S6: E1 - The Prime Recommendation

[Ian Galloway]

[Shuttlebay â†' bridge]

The Flyer that the  Challenger had was better off than she had anticipated, considering it too had been put on the fritz by the blast. But at least she was a bit more familiar with those systems than most, so that took less time. She had left  Ensign Schlemann to make final preparations on the Flyer before launch before she had headed back to the Bridge to report her progress.

Coming back, she caught the tail end of the discussion about Chronitons. She was in no way fluent in that, but it did seem plausible enough. "œI've got the  Flyer up and running and just about as flight-ready as we can be so we can pick up the away team before the Landsers can hit us again, Sir. "œ

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

A puzzled expression crossed Alex's face and he glanced quizzically towards Ardyn before replying. "Apologies sir, I'm not sure what a boffing is. I was thinking on the communication issues we've been having with the away team, and I reckon we might be able to try something." He was becoming increasingly concerned about the team below, especially now that the Landsers knew about Challenger, and Galloway had made a, through no fault of his own, fairly taciturn first contact. It had been hours since the abandoned shuttle returned without them, still adrift several thousand kilometres away. Moving to one of the spare stations beside the conn, he nudged some clutter aside before accessing the same system Booker was using. "Since our probe is what the Landser are likely focusing the majority of their ground based stations upon to speak with us, and Lieutenant Booker had previously isolated the control frequencies used by the Landser satellites, I reckon we should be able to override, or hijack, one. We can broadcast a much stronger signal from up here, and don't have the same atmospheric interference to contend with."

Waiting for the still damaged ship's computer to process his inputs reminded him of being a child and playing with the old 21st century analog interfaces in the Discovery Centre at Cape Carnaval, where you could practically watch the machines 'think' and calculate responses. It took several extra minutes, but Alex finally managed to target a communications satellite in low synchronous orbit, right over the region that the away team had been before their shuttle deviated. A few minor orientation corrections and he'd turned one set of the satellite's antenna towards the probe, the other towards the ground. "It won't be a fully secure channel, sir, but you should be reach the away team, and the Flyer during it's retrieval mission." If they're still alive, he didn't find necessary to add.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian chuckled at Wu's response and replied while still chuckling.

"I believe the formal definition of 'boffin' is 'a person with knowledge or a skill considered ta be complex, arcane, and difficult.' Sorry, just the Highland Scot in me."

Ian watched with interest as Wu worked to establish a better communication link with the planet. When the Ops officer was finished, Ian hesitated.

"Another fine bodge job Lieutenant. Given the away team are tryin' ta remain undetected. I'm concerned with hailin' them as I nae want ta be the one that yanks the cat out of the bag. I do believe however, I will use your new connection ta reach back out ta the Landser leadership."

"Captain. The tractor beams are operational again, I can bring the Onizuka aboard now."

"Excellent, by all means, bring the shuttle home."

Ian then turned to face Ardy.

"Very good Lieutenant Jaeger I had hoped ta use the Mjolnir once we'd gotten ta the point I could meet with the Landsers. Now ta ask for an invite. Question is, since they're nae ta havin' a centralized government, who do I ask?"

"I may have an answer for that Sir."

"By all means Lieutenant, what do you have?"

"I've been monitorin' the Landser communications for many hours during our approach and I've figured out a few things. First, there are a total of 27 nation-states on the planet, ranging in size and influence. Regardless of not having a single voice, they do have a planetary body they call the Land Moot. It's sort of like the old pre-Federation United Nations on Earth. I believe that is the organization that can speak on behalf of the Landser's various governing bodies."

"Land Moot you say? Quaint. Well, as good a place as any. Open a channel-"

However, before Booker could hail the planet, Lieutenant Randall called out.

"Sir, the Landser probe is about enter fold space!"

"Bloody hell, well, here's where we find out if'n the chronitons are goin' ta work." Ian hit shipwide on his comm panel. "All hands. Brace for impact!"

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Landser Planet|Some Kid's Vehicle]

Turning to Kyan, she asked "Well, Commander, what now? Is there any way we can contact the Challenger? I'm sure I can rig something together to do so if we can find a place to get the parts I need." She gave a hopeful grin.

Looking back at the mob of Landsers surrounding Jettis, Kyan was inclined to tell Mikel to stop so that he could go back and retrieve him. But that would put everyone, including the Landsers, at risk.  He knew he couldn't, but that didn't make him feel any better about leaving him to the mob though. Finally he turned to look at the two members of his team that they had been able to retrieve.

"Sure an it's good tae see the both of ye, and good too that yer not off in some other time like or sommat the now." he greeted them. "Anyways... we're on our way tae see the President of this country because the Captain sent a message tae everyone but the translators turned it into jibberish so they did, and no one can understand it."

Then, at Neva's question he shook his head. "We cannae risk stopping off an getting pinched before we get there and talk to their leaders so we cannae, which...." he turned to Eely'ot who was eyeing Zhuk as though the Caitian was going to eat him at any moment. "Dinnae worry, He's no gonna eat ye. His name's Zhuk, from a planet called Cait, and this is Neva Cordon from Betazed an Earth. They're both in Starfleet like me."

The Lansder boy nodded, mostly convinced.

"Can ye understand them?" Kyan asked, eliciting nods from G'erti and Eely'ot. "Good. That means our Universal translators are syched up now so it does."

From the driver's seat, Mikel spoke up. "You could make a video of your own, since they'd be able to understand you."

Kyan looked at Neva and Zhuk. Then up at Mikel. "How? Our communicators aren't working an we dinnae have nothin tae use for it."

The Lansder teen produced a black rectangular device from his pocket. "Use this. You can make it on Lumi-tak. It's a program that lets us make videos and stories about ourselves for others to see."

Kyan glanced at the others. "Well, I guess it couldnae hurt nothin. Ok...let's do it."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 7 - Sickbay]

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Sickbay | Deck 7 | USS Challenger]

"Hgh. Wh- What happened to me?" Tora's hand drifted to her nose. Yep, definitely still there and still the correct shape. It seemed. And hopefully unbroken. Now that'd have sucked. Had she fallen on her face? Was that why her face smarted? Wow, such coherent thoughts!

"Chhh- Chief? Uhhh. Did- did something hit us?" She burbled, fighting through the thick mental fog that seemed to have settled over her brain to form coherent thought. "Hy- Hyperion? How is he? Is he alright...?" She whispered. "And... uhhh. Water. Please?" Her throat felt parched. It probably was, to be honest. Ugh. She was grateful for the glass of water that someone in turquoise placed in her hand. She made a valiant attempt to sit up, which only resulted in her spilling half the glass. Whoops.

It was Chloe (of course it was) who answered his call for aid. Lahr made an attempt to return to his work but after Chloe couldn't answer the Cardassian's question of what happened, Tora called on Lahr.

The Andorian gave a shrug.  "I'm not entirely positive what happened -  but given the concerns about this new species folding space... it seems a likely suspect.    Whatever it was... it tripped all the electrical circuits and now everything electronic needs to be reset.   Seemed to have a similar effect on both you and Hyperion.   You both collapsed.  I'm hoping he'll be okay... but getting life-support up and working seemed more important at the time."

Lahr looked back over to the last biobed as some other nurse brought Tora a glass of water.  He turned back towards the science officer.  "Speaking of which, I should finish up here and move onto to the next important task.  You however rest up.  I'll check in on you later, okay?"

Yet, before Lahr could actually leave. A warning came.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]
Ian hit shipwide on his comm panel. "All hands. Brace for impact!"

Lahr scrambled to gather his tools and shove them back into his kit before the warned about impact hit, then grabbed onto the biobed tightly.  Lahr was really hoping it wasn't the same kind of impact as before or he'd be needing to climb up to lifesupport once again.

[Neva Cordon]

Looking back at the mob of Landsers surrounding Jettis, Kyan was inclined to tell Mikel to stop so that he could go back and retrieve him. But that would put everyone, including the Landsers, at risk.  He knew he couldn't, but that didn't make him feel any better about leaving him to the mob though. Finally he turned to look at the two members of his team that they had been able to retrieve.

"Sure an it's good tae see the both of ye, and good too that yer not off in some other time like or sommat the now." he greeted them. "Anyways... we're on our way tae see the President of this country because the Captain sent a message tae everyone but the translators turned it into jibberish so they did, and no one can understand it."

Then, at Neva's question he shook his head. "We cannae risk stopping off an getting pinched before we get there and talk to their leaders so we cannae, which...." he turned to Eely'ot who was eyeing Zhuk as though the Caitian was going to eat him at any moment. "Dinnae worry, He's no gonna eat ye. His name's Zhuk, from a planet called Cait, and this is Neva Cordon from Betazed an Earth. They're both in Starfleet like me."

The Lansder boy nodded, mostly convinced.

"Can ye understand them?" Kyan asked, eliciting nods from G'erti and Eely'ot. "Good. That means our Universal translators are synched up now so it does."

From the driver's seat, Mikel spoke up. "You could make a video of your own, since they'd be able to understand you."

Kyan looked at Neva and Zhuk. Then up at Mikel. "How? Our communicators aren't working an we dinnae have nothin tae use for it."

The Lansder teen produced a black rectangular device from his pocket. "Use this. You can make it on Lumi-tak. It's a program that lets us make videos and stories about ourselves for others to see."

Kyan glanced at the others. "Well, I guess it couldnae hurt nothin. Ok...let's do it."

[ACEO Lt.JG Neva Cordon|Landser Planet|Landser Vehicle]

Neva's eyes lit up when she heard what they could do. "Ohboyohboyohboy..." She murmured, a lopsided grin on her face. "gimmegimmegimme!"

Rubbing her hands together, she took the communication device-phone-from the Commander and after a few seconds, located what looked like the application they needed. She zoomed through a few vids and then tapped on controls to get a feel for how it worked, then started a vid recording. She zoomed in to show Kyan's face on the screen.

"Hailing Frequencies Open, Commander." Neva called and pointed towards him out of camera shot.

[Alexander Wu]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian chuckled at Wu's response and replied while still chuckling.

"I believe the formal definition of 'boffin' is 'a person with knowledge or a skill considered ta be complex, arcane, and difficult.' Sorry, just the Highland Scot in me."

Ian watched with interest as Wu worked to establish a better communication link with the planet. When the Ops officer was finished, Ian hesitated.

"Another fine bodge job Lieutenant. Given the away team are tryin' ta remain undetected. I'm concerned with hailin' them as I nae want ta be the one that yanks the cat out of the bag. I do believe however, I will use your new connection ta reach back out ta the Landser leadership."

"Captain. The tractor beams are operational again, I can bring the Onizuka aboard now."

"Excellent, by all means, bring the shuttle home."

Ian then turned to face Ardy.

"Very good Lieutenant Jaeger I had hoped ta use the Mjolnir once we'd gotten ta the point I could meet with the Landsers. Now ta ask for an invite. Question is, since they're nae ta havin' a centralized government, who do I ask?"

"I may have an answer for that Sir."

"By all means Lieutenant, what do you have?"

"I've been monitorin' the Landser communications for many hours during our approach and I've figured out a few things. First, there are a total of 27 nation-states on the planet, ranging in size and influence. Regardless of not having a single voice, they do have a planetary body they call the Land Moot. It's sort of like the old pre-Federation United Nations on Earth. I believe that is the organization that can speak on behalf of the Landser's various governing bodies."

"Land Moot you say? Quaint. Well, as good a place as any. Open a channel-"

However, before Booker could hail the planet, Lieutenant Randall called out.

"Sir, the Landser probe is about enter fold space!"

"Bloody hell, well, here's where we find out if'n the chronitons are goin' ta work." Ian hit shipwide on his comm panel. "All hands. Brace for impact!"

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Alex wanted to protest, but held his tongue in check, knowing that arguing with a Captain on his own bridge was never a good idea. In his opinion, the mission had already gone sideways, the Landser already knew about Challenger being in orbit, and the away team, if they were alive, would likely have seen local media about the alien spaceship in orbit and would've already tried to contact them while their systems were down. Several hours without hearing from them since should've been more than concerning. Still, Galloway had the same, if not more, information that he did, and it wasn't Alex's call at the end of the day.

"Aye sir, I'll work on getting us patched back into their broadcasts." He said instead, going back to seeing what he could do with their limited available sensors. At Randall's warning, Alex pulled his hands away from the console and pushed himself back, having seen enough cases of electrocutions to know better. "Get those shields up, lieutenant." He warned tactical, watching her still working frantically away at her station.

"I haven't finished reconfiguring them yet!" She called out, and Alex swiftly got up to help her, superseding with a sudden realization. "Doesn't matter, that probe is way out of shield radius, the temporal pulse will knock it out. Just raise shields so Randall can get that chroniton field up!"

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Bridge]

Just as the crew had fixed one issue, it seemed another had been waiting in the wings to make its debut all along. The injuries among the bridge crew were minor - nothing a few moments of care couldn't take care of with modern medicines. The actual mental state of the crew, however, was another thing. The Counseling department would have their hands full for the next few weeks, but since when was that anything new? Abas had no clue how to deal with the returning space probe, but thankfully, wiser minds than he had managed to take stock of the situation and react accordingly. He kept his ears open, however, as the Captain and the now-returned Lieutenant... Wu, was it? had conversed and come up with a suitably crazy Starfleet solution. Abas reminded himself to file a protest with Engineering that the universal translator didn't have a matrix for the language "Highland Scot", whatever that was. Perhaps some derivation of Bolian?

With the rest of the bridge crew, he'd heard of the probe's return. He braced himself against a bulkhead and console, but the majority of his preparation had gone to his mind. He'd been unprepared for the psionic onslaught that the probe had generated the first time. He wouldn't allow himself to be caught unaware again. His antennae curled in sharply to a concentrated point as his brow furled and he prepared his mind. Inwardly, he began humming melodies and other common patterns, anything to build up the barriers for what was to come.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing..." he muttered under his breath, to nobody in particular, as he awaited to see if they would decide it was in fact a good day to lithobrake into a planet.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]

There wasn't much time before the ship  would be hit  by the second wave.  Bolting to the helm, Ardyn took the empty seat and began trying to move the ship into a defensive  position,  far away enough  to keep them in orbit even if the ship did get cooked again.  She tried to focus on Maddy again, to mentally warn her about maybe another scary moment.  Hopefully, the little girl would understand.

"œHolding steady.  What's the estimated time of impact?"

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"Hailing Frequencies Open, Commander." Neva called and pointed towards him out of camera shot.

Looking at what he guessed was a video recording device Kyan did his best to look "œofficial." Although squeezed into the back seat with Neva on the far side and  Zhuk and Eely'ot in the middle, that was easier said than done. He had to lean forward and turn sideways in the seat to manage it.

"œMe"¦err.. Greetings to the people of Land-Ta. My name is Kyan Mackenzie from Miri's Planet, and this is Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas from Cait." He indicated the Caitian with a nod. "œWe are from the Starship Challenger, which ye've seen probably, orbiting yer planet so. Ye've no reason tae be worried the now or scared. We're explorers like yerselves so we are. We are part of the United Federation o' Planets, the which is a peaceful alliance of worlds. We've come tae yer planet tae speak with yer leaders about the space folding drive that ye've been testin. Sure and right now we're in a vehicle traveling tae the capitol city tae do that."

"œOh.. uh." Neva muttered, repeatedly pressing a button on the device before finally stopping. Kyan looked at her, but it appeared as though she had it under control so he continued.

"œSo please dinnae shoot at us when we get there or try tae take us prisoner or anything. We come in peace. OH. Also, please dinnae shoot at our ship either"¦ and also one of our crew members got picked up by some of yer folk in"¦ what was the name of that town Mikel?"

The Landser teen spoke up from the front seat. "œKayala City."

"œYeah. He got picked up in Kayala City. Please dinnae hurt him and bring him tae the capitol. His name is Jettis Jyur from El-Auria. He's a scientist. So that's it. And dinnae forget, we come in peace so we do."

Neva pressed another button and nodded. "œOk." She said. It's sent.

Kyan heaved a sigh. "œGood. I hope it's good enough tae make "˜em see we're peaceful. I've never made a first contact message before."

~~ Meanwhile, everyone in Mikel's group of followers were alerted to a new post by their friend. Those that watched the video were shocked to see one of the aliens instead of their friend. During the video, several of the app's filters were used before it finally settled on one which replaced the background with a celebratory fountain of colorful sparkles and a graphic in Landser script that read "œI'm here to party!" Within minutes the video was shared and reshared by people all over Land-Ta. ~~

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Alex wanted to protest, but held his tongue in check, knowing that arguing with a Captain on his own bridge was never a good idea. In his opinion, the mission had already gone sideways, the Landser already knew about Challenger being in orbit, and the away team, if they were alive, would likely have seen local media about the alien spaceship in orbit and would've already tried to contact them while their systems were down. Several hours without hearing from them since should've been more than concerning. Still, Galloway had the same, if not more, information that he did, and it wasn't Alex's call at the end of the day.

"Aye sir, I'll work on getting us patched back into their broadcasts." He said instead, going back to seeing what he could do with their limited available sensors. At Randall's warning, Alex pulled his hands away from the console and pushed himself back, having seen enough cases of electrocutions to know better. "Get those shields up, lieutenant." He warned tactical, watching her still working frantically away at her station.

"I haven't finished reconfiguring them yet!" She called out, and Alex swiftly got up to help her, superseding with a sudden realization. "Doesn't matter, that probe is way out of shield radius, the temporal pulse will knock it out. Just raise shields so Randall can get that chroniton field up!"

[Bridge]

There wasn't much time before the ship  would be hit  by the second wave.  Bolting to the helm, Ardyn took the empty seat and began trying to move the ship into a defensive  position,  far away enough  to keep them in orbit even if the ship did get cooked again.  She tried to focus on Maddy again, to mentally warn her about maybe another scary moment.  Hopefully, the little girl would understand.

"œHolding steady.  What's the estimated time of impact?"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Booker's fingers flew across her console and mere seconds before the Landser probe returned, the modified shields snapped into place. A burst of kaleidoscopic colors announced the probe's return, but this time when the temporal pulse surged outwards, the part that impacted Challenger encountered polarized chronitons which flared in a brilliant purple display and...completely dissipated. The ship did rock slightly, but no systems failed and none of the crew suffered any ill effects.

"Well, looks like we have the ability ta defend ourselves again. Good work everyone. That bottle of single malt is yours Lieutenant Wu. And one for you as well Evan."

"All sections reporting no damage captain. Repairs continuing." A somewhat shaky Booker said.

"Very good Lieutenant, now, I believe we need ta talk ta this Land Moot."

"Sir, I'm picking up something you need to see on the Landser public communications networks." Lieutenant JG Rachel Davenport at Tactical reported.

"On screen Lieutenant."

"œMe"¦err.. Greetings to the people of Land-Ta. My name is Kyan Mackenzie from Miri's Planet, and this is Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas from Cait." He indicated the Caitian with a nod. "œWe are from the Starship Challenger, which ye've seen probably, orbiting yer planet so. Ye've no reason tae be worried the now or scared. We're explorers like yerselves so we are. We are part of the United Federation o' Planets, the which is a peaceful alliance of worlds. We've come tae yer planet tae speak with yer leaders about the space folding drive that ye've been testin. Sure and right now we're in a vehicle traveling tae the capitol city tae do that."

"œOh.. uh." Neva muttered, repeatedly pressing a button on the device before finally stopping. Kyan looked at her, but it appeared as though she had it under control so he continued.

"œSo please dinnae shoot at us when we get there or try tae take us prisoner or anything. We come in peace. OH. Also, please dinnae shoot at our ship either"¦ and also one of our crew members got picked up by some of yer folk in"¦ what was the name of that town Mikel?"

The Landser teen spoke up from the front seat. "œKayala City."

"œYeah. He got picked up in Kayala City. Please dinnae hurt him and bring him tae the capitol. His name is Jettis Jyur from El-Auria. He's a scientist. So that's it. And dinnae forget, we come in peace so we do."

Ian's mouth hung open as he watched the images Kyan speaking. Several thoughts crossed his mind, with Jettis' well being the first, but the rest involved various means of killing Kyan as he thought.

"I'm goin' ta kill him and bury him in a shallow grave, then dig him up and kill him again, because that's the beauty of a shallow grave."

Out loud, he said.

"Bloody hell."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 7 - Sickbay]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Booker's fingers flew across her console and mere seconds before the Landser probe returned, the modified shields snapped into place. A burst of kaleidoscopic colors announced the probe's return, but this time when the temporal pulse surged outwards, the part that impacted Challenger encountered polarized chronitons which flared in a brilliant purple display and...completely dissipated. The ship did rock slightly, but no systems failed and none of the crew suffered any ill effects.

"Well, looks like we have the ability ta defend ourselves again. Good work everyone. That bottle of single malt is yours Lieutenant Wu. And one for you as well Evan."

"All sections reporting no damage captain. Repairs continuing." A somewhat shaky Booker said.

With no windows in Sickbay, Lahr and the others didn't get to see the pretty lightshow.  They did however feel the slight rocking.   The Andorian's antennae lifted sensing about room tentatively afterwards.   Was that it?  Were they out of imminent danger or was the real shock wave about to hit?

He waited a few moments more before releasing his grip on his tools and the nearby biobed.  "That wasn't so bad."

Lahr looked over towards Tora and gave her a thumbs up before moving to the 'haunted' biobed - which was the bane of his engineering existence.  "Medical really needs to just pitch this deathtrap, before someone else dies on it because of a malfunction." He muttered to himself as he continued his work.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Land - Near Town Square]

The advancing figures closed quickly shouting, but the universal translator was only making every third word understandable.

"Heem the conveyance drakma!"

Jettis pushed Neva behind him and shouted.

"RUN!"

However, before Neva could, Zhuk unmasked and challenged the crowd. The appearance of a cat-thing in front of them brought the mob up short. The vehicle skewed to a halt and there was a lull for a moment, until one particularly bright spark in the mob unfroze and shout.

"Gar laktra fee!"

This broke the spell and shots began to break out. Fortunately, the locals weren't skilled and no one was hit. However, while they may have been lacking in skill, they made up for it in volume and the away team had to take whatever cover they could find.

Jettis repeated his order to run and began firing as fast as his phaser would cycle. This drew the local's ire and weapons fire toward him, leaving him cut off from Zhuk and Neva. The Landsers were certainly a brave species and closed in on Jettis despite the efforts of Zhuk and Neva to create an escape route. Jettis looked at the others and shouted again.

"RUN!"

Torn by duty and loyalty, the pair hesitated. Then the crowd swarmed Jettis which forced Zhuk's and Neva's hand. The last they saw of him before they ducked around a corner was Jettis in hand to hand combat and surrounded on all sides.

Running for their lives, they heard a vehicle closing in on them and as they made their decision to turn and fight, they spotted Kyan waving wildly for them to get in, which they did. As soon as they were aboard, the vehicle, driven by a Landser adolescent sped away.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Unknown Small Town Street --> Landser Vehicle | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar gazed at the crowd with hopeful eyes, earnest in his attempt to fix the mistakes of the landing party and initiate a peaceful first contact. Unfortunately, someone shouted, and the Starfleet officers became subject to a hail of bullets. Zhuk quickly donned the helmet back on as a response, retrieving his phaser from his belt up next. The Caitian internally cursed at them in expletives of Orion and Romulan origin, moving with grace and fleetness until he could take cover behind what he guessed was a mailbox, found next to a metal trashcan.

Deciding to offer Jettis some cover fire, he retrieved his phaser and fired at the one who had stirred the crowd up for his efforts. Of course, the Type-2 phaser was set to stun. Still, it was quite hard to peek out of cover and shoot, with how many Landsers there were. Yet, Lieutenant Jyur proved to be once more brave, as he indicated the two to run away, while he risked life and limb to draw attention towards him.

Gritting his teeth, Zhuk obeyed, activating his stealth function to make it easier to slip past their senses, following closely behind Neva to protect her. Things got worse and worse by the second.

He let out a hiss, his ears flat on his head, as suddenly a vehicle moved over to intercept them. Zhuk raised what would seem to them like a remote control, before stopping as he noticed Kyan on the back. Sighing, he approached the truck and jumped on, once Neva had climbed on board. After the suit flickered like a shimmering sea, his form was visible once more.

Looking back at the mob of Landsers surrounding Jettis, Kyan was inclined to tell Mikel to stop so that he could go back and retrieve him. But that would put everyone, including the Landsers, at risk.  He knew he couldn't, but that didn't make him feel any better about leaving him to the mob though. Finally he turned to look at the two members of his team that they had been able to retrieve.

"Sure an it's good tae see the both of ye, and good too that yer not off in some other time like or sommat the now." he greeted them. "Anyways... we're on our way tae see the President of this country because the Captain sent a message tae everyone but the translators turned it into jibberish so they did, and no one can understand it."

Then, at Neva's question he shook his head. "We cannae risk stopping off an getting pinched before we get there and talk to their leaders so we cannae, which...." he turned to Eely'ot who was eyeing Zhuk as though the Caitian was going to eat him at any moment. "Dinnae worry, He's no gonna eat ye. His name's Zhuk, from a planet called Cait, and this is Neva Cordon from Betazed an Earth. They're both in Starfleet like me."

The Lansder boy nodded, mostly convinced.

"Can ye understand them?" Kyan asked, eliciting nods from G'erti and Eely'ot. "Good. That means our Universal translators are syched up now so it does."

From the driver's seat, Mikel spoke up. "You could make a video of your own, since they'd be able to understand you."

Kyan looked at Neva and Zhuk. Then up at Mikel. "How? Our communicators aren't working an we dinnae have nothin tae use for it."

The Lansder teen produced a black rectangular device from his pocket. "Use this. You can make it on Lumi-tak. It's a program that lets us make videos and stories about ourselves for others to see."

Kyan glanced at the others. "Well, I guess it couldnae hurt nothin. Ok...let's do it."

He set the helmet aside and leaned back on the cargo bed, showcasing unwittingly his feline features to the Landser children. He offered Kyan a half-hearted wave, frowning deeply. He was roused from his current foul mood by Kyan's explanation of who he was to the Landser child,

"Ah yes, you do not need to worry. I do not consume sentient life," Suddenly, he offered a playful grin, opening and closing his paw in Neva's direction, "Besides, in times of distress, it is more likely for me to turn to Lieutenant Junior Grade Cordon for sustenance."

He laughed, deciding that his joke was morbid enough. Indeed, he found it wise to omit the fact that ancient Caitians did once hunted down and ate Betazoids. Besides, albeit Synthetic Betazoid meat was a delicacy for his species, it never had appealed to him. Perhaps because it just felt wrong to eat a co-worker. Or a superior officer, like Commander Said was.

In any case, he cleared his throat, as he realized that the translators were working now,

"Hehe... yes, I am Zhuk. Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas. Lieutenant. Head of Security. To reiterate, my previous statement was just a joke. I did not truly expect that you were aware of mine words."

Yeah. That should clear any miscommunication. He proceeded to rest for a few moments until Mikel offered Kyan a strange, boxy device. The Landser adolescent thought about perhaps making a video to showcase their goodwill. Zhuk did not seem too convinced at first, but decided to go along with it.

[ACEO Lt.JG Neva Cordon|Landser Planet|Landser Vehicle]

Neva's eyes lit up when she heard what they could do. "Ohboyohboyohboy..." She murmured, a lopsided grin on her face. "gimmegimmegimme!"

Rubbing her hands together, she took the communication device-phone-from the Commander and after a few seconds, located what looked like the application they needed. She zoomed through a few vids and then tapped on controls to get a feel for how it worked, then started a vid recording. She zoomed in to show Kyan's face on the screen.

"Hailing Frequencies Open, Commander."Neva called and pointed towards him out of camera shot.

Looking at what he guessed was a video recording device Kyan did his best to look "œofficial." Although squeezed into the back seat with Neva on the far side and  Zhuk and Eely'ot in the middle, that was easier said than done. He had to lean forward and turn sideways in the seat to manage it.

"œMe"¦err.. Greetings to the people of Land-Ta. My name is Kyan Mackenzie from Miri's Planet, and this is Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas from Cait." He indicated the Caitian with a nod. "œWe are from the Starship Challenger, which ye've seen probably, orbiting yer planet so. Ye've no reason tae be worried the now or scared. We're explorers like yerselves so we are. We are part of the United Federation o' Planets, the which is a peaceful alliance of worlds. We've come tae yer planet tae speak with yer leaders about the space folding drive that ye've been testin. Sure and right now we're in a vehicle traveling tae the capitol city tae do that."

"œOh.. uh." Neva muttered, repeatedly pressing a button on the device before finally stopping. Kyan looked at her, but it appeared as though she had it under control so he continued.

"œSo please dinnae shoot at us when we get there or try tae take us prisoner or anything. We come in peace. OH. Also, please dinnae shoot at our ship either"¦ and also one of our crew members got picked up by some of yer folk in"¦ what was the name of that town Mikel?"

The Landser teen spoke up from the front seat. "œKayala City."

"œYeah. He got picked up in Kayala City. Please dinnae hurt him and bring him tae the capitol. His name is Jettis Jyur from El-Auria. He's a scientist. So that's it. And dinnae forget, we come in peace so we do."

Neva pressed another button and nodded. "œOk." She said. It's sent.

Kyan heaved a sigh. "œGood. I hope it's good enough tae make "˜em see we're peaceful. I've never made a first contact message before."

~~ Meanwhile, everyone in Mikel's group of followers were alerted to a new post by their friend. Those that watched the video were shocked to see one of the aliens instead of their friend. During the video, several of the app's filters were used before it finally settled on one which replaced the background with a celebratory fountain of colorful sparkles and a graphic in Landser script that read "œI'm here to party!" Within minutes the video was shared and reshared by people all over Land-Ta. ~~

Zhukdra'shar adopted his most regal stance as the video started, offering a soft nod of his face towards the camera screen when he was presented. He tried to channel his more dignified diplomat that lay within his furry casing. Feline eyes were kept on both Neva and Kyan as Zhuk was ready to interrupt them if anything improper or callous was said, unwilling to allow the relations with these new aliens to worsen even further.

Fortunately, and as he was reminded by his fellow officers, he was working with professionals, which had high standards. He took a deep breath after the video was sent, and he tried his best to relax, even though his quickly swishing tail told everyone that he was quite anxious. Finally, after a moment of silence, Zhuk spoke up,

"While I considered the reasoning behind the communications we have just sent to be reasonable, I can't help but consider that it was a tactical mistake. Our mission has been eschewed in favor of attempting to not damage the relationship we have with the Landsers even further, and repercussions shalt come in our way," He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fingers, "I also consider that we may face resistance when attempting to reach the Capitol. We must exercise caution, especially when we bring innocent souls on board. Speaking of..."

He turned towards Ee'lyot, "While I certainly appreciate the rescue of me and my compatriot, as well as the good treatment you have provided Commander Mckenzie, you exposed yourself too much. Do be more mindful of strangers next time."

His penetrating gaze then moved over towards Kyan and Neva, "Cordon. Commander. With all do respect, I wish to know what exactly transpired with thy suits, forth they would have prevented this entire situation...."

[Alexander Wu]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Booker's fingers flew across her console and mere seconds before the Landser probe returned, the modified shields snapped into place. A burst of kaleidoscopic colors announced the probe's return, but this time when the temporal pulse surged outwards, the part that impacted Challenger encountered polarized chronitons which flared in a brilliant purple display and...completely dissipated. The ship did rock slightly, but no systems failed and none of the crew suffered any ill effects.

"Well, looks like we have the ability ta defend ourselves again. Good work everyone. That bottle of single malt is yours Lieutenant Wu. And one for you as well Evan."

"All sections reporting no damage captain. Repairs continuing." A somewhat shaky Booker said.

"Very good Lieutenant, now, I believe we need ta talk ta this Land Moot."

"Sir, I'm picking up something you need to see on the Landser public communications networks." Lieutenant JG Rachel Davenport at Tactical reported.

"On screen Lieutenant."

Ian's mouth hung open as he watched the images Kyan speaking. Several thoughts crossed his mind, with Jettis' well being the first, but the rest involved various means of killing Kyan as he thought.

"I'm goin' ta kill him and bury him in a shallow grave, then dig him up and kill him again, because that's the beauty of a shallow grave."

Out loud, he said.

"Bloody hell."

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Well done." Alex relayed quietly to Booker, patting her on the back before returning to his station. With the communications probe knocked out, they no longer had dozens of people trying to speak with them, at least not until they could launch a second probe. For some reason, perhaps because it wasn't quite as advanced, the Landser satellites were once again unaffected by the fold space device, and Alex sent it a signal to reposition again, this time directing it's antenna towards Challenger.

Mckenzie's broadcast was actually a pleasant surprise for Alex, at least up until the point he mentioned that Jyur had been 'picked up' by some of the local populace. From his past experiences with the diminutive onlie, Alex would've expected him to be attempting an ill-concocted rescue, phasers ablazing with some sort of cutting utensil clenched between his teeth. The new diplomatic, responsible and, dare he think it, civilized attitude was refreshing. Still, Mckenzie wouldn't have publicly mentioned the officer's capture, essentially pleading for his safe conveyance, without some discernable concern for his wellbeing. He might've even intended it as a means to notify Challenger that Jyur was now a hostage of the Landsers, hoping that they were listening with their main communications system down. "Sir, requesting permission to hail the Commander now?" He asked Galloway. Troubled by the number of times Mckenzie had found it necessary to specify that they came in peace, Alex added, "I would also suggest we disable the fold-space device directly, to prevent any further temporal pulses if we are to launch Mjolnir or any other shuttlecraft without a guarantee of amicable reception. We won't be able to generate a chroniton field to protect them once they depart Challenger."

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Well done." Alex relayed quietly to Booker, patting her on the back before returning to his station. With the communications probe knocked out, they no longer had dozens of people trying to speak with them, at least not until they could launch a second probe. For some reason, perhaps because it wasn't quite as advanced, the Landser satellites were once again unaffected by the fold space device, and Alex sent it a signal to reposition again, this time directing it's antenna towards Challenger.

Mckenzie's broadcast was actually a pleasant surprise for Alex, at least up until the point he mentioned that Jyur had been 'picked up' by some of the local populace. From his past experiences with the diminutive onlie, Alex would've expected him to be attempting an ill-concocted rescue, phasers ablazing with some sort of cutting utensil clenched between his teeth. The new diplomatic, responsible and, dare he think it, civilized attitude was refreshing. Still, Mckenzie wouldn't have publicly mentioned the officer's capture, essentially pleading for his safe conveyance, without some discernable concern for his wellbeing. He might've even intended it as a means to notify Challenger that Jyur was now a hostage of the Landsers, hoping that they were listening with their main communications system down. "Sir, requesting permission to hail the Commander now?" He asked Galloway. Troubled by the number of times Mckenzie had found it necessary to specify that they came in peace, Alex added, "I would also suggest we disable the fold-space device directly, to prevent any further temporal pulses if we are to launch Mjolnir or any other shuttlecraft without a guarantee of amicable reception. We won't be able to generate a chroniton field to protect them once they depart Challenger."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

After allowing his initial anger to cool, Ian went back over what Kyan had said carefully in his mind. Kyan had transmitted important information as he had to know we would be monitoring Landser communications. The most important piece of information was that Lieutenant Jyur was in trouble. Ian was still pondering his options when Wu spoke up and interrupted his train of thought.

"By all means, yes, we need ta contact the away team as it seems they've already been detected, but, at least for three of them, they are nae in danger. However, we cannae 'disable' the fold space probe. It would be an act of war. While you contact the commander, I will make that broadcast ta this Land Moot."

Ian returned to the command chair and activated the comm unit.

"People of Land-Ta, this is Captain Galloway of the USS Challenger. By now, you have seen the video of some of our people. As you can see, we are a body of many species and as my first officer stated, we are here in peace. Conquest is not the way of the Federation, in fact, our most sacred law is ta never interfere in another species' natural development.

"I am requestin' a meetin' at your Land Moot ta discuss our arrival, your amazin' accomplishment of creatin' a functionin' fold space drive, and ta ask for the return of the individual captured in Kayala City. His name is Jettis Jyur. He is a scientist and like the rest of the crew of Challenger, we mean you no harm. I look forward ta meetin' with you at any time of your choosin'. This is Captain Galloway signin' off."

[Alexander Wu]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

After allowing his initial anger to cool, Ian went back over what Kyan had said carefully in his mind. Kyan had transmitted important information as he had to know we would be monitoring Landser communications. The most important piece of information was that Lieutenant Jyur was in trouble. Ian was still pondering his options when Wu spoke up and interrupted his train of thought.

"By all means, yes, we need ta contact the away team as it seems they've already been detected, but, at least for three of them, they are nae in danger. However, we cannae 'disable' the fold space probe. It would be an act of war. While you contact the commander, I will make that broadcast ta this Land Moot."

Ian returned to the command chair and activated the comm unit.

"People of Land-Ta, this is Captain Galloway of the USS Challenger. By now, you have seen the video of some of our people. As you can see, we are a body of many species and as my first officer stated, we are here in peace. Conquest is not the way of the Federation, in fact, our most sacred law is ta never interfere in another species' natural development.

"I am requestin' a meetin' at your Land Moot ta discuss our arrival, your amazin' accomplishment of creatin' a functionin' fold space drive, and ta ask for the return of the individual captured in Kayala City. His name is Jettis Jyur. He is a scientist and like the rest of the crew of Challenger, we mean you no harm. I look forward ta meetin' with you at any time of your choosin'. This is Captain Galloway signin' off."

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Aye sir." Alex utilized the Landser's own satellite to 'piggyback' a signal, though it would only have the most basic of encryptions. Still, based on their level of technology, it would take hours for them to crack it even if they were trying, by which point hopefully their onboard subspace transceivers would be repaired. "Challenger to Mckenzie. Away team, how do you copy?"

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Booker finally had a break while waiting for the next communications buoy to be readied for launch, and she brought up an idea to Galloway's attention. "Sir, we may still be able to temporarily disable the fold-space device in a manner of speaking by generating a dampening field around it with our ship's deflector. To the Landsers, it should just appear to be a malfunction in contacting their probe, common enough with new prototypes or technologies that it shouldn't raise any alarms or look like interference from us, and wouldn't leave any lasting damage."

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Aye sir." Alex utilized the Landser's own satellite to 'piggyback' a signal, though it would only have the most basic of encryptions. Still, based on their level of technology, it would take hours for them to crack it even if they were trying, by which point hopefully their onboard subspace transceivers would be repaired. "Challenger to Mckenzie. Away team, how do you copy?"

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Booker finally had a break while waiting for the next communications buoy to be readied for launch, and she brought up an idea to Galloway's attention. "Sir, we may still be able to temporarily disable the fold-space device in a manner of speaking by generating a dampening field around it with our ship's deflector. To the Landsers, it should just appear to be a malfunction in contacting their probe, common enough with new prototypes or technologies that it shouldn't raise any alarms or look like interference from us, and wouldn't leave any lasting damage."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to Booker's idea and nodded as he replied.

"That is an outstandin' idea Lieutenant, go ahead and set it up, but do not execute. I think we have a good read on their communications. If'n we detect them queuin' up for another test, then execute. No need ta go rufflin' feathers as doesna need rufflin'."

Ian then turned his attention to see if Kyan or anyone on the away team would respond.