what happened. What had caused the explosions? And would there be more of them? Everything pointed to the station once more being under attack, but from whom? Had the Thinkers struck again? Or had the Atrosians found a new technology to enact their revenge?

[L'mar Camili Rhade]

Inching forward, the rifle's cold barrel slowly pressed against the top of the cervical vertebrae. "Don't. Move." he growled quietly.

[ Provisional Junior Lieutenant L'mar Rhade ] | [ Deck 12 - Main Engineering | USS rHealy ] - [ DAY 3. AFTERNOON. ]

He found 2 Tess t'Lhoells on the Bridge. Clones, how? Rhade wondered as he worked, his emergency site-to-site program still undiscovered. He had to save his XO, his real XO. Again how? Time was running out. He'd lose Engineering's lockdown with dumping the core and since his EPS sabotage had not worked, they must have solved that when they duplicated the Healy but made it look like it wasn't.

Suddenly a cold barrel was against the back of his neck. Rhade had failed to monitor anyone coming to Engineering, but why was he still alive. He imagined that the clones witness him just kill their companions here, they'd not bother to take him prisoner. So it had to be someone from the real Healy or Katra Station, his mind raced unhelpful with trying to understand the how since they were out of transporter range.

With his rebreather mask on his voice was slightly muffled, since the gas was still in the room. He slightly rotated his head so he could see who was behind him in his peripheral vision. Saxon! Oh o. He is angrry, prrobably because I wasn't attached to my combadge. L'mar reasoned, though he kept his hands on the console as he spoke. "Lieutenant, sirr, we don't have time forr this. Commanderr t'Lhoell is in trrouble on the Brridge." L'mar pleaded. "The clones arre coming, neverr thought I'd say that, I have a plan."

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Main Engineering - Deck 29

Chief Petty Officer Calabrass grunted slightly as he reached behind the Power Control Subsystem and pulled out the ODN lines connecting the system to the main computer.  It was quite possibly the most ludicrous modification he'd ever been asked to perform in the middle of an alert, and he half-expected the warp core to begin a breach as control of the system was handed over to his PADD.  Fortunately, that did not happen.  Instead, the PADD's linked computer network asssumed the matter/antimatter control function.

Then the entire station rocked as something hit the facility.  Hard.

Calabrass quickly stood, walking over to a damage control display which was lighting up with damage reports on Deck 5.   There was a hull breach and plasma fires.

Decks 6 and 7 had previously been damaged by an explosion in the internal berths, but damage control teams had already gotten the plasma fires there under control.  So... what on Coridan had happened to Deck 5?

As he watched, another damage report came in from Deck 5.  Another breach.   He pulled up details.  There were two distinct incidents: A collision above one of the berth openings, right at the tractor emitter over Berth Access 1.  Then the tractor emitter over Berth Access 2 had somehow been ripped right out of the station's structure.  He had no idea what could even do something like that.

As he puzzled over the new information, someone ran up beside him.

It was the cadet.  The conspiracy theorist with a sweet-tooth.

Mary something.

Mary Rayne nearly skidded to a stop beside the Coridanite, and then glanced down momentarily.  She always felt like she was staring at the cybernetics the Chief wore on his face, and so she tried to avoid it.  But then she always felt self-conscious about not looking at his face, and made furtive glances.  She was pretty sure it made her seem like a spaz.

She'd bake the Chief some cupcakes later.  Cupcakes were the least socially awkward food in the galaxy.  They brought everyone together.

"Chief!  I was chasing some power alerts down in the transporter room and-"

Calabrass waved a hand dismissively, "We have power alerts everywhere, Cadet.  But we have to prioritize.  There are several transporter rooms in the green, so don't bother with any in the red.  We'll isolate them and fix them later."

Mary nodded but nearly bounced on the balls of her feet with impatience, "But Chief, I think I found it!  I found how they're smuggling things onto the station!"

Calabrass rolled his eyes.  Not that anyone could see him do it with his environmental interface implants in place.  "Not this again, Cadet.  I told you to stop indulging in these fantasies after your 'subtle interrogation' of the Daimon while he was strolling through the promenade."

"But I have proof this time, Chief.  I found a Spatial Inverter module installed into the transporter buffers on deck 20!  The smugglers have probably been doing this for a long time.  The thing looks specifically designed to plug right into Federation transporter systems.  They could pop a panel, plug it in, and boom!  An ordinary transporter becomes an Elway device!  But maybe they had to abandon it when we went to alert.  We've got them, Chief!  Spatial Inverters are illegal!"

Calabrass sighed.  He was tempted to dismiss this in favor of more important matters, but this could actually be a serious breach of security.  Lieutenant Saxon had cautioned all departments to be especially alert about suspicious activity, and this certainly qualified.  "Fine.  Tell Security, have them put someone on guard there in case anyone tries to retrieve the device or use it to transport in.  But don't touch anything.  That's evidence, now.  Security will want to document it before it's removed."

Mary nodded, almost giddy.  "Right away, Chief!"

IKS Lod Qan - Bridge

The flash of light died on the viewscreen.   The Lod Qan was no longer a prisoner of Katra Station.  A console on the bridge beeped, and Tolec went to have a look.

"HoD, the Tholians are transmitting a message."

"What is it?" Noh'ves asked, surprised that the Tholians had so recently become chatty and friendly towards them.  It was almost as though they wanted something.

Tolec read the message to himself, and paused.  Tolec took it upon himself to re-word the content of the message, deciding this was not the best time to antagonize his Captain. "They believe the Healy which just departed the station is an impostor vessel, and that the true Healy now intercepts those impostors.  The Tholians seem to think the tractor beam attack we both just suffered is part of some scheme involving these impostors.  And they... invite us to join them in an attack upon the false Healy."

Noh'Ves considered this for a moment, and then nodded.  "Agreed.  Something has gone very wrong with the station and its ship, but we can no longer sit idly by for an explanation.  Tell the Tholians we will come about the far side of the engagement."

With those words, he himself took the helm station.

"Vilka.  Initiate cloaking device."

"luq!" she acknowledged, and the lighting on the bridge changed to indicate that the cruiser was now operating in stealth mode.

It would take a couple of minutes for the Lod Qan and the Acrux to reach the position of the two Healies.  A lot could happen in that amount of time.

[John Saxon]

[USS rHealy - Deck 12 - Main Engineering]

"Lieutenant, sirr, we don't have time forr this. Commanderr t'Lhoell is in trrouble on the Brridge." L'mar pleaded. "The clones arre coming, neverr thought I'd say that, I have a plan."

At his tone, John pressed the barrel in to Rhade a little harder, just to ram home the dire situation he was in. "I'm quite aware of the situation" he continued to growl, with voice low and cold. Okay, all this seemed fall into the 'stupid decision Rhade' category rather than 'betray my colleagues Rhade'. The latter determination had significantly extended the Felinoid's immediate lifespan, but no guarantees could be made of his career.  "What I want you to make me aware of is: what you are doing, and then we're going to think about how that is going to help me with what I'm going to do.".

If Rhade's actions could benefit his own plans, he'll consider it. Otherwise it would just be useful to know what he'd have to look out for and avoid.

As he spoke, a rough hand slapped the inside of Rhade's uniform, where it would take a few seconds of awkward fumbling to even locate the small encrypted transponder now bonded to the light fur and skin; a few seconds that would give Saxon ample notice to...disuade the notion.

"Don't remove that." he warned. "Now. Spill. Quickly."

More enemies incoming? Surely it wasn't his birthday again already?

Send in the clones.