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Sirol and I talked and they okay'd me to progress the story.

I'm really enjoying writing with everyone!

[USS Courser - Bridge]

USS Courser - Bridge

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

Looking up as Lieutenant Sugiyama arrived back on the bridge, Willow gave her an acknowledging nod.
"œWelcome back to the Bridge, Lieutenant," she said in her usual, unreadable tone. She was still furious, but had decided that now was not the time for such discussions. After they were out of danger and had their people back then she could address her insubordination.
"œI hope your excursion was fruitful," the Romulan offered as she walked over to a terminal to help in the efforts to get their ship moving again.

"œLieutenant Lonic, I want to scan for warp signatures, let's see if we can trace them back to where they came from," Willow spoke as she looked over towards Lonic. She then looked around the bridge to the rest of the Bridge crew.
"œAny word yet on what's keeping us in place, Lieutenant Sugiyama?" She looked to Kimiko to see if she was at her terminal. "I still suspect that we might be stuck in place with gravity mines. Can you see if you can find out what's holding us?"

Willow then turned to the Captain. "œCaptain, requesting your permission to go and debrief Arafe. He might have some insight for us on how to combat our new friends. After that I'll report to the brig and have a nice little chat with our new friends to see what I can learn."
The Romulan gave a polite bow to the Captain before exiting the bridge and making her way to Ten Forward.

Stepping out of the turbolift, Willow made her way to the bar. As she entered, she raised one hand in greeting to Arafe and walked over to him.

"œI heard you had a tussle with our uninvited guests and came out on top. How are you holding up?" The Romulan looked around the bar, it wasn't one of her usual hangouts so she indulged her curiosity a little before turning back to face the Bolian. "œWhat can you tell me about their strength? Did you learn anything about them that we may find useful? We need every piece of information we can get, whether it seems useful or not. We need to get our people back. Every little piece of information helps. I'm going to see our new friends after this."

After speaking with Arafe, Willow bid the Bolian goodbye and promised to visit Ten Forward more often. With Arafe's debriefing concluded, the Romulan made her way to the brig. With her head held high, back straight and her shoulders squared she entered the brig and openly observed the captives, allowing them to observe her in return. She gave a nod to the officer on duty in the brig before focusing her attention completely on the captives.

"œGreetings." She spoke slowly and clearly. "œWe have a lot to talk about so why don't we get started? No harm will come to you if you cooperate. Now, tell me, who are you? What do you want and why were our people taken?"

Willow didn't expect her questions to be answered so easily. She didn't know if their guests would even understand her, but she was prepared for the struggle to get them talking. She would get answers from them.

"œDhroi. Dhroi ahefvi. Answer me truthfully. Hveolhaonn am ehdhihss of a idh large bird tagor hvaedroalh ortaim."

Tag to Eydis and Reisen
soft tag to Sirol (Emerald trying to Lattice with her)

https://www.shadowfleet.org/forum/katra-station/s3-m11-the-best-things-in-life-are-free/msg262489/#msg262489

[Xasik Speech]

Xasik Speech
Xasik Lattice
Emerald Speech
Emerald Lattice

--------------------------------

Would place the rose meant for emerald a blue one over to xasik with a nod. Reaching down as the hatchling rolls up and bops and into hir leg. Shi would utter something in a series of sharp almost whale like clicks and squealing.  It almost sounded like laughter from the captain to the others but it would be that to the hatchling emerald. A bemused laugh at the playfulness of the hatchling A bold little one you are indeed little emerald perhaps you will be warrior caste member. There other rose is yours. It would allow a special lattice collection between you and your surrogate parent xasik

Eydis would nod at the new romulan male Reisen. It is a pleasure to meet more humanoids. Welcome aboard the station science caste member Reisen.

[Reisen]
I do thank you kindly warrior caste member Eydis. I do look forward to understanding more of the tholian people from you. I have duties to attend to with the my new colleague Xasik.

Reisen would place the coffee now and hand xasik his. Looking down at the small tholian hatchling rolling around booping into the legs of others then coming towards him. He would offer a mock surprise and stand still as the little enivorment bubble bounced off his leg. Offerings warm smile down to the hatchling .

hello little rolling one

[Katra Station | Simulation Lab]

Xasik

Placing Emerald's ECS back on the ground, Xasik accepted the blue Galaxy Rose on Emerald's behalf. He nodded his head gratefully to Eydis and gently placed it onto the bench. He had his own red Galaxy Rose tucked into a special pocket he had made inside his lab coat. The rose rested right against his heart, the place where Emerald would always be. He had to hold back laughter as he thought about how sentimental he had become since obtaining his freedom. No longer was he seen and not heard, obedient to his death. Now he was his own person. He had experienced so much in the short time he had been free, but never did he think he would experience the joy and love of being a father and he wouldn't trade it for anything in the universe.

Enjoying the aroma of his coffee, Xasik swirled it slightly before he stirred it with his chocolate bar. Once the chocolate had melted into the beverage Xasik took a sip. He smiled as he watched Emerald interacting with both Eydis and Reisen. It brought joy to his heart to see his child having such fun. He was always proud of how creative and resourceful Emerald could be, and how quickly they warmed up to the people that they met.

Emerald was soaking up all the attention they were getting. When Eydis spoke to them they squeaked back at hir excitedly and booped their ECS into hir leg again before rolling back and booping Reisen's leg, giggling the entire time. Xasik appreciated the way Reisen reacted, pretending to be surprised and smiling at Emerald, to which the young Tholian giggled louder and then rolled back to boop Eydis.
Xasik's smile widened when he heard Eydis laughing back at Emerald's shenanigans.

"œThey are indeed a bold little Tholian. I wouldn't be surprised if they were Warrior Caste. Each day they get stronger and bolder and I couldn't be prouder."

"œSqueak peep peep chirp click squeak!" Emerald called out as they booped into Eydis' legs again, giggling and rolling away almost as if trying to tempt Eydis into chasing them.

Xasik turned his attention to Reisen. "œThe Federation has sent me a crate of artifacts from a planet that had been assumed to be uninhabited. I've been asked to clean and catalogue the items with detailed scans to be taken before sending them back. Would you be interested in taking a look at the artifacts? I'll have them here for a while so I thought I'd offer."

The Reman looked up as his terminal beeped. From across the room Emerald beeped back at it and giggled. Xasik smirked and walked over to his workstation to investigate. He had been sent some scans. Curiously he tilted his head as he looked at the information. A small pocket of tetryon particles? Too small to be a cloaked ship, but certainly not naturally occurring
Fascinating"¦"¦

---------------

Emerald

Emerald was having such fun rolling around the den and booping into others! Dear Mother (Eydis) was here and so was The New One (Reisen). Emerald was extremely excited to see them both and let them know by booping into them and squeaking at them! They also made sure to hum at Dear Mother and The Sharp One (Xasik) to share their happiness and excitement with them. They missed First Mother (Sirol), but they had felt from The Sharp One that he was not worried about First Mother going missing, so Emerald was content to believe that she would return back to the den soon. "œMother," they hummed out as far as they could to try and reach her and send her their love. "œLove."

With excitement Emerald  rolled around and faced Dear Mother. "œMother," Emerald hummed at hir as shi squeaked at them. The Sharp One grunted something at Dear Mother. Emerald decided that there would be time for grunting and squeaking later. Right now they wanted to play. So with that in mind Emerald squeaked as loud as they could to get Dear Mother's attention, making sure to boop hir legs again before rolling away hoping that Dear Mother would chase them as First Mother and The Sharp One often did.

They stopped rolling briefly when The Sharp One's side of the den beeped. Emerald beeped back at it before giggling and rolling away again, looking over their shoulder to see if Dear Mother was chasing them.

[[Katra Station | Simulation Lab]]

[Katra Station | Simulation Lab]

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >

<"Do not interfere with the hatchling breaking the shell...">
The healer advised as they leaned a little forward, poking their head between Xasik's and Sirol's shoulders and running their scanner over the egg.
<"...We need to determine the child's strength and coordination. A healthy hatchling should be able to break free by themself with ease...">

The entire world seemed to go quiet as Xasik watched the tiny cracks chipping away at the surface of the egg. It was so hard not to reach forward and help the little one out of their shell. In his eyes they were struggling and instinct urged him to help, but Peylix had told him not to interfere. They were determining the child's strength by if they could break the shell by themself. Xasik watched on as he held his breath. He looked to Sirol before taking her hand in his and giving a slight squeeze for support, as much for him as for her.

The Reman didn't know what to do with himself. He was a mixture of emotions. Joy, anxiety, fear, excitement. Squeezing his colleague's hand was all he could do to calm himself down. He hoped she didn't mind.

The egg shuddered slightly as more cracks formed and small chips of the shell broke free. Slight squeaking could be heard from within the shell. That sound alone had Xasik's heart racing.

"œHi there little one," Xasik almost whispered in awe. "œThat's it Little Pebble, come on. Very good! Push. You can do it," he encouraged, squeezing Sirol's hand a little tighter. "œLook at them go!"

He wasn't sure how long it took. Time seemed to stand still for the Reman as he watched the Tholian hatchling slowly work themself free fragment by fragment. Xasik resisted the urge to bombard Peylix with questions. It was difficult but he understood that the healer needed to observe the process and was more knowledgeable about the subject than he was. If something was wrong then Peylix would have said so.

With so much excitement coursing through his system, it was easy to forget that he was confined within an EV suit. His claustrophobia momentarily took a step back in his mind as he watched his child struggling to free themself. He wasn't sure exactly how long the process took, how long they all stood there watching on in awe but eventually the little Tholian Hatchling finally managed to work their way free of their egg.

Once the little one was free, Xasik resisted the urge to scoop them up. Instead he allowed Peylix to examine them to make sure they were okay. After being in stasis for so long there was always the chance for something to go wrong.
He took a small step back to give the healer more room to work. It seemed to take a lifetime before Peylix was done and Xasik was told that it was okay to hold his child.

Delicately scooping the hatchling up in both hands, the Reman stared in awe at the tiny new life he had watched come into the world. Barely able to sit upright, Xasik supported the child with his thumb and kept the other at the ready just in case the child started to wobble. In that moment he was glad that he was wearing a tinted visor because behind it he could not hold back his tears as he held his child.

They were the purest little life form that he had ever beheld. Already living up to the name Xasik had chosen for them, the little one was a rich emerald green that threw off  pale blue highlights in the right lighting. All the priceless stones and minerals that Xasik had seen in his lifetime paled in comparison to this little Tholian hatchling sitting securely in his hands and squeaking the cutest little sounds he had ever heard.

"œWelcome to the world my little Emerald," Xasik cooed, his voice full of emotion and pride as he looked into the pale, glowing eyes of the hatchling. It might have been his imagination but he could feel a bond forming between them already. The little one stopped squeaking momentarily and seemed to stare at his visor before chirping softly at him and getting comfortable against his thumb and closing their eyes.
The Reman's heart melted and he urged Sirol and Peylix to look at Emerald resting so peacefully.

"œLook at how sweet and innocent they are. They've been through so much already and they don't even know it. Strong little fighter, rest easy now. I will protect you."

After a while of staring at his child, Xasik carefully made his way over to the force-field that separated the quarantine room from the rest of the lab. He stopped at the edge and motioned for Eli and Kyan to come closer so that they could see the hatchling sleeping safely in his hands.

"œI want to introduce you to my child, Emerald. Thank you for being here to welcome them into the world." He could not hide the pride seeping out in his voice.

The hatchling opened their eyes and looked at the two faces on the other side of the force-field. They gave a few soft squeaks before closing their eyes again and drifting off to sleep.

[[Katra Station | Xasik's Quarters]]

[Katra Station | Xasik's Quarters]

Xasik

Xasik stared at the reply he'd received from Dennis Phillips before eventually responding that he was ready to receive his guests. He still couldn't believe that he had agreed to something like this. He had only just become a father for the first time and now he was volunteering to play "˜dad' to someone much older than he was. It was such a strange thought, but then again, anything was possible in The Federation.

He did a quick check through his quarters to make sure everything was in order. He had fully furnished his spare room and Emerald's room to make his guests more comfortable, and he had even remembered to make sure that Emerald's room was habitable. Little Pebble was not yet old enough to stay in their own room by themself so they had been sleeping in an EV tank on the table beside Xasik's bed so the only change for the little one would be the addition of two more people living in the quarters.

Emerald knew something was happening. All day they had been following Xasik around the quarters while he cleaned and tidied up, peeping and chirping curiously as new areas to explore were opened up to them. More than once they had nearly tripped the Reman over by getting underfoot but luckily no accidents had happened"¦..yet. Xasik would have to be sure to warn Sirol and Kyan of Emerald's habit of rolling as close as possible to investigate whatever you were doing. Emerald had also recently started to sneak up behind him as quietly as possible before squeaking as loudly as they could, startling Xasik every time. More than once he had sworn in Reman in surprise. Luckily they only startled him in their Quarters so his cussing had never fouled unsuspecting ears. He was certain Emerald enjoyed his shouts because they giggled their little squeaky giggle every single time.
.
He had considered putting a toy that jingled in the ECS ( Environmental Containment Sphere) so that Emerald wouldn't be able to sneak up on him and give him heart attacks anymore, but the more he thought about it, the more he didn't like that idea. Not only would the constant jingling of a bell be super annoying but he would also spoil the fun his child was having. This was a game they had created all by themself and he didn't want to discourage them from being creative and having fun, so in his mind the lesser evil was to allow Emerald to continue playing their game and startling him. He would have to warn Kyan and Sirol about that too. He didn't want them accidentally yeeting his child with their foot in surprise.

Looking at the time, Xasik realized that his guests would be arriving soon. He was nervous, he had never had guests before. Since arriving on the station he had very rarely had anyone visit him in his quarters. His little robotic vacuum (Space Roomba) had been working overtime doing it's rounds to make sure there was no trace of rock dust to be found. He watched as the dinner plate sized disk rolled past him with Emerald in hot pursuit. That was another game the young Tholian had created. They would chase the vacuum around and try to bounce their ECS on top of it. Of course they would roll off again immediately but that seemed to be part of the fun. Xasik smiled as Emerald pounced onto the vacuum, rolled off and giggled as they chased after it again.

"Be careful Little Pebble," Xasik chuckled. "Don't you break our little maid there."

It wasn't long before he began to pace as he started going over his mental checklist. He had cleaned, tidied, and furnished the rooms. He had even stocked up on real food and snacks. His replicator had been serviced and was working perfectly, as had his sonic shower. Was it normal to be so anxious about having guests? The Romulans he had served had never appeared as anxious as he felt when having company around, but then again, they had others to do all the preparation work for them.

Looking at the time again, the Reman grunted and turned the lighting level in the living room up 15%. It would allow Kyan to be able to see properly but it wouldn't be too harsh on his or Sirol's eyes. The bedroom lights could be adjusted independently to suit the occupants comfort level. He would leave that up to his guests to find the setting they liked best.
He turned on the holoscreen and flipped through the channels until he found a child's program that Emerald would enjoy and to give his quarters some background ambiance.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the comm pad on his door chime.
"œIt's open, come in," he called to his guest as he settled himself down. "œMake yourself at home."

-------------

[Katra Station | The Sharp One's Den]

Emerald

Something was happening. The Sharp One (Xasik) could not stand still. He was moving around the den and moving things around. It was very exciting to be able to explore all the new spaces The Sharp One was making, but Emerald did not know why. This was not like The Sharp One. He was more jumpy than usual. Emerald had made him grunt in surprise more than usual, which was funny, but never had they gotten him so many times before.

Emerald very quickly lost interest in why The Sharp One was acting so strange. They had places to explore and a flat bubble (Space Roomba) to chase! They spotted it on the other side of the den and rolled after it, determined to catch it! Once they were close enough to it they bounced their bubble and jump/rolled onto the flat bubble, giggling as they fell off again.
"œPeep peep eep chirp peep peep squeak!" They giggled and tried again, and again. One day they would not fall off and would ride the flat bubble around!

Their game ended when they heard the sound of squeaking and soft music.
"œChirp! Squeak peep!" They called excitedly as they rolled over towards the moving wall (holoscreen) to watch the colours and  enjoy the music and squeaking.
It wasn't long though before the opening wall (door) squeaked and Emerald squeaked back in surprise. That sound meant someone new was here! With excitement Emerald raced to the opening wall to greet them.
"œSqueak! Peep peep chirp squeak peep click!" They called excitedly as they booped their bubble into the legs of the guest before The Sharp One scooped them up and grunted something at them.

[[USS Courser - Bridge]]

[USS Courser - Bridge]

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

[USS Courser]

Then Don had stood up and felt the room spinning. He had to fight for his crew. "œHow deep is the assault ships in the hull?" he asked.

"œTen meters, sir," the second operator replied.

"œDo sensors read any other ships by us?" he asked. "œWe are not going to let them get away, got my promise!"

Don had waited to see what other bridge crew members had to say. As he was waiting he called Engineering.

Engineering report...

He had wanted to see if they got communication with Engineering. After all they are the spine of the Curser

Willow listened to the Captain asking questions and eagerly listened to the responses given. She stood at attention at his side as he conversed with the crew. It gave her mind something to do, something to focus on other than her anger and the munchies she was currently experiencing. She was used to controlling her anger like a good Romulan Soldier and taking orders, something in the adhesive grenades was affecting her more than she liked to admit. She did not make a habit of showing her stronger emotions or snacking on the job. It was unprofessional but damn did she want some shrimp jello with chocolate whipped cream and diced pickles. The thought of such a combination would usually turn her stomach, but right now it sounded delicious.

She also had the urge to fidget. She suddenly had so much energy that she had to vent it somehow and ended up taking a pen from her pocket and clicking it repeatedly.

USS Courser / Bridge
Lieutenant Lonic

As the Commander eventually returned, Lonic looked up to her and slowly nodded.
"œBoarding party is retreating; they are preparing their ship to leave.
Detaching from the Courser in 4"¦ 3"¦ 2"¦ 1..."

Lonic internally frowned at the many unknowns of their current situation, yet looked at the Commander and answered calmly as usual.
"œWe need to find what is keeping us in position before we lose track of the intruders' ship. Which"¦ Might be the case exceptionally fast in this sector's environmental conditions"¦
The Courser is perfectly capable of both, impulse and warp"¦ So there has to be some sort of external force keeping us here, and we need to find and identify it. A force field perhaps? Some sort of physical barrier? Nothing seems to register, but I beg to differ..."

After a second of delay the voice of C8 Red could be heard over the communicator. In the background, multiple voices and noises from the rest of the engineering staff, as well as other people, safely kept in the locked area could be heard mumbling.
"œC8 Red here, Captain. We are currently in lockdown. We had an intruder alert a few minutes ago. The attackers tried to get in here, but we could hold them back"¦  Then they"¦ Began to leave"¦ They might regroup or have picked a different target elsewhere. We're maintaining the lockdown until we have word from Golshani or you to lift it."
"œThe intruders have left..." sh'Sael's voice could be heard alongside C8. "œMy readings show they have boarded their ship. All but one"¦ Near the ten forward..."
"œCowards..."

Lonic looked up from his readings and towards the Captain and the XO.
"œThat is"¦ Correct"¦ And potentially useful"¦ They have left one of their crewmembers behind..."

T'Soni raised one of her painted-on eyebrows.
"œMaybe an interrogation might help us understand their motives"¦ And the Location of our missing crew members..."

Willow nodded as Lonic addressed her. She was furious that the intruders were running and denying her a good fight but she had to suppress that thought for now. There were other uses for her energy right now. She eyed Dr T'Soni for a moment before looking away and back at the screen.

"œYes, we need to get ourselves moving and find our missing people. I have a little score to settle with our "˜friends'. So we need to think, what could be holding us in place? A tractor beam perhaps? No"¦..We would be able to locate that" She paused to think about the problem. Her mind wandered to events that she had experienced in the past, things she had trained for as a Romulan soldier.
"œGravity mines?" She questioned out loud to anyone that could hear her. It wasn't a pleasant thought but it was a logical one, and with the garbled languages she had heard on the distress call earlier, it was possible that the intruders could have access to tech from outside of their own culture.

Willow paused her line of thinking as C8 Red's voice came over the communicator. Her stomach dropped as Golshani's name was mentioned.

"œGolshani was taken," Willow responded to both C8 Red and the Captain. "œI saw them take him and someone else. There was nothing I could do to stop it. They tased me and stuck my team with their adhesive grenades. I failed to protect them." There was shame in her voice, and deep remorse that briefly covered her anger.

"œCowards indeed," Willow agreed as she began to pace again.

[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

"Um... Arafe Corass to the bridge. We've encountered and captured a couple of the boarders. We could really use some security to take them to the brig."

Willow tapped her comm badge to respond to Arafe Corass.  "œAcknowledged. I'll send a team to collect them. Are they secure? Sit tight Arafe."

Pacing the Bridge, Willow tapped her comm badge again.  "œFletcher to Vakarian, take Williams with you and meet with Arafe in Corridor 12. He's got some uninvited guests that need to be shown to the brig."

"œAcknowledged Lieutenant Commander," Vakarian responded immediately.

"œCaptain, I'm sending a team to collect our guests and show them to the guest rooms in the brig." Willow stated. More than anything she wanted to be there to apprehend their guests, but her place was on the Bridge currently and unless ordered by the Captain, she would remain here and help however she could.

"œWhat now?" Don splurted out.

"œWe will interrogate the individuals.  I want to know if there are similar of the crew members like same DNA or genes for example," he said turning to number one and science station. "œSecurity if there is a second round. Try to put blockades shields in the area and corridors if they you feel it slow them down or from moving around the ship."

"œAnd find the damn thing that is holding us," he ordered. He was trying to think what else the enemy had done or what they could. They needed to think out of the box or try thinK.

Then he switched to communication to the whole ship

This is the Captain. We are fully aware of the attack by group who snatch our people. Stay calm. Please report damage and missing people. You have my word that we going to resolve this and get our people back..everyone has a important job from young to elder. Help each other much as you can. And we will stay strong. And we will be united and be courageous.

There was no way he was not ignore the ship.

"œYes Captain," the Romulan nodded before relaying his order to her security teams. "œSecurity teams, if our "˜friends' decide to return, Captain wants us to put up blockade shields in the areas where they are, as well as in the corridors so we can slow them down."

"œYes, Lieutenant Commander," came the reply from the security teams.

Willow listened as the Captain went to a ship-wide communication and nodded in agreement. The best thing they could do now was to find out what was holding them in place, pursue the intruders and get their people back, but in the meantime an inspirational speech was a good way to help calm down those that remained.
She was determined to get their people back.

-------------------------

[USS Courser - Corridor 12]

Ensign Vakarian and Lieutenant Williams

Walking with Williams, Vakarian said very little to his companion as they approached the location they had been ordered to go to. He was still recovering from an encounter with the intruders and was a little anxious about being sent to detain some. Williams seemed to be calm, but then again, she had been on the Bridge during the incident so she hadn't seen the worst of the assault.

"œArafe! Kimiko!" He called as they approached. "œI see you've been busy. I'm impressed. These guys are not easy to take down!"

Williams snorted in amusement at the ensign's enthusiasm. "œEasy now," she reminded him. "œLet's not jump the gun. We still have to get them to the brig. They're not secure until they've been secured there."

"œAhh, yeah," he nodded as he reached for the restraints he had on him to secure the captives before Williams spoke up.

"Computer, transport these two captives to the brig."

Vakarian watched as the two captives were transported away before he tapped his badge to report back to the Captain and Lieutenant Commander.
"œVakarian to Captain Addams and Lieutenant Commander Fletcher. Captives have been secured and are now in the brig."

Yikes, I might be safer getting taken by the slavers lolol. 

Don't be too harsh I was just trying to help... 

Don't worry lol, Willow is a serious character but she does have a softer side. She's stressed from the situation but she will probably calm down....eventually lol

Accidental corpse xD Willow can't interrogate a corpse, that might make her even more.....moody. She's down for two prisoners to 'talk' to
I really love the way the story is unfolding and the chemistry of the crew. I'm loving playing this with you all!

tag for Sirol, Eydis and Reisen

https://www.shadowfleet.org/forum/katra-station/s3-m11-the-best-things-in-life-are-free/msg262392/#msg262392

[Xasik Speech]

Xasik Speech
Xasik Lattice
Emerald Speech
Emerald Lattice

[Katra Station | Simulation Lab]

Xasik

While he was very focused on his work, every now and then Xasik could hear Sirol reading and explaining things to Emerald. It made him smile to himself. Emerald enjoyed these one on one times with Sirol and would squeak their enjoyment for the world to hear. Occasionally he did have to wear a headset to cut the squeaking out so he could concentrate but mostly it warmed his heart to hear his child so happy.  One day he hoped to be able to share his love of geology with his child when they were a bit older, but for now he was simply happy to see and hear them being so happy.
With his work now finished though, Xasik was content to simply relax a little. As he tapped his badge to ask Reisen to grab some coffee he had to hold back a snort of laughter as Sirol whispered at him.

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >
"œYou should  not use our new colleague as errand boy.
Not while we have Crewman Connor - He still has Twelve days making up for the incident with the glue and the doughnuts to work off..."
While it was meant as an attempt at practising humour, Sirol's calm and serious tone made it sound like an actual practise.

Xasik couldn't help but chuckle at his colleague's attempt at humour. She was trying and that was all that mattered. He appreciated the effort. He could tell that despite her calm and serious tone, she had meant it as a joke.

"œ...At least tell him to get himself something too. Strengthen the morale of the collective while taking care of everyone's physical needs."

He nodded to her in agreement before addressing Reisen again.
"œMake sure to get yourself one as well. We can all have a coffee drinking session." Xasik made sure to sound as friendly as possible. He didn't want to come across as intimidating and scary, especially to Reisen who was new to the team.

The young male Romulan would answer the hail from Xasik in a warm demeanor and respectful infliction to his voice.

Yes I could do that. I believe coffee is a good way to make new friends on this station.  Science officer Sirol needing coffee as well. How do you like the coffee to be Scientist freeman ?

"œSirol always needs coffee, she's become a bit of an addict. She has hers strong and sweet, no cream. I take mine weak with cream. I've got some small cookies here that we can have with our coffees. Thanks again Reisen. We'll see you soon."

Xasik once again looked to Sirol and smirked as Emerald peeped up and squeaked at them both. He had felt them both in the Lattice but he hadn't been able to understand them properly. He appreciated the feelings behind it though. He hoped that soon he would be able to understand and utilize the Lattice well enough to be able to communicate fluently.

He looked up the comm pad on the door chimed and as the door to the lab opened. He nodded his head politely as Eydis walked in.

Shi would hit the comm pad of the door to announce her arrival offical and then entered into the lab. Shi would find Sirol after giving the room a slight nod of her head.

Shi would head over to Sirol and take out the small white dagger from its sheath. It was as sharp as obsidian yet had no visible jagged edge but smooth. The dagger had  a swirling white almost snowy appearance to it. Flipping the dagger around so shi held the dagger between hir blue digits. As she did so a faint wisp of bluish energy transfer from hir crystalline structure into the blade itself. Now a faint spidery blue line could be seen in the swirling white crystal blade.

For you my friend Sirol.

Xasik soon emerald will need to have her caste role imprint. You will be allowed to come back with emerald. We should not delay, her connection to the assembly for much longer. We need to leave before her next molting.

As Emerald will have to add to the song of tholia. And I'm sure your name as her parent will become part of the song of tholia. Sung for as long as tholia prime and the tholians exist. Generations will know of you xasik and Sirol. Long after all individuals here have passed away. Long after even you own species forgets your names.

Eydis would pause and look up as Resien returned with a tray of coffees. Hir blue eyes fixed on him. More faces to remember it would seem.

Xasik nodded as Eydis addressed him. "œYes, Emerald will add to the song of Tholia soon. It would be such an honour to have my name become a part of the song."

The thought brought an unexpected tear to his eye as he thought about being immortalized in the song of Tholia. As an escaped former slave, Xasik had not really expected anyone to remember him after he was gone. If he was lucky his name would be listed in the Romulan database as a runaway, but that was all he had expected to remain of him after he was gone. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he could be honoured in such a way.

He wiped the offending tear away as Reisen entered the lab with the coffees and gave him a friendly nod of his head while fighting off a yawn.

"œThank you for grabbing coffee. Next time it'll be my turn to get it." The Reman smiled as he reached for the coffee handed to him. He was glad Sirol was making the introduction between Eydis and Reisen because he was not the best at that sort of thing.

Walking back to his desk, Xasik found the packet of cookies he had mentioned and brought them back to the area where everyone was gathered.
"œHelp yourselves," he smiled as he placed the packet on a bench before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a chocolate bar. Carefully he unwrapped the chocolate bar and began to swirl it around in his coffee until it had melted and mixed in with his beverage. Xasik wasn't a sweet tooth but this was one indulgence that he allowed himself to enjoy.

He turned his attention back to Reisen once the chocolate had been melted into the coffee.
"œNice to officially meet you. I'm Xasik Freeman, geologist, part time palaeontologist and full time father to little Emerald there." He motioned to his bubbly bound child who had been placed on the ground and was now rolling their ECS into everyone's legs and giggling about it.

-----------

Emerald

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >

"œThis one here is called Andoria. Not a planet, but a moon"¦ A moon is like... A baby planet, you know? You see it in this huge ring together with all the other baby planets, running around the parent planet"¦ That's what all planets do because they're always stuck with bigger planets or suns, like flung on an invisible rubber band..."
She smiled, looked down at them, and gently booped their cheek and [non-existent] nose before tightening her hug around them a little.

Listening to First Mother (Sirol) squeaking at them, Emerald gave her their undivided attention. They had no idea what she was squeaking about but they loved the sound of her voice and eagerly listened and watched as she showed them wonderful things. Bubble things! Emerald was delighted!

Listening to her squeak, Emerald squeaked back at her when she booped their face. They reached up and made grabby hands towards her before snuggling against her and continued to listen to her squeaking.
Getting comfortable while snuggled against her, Emerald reached out their hands for the bubbles First Mother was showing them. They looked like their favourite bubble that squeaked like they did. More than anything they wanted to squeak the bubbles that First Mother was showing them.

Eventually Emerald tried humming at The Sharp One (Xasik) and was delighted when First Mother hummed with them! It was so exciting to feel The Sharp One trying to reach out. His wobbly humming was just like Emerald's had been before. Emerald was determined to help teach him how to hum the right way.

Emerald's attention wavered as First Mother squeaked at The Sharp One as he grunted to his spot. They could feel Dear Mother (Eydis) getting closer so they hummed to hir to bring her to the den. They then decided to hum at Humming Mother (Peylix) to see if they were close by as well.

"˜Who is our favourite little squeaker, huh?' She relayed via the Lattice, aimed at Emerald and closed her eyes.
As she heard the clicking of Emerald's hands touching the visor of her helmet, the scientist slightly smiled, then began to sing to the little one.

Emerald turned their attention back to First Mother when she was finished squeaking at The Sharp One. They reached up to boop her covering as her squeaking became softer and longer. They loved when she squeaked to them like this and tried to join in with squeaking of their own
"œPeep sqeeaaaak, peeeeeep, chirp!"

Emerald stayed as close to First Mother as they could, even when her soft squeaking was done. They squeaked in delight as she squeaked at them again and and booped them again with her head. They noticed Dear Mother had arrived and squeaked excitedly as First Mother put them into their bubble and took them out of the humming room to see Dear Mother.

Listening to Eydis, Sirol placed Emerald's ECS on the ground, leaving the little one some time and chance to roam freely again, and roll around the lab.

As soon as First Mother placed their bubble on the ground, Emerald wasted no time. They rolled their way over to Dear Mother and booped into hir leg before rolling back to First Mother and booping her leg. They repeated the process and booped into The Sharp One's leg before booping into the leg of The New One (Reisen).
Looking up at him, Emerald chirped curiously and booped into his leg again, giggling the entire time.

----------------

[Katra Station | Simulation Lab | 24 hours later]

Xasik

Walking into the lab with Emerald rolling behind him in the ECS, Xasik placed the coffee he had just gotten for himself and Reisen on a desk. He looked to Sirol's work area as Emerald rolled over there looking for her.
"œShe's not here right now, Little Pebble," Xasik tried to sooth his child as they rolled back towards him.
"œShe'll be back soon. You'll see."

Emerald seemed to accept that answer even though Xasik was certain they understood none of what he had said. He watched as his child rolled their way over to Reisen and booped his leg and giggled.

"œYou little menace," Xasik laughed affectionately as he scooped the ECS up and held it securely in a hug. "œI'm sorry about that Reisen. It seems Emerald likes you."

congratulations everyone! Very well well deserved! Dadsik is so proud of you all!

uuhoh, Kimi might be in trouble with Willow. Better get her a fruit basket or something xD

[[USS COURSER - Bridge]]

[USS COURSER - Bridge]

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

Lonic looked up at Commander Willow, yet decided to not nod.
Instead he gave her an approving thumbs up, followed by a hesitant, semi breathless: "œPotentially. Likely even"¦ I can not detect any physical damage except for the hull breach"¦
It seems though that the "˜ship' has moved..."
He squinted at the readings, yet immediately understood"¦
"œIt has latched onto us at starboard. Right at the hull breach"¦ This seems to be the origin of the boarding parties"¦
I am not sure about Constitution Class specifics, but yes, this being a coincidence is unlikely next to impossible."

"œAcknowledged," Willow nodded to Lonic. Now that she knew where the boarding parties were originating from, she could formulate a plan and coordinate her security teams. In situations like these the more information you had, the better your odds were of succeeding, and right now, she needed every advantage she could get to protect the civilians that were depending on her to keep them safe.

The Romulan held back at snort at Lonic's comment on Constitution Class specifics.
"œI will explain the meaning behind my comment to you later Lieutenant." If she survived that was. The life of a security officer was never guaranteed.

"œI can think clearly, I just need some assistance with my disorientation..."
He answered towards the XO's question, yet ultimately was thankful as she called for medical.
He hoped he would be able to stay on the bridge to keep making himself useful, but would ultimately follow expert advice.

"œBetter safe than sorry, Lieutenant," Willow responded as she prepared herself for the confrontation with their uninvited guests.
"œI would rather you all get assessed by medical to ensure you are all fine. If I could I'd have you all report to Sickbay for an examination but that's not an option at present. Hopefully Medical can get someone up here to help. Your stunning, digestive pyrotechnics are cause for concern. Do not push yourself too hard. That goes for everyone here. If you are injured or feeling unwell, do not push yourselves beyond what your bodies are capable of. I appreciate the willingness to do your jobs no matter what, but not at the cost of worsening your health. Am I understood?"

:: USS Courser | Sickbay ::

As Keer turned to walk back to the Operating Room, the delta chirped again, this time from the bridge.

Enark-All tapped his delta again. Bridge this is Enark-Aal. There are intruders closing in on this location. I have sealed the doors to sickbay and cannot send anyone to the bridge at this time. I will dispatch a medical team as soon as I am able. Please standby.

"œUnderstood," Willow responded. "œSit tight, security is on the way."

It was not the response she had been hoping to hear, but at least she had more information of the whereabouts of some of the intruders. She could do something about that!

"œAccording to my readings we are still tied to this position, impulse and warp drive are online though. We might be able to rid ourselves from the attacker's ship on our hull by sealing the affected decks and shaking it off with a sharp curve on low impulse."

"œDo it," The Romulan nodded as she made her way to the turbolift. "œDo what you can to free us from their grip. I'll send two security officers to the bridge to help defend it. Whatever the intentions of our "˜guests', they must not take the Bridge. Be safe." With that, Willow left the bridge to lead her teams to defend the Courser.

Once she had rendezvoused with her security personnel, Willow divided them into teams led by her most experienced officers and sent them to the different affected decks. She hated spreading her forces thin but she had no choice. With so many decks affected she needed eyes and ears everywhere. The teams remained in constant contact via ear pieces connected to a dedicated security channel so they could communicate without their foes being able to hear the chatter.

Willow and the team she was leading made their way to Deck 36. They encountered immediate evidence of their uninvited guests in the form of a sticky, paste-like substance gluing civilians to the walls and floor. There must have been an airborne component to it as well, because as soon as she entered the area, the Romulan had started to feel lightheaded. A quick tap of a button activated a thin mask that covered her mouth and nose and within a few seconds she could feel her mind clearing and becoming more alert. The rest of her team followed suit and activated their breathing apparatus.
"œDo not inhale the fumes near the adhesive stuff. It messes with your head. Activate breathing shields." She ordered over the security channel.

"œAcknowledged," responded several voices through her earpiece. Willow smirked at the immediate response. She bet they were thankful now that she had insisted on them equipping the "˜breathing shields' to their uniforms. In her experience, you could never be too prepared. She knew they had called her paranoid behind her back, well, who's paranoid now?

Advancing forward with no signs of the intruders other than their paste-like substance and the people stuck to it, Willow's team focused on trying to help those they could free and get them to safety. While they did that, Willow pressed on with two members of her team.
With only one functional eye she relied heavily on her hearing to guide her. Hearing voices, Willow pressed forward with caution

USS Courster / Main Engineering â†' Deck 36

Lieutenant Golshani

Looking at the device, the stranger eventually nodded towards the others.
"œThis is a promising one." The stranger's voice could be heard.
"œTake him, and the one over there to the Ijii." The person the stranger pointed at was no other than Jenkins. The reason Shan had come for. Seemingly unconscious and unharmed"¦
Why was he?... Was the last thing he could remember himself thinking before he too lost consciousness again, the voices and impressions stopping to seep into his mind, leaving behind only sleep and silence"¦

Turning a corner, the team was met with the sight of the intruders, humanoid figures clad in old, clunky space suits, and armed. This paled in comparison to what she then noticed. They were discussing someone trapped in gunk, someone she knew.

"œShan!" She called out as she revealed herself and attempted to save her friend. The intruders responded by keeping her back with gunk grenades. She managed to avoid the adhesive but her backup did not. Chakwas was stuck to the wall and Chambers was stuck to the floor. Before she could even think of freeing them the Romulan was stunned with two taser shocks that rendered her body completely unresponsive. Unable to stay upright, the XO crumpled to the floor and right into a pile of adhesive. Unable to move, Willow was helpless as she watched the intruders approaching her and her team. She internally growled as they examined her before puncturing her skin with a device.
"œNot viable," was the only response they gave before moving on to her two companions. She listened in horror as both Chakwas and Chambers were both deemed promising and dragged from their adhesive confinements.
"œNo!" Willow gasped through the haze of her mind as she watched her security officers being taken away with Shan.
"œQezhtihn!" She shouted as one of the intruders looked back at her. "œLa-hok yuun uzor nek varet viyuun! Fight me like you have some shred of honour! I won't allow you to get away with this!"

The figure merely turned away from her and followed their companions as they took their captives away. Willow, weak from being stunned and now from the adhesive gunk as well, could do nothing but watch.

What happened near engineering could be observed across all of the affected decks: People being immobilised by what could best be described as chemical adhesive grenades, before the intruders would come and assess them, carefully picking out specific targets to take them aboard their ship.
It was fast, ruthless and very effective...
No unnecessary violence, no unnecessary damage; just taking what they need, yet not being afraid to fight their way though if need arose"¦

After no less than seven minutes the intruders began to retreat, with their last wave of abductees in tow.
Slowly but surely they would make where they could, and fight where they had to, their way back onto their ship, and eventually - as fast as they had appeared - detach without further communication; leaving the Courser behind to remain stuck, with 121 less people aboard...

The attack was over quicker than she had expected. It was only a matter of minutes that they had come, captured and departed. It was a while still before the rest of Willow's team found her and pulled her from her confinement. Her body was still weak and her head was spinning but the Chief of Security was still able to stand on her own after only a few minutes of being free.

"œSharah aroostos!" She howled in rage as she punched the wall beside her in her fury. The whole attack had been so well planned that they hadn't stood a chance. Their adhesive grenades had been very effective and whatever numbing agent had been mixed into them was now affecting those who had been stuck. To be honest, Willow felt a little high, but it did nothing to mellow out her anger. She had failed to protect those under her care. They had saved a great number of people, but they had also lost many to the intruders and that was unacceptable!

Once she was steady enough on her feet, the Romulan decided to make her way back to the Bridge. She ordered security to assist where they could and report to her if anything needed her attention. In the meantime she would go back to the Bridge to help coordinate recovery efforts. She was going to find every single soul that had been taken and get them back. She was determined to find a way to get them all back.

"œDon't worry Shan, I'll find you and everyone else that was taken. I swear on our friendship." She spoke to herself as she stepped into the turbo lift and made her way to the Bridge.

As the door opened and she stepped out, the Romulan looked around the bridge to assess the situation. It was much the same as she had left it except Kimiko was missing.
"œWhere is Sugiyama?" Willow questioned as Alenko and Williams saluted her.

"œShe escorted Arafe out of the Bridge after you left," Alenko reported. Willow nodded and dismissed both he and Williams. "œAcknowledged," Willow nodded. "œReport to Shepard and assist where you are needed. There's going to be a lot of stuck and confused civilians down there that will need help."

"œYes Lieutenant Commander," both security officers saluted and left the bridge. Willow waited for the door to close before she started pacing in anger. She had specifically ordered Kimiko to remain on the bridge and she had deliberately disobeyed the order. That was not acceptable. Her stomach rumbled as she paced. Great, now she had the munchies from whatever numbing agent was used in the gunk.

"œI want options. Our people were taken and I intend to get them back."

--------------

[USS Courser - Bridge]

Lieutenant Alenko

Kimi Sugiyama
USS Courser

Arafe was leaving. Kimi bit her lip, then made a decision. She rushed after the hefty Bolian.

"I will accompany you!" she declared as they passed the security officers at the door. "For... uhhh... security."

She did not stop to explain why she was not carrying a phaser.

Both security officers saluted Kimiko as she left. They had not heard Lieutenant Commander Fletcher order her to stay and so it made sense to them to have a civilian escorted to somewhere safe. Too late did Alenko notice that Sugiyama was not armed. He looked at Williams who simply shrugged at him. He felt the pit of his stomach drop. Oh, Willow would probably not be amused when she returned.

Alenko did his duty dutifully and defended the Bridge, although there was nothing much for them to do as the intruders did not approach the Bridge at all. When Lieutenant Commander Fletcher returned he saluted her and when she asked, he informed her that Sugiyama had left. He could see her eye twitch in anger and he braced himself for the worse, but was surprised when Willow simply acknowledged him and dismissed them from the bridge. Oh, that was worse. She was seething, the kind of furious that made her go silent as she considered her options and how to respond. He felt sorry for Kimiko but there was nothing he could do for her.
He and Williams reported to Sherpard on deck 34 and began helping those who needed them.

Tag for Sirol, Eydis, Peylix and Reisen

https://www.shadowfleet.org/forum/katra-station/s3-m11-the-best-things-in-life-are-free/msg262236/#msg262236