Heliree's Odyssey

~Dramatis Personae~



USS Pallas Helena - Odyssey Class Cruiser,
-Commissioned 2409.


Lieutenant Commander, Counselor Narciso Neves-Heliree – 22
-Main Protagonist of our story. Serves as Ships' Counselor.


Commander Kenneth Calintz Reaver – 26
-Protagonist and a romantic interest of Narciso. Ships' XO.


Lieutenant Marietta Geroff – 25
-Protagonist and sister-figure to Narciso. Ships' Tactical Support Officer.


Lieutenant Andrew Cherrosk – 31
-Protagonist and friend of Narciso. Ships' Superior Engineer Officer

Ensign Lillia Cherrosk - 30
-Wife of Andrew and mother of his children. Lab scientist turned caretaker.

- Maillia Cherrosk - 8
- Axila Cherrosk - 5
- Dearian Cherrosk - 3



Captain Rider Talons – 43
-CO of the Pallas Helena. Calculating and cunning, can turn bad situations to an advantage.


CMO, Doctor Vincent Reeves – 61
- An intelligent man and respectable doctor. He has a tendency to have things done his way or his way by force.


Lieutenant Commander Ric Beldon - 29
- Andorian weapons specialist. Has a habit of aiming weapons first then doing a tactical analysis on an enemy.


Ensign Christina “Chrissy” Demark - 25
- A medical crewmen, she also knows her way around warp cores as a hobby.


Ensign Jacob “Jake” Rhythm - 26
- Warp specialist and diagnostics officer. Has a talent for working heavy machinery with grace.


Ensign Haldgard "Hal" Rowbascho - 26
- Talented Pilot of the Pallas Helena. A "Right is right and wrong is wrong" Type of guy.


Ensign Theodore “Theo” Richlands - 25
- A young man who had been assimilated at age 17 while a cadet. He was rescued and separated from the Borg collective. He praises Narciso as his saving grace.


Captain Beatrix Devna Mariana - 32
- A Captain in the Orion Syndicate. She has mixed thoughts about life. Commands the IKS Lokapāla, a Brigand Cruiser.

Valla Arin Mariana - 23
- Younger brother of Beatrix. He is a civilian, not holding any rank within any organization. He does, however, work as a spy for the Orion Syndicate.


.

Narciso allowed himself to daze out as he gazed through the glass of the turbolift as he rode it upwards. The sight he was watching before him was beyond impressive. He had never seen such a ship before. But his exhaustion was starting to catch up to him. He started to feel his eyelids grow heavy, but hastily shook his head in reaction to his drowsiness, giving himself a jumpstart, an alert. His eyes focused on the ship as the turbolift rose just beyond the point to be high enough to see over the expanse of the dorsal section. He finally admired the beauty of the Starfleet vessel as it laid stationed in dry-dock in front of him.

“It is a beautiful vessel.” Spoke a feminine voice softly.

“Yeah. I had a car that looked like it a few years back.” Answered a masculine voice.

“I remember that car. You managed to drive it off a cliff.”

“Aye, why do you remember all my mistakes?”

“Because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to talk with your wife.” The young woman laughed softly at her own words, raising a hand to cover her lips trying to not laugh to loudly.

“That’s a good point Geroff… Stop making so many of those.”

“Alright Cherrosk. I’ll stop being correct just for you, oui?”

“…’Wee’…” Replied Cherrosk in agreement, but his attempt only brought forth more laughter from the young lady.

Narciso rose his hand to the glass, touching its’ chilled surface. “Marietta…” He called out, his voice as gentle as down. “Marietta, what do you think of all this?”

The young lady’s eyes darted directly to the young man who stood before her. He was a few inches shorter than her. His hair was long, dark brown with some low red and blonde highlights that occurred naturally with sun exposure. The hair hung loosely over the shoulders of the young man, with tamed curls and waves surrounding his face in a frame. His clothes were tight at the chest and waist, but below that point the robe hung loosely. The fabric was a deep blue, with silver embellishments along the rims and collar. Marietta took two steps forward, placing her hands on his shoulder, careful not to accidently pull his lush hair. She let out a deep breath, and took a final step, placing herself directly behind him, her abdomen pressed against his spine. She moved her hands, her arms, and wrapped them around his shoulders in embrace. She laid her right check on the left side of his head, against his ear without blocking it. He rose a hand, placing it on the arc of her forearm.
**“Je pense, mon frère… que les morts devraient se reposer et la vie si… vivez dessus.” Marietta replied, practically whispering in his ear.

((**I think, my brother… that the dead should rest and the living… should live on.))


Narciso teared up a bit, a single drop appeared in the corner of his eyes. Before he could burst out in a multitude of them, Marietta started to sing for him as she embraced him.

**“Sono te o watashi e to
Azukete; me o tojite
Mabuta ni kuchizukete
Itami o iyashimashou
Nemurinasai, yukkuri to
Ushinau kowasa wa dare mo onaji
Kanashimi, mayoi mo tsutsumikomu
Chikarazuyosa kanjitai
Arasou munashisa subete no hito
Kizukeba kagayaku hi wa noboru
Sono toki made inoru kara…”


((**Give your hand to me. And close your eyes. Let me cure your pain. With a kiss on your eyelids. Sleep now, be at ease. Everyone's the same: their lost fears. Wrapping up sadness and confusion, too. I want to feel that strength. If everyone realized, The pointlessness of war, a glittering sun would rise. Until that time comes, I pray…))

Cherrosk stood in the corner, choking up as Marietta sang, but stifling his emotions so as to not add to Narciso’s gloom. He managed to swallow his sorrow, and spoke. “Guys… The turbolift has reached our floor. Come on, the meeting is about to begin…” Cherrosk reached toward the two, placing both hands on both of them on one of their shoulders. Marietta nodded and quickly squeezed Narciso tightly before releasing him. “Well… It is a beautiful ship.” She spoke trying to start pointing out the positive things.

Narciso smiled softly, feeling lucky that he had people so close to him. “Yes. Truly beautiful.” He said before turning around a hundred and eighty degrees and walking out behind the pair he called family. The trio walked side by side down a short corridor, With Marietta holding Narciso in her arm and Cherrosk in the lead. They walked with a somber gloom about them, one that bellied their small smiles. They continued for a few meters then turned and entered into a small conference room. They were met by a couple faces, one of which was known and the other of which was new.

“You are on time… I’m glad to see you’re all improving after the-“

“Merci, Captain Talons.”

Noting the interruption, the Captain skipped what he was about to say. Obviously the wounds were still fresh. “Well you understand why you are all here, yes?”

“Yessir.” Spoke Cherrosk, a business-as-usual tone in his voice. “You requested our assignment to your ship, and to be under your command.”

“Correct. Here are your detailed duty assignments aboard my vessel. Commander Reaver, please.” The Captain had been standing near a window overlooking Mars, of which was clearly visible. He motioned with his hands, and the then seated Commander arose and handed the trio a datapad each, finally looking at them for the first time since they entered. “Welcome aboard the USS Pallas Helena. Well met, Marietta, Andrew, Narciso.”

“Please… Call me Cherrosk.”

“And call me the Queen de Paris.” Marietta spoke as a jab to Cherrosk preferring his last name to be used in place of his first. “Just take the pad, nod, and smile. You know, just like when your kids were born… Maybe not that stupid a grin though.”

The trio of Reaver, Cherrosk and Marietta laughed. Narciso only managed to smile softly as he reached for his datapad. Reaver, however, kept his grip on it. “Narciso…”

“It’s alright Reaver. I’m fit for duty.”

“I trust your word.” He held his grip on the datapad for a few minutes more then finally relinquished it. His eyes stayed glued to the young man before him, taking in every aspect of his physical form. His gaze was only broken when the Captain began to speak again.

“Well you all have your orders. You will board the Pallas Helena immediately.”

“Yessir. Where is the shuttle?” Cherrosk asked.

“What shuttle?” The Captain returned the question with a smirk on his face. Before the group could ponder on -let alone question- his words, a transporter beam was activated and sent all of them into the starship.

Materializing within a larger transporter room, only the four were present, as the Captain had been sent directly to the bridge. Cherrosk instantly padded himself down while Marietta laughed her ass off in regards to the Captains’ actions. Reaver stood still and looked pale as a ghost. Narciso looked to the three and then moved towards Reaver. “Marietta you and Cherrosk should go on and get settled. I’m sure our personal belongings have been set to our quarters in the same manner. Marietta instantly hooked her arm around Cherrosk and began to drag him away, as he tried to look at what was happening but was gone from the room before being able to see the whole picture.

The room now empty save for the two, Narciso took the necessary steps to put himself directly before Reaver, a hand placed on Reaver’s shoulder. Narciso tilted his head to the side slightly and looked up into Reaver’s eyes. “Still not comfortable with the transporter are you, Imzadi?”

Reaver barely moved to breath, but his eyes looked down to lock with Narciso’s gaze. Color began to return to his face, saving it from being a pasty white. “Apparently not…” His voice was low and deeper than usual, a result of the sudden shock he just endured. However he surprised Narciso, and raised his arms up, pulling the young counselor into him for a tight embrace. His left hand planted firmly on the crest of Narciso’s back, and the right held firmly, though gently, the back of his neck. Narciso’s head was placed to rest on Reaver’s shoulder, their cheeks pressing against each other.

Narciso was stunned for a moment as this action took place, but he didn’t fight it. He raised his own arms and wrapped them around Reaver’s waist, locking his left wrist into the palm of his right hand. “You lasted this long… I’m sorry I couldn’t reach you sooner.” Narciso spoke almost in a whisper.

Reaver’s grasp on him tightened. “Just… shut up. I thought you had died. But here you are, in my arms. That’s… all I wanted. All I want.”

Narciso allowed his body to relax and lean against Reaver. He felt wetness on his right shoulder, and realized that Reaver had begun to cry. That was an extreme rarity.

“Kenneth…”

“When I heard of the accident… I was ready to die. Die so I could join you. Everyone’s names had appeared on the casualty list. Marietta, Cherrosk, and… you. So just shut up. And let me have this moment.”

Narciso nodded slightly, finally realizing that it wasn’t the fact that he had been transported that sent the shock to his system, but the fact that the one he loved and believed dead was still alive and now embracing him. Because of this, Narciso didn’t utter another word. He relaxed completely now. After many minutes had passed, the computer chimed and the voice of the captain came through.

“Reaver, you are late to arrive on the bridge. Is everything alright?”

“Reaver here sir. No, everything is… just fine. I’ll be up shortly.”

“Acknowledged number one.”

Reaver finally broke the embrace, slowly straightening his posture but keeping his arms around Narciso, their eyes locked once more.

“Go on. You need to report for duty.”

“But I finally have you again…”

“I’m not going anywhere. I still have to sing and teach our melody to you.”

“You do. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me too. After all, the living need to live on.”

“That they do…” Reaver leaned in and placed a long kiss on Narciso’s forehead. Reluctantly he let go of his embrace and walk out the door, leaving the transporter room. Narciso stood alone in the empty space. He tilted his head back and took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly while he placed a hand onto his abdomen, which fluttered wildly with his nervousness.

“Yes. The living live on…”

Narciso finished gathering himself inside the vacant transporter room. As he walked forward towards the doors that lead out into the corridor, the transporter chief entered and gave a nod. Narciso returned it and continued on. Usually he always had to stop and chat for a minute before continuing on, but since he had just arrived, it would take a bit to reach that point. Well, a while due to the sheer size of this crew. He wondered how long it would take for him to become acquainted with everyone aboard. His first step would be to take a look at the ships’ roster, which awaited him at his new office.

Stepping out onto the corridor, he turned to his left and was met with a crash, having bumped into a walking crewman. Narciso bounced backwards, as did the one he bumped, though both managed to stay up on their feet. “Ah, I’m very sorry about that” Spoke Narciso as he tried to focus his eyes on the person before him.

“No, no, it’s alright. I’m good….. Counselor!?” The person suddenly lunged forward and embraced Narciso, who was taken by surprise. “I can’t believe it’s you! This must be providence!” The woman let the confused counselor go and allowed him to finally get a good view of who she was.

“Christina?” Narciso questioned as he looked upon her. This woman was Ensign Christina Denmark. She was on duty within the Main Engineering of the USS Adonis during the mission to Da’Vani II. When the starship was attacked by a Borg cube, She had been one of the few that remained behind to help. She was also one of the officers who ended up saving Narciso’s life when things went sour and his console had overloaded.

“Yes it’s me! I’m so happy to see you again Counselor!” The young woman had a giant smile on her face, and a gleeful shine in her eyes.

“It’s good to see you too Christina.”

“Thank you Counselor! I can’t wait to tell the others you’re here!”

“The others? Do you mean…”
“That’s right! Hal, Jake and Theo! The four of us were assigned here to the Pallas Helena shortly after what happened with the Adonis. They’ll be so happy to see you Counselor!”

“And I, them. But I just arrived. I still have to formally check in for duty and do my preparations.”

“Oh, of course! Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell them they can see you later! Just knowing you’re on board will make them happy. You’re going to run into them sooner or later anyways, even on a ship this size! Anyways, I need to get going myself! See you later Counselor!” With all that said, without taking a breath or pausing, Ensign Denmark ran off down the corridor after patting a hand on Narciso’s left arm. The experience reminded him of how absolutely exhausted he truly was. He didn’t even have the capability to sense her, if only vaguely, due to how worn out he was.

Narciso kept walking; the length of the corridor was proving to be far too long for his current tastes. But that was likely due to his wanting to lay down on the floor and sleep for about a week. He reached a turbolift and leaned against its’ circular walls. He let out a sigh and spoke softly. “Deck five, please.” The computer chimed it’s acknowledgement and the turbolift promptly began to move upwards. As it came to a slow stop, Narciso hoped no one he knew would be waiting for the lift. He didn’t want to have to see anyone when the door slid open.

His luck held out, as the door opened the corridor was empty of anyone, which was logical since they would all be at their stations or resting at this hour. He hurried as best as he could down the corridor, and finally found the door to his assigned room. The door swished open and revealed the already decorated space. Narciso moved in and looked around, all his belongings were already here and they were already in their proper place. His paintings of Betazed scenery lined the walls, and framed pictures were everywhere. He smiled as he knew that this was all Marietta’s doing. That girl worked fast. Narciso made his way to his bedroom, admiring the way she had decorated for him and instantly collapsed on the bed. He quickly drifted off to sleep.


Sleep could not have been sweeter or shorter lived. Narciso was awoken by the ongoing chime of the computer. Once awake Narciso arose from his bed and looked around. The chime was coming from the door. Rubbing his eyes with the round of his forefingers’ knuckles, he called out. “Come in.”

The door opened and it was Marietta that came through the doors. She scurried into the bedroom and flung a datapad at Narciso. The thing zoomed through the air and hit Narciso flat in his face causing him to fall backwards and give out a whelp of pain. Marietta bit her fist as she saw him completely fail at catching the datapad and hurried to his side. “Mon Deus, Narciso! You still completely out of it?”

“Ow. Ow. Ow…” Narciso cried as he gripped his forehead in the palm of his hand. He opened his eyes just as Marietta helped him to sit upwards on his mattress. “Marietta…”

“Sorry, sorry! You always catch it!”

“Apparently not.” Narciso whined out softly. “Now what is it?”

“Orders! Well, confirmation of orders!” Marietta exclaimed cheerfully. “They approved the commencement of your experiment! I wasn’t supposed to read the orders, but I thought ‘what the Hell, why not’, and did so.”

Narciso went wide eyed and looked at the datapad. “Which experiment!?” He asked prior to his actual reading of the information. “The DIVA System… They finally gave it their official approval and backing.”

“Isn’t that great!” Marietta lunged and embraced Narciso. As the two began jumping up and down like adolescent schoolgirls, the red alert instantly blared. The two looked at each other then jumped off the bed and headed for the door. Usually there would be an announcement from the Captain regarding the red alert. Left without a clue, Narciso tried asking the only one they could; the computer.

“Computer, why is the ship in Red Alert?”

“Inquiry invalid.”

Narciso looked to Marietta who then tried herself.

“Computer, what is the cause of the Red Alert?”

“The Pallas Helena is under attack.”

“Under attack? We’re still in dry-dock at the Utopia Planeta Shipyard. We can’t be under attack!” Marietta exclaimed as she opened the door and looked out into the corridor. A second later the Red Alert ended, leaving the two puzzled by what had happened. “What was that all about?” Marietta asked looking towards Narciso.

The computer chimed and a strong voice was heard. “All hands, disregard that Red Alert. Maintenance on the systems caused that hiccup. Proceed with your duties. Over and out.”

Marietta turned and looked to Narciso with a raised eyebrow. He, in return, gave her a blank look before finally giving in and walking past her. “No, he wasn’t entirely sure about what he said.” Narciso spoke as he passed her, causing Marietta to smirk and begin walking behind him.

“I’m going to like serving on this starship.” She said jokingly. She and Narciso walked until they came to a turbolift. They then proceeded to take it to the bridge. When the turbolift reached its destination, the pair walked out as the door slid open. The sight before them was exhilarating. The walked forward, beside each other, and Narciso could tell that Marietta was already eyeing the tactical station.

“Welcome to the bridge.”

The voice drew the attention of the two, who placed their eyes on its source, Captain Talons. Narciso and Marietta remained side by side and spoke at the same time. “Reporting for duty Captain.”

“Excellent. Lieutenant Geroff, take the tactical support station. Counselor Heliree, have a seat here.”

Marietta withheld her disappointment at being made the support instead of the main tactical officer, but that was expected. She made her way and introduced herself to her superior, Lieutenant Commander Ric Beldon. He was an Andorian who was tall and bulky with muscle. He and Marietta instantly hit it off together, and began bonding over the armament of the Pallas Helena.

Narciso, however, didn’t have a set station on the bridge as the ships counselor. In fact, the majority of his time would be spent in the lower decks, evaluating the crew and their mentality, making sure that they are able to retain their sanity. He moved forward and took the seat to the left of the captain, who took his own seat, the command chair.

“Counselor, I’ve heard of your high aptitude empathic ability, which is why I requested your presence. With a ship this large and a crew of this size, I need someone who can endure it mentally.”

“Of course Captain. I’m more than happy to help.”

“And that’s not all. I’ve also heard of your scientific genius. You see, your reputation precedes you.”

“As long as it’s not notoriety, Captain, I’m honored.”

“No, of course it isn’t. Now I hope you are well rested. We are about to launch. Our repairs have been completed.”

Just as the Captain finished speaking, Commander Reaver walked in from the turbolift and approached his seat. He saw Marietta jumping around the tactical station and smirked, glad that she’ll never change on bit. He then saw Narciso sitting with the Captain and his smirk turned into a smile. “Captain. Counselor.” He spoke as he took his seat.

“Ah, Commander. Good timing, we are just about to get under way.”

“Captain, before we leave dry-dock I would like to ask you about the incident with the Red Alert.” Narciso asked as the Captain finished speaking.

“Don’t worry Counselor, it’s been taken care of.” The Captain paused for a moment then looked directly to Narciso. “Why do you ask? Is the Crew worried?”

“No-no.” Narciso replied. “Nothing like that, they all have complete confidence and trust in your actions and your words. I was worried about it myself.”

“Ah, well then that’s good to hear.” The Captain then laid back and spoke to the bridge crew. “Our wounds have been healed, and our souls rejuvenated. With her rebirth, the Pallas Helena is ready to once more embark one her voyage. Let’s make sure she does not disappoint! Helm, take us out!”

The Captain’s enthusiasm spread like wildfire throughout the bridge. The helmsman, who turned out to be none other than Ensign Haldgard Rowbascho. He was the one who piloted the medical shuttle out of the Adonis as it rammed the Borg cube during the incident on Da’Vani II. “Aye-aye Captain, powering stern thrusters now. We will be clear of dry-dock within two minutes.”

“Aye, she’s not a small girl by any means. We have a grown lady on our hands Helmsman, treat her right.”

“Aye Captain! We will be clear in 33 seconds.”

“Set course to Vulcan, warp 4.”

Ensign Rowbascho laid the course into the computer and smiled as he was signaled the clearing of dry-dock. “Captain, we are all clear.”

“Engage warp engines.”

Upon command, the engines hummed and the ship was propelled forward. The Bridge was silent, as though everyone within were trying to listen to the humming of the engines. It was finally broken by Marietta who shouted. “These phaser banks are freaking sweet!” Her outburst caused laughter to erupt from everyone, even the Captain who stood up and turned to look at his new tactical support officer. “Yes they are, perfectly modified too if I may brag a bit.”

“You may sir! I can’t WAIT to try these puppies-” Marietta was unable to finish her sentence as the ship was rocked by an unknown source.

“Beldon, report!” Reaver shouted as he griped his chair to stabilize himself.

“We were hit by Disruptor fire sir!”

“At this velocity!?”

“Someone is very bold.” Said the Captain, cutting in as he took his command seat. “Find the ship that shot at us.”

“Sensors aren’t showing anything nearby sir. Captain we are losing warp drive. Falling out of warp now sir. We are limited to impulse engines only.” Stated Ensign Rowbascho. “No ships in our vicinity sir.”

“Captain to Main Engineering. What’s going on down there?”

“Ey Captain. Engineering here sir. Something’s gone wrong with our computer. The warp core is performing fine, but it’s not registering as such.” The voiced belonged to Cherrosk himself.

“A computer glitch?” Questioned Reaver with a look to the Captain.

“Unlikely number one. We just came out of maintenance. They couldn’t have missed something like this.”

“Sir we have a ship decloaking to our port side.”

“Decloaking? In Federation space? On screen.”

As the image came into view, a decloaking ship appeared and it caused confusion to all who saw it.

“Is that… An Orion Brigand Cruiser?”

The bridge crew looked on at the screen as the brigand cruiser dropped its cloak. Everyone was stunned at the sight, confused as to why an Orion vessel had cloaking technology. Minds raced every which way regarding the how and why, and the implications of such a thing.

“Captain, we are being hailed, audio only.”

“Open the channel.”

“Yes Captain. Channel open.”

“This is Captain Rider Talons of the USS Pa-” The Captain was cut off from his sentence as a determined voice of a female hastily spoke.

“Starfleet Odyssey Vessel. Surrender now or face destruction. You have ten minutes to comply and acknowledge your defeat. Your vessel shall be claimed for the Orion Syndicate.”

“Captain they closed the channel.”

“The nerve they have to order us to surrender!” Shouted Reaver at the view-screen.

“It is a rather bold little speech that woman gave. But we must not underestimate them. Give me a tactical analysis Mr. Beldon.”

“Aye sir. Analyzing.” Beldon’s hands motioned over the tactical console hastily. “I’m reading two disruptor cannons and two disruptor arrays, with two torpedo launchers on their bow. Four disruptor arrays and two torpedo launchers in the aft, sir. Nothing we cannot handle.”

“They only have that, and they are trying to take our ship?” Questioned Marietta. “I say we fire on their weapons and take -their- ship.”

“Now, now. Open a channel to the Orions.”

“Aye sir, Channel opened.”

“Captain, I’m happy to see you being wise and surrendering.”

“Oh no, nothing of the sort. I’m telling you the exact opposite.”

“Come now Captain. I’m sure neither one of us want to fight. No bloodshed is needed here.”

“Precisely. So tell me why you are here.”

“I’m merely invoking the rights of salvage, Captain.”

“On what vessel? We are the only ones here.”

“Why, on yours Captain, of course.”

The Captain shot a look to Reaver and then to Narciso. “I fear we won’t go down as easily as you are implying… forgive me, I didn’t catch your name.”

“The lack of manners is mine, Captain, as I failed to introduce myself. I am Captain Mariana of the IKS Lokapāla.”

“Well, Captain Mariana. As I said prior, we will not go down without-”

“Hush Captain. There is still six minutes and forty three seconds left on our terms. Once that has expired we shall see where you stand. Lokapāla out.”

The Captain placed his elbow on the arm of his chair and then rested his chin upon the palm on his hand, scratching his well-kept beard gently. He pondered for a few seconds then looked over to Reaver. “She’s plotting something. She has something that she has up her sleeve, an advantage of some sort.” He turned his attention to Narciso. “Tell me counselor, what do you think?”

“She is extremely confident, Captain. So much so that she is entirely relaxed. Her fixation with the time she set is beyond intense. She -knows- that she will win.”

“Captain, you don’t think this has to do with…” Reaver asked and was cut off.

“I would bet so. I had hoped the two weren’t connected. They may not be, but we can’t rule out the possibility. We need to act before that time runs out. Mr. Beldon, fire on their weapons system. Shields up, Red Alert.”

“Aye sir.” Beldon sounded the Red Alert and began to power up the phaser banks.

“We’re at the advantage, keep them to our port helmsman.”

“Aye captain, I’ll maintain broadsiding.”

“Fire Mr. Beldon.”

“Yes sir!” Beldon locked onto the Lokapāla’s weaponry and began their precise assault. The Pallas Helena fired two of her port phasers, both of which hit their targets. “Minor damage to their hull, they have lost their forward disruptor arrays. They are returning fire Captain.”

“Maintain shield strength of our port side, power engines, ease to port. Encircle them. Continue firing on their weaponry.”

“Aye sir, keeping steady to port.” Spoke Hal as he piloted the large Odyssey. The mood within the bridge was calm, everything under control.

The Pallas Helena moved forward as her engines powered. It leaned to the port side, curving in that direction to find itself perpendicular to the bow to the Lokapāla, which in turn unleashed a volley of cannon fire. Their spraying attack hit and missed as the circular range of the cannons were just wide enough.

“Minimal damage to port shields. Their weaponry is lacking in power.” Voiced Beldon. “Returning fire.”

The Pallas Helena unleashed it’s only volley of phasers, much better aimed than their opponents cannons. The phasers disabled their targets effortlessly.

“They have lost all forward weaponry Captain. They are not powering their torpedoes.” Reported Beldon.

“Keep course steady, hold fire.” The Captain looked to the view-screen, unsure of why they weren’t attacking in full strength. “Open a Channel…”

“Captain, are you sure-”

“Yes Reaver, I am. Open the channel.”

“Aye, sir. Channel opened on screen now.”

For the first time, they finally saw their would be captors. Orions, all of them. But the one seated took all the attention to herself. Even by Orion standards, she was gorgeous. Her eyes were calm but within them were a determination that matched those of angels rebelling against their Lord. She raised her chin slightly, so as to look down on those upon the bridge of the Pallas Helena. “Well Captain Talons, the time is nearly complete. Have you given up your silly attack and decided to surrender?”

“Tell me. We have disabled your forward weaponry and you still believe with strong conviction that we will surrender. Why?”

“Oh look at the time Captain. 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1. You’re mine!”

As the countdown reached zero the lights of the Pallas Helena flickered and on some decks they were shut off entirely. The Odyssey soon began to rotate to its starboard side, ready to go belly-up. The consoles all shared the same failure as the lights, some having difficulty to stay on and others giving out entirely. The crew began to panic, bombarding Narciso with their worry. He tried his best to filter them out. He raised a hand and lowered his head down onto it, trying to concentrate.

“Captain! Power failures and fluctuations are appearing throughout the entire ship. We’ve switched to secondary reserves, but even that is not holding!”

“Sir the helm is nonresponsive! I can’t stabilize us!”

Mariana was still visible on the view-screen as she leaned her head backward and erupted in laughter, that should the situation be different, would be seen as angelic. She managed to calm herself and wiped away a tear that formed in the corner of her right eye. “Ah, just like the Romulans, you fools just handed over your ship. Thank you for your generosity, Captain Talons. I’ll make good use of your technology! Just as I did the Romulan’s cloacking device. It’s quite handy isn’t it? Allowed me to fire on you without you even seeing me!” Mariana got quiet for a second and then straightened herself on her seat. A seriousness came on her face as she began to speak once more. “You should have surrendered when I asked you to Captain. Had you complied you would have saved your crew. Now I must wait until you lose life-support functions. Then I’ll salvage your ship, just as I said. Goodbye Captain. Shame we could not have become friends.”

The view-screen cut off and went dark without any power being sent to it. The bridge crew remained their calm and cool demeanor. It could be worse; they could be fired upon by the Lokapāla. No doubt that woman had weaponry hidden away. The Captain stayed in his seat, trying to work on his chair’s console. However the thing refused to be powered and was unusable. “Blast! I should have seen this coming!” The Captain cursed out as he slammed a fist into the arm of the command chair.

“Yeah you should have.” Spoke Marietta, only to receive the glare on the entire bridge crew. She shrugged and waved her hands trying to dis-sway their looks. “Sorry, nervous tick. Back to what you were all doing.”

“Enough. We need to get control back of our own ship! Beldon, go to main engineering and-”

“Actually Captain,” Narciso cut in, “Let me be the one to go. I’ll take Marietta with me. Beldon needs to try and regain control of the bridge consoles here. We’ll work in tandem.”

“Fine, make it so Counselor.”

“Yessir, Marietta?”

“Right behind you.”

Narciso arose from his seat and made his way to the turbolift. Marietta walked behind him and suddenly bumped into him as he stopped short.”

“Think this is even working?”

“The reserve power is still on, just fluctuating right? So it should… even with a few hiccups.”

Narciso began to second-guess himself as he walked forward and entered the turbolift. “I don’t want to climb a ladder 20 decks down…”

“I would LOVE to do that.”

“I know you would…” The pair stood inside as the door closed behind them. Turning to face it, Narciso took notice of the flickering lights inside. “Ho boy… Deck 25.” The computer chimed and the turbolift took off on its descent. Marietta nudged Narciso on his arm and laughed slightly.

“See? We’re perfectly fine.” As she finished her sentence the turbolift came to a dead stop. Narciso looked to Marietta through narrowed eyes and she replied by just shrugging. The lights still flickered, so there was some power still being sent to the turbolift. Marietta, not wanting to wait, began cursing at the machine. “You get moving this instant or a swear I’ll-” She delivered a swift kick the back wall and was met with a response in the form of the turbolift once more descending. “See? Sometimes it just needs a little love!” Marietta stood proud of herself, folding her arms under her bust. A few seconds later the turbolift came to a dead stop yet again.

“Still proud of yourself?”

“A little.”

“I think we should just get off on this deck and take the Jefferies tube.”

“We don’t have the time. Hold on.” Marietta gave another kick and the turbolift instantly began to move again. “There, I’ll just do- WAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”

The turbolift was suddenly in a free-fall. Marietta instinctively took hold of Narciso, embracing him tightly as if to protect him. “You’ll just do it, huh!? Way to go Marietta!” Narciso cried out as his face was being smothered in between Marietta’s breasts.

“It’s not my fault!” She cried back, holding him tighter. The two suddenly crashed to the floor of the turbolift as it stopped short. Sprawled and entangled on each other, Marietta moved to get up, careful not to put her heel on Narciso. “Ack! I think I bruised my spleen!”

Narciso groaned slightly as he lifted himself up from his facedown position, trying to move his legs to anchor his motions. “I think I broke my ass…”

“No, not your ass. I know how much you love that part of you.” Marietta joked somberly as she helped pick him up onto his feet. “Okay pry open the doors. We’ll make time to get down to Main Engineering.” Alright let’s try to get some leverage. Take that side.”

“Here we go! Pull!” Marietta chanted that last word as she and Narciso dug their fingers into the opening of the dual doors of the turbolift. They managed to take a firm grip and used their body weight. The doors soon opened, revealing a dark corridor with flickering lights. Marietta peaked through, only to say a few words. “You know, I hate horror movies.”

“I love them.” Narciso spoke as he held the door open.

“You first then.” Marietta said as she placed herself under Narciso and lifted him up and over. The turbolift had stopped between two decks; the bottom door had refused to open so they took the top. Which opened up, much to Narciso’s delight, as he didn’t want to climb any ladders.

“Gentle! Gentle!” Narciso cried as he was pushed through the small opening.

“Quit whining. Now help me up.” Marietta called for him as she raised her hands up. Taking hold in a crossway grip at the wrists, Narciso managed to pull her up and through. Looking around he found a flickering panel, on it was the deck number they were on; ‘24’. “Finally some good news. We’re at the highest level of Main Engineering.”

“Right. Let’s find some rope and propel down like in that really old movie.”

“Or we can walk in through those doors.”

“Tch, buzz kill.”

“Let’s go already, we’re basically there.” The pair ran down the hallway and was met with a door that refused to open, so they once again did the prying tactic that they used on the turbolift doors. Upon the large doors opening, they saw the hectic state that was Main Engineering. People were running back and forth, others at consoles trying to work even though the consoles kept powering on and off.

“This is not going to be easy.” Marietta spoke, looking down at the various Ensigns that scurried about.

Narciso took note that the warp-core was fully functional and pointed to it. “At least the problem isn’t with our power source. Then we would be-”

“Utterly Screwed!” A voice from the floor below shouted up at the pair, finishing Narciso’s sentence for him.

“Cherrosk! What’s going on down here?”

“If we knew that, Marietta, we would already have fixed it! Get down here and lend us a hand!”

“On our way.” Narciso called out as he looked around and found a ladder on the back of the wall which led to all the floors of Main Engineering. He took it and slid down at an easy pace, stopping himself before he hit the floor. Marietta did the same motion, and patted Narciso on the back.

“Looks like you used the ladder anyways.”

“Yeah but it wasn’t twenty-something decks down.”

Cherrosk ran up to the pair and was followed by Ensigns, who took his orders and scurried along. The trio met with each other at a large console that sat before the warp-core. Narciso tried using it and was met with some difficulty.

“It’s like that everywhere. We can’t even use them long enough to pinpoint the problem.”

“This is why I am here.”

“Why’s that Marietta?”

Her response to Cherrosk was simply to raise her leg up high and release it down onto the console, effectively dropkicking the poor thing. Its response was to go completely dead and then spring back to life, operating at its full capacity. “You’re welcome. Now get to work.”

Narciso wasted no time in going directly to work, however he did want to question how she had just did what she did. Cherrosk shared Narciso’s sentiment, but he too hurried to work.

“Analyzing computer Matrix.”

“I’m running a quick diagnostic on the connections.” Voiced Cherrosk.

As the pair above worked Marietta looked around the space. She noted everyone running around in a frenzy. All save one who was standing still and shaking nervously. She narrowed her eyes and walked hastily until she stood behind the person. “I know it’s a scary situation, but we all need to do our duties.”

Marietta’s voice being so close startled the Ensign and caused him to drop a datapad. He spun around, revealing that he was sweating up a storm. “I-I-I’m not s-s-scared.”

Marietta looked him up and down. “Then why are you so nervous?”

“Th-t-t-they haven’t beamed me out yet. I mean – They haven’t been giving me any orders, the chief that is.” Somehow he managed to sweat more.

Marietta’s eyes narrowed even further, and then she glanced down on the datapad. On the scrolling screen was the symbol of the Orion Syndicate. “We have an intruder!” She shouted as she lunged forward in a tackling motion. However the Ensign was gone, having been taken by a red transporter beam. Going directly through her target, Marietta crashed to the floor and cursed out loudly. “Damn it, he got away!” She was helped up to her feet and patted herself off.

“Who got away?” Cherrosk called from his work station.

“An Orion spy! He was an Andorian, a scrawny little guy, roughly Narciso’s size.” She looked down to her feet and saw the same datapad. “Look he dropped this!” She flung it through the air over to Narciso, who caught it and began reading it. “Told you, you usually catch it.” Marietta smirked as she walked towards them.

“This is… Here!” Narciso exclaimed as he tossed the datapad up, which was caught by a fumbling Cherrosk.

“Mother of mercy!” Cherrosk shouted finally getting a firm grasp on the datapad.

“Don’t look at me.” Marietta joked, having finally joined them.

Narciso hastily worked on the console, which soon began to flicker slowly. He pounded away at the screen with fast fingers and just as the console died off completely he declared that he was finished. The entire ship went dark as everything went offline.

“What. Did. You. Do.” Cherrosk asked.

“Again, don’t look at me.” Marietta said as she reached out and took hold of Cherrosk’s chin, and then moved his head to face Narciso.

“Just give it a second.”

“A second!? Even the warp-core shut off! We’re finished! It’s only a matter of time before life-support functions go-” Before he could finish his sentence the entire space of Main Engineering was filled with the loud and rhythmic humming of the warp-core and the power that surged throughout the ship. “Holy shit we’re back in business!” Cherrosk tapped his combadge. “Engineering to the bridge! We’ve got full power back!”

“We see that! Good work down there!” Replied the Captain. “Now we face our aggressors. Power our weapons. Target the Lokapāla. Standby phasers.”

Marietta and Narciso exited Main Engineering and walked to the turbolift just outside its primary exit. Everything was working perfectly, neither the lights nor the consoles flicked anymore and there were no power surges or fluctuations to deal with. The Engineering team was ecstatic when they determined that no plasma conductors had blown when power was restored with the forced ship-wide reboot Narciso set into motion.

As they entered the turbolift and told the computer that their destination was the bridge, Marietta looked to the shorter male to her right. “How did you fix the power?”

Narciso only smiled and looked up to his best friend. “I flushed the conduit entirely. It was where the virus was concentrated. It was designed to attack a singularity core, not a warp core. But with a warp core, it effectively blockades the flow of our power, which is why the warp core never went offline.”

“All of that was written on that datapad?”

“No, just the information of the ‘Databug’ and its logged uses on Romulan ships.” Narciso lifted his hand, the datapad along with it. “It’s meant to be a one hit K.O. But what bothers me is the fact that the Orion Captain gave an accurate countdown…”

“You mean she’s tested this on Federation Vessels before? Mon Deus… That can’t be good.”

“No it cannot. We’ll have to inform the Captain to alert Starfleet Command and see if any ships have disappeared.” Narciso looked away from Marietta and to the turbolift doors as they swung open, having reached the bridge. Both walked and made their way to their respective places, Narciso sitting to the left of the Captain and Marietta at the secondary tactical station next to Beldon, Narciso holding the datapad dropped by the spy firmly. They all looked to the view-screen as a channel was opened to the Brigand Cruiser.

Captain Mariana now sat with a furrowed brow, due to recent events. But instead of her drawing all the attention, she now shared it with a slim Orion male that stood directly to her right, leaning on her command chair. The two shared extremely identical features, and strangely enough, the male also had a head of hair, reddish-brown in its natural hue. Captain Mariana raised a hand, silencing the male who had been whispering in her ear. She looked directly at Narciso, and then to Marietta and finally to the Captain, who she spoke to. “Dear Captain, it seems that you have a very talented crew on your hands. You have trained them well and in that aspect, you have gain points of my respect.”

“Well then, thank you Captain. As you can see we have regained our ship and purged it of your… very interesting virus.” He motioned a hand towards Narciso who raised the datapad up in his hands. “Thank you for this information. Starfleet will undoubtedly appreciate this.”

Captain Mariana’s eyes went wide and then narrowed as she gazed upon the seal of the Orion Syndicate located on the raised datapad. The crew behind her instantly glared at the male to her side. Before anything else could be done she delivered a swift whip of her fist to the males’ chin, causing him to fall to the floor, blood pouring down his lip. She regained herself and ordered her crew to take him to the brig. “Captain. It seems we are at a standstill.”

“No, not at all.” The Captain placed his right leg over his left knee and leaned onto his left arm. “As I see it, and I can see clearly now that our sensors are back online, I am at the advantage. Your move, Captain. I suggest sacrificing your Queen and escaping with a further unscathed King.”

“You advice is well received Captain. We’ll depart Federation Space immediately…”

Narciso looked to Mariana and then hastily leaned toward the Captain and whispered something within his ear. The Captain instantly straightened his posture and shot Narciso a look, to which Narciso only nodded. Talons then cleared his throat and spoke as authoritarian as possible. “I’m afraid you cannot just leave. You have, after all, trespassed into Federation space. If you’d be willing to show some sort of… let’s call it ‘cooperation’, we’ll then allow you to leave.”

“What kind of Cooperation do you have in mind Captain?” Mariana asked, trying to hide her nervousness.

“Give us the spy that boarded our ship. This will allow us to determine when and where he managed to come aboard our ship.”

“I…” Mariana paused for a moment thinking deeply and letting out a sigh. “You tie my hands Captain. The failure was to be executed upon our arrival back home. You may have him. I trust you will treat him justly?”

“Of course. We do not torture our prisoners.”

“Fine. We’re transmitting transport coordinates now.”

“Coordinates received Captain.” Reported Beldon.

“Bridge to transporter room 3. Energize the prisoner directly to the brig.”

“Roger than Captain. Transporting… We’ve got him Captain, transport confirmed.”

“Thank you Chief.” The Captain returned his attention to his view-screen. “Tell me his name, Captain Mariana.”

“His name…” Mariana paused for a moment then continued her sentence, not looking directly into the viewer. “Is Valla Arin… Mariana. Lokapāla out.” The view-screen of the Pallas Helena returned to normal view and the Lokapāla could be seen turning a few degrees to its starboard and entered into warp, disappearing in the vastness of the star ocean.

The bridge crew was entirely stunned upon hearing the name of their new captive. Captain Mariana had just sent her own family into the hands of the enemy. The Captain turned and looked to Narciso, a questioning look in his eyes. “I can’t believe she handed him over so easily.”

“She didn’t send him to die Captain. She sent him here to save his life. Captain Mariana said it herself; he was to be executed upon their return.”

“Why would she show him pity like that?” Questioned Beldon, confused beyond reason.

“Because, he is her younger brother.”

The crew went silent and stayed that way until the Captain spoke up. “Well. Number One, make a detailed record of this encounter in the ships log. Helmsmen, set course and continue on to Vulcan. Counselor Narciso, would you accompany me to the brig. At the least, he can tell us about this virus they developed.”

“Of course Captain.” Narciso replied as they both arose from their seats and walked to the turbolift. As they did so, Reaver stood up and took the command chair.

“Look alive people!” he said, shaking the pressuring gloom off of the bridge. “We’ve got a mission to complete.”


Captain Talons and Narciso rode the turbolift downwards and then horizontally, just past Main Engineering. The did so in total silence, though Narciso could read the turbulent thoughts of his commanding officer, no doubt trying to put the pieces of this gargantuan puzzle together. They exited and walked a short length down a corridor. Upon entering the Brig, there were only two security officers present and a green-skinned male laying on the prison cell’s bed. They took the necessary steps until they were standing before the cell’s forcefield.

“Captain, he has not moved since we received him. We think they simply knocked him out before transporting him.” Reported one of the security officers.

“If that is the case Captain, then he may need immediate medical attention.” Spoke Narciso.

“Yes… Transporter Room. Do a site to site transport of our prisoner to sickbay. Security to sickbay.” Talons looked towards Narciso with narrowed eyes. “I’ll take no chances.” He then walked out with Narciso following him.

They reappeared inside sickbay, where six security officers stood against the walls. The CMO, Dr. Reeves, was already working on treating the wounds of the prisoner, who laid atop a biobed, naked with a blanket to cover his midsection down to his feet. The wounds on his chest were evident with the large bruises scattered about, some even present on his shoulders, neck and face, and no doubt his back.

“Doctor.” Called out the Captain to gain his attention. However the Doctor did not stop and continued working with haste with two nurses. “Vincent.”

“Not now. He’s got hemorrhaging within his occipital lobe. I need to treat it before he goes blind.” He looked to the Captain only for a second. “They really did a number on him, Rider.”

“They didn’t want him giving out any information. I hope Captain Mariana doesn’t hear about this.” Voiced Narciso as he placed his hands together in front of his abdomen.

“Why Counselor?”

“Because Captain… Well… How would you feel if you learned officers aboard your own ship hurt your sibling so horribly?”

“Good point.”

“Quiet! I need to focus. Nurse, keep an eye on the neural monitor. Christina, hand me the osteo-regenerator and the neural stimulator. Get to work on those bruises with the dermal regenerator. Be sure to get it deep enough if needed.”

“Yes Doctor.” Chrissy replied as she handed him his requested tools and took her own, getting to work on the largest bruises on his chest.

“Captain, the stimulator is relaying an increase in his neurological activity. The action potential of his occipital neurons are stabilizing. Blood pressure in the area is reducing to normal levels. No clots or inner bleeding detected.”

“Good. Now we just have to stich up the bone. We’re lucky he hasn’t bleed out all over the place. Then again the wound isn’t open, thankfully.” The Doctors’ hand moved with precision to apply treatment with the osteo-regenerator. He looked towards the Captain only to give a quick comment. “I’ve healed worse Rider. But if you’re expecting him to talk, you’re out of luck. He needs rest.”

“That is not an option Doctor. Once the procedure is complete you will awaken him.”

Narciso shot a look over to the Captain only to be met with a stern gaze in return.

“Your concern is noted Counselor. But I need answers. We were attacked in an extremely calculated way. A very well practiced operation. I intend to get to the bottom of HOW the Hell this happened.”

Narciso could only look away from the Captain. His determination and resolve was to be respected. And he was in the right. His ship was assaulted, his crew almost killed entirely. He was acting the way that was expected of a Starfleet Captain given the situation.

The Doctor finished his treatment and looked towards Talons, who returned the gesture with a nod of his head. Getting the confirmation, he placed a hypospray given to him by Chrissy on the prisoners’ neck, and injected it. Within seconds the prisoner moaned and his eyes flickered open slowly, the eyelids narrow to compensate the bright overhead lights. He came to, and turned his head to his left, seeing Captain Talons and Narciso standing there.

“Alas, the rest is silent…” he spoke softly before closing his eyes and passing out.

Narciso only blinked at the Orion as he laid on the biobed. The Captain raised a hand and scratched his bearded chin then voiced a question. “Did… Did he just quote the play ‘Hamlet’, from Earth?” Narciso only nodded his head in response, signaling a yes. “Well now… That is just…”

“Who knew Shakespeare was so popular.” Spoke the Doctor only to receive looks from everyone, even the security staff.

“I've got my ticket for the long way 'round… two bottle whiskey for the way. And I sure would like some sweet company, and I'm leaving tomorrow. What d'ya say?”

The voice singing was subtle, as though the person was singing to himself. It was just louder than a whisper…

“When I'm gone, when I'm gone… You're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me by my hair, you're gonna miss me everywhere, oh, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone…”

The song continued on, gently. Eyelids opened slowly to reveal a dim lit, though extremely blurry, unknown space. Focusing a bit, or at least trying to do so, the blur lessened bit by bit, slowly.

“Yes, I've got my ticket for the long way 'round… The one with the prettiest of views. It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it’s got sights to give you shivers, but it sure would be prettier with you…”

Vision finally returning to normal, eyes landed upon the person who was singing. It was a young man, dressed in blue with long brown hair. He was sitting on what looked to be a medical bed, using his hands to tap a rhythm gently that went along with the melody he was singing. He was beautiful.

“When I'm gone, when I'm gone… You're gonna miss me when I'm gone… You're gonna miss me by my walk, you're gonna miss me by my talk, oh love.. You're gonna miss me when I'm gone.”

As he sang that last verse the beautiful boys’ eyes changed from a blue to a green within the slim iris as his pupils focused on the person who had been watching and listening to him sing. The beautiful boy allowed himself to fall the two inches down from the medical bed and walked over, looking down with a soft smile. “You’re finally awake.” The boy spoke as he used a hand to grasp a lock of hair and tuck it behind his ear. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m slightly dizzy…”

The boy placed his hands on the medical bed, leaning forward a bit more and looked deeply into both hazel hued eyes. “You’re eyes aren’t deviating, they are focusing on the same point. The dizziness will dissipate soon, the doctor said to expect it. Can you tell me your name?”

“Valla Arin… I-”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Valla Arin.”

“Thank you… Why can’t I move?” Valla asked as he tried to lift himself up but failed to do so. “Am I paralyzed?”

“No, your injuries weren’t that severe. It’s the forcefield that is keeping you in place.”

“A forcefield? Why? Where am I? Who are you!?” Valla began to struggle, trying to break himself free.

“Be still. You won’t do anything but harm yourself should you keep this strain up.” The boy placed a hand on Valla’s forehead and a soothing sensation flowed through his body.

“Who are you… where am I?” Valla asked as he calmed down.

“I am Narciso. You are onboard the Federation Starship Pallas Helena.”

“The Federation… So you destroyed the Lokapāla and rescued the survivors to be your slaves.”

“The Federation does not use slaves. And the Lokapāla is not destroyed. Your sister is fine.” Narciso straightened his posture and looked to his combadge, tapping it. “Captain, he is awake.”

“So you’re going to torture me for information!”

“The Federation doesn’t use torture.”

“So… They sent a beautiful boy to make sure I’m at ease and then they’ll strike! I’m right aren’t I!? I will not fall for your lies!”

“I wish there was a way for me to prove it to you. I’m sure your sister trusted us enough to take you.”

“LIES!! You kidnapped me so that you could torture me for information! My sister would never give me up!”

“She would and she did so. Of course, she did it only to save your life.” As Narciso spoke the doors to sickbay slid open and the Captain walked in. As he approached, Narciso introduced him. “Captain, this is Valla Arin Mariana. Valla Arin, this is our commanding officer, Captain Rider Talons.”

“I see you’ve recovered Mr. Mariana.”

“…”

“You need not speak now, but you will soon. We have a few questions for you to answer.”

“I knew it: Interrogations!”

“We are not the Klingons, Mr. Mariana.”

“Captain I don’t think you’re going to get through to him anytime soon.”

“No Counselor, I believe you’re correct. Mr. Mariana, we’ll have our conversation later.” Talons turned and faced to Narciso, gesturing with a tilt of his head for them to move away. Narciso followed as he took the steps needed to talk privately. “Counselor, do you think you can reach him?”

“I might be able to. I do sense something strange about him.”

“Dangerous?”

“No, nothing of the sort. In fact, I’m amazed he’s involved in espionage at all.”

“Regardless, he is of the enemy party.”

“You think this might all just be a ploy of the Syndicate?”

“A slime possibility, but it is one nevertheless.”

“Captain…”

“We’ll be reaching Vulcan momentarily. I need absolute certainty that this ship is safe so that I can bring aboard the Federation ambassadors.”

“I know Captain. Trust me; I do not sense any malicious intent from him.”

“Counselor… Trust is built upon rapport gained through time together. You have my confidence thus far. Do not disappoint me.”

“Yes Captain. Thank you…” The captain soon returned his attention to Valla and Narciso did the same. “Tell me what is your rank?”

“My what?”

“Your rank.”

“I do not hold any such title like my sister. I am a civilian.”

“How is that? You serve with your sister do you not?”

“No. I aid my sister, but I do not serve with her.”

“So… you are a citizen… This complicates matters.” The Captained turned and looked to Narciso. “I’m sure you’re aware that the Federation differs in treatment of officers and civilians.”

“I’m actually glad for this. Should I prepare quarters for him?”

“HA! A spy taken in by a Federation ship is given proper quarters as a guest. Then again… it’s not as though we actually ‘captured’ him. Make it so Counselor.”

The computer chimed as the voice of Reaver could be heard. “Captain we have arrived at Vulcan. We are ready to bring aboard the ambassadors.”

“Acknowledged, Number One. I shall be in the bridge shortly.” Talons looked to Narciso. “From here on out he will be under your supervision, Counselor. I’ll have a security team be assigned to him.” The Captain gave a final look to Narciso and then to Valla. He then turned and left sickbay, making his way to the bridge.

Narciso returned to the biobed with Valla atop it and then looked down to him. “I’m going to release the forcefield. But be warned that should you try to harm anyone, you will face serious consequences. Because of your… unique situation, you will be treated as a guest under house arrest. Do you understand? The Captain could have just decided to throw you back into the brig.”

“Fine. I understand. I’m not a battle-hardened officer. I will not try to escape.”

“Then it’s an agreement. Computer, release the forcefield of biobed six.” As Narciso spoke the computer removed the forcefield, allowing Valla to finally sit up on the bed. As he moved the security team that had remained in sickbay took their steps to come closer, but where halted by Narciso who signaled them to stay where they were. “Stand up, but watch your balance.” Narciso spoke as he placed a hand on Valla’s shoulder only to receive a confused look. “Should the dizziness not lessen, we will return to sickbay.”

Valla put his arm up and around Narciso’s shoulders for support, and then stood up. Once he got used to it, he removed his arm and stood by himself. Narciso then led him out of sickbay and to a turbolift. They walked until they came to one of the many quest quarters, though this one was below the deck the ambassadors would be assigned to. As they entered into the room, the security team took position at the door.

“The computer in this room will have many restrictions. The replicator as well. But I am sure you will be comfortable.” Narciso spoke as he stepped further into the room. He then pointed to other things, such as the bathroom and the bedroom. He turned around only to be met with Valla, their faces less than an inch away from each other. Narciso gasped and flinched backwards only to be grabbed by Valla’s arms around his waist and pulled into a tight embrace, and a deep kiss. Narciso struggled and fought by trying to push Valla away, but Valla only fought to hold his grip. The pair fell backwards onto a sofa, Valla atop Narciso.

Finally able to break free of the kiss, Narciso shouted. “What are you doing!?”

“You saved my life. I know. I am returning the favor.”

“Not necessary! Get off!”

“Do you not find me attractive? I know you do.”

“That’s not the point!” Narciso spoke while still trying to wiggle himself out from under Valla.

“That is the point! What more do you need!?”

“Love, for one!”

“A stupid word. A sad excuse for rejection.”

“There is nothing stupid about having-”

“About having someone to love and to hold?” Valla smiled then started kissing Narciso’s neck. It was then that Narciso made the connection that had been staring him in the face.

“You’re half human aren’t you.”

Valla immediately stopped what he was doing and stood up, releasing Narciso from his grip. “That is of no importance.”

Narciso stood up, and then corrected himself. “Not Human… Betazoid!”

Valla’s eyes shot forward and he stared daggers at Narciso. He lunged and pinned Narciso down, placing a hand over his mouth so he couldn’t speak. “My lineage is none of your business halfbreed. That’s right, I know of yours as well.”

Narciso managed to remove Valla’s hand from his mouth. “So that’s why you were used as a spy.”

“I was not ‘used’! I volunteered!”

“You’re lying and you know it!”

Valla jumped off and hastily distanced himself from Narciso. “You’re attracted to me.”

“Do not change the subject.” Narciso hastily stood and composed himself. “Though I did not appreciate being attacked like that.”

“Now who is the one that’s lying?” Valla turned and faced Narciso. “You loved it. You loved the attention I just gave you. You loved the thought of me ravaging your body.”

“Enough!” Narciso moved for the door. “I will not be played by your mind games!”

Valla moved and placed himself in Narciso’s path. “If you ever do what to play… I know what I’m doing… I could please you like no one ever could. You know where to find me.” He then moved slowly and gave space for Narciso to pass. But the counselor found it hard to move.

“You…”

Valla smirked and moved in close, putting his hands on Narciso’s waist slowly, and then nudging his face into the nook of Narciso’s neck. He then spoke in a whisper: “Orion pheromones… Difficult to refuse their intoxicating effect isn’t it, beautiful?”

Keep it going, mister! Amazing work!

S-

Indeed!

~J

Narciso didn’t move as Valla wrapped his arms around his waist. It was only when he tried kissing Narciso’s lips that the counselor moved. It took only a single motion of his right arm, only a perfectly aimed assault, to cause Valla to fall back and land on his ass. The Counselor had just delivered a successful uppercut. Narciso looked down at Valla, who tried to regain his composure, and narrowed his eyes. “I am Vulcan. You’re love spells will not work on my system.”

Valla looked up at Narciso, rubbing the underside of his smooth chin gently. “Really? Doesn’t even work on a halfbreed? I just learned something new.”

“Your gambit didn’t pay off.”

“No but I find myself actually falling in love with you.”

“Because I just knocked you on your ass?”

“Because you can take care of yourself. I revere that in a lover.”

“I’ve been told I constantly require the help of others to survive.”

“Cooperation isn’t the same thing as survivability.” Valla spoke as he finally got up from the floor. “But like I said; you know where to find me. I will please you in ways you have never known.”

“You talk as though you are a Deltan.”

“I’ve pleased Deltans until they were exhausted.”

“I’m leaving.” Narciso turned away and finally left through the door.

“I really am falling for you!” Valla shouted as the doors slid closed. He sighed and looked around. He made his way to the bedroom and planted himself down face first like a plank of wood. “Ahhhh, this will do nicely for our first time together.” He grabbed the sheets and spun around in them before finally dozing off to sleep.


--bridge of the Pallas Helena--

Captain Talons entered the bridge and looked to Reaver instantly. “What’s our status?”

“We’re only waiting for the coordinates for the transporter. Everything else is golden.” Reaver responded while sitting at his seat, reading over the information within the Syndicate datapad.

“Captain we’ve received the transporter coordinates. We’re ready to beam the ambassadors aboard.”

“Thank you Lieutenant Richlands.” The Captain tapped his combadge. “This is Captain Talons of the USS Pallas Helena. We are ready to beam aboard the ambassadors.”

“This is Vulcan Orbital Command. USS Pallas Helena, confirmation of transport procedures acknowledge. The Ambassadors are prepared to beam aboard. Live long, and prosper Captain.”

“Peace and long life, Vulcan Orbital Command.” Talons turned to Richlands. “You heard them, beam them aboard Theo.”

“Aye Captain. Beaming now.” Theo replied as he worked the transporter from his operations console. The group was beamed directly to the transporter pad located in the back of the bridge. There were five of them. Two of which were the Ambassadors and the other three were their aids. The Captain and Reaver had moved to greet them by standing in front of the pad.

“Welcome aboard Ambassadors!” Reaver said with a smile.

“Commander Reaver, come let me have a look at you. It’s been far too long since we last saw you.” Spoke the female Ambassador who stepped forward and took Reaver’s hands into her own.

The Captain was met by the male Ambassador, who raised his hand in the traditional Vulcan way. “Live long and prosper Captain Talons.”

“Peace and long life. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Ambassador.”

“The honor is ours Captain.” The male Ambassador turned his head just in time to see his female counterpart pinch Commander Reaver’s cheeks. “Captain, This is my wife.” He motioned with his hand towards her. At the mention of the word ‘wife’, the female Ambassador tore herself away from Reaver and joined her husband at his side.

“Captain. It is a pleasure to be aboard your ship.” Her voice had a beautiful melody to it. And a familiar one as well.

“Please, the pleasure is all ours.” The Captain responded with a smile.

“Allow me to make the formal introductions.” Reaver spoke as he went to stand beside the Captain. “Captain Talons. These are the Ambassadors Agu’Sti and Lilionia Heliree.”

The Captain paused for a moment, something finally clicking in his mind. “You wouldn’t happen to be… Narciso’s Grandparents would you?”

“That we are!” Exclaimed Lilionia with a smile on her face.

“That is accurate Captain.” Spoke Agu’Sti with a small smile upon his own lips.

“Where is our grandson? I cannot wait to see him!”

“Oh, He’ll be around Madam Ambassador.” The Captain motioned with his hand towards the turbolift. “Shall I show you to your quarters?”


--Corridors of quest quarters—

Narciso had left the temporary quarters of Valla Arin with a huff. He took note that the security officers posted at the doors were Vulcan; the Captain was no fool. With his mind racing with thoughts about how he did and didn’t feel in regards to Valla, Narciso grew angrier and angrier. He walked through the corridors until he came to a turbolift and stopped short, waiting for it to arrive. As the doors opened he walked in, alone, and requested to be taken to the bridge. His thoughts consisted of Reaver at this point. The turbolift sprang upwards and when the doors opened, Narciso could only stare out blankly. His grandparents were looking him dead in the eyes.

“Precious one!” Lilionia cried out in joy as she lunged forward and enwrapped Narciso within her arms and tangled him up in her Vulcan over-robe sleeves. “Oh my precious one!” She instantly began a deluge of kisses that were placed all over Narciso’s face.

“You’ll drown the boy if you keep that up Lili. Let him come up for some air.” Agu’Sti called out in his normal, almost monotone, voice. Lilionia swayed to the side, keeping Narciso in her arms and allowed space for Agu’Sti to step forward.

“Live long and prosper, Grandfather.” Narciso spoke with a soft smile while raising his right hand in the Vulcan symbol.

“Peace, and long life my child. Come.” Agu’Sti returned the ancient gesture with his own hand then held his arms out and forward. Narciso responded by taken a step forward, with his Grandmother of course as she simply refused to let him go. Agu’Sti then put his arms somberly around Narciso’s shoulders and his back and held him in an embrace. The hold was only broken when Agu’Sti retracted his arms and took a step back. “Captain I believe you were showing us to our quarters?”

“Yes, right this way.” The Captain gestured towards the turbolift. He, Narciso and his grandmother -who continued her vice-grip- and his grandfather, along with the three aids, fit into the turbolift with room to spare. Reaver, however, stayed on the bridge. The group traveled only a few decks down before exiting the mechanism and walking on through the corridor. Upon reaching the designated quarters, the aids were all assigned to one while the ambassadors were assigned to their own room, directly across the hall. “I’m certain this will be acceptable, Ambassadors.” The Captain spoke as they walked inside.

“Yes. I see my requested work desk has been met to my exact specifications. Gratitude, Captain.” Agu’Sti spoke while he eyed the work console and other instruments.

“This is a beautiful room Captain. Thank you for placing us in this luxury.”

“No, Madam Ambassador, No thanks is necessary. I shall be on my way to the bridge to make sure we are underway. Should you have need of anything, please inform me right away.”

“Wonderful. Oh Captain. One last thing: Where is the holodeck?”

“It’s on deck 18. Just through the corridor straight out from the turbolift, Can’t miss it. Ambassadors.” He spoke the last word with a bowing of his head. Talons then took leave of the quarters and proceeded to the bridge.

Narciso stood, his Grandmother still wrapped around him tighter than the fur on a polar bear. She stayed that way for a moment more, just as Agu’Sti began to work on the provided console. Lilionia finally removed her arms and clasped her hands on the waist of her over-robe, lifting the folded fabric and removing it to reveal a tight Vulcan gown underneath. Though she was an older madam, she still retained an admirable beauty, though were one to look at a picture from her youth and compare, they would see that her looks have actually faded from what they once were. But without that comparison, she would be seen as a beauty regardless. Her figure was an accentuated form of Narciso’s; a more visible definition of her waist in contrast to her hips and her shoulders, not to mention her bosoms. She often joked on how the Vulcan gowns were so tight and supportive around ‘that’ area, that she believed she would never succumb to gravity. Finally having made herself comfortable, removing the shawl from around her head and neck and allowing her extremely long and curly hair to cascade downward, she returned her attention to Narciso. “Ah, tell me precious one. When will you finally allow your hair to grow back to its length? I remember playing with your curls when you were younger, only cutting them when they ended up reaching your toes. Ah… I’ve missed you.” She raised her arms again and embraced Narciso, who happily returned it.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to grow it out that long for a while.”

“Of course not. It’s against Starfleet regulations. Doing so would be-”

“Illogical. Yes dear, we know.” Joked Lilionia, who in return got a stare from Agu’Sti to which she returned a shake of her rear. “Still… You could always leave Starfleet and become a vocalist. Tour the Galaxy. Ah, what memories I have… That’s how I met your Grandfather.”

“Yes I know. You were able to sway his heart and touch his deep emotions with your voice. If only I could be so lucky.” Narciso joked back.

“It was not luck. We… ‘zinged’. And when that happens you do not think twice.” Voiced Agu’Sti. After all the years of being wed to a Betazoid woman, Agu’Sti’s voice still couldn’t capture the ‘joking’ tone.

“Tell me, what about that Kenneth? He’s a serious catch and a half.”

“Grandmother… Kenneth and I never reached that level.”

“Oh, you know better than to lie to a Vulcan and a Betazoid. We both value honesty above everything, AND, I can tell you’re lying.”

“Oh, grandmother. It’s still serious between us. Just strained.”

“Yes, being caught in a temporal anomaly will do that to a relationship.”

“It’s not just that… Well yes that too, but. I don’t know.”

“Hush precious one. I know you still have to work your way through what you dealt with. And the friends you lost to the accident. But it’s in the past. And you’re still here.”

“I know… The living need to live on.”

“That would be the most logical conclusion.”

“I know you are correct Grandfather. I should leave you now. You both have a lot of work to accomplish before we arrive at Julain Pris.”

“Yes. How often do you get to make an official first contact with a female-run society that communicates with vocalized music and slight telepathy? Imagine my thrill when I heard they had requested entrance into the United Federation of Planets.”

“I know Grandmother. You finally get to use all your talents in one event. I’m excited for it. Now, I’ll see you both at Fourteen Forward?”

“Of course. We’ll see you there for dinner. Go on then, precious one.” Lilionia waved as Narciso turned and left their quarters with a smile on his face. Leave it to his Grandparents to make him feel instantly better just by being in their presence.

“I just pray that that boy knows he isn’t weak… What he’s been through, makes him stronger than those idiots displaying their strength for all to see.”

“He knows. He knows that the most dangerous Eagle doesn’t brandish it’s talons to all.”


Narciso had made it to the bridge, and entered just in time to hear the Captain say ‘engage’. Narciso took his seat by the Captain, his mind obviously heavy with something once again. This was made more evident by his head being stooped down and his eyes partially closed. He looked ready to start crying. Theo, the main operations officer, walked over from his station.

“Excuse me, Counselor?” His voice was that of a baritone, and it had a slight, natural, rasp to it. Narciso looked up, some of his gloom shaken away so as to not cause worry.

“What is it Theo?” Narciso asked, looking up at the tall man.

“Well… I need to speak with you. Is it alright if we move my appointment up.”

“Yes, of course. Would now be alright?”

“Now would be perfect.” Theo gave a small smile and moved towards the turbolift. Making sure to acknowledge his leave with the Captain and checking to make sure that someone took his station. Narciso stood from his seat and gave a glance towards Reaver, who was busy typing away into a datapad. He sighed softly and made his way to the turbolift, where Theo waited.

The ride down to Narciso’s office was a fast one, with it being located on the 8th deck towards the bow. As they entered, Narciso moved over to his work console and accessed his patient files, pulling up the one marked: Lt. Richlands, Theodor – Six of Seven. As Narciso glanced over the file record, Theo himself sat down on the sofa, ready to sprawl out on it.

“So, Theo. Tell me about the issue you’re having. It must be serious for you to move your appointment up.”

“It’s… my dreams Counse-... Narciso. I keep having these nightmares.”

Narciso instantly picked up Theo’s immediate distress. Merely mentioning the nightmares caused him to grow nervous and upset. “Theo, we’ve spoken of them before. Nightmares… They are just dreams. Just bad dreams that take from the worst memories we have. But that’s all it is; memories.”

“I-I know Narciso… but they’ve begun to change.”

“In which way, Theo?”

“I am no longer the one who dies… You are.” Theo couldn’t look directly at Narciso as he spoke. “In my dreams, you try to rescue me… In doing so, you die, killed in my arms. I don’t know how, but there you are. Plain as day. In my arms, bleeding out from your stomach. I try to stop the bleeding. But it… it only gushes more… And you tell me ‘Goodbye’, and that ‘It’s not your fault’, and ‘We had no choice’. That last one angers me most. The; ‘We had no choice’. It’s always the last words out of your lips. ‘we had no choice’. ‘We had no choice’!! I want to break everything after I hear you say that! I wake up, and I’m trashing about in anger!” Theo’s fists clinch tightly as he speaks and soon starts shouting. They become so tight that his hands turn purple.

“Easy, Theo.” Narciso speaks as he leans over and places a hand gently over Theo’s fist. His calmness ebbed out and washed softly through Theo, who opened his hand and grimaced at the pain he felt.

“See? I go blind with rage.” Theo leans forward, tears freely escaping his eyes. “I can’t do it.” He then falls forward and kneels in front of Narciso, placing his head on Narciso’s lap and his arms around Narciso’s waist. “I can’t go on with these dreams! I can’t do it! They should have killed me when they fought the Borg Sphere that carried me! Why did they rescue me!? WHY!? I was already dead!”

“Theo… “ Narciso knew that words would be worthless here. He simply placed his hands on Theo, one on the apex of his shoulders and another on his head, his fingers running through the thick dark hair gently. Narciso remembered when he had first met Theo. This lush, dark, hair didn’t exist. Borg implants were the only thing on his scalp. He truly was born again. All Borg that were rescued could be declared born again. It’s not an easy process.

Narciso stayed in this position with Theo for a while. Theo’s embrace tightened as time passed. Maybe his grandmother was right. Maybe Narciso was lying to himself. He had half the crew, men and women fawning over him. Most of the time he never even saw it though. He never acknowledged it, never seeing it because it was never on his mind. That explained why on every ship he served, the crew gossiped of the ‘Heliree Challenge’. Again, Narciso never paid it any heed.

When Theo finally regained himself, he knelt in front of Narciso. His tall height made him almost eyelevel with the Counselor. “Theo, just remember… You are strong. Stronger than many others that I know. Your dreams, they might make you feel weak. But you endure, you live, and you strive through it. You’re strong.”

Theo only looked Narciso dead in his eyes. He then lunged forward and planted a kiss on Narciso’s lips. Though Narciso expected this to happen sooner or later, it still stunned him. When Theo broke the kiss he leaned his forehead against Narciso’s, placing a hand on the nape of Narciso’s neck, just under his hairline. “You make me stronger than you know. Forgive me for kissing you. I mean no disrespect or insult. I… I just needed to show you my gratitude… And my admiration.”

“I’m not insulted. Nor do I feel disrespected. It’s alright Theo.” Narciso gently placed his hand on Theo’s and removed it slowly from his neck. Theo took the hint and leaned back a bit. “Are you okay to return to duty?”

“Yes. I am. Thank you. For not being my therapist, but instead being my friend.”

“It’s my honor to be your friend Theo… It’s always an honor to have friends with such strength…”

Log Entry: Captain Rider Talons; Supplemental.


“I don’t remember things being so complicated. When given an order you follow through with it. But that’s a fool’s paradise. A way of thinking that excuses using your own judgment. Regardless, as a Commanding officer, my mind is weighed heavily. My orders can mean life or Death for my crew. This leads me to question orders from higher up on the command chain.

Our current orders, our present and currently ongoing mission, is to escort Federation Ambassadors to a planet called Julain Pris, located on the edge of the neutral zone between Federation space and the Romulan Star Empire. This planet, a theocracy with female oriented superiority, has refused to align itself with the Romulan Star Empire, trying to maintain a neutral stance. However, upon the refusal of the ‘civil’ Romulan proposal, they have begun to see their trade ships assaulted and raided, delivering a devastating blow to their economy.

We’ve brought aboard a team composed of a duo and their associates. Because of the nature of the way the Julain Prions communicate, Starfleet thought it intelligent to send someone who can use their methods. A logical course of action. But what concerns me is the fact that we are traveling to the Neutral Zone, and there is a good chance of us meeting some… adversary, during our time there.

I merely hope the Romulans do not attack us. A skirmish on the neutral zone will have the capacity to cause some serious trouble.

Talons out.”


----------------------------------------------------------


Log Entry: Commander Reaver, Kenneath; Supplemental.


“Everything has been upside down in my world ever since that accident. The one where the USS Corona had been caught in a Temporal Anomaly. We had thought it was some kind of a gravity well, which is why we approached it to examine it. When we got close enough for a sensor sweep, we realized that we had gotten pulled in. By then it was too late. The following was too horrid… To gruesome to explain in detail, at least for me anyway. I was never the kind of guy who could handle high amounts of gore. Everyone knows the difficulty I had in xeno-anatomy. Frankly, I’m glad I volunteered to go out in the shuttle…

Things have changed… When we got out, only a few of us survived. We lived only to be shocked with the fact that we had been trapped for almost twenty years. We lost twenty years of existence. Some would argue that we got a twenty year extension. I try not to think about it.

Currently I am aboard the USS Pallas Helena. I am serving as her second in command, which reminds me; I need to hurry and finish my report on the information of the ‘Databug’ that the Orion Syndicate used against us, almost successful.

I guess that’s it. Our Counselor wants me to try and speak more of the accident. He… Nah, that’s all.”


----------------------------------------------------------


Log Entry: Lieutenant Geroff, Marietta; Supplemental.


“What in the world?”

*The log sounds out with static and a fuzzy visual.*

“Ah! I hate these things!”

*Banging can be heard*

“Fuck it! I quit! Nothing happened today! MON DEUS!!”

*An extremely loud thud is heard and the log entry is cut off with static.*


----------------------------------------------------------


Log Entry: Lt. Com. Counselor Neves-Heliree, Narciso; Supplemental.


“Okay. Nothing to report on regarding today. A lot has happened, but I’ve gotten past it now. I have dinner set with my Grandparents, who we picked up from Vulcan. I’m looking forward to it. It’ll give me a chance to relax. Alright, fine. The accident is still fresh in my mind.

I’ve been focusing on the problems of others, so that I don’t have to think about my own. When the USS Corona was trapped, I… I thought we would be okay. I really did. But then things started to go bad. I remember, running down the corridor. There were ten of us. We ran, the bulkhead was collapsing behind us. Marietta was with me, Cherrosk too. Hal, Jake, Theo and Christina… Reaver had gone out in a shuttle, to see if he could find a way out under the Captain’s order. So he wasn’t there to…

Out of the ten of us running, three didn’t make it. They were crushed under the bulkhead. I would have been to, had Theo and Marietta not pulled me up after I had tripped. Thanks to Hal, we were able to pilot the Corona out of the Temporal Anomaly, following the shuttle piloted by Reaver.

We survived. We did what we had to do. We had no choice. Ha… Theo might hurt me for saying that one. Anyways, the dead rest. The living carry on until their time to rest comes.

Anyways. We’ve all got to move forward. I’ll be damned if I trap myself in a temporal anomaly of my own by dwindling on the past.

Narciso, supplement log, out.”


----------------------------------------------------------

Narciso sat on the edge of the foot of his bed, facing towards the dark windows. His head hung low as his mind drifted out to deities only know where. He was still, not really moving save for a slight swaying on his head. There was music playing softly in the background, a gentle violin sung a melancholy tune, almost bittersweet in its nature. Narciso raised his arms, his hands gently rubbing at his eyes. As he seemed to come back from daydreaming, the Pallas Helena turned just enough to allow a nearby star to come into view. It washed Narciso’s quarters with its light. His room blazed with a golden hue. Noticing the star, Narciso arose from his seat, the tears that he had been shedding were hidden by the darkness. But with the sudden emergence of this stars’ light, they sparkled and gleamed like diamonds as they fell onto the fabric of his clothes. He took his steps slowly and came to stand behind the small sofa he had within his bedroom. He gazed out to the star and he finished wiping away his tears. With the reflection of the light flooding his room, Narciso was able to see his own reflection in the window. He wore a formal robe, one that was elegantly decorated. It was layered, and a deep purple in color which contrasted perfectly with the light brown of his hair. The hair his mother allowed to grow out to lengths upon lengths as he grew up. He pinned his hair from the top of his head behind his head with a comb, jeweled with pearls from the Opal Sea of Betazed. His grandmother, Lilionia had given it to him. It was her own grandmothers’ keepsake; a true heirloom, one could call it. From there, his hair bubbled down in curls, joining the free curls of the back of his head. The entire length went down, just reaching the bottom of his shoulder blades. As with the normal of his attire; the top of the robe was tight around his chest and waist, and draped loosely past that point. Around his hips, Narciso wore a golden sash from Vulcan. It was usually worn on the waist, but putting it there annoyed Narciso’s movement. He raised his hands and touched the armlets he was wearing over his bare skin. They were gold with a relief of a peacock who’s tail feathers rose up and around his arm without touching him. When he got it he wasn’t even entirely sure what the animal was, he just thought it was beautiful.

Narciso lowered his arms and walked away from the window, finally noticing the wash of gold over his quarters. He slowed for a moment to admire it and then continued his pace, coming to the door exiting his quarters. It slid open, but Narciso stopped, placing a hand on the wall and glancing over his shoulder. “A bird in a gilded cage. But is it my cage that’s gilded… or the space it’s located in?” He lowered his gaze and placed a hand over his abdomen, breathing in deeply. He left and door slid closed behind him.

Narciso came to the doors leading to fourteen forward. He looked through the glass which had the emblem of the Federation printed on it. He saw his Grandparents there. They were sitting at a table with Reaver, who just so happened to be dressed up formally too. They must have invited him to eat with them. He hesitated, the thought of turning around and leaving came and left him in an instant. He walked through the doors that slid open and as he did so he was met face to face with Theo.

“Narciso. You look amazing! What’s the occasion?”

“My Grandparents like it when everyone dresses to eat dinner.”

“Ah.”

“At least we don’t eat naked… Then again, according to them a wedding isn’t far off.”

“Oh? Who’s the lucky couple?”

“No one’s engaged yet. We’re not even pre-engaged.”

“Oh. OH!” Theo stood stiff as he realized the ‘couple’ was Narciso and Reaver. “Well, I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks Theo.” Narciso spoke as he gave a pat to Theo’s shoulder then walked past him. Theo turned and watched him go, loving it but hating to see him leave. He quickly returned to the bar so as to not be standing alone and staring.

“Ah, Narciso!” Lilionia exclaimed as the young Counselor approached. “look at you! You remembered tradition! I’m glad.”

“I’m not one to break tradition.” Narciso looked towards Reaver. “I didn’t know you’d be joining us. Don’t you have to finish up on the Databug?”

“It’s all finished. Besides, it’s my pleasure. You know how much I love hearing your Grandparents story. Now, have a seat. Lilionia was telling us the story of when you were born.”

“Oh Deities…” Narciso whined to himself as he sat down, taking a napkin and placing it on his lap.

“Where was I… AH! Imagine the shock we got when our son came back with his wife and a newborn child! Agu’Sti was thrilled, of course. As he held Narciso for the first time I went ahead and beat the living Hell out of his parents. I scolded them for not even sending us a transmission to inform us! But oh, Narciso was a beautiful baby! When I held him for the first time he cried! Can you believe it!? He actually cried! He wouldn’t shut up either until his Grandmother Nezita and I sang to him. Then he got real quiet, gave us a strange look, and he started ‘coo’-ing! He was doing so along with our song. We knew right then and there that he would be a singer. But instead he became a Starfleet officer! Tell me Reaver, you’ve heard his singing right? Of course you have, you think he should be a singer right?”

Reaver had to really focus to take in everything Lilionia spoke. “Ah, yes I think he should.”

“See there, Narciso?” Lilionia cut in again. “You should sing for us right now!”

“No Grandmother. I don’t think-”

“Hush up child and sing!”

“I think it’s a great idea.” Reaver stood up and moved towards a piano that had been left in fourteen forward for decoration. Reaver faced the busy area and called out. “Everyone! Hey, listen up! Our Narciso is going to sing for us! Give him a hand yeah!” Reaver began clapping and instantly the place was filled with applause. Narciso didn’t move from his seat, however. He only did so when his grandmother jabbed him in the leg with a fork. Then he jumped up with a whelp.

“Fine, fine. I’ll sing.” Narciso walked towards the piano and stood before it as Reaver sat down testing the keys by playing a quick melody. He then started a slow paced song, and Narciso looked over to him through narrowed eyes. Reaver only shrugged and kept playing. Breathing in deeply and releasing to prepare his airflow, he took in a rapid yet deep breath, the air instantly filling his lungs to the brim.

“There are worse things I could do, than go with a boy or two. Even though the neighborhood thinks I'm trashy, and no good, I suppose it could be true. But there are worse things I could do…” Narciso sang very softly at first, and not very loud either. This caused everyone to try and be as quiet as possible so as to listen. Even the bartenders stopped, so as to not make noise with the glasses or bottles.

“I could flirt with all the guys, smile at them and bat my eyes. Press against them when we dance, make them think they stand a chance, and then refuse to see it through. That's a thing I'd never do.” A small smile was evident on Narciso’s face as he locked eyes with Theo, who was still seated at the bar. Theo only returned the smile with a gigantic one of his own.

“I could stay home every night!” Narciso’s voice finally began to have volume. For a guy on the slightly smaller size, he could belt out extreme volume. “Wait around for Mr. Right.” His voice echoed and he began to close his eyes and tilt his head back, allowing himself to be taken by the music on an emotional level. “Take cold showers every day, and throw my life away, on a dream that won't come true…” His eyes glanced at Reaver, who smiled as he played, not looking up at Narciso. A tear formed in the corner of the Counselors’ eye.

“I could hurt someone like me… out of spite or jealousy. I don’t steal and I don’t lie!! But I can feel… and I can cry… A fact I'll bet you never knew… But to cry in front of you, now that's the worst thing I could do…” As Narciso finished, his voice had lowered to a whisper with the final lines. Reaver struck the last note and stood up as the place applauded once again. As they clapped he walked over to Narciso and trapped him in an embrace. Narciso returned the hug, but his eyes once again landed on Theo. His eye-lock was only broken when Reaver took his hand and began leading him back to the table to finish eating dinner with his grandparents.

The meal lasted a sort while. As it came to an end, Narciso’s grandparents rose from their seats and declared that they would retire for the rest of the evening. After they left, taking all the eyes with them as they passed through the doors, Reaver looked to Narciso. “You have the rest of the evening off right?” He placed a hand over Narciso’s. “Want to spend it together?”

“How can you be… so nonchalant about everything?” Narciso’s voice was soft yet sharp. He retracted his hand from under Reaver’s and stood up, slamming the napkin he used on his lap onto the table. “I still… I still haven’t forgiven you Kenneth.” Narciso then stormed out of Fourteen Forward, his pearl comb falling out of his hair in his huff. Reaver stood up and was hurt, but he seemed to expect the outburst. He was amazed it didn’t happen sooner. They haven’t even talked about the accident. When one of them wanted to do so, the other always rejected the conversation. It caused a serious strain in their relationship that prior to these events was nothing short of perfection. Reaver glanced down and looked at the small trinket he held in his hand. He opened it and it played a melody. Inside, however, was hidden a ring: An engagement ring. He snapped the small music box close and began to storm out himself. As he went on he noticed the pearl comb and immediately recognized it as the one that belonged to Narciso.

Narciso practically ran through the corridors. He took a turbolift and then continued to run again. He found himself before a door, that when slid open revealed Theo on the other side…

“Narciso…”

“I… I’m sorry, I should go.”

“No wait!” Theo reached forward and grasped Narciso’s arm, gently pulling him back. “Wait, don’t go.”

Narciso returned and looked up at Theo’s face. Theo moved aside and gestured into his quarters. “Please, come in.” Narciso walked in with a slow haste, almost hesitant.

“I just… I saw you smiling as I was singing.”

“I know. That’s why I smiled. Because in that crowded space, you saw me.” Theo walked up behind Narciso and put his hands on Narciso’s shoulders. His hands were warm and his touch soft. That was expected, as Narciso saw Theo to be a ‘gentle giant’ of a man. “I’m glad you’re here…” Narciso only nodded once, bowing his head slowly and shivering as Theo placed a kiss on his right shoulder. Narciso turned his head to the right, connecting with Theo’s head, leaning on each other. Theo raised his hand and clasped the armlet on Narciso’s right arm, and slowly lowered it down past Narciso’s hand, effectively taking it off. He repeated the slow motion with the left armlet, leaving Narciso’s arms bare. He then embraced Narciso, wrapping his arms around his waist, passing his hands over the Counselors’ abdomen. He then used his strength and moved Narciso around, picking him up in his arms and carrying him to the bedroom… The lights darkened. And they would remain that way until late into the morning…

Narciso’s eyes slowly opened, the light in the bedroom was extremely low, and he could barely make out the face inches away from his own. That face was already looking into Narciso’s eyes deeply, admiringly. Narciso was laying on his side, his arms in front of him and Theo, lying beside him, was mirroring him. Their hands were holding each other; Narciso realized it as Theo raised his hand and kissed it. “Good morning…”

“Theo… What time is it?”

“We overslept. Though we didn’t do much sleeping.”

“I’ve missed my appointments.”

“You needed a break.”

“That’s no excuse.”

“Fine: I needed you.” Theo moved forward and wrapped Narciso in his arms. Narciso returned the embrace, resting his head against Theo’s chest, and placing his leg around his current lover’s hips. Theo began running his hands through Narciso’s long hair, loving the natural silken texture to it. The two continued on like this for a while longer, just relishing the embrace and closeness of the other. It was interrupted when the computer chimed and the voice of the captain came through.

“Talons to Ensign Richlands. Where are you? You were supposed to be on the bridge at 0900. That was two hours ago!”

Theo found his combadge on his nightstand and tapped it. “Richlands here sir. I shall be up there now.”

“Acknowledged. Do not be late again, I will not tolerate it.”

“Yessir.”

The computer chimed and then it chimed once more. “Talons to counselor Heliree.”
Narciso didn’t move, not wanting too. But when the captain called out again, Theo leaned over and reached past Narciso, retrieving his combadge and holding it for him. “Either you tap it or I do. And imagine if I respond.”

Narciso took the combadge, reluctantly, and tapped it. “Heliree here sir. Is something wrong?”

“Counselor we’ve reached Julain Pris. I would like your presence on the bridge. Your grandparents are already up here.”

“Acknowledged Captain. I’ll be up shortly…” Narciso tapped the combadge and cut the connection. He finally moved, and stood up from the bed, his form unobstructed for Theo to see. Unable to help himself, Theo sat up and reached for Narciso, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him back down. Narciso landed between Theo’s legs, and sat with his back pressed against by Theo’s chest. Theo kept his arms tight, and gently kissed Narciso’s shoulders. He occasionally placed his nose against Narciso’s skin and inhaled his scent. The counselor smelled of roses and an enthralling soft musk that could only be his natural pheromones. “I need to go. You do too.”

“I know. But I’ve been addicted to you, all my senses addicted to yours. I’ve finally indulged in you. Sorry for having a hard time pulling away from such a strong drug.”

“You talk as though I’m an Orion.”

“An Orion and a Deltan all rolled into one…” He gently bit Narciso’s shoulder. “I can’t get enough.”

Narciso only smiled, feeling good about himself and finally about life for the first time since the incident. He forced himself to stand up and moved to his clothes, dressing himself. Theo did the same, and when he was finished he went and placed himself behind Narciso, wrapping his arms around the Counselor once more. “Good thing we took that hydroshower together. I know you would hate having to go to work with-”

“-With nothing. Theo, you’re already late.”

“You’re right. We should get to work.” Theo spoke with a slightly depressed tone to his voice. As he let go of Narciso’s waist, the Counselor went ahead and left the small quarters. Theo watched him leave as he gathered his things. He wondered if he overstepped. He was the one who lead the events of last night. He told Narciso prior that he was glad they were friends. He hoped last night hadn’t ruined that friendship.

Narciso entered the turbolift alone and rode it to the bridge. Upon taking a step forward he was attacked by his grandmother and trapped by her embracing him. “Someone had a nice night!”

“Grandmother, please!” Narciso begged as he noticed Reaver sitting at the commander’s seat. A feeling of guilt suddenly washed over him and mixed horribly with his joy. He was suddenly cursing and praising himself all at once. The joy confirmed the strong feelings he had for Theo. The guilt confirmed the love he had for Reaver. He started to resent the guilt and what it represented. As Narciso’s mind wondered, Captain Talons’ voice broke him free and caused him to focus on the current events.

“Ambassadors. Shall we contact Julain Pris?”

“Yes Captain. Open a channel, but make sure none of your boys talk. Remember, females are superior to this race.”

“Of course Madam Ambassador.” As they spoke Theo appeared from the turbolift and took his place at the operations station. “Good, Theo. Hail Julain Pris. If I read the report correctly, our hail shall be picked up by their leader personally.”

“Yessir, hailing Julain Pris now. Hail acknowledged, putting it on the view-screen.”

As the image came onto the screen, the bridge crew saw a gorgeous young man. He ‘sang’ after making an upside-down triangle with his hands. A symbol of the womb of the women that was used as their greeting, much like the Vulcan hand gesture. “Federation Starship, NC-84174 USS Pallas Helena: Welcome to JPris Space. I am Alphorn. First child of the Empress and her voice. Ambassador Lilionia, we are honored to receive you and your ship.”

Lilionia stood from her seat and stood in the center of the bridge. She did the gesture, the one the young man did, and began to sing herself. “The honor is all ours, First Child and voice of the Empress, Alphorn. Please, Inform the Empress of her guests arrival.” The two actually were singing pitches as they communicated. The vocalization of melodies made the solid foundation and structure of the sentences a person spoke. It implied the tone, and the emotions meant to be sent with it. The ‘words’ of the actual sentence were sent telepathically. Looking at Lilionia on the bridge, she was basically singing in a very happy –though subtle- operatic pitch.

“I already have, Federation Ambassador Lilionia. She is waiting in her throne room within the Melodic Palace. Coordinates have been sent to you, as agreed. They shall put you in the foregrounds of the Palace.”

As Lilionia inhaled to begin singing her response, the Pallas Helena shook with a sudden impact, knocking Lilionia to the floor. Agu’Sti, Narciso and Reaver all rushed to her side seeing that she had been knocked out by her fall. “She must have hit her head! Grandfather take her to sickbay!” Narciso cried as the ship shook again. Agu’Sti picked up his wife and lifted her up with an amazing ease. His steps were hasty as he went to the turbolift and rode it away from the bridge.

“The Hell!? Shields up! Red Alert! Beldon, what in inferno is happening!?” Talons cried out.

“Unknown sir! Running scans now.” Beldon replied as the shield shook for a third time. The impact was greatly lessened by the shields. “Sir, we were hit with plasma torpedoes on our starboard side! Minor damage to the outer hull. No breaches. No point of origin Captain, sensors aren’t revealing any ships in our vicinity.”

“Counselor, you need to explain to Pristians that we are under attack! Tell them they might be in danger as well. It’s got to be the Romulans!”

“Captain I can’t”

“Yes you can!” Reaver shouted as he helped Narciso up to his feet. “You’re the only one with the chance to get the message through.”

Narciso hesitated and the ship was shaken again by another impact.

“Impact to our underbelly. Ventral shields holding at ninety-six percent!” Beldon replied.

Narciso finally stood in the center of the bridge and began to sing after establishing a telepathic link to Alphorn. His message was simple, a warning to defend themselves from the Romulans, and that they would give any aid needed for them to keep themselves safe.

Alphorn responded with gratitude and said that he just received word that more unidentified ships warped into their space. He said that some even beamed down armed teams and that they had entered the Melodic Palace uninvited. Alphorn sang mournfully, sending an image of his mother, the Empress. It was his way of asking that they help to rescue her. Narciso acknowledged and said that they would beam down as soon as it was safe to do so.

The entire conversation took less than a minute, sped up with more reliance on telepathy. The Pallas Helena shook once more. Seeing that Narciso had finished, Talons ordered the connection be cut and evasive maneuvers immediately. Hal started up the engines, and the Pallas Helena took off, curving to her starboard side.

“Captain, they have cloaks on, we can’t target them properly.” Ric called out.

“They are firing their weapons so triangulate by tacking the projection of their torpedoes. Use the energy particles patterns to lock onto and fire the phasers.”

“Plasma torpedo volley incoming!” Theo warned out loudly.

“Perfect! Aim at them and fire all phasers!” Reaver shouted.

Hal kept the ship going to her starboard. The volley was coming from the port side. Using the broadside to their advantage, all phasers were fired and a fraction managed to hit the torpedoes. It was enough, however, to set the whole volley ablaze. The eruption flared and hit the edge of three Romulan Dhael class warbirds, causing their cloaks to fluctuate. “Fire at will!” Talons shouted.

Ric managed to lock on to all three warbirds and fire phasers and a volley of photon torpedoes. The assault was deadly, as the warbirds were foolishly clumped together in a tight formation. The phasers weakened their hulls and the volley of photon torpedoes rendered them all disabled and dead in the water from the overwhelming damage.

As they were hit, a fourth ship decloaked behind them, revealing itself as a Haakona Advanced Warbird. The ship did not fire, instead it hailed the Pallas Helena. The view-screen came on, revealing an angry looking Romulan. “Federation dogs. Leave Romulan territory this instant! Your attack on Tal Shiar vessels will be reported and you will face the consequences of your actions!”

“We are in Neutral Space, and this system is hereby under the protection of the Federation. Retrieve your people from Julain Pris and leave. No more blood shall be shed by your trespassing onto Allied Federation space.” Talons replied, stern and with a harsh look in his eye due to the mention of the Tal Shiar. They wouldn’t be interested in this planet unless there was something on it. Something dangerous.

The connection was cut and the view-screen showed the Warbird cloak, however it did not attack. “Captain we are receiving a distress call from Julain Pris’ Capital of Harmonia.” Theo responded.

“That Haakona Warbird is still out there… Reaver! Take Narciso, Marietta, Ric and Theo with you as our representative party. The Counselor will be in charge of talks with the Pristians. We will beam down security crewmen with you. We will retake Harmonia and protect the Empress. Her safety is our top priority people. Head out.” As the fore mentioned people left the bridge, the Captain opened the ship wide intercom and proceeded to give orders to beam down security officers and crewmen. Thankfully the ship had 2540 souls aboard, all well trained and ready to do what was needed.

And the plot thickens! Patiently awaiting the continuing saga.... ;)

Love the character portraits on the OP!!!

Narciso stood on the transporter pad surrounded by Reaver, Marietta, Ric, and Theo. Chrissy was also there, as the assigned medic for their group. Narciso wore an equipment belt, and on it was a holster with a standard Federation type phaser. While not the best with the beam weapon, Narciso was able to stand his ground in the shooting range simulation on the holodeck. He was close to the top in his score, but Reaver was the actual title holder.

Looking through the transporter room, he noticed how the ship had sprung to life due to the situation. Squads upon squads were formed and had begun beaming down to the planet to repel the Romulan invasion force. Each where assigned to their selective coordinates, Narciso’s group was to lead the rescue with the others support. He couldn't help but wonder how crowded the shuttlebays were with the dispatching of personal and equipment.

“Reaver, Talons here.” The Captains voice came through the loud chatter of the others assembling themselves. “The Pallas Helena will be able to provide air support from orbit. You will be the one to call with the coordinates. But remember, we must keep the destruction caused by the Romulans to the minimum. Keep in mind, if we engage it might provoke the Romulan ship to attack us and prevent us from aiding you. Also bear in mind; they are able to fire down to the planet as well.”

“Roger than Captain. We’ll be beaming to the Northern Plaza of the city. The Palace will be just beyond it. Squads have already beamed down and are providing protection to the civilian population and housing areas to the east and south. The Central and Western Districts were the first targeted. Reports from the citizenry confirm that the Romulans were scouring the area looking for something. The Western District housed their industrialization, factories and mass energy supply. It’s been completely wiped out by bombardment from shuttlecraft fighters, scorpion type. We are expecting to encounter power failures, which may detour us. The Romulans are currently holding down in the Central District and the Northern District. Sir, this attack has been previously planned out.”

“Understood, and agreed Number One. Transport to the city when ready.”

“Aye sir.” Reaver moved and placed himself onto the transport pad, joining his group. “Ready? Take us down.” The transporter chief nodded and manipulated the console. The transporter beam activated and engulfed the away team. Within seconds they began to materialize on the planet’s surface. The ship's shields were strong, but to allow the team to transport down they went off for the minimum amount of time needed. Once the team had beamed down, shields were brought back up.

Upon complete re-materialization, the team saw the stone-set plaza they were in for the first time. The plaza was quite large, with a giant fountain in the center that spewed water into a shallow pool kept in place by marble. The statue in the center comprised of many elements, with many orbs at the base and a statue of a humanoid female. Her head had a naturally grown crown, a feature that arose from their temples at adolescence. Hers was adorned with what looked to be real jewels and actual golden chains. Her hands gestured down to the water and her face tilted up so as to look to the sky. Above her were levitating orbs of water that swirled slowly in the air. It seemed to be a religious figure given how lavishly adorned and well-kept it was.

Narciso looked around, swearing that he had seen that statue before. The space they were in was completely clear. But sounds of explosions and banging could be heard in the distance. Narciso looked towards their directions, the north and the southwest. Pillars of smoke could be seen from both areas, rising angrily into the otherwise calm skies.

“We need to get moving. Our people have already started engaging the Romulans at the Palace. The faster we can secure it the better.” Reaver spoke as he began to move with haste. Everyone followed him, even Marietta who was carrying a phaser type assault minigun that she had gotten from storage. They ran further north, following the stone-set road that was lined with waterways and streams, not to mention a flourishing abundance of flora and fauna. They soon reached the gates of the palace, which were blown open and scattered to pieces. The Romulans had to break through the old fashioned way, as a transport jammer prevented teleportation directly into the Palace. Within, the sounds of fighting could be heard, as well as a strange music in the air.

The Palace itself was a sheer white, save for newly made tarnishes from plasma weaponry. It was a gigantic structure and was obviously comprised of many tall towers that spiraled around each other as they ascended their many heights. Various halls connected the towers as well, effectively jointing them.

The group began to move with caution as they headed towards the doors of the Palace. With Marietta taking point and scanning the area with her eyes carefully. As they went up on the doorsteps a group of Romulans appeared from behind the pillars on the entryway. “Halt! This planet is under the jurisdiction of the Romulan Star Empire! You have no purpose being here!”

“The Hell we don’t!” Marietta responded with a shout and by squeezing the trigger of her assault weapon as she moved to the right. Phaser bolts blasted through the Romulan group and managed to put the majority of them on the floor. Reaver took her lead and raised his phaser, directly hitting their squad leader in his chest, dropping him to the floor in a heaped pile. Marietta broke into a run, Cherrosk moved behind her with a phaser rifle. The pair entered the enormous and crystal lined foyer. As the rest of the group caught up, a plasma grenade detonated to their right flank. The plasma fire caught, even on the marble, but thankfully it didn’t hit anyone of the group.

Reaver moved forward, taking in the large space. “This place is even larger than it looks. The Empress better be in the throne room, otherwise we might not be able to even find her.” As Reaver spoke, Narciso and Chrissy brought up the rear flank and looked around for themselves.

“Look!” Chrissy shouted pointing ahead towards a grand staircase. It rose up many floors, splitting to lead to appropriate hallways that traveled deeper inside. A blue carpet of epic length coated the marble stairs. The entire palace looked as though it were cut from a single stone. But what Chrissy pointed towards were people who were running down the stairs, scattered and scared almost to the point that it almost caused Narciso to overload mentally. They ran down the stairs, franticly emerging from the various Hallways. They were chased by Romulans, shouting that they demanded the Pristians reveal their secret weapon. The Pristians only fled, emitting a sound -a melody- that filled the foyer with horror and dread. They ran, their gorgeous free flowing and colorful garments dancing behind them as they moved, tracing their previous steps. However the Romulans had different ideas. The group they encountered at the main entrance were placed not to keep people out, but rather to never let anyone leave. More Romulan squads revealed themselves from hiding and began to fire upon the Pristians who ran, cursing them and calling them cowards. The Pristians fell, one after the other. Each, however, were willing to jump before another to take the shot of the plasma beam: More admirable than any Romulan agent.

“BASTARDS!” Marietta screamed at the top of her lungs as she charged forward and fired a rapid burst of phaser beams from her assault minigun. She rained her anger onto the Romulans who were indiscreetly massacring innocents under the pretense of ‘suspicion of plotting against the Empire’. Her aim was wild, but the wide spray of phaser beams managed to hit every group, even reaching to the higher floors as she raised the angle of her aim. Her weapon overheating, she was forced to retire her assault far earlier than she wanted to. Some Romulans survived her assault, retreating back into the hallways. Everyone could only look at the scene before them. Bodies laid scattered on the grand staircase. The light blue hues of the carpet and bright white marble steps were suddenly stained a ghastly deep crimson. Some even fell from the balconies of the staircase…

The giant space was intimately and horrifyingly silent. The group gathered themselves, Chrissy even scanned for lifesigns on her modified tricorder to search for any survivors in vain, as her results were cold. The group looked backwards, hearing the running of others. A group of four Pristians appeared, panting and out of breath. All were roughly the average height of their species, seven feet and eight inches, not counting the individual crowns each one grew. Narciso and Chrissy ran to them, and they managed to finally catch their breaths. One saw beyond the Federation group and gave out a sudden high pitched wail. The sound was similar to the one heard as the others were running for their lives, only this one was more hostile; angry in its nature. She only stopped when a male put his hand on her shoulder.

“Why are you here? You should be escaping the palace!” Narciso spoke to them hastily.

“We managed to escape from a side passage, but we were trapped in the crossfire of a battle outside. They beamed down from the stars.” A female with long hair responded, obviously distraught. “The Romulans targeted us as we ran. There were thirteen of us when we went outside. Twenty-six of us started to escape together from inside the palace.”

“Do you know where the throne room is?” Narciso questioned.

“Beyond the doors of the second level, keep going and the throne room is there. Please, save the royal family!”

Reaver looked out to see a swarm of Romulans beginning to overtake the front yards of the Palace. He hastily typed into his pad. The response was a sudden rain of phaser fire directly upon the Romulans. The air support hit the coordinates transmitted by Reaver dead on, reducing the Romulan numbers dramatically.

“Go, now!” Narciso cried out, seeing his crewmembers assume position and take out the remaining Romulans outside. “Head to the Eastern District. We’ve set up blockades there. The Romulans won’t be able to reach you. The road there should be set with our people, they’ll protect you.”

The four Pristians looked behind them and then toward Narciso. They bowed their heads and did the hand symbol of their people; a triangle pointing to the ground. Narciso returned the gesture and the group took off running through the courtyard.

He returned his attention to his own group, who had already run through the foyer and were rising up the stairs to the second level, where giant double doors were closed tight. Narciso moved with haste, finally noticing the massive chandeliers hanging down, and the matching candelabras placed throughout. Reaching the steps by Reaver, Narciso was careful to not step on any of the bodies that lay on the stained floors. Cherrosk moved to the doors, and examined them. He pushed and pulled to no avail, they were locked. He reached into his kit and pulled out a very small piece of equipment. He placed it on the middle of the door and ran backwards. “Clear!” he shouted as he pulled a trigger. The door was destroyed by the explosive placed on it. It blew towards the inside, opposite from the away team. When that obstacle now past them, the team ran through the open doors and further through the lengthy hallway decorated with various objects, such as vases and portraits, all of which were very old and likely priceless. The hallway had numerous other doors on the sides leading to various other places within the palace. It was almost mazelike, but for the Pristians, navigating these hallways was simple, as their species thrived on mentally mapping 3D areas and retaining those maps.

The doors at the other end of this hallway were open. The team burst through them and came to a mind-blowingly gargantuan hall. The ceiling was highly decorated and adorn, rising several floors up. The walls on opposite sides of the hall were comprised of support pillars and stained glass windows, some of which had been shattered onto the polished floors. The space resembled a ballroom, and was likely used as such. The team looked beyond, but it was Theo who pointed something out this time. At the other end was a collection of doors, each on different levels that could be reached by another giant staircase, similar to the ones the team passed at the entrance. Theo pointed to yet another group of Pristians being attacked by Romulans. This group, however, did not wear the normal garments of their people. They were clad in a mixture shinning silver and pitch-black ebony armor that had a protecting effect from the Romulan plasma rifles. They retaliated on their attackers, fighting with sift movements and unmatched teamwork. One armored Pristian would deliver a blow that would stun a Romulan and another would deliver the killing blow that was unblocked due to the Romulan being stunned. The away team began to hear the sounds coming from the fighting. It was a mixture of melodies, from high to low ranges in pitch. But it was obvious in its nature: It was a war chant. The Pristians were communicating their attacks, working in tandem via their normal communication. The Romulans, never having bothered to even learn their language, were completely clueless as to the meaning. They were literally saying things such as: “Punching this guy in the collar” and “Destroying this girl’s elbow”. But the lack of understanding on the Romulan side only allowed the increased efficiency of the Pristians.

As Narciso and his team approached, the Pristians had already made short work of the Romulans. Reaching them, the Pristians reflexively took an offensive stance, only broken when Narciso began to speak.

“We are of the Federation. We’ve come to aid the Empress!”

The Pristians stood down from their stances and responded with singing, triumph in nature. “Hail, Federation guardians. We are the Elite Guard of the Empress.” They responded, all of them women.

“Is the Empress safe? Is she inside?”

“Inside, she is. Safe, we know not. We were sent out to aid in the evacuation of the palace. We just returned to retrieve her majesty. We hear Romulans within the throne room.”

As Narciso was about to reply, an explosion shook the hall and overtook the away team. Narciso regained his consciousness shortly afterwards. He was lying on the stairs and tried to stand up, his vision extremely blurred at first. As his sight returned to him, Narciso noticed the rest of the away team and the Pristians stirring and getting back onto their feet. It was when he looked out to the hall that he realized what happened. The Haakona Warbird must have fired onto the palace from orbit. The entire western side of the hall was destroyed and in ruins, rubble from the upper levels spilled down, not allowing a hole leading outside. A scream caught his ears and Narciso looked towards its origin to see a Pristian on the floor with a large piece of stained glass piercing her leg. Chrissy was instantly upon her, seeing that no one else was injured.

“We need to hurry. If they are firing on the palace, then they are growing desperate. Should they give up on finding the ‘weapon’, they might resort to using Thalaron weaponry.” Narciso warned.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t put it behind them.” Cherrosk commented.

“Yeah, so let’s hurry up and kill them.” Marietta said, not letting her hatred from viewing the scene at the foyer die out.

Chrissy grasped the glass within the guard’s leg and pulled. She did so gently, but with increasing strength until it finally came out and then threw the glass to the side. “We need to hurry guys.”

“We shall secure the way out. Please, retrieve our Empress and put her in safety.” The Guards sung as they grasped their ally and began to make their way to the main entrance to keep it clear. Reaver moved to the doors beside Narciso. He placed his hands on it and gave them a solid push. They swung open with ease, despite their enormous size. The away team was blinded at first from the sheer intensity of light that flooded them from within the throne room. As the light passed them and their eyes adjusted, they saw what was inside. The throne room’s floor was filled with crevasses that were filled with flowing water. They small streams took the shape of the symbol of the Pristians. The symbol is comprised of orbs conjoined in a hollow circle. The hollow part of that circle was the flooring on which the Empress’s throne and those of her family were placed on. An interesting part was that the throne seats’ backings rose up high into the air. It looked as though water was falling down, sliding on the backing of each chair. However, before the water reached the people who sat on the seats, it slid to the sides, parted by an unseen force.

The away team moved forward, seeing every member of the Pristian Imperial family on their seats. They were relieved to see the Empress sitting on the largest chair, in the center of them all. Before they could take a step closer, Romulans appeared from behind the seats and each pointed a rifle towards those they hid behind.

“Halt! By order of Empress Sela, this mockery of a royal family is to be killed under the charges of treason and deceit towards the Romulan people.”

“That is quite a charge to be placed on innocents living in your ‘neutral zone’.” The Empress spoke, her voice as beautiful as crystal. “We do not recognize the Romulan Star Empire as our liege lords. We will not be under your command. Leave, Romulan Commander.” She spoken in Perfect Romulan, much to his surprise.

“QUIET! You shall be put to Death for your treason!”

“Death shall not find us on this day. Your attack on us was unwarranted. It is an attack based on fear, the true face of the Romulan Star Empire.” The Empress stood from her throne, her crown was adorned with gold chains and various colored jewels. Her clothes consisted of layered fabrics, of wondrous colors and golden chains layered upon them, most of which were laid upon her hips. Her sleeves were long in length, reaching far past her hands. A regard to how she leads her people with an intelligent mind and not idle hands. The only skin shown on her was her cleavage, her shoulders, her neck, and her face. Her hair was long, reaching down to the floor in enormous waves and curls that spun all around. She laid her eyes on the Romulan Commander. “I have given you chances to retreat. I have given you chances to leave with your lives, as the Progenitor does not wish for my people to kill others. Yet you force my hand. Water is sacred to my people, but now it shall be tainted with your vile blood.” The Empress swung her arm in a flash, and without being seen a sleek blade made its way to the Romulans’ neck and buried itself there.

The Empress stilled herself, as the others realized what happened. Steam began to come off of the Romulan Commander’s body. It increased in consistency as the seconds past and soon he was engulfed by the steam to the point he wasn’t even visible. After a minute had slowly passed, the steam disappeared, but so too did the Romulan Commander. He had literally evaporated into the air. The remaining Romulans were met with the same fate, as they soon burst into large clouds of steam each. “From the sea, return to the sea. The Progenitor’s rites, even for those most vile.” The Empress spoke as she turned and faced the away team. “A special Telekinetic ability passed down through the bloodline of the Progenitor. This was the weapon they so desperately wanted. But alas, we shall not bend our knee to the Romulan Star Empire.” She walked towards the away team, her eyes dead set on Narciso. “Know, child of telepathy, that we shall not bend our knee to the United Federation of Planets, either. We shall stand with you on equal footing, or not at all.” She raised her arms, the long sleeves draping in front of her and the long train of her layered dress trailing to her throne. “Pray, we shall be allies in these hostile times, protecting each other. I know of the horrors the Romulans have done to my people this night. I know of the horrors done to the peoples of your Federation.” She lifted her arms into the air, eyes now looking to the other away team members. “Your presence here affirms my beliefs in our friendship. Let it flow effortlessly and for eternity as the deep rivers of the Feitas.” She lowered her arms, and her family moved by her side. The Emperor and their many children, one of which was recognized as Alphorn. “The music of our palace has left us. It shall only return once we rebuild. With your aid, I know that shall be done with the least amount of eclipsed time.”

Reaver moved forward, giving the sign he saw Narciso give prior. Everyone but the Empress returned the gesture. “Empress, we have come to see you to safety. Federation ships shall be arriving and shall provide any and all aid you need to rebuild and flush out the remaining Romulans that still lurk on your planet. With your permission, we shall take you to our ship in orbit and Sign the treaty there, as the hall within your home, designated in our arrangements, has been destroyed.”

The Empress moved towards Reaver until she stood a few inches away from him. “Those terms are acceptable. You may take me to your vessel immediately.” She turned and faced Narciso as Reaver tapped his combadge and counted the amount of heads that would be transported up to the ship once they left the Palace. “Neves-Heliree. Walk with me child.” She spoke softly as she walked past the away team, going straight through them. Her family followed her, but kept a distance, having heard her wanting to speak with Narciso. One of her children, however, Alphorn, walked just two feet behind her. Narciso hurried, moving his legs a little faster so as to keep up with her pace, which for her was rather slow.

“Your majesty, it is an honor.” Narciso spoke as softly as she did, keeping calm. She seemed to like that.

“The honor is truly yours. Not for being in my presence, but for having the Grandparents that you have. Your Grandmother, Alphorn told me that she was injured. I know you are panicked, but allow me to tell you that she is perfectly fine.”

Narciso smiled at her words. “Yes, thank you. My Grandmother told me of your species considerable ability in telepathy.”

“Hmhm. Yes, through Telepathy is how my species came to be unified. A gift of the Progenitor. You know Neves-Heliree; I am looking forward to signing this treaty with your people.”

“As are we, your majesty. While we have enemies, the dream of the Federation is that all Species can live and thrive together.”

“A Lofty Dream. I shall not see it in my lifetime.” They were all now walking past the rubble of the massive hall. The Empress looked towards the mess, but did not show her sadness. No one died in this incident, and thus there was no reason for sadness. Narciso took note of this, and was going to speak but she spoke before he could, in response to his empathy. “You need not concern yourself with me. I have already seen through your eyes, through Romulan eyes, through my peoples’ eyes their Deaths.” She spoke strictly, but retained her gentle tone. They passed through the lengthy hallway with numerous doors and reached the foyer. They appeared through the door and the Empress took the sight in through her own eyes. She walked forward and then knelled onto the floor. She raised her arms and did a wide sweeping, circular, motion which ended with her hands in the triangle pointing down gesture of her hands. “From the Sea of Ice did the Progenitor emerge, her crown potent. She did journey over the Feitas Mountains until she reached a desert. Filled with power, loneliness and sorrow did the Progenitor birth an oasis with her sacred tears. The Oasis flourished and grew until the desert was no more. She then took the mud and clay, once the dry desert sand, and she did birth a mate in her image. She protected and adored him. In return he gave her the seed of her oasis and she birthed us. The Sea of Ice flows through her veins and so too does it flow through ours. From the sea, we shall return to it. The cycle shall continue…” She arose to her feet and began to walk again, down the steps of the grand staircase. The deceased Pristians began to give off water. It flowed out slowly from their corpses and continued to do so until they had completely turned to water.

The away team was mesmerized by what they saw. When most species decompose, they take a long while to do so, in fact, remains can last centuries. But with the Pristians, upon Death they underwent a chemical reaction that turned their bodies into water. From what the Empress said, had they been a desert species, such an evolutionary accomplishment is probable. But… was there something more at play?

The group finally arrived outside the palace and were greeted by an overwhelming amount of Federation troops. “Yeow, the Calvary really pulled out for this one.” Cherrosk commented.

“A lot of them are photonic, actually.” Chrissy commented pointing to certain groups.

They all saw the Empress and preformed a salute. She bowed her head only, in reply. “I know we have endured much destruction this day. But my choice was correct. May we know Peace through the flow of time.” She spoke out and the response was a cheer.

“Reaver to talons. We’re ready to beam up by her majesty’s wish.”

“Roger that Number One. Good work.”


The group appeared on the transporter pad. The entire royal family, save the Empress was sent out to the hall in which the treaty would be signed. From there, Starfleet will send an Admiral to sign the official doctern with the Empress so as to welcome them to the United Federation of Planets. Narciso had beamed up to the ship with the Empress and she once again asked him to be by her side for a moment. In private she spoke to him, her gentle voice having a happy tone to it. “Your family has served my people well. Neves-Heliree… My son, Alphorn; I would be pleased to have him wed to you.”

Narciso was immediately stunned and couldn’t breathe. He took a moment to recompose himself before he was able to respond. “You majesty that is an extreme honor, but…”

“You may think on it. I know he is very fond of you.” With that said the Empress walked out of the transporter room, leaving a dazed Narciso with something extremely difficult to think about…

Log Entry: Captain Talons, Rider; Supplemental.


The indoctrination of the JPris Matriarchy into the Federation has finally been finished and the Pallas Helena has returned to federation space. We’ve returned our two Ambassadors and their party to Vulcan and can resume our ongoing missions. I’ve received our “official” orders from Admiral Quinn Which States that we are to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Victory and report in with Captain Four of Ten. Admiral D’Vak will likely want to speak with us.

We’ve already set out to the transwarp conduit near the Risa, which will take us straight to the Gamma Orionis Sector. Many members of the crew have joked about wanting to jump ship at Risa. It’s good to see their spirits high.

While we are underway, I have ordered my senior officers to perform various tasks in preparation. We still have some loose ends to tie up. That damn Databug is being dissected to its’ basic coding, and there is still the issue of that Orion “guest” of ours. I had hoped to drop him off at Earth Space Dock, however we were “asked” to keep him with us. Also “asked” to find his sister and her ship, the Lokapāla.

The higher ups seem to enjoy giving many missions at once nowadays. Can’t blame them though…

Talons out.

--------------------


Log Entry: Lieutenant Geroff, Marietta; Supplemental


*static can be heard, and visual is blurry at best.*

STILL!?!?!?

*The fuzzy figure of a woman can be seen reaching down and then lifting a large and heavy tool which has no purpose being in a crew members quarters. She suddenly begins striking away at the poor console which seems to whimper with mechanical notes.*

SON OF A TARG!! I had you fixed yesterday!

*The banging gets louder and louder and suddenly the sound of a metallic shell shattering can be heard.*

NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!! Something actually happened today! I-…

*The recording instantly dies out and the message ‘Data Lost’ flashes red on the empty screen.*

--------------------


Log Entry: Lt. Commander Neves-Heliree, Narciso; Supplemental


I’ve had to decline the Empress’s generous offer to wed her son Alphorn. She then made a request of Starfleet and, because Starfleet is so diplomatic, accepted it. Her request was that her best people be sent to Starfleet Academy and that her son, Alphorn, a notable scientist, be assigned to the Pallas Helena to aid me in my research. She is a… Stubborn woman. Very insistent. She reminds me of Reaver’s mother actually…

Anyways, Alphorn is actually quite intelligent. He read over my research and asked some hard questions which made me think more. Most people just nod their head, faking their understanding. I think I will like working with him. JUST working. I’ve already made a mess of things. Reaver, Theo, that Orion Valla… It makes my head spin. And to make it worse I keep running into them constantly even on a ship this size! Deities have mercy…

I’ve decided to drown myself in work and not think about… personal issues. It’s not the time, we are being sent to join Battle Group Omega. The crew is extremely optimistic regarding our mission. A lot of them are gossiping about the Undine, not just the Borg. Fear is still present, but their joking helps keep them going.

Oh, long range sensors have picked up an anomaly forming right near the transwarp conduit. We’ve ruled out the possibility of the conduit being used, so I’ve asked the Captain if we could investigate it. These readings we’ve acquired have read as very interesting. When we’re close enough I’m going to perform a full particle analysis of the phenomenon. Such events rarely ever happen in the Risa Sector. The Captain has told me that it might be nothing at all. But if so, it’s piqued my curiosity. It’s vaguely familiar to me… I want to see if it’s a temporal anomaly. No, I need to see…

*Narciso can be seen fervently typing away at his datapad for a few extra minutes.*

Oh, Heliree out.

--------------------

-Risa Sector, 0.17 Light-years away from Gamma Orionis Transwarp Conduit-


The U.S.S. Pallas Helena is reaching its’ destination and has already prepared for the jump into Borg Space. Straight ahead is a dark patch that blocks any light from the opposite side of a viewpoint. The bridge crew looks at the viewscreen trying to figure out what they are looking at. The Captain stands from his chair and walks closer to the viewscreen, his eyes narrowing as he himself tries to identify the anomaly. He turns and raises a hand towards the right side, at operations. “Spectral analysis Mr. Cherrosk. I want to know what this is and why we didn’t receive any word about it.” The captains’ eyes never left the viewscreen.

Cherrosk activated the forward sensor array, the computer however returned with a message that there was nothing present upon completion of the scan. “Well, that can’t be right.”

A rumbling started shaking the ship and the anomaly on the viewscreen grew 10 times larger. “Who took it upon themselves to zoom in.” The captain asked as he kept himself on his feet.

“Captain, the anomaly just increased in size exponentially.”

“Will someone please increase the power of the inertial dampeners?” The Captain asked as he looked towards Cherrosk.

“I already did Captain, it had no effect.” Cherrosk replied as he continued to work. “Captain I am picking up strange particle readings.”

“Clarify Mr. Cherrosk.”

“They seem to be a mix of… Thalaron and Tachyon Captain!”

“What a strange mix.” Spoke Reaver as he reviewed the scans from his seat.

“Agreed. Shields up, Yellow Alert.” The captain took his seat and looked to the analysis data displayed on his chair’s arm console. “Back us away from the anomaly Hal.”

“Aye sir. Backing off, quarter impulse.” Hal responded as he input the commands. The Pallas Helena’s nacelles flared up and the ship began to move backwards away from the growing anomaly. The ship suddenly jolted, as if it backed up against a wall.

“Report!”

“Captain, impulse drive is working however the ship is… stuck sir.” Hal responded with a confused tone of voice. “Increasing to half impulse.” The ship jolted once more, this time violently. “No effect Captain. Should we jump to warp?”

“Negative. Full stop, kill the engines. I have the feeling that we’ve run aground.”

“Aye sir.” Hal spoke quietly, feeling defeated. The Pallas Helena came to a halt, but the image on the viewscreen gave cause for concern. “Are we being pulled into the anomaly?”

“Analysis” Reaver asked looking towards Theo at Operations, as Cherrosk was already running a diagnostic on the engines.

“Sir, we’re not moving an inch. The Anomaly isn’t growing either. IT is MOVING towards US.” Theo answered, giving a baffled look to Reaver.

“How long until it hits us?” Reaver asked.

“Two minutes and 43 seconds.” Theo replied.

Talons tapped his console and spoke, “All hands brace for impact.”

“Captain! I’m picking up triolic waves!” Theo shouted suddenly. The Captain and Reaver shot each other a serious look.

The anomaly moved and soon it was upon the Pallas Helena, an ominous black void. It began to wrap around the ship, engulfing it the way an amoeba ‘eats’. As the black void came into contact with the shields, the ship shook tremendously. Within seconds of contact, the anomaly had fully enveloped the Odyssey class starship. It prevented any light from reaching the ship, and caused the ship to disappear entirely.

“Captain the shields are being drained!” Marietta shouted through the other voices of the bridge crew.

“Reroute auxiliary power to the shields!”

“Shields boosted to 88 percent, but they have resumed dropping!”

The intercom chime came through and Narciso could be heard. “Captain, I just lost power in Science Lab One. Is everything alright up there?”

“Captain Talons here, Counselor come to the bridge.”

“I am on my way Captain.” Narciso didn’t need to hear the serious tone of Talons voice to know that something was going on. He ran out of the massive laboratory and into the corridor passing by crewmembers who were looking around, confused by the tremors. He entered the turbolift and spoke that the bridge was his destination. The turbolift powered up and began to ascend only to come to a complete halt. Narciso turned to the controls to do a manual input for his destination, but as he reached with his hand he was shocked by the console which then went blank. He looked up to the lights as they flickered and then gave a startled jumped as he heard various screams coming from the corridor outside. The screams continued and he was hit by a sudden nausea as a flood of fear crashed into his empathic mind. He held his head and tried to shake off the mental baggage before he overloaded. “so many people... so frightened.” He managed to control his empathic senses and reached for the turbolift doors. He began to try and pry the doors open as more and more screams where heard. He began to pull sideways and as soon as he was getting somewhere, the turbolift lights died out leaving him in darkness. “No…” He walked backwards until he hit the turbolift wall and slid down until he was sitting. “What’s happening…?”


A light shined on the bridge as the Captain placed his emergency flashlight on his left shoulder. “Alright people. Stay calm and grab your emergency flashlights.” Everyone grabbed their equipment from underneath their consoles. As they lit up their flashlights all eyes fell on Marietta and Ric over at their tactical stations. Ric was holding a pulsewave phaser rifle and Marietta was holding her favorite phaser assault minigun. The rest of the bridge was holding standard issue tricorders, save for the Captain who held a phaser rifle. Both Ric and Marietta were already doing a weapons check when they noticed the stares.

Ric looked up and raised an eyebrow. “What? Never saw an Andorian with a shotgun?”

Marietta looked up and spoke after Ric. “What? Never saw a girl with a big piece?”

Even Ric turned and gave Marietta a look after that one. Her response was to load her weapon and put it at the ready.

The Captain looked towards Cherrosk, his flashlight right on the Engineers face. “Is the Warp core still operational Mr. Cherrosk?”

“I can’t tell from here Captain. We lost all power as soon as the anomaly ate our shields and came into contact with our hull. But it seems life-support is functioning fine. That’s the only good news I have for you.”

“Alright people. It looks like we’ve come in contact with a power draining anomaly. But we cannot rule out the possibility that we’ve been boarded. And the fact that Triolic waves and Thalaron particles were observed is cause for concern. Our top priority is to stabilize the ship and restore main power. Seems secondary and even auxiliary power has been cut off.” The Captain moved towards the turbolift, so he could face his officers. “Ric, Marietta, Cherrosk and Theo, you’re with me. We’re going to Main Engineering and we’re going to restore power. Reaver, stay here and try to get some communication from the crew, no doubt they are worried.”

Reaver stood from his seat and moved toward the Captain. “Sir, with all due respect I should take your place. You are the one that should remain on the bridge.”

“Damn it man, you’re not going to quote protocol again are you?”

“Only if you force my hand sir.”

“Fine Number One.” The Captain moved away from the turbolift and opened a hatch which opened a Jeffries tube. “I’m sure you know the way. Try and reach the Battle Bridge on your way to main engineering. We can establish it as a basecamp.”

“Aye sir.” Reaver nodded then moved towards the hatch. “Alright here’s the game plan. Tricorder readings indicate that we have an influx of triolic waves emanating from deck 18, within the various holodecks. Theo, Marietta, you’re on this. Go down there and clear away those waves, check for any afflicted crewmembers and send them to sickbay. I’m sure the Doctor has already started triage. Ric and Cherrosk, you’re with me. We’re going to Main Engineering and we’re going to restore power. Tricorder readings can’t penetrate the triolic wave interference. So we’re going in blind. Everyone ready? On me!” Reaver spoke as he climbed into the Jeffries tube and began to crawl at a quick pace. Cherrosk went in after him, followed by Ric. Theo and Marietta went in last with Marietta taking up the rear. She and Theo were thin enough to go in as a pair, but her bulky weapon was not. Unable to help herself she gave a slap to Theo’s rear causing the young man to look back.

“Inappropriate timing!”

“I couldn’t resist myself! I can SEE why Narciso couldn’t either.”

“Who told you!?”

“His Grandmother of course! Now get going and shut up. The others are way ahead already.”

The group crawled and then slid down ladder after ladder until they reached deck fourteen. Reaver pulled out his tricorder from his holster and scanned the deck. “Marietta, head towards the bow with Theo. I’m getting strange readings from my tricorder, but you’ll have a direct path down to deck eighteen.” Reaver pointed towards a path while he and the other half of the team continued downwards.

“Aye sir. Come on Borgy.” Marietta teased as she ducked and crawled into the opening of yet another Jeffries tube.

“Marietta that’s hurtful.” Theo called out as he followed her motions.

“It’ll give you an excuse to talk to Narciso when this is over.”

“I know you’re trying to help, but it’s complicated.”

“He’s beautiful, your horny, I say go for it.”

“You make it sound so simple. And I’m not ‘horny’. I’m… intrigued.”

“Geez you make him sound like a spacial anomaly.”

“You know what I meant. Besides, he and Commander Reaver are one.” Theo looked ahead past Marietta and noticed something odd. “Hey, is that hatch look open to you?”

Marietta stopped and looked forwards, instead of down at her hands which was her habit. “It’s cracked open slightly. Someone must have forgotten to close it.”

“Or they didn’t manage to get through it fast enough. Take a look at my tricorder readings.” Theo spoke as he passed his device forwards, nudging it on Marietta’s side.

“I know I’m not the best with tricorders.” Marietta spoke as she tried to handle the device ‘delicately’. But, if this is saying what I think it is… then there are petrified remains on the other side of that hatch.” She handed the tricorder back and signaled for Theo to follow her with a hand motion. The pair crawled with haste, reaching the open hatch in a few seconds. Marietta peeked out of the slight opening and looked downwards to see a stone like composition. She reached up and pushed the hatch open further only to hear the sound of rocks shattering and hitting the floor. She gave out a gasp at the sight. A crewman had fallen on the floor and had reached up to open the hatch. His arm, which now laid in pieces, had been reaching upwards, the hand still grasping the handle. Marietta had to tear her eyes away from the sight only to see something more disturbing: All of the people within Fourteen Forward had been petrified and the vast majority laid in scattered rocks and dust.

Theo moved out from behind Marietta, seeing the sight for himself. “My god… What caused this?”

Marietta knelt down and looked onto the face of the crewman. “This was Craig… There’s Annabel… and T’pel… Mon Deus…” She stood back up and looked towards Theo. “Romulans. They caused this. With their Thalaron weapons.” She moved towards the doors and left into the corridor. Theo had never seen her so upset. He quickly followed after her and the two entered another long Jeffries tube.


Reaver, Cherrosk and Ric managed to bypass the upper decks and came out onto deck nineteen. Cherrosk took out his tricorder and began scanning. He was going to tell their location, but Reaver beat him to it.

“We’re on deck nineteen. The battle bridge is down this corridor and up one level to deck eighteen.”

“I, for one, hate how the decks of this ship interchange into each other.” Ric spoke up, having always had problems reading maps.

“Noted. Now let’s get going. Once we set up secondary command, we’ll be able to open the coms with the main bridge. Then we can work on getting down to Engineering.” Reaver spoke quickly and gave the order to continue moving. They reached the turbolift doors that were meant for the battle bridge only. Cherrosk stood before the doors, waiting for something. Ric and Reaver only stared at him, then at each other. Finally having gotten annoyed, Ric shouted. “Dammit man! Did you forget the power is out!?” He reached and grabbed Cherrosk by the back of his collar and began to pull him away from the doors.

“Wait-wait-wait!” Cherrosk shouted as he was being dragged. “I heard something behind the doors!” He pointed towards them as he finished his sentence and without warning the turbolift doors opened and something lunged out at the trio, striking Reaver square in his chest and onto the floor on his back. The flash of blue confused the men, who stumbled to try and find it in the dark with their lights.

“There! There!” Cherrosk shouted as he landed his flashlight dead-on with the creature in the spotlight. “DEVIDIAN!”

Ric raised his pulsewave rifle and fired shot after shot at the specter, which managed to dodge all but the final shot, knocking it down. Reaver regained himself and stood up, aiming his phaser rifle at the motionless creature. “Jesus, Ric. How many modifications have you done to that rifle?”

“A lot sir. Marietta and I exchanged weapon tips.”

“Oh, then I’m not surprised. We need to report this right away.” Reaver and the others gave a jump as the specter appeared to dissolve into nothing after being defeated, its energy released. Calming themselves, they found the only hatch into the battle bridge and crawled onto the bridge. The space was eerily quiet though well kept. Cherrosk moved towards the operations station and attached an auxiliary battery. The station’s main console booted up and came back online.

“Good Cherrosk. Try hailing the bridge.”

“Opening specific communications sir. Done. Give it a try.”

“Reaver to the bridge, can you hear me?”

“We hear you loud and clear number one.”

“Glad to hear that Captain. We have reason to believe that this is a Devidian attack on the Pallas Helena. We just neutralized a member of their boarding party.”

“Is that so? This just got more complicated… Marietta just reported casualties.”

“They have already begun to feed on the crew?”

“No number one. She reported the remains of seventeen petrified crew members. They were hit with a Thalaron explosion.”

“Thalaron… that explains the strange readings we picked up.”

“Number one, it is imperative that you hurry to Main Engineering. We need to get back control of our ship.”

“Yes sir. Understood. Ric will stay on the battle bridge and relay our communications. Cherrosk and I will continue to Main Engineering.”

“Acknowledged. Also, Marietta reported that she has pinpointed a large singularity within Holodeck six. She says Theo believes it is the cause of the interference of our normal coms. They have gone to neutralize it. Expect similar events.”

“Roger that Captain. Reaver out.” With the com closed again Reaver moved towards the hatch again. His mind going a mile a minute with thoughts regarding their situation. It didn’t make sense to him. Devidian and Romulan influences on the ship, it didn’t add up. Something bigger was happening. If Thalaron weaponry was used, it could easily have wiped out the entire crew and the Romulans would have complete control of the ship. The Tal Shiar would be that efficient and blunt. The Devidians were much slyer. They operated under the radar. And the fact that they only ran into one is troubling. They always moved in groups and operated as such.


Marietta and Theo had reported to the captain. Once finished Theo removed the auxiliary battery and they continued towards holodeck six, where their tricorders were reading a high concentration of triolic radiation. They moved with speed and caution, Marietta rarely exhibited the latter. With the holodeck doors before them, the pair moved before the large doors and found the manual release. The doors opened slightly. Theo passed through with ease; Marietta did as well save for her large weapon. Cursing out loudly, Marietta pulled and pulled while positioning the weapon in all possible ways. She finally placed herself in the middle of the doors, pushing with her backs and her legs. The doors opened enough that her assault gun went through just barely.

Finally having caught up to Theo, she finally took heed of the bright blue light coming from a large triolic portal. Theo stood looking at it like a dear in headlights. Marietta herself kept looking back and forth from the portal to Theo with a wide open mouth in sheer awe. The portal itself was taking up more than half of the entire holodeck. It was not the standard for actual Devidian portals, and it kept fluctuating in its pulses. Marietta finally snapped out of her shock and delivered a slap to the back of Theo’s head. “Snap the Hell out of it! We have to close this… thing!”

“Why don’t you just try firing at it. You might disable it’s frequency enough to cause it to collapse.”

“Great idea!!!” Marietta shouted after she had already lifted and aimed her weapon.

Just as Marietta began to fire Theo went down in a huddle and braced himself for whatever might happen. Marietta unleashed a massive volley of an assault, putting her weapon on widespread targeting. The singularity began to destabilize and compress then expand and on and on until finally it collapsed entirely while giving off an explosion of energy which sent Marietta flying to the wall and crashing to the floor. Theo was able to withstand the blast due to his ‘defensive position’ (taking the fetal position of the floor). He jumped to his feet and ran to Marietta. She suddenly sprang to her feet and let out a howl. “MON DEUS! THAT! Now THAT was awesome!”

“…How are you not dead yet?”

“I’m wearing a kinetic-resistant armor.”

“Under your uniform?”

“Of course. You honestly think I could Rambo like this constantly and leave with only a bruise or two?”

“A lot of things just made a shit ton of sense…”

“Alright borgy. Let’s go, the singularity has been neutralized and look. Backup power is online!”

“But something is still blocking main power. Good thing the others are heading straight for Main Engineering.”

“Yeah…. Something is fishy though… Thalaron weaponry in ten forward… and a unnaturally made Devidian portal here in the holodeck…”


---
On the main bridge,


“Captain!”

“Yes Ensign?”

“We’re getting reports from all over the ship. The crew is calling in casualties… All Thalaron related. As well as the defeat of random Devidians sir. All sections have reported in save for Main Engineering.”

“Wait, where were the Thalaron incidents located?”

“Scattered randomly throughout the ship sir.”

“Randomly. Are you certain?”

“Now that you mention it sir, their appears to be a pattern to the incidents.”

“As I thought… It’s not a natural phenomenon from the spacial anomaly that is engulfing us… They were distributed by an intelligence…”

“Why would someone do that? With Thalaron weaponry, we could all be wiped out.”

“It’s a distraction tactic. They don’t want all of us to die… We need to get main power back now!”


~To be Continued~

-Risa Sector, 0.17 Light-years away from the Gamma Orionis Transwarp Conduit-


“If this is a Devidian attack on the ship, Commander, then what’s with the Thalaron weaponry?” Cherrosk asked as the duo rode a finally functioning turbolift towards the deck hosting Main Engineering. Reaver looked toward him via his peripheral vision, and then refocused on the lift’s doors. “Or, if this is a Tal Shiar attack, why would they use the Devidians? Their Thalaron weaponry is dangerous enough, even if they are lacking in force of size.”

The turbolift suddenly stopped with a jolt. Reaver looked to the control panel and saw that they had come to a halt a mere deck above Main Engineering. He inputted commands but the turbolift would no longer move. “Looks like this is our stop. Come on Cherrosk.” Reaver spoke as he began to pry open the doors. As they pulled the sliders open, a mist began to seep into the turbolift. “What in the…” The pair held the doors open for each other as they exited out onto the corridor, only to be met with confusion, shock, and horror. Reaver’s eyes were wide open, as was his mouth as he looked around the corridor. “This… This makes no sense…”

Cherrosk could not even mutter a word; the shock was too great for him to process. Reave had to pull at his arm to get them back and away from the intruders. The two retreated into the turbolift and let out a heavy breath as the doors slid close. “Reaver to the bridge. Captain can you hear me?”

“Just barely Number One, there is a lot of interference with our link.”

“I know why Captain. We have been boarded by the Borg.”

“Say again Reaver… Confirm, boarded by the Borg?”

“Affirmative Sir. It is the Borg.”

Suddenly the turbolift lit up with the red alert.


Narciso stood up as the turbolift lit up, however was taken back when the red alert began. He began to pull at the doors again. Before he could get anywhere, however, the turbolift suddenly began to move downwards. He jumped back with caution and then looked to the controls. He tried to override the commands, but nothing he could think of would work. Then he finally saw the destination of the turbolift: Main Engineering.

Within a minute the doors slide open and a thick mist seeped in and swirled around his legs. “What? This is…” As he looked down to the mist he saw red laser lights, those from scopes, appear as dots on his legs and torso. His head shot up and he saw their origin: Borg drones. They began to reach into the turbolift and out of survival instinct Narciso gave a high kick to a drones’ chest and reached for the turbolift controls, trying to close the doors. The Borg arms reached and grasped Narciso’s clothes. They pulled but the counselor fought back. His clothes ripped at the right shoulder and they tore off the right sleeve. One Borg Hand grabbed Narciso by the neck and pulled. Physically superior to the counselor, the Borg drone was able to easily lift and carry Narciso away, no matter how much he kicked and tore at the drone’s implants.

The drone threw the counselor onto a console table harshly, causing the young man to groan out as his back made contact to the hard surface. He rolled onto his side and noticed that the Borg had yet to assimilate the consoles, or any other equipment within Engineering. Narciso then thought of his science lab and the technology he was developing to fight the Borg. ‘I can’t be assimilated.’ He thought to himself. Drones began to encircle the table, medical drones by the look of their arm attachments. Seeming to calm down, the drones spoke out their notorious words. “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”

Heavy phaser fire suddenly struck the gathered group of Borg, knocking them to the floor. Narciso’s eyes shot to the origin point of the weapon fire and the sight made him beyond relieved. Marietta and Theo were laying down suppressing fire while Reaver was running towards Narciso. More Borg began to beam right into Main Engineering, but most were met with direct hits from Marietta.

“Hurry Cherrosk! Get those damn shields back online!” Marietta shouted over the firing of her weapon.

“I’m working on it! Knowing that it’s Borg technology that’s draining our shields makes it slightly easier to fix.”

“Then what’s taking so long!?”

“I said SLIGHTLY God dammit!” Cherrosk shouted back as he worked the main console. “It’s still the Borg!”

“Point taken!” Theo shouted, “But hurry!”

Reaver finally reached the table, Smashing the drones with the blunt handle of his phaser rifle due to their adapting to quickly. He took hold of Narciso’s bare right arm and pulled him up to his feet. A large group suddenly beamed precisely around them and grabbed hold of the two.

“Kenneth!”

“Narciso! NO!”

The young counselor struggled as best as he could to get free, but the tactical drone holding him down was far stronger. Kenneth had to be held by two of the drones, and even then he had managed to send one of them crashing to the ground. Marietta and Theo managed to rotate their weapon frequencies and began firing again, killing drone after drone. The tactical drone holding Narciso was shot in his cranial ridges, an assimilated Klingon, and he fell to the floor. Narciso made a mad-tackle on the second drone fighting Reaver. Both clashed and fell to the floor. Reaver picked up Narciso and they began a run toward the others. Narciso suddenly tripped, falling face first to the floor. He looked back and saw the drones hit by phaser fire were still active and had grasped his ankles. Reaver stopped to help him up, but was bashed in the back of his skull by a swift and powerful blow from a newly transported Borg. He landed next to Narciso, unconscious. Narciso managed to kick off the hands of the weakened Borg and crawled to Reaver. He hastily placed himself at Reaver’s head and hooked his arms under Reaver’s armpits and pulled him up. Reaver was too heavy for Narciso to carry; he was too tired to lift him up all the way. He dragged Reaver until his back hit the wall. Narciso slid down, Reaver’s unconscious body between his legs, both facing out to the Borg. Narciso lifted Reaver up enough for his head to rest on the counselor’s chest. Narciso wrapped his arms around Reaver’s shoulders and planted a kiss on the back of his head, smelling the nice scent of his hair deeply. His eyes looked out at the massive swarm of Borg that continuously transported in. He could just barely see Marietta and Theo at the opposite side of the gigantic room, past the warp core in the center. The Borg moved toward them, slowly almost as if purposely making this nightmare last longer. Narciso reached for Reaver’s belt and drew his standard issue phaser. He fired at the Borg, killing only a few before they adapted. He lowered the weapon, knowing what would happen next.

Narciso looked down, a tear in his eyes. “I’m not leaving you, I don’t care what you say Kenneth… I know you would yell at me to run… And I know you’ll curse me for staying… I love you, I always have and I always will… I don’t blame you for what happened, for the years we lost… But… Is this the last time I’ll miss you, Imzadi?” Narciso looked up at the last second and saw the Borg hand as it grabbed his neck and turned his head. The Drone then pierced his neck with its’ assimilation tubules, injecting the nanoprobes directly into his bloodstream. His eyes looked down as he saw the same happening to the unconscious Reaver. “I’m Glad… You’re not awake, my love…” The last thing Narciso heard before falling unconscious himself was Marietta screaming at the top of her lungs and the smack she delivered to Cherrosk.

The Borg suddenly began to beam out, trying to take Reaver and Narciso with them. “Block their signal!” Marietta shouted as she moved to the console to assist Cherrosk. Theo followed, no longer having a target to shoot at. “Try to Jam their signal Cherrosk! I’m trying to hack into their beam and get them back! Dammit Theo! Use that Borg know-how!”

“I’m trying! But I don’t know the origin of their transporter beam!” Cherrosk shouted as his hands flew across the console in a blur.

“Just try a modified dampening field here in Engineering! That should interfere with their beam enough for Marietta to hack into their beam!”

“Hurry we’re losing them! We’re losing them!” Marietta shouted as the Borg began to disappear one by one.

“I’m almost there!” Cherrosk shouted.

Theo looked towards Raver and Narciso, seeing the beam take them completely. “It’s too late… they’re gone.”

“Damn it! Just restore shields!” Marietta shouted, and then tapped her combadge. “Captain! The Borg have left the ship! They’ve assimilated and taken Commander Reaver and Counselor Heliree. We have to go after them!”

“I agree. But right now we must restore our ship. We’ve found a way to cut out of this chaotic anomaly. We’re trying it now. Work with Cherrosk to get our systems back at full power.”

The Odyssey’s Shields manifested and began to push against the anomaly, a constant struggle with power levels made it difficult, but they managed to cope. This allowed power to be restored to the other subsystems. With energy flowing to the deflector array once more, the Captain gave the order and they shot out a modified reverse tachyon beam. The chaotic anomaly suddenly began a violent chemical reaction resulting in widespread explosions. The Pallas Helena was bombarded from all sides, but managed to withstand the assault. The reaction cleared up the anomaly and a Borg Sphere could be seen directly to the bow of the ship. It had taken damage, slightly, from the explosions but was more than functional.

“Captain! Combadge signals of both Commander Reaver and Counselor Heliree have been picked up within the sphere!”

“Sir, the sphere is retreating! It is going to warp!” Hal shouted. “Do we pursue!?”

“Negative! Tag that sphere. We are in no shape to fight. We’ll find them once we have made repairs… I’ll be in my ready room. Tell all stations to report in damages and casualties.”

“Destination sir?” Hal asked, furious that they weren’t giving chase, but understanding why.

“Set course to the Fleet Starbase. Notify me before we arrive. Send a message to the Task force. Tell them we’re going to be late. We still need to figure out what the Hell happened.”

“Aye sir. Course laid in for Fleet Starbase: Stonewall.”

–Eta Eridani Sector Block, Aldebaren Sector, Near Deep Space K-7.-


“Captain, Deep Space K-7 has received our transmission and has granted us permission to enter Fleet Starbase space. We are to rendezvous with an escort at the given coordinates.” Hal spoke as he received confirmation from the helm console.

“Set course to the given destination and get us there with haste. We have no need of an escort; it’s a waste of time.” Talons griped at the mention of having to go through the motions.

“Well sir, we are near the neutral zone with the Klingon Empire. It must be a precaution. I have heard that there were attacks on cargo ships which were deployed to fleet starbases.” Chrissy called out. As she finished the Captain turned his head and looked towards the science station where she was located.

“Ensign… who let you on the bridge?” He asked, seeming stern.

“I.. urr… Um… *gulp*.”

“I am kidding Ensign.” Talons replied with a slight smirk as he returned to his original position, facing the viewscreen.

“Ah.. Yessir.”

“It’s ‘Captain’, Ensign.”

“I’m sorry sir?”

“Captain is how I prefer to be addressed. Unless it’s crunch time, then you may use ‘sir’.”

“Understood sir!”

“..It’s not crunch time yet, Ms. Demark. I’m sure you’ll know when.”

“Yes Captain.”

“Very good.” Talons stood from the command chair and walked to the viewscreen, placing a hand on Hal’s shoulder. He turned and faced the rest of his bridge crew. “Alright people. Here is where we stand. We were ordered to be sent into the battle zone with the Borg, and operate in conjunction with Task Force Omega. On route to the Conduit, we were taken by surprise by a Borg Sphere. In the attack, two of our crewmembers were taken from us-”

“And none of our equipment was assimilated sir, err, Captain.”

“Thank you Ms. Demark.” Talons raised an eyebrow at her and returned to speaking. “A good point nevertheless. We are now within the Eta Eridani Sector Block, passing Deep Space K-7 and going to dock at our Fleet Starbase for repairs and information. First thing however, is to keep track of the Borg Sphere. Once docked, there will be no shore leave. I do not expect us to stay long, just long enough to repair and depart, having informed the fleet of the Borg presence.”

“Captain we’ve reached the coordinates for rendezvous. We are being hailed sir, audio transmission.”

“Patch it through.”




“U.S.S. Pallas Helena, This is Captain Twenty Four of the U.S.S. Gran Pulse. We are here to Escort you to Stonewall Fleet Starbase. Be alert, Klingon raids have become a problem for us.”

“This is Captain Talons, we thank you for the escort and warning. Let us go in haste.” Talons patted Hal’s shoulder and told him to cut the link. “Set a course.”

The Gran Pulse came about and lined up with the Pallas Helena. Both engaged their warp drives and the vessels took off in a hurry, a rescue mission to be undertaken yet.


–Borg Sphere, Federation Space, Somewhere between Risa and Transwarp Conduit.-


The noise around was disturbing and worrisome. The sound of the technology was strange, but everything was dark and hazy. Narciso’s eyes slowly opened, starring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. The pain in his neck was suddenly evident, and he cringed upon feeling it, tears rushing out of his eyes. He sat up with some difficulty, looking around him desperately, trying to make sense of where he was. The alien technology could only point towards one local: A Borg ship. He came down from the surgical bed he was on and gave himself a look over. His skin was bruised in many places, but he didn’t feel any fractures. He then began to look around the room. There were four corridors linked to the room, but no one could be seen within them, as they winded after a certain point. Narciso began a slight panic, and picked a corridor at random to run down. His goal; find Reaver. The young counselor ran, enduring the immense pain he felt, the corridors all surprisingly empty. He came to a large door, petal shaped. As he got closer, the door opened and he stumbled inside the chamber. He stopped and gave a jump to the side, after coming face to face with a Borg Drone. The drone acknowledged his presence, but did nothing else to him and continued on its way. With the drone gone, he continued walking further into the chamber. It seemed to be a control room, what seemed to be the Borg equivalent of a Bridge. He came up to one of the consoles and began to investigate it, thinking he could send out some form of distress signal.

Having become enthralled in trying to work the console, the hand that fell on his shoulder took him by surprise. He jumped and turned almost dying of fright. He was met by an assimilation drone, whose mechanical arm suddenly pierced his abdomen without warning. His hands grasped the arm tightly; the feeling of his blood slowly spilling on them was surreal. His vision grew dark and he fell backward, staining the console with his blood.


The surface was cold and slightly clammy. It was hard and metallic, and not at all comforting. Reaver’s eyes shot open and he instantly jumped off the surgical bed and onto his feet, taking a defensive stance and trying his best to ignore the intense and sharp pain that went up his leg. His eyes darted to every corner around him and he found drones working nearby but completely ignoring him. He heard a faint scream and instantly took off towards it, running and dodging past the drones.

His leg bothered him but he didn’t care. He was in enemy territory and he needed to find an escape. He needed to find Narciso and escape. He came to a door, petal shaped, and ran through it. The sight made him sick to his stomach… “What have they done to you… Imzadi…” A pain in his neck made him cringe and fall to his knees. He could feel the nanites swarming through his blood vessels. A pair of legs wearing thigh high boots was the last thing Reaver could see before he blacked out completely.


–Eta Eridani Sector Block, Aldebaren Sector, Fleet Starbase System: Stonewall.-


“Captain Talons, Welcome to Stonewall Fleet Headquarters.”

“Admiral Nicholas Swinford, Captain Twenty Four. Thank you both for providing your aid in this troubling matter. We need to act swiftly.”

“Of course Captain. Follow us this way.” Admiral Swinford spoke with a stern yet calming voice. Both Captains followed after him. “As you can see, we are already proceeding with repairs to your ship, Captain. And no need to worry about time, us Stonewall crew are fast and efficient. Also, we’ve begun to clean out that remainder of Borg presence on your vessel. It’s remarkable that they only affected the life support systems and nothing else.”

“Yes, that was peculiar. They were not acting to what we now consider to be normal Borg standards. I already have my crew reviewing the ships logs for further information.”

“Good Captain, if you would, I would have you share your logs with us for further analysis.”

“Of course, Admiral.” Captain Talons continued to follow Admiral Swinford and Captain Twenty Four into a conference room, where two other men stood in waiting by a window overlooking the docked vessels.

“Admiral, Captains. I’ve been briefed on the situation thus far.”

“Ah, Captain Rasilek, Good that you are up to speed.”

“As am I Captain, My crew is at your disposal.”

“Captain Mandrake, I am glad to hear that.”

“At your request Admiral. You know we are always happy to help.”

“The Admiral does so because you two are efficient.”

“Yes… Thank you Twenty Four, that is high praise coming from you.” Jacien spoke with a slight smirk.

“You are welcome.”

“Captains, have a seat.” Admiral Swinford took his as he spoke, and pulled up a datapad and began to scroll through it. “Talons, I’ve asked that all the information you have gathered regarding that ‘chaotic anomaly’ be sent to Jacien and the U.S.S. Caelian. Their experience may yet yield results you may have missed. Now, the four of you are to work in conjuncture as a small task force. Your goal will be to hunt down that Borg sphere. If possible, gather all the data they have. But the primary mission is to search and destroy.”

“Admiral, you mean search and rescue, do you not?”

“No Captain Talons. Destroy. This Borg sphere managed to infiltrate federation space. If this one passed through, who is to say that others have not? For all we know, they have opened another conduit within are space and another Vega incident is on the horizon! Now do not misunderstand. If you can rescue them, do so immediately. I do not wish a Borg fate on anyone. But the mission is as stands: Destroy.”

“Understood, Admiral.”

“Now… I do not need to explain the dangers and the possibilities involved with this troubling situation. Jacien, your ship is tasked with information gathering and debunking any more anomalies you may run into. Twenty four and Steven, your ships are to be the main firepower. The Gran Pulse has been equipped to deal with the Borg Threat, seeing as you were to be sent to Task Force Omega Twenty Four. And your ship Steven is equipped with advanced weaponry. You Talons, however your goal is to lead. I expect this to be dealt with efficiently Captains. You leave as soon as your ships are ready. Dismissed.”


All four Captains stood and left the conference room. Talons however seemed agitated. As he walked out into the wide corridor he was crashed into by a running woman who turned out to be Marietta.

“CAPTAIN! Captain! CAAAAPTAIN!!” Marietta screamed as she flailed about.

“Good lord woman, pull yourself together!”

As Marietta continued her scene, a worn out Cherrosk came running up behind her, out of breath. He seemed like he was going to speak but he soon bent over, bracing himself by placing his hands on his knees and then raising one of them, giving the signal for a moment by lifting his pointer finger.

“Any day now Cherrosk.”

“Yessir. *huff**puff* forgive me sir, I tried to restrain her but she was *cough**wheeze* she was going to break through the bulkhead. *pant**pant* Why do we let her have an assault minigun!?”

“Marietta-!”

“CAPTAIN PLEEEEASE!!! We have to go rescue them!!”

“We are going to woman now go suit up!”

Marietta instantly became composed and made a saluting pose, a scary look in her eyes. “AYE SIR LET’S MURDER THE BASTARDS! COME ON CHERROSK!” Marietta grasped the poor man by his collar and began to drag him back to the ship.

“My, my, Talons. With crewmembers like that I am amazed the Borg would ever mess with you.” Spoke Jacien.

“I rather like that attitude in my officers.” Steven said as he laughed.

“Their energy would be better used preparing their ship.” Twenty Four spoke only to receive stares from the other three captains. “I shall beam to my ship, once ready I shall contact the Pallas Helena. I expect no delays.”

“Nor do I”

“Me neither.”

With that, all three captains beamed out simultaneously leaving Talons alone. He decided to walk back to his docked ship, taking the time to clear his mind. Something about this did not feel right. There WAS something on the horizon, but it was something far more… dark.


–U.S.S. Pallas Helena, Main Bridge.-

“Captain, the repairs have been confirmed as all finished. All repair crews have cleared the docking area. Even the work bees are back within our hanger. We are clear to leave dock Captain.”

“Good Hal. Set a course to leave the Starbase, set thruster to quarter power.”

“Aye Captain, we are clearing the Starbase bay doors now… Ship’s clear sir. We can engage warp drive at your command.”

“Captain, I have transmissions coming in from the Caelian, the Gran Pulse, and the Deep Sky. All are confirming ready for launch.” Cherrosk called out.

“Good, is our tracking still ongoing?”

“The signal is strong Captain. It’s coming from an region of space between Risa and the Transwarp Conduit. Setting a course.”

“Send the course coordinates to the other ships. Engage at warp eight upon confirmation.”

“Aye sir. All ships confirming and ready to jump.”

“Engage!”

The warp bubble began to form around the massive federation ships, the blue hue of the nacelle’s warp particle emissions began to shine brighter and brighter and faster than a flash the troupe left faster than the speed of light, in diamond formation. The Pallas Helena took point, with the Caelian to her port and the Gran Pulse to her starboard. The Deep Sky brought up the aft completing the diamond.

“Captain, the U.S.S. Caelian is hailing us, patching her through to the main viewscreen.” Cherrosk spoke as he worked his console. The image of Captain Mandrake came on, his Vesta’s Bridge visible behind him.

“Captain Talons, My crew and I have made a breakthrough already in dismantling that anomaly that trapped your ship.”

“Jacien, tell me what you’ve learned.”

“It is quite fascinating Rider. The anomaly is agitated Dark Matter.”

“Is such a thing possible?”

“Apparently yes it is. You see, the dark matter is spewed out and then bombarded with Triolic and Thalaron energy. Not in that order though. The Thalaron acts as a conducting agent and the Triolic energy particles act as the catalyst. It’s extremely volatile and to be frank, I am amazed your vessel took as little damage as it did. Also, we found Tachyon particle traces, which explains the power drains.”

“Did you find anyway to counter the anomaly?”

“Well your way got the job done, but I don’t recommend using it again. I’ll let you know when we come up with something solid. Hold a minute Rider… My operations officer informs me of something of large scale on our long range sensors. Not something that would be picked up by standard scans. It’s coming from the end coordinates you’ve given to us.”

“We’re getting close. Anything on sensors?”

“Negative Captain… wait, we are getting a signal Captain! It’s Borg.”

“Red Alert, All ships, Red Alert.”

The troupe hastily dropped out of warp and came face to face with a horrifying sight. Directly before them was a small Borg Hive. A grouping of ships and the like en masse.

“How did the Federation not pick this up!?”

“Captain, our long range scans never registered this conclave. And our close proximity scans are barely registering the Borg signals. They must have found some kind of way to hide from our sensors.” Cherrosk replied.

“Captain! We are being hailed sir! It’s coming from an unknown source.”

“Unknown source… patch it through.”

“Aye sir, bringing it up on the main viewscreen.”

“Holy Mother of God…”

The face that appeared was beautiful yet shocking. The horror of the Borg and their danger has grown and grown.

– Sirius Sector Block, Risa Sector, Newborn Borg Hive-


“Counselor… What have they done… Good Lord…”

“Captain, I am Da’Lexian. Prince of the Borg. Resistance. Is. F U T I L E.”

“Counselor… Where-”

“Where is your Commander Reaver? He is a part of my Hive, he is one with me and my Beautiful Borg. Captain Talons… I am fond of you. You have two choices: First, allow my drones to assimilate you without a fight. Or, simply leave. Other vessels will serve to be assimilated. As I said, I am fond of you. I do not want to see your blood spilled. But do not infer my words incorrectly; I will annihilate you if you try to stop me.”

“Couns… Da’Lexian. Stop you from what?”

“Turn your small fleet around Captain. I am giving you your lives and expecting nothing in return.”

“I am afraid we cannot.”

“You intend to continue on your Death March?”

“Counselor, I swear to you that if we can rescue you and Kenneth we will do so no matter what. But we will remove this Borg infestation!”

“I am your Counselor no longer! Hear me Captain! I have become Death: Destroyer of worlds! I will wipe out all imperfections, your Federation among them! Not even the Undine can dare impede me! I shall rise above and become a horror far worse than the Iconians! Come Captain, let it begin with your first move!”

The transmission is suddenly cut and the helm is alerted to new transmissions from the fleet. Hal hurriedly manages to connect the communication link to the entire fleet. Jacien, Steven, and Twenty Four all appeared on the split screen. All three were standing on their bridge, Jacien conversing with his science staff and Twenty Four with his tactical officers. Steven however lunged directly towards the Viewscreen.

“What was that!? Tell me that wasn’t Doctor Heliree!”

Talons lowered his head, about to respond but cut off by Captain Rasilek.

“It sounded nothing like him! There must have been a mistake! Are you certain that was him!?”

“Captain Rasilek! Please!” Jacien cut in. “That was without a doubt Doctor Heliree. He has been claimed by the Borg.”

“I Trust the rest of you know what this means.” Steven spoke, his arms crossed.

“I do not understand the conundrum. He is but one man assimilated by the Borg. I must say, that given the circumstances, that a rescue attempt has too low a possibility of succeeding. Our only option is to remove the Hive, entirely.”

“Captain Twenty Four, I fear you are not up to date on latest Starfleet research. Captain Talons, will you brief us?” Jacien spoke as he took his command chair.

“Only a few within Starfleet was aware of this research. I myself was only chosen to be informed because my ship was a suitable site for the work. Doctor Heliree came aboard my ship, officially, as a counselor. However his true nature was secret. He was continuing his research into advanced weaponry and instruments. He has four projects. The first is the Hilbert Effect. The second is the Delta Assault. Those two are still within the applied theory stage. The third, the Hymn de Nephilim is already being field tested. The fourth, the DIVA System, has been completed by Heliree himself, though never applied.”

“Talons, all of these projects were to be aces against the Borg!” Stevens cut in. “Having Heliree assimilated throws all those projects out the window and gives the Borg a serious advantage against us!”

“I must point something out, Captains.” Twenty Four cut in. “Doctor Heliree is not a normal drone. He has a self-identity, not a simple designation. He also claims to be ‘Prince of the Borg’. No such rank exists within the Borg Collective.”

“Then, you imply…” Jacien spoke as his mind ponders the situation.

“You infer correctly Captain Mandrake. Da’Lexian and his Borg, he is not connected to the collective.”

“Explain this.” Talons spoke, taking his seat.

“When your ship was attack, Captain Talons, the Borg did not follow their standard format. They were not upfront about their attack. They did not attempt to assimilate the ship or any information. Nor did they assimilate any crewmen.”

“They assimilated Narciso and Captain Talon’s XO!” Steven spoke, stating a fact.

“Having reviewed the security logs, I believe Commander Reaver was assimilated as a precaution. I believe this was a precision attack. They were only after one thing.”

“They were after the counselor!” Talons spoke surprised by the revelation.

“Correct Captain.”

“But why would the Borg only go after one person?”

“When under certain circumstances, the Borg have been known to do strange activity. If I am correct, they were after a new leader. This gathering of Borg have been cut off from the Collective in some way or another. Doctor Heliree was that leader.”

“So instead of a Queen they got a blood thirsty Prince. What a royal disaster.” Talons spoke, his head to the side thinking. “Cherrosk, what is the status of the Borg?”

“They are not moving sir.”

“They are lying in wait for us. Fine. This must end. If we’re correct, the Borg Collective does not know anything about the Heliree Projects. There is a chance that they will, we know the Borg do not allow strays. Captains, the Pallas Helena will take point! Hal, take us on these coordinates and keep the formation. Red Alert, ready all phaser arrays and torpedo bays!”

The Pallas Helena’s shields flared up and encased her body. The impulse engines flared and she lunged forward, cutting through the void of space, head first into the mass of Borg vessels. Behind the elegant odyssey are her sister ships. The armored Gran Pulse takes the right flank, her coordinates sending her on a round-about to lay heavy distracting fire. The Caelian took a position on the left flank, close and tight and ready to counter any anomalies. The Deep Sky followed in close, directly behind the Pallas Helena in a train like formation.

They hastily closed in on the waiting Borg…


– Borg Hive, Within a Queen’s Diamond. –

“Look… They would rather forfeit their lives in the face of Perfection…”

“This is wrong… stop this…”

“AGH! QUIET! They will be assimilated!”

“You can stop this…”

“Quiet!” A tightly bounded hand suddenly punches through a monitor, shattering right through it. The hand is slowly retracted and was grabbed by a Borg medical drone, which instantly began to repair the damage. The hand belonged to the new Prince of the Borg: Da’Lexian. Who growled to himself as he watched the ships advancing in the viewscreen. “Leave us!” He shouted as he sent away the medical drone. He turned sharply, the cords connected to his scalp whipped as he did so, his body bound by plating and bindings. He jerked his shoulders and skeletal-mechanical wings sprouted out from under his flesh. The blood splattered on the consoles behind him and as they burst out he winced from the extreme pain. Soon a sick smile graced his pitch black lips and he stood in perfect posture. “I could swear that the nanites read my mind… Such a beautiful design, perfect, and coursing through my veins.” The wings were not intended for flight, they had other functions. They served as tools and instruments, allowing the manipulation of things in tandem with Da’Lexian’s hands.

The Prince of the Borg moved towards a surgical bed and began to stoke the arm of the person atop it. His dark purple eyes looked down at the body, currently halfway through surgery; the skin in several places was sliced open for implants to be inserted. “Soon you too will be perfection…” His hand rose up and he stroked the cheek of the drone-to-be. “My knight… My protector…”

The Prince began to walk out of the room but he stopped short. “Imzadi…” He jerked his head to the side and placed his eyes on the body once more. After a moment he managed to force himself away and back into the central most room of the diamond. He looked to a large monitor and watched the Federation vessels finally come in range. “Your Death will only be the beginning.”


The Borg Spheres surrounding the small Hive suddenly began to move rapidly. They began to fire their Plasma arrays with astounding accuracy. The Spheres began to spread out, in an attempt to encircle the four ships. The Pallas Helena did not stray from her path, her forward shields were reinforced and she was determined to fight.

Captain Talons watched the spheres on his viewscreen, and took in the readings the sensors were giving. He typed hastily, writing commands to the other vessels while shouting commands to his bridge crew.

“Captain! The spheres are going after our critical systems! They know exactly where to hit!”

“We saw this coming Cherrosk! Keep the forward shields up! Marietta, Ric! Are we ready!?”

“Aye sir!” Ric’s voice could be heard through the intercom. “All personnel have been moved into position and we are ready to go!”

“Good! Be careful with that saucer Ric, she’s not got a scratch on her! Start Separation, now!” Talons shouted and as soon as his sentence was over the ship gave a jerk and started to separate. The Pallas Helena’s saucer section launched forward and sliced past a sphere, sending a relentless assault with its’ ventral phaser arrays. The Sphere, not seeing the attack coming took heavy damage. The Caelian merged in ahead of the Stardrive section of the Pallas Helena and unleased a rapid volley from its auxiliary cannons, finishing off the sphere and dodging out to its starboard and circling to the left flank once more, cutting between the Pallas Helena and the Deep Sky.

The saucer section also circled back from its’ port side and took a position behind the Caelian. The Gran Pulse suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the wall of Borg spheres and positioned itself at the epicenter of a destructive assault.

“Fire at will.” Captain Twenty Four ordered calmly as his bridge crew cheered; two disabled spheres in their wake already. The Gran Pulse lit up with a surprising display of anti-proton devastation. The beams were widespread yet aimed properly, hitting sphere and sphere and causing them to slide off their formation.

The Deep Sky passed ahead and gave a sharp turn to her starboard, flashing her broadside to the spheres and firing a massive and overloaded phaser array. Its’ arcing path hit three key spheres and cut through their weakened shields causing explosions and destroying them completely. Those elite model phaser arrays given by Stonewall were more than paying off. The Deep Sky continued to its starboard to circle around, but without warning it was hit on its primary hull by a massive force. The odyssey class vessel was slammed to the side.

“Son of a bitch! Talons, they got us with a plasma charge!”

“Understood Rasilek! You may break formation and join the Gran Pulse!”

“Gotcha! We’ll start going after the remaining spheres!”

“And the rest of us will start cutting our way through those cubes! Make haste!”

The Saucer of the Pallas Helena was the first to break past the shattered wall of spheres. It soon came face to face with a Borg cube, which stopped short while on a collision course causing the saucer to cut to port. Ric took advantage of the situation and began a focused assault with his phaser arrays and managed to tear a hole in its’ shields. A volley of photon torpedoes was fired and passed through that hole, exploding along the hull of the cube creating various hull breaches. However the cube was still active.

The cube retaliated and fired off plasma beams, directly hitting the dorsal section of the saucer. Its’ shield withstood the assault but were drastically weakened. They tried evasive maneuvers only to end up surround by three cubes.

The Caelian quickly closed in and deployed a tractor beam, grasping the saucer section and pulling it away as the three cubes each launched a volley with their plasma cannons, the maneuver allowing the saucer to just missing the massive spray.

The Gran Pulse and the Deep Sky made short work of the leftover spheres and regrouped with the others. The saucer section was reunited with the Stardrive section and the Pallas Helena was made whole. The formation was reestablished but the troupe was met with shock, the three cubes that joined the fight were tactical cubes and one was headed directly into their formation.

The cube showed no sign of slowing or stopping, forcing the Federation vessels to split randomly. The Pallas Helena, the Caelian, and the Deep Sky broke to the port while the Gran Pulse was forced to pull to the starboard. Like wolves, the tactical cubes separated their prey. The Gran Pulse was suddenly surrounded by all three tactical cubes and was smashed on all sides by the plasma cannons.

The bulkhead above Twenty Four suddenly buckled and fell down, right beside Twenty Four who did not flinch. He rose from his seat hastily and moved to a nearby operations station. “Get those plasma fires extinguished!”

“Captain, the primary hull integrity is below seventy percent! Those cubes have us pinned!”

“Divert auxiliary power to the structural integrity field!”

“Captain! The shields are failing!”

“Fire the beam arrays! Aim for their weapons systems!”

The Gran Pulse continued being bombarded but shot out a focused anti-proton beam, disabling one cube’s weapons, but the cube did not withdraw. Instead all three cubes ceased their firing and seemed to position themselves in a triangle, with the Gran Pulse at their center. The Borg diamond suddenly appeared and fired a beam at the closest tactical cube. The beam continued to a second cube and then the third which shot the beam to the first, completing a disrupting field.

A shockwave blew out from within the field, heavily damaging the Gran Pulse and hitting the other vessels, edging them away.

“Talons come in! We are in need of assistance!”

“Captain! I hear… music…”

“Talons, we need immediate assistance!”

“Captain! Something’s wrong with Edgar!”

“What? Edgar? STOP! That’s an order!”

On the viewscreen, a red-shirted crewman, Edgar, suddenly lunges across the bridge violently and harshly tackles a yellow-shirted female officer by a station console. He savagely beats her until blood is seen splattering on him and the surrounding equipment. Another crewman runs up and fires a phaser on Edgar, who falls to the floor. As the crewman goes to check on the female officer, another crewman barbarically jumps onto the crewman and bashes his head with a phaser rifle. A female officers’ scream is heard from somewhere off the viewscreens’ visual focus. Twenty four is seen firing his phaser before he and the other bridge officers fall to the floor, unconscious.

The viewscreen cuts off but a faint voice could be heard singing intangibly. It’s a sensation that the voice is emanating from within a persons’ own mind, and not around them.

“Talons, Are you there?”

“I’m here Jacien!”

“Rider, They’ve just deployed the Hymn de Nephilim.”

“I know…”

“We have to finish this, now.”

“Jacien, you’re ship is capable of countering this.”

“It is… The Caelian can disrupt the weapons relay, but the resounding shockwave will destroy the Gran Pulse.”

“We’ll tow it out before that can happen.”

“You can try.”

“Talons to the Deep sky, we need you to tow the Gran Pulse. Expect to be under heavy fire. We’ll try to take some heat off of you.”

“Understood, let’s get our men out of there!” Steven shouted as he ordered his bridge to be ready.

The Caelian moved back and aimed its’ deflector array towards the cubes, making sure it had enough distance to not be hit itself. The Deep Sky’s nacelles flared up and it moved forward. The Pallas Helena came up behind it and cradled itself above the Deep Sky’s nacelles, providing additional cover. Both ships moved in conjecture and made a mad dash towards the Gran Pulse. As they came close to the cubes relay beam they pulled to the starboard. The Deep Sky grabbed the Gran Pulse with a tractor beam only to be met with resistance. The Deep Sky suddenly stopped short and buckled, it’s aft jolting upwards causing its port nacelle to slam up into the ventral hull plating of the Pallas Helena.

“Gods! Brace yourselves!” Steven shouted as he grasped his command chairs’ arms to hold himself down. His bridge crew was thrown forward, some falling down the partisan arc; Steven managed to catch his Operations Officer.

The ship continued to roll, as if its anchor was lodged. The Pallas Helena was pushed upwards, the crew falling to the floor from the impact of the nacelle.

“Report!” Talons shouted as he forced himself up and back onto his chair.

“The tractor beam failed and the Deep Sky’s nacelle scrapped our secondary hull!”

“Captain, we’ve got hull breaches all along the lower decks!”

“Cherrosk, Seal them with emergency forcefields. And Hal, Turn us around and get a lock on the cubes!”

“Aye sir!... Captain! The Deep Sky is already adjusting itself! It’s going right into the shockwave’s epicenter!”

“Steven! What are you doing!? You’ll be under the effects of the Hymn de Nephilim if you go in there!”

“We won’t be in there long enough!”

“What do you plan on doing!?”

“We’re going to use repulser beams to knock them out of there! We’re too far for tractor beams to work. We’ll punch through like a bullet! It’ll Work!”

“Dammit it man, for your species, you do not like to listen do you? Good Luck!” Talons answered then inputted new commands into his arm console. “Focus fire on the nearest cube!”

The Deep Sky punched through the beam relay and was met with extreme disturbance. The ship rocked violently and the hull took extreme damage and began to buckle in some areas. Coming close to the Gran Pulse, the Deep sky used its’ deflector to send out an amplified repulser beam. The Gran Pulse was violently pushed along the Deep Sky’s path, and both punched out from within the effect zone. However once out both ships rolled and went dark.

“Talons to the Deep Sky… Steven come in!”

“Son-of-bitch…” Captain Rasilek stood up from under debris and walked while using a fallen support beam for balance. He looked around and helped his tactical officers onto their feet. “We’re here Rider… We took a beating but we’re here.”

“Can you last for now?”

“Yes, we’ll be okay so long as they don’t come after us. We’ve gotten word from the Gran Pulse, they’ve taken a serious beating. They’re worse off than us, but we’ve got it under control. Go finish this thing.”

“Copy that. Talons to the Caelian.”

“No need to tell us Rider, We’re launching counter measures now.” Jacien coordinated with his bridge crew and his deflector began to hum loudly. The Caelian fired a torpedo spread of chroniton torpedoes. Right before they came into contact with the relay beam connecting the cubes, an anti-neutrino resonance pulse was discharged from the charged deflector. The result was a massive cascading burst within the triangulated area causing a massive shockwave to spread like wildfire. The three Borg Cubes were destroyed instantly from the sheer intensity of the wave.

The Gran Pulse and the Deep Sky were protected by the blunt impact force, as the Pallas Helena placed itself as a shield. The Caelian wasn’t even spared, as the end result was greater than they predicted. They took a massive hit to their deflector, causing a power surge throughout the ship.

The final Borg Vessel, the Prince’s Diamond, was all that remained. But it stayed eerily quiet…

“Captain Talons…”

“Everyone alive?”
“Few injuries on the bridge sir.”

“Get to treating the wounded Ms. Demark. Bridge to Main Engineering.”

“Jake here sir.”

“How are we?”

“We’re dead in the water Captain. We’re trying to restore power now, we’ve got a lot of injuries down here.”

“Shit… We’re in as bad condition was the Gran Pulse and Deep Sky. Hal, hail the Caelian.”

“Rider?”

“Jacien? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, our viewscreen is missing.” Jacien sat in his command chair, staring out into the void of space from the massive gash where his viewscreen was. He could see the other ships, looking capsized. He could also see the Borg diamond beyond debris. “We were hit directly by wreckage from a cube. We couldn't move in time.”

“We can send shuttles to you.”

“No. We've got it under control. How are you and the others?”

“We’re all dead in the water.”

“I feared that. Our systems were fried as well. Yet we can assume that the final Borg vessel is disabled as well.”

“I hope you’re right Jacien. Rider out.” Talons moved towards a nearby console and brought up the damage reports of the Pallas Helena. The results made him cringe.

“Captain… We’re being hailed…”

“Onscreen Hal.” Talons turned and faced his viewscreen. The image of Da’Lexian came on, he seemed shaken and uneasy.


“The voices…. So little voices… It seems right… but no, need chaos… need to bring order… to all…”

“Da’Lexian?”

“Captain Talons!” Da’Lexian’s head jerks to the side and the look in his eye changes to one of pure rage. “This shall be your end!”

A violent force suddenly causes the Federation ships to shake. A pulling sensation is felt and is instantly gone as quick as it came. The crews were all knocked to the floor, the ships hulls’ began to buckle and collapse from the sudden and overwhelming force.

“Transmission from the Caelian, audio only, sir.”

“Talons! We’ve all been pulled directly near the diamond!”

“Cherrosk, confirm!?”

“Aye sir! Sensors read that we’ve been pulled right next to the Borg octahedron!”

“See Captain? I told you… I have become Death… You put up an interesting fight… But I have a compromise to finish this. Your vessels are on the verge of destruction. Mine is merely disabled. I will have weapons within two hours. But I do not want to wait.”

“Tell me, ‘Prince’, what is your proposal?”

“I shall bring you onto my Vessel. All the Captains… And we finish this without use of our technology.”

“Your proposal is invalid. You cannot be trusted.”

“Captain I can just as happily place myself on your bridges and massacre you that way…”

“Help me Captain…”

“What?... I accept your proposal!” Talons shouted out. Before he could take in a breath he vanished from his bridge and appeared in a large chamber within the Borg vessel. He looked around; trying to figure out how it was that he could be there and took heed of those around him. Captain Twenty Four was kneeling down, injured and taking raspy breaths. Captain Mandrake stood beside him, and having noticed him began to assist while effectively taking in his surroundings. Captain Rasilek suddenly appeared right beside Talons, from out of thin air.

“Rider!” Steven exclaimed while taking a defensive stance.

“That was not transporter technology. My crew had managed to bring up our shields.” Jacien spoke as he helped Twenty Four to his feet.

“No… it was…”

“It was I who brought you here.” Da’Lexian walked in from the opposite side of the large chamber. He was a distance away but it was obvious that he was attached by machines to the ship; a large apparatus connected to his back and took in the connections of the cords from his skull. “We shall end this now… Imzadi…”

A heavy figure dropped down from a non-visible ceiling and landed heavily, directly before the Federation Captains. The figure stood up on his feet, revealing himself to be a highly modified heavy tactical drone. Talons, however, recognized the mutilated face instantly. “Good Lord! REAVER!?!? Narciso, how could you!?”

“Hahaha!! Dear Captain, I am Da’Lexian! And I perfected him!”

Da’Lexian was suddenly raised up high; a shielding forcefield was established around him, giving him the appearance of a roman emperor looking down on a coliseum, waiting for bloodshed.

Reaver suddenly threw a wide swing of a punch, a long blade extending out from his prosthetic arm. The blade caught Jacien on his right arm as he jumped backwards, Twenty Four braced his jump. Steven reflexively gave a kick to Reaver’s armored chest. The only recoil was on Steven, who was forced back onto his ass.

Talons jumped backwards, checking to see if Steven was alright. “Dammit! This isn’t going to work!”

“We need to stun him and get him back to one of our ships! We can restore him back to who he was!” Jacien shouted as he grasped at his belt and pulled his phaser. He fired three shots, all of them hitting Reaver directly. The small assault managed to stun Reaver for a few seconds, but he began moving again and lunged forward, grappling with Twenty Four.

“I’ve got him restrained!” Twenty Four exclaimed as he struggled. “There must be a way to disable him!”

“The only way I can think off will kill him!” Steven shouted.

“Talons! Help Twenty Four, I think I can disable him!” Jacien shouted as he ran behind Raver and began pulling at different implants. Talons tackled Reaver on his flank and helped to restrain him. Jacien continued to look over the implants but was baffled. “He’s been modified to much! I’m not sure what’s what!”

Steven came up and began to look with Jacien. “What about this?”

“No, that cord supplies energy to his upper implants, it’ll kill him!”

“What about the lower implants? Will that kill him?”

“… No, it’ll only disable his motor function…”

“Is it this cord implant!?”

“I have no idea! Rider!?”

“We have no choice! Pull it!” Talons ordered. Both Steven and Jacien grasped the implant and pulled it out with sheer force. The implant took some flesh with it, making it a gruesome procedure. Reaver fell to the ground, hard. He did not stop moving slightly however. He was still active and thus still living.





The troupe was forced to jump back as the sound of machinery racked the chamber. Da’Lexian was lowering himself down. As his feet touched the metal floor, Da’Lexian pulled forward and disconnected himself from the ship. Without speaking he ran forward and delivered a swift punch to Talons’ sternum, knocking the air right out of him and making him collapse. Not letting the others take a moment to understand what had happened, Da’Lexian gave a swift low kick to Jaciens’ legs, knocking him over as well. Steven dealt out a serious punch which caught Da’Lexian on his jaw, but he did not move an inch. His purple eyes turned and looked at Steven, they became bright and a haze appeared to come out of his eyes. His eyes narrowed and Steven felt a massive blow to his stomach, sending him flying out until he hit the wall. Without looking he ducked and dodged a punch from Twenty Four. In retaliation he suddenly whipped his head and ‘hair’ upwards, the cords slashing Twenty four on his chest and face, making him flounder backwards until he fell, deep cuts on his skin bleeding out.

Da’Lexian rolled his head and looked down at the Captains, his eyes flashing bright. He let out a sudden shout and grasped his head. The walls on the room suddenly buckled in, as if being compressed from the outside.

“Haha… That’s your perfection?”

“Quiet Talons!” Da’Lexian screamed out in excruciating pain. “I AM perfection! I AM the Borg!”

“No you are not! You are Narcissus Neves-Heliree! My ships’ counselor and an outstanding scientist!”

“Save Reaver, Captain…”

“I am Borg!”

“You are NOT!”

“SILENCE!” Da’Lexian jumped and landed atop Talons, injecting his assimilation tubules into his neck. “You shall be BORG!”

“LIKE HELL!” Talons tapped his combadge. “Marietta! NOW!” The diamond suddenly jerked and shook as if hit by a massive earthquake.

“You would fire on us and destroy us all!?”

“You only have his shell! The real Narciso, would happily die, but that’s not the plan!” As he finished his sentence the entire group, Da’Lexian and Reaver included, were beamed onto their respective ships with the last two being beamed onto the Pallas Helena.


-A while later-


“All ships. We are to set course to the Stonewall Fleet Starbase! I trust you’ve all made enough repairs to go to warp.”

“Captain…”

“Don’t worry Marietta, we got them both… But we still need to find out if we can revert them back to their normal selves…”

“I know we’ll liberate them… I just know it.” Marietta continued on the repairs to the bridge, but a single tear made its’ way down her cheek.