S:5 E:16 - A Doomsday Like Any Other

[Nira Said]

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Warbird Necropolis | Angdarr Prime | Angdarr System]

Zhuk never truly thought he would go back to the Warbird Necropolis that saw him defeat the Romulan forces in such a spectacular manner, and much less, so soon. If the battle had been any bigger, he would have been sure to be lauded as a brilliant tactician. Maybe one day, he thought, one day...

He kept his pride, however, to himself as the 'Cutty Sark' made its descent, expertly flown by Lieutenant Espada. It gave the crewmembers coming along a wonderful view of the tree canopy, one that Zhuk too enjoyed. He sighed, truly wishing that he had the time to climb the bark with his claws, jumping and swaying through the branches. Would have been an excellent way to relax.

Finally, the doors were opened, and Zhuk proceeded to hold his rifle close as he descended, watching the carnage that remained upon the junkyard. Lots of twisted metal, both rusted and new, greeted him as he took point, making sure to move in first to protect Neva, Doctor Grippen, and Tora from potential danger, as well as the rest of his squad. His eyes marveled at the remains, as the pieces had taken shapes and forms of all kinds, now that he was no longer in an active combat role. Still, something began to bother him, as his nose picked up hints of a rather pleasant scent. One he was much familiar with.

His sightseeing was over as he lifted his rifle to confront half a dozen or so scavengers, which were led by a huge Orion male, and an accompanying female of the same species, who wore a set of metal armor that gave her an absolutely wild look. Almost immediately, he proceeded to adopt a more defensive stance, lowering his form as he let out a hiss, showing his sharp canines.

He stopped himself from any hostile actions besides those, as he decided to use the fact that the scavengers had apparently resorted to talking to scan for possible defenses and advantages. His green dichroic eyes examined the ruins, finding that a couple of Nausicaans that were trailing their guns on them were quite badly positioned over what once seemed to be an aileron of a vessel. He could see that a small shower of dust and rust was falling from it, and even though his ears were flat behind his head, he swore he could hear the pieces groaning underneath their weight. Zhuk too noticed a triangular-shaped fin a few meters from him to the right, which he believed would serve as good cover when shots were fired.

He did his best to ignore his heart accelerating at the pheromones exuded by the Animal Woman, though he calculated that it would take more than that to make him submit to her wiles. And he staunchly refused to serve another Orion mistress once more. What surprised him though, was the way that Doctor Grippen proceeded to use her Risan charm to try and convince the Orion male to cease hostilities.

Though the Caitian Lieutenant was well aware of flirting maneuvers, he still felt his legs weak for a moment after that display. She certainly knew what she was doing, though unfortunately, he knew Orions too well. That man was nothing but a front, as the one leading them probably was the woman at his side. Typical Orion behavior. Her attempt would not work, even though it had been valiant.

As expected, there would be no quarrel here. Zhuk bared more of his teeth at the comments made by the Orion, though he noted the stun setting. That would be an advantage to their team, though he wondered whether it would be correct for him to extend the same courtesy. He decided against it, considering that he could just feign ignorance if anyone on the team noticed that. Soon enough, shots began flying as Nira opened fire on the large male, hitting him on the foot.

Zhuk kept himself from laughing at that, as he instead fired against the aileron where the Nausicaans were standing, sending both of them toppling a few feet into a lower level of the junkyard. At the orders of retreating, Zhuk replied with a, "Yes ma'am!" ushering cover fire for the rest, catching another Nausicaan square on the chest while he used his natural agility to weave, twist, and spin out of the way while covering against the pieces of metal and garbage that surrounded him.

As he reached the shuttle once more, he proceeded to cover at the left side of the door, fighting with his Commander without giving one step back. He managed to catch another Orion by the shoulder, and as he noticed the approach of the Animal Woman, he made sure to aim at her, wanting to put her out of commission for good. Unfortunately, her plates proved to be an excellent defense, with her having enough common sense to keep her face out of Zhuk's sights.

The luck for Zhuk only continued to get worse, as a couple of shots did manage to hit him. The first one hit his leg, which made him yowl with pain, as the area was seared, though he remained combat effective. The other pulse, thankfully set to stun as one of the women of the team was the intended target, hit him on his upper chest,  which caused him to slump over against the door, falling to the side as the effects quickly set to him.

"A-Agh... g-guh... r-reprobates...! A-agh..." Were the only things he could muster, as he was down and out for the count.

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Shuttlecraft Cutty Sark | Angdarr Prime]

What was that phrase some of her Academy classmates used when encountering something preposterously dangerous or huge? Oh, right. Oh, hell no. It certainly captured the nasty mix of panic and fear that bubbled inside Tora's stomach as she turned and fled for the shuttlecraft well. Why exactly did the universe have to do this to them, exactly? She hadn't expected puppies and rainbows when landing, of course, but this was a little too much. Captured by Orions and made into something less than she was? Um, no thank you! She was happy with the woman she was, moreso than as a dabo girl.

She had only barely begun to settle down when she heard the feline yowl of pain cut through the air like a razor. Without thinking she sprang up from her seat, grabbed the Caitian and dragged him into the shuttle. "Help! He needs medical attention!" Tora was hollering as she touched her hand to his upper chest. Her fingers came away red. Not good...

[Shuttle Cutty Sark - Warbird Necropolis - Angdarr Prime]

Taja's plan failed miserably and she kicked herself inwardly, of course it was so simple. The Orion males always served the females, she should have remembered that. As the firefight erupted Taja screamed in panic, she was no fighter and sprinted back to the shuttle as the rest covered her. Breathing heavily she waited for the others, but quickly sprung into action as their caitian friend was hit.

With the help of the others, Zhuk was dragged aboard and laid on the shuttle floor. The Risan grabbed her medical kit and knelt beside him running a quick scan with her tricorder.  Thankfully he was alive only stunned, though the wound on his leg was pretty nasty. The smell of burnt fur filled her nostrils.

She gave him a dose of painkillers with her trusty hypospray then set to work with a autosuture tool on his leg wound. It would take a good few minutes to knit back together during which time the painkillers would work their magic ready for when he woke up.

"He's going to be fine, vitals are stable. Just need a few minutes to knit this wound back together, then I can wake him from the stun. He's one lucky caitian." Had the shot to his chest not been set to stun, they'd be in a lot more trouble.

Now she was doing what she did best her demeanour was calm and collected. It was just like being back in accident and emergency at Risa Central Hospital again.

[Shuttle Cutty Sark/ Romulan Landing Pad/ Warbird Necropolis/ Andgarr Prime]

Aarwendil watched speechless while Taja tried to flirt with the Orion. The Betazoid couldn't deny that she was attractive and that the Risians had a natural relaxing effect around them, but unless she had strong pheromones and empathic powers, he doubted that her plan to calm him down would work. Due to that, it was with little surprise that he saw the Scavengers already planning to take them as slaves.

Well, at least planning to leave the females as slaves. Aarwendil was pretty sure that the males would end up dead.

Luckily, Commander Said took a more practical idea and ordered a retreat, while firing at them. Aarwendil helped, using his phasers to target a Nausicaan's leg. He saw Nekab rushing with the group, using the cover to enter the shuttle. The Ensign immediately did the same.

[Shuttle Cutty Sark - Warbird Necropolis - Angdarr Prime]

As the snarl of weapons fire shattered the clearing, it was clear that the scavengers, while not Rhodes Scholars, they did know how to fight and it was only Nira's quick order to retreat that saved the away team. As members leapt aboard the Cutty Sark, Lieutenant Espada was caught open mouthed with surprise, but when splashes of weapon's fire began pinging off the hatch, he sprang into action.

"Sweet Merciful Crap!"

He exclaimed as he fed power to the shuttle's thrusters and brought the shields on line. This cut off the scavenger's fire completely as none of their weapons were heavy enough to punch through the Cutty Sark's defenses. Once everyone was aboard, he closed the hatch and lifted off in a hurry, quickly climbing beyond the range of the ambushers.

"Well, that didn't go as planned. What now Commander?"

[Andgarr Prime->Ship Graveyard->Cutty Sark]

Neva shot an Orion in the chest before backing quickly into the shuttle's confines. Dashing to the copilot seat, her fingers played the controls in time with Espada's. As they took off, Neva fought the urge to make parting potshots at the Orions. Instead, Neva gave an approximation annoyed growl.

Once in space, Neva hazarded a look behind her. Granted, she didn't know the Caitian well, but seeing him lying on the floor of the shuttle was unnerving.

Turning back around to continue the ride to the Challenger, Neva mumbled. "Just wanna save people from a premature ending & all they wanna do is be greedy!"

Coughing low to cover her grumbling, she called to Commander Said. "On final approach to [/i]Challenger, [/i] Sir. Should I-Whoa! Romulan Warbird in close proximity to Challenger! Orders?" Color drained from her face as she spoke. 'Oh shhhhhh....'

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira was impressed by Zhuk's prowress, but it did get him shot up a little. She got two or three of the scumbags and got a graze on the shoulder, but she felt the heat of the disruptor; a few more inches down and the beam would've sliced her arm off at the joint.

Aboard, she nodded at Taja's treating Zhuk and, as the shuttle took off, was surprised at Neva's calculating a return course to Challenger.

"Belay that, Ensign," she said. "We still have work to do. However, I downright hesitate to set down on the planet again, what with these scavengers and salvagers. Maintain an airborne position, Mister Espada. Put us among the trees, we'll look suspicious if we just hang around up here. Cheizex, Zalos, man the sensors, scan for any readings of Romulan warp cores, based on what the databanks can tell of Romulan singularity drives...generally how Romulans power their warp cores," she added. "One of them has to be intact and easy to be powered up."

She then opened a channel to Challenger. "Cutty Sark to Challenger. This is Commander Said. We made it to the planet, but we ran afoul of a bunch of criminal salvagers. We're maintaining airborne vectors and we'll scan for Romulan warp cores. I may need to call in for an additional security detail with a second team of engineers once we find it, just in case we do run into more scavengers once we find the core."

[Ian Galloway]

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira was impressed by Zhuk's prowress, but it did get him shot up a little. She got two or three of the scumbags and got a graze on the shoulder, but she felt the heat of the disruptor; a few more inches down and the beam would've sliced her arm off at the joint.

Aboard, she nodded at Taja's treating Zhuk and, as the shuttle took off, was surprised at Neva's calculating a return course to Challenger.

"Belay that, Ensign," she said. "We still have work to do. However, I downright hesitate to set down on the planet again, what with these scavengers and salvagers. Maintain an airborne position, Mister Espada. Put us among the trees, we'll look suspicious if we just hang around up here. Cheizex, Zalos, man the sensors, scan for any readings of Romulan warp cores, based on what the databanks can tell of Romulan singularity drives...generally how Romulans power their warp cores," she added. "One of them has to be intact and easy to be powered up."

She then opened a channel to Challenger. "Cutty Sark to Challenger. This is Commander Said. We made it to the planet, but we ran afoul of a bunch of criminal salvagers. We're maintaining airborne vectors and we'll scan for Romulan warp cores. I may need to call in for an additional security detail with a second team of engineers once we find it, just in case we do run into more scavengers once we find the core."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Sitting in the command chair, it was Lieutenant Commander Catalan that replied to Nira.

"Catalan here Commander. The Captain has met with his Romulan counterpart and the two of them are beaming down to speak with the owner of a space liner that meets our needs. I will inform Lieutenant Davenport and Commander Tharn to have teams standing by if you require assistance."

[Jamil]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As Lieutenant Randall was occupied tracking the progress of the Doomsday Machine and running simulations to calculate the yield necessary to destroy the massive weapon, Jamil and Tora at Science Two and Science Three were using their time to keep track of the chaotic traffic of ships fleeing the potentially doomed world. The two would argue later who noticed the anomaly first, but for now, that didn't matter. They both had detected and old Lenexa-Class transport in low orbit. It's trajectory was unstable as it labored to break orbit, what was worse was it looked as if the anti-matter flow regulators were failing and the ship's warp core was close to breaching....

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Anywho Science Two was wear Jamil was seated. There was all kind classes leaving Avolus he had hoped they were able to bring whatever the can to get off the planet. The fear losing your home. The hope. Faith in your lifestyle was taken from you. Your own home. That was sad.

There were anti-matter flow readings on 12.44.55 direct by the side of the Challenger. Where was the trace coming from. "œ"¦at 12.44.55 possible an anti-matter situation but having hard time getting the scanners to penetrate the laviteous semi-lak gas." He bit his lower lip. The laviteous semi-lak gas was not dangerous but it was due of a atmosphere built from the flow of the gases of Avalos. The fellow wished he could penetrate it by himself and get the credit, but it was best to get teamwork."Something is there but can't get a clear readout. Hmm..."

The planet had a toxic in world. Which caused the disturbance of the planet's atomsphere. The data he searched on the Planet Eater had nothing mention of that gas, or any other toxin he was looking for. There had to be something missing. He was determined to find it.

"Oh. Lenexa-Class transport is low orbit...OH! We got a warp core readings that's breaching, sir. That explains the anti-matter leakage,"  he explained.

[Dr Taja Grippen]

[Shuttle Cutty Sark]

The reprieve allowed Taja to finish knitting together Zhuk's leg wound with the autosuture tool. The wound wasn't pretty, the skin would need a few follow ups of dermal regeneration after this, but the injury was closed and clean. Taja studied the wound and was satisfied. She gave Zhuk a powerful stimulant to rouse him from the stun. Normally it would be best to leave a patient to wake naturally, but they were on mission and might need him. He would have enough juice to complete the task, but would crash and need a long rest after a few hours.

She then saw that the commander was wounded to, a graze to her shoulder. It was fortunate she was here. Taja went over to the commander and studied her shoulder, it wasn't too bad.

"Hold still a moment, Commander. This won't take long."

She grabbed the dermal regen and began to treat the wound, the skin knitting together under the doctor's trained hands.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Shuttlecraft Cutty Sark | Angdarr Prime]

What was that phrase some of her Academy classmates used when encountering something preposterously dangerous or huge? Oh, right. Oh, hell no. It certainly captured the nasty mix of panic and fear that bubbled inside Tora's stomach as she turned and fled for the shuttlecraft well. Why exactly did the universe have to do this to them, exactly? She hadn't expected puppies and rainbows when landing, of course, but this was a little too much. Captured by Orions and made into something less than she was? Um, no thank you! She was happy with the woman she was, moreso than as a dabo girl.

She had only barely begun to settle down when she heard the feline yowl of pain cut through the air like a razor. Without thinking she sprang up from her seat, grabbed the Caitian and dragged him into the shuttle. "Help! He needs medical attention!" Tora was hollering as she touched her hand to his upper chest. Her fingers came away red. Not good...

[Shuttle Cutty Sark - Warbird Necropolis - Angdarr Prime]

Taja's plan failed miserably and she kicked herself inwardly, of course it was so simple. The Orion males always served the females, she should have remembered that. As the firefight erupted Taja screamed in panic, she was no fighter and sprinted back to the shuttle as the rest covered her. Breathing heavily she waited for the others, but quickly sprung into action as their caitian friend was hit.

With the help of the others, Zhuk was dragged aboard and laid on the shuttle floor. The Risan grabbed her medical kit and knelt beside him running a quick scan with her tricorder.  Thankfully he was alive only stunned, though the wound on his leg was pretty nasty. The smell of burnt fur filled her nostrils.

She gave him a dose of painkillers with her trusty hypospray then set to work with a autosuture tool on his leg wound. It would take a good few minutes to knit back together during which time the painkillers would work their magic ready for when he woke up.

"He's going to be fine, vitals are stable. Just need a few minutes to knit this wound back together, then I can wake him from the stun. He's one lucky caitian." Had the shot to his chest not been set to stun, they'd be in a lot more trouble.

Now she was doing what she did best her demeanour was calm and collected. It was just like being back in accident and emergency at Risa Central Hospital again.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | NCC-40117 'Cutty Sark' | Over the Skies of the Warbird Metropolis | Angdarr Prime | Angdarr System]

At least Tora would not experience too much of an issue when she transported Zhuk inside, his current reaction was comparable to a sack of Earthling potatoes. At a mere 163 cm, he was also relatively light, at a mere 63 kilograms, or 139 pounds. Actually, perhaps not so weightless, but he was safe within the vessel thanks to her effort.

Zhukdra'shar, considering his condition, did little but remain completely and utterly still as Doctor Grippen proceeded to treat his not-insignificant wounds to get him back into service. His breathing remained constant, his chest softly rising and falling as the world around him became obscured by his unconsciousness. Truly, Zhuk looked quite peaceful, all things considered, his feline features giving him a rather cute appearance even if he was not aware of it.

[Shuttle Cutty Sark]

The reprieve allowed Taja to finish knitting together Zhuk's leg wound with the autosuture tool. The wound wasn't pretty, the skin would need a few follow ups of dermal regeneration after this, but the injury was closed and clean. Taja studied the wound and was satisfied. She gave Zhuk a powerful stimulant to rouse him from the stun. Normally it would be best to leave a patient to wake naturally, but they were on mission and might need him. He would have enough juice to complete the task, but would crash and need a long rest after a few hours.

She then saw that the commander was wounded to, a graze to her shoulder. It was fortunate she was here. Taja went over to the commander and studied her shoulder, it wasn't too bad.

"Hold still a moment, Commander. This won't take long."

She grabbed the dermal regen and began to treat the wound, the skin knitting together under the doctor's trained hands.

Taja then proceeded to fix up his leg, expertly closing the ugly wound on his upper calf with ease. Unbeknownst to her, Zhuk would absolutely abhor the end result, not because of her skills, of course, but rather, because of his pride. Although he made sure to always keep it to himself, he felt he was the perfect example of what an ideal Caitian male body should be. The equivalent of an Earth 'Olympian' from ancient times. That ugly-stitch-up, though easily fixed when back in the USS Challenger, would be a hit to his ego for a short while.

At the dose of stimulant, Zhuk's body first twitched, before he suddenly sat up with a big gasp. The painkillers were still in effect, so he took a moment for his mind to retrace the steps that saw him be treated aboard the 'Cutty Sark'. At first, his mind traveled over to Head Nurse Chloe, as someone to thank, but she had not gotten on board the shuttle. Right.

He glanced with some confusion over at the people within before he noticed Dr. Grippen treating Commander Said, and then he connected the dots. He proceeded to stand up, finally noticing his leg, and as expected, he proceeded to flatten his ears against his head. Then again, his common sense took over, and took a proper seat, glancing over at Taja,

"I g-greatly appreciate thy assistance, Doctor Grippen. I shalt try to be more careful next time," He nodded towards her, even if she could not see, feeling surprisingly energetic even though he had just been shot twice. As always, though, he kept relatively still, as fidgeting with his hands or bumping his leg was an improper thing to do. While he took a few breaths still, determining that he indeed could continue with his duties, he realized a couple of things,

"I know not of whomst aided me to be placed on board, but from the bottom of my heart, I thank thee too," He took a glance over at the cockpit, after unknowingly staring at Tora, the one who had rescued him from the junkyard, "Excuse me, Commander Said. What is to be our course of action now? Shalt we return and attempt again? I must also inform you that I remain operational... Doctor Grippen did a spectacular job, it seems. Thus, I may be of assistance still."

[Neva Cordon]

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira was impressed by Zhuk's prowress, but it did get him shot up a little. She got two or three of the scumbags and got a graze on the shoulder, but she felt the heat of the disruptor; a few more inches down and the beam would've sliced her arm off at the joint.

Aboard, she nodded at Taja's treating Zhuk and, as the shuttle took off, was surprised at Neva's calculating a return course to Challenger.

"Belay that, Ensign," she said. "We still have work to do. However, I downright hesitate to set down on the planet again, what with these scavengers and salvagers. Maintain an airborne position, Mister Espada. Put us among the trees, we'll look suspicious if we just hang around up here. Cheizex, Zalos, man the sensors, scan for any readings of Romulan warp cores, based on what the databanks can tell of Romulan singularity drives...generally how Romulans power their warp cores," she added. "One of them has to be intact and easy to be powered up."

She then opened a channel to Challenger. "Cutty Sark to Challenger. This is Commander Said. We made it to the planet, but we ran afoul of a bunch of criminal salvagers. We're maintaining airborne vectors and we'll scan for Romulan warp cores. I may need to call in for an additional security detail with a second team of engineers once we find it, just in case we do run into more scavengers once we find the core."

[Neva Cordon| Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Neva nodded and replied, "Aye, Sir." Once more, her fingers danced over the controls as Espalda maneuvered accordingly.

Neva found herself holding her breath as she listened for the others to report. Letting it out, she made adjustments to the shields in case the scavengers had ideas. In doing so, she made sure the sensors weren't affected.

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Anywho Science Two was wear Jamil was seated. There was all kind classes leaving Avolus he had hoped they were able to bring whatever the can to get off the planet. The fear losing your home. The hope. Faith in your lifestyle was taken from you. Your own home. That was sad.

There were anti-matter flow readings on 12.44.55 direct by the side of the Challenger. Where was the trace coming from. "œ"¦at 12.44.55 possible an anti-matter situation but having hard time getting the scanners to penetrate the laviteous semi-lak gas." He bit his lower lip. The laviteous semi-lak gas was not dangerous but it was due of a atmosphere built from the flow of the gases of Avalos. The fellow wished he could penetrate it by himself and get the credit, but it was best to get teamwork."Something is there but can't get a clear readout. Hmm..."

The planet had a toxic in world. Which caused the disturbance of the planet's atomsphere. The data he searched on the Planet Eater had nothing mention of that gas, or any other toxin he was looking for. There had to be something missing. He was determined to find it.

"Oh. Lenexa-Class transport is low orbit...OH! We got a warp core readings that's breaching, sir. That explains the anti-matter leakage,"  he explained.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lieutenant Commander Fernando Catalan grimaced when he heard Jamil's report Lieutenant Adelle Booker was covering Ops as he sat in the command chair with both the Captain and the First Officer off the ship.

"Hail them and-"

Was all he managed to get out before there was an explosion aboard the transport. Fortunately, it wasn't the catastrophic blinding flare of a warp core breach, but it was bad enough. The stricken ship, the S.S. Guppy was falling out of orbit, her aft end wrecked by the explosion.

"Helm, intercept course. Ops, standby tractor beam."

Catalan then hit the comm control on the command chair.

"Medical, emergency, prepare to receive multiple casualties. There's been an explosion on a civilian transport and I am declaring a mass casualty event."

Switching channels he added.

"Bridge to all transporter rooms, prepare for multiple transport of injured civilians, many will need to be beam directly to sickbay. Act on your discretion."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Outside Kinglines Corporate Office - Angdarr Prime]

When Ian, Kyan, Ensign Morales, and Commander Avolus arrived on the planet, two stern looking Romulan soldiers were waiting. The group entered the building a were met by a smiling receptionist.

"Captain Ian Galloway, Starfleet and Commander Avolus, Romulan Free State Navy to see Burton King."

Ian said pleasantly.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"We do not."

"Then I am afraid Mister King is unavailable."

Ian's expression became far less pleasant as he replied.

"You tell Mister King he's about ta have company whether he wants it or not, whether he still has doors is up ta him."

The Bolian man cringed at Ian's demeanor and spoke softly into a microphone briefly before replying in a shaky tone.

"M-Mister King w-will see you now."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Lt. Commander Kyan Mackenzie | Outside Kinglines Corporate Office - Angdarr Prime]

Having recently been an unwilling guest of the Orion Syndicate on this very planet, Kyan wasn't taking chances this go around. Last time he'd been lulled into believing that the mission was to be sunshine and rainbows. A nice shoreleave type of situation. There were to be trees, and sentient monkey people, and shops wherein he could buy nice stuff... or weapons that the monkey people made.

And did it turn out that way? No. It most certainly did not. Instead of swimming and climbing trees, and apparently getting bitten by sex butterflies......

Because OF COURSE there were sex butterflies!

....instead of that, he was attacked by some dirty Orion slavers and take prisoner. Instead of climbing trees and swimming, there was kidnapping and a spot of light torture. And some behavior thing that wanted him to do something, but he couldn't remember what it was. And the leader of the monkey people, who Kyan didn't like very much but couldn't say why, had mentioned there was to be a feast.

There was no feast.

So basically, even though the trees were pretty amazing... and he had been rescued and did eventually get to explore and even got a Angdarri Laughing Dragon out of the deal... Angdarr Prime was still on his list of crappy places to go. As such, he'd made sure that both he and Ensign Smiley were well armed. If the Orions attacked again, or a swarm of the sex butterflies showed up, Kyan would be ready.

Smiley had looked so confused when Kyan told him to grab the box marked "Kyan's Stuff" from the armory. He'd done it nonetheless, and when he returned with the box plus his own gear the new Ensign had watched in open-mouthed incredulousness as Kyan pulled all the weapons from the box. "How many knives do you need....sir?" he'd asked.

Kyan shrugged. "More than this... but it'll hafta do." Then, eying the grup suspiciously..."Why? You wanna borrow one the now? Ye can... just so as I get it back when we're done."

Smiley had graciously declined. "Oh well." Kyan had shrugged when they were finished checking their gear. As far as Kyan knew, Smiley only had his issued phaser and an extra power cell. While the regulations were clear on the equipment needed] for an away mission like this one, they said nothing about contingency planning. And in Kyan's experience, too many backups wasn't a thing.

He had his own hand phaser, it's backup, a Ferengi palm disruptor, and several concealed bladed weapons including his karambit, well... the new one. Seles had made off with the last one.

As Galloway made the introductions to a cheerfully plump Bolian at the reception desk, Kyan took the opportunity to look around. Actually, he took the opportunity to give a once over to their Romulan friends. They looked like typical Star Navy types. Puffy shoulder pads in the uniform jackets, dour expressions, honor blades, and a disruptor on the hip. It was pretty standard fare.

Kyan looked up at Smiley, who was staring hard at something across the room. When he'd followed the young Human's eyes to the object of their focus he sighed.

It was a scantily clad Romulan woman.

"Hey! the Onlie hissed. "We're here tae make sure the captain dinnae get killed off, not so yous can stab some green grup girl with yer short sword so we ain't!"

"Umm... I was seeing if she had any weapons." Smiley lied.

Kyan quirked an eyebrow. He looked over at the Romulan, who was clad in a tight fitting jumpsuit thing that didn't leave much to the imagination... although it seems as though Smiley had found something to imagine. "Does she?"

"Yeah... those cheeks...." Smiley said dreamily before cathing himself. "Wait..... umm.. No. No weapons. She's clean. Of weapons. She doesn't have any. She's fine... I mean it's ok. No weapons."

Kyan rolled his eyes. "Are ye sure? Ye dinnae wanna do a strip search on her? She might have sommat hiding somewhere."

"We can do tha...."

"NO! Ye cannae! Pay attention to the mission ye daft rocket!" Kyan hissed.

Smiley snapped back to reality. "Right... sorry."

After that, Kyan turned his attention to the conversation between Galloway and the fat Bolian.

"You tell Mister King he's about ta have company whether he wants it or not, whether he still has doors is up ta him."

The Bolian man cringed at Ian's demeanor and spoke softly into a microphone briefly before replying in a shaky tone.

"M-Mister King w-will see you now."

As the Bolian rose to lead them all to Mister King's office, Kyan turned back to tell Smiley something. What he saw was the Human running like a punch drunk doofus at the same Romulan girl, who was grinning back... well, actually it was more of a smirk. He'd have boxed his ears but Smile was too tall. Instead Kyan clapped him in the arm with enough umph to bring him out of fantasy land. "C'mon Smiley. we're going tae see a man about a ship!"

"Right!" The lanky Human shook free of his trance and followed the group.

As they ambled along behind the Bolian, Kyan made a note to have Smiley checked for butterfly bites when they got back up to the ship.

[Ian Galloway]

[Mess Hall==>Crew Quarters ==>Bridge]

As the Challenger had been heading back to Earth, it had been a perfect time for Cole to take some time off after all the flying he ad done during their last excursion. During his down time, he had been practicing his martial arts and had taken a fall that had fractured his tibia. The doctors had repaired it and ordered him to rest and take it easy. He had been content with the orders when they were headed back to the Sol System but as soon as the Challenger sounded Red Alert and changed course, he had left the Mess Hall and went to his quarters to dawn his uniform.

With his uniform on, he left and made his way to the Bridge. He passed several crew members that were hurrying along and heard them mention an away team. He stepped into the lift and headed upward.

When the doors parted, he made his way to the edge of the walkway. He knew the Captain had been informed of his injury so he tried doing things by the book.

"Ensign Shepard reporting for duty, Sir. I'd like to take my post with your permission, Captain." he said as he stood by and waited for a reply.

[Shuttle - Cutty Sark]

As the shuttle took cover in the canopy of the trees. When Nira was finished speaking to the Challenger Espada asked a question.

"Commander, I admit, I'm no engineer, but when you mentioned singularities, that got me to thinking. Wouldn't a singularity core implode? Don't you need an explosion?"

[Jalen Kartos]

"Medical, emergency, prepare to receive multiple casualties. There's been an explosion on a civilian transport and I am declaring a mass casualty event."

After Kyan had left Jalen had back-to-back appointments with some of the ship's children. Nothing out of the ordinary or strange, in fact it was all rather run of the mill. He was just finishing up with a young Bolian girl, when the captain's announcement game across the intercom. Jalen quickly and politely finished up with the girl, ending by giving her a sucker. He then ushered he from the office as calm as ever and handed her off to her expectant parents.

"œDon't worry, all is well. The ship isn't in combat so you and your family should be relatively safe. Just head back to your duty stations and home, and everything will be alrighty. You're going to be a brave girl for us, right? And keep your brother and the stuffies safe right?" Jalen asked squatting down before the girl who beamed a smile at him and nodded fiercely.

"œGood now run along, Dr. Jalen has work to do." Jalen the showed the family out of sick bay and reported to the CMO.

"œCommander Fellows, where would you like me?"

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 12 - Upper Engineering Support]

[Upper Engineering Support]

"You'll be free to return to your work, once I'm done making sure your brain isn't going to slosh out of your antennae. Which, in your current state, would be a pain for me to have to cleanup," Abas quipped back. If the man wanted to be a pain to deal with, he'd return the favor in kind. Perhaps Abas could work on his bedside manner, but sometimes honesty was indeed the best policy.

While the man's brains weren't actually at risk of becoming goop, perhaps the image and metaphor would achieve its intended purpose of getting the man to think. As the first hypo injected cleanly, he deftly ejected the first canister and produced a second, loading it in with a click. "Got it right here, if you would just look to your left...", he asked, as he moved to inject the second. Two birds, one stone, and all that.

Shortly, the worst effects of the man's headache and concussion should begin to alleviate. While they wouldn't clear up fully for a few days of bedrest after this most recent chaos was done with, hopefully it would at least get the man back on his feet and in at least what could pass for the right headspace. "Now. How can I be of further service, Chief? While I monitor your condition, the least I can do is provide an extra set of hands."

The suggestion that his brains might leak out his antennae was of course ridiculous but that the Aenar medic would even say it was just too amusing not to react to.  "It can do that?! Woah..."  There was a slight hiss as the hypospray injected the whatever meds the medic had suggested... Lahr had already forgotten what Th'vyrrol had said the first was..  oh yeah pain killers for his headache.

Maybe it was a placebo effect but Lahr felt better already!

At the Aenar's offer to help monitor the engineering consoles, Lahr considered a moment.  If he could set the distinctive alarms to each consoles alert modes then maybe the blind aenar could assist.  But before he could suggest it, an alert sounded across the ship.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lieutenant Commander Fernando Catalan grimaced when he heard Jamil's report Lieutenant Adelle Booker was covering Ops as he sat in the command chair with both the Captain and the First Officer off the ship.

"Hail them and-"

Was all he managed to get out before there was an explosion aboard the transport. Fortunately, it wasn't the catastrophic blinding flare of a warp core breach, but it was bad enough. The stricken ship, the S.S. Guppy was falling out of orbit, her aft end wrecked by the explosion.

"Helm, intercept course. Ops, standby tractor beam."

Catalan then hit the comm control on the command chair.

"Medical, emergency, prepare to receive multiple casualties. There's been an explosion on a civilian transport and I am declaring a mass casualty event."

Switching channels he added.

"Bridge to all transporter rooms, prepare for multiple transport of injured civilians, many will need to be beam directly to sickbay. Act on your discretion."

"I think you're gonna be busy with casualties.   I'll be fine.  Go.... and thanks."

Moments later, lights were flashing all over the room, as multiple transporter beams were initiated all at once and nearly overloaded the patched EPS lines.

Lahr called up to the bridge.  "Engineering Support to Ops.  Any chance you can have your transporter personnel, who are beaming out survivors, time their beams outs in a series - one after the other -  as we are close to overloading the lines when they all activate at the same time.  I know time is of the essence by even a two second pause between beam start ups will keep the flow steady and avoid a worse catastrophe.  Think about it... ch'Verret out."

[Tora Zalos]

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira was impressed by Zhuk's prowress, but it did get him shot up a little. She got two or three of the scumbags and got a graze on the shoulder, but she felt the heat of the disruptor; a few more inches down and the beam would've sliced her arm off at the joint.

Aboard, she nodded at Taja's treating Zhuk and, as the shuttle took off, was surprised at Neva's calculating a return course to Challenger.

"Belay that, Ensign," she said. "We still have work to do. However, I downright hesitate to set down on the planet again, what with these scavengers and salvagers. Maintain an airborne position, Mister Espada. Put us among the trees, we'll look suspicious if we just hang around up here. Cheizex, Zalos, man the sensors, scan for any readings of Romulan warp cores, based on what the databanks can tell of Romulan singularity drives...generally how Romulans power their warp cores," she added. "One of them has to be intact and easy to be powered up."

She then opened a channel to Challenger. "Cutty Sark to Challenger. This is Commander Said. We made it to the planet, but we ran afoul of a bunch of criminal salvagers. We're maintaining airborne vectors and we'll scan for Romulan warp cores. I may need to call in for an additional security detail with a second team of engineers once we find it, just in case we do run into more scavengers once we find the core."

[Neva Cordon| Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Neva nodded and replied, "Aye, Sir." Once more, her fingers danced over the controls as Espalda maneuvered accordingly.

Neva found herself holding her breath as she listened for the others to report. Letting it out, she made adjustments to the shields in case the scavengers had ideas. In doing so, she made sure the sensors weren't affected.

Tora sighed and turned to look down at her console. Here was better than being shot at and kidnapped by scavengers, at any rate. Once again, no thanks to being made into less than she was now.

Her fingers swept over the controls. Romulan drives were ever so easy to pinpoint. The tiny singularities that powered their warp cores were detectable from large distances away always - soon enough there was a blip on her sensors, small at first but steadily growing larger as the shuttle travelled forward. "Commander. Sensors indicate a Romulan singularity core straight ahead of us. Two hundred klicks." She reported, glancing up from the console for just a moment to look at the First Officer. "And-"

Tora never finished her sentence. Frantic beeping sounded from her console; she glanced sideways at it. What she saw made her stomach churn. "We are being followed." She announced. "By... a small craft of some sort. And it is armed."

[Nira Said]

[Shuttle Cutty Sark]

The reprieve allowed Taja to finish knitting together Zhuk's leg wound with the autosuture tool. The wound wasn't pretty, the skin would need a few follow ups of dermal regeneration after this, but the injury was closed and clean. Taja studied the wound and was satisfied. She gave Zhuk a powerful stimulant to rouse him from the stun. Normally it would be best to leave a patient to wake naturally, but they were on mission and might need him. He would have enough juice to complete the task, but would crash and need a long rest after a few hours.

She then saw that the commander was wounded to, a graze to her shoulder. It was fortunate she was here. Taja went over to the commander and studied her shoulder, it wasn't too bad.

"Hold still a moment, Commander. This won't take long."

She grabbed the dermal regen and began to treat the wound, the skin knitting together under the doctor's trained hands.

[Shuttle - Cutty Sark]

As the shuttle took cover in the canopy of the trees. When Nira was finished speaking to the Challenger Espada asked a question.

"Commander, I admit, I'm no engineer, but when you mentioned singularities, that got me to thinking. Wouldn't a singularity core implode? Don't you need an explosion?"

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira momentarily forgot about the graze on her shoulder. She took off her outer uniform, down to a tank top, and allowed Taja to treat it while she looked over at Hector. She raised her eyebrows with interest at his words. "It could....and," she added with a smile, "in any event, it was required to take the ship into its gullet. An explosion did take the other one down, but an implosion..."

She was grinning even wider now. "Holy Allah, I can imagine the possibilities. Not even its neutronium shell could handle a self-consuming singularity...a black hole that would consume it..." She stopped herself from laughing and added, "Well, considering the technology back then, comparing it to the technology now...despite its neutronium, whatever we can throw into it, even at partial power, would potentially do a lot more damage to the thing..."

Tora sighed and turned to look down at her console. Here was better than being shot at and kidnapped by scavengers, at any rate. Once again, no thanks to being made into less than she was now.

Her fingers swept over the controls. Romulan drives were ever so easy to pinpoint. The tiny singularities that powered their warp cores were detectable from large distances away always - soon enough there was a blip on her sensors, small at first but steadily growing larger as the shuttle travelled forward. "Commander. Sensors indicate a Romulan singularity core straight ahead of us. Two hundred klicks." She reported, glancing up from the console for just a moment to look at the First Officer. "And-"

Tora never finished her sentence. Frantic beeping sounded from her console; she glanced sideways at it. What she saw made her stomach churn. "We are being followed." She announced. "By... a small craft of some sort. And it is armed."

Nira beamed in delighted interest at Tora, only for the other shoe to drop when she mentioned a follower... "Allah forbid, it better not be who I think it is," Nira muttered with a scowl.

[Ian Galloway]

After Kyan had left Jalen had back-to-back appointments with some of the ship's children. Nothing out of the ordinary or strange, in fact it was all rather run of the mill. He was just finishing up with a young Bolian girl, when the captain's announcement game across the intercom. Jalen quickly and politely finished up with the girl, ending by giving her a sucker. He then ushered he from the office as calm as ever and handed her off to her expectant parents.

"œDon't worry, all is well. The ship isn't in combat so you and your family should be relatively safe. Just head back to your duty stations and home, and everything will be alrighty. You're going to be a brave girl for us, right? And keep your brother and the stuffies safe right?" Jalen asked squatting down before the girl who beamed a smile at him and nodded fiercely.

"œGood now run along, Dr. Jalen has work to do." Jalen the showed the family out of sick bay and reported to the CMO.

"œCommander Fellows, where would you like me?"

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

There was a stunned pause as the announcement of a mass casualty event was made, then the entire on duty medical staff sprung into action, highlighted by directions from the CMO, Lieutenant Commander Jessica Fellows.

"Alright, we've planned and practiced this multiple times. Now we execute the plan. Chief T'ealc, notify all off duty personnel and get them moving, we're going to need everyone we have. Lieutenant Davies, you will do triage here in sickbay. Doctor Kartos, go to transporter room one and do triage there. Doctor Rashar, you have transporter room two. Doctor Zorr, room three. Doctor Rars, room four, Doctor Booth, room five, and Doctor Yoder, room six.

"All black tags to Cargo Bay One. Red tags get beamed here. Yellows, if they can walk, they will make their way here on their own. If non-ambulatory, security personnel will assist."

She then tapped her combadge.

"Sickbay to Bridge, do we have any idea how many casualties we are talking about?"

"Catalan here Doctor. We only have intermittent communications with the transport because of their damage in addition to being poorly maintained, it looks like the ship was grossly overloaded with people fleeing Angdarr, sensor readings are difficult because of local radiation from the explosion, but at a guess, the ship was carrying 8,000 people. I don't have a number of casualties yet. Estimates based on the damage pattern is hundreds at the least."

"Thank you Commander. Sickbay out."

On closing the channel Jess faced the wide-eyed medical staff.

"This will be the biggest medical event any of us have ever faced. Follow your training and be prepared to be flexible. This is uncharted territory."

No sooner had Jess finished speaking, than the first of the most critical casualties began to arrive and there wasn't time for talk.

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

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 12 - Upper Engineering Support]

Moments later, lights were flashing all over the room, as multiple transporter beams were initiated all at once and nearly overloaded the patched EPS lines.

Lahr called up to the bridge.  "Engineering Support to Ops.  Any chance you can have your transporter personnel, who are beaming out survivors, time their beams outs in a series - one after the other -  as we are close to overloading the lines when they all activate at the same time.  I know time is of the essence by even a two second pause between beam start ups will keep the flow steady and avoid a worse catastrophe.  Think about it... ch'Verret out."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lieutenant Adelle Booker was at Ops and took Lahr's call. She had snared the crippled Guppy with a tractor beam and was keeping the ship's orbit stable. Once she was certain the Guppy was secure, she replied to Lahr.

"Understood Engineering. Things are just short of out of control on that transport, we may need security to get a handle on the situation."

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

Tora sighed and turned to look down at her console. Here was better than being shot at and kidnapped by scavengers, at any rate. Once again, no thanks to being made into less than she was now.

Her fingers swept over the controls. Romulan drives were ever so easy to pinpoint. The tiny singularities that powered their warp cores were detectable from large distances away always - soon enough there was a blip on her sensors, small at first but steadily growing larger as the shuttle travelled forward. "Commander. Sensors indicate a Romulan singularity core straight ahead of us. Two hundred klicks." She reported, glancing up from the console for just a moment to look at the First Officer. "And-"

Tora never finished her sentence. Frantic beeping sounded from her console; she glanced sideways at it. What she saw made her stomach churn. "We are being followed." She announced. "By... a small craft of some sort. And it is armed."

[In the Canopy - Angdarr Prime]

Further scans showed Tora the small craft was a Scorpion-class fighter not quite as combat capable as the Type-17 shuttle, but nothing to be scoffed at. It was on an intercept course with it's weapons charged and shields up.

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira looked over at Hector and raised her eyebrows with interest. "It could....and," she added with a smile, "in any event, it was required to take the ship into its gullet. An explosion did take the other one down, but an implosion..."

She was grinning even wider now. "Holy Allah, I can imagine the possibilities. Not even its neutronium shell could handle a self-consuming singularity...a black hole that would consume it..." She stopped herself from laughing and added, "Well, considering the technology back then, comparing it to the technology now...despite its neutronium, whatever we can throw into it, even at partial power, would potentially do a lot more damage to the thing..."Nira beamed in delighted interest at Tora, only for the other shoe to drop when she mentioned a follower... "Allah forbid, it better not be who I think it is," Nira muttered with a scowl.

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

[Office of Burton King - Kinglines Corporation - Angdarr Prime]

When Ian and the others entered, they found a human male of about fifty with graying brown receding hair who seemed otherwise, fairly fit. He had a cold expression as the away team came into his office.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion? First, you intimidate my receptionist and then you barge in here as if you own the place. I get you might be important where you come from, but here, I'm in charge."

He snarled, visibly angry at the away team.

"Apologies Mister King, but time is of the essence. I am Captain Ian Galloway and my associate is Commander Avolus. It is my understanding you have a large ship in orbit. We're here to ask to use it to save this planet."

"And exactly how is my unarmed liner going to do that when the two of you have warships that cannot do it otherwise you wouldn't be asking for my ship."

"Fair question. We aim to fly it down the maw of the approaching machine and detonate its warp core."

King sputtered for a moment in utter amazement.

"You want to destroy the Cosmos Royale? I have to assume you've suffered a head injury recently. That ship has a value of 8,250 bricks of gold pressed latinum. Do you seriously think I'm going to allow you to just destroy that sort of investment? You can leave now."

"Now, Mister King, let's nae be hasty. We're here ta negotiate."

"No we are not. Angdarr is not a Federation world. And even if it was, Kinglines is a privately owned corporation. You have no legal means to take my ship and I'm not going to lose my company's most valuable asset to some hare-brained nonsense. Get out."

"You would let an entire planet be destroyed to protect an investment? You can put a price on a planet and the hundreds of millions of lives at risk here?"

"It is unfortunate for Angdarr and it's people, but I am a businessman and I will not allow you to guilt me into parting with my ship. Now, you and your Romulan friend have armed ships and soldiers, I cannot stop you from taking the Cosmos Royale by force if you choose to do so, but I will sue you, Starfleet, and the Free State without mercy and I will win. Now, I've told you to leave twice now. Do I need to call the Angdarri police to have you escorted out?"

"Very well Mister King. Good day."

Was all Ian could say as King was right, he had no legal basis to seize the Cosmos Royale. The away team left the Kinglines office building and headed for the office of the Anax.

[Dr Taja Grippen]

[Shuttle Cutty Sark]

Taja finished up with Nira's shoulder, the skin fresh and pink with no visible scarring. "All done here, commander."

With the injured taken care of, the Risan Doctor tidied up her medical kit and closed the lid ready for the next patient. She smiled at Zhuk's kind words, the stimulant was doing its job well.

"The fur will grow back in no time, I'm sure. Be sure to report to sickbay tomorrow and we'll have a check up, see if we can finish regenerating the skin."

At the notification they were being followed, Taja took her seat again and strapped in. Why was this world so hostile, they were trying to save it from destruction.