S:5 E:11 - He Who Dies Pays All Debts

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel/Ambassador T'tahl | Auction Pavilion | Sacred Marketplace | Fereng | Ferenginar]

"Be careful what you wish for," T'Kel said, her scornful tone hiding a potential warning voice.

She could see the various browsings going on, but T'Kel really knew that the objects that were being looked at were actually decoration. The real treat was on the center stage, a huge something being curtained, and the object was big enough that the pavilion tent was certainly big enough that, if it were any higher, it would've been a circus tent.

Suddenly, everybody was looking around to the center stage and T'Kel saw the very Romulan come onstage and make an announcement. "Ladies. Gentlemen. So good of you to join here today," he said.

"I believe our host has joined us," said T'Kel to the Captain. She looked particularly at the side with all the Romulan factions, and while everybody was staring at Dokan. There was a great deal of hostility and anticipation, but T'Kel was noticing some different reactions as well: Surprise, shock, evidenced in gapes of horror and gasps in astonishment. Her keen hearing picked up various surprised comments in buzzed whispers: "It can't be." "So it's true." "He's alive." "He really is alive." "After all these years..."

T'Kel studied the reactions long and hard. Those people must particularly know Dokan, and they somehow expected him to be dead. She made a note to talk to the representative of the Free State for more information about Dokan.

"It is good to see you all again," Dokan said, nodding in acknowledgement to those in the crowd who recognized him. "If you wish to take your seats, we are ready to begin."

T'Kel took her chance as everybody were taking their seats, finding the Free State ambassador.

"Excuse me," she said, knowing full well that ambassador was among those who recognized Dokan, "but why were you reacting thus to Dokan?"

"On what end of the old Star Empire were you at?" The ambassador said in surprise. "You should know about Dokan. Anybody who's from old Romulus would know him. One of the best military officers...he was supposedly watching the Senate when the Hobus supernova destroyed our home!"

That certainly confirmed to T'Kel that people were expecting Dokan to be dead. She went to Captain Galloway and took his seat next to him, relaying in her quietest whisper...

At the stage, Dokan waited for everybody to be seated. There was certainly a charged atmosphere, even more so than usual. The stares that T'Kel could see from the Romulans, among the glares were the pronounced expressions of shocked befuddlement. She didn't have to be a telepath to know that they seemed to be making silent demands: Why the treason? Why the blackmail? Surely this must be some kind of ruse.

"Now that we are all sitting comfortably," Dokan said, "I will begin."

He clapped his hand and the curtain rose. It was a big cube with varied blinking nodes, a cubed computer server. Some would presume the cube to look like a miniaturized Borg Cube, but T'Kel knew better. This was big enough for Dokan to keep his dirtiest secrets in.

"Behold, all the dirtiest Romulan secrets the old Star Empire ever had," Dokan said. "All held in this server."

There was buzzing, most pronounced among the Romulans. The angry muttering was especially pronounced.

"Yes, you're wondering if I couldn't possibly stoop to such a huge level of treason," Dokan said coolly...yet somehow, there was a slight hint of Ferengi in his voice... "...but the old Star Empire is gone now. Yet here are some secrets from the old empire, especially held by the different factions...and I bet you want them all back," he added with a subtle hint of singsong. "But...perhaps it depends if the other non-Romulan participants want to pay more."

Now the muttering was growing angrier despite the whispering. Those recognizing Dokan were growing ever more agitatedly confused. Glances were being made back and forth, one end looking at the Romulan end.

"Now...perhaps I can enlighten you with a sample," said Dokan. "Perhaps it's something both those of the old crowd and those of the Federation would know. The Federation supposedly thought the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards were destroyed by an uprising of Synthetic slaves. In truth, the android slaves were hacked by General Oh, a double agent, destroying the fleet intended to help Romulus evacuate before Hobus could destroy the homeworld..."

"You call that a sample?!?" snarled somebody among the Free State delegation as angry buzzing whispered among the crowd again. "It's already a known secret, and General Oh is...!" But he stopped himself before he could say more, but the damage was done.

"Glad to know you're not denying it," Dokan said with icier coolness.

Fascinating, T'Kel thought. He knew about this plan of Commodore...no, General Oh's. He was demonstrating he knows everything, and he was being serious.

"Now, what shall we start off to bid?" Dokan. "Would you wish to know about where the Reunification Movement is hiding their refugees? Or the current location of the insurgent known as Lurak T'Luco? How about the names and locations of the sleeper agents hiding in the Romulan embassies of, say, the Elorg Bloc?"

T'Kel could tell that Dokan really struck a nerve. The anger among the different faction representatives was really becoming pronounced in their expressions, if not in their increasing hostility in their whispers. Plenty of Romulans were hissing at Dokan: "You're a dead man! DEAD!"

Dokan raised his hands and gestured for silence.

"There will be plenty to look forward to as we proceed," he said. "Meantime...let us now begin. The first item..." and he pulled out a data rod from the server cube. "...the Tal Shiar fleet base hidden in the Ildius Nebula. We open the bid at one thousand bars of gold-pressed latinum."

He looked around, particularly at the Romulans, who were all growing angrier and angrier. The Tal Shiar representatives in particular had their own displays of anger: as neutral as their expressions were, their eyes were blazing; if looks could kill, Dokan would be the smoldering result of one who bathed in a star's corona.

"Do I hear one thousand bars?"

"Two thousand!" An excited non-Romulan called from the other side...the growl indicated it was a Klingon.

"Two and a half thousand," a Tal Shair representative retorted coolly.

"Do I hear more...?"

The next thing that came to greet him certainly was a lot more than a call for a bid, and it wasn't even vocal. A sudden disruptor beam blasted its way from somewhere in the far back of the audience, almost at the wall of the pavilion. The screams and chaos that followed brought in a cacophony. T'Kel stood, amazed that Dokan was still standing, even after a second sniper beam ripped through his chest.

T'Kel followed the beam and could see the hunched shadowy figure there. She couldn't tell whether it was a male or a female, but the pointed ears definitely indicated that it was a Romulan, but what was more, the body language was especially pronounced. The hidden assassin had to be the most surprised that Dokan was still standing, even when the assassin sent two more disruptor beams before bolting back into the shadows.

"Ah, yes," Dokan said, unfazed by the four fatal bolts that had struck him squarely in the chest. "Perhaps we shall resume at another time later today..."

[Auction Pavilion - Sacred Marketplace - Ferenginar]

If Ian thought the auction crowd was tense before, he was introduced to a whole new level of tension that he wasn't sure he knew a proper word to convey the rage simmering all around him. As Dokan began to speak, the emotions roiling through the Romulans present bounced from confusion to disbelief, to incandescent fury.

Just as it felt like the room would spontaneously combust, it did. Ian dove to the floor and rolled into n a combat stance. The confusion resulting from Dokan surviving the assassination attempt gave him time to spot the shooter and race in that direction. Using the crowd as cover, he weaved his way closer until he was ready to strike with his quarterstaff and shouted as he swung.

"Alba an Àigh!"*

*Scotland the Brave!

[Buehler]

[Auction Pavilion / Sacred Marketplace / Ferenginar]

Kina looked over at Buehler and smiled, pretending that his comment seemed to intrigue her. "œInteresting. It has been my understanding that human literature was something rather"¦.bland. Like Halant stew. However, I would like to discuss one Doyle, if you would." She walked a bit away with the Lieutenant, and when they were isolated enough, she let out a breath and focused on breathing. "œI feel like I'm going to throw up. If my father saw me now"¦he would wonder what I was thinking. I hope this starts soon."

[Auction Pavilion]

Doyle... The name rang several bells in Evan's head, but he struggled for a moment to pinpoint which one. He furrowed his brows in deep concentration. "œDo you mean the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes?" No one ever referred to the man by last name alone. It was always Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He followed as she began walking, not knowing what else to do with himself. She seemed agitated, distressed. Evan still couldn't believe a green ensign like her was placed in such a situation.

"œThat's good," he remarked as she took some deep breaths. "œKeep breathing like that. Get some oxygen into that blood of yours." Unfortunately, Evan had zero knowledge of Cardăsda, the official language of her homeworld, to be able to offer words of comfort or wisdom in a way that would really resonate. But before he could even ask, the event finally began and they took their seats.

Almost as if on cue, their host finally appeared. Kina never knew the name of this man, yet she remembered his face, one she saw a few times displayed on her father's command screen at home when she was a little girl. It was mostly intelligence briefings from the CIB, but she remembered. She sat down near Buehler and played her part.

He seemed to anger a lot of Romulans who were in attendance. She looked around at the others who were in attendance. It all seemed like everyone here wanted to get some kind of edge on the other. And the sample of knowledge that he gave, even Cardassia didn't know the full extent of what exactly happened on Mars. Hearing him start out at one thousand bars of latinum was pretty ambitious, yet people were biting.

Kina was tempted to raise her hand and bid, more to keep up the illusion than anything else. As she started to, the shots were fired. She ducked down, focused on trying to keep herself safe. In the midst of the commotion, she lifted her head and looked at Dokan. He stood like nothing was wrong.

What was going on? Was it just a hologram, or a personal forcefield? Kina didn't have the answers, but she knew one thing, this mission was getting more and more complicated by the minute. Her eyes then began to look around for anyone wounded so that she could at least do something.

Politics were never Evan's forte. That was part of why he went into medicine, so he could focus on saving people, regardless of whatever bureaucratic nightmare they believed in. So while the others were busy placing bids, he was content to just sit there and observe the mood. The tension was almost untenable, and soon enough it erupted... literally. Evan heard what sounded like disruptor blasts. Instinctively, he moved to cover Ensign Nural, but once the shooting stopped, he looked up to find the commotion was centered on the stage. Astoundingly, the "˜victim' seemed unphased.

"œI'm going to go check on our Romulan friend up there," Evan told the ensign. Something wasn't right. His brain was still trying to process what the man had said, but he kept getting stuck on the way it sounded. The Romulan's accent didn't sound natural, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

THE NEXT DAY...

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Cloten took a good look at Hubs. He was confident that Nira and Bink had followed his coordinates to his secret stash to find the empty Breen suit. It should even fit Nira, and the boots were elevated enough that Nira would look taller...

Once Lahr made his introductions, "Hubs" spoke up. "Indeed?" "he" said. "Show us what merchandise you have for us. What do you have, honored member of the ch'Verrets?"

Inside the Breen suit, Nira, speaking perfectly in-character as the Breen mercenary. She hoped that what Lahr has will be of particular interest to this motley crew. She looked over at Zhuk and then around at the group.

"I'm glad you asked." he answered turning towards the 'Breen'.   "What I bring today is the absolute latest in particle-weapon technology.  Weapons developers are calling it a portable pulse phaser cannon  - the highlight of which - is that it can be easily attached to almost any ship design."

He let that settle in with folks for a moment.  "I have with me not only the weapon schematics but also the industrial replicator file program - so for the right amount of latinum, you could be walking out of here with your very own portable pulse phaser cannon.   This thing is so portable, it can be attached to and run off a shuttle, and it has its own battery cell that will allow it to fire three volleys of three shots before it needs recharging."

Lahr looked to Deej and gave a nod.  The lights in the warehouse dimmed and Lahr set down a holographic imager... that he'd had Cloten procure for him.  Soon the interior of the warehouse displayed a holographic starfield, an eletric guitar riff sounded as energize music played in the background.   An Orion Syndicate ship suddenly dropped of warp with a Federation vessel in close pursuit.  A simulated firefight between a Federation ship and an Orion Syndicate played...  it took only a moment for the Federation ships weapons to overpower the pirate.

"Does this seem all too familiar?" Lahr asked the group at large.  "Well, it doesn't have to be.  Let's just add two portable pulse phaser cannons to what this ship already has and see how much of a difference that makes."

The Orion ship flickered as the hologram was quipped with the latest portable pulse phaser cannons in addition to their usually weaponry.  Now when the ships engaged... the results were notably different, with the Orion ship quickly taking down the Federation ship's shielding and forcing it to retreat.   Lahr went on to explain.  "As you all know, the Federation designed the original pulse phaser cannons to hit hard and with rapidity in order to batter down shields... it was developed with the Borg Collective in mind.   But up until recently the cannons were not widely available due to their highly specialized components were which were not easy to come by nor replicate even on the Ferenginar.   This new portable cannon - does away with all that."

Lahr paused the video on an image of the pulse cannon firing bolt towards the fleeing Starfleet vessel.  "Any questions?"

[Buck McNair]

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel/Ambassador T'tahl | Auction Pavilion | Sacred Marketplace | Fereng | Ferenginar]
[...]

"There will be plenty to look forward to as we proceed," he said. "Meantime...let us now begin. The first item..." and he pulled out a data rod from the server cube. "...the Tal Shiar fleet base hidden in the Ildius Nebula. We open the bid at one thousand bars of gold-pressed latinum."

He looked around, particularly at the Romulans, who were all growing angrier and angrier. The Tal Shiar representatives in particular had their own displays of anger: as neutral as their expressions were, their eyes were blazing; if looks could kill, Dokan would be the smoldering result of one who bathed in a star's corona.

"Do I hear one thousand bars?"

"Two thousand!" An excited non-Romulan called from the other side...the growl indicated it was a Klingon.

"Two and a half thousand," a Tal Shair representative retorted coolly.

"Do I hear more...?"

The next thing that came to greet him certainly was a lot more than a call for a bid, and it wasn't even vocal. A sudden disruptor beam blasted its way from somewhere in the far back of the audience, almost at the wall of the pavilion. The screams and chaos that followed brought in a cacophony. T'Kel stood, amazed that Dokan was still standing, even after a second sniper beam ripped through his chest.

T'Kel followed the beam and could see the hunched shadowy figure there. She couldn't tell whether it was a male or a female, but the pointed ears definitely indicated that it was a Romulan, but what was more, the body language was especially pronounced. The hidden assassin had to be the most surprised that Dokan was still standing, even when the assassin sent two more disruptor beams before bolting back into the shadows.

"Ah, yes," Dokan said, unfazed by the four fatal bolts that had struck him squarely in the chest. "Perhaps we shall resume at another time later today..."

[Auction pavillion | Ferengar]

Buck had seated himself among the crowd, his ice blue eyes scanning the crowd who had gathered. He had managed to be pushed out of the way as they went to take their seats and found himself more separated from his group as he found himself next to a Romulan. He hoped that they weren't Tal Shiar agent too. It would be just his luck as Dokan continued to present the items he had to kick off the bidding process. Of course, or not, he seemed to have ruffled more feathers but presented himself as unphased as people began to become more and more irritated.

He narrowed his eyes as Dokan presented the Tal Shiar fleet, wondering what or how they had managed to acquisition that. Clearly the Tal Shiar were not happy and the expression of interest by a Klingon certainly was made in the poorest of note for the temperature of the room. But a representative responded in more of their fashion, upping the bid.

Buck had flinched as the sound of a disruptor bit through the crowd's noise.

Silencing the room for a moment as people began to process what was happening.

Movement--

Noting that Dokan was...still standing.

"What." He could not help the word slipping through his mouth as people began to move around him, the crowd bustling as he stood up. His height certainly helped to try and get a line of sight on his team. His hand reached for his comm badge, though remembering last minute that he wasn't wearing his uniform and instead turned the gesture into him brushing off his jacket lapel as he began to push against those going the different way.

He needed to figure out what he was needing to do, and began to go towards Dokan; knowing that there was a chance that some of his team would be trying to congregate to that man to figure out what the hell was going on.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Outside the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Nira blinked in surprise, in spite of the fact that she was about to point out to Lahr that she wasn't reading him telepathically.

"Huh," she said in astonishment. "So it sounds like you know your weapons. I'm presuming somebody in your family is in the arms business..."

Nira was genuinely astonished; naturally, if any family were listed in personnel files, they wouldn't necessarily include their line of work.

"Well, there are plenty of Andorians in the arms business," said Bink. "The ch'Verrets are a popular bunch of arms merchants, I've got one of their sidearms here," he said, holding up his weapon. Nira took a good look at it, then looked back at Lahr.

"Hmm," said Nira. "Well, whatever connection you have, that will definitely get you in with the clientel in weapons around here. Do what you need to do, Lahr. Now, Mister Bink," said Nira, looking back at Bink, "what's the disguise you have in mind?"

"Something that Cloten sent," said Bink. "The PADD he provided has also mentioned holding a secret box in his office..."

Nira looked at the PADD and raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Well, that's going to hide me excellently well," she said.

***

THE NEXT DAY...

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Cloten took a good look at Hubs. He was confident that Nira and Bink had followed his coordinates to his secret stash to find the empty Breen suit. It should even fit Nira, and the boots were elevated enough that Nira would look taller...

Once Lahr made his introductions, "Hubs" spoke up. "Indeed?" "he" said. "Show us what merchandise you have for us. What do you have, honored member of the ch'Verrets?"

Inside the Breen suit, Nira, speaking perfectly in-character as the Breen mercenary. She hoped that what Lahr has will be of particular interest to this motley crew. She looked over at Zhuk and then around at the group.

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

"I'm glad you asked." he answered turning towards the 'Breen'.   "What I bring today is the absolute latest in particle-weapon technology.  Weapons developers are calling it a portable pulse phaser cannon  - the highlight of which - is that it can be easily attached to almost any ship design."

He let that settle in with folks for a moment.  "I have with me not only the weapon schematics but also the industrial replicator file program - so for the right amount of latinum, you could be walking out of here with your very own portable pulse phaser cannon.   This thing is so portable, it can be attached to and run off a shuttle, and it has its own battery cell that will allow it to fire three volleys of three shots before it needs recharging."

Lahr looked to Deej and gave a nod.  The lights in the warehouse dimmed and Lahr set down a holographic imager... that he'd had Cloten procure for him.  Soon the interior of the warehouse displayed a holographic starfield, an eletric guitar riff sounded as energize music played in the background.   An Orion Syndicate ship suddenly dropped of warp with a Federation vessel in close pursuit.  A simulated firefight between a Federation ship and an Orion Syndicate played...  it took only a moment for the Federation ships weapons to overpower the pirate.

"Does this seem all too familiar?" Lahr asked the group at large.  "Well, it doesn't have to be.  Let's just add two portable pulse phaser cannons to what this ship already has and see how much of a difference that makes."

The Orion ship flickered as the hologram was quipped with the latest portable pulse phaser cannons in addition to their usually weaponry.  Now when the ships engaged... the results were notably different, with the Orion ship quickly taking down the Federation ship's shielding and forcing it to retreat.   Lahr went on to explain.  "As you all know, the Federation designed the original pulse phaser cannons to hit hard and with rapidity in order to batter down shields... it was developed with the Borg Collective in mind.   But up until recently the cannons were not widely available due to their highly specialized components were which were not easy to come by nor replicate even on the Ferenginar.   This new portable cannon - does away with all that."

Lahr paused the video on an image of the pulse cannon firing bolt towards the fleeing Starfleet vessel.  "Any questions?"

Zhukdra'shar proceeded to smirk and stepple his fingers against each other as he slightly moved forth, adding to his act of excitement. He was indeed not dissapointed, as the Andorian proceeded to show off a portable pulse cannon.

He hummed appraisingly at he offer for the schematics, though inside he wondered that if he had any buyers, how would Lahr do it to potentially keep dangerous people from acquiring rather  deadly equipment. He decided to not make his worry known, however, instead watching the holographic display with rapt attention. He chuckled at the guitar riff, finding it utterly charming, before the simulated combat began.

Looking more than impressed after the show, he clapped his hands towards Lahr, taking a moment to finally say. "Yeah, I have two, bluey." He spoke in his gruff, English tone, though he certainly seemed to convey amusement with his voice, "How much latinum for that ol' beauty, n' how much energy does it need?"

[Nira Said]

[Auction Pavilion - Sacred Marketplace - Ferenginar]

If Ian thought the auction crowd was tense before, he was introduced to a whole new level of tension that he wasn't sure he knew a proper word to convey the rage simmering all around him. As Dokan began to speak, the emotions roiling through the Romulans present bounced from confusion to disbelief, to incandescent fury.

Just as it felt like the room would spontaneously combust, it did. Ian dove to the floor and rolled into n a combat stance. The confusion resulting from Dokan surviving the assassination attempt gave him time to spot the shooter and race in that direction. Using the crowd as cover, he weaved his way closer until he was ready to strike with his quarterstaff and shouted as he swung.

"Alba an Àigh!"*

*Scotland the Brave!

[Auction Pavilion / Sacred Marketplace / Ferenginar]

Kina looked over at Buehler and smiled, pretending that his comment seemed to intrigue her. "œInteresting. It has been my understanding that human literature was something rather"¦.bland. Like Halant stew. However, I would like to discuss one Doyle, if you would." She walked a bit away with the Lieutenant, and when they were isolated enough, she let out a breath and focused on breathing. "œI feel like I'm going to throw up. If my father saw me now"¦he would wonder what I was thinking. I hope this starts soon."

Almost as if on cue, their host finally appeared. Kina never know the name of this man, yet she remembered his face, one she saw a few times displayed on her father's command screen at home when she was a little girl. It was mostly intelligence briefings from the CIB, but she remembered. She sat down near Buehler and played her part.

He seemed to anger a lot of Romulans who were in attendance. She looked around at the others who were in attendance. It all seemed like everyone here wanted to get some kind of edge on the other. And the sample of knowledge that he gave, even Cardassia didn't know the full extent of what exactly happened on Mars. Hearing him start out at one thousand bars of latinum was pretty ambitious, yet people were biting.

Kina was tempted to raise her hand and bid, more to keep up the illusion than anything else. As she started to, the shots were fired. She ducked down, focused on trying to keep herself safe. In the midst of the commotion, she lifted her head and looked at Dokan. He stood like nothing was wrong.

What was going on? Was it just a hologram, or a personal forcefield? Kina didn't have the answers, but she knew one thing, this mission was getting more and more complicated by the minute. Her eyes then began to look around for anyone wounded so that she could at least do something.

[Auction Pavilion]

Doyle... The name rang several bells in Evan's head, but he struggled for a moment to pinpoint which one. He furrowed his brows in deep concentration. "œDo you mean the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes?" No one ever referred to the man by last name alone. It was always Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He followed as she began walking, not knowing what else to do with himself. She seemed agitated, distressed. Evan still couldn't believe a green ensign like her was placed in such a situation.

"œThat's good," he remarked as she took some deep breaths. "œKeep breathing like that. Get some oxygen into that blood of yours." Unfortunately, Evan had zero knowledge of Cardăsda, the official language of her homeworld, to be able to offer words of comfort or wisdom in a way that would really resonate. But before he could even ask, the event finally began and they took their seats.

Politics were never Evan's forte. That was part of why he went into medicine, so he could focus on saving people, regardless of whatever bureaucratic nightmare they believed in. So while the others were busy placing bids, he was content to just sit there and observe the mood. The tension was almost untenable, and soon enough it erupted... literally. Evan heard what sounded like disruptor blasts. Instinctively, he moved to cover Ensign Nural, but once the shooting stopped, he looked up to find the commotion was centered on the stage. Astoundingly, the "˜victim' seemed unphased.

"œI'm going to go check on our Romulan friend up there," Evan told the ensign. Something wasn't right. His brain was still trying to process what the man had said, but he kept getting stuck on the way it sounded. The Romulan's accent didn't sound natural, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

[Auction pavillion | Ferengar]

Buck had seated himself among the crowd, his ice blue eyes scanning the crowd who had gathered. He had managed to be pushed out of the way as they went to take their seats and found himself more separated from his group as he found himself next to a Romulan. He hoped that they weren't Tal Shiar agent too. It would be just his luck as Dokan continued to present the items he had to kick off the bidding process. Of course, or not, he seemed to have ruffled more feathers but presented himself as unphased as people began to become more and more irritated.

He narrowed his eyes as Dokan presented the Tal Shiar fleet, wondering what or how they had managed to acquisition that. Clearly the Tal Shiar were not happy and the expression of interest by a Klingon certainly was made in the poorest of note for the temperature of the room. But a representative responded in more of their fashion, upping the bid.

Buck had flinched as the sound of a disruptor bit through the crowd's noise.

Silencing the room for a moment as people began to process what was happening.

Movement--

Noting that Dokan was...still standing.

"What." He could not help the word slipping through his mouth as people began to move around him, the crowd bustling as he stood up. His height certainly helped to try and get a line of sight on his team. His hand reached for his comm badge, though remembering last minute that he wasn't wearing his uniform and instead turned the gesture into him brushing off his jacket lapel as he began to push against those going the different way.

He needed to figure out what he was needing to do, and began to go towards Dokan; knowing that there was a chance that some of his team would be trying to congregate to that man to figure out what the hell was going on.

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel/Ambassador T'tahl | Auction Pavilion | Sacred Marketplace | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel was on Captain Galloway's heels in pursuit of the assassin. They managed to catch sight of her...for it was definitely apparent that it was a her, yet she looked very young, judging from her size.

Looks can be deceiving, T'Kel thought. We generally age slowly.

What was surprising was the bright green the girl seemed to be wearing. Romulans generally favored green, but this was ridiculous, the sheer bright green there was. T'Kel was inwardly surprised that such brightness managed to keep to the shadows. And there was some kind of equipment pack on her back, and there was something on it...

Naturally, the girl was surprised when the swing from the Captain's quarterstaff downed her. She whirled around and tried to aim a kick at them. She flipped backward and...the next thing T'Kel knew, the Romulan girl was....

"They fly now?" she asked befuddled as the girl took aim at the two of them.

Indeed, the girl was flying. That answered what was that thing on the equipment pack. T'Kel knew about thruster packs, but they were mostly designed for EV suits, and especially for help in zero gravity. What was extended out from the girl's pack seemed to be a bunch of wings. T'Kel could instantly see that the wings were synthetic; artificial yet organic. They seemed to be made to extend in and be plenty quieter than a thruster pack, even if they weren't used for zero G situations.

"Oh, we can fly," said the girl with some smugness. "You don't think the Tal Shiar are the only ones who can keep secrets. If I were you, Human, I'd stay out of the way of who wants to take a shot next. And I suggest you do the same, ch'Rihan," she added, turning especially to T'Kel. "Unless your ignorance on the side of the old homeworld gets the better of you."

T'Kel took a great deal of restraint not to raise an eyebrow. Instead, she pursed her lips in a scowl like she was insulted. Nonetheless, it proved her disguise was effective: the girl certainly assumed she was a noblewoman from Romulus, as indicative of the fact that "ch'Rihan" was another name for Romulus. But given that Romulus was destroyed...

...just then, Ferengi security had arrived, but before they could so much as engage, the girl dropped some sort of flashbang, and it certainly put an emphasis on the "bang," given it caused the Ferengi to recoil in pain, dropping their disruptors, putting their hands on their ears, and growling in pain.

Once the flash died down, T'Kel could see the girl had flown away; she was a great deal farther away when she dropped into a glide and disappeared into the Sacred Marketplace.

"You two! Are you alright?"

T'Kel looked around to see Liquidator Bock appear, a horrified expression on his face. She nodded at him and looked over at the Captain.

"Did you shee what she waash like?" Bock said, all the more giving impression of a terrified Terran beaver.

"She's green!" "And she can fly!" The security personnel muttered as they recovered, but Bock only grew more horrified as he led T'Kel and Galloway back to the auction.

"Oh, thish ish bad. A sharpshooter from the Conshulate. If they've elected to show up..."

"I gather this is somebody from a Romulan faction we don't know about?" T'Kel inquired quietly; she never heard of a Consulate.

"Very," Bock said with as much quiet. "Not a lot issh known about the Cradol Conshulate, and we make our businessh to know about all the Romulan facshunsh, eshpeshially if they become a threat. The Cradolsh are bashically a facshun of zsheal..."

Hiding in a corner, Bock explained to his best words to Galloway and T'Kel about the Cradol Consulate: They're a faction that put religious emphasis, almost as much as the Bajorans do, only with more zeal. Essentially, they're fatalists, in that they have a belief that their path is laid out for them, that they have a destiny to fulfill, but from what's gathered, since the destruction of Romulus, they had twisted their own religion in a way that it's their destiny to rebuild the Romulan Star Empire in the shadows.

"...And in the shadowsh indeed, given that they live in the more furthermosht reachesh of the old Shtar Empire, roughly between the Garidian Republic and Rebena Te Ra...and beyond."

"It makes sense to put them as far away from the bulk of the old Star Empire, if it's true about their zeal," said T'Kel. "But that was practically a child."

"One of their shpecial troopersh," Bock said. "From what we gather, they're trained in more waysh to kill from childhood than a Tal Shiar ashshashin doesh shince academic training."

"And the wings?"

"Military equipment; all Conshulate sholdiersh sshport them, generally to get to one or two more pointsh in a fasht amount of time. It takesh a lot of training to maneuver, but they are clever, if not cleverer than mosht Romulansh."

T'Kel nodded in understanding. It's a serious enough of a threat, and at least she needs to know...

"We'll have to learn more information later," she said. "Right now, it looks like it's calming down and they're going to resume."

"Of courshe," Bock said. "Four bolts and Dokan shtill shtandsh...impossshible..."

"There's a guarantee that nobody's going to, as they say on Earth, crash this party?"

"Hopefully not," Bock said. "Any more ashshashinsh are going to find it harder; they'll need flight packsh like that Cradolite to get out, let alone try to attack."

T'Kel nodded; it did make sense if it seemed that girl was a zealot from a faction placing more religious emphasis. Those wings certainly made her look like some kind of pixie.

Indeed, Dokan seemed to be surprised to be examined by Nural, Buehler and McNair, in spite of the four smoking holes on his chest.

"It's alright," he said with reassurance. "No need to worry. I believe your respective delegations will require you return to your places."

The atmosphere returned to normal, though there were a few more empty chairs, indicative that there were plenty of people that didn't want to come back. There was, however, some kind of jumpiness and maybe some adrenaline in the air as Dokan resumed.

T'Kel was paying less attention now; rather, she was keeping a more thorough eye out for more potential assassins. However, an unusual amount of fireworks seemed to be going on, generally preceded by brief flashing lights, like lightning in the clouds.

"It seems Ferenginar is appreciating their taste in business," said Dokan as he was now auctioning off his current item and now making twenty thousand bars of gold-pressed latinum.

T'Kel, however, was a little more leery. The rainclouds were thick enough, but she was sure the "lightning" was more than it seemed. She was very sure she could see whooshes in the clouds.

"The Ferengi Daimons up there certainly seem to demonstrate their prowress in flight skills," T'Kel whispered to the Captain, paying attention to the sky. Indeed, if one took a more thorough look before a neck crick would set in, there was a good chance of seeing in the clouds a talonlike Romulan nacelle being chased by the beetle-like curves of a D'Kora, though it seems the fireworks were covering it all up.

[Nira Said]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

"I'm glad you asked." he answered turning towards the 'Breen'.   "What I bring today is the absolute latest in particle-weapon technology.  Weapons developers are calling it a portable pulse phaser cannon  - the highlight of which - is that it can be easily attached to almost any ship design."

He let that settle in with folks for a moment.  "I have with me not only the weapon schematics but also the industrial replicator file program - so for the right amount of latinum, you could be walking out of here with your very own portable pulse phaser cannon.   This thing is so portable, it can be attached to and run off a shuttle, and it has its own battery cell that will allow it to fire three volleys of three shots before it needs recharging."

Lahr looked to Deej and gave a nod.  The lights in the warehouse dimmed and Lahr set down a holographic imager... that he'd had Cloten procure for him.  Soon the interior of the warehouse displayed a holographic starfield, an eletric guitar riff sounded as energize music played in the background.   An Orion Syndicate ship suddenly dropped of warp with a Federation vessel in close pursuit.  A simulated firefight between a Federation ship and an Orion Syndicate played...  it took only a moment for the Federation ships weapons to overpower the pirate.

"Does this seem all too familiar?" Lahr asked the group at large.  "Well, it doesn't have to be.  Let's just add two portable pulse phaser cannons to what this ship already has and see how much of a difference that makes."

The Orion ship flickered as the hologram was quipped with the latest portable pulse phaser cannons in addition to their usually weaponry.  Now when the ships engaged... the results were notably different, with the Orion ship quickly taking down the Federation ship's shielding and forcing it to retreat.   Lahr went on to explain.  "As you all know, the Federation designed the original pulse phaser cannons to hit hard and with rapidity in order to batter down shields... it was developed with the Borg Collective in mind.   But up until recently the cannons were not widely available due to their highly specialized components were which were not easy to come by nor replicate even on the Ferenginar.   This new portable cannon - does away with all that."

Lahr paused the video on an image of the pulse cannon firing bolt towards the fleeing Starfleet vessel.  "Any questions?"

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

Zhukdra'shar proceeded to smirk and stepple his fingers against each other as he slightly moved forth, adding to his act of excitement. He was indeed not dissapointed, as the Andorian proceeded to show off a portable pulse cannon.

He hummed appraisingly at he offer for the schematics, though inside he wondered that if he had any buyers, how would Lahr do it to potentially keep dangerous people from acquiring rather  deadly equipment. He decided to not make his worry known, however, instead watching the holographic display with rapt attention. He chuckled at the guitar riff, finding it utterly charming, before the simulated combat began.

Looking more than impressed after the show, he clapped his hands towards Lahr, taking a moment to finally say. "Yeah, I have two, bluey." He spoke in his gruff, English tone, though he certainly seemed to convey amusement with his voice, "How much latinum for that ol' beauty, n' how much energy does it need?"

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Cloten could see the thugs were especially intrigued by the portable phase cannon. He was looking particularly at Gath and Caju, the biggest brutes of the bunch, to see how they would react. He could see Visa scowling at the example of a Syndicate ship being brought down by Federation pulse phasers, but the rest hung onto Lahr's words. Reactions came when "T'Riss" made his offer, and plenty of them laughed.

"Don't bite more than you can chew, furball!" Gath chuckled.

"Though we would respect you for trying," Caju said with a toothy grin.

"Oh, leave the poor Caitian alone," Visa said sweetly. "He doesn't know any better."

Cloten gave a slight sneer, but it wasn't toward Visa, nor at his momentary forgetfulness that Orions can be just as strong as Gorn or Kzinti or even Klingons. No, he was sneering at the slight flirtations Visa had at the Caitian.

"Hubs" seemed to recognize that as well, given Caitians can be just as attractive as Betazoids or Vulcans or humans; in any case, "he" stepped next to "T'Riss."

"Am I to assume you are wondering if you're wanting to lift that cannon?"

"But of course we are, beloved Breen!" said Visa in a guffaw. "Aren't we?"

"At least to the strong 'uns," Gath said. "You say portable, Andorian. It's one thing to attach that cannon from one craft to another. But what about if we wanted to carry it?"

There was the question Cloten wondered what was going to come up. He looked inquiringly at Lahr as to how he would react.

There was a faint rumbling and "Hubs" looked out. Inside the suit, Nira furrowed her brow.

"Fireworks?" "he" asked. "What, pray tell, could they be celebrating in the Sacred Marketplace?"

"Somebody must've made a helluva bargain," Calud guffawed. "It's Ferenginar, after all."

"With a storm coming?" "Hubs" asked, gesturing at the clouds.

"Not even if it rained 'forty days and forty nights' would the Sacred Marketplace close," Niamis said coolly. "As they would say on Earth. Besides, rain is normal in Ferenginar, let alone rainstorms."

"Hubs" shrugged and kept on watching. Inwardly, though, Nira was getting concerned. Was it entirely possible a battle begun in the clouds? Then again, if there was a battle, there would be debris falling from the sky. Maybe the Ferengi were stopping orbital strikes. Nira wouldn't be the least bit surprised all those flashes were directly above where Dokan was holding his auction.

Of course, the scowls on some thugs' face were meaning that they were missing a chance to get to Dokan, and they can't decide between leaving now or seeing what else Lahr had to offer.

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel/Ambassador T'tahl | Auction Pavilion | Sacred Marketplace | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel was on Captain Galloway's heels in pursuit of the assassin. They managed to catch sight of her...for it was definitely apparent that it was a her, yet she looked very young, judging from her size.

Looks can be deceiving, T'Kel thought. We generally age slowly.

What was surprising was the bright green the girl seemed to be wearing. Romulans generally favored green, but this was ridiculous, the sheer bright green there was. T'Kel was inwardly surprised that such brightness managed to keep to the shadows. And there was some kind of equipment pack on her back, and there was something on it...

Naturally, the girl was surprised when the swing from the Captain's quarterstaff downed her. She whirled around and tried to aim a kick at them. She flipped backward and...the next thing T'Kel knew, the Romulan girl was....

"They fly now?" she asked befuddled as the girl took aim at the two of them.

Indeed, the girl was flying. That answered what was that thing on the equipment pack. T'Kel knew about thruster packs, but they were mostly designed for EV suits, and especially for help in zero gravity. What was extended out from the girl's pack seemed to be a bunch of wings. T'Kel could instantly see that the wings were synthetic; artificial yet organic. They seemed to be made to extend in and be plenty quieter than a thruster pack, even if they weren't used for zero G situations.

"Oh, we can fly," said the girl with some smugness. "You don't think the Tal Shiar are the only ones who can keep secrets. If I were you, Human, I'd stay out of the way of who wants to take a shot next. And I suggest you do the same, ch'Rihan," she added, turning especially to T'Kel. "Unless your ignorance on the side of the old homeworld gets the better of you."

T'Kel took a great deal of restraint not to raise an eyebrow. Instead, she pursed her lips in a scowl like she was insulted. Nonetheless, it proved her disguise was effective: the girl certainly assumed she was a noblewoman from Romulus, as indicative of the fact that "ch'Rihan" was another name for Romulus. But given that Romulus was destroyed...

...just then, Ferengi security had arrived, but before they could so much as engage, the girl dropped some sort of flashbang, and it certainly put an emphasis on the "bang," given it caused the Ferengi to recoil in pain, dropping their disruptors, putting their hands on their ears, and growling in pain.

Once the flash died down, T'Kel could see the girl had flown away; she was a great deal farther away when she dropped into a glide and disappeared into the Sacred Marketplace.

"You two! Are you alright?"

T'Kel looked around to see Liquidator Bock appear, a horrified expression on his face. She nodded at him and looked over at the Captain.

"Did you shee what she waash like?" Bock said, all the more giving impression of a terrified Terran beaver.

"She's green!" "And she can fly!" The security personnel muttered as they recovered, but Bock only grew more horrified as he led T'Kel and Galloway back to the auction.

"Oh, thish ish bad. A sharpshooter from the Conshulate. If they've elected to show up..."

"I gather this is somebody from a Romulan faction we don't know about?" T'Kel inquired quietly; she never heard of a Consulate.

"Very," Bock said with as much quiet. "Not a lot issh known about the Cradol Conshulate, and we make our businessh to know about all the Romulan facshunsh, eshpeshially if they become a threat. The Cradolsh are bashically a facshun of zsheal..."

Hiding in a corner, Bock explained to his best words to Galloway and T'Kel about the Cradol Consulate: They're a faction that put religious emphasis, almost as much as the Bajorans do, only with more zeal. Essentially, they're fatalists, in that they have a belief that their path is laid out for them, that they have a destiny to fulfill, but from what's gathered, since the destruction of Romulus, they had twisted their own religion in a way that it's their destiny to rebuild the Romulan Star Empire in the shadows.

"...And in the shadowsh indeed, given that they live in the more furthermosht reachesh of the old Shtar Empire, roughly between the Garidian Republic and Rebena Te Ra...and beyond."

"It makes sense to put them as far away from the bulk of the old Star Empire, if it's true about their zeal," said T'Kel. "But that was practically a child."

"One of their shpecial troopersh," Bock said. "From what we gather, they're trained in more waysh to kill from childhood than a Tal Shiar ashshashin doesh shince academic training."

"And the wings?"

"Military equipment; all Conshulate sholdiersh sshport them, generally to get to one or two more pointsh in a fasht amount of time. It takesh a lot of training to maneuver, but they are clever, if not cleverer than mosht Romulansh."

T'Kel nodded in understanding. It's a serious enough of a threat, and at least she needs to know...

"We'll have to learn more information later," she said. "Right now, it looks like it's calming down and they're going to resume."

"Of courshe," Bock said. "Four bolts and Dokan shtill shtandsh...impossshible..."

"There's a guarantee that nobody's going to, as they say on Earth, crash this party?"

"Hopefully not," Bock said. "Any more ashshashinsh are going to find it harder; they'll need flight packsh like that Cradolite to get out, let alone try to attack."

T'Kel nodded; it did make sense if it seemed that girl was a zealot from a faction placing more religious emphasis. Those wings certainly made her look like some kind of pixie.

Indeed, Dokan seemed to be surprised to be examined by Nural, Buehler and McNair, in spite of the four smoking holes on his chest.

"It's alright," he said with reassurance. "No need to worry. I believe your respective delegations will require you return to your places."

The atmosphere returned to normal, though there were a few more empty chairs, indicative that there were plenty of people that didn't want to come back. There was, however, some kind of jumpiness and maybe some adrenaline in the air as Dokan resumed.

T'Kel was paying less attention now; rather, she was keeping a more thorough eye out for more potential assassins. However, an unusual amount of fireworks seemed to be going on, generally preceded by brief flashing lights, like lightning in the clouds.

"It seems Ferenginar is appreciating their taste in business," said Dokan as he was now auctioning off his current item and now making twenty thousand bars of gold-pressed latinum.

T'Kel, however, was a little more leery. The rainclouds were thick enough, but she was sure the "lightning" was more than it seemed. She was very sure she could see whooshes in the clouds.

"The Ferengi Daimons up there certainly seem to demonstrate their prowress in flight skills," T'Kel whispered to the Captain, paying attention to the sky. Indeed, if one took a more thorough look before a neck crick would set in, there was a good chance of seeing in the clouds a talonlike Romulan nacelle being chased by the beetle-like curves of a D'Kora, though it seems the fireworks were covering it all up.

[Auction Pavilion - Sacred Marketplace - Ferenginar]

"Deoghail am fallus bhÁ rr duine mharbh siadha tiadhan!"

Ian swore as his quarterstaff skipped off the assassin's armor despite knocking her off her feet momentarily. When she took to the air, it took him a second to recover from his surprise before he could pivot back into an attack stance. However, in that second, she tossed the flashbang and he found himself stunned by the shock wave. By the time he was able to form a cogent thought, she had fled.

When Bock arrived, Ian was still having some difficulty figuring out which one of the Bock's was the real one as the Ferengi explained about the Cradol Consulate and their fanaticism.

"Great. Just bloody great."

He growled as he headed back to the auction. Although Dokan seemed nonplussed, Ian was not, his ears still rang from the flashbang and there were so many thoughts racing through his head that he couldn't follow the auction and only became aware of the action in the skies above them when T'Kel pointed them out. This did wonders towards restoring his focus and he whispered back.

"Be ready to make a run for the Harmsway, if this goes as bad as it could, we may need a quick escape."

[Buehler]

Indeed, Dokan seemed to be surprised to be examined by Nural, Buehler and McNair, in spite of the four smoking holes on his chest.

"It's alright," he said with reassurance. "No need to worry. I believe your respective delegations will require you return to your places."

The atmosphere returned to normal, though there were a few more empty chairs, indicative that there were plenty of people that didn't want to come back. There was, however, some kind of jumpiness and maybe some adrenaline in the air as Dokan resumed.

[Auction Pavillion]

Evan did not like the way the Romulan simply brushed him off. The man had been shot four times, evidenced by the singed holes in his clothing. Even if he wore protective equipment, it would have still been wise to check for secondary damage. Unfortunately, Evan lacked the authority to press the matter. The Romulan was not a member of their crew, and even if he was, a patient still had rights.

With an irritated huff, Evan looked at Nural and muttered, "Something's not right. There's gotta be something he doesn't want us to see." But what? The question continued to float around in his head as he reluctantly sat back down.

[Kina Nural]

[Auction Pavillion]

Evan did not like the way the Romulan simply brushed him off. The man had been shot four times, evidenced by the singed holes in his clothing. Even if he wore protective equipment, it would have still been wise to check for secondary damage. Unfortunately, Evan lacked the authority to press the matter. The Romulan was not a member of their crew, and even if he was, a patient still had rights.

With an irritated huff, Evan looked at Nural and muttered, "Something's not right. There's gotta be something he doesn't want us to see." But what? The question continued to float around in his head as he reluctantly sat back down.

Kina moved over to Dolan and decided to take a look for herself. It didn't seem possible that he was shot that many times and didn't seem to be bothered. When Buehler moved back over to his seat, she followed and sat down next to him. She looked over at him, her face confused at the entire situation. "œIt's strange. I don't really know how he is still able to stand like nothing happened. Those shots would have taken down a Klingon easily."

She looked around at the rest of the room. Some still remained, bidding for whatever secrets that he was willing to sell. Kina leaned over to Buehler, trying to keep everything as conspicuous as possible. "œDo you think we should find the captain? Maybe he could use our help."

[Buck McNair]

[Auction Pavillion]

Despite the four rather obvious holes, still singed, Dokan certainly was still standing and seemed non-plussed enough to try and wave off their help. Buck attempted not to acknowledge the presence of the other two as if he recognised them but nodded and turned to look back among the crowd before setting off for the nearest friendly face that he could pick up out of the crowd. In step with the other two. "Find the captain sounds like a great idea at this point in time." He spoke lowly, if only enough for them to hear, his attention pulled elsewhere as he tried not to appear to converse. "I'd like to know what the hell is going on personally. Dokan still standing, an assassination attempt and murder on the Nile."

Buck's head was spinning trying to keep up with all the happenings. Whatever was happening was far above them and their league. Perhaps the captain would be able to share some insight into what they were all collectively witnessing.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Cloten could see the thugs were especially intrigued by the portable phase cannon. He was looking particularly at Gath and Caju, the biggest brutes of the bunch, to see how they would react. He could see Visa scowling at the example of a Syndicate ship being brought down by Federation pulse phasers, but the rest hung onto Lahr's words. Reactions came when "T'Riss" made his offer, and plenty of them laughed.

"Don't bite more than you can chew, furball!" Gath chuckled.

"Though we would respect you for trying," Caju said with a toothy grin.

"Oh, leave the poor Caitian alone," Visa said sweetly. "He doesn't know any better."

Cloten gave a slight sneer, but it wasn't toward Visa, nor at his momentary forgetfulness that Orions can be just as strong as Gorn or Kzinti or even Klingons. No, he was sneering at the slight flirtations Visa had at the Caitian.

"Hubs" seemed to recognize that as well, given Caitians can be just as attractive as Betazoids or Vulcans or humans; in any case, "he" stepped next to "T'Riss."

"Am I to assume you are wondering if you're wanting to lift that cannon?"

"But of course we are, beloved Breen!" said Visa in a guffaw. "Aren't we?"

"At least to the strong 'uns," Gath said. "You say portable, Andorian. It's one thing to attach that cannon from one craft to another. But what about if we wanted to carry it?"

There was the question Cloten wondered what was going to come up. He looked inquiringly at Lahr as to how he would react.

There was a faint rumbling and "Hubs" looked out. Inside the suit, Nira furrowed her brow.

"Fireworks?" "he" asked. "What, pray tell, could they be celebrating in the Sacred Marketplace?"

"Somebody must've made a helluva bargain," Calud guffawed. "It's Ferenginar, after all."

"With a storm coming?" "Hubs" asked, gesturing at the clouds.

"Not even if it rained 'forty days and forty nights' would the Sacred Marketplace close," Niamis said coolly. "As they would say on Earth. Besides, rain is normal in Ferenginar, let alone rainstorms."

"Hubs" shrugged and kept on watching. Inwardly, though, Nira was getting concerned. Was it entirely possible a battle begun in the clouds? Then again, if there was a battle, there would be debris falling from the sky. Maybe the Ferengi were stopping orbital strikes. Nira wouldn't be the least bit surprised all those flashes were directly above where Dokan was holding his auction.

Of course, the scowls on some thugs' face were meaning that they were missing a chance to get to Dokan, and they can't decide between leaving now or seeing what else Lahr had to offer.

'T'Riss' glanced to the side as everyone began laughing at him after he had made his offer. He was absolutely bewildered, as he didn't knew why, until Gath's comment hit him like a truck. Though his ego was seriously brushed, he proceeded to laugh it off alongside with them. But now, it was personal. Destiny willing, they would not leave this planet. He made sure to remember who had laughed at him.

"Har-har-har... ey, folks, had to try, eh?" He disarmingly shrugged as he moved his hands aside.

At least, he had found a compliment in Visa's comment. That was acceptable, though he was still slightly offended. He proceeded to react appropiately, by mrowling in her direction, almost as if lovedazed. As the Breen came by, he reacted by nodding positively.

At the sudden rumble, however, he frowned and moved a hand to pat at his hidden weapon, though didn't attempt to draw it, as he remained with eye trailed on the ceiling, ears swishing around. After a while of not much happening, he relaxed, chuckling to himself. "These storms are a thing, eh? I hate gettin' wet..."

He commented, before motioning to ch'Veret to continue "Ey, blue boy, go on. Even if I can't quite use it, doesn't mean I don't wanna buy it. Or try to. Har-har-har."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

Zhukdra'shar proceeded to smirk and stepple his fingers against each other as he slightly moved forth, adding to his act of excitement. He was indeed not dissapointed, as the Andorian proceeded to show off a portable pulse cannon.

He hummed appraisingly at he offer for the schematics, though inside he wondered that if he had any buyers, how would Lahr do it to potentially keep dangerous people from acquiring rather  deadly equipment. He decided to not make his worry known, however, instead watching the holographic display with rapt attention. He chuckled at the guitar riff, finding it utterly charming, before the simulated combat began.

Looking more than impressed after the show, he clapped his hands towards Lahr, taking a moment to finally say. "Yeah, I have two, bluey." He spoke in his gruff, English tone, though he certainly seemed to convey amusement with his voice, "How much latinum for that ol' beauty, n' how much energy does it need?"

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Cloten could see the thugs were especially intrigued by the portable phase cannon. He was looking particularly at Gath and Caju, the biggest brutes of the bunch, to see how they would react. He could see Visa scowling at the example of a Syndicate ship being brought down by Federation pulse phasers, but the rest hung onto Lahr's words. Reactions came when "T'Riss" made his offer, and plenty of them laughed.

"Don't bite more than you can chew, furball!" Gath chuckled.

"Though we would respect you for trying," Caju said with a toothy grin.

"Oh, leave the poor Caitian alone," Visa said sweetly. "He doesn't know any better."

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

'T'Riss' glanced to the side as everyone began laughing at him after he had made his offer. He was absolutely bewildered, as he didn't knew why, until Gath's comment hit him like a truck. Though his ego was seriously brushed, he proceeded to laugh it off alongside with them. But now, it was personal. Destiny willing, they would not leave this planet. He made sure to remember who had laughed at him.

"Har-har-har... ey, folks, had to try, eh?" He disarmingly shrugged as he moved his hands aside.

Lahr held up his hands to calm razzing.   "Easy fellas... he ain't asking for two units.  He's saying he's got two questions..."    The Andorian then turned to the Caitian.    "Well, I'm glad you asked.  First off, you can purchase the replicator program for a mere 5 bricks of latinum.  What a steal, right?!"  Lahr knew he was serious overpricing the unit but figured the haggle down could draw this out quite a while.

"And to answer your second question:  this baby will work on as little as a regular Phaser rifle powerpack.. but it's range and it's destructiveness increases with the more power you give her.   With a powerpack she'd just like a regular phaser but fires in pulses instead of the steady beam.  Attached her to a say an ATV power source, and her range and destructive radius triples.  Have her feeding from the warp engines of a shuttle craft and you are laughing when that unsuspecting Federation Starship tries to pull you over for not declaring your custom goods."  The Andorian grinned.  "Just saying... the potential of this beauty, is near limitless."

Cloten gave a slight sneer, but it wasn't toward Visa, nor at his momentary forgetfulness that Orions can be just as strong as Gorn or Kzinti or even Klingons. No, he was sneering at the slight flirtations Visa had at the Caitian.

"Hubs" seemed to recognize that as well, given Caitians can be just as attractive as Betazoids or Vulcans or humans; in any case, "he" stepped next to "T'Riss."

"Am I to assume you are wondering if you're wanting to lift that cannon?"

"But of course we are, beloved Breen!" said Visa in a guffaw. "Aren't we?"

"At least to the strong 'uns," Gath said. "You say portable, Andorian. It's one thing to attach that cannon from one craft to another. But what about if we wanted to carry it?"

There was the question Cloten wondered what was going to come up. He looked inquiringly at Lahr as to how he would react.

There was a faint rumbling and "Hubs" looked out. Inside the suit, Nira furrowed her brow.

"Fireworks?" "he" asked. "What, pray tell, could they be celebrating in the Sacred Marketplace?"

"Somebody must've made a helluva bargain," Calud guffawed. "It's Ferenginar, after all."

"With a storm coming?" "Hubs" asked, gesturing at the clouds.

"Not even if it rained 'forty days and forty nights' would the Sacred Marketplace close," Niamis said coolly. "As they would say on Earth. Besides, rain is normal in Ferenginar, let alone rainstorms."

"Hubs" shrugged and kept on watching. Inwardly, though, Nira was getting concerned. Was it entirely possible a battle begun in the clouds? Then again, if there was a battle, there would be debris falling from the sky. Maybe the Ferengi were stopping orbital strikes. Nira wouldn't be the least bit surprised all those flashes were directly above where Dokan was holding his auction.

Of course, the scowls on some thugs' face were meaning that they were missing a chance to get to Dokan, and they can't decide between leaving now or seeing what else Lahr had to offer.

At least, he had found a compliment in Visa's comment. That was acceptable, though he was still slightly offended. He proceeded to react appropriately, by mrowling in her direction, almost as if lovedazed. As the Breen came by, he reacted by nodding positively.

At the sudden rumble, however, he frowned and moved a hand to pat at his hidden weapon, though didn't attempt to draw it, as he remained with eye trailed on the ceiling, ears swishing around. After a while of not much happening, he relaxed, chuckling to himself. "These storms are a thing, eh? I hate gettin' wet..."

He commented, before motioning to ch'Veret to continue "Ey, blue boy, go on. Even if I can't quite use it, doesn't mean I don't wanna buy it. Or try to. Har-har-har."

When Cloten brought up the portability of the weapon, Lahr gave a nod.  "Hell yeah it's portable, wouldn't call it such unless it was.."   His sales pitch however faded off as even his attention was drawn by the noise and he too paused to check out the 'fireworks'.

When Zhuk called on him to continue, Lahr nodded and gave a whistle to return everyone's attention back to him.

"Now where was I?  Oh yes, the portability!  Now I'm not saying it's gonna be easily hidden, but the weapon does break down into three pieces and the case to carry it around is about the size of a large suitcase, which can come with wheels or hover option.  The power source however to make it more than just a fancy pulsing hand-phaser should be at least the size of backpack, which I can sell to you at a great combo price."

[Nira Said]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

'T'Riss' glanced to the side as everyone began laughing at him after he had made his offer. He was absolutely bewildered, as he didn't knew why, until Gath's comment hit him like a truck. Though his ego was seriously brushed, he proceeded to laugh it off alongside with them. But now, it was personal. Destiny willing, they would not leave this planet. He made sure to remember who had laughed at him.

"Har-har-har... ey, folks, had to try, eh?" He disarmingly shrugged as he moved his hands aside.

At least, he had found a compliment in Visa's comment. That was acceptable, though he was still slightly offended. He proceeded to react appropiately, by mrowling in her direction, almost as if lovedazed. As the Breen came by, he reacted by nodding positively.

At the sudden rumble, however, he frowned and moved a hand to pat at his hidden weapon, though didn't attempt to draw it, as he remained with eye trailed on the ceiling, ears swishing around. After a while of not much happening, he relaxed, chuckling to himself. "These storms are a thing, eh? I hate gettin' wet..."

He commented, before motioning to ch'Veret to continue "Ey, blue boy, go on. Even if I can't quite use it, doesn't mean I don't wanna buy it. Or try to. Har-har-har."

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

Lahr held up his hands to calm razzing.   "Easy fellas... he ain't asking for two units.  He's saying he's got two questions..."    The Andorian then turned to the Caitian.    "Well, I'm glad you asked.  First off, you can purchase the replicator program for a mere 5 bricks of latinum.  What a steal, right?!"  Lahr knew he was serious overpricing the unit but figured the haggle down could draw this out quite a while.

"And to answer your second question:  this baby will work on as little as a regular Phaser rifle powerpack.. but it's range and it's destructiveness increases with the more power you give her.   With a powerpack she'd just like a regular phaser but fires in pulses instead of the steady beam.  Attached her to a say an ATV power source, and her range and destructive radius triples.  Have her feeding from the warp engines of a shuttle craft and you are laughing when that unsuspecting Federation Starship tries to pull you over for not declaring your custom goods."  The Andorian grinned.  "Just saying... the potential of this beauty, is near limitless."

When Cloten brought up the portability of the weapon, Lahr gave a nod.  "Hell yeah it's portable, wouldn't call it such unless it was.."   His sales pitch however faded off as even his attention was drawn by the noise and he too paused to check out the 'fireworks'.

When Zhuk called on him to continue, Lahr nodded and gave a whistle to return everyone's attention back to him.

"Now where was I?  Oh yes, the portability!  Now I'm not saying it's gonna be easily hidden, but the weapon does break down into three pieces and the case to carry it around is about the size of a large suitcase, which can come with wheels or hover option.  The power source however to make it more than just a fancy pulsing hand-phaser should be at least the size of backpack, which I can sell to you at a great combo price."

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Some of the thugs had to laugh at Lahr's price offer for the replicator program, but it was Visa who broached the explanation.

"Five bricks for the replicator program? Five bricks can fetch the whole replicator. Maybe an industrial replicator if enough haggling was done. You certainly must be new in the whole mercantile side of things, are you not, ch'Verret?"

Cloten raised an eyebrow and looked at the "Breen." "Hubs" could see that somebody was getting suspicious; in any case, he spoke up.

"I suppose it does make sense for it to be assembled into a suitcase," "Hubs" commented. "Of course, anybody who's not strong will need to make sure the suitcase has wheels or has hover capability."

"In other words," Gath commented, "anybody with brawn could hoist a pack on his or her back, and everybody else can drag it along."

As they continued to haggle, and while newer weapons were being shown, inside the suit, Nira wondered what was going on. She had hoped that later, when they met at Bink's again, they'd discuss what to do before Dokan showed up, and hopefully if they can confer with Captain Galloway when he had a chance.

Cloten continued to study the "Breen." This distraction was fine, but he was confident that there was going to be a way he was going to find Dokan. Very confident.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

LATER...

Nira was the last to arrive when the team arrived back. She took off her helmet as she joined Mister Fisher when he collected her, at least when his ride was away from prying eyes as much as possible. It was almost time to meet Dokan.

She looked at Nurse Davies, she having been put in charge of setting up the medical scanner. Then around at the rest of her team.

"Okay, everybody," she said. "We're expecting a very special guest today. Be sure to keep concealed, but be close at hand just in case. Phasers on strong stun."

Bink shifted a little. He wanted to explain to Nira that phasers won't likely work on Dokan, not if he could shrug off four disruptor bolts from what he was informed, but he had no time to inform her thus; Nira was cutting it close in coming back and Dokan could be here at any moment.

"Nurse Davies?" she said. "How is the medical scanner working?"

[Nira Said]

[Auction Pavilion - Sacred Marketplace - Ferenginar]

"Deoghail am fallus bhÁ rr duine mharbh siadha tiadhan!"

Ian swore as his quarterstaff skipped off the assassin's armor despite knocking her off her feet momentarily. When she took to the air, it took him a second to recover from his surprise before he could pivot back into an attack stance. However, in that second, she tossed the flashbang and he found himself stunned by the shock wave. By the time he was able to form a cogent thought, she had fled.

When Bock arrived, Ian was still having some difficulty figuring out which one of the Bock's was the real one as the Ferengi explained about the Cradol Consulate and their fanaticism.

"Great. Just bloody great."

He growled as he headed back to the auction. Although Dokan seemed nonplussed, Ian was not, his ears still rang from the flashbang and there were so many thoughts racing through his head that he couldn't follow the auction and only became aware of the action in the skies above them when T'Kel pointed them out. This did wonders towards restoring his focus and he whispered back.

"Be ready to make a run for the Harmsway, if this goes as bad as it could, we may need a quick escape."

[Auction Pavillion]

Evan did not like the way the Romulan simply brushed him off. The man had been shot four times, evidenced by the singed holes in his clothing. Even if he wore protective equipment, it would have still been wise to check for secondary damage. Unfortunately, Evan lacked the authority to press the matter. The Romulan was not a member of their crew, and even if he was, a patient still had rights.

With an irritated huff, Evan looked at Nural and muttered, "Something's not right. There's gotta be something he doesn't want us to see." But what? The question continued to float around in his head as he reluctantly sat back down.

Kina moved over to Dolan and decided to take a look for herself. It didn't seem possible that he was shot that many times and didn't seem to be bothered. When Buehler moved back over to his seat, she followed and sat down next to him. She looked over at him, her face confused at the entire situation. "œIt's strange. I don't really know how he is still able to stand like nothing happened. Those shots would have taken down a Klingon easily."

She looked around at the rest of the room. Some still remained, bidding for whatever secrets that he was willing to sell. Kina leaned over to Buehler, trying to keep everything as conspicuous as possible. "œDo you think we should find the captain? Maybe he could use our help."

[Auction Pavillion]

Despite the four rather obvious holes, still singed, Dokan certainly was still standing and seemed non-plussed enough to try and wave off their help. Buck attempted not to acknowledge the presence of the other two as if he recognised them but nodded and turned to look back among the crowd before setting off for the nearest friendly face that he could pick up out of the crowd. In step with the other two. "Find the captain sounds like a great idea at this point in time." He spoke lowly, if only enough for them to hear, his attention pulled elsewhere as he tried not to appear to converse. "I'd like to know what the hell is going on personally. Dokan still standing, an assassination attempt and murder on the Nile."

Buck's head was spinning trying to keep up with all the happenings. Whatever was happening was far above them and their league. Perhaps the captain would be able to share some insight into what they were all collectively witnessing.

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel/Ambassador T'tahl | Auction Pavilion | Sacred Marketplace | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel kept on looking upward, despite looking ahead. In spite of the flashes and the indications of ships in the skies, no debris was falling...not yet. And she kept on watching keenly. Nonetheless, she nodded in agreement.

***

"Chief Sec/Tac Officer's Log, supplemental. The first day of the auction has finished. Plenty of Romulans desperate to get their secrets back managed to buy them back, but some couldn't match other bids. Before the auction finished, five more assassins have been caught, but fortunately, some haven't opened fire, but those weren't the only assassination attempts. Once, as the auction was ending, an unknown assassin tried to gas Dokan in a confined force field area, and seeing him not going down, dispensed enough poisoned gas in the area that a dozen-meter radius confined within a force field became more poisonous than Venus' atmosphere, and even Dokan walked out of that. Fortunately, the stage was mostly empty and if it wasn't for the force field that had been deployed by some cohors that circled the stage before exiting, the poison would've spread to the Sacred Marketplace and maybe spread into Ferenginar's atmosphere.

"The most attempts on Dokan's life, however, came mostly from orbit. Most of the factions seemed to have elected to launch orbital strikes, but the Ferengi fleet, with help of the Starfleet task force, put a stop to that. Some Ferengi ships chased Romulan ships into the clouds while others intercepted Romulan-launched torpedoes. The Starfleet ships, as it turned out, mostly impeded any further incurring vessels either by getting into their paths or halting them with tractor beams. The ships of the Free State kept out of the affair, out of respect to the Federation backing.

"Nonetheless, after so many attempts on Dokan's life on such a level of escalation, the Ferengi authorities are considering stopping the auction. The profit the auction is earning is becoming less and less appealing...unfortunately, they did bring it upon themselves to allow the auction to happen."

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Bock's Office | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Summoned to Bock's office after the auction, the team arrived to see Bock hovering between panic and anticipation.

"I know, I know you're going to shay that holding the aucshun ish a bad idea," said Bock impatiently. "But it'sh becoming more and more likely to me that we cannot allow the auction to continue. The othersh...well, they're torn between canshelling the aucshun and making a profit.

"However, there ish shum good nuush," Bock added, becoming more upbeat. "Eliminator Bink hash informed me that there'sh going to be a meeting with Dokan in hish shweet. Chanshesh are, your firsht offisher ish going to get more about Dokan...I don't know how they will do it, but maybe there will be anshersh to what Dokan really ish...beshishdes the obvioush that he shurvived four dishrupter boltsh and a gash attack."

"I concur, Liquidator," said T'Kel. "A couple of your fellow Liquidators and your main Daimons passed on reports to us regarding the various Romulan ships that tried to launch orbital strikes. I'm surprised there's no declaration of war from the Nagus."

"Oh, come, dishregarding or denying involvement of shending ashashinsh is a typical move to avert a war caushed by ashashinashun," Bock said. "In any cayshe, Bink will signal me to let me know when Dokan hash arrived...and then, if you wish, Captain and all, you'll be able to catch up, shurround Dokan. I've got a path open to you. Jusht take care for any potential tailsh. Ash for Romulansh, the only facshunsh I'm worried about are the Tal Shiar, Zshat Vash or otherwhysh, and the Conshulate of Cradol. You'll never know if they'll fly out of nowhere. We're fortunate the Circle of Ethnarchs and even the Dynasht and the rest of the Cradol head-honchoes aren't involved."

T'Kel nodded, and the way Bock mentioned the Cradol leaders nervously, perhaps these Ethnarchs and the Cradol Dynast, whoever it was sounded dangerous. But it did bring up something else...

"What of a Romulan faction involving Praetors?"

"There'sh shum kind of group of facshuns called the Praetorian Triumvirate," Bock said, "but we've heard nothing from them. Not yet, anyway."

"Bear in mind an alliance, even a small one," said T'Kel. "We only know one of that group, a part-Reman named Nakir."

"We've sheen no Nakir," said Bock with a shrug, "but that'll mean we're lucky sho far. The Praetoriansh are about ash shecretive ash the Tal Shiar and the Conshulate."

He sat back and looked around at the team, sure about any potential questions they may have for him.