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

[Nira Said]

[Bock's Office >- Memorial Hall - Tower of Commerce - Ferenginar]

Ian sighed internally to hear that Bock had listened and would cancel the auction. As there was no need to bid or observe an auction, it was time to return to the ship as the situation in orbit was clearly deteriorating and he needed situational awareness of the tactical situation.

"Thank you Liquidator Bock for listening to reason. I still nae ken what is goin' on here, but whatever it is, it is way more complicated than it seems and it seems bloody complicated. My part of the away team will return ta the Challenger. Commander Said will continue ta operate undercover in the Thieves' Quarter ta get as much information on this Dokan as possible."

It was at that moment that Ian's PADD pinged and he looked at the file he'd been sent, his jaw dropped in surprise and he looked at Bock with a strained expression.

"Commander Said's group has succeeded in gettin' a scan of Dokan... he's an android! That leaves so many questions that I'm nae sure I can think of all of them. First, is this android under someone's control or is it autonomous? In either case, what is the end game of all this? Gah, I hate bein' so far in the bloody dark.

"Liquidator, I will take leave of you now, perhaps Captain Nog will provide you some inspiration on what ta do next."

Ian turned to the rest of the away team, Lieutenant Buehler, Ensign Nural, and Lieutenant McNair.

"We need ta hot foot it ta the Harmsway and get back ta the Challenger immediately."

Ian gave one last nod to Liquidator Bock and started walking as fast as his long legs would carry him. Fortunately, they'd been given a landing platform not that far from the Tower of Commerce and they would be at the shuttle in just a few minutes.

[Tower of Commerce > Harmsway]

It was the surprise revelation that Dokan was an android and that revelation seemed to power through the rest of the conversation as the Captain had turned to them and announced that they all would be making a rather hasty exit from the planet to return to the Challenger. He spared a final glance and an acknowledging thanking nod in the direction of the Liquidator before following suit and doing his best to keep up with the rapid speed their captain had taken off at.

Their environment would have flashed by, their intentions to return to their shuttle with all persons present and accounted for before anything else could kick off. It seemed the mystery they had landed upon was only growing and they would need to do something before it overwhelmed all of them. He hated being so out of the loop that Buck could only imagine how out of their depth the captain was, a man so usually in control and with a plan for the plans ahead.

"What's the plan for when we get back aboard, cap?"

[Brock's Office]

Evan felt a bristle of pleasure radiate down his spine upon hearing that his intuition was correct, that they were indeed dealing with an android. As to who was controlling it? The whole thing still had a Ferrengi stench to it, but if that was something they were even capable of engineering something like that was beyond his immediate knowledge. Perhaps the ship's computers would know.

"I feel so naked without my equipment," Evan said, adding to the Captain's comment about being in the dark. He wasn't even permitted to bring down a simple medkit. Not to mention it was incredibly difficult to process what was going on in such a foreign environment. "Los geht's!"

[Liquidator Bock's office/Tower of Commerce/Ferenginar]

So much of this mission was odd and strange. An android selling Romulan secrets, but the question was who was the master behind the puppet? When the captain ordered that they would be returning to Challenger, Kina let out a sigh of relief. It would be nice to get back to the ship and resume her normal duties. She had a lifetime of playing spy just on this mission.

She looked at Liquidator Bock and gave him a friendly nod before moving off to join the rest of the away team. She stayed near Lieutenant Buehler, keeping to her military place slightly behind him. "œIt will be nice to be back on the ship. I didn't expect this to be so"¦"¦intense. My father would not believe all that has happened to me in just these last few days."

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Memorial Hall >- Shuttle "Harmsway" | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel nodded at Captain Galloway and said, "Understood, Captain."

As they made for the "Harmsway," T'Kel was suddenly feeling exposed. It bothered her that they were all proceeding in plain sight. What was more, she felt something...unusual. It was a sensation that T'Kel could identify as a feeling that she - and/or they - were being watched.

She looked around and saw nobody unusual...but then she remembered the Consulate assassin with the wing pack. She looked up and around...and saw a figure flying dive behind cover, but T'Kel got a good enough look at her.

"We have to pick up the pace to get back to Challenger," said T'Kel warningly. "The Consulate may be on to us."

They barely broke through the clouds and about to break the atmosphere when a trio of Romulan Harpy-class ships appeared and decloaked - in spite of being cloaked, they were trailing some smoke behind them, and when they decloaked, some parts of them were marked with black, like they had parked within close proximity to a smoking volcanic vent. And they have the "Harmsway" surrounded.

T'Kel got a very good look at the Harpies. They were displaying the usual Romulan green, except they were sporting decals of feathered wings, similar to old Romulan Birds of Prey. Then she looked down at the console, beeping a hail.

"Sir, the lead ship is hailing us..."

A viewscreen showed an ancient Romulan woman eying the shuttle crew beadily.

"This is General Vellal of the Consulate Legion," she said. "You have a lot of explaining to do as to what this bunch is doing with the Ferengi government, and what the apparently invincible traitor Dokan has to do with you."

T'Kel could purse her lips if she could. The Consulate was definitely on to them. She looked at Captain Galloway, anticipating some stalling words and, simultaneously, in anticipation of his likely having to engage evasive maneuvers. Subtly, she braced herself...

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Memorial Hall >- Shuttle "Harmsway" | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel nodded at Captain Galloway and said, "Understood, Captain."

As they made for the "Harmsway," T'Kel was suddenly feeling exposed. It bothered her that they were all proceeding in plain sight. What was more, she felt something...unusual. It was a sensation that T'Kel could identify as a feeling that she - and/or they - were being watched.

She looked around and saw nobody unusual...but then she remembered the Consulate assassin with the wing pack. She looked up and around...and saw a figure flying dive behind cover, but T'Kel got a good enough look at her.

"We have to pick up the pace to get back to Challenger," said T'Kel warningly. "The Consulate may be on to us."

They barely broke through the clouds and about to break the atmosphere when a trio of Romulan Harpy-class ships appeared and decloaked - in spite of being cloaked, they were trailing some smoke behind them, and when they decloaked, some parts of them were marked with black, like they had parked within close proximity to a smoking volcanic vent. And they have the "Harmsway" surrounded.

T'Kel got a very good look at the Harpies. They were displaying the usual Romulan green, except they were sporting decals of feathered wings, similar to old Romulan Birds of Prey. Then she looked down at the console, beeping a hail.

"Sir, the lead ship is hailing us..."

A viewscreen showed an ancient Romulan woman eying the shuttle crew beadily.

"This is General Vellal of the Consulate Legion," she said. "You have a lot of explaining to do as to what this bunch is doing with the Ferengi government, and what the apparently invincible traitor Dokan has to do with you."

T'Kel could purse her lips if she could. The Consulate was definitely on to them. She looked at Captain Galloway, anticipating some stalling words and, simultaneously, in anticipation of his likely having to engage evasive maneuvers. Subtly, she braced herself...

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

As the three Harpies closed in, anyone watching Ian closely would have seen him begin to smile. He simply said. "Hang on ta summat." Before his hands danced across the controls, not in stabbing or aggressive motions, rather they moved like one would caress a lover.

Internally, for Ian, it was as if he were in the blue skies above Kunming, China in his trusty P-40 Tomahawk with three Japanese Zeros on his tail. Out loud he murmured.

"Sub-optimal situations require superlative solutions."

The Harmsway went from typical thirty degree climb of a shuttle trying to break orbit to a sheer vertical climb. In a P-40, the plane didn't have the power to maintain such an attitude for long before the plane would stop climbing and fall back down it's line of travel in something called a 'hammerhead stall'. As the Delta-Flyer had more than enough power to keep climbing vertically, Ian had to improvise to get the same effect. He fired the forward thrusters to bring the shuttle to a screeching halt, then added the forward port and aft starboard thrusters to cause the Harmsway to skid to the right as it began to fall backwards. This maneuver completely surprised the Romulans, as Ian knew it would, as it was not in the realm of possibilities that any of them had flown a Tomahawk and had heard of a hammerhead stall. As the Harpy on the right flashed by in front of the Harmsway, Ian raked the Romulan from bow to stern with phasers before the shuttle completed its skid and was now facing directly down.

Rather than leveling off, Ian kept the Harmsway in the dive, pointing the nose at the Tower of Commerce and applying full power. The shuttle screamed downward until Ian rolled inverted, so that the bottom of the Harmsway faced the front face of the Tower as he leveled out over the Sacred Marketplace at a mere twenty meters. He roared down the main boulevard and dared the Romulans to follow him down the streets of the Ferengi capital as he banked down side streets at random grinning from ear to ear. Feeling completely in his element, Ian took the time to reply to Vellal.

"Bugger yourself with a splintered rake ya old Baobh!"

[Kina Nural]

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

As the three Harpies closed in, anyone watching Ian closely would have seen him begin to smile. He simply said. "Hang on ta summat." Before his hands danced across the controls, not in stabbing or aggressive motions, rather they moved like one would caress a lover.

Internally, for Ian, it was as if he were in the blue skies above Kunming, China in his trusty P-40 Tomahawk with three Japanese Zeros on his tail. Out loud he murmured.

"Sub-optimal situations require superlative solutions."

The Harmsway went from typical thirty degree climb of a shuttle trying to break orbit to a sheer vertical climb. In a P-40, the plane didn't have the power to maintain such an attitude for long before the plane would stop climbing and fall back down it's line of travel in something called a 'hammerhead stall'. As the Delta-Flyer had more than enough power to keep climbing vertically, Ian had to improvise to get the same effect. He fired the forward thrusters to bring the shuttle to a screeching halt, then added the forward port and aft starboard thrusters to cause the Harmsway to skid to the right as it began to fall backwards. This maneuver completely surprised the Romulans, as Ian knew it would, as it was not in the realm of possibilities that any of them had flown a Tomahawk and had heard of a hammerhead stall. As the Harpy on the right flashed by in front of the Harmsway, Ian raked the Romulan from bow to stern with phasers before the shuttle completed its skid and was now facing directly down.

Rather than leveling off, Ian kept the Harmsway in the dive, pointing the nose at the Tower of Commerce and applying full power. The shuttle screamed downward until Ian rolled inverted, so that the bottom of the Harmsway faced the front face of the Tower as he leveled out over the Sacred Marketplace at a mere twenty meters. He roared down the main boulevard and dared the Romulans to follow him down the streets of the Ferengi capital as he banked down side streets at random grinning from ear to ear. Feeling completely in his element, Ian took the time to reply to Vellal.

"Bugger yourself with a splintered rake ya old Baobh!"

Kina was surprised at seeing this new Romulan. She knew about the Tal Shiar, but never heart anything about the Consulate Legion. She didn't even think the CIB had any information about them. Not that they would share that with her father if they did. This whole situation did not help answer their questions, but instead raised new ones.

Her thoughts were broken when the captain decided to take more"¦aggressive actions. She had barely enough time to brace herself when she was almost thrown into the side of the shuttle. It wasn't as bad as it could be thanks to the inertial dampeners, but it was still pretty harsh. She held onto anything she could and braced herself for whatever maneuvers the captain had in mind.

She had been in dozens of combat simulations before, but now was the real thing. The Romulan ships didn't seem to want to let them go. "œIf you don't mind me saying, Captain, it seems as if the deck is stacked against us. We should probably contact the ship and see if they can provide us with any kind of support."

[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]

A big grin came upon 'T'Riss' as he managed to get a nice deal upon his cannon after an intense bout of haggling with the Andorian weapon vendor. He rubbed his two hands together as he managed to get the price down substantially, playing more into the sleazy kinda guy that he wanted to portray. A good day's work, indeed, keeping a potentially deadly weapon out of the way of dangerous individuals.

And helping Lahr with his stage play. Perfect.

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

Previously...

"Ms. Sahmed is technically not here," said Cloten. "However, I believe Hubs could have an interest."

"That is correct," Hubs pointed out. "I'm ready for the next product."

"Let's see if you can match, Breen," growled Gath with a sneer.

Lahr in his exuberance and attempt at exuberance had made the most, stupidest of mistakes, he'd mixed up Commander Said's multitude of aliases.   Cloten and 'Hubs' however corrected him.

"My apologies at the mix up "Hubs".  Apparently, I need to not update my client notes when I'm been drinking.   I thought it was an odd name for a Breen.   But enough about that...  We start the bid off at 3 bricks, 2 bars and 6 slips.   Who will up that 3 bricks 3 bars?  Anyone?"

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
NPC Lt JG Chloe Davies
[Ferenginar - Fereng - Bink' Hotel Suite]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

At Nira's request to continue serving as his bodyguard, he nodded, standing close by, as they prepared for the meeting with Dokan. Seconds felt like hours for Zhuk, as he did his best to hide his anticipation to the arrival of the mysterious man, until he finally entered into the room. He eyed him closely, scanning him with his device hidden underneath his eyepatch, making sure to offer an unfriendly face to discourage him from trying to do anything to the disguised Lieutenant Commander.

When he was mentioned, he only proceeded to give a nod. Otherwise, he remained as silent and as motionless as a gargoyle, only every once in a while shifting ever so slightly, or flicking his ear. He was unaware of the find that 'Sahmed' had made, though he fought the urge to not raise an eyebrow at the mention of the "V'lashi". He hadn't heard of such a term before, even as he fought to recall it. Not a clue. Didn't matter, in the end, as long as it got the job done.

At least, he was successful on remaining unreadable.

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

More than a dozen minutes of "negotiations" have passed, and Nira was keeping up her talk, all while keeping an eye on the scanner results, which produced more particulars of what Dokan really was inside. Nira had already come to the conclusion that Dokan was an android, although with the twentyish year old skin, otherwise, he could've been a Son'a, or had some work done by a Son'a. But the scanner's results showed a definite indication that Dokan was an android, except one of extremely unusual make.
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"Alright, how long do you intend to continue with this?" he snapped.

Nira tilted her head. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're just stalling, right now," Dokan said. "I can tell. Who is it you're really working for? Perhaps your a Starfleet Intelligence operative? If you intended to lay a trap for me, I'm afraid that the trap will only snare you."

"Don't think it occurred to me to come helpless," said Nira. She tapped her comm badge and ordered the rest of her team in the room, phasers trained.

Chloe was relieved when no one in the other room reacted to the chime of the PADD.   She hadn't given the team's presence in the bedchamber away.   But it seemed that this meeting with Dokan was just intended to not go well when the android questioned Nira's stalling.  Next thing, Chloe knew was that Nira was calling the team to come out armed.  This was the part Chloe hated.  She pulled her phaser and following the men as they stepped out of the bedroom and blocked the androids escape route.

Lahr for his part, hadn't brought a phaser.  At present, his only weapon was an Andorian dagger which would be of no use against an android.   Still, the former Sec/Tac crewman took up position a few feet behind the android to block his escape that way.

Dokan never even bothered to turn around.

"So...all you really wanted was to determine what I really was?" he asked. "Perhaps Federation technology is more proficient after all...Commander Said."

"So you know who I am," said Nira.

"Oh, the Tal Shiar has quite the file on you, with a slight update recently," Dokan said.

Nira raised an eyebrow. "Still connected to all Romulan databases, aren't you?" she asked.

"Every. Single. One."

"And what about the real Dokan? And who's the puppet master I'm addressing?"

"How do you know I am a puppet?"

"An android out for a profit?" said Nira. "Somebody is working behind you, pulling your strings. And for a blackmail and extortion of this level means that the puppet master has to be a Ferengi."

"Well, it has to be," Bink snarled, rapt with attention as Nira and Dokan spoke.

"Then I am afraid that you won't have the chance to find out, least of all you, Eliminator," said Dokan. "And...what are you doing, woman?"

Nira whirled around, noticing one of Bink's guards, a female Ferengi, was tapping specifically on a small box...and she realized she was contacting somebody through a form of Morse Code. Looking up quickly, she pulled down the front of her skirt, showing a device Nira recognized immediately, and faster than anybody could blink, she detonated the device to trigger an electromagnetic pulse.

A shockwave blew from it and caused an instant blackout, and "Dokan" became stiff and stumbled rigidly to the floor. Then the guard pulled out a communication device and, as she approached the disabled Dokan, spoke in a low purr that wouldn't be heard on a Ferengi woman.

"I have him. Lock onto my coordinates and transport."

She knelt and lifted up Dokan. Knowing what would happen next, Nira acted.

"No you don't!" she shouted. "Stop her!"

She leapt onto the guard as she had propped Dokan up, and was surprised by the dogpile of mixed Starfleet and Ferengi officers which all ended up getting caught up in a transporter beam...

The EMP took out Chloe's phaser along with the Android. Then when the Commander called for the team to stop the Ferengi female guard,  Chloe didn't know what to do.   She hesitated.

Lahr on the other hand reacted just as fast as Nira and joined the dogpile in an attempt to each keep hold of the  android.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

The next thing the dogpile knew, they were pried apart, and Nira was hauled to her feet and made to look into the green venomous face of Visa the Animal Woman. She looked around and was surprised to see they were in an old-style Starfleet bridge, but then she saw the backstabbing furball on the chair and realized where she was. She had snuck aboard this ship before...

...It's Cloten's ship. A Strider-class scoutship with heavy modifications and plastered with graffiti that might as well be plastered "A Psychotic Scumbag Flies In This."

"What the hell...?" asked Nira.
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"Cloten figured Dokan would emerge before Mister Bink," Visa said coolly. "We have Malis to thank for that. And we get more than we bargained for...Commander."

"Starfleet," growled Gath. "With you and an Eliminator, that makes my head spin."

"Well, you found Dokan, and you killed him," said Nira.

"That's not even a person," snapped Calud. "However, we can repair him."

"Yes," Cloten growled. "But we know how dangerous he is...he's going to be fun."

Nira looked around at the group who had been beamed up in the dogpile with her. Bock was so stunned by the treason and surprise, he couldn't talk. She looked back over, seeing the bridge decorated with Cloten's trophies, among other illicit crap, and glared at Cloten, the backstabbing furball.

Upon rematerializing, there were far too many surrounding them so Lahr didn't struggle when he was pulled out of the pile.  It seemed there was nothing to do but wait for an opportunity.

[Ian Galloway]

Kina was surprised at seeing this new Romulan. She knew about the Tal Shiar, but never heart anything about the Consulate Legion. She didn't even think the CIB had any information about them. Not that they would share that with her father if they did. This whole situation did not help answer their questions, but instead raised new ones.

Her thoughts were broken when the captain decided to take more"¦aggressive actions. She had barely enough time to brace herself when she was almost thrown into the side of the shuttle. It wasn't as bad as it could be thanks to the inertial dampeners, but it was still pretty harsh. She held onto anything she could and braced herself for whatever maneuvers the captain had in mind.

She had been in dozens of combat simulations before, but now was the real thing. The Romulan ships didn't seem to want to let them go. "œIf you don't mind me saying, Captain, it seems as if the deck is stacked against us. We should probably contact the ship and see if they can provide us with any kind of support."

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

Ian whipped the shuttle tightly around one of the taller buildings of the city, dove lower, rolled to one side and dodged down an alley as the Romulans pursued. Although it seemed like he'd be completely consumed by the acrobatic flying he was doing, he heard Kina and replied.

"That's a fair cop Lass. See if'n you can reach the ship!"

Immersed in the sheer joy of flying to his limits, he purred.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

[Buehler]

Kina was surprised at seeing this new Romulan. She knew about the Tal Shiar, but never heart anything about the Consulate Legion. She didn't even think the CIB had any information about them. Not that they would share that with her father if they did. This whole situation did not help answer their questions, but instead raised new ones.

Her thoughts were broken when the captain decided to take more"¦aggressive actions. She had barely enough time to brace herself when she was almost thrown into the side of the shuttle. It wasn't as bad as it could be thanks to the inertial dampeners, but it was still pretty harsh. She held onto anything she could and braced herself for whatever maneuvers the captain had in mind.

She had been in dozens of combat simulations before, but now was the real thing. The Romulan ships didn't seem to want to let them go. "œIf you don't mind me saying, Captain, it seems as if the deck is stacked against us. We should probably contact the ship and see if they can provide us with any kind of support."

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

Ian whipped the shuttle tightly around one of the taller buildings of the city, dove lower, rolled to one side and dodged down an alley as the Romulans pursued. Although it seemed like he'd be completely consumed by the acrobatic flying he was doing, he heard Kina and replied.

"That's a fair cop Lass. See if'n you can reach the ship!"

Immersed in the sheer joy of flying to his limits, he purred.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

[Shuttle]

Whatever relief he had felt that they were heading back to the ship was quickly dashed when an unknown Romulan appeared on the screen. Evan exhaled sharply in irritation, muttering to himself that he was a doctor, not a politician, so why was he having to deal with so many Romulans. Before he had any time to ruminate, he was quite literally jarred from that train of thought when the shuttle took a sharp turn. Not having had the time to brace himself, Evan slammed against his side. Thankfully he didn't break a rib this time, but it hurt more than a stubbed toe, causing him to let out a stream of curses in German. "œWas zum Teufel, Captain? Are you trying to pull a crazy Ivan??" After a pained grunt, he turned to Nural, "œYou alright, Ensign?"

[Buck McNair]

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

As the three Harpies closed in, anyone watching Ian closely would have seen him begin to smile. He simply said. "Hang on ta summat." Before his hands danced across the controls, not in stabbing or aggressive motions, rather they moved like one would caress a lover.

Internally, for Ian, it was as if he were in the blue skies above Kunming, China in his trusty P-40 Tomahawk with three Japanese Zeros on his tail. Out loud he murmured.

"Sub-optimal situations require superlative solutions."

The Harmsway went from typical thirty degree climb of a shuttle trying to break orbit to a sheer vertical climb. In a P-40, the plane didn't have the power to maintain such an attitude for long before the plane would stop climbing and fall back down it's line of travel in something called a 'hammerhead stall'. As the Delta-Flyer had more than enough power to keep climbing vertically, Ian had to improvise to get the same effect. He fired the forward thrusters to bring the shuttle to a screeching halt, then added the forward port and aft starboard thrusters to cause the Harmsway to skid to the right as it began to fall backwards. This maneuver completely surprised the Romulans, as Ian knew it would, as it was not in the realm of possibilities that any of them had flown a Tomahawk and had heard of a hammerhead stall. As the Harpy on the right flashed by in front of the Harmsway, Ian raked the Romulan from bow to stern with phasers before the shuttle completed its skid and was now facing directly down.

Rather than leveling off, Ian kept the Harmsway in the dive, pointing the nose at the Tower of Commerce and applying full power. The shuttle screamed downward until Ian rolled inverted, so that the bottom of the Harmsway faced the front face of the Tower as he leveled out over the Sacred Marketplace at a mere twenty meters. He roared down the main boulevard and dared the Romulans to follow him down the streets of the Ferengi capital as he banked down side streets at random grinning from ear to ear. Feeling completely in his element, Ian took the time to reply to Vellal.

"Bugger yourself with a splintered rake ya old Baobh!"

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

Ian whipped the shuttle tightly around one of the taller buildings of the city, dove lower, rolled to one side and dodged down an alley as the Romulans pursued. Although it seemed like he'd be completely consumed by the acrobatic flying he was doing, he heard Kina and replied.

"That's a fair cop Lass. See if'n you can reach the ship!"

Immersed in the sheer joy of flying to his limits, he purred.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

[Shuttle Harmsway]

There was always something new he was learning on the Challenger and just how far the Captain could push the crew to the ledge and bring them back. However, he was not a pilot and he certainly did not have the experience of being in a shuttle that was being operated and piloted by their own captain in a maneuver which was considered insanity by the best of standards. Buck could feel all the force press against him as the thrusters kicked forward and then the weightlessness of it as they stalled. Adrenaline kicked in, and the lieutenant found himself beaming from ear to ear with the giddiness of being on three straight black espressos after a long night out.

Buck found himself crashing into the side of the shuttle as he grunted, bouncing his head off the wall as he recovered, only to almost slide out of his seat if it were not for the belt holding him not very much in place. "Right, cap, you need a hand with the phasers? I ain't tactical but I know a little bit about taking the reins. Keep you flyin' undistracted."

[Kina Nural]

[Shuttle]

Whatever relief he had felt that they were heading back to the ship was quickly dashed when an unknown Romulan appeared on the screen. Evan exhaled sharply in irritation, muttering to himself that he was a doctor, not a politician, so why was he having to deal with so many Romulans. Before he had any time to ruminate, he was quite literally jarred from that train of thought when the shuttle took a sharp turn. Not having had the time to brace himself, Evan slammed against his side. Thankfully he didn't break a rib this time, but it hurt more than a stubbed toe, causing him to let out a stream of curses in German. "œWas zum Teufel, Captain? Are you trying to pull a crazy Ivan??" After a pained grunt, he turned to Nural, "œYou alright, Ensign?"

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

Ian whipped the shuttle tightly around one of the taller buildings of the city, dove lower, rolled to one side and dodged down an alley as the Romulans pursued. Although it seemed like he'd be completely consumed by the acrobatic flying he was doing, he heard Kina and replied.

"That's a fair cop Lass. See if'n you can reach the ship!"

Immersed in the sheer joy of flying to his limits, he purred.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

[Shuttle Harmsway/Ferenginar

Kina's stomach did strange little flip and twist, but she managed to maintain her composure. She looked to Buehler when he asked if she was okay. "œI am currently on a shuttle engaging in extreme evasive maneuvers whilst Romulan ships are pursuing us with unknown intentions other than hostile and participating in activities outside of my Starfleet training. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine." She managed to move over to the comms station with some difficulty, and tried to send out a message.

"œShittle Harmsway to Challenger, we are under attack from three unknown Romulan ships and require immediate assistance, please respond."

Kina looked over the screens to try and see if she received any kind of response from the ship, but all she got was static. She looked over to the captain, her face showing a mix of anxiety. "œSir, I can't get through to Challenger. The enemy ships must be jamming our signal."

[Nira Said]

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

As the three Harpies closed in, anyone watching Ian closely would have seen him begin to smile. He simply said. "Hang on ta summat." Before his hands danced across the controls, not in stabbing or aggressive motions, rather they moved like one would caress a lover.

Internally, for Ian, it was as if he were in the blue skies above Kunming, China in his trusty P-40 Tomahawk with three Japanese Zeros on his tail. Out loud he murmured.

"Sub-optimal situations require superlative solutions."

The Harmsway went from typical thirty degree climb of a shuttle trying to break orbit to a sheer vertical climb. In a P-40, the plane didn't have the power to maintain such an attitude for long before the plane would stop climbing and fall back down it's line of travel in something called a 'hammerhead stall'. As the Delta-Flyer had more than enough power to keep climbing vertically, Ian had to improvise to get the same effect. He fired the forward thrusters to bring the shuttle to a screeching halt, then added the forward port and aft starboard thrusters to cause the Harmsway to skid to the right as it began to fall backwards. This maneuver completely surprised the Romulans, as Ian knew it would, as it was not in the realm of possibilities that any of them had flown a Tomahawk and had heard of a hammerhead stall. As the Harpy on the right flashed by in front of the Harmsway, Ian raked the Romulan from bow to stern with phasers before the shuttle completed its skid and was now facing directly down.

Rather than leveling off, Ian kept the Harmsway in the dive, pointing the nose at the Tower of Commerce and applying full power. The shuttle screamed downward until Ian rolled inverted, so that the bottom of the Harmsway faced the front face of the Tower as he leveled out over the Sacred Marketplace at a mere twenty meters. He roared down the main boulevard and dared the Romulans to follow him down the streets of the Ferengi capital as he banked down side streets at random grinning from ear to ear. Feeling completely in his element, Ian took the time to reply to Vellal.

"Bugger yourself with a splintered rake ya old Baobh!"

Kina was surprised at seeing this new Romulan. She knew about the Tal Shiar, but never heart anything about the Consulate Legion. She didn't even think the CIB had any information about them. Not that they would share that with her father if they did. This whole situation did not help answer their questions, but instead raised new ones.

Her thoughts were broken when the captain decided to take more"¦aggressive actions. She had barely enough time to brace herself when she was almost thrown into the side of the shuttle. It wasn't as bad as it could be thanks to the inertial dampeners, but it was still pretty harsh. She held onto anything she could and braced herself for whatever maneuvers the captain had in mind.

She had been in dozens of combat simulations before, but now was the real thing. The Romulan ships didn't seem to want to let them go. "œIf you don't mind me saying, Captain, it seems as if the deck is stacked against us. We should probably contact the ship and see if they can provide us with any kind of support."

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Ferenginar]

Ian whipped the shuttle tightly around one of the taller buildings of the city, dove lower, rolled to one side and dodged down an alley as the Romulans pursued. Although it seemed like he'd be completely consumed by the acrobatic flying he was doing, he heard Kina and replied.

"That's a fair cop Lass. See if'n you can reach the ship!"

Immersed in the sheer joy of flying to his limits, he purred.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

[Shuttle Harmsway]

There was always something new he was learning on the Challenger and just how far the Captain could push the crew to the ledge and bring them back. However, he was not a pilot and he certainly did not have the experience of being in a shuttle that was being operated and piloted by their own captain in a maneuver which was considered insanity by the best of standards. Buck could feel all the force press against him as the thrusters kicked forward and then the weightlessness of it as they stalled. Adrenaline kicked in, and the lieutenant found himself beaming from ear to ear with the giddiness of being on three straight black espressos after a long night out.

Buck found himself crashing into the side of the shuttle as he grunted, bouncing his head off the wall as he recovered, only to almost slide out of his seat if it were not for the belt holding him not very much in place. "Right, cap, you need a hand with the phasers? I ain't tactical but I know a little bit about taking the reins. Keep you flyin' undistracted."

[Shuttle]

Whatever relief he had felt that they were heading back to the ship was quickly dashed when an unknown Romulan appeared on the screen. Evan exhaled sharply in irritation, muttering to himself that he was a doctor, not a politician, so why was he having to deal with so many Romulans. Before he had any time to ruminate, he was quite literally jarred from that train of thought when the shuttle took a sharp turn. Not having had the time to brace himself, Evan slammed against his side. Thankfully he didn't break a rib this time, but it hurt more than a stubbed toe, causing him to let out a stream of curses in German. "œWas zum Teufel, Captain? Are you trying to pull a crazy Ivan??" After a pained grunt, he turned to Nural, "œYou alright, Ensign?"

[Shuttle Harmsway/Ferenginar

Kina's stomach did strange little flip and twist, but she managed to maintain her composure. She looked to Buehler when he asked if she was okay. "œI am currently on a shuttle engaging in extreme evasive maneuvers whilst Romulan ships are pursuing us with unknown intentions other than hostile and participating in activities outside of my Starfleet training. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine." She managed to move over to the comms station with some difficulty, and tried to send out a message.

"œShittle Harmsway to Challenger, we are under attack from three unknown Romulan ships and require immediate assistance, please respond."

Kina looked over the screens to try and see if she received any kind of response from the ship, but all she got was static. She looked over to the captain, her face showing a mix of anxiety. "œSir, I can't get through to Challenger. The enemy ships must be jamming our signal."

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Shuttle "Harmsway" | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel held on as best as she could, then at the best opportunity, activated the seat belts on her chair. She looked around at the shuttle crew and could see that they were being rattled around. She perked up when Ensign Nural mentioned that the communications were jammed...and one of the Consulate ships was behind it. T'Kel took a quick look at the sensors and could see that they weren't functioning properly.

"Sensors are being jammed as well," she said. "Captain, I'm presuming that if one of those ships are setting out a signal to jam Federation frequencies, given the fleet above the planet, it could be a good idea to get further into orbit, so that some friendlies will get better notice, whether it be a Ferengi ship, a ship from a friendly faction, or one of the Federation ships sent to help Challenger."

Looking at Doctor Buehler, she said, "It's likely to get rougher, better get your seat belts activated."

Turning to Lieutenant McNair, she replied, "I'll see about sending weapon functions to your console. Two eyes to shoot will be better than one. However, we'll have to target manually; sensors being jammed, the same will apply to targeting sensors."

She set to work in setting up for McNair, still hanging on as best as she could as the Captain flew.

[Ian Galloway]

[Shuttle]

Whatever relief he had felt that they were heading back to the ship was quickly dashed when an unknown Romulan appeared on the screen. Evan exhaled sharply in irritation, muttering to himself that he was a doctor, not a politician, so why was he having to deal with so many Romulans. Before he had any time to ruminate, he was quite literally jarred from that train of thought when the shuttle took a sharp turn. Not having had the time to brace himself, Evan slammed against his side. Thankfully he didn't break a rib this time, but it hurt more than a stubbed toe, causing him to let out a stream of curses in German. "œWas zum Teufel, Captain? Are you trying to pull a crazy Ivan??" After a pained grunt, he turned to Nural, "œYou alright, Ensign?"

[Shuttle Harmsway]

There was always something new he was learning on the Challenger and just how far the Captain could push the crew to the ledge and bring them back. However, he was not a pilot and he certainly did not have the experience of being in a shuttle that was being operated and piloted by their own captain in a maneuver which was considered insanity by the best of standards. Buck could feel all the force press against him as the thrusters kicked forward and then the weightlessness of it as they stalled. Adrenaline kicked in, and the lieutenant found himself beaming from ear to ear with the giddiness of being on three straight black espressos after a long night out.

Buck found himself crashing into the side of the shuttle as he grunted, bouncing his head off the wall as he recovered, only to almost slide out of his seat if it were not for the belt holding him not very much in place. "Right, cap, you need a hand with the phasers? I ain't tactical but I know a little bit about taking the reins. Keep you flyin' undistracted."

[Shuttle Harmsway/Ferenginar

Kina's stomach did strange little flip and twist, but she managed to maintain her composure. She looked to Buehler when he asked if she was okay. "œI am currently on a shuttle engaging in extreme evasive maneuvers whilst Romulan ships are pursuing us with unknown intentions other than hostile and participating in activities outside of my Starfleet training. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine." She managed to move over to the comms station with some difficulty, and tried to send out a message.

"œShittle Harmsway to Challenger, we are under attack from three unknown Romulan ships and require immediate assistance, please respond."

Kina looked over the screens to try and see if she received any kind of response from the ship, but all she got was static. She looked over to the captain, her face showing a mix of anxiety. "œSir, I can't get through to Challenger. The enemy ships must be jamming our signal."

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Shuttle "Harmsway" | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel held on as best as she could, then at the best opportunity, activated the seat belts on her chair. She looked around at the shuttle crew and could see that they were being rattled around. She perked up when Ensign Nural mentioned that the communications were jammed...and one of the Consulate ships was behind it. T'Kel took a quick look at the sensors and could see that they weren't functioning properly.

"Sensors are being jammed as well," she said. "Captain, I'm presuming that if one of those ships are setting out a signal to jam Federation frequencies, given the fleet above the planet, it could be a good idea to get further into orbit, so that some friendlies will get better notice, whether it be a Ferengi ship, a ship from a friendly faction, or one of the Federation ships sent to help Challenger."

Looking at Doctor Buehler, she said, "It's likely to get rougher, better get your seat belts activated."

Turning to Lieutenant McNair, she replied, "I'll see about sending weapon functions to your console. Two eyes to shoot will be better than one. However, we'll have to target manually; sensors being jammed, the same will apply to targeting sensors."

She set to work in setting up for McNair, still hanging on as best as she could as the Captain flew.

[Shuttle Harmsway - Over Fereginar]

Ian took in the news about the jamming of communications and sensors without surprise. It was a standard procedure after all. The input from T'Kel he actually had to divert some attention to as it was his wildly acrobatic dodging down the streets of the capital that had kept them out of the line of fire so far. If he broke cover to climb to be more visible to the friendly ships in orbit, he ran into the near certainty that he would be unable to dodge all the fire from the three ships pursuing them.

"Risks and rewards. Risks and rewards."

He mulled over absently as he sideslipped down another alley to avoid yet another volley of fire from the Romulans. He took a deep breath and set his jaw as he made his decision.

"Mister McNair, the weapons are yours and you are weapons free on those bloody Romulans. First order of business is ta prepare a half dozen photons ta launch without power, but at full yield. As soon as we climb clear of the Tower of Commerce, I want you ta fire them with a five second delay fuse. That should scatter their targetin' array just long enough for us ta get high enough ta get noticed by someone on our side."

Ian didn't wait for an acknowledgement as he banked hard and took the main street over the Sacred Marketplace. He then pitched upward in a vertical climb up the front face of the Tower of Commerce, as soon as they roared past its highest peak he barked.

"Fire!"

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

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

Previously...

"Ms. Sahmed is technically not here," said Cloten. "However, I believe Hubs could have an interest."

"That is correct," Hubs pointed out. "I'm ready for the next product."

"Let's see if you can match, Breen," growled Gath with a sneer.

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

More than a dozen minutes of "negotiations" have passed, and Nira was keeping up her talk, all while keeping an eye on the scanner results, which produced more particulars of what Dokan really was inside. Nira had already come to the conclusion that Dokan was an android, although with the twentyish year old skin, otherwise, he could've been a Son'a, or had some work done by a Son'a. But the scanner's results showed a definite indication that Dokan was an android, except one of extremely unusual make.

It was true that he had an artificial skeleton and a posnitronic matrix, but a lot of him showed just how artificially organic he was. The tissue, like the skin, was synthetic, though the sensors had trouble determining how specifically organic it was. The skin pores seemed to emit nanites of some sort, distributed around the skin and designed to change the skin pigmentation. Even the hair was artificial and had nanites within each strand of hair, so it can lengthen or shorten enough to make baldness.

He could breath like an organic lifeform, and he had blood of some kind flowing from his heart, but the heart and the lungs were in the wrong place. In fact, he had too few organs, even if they were synthetic, for a Romulan and they were all in the wrong places organs were supposed to go. The heart and lungs were positioned lower, where the stomach and kidneys ought to go, and in some way, it was connected to the stomach via an intestine (no large or small, just wrapping slightly around lengthily like a large intestine, but too short for a small intestine), which was positioned too high, positioned where the heart and lungs are supposed to go. According to the scanner, "Dokan" could eat or drink something, but while digestion breaks down food in the stomach and has it distributed through the rest of the body as a fuel, the food and/or drink is broken down in this android and arranged in a way so it literally becomes fuel, which was what the scanner determined: That the blood was more of a fuel than actual blood.

Somehow, inside his body, his posnitronic matrix helped to keep the heart pumping while distributing the fuel. The lungs also came with some kind of blocking system, which meant he can withstand harmful aerosols. Finally, his overall body temperature was sixty degrees lower than normal, and, as if the scanner was baffled by what it detected, it added that an organic lifeform with such a body temperature would be dead.

Nira must've paused slightly too long, pondering more and more on the scanner's results and missing Dokan talking, because Dokan adopted a slightly harder tone of voice.

"Alright, how long do you intend to continue with this?" he snapped.

Nira tilted her head. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're just stalling, right now," Dokan said. "I can tell. Who is it you're really working for? Perhaps your a Starfleet Intelligence operative? If you intended to lay a trap for me, I'm afraid that the trap will only snare you."

"Don't think it occurred to me to come helpless," said Nira. She tapped her comm badge and ordered the rest of her team in the room, phasers trained.

Dokan never even bothered to turn around.

"So...all you really wanted was to determine what I really was?" he asked. "Perhaps Federation technology is more proficient after all...Commander Said."

"So you know who I am," said Nira.

"Oh, the Tal Shiar has quite the file on you, with a slight update recently," Dokan said.

Nira raised an eyebrow. "Still connected to all Romulan databases, aren't you?" she asked.

"Every. Single. One."

"And what about the real Dokan? And who's the puppet master I'm addressing?"

"How do you know I am a puppet?"

"An android out for a profit?" said Nira. "Somebody is working behind you, pulling your strings. And for a blackmail and extortion of this level means that the puppet master has to be a Ferengi."

"Well, it has to be," Bink snarled, rapt with attention as Nira and Dokan spoke.

"Then I am afraid that you won't have the chance to find out, least of all you, Eliminator," said Dokan. "And...what are you doing, woman?"

Nira whirled around, noticing one of Bink's guards, a female Ferengi, was tapping specifically on a small box...and she realized she was contacting somebody through a form of Morse Code. Looking up quickly, she pulled down the front of her skirt, showing a device Nira recognized immediately, and faster than anybody could blink, she detonated the device to trigger an electromagnetic pulse.

A shockwave blew from it and caused an instant blackout, and "Dokan" became stiff and stumbled rigidly to the floor. Then the guard pulled out a communication device and, as she approached the disabled Dokan, spoke in a low purr that wouldn't be heard on a Ferengi woman.

"I have him. Lock onto my coordinates and transport."

She knelt and lifted up Dokan. Knowing what would happen next, Nira acted.

"No you don't!" she shouted. "Stop her!"

She leapt onto the guard as she had propped Dokan up, and was surprised by the dogpile of mixed Starfleet and Ferengi officers which all ended up getting caught up in a transporter beam...

'T'Riss' kept patiently listening in to all and any talk that was being exchanged between his 'employer' and Dokan. Every once in a while he glanced over at the peculiar man, and while he certainly could not do such a through reading with his own scanner hidden away under his eyepatch (which by the by, was starting to itch and really bother him), as Nira was doing with the Medical Scanner's information feeding into her P.A.D.D., he did found peculiar things. Namely, that the man seemed to be sixty degrees colder than a human, or even a Romulan, apparently.

He should be dead, yet every normal function seemed to be working properly. Who was this guy? Some kind of living dead?

His inner questions were interrupted as soon as his Lieutenant Commander gave him the order to engage, phasers drawn. With glee painted on his face, he walked over to the room and took out his Cardassian Phaser, trailing it on Dokan. "Oy, boy, you're in deep trouble if you're makin' me employer mad~" He stated, not yet breaking character. He wasn't sure if he would still need his act to remain valid, in case other assassins came by.

That soon came crashing down as he revealed that he knew exactly who Nira was. He took a deep breath, brow furrowing now, finger slowly beginning to pull down on the trigger. If he tried anything at all, he would make sure he regretted it. As Nira revealed that he most likely was some kind of android, he quirked a brow at it. That most likely explained the wild temperature that he sported.

Yet, as he called attention to a Ferengi woman on the side, and as she revealed that she had some kind of device under her skirt, Zhuk tried to shoot at it, fearing it was an explosive device. Instead, it erupted before he could fully turn his weapon, everything going dark after that. He tried to fire his weapon, but to no avail, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness, iris going wide to do so.

As he overheard some talk about being beamed up, he jumped from his position down, attempting to grab ahold of Nira and Dokan, unwilling to let her alone. And so, he suddenly found himself intertwinned with many Ferengi and other individuals, as he was beamed away.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

The next thing the dogpile knew, they were pried apart, and Nira was hauled to her feet and made to look into the green venomous face of Visa the Animal Woman. She looked around and was surprised to see they were in an old-style Starfleet bridge, but then she saw the backstabbing furball on the chair and realized where she was. She had snuck aboard this ship before...

...It's Cloten's ship. A Strider-class scoutship with heavy modifications and plastered with graffiti that might as well be plastered "A Psychotic Scumbag Flies In This."

"What the hell...?" asked Nira.

"You beat me by a second," said Cloten with a sneer. "And Malis, I thought you specified your coordinates."

"It's your damn transporter systems," the backstabbing Ferengi guard growled, and to Nira's surprise, she changed into an exotic-looking woman who would've looked right at home in the Middle East if it wasn't for the yellow eyes. "They tend to still pick stuff up..."

"You're not a Ferengi at all!" said Nira. "You're...!"

"Please don't insult me by calling me a Changeling," Malis sneered. "Do I look like sentient liquid on the inside? I'm a Chameloid...Commander...and you all aren't realizing you're being had?"

Nira looked around and could see the assassins she had met under a Breen suit earlier were all looming around Cloten, all scowling.

"Why are you...? And how...?"

"Malis is very handy when it comes to staying under the radar," Cloten said. "She was very much in among Bink's Eliminators. Of course, once she found out what Dokan really is...well, it was a good thing she came prepared."

"You're collaborating with the Tal Shiar," Nira said accusedly, remembering a similar mobile device the agent Nirreen wore the last time they met. "An agent had that device disguised as a belt."

"Please, we're not in cahoots with any Romulan," chuckled Cloten. "That device is just one of many popular items in the black market. You'd be surprised by how much Romulan crap comes wholesale."

"Cloten figured Dokan would emerge before Mister Bink," Visa said coolly. "We have Malis to thank for that. And we get more than we bargained for...Commander."

"Starfleet," growled Gath. "With you and an Eliminator, that makes my head spin."

"Well, you found Dokan, and you killed him," said Nira.

"That's not even a person," snapped Calud. "However, we can repair him."

"Yes," Cloten growled. "But we know how dangerous he is...he's going to be fun."

Nira looked around at the group who had been beamed up in the dogpile with her. Bock was so stunned by the treason and surprise, he couldn't talk. She looked back over, seeing the bridge decorated with Cloten's trophies, among other illicit crap, and glared at Cloten, the backstabbing furball.

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
NPC Lt JG Chloe Davies
[Ferenginar - Fereng - Bink' Hotel Suite]

Chloe was relieved when no one in the other room reacted to the chime of the PADD.   She hadn't given the team's presence in the bedchamber away.   But it seemed that this meeting with Dokan was just intended to not go well when the android questioned Nira's stalling.  Next thing, Chloe knew was that Nira was calling the team to come out armed.  This was the part Chloe hated.  She pulled her phaser and following the men as they stepped out of the bedroom and blocked the androids escape route.

Lahr for his part, hadn't brought a phaser.  At present, his only weapon was an Andorian dagger which would be of no use against an android.   Still, the former Sec/Tac crewman took up position a few feet behind the android to block his escape that way.

The EMP took out Chloe's phaser along with the Android. Then when the Commander called for the team to stop the Ferengi female guard,  Chloe didn't know what to do.   She hesitated.

Lahr on the other hand reacted just as fast as Nira and joined the dogpile in an attempt to each keep hold of the  android.

Upon rematerializing, there were far too many surrounding them so Lahr didn't struggle when he was pulled out of the pile.  It seemed there was nothing to do but wait for an opportunity.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

Zhukdra'shar took a moment to get over the spin to his head as he was pried away from the pile. When he opened his eye, he came across an unfamiliar ship, with a set of familiar-looking scumbags all around. He had to say though, he enjoyed the trophies that were plastered all over. He would like to take one. Or two. For himself.

Groaning as he came across Visa, Gath, and other assassins, he was most surprised to see Cloten standing high and mighty at the center of the room, as he explained his dastardly plan. He glanced over at Lahr, as he noticed his bluish presence within the captured on the bridge. He tried to search for his phaser, but to no avail, as it had most likely been taken, or it had been lost in transit. He sighed, as he lowered his ears, in defeat. Though, deep down, he wondered two things: if Chloe was alright, as he couldn't find in the room, and two, that the crooks had not taken yet three of his most valuable weapons. His body, mind and claws.

He waited... for now, he thought that trying to escape and make a ruckus was not a good idea...

[Nira Said]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
NPC Lt JG Chloe Davies
[Ferenginar - Fereng - Bink' Hotel Suite]

Chloe was relieved when no one in the other room reacted to the chime of the PADD.   She hadn't given the team's presence in the bedchamber away.   But it seemed that this meeting with Dokan was just intended to not go well when the android questioned Nira's stalling.  Next thing, Chloe knew was that Nira was calling the team to come out armed.  This was the part Chloe hated.  She pulled her phaser and following the men as they stepped out of the bedroom and blocked the androids escape route.

Lahr for his part, hadn't brought a phaser.  At present, his only weapon was an Andorian dagger which would be of no use against an android.   Still, the former Sec/Tac crewman took up position a few feet behind the android to block his escape that way.

The EMP took out Chloe's phaser along with the Android. Then when the Commander called for the team to stop the Ferengi female guard,  Chloe didn't know what to do.   She hesitated.

Lahr on the other hand reacted just as fast as Nira and joined the dogpile in an attempt to each keep hold of the  android.

Upon rematerializing, there were far too many surrounding them so Lahr didn't struggle when he was pulled out of the pile.  It seemed there was nothing to do but wait for an opportunity.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

'T'Riss' kept patiently listening in to all and any talk that was being exchanged between his 'employer' and Dokan. Every once in a while he glanced over at the peculiar man, and while he certainly could not do such a through reading with his own scanner hidden away under his eyepatch (which by the by, was starting to itch and really bother him), as Nira was doing with the Medical Scanner's information feeding into her P.A.D.D., he did found peculiar things. Namely, that the man seemed to be sixty degrees colder than a human, or even a Romulan, apparently.

He should be dead, yet every normal function seemed to be working properly. Who was this guy? Some kind of living dead?

His inner questions were interrupted as soon as his Lieutenant Commander gave him the order to engage, phasers drawn. With glee painted on his face, he walked over to the room and took out his Cardassian Phaser, trailing it on Dokan. "Oy, boy, you're in deep trouble if you're makin' me employer mad~" He stated, not yet breaking character. He wasn't sure if he would still need his act to remain valid, in case other assassins came by.

That soon came crashing down as he revealed that he knew exactly who Nira was. He took a deep breath, brow furrowing now, finger slowly beginning to pull down on the trigger. If he tried anything at all, he would make sure he regretted it. As Nira revealed that he most likely was some kind of android, he quirked a brow at it. That most likely explained the wild temperature that he sported.

Yet, as he called attention to a Ferengi woman on the side, and as she revealed that she had some kind of device under her skirt, Zhuk tried to shoot at it, fearing it was an explosive device. Instead, it erupted before he could fully turn his weapon, everything going dark after that. He tried to fire his weapon, but to no avail, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness, iris going wide to do so.

As he overheard some talk about being beamed up, he jumped from his position down, attempting to grab ahold of Nira and Dokan, unwilling to let her alone. And so, he suddenly found himself intertwinned with many Ferengi and other individuals, as he was beamed away.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

Zhukdra'shar took a moment to get over the spin to his head as he was pried away from the pile. When he opened his eye, he came across an unfamiliar ship, with a set of familiar-looking scumbags all around. He had to say though, he enjoyed the trophies that were plastered all over. He would like to take one. Or two. For himself.

Groaning as he came across Visa, Gath, and other assassins, he was most surprised to see Cloten standing high and mighty at the center of the room, as he explained his dastardly plan. He glanced over at Lahr, as he noticed his bluish presence within the captured on the bridge. He tried to search for his phaser, but to no avail, as it had most likely been taken, or it had been lost in transit. He sighed, as he lowered his ears, in defeat. Though, deep down, he wondered two things: if Chloe was alright, as he couldn't find in the room, and two, that the crooks had not taken yet three of his most valuable weapons. His body, mind and claws.

He waited... for now, he thought that trying to escape and make a ruckus was not a good idea...

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

Cloten smirked at the varied reactions by the others who joined Nira.

"I'm sure you're guessing, what is all this motley bunch doing together?" he drawled. "Let's just say, cooped up here, crammed together, watched constantly by the Eliminators, we pretty much have a common cause. Safe here in our ship...hidden in that huge warehouse, by the way, the perfect place for a hidden hangar...we ultimately decided to band together. Frankly, this was all Visa's idea, mostly, but I'm generally the guy everybody comes to. I'm the guy who's up to sell crap that technically doesn't belong to me. An industrial replicator? Get in line. An antique D'Deridex? Pick one out! The best fields of Borg scrap? Let me draw you a map and give you the directions."

"That's chiefly why you were at Katra momentarily, weren't you?" asked Nira. "Trying to find Borg scrap in the Gamma Quadrant?"

"Yeah, well, see, there's generally a problem in that, even if there was Borg scrap to be found, there's two major organizations in that side of the galaxy that stands in the way, one old and one new, whom I won't identify other than by the following letters: D-O-M-I-N-I-O-N."

"Thank you, Cloten, but I can take it from there," Visa said smoothly. Looking at Nira, she purred, "Cloten certainly loves to talk. When he gets excitable, he's almost as bad a chatterbox as that dumpy fool Morn. Suffice to say, we're all banded together to figure out ways to find Dokan. Then you two showed up...and then a young Andorian making some unique noises. Of course Cloten recognized you. And Niamis was an earful as ever," she added, gesturing at the steely-eyed El-Aurian.

Nira cringed a little. Of course Niamis was there, how did she forget about the El-Aurian, or did dancing and Cloten drive the El-Aurian out of her mind? She should've been more careful. She should've even took Cloten for a walk...but then, Cloten was definitely the kind to try to suck up to any and all sides.

"Yes, Niamis realized who you were," chuckled Cloten. "I confirmed it, and it occurred to me: You'll lead us to Dokan. And you did. And a surprise it was."

Cloten snapped his fingers and some engineers appeared, ratlike Yridians that almost sported as much a sneer as Cloten did.

"Look it over and work on his systems. I want him talking but not moving."

As they went to work, Nira talked. "So now you have Dokan. That was your objective, yes? What is your intention?"

Cloten and Visa seemed to eye each other like they had each recieved exceptionally desired birthday presents.

"Let's just say the auction Dokan was holding is going to proceed in a little more interesting manner," Cloten said. "Instead of him selling Romulan secrets to the highest bidder, instead, we're going to hold Dokan while we wait for the highest bid from whatever Romulan faction sells the most."

"You're arranging to bid on him? Like a slave?" snapped Nira.

Cloten flinched; Nira remembered that with Cloten, the one area of illicit activity he had opposition to most was the slave trade. Cloten never dealt with slaves, in that it could only get him into trouble worse than if he was caught smuggling anything from Romulan Ale to torpedo warheads. For the right price, Cloten could even sabotage a slave trafficking operation; although, judging from the skeletons and even the elephant in the room - literally, because Nira could see the skeleton of an elephant hanging from the ceiling like it had stuck up there and died from twisting its neck, its head was above the viewscreen and the tusks lining either side - Cloten compensated for it by acting as a bounty hunter.

"Well, he technically isn't an actual person," he sneered. "Besides, we're holding him hostage while the Romulans knock themselves out to see who would love to get their hands on him...and see who he really is. Although, that was the original plan, that was before Malis discovered what Dokan really was, hence the EMP...however, we'd be glad to bid on him..." he paused as a Yridian whispered to him, and his eyebrows seemed to raise as that Yridian spread the news... "...or rather, fetch the highest price of whatever piece of the synthoid puppet there is left."

Nira furrowed her brow. "Puppet?"

"As much as I admire androids with minds of their own," Cloten said, "apparently, this thing has no mind of his own. However, it seems that..."

"He's got a transponder on him," Calud muttered. "And it's transmitting some kind of distress signal."

"Wasn't that taken out?"

"It came on as they were getting his functions online," Cloten said. He slipped off the chair and leered over at Dokan, who was definitely blinking now and turning his head but not moving.

"Isn't that right, whoever is taking behind there?" asked Cloten.

"You are correct, furball," said Dokan in an unRomulanlike way. "Designed to call for retrieval in the event of a disability in systems, or the first thing to activate when taken online."

Cloten chuckled, looked around, and then most everybody laughed with him, most likely with anticipation. But Nira and Visa, and Nira could tell from Visa's expression, they weren't finding it funny, they weren't laughing. But still, it was a good chance as any. As they were raising a hullaballoo, Nira looked around at Lahr and Zhuk and mouthed, "Contact Challenger. Morse code only. Find a way to make contact."

Then she turned back and called, "What's so funny?"

"Because they're going to come to him!" said Cloten. "Now we'll see who's really behind all this! And then, we rearrange the auction...pit the android's 'employers' against every Romulan faction."

"And what about us?" Bink snarled, held by the Nausicaan.

"Hmm, yes, two Starfleet officers, an apparent visiting arms merchant and one of the top Eliminators of the Ferengi government," said Cloten. "The Ferengi can certainly fetch a ransom big enough to get you back. And you, good client," said Cloten, turning to Lahr, "perhaps you're also an officer, perhaps you're as much an in-betweener as Malis is. Behave nicely and we can get on with looking at family business weapons. Why, we can run Gaila out of business after a while. As for the rest..."

"...I'd like them," Visa purred. "I take the Caitian. My brother Hirim can take the girl. And there will be no 'buts' on the matter," she added coldly, which told Nira that Visa knew about Cloten's screwing with the slave trade.

Cloten grit his teeth, but he was really hesitating. He didn't want to allow captives to head into slavery, but whatever right organization in the Orion Syndicate Visa represented, it was one organization he didn't seem to have the courage to mess with...

...suddenly, a beeping console caused an Orion to call in surprise.

"Sir!" he called. "Romulan ship decloaking ahead!"

"Looks like some faction picked up the signal, too," Cloten said ponderously.

"It's not affiliated with any faction we know!" said the Orion, raising an octave so high he was ready to squeal. "It...well, look for yourself!"

He turned on the viewscreen and everybody turned to look...and almost everybody gasped in surprise.

"There was another made?!?" Cloten barked in surprise.

The ship was certainly bigger than the average Romulan vessel, and Nira certainly recognized the look of the ship: It was a Scimitar, identical to the flagship of Shinzon, only the ship seemed to be sprouting wings, exactly like a raptor beating wings. There was something odd about the "wings," however.

"Strange," said Visa. "Look at the glowing orbs...they look more like communication arrays rather than charging weapons..."

"They're hailing," called another Yridian. "Holo-communication."

"Do it."

The holo-communicator came on, and three menacing-looking Ferengi appeared, one of them apparently sitting on the bridge. If it was possible for the surprise to escalate a notch or two, it did. Cloten yipped in surprise, heard among the varied gasps and grunts.

The two Ferengi struck more as bodyguards while the third in the center seemed to take up most of the space: It was an extremely fat and old Ferengi, with a veil in the back and so many jewels, it was a wonder his head wasn't tilting back. Nira figured he looked like an extremely fat toad stuffed into Sultan robes, fatty mass upon fatty mass. Even the ears sticking out of the "turban" gave the impression of the wings of a fly stuck to the side of his head after he ate the body in one mega bite. There seems to be a hint of megalomania, given he was holding a staff like half a walker, only it looked suspiciously like the Nagus's staff. It even had a head, except it was a genuine Ferengi skull, not a gold head.

Bink certainly recognized the fat Ferengi, because he growled. "Miga."

"Bink, my boy, it's been a long time." The fat Ferengi replied in a such a shrill creak of a voice that took Nira aback. Not only was she expecting to hear a deep reverberating croak, it occurred to Nira that this Ferengi was female. Then again, the biggest mass highest at the chest, Nira realized it wasn't fatty mass at all...

"I thought you were banished from Ferenginar a long time ago," Bink snapped. "Even the Quarter never allowed you back."

"Well, you didn't specify, did you," Miga drawled. "Besides, if you needed to look thoroughly, you should've looked more in the swamps. But then, Miga knows the swamps better than anybody."

"Even if you dared Ferengi authority by wearing clothes, Miga, even if certain rules have been bent to adjust to the times, you're still not a welcome woman," snarled Bink.

"A clan like mine isn't welcome anywhere," said Miga. "But only in the lowest and most unwelcome of societies."

"But Moogie, what did that make our Syndicate worlds?" asked one of the bodyguards dumbly.

Nira perked in surprise. Moogie?

"Shut up, boy," snapped Miga. "Now, which of the non-Ferengis around here was messing with our favorite toy?"

She looked imperiously around. Lingered her eye a bit on Nira, Lahr and Zhuk a bit. Then she zeroed in on Cloten.

"Ah. Deej Cloten. You can never resist sticking your nose nor your ass into other business."

Cloten was definitely shaking in fear. "B-b-but...it was you all along? Moogie Miga? Mama Miga herself?!"

"Daring other idiots to kill themselves over a few good secrets? Starting a war I don't mind, but the brains behind all this...well, he'd like to meet you himself. Am I right, boy?" the Moogie added, turning to somebody behind her.

Dokan seemed to reply, or rather, the answer came from somebody behind Moogie. "Bingo, Moogie."

Miga seemed to squat lower, putting her staff aside, and spread her arms like the whole universe belonged to her. "As you can see from my favorite ship, the favored ship of the Miga Gang, you have no choice, idiots. You're invited to the brains of the operation."

The holo-communicator cut off and the huge ship locked on a tractor beam and opening a mouth into a suspiciously huge shuttle bay. Nira looked around at Lahr and Zhuk, hoping either of them had made contact with Challenger via Morse Code. Then again, everybody in orbit, Starfleet, Ferengi, Romulan alike, were likely to discover a huge ship, some horrifyingly familiar to a lot of Romulans, had appeared in orbit of Ferengi, and looked powerful enough that it dare not be challenged.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[S.S Abandon-All-Hope - Deck One - Bridge]

Lahr discreetly studied his surroundings for a means of possible escape while seemingly listening to the explanations going on.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

Cloten smirked at the varied reactions by the others who joined Nira.

"I'm sure you're guessing, what is all this motley bunch doing together?" he drawled. "Let's just say, cooped up here, crammed together, watched constantly by the Eliminators, we pretty much have a common cause. Safe here in our ship...hidden in that huge warehouse, by the way, the perfect place for a hidden hangar...we ultimately decided to band together. Frankly, this was all Visa's idea, mostly, but I'm generally the guy everybody comes to. I'm the guy who's up to sell crap that technically doesn't belong to me. An industrial replicator? Get in line. An antique D'Deridex? Pick one out! The best fields of Borg scrap? Let me draw you a map and give you the directions."

"That's chiefly why you were at Katra momentarily, weren't you?" asked Nira. "Trying to find Borg scrap in the Gamma Quadrant?"

"Yeah, well, see, there's generally a problem in that, even if there was Borg scrap to be found, there's two major organizations in that side of the galaxy that stands in the way, one old and one new, whom I won't identify other than by the following letters: D-O-M-I-N-I-O-N."

"Thank you, Cloten, but I can take it from there," Visa said smoothly. Looking at Nira, she purred, "Cloten certainly loves to talk. When he gets excitable, he's almost as bad a chatterbox as that dumpy fool Morn. Suffice to say, we're all banded together to figure out ways to find Dokan. Then you two showed up...and then a young Andorian making some unique noises. Of course Cloten recognized you. And Niamis was an earful as ever," she added, gesturing at the steely-eyed El-Aurian.

Lahr flicked an antennae towards the Orion and when she referred to him.

Nira cringed a little. Of course Niamis was there, how did she forget about the El-Aurian, or did dancing and Cloten drive the El-Aurian out of her mind? She should've been more careful. She should've even took Cloten for a walk...but then, Cloten was definitely the kind to try to suck up to any and all sides.

"Yes, Niamis realized who you were," chuckled Cloten. "I confirmed it, and it occurred to me: You'll lead us to Dokan. And you did. And a surprise it was."

Cloten snapped his fingers and some engineers appeared, ratlike Yridians that almost sported as much a sneer as Cloten did.

"Look it over and work on his systems. I want him talking but not moving."

Lahr watched the Yridians as they started to work on the Dokan android.   "I could help with that if you like?" he offered.  But all the Andorian got in response was a rough shove from his bounty hunter 'guard' and a "shut-up".   The blue engineer shrugged as if it meant little to him, and if allowed, would lean his shoulder against a nearby console - acting cool with the situation.

As they went to work, Nira talked. "So now you have Dokan. That was your objective, yes? What is your intention?"

Cloten and Visa seemed to eye each other like they had each recieved exceptionally desired birthday presents.

"Let's just say the auction Dokan was holding is going to proceed in a little more interesting manner," Cloten said. "Instead of him selling Romulan secrets to the highest bidder, instead, we're going to hold Dokan while we wait for the highest bid from whatever Romulan faction sells the most."

"You're arranging to bid on him? Like a slave?" snapped Nira.

Cloten flinched; Nira remembered that with Cloten, the one area of illicit activity he had opposition to most was the slave trade. Cloten never dealt with slaves, in that it could only get him into trouble worse than if he was caught smuggling anything from Romulan Ale to torpedo warheads. For the right price, Cloten could even sabotage a slave trafficking operation; although, judging from the skeletons and even the elephant in the room - literally, because Nira could see the skeleton of an elephant hanging from the ceiling like it had stuck up there and died from twisting its neck, its head was above the viewscreen and the tusks lining either side - Cloten compensated for it by acting as a bounty hunter.

"Well, he technically isn't an actual person," he sneered. "Besides, we're holding him hostage while the Romulans knock themselves out to see who would love to get their hands on him...and see who he really is. Although, that was the original plan, that was before Malis discovered what Dokan really was, hence the EMP...however, we'd be glad to bid on him..." he paused as a Yridian whispered to him, and his eyebrows seemed to raise as that Yridian spread the news... "...or rather, fetch the highest price of whatever piece of the synthoid puppet there is left."

Nira furrowed her brow. "Puppet?"

"As much as I admire androids with minds of their own," Cloten said, "apparently, this thing has no mind of his own. However, it seems that..."

Oh!  Things were getting a bit interesting with the intel that the android wasn't really an android but just a puppet.  Question was now... who was controling it and why?

"He's got a transponder on him," Calud muttered. "And it's transmitting some kind of distress signal."

"Wasn't that taken out?"

"It came on as they were getting his functions online," Cloten said. He slipped off the chair and leered over at Dokan, who was definitely blinking now and turning his head but not moving.

"Isn't that right, whoever is taking behind there?" asked Cloten.

"You are correct, furball," said Dokan in an unRomulanlike way. "Designed to call for retrieval in the event of a disability in systems, or the first thing to activate when taken online."

Cloten chuckled, looked around, and then most everybody laughed with him, most likely with anticipation. But Nira and Visa, and Nira could tell from Visa's expression, they weren't finding it funny, they weren't laughing. But still, it was a good chance as any. As they were raising a hullaballoo, Nira looked around at Lahr and Zhuk and mouthed, "Contact Challenger. Morse code only. Find a way to make contact."

Lahr dipped an antenna at Commander Said in acknowledgement.    Because of Ruth's penchance for 'mouthing' things to him, the Andorian had gotten rather proficient rather quick at lip reading.  Thankfully Nira chose to 'mouth' in Federation Standard, which made things easy.    Well, easy to understand.   Not so easy to do while being watched.

The only upside is that during their pat down search for weapons and comm devices, though they'd found and taken his Andorian blade, they hadn't noticed or recognized his earbuds as more than an hearing aid.  Unfortunately these weren't the deluxe version, that could activate merely by mouthing, they required audible noise.

Oh well, 'Here goes nothing'.

Lahr grimaced suddenly and made a pained expression, then with his bound hands, he covered an ear, discreetly activating the unit into comm mode as he did.  "Ow!  Damn piece of crap."  He rubbed at his ear which would send a loud burst of squealing static to the recipient on the other end.  Then he began tapping his ear and 'faulty hearing aid' in the well familiar SOS code, ... --- ..., disguising it as merely trying to get it to work properly.

Then she turned back and called, "What's so funny?"

"Because they're going to come to him!" said Cloten. "Now we'll see who's really behind all this! And then, we rearrange the auction...pit the android's 'employers' against every Romulan faction."

"And what about us?" Bink snarled, held by the Nausicaan.

"Hmm, yes, two Starfleet officers, an apparent visiting arms merchant and one of the top Eliminators of the Ferengi government," said Cloten. "The Ferengi can certainly fetch a ransom big enough to get you back. And you, good client," said Cloten, turning to Lahr, "perhaps you're also an officer, perhaps you're as much an in-betweener as Malis is. Behave nicely and we can get on with looking at family business weapons. Why, we can run Gaila out of business after a while. As for the rest..."

No sooner had his tapping started then he paused when Cloten's attention returned to him.   Hearing that Cloten was still interested in the potential weapon, had Lahr smiling.  "I can do that."

It was only when the man's attention turned away that Lahr continued his 'rubbing' at his ear and the 'broken hearing aid'.

"...I'd like them," Visa purred. "I take the Caitian. My brother Hirim can take the girl. And there will be no 'buts' on the matter," she added coldly, which told Nira that Visa knew about Cloten's screwing with the slave trade.

Cloten grit his teeth, but he was really hesitating. He didn't want to allow captives to head into slavery, but whatever right organization in the Orion Syndicate Visa represented, it was one organization he didn't seem to have the courage to mess with...

...suddenly, a beeping console caused an Orion to call in surprise.

"Sir!" he called. "Romulan ship decloaking ahead!"

"Looks like some faction picked up the signal, too," Cloten said ponderously.

"It's not affiliated with any faction we know!" said the Orion, raising an octave so high he was ready to squeal. "It...well, look for yourself!"

He turned on the viewscreen and everybody turned to look...and almost everybody gasped in surprise.

"There was another made?!?" Cloten barked in surprise.

Hearing the Orion's plans for Zhuk and Nira, was not pleasant and Lahr wondering what other message he should be trying to inform Challenger of.   But before he could decide on anything, the Romulan ship appeared.   Lahr gave a low whistle at the sight of the large vessel.

The ship was certainly bigger than the average Romulan vessel, and Nira certainly recognized the look of the ship: It was a Scimitar, identical to the flagship of Shinzon, only the ship seemed to be sprouting wings, exactly like a raptor beating wings. There was something odd about the "wings," however.

"Strange," said Visa. "Look at the glowing orbs...they look more like communication arrays rather than charging weapons..."

"They're hailing," called another Yridian. "Holo-communication."

"Do it."

The holo-communicator came on, and three menacing-looking Ferengi appeared, one of them apparently sitting on the bridge. If it was possible for the surprise to escalate a notch or two, it did. Cloten yipped in surprise, heard among the varied gasps and grunts.

The two Ferengi struck more as bodyguards while the third in the center seemed to take up most of the space: It was an extremely fat and old Ferengi, with a veil in the back and so many jewels, it was a wonder his head wasn't tilting back. Nira figured he looked like an extremely fat toad stuffed into Sultan robes, fatty mass upon fatty mass. Even the ears sticking out of the "turban" gave the impression of the wings of a fly stuck to the side of his head after he ate the body in one mega bite. There seems to be a hint of megalomania, given he was holding a staff like half a walker, only it looked suspiciously like the Nagus's staff. It even had a head, except it was a genuine Ferengi skull, not a gold head.

Bink certainly recognized the fat Ferengi, because he growled. "Miga."

"Bink, my boy, it's been a long time." The fat Ferengi replied in a such a shrill creak of a voice that took Nira aback. Not only was she expecting to hear a deep reverberating croak, it occurred to Nira that this Ferengi was female. Then again, the biggest mass highest at the chest, Nira realized it wasn't fatty mass at all...

"I thought you were banished from Ferenginar a long time ago," Bink snapped. "Even the Quarter never allowed you back."

"Well, you didn't specify, did you," Miga drawled. "Besides, if you needed to look thoroughly, you should've looked more in the swamps. But then, Miga knows the swamps better than anybody."

"Even if you dared Ferengi authority by wearing clothes, Miga, even if certain rules have been bent to adjust to the times, you're still not a welcome woman," snarled Bink.

"A clan like mine isn't welcome anywhere," said Miga. "But only in the lowest and most unwelcome of societies."

"But Moogie, what did that make our Syndicate worlds?" asked one of the bodyguards dumbly.

Nira perked in surprise. Moogie?

"Shut up, boy," snapped Miga. "Now, which of the non-Ferengis around here was messing with our favorite toy?"

She looked imperiously around. Lingered her eye a bit on Nira, Lahr and Zhuk a bit. Then she zeroed in on Cloten.

"Ah. Deej Cloten. You can never resist sticking your nose nor your ass into other business."

Cloten was definitely shaking in fear. "B-b-but...it was you all along? Moogie Miga? Mama Miga herself?!"

"Daring other idiots to kill themselves over a few good secrets? Starting a war I don't mind, but the brains behind all this...well, he'd like to meet you himself. Am I right, boy?" the Moogie added, turning to somebody behind her.

Dokan seemed to reply, or rather, the answer came from somebody behind Moogie. "Bingo, Moogie."

Miga seemed to squat lower, putting her staff aside, and spread her arms like the whole universe belonged to her. "As you can see from my favorite ship, the favored ship of the Miga Gang, you have no choice, idiots. You're invited to the brains of the operation."

The holo-communicator cut off and the huge ship locked on a tractor beam and opening a mouth into a suspiciously huge shuttle bay. Nira looked around at Lahr and Zhuk, hoping either of them had made contact with Challenger via Morse Code. Then again, everybody in orbit, Starfleet, Ferengi, Romulan alike, were likely to discover a huge ship, some horrifyingly familiar to a lot of Romulans, had appeared in orbit of Ferengi, and looked powerful enough that it dare not be challenged.

Lahr had no clue who this Moogie Miga was or how she managed to get a hold of the Romulan ship but it seemed Lahr's question as to who was in charge was now answered.

As the tractor beam took hold of the ship, Lahr changed up his message:  .-. --- -- ..- .-.. .- -. / ... .... .. .--. / -...- / -- --- --- --. .. . / -- .. --. .-

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

Cloten smirked at the varied reactions by the others who joined Nira.

"I'm sure you're guessing, what is all this motley bunch doing together?" he drawled. "Let's just say, cooped up here, crammed together, watched constantly by the Eliminators, we pretty much have a common cause. Safe here in our ship...hidden in that huge warehouse, by the way, the perfect place for a hidden hangar...we ultimately decided to band together. Frankly, this was all Visa's idea, mostly, but I'm generally the guy everybody comes to. I'm the guy who's up to sell crap that technically doesn't belong to me. An industrial replicator? Get in line. An antique D'Deridex? Pick one out! The best fields of Borg scrap? Let me draw you a map and give you the directions."

"That's chiefly why you were at Katra momentarily, weren't you?" asked Nira. "Trying to find Borg scrap in the Gamma Quadrant?"

"Yeah, well, see, there's generally a problem in that, even if there was Borg scrap to be found, there's two major organizations in that side of the galaxy that stands in the way, one old and one new, whom I won't identify other than by the following letters: D-O-M-I-N-I-O-N."

"Thank you, Cloten, but I can take it from there," Visa said smoothly. Looking at Nira, she purred, "Cloten certainly loves to talk. When he gets excitable, he's almost as bad a chatterbox as that dumpy fool Morn. Suffice to say, we're all banded together to figure out ways to find Dokan. Then you two showed up...and then a young Andorian making some unique noises. Of course Cloten recognized you. And Niamis was an earful as ever," she added, gesturing at the steely-eyed El-Aurian.

Nira cringed a little. Of course Niamis was there, how did she forget about the El-Aurian, or did dancing and Cloten drive the El-Aurian out of her mind? She should've been more careful. She should've even took Cloten for a walk...but then, Cloten was definitely the kind to try to suck up to any and all sides.

"Yes, Niamis realized who you were," chuckled Cloten. "I confirmed it, and it occurred to me: You'll lead us to Dokan. And you did. And a surprise it was."

Cloten snapped his fingers and some engineers appeared, ratlike Yridians that almost sported as much a sneer as Cloten did.

"Look it over and work on his systems. I want him talking but not moving."

As they went to work, Nira talked. "So now you have Dokan. That was your objective, yes? What is your intention?"

Cloten and Visa seemed to eye each other like they had each recieved exceptionally desired birthday presents.

"Let's just say the auction Dokan was holding is going to proceed in a little more interesting manner," Cloten said. "Instead of him selling Romulan secrets to the highest bidder, instead, we're going to hold Dokan while we wait for the highest bid from whatever Romulan faction sells the most."

"You're arranging to bid on him? Like a slave?" snapped Nira.

Cloten flinched; Nira remembered that with Cloten, the one area of illicit activity he had opposition to most was the slave trade. Cloten never dealt with slaves, in that it could only get him into trouble worse than if he was caught smuggling anything from Romulan Ale to torpedo warheads. For the right price, Cloten could even sabotage a slave trafficking operation; although, judging from the skeletons and even the elephant in the room - literally, because Nira could see the skeleton of an elephant hanging from the ceiling like it had stuck up there and died from twisting its neck, its head was above the viewscreen and the tusks lining either side - Cloten compensated for it by acting as a bounty hunter.

"Well, he technically isn't an actual person," he sneered. "Besides, we're holding him hostage while the Romulans knock themselves out to see who would love to get their hands on him...and see who he really is. Although, that was the original plan, that was before Malis discovered what Dokan really was, hence the EMP...however, we'd be glad to bid on him..." he paused as a Yridian whispered to him, and his eyebrows seemed to raise as that Yridian spread the news... "...or rather, fetch the highest price of whatever piece of the synthoid puppet there is left."

Nira furrowed her brow. "Puppet?"

"As much as I admire androids with minds of their own," Cloten said, "apparently, this thing has no mind of his own. However, it seems that..."

"He's got a transponder on him," Calud muttered. "And it's transmitting some kind of distress signal."

"Wasn't that taken out?"

"It came on as they were getting his functions online," Cloten said. He slipped off the chair and leered over at Dokan, who was definitely blinking now and turning his head but not moving.

"Isn't that right, whoever is taking behind there?" asked Cloten.

"You are correct, furball," said Dokan in an unRomulanlike way. "Designed to call for retrieval in the event of a disability in systems, or the first thing to activate when taken online."

Cloten chuckled, looked around, and then most everybody laughed with him, most likely with anticipation. But Nira and Visa, and Nira could tell from Visa's expression, they weren't finding it funny, they weren't laughing. But still, it was a good chance as any. As they were raising a hullaballoo, Nira looked around at Lahr and Zhuk and mouthed, "Contact Challenger. Morse code only. Find a way to make contact."

Then she turned back and called, "What's so funny?"

"Because they're going to come to him!" said Cloten. "Now we'll see who's really behind all this! And then, we rearrange the auction...pit the android's 'employers' against every Romulan faction."

"And what about us?" Bink snarled, held by the Nausicaan.

"Hmm, yes, two Starfleet officers, an apparent visiting arms merchant and one of the top Eliminators of the Ferengi government," said Cloten. "The Ferengi can certainly fetch a ransom big enough to get you back. And you, good client," said Cloten, turning to Lahr, "perhaps you're also an officer, perhaps you're as much an in-betweener as Malis is. Behave nicely and we can get on with looking at family business weapons. Why, we can run Gaila out of business after a while. As for the rest..."

"...I'd like them," Visa purred. "I take the Caitian. My brother Hirim can take the girl. And there will be no 'buts' on the matter," she added coldly, which told Nira that Visa knew about Cloten's screwing with the slave trade.

Cloten grit his teeth, but he was really hesitating. He didn't want to allow captives to head into slavery, but whatever right organization in the Orion Syndicate Visa represented, it was one organization he didn't seem to have the courage to mess with...

...suddenly, a beeping console caused an Orion to call in surprise.

"Sir!" he called. "Romulan ship decloaking ahead!"

"Looks like some faction picked up the signal, too," Cloten said ponderously.

"It's not affiliated with any faction we know!" said the Orion, raising an octave so high he was ready to squeal. "It...well, look for yourself!"

He turned on the viewscreen and everybody turned to look...and almost everybody gasped in surprise.

"There was another made?!?" Cloten barked in surprise.

The ship was certainly bigger than the average Romulan vessel, and Nira certainly recognized the look of the ship: It was a Scimitar, identical to the flagship of Shinzon, only the ship seemed to be sprouting wings, exactly like a raptor beating wings. There was something odd about the "wings," however.

"Strange," said Visa. "Look at the glowing orbs...they look more like communication arrays rather than charging weapons..."

"They're hailing," called another Yridian. "Holo-communication."

"Do it."

The holo-communicator came on, and three menacing-looking Ferengi appeared, one of them apparently sitting on the bridge. If it was possible for the surprise to escalate a notch or two, it did. Cloten yipped in surprise, heard among the varied gasps and grunts.

The two Ferengi struck more as bodyguards while the third in the center seemed to take up most of the space: It was an extremely fat and old Ferengi, with a veil in the back and so many jewels, it was a wonder his head wasn't tilting back. Nira figured he looked like an extremely fat toad stuffed into Sultan robes, fatty mass upon fatty mass. Even the ears sticking out of the "turban" gave the impression of the wings of a fly stuck to the side of his head after he ate the body in one mega bite. There seems to be a hint of megalomania, given he was holding a staff like half a walker, only it looked suspiciously like the Nagus's staff. It even had a head, except it was a genuine Ferengi skull, not a gold head.

Bink certainly recognized the fat Ferengi, because he growled. "Miga."

"Bink, my boy, it's been a long time." The fat Ferengi replied in a such a shrill creak of a voice that took Nira aback. Not only was she expecting to hear a deep reverberating croak, it occurred to Nira that this Ferengi was female. Then again, the biggest mass highest at the chest, Nira realized it wasn't fatty mass at all...

"I thought you were banished from Ferenginar a long time ago," Bink snapped. "Even the Quarter never allowed you back."

"Well, you didn't specify, did you," Miga drawled. "Besides, if you needed to look thoroughly, you should've looked more in the swamps. But then, Miga knows the swamps better than anybody."

"Even if you dared Ferengi authority by wearing clothes, Miga, even if certain rules have been bent to adjust to the times, you're still not a welcome woman," snarled Bink.

"A clan like mine isn't welcome anywhere," said Miga. "But only in the lowest and most unwelcome of societies."

"But Moogie, what did that make our Syndicate worlds?" asked one of the bodyguards dumbly.

Nira perked in surprise. Moogie?

"Shut up, boy," snapped Miga. "Now, which of the non-Ferengis around here was messing with our favorite toy?"

She looked imperiously around. Lingered her eye a bit on Nira, Lahr and Zhuk a bit. Then she zeroed in on Cloten.

"Ah. Deej Cloten. You can never resist sticking your nose nor your ass into other business."

Cloten was definitely shaking in fear. "B-b-but...it was you all along? Moogie Miga? Mama Miga herself?!"

"Daring other idiots to kill themselves over a few good secrets? Starting a war I don't mind, but the brains behind all this...well, he'd like to meet you himself. Am I right, boy?" the Moogie added, turning to somebody behind her.

Dokan seemed to reply, or rather, the answer came from somebody behind Moogie. "Bingo, Moogie."

Miga seemed to squat lower, putting her staff aside, and spread her arms like the whole universe belonged to her. "As you can see from my favorite ship, the favored ship of the Miga Gang, you have no choice, idiots. You're invited to the brains of the operation."

The holo-communicator cut off and the huge ship locked on a tractor beam and opening a mouth into a suspiciously huge shuttle bay. Nira looked around at Lahr and Zhuk, hoping either of them had made contact with Challenger via Morse Code. Then again, everybody in orbit, Starfleet, Ferengi, Romulan alike, were likely to discover a huge ship, some horrifyingly familiar to a lot of Romulans, had appeared in orbit of Ferengi, and looked powerful enough that it dare not be challenged.

Zhuk listened intently to the long-winded explanation of Cloten as to why he was doing this. He supposed it made sense, though the initial shock of finding out that Dokan was indeed an android still permated within his mind. He really had been fooled, but he guessed that was the ultimate goal of Dokan. Yet, a purpose had to be in order, correct? He hummed, his ears picking up the general chatter around the room, though they especially pivoted towards Cloten when he mentioned the Dominion.

His eyes went over the Yridians that had been summoned to check upon the android, momentarily stopping Zhuk from gazing around the room, looking for a way out. Still, something was already on his plans, as his eyes had wandered up to gaze at that strange, huge skeleton that hanged from the ceiling. Maybe, if he was able to obtain a phaser, after a struggle, he would be able to shoot at the supports and bring it down. That would surely place some caos inside.

His ear pivoted towards the report that Dokan was only a shell. Not even a person of his own, but a mere puppet that was being controlled from afar. Strange. He really thought that it was some kind of individual, here to do his own bidding. If that was not ultimately the case, who was behind Dokan? At least, the robot was a little funny, and he couldn't help himself but chuckle at its comment towards Cloten. As he turned around, he managed to notice Nira mouthing something. Though hard-pressed to make out what she was saying, he got the message.

Slowly, but surely he sought to search himself to find his comm in order to inform the Challenger via morse code of their situation. Except that, try as he might, he could not locate it. Drat. He couldn't be too obvious looking, either, or else he was going to end up racking too much attention. Yet, it most likely seemed that his apparatus had been taken. He wished that he had managed to take a reserve comm and hid it away somewhere. Ugh.

Zhuk's thoughts once more got interrupted as he was informed what their fates would be. His eyes went wide as he was revealed to be known as a Starfleet officer. His look, calm, but slightly frustrated, changed as his ears fell flat on his head and his fur puffed up. How the heck had he been discovered? He couldn't believe it. He was doing a stupendous job posing as a scummy, evil bodyguard! He would had to improve his next paper, it seemed. More acting time in the Holodeck for him!

Still, his mood was tempered by the claim that Visa had set upon him. His fur relaxed slightly, and his gaze went to the floor, as he felt torn by the decision. He really did not want to return to his life as a slave, especially not under an Orion. Yet, the idea, deep down, was odly appealing to him. Visa was quite beautiful, and he found hard to fight her advances before. Maybe, maybe he could try and play along. She most likely wouldn't be able to tell. It beat showing off he was scared, he thought.

"Why, I find that offer quite... appealing~" He mrowled back to Visa, as he met her gaze, hoping that his earlier expressions would not be looked too much into. Instead, he tried to appear as appealing and meek as possible now."Do believe me. I do not need training. And I am astoundingly obedient~."

Suddenly, though, a ship was reported closing into Cloten's own. Zhuk turned to properly look at it, finding the distraction a welcome one. However, this relief turned into more shock as he gazed at the mightiest Romulan ship he had ever seen. Well, maybe second one. The flagship of Nakir was certainly much more impossing. Still, he had a bad feeling about their chances against it.

A communication was soon established between the two, and within the viewscreen, instead of a set of Romulans, instead a trio of Ferengi were found. The main Ferengi at the center was truly corpulent, and obviously quite wealthy. The other two, he assumed were his bodyguards. When the main Ferengi began to speak, though, he was quickly corrected: she. Either way, he was in awe. Were they here to assist them?

Of course not. The day kept getting filled with surprises, as she revealed that she was the one behind the creation and manipulation of Dokan. And not for any sort of secret-selling endeavor. Instead, she was using him to sow chaos and mistrust amongst several parties. Of course. Pretty smart, he had to say. This woman, Miga, certainly was no fool, though he wondered what exactly had gotten her exiled, if Bink was to be believed. Maybe he could investigate later.

He grumbled as she had caught them in their clutches, and soon, the ship quaked as they were being pulled within a large hangar bay. Zhuk noticed Nira looking at him, and shook his head. He was ashamed that he hadn't managed to send a response in, but maybe there was still a way out. He motioned over at the skeleton of the elephant up above. Then mouthed some explosions, and some phaser fire to the best of his ability, hoping Nira could get what he meant by that.

Then, he got an idea. "Gentlemen, ladies. Considering that we are most likely within an unfavorable situation, I would consider that it is best for us to momentarily ally ourselves against the bigger menace. Then perhaps we can discuss who is taking who after we survive it. What do you say?" Raising an eyebrow, he looked around, hoping that it would, at the very least, cause some discord amongst the ranks of Cloten. And on the best of outcomes, actually create a temporary truce.

[Nira Said]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[S.S Abandon-All-Hope - Deck One - Bridge]

Lahr discreetly studied his surroundings for a means of possible escape while seemingly listening to the explanations going on.

Lahr flicked an antennae towards the Orion and when she referred to him.

Lahr watched the Yridians as they started to work on the Dokan android.   "I could help with that if you like?" he offered.  But all the Andorian got in response was a rough shove from his bounty hunter 'guard' and a "shut-up".   The blue engineer shrugged as if it meant little to him, and if allowed, would lean his shoulder against a nearby console - acting cool with the situation.
Oh!  Things were getting a bit interesting with the intel that the android wasn't really an android but just a puppet.  Question was now... who was controling it and why?
Lahr dipped an antenna at Commander Said in acknowledgement.    Because of Ruth's penchance for 'mouthing' things to him, the Andorian had gotten rather proficient rather quick at lip reading.  Thankfully Nira chose to 'mouth' in Federation Standard, which made things easy.    Well, easy to understand.   Not so easy to do while being watched.

The only upside is that during their pat down search for weapons and comm devices, though they'd found and taken his Andorian blade, they hadn't noticed or recognized his earbuds as more than an hearing aid.  Unfortunately these weren't the deluxe version, that could activate merely by mouthing, they required audible noise.

Oh well, 'Here goes nothing'.

Lahr grimaced suddenly and made a pained expression, then with his bound hands, he covered an ear, discreetly activating the unit into comm mode as he did.  "Ow!  Damn piece of crap."  He rubbed at his ear which would send a loud burst of squealing static to the recipient on the other end.  Then he began tapping his ear and 'faulty hearing aid' in the well familiar SOS code, ... --- ..., disguising it as merely trying to get it to work properly.

No sooner had his tapping started then he paused when Cloten's attention returned to him.   Hearing that Cloten was still interested in the potential weapon, had Lahr smiling.  "I can do that."

It was only when the man's attention turned away that Lahr continued his 'rubbing' at his ear and the 'broken hearing aid'.

Hearing the Orion's plans for Zhuk and Nira, was not pleasant and Lahr wondering what other message he should be trying to inform Challenger of.   But before he could decide on anything, the Romulan ship appeared.   Lahr gave a low whistle at the sight of the large vessel.
Lahr had no clue who this Moogie Miga was or how she managed to get a hold of the Romulan ship but it seemed Lahr's question as to who was in charge was now answered.

As the tractor beam took hold of the ship, Lahr changed up his message:  .-. --- -- ..- .-.. .- -. / ... .... .. .--. / -...- / -- --- --- --. .. . / -- .. --. .-

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

Zhuk listened intently to the long-winded explanation of Cloten as to why he was doing this. He supposed it made sense, though the initial shock of finding out that Dokan was indeed an android still permated within his mind. He really had been fooled, but he guessed that was the ultimate goal of Dokan. Yet, a purpose had to be in order, correct? He hummed, his ears picking up the general chatter around the room, though they especially pivoted towards Cloten when he mentioned the Dominion.

His eyes went over the Yridians that had been summoned to check upon the android, momentarily stopping Zhuk from gazing around the room, looking for a way out. Still, something was already on his plans, as his eyes had wandered up to gaze at that strange, huge skeleton that hanged from the ceiling. Maybe, if he was able to obtain a phaser, after a struggle, he would be able to shoot at the supports and bring it down. That would surely place some caos inside.

His ear pivoted towards the report that Dokan was only a shell. Not even a person of his own, but a mere puppet that was being controlled from afar. Strange. He really thought that it was some kind of individual, here to do his own bidding. If that was not ultimately the case, who was behind Dokan? At least, the robot was a little funny, and he couldn't help himself but chuckle at its comment towards Cloten. As he turned around, he managed to notice Nira mouthing something. Though hard-pressed to make out what she was saying, he got the message.

Slowly, but surely he sought to search himself to find his comm in order to inform the Challenger via morse code of their situation. Except that, try as he might, he could not locate it. Drat. He couldn't be too obvious looking, either, or else he was going to end up racking too much attention. Yet, it most likely seemed that his apparatus had been taken. He wished that he had managed to take a reserve comm and hid it away somewhere. Ugh.

Zhuk's thoughts once more got interrupted as he was informed what their fates would be. His eyes went wide as he was revealed to be known as a Starfleet officer. His look, calm, but slightly frustrated, changed as his ears fell flat on his head and his fur puffed up. How the heck had he been discovered? He couldn't believe it. He was doing a stupendous job posing as a scummy, evil bodyguard! He would had to improve his next paper, it seemed. More acting time in the Holodeck for him!

Still, his mood was tempered by the claim that Visa had set upon him. His fur relaxed slightly, and his gaze went to the floor, as he felt torn by the decision. He really did not want to return to his life as a slave, especially not under an Orion. Yet, the idea, deep down, was odly appealing to him. Visa was quite beautiful, and he found hard to fight her advances before. Maybe, maybe he could try and play along. She most likely wouldn't be able to tell. It beat showing off he was scared, he thought.

"Why, I find that offer quite... appealing~" He mrowled back to Visa, as he met her gaze, hoping that his earlier expressions would not be looked too much into. Instead, he tried to appear as appealing and meek as possible now."Do believe me. I do not need training. And I am astoundingly obedient~."

Suddenly, though, a ship was reported closing into Cloten's own. Zhuk turned to properly look at it, finding the distraction a welcome one. However, this relief turned into more shock as he gazed at the mightiest Romulan ship he had ever seen. Well, maybe second one. The flagship of Nakir was certainly much more impossing. Still, he had a bad feeling about their chances against it.

A communication was soon established between the two, and within the viewscreen, instead of a set of Romulans, instead a trio of Ferengi were found. The main Ferengi at the center was truly corpulent, and obviously quite wealthy. The other two, he assumed were his bodyguards. When the main Ferengi began to speak, though, he was quickly corrected: she. Either way, he was in awe. Were they here to assist them?

Of course not. The day kept getting filled with surprises, as she revealed that she was the one behind the creation and manipulation of Dokan. And not for any sort of secret-selling endeavor. Instead, she was using him to sow chaos and mistrust amongst several parties. Of course. Pretty smart, he had to say. This woman, Miga, certainly was no fool, though he wondered what exactly had gotten her exiled, if Bink was to be believed. Maybe he could investigate later.

He grumbled as she had caught them in their clutches, and soon, the ship quaked as they were being pulled within a large hangar bay. Zhuk noticed Nira looking at him, and shook his head. He was ashamed that he hadn't managed to send a response in, but maybe there was still a way out. He motioned over at the skeleton of the elephant up above. Then mouthed some explosions, and some phaser fire to the best of his ability, hoping Nira could get what he meant by that.

Then, he got an idea. "Gentlemen, ladies. Considering that we are most likely within an unfavorable situation, I would consider that it is best for us to momentarily ally ourselves against the bigger menace. Then perhaps we can discuss who is taking who after we survive it. What do you say?" Raising an eyebrow, he looked around, hoping that it would, at the very least, cause some discord amongst the ranks of Cloten. And on the best of outcomes, actually create a temporary truce.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]
The ship in orbit was tractored into the very maw of the ship, and as it drew closer, Nira recognized it as a Scimitar-class dreadnought. Admiral Gillespie had given her, Galloway and T'Kel some intelligence packets regarding powerhouse Romulan ships when they last met, and this was one of them, but she never thought she'd see it with her own eyes, let alone the way it was deployed. Somehow, it struck Nira was something like some kind of mobile array.

Nira was snapped back to reality at Zhuk's question, of which Cloten and his "gang" laughed mirthlessly. Gath retorted, "We're already allied in this endeavor, we just weren't aware of it."

"However, they won't likely expect us," said Visa silkily. "I propose we hide ourselves and find a way to...weaken our giant new friend."

"We got plenty of places to hide and sneak out, Visa," Cloten said, "but if this is the Miga Clan we're dealing with, we'd best watch ourselves, a Syndicate war can be extremely messy."

"Agreed, Cloten," Xinor replied. "Then you can be escorted when the big matriarch comes to collect."

Cloten shrugged. Nira, meanwhile, leaned over to whisper in Bink's ear: "What do you know of the Miga Clan?"

"Dangerous Ferengi gang," Bink replied. "Active for more than fifty years. Moogie Miga was, at first, defied Ferengi law by wearing clothes before moving up to more dangerous crap. In spite of her size, she very easily tends to disappear. We Eliminators and Liquidators always knew she'd be out for the seat of Nagus someday...it looks like it could've arrived."

"So she's a radical," Nira said. "But how did she get all that information, let alone a topnotch android like 'Dokan?'"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Bink said with a shrug.

"Right," said Nira. She looked at Lahr and could see he was making contact in Morse Code, with the device she had gifted him at his promotion. Clever man, she thought to herself with praise.

Once docked in the massive shuttlebay, the assassins went into hiding, leaving only Cloten with Nira, Lahr and Zhuk and Bink to meet a troop of Nausicaans who ordered them along with them and lifted up "Dokan" as easily as lifting a sack.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Shuttlebay >- Bridge | Dreadnought Deepfake]

Naturally, the ringleader had to be there when they arrived. Moogie Miga was even more disgusting in person, and was so obviously overweight that she had her own ride in the form of a hovercraft, like a throne metallically fused to a hover cart, only Nira strongly suspected that the whole thing used to be a Work Bee.

"Welcome aboard the flagship of the Miga Clan, the Deepfake!" Miga creaked.

What an appropriate name, Nira thought, looking at Dokan for a moment, given Dokan really wasn't what he appeared to be.

"Come along now, idiots, you are, after all, most Very Important Prisoners!" she said, wheezing a chuckle at her own bad joke.

Once again, Nira had the impression that the ship seemed more like a mobile array. She got that inkling once she followed Miga through the first corridors. Every bit of wall that didn't consist of doors, windows or replicators was covered with computer servers, like if Borg hull had lined the walls inside. Lights came in the form of glowing data nodes, almost exactly like the inside of a Borg ship, though torches lined the walls at times, the only other form of light inside.

What further surprised Nira was who inhabited the ship, not just crew. Orions and Deltans lounged in carpeted lean-tos engaged in debauched activity. Nausicaans, Kzinti and huge Orion bouncers patrolled around. Ferengi were busy doing maintenance or conducting inventory. If it wasn't for the people, Nira would've assumed that she would've imagined if Bedouins had found a Borg ship and decided to call it home. It wasn't just a mobile array, but also a mobile Ishtar Bazaar.

Finally, they arrived at the Bridge. It wasn't just the immense size that took Nira's breath away. At the back of the room was a long technological cylinder, extending from the floor to the ceiling. Nira had a distinct impression that the thing extended above and below a few more decks, like a warp core, only this core didn't strike her as energy generating.

Before the core stood a tall, lithe Ferengi. He even had attractive-looking features, but the Ferengi wrinkles, bald bumpy head and huge ears ruined the image. The way he was dressed, he certainly looked the part of a Nagus.

"Yaga! There you are, my boy!" Miga said. "Gentlemen...and feeemale," Miga added, looking at Nira with a sneer, "allow me to present the man whose performance you interrupted! The Puppetmaster himself! My firstborn! Yaga!"

Yaga gave a theatrical bow. "Ah. And you brought the android. Good."

This was the second Ferengi whose unexpected voice surprised Nira. He was smooth-talking for a Ferengi, and he could've passed for a salesman with a forked tongue, and Nira was even expecting a forked tongue to flick out; the big ears on Yaga certainly bore semblance to a cobra's hood.

The Nausicaans set "Dokan" down and adjusted him in a sitting position. Yaga got to work on him and the android shifted its camouflage. The ears shortened, as did the hair. The eyes and skin lightened until, finally, the original android form was shown. It was extremely different from any android, even of Soong make. His eyes, skin and hair were whitened...whitened in a blank kind of way.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Yaga said. "A pity the performance had to end so soon. It was even entertaining to watch various Romulans try to bump him off."

"So it's you, alright," Bink sneered.

"Ah, Bink, my old friend," Yaga said smoothly. "Glad we can meet again. I wish Bock could be here to enjoy this."

"And I am surprised you're actually alive," Bink sputtered quietly. "We thought you died when Hobus..."

"You wish," Yaga retorted. He then approached Nira, Lahr, Zhuk and Cloten. "But then, what an honor for witnesses of the Federation to join us."

He laughed at the expressions on their face and added, "Oh, I bet you are wondering how I accomplished all this. What a remarkable story, am I right, Moogie?"

He then stepped to the center of the bridge like an actor on a stage and began.

"For years, the Miga Clan has evaded Ferengi justice. Decades, even. I, the best and first of Miga's sons, was unfortunate to be the first caught. However, the war with the Dominion had ended and a new Nagus took command.

"Now, if Zek was still in charge, I would've been a bloodstain in the Sacred Marketplace," Yaga said slyly before turning bitterly critical. "I had even expected that old man, a man who matched Moogie in shrewdness. Instead, the Nagus before me was Rom. A fool that I was amazed was even made Zek's successor. And in that, I was fortunate. Rather than execute me, Rom took the more...lenient approach by exiling me...he even 'assigned' me a position in the Ferengi embassy of Romulus.

"I would've been miserable, but what I saw was opportunity," added Yaga, licking his lips with an insane grin, like he had stepped into a Scheherazade treasure cave. "I was at Romulus to witness Shinzon come and go like a plume puffing from Mount Tubatuba. And, like Mount Tubatuba, he left quite an impact. I had freedom, access...plenty enough to get me into the right places and acquire...certain things. This ship, for instance," he added, gesturing around, "it's based off the Scimitar design...there were plenty more like this that Shinzon destroyed to ensure he met no threat. But this one, he missed. And it's the only other ship like the Scimitar designed to incorporate a Thalaron core."

Nira let out a gasp and looked at the computer core...surely this whole ship wasn't powered by Thalaron Radiation...but Yaga chuckled at her reaction.

"I said it was designed. I put in something in its place, with help of some Miga boys smuggled into Romulan space. In its place...a computer core to uplink to the Romulan central network hub. I've had more than half a decade to load every dirty secret of the Romulan Star Empire. And it led me and the clan to more stuff...including the android."

Patting the android, he continued. "You know, the idea was based off the very idea that brought Shinzon into existence in the first place. Decades ago, a plan was conceived to insert Romulan sleeper agents in the form of cloned copies of key Federation commanding officers. The first of the officers chosen to be replaced was Jean-Luc Picard. So, the intelligence operatives got ahold of his DNA while in attendance at a wedding and came up with a clone designed to accelerate with age until he was the exact age of Picard and then replaced. Unfortunately, when a new government on Romulus was rotated in, the plan was abandoned, out of concern that if the Federation discovered the plan, it would lead to war. So the boy was exiled into the Pits of Remus...and by the Blessed Exchequer, he not only survived, he became a powerful ruler of his own right.

Of course, the idea of disguised sleeper agents wouldn't crop up again until the Dominion threat came about and paranoia of Changelings infiltrating the Alpha Quadrant came about. That's when the Tal Shiar decided to make use of synthetic drones instead of clones - less time-consuming than a clone, anyway. Only a dozen of these things were ever made before Hobus destroyed Romulus."

"And speaking of Romulus," Nira interrupted, "your connection wouldn't have done much good, that network hub went with the rest of Romulus."

"Oh, I had gotten plenty, Nira," Yaga said, coming close to Nira...ugh, she could smell his breath, was there a particular dipping sauce made of swamp gunk for tube grubs? "And it gave me links to every other major network hub in the old Star Empire. Anyway, the time and effort taken into these androids was as much as a typical shipyard can take on a squadron of starships, but it was well worth the effort to acquire at least one of these."

"And what about the real Dokan?" asked Nira.

"The Romulan ambassador to Ferenginar and I were good friends," said Yaga. "He also kept close tabs on the Hobus star. He allowed me to leave with the...acquisitions made for the Miga Clan, his back turned...and a week later, he went along with the rest of Romulus, but the simulation made of him still existed in the android's memory banks. It was very easy to claim I died with the rest of Romulus and conduct my plan."

"By what, overriding Ferenginar's economy with an auction of dirty secrets?" Nira retorted.

"An auction to buy my way into position of Nagus," answered Yaga. "And when there were too many people threatening to snoop in on me...well, the android is as handy a weapon as he is a puppet."

Nira shuddered. Even his scheme of overthrowing a government was definitely of Ferengi nature. Bink, of course, spoke up.

"The hanging...of course, you were getting revenge at the same time," he said. "The Miga Clan was famous for hanging people, but to do it from the Tower of Commerce...?"

"Yes, one of the Liquidators close to the Nagus and set me on my way to the 'embassy,'" snarled Yaga quietly. "The Tower of Commerce unfortunately stinks worse than a sweating Antican."

"Hey!" snarled Cloten.

"Ah yes, easy to forget you, Cloten," Yaga said, wagging his finger. "But can you even imagine that you'd be as clever as I am, to know as much as I do? Knowledge is power, it's what the Miga Clan phrase easily, something that deserves being added to the Rules of Acquisition. And with so much knowledge, I could very well unite all the Romulan factions under my control, almost as easily as Shinzon easily took control of the Star Empire, and that I will once I become Nagus. Yes, knowledge is power, very...much...indeed."

Nira made aside glances at Lahr and Zhuk. This was a man who was taking his megalomania too far. The way he was talking, one would think that he was very much supplanting the Blessed Exchequer in divinity. She could only hope Captain Galloway and the Challenger got Lahr's call for help in time, or if the assassins could do something to the ship...