S6 - E3 - Tripwire

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[USS Challenger - Transporter Room 3]

Squeezing her tightly, Alex wasn't sure who was more reluctant to let go, him or Maddy. "Everything's going to be fine, beansprout." He held her face gently, kissing her on the top of her head while wiping her teary cheeks dry with his thumbs. "Like mommy promised, we'll talk to you tonight. And don't forget this little guy." Alex pulled out Maddy's dinosaur plushy from her packed bag, holding it out for the little girl to take. "You'll have to take care of him too, okay?"

Maddy sniffled solemnly, putting on a brave face, though the dinosaur remained firmly clutched in a chokehold. "I will, daddy. Remember, you promised!"

"Yes we did. And we always keep our promises, right?" Alex gave her one last kiss, picking up her bag in one hand and guiding her onto the transporter pad with the other. "See you soon, sweetheart. We love you." He stepped back next to Ardyn, reaching out instinctively and wrapping an arm around her as their daughter was spirited away. Starring at the empty platform, Alex only realized how tight his jaw was clenched when it began to cramp. "It's going to be awfully quiet in our quarters." He mentioned, wrapping Ardy up in a big hug. "Let's hope the Kinshaya don't have the same resolve that we do."

Alex wasn't sure how he missed the big Caitian commander standing off to the side, but to be fair, they'd been a bit preoccupied earlier. And now he provided the perfect distraction from how Alex was feeling. "Good morning Zhuk. Has Jettis managed to come up with anything useful for your combat simulations?" Two weeks ago after their first briefing, Alex had asked Lieutenant Cheizex to work with the science department and go over every fine detail the Klingons had provided them regarding the Kinshaya, looking for anything from biological weaknesses to technological vulnerabilities. He was hoping they'd found something to give them an edge. He reckoned they'd need it when facing an enemy armed with everything from energy weapons to claws. "And have you given any thought to my request with having Ops personnel supplement and train with your security teams?"

[Lieutenant Commander Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Transporter Room Three | Deck Four | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A | In orbit around Deep Space K-7]

"Ah... greetings, Lieutenant Wu," The polite words of Zhuk came forth after he was regarded. He did not expect to come across Alex in the room but felt foolish at realizing that, of course, he would want to say goodbye to his daughter. It took him a moment to think of an answer for him, blinking a couple of times during the wait,

"Thus far, I do not believe that Jettis has an answer that fully neutralizes the threat of the Kinshaya," Zhuk explained, his tone even less enthused than normal, "However, I am reassured than an option shalt surface, albeit I would very much prefer to possess it earlier than later, as thou may understand."

He turned over to look at Alex. For a moment, he slightly shifted his shoulders, almost as if he wished to shrug in an apology. But just as swiftly, the movement ceased, "Ah, I believe I never offered thee a response to thy query. I believe that the request is reasonable, and certainly, both teams shalt benefit greatly from engaging in training exercises together."

Excellent job, Zhukdra'shar. It was unlikely that he would suspect that, as his focus had laid upon Security, he had forgotten to place thought into the suggestion. It was an easier choice than he had originally imagined, though perhaps it had to do with how sudden his reply had to be given. In any case, it was for the best.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As her crew conducted battle drills, the Challenger continued to drive through space at high warp and was now approaching Klingon space. It would still take a week to reach the coreward border, but from now on, all the preparations became more real and the crew could feel the shift in tension as they approached the most likely avenue of approach the Kinshaya would use if they decided to attack.

"Captain's Log Supplemental. Whatever Klingon intelligence discovered that led them ta believe a Kinshaya attack was imminent, has clearly not changed. We have nae been ordered ta stand down or return ta Federation space. If anything, the Klingons seem ta have an even higher sense of urgency about our arrival. As we are allies, we didn't pick up an escort when we reached the Klingon border, all we got was a gruff 'Proceed' from the border station.

"As the ships of the task force were called upon from various sectors of Federation space, we are arrivin' at different times and different vectors. We have however married up with the USS New Orleans, lead ship of that class, the USS Hungary of the Norway-Class and the USS Ararat a Steamrunner. I have ta admit, there is comfort in numbers as we continue ta our area of operations.

"So far, all departments show that they are takin' the possibility of combat very seriously and report an improvement in response times and the overall skill levels of the crew. This is especially important with so many just out of the Academy ensigns and senior cadets aboard.

"The science boffins have tried ta find a weakness that would disable or at least reduce the lethality of the Kinshaya. One viable option is modifyin' the gravity platin' on the approaches ta critical areas that would allow increasin' gravity ta 12Gs. The Kinshaya are big, and bloody strong, but I doubt even they could handle 12Gs for long.

"What will happen in the future is unknowable, but I believe we are about as prepared as a ship and crew can be. We have one final week ta iron out any last issues and then we will find out what fate has in store for us. End log."

[Lieutenant Commander Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Holodeck Two | Deck Six | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Zhukdra'shar held his breath as he overheard the rapidly approaching stomps in the hallways of Deck Two. The lights flickered in and out, the USS Challenger having received quite a battering by the globe-ships. Still, his team lay in wait, hidden from view behind the respective doors that led to the Junior and Senior officer's quarters. His room was actually not too far away from here. But that was beside the point. His sensitive ears flicked as he heard the creature finally entering the area they were in.

He felt a knot in his stomach. The next steps had to be executed with precision, and unfortunately for him, were not too pleasant to deal with. Six times had they tried before, and each one of those times, something had gone terribly wrong. But this time, he believed things would be different. He had faith in his team, even if they had not mastered the strategies he had come up with yet. So, he waited, gripping his rifle tightly, waiting for his own tripwire to be triggered.

A flash of light, and then an explosion proceeded to rock the outside. He peered out through the entrance and aimed toward the large creature, which had been both blinded and deafened by the trap.

At maximum potency, he fired his phaser rifle, which was soon followed by several other blasts coming from similar vantage points at the head and chest area of the large creature. It attempted to fire its own weapon, aiming towards Zala, directly in front of Zhuk. The walls were seared, but the Ferengi had fortunately managed to avoid a direct hit in time as she hid in deeper. More shots followed, and the Kinshaya spoke something in its language - or the computer's best approximation - unable to properly aim or defend itself against the coordinated, intense fire of the Challenger crew.

It would only last a few seconds, so the crew had to capitalize on their advantage, while they had it. The creature indeed managed to soon correct his aim, but not fast enough to have another Ensign avoid the attack by ducking into the open. The maneuver had been risky, considering that he was exposed, but the simulation had no time to capitalize on its advantage.

A few more vicious, precise impacts caused the Kinshaya to let out a screech and fall, dead, in the hallway. The Security detail, including Zhuk, swiftly ventured out and made their way to the next designated area, as the rest of the Kinshaya rapidly advanced to their position. A small sense of pride washed over the Caitian, as the tactic had worked out perfectly this time. It was only viable against one or two opponents, maximum, but it at least proved effective at stopping the huge aliens.

He only hoped the Computer was accurately predicting the Kinshaya warriors' movement. Or else, they would be in a lot of trouble...

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Engineering]

[USS Challenger - Deck 7, Officer's Quarters]

Cerna flashed a kind smile at the Andorian and the Human as she rushed by. In the moment she wished she had time to introduce herself, but Lt. Sunik's orders were to drop her belongings off and get straight to work.

The turbolift whirred softly as the decks whizzed by, 10..9..8..aaand 7. Cerna hopped out and darted for the empty quarters she'd been assigned. She didn't have much time to explore her new space, so she dumped the contents of her bag out onto her bed and sifted through for a less wrinkly, clean uniform. Cerna quickly changed and fixed her hair again. For a moment she paused in the mirror, and began staring at herself.

For a moment, Cerna allowed her mind to drift, and she felt her whole being shift as Nox looked through her eyes and at its host, making Cerna aware of how Nox's previous hosts felt about the situation. Something resembling a mix of pride and genuine worry. It was difficult to tell which hosts felt what though, because Cerna hadn't really learned how to embody them yet. She hadn't been joined for more than a year, and the Symbiosis Commission had warned of some side effects while her body got used to producing much higher amounts of isoboramine. Low IB levels tended to make Symbionts cranky, and cranky Symbionts made for poorly hosts.

All of the joined Trill Cerna had met prior to joining seemed like these elevated gestalt beings, where at any time it could be the host, or the symbiont, or somehow both talking to you. Yet Cerna still felt like Cerna, just now she had a worm named Nox feeding her other Trill's memories. When would that happen for her?

And with a quick blink, Cerna had returned to reality. Realizing what she was doing, she abandoned her vanity to make the dash back to Main Engineering...

[USS Challenger - Deck 13, Main Engineering]

Cerna stepped out of the turbolift and took the place in, watching the gold-shirts move back and forth, shoring up the ship for the encounter to come. It was difficult to know exactly where to start. Part of her said that it would be wise to break out a  PADD and familiarize herself with the Challenger's database, but part of her felt wrong studying while everyone else was doing hard work.

No, she was an Ensign, and an Ensign's duty was to better themselves so they could serve those under their command some day. For that, she'd need hands-on experience...and who better to help her than the CPO? She had clocked the stripes on the Andorian's collar earlier, and had just spotted him again.

Nox approached Chief ch'Verret and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, Chief?" Her voice had a bit of a squeak to it on certain phonemes, but overall her consonants were very soft. It was what her Human friends at the academy called 'Posh'.

"I'm Ensign Nox, I was wondering if I could trouble you for a tour?"

After the Trill had left, Lahr had made his way to his usual station up on Deck 12.  Being a tertiary monitoring station, it wasn't manned all the time.. not after Frontier Day.  Just as he was settling in, the Andorian realized he'd forgotten to grab a raktajino - the only way he was able to not drift off to sleep during his shift.

So Lahr headed down to main engineering's replicator - which is where the Trill found him.  The Andorian's antenna which had been hanging somewhat sloppily, perked up at her request.

Lahr quick glanced towards the Chief Engineer's office but the door looked out towards the warp core and not the replicator... and even with superior Vulcan hearing, Lahr figured it was unlikely that Lieutenant Sunik could have heard the Trill's request. Lahr grinned.

"I'd be happy to tour you about, Ensign! I'm Chief Petty Officer ch'Verret, but my friends and coworkers just call me Lahr.. short for ShranLahr.  Yeah, I'm named after that Shran... but no, he's no relation. My birthmother was just a huge fan."

He turned to the replicator and ordered his Klingon drink.  " Can I get you something to drink while we tour?"

Then once they were ready, Lahr looked to the Ensign.  "What would you like to see first?"

[Novi]

[Commmander Kyan Mackenzie | Sickbay, USS Challenger]

As the Vulcan medic continued his scans, Kyan looked up to see the other new medical person, Doctor Novi... who he did recognize from the crew transfer reports. It was always good tactics to keep a watchful eye on one's adversaries after all and aside from height requirements, doctors and their ilk were some of the Onlie's top nemeses. Even when he'd been an ensign he'd known all of the ship's doctors.

After all, scientists wore blue shirts too, but they didn't sneak up and hypospray you or chase you around and drag you to their dungeon for "checkups" and other vile ministrations. Nope. That was the purview of the doctors.

"Aye. Merry Met Doctor Novi." Kyan grinned. "Sure an Mister Savyn's doin a bully job so he is."

This one, he'd learned, had recently been on the Discovery with Savyn, working for his old boss, Captain Tekin. He hadn't seen the stoic old Bajoran since he'd last been on the Discovery some two years ago, which made him wonder.. "Say, since ye was on the Disco before here, is Captain Tekin's family still there? Commander Hrafn an her gaggle of kids?"

[Lt. JG Novi - Main Sickbay USS Challenger]

Novi gave a blank smile to Kyan's comment. She wondered if it was simply her lack of knowledge of Onlie culture or some issue with the universal translator but she had difficulty understanding what the Commander was trying to say. Nonetheless she tried to remain her calm self, "Well that is good to hear Commander."

Her calm face briefly fell though at the mention of Discovery and Doctor Hrafn. The image of the Trill woman, her clone actually, capturing her and the away team back on that station. Despite her time coming in and out of therapy for all of her misadventures on that ship some memories still struck deeper then others.

"Ah...I-I...No Commander. Last I heard Captain Tekin's wife is posted on a research lab near Bajoran space. I unfortunately never got the chance to meet his family in person during my time on Discovery."

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger Crossing Klingon Space]

Three days into the week long trip to their assigned sector, the Challenger led task force married up with a second task force consisting of the USS Finland and USS Moldova, both Norway-Class; the USS Tarhe, a Cheyenne-Class; and the Steamrunner-Class USS Rainier. The additional ships formed up with the Challenger's group and the larger task force continued on to the Klingon border with the Kinshaya.

Ian was the senior captain at the moment, but this would change when they were joined by the USS Galahad whose captain was the senior of the twelve ships. Ian was actually very happy not to be senior. He'd been in several battles as captain and even a couple large scale battles, but he'd never commanded so many ships at once.

"Captain's Log Supplemental. We reach our destination in four days. No word from the Klingons that tensions have decreased or an actual attack has occurred. All we can do is prepare for the worse and hope for the best, especially as there is so little information on the Kinshaya on record. End Log."

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As her crew conducted battle drills, the Challenger continued to drive through space at high warp and was now approaching Klingon space. It would still take a week to reach the coreward border, but from now on, all the preparations became more real and the crew could feel the shift in tension as they approached the most likely avenue of approach the Kinshaya would use if they decided to attack.

"Captain's Log Supplemental. Whatever Klingon intelligence discovered that led them ta believe a Kinshaya attack was imminent, has clearly not changed. We have nae been ordered ta stand down or return ta Federation space. If anything, the Klingons seem ta have an even higher sense of urgency about our arrival. As we are allies, we didn't pick up an escort when we reached the Klingon border, all we got was a gruff 'Proceed' from the border station.

"As the ships of the task force were called upon from various sectors of Federation space, we are arrivin' at different times and different vectors. We have however married up with the USS New Orleans, lead ship of that class, the USS Hungary of the Norway-Class and the USS Ararat a Steamrunner. I have ta admit, there is comfort in numbers as we continue ta our area of operations.

"So far, all departments show that they are takin' the possibility of combat very seriously and report an improvement in response times and the overall skill levels of the crew. This is especially important with so many just out of the Academy ensigns and senior cadets aboard.

"The science boffins have tried ta find a weakness that would disable or at least reduce the lethality of the Kinshaya. One viable option is modifyin' the gravity platin' on the approaches ta critical areas that would allow increasin' gravity ta 12Gs. The Kinshaya are big, and bloody strong, but I doubt even they could handle 12Gs for long.

"What will happen in the future is unknowable, but I believe we are about as prepared as a ship and crew can be. We have one final week ta iron out any last issues and then we will find out what fate has in store for us. End log."

[Bridge]

Ardy smirked when she heard Ian's 'high score.'

"Not bad, not bad at all." She said, definitely impressed. "That's the real kicker, after all, coming back and not getting shot." she said, leaning back in the seat.

"It's not the same, fighting in a ship instead of a fighter, Can't do barrel rolls, for one, but I've gotten pretty good at adapting fighter maneuvers to flying big ships like this. You can actually use the weight and inertia of the ship to your advantage if you time it right." she said, giving a smirk of confidence.

"Right." said Ardyn as she made a few adjustments to the helm before getting back to the conversation. One of the perks of autopilot. "Been asking some of my crew to run simulations on how this old girl can handle at subwarp in battle simulations.  I would make sure we reinforce the inertial dampeners. We'll be likely to be pulling several Gs of force doing these maneuvers, even with it being in space. Speaking from experience, It's not gonna be a smooth ride whatever we do."

[Aarwendil Cheizex]

[Previously]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Sounds like you're just the Bajoran for the job. Let's go speak with our science counterparts." The one good thing about staff meetings was that people usually stuck around for a few minutes after they ended. Alex guided Aarwendil over to the small cluster of blueshirted officers on the other side of the bridge. "Lieutenant Jyur, do you have a minute?"

Alex didn't have the expertise to put his idea into action, but between Jettis and Cheizex, he reckoned they'd tell him if it was feasible at all. "Based on the Captain's briefing on these Kinshaya, it seems like the most we have to go on research-wise are some very limited first-hand accounts and the remains of a single corpse. I reckon the Klingons did an autopsy on those remains and hopefully they made their findings available to us. Now I know we shouldn't assume on looks, but from that visual, it doesn't seem like we'd fare very well if it came to a boarding or close quarters combat."

"So my thinking was we'd need any advantage we could gain if they boarded us. And please tell me if you think it's do-able. Would it be possible to try and find a biological weakness with the Kinshaya which could be affected via our environmental controls?" Alex looked inquiringly between the two, continuing his thought process. "If we could find something, like if they're slowed by the extreme cold, or say, I don't know, incapacitated in an oxygen rich environment, then we could theoretically utilize portable forcefields to section off decks into separate zones so only the areas that have been occupied by the Kinshaya are affected. Make it less welcome for them, and give our security forces a better chance at driving them back. What do you think, does that hold any water?"

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Previously ]

After the meeting was adjourned, Jettis didn't immediately leave. His mind was instead running overtime with the idea of leaving Theresa at a station alone. It was certainly the safest option, and after Frontier day there wasn't a universe where he'd take a chance on her safety. Still, the idea unsettled him.

Pulled from his thoughts when Wu approached him with Cheizex in tow, Jettis nodded to both men.
"It's certainly something to explore. I'll see what information the Klingons have managed to provide to us." He turned to Aarwendil with a pinched smile. "We welcome all hands on deck in the efforts though, any information we have will be substantial, considering our sample size is.. one."

"Any biological creature should logically have some sort of drawback, some conditions that hinder them. It's just a matter of finding out what it might be in time, and then designing counter measures." Something that would prove more difficult on such a time crunch.

[ USS Challenger - Main Laboratory - Lieutenant Randell ]

Randell looked up from his own screen, looking towards Tora's PADD. "You've got a point there. But finding out anything from the religious zealots may be a lot harder than just respectfully asking them." He mused.

"They've been almost constantly at war with the Klingons, right? What beliefs would the Klingons have that the Kinyasha would find so repulsive to fight for that long?" The question was more rhetorical than anything, turning back to his screen as he wracked his brain for the answer. Unfortunately, he wasn't particularly familiar with Klingons aside from the basic information.

[Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Of course." Aarwendil said, while following Wu. The Betazoid had no idea of what the human had in mind, but he was prepared to help in any way that he could. He went after the other man until they reached a group of people wearing blue uniforms. The Lieutenant recognized some of them.

"Hello, Lieutenant Jyur." Aarwendil greeted the man, before Wu started to explain his idea. It was good and made sense. However, anything that they could plan to use against the Kinyasha would depend on the information provided by the Klingons. He hoped that their observations would be enough to give some light in their weakness.

"I'll see if the Klingons had made exams with blood and tissue. Maybe they found something useful." Aarwendil said, prepared to look at the information that they had at their disposal. It was a shame that he couldn't make exams with blood and tissue.

[Cerna Nox]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Engineering]

After the Trill had left, Lahr had made his way to his usual station up on Deck 12.  Being a tertiary monitoring station, it wasn't manned all the time.. not after Frontier Day.  Just as he was settling in, the Andorian realized he'd forgotten to grab a raktajino - the only way he was able to not drift off to sleep during his shift.

So Lahr headed down to main engineering's replicator - which is where the Trill found him.  The Andorian's antenna which had been hanging somewhat sloppily, perked up at her request.

Lahr quick glanced towards the Chief Engineer's office but the door looked out towards the warp core and not the replicator... and even with superior Vulcan hearing, Lahr figured it was unlikely that Lieutenant Sunik could have heard the Trill's request. Lahr grinned.

"I'd be happy to tour you about, Ensign! I'm Chief Petty Officer ch'Verret, but my friends and coworkers just call me Lahr.. short for ShranLahr.  Yeah, I'm named after that Shran... but no, he's no relation. My birthmother was just a huge fan."

He turned to the replicator and ordered his Klingon drink.  " Can I get you something to drink while we tour?"

Then once they were ready, Lahr looked to the Ensign.  "What would you like to see first?"

Nox gave a sweet smile and leaned towards the replicator. "Tarkalean tea, hot, bitter, in a travel mug, please." She retrieved the mug as the matter finished synthesizing.

"It's great to meet you, Chief Lahr." She took a sip of her drink. Tarkalean tea was one of the few herbal beverages a Federation replicator could get pretty close to correct. She preferred it sweet, but found that the natural bitter-ness helped her keep focus.

"I think, seeing as we're likely heading into a nasty encounter, that I'd better be familiar with the Ship's defenses...I've never been on a ship that had Point of Impact Shielding before, perhaps we ought to start there?"

She would love a full tour, but that same feeling cropped up again; that she had no right to take her time when everyone else was busying themselves with the hard work.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Engineering]

Nox gave a sweet smile and leaned towards the replicator. "Tarkalean tea, hot, bitter, in a travel mug, please." She retrieved the mug as the matter finished synthesizing.

"It's great to meet you, Chief Lahr." She took a sip of her drink. Tarkalean tea was one of the few herbal beverages a Federation replicator could get pretty close to correct. She preferred it sweet, but found that the natural bitter-ness helped her keep focus.

"I think, seeing as we're likely heading into a nasty encounter, that I'd better be familiar with the Ship's defenses...I've never been on a ship that had Point of Impact Shielding before, perhaps we ought to start there?"

She would love a full tour, but that same feeling cropped up again; that she had no right to take her time when everyone else was busying themselves with the hard work.

Lahr nodded.  "Excellent point!  Follow me."

The Andorian led the way to the nearest shield emitters controls.   As they walked, he drank his raktajino and regaled the Trill with several factoids about the POI shield creation.  "Did you know Challenger was the test vessel for the very first Point of Impact shields?  Our Chief Engineer at the time was Ferengi engineering genius Lieutenant Commander Lek.   The original shielding concept he attributes to the work of Ferengi scientist, Doctor Reyga."  As he spoke, sharing what he knew to the Ensign, the Andorian's antennae waved about cheerily.  It had been a while since he felt this good.

Arriving at one of emitter control stations, Lahr then proceeded to explain in layman terms how the shielding worked and why it is was so advantageous in a battle.  "So basically, the shield sensors read the force of the attack coming into a specific spot on the ship and focuses the shield response in that location appropriately.  The shields use far less power and are way more effective.  The only downside is that it takes time to regenerate once their power levels are down.  Which is ultimately why we still have the old shield system as a backup."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Commander Kyan Mackenzie | Main Engineering, USS Challenger]

Sunik had gone too far this time.

First it was Gamma shift engineers, at the behest of their stone faced, Engine Room Overlord coming and waking him up in the middle of the night to report that the calibration of the  starboard nacelle's intermix ratios was out of whack and that they might need to drop out of warp to fix it. He'd put the kaibosh on that. Then the Vulcan had decided that water filtration system on deck two had a point zero zero two percent variance or something so he had turned off the water for nearly twenty minutes to do a diagnostic. Kyan been mid shower then, with shampoo on his head.

Then there was the computer systems diagnostic that just had to be run right before they were to start a battle drill. Now the holodeck was offline. The Onlie didn't even need to ask who did it. He'd finally gotten time to go and watch the Intergalactic Wrestling Championship matches and find out if the Masked Bolian was going to get his championship match against Krax, the leader of the infamous Golden Lobes, who had bribed the Federation's commissioner, another Ferengi named Roga, to give it to him. And just as Krax was about to do his finishing move, the Liquidator, the holodeck stopped working. Kyan knew who did it before his backside hit the floor. And when he'd called engineering, they confirmed his suspicion.

So now here he was, in his off duty clothes, wearing a pair of golden foam ferengi ears (As one does to cheer on the infamous Golden Lobes!), and stomping into engineering to give Sunik a proper telling off. Upon entering the Challenger's engine room Kyan saw Chief Lahr and one of the new ensigns, but pai them no mind. He was only looking for one person.

"SUNIK!" the Onlie bellowed. "Get your pointy eared, soup bowl haircut havin arse out here da now!" Suddenly the thrum of the warp core had gotten a whole lot louder. Conversations died as those having them suddenly had other places to be, or became very invested in the readings being offered up by whatever console at which they happened to be sitting or standing. It was as though engineering was a saloon in an old cowboy movie wherein the villain had been carousing and having a good time... and then the sheriff threw open the swinging doors. Although the roles could have been reversed depending on one's perspective.

After a few moments, the Vulcan, non-plussed by Kyan's angry call out, walked out of his office with another engineer, who did a double take and vanished. The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "Commander. How may I help you?"

Kyan walked over and stood in front of the engineer. "Is it me leavin me whole shoe up yer arse yer after? Ye turned off the holodeck!"

Sunik gave a dispassionate nod. "I did." He replied evenly, as though no further explanation was needed.

Kyan blinked. After waiting for the explanation that apparently wasn't coming, he threw up his hands. "Why!?" the Onlie demanded. Then, "An if ye tell me there was a point zero zero two percent variance in the thingamajigger or a gel pack was feelin peely wally er sommat, I'll drag ye off ta the nearest airlock by yer ear an toss ye out I swear ta all the Powers!"

"There are no issues with the holodeck of which I am aware Commander." Sunik replied. "Power was diverted from all recreation systems in order to facilitate diagnostics on the shields and weapon systems."

"An ye dinna think ta look an see if someone was in there before ye did it?"

The Vulcan engineer's placid visage remained the same. "I did not. Did I interrupt your program?"

Kyan knew that he knew that he'd interrupted his program. "No ye daft wanker, I just get dressed up like this an go sit in there...fer giggles!"

Another raised eyebrow. "That does not seem like a productive use of your time sir. Could you not sit in your quarters wearing that same attire?"

Was that? Did he? Was that....sass? And from a Vulcan? Were he not boiling about missing the end of the wrestling match, Kyan might have been keen to find out. "I went to the holodeck ta watch the wrestling matches! The which I cannae do after today on account of we're gonna be up ta our necks in Klingons an Kinshaya and prolly fightin."

Sunik nodded. "I see. I can tell you how the matches ended if you like. I ran that same program last night."

"That's nae the bloody point ye great skelpit bawba... wait." When the Vulcan's words finally registered they stopped the ancient boy mid-insult. It was a moment before he continued, the anger in his voice replaced with confused disbelief. "...you... like pro wrestling?"

"Indeed. Sunik nodded. "I find it fascinating. Professional Wrestling, while seemingly barbaric and crass, requires participants to be exceptional athletes. In addition, it is a blending of a wide array of traditions and culture from many species. I find it both entertaining and educational."

Shocked didn't do justice to the state in which Kyan now found himself. With a single admission, Sunik had erased everything that Kyan thought he knew about him, and all Vulcans really. And that made him wonder what other interests they might have in common. And what about other Vulcans? Were they all doing fun things on the sly and not telling him? "Er... yeah." Kyan agreed finally. It's that sure... Um.. so who is your favorite uhh.. wrestler then?"

"I find the Capellan Power Cats to be especially entertaining. They are quite skilled. I also find the Sons of Ni'Var to be skilled, and a most pleasing pairing. I surmise by your headwear that you are a follower of the Golden Lobes. They too are an entertaining commentary on Ferengi society."

Ok... this was getting ridiculous. Kyan had come down here to put the Vulcan in his place and now they were talking about wrestling? If he didn't know better, he'd say he was about to become... friends? with a Vulcan.

"Oh... yeah." Kyan found himself nodding. "The Sons of Ni'Var are bully. I like them but I reckon dat Teryl is gonna turn on Kovek. He is a bad guy so he is."

"Indeed, that would seem a forgone conclusion given their history. In any event.." Sunik answered in his monotone. "If you would like to attend the matches again when our mission allows, I would find it agreeab;e to speak further on the topic."

"Oh... uhh.. sure and that'd be good." Kyan answered, still confused on how quickly the whole conversation had turned. "Uhh... indeed..."

Sunik merely gave a curt nod. "I shall look forward to it. If that is all Commander?"

"Oh.. yeah. Sure."

"Very Well. Good Day Commander Mackenzie."

Without another word, Sunik turned on his heel and walked away, leaving his First Officer in the middle of engineering. And Kyan had been about to give him the ok to call him by his name too. Not that he figured he would... no Vulcan ever did.

But then before today, No Vulcan that he'd met had enjoyed literally any hobby that he liked either so... who was to say anymore?

[Ian Galloway]

[Along the Klingon/Kinshaya Border]

Ian could feel the Challenger 'sigh' in relief when they dropped out of warp. They had been running hard for just over a month and regardless of her capabilities, she was an old ship and she'd been used hard. The seven other ships with Challenger, USS New Orleans, USS Hungary, USS Ararat, USS Finland, USS Moldova, USS Tarhe, and USS Rainier joined the flagship, USS Galahad, an Akira; which was escorted by the Steamrunner-Class USS Urals; USS Tonkawa, a Cheyenne-Class; and USS Barnard, a New Orleans-class. The twelve ships made an impressive sight. True, none of the ships were cutting edge, but all were battle tested designs that more than proved their abilities during the Dominion War, in fact, all of the ships were veterans of that war. Given the savage nature of the fighting during the Dominion War, the fact that these ships survived was a testament to how rugged these particular ships were.

On arrival, the ship's captains were all summoned to the Klingon flagship to meet General Membok and receive a situation briefing. This briefing gave Ian a chance to meet not only the Klingon commander, but Trindra Soro the Bolian female captain of the Galahad and now acting commodore. When Ian returned after the briefing, he updated his captain's log.

"Captain's Log, Supplemental. We are on station along the Klingon/Kinshaya border. General Membok has made it clear that all attempts ta communicate with the Kinshaya have failed. Six scout ships were sent ta gather information and none of them returned without even a single distress call. Membok was certain the Kinshaya could penetrate their cloaks, but was at a loss as ta how.

"For now, we are ta hold position on the second line, just half a light year from the frontier. The border itself is patrolled by the oldest ships in the Klingon inventory, mostly D7 variants. All of these ships are manned by volunteers. We are with the main Klingon force with the very best the Empire has ta offer, both in ships and crews. Should the Kinshaya attack, we will move forward and engage.

"I can't begin ta describe how tense it was in the briefin' room. I haven't had enough experience with Klingons ta call myself an expert, but if'n I had ta describe the undercurrent of the room it was fear. And anything that scares a Klingon is worth notin'. We will have sensors at maximum and will begin yellow alert status because if'n this pops, we won't have much time. End log."