S6: E1 - The Prime Recommendation

[Ian Galloway]

[Magana Airspace - Land]

The Cutty Sark and the Onizuka dove through the atmosphere of Land at a higher rate of descent than usual to cut transit time as much as possible. Expecting the worse, both shuttles had shields up and weapons charged, but no interceptors challenged them. The Onizuka flew top cover as the Cutty Sark landed in an area in front of the capital building that was absolutely ringed by what had to be hundreds of thousands of people. It initially looked like they are having to go in hot into the middle of a riot, but when they got closer, it was only on the extreme fringes of the city were fires burning.

When the doors of the Cutty Sark opened, Lieutenant Davenport was the first out followed by four security officers. Once she was certain there was no immediate threat, she waved for Doctor Jalen to advance. He did so with a full med kit and took his place next two a pair of Landser that were treating him and immediately went to work.

As he did so, an older Landser in a uniform stepped forward.

"Who is in charge here?"

"I am, Lieutenant Davenport."

"Lieutenant. I am President Wey'nir. I regret that we meet like this. As you can see, Magana is in turmoil. The fact that K'ren has fled has mollified the people, but everything is in flux at the moment. Your Lieutenant Wu when he invited me to come to your ship, he stated he wanted to have members of the Great Work come with me." He paused to gesture two Landsers forward. "These are two of Magana's best and will accompany me to your Challenger."

"Very good Mister President. Just as soon as Doctor Jalen clears Commander MacKenzie for travel, we will go."

At this point, what happened next was in the hands of the medical staff treating Kyan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Outside Land Moot Hall]

Ian was beginning to get winded. They had been running for several minutes and while they were staying ahead of the pursuit, there seemed to be an endless amount of pursuers. The basic problem was, there was no possibility of blending into the crowd, so wherever they went, they were spotted and the pursuit continued. It was rapidly becoming clear that their only option was to find someplace to hide, but as the away team was completely unfamiliar with the massive Land Moot complex, finding an empty building during the middle of the morning workday was proving to be as difficult as losing their pursuers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Land Moot Airspace - Land]

For the Landsers, the Land Moot was an entire city and as a result, had its own independent defense forces to include its own air force. There hadn't been an actual threat to the Land Moot in over a century, so the interceptors were used mostly for ceremonial purposes. Thus when they were ordered to scramble to intercept an actual threat, it took some time. This allowed the Mjolnir and her escorting Type-9 shuttle the Smith to get very close to their air space. Fortunately for the shuttles, with shields raised, they were invisible to the simple radar the Landser interceptors were equipped with, but the sensors on the two shuttles showed a dozen interceptors rising rapidly and would be a challenge to evade for an extraction. All Ardy could do, was let the rest of the people on the Mjolnir know that things were about to get even bumpier than before.

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Alex could see the ship move into its new orbit between the surface and that of the fold space probe. As he looked at the viewscreen, Lieutenant Booker at Ops updated him on the Landser news feeds.

"It's hard to keep up with it all Sir, especially in Magana. Full on riot in places, but it looks like the Cutty Sark got through. Rest of the planet news is exploding with coverage from 'first contact with aliens' to 'we are being invaded' to 'we submit to our alien overlords' to 'welcome brother we've been waiting'. It's chaos. Mjolnir and Smith are nearing the Land Moot and I'm tracking a dozen interceptors moving to block them. No word from the Captain since you last spoke to him."

[Tora Zalos]

[Magana Airspace - Land]

The Cutty Sark and the Onizuka dove through the atmosphere of Land at a higher rate of descent than usual to cut transit time as much as possible. Expecting the worse, both shuttles had shields up and weapons charged, but no interceptors challenged them. The Onizuka flew top cover as the Cutty Sark landed in an area in front of the capital building that was absolutely ringed by what had to be hundreds of thousands of people. It initially looked like they are having to go in hot into the middle of a riot, but when they got closer, it was only on the extreme fringes of the city were fires burning.

When the doors of the Cutty Sark opened, Lieutenant Davenport was the first out followed by four security officers. Once she was certain there was no immediate threat, she waved for Doctor Jalen to advance. He did so with a full med kit and took his place next two a pair of Landser that were treating him and immediately went to work.

As he did so, an older Landser in a uniform stepped forward.

"Who is in charge here?"

"I am, Lieutenant Davenport."

"Lieutenant. I am President Wey'nir. I regret that we meet like this. As you can see, Magana is in turmoil. The fact that K'ren has fled has mollified the people, but everything is in flux at the moment. Your Lieutenant Wu when he invited me to come to your ship, he stated he wanted to have members of the Great Work come with me." He paused to gesture two Landsers forward. "These are two of Magana's best and will accompany me to your Challenger."

"Very good Mister President. Just as soon as Doctor Jalen clears Commander MacKenzie for travel, we will go."

At this point, what happened next was in the hands of the medical staff treating Kyan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Outside Land Moot Hall]

Ian was beginning to get winded. They had been running for several minutes and while they were staying ahead of the pursuit, there seemed to be an endless amount of pursuers. The basic problem was, there was no possibility of blending into the crowd, so wherever they went, they were spotted and the pursuit continued. It was rapidly becoming clear that their only option was to find someplace to hide, but as the away team was completely unfamiliar with the massive Land Moot complex, finding an empty building during the middle of the morning workday was proving to be as difficult as losing their pursuers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Land Moot Airspace - Land]

For the Landsers, the Land Moot was an entire city and as a result, had its own independent defense forces to include its own air force. There hadn't been an actual threat to the Land Moot in over a century, so the interceptors were used mostly for ceremonial purposes. Thus when they were ordered to scramble to intercept an actual threat, it took some time. This allowed the Mjolnir and her escorting Type-9 shuttle the Smith to get very close to their air space. Fortunately for the shuttles, with shields raised, they were invisible to the simple radar the Landser interceptors were equipped with, but the sensors on the two shuttles showed a dozen interceptors rising rapidly and would be a challenge to evade for an extraction. All Ardy could do, was let the rest of the people on the Mjolnir know that things were about to get even bumpier than before.

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Alex could see the ship move into its new orbit between the surface and that of the fold space probe. As he looked at the viewscreen, Lieutenant Booker at Ops updated him on the Landser news feeds.

"It's hard to keep up with it all Sir, especially in Magana. Full on riot in places, but it looks like the Cutty Sark got through. Rest of the planet news is exploding with coverage from 'first contact with aliens' to 'we are being invaded' to 'we submit to our alien overlords' to 'welcome brother we've been waiting'. It's chaos. Mjolnir and Smith are nearing the Land Moot and I'm tracking a dozen interceptors moving to block them. No word from the Captain since you last spoke to him."

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Outside Land Moot Hall]

For the umpteenth time in the past hour this mission Tora was incredibly, incredibly glad for all those intense PT sessions with Chief Petty Officer Stagmont back in the Academy. She had never, ever run so fast and for so long in her life. Weaving through the crowded Magana streets and dodging angry locals was bad enough, but to do it without any respite was almost unbearable. How glad she was when they found what appeared to be a room in an empty storage facility with extremely few personnel (if any, which she hoped there weren't) - which was exactly the point at which her legs gave out, and she melted against the wall. Spots danced in her eyes as she heaved deep, gasping breaths of air. She could swear her heart ceased beating for one frightening moment as the sound of footsteps and murmuring pounded past them before fading away into the distance.

And then her knees really did liquefy, and she collapsed to the floor in a gasping heap. "Permission to speak with utter honesty, sir." She could barely form the words, she was so exhausted. She only hoped the captain would hear.

[Ian Galloway]

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Outside Land Moot Hall]

For the umpteenth time in the past hour this mission Tora was incredibly, incredibly glad for all those intense PT sessions with Chief Petty Officer Stagmont back in the Academy. She had never, ever run so fast and for so long in her life. Weaving through the crowded Magana streets and dodging angry locals was bad enough, but to do it without any respite was almost unbearable. How glad she was when they found what appeared to be a room in an empty storage facility with extremely few personnel (if any, which she hoped there weren't) - which was exactly the point at which her legs gave out, and she melted against the wall. Spots danced in her eyes as she heaved deep, gasping breaths of air. She could swear her heart ceased beating for one frightening moment as the sound of footsteps and murmuring pounded past them before fading away into the distance.

And then her knees really did liquefy, and she collapsed to the floor in a gasping heap. "Permission to speak with utter honesty, sir." She could barely form the words, she was so exhausted. She only hoped the captain would hear.

[Storage Facility - Land Moot Compound]

Ian was wheezing as much as the others once they'd finally found a place to hide. How long a respite they would get, he didn't know, but it couldn't be long considering how things were going. However, until then, every minute of rest they had was worth its weight in latinum. When Tora asked to speak freely Ian nodded.

"Given the amount of chac we're in Ensign, by all means, say what you have ta say."

[Tora Zalos]

[Storage Facility - Land Moot Compound]

Ian was wheezing as much as the others once they'd finally found a place to hide. How long a respite they would get, he didn't know, but it couldn't be long considering how things were going. However, until then, every minute of rest they had was worth its weight in latinum. When Tora asked to speak freely Ian nodded.

"Given the amount of chac we're in Ensign, by all means, say what you have ta say."

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Storage Facility | Land Moot]

"I think to say that we've overstayed our welcome is a gross understatement." was Tora's answer, panted as much as it was spoken. "When someone in Starfleet hears about what's happened here, I think all our heads will be on the chopping block, sir, not that you don't know that already." The Cardassian took a long, slow breath. Her breath rattled, and the mere action made her chest tingle and ache, and not in a good way. She wouldn't have been too surprised if whoever examined her after the mission berated her for overexerting herself - or if she fell ill for the exact same reason.

"Commander Mackenzie. We... we need to make sure he's okay." She managed. "Wh- What'd they do to him, I-" She couldn't finish the thought. Even thinking it made her heart wrench, and that hurt too.

[Ian Galloway]

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Storage Facility | Land Moot]

"I think to say that we've overstayed our welcome is a gross understatement." was Tora's answer, panted as much as it was spoken. "When someone in Starfleet hears about what's happened here, I think all our heads will be on the chopping block, sir, not that you don't know that already." The Cardassian took a long, slow breath. Her breath rattled, and the mere action made her chest tingle and ache, and not in a good way. She wouldn't have been too surprised if whoever examined her after the mission berated her for overexerting herself - or if she fell ill for the exact same reason.

"Commander Mackenzie. We... we need to make sure he's okay." She managed. "Wh- What'd they do to him, I-" She couldn't finish the thought. Even thinking it made her heart wrench, and that hurt too.

[Storage Facility - Land Moot Compound]

Ian could only snort in amusement at Tora's comment regarding his pending court martial.

"I am aware Ensign."

He sighed and softened his expression.

"Right now our primary task is ta survive. What happens next will sort itself out. As for Mister Mackenzie, we've a fine medical staff on the Challenger. I literally trust them with my life. Add in that Kyan is an ornery little git and I wouldn't count him out in any situation. Help is on the way and we're ta be ready for another quick sprint, so I suggest you save your strength for that task."

Ian then tapped his combadge.

"Galloway ta Mjolnir, although we've enjoyed our visit ta Land, the locals have soured on us a mite and we'd like ta go now. You have an ETA for our ride home?"

[Alexander Wu]

"Galloway ta Challenger, we've exited the Land Moot Hall. We're nae under immediate pursuit, but we'd appreciate a lift as soon as one can be arranged."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

There were several tense seconds as Lieutenant Booker concentrated on targeting the tractor beam to avoid the temporal fractures that had become part of the Landser orbit. Finally, Alex could see the beam lance out a snare the crew capsule. There was a heart stopping moment when it looked like the Landser craft would break up under the stress of being tractored, but Booker reacted quickly and routed a portion of the ship's structural integrity field to the capsule to reinforce the fragile craft. Crisis averted, the Landser capsule was successfully brought into the shuttlebay.

Whether the first contact with the Landsers could be salvaged or not was as yet unknown, all Alex knew now was he'd given the best orders he could with what he had to work with. All he could do was wait to see if the individual commanders he'd dispatched could accomplish what he'd sent them to do.

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"This is Challenger, the Cutty Sark should be enroute to your location, try to stay together and get to a building with an accessible roof."

His fingers subconsciously drumming against the armrest, Alex could only wait while all the pieces he had helped place into motion went through their paces, there was little he could do to help otherwise. The Landser astronauts being brought onboard was the first item which was resolved, and while he normally would've wanted to be the first to greet them, Alex wasn't willing to leave the bridge while they still had two very fluid situations occurring simultaneously on the planet below. With the threat of the fold-space device temporarily neutralized, Alex could spare the chief science officer for a few minutes, recognizing the gravity of this 'first contact' event. "Lieutenant Randell, please greet our new guests and make them comfortable in the observation lounge. If they would like, you may also share our preliminary scans regarding the effects their fold-space device, hopefully they're more of the scientific variety of test pilots, and not the military type. Koroz, post a security detail for the new visitors, but make sure to emphasis they are not our prisoners. Oh, and Randell, see if Engineering would like to take some discreet non-invasive scans of the Landser's capsule. I don't want any surprises." If these negotiations went south, Alex wanted to be prepared. He wanted to be sure they didn't just tractor a bomb into their shuttlebay.

Lieutenant Wu, this is Ge"¦.This is President Wey'nir"¦.

I eagerly await your arrival. Please make all haste. We will do all we can to help Commander Kyan until you arrive. Wey'nir out.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Alex could see the ship move into its new orbit between the surface and that of the fold space probe. As he looked at the viewscreen, Lieutenant Booker at Ops updated him on the Landser news feeds.

"It's hard to keep up with it all Sir, especially in Magana. Full on riot in places, but it looks like the Cutty Sark got through. Rest of the planet news is exploding with coverage from 'first contact with aliens' to 'we are being invaded' to 'we submit to our alien overlords' to 'welcome brother we've been waiting'. It's chaos. Mjolnir and Smith are nearing the Land Moot and I'm tracking a dozen interceptors moving to block them. No word from the Captain since you last spoke to him."

Alex frowned when the General accepted their invitation, albeit with a new title. They weren't up to date with the political system of Magana, or really with any of the Landser states, but it sounded almost like Wey'nir had just declared a military coup and pronounced himself president. Nevertheless, he was the lone major authority figure who might hold some sway, and still their best opportunity to resolve their mission peacefully. "As soon as the Cutty Sark clears Magana airspace, direct the Onisuka to reinforce the Mjolnir and Smith."

Though he reckoned the Landser interceptors wouldn't be able to do much damage to their shuttles, the same couldn't be said regarding the much squishier and defenseless crewmembers that they were moving to retrieve. Alex couldn't risk their fledging diplomatic overtures by dropping torpedoes onto the Land Moot, that would only reinforce the position of those radicals who though Challenger was an invasion force, but at the same time, he couldn't just sit by and watch the Captain's position get overrun. As far as he knew, those fighters had a shoot to kill order. "Lieutenant Booker, are we still hacked into the Landser's communication satellite?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. See if you can isolate the frequency those fighters are on. Mr. Koroz, if we wanted to generate an electromagnetic pulse localized over the Land Moot, what's the best altitude and lowest torpedo yield which we can use?" Alex wanted to avoid any permanent damage to the local infrastructure, but with their ship phasers not an option, he didn't have much else if it came to use of force. It was akin to having a flamethrower to combat mosquitoes.

"A torpedo yield setting of one, detonating at an altitude of 80 kilometres above the landmass should generate a pulse which will disrupt most of their technology. Sir, I should warn you that most military vehicles are designed with shielding against electromagnetic interference."

"I know. But maybe the blast itself will give them enough of a distraction to break off their attack, if it comes to that." Alex took a deep breath. "Get it set up Koroz, it'll be our last resort."

Booker spoke up with a slight triumphant tone. "Got it sir, I can hear their fighters speaking with the Land Moot command centre. It doesn't sound like they exactly know where the Mjolnir and Smith are, just a rough area where people on the ground can see them passing and are calling in. Ground controllers are vectoring them in...rather accurately, actually. Someone down there is really good at math."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 19 - Main Shuttlebay >>> Deck 1 - Bridge]

As Lahr predicted his dizzy spell faded after a minute or two.  The pair of engineers - Lahr and Crewman Maranxx-ii had started to make their way to the turbolift to meet up with the others on Deck 9.

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"This is Challenger, the Cutty Sark should be enroute to your location, try to stay together and get to a building with an accessible roof."

His fingers subconsciously drumming against the armrest, Alex could only wait while all the pieces he had helped place into motion went through their paces, there was little he could do to help otherwise. The Landser astronauts being brought onboard was the first item which was resolved, and while he normally would've wanted to be the first to greet them, Alex wasn't willing to leave the bridge while they still had two very fluid situations occurring simultaneously on the planet below. With the threat of the fold-space device temporarily neutralized, Alex could spare the chief science officer for a few minutes, recognizing the gravity of this 'first contact' event. "Lieutenant Randell, please greet our new guests and make them comfortable in the observation lounge. If they would like, you may also share our preliminary scans regarding the effects their fold-space device, hopefully they're more of the scientific variety of test pilots, and not the military type. Koroz, post a security detail for the new visitors, but make sure to emphasis they are not our prisoners. Oh, and Randell, see if Engineering would like to take some discreet non-invasive scans of the Landser's capsule. I don't want any surprises." If these negotiations went south, Alex wanted to be prepared. He wanted to be sure they didn't just tractor a bomb into their shuttlebay.

However, before they could go far, the senior officer down in Engineering at the moment commed Lahr.

"Fisk to ch'Verret.  Good job on the transceivers.  Jones said you were feeling a bit disoriented after your spacewalk.  Are okay to work?"

Just the tone with which Fisk asked her question, told Lahr something important was up.
"Yeah, I'm 110% now."   he boasted, then asked "What's up?"

"Good.  I need you on the Bridge to take some detailed, yet discreet, scans of the Landser capsule and look them over for anything of concern."

"And by 'of concern' you mean....?"

"Not sure... I'm thinking the guy in the Command seat is wondering if it's armed in any way or has defensives."

Lahr nodded to himself.  Made sense.  "Sure thing.  Am just at the turbolift now. I'll be up there in a moment."

He and Maranxx-ii stepped into the turbolift.  She called out Deck 9, while he called out the Bridge.

Thirty seconds later, the Caitian was being dropped off.  Another thirty and he was arriving on the Bridge.

"Chief Petty ch'Verret. Permission to enter the bridge?  I was asked by Lieutenant Fisk to run some scans on some capsule...?" he said toward the security crewmen that were barring his way, but his question was intended for the one in the command chair.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Shuttle]

Good news: They got ahold of the Challenger. For a hot moment, Ardyn was worried that the ship couldn't hear them due to the temporal  and atmospheric interference.  Bad news: They had at least two different  enemies on their tail, guns blazing as they spun and weaved high above the city.  "œI'll definitely try to, but I make no promises.  If we can't , I might need you to man the guns ." She motioned to the Caitian in security yellows nearby her.

He recommended this narrow pass. It seemed like as good an idea as any, especially  given the aerial patterns the fighters were displaying

  "œThis is Mjolnir to Challenger. We have confirmed two fighters on our tail.  May be more on route. I'm headed towards this mountain pass to try and lose them before hopefully getting over to Galloway and the others to extract. They're making it kind of  - difficult to try landing right now, but if I get an opening, I'll get as many of our team as I can.  "œ

She banked hard to starboard around a tall building spire, causing one of the medics to shout in surprise in the back as stuff shifted. It couldn't be helped as she sped ahead towards the narrow passage in the distance that Zhuk mentioned.  She felt the ship shake as one of the crude weapons hit the shields. They were primitive, sure, but they were persistent.  She twisted around

"œHow are you guys in the back?" she asked, noticing the Bolian's thoughts about regretting eating his lunch today, really hoping he wasn't going to puke.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | NCC-81673 Mjolnir | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar nodded, glad that she had considered his advice. As the Mjolnir veered in the direction of the narrow mountain pass, the Caitian felt a deep sense of uneasiness. At least, it was good to learn that he was simply not made for such aerial maneuvers, much to his chagrin. His positive attitude on the fact did not last long, and he forced himself to close his eyes, trying to keep himself from getting even dizzier. It was not working.

He believed that he could still hang on for a little longer, but landing could not get fast enough. His ear swished towards the back, trying to determine how the people at the back were doing. Zhuk could only hope that the Bolian, Hessou, and Neva had strong stomachs.

[Magana Airspace]

The two fighters pursued the Mjolnir down the pass with the lead fighter's cannon blazing away, but the simple chemically propelled explosive projectiles had absolutely no effect against the shuttle's shields. The narrow pass was only a few miles long and this forced Ardy into the open again. However, in open sky, the Mjolnir had speed the Landser fighters couldn't hope to match. Thus when Ardy went full power, the interceptors quickly began to lose ground and eventually, they reached the edge of Magana airspace and had to break off leaving Ardy a clear path to the Land Moot.

Things got much calmer as the Mjolnir took to open skies, much to Zhuk's relief. He proceeded to take a look over at the screen, sighing as he saw the scanners detecting the pursuing Landser air vehicles no longer in hot pursuit behind them. The uncomfortable feeling in his stomach still did not vanish completely, though he at least knew he was in no immediate danger of making a fool of himself, or grossing out his companions,

"A-Ah... good flying... uh..." Zhuk took a moment to properly take a look over at her pips on the uniform, "Lieutenant. Optimal performance overall..."

[Outside Land Moot Hall]

Ian was beginning to get winded. They had been running for several minutes and while they were staying ahead of the pursuit, there seemed to be an endless amount of pursuers. The basic problem was, there was no possibility of blending into the crowd, so wherever they went, they were spotted and the pursuit continued. It was rapidly becoming clear that their only option was to find someplace to hide, but as the away team was completely unfamiliar with the massive Land Moot complex, finding an empty building during the middle of the morning workday was proving to be as difficult as losing their pursuers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Land Moot Airspace - Land]

For the Landsers, the Land Moot was an entire city and as a result, had its own independent defense forces to include its own air force. There hadn't been an actual threat to the Land Moot in over a century, so the interceptors were used mostly for ceremonial purposes. Thus when they were ordered to scramble to intercept an actual threat, it took some time. This allowed the Mjolnir and her escorting Type-9 shuttle the Smith to get very close to their air space. Fortunately for the shuttles, with shields raised, they were invisible to the simple radar the Landser interceptors were equipped with, but the sensors on the two shuttles showed a dozen interceptors rising rapidly and would be a challenge to evade for an extraction. All Ardy could do, was let the rest of the people on the Mjolnir know that things were about to get even bumpier than before.

[Storage Facility - Land Moot Compound]

Ian could only snort in amusement at Tora's comment regarding his pending court martial.

"I am aware Ensign."

He sighed and softened his expression.

"Right now our primary task is ta survive. What happens next will sort itself out. As for Mister Mackenzie, we've a fine medical staff on the Challenger. I literally trust them with my life. Add in that Kyan is an ornery little git and I wouldn't count him out in any situation. Help is on the way and we're ta be ready for another quick sprint, so I suggest you save your strength for that task."

Ian then tapped his combadge.

"Galloway ta Mjolnir, although we've enjoyed our visit ta Land, the locals have soured on us a mite and we'd like ta go now. You have an ETA for our ride home?"

Zhukdra'shar looked at the scanners as the shuttle prepared to descend. Trying to scan for the crew of the Moot was difficult, for certain, as the readings were unclear. At hearing the voice of Galloway, Zhuk promptly spoke up, pushing on his comm badge, "Captain, the Mjolnir has arrived at the Land Moot. Currently scanning for thy position."

He nodded at Lieutenant Ardyn, before he returned to the console. His eyes went wide and his ears lowered in frustration. With a deep frown, he once more turned towards her, "It would seem as if we have new contacts. Considering our duties here, I am not certain we can avoid them this time. Ergh... let it be known that they are forcing me to do something I truly do not wish to carry out..."

He stated, loading phasers. Zhuk was only planning on damaging the ships, hopefully dissuading them from attacking them further. He was unsure that would be the case, so he quickly turned towards the scanners once more, doing his best to locate the crew for transport,

"I think I have located them, Lieutenant! Bring us closer to these coordinates..." He sent them over, and soon on her screen appeared the location of a Storage Facility, "Shalt we try and beam them out? Or should we descend?"

[Neva Cordon]

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | NCC-81673 Mjolnir | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar nodded, glad that she had considered his advice. As the Mjolnir veered in the direction of the narrow mountain pass, the Caitian felt a deep sense of uneasiness. At least, it was good to learn that he was simply not made for such aerial maneuvers, much to his chagrin. His positive attitude on the fact did not last long, and he forced himself to close his eyes, trying to keep himself from getting even dizzier. It was not working.

He believed that he could still hang on for a little longer, but landing could not get fast enough. His ear swished towards the back, trying to determine how the people at the back were doing. Zhuk could only hope that the Bolian, Hessou, and Neva had strong stomachs.

Things got much calmer as the Mjolnir took to open skies, much to Zhuk's relief. He proceeded to take a look over at the screen, sighing as he saw the scanners detecting the pursuing Landser air vehicles no longer in hot pursuit behind them. The uncomfortable feeling in his stomach still did not vanish completely, though he at least knew he was in no immediate danger of making a fool of himself, or grossing out his companions,

"A-Ah... good flying... uh..." Zhuk took a moment to properly take a look over at her pips on the uniform, "Lieutenant. Optimal performance overall..."

Zhukdra'shar looked at the scanners as the shuttle prepared to descend. Trying to scan for the crew of the Moot was difficult, for certain, as the readings were unclear. At hearing the voice of Galloway, Zhuk promptly spoke up, pushing on his comm badge, "Captain, the Mjolnir has arrived at the Land Moot. Currently scanning for thy position."

He nodded at Lieutenant Ardyn, before he returned to the console. His eyes went wide and his ears lowered in frustration. With a deep frown, he once more turned towards her, "It would seem as if we have new contacts. Considering our duties here, I am not certain we can avoid them this time. Ergh... let it be known that they are forcing me to do something I truly do not wish to carry out..."

He stated, loading phasers. Zhuk was only planning on damaging the ships, hopefully dissuading them from attacking them further. He was unsure that would be the case, so he quickly turned towards the scanners once more, doing his best to locate the crew for transport,

"I think I have located them, Lieutenant! Bring us closer to these coordinates..." He sent them over, and soon on her screen appeared the location of a Storage Facility, "Shalt we try and beam them out? Or should we descend?"

[ACEO Lt.JG Neva Cordon|Mjolnir]

Neva sat quietly as she let the doctor give her a hypospray, relieved as the "fog" lifted in her mind. Her mental "shout" was going to need some unpacking back at the ship. She wasn't sure if that was favorable or not.

Shaking it off, she grabbed the staps at the gymnastics the shuttle went through. She was thankful for the lack of food she'd encountered today. After all they'd been through, her patience was as shot to Hell as the mission. Hearing Zhuk ready phasers, Neva smirked wickedly. It was all she could do to keep grabbing the straps and not rub her hands together in excitement. As it was, she scanned the bulkheads for the location of the weapons locker. Finding it, she nodded and turned to watch the screen.

[Jalen Kartos]

[USS Challenger | Deck 7 | Medical Bay]
Jalen could feel himself falling, but surprisingly the floor never came.

*****
[El-Auria | High Summer | Eastern Continent | Kartos Estate | Pre-Borg]

Jalen slowly awakened, soft comfort of familiar sheets around him. Their silken smoothness was the exact right temperature to make it feel as if he were wrapped in a cocoon of his own making. He smiled at the comforting feel upon his bare skin, he reached out his hand and found a warm spot where another body had recently left the golden cocoon.

"œHorvath?" Jalen called out, as he opened his eyes and beheld the master bedroom of his ancestral estate on El-Auria. He sat up in bed the sheets pooling around his hips, exposing his smooth and toned chest. An attractive and stately younger man popped his head out from a doorway.

"œYes, my Love?" The soft almost musical voice answered in reply to Jalen's query.

"œOh nothing, I just had the strangest dream." Jalen said as his face broke out in a smile. It seemed to him like it had been centuries since last, he had laid eyes upon his Lover, as if lifetimes of suffering and loss sat between them like an unassailable gulf. He shook his head trying to clear away the last remnants of that horrid dream, but they just wouldn't leave him. He also had the most horrid sense of Deja-Vu, as if he had lived this moment before. Horvath ducked back into the washroom and continued getting ready.

"œWell, I hope it wasn't too bad. Remember you have the meeting with the Medical Conference today for the position as Head of Pediatrics, don't miss it. I know how absent-minded you can be, I have asked Pool to remind you as well. Oh and I will be away for a few weeks, the Diplomatic Corps is dispatching me as the head of mission to negotiate with this new species that our Explorers found, they are called The Borg, they are a hybrid species of technical and biological components"¦" Horvath continued to babble on excitedly about the possibilities  this would mean both culturally and scientifically for the El-Aurian people, but Jalen wasn't listening, for he now knew with a painful clarity as to why he knew this moment. This was the moment it all changed, the pivotal moment of his existence that started the downfall of everything. He could instinctively feel that this wasn't a dream or memory, but that somehow, he was here inhabiting this body in this time. He could change it all, here and now, he could save El-Auria, save Horvath, have the life he'd always wanted. The El-Aurian Temporal Concordat nagged at him, but he pushed it aside as easily as he flung off his sheets and made his way into the bathroom, enfolding his beloved in his arms, and kissing his neck. As he did so a sharp pain struck him behind his eyes, not unlike a migraine but far worse. He mustered all the willpower he could to push through as he moved on to nibble Horvath's earlobe.

"œUmm, someone is in a mood this morning, we don't have time for this." Horvath purred as he almost melted into his lover's embrace.

"œWe have nothing but time"¦ Why don't we get back in bed and have a day. The Diplomatic Corps & the Medical Conference be damned. Let's try to make a baby"¦" As Jalen spoke the pain spiked several times, but he used his years of experience to suppress it as he tried to will the universe to his will. Horvath turned around and slapped Jalen's chest.

"œYou naughty little devil, you know that isn't possible. And besides we can't just ignore all our commitments." Horvath said with a giggle as he tried to turn back to the sink to finish his morning oblations.

"œMaybe, maybe not"¦ perhaps no one has tried hard enough." Another spike of pain, this one worse than the last. Jalen was prepared to double down on his seduction when a scream broke through his mind. A scream that wasn't his. He knew the voice that uttered it, but he hadn't expected to hear it here, and not without the person who uttered it. Something was very, very, wrong, and Jalen grimaced as he realized what he had to do. Even though this was where he wanted to be, it was not where he was supposed to be"¦ or where he was needed. He closed his eyes and focused his mind, and slowly the world he wanted fell away from him.

*****
[USS Challenger | Deck 7 | Medical Bay]

Jalen jackknifed on the bed and inhaled deeply almost as if he hadn't breathed in quite some time. He looked around and saw the faces of the concerned other medical personnel. He gave them a thin smile, his eyes filled with a grief that went unspoken. Lieutenant Davies rushed to Jalen's side, and Jalen grasped the man's arm and spoke.

"œI'm fine, it just seems that my Spatial/Temporal awareness was just overwhelmed by the craziness that is going on. But that's neither here nor there, I am needed"¦" Jalen was saying when a comm message pipped in,

"Sickbay, this is the Bridge, Doctor Kartos to the Cutty Sark immediately. Medical team to the shuttle bay to standby for casualties."

Davies looked up confused as Jalen said almost in unison with the comm that he was needed. How could the man possibly have known? Jalen stood up steadier on his feet then he thought he'd be. He tapped his combadge and with conviction he said.

"œCopy that, Doctor Kartos reporting to the Cutty Sark"

Jalen saw the concern on his fellow doctor's face, as he went over to his office to retrieve his signature lab coat and a medical kit.

"œI'm fine Lieutenant, check my levels everything is stable. I am needed on the surface, and no one else has the skills necessary. I'll be fine, and I promise when I get back, I'll go on medical leave till you are comfortable with my return to duty." Jalen said as reassuringly as he could. Davies skeptically ran his Medical Tricorder over the ancient doctor and found his statement to be accurate. He shrugged.

"œFine, but once this emergency is over, I'll hold you to that."

*****
[Capitol Complex | Nation of Magana | Land-Ta]

Jalen hustled through the corridors and made it to the Cutty Sark where he took his seat and quietly sat in contemplation. Had he done the right thing? He could've had everything he ever wanted back, could've saved his people"¦ but he gave it all up for Kyan, for someone he barely had any ties to. It saddened him that even the thoughts of his Husband and Adopted Son weren't enough to pull him back, but Kyan screaming in pain was what did it. This was not something he had the luxury of processing right now, but he would have to, in time. The Cutty Sark landed safely, and Jalen disembarked and rushed over to Kyan. He had barely taken out the tricorder and began scanning the Only when the tricorder's warning beeps began going off.

"œHe's going into some kind of damned arrest, what the hell did you people do to him?" Jalen snapped at a nearby alien, and frankly he didn't care about political niceties right now. He pushed his fear, pain, grief, and all his other emotions aside and allowed his medical instincts to take over and began trying to stabilize his patient. The ancient child's mind was flooded with an enzyme that seemed similar to that which manifests in minds of various telepathic races, but the levels were far higher than was safe. Jalen injected Kyan with a hypospray designed to counteract those levels, and slowly the levels began to stabilize. Jalen sighed in relief when another alarm sounded, this time indicating that Kyan's heart had stopped. The amount of counteracting agent necessary seemed to have caused too much of a shock to the small body before him.

"œDamn it"¦ don't you die on me Kyan, not after all I gave up to save you." Jalen ordered firmly as he injected another hypo of adrenalin into the boys chest and then brought his fist down hard on the small chest, hearing the ribs crack in protest, three more times he brought his fist down before the small heart restarted and found it's rhythm. Jalen fell back on his feet and cried from the overwhelming stress of what he had just been through.

"œCommander Kyan is stable enough for transport, but we have to get him back to sickbay, immediately. Can we use transporters?"

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Schoolroom]

[As Maddy]

Maddy looked at the teacher and the nurse as he was leaving. She couldn't tell why, but something was really bad out in the greater scheme of things.  Bad enough for the little girl to forget about the issues with her own head and even her teacher's attempts to get everyone back to learning things. if she tried really hard, she could "hear" the people on the planet below.  "œUmmmm"¦. What's going on?  There's a lotta people talking really far away and they don't sound happy. "œ

[Schoolroom]

Abas frowned as the small girl started speaking of people "Far away". How could she have possibly kno....

His thought process ended abruptly as he realized how foolish he'd been. He brushed through medical records on his tricorder, feeling and "seeing" the information despite his non-functional eyes. She understood people elsewhere were hurt the same way that Abas knew it. The same way that he was able to see. In seconds, his suspicions were confirmed. She was part Betazoid. If he focused, he could reach out with his mind and feel her presence responding differently than others who didn't have these gifts. It was subtle, but it was absolutely there. Fascinating.

"Trust the Captain. He'll sort everything out. It's his job," he said, giving a quite defined non-answer to the child's question. He didn't know what was going on - but he wasn't lying either. The Captain's first duty was the protection of the crew and company of the ship - Starfleet Regulation 3 also gave the Captain broad discretionary powers. Abas didn't need to know what was going on - only that he followed the orders he was given. Sometimes, it took blind faith in your crew.

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

It felt like an eon before he heard from Th'vyrrol, though it was really only a matter of minutes as Alex dealt with the other matters. Maddison and the other children being safe and in good hands took a crushing weight off his shoulders, and he felt inordinately grateful towards the crewman. "Understood, thank you. If Ms. Atkins doesn't require your assistance, you can report back to sickbay." There were still several injured according to their last report, including some who had collapsed during the first temporal pulse and hadn't regained consciousness.

Understood, Sir, was all he said, before the channel clicked shut. Their work here done, he looked to the teacher. "If there's nothing else, ma'am?" he asked before the medical team took their leave and headed towards sickbay.

[Minutes later - Sickbay]

The team returned, with Sickbay now looking much more like a modern medical facility than a torture dungeon from the Dark Ages. Replenishing their supplies, the team then turned to see what was occurring, and where they might be useful.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Shuttle]

If a Bolian was able to look green, this one certainly did.  "œ Keep it together.  should be a bag in the back somewhere," she warned.  It wouldn't be a good look if there was an acid scorch on the inner hull.

She nodded as she heard Alex's voice through the Comms. He sounded understandably concerned and she didn't blame him in the slightest. She was glad they were going to get some backup if there were more fighters on the way.  Two were fine for now, but if there were going to be more, they could possibly overwhelm them with numbers, and they still had injured to take care of and get back to safety. She didn't like the thought of leaving the Captain and the others down here, but if they had to get out, they might have to leave the others.

"œUnderstood."

It was a curt reply, but there was no time to think as she dodged another primitive missile. She turned to Zhuk. "œThey've gotta be running low on  ammo by now, right?"

Ardyn spiraled through the narrow mountain spires, weaving through the rocky crags, ideally hoping to scare the fighters into backing off from the Flyer by increasingly complex maneuvers, some she hadn't pulled since she was in her racing days, banking and turning  until she got out of the canyon.

Hearing Zhuk's compliment, she smirked. "œI appreciate the compliment. If we get out of this, I owe ya a drink."

A few minutes ago...

One of Zhuk's ears shifted toward Ardyn's direction as he overheard her statement. He did not turn, instead placing most of his attention on the screen, "Mayhaps. If I recall correctly, primitive vehicles often have limited ammunition storage. Still, we should exercise caution. I wouldn't be surprised if they show creativity in their endeavors,"

A moment of more analysis, and then a chuckle escaped his muzzle, "Why, that would be greatly appreciated, Lieutenant. I shalt take you on the offer..."

"Bring it on then." she said, gritting her teeth as she dodged another round of bullets, hoping they'd run out on them eventually.

For what it was worth, they were still tailing her, albeit seriously slowed as they tried keeping up to the Flyer without crashing themselves.  She could see at least a couple more coming into view behind them. "œMore company!" They were almost out of the canyon now.  Ardyn heard Alex's voice over the comms.  Change of plans again. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening Challenger-side but she'd have to ask Alex once they'd get back.    "œGot it. Heading to his coordinates now.

With the path clear, Ardy could go at full speed now.  She could see the Smith now flanking her.  "œSmith to Mjolnir, We have your back.

"œGreat. I'll need you to keep them occupied while I pick up the Captain and everyone else.

"œRoger. Prepare for engaging. "œ

They split, leaving the Smith to engage the remaining fighters while she could bank back towards the city and the captain's position.

Captain, We're en route to your position with the Flyer. Estimated time:  5 minutes and counting.  I have enemy fighters on my tail so we've got only one chance to get you guys while the Smith keeps "˜em busy. "œ   
--------------------------

The appearance of five more ships certainly had Zhuk tense. The phasers were all but loaded now, and he was certain that a dent could be made in those fancy military fliers. The problem would be if the Mjolnir's weapons were far too strong for their hulls. Attacking them was already a significant violation of the Prime Directive. Then again, thus far there was no arguing that it had been broken already.

It would seem that would not be necessary, however, as their encounter with the Smith allowed them to land near the warehouse. At least, whatever happened concerning the engagement, they would not be directly responsible for the fallout afterward. He at least hoped that the Smith's crew was wise enough to avoid creating an even worse incident. For now, they had a mission to complete.

One shot of theirs could easily make a serious hole in their enemy's ship, and the situation was fairly shot as is. "We might have to make it work as is." she said, as she dodged and weaved.
[Land Moot Hall]

They were coming up on the area where Galloway and the rest of the crew were; in the center of several tall spires surrounding a decent-sized plaza. That would have to work.

"œI think we have to land. I think if we beam them, out, whatever is in their time warping might kill the crew before they came back."

Deftly winding her way through the spires of the various buildings down to the plaza, she noticed one of the fighters had broken from formation and had followed them down here in an equally dangerous move. One wrong move, and either one of them could get civilian casualties or damage to the Flyer. "œI'm going to land,  Get ready!"

With a quick jerk, she touched down the Flyer and opened the hatch doors.

"œCaptain! The shuttle has touched down! Hurry up!"

[Alexander Wu]

"Chief Petty ch'Verret. Permission to enter the bridge?  I was asked by Lieutenant Fisk to run some scans on some capsule...?" he said toward the security crewmen that were barring his way, but his question was intended for the one in the command chair.

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"I've got an idea, sir." Booker turned around, facing Alex in the command seat. "I could patch myself into their frequency and tell the Landser fighters that another group of shuttles were spotted coming from the other direction, maybe that'll reduce the number that Mjolnir will have to deal with. I'm sure the Land Moot controllers will quickly realize their communications have been compromised, but it may buy our people a few minutes of breathing space."

Alex briefly mused over the suggestion, agreeing to it rapidly. "Great idea, do it. And you don't need to call me sir, we're the same rank." He reminded her, before turning to greet the newly arrived Andorian engineer. "Chief, pleasure to meet you, well done on getting those transceivers repaired. It was very much just in the nick of time. We just tractored onboard a Landser crew capsule into our main shuttlebay, you might've just missed Lieutenant Randell going to greet our new guests. While they're occupied in the observation lounge, I'd like to make sure that there's nothing overly hazardous on that capsule which might make it dangerous to store onboard. Is there any way you could investigate it discreetly so they wouldn't suspect or detect tampering?"

[Ian Galloway]

[Capitol Complex | Nation of Magana | Land-Ta]

Jalen hustled through the corridors and made it to the Cutty Sark where he took his seat and quietly sat in contemplation. Had he done the right thing? He could've had everything he ever wanted back, could've saved his people"¦ but he gave it all up for Kyan, for someone he barely had any ties to. It saddened him that even the thoughts of his Husband and Adopted Son weren't enough to pull him back, but Kyan screaming in pain was what did it. This was not something he had the luxury of processing right now, but he would have to, in time. The Cutty Sark landed safely, and Jalen disembarked and rushed over to Kyan. He had barely taken out the tricorder and began scanning the Only when the tricorder's warning beeps began going off.

"œHe's going into some kind of damned arrest, what the hell did you people do to him?" Jalen snapped at a nearby alien, and frankly he didn't care about political niceties right now. He pushed his fear, pain, grief, and all his other emotions aside and allowed his medical instincts to take over and began trying to stabilize his patient. The ancient child's mind was flooded with an enzyme that seemed similar to that which manifests in minds of various telepathic races, but the levels were far higher than was safe. Jalen injected Kyan with a hypospray designed to counteract those levels, and slowly the levels began to stabilize. Jalen sighed in relief when another alarm sounded, this time indicating that Kyan's heart had stopped. The amount of counteracting agent necessary seemed to have caused too much of a shock to the small body before him.

"œDamn it"¦ don't you die on me Kyan, not after all I gave up to save you." Jalen ordered firmly as he injected another hypo of adrenalin into the boys chest and then brought his fist down hard on the small chest, hearing the ribs crack in protest, three more times he brought his fist down before the small heart restarted and found it's rhythm. Jalen fell back on his feet and cried from the overwhelming stress of what he had just been through.

"œCommander Kyan is stable enough for transport, but we have to get him back to sickbay, immediately. Can we use transporters?"

[Outside Magana Capital Hall - Land]

When the doctor asked about transporters, Lieutenant Davenport replied instantly.

"No Sir, too many temporal disturbances for transporters, we have to use the shuttle. Chen, Jorzon help Doc with the casualty."

The two named security officers slung their rifles and gently lifted the unconscious Kyan, Davenport took charge of leading Wey'nir and the two scientists onto the shuttle and getting them settled. Once everyone was aboard, the Cutty Sark lifted and arrowed upward in a steep climb.

For the Landsers, even though they could only partially see their passage up through the atmosphere and into the black of space, the ride left even the well seasoned Wey'nir speechless. Ensign Heinz Schlemann at the helm of the shuttle made as direct an approach to the shuttlebay as he could, but he did take a few extra seconds to give the Landsers a sweeping view of Challenger as they docked.

At Jalen's insistence, Kyan was first out of the shuttle, still carried by Chen and  Jorzon to the gurney and waiting medical team. Once he was restrained by the stasis field, the injured Onlie was rushed to sickbay. Davenport escorted the Landsers out of the shuttle and met with Lieutenant Randall.

"Welcome aboard the USS Challenger Mister President. I am Lieutenant Evan Randall, the ship's deputy science chief. Most of our senior officers are off ship, but are on the way. Otherwise, they would have met such an august visitor. Now if you will follow me, I will lead you to the briefing room on Deck One."

Wey'nir was still trying to keep up with all the changes that had happened to him in the just the past thirty minutes. All he could do was nod and follow along side Randall. When he finally found he words, he said.

"Your ship is... is... beyond what the images could possibly capture."

"We are very proud of her Mister President. We hope this meeting is the beginning of a lasting friendship."

The small party rode the turbolift to deck one in silence and Randall made certain everyone was comfortably seated in the briefing room. He hoped that someone senior to him would show up soon to relieve him of diplomatic duty.

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

[ACEO Lt.JG Neva Cordon|Mjolnir]

Neva sat quietly as she let the doctor give her a hypospray, relieved as the "fog" lifted in her mind. Her mental "shout" was going to need some unpacking back at the ship. She wasn't sure if that was favorable or not.

Shaking it off, she grabbed the staps at the gymnastics the shuttle went through. She was thankful for the lack of food she'd encountered today. After all they'd been through, her patience was as shot to Hell as the mission. Hearing Zhuk ready phasers, Neva smirked wickedly. It was all she could do to keep grabbing the straps and not rub her hands together in excitement. As it was, she scanned the bulkheads for the location of the weapons locker. Finding it, she nodded and turned to watch the screen.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | NCC-81673 Mjolnir | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar nodded, glad that she had considered his advice. As the Mjolnir veered in the direction of the narrow mountain pass, the Caitian felt a deep sense of uneasiness. At least, it was good to learn that he was simply not made for such aerial maneuvers, much to his chagrin. His positive attitude on the fact did not last long, and he forced himself to close his eyes, trying to keep himself from getting even dizzier. It was not working.

He believed that he could still hang on for a little longer, but landing could not get fast enough. His ear swished towards the back, trying to determine how the people at the back were doing. Zhuk could only hope that the Bolian, Hessou, and Neva had strong stomachs.

Things got much calmer as the Mjolnir took to open skies, much to Zhuk's relief. He proceeded to take a look over at the screen, sighing as he saw the scanners detecting the pursuing Landser air vehicles no longer in hot pursuit behind them. The uncomfortable feeling in his stomach still did not vanish completely, though he at least knew he was in no immediate danger of making a fool of himself, or grossing out his companions,

"A-Ah... good flying... uh..." Zhuk took a moment to properly take a look over at her pips on the uniform, "Lieutenant. Optimal performance overall..."

Zhukdra'shar looked at the scanners as the shuttle prepared to descend. Trying to scan for the crew of the Moot was difficult, for certain, as the readings were unclear. At hearing the voice of Galloway, Zhuk promptly spoke up, pushing on his comm badge, "Captain, the Mjolnir has arrived at the Land Moot. Currently scanning for thy position."

He nodded at Lieutenant Ardyn, before he returned to the console. His eyes went wide and his ears lowered in frustration. With a deep frown, he once more turned towards her, "It would seem as if we have new contacts. Considering our duties here, I am not certain we can avoid them this time. Ergh... let it be known that they are forcing me to do something I truly do not wish to carry out..."

He stated, loading phasers. Zhuk was only planning on damaging the ships, hopefully dissuading them from attacking them further. He was unsure that would be the case, so he quickly turned towards the scanners once more, doing his best to locate the crew for transport,

"I think I have located them, Lieutenant! Bring us closer to these coordinates..." He sent them over, and soon on her screen appeared the location of a Storage Facility, "Shalt we try and beam them out? Or should we descend?"

[Shuttle]

If a Bolian was able to look green, this one certainly did.  "œ Keep it together.  should be a bag in the back somewhere," she warned.  It wouldn't be a good look if there was an acid scorch on the inner hull.

She nodded as she heard Alex's voice through the Comms. He sounded understandably concerned and she didn't blame him in the slightest. She was glad they were going to get some backup if there were more fighters on the way.  Two were fine for now, but if there were going to be more, they could possibly overwhelm them with numbers, and they still had injured to take care of and get back to safety. She didn't like the thought of leaving the Captain and the others down here, but if they had to get out, they might have to leave the others.

"œUnderstood."

It was a curt reply, but there was no time to think as she dodged another primitive missile. She turned to Zhuk. "œThey've gotta be running low on  ammo by now, right?"

Ardyn spiraled through the narrow mountain spires, weaving through the rocky crags, ideally hoping to scare the fighters into backing off from the Flyer by increasingly complex maneuvers, some she hadn't pulled since she was in her racing days, banking and turning  until she got out of the canyon.

Hearing Zhuk's compliment, she smirked. "œI appreciate the compliment. If we get out of this, I owe ya a drink."

For what it was worth, they were still tailing her, albeit seriously slowed as they tried keeping up to the Flyer without crashing themselves.  She could see at least a couple more coming into view behind them. "œMore company!" They were almost out of the canyon now.  Ardyn heard Alex's voice over the comms.  Change of plans again. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening Challenger-side but she'd have to ask Alex once they'd get back.    "œGot it. Heading to his coordinates now.

With the path clear, Ardy could go at full speed now.  She could see the Smith now flanking her.  "œSmith to Mjolnir, We have your back.

"œGreat. I'll need you to keep them occupied while I pick up the Captain and everyone else.

"œRoger. Prepare for engaging. "œ

They split, leaving the Smith to engage the remaining fighters while she could bank back towards the city and the captain's position.

Captain, We're en route to your position with the Flyer. Estimated time:  5 minutes and counting.  I have enemy fighters on my tail so we've got only one chance to get you guys while the Smith keeps "˜em busy. "œ   
--------------------------

[Land Moot Hall]

They were coming up on the area where Galloway and the rest of the crew were; in the center of several tall spires surrounding a decent-sized plaza. That would have to work.

"œI think we have to land. I think if we beam them, out, whatever is in their time warping might kill the crew before they came back."

Deftly winding her way through the spires of the various buildings down to the plaza, she noticed one of the fighters had broken from formation and had followed them down here in an equally dangerous move. One wrong move, and either one of them could get civilian casualties or damage to the Flyer. "œI'm going to land,  Get ready!"

With a quick jerk, she touched down the Flyer and opened the hatch doors.

"œCaptain! The shuttle has touched down! Hurry up!"

[Land Moot Airspace - Land]

The Smith pulled alongside the Mjolnir and her pilot, Ensign Qindis Norann a female Bolian, waved to Ardy before racing ahead and directly toward the dozen Landser fighters. The interceptors opened up with a frighteningly heavy salvo of cannon fire, but the weapons were completely ineffective against the shuttle's shields. This allowed Norann to lance through the formation of interceptors unharmed and forced them to scatter to avoid colliding with the nimble Type-9 Smith. As the fighter's formation split up, it opened a path for Ardy to reach the compound. Before the Landsers could regroup for another pass, the Onizuka showed up and with the two small shuttles diving directly into the path of the interceptors, the fighters had to spend all of their efforts avoiding collisions. With the interceptor pilot's attention completely consumed with defending themselves, none of them could get a shot as the Mjolnir flared for a landing.

[Storage Facility - Land Moot Compound]

Ian watched the acrobatics going on overhead and was completely green with envy that he wasn't 'at the stick' of one of the shuttles. Unfortunately, once the Mjolnir committed to her landing, it was readily apparent to the Landser soldiers who swarmed toward the away team's hiding place.

"Here's where things get dicey Mister Blackfeather. Set for wide angle stun and fire as fast as your bloody phaser will cycle. If'n we're lucky, we'll stay ahead of any projectiles that might ken our names."

Turning to Jettis and Tora, Ian added.

"Once more into the breach! RUN!"

One thing about the next minute of his life that surprised Ian was the noise. Sure he was familiar with gunfire, but the aircraft mounted machine guns on a Tomahawk lacked the volume of dozens of rifles blazing away in his direction. Another completely unsettling thing he discovered was the abject terror of the whine of a bullet as it passed by. This was all so personal, so real, and as this wasn't the holodeck, so deadly.

Fortunately, the Landsers had never seen phasers before and the wide angle setting caught quite a few of them before they adjusted and took better cover. Ian ran and dodged wildly, as did Tora, Jettis and Blackfeather, but even with their covering fire, Ian began to get a sick feeling they weren't going to make it. No sooner than he had that thought when he was hit. The bullet passed clean through his upper left arm and it burned! Ian stumbled, but kept his feet with his teeth clenched against the pain as he thought.

"Fudge. I've been shot."

He was about to pick a place to make a last stand to give covering fire for the others when some bright spark on the shuttle could see the trouble they were in and extended the Mjolnir's shields to protect the away team. Once inside this protective bubble, they were safe. Ian was the last to aboard the shuttle and he had some difficultly closing the airlock with one arm, but he got it done.

"GO! GO! GO! GO!"

Ardy didn't need any extra motivation than that and the Mjolnir leapt into the air. As there were seven on a shuttle built for six, Ian simply flopped onto the deck exhausted and held on as best as he could. He was leaning back against the bulkhead when he felt a hypo press against his neck. He opened his eyes and saw Lieutenant Zorr smiling at him.

"I believe that will help Captain. Now hold still while I treat this wound."

Ian closed his eyes and did just that. He was content. Shot or not, they'd escaped alive. The main thing on his mind however, was Kyan, all he knew was he was badly hurt and that bothered him more than whatever was left of his career after this unmitigated disaster of a first contact.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge >>> Deck 19 Shuttlebay]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"I've got an idea, sir." Booker turned around, facing Alex in the command seat. "I could patch myself into their frequency and tell the Landser fighters that another group of shuttles were spotted coming from the other direction, maybe that'll reduce the number that Mjolnir will have to deal with. I'm sure the Land Moot controllers will quickly realize their communications have been compromised, but it may buy our people a few minutes of breathing space."

Alex briefly mused over the suggestion, agreeing to it rapidly. "Great idea, do it. And you don't need to call me sir, we're the same rank." He reminded her, before turning to greet the newly arrived Andorian engineer. "Chief, pleasure to meet you, well done on getting those transceivers repaired. It was very much just in the nick of time. We just tractored onboard a Landser crew capsule into our main shuttlebay, you might've just missed Lieutenant Randell going to greet our new guests. While they're occupied in the observation lounge, I'd like to make sure that there's nothing overly hazardous on that capsule which might make it dangerous to store onboard. Is there any way you could investigate it discreetly so they wouldn't suspect or detect tampering?"

The Andorian smiled at the greeting and waved off the praise.  "Just doing my job." he said trying to be modest but the happy writhing of his antennae clearly showed he appreciated the words more than he let on.

At the mention of the Landser capsule down in the main shuttlebay, Lahr groaned dramatically and facepalmed as he mumbled  "... then why did she sent me up here..."  He sighed  and then looked back to the Lieutenant (still didn't have a name for the man).  "No problem sir.  I'm on it."

He turned to head back to the turbolift, then paused and looked over towards Ops.  "Grelek...  thanks.  You've got the voice of an angel." he half teased before stepping into the turbolift.

[USS Challenger-A - Deck 19 - Main Shuttlebay]

Within a minute, Lahr was back at the Main Shuttlebay  and there on the landing pad that had just minutes ago held the workbee (now tucked off to the side in its storage spot) was the Landser space capsule.  As he watched, Lahr could see Lieutenant Randall greeting the blue-skinned aliens emerging from it.  Yes!  It was about time there were more of them around.  'Pinkskins' and their iron-based blood were far too plentiful in the galaxy.  A little color balance was nice.

A moment or two later, and the Landswer astronauts were escorted away by security leaving Lahr free to approach the spacecraft capsule to begin his scans.   He wasn't sure why it was deemed important to be discreet but Lahr had a plan.  He went over to the same replicator that had produced his EV suit and this time requisitioned an Isolation suit in his size.

Once donned and activated, Lahr began his close up inspection of the vessel and it's alien technology.

For the Landsers, even though they could only partially see their passage up through the atmosphere and into the black of space, the ride left even the well seasoned Wey'nir speechless. Ensign Heinz Schlemann at the helm of the shuttle made as direct an approach to the shuttlebay as he could, but he did take a few extra seconds to give the Landsers a sweeping view of Challenger as they docked.

At Jalen's insistence, Kyan was first out of the shuttle, still carried by Chen and  Jorzon to the gurney and waiting medical team. Once he was restrained by the stasis field, the injured Onlie was rushed to sickbay. Davenport escorted the Landsers out of the shuttle and met with Lieutenant Randall.

"Welcome aboard the USS Challenger Mister President. I am Lieutenant Evan Randall, the ship's deputy science chief. Most of our senior officers are off ship, but are on the way. Otherwise, they would have met such an august visitor. Now if you will follow me, I will lead you to the briefing room on Deck One."

Wey'nir was still trying to keep up with all the changes that had happened to him in the just the past thirty minutes. All he could do was nod and follow along side Randall. When he finally found he words, he said.

"Your ship is... is... beyond what the images could possibly capture."

"We are very proud of her Mister President. We hope this meeting is the beginning of a lasting friendship."

The small party rode the turbolift to deck one in silence and Randall made certain everyone was comfortably seated in the briefing room. He hoped that someone senior to him would show up soon to relieve him of diplomatic duty.

Lahr paused briefly in his work and kept out of the way, hidden by his Isolation suit, when the Cutty Sark returned and off loaded a critically injured Commander Mackenzie and several more Landsers - again greeted by Lieutenant Randall.  This time their guests were a little more influential.

After the Lieutenant and the Landser's left, Lahr returned to his scanning of the vessel.  It was so interesting... so much of the technology was beyond anything the enlisted Andorian had any experience with.  Whoever figured out the science behind their fold-space drive were either geniuses or absolutely mad - possibly both.