S:5 E:13 - Dominion Rising Part 2

[AmatsaKitsune]

[ Ensign Rin | Bridge | USS Challenger-A ]

Rin would listen to the captain and would have a soft and cheesy smile but would nod. He wasn't lying about her other eagerness for the exciteable or the plans for the future however she didn't fight the captain on their situation. There was a reason she was an ensign and he was a captain and that was experience. It seemed that getting overconfident was probably her fault on that regard. However she would listen to this new officer as well and made sure to be prepared for any eventuality.

[Buehler]

[ Ensign Seyefa - Sickbay - USS Challenger-A ]

Ensign Seyefa rubbed her head, "Hit my head, felt like it cut, disoriented and throwing up, trouble standing. I think thats it. Pounding headache. Any way I can get back to work soon? Or least tell the Chief Engineer I am not reporting for duty?"

[Sickbay]

"Don't worry about that right now," he told the girl gently. Evan was glad to swe that she was able to speak, but he didn't like the way it sounded, slow and heavy, like eyelids fighting sleep. "I'm sure your chief already knows you're here, but we'll send her a message anyways, letting them know to not expect you back until ar least tomorrow." Reaching for a hypospray, Evan pressed it to the Ensign's neck. After it released its contents with a soft hiss, he added, "That's should help you feel better in the mean time. But remember, head injuries are nothing to sneeze at, so take things easy for a bit."

[Aarwendil Cheizex]

[ Ensign Myne | Bridge | USS Challenger-A ]

Myne turned as addressed and smiled to the Betazoid, her mind was full of wonder but also painful darkness. The Ops officer could also detect if he looked that she found him cute. "My name is Myne. Whats yours?", she smiled brightly as her pigtails bounced. The word myne sounding like 'mine'. The girl looked and sounded about eight human years old. "It's such a pleasure to meet you!" Her enthusiasm and joy for meeting him was genuine.

[ Ensign Rin | Bridge | USS Challenger-A ]

Rin would listen to the captain and would have a soft and cheesy smile but would nod. He wasn't lying about her other eagerness for the exciteable or the plans for the future however she didn't fight the captain on their situation. There was a reason she was an ensign and he was a captain and that was experience. It seemed that getting overconfident was probably her fault on that regard. However she would listen to this new officer as well and made sure to be prepared for any eventuality.

[USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

"œIt's nice to meet you, Myne." he said, before smiling at the girl. If it wasn't for his telepathic abilities, the young Betazoid could have thought that she was joking. Her name sounded so much like the word "˜mine', but he could feel that she was being honest to him. The Onlie name was really different, but was he to argue with it? His name wasn't one of the most common.

Besides, it also could be difficult to pronounce.

"œI'm Aarwendil Cheizex, but you can call me Dil." he wouldn't mind if she preferred  to call him with a nickname that was easier to pronounce.  "œHow long have you been serving in the Challenger?"  the Betazoid asked, feeling curious about the Onlie.

While he wasn't reading her mind, he would never do that without permission, the Ensign could sense that her feelings were very vivid. They flowed easily from her and were like those of a child. However, there was also something more behind them. A pain and darkness that showed she wasn't a kid at all.

Besides Myne, Aarwendil noticed the other Ensign present in the bridge. By the dark spots in her body, the Betazoid deduced that she was a Trill. He would wave at her. The young Betazoid wouldn't mind if she wanted to participate in the conversation.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

Lina brightened a bit "yes ma'am, I'll make sure not to disrupt you unless it's urgent." she turns back to the task at hand punching in the necessary buttons and such to get the scans started on this specific task feeling reinvigorated to not be in the way. first time jitters would do that to you. "everything seems clear so far.." she muttered to herself tail flicking back and forth as she scanned thoroughly

[Lt. Ruth Sigurdsdottir, CSO - Bridge, USS Challenger-A - before leaving for Briefing Room ]

Ruth nodded at Ensign Knight in appreciation and then continued to the Briefing Room.

[Briefing Room - USS Challenger]

Ian took his seat and looked around the room. Here were Lieutenant Hector Espada from Flight; Lieutenant Commander T'Kel for Security; Lieutenant Ruth Sigurdsdottir for Science; Lieutenant jg Rebecca Fisk from Engineering; Lieutenant Adelle Booker covering for Lieutenant Commander Fernando CatalÁ¡n at Ops; Lieutenant Evan Buehler representing Medical; which caused him a sharp pang of concern to know Jess was on the away team and in danger, along with Lieutenant Gemma Mills as Ship's Counselor.

"Okay, I will get right ta the point. I'm nae worried about bein' able ta handle those Breen cruisers, especially if'n we can fight them singularly. Even if'n we had ta fight the pair, I'm nae worried about that either. My only concern is if'n we get into a scrap with either or both, they'll call in Melek Nor and we are nae capable of fightin' that beastie.

"As with smugglers, the Maquis, and malcontents since ships knew of the Badlands, we're ta hide here among the plasma storms and gravitational anomalies. As little as I like ta say it, we're the mouse and they're the cats. We've got ta make ourselves disappear.

"However, you all ken me well enough ta know I'm nae for waitin' passively. If'n we can lure the cats into a plasma storm or manage an ambush, that is my preferred option. And is the crux of why I've called this meetin'. I need ideas, plans, schemes, and whatever skullduggery you lot can come up with ta make my plan happen. The floor is open."

[Briefing Room, present time]

Ruth pondered the Captain's question before a Lieutenant, she wasn't familiar with, and was a little dubious about - pacing the room like a caged animal.  At the rank the young woman was she should be able to stand still in a meeting.

However, the girl had some good ideas, in theory.  Some may need tweaked for use though.

"Some fair ideas there Lieutenant, but with reference to the Melek Nor and not wanting to fight that if we can help it, I suggest two things, I'm no engineer as the Captain well knows but I'm sure Engineering and Ops would be able to implement."

The CSO paused and then smiled.  "My first idea is simple and uses some of Lieutenant..." her mind didn't find the name she required but supplied 'Twitchy Feet' as an apparently acceptable substitution.  Instead she gestured vaguely with her hand at the young woman and furthered it with a nod in her direction.  Her brain then found the name she wanted.

"...Fisk, basically we provide distractions.  Blow stuff up near them which doesn't appear to have come from our direction.  Now... this is where Science comes in."

Now in her element she was more relaxed.  "First scans to locate any pockets of combustible stuff... I'm sorry I'm not being more literal, i'm not 100% what's out there yet, but if we can mix existing chemicals in the atmosphere, potentially pockets of gas, to mix with other chemicals we have on board or can replicate... or indeed just go ahead and make 2 parts ourselves."

She paused thinking and then said "Something like potassium chlorate and ordinary table sugar combined, and a drop of sulfuric acid added as a catalyst, the two react violently with each other, releasing large quantities of heat energy, which could mimic the heat from an actual torpedo, a spectacular purplish flame, and a great deal of smoke.  There are other combinations.  Now getting it places that don't make it seem like it's from us, that's trickier,  but we could send out probes, modified with the ingredients.  That wouldn't show up as ordinance launched.
Or get Ops to beam them to a random location close to the ships we need to take on, or in the direction we need to steer them towards and then have them explode.  Landing the probes on top of one another should crack the casings enough to have the chemicals react in space."

"My other idea is two-fold.  It's a little risky, but we should be able to pull it off."

She was drawing on her flight knowledge here.

"We use holographic projection, both on ourselves - to have the Challenger mimic the surrounding space, sort of like a cloaking device, but we would probably only be projecting like 'Badlands Greatest Flicks' either side of us rather than managing to shimmer our way out of existence.  In the meantime, we use our light aircraft, the Mjolnir for example..."

She knew Ian would have seen straight through her desire to go play with her favourite small aircraft but she didn't care. In theory she might be giving him an excuse to go play himself, or at least take a helm if necessary.

"...holographically change their shape and size, have them scattered, but well aware of where we all are to provide cover.  Anyone who's used the Fighting Tigers holoprogram would be good...but paint them with ordinance from 9 different locations at once.  Of course we'll need the use of all our flight capable crew for that, but that doesn't mean you can't assist, Sir!"

Ruth tried not to wink.  "You can always pilot the Challenger, that way technically the Captain doesn't leave the ship."

An idea sprang into her head and she hit the side of it like trying to drum some sense into it.

"And of course...we don't have to be one ship... we can separate.  They won't be expecting two ships.  Both sections have effective ordinance and we can go in different directions...the Challenger, as far as shape, size etc would 'disappear'.  We can also change our warp signature if we mess with the coils or harness some other power like local topography..." she trailed off wondering how the captain would take the idea.

"... that way if they are following our warp trail we could potentially have it mimic a Breen ship or something, technically even something bigger and badder than them... but that's Engineer's department I think."

Having laid several ideas out for them, she took a large swig of water and let the assembled officers digest them and build upon them.

[Nira Said]

:: Ops | Melok Nor ::

As his molecules finished coalescing once more into their proper places, Kyan fought to urge to do his customary pat down to ensure everything was where it ought to be. Instead he took stock of his situation. The place was packed with Breen, Jem Hadar, and Cardassians. Leading the welcoming party was Gul Sherem himself. Now that he was here in front of him, Kyan had a nagging sensation that he had either seen or met the man before. But where?

He ran through prominent meetings with Cardassians beginning at Setlik III in 2362. He'd been an Ensign... or had he gotten promoted? No. That was after the whole punching the XO in the nethers thing. He was definitely an ensign. The Cairo had gotten there way after the Rutledge and was helping to find survivors and recover bodies. There was a Cardassian ship too... but no battle. In any case, Kyan didn't remember interacting with any Cardassians then.

Running through the Dominion War, he couldn't recall interacting with Sherem before. But there was definitely something odd about him... and familiar. His speech was different. He'd call it a "twang" if Sherem was from Earth. It was distinctive anyway. Maybe it was that? He'd served with a lot of American Southerners. Their speech was always different.

Finally, he decided that he wasn't going to remember and quit trying, consciously anyway. Instead, he worked on stealing glances around and trying to figure out how many people were there... just in case. But as he was doing that, he felt eyes on him.

Kyan looked up for an instant and away just as quickly. If he WAS familiar to Sherem, eye contact would give it away for a few different reasons. He'd heard it said by grups that Onlies were distinctive that way. Some called it sad eyes; or haunted. He didn't consider himself "haunted" but he supposed there might be something to it. But besides that, he was supposed to be scared. And prolonged eye contact with your "captor" sent a different message."

Luckily, Commander Said was able to capture Sherem's attention with their stolen ship deployments; which allowed him to carry on getting the lay of the land. When he got around to Belvedere, he looked off. Like something was wrong with him. Kyan didn't know him so he couldn't say. Maybe he was just a weirdo. Grups always had some thing or another wrong with them. Some syndrome or sickness. It was probably why they kept so many doctors and headshrinks around.

As Sherem blathered on about the coming conflict; wherein he and his pals would destroy the Federation and Klingons and the usual demented grup stuff that the baddies usually got on about, which seemed like pretty standard "pissed because we lost the war and trying to get revenge" stuff, Kyan looked over at "H'Riss".

"Hey, Calico Jack. I gotta go to the bathroom." he spoke up in his "Americanized" accent. He figured, if nothing else, needing to pee at an inopportune time was a sufficiently good way to convince people that he was in fact, a scared kid... even if it was only half true. And he might be able to get enough time alone to put together his palm disruptor in case things went off the rails.

Mainly though, he was telling the truth. He really DID need to go.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas, posing as Mercenary H'Riss | Ops | Melek Nor | Panora System - in the Kuiper Belt | Badlands]

Zhukdra'shar would admit this to one. But he didn't enjoy being transported in this manner. He much preferred using a shuttle. His fur always felt a little strange with this procedure right afterwards, but he wasn't sure if it was something psychological, or if it was something tangible.

He wasn't Zhuk, though, he was 'H'Riss'. And he had decided that he did not mind being beamed. So, he endured it.

As 'Hubs' began to talk, he offered a smirk and a bit of a bow towards Gul Sherem, wanting to show off that he had some respect for him. A twinge of worry came awash him as Sherem seemed to suspect 'Vaughn's son' for some reason, though he fought the urge to bristle his fur successfully. To everyone in the room, he looked calm, collected, and quite frankly, overly confident. Cocky, even.

Except when it came to Nira. She probably could feel his emotions all swelling and changing inside. He listened with interest to the information that he had unwittingly unveiled. It couldn't be possible for the Breen to be operating in so many places without the Federation having noticed before, correct? At least, they had a bunch of information that they could employ to bring them down if it came to pass.

The news of the Tzenkethi, the Kzinti, and the Romulans was also unwelcome. Maybe perhaps even more so than those of the Breen before. Though, he supposed it was to be expected. He had never met a Kzinti before, but he had heard they were savage and brutal, with a mindset that would see them conquer and subjugate everyone they perceived as weaker. He hadn't heard much of the Tzenkethi, but he would assume based on this that, as the Romulans, all wanted a piece of the cake that they believed the fall of the Federation would give them.

Hm. Like if that was ever going to happen.

At the mention of payment, his ears swished both in Gul Sherem's direction. He offered a grin, "Oh yes... that's my hard-earned latinum. No offense," He turned over to 'Hubs',"But there's a moon I still wanna buy~ Can't let my broder get his furry mitts on it first, yes?"

So far so good. So far so good. Gul Sherem still apparently believed the ruse. Everyone had just to keep up with the excellent work so far. And perhaps fail to see Beldevere's motions. Calm down 'H'Riss'. Its all going well so far...

'H'Riss' overheard the Americanized voice of 'Vaugh's son', and almost immediately rolled his eye. He raised his hands upwards, claws coming into view as he then turned towards him and slightly lowered himself, threatening with hurting him. However, he didn't, instead returning to a more neutral, if angry, position.

"Grrr... pipsqueak... you're makin' me look bad in front of the big honcho..." He feigned taking a deep breath to try and calm down. Clearly looking embarrassed, he turned over to Gul Sherem, and in his best diplomatic, though fed-up voice that he could muster, he spoke up, "Esteemed... Gul Sherem. Perhaps you will be... gracious to let me take dis brat over to the bathroom..."

He raised a finger up, before glancing over at Kyan, "Grr... he is real good at pesterin' me when he wants somethin'... food, water, entertainment," He listed, using his fingers to do so.

"Am frankly at my wits end with this brat... _{grr... just want to get this over with... this is the last time I kidnap one of these... at least there is no escape now... heehe...}" He ranted on a hushed voice, just to make the proposal more likely. He still wasn't sure what he had in mind, but, why not give him a chance?

"Serves you right for kidnapping him in the first place!" M'nia said. "Listen up seagul, when the federation finds out what you and this disgrace of a caitian have done, you'll be in so much trouble! Bad enough kidnapping an ambassador but a captains son? Really! That's pretty low to kidnapping a little kid! I knew Cardassian's were low but this is a new one!" She didn't know what Kyan and Zhuk were up to but she had faith in them. This guy was obviously one of the bad ones. Some cardassians were good people. This guy though, well kidnapping a little kid and an ambassador does not put in a good light with the federation Of course they knew it was a setup. He had no clue. At least hopefully he didn't. She was getting nervous too. Oh k'tals claws, she had been nervous since they started this If this kept up much longer she would have to go

[Commander Nira Said | Ops >- Prefect's Office >- Private Head | Melek Nor]

The more Belvedere was shaking, the more aware of him Nira was, and the more something was wrong with him. She tried to get a feel of him, but there was...nothing. It was like trying to read a Ferengi. She should be feeling pain from him, but there was nothing. And it then dawned on Nira...

The mention of Kyan's wanting to use the bathroom, it occurred to Nira it would be handy...even if Kyan was feeling nervous. Old Man Sherem glared at the nervous "boy" and snapped, "Some of you take him into my office, the head's inside."

"I'll escort him," Nira said. "To make sure he's no trouble. You, come with me,"" she ordered Belvedere.

The two escorted Kyan into the office and over into the head, as a pretense of the guards guarding the hostage while he relieves himself.

Once securely inside, Nira held up a hand to Kyan.

"Good job so far, but there's a much more pressing matter," she said. "Helmet off, now that we're alone."

"Well, whatever's the matter?" asked Belvedere as he took off his helmet. Holy Allah, he looked horrible. He was absolutely shaking, and he was looking pale.

"Never mind that," snapped Nira, her helmet off. "You're having a big problem, Mister Belvedere."

"Well, my medication being..."

"Medication, my ass," snapped Nira. She looked over at Kyan with a warning glance. There was a reason she went with Kyan into the head and brought Belvedere along: If he was who she thought he was, she hoped she and Kyan can handle it together and thus not jeopardize the mission.

"I beg your pardon?" said Belvedere, almost wheezing.

"You never had a condition," said Nira, low and threatening. "I should've felt pain, but I felt nothing. And the way you are, there can be only one explanation. Now, tell me, Malachi Belvedere, how long have you been away from the Great Link?"

That shut him up. Even though he was still shaking, he made no further excuses and he stared long and hard.

"Figured that out, didn't you?" he said with a quiet snarl.

"You must be exerting yourself," said Nira. "Maintaining form for so long. But there's no way for you to return to the Great Link, is there? But you had no time to revert to your liquid form..."

"...then it's time for the charade to end...solids," Belvedere said quietly. He smiled, the smile of a snake ready to strike. And then he just melted until the whole suit crumpled into a pile, and a Founder in liquid form oozed out. But this Changeling was disturbingly different from the Federation files. As opposed to the bronze liquid Changelings commonly turn into, this Changeling looked horrifyingly pale, like Sahlab come to life.

And then it lashed out, pinning Nira to the wall and sending tendrils lashing around in all directions. Nira slammed the button to open the head door, realizing neither she nor Kyan had any chance against the Changeling. It had her in her clutches, but it didn't get Kyan. She gestured to a small hatch on the opposite end of the office.

"Get out of here, Kyan!" Nira said urgently, but then a milky tendril wrapped Nira around her neck, coiling her like a milk-white snake. It was getting difficult for Nira to talk, and all she managed were: "Maintenance hatch! Go!"

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

While Jones was checking on the subspace field coil system on deck two, and the others were doing repairs to the structural integrity for the upper decks, Lahr had been ordered to do a quick check on the Bridge consoles; to make sure that nothing had overloaded during the Captain's rough escape maneuvers.

He greeted the security on the bridge with a nod and handed over his work orders, before being permitted on the bridge.  He glanced about with a huge smile on his face expecting to see his Ruth at the Science station.  But he quickly discovered that all the Department Heads who should be at their stations were curiously absent... along with the Captain.

"Must be in a meeting." he commented quietly to himself before giving a nod-wave combo to those he knew personally.    There was Evan of course, sitting the Command seat.  And then... nope didn't know the fella sitting at Ops...  nor the Caitian he was talking to.   Roozh... had he been away from the bridge that long that he barely knew anyone?!.   Oh wait!  His antennae perked at the sight of the Only.

"Heya M!  How are things?"

Though he greeted the Science officer with a wave, he headed to Ops first.

"Afternoon, sir. I am Chief Petty ch'Verret.  I'm here to check consoles and such... Mind if I run a diagnostic while you work?" he asked the ... oh Betazoid...   Huh, at least this one wasn't a counselor, trying to get him to delve into his past trauma.

Besides most Betazoid didn't read minds without permission, right? There was of course a way to test that.  The abnormally charismatic Andorian, pictured in his head an image of his Ruth in her full Viking glory. She was riding the roof of her Delta-Flyer MJOLNIR with axes in hand, auburn hair bound tight into warrior-braids.

Lahr watched the Ops officer, smiling, looking for any reaction to his vivid image and thoughts.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas, posing as Mercenary H'Riss | Ops | Melek Nor | Panora System - in the Kuiper Belt | Badlands]

[Commander Nira Said | Ops >- Prefect's Office >- Private Head | Melek Nor]

The more Belvedere was shaking, the more aware of him Nira was, and the more something was wrong with him. She tried to get a feel of him, but there was...nothing. It was like trying to read a Ferengi. She should be feeling pain from him, but there was nothing. And it then dawned on Nira...

The mention of Kyan's wanting to use the bathroom, it occurred to Nira it would be handy...even if Kyan was feeling nervous. Old Man Sherem glared at the nervous "boy" and snapped, "Some of you take him into my office, the head's inside."

"I'll escort him," Nira said. "To make sure he's no trouble. You, come with me,"" she ordered Belvedere.

The two escorted Kyan into the office and over into the head, as a pretense of the guards guarding the hostage while he relieves himself.

Once securely inside, Nira held up a hand to Kyan.

"Good job so far, but there's a much more pressing matter," she said. "Helmet off, now that we're alone."

"Well, whatever's the matter?" asked Belvedere as he took off his helmet. Holy Allah, he looked horrible. He was absolutely shaking, and he was looking pale.

"Never mind that," snapped Nira, her helmet off. "You're having a big problem, Mister Belvedere."

"Well, my medication being..."

"Medication, my ass," snapped Nira. She looked over at Kyan with a warning glance. There was a reason she went with Kyan into the head and brought Belvedere along: If he was who she thought he was, she hoped she and Kyan can handle it together and thus not jeopardize the mission.

"I beg your pardon?" said Belvedere, almost wheezing.

"You never had a condition," said Nira, low and threatening. "I should've felt pain, but I felt nothing. And the way you are, there can be only one explanation. Now, tell me, Malachi Belvedere, how long have you been away from the Great Link?"

That shut him up. Even though he was still shaking, he made no further excuses and he stared long and hard.

"Figured that out, didn't you?" he said with a quiet snarl.

"You must be exerting yourself," said Nira. "Maintaining form for so long. But there's no way for you to return to the Great Link, is there? But you had no time to revert to your liquid form..."

"...then it's time for the charade to end...solids," Belvedere said quietly. He smiled, the smile of a snake ready to strike. And then he just melted until the whole suit crumpled into a pile, and a Founder in liquid form oozed out. But this Changeling was disturbingly different from the Federation files. As opposed to the bronze liquid Changelings commonly turn into, this Changeling looked horrifyingly pale, like Sahlab come to life.

And then it lashed out, pinning Nira to the wall and sending tendrils lashing around in all directions. Nira slammed the button to open the head door, realizing neither she nor Kyan had any chance against the Changeling. It had her in her clutches, but it didn't get Kyan. She gestured to a small hatch on the opposite end of the office.

"Get out of here, Kyan!" Nira said urgently, but then a milky tendril wrapped Nira around her neck, coiling her like a milk-white snake. It was getting difficult for Nira to talk, and all she managed were: "Maintenance hatch! Go!"

Zhukdra'shar let out a sigh of relief as Sherem allowed 'Vaughn's son' to head over to the bathroom. He passed it off as 'H'Riss'' comfort on knowing that he wouldn't have to accompany him, "Heh, yeah sure. What'ver keeps me from being with that brat any longer..."

He made a disdainful look, showing his hand, before shaking it, as if he was brushing something unwanted away.

After 'Hubs', 'Vaugh's son' and the other 'Breen mercenary' left, 'H'Riss' proceeded to place his hands on his hips, taking a look around the Ops center as he let out a whistling noise and nodded his head. "Say, Gul Sherem, this is a pretty fancy station you got runnin' 'ere. Gotta say, not often can I see a piece of arquitechure like this with my very own eye..."

He let out a chuckle, looking over at him finally, "I bet its also fully equipped with 'menities n' proper rooms for 'chu n' your men, ain't it? How much do you reckon it costed 'chu?"

He stroked his chin, before he heard a noise coming from the office. His ear quickly shifted towards it, before it returned to its place. He wondered what was exactly happening, though for the time being, decided not to act, instead, buying time for it to be solved by distracting Sherem.

"Also, I gots to know... you're contractin' or somethin' to kill the Federates? 'Cause I love paintin' them uniforms with their own blood..." He lowered his hand, pulling out one of his claws as he let out a creepy, unsettling laugh, "Oh yeah, I love usin' my beauties to get the job done, when possible... those guys don't know how to fite... heh. Cuttin' their throats gets real easy when you get close..."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

And then it lashed out, pinning Nira to the wall and sending tendrils lashing around in all directions. Nira slammed the button to open the head door, realizing neither she nor Kyan had any chance against the Changeling. It had her in her clutches, but it didn't get Kyan. She gestured to a small hatch on the opposite end of the office.

Kyan's first thought as "œBelvedere" melted into goo was that he was going to tell the Challenger's computer off as soon as he got back. This scenario hadn't come up at all during the countless simulations. He should have thought of it though. Of course there would be a Changeling. There were Jem Hadar. There was a Vorta. And They weren't just gonna fall in behind some old Cardasian Gul with delusions of grandness, or whatever they called it.

That train of thought was immediately set aside when Kyan saw the mutant Changeling's spoiled milk looking tentrils snaking out and grabbing for Nira. He'd managed to duck one of them but she wasn't so lucky. He felt the flash of fear come surging up his throat but pushed it down and set his focus on the task at hand, which was simple. Overcome the mutant Changeling. At Nira's gesture, the boy turned his head to see where she was telling him to look. He hoped it was a disruptor or something with which he could attack the Changeling, but it was a hatch. She wanted him to leave?

"Get out of here, Kyan!" Nira said urgently, but then a milky tendril wrapped Nira around her neck, coiling her like a milk-white snake. It was getting difficult for Nira to talk, and all she managed were: "Maintenance hatch! Go!"

Running from a fight was counter to"¦ just about everything Kyan believed. In this case though, with nothing to use and the opponent's overwhelming advantage, running wasn't the best option; it was his only option. "œNo Kyan"¦ ye cannae bring no weapons!" he groused to himself as he dodged a tentacle and dropped low to the deck. "œWe gotta be smart so we do! They'll be suspicious."

Rolling out of the way of a fat, off white tentacle, he came to rest in a prone position near the Changeling's discarded Breen suit. There was a belt with pouches on it which might have something useful in them so he grabbed it. Then almost as an afterthought, he grabbed the helmet too. He used it to bludgeon a tentacle before rolling into a crouch. The changeling was focusing most of his efforts on Nira, so Kyan briefly considered throwing something at it. But she was right. The gig was up and he needed to go before he was caught himself.

He went for the hatch. When he got there he yanked it open and dove inside. He didn't make it all the way in before a tentacle latched onto his left foot. "œGet off me ye sour milkshake lookin wanker!" he yelled back. He tried first to pull away but the changeling was too strong for that. So once again, he took the only option left. The used his other foot to push his shoe off, freeing himself.

Then he scrambled forward as fast as he could. This time the Changeling missed when he dropped the shoe and get him again. Kyan crawled as fast as he could until the maintainence tube opened up a little wider into a T junction. He went left. After several meters he stopped and listened. Hearing only the thrum of power relays and the whirring of environmental scrubbers, he figured the Changeling had decided not to chase him and focus on Nira.

He made the ivoking sign and offered up a short prayer to the Powers to keep her alive. Then he leaned back against the side of the tube and began plotting his next move, which of course meant finding a weapon, because the emitter to the palm phaser he'd hidden on himself was in the shoe he'd kicked off, and he sure as hell couldn't go back for it now.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Lt. Ruth Sigurdsdottir, CSO - Briefing Room - USS Challenger]

Ruth sat, waiting for answers to her suggestions and/or further suggestions from the other department heads.

In the meantime she appeared to be doodling on her PADD.  One might say the drawing was not one of Dutch Grand Masters, closer to Picasso (minus the melting clocks) but it was... functional.

She was in fact drawing a sketch of how she meant about 'Badlands Greatest Flicks' holo projection, only at present she wasn't sure how that would be implemented, she knew what it was supposed to look like.

First she drew a 3D hollow box, in it she drew a very stylized 'Challenger'.  Each of the sides of the box was a roughly square/rectangular projection of... if you were looking head on the projection would be of the space they'd just passed through, if looking from aft, it would be the space they were about to fly into, the opposites for port and starboard and up, down.  Anyone looking at this would effectively see space, it would take someone with a very sharp eye to see them, and very careful helmsmanship from Rin...but she knew that girl could do it.

Then she sat working out possible formulas and probe modifications for the explosions idea, in case that was a go, things would be as pre-prepared as possible to allow that to be implemented with extreme haste.

[myne]

[Aarwendil Cheizex - USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

"œIt's nice to meet you, Myne." he said, before smiling at the girl. If it wasn't for his telepathic abilities, the young Betazoid could have thought that she was joking. Her name sounded so much like the word "˜mine', but he could feel that she was being honest to him. The Onlie name was really different, but was he to argue with it? His name wasn't one of the most common.

Besides, it also could be difficult to pronounce.

"œI'm Aarwendil Cheizex, but you can call me Dil." he wouldn't mind if she preferred  to call him with a nickname that was easier to pronounce.  "œHow long have you been serving in the Challenger?"  the Betazoid asked, feeling curious about the Onlie.

While he wasn't reading her mind, he would never do that without permission, the Ensign could sense that her feelings were very vivid. They flowed easily from her and were like those of a child. However, there was also something more behind them. A pain and darkness that showed she wasn't a kid at all.

[Ensign Myne - USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

Ensign Myne smiled and waved, "Hello Ensign Dil, your name reminds me of a Uncle I had a long time ago named Wendel." She sighed looking down projecting a feeling of sadness but then smiled looking back up to him. Hey your black eyes? Your a betazoid! Can you hear this?"

She thought real hard, "Your cute. But if your really a salt succubus you have to tell me. Thats the rules!" She smiled again and bounced her head as her pigtails bounced again before she turned to the scanner and found a few clouds to evade threw sending the data to the helmswoman.

[CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret - USS Challenger-A - Bridge]
"Heya M!  How are things?"

Though he greeted the Science officer with a wave, he headed to Ops first.

[Ensign Myne - USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

Turning after sending the data she smiled and waved. "Hey Sir! So much better now. Not being menanced by a slaver or locked in sickbay! Thank You again for the treats!" A feeling of happiness projected out of her.

[myne]

[Lt JG Fisk - Briefing Room - USS Challenger]

Lieutenant Junior Grade Fisk paced even more as the Science Department Head explained some variations. "That could work Ma'am, we would need maybe a half hour to make sure everything can be done safely, half that time if we forgoe too much safely. I think its a great idea but not sure what the others would think."

She smiled and cringed thinking what the Chief Engineer would say, something loud, obscene, and shaking a spanner during the saying of such.

( Sorry for the short post I'm just still not doing well. )

[Aarwendil Cheizex]

[Ensign Myne - USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

Ensign Myne smiled and waved, "Hello Ensign Dil, your name reminds me of a Uncle I had a long time ago named Wendel." She sighed looking down projecting a feeling of sadness but then smiled looking back up to him. Hey your black eyes? Your a betazoid! Can you hear this?"

She thought real hard, "Your cute. But if your really a salt succubus you have to tell me. Thats the rules!" She smiled again and bounced her head as her pigtails bounced again before she turned to the scanner and found a few clouds to evade threw sending the data to the helmswoman.

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

While Jones was checking on the subspace field coil system on deck two, and the others were doing repairs to the structural integrity for the upper decks, Lahr had been ordered to do a quick check on the Bridge consoles; to make sure that nothing had overloaded during the Captain's rough escape maneuvers.

He greeted the security on the bridge with a nod and handed over his work orders, before being permitted on the bridge.  He glanced about with a huge smile on his face expecting to see his Ruth at the Science station.  But he quickly discovered that all the Department Heads who should be at their stations were curiously absent... along with the Captain.

"Must be in a meeting." he commented quietly to himself before giving a nod-wave combo to those he knew personally.    There was Evan of course, sitting the Command seat.  And then... nope didn't know the fella sitting at Ops...  nor the Caitian he was talking to.   Roozh... had he been away from the bridge that long that he barely knew anyone?!.   Oh wait!  His antennae perked at the sight of the Only.

"Heya M!  How are things?"

Though he greeted the Science officer with a wave, he headed to Ops first.

"Afternoon, sir. I am Chief Petty ch'Verret.  I'm here to check consoles and such... Mind if I run a diagnostic while you work?" he asked the ... oh Betazoid...   Huh, at least this one wasn't a counselor, trying to get him to delve into his past trauma.

Besides most Betazoid didn't read minds without permission, right? There was of course a way to test that.  The abnormally charismatic Andorian, pictured in his head an image of his Ruth in her full Viking glory. She was riding the roof of her Delta-Flyer MJOLNIR with axes in hand, auburn hair bound tight into warrior-braids.

Lahr watched the Ops officer, smiling, looking for any reaction to his vivid image and thoughts.

[USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

Aarwendil smiled at Myne. Even if she was probably older than him, the Only seemed to be so happy and excited with new things that the Betazoid could easily believe that she was still a child. However, the brief shadow of sadness that crossed her mind when she talked about her uncle Wendel reminded him that the Science Officer had lived through several situations that a kid would never be able to deal with.

"œYes, I'm a Beatazoid." the Ensign said, but before he could say anything else Myne was already asking him to read her mind. Aarwendil bit his lips, uncertain of how he should answer that. The first thing that he learned when he joined the Academy was that non-telepaths disliked when their thoughts were read without permission, but since she was asking for it, the young man concluded that there wasn't any problem with it.

Besides that, Myne was thinking so hard about what she wanted him to hear that the young Betazoid was sure that he would be capable of reading her thoughts with a superficial scanning.

"œRight, I'll do that." Aarwendil focused on Myne, trying his best to not make the experience uncomfortable. He would soon hear what was going on her mind, with his cheeks getting a bit red after hearing that the Only thought that he was cute. The Ensign immediately laughed when he heard about the part of him being a succubus. "œNo, I'm not a succubus."

When she turned back to her console, Aarwendil did the same. After all, they had work to do. However, the arrival of a male Andorian would end up interrupting him. "œPleasure to meet you, Chief Petty ch'Verret." he smiled, before nodding at the man.

"œOf course you can." while he talked to the Andorian, the Betazoid could feel that he was thinking in something that a superficial telepathic scanning could read. Hell, these thoughts were so strong that Aarwendil could already feel some of the emotions regarding them. In the end, the Ensign didn't do anything. The other didn't give him permission.

[AmatsaKitsune]

[USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

"œIt's nice to meet you, Myne." he said, before smiling at the girl. If it wasn't for his telepathic abilities, the young Betazoid could have thought that she was joking. Her name sounded so much like the word "˜mine', but he could feel that she was being honest to him. The Onlie name was really different, but was he to argue with it? His name wasn't one of the most common.

Besides, it also could be difficult to pronounce.

"œI'm Aarwendil Cheizex, but you can call me Dil." he wouldn't mind if she preferred  to call him with a nickname that was easier to pronounce.  "œHow long have you been serving in the Challenger?"  the Betazoid asked, feeling curious about the Onlie.

While he wasn't reading her mind, he would never do that without permission, the Ensign could sense that her feelings were very vivid. They flowed easily from her and were like those of a child. However, there was also something more behind them. A pain and darkness that showed she wasn't a kid at all.

Besides Myne, Aarwendil noticed the other Ensign present in the bridge. By the dark spots in her body, the Betazoid deduced that she was a Trill. He would wave at her. The young Betazoid wouldn't mind if she wanted to participate in the conversation.

[USS Challenger-A - Bridge]
The rTrill would see many of the people around quietly as they would seem to be focussing on their work at least. They were making sure each moment and movement of the ship was deliberate even if it was slow and running on nothing it mattered not. This place was too dangerous to keep unfocussed. She however would give the new people on the bridge a solid nod as she would think to herself and would smile. "Nice to meet you though i'm a little distracted it's nice to see more members of the ship" She says seeing the information that was sent to her. Her hands sliding against the controls slipping past a few of the plasma storms bit by bit.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

[Ensign Myne - USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

Turning after sending the data she smiled and waved. "Hey Sir! So much better now. Not being menaced by a slaver or locked in sickbay! Thank You again for the treats!" A feeling of happiness projected out of her.

Lahr glance back over to M when she replied to his check on her.

"That's great to hear! And you are welcome.  Later, when we're celebrating a successful mission, you'll have to come to one of my DJ'd sets.   I'm thinking of getting Grelek to book me as the entertainment du jour once this is all done.   Figure the crew will need to vent some energy after all this - and no better way of doing that then Raving."

[USS Challenger-A - Bridge]

When she turned back to her console, Aarwendil did the same. After all, they had work to do. However, the arrival of a male Andorian would end up interrupting him. "œPleasure to meet you, Chief Petty ch'Verret." he smiled, before nodding at the man.

"œOf course you can." while he talked to the Andorian, the Betazoid could feel that he was thinking in something that a superficial telepathic scanning could read. Hell, these thoughts were so strong that Aarwendil could already feel some of the emotions regarding them. In the end, the Ensign didn't do anything. The other didn't give him permission.

When he got no reaction from his mental image Lahr gave the fellow Ops officer a slap on the back in comraderie.  Glad that the Betazoid could be trust not to randomly be checking out his thoughts.

"You must be new.  This used to be my spot." he comment as he tied in his PADD to the console and began his diagnostic.  "That was back when Ruth... I mean Lieutenant Siggurdsdottir... was Captain."

The Andorians' expression was a bit wistful.  He'd be lying if he said he didn't miss being on the bridge.  Not so much for the action.. but at least being in the know.    He felt so distanced in his role as an engineer.

" So if you ever need assistance. I'm always willing to help. " he offered the Betazoid.  His PADD beeped... and after a momentary check Lahr gave Ensign Cheizex an 'OK' hand gesture.

"You'll be happy to know that Ops checks out fine."

[Lina Knight]

Lina while focusing on work nods to the others "hectic day huh, but that's the kind of life you live when you work for the federation" she gives a toothy grin "hopefully we can all laugh about this later over some food." she sighs "anything on your end myne? nothing seems to be up for me." she turns to her small coworker and technical superior