Col. C.E. Harper

I try to keep out of these kinds of forum topics, I really do. They inevitably aggravate me, and I get enough of that in real life. But I really do have to drop in $0.02 on that last --

The measure of a transit system's quality is not in the money spent on it, but in its practical usefulness to a community. The most expensive, cleanest, fastest, most comfortable train in the world will never be used if it goes only three places and none of its stations are convenient to the people who might use them. Los Angeles (and surroundings) suffers from this problem -- what little public transit there is doesn't go places people want to go, and doesn't go places where people live. The bus system is also notorious for being late -- the classic example, which I've had experience with myself, is a line that stops at a station every half-hour being over 45 minutes late - and no, it's not one bus doing a loop - this is one bus over 45 minutes late followed by a second bus running at LEAST 15 minutes late.

By contrast, New York and London (and Paris and Toyko, from what I understand - I've never been to either) have transit systems that are well-designed to be useful to the population most likely to use mass transit, and run reasonably close to on-schedule. And they are used, frequently and heavily.

September 2, 2397: The Agincourt reaches the Gareem colony, which seems unaffected. Research into Soltan abilities continues on board, with both Tactical and Science making discoveries they believe will be useful. Unfortunately, for the infected Gareem, the clock is ticking. New information may offer a cure, but there is only a little time left for experimentation.

TBS: 1 hour

Promotions & Awards:

Kairi -- Bronze Good Conduct Award

JoNs -- Silver Good Conduct Award

Condacin -- Promoted to Lieutenant, Senior Grade

"Science and I think we've found a way to fight this Soltan Change for our own people, but we're still running into some kinks in applying this to the races native to this region."

"Would stasis slow the change?"

"As far as we can tell,... yes." -- Merril, Day

 

"Lieutenant JoNs had mentioned she was sending you over here. This is where we are keeping the Soltan weapons, per that memo she sent out."

"Are we to test them or just check their functions?"

"No, no testing, not right now per the Commander's orders. She had told me to check with you regarding some guard patrols in this area, as extra precautions.....do you have some likely personnel?"

"I'll have Jackal split it up, Saunders and Kreval should meet you in a while during their patrols, then T'selt and Pharon will be after them." -- Esteban, Black-Knight

 

"According to our readings, the Soltan ships experience a power drain when those vortex's are used. We're going to run the information in the holodeck and see wat more we can come up with. We'll be on a shuttle." -- JoNs

 

"Colony is in visual range." -- Prell

 

"It has been more than two days since your took our people to your doctors. You promised when we gave them up to you that you would not let them become the Changed Ones... now I ask you - can you heal them, or must we prepare to bury our dead?" -- Evali

Ag051607.txt

August 31, 2397: A nearly normal day on the Agincourt provides a welcome change of pace after the excitement of the Gladion kidnapping. Various crew take the opportunity to tend to tasks long neglected, or to find new occupations. Unfortunately, in the Perseus Arm cannot remain unexciting for long: a weak comm signal registers on sensors.

TBS: ~30 minutes

"I believe this goes to you."

"Yes, thank you. From what I understand you are going to be pulling double duty with us here in sickbay." -- Merril, Levy

 

"Petty Officer Xenexian. Excuse me." (She enters the lift and steps back out.) "Okay... so its not an alternate universe portal..."

"Not you, too. Am I not allowed hobbies any more?"

"No no... everyone needs hobbies. I just never expected yours to be so... eh... froofy." -- JoNs, Condacin

 

"I still say our best bet is to go home the same way we got here."

"Have you lost your mind? Do you remember how we got here? After a battle that destroyed the Gideon.. us in pieces, badly damaged..." -- Harper, Day

 

"Anything interesting showing today? Besides cosmic dust."

"More then dust sir. We have something coming up on sensors. Might be a comm signal, sir." -- JoNs, Black-Knight

 

"Not picking up much, but there *is* something there. There it is. UT is working at it... almost got it." -- Prell

Ag041107.txt

Note: If you are going to dinner with a bunch of people, be the guy who eats like a pig, not the guy who just gets a salad. When they divide the bill you end up getting most of your food paid for by everyone else. :)

Mmost people split bills by food ordered, not evenly, but should you have friends who split bills evenly, this method will get you nothing but friends who refuse to go to dinner with you.

September 2, 2397: Disturbing revelations about the Soltans abound. Is it possible that one of Agincourt's missing crew may be right under their noses? The medical staff struggles to understand the change taking place in the two Gareem guests. Plans are made to help protect the ship from the Soltan threat, though they're mostly based on guesswork and conjecture.

TBS: 1 day

Promotions & Awards:

Murray -- promoted to Lieutenant Senior Grade

Rieve -- Bronze Good Conduct Award

"Well, these two sick Gareem are slowly turning into Soltans, I took samples from the sick Gareem, healthy Gareem and healthy Soltans. I was able to add some information on the Gareem to our databanks, while waiting for the results of the blood analysis." -- Driscol

 

"Scuttlebutt is that your mission to the ship went well, Ma'am."

"Well... we beat them and didn't get any of us killed. Yeah, I'd call that a success. Though we've learned some... disturbing things... but then, it looks like you have too."

"I have reason to believe that one of the Soltans is former crewman Burne, from SEC." -- JoNs, Day

 

"Send me a copy of the sample from the Lead Soltan, I need to do a comparison from Medical records." -- Merril to Driscol

 

"What interests me is that neither the Umbara now the Selshans mentioned these people. Of course, they've both got a bit of a blind spot where their war is concerned, but if the Soltan's have so much local territory..."

"Unless they're in bed with one side or the other.. mercs, for lack of a better term." -- Harper, Day

 

"When you're done giving physicals, I have something for you to look at. It's right up your alley." -- Rieve to Merril

 

"I need a blinged out probe to send ahead to this colony world. I'd like it to be the standard lifeform scanner, but with a few of our tactical programs endcoded..." -- JoNs

 

"The Gunnery Sgt Hefner has taught me about procreation."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. It has to do with curvature. The curvature draws two beings together, a third being is produced, and it grows to begin the cycle again." -- Shadow, Driscol

Ag050907.txt

Glancing about the ruined bridge, Paradox returned her gaze to the alien woman before her. "Sorry about the mess.... It was the quickest way to neutralize all of them. So, you say they tried to conquer your planet, and this ship is all that is left? or are there others?"

Evali's face fell. "There were others," she said sadly. "Whether there still are, I know not." She brushed a hand across a splintered, half-melted console. "It may be they were all caught, like us."

A sympathetic look briefly crossed Day's face... one at odds with the hard marine persona that she often wore on missions like this. "I see. Do you have no way to contact each other? Surely your entire race isn't lost..."

"We had a few colonies. Agricultural, mainly; our homeworld is rich in metals but poor in most everything else. When the Changers came in force, we fled, each to a different colony." She hung her head, closing her eyes tightly against tears. "We hoped that at least one would escape; that they could not chase us all."

"Then they were after the metals? I know this is probably difficult to discuss, but do you know why?" In seeming sympathy, which in truth it was, T'Loren, who had previously removed her gaunlets, reached out a hand, and touched the woman on the arm to reassure her. At the same time, she read lightly into the woman's surface thoughts, just enough to verify the veracity of the statements. It just wouldn't do for them to defend this ship and its people if they were being dishonest about the order of events.

"More resources for their war machine," Evali spat bitterly. "It's all they live for - they conquer a world, take over its population, strip its resources to send them on to another world, and another..." She sighed. "You can't miss hearing about them, but it was always rumors from far away. We thought we were safe enough... This sector has few worlds; the stars are too young. I never imagined they would look here..."

"Whom are they fighting? Do you know anything about their transport technology.. the vortex that they use to move?"

Evali shrugged. "They shared little information with us, naturally," she said, turning to look up at Day with a sour smile twisting her lips. "The vortex is new. At least... the rumors never spoke of such a thing until recently."

Paradox nodded, "So, how long do you think it will take to repair your ship? Do you have coordinates of your world? I cannot promise anything, but we may want to check it out at the very least." She glanced around, hoping that Javin would be amenable to helping with the repairs.

"I can give you the coordinates of our homeworld, but you will find nothing there but the Changers," Evali told her. She poked at another console, which flickered to life then died with a whine, a snap, and a smell of something burning. "At least, I can give them to you if we have a working terminal left to us." Sighing, she looked around the ruined bridge. "It will take us some time to fix this, but the colony is not too much farther, thankfully."

"Your colony? Do you know if it is still intact? If so, perhaps we can tow your ship there, rather than waiting out in the open for the bad guys to return. We have to track these ships, though.. it may still be our best chance to get home."

That made Evali look at her with more interest. "You are strangers here? I am sorry to burden you with our troubles! But we would appreciate the tow. I hope the colony is all right."

Paradox nodded with a sigh, "We were fighting some of them.. when they opened a vortex. We followed them, and we're now stuck here. But we're always looking to make new friends." A small encouraging smile appeared. "Let's contact my ship and see what we can do."

"My thanks," said Evali, gracing her with a small bow and a smile.

Day tapped her comm badge, "Paradox to Medusa. The ship is secure. These nice people are wondering if we could give them a tow to their colony, though the leader is unsure if it is still intact. Perhaps we can send a marine shuttle to check it out before walking into a potential danger zone."

A dry voice filtered back over the commbadge. "I'm sure that can be arranged, Paradox. It'll be a few minutes before I can spare you any engineers to lock that ship down for tow, though. We nearly had a hull breach over here."

A look of concern crossed her face, "A hull breach? I didn't think they had that powerful of weapons against... Is everyone okay?"

"We evacuated the section in time, thankfully," Harper answered. "The heck of it is, they never made a dent in our shields. Science is going nuts over it."

"There was a near hull breach not caused by weapons? A vortex??" T'Loren questioned. That possibility was clearly disturbing.

"That's the working theory. We'll know more when we get the section repressurized and get people in there with scanners." The colonel's voice paused for a moment, though the background sounds of the bridge still filtered over the commlink. Then Harper was back.

"In the meantime, hang tight there. We'll get things squared away as soon as we can... oh, and good work over there, Paradox. Five prisoners; that's impressive."

"Unfortunately, the rest were too kind and clustered together for the grenade. The bridge here is a shambles. Can Javin at least send us a few supplies? We can attempt to at least restore a few consoles."

"I think I can arrange that, assuming I can get him to stop complaining about us blowing up his baby again."

Day smirked, winking at Evali, "Tell him it was for a good cause. Paradox out." She looked back at the woman, "So, where can we start?"

Evali looked around the bridge with some dismay. "I believe the navigational station is the least damaged," she said at last, indicating one station further away from the epicenter of the blast. "That will have the data you wish, as well."

Day nodded, "Then let's get started, shall we?"

“Be Careful What You Wish For”

Harper Log 05.02.07

September 1, 2397

Somewhere in the Perseus Arm

Be careful what you wish for…

Standing in the – her Ready Room, staring out the arching viewports at the little ship beside them and the stars beyond, Harper felt the old saw drumming through her skull. She was waiting for Day and JoNs to join her so that the chief of security could brief them on the interrogation of the Soltan prisoners, and so that she could question Day about the operation on the other ship. The one she hadn’t gone on, because she had a ship to command.

If she’d thought balancing the duties of first officer and battalion commander was difficult, it was nothing to this. She had finally given in, over the month when they picked up the pieces from the Gladion affair, and removed herself from the 139th’s rotations, as the others had been suggesting. Not that she had thought Paradox would mis-manage it, and lord knew Troll was ready to step up to the company command thus opened, but…

Her eyes refocused on her own reflection in the transparisteel windows. It was faint; only her face and hands showed clear against the starry backdrop. The rest was dark-on-dark, black slacks and charcoal top, a flash of gold at her left breast and silver on the right. Shipboard greys, of course; the tunic that was the same as Fleet uniforms, except that someone sensible had rejected the bright primaries in favor of the color that was no-color. When was the last time she had worn fatigues on duty? The last time she put on armor except in training? Desk job…

Except that it wasn’t, for all that she enjoyed griping about the paddwork. Practically speaking, she’d done more of that as first officer; all the little things that didn’t require the captain’s attention or approval, all the long reports that came to her to be vetted before being passed upwards, summarized, or filed. No, starship command was hardly a desk job, and certainly not when the ship was lost thousands of light-years from home in hostile space. It only felt that way because she wasn’t getting her hands dirty anymore; because she was stuck leading from behind, which rankled.

To think she’d once dreamed of captaining a starship, whenever she was taking a break from the endless round of study for the Academy entrance exams. And once the acceptance came, once she was in the long-coveted cadet uniform at last – those were grey now, too, she recalled, though lighter than the marine tunic; in her day they’d still had the red yoke – she’d had five months to spin those fantasies, five months to imagine hearing ‘Captain Harper’ from a crew of her own. Even if that dream had sometimes seemed unlikely…

Starfleet Academy – 2377

“Cadet, your team’s orders were to approach the target on foot, were they not?”

“Yes, Commander,” Harper replied steadily.

“Would you care to explain why you took to the trees? The others report that the arboreal approach was your idea.”

“Cadet Harper, would you explain why your simulator has been reprogrammed without authorization?”

“Cadet, would you care to explain why you opted to describe the Picard Maneuver as ‘antiquated beyond practical usefulness’?”

“Cadet Harper? Would you care to – ” Harper cringed reflexively at the opening, and the voice broke off. “I’m sorry, I should at least introduce myself first, shouldn’t I?” She turned around to see a young officer – perhaps in his early 30s – standing with hand outstretched. He wore, in addition to an easy smile, a uniform whose division shirt nearly blended into the grey of the jacket yoke. “I’m Major Donovan,” he said.

Uncertain whether to snap to attention or shake the offered hand, she wound up trying to do both, and hoped she didn’t look as stupid as she felt. “Pleased to meet you, Major,” she replied, attempting to recover some poise.

His smile broadened. “At ease, Cadet,” he told her, squeezing her hand with a firm, friendly pressure. “I’d just like to have a chat with you. Shall we walk?” He indicated the path before them.

“Er…. Yes, sir,” Harper stammered ungracefully, turning mechanically to walk beside him. “Um, what did you want to talk about, sir?”

“Your future.” He graced her with a wide grin. “I understand you’re developing a bit of a reputation.”

She felt her cheeks warm. The notion that she was being discussed among officers she’d never even met made her want to crawl under a bed and not come out until graduation. “It’s just the one reprimand,” she protested, not really believing it herself. “Lots of cadets – ”

Donovan’s chuckle stopped her. “Cadet, are you under the impression that it’s a bad reputation?” he asked wryly.

Harper ducked her head, muttering, “Well, the amount of time I’m spending in Admiral Brandt’s office…”

The chuckling morphed into full, rich laughter. “That’s about your record, Harper, not your reputation,” he said when he’d gotten control of himself. His eyes still twinkled at her.

She frowned into them, confused. “Sir?”

“Simplistically – your record is how well you follow orders. Your reputation is how well you get the job done.” He settled on one of the benches lining the path, motioning her to join him. “You need some work on the former, but you’re doing quite well with the latter,” he continued as she sat. “What you need to learn – what Admiral Brandt and your instructors have been trying to drum into you – is consequence assessment. You’ve been operating on the principle that it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission; it’s not a bad theory, but it doesn’t always apply.”

She considered that for a long moment, trying to remember if she’d ever heard it put quite that way. “With all due respect, sir,” she began hesitantly, “you didn’t come to talk to me about my behavior, I think?”

“Well, peripherally,” Donovan replied. “But you’re right. Have you picked a course track yet, Harper?”

“Command,” she replied immediately, and he nodded.

“Not unexpected. Your instructors say you’ve got a knack for getting people to go along with you. You do realize you’ll be running a lot of flying desk missions, though?”

She kicked glumly at a stone from the path. “My advisor warned me about that,” she admitted. “But if that’s what’s needed… Besides, Commander Fa’alt says that with the war recovery, even the security officers are pulling administrivia duty.”

“Very true.” The major stretched out his long legs, crossing booted feet at the ankles. “The war recovery is consuming everyone’s attention right now, ours included.” He glanced sideways at her. “You know the Marines are expanding, of course?”

Harper nodded. “Yes, sir. Because the Dominion War taught us the necessity of maintaining a trained and ready infantry, even in this age of space warfare.”

“A textbook answer.” Donovan signed and looked out across the landscaped grounds. “Frankly, Cadet, the Dominion War was an embarrassment. We discovered that we’d become too accustomed to the quick skirmish and the fleets facing off; we weren’t equipped to fight an entrenched war.”

She looked at him in surprise; surely this wasn’t a sentiment usually shared with cadets? It seemed disloyal, somehow, and yet it was merely truth, present between the lines of the ‘textbook’ answer she had so glibly offered. But she had never heard it voiced aloud.

“You’re wondering why I’m telling you this,” Donovan said. “I haven’t started babbling, Cadet; I wasn’t you to understand where I’m coming from here. In a lot of ways the Marines are starting from scratch; the token forces we used to have… well, we haven’t really been a viable service since before Khitomer. Now Starfleet wants us on every border outpost, and mobile units assigned to starships… it’s a massive recruiting job.”

He paused, and turned to study her while she sat waiting expectantly, a glimmer of a notion growing in her mind… “To facilitate that,” he said abruptly, “they’ve made it simpler to transfer between the naval and infantry training programs, both non-con and officer. Would you be interested?”

She had expected the question, and yet she was speechless. She just stared at him with her jaw hanging slightly open.

“It will mean a lot of work,” he warned her. “We’re not sacrificing out standards to expedience. And you will have to learn to obey orders, whether you like them or not.” Donovan grinned at her, inviting her to share the joke. “Sooner rather than later, too. But we need people who can think outside the box – and think the box into a sphere, if it comes to that.”

Finding her voice, Harper answered hesitantly, “Can I… think about it? I’m flattered,” she added hastily, “I’d just never considered…”

“Of course,” he replied. “Take as much time as you need; even next semester, if you like. The first year’s curriculum is about the same.” He smiled at her. “You need a recommendation, a sponsor, and your advisor’s signature; the credits from this past semester will all transfer, so you needn’t worry about your class standing.” Getting up, he offered a hand, which she took in a firm grip. “If you have any questions, give me a call.”

“Thank you, sir.” She stood as well. “I’ll think it over.”

USS Agincourt – 2397

Well, who ever said eighteen year-olds knew what they wanted to do with their lives? Certainly she hadn’t had cause to regret the change. Even when it might have been easier to be comfortable on a ship, fighting clean battles in the silence and distance of space. Certainly she’d never imagined herself on the bridge of a starship again. Except that now it seemed twenty year old dreams were coming back to haunt her.

The door chime rang.

Well, now you have me curious....

New pinned topic in the forum: "Races of the Perseus Arm"

Klepped the bit above and added the Gareem and new info on Soltans.

This is all in the Encyclopedia (or will be, when I finish updating, and I apologize; I'm behind) but I thought it would be nice to have it handy here, too, and not have to worry about searching through this thread for it.

Soltan -- Humanoid, six-limbed (two legs, four arms), blue-skinned with a slightly plastic look to it. (Think Gumby & Friends). First encounted in the Alpha Quadrant. A Soltan vessel crashed on Alamis VIII; some bodies and a very limited amount of technology were recovered. The Agincourt pursued two Soltan ships to the Perseus Arm, though no identification was made at that time. Later the subspace readings from their propulsion systems led the Agincourt to the planet S'b'una, where a team led by Rieve was warmly -- if bureaucratically -- greeted, and informed that the long-range drives the Agincourt wanted were solely owned by the military. They gave directions and a landing-permit to S'a'va, the nearest planet with a military base. As the team was leaving, however, a military vessel showed up and fired on the Agincourt, also succeeding in kidnapping four members of the crew despite the Agincourt's shields. The Agincourt was forced to flee that encounter. Have now been spotted probably attacking another ship. Can apparently morph members of other races into Soltans.

Introductory Log: "Meet the Soltans"

Umbara -- avian race similar to Terran cassowary. First encountered by the Gamma section of the Agincourt, helped them make repairs and locate Alpha & Beta sections. Warned Agincourt of "the Enemy" they were fighting; that is: the Selshan. An Umbara speaking to Agincourt crew was stunned by a Selshan at the Ieu'ani market. An Umbara ship later fired on the Agincourt as it was leaving the Ieu'ani market, supposedly to warn Agincourt off associating with the Selshans. The Umbara were implicated by the Selshans as supporting the Gladions.

Introductory log: "Meet the Umbara"

The Umbara according to the Selshans:

"Do make certain you avoid other vessels than ours. Our Enemy is a brutal, conquest-driven race. They will not hesitate to capture your ship and kill or enslave your crew. Terrible, hideous creatures. An ancient race, greedy and grasping, that will do anything to expand its empire. They call themselves the Umbara."

-- Lord-Commander Solin

Selshan -- humanoid, very tall and thin, with skin tones ranging through various pastel shades. (Think human stretched like taffy -- not quite as elongated as the cloners from Star Wars, but that sort of effect -- and tinted spring colors.) First encounted by Alpha and Beta sections of the Agincourt. Provided supplies and personnel to help repair sections, warned them that they had entered a warzone and to stay away from the Umbara. Later shot an Umbara that was speaking to Agincourt crew at the Ieu'ani market. Helped Agincourt recover personnel taken by the Gladions, and accused the Umbara of supporting the Gladions. (They seem to get mixed up with the Soltans sometimes; two S-names was probably not wise. I liked the "Aelshan" typo that occurred the other night, but changing the name now would probably be even more confusing, huh?)

Introductory log: "Meet the Selshans"

The Selshan according to the Umbara:

"We would offer you the hospitality of our station, but unfortunately we are in a perpetual state of alert. You have wandered into a warzone, Commander. It has been going on for a long while now. You are fortunate indeed that you did not meet our Enemy." -- Captain Uualha

"Our enemy? They are souless ones. They take over your body, your mind. They are no longer yours." -- Iocca

Ieu'ani -- humanoid, exact appearance unknown due to cultural tendency towards multi-layered clothing and veils. Run an open market spanning at least one planet and surrounding space, which is enforced neutral territory. Provided shore leave and supplies to Agincourt.

Gladions -- their own name for themselves unknown. Appearance unknown: possibly several species working together. Infected Agincourt crew with a virus at Ieu'ani market, which caused hostility and paranoia. Infected crew jumped ship and were taken aboard a Gladion vessel, where they were forced to fight in gladatorial contests.

Gareem -- humanoid. A Gareem vessel attacked by Soltans was rescued by the Agincourt. The Gareem revealed that their homeworld had been conquered by the Soltans; they were trying to escape to a colony world. The Agincourt agreed to escort them there. Two members of the Gareem crew were 'infected' by the Soltans, and beginning to change into Soltans themselves.

August 31, 2397: The Agincourt is assisting a vessel that was attacked by Soltans. In the process, the crew discovers that the Soltans can 'infect' other races and change them into Soltans. Two of the Gareem have begun to show signs of this change; they are beamed into quarantine on the Agincourt for the doctors to examine. Meanwhile, the security department questions the Soltans that were captured, and the engineers try to work out why there was nearly a hull breach on deck six during the battle.

TBS: 1 day

Promotions & Awards:

Merril -- Bronze Good Conduct

" ...because the SIF doesn't just go out like that. There are backups, and the backups have backups, and those backups have backups of their own..." -- Murray

 

"We're out in the middle of nowhere, the enemies are ugly, and the friends are, well, not always very friendly. So, yeah... it's some outfit. Welcome to the jungle." -- Rieve

 

"Who's the latest overzealous one?"

"He'll learn." -- Merril, Rieve

 

"I am Y'l'sai. Why have you taken us from our people? This is an unlawful act, against regulations."

"Whose regulations?"

"Just regulations, Chief. All regulations must be followed. You are in violation - you will be dealt with." -- Y'l'sai the Soltan, JoNs

 

"So, did you decontam? I really don't want any of our people to turn into aliens."

"Transporter biofilter won't take it out?"

"I don't know. the aliens we helped said that their people can get infected and turn into Soltans." -- Day, Rieve

 

"Welcome aboard the Agincourt, I will do everything I can to help. Do you know anything about the disease affecting you?"

"Disease? It is the Change; it is not a sickness, you cannot cure it." -- Tordai, Evana

 

"Those subspace disturbances may be like a gateway or something... Subspace weapons...an isolytic weapon, I think he called it." -- Murray

Ag050207.txt

"Evali."

She turned to face the source of the voice, a man standing in the doorway to the devastated bridge. He looked grim. Her heart tried to leap into her throat and sink to her toes at the same time. "Petin?"

He would not meet her eyes, staring intently at a splash of blood on the deckplates. "Two of our people in quarantine have begun to show the Change."

Suddenly it was hard to breathe. The air was fine a moment ago, her brain insisted. There was no reason why it should burn her throat and lungs now. "Who?" someone asked. The speaker sounded very calm, she noticed. Then she realized it had been her own voice.

Petin shifted uncomfortably. "Orik, and..." He shifted again, raised his eyes to hers. "I'm sorry, Evali. The other one is Evana."

She crumpled against the console, clinging to its twisted frame hard enough to leave dents in her palms, and wondered what had happened to the ship's attitude stabilizers, that it should suddenly be spinning. "No..."

"I'm sorry," Petin repeated. There was an uncomfortable silence. "Uh, do you want us to..."

With an effort, she pulled herself upright, breathing deep. "No," she said, in a voice that shook too much to be convincingly firm. "It is my place to do it; I will come." She passed a hand over her eyes, stinging and blurred no doubt from the fumes and smoke on the bridge, and found wetness on her cheeks. Ah.

T'Loren, whose head had come up at the word 'quarantine', stepped closer and put a hand on her arm, "Excuse me, but you have people that are ill? First, is this contagious? Are my people in danger? And second, perhaps we can help..."

Evali managed a shaky smile for the alien woman. "It is only contracted through prolonged physical contact with the Changers," she explained. "Your people will be fine... you all wear much protective gear anyway." She eyed the woman's armor, a little curious but not in the mood to ask questions now. "And it is kind of you to offer, but there is no cure, only release." She took a shuddery breath and straightened her shoulders. "If you will pardon me now, I must go do for my sister."

T'Loren stepped further forward, undertstanding the form of 'release' referred to, and blocked her way. "Wait.. If what you say is true.. this may be the last of your race, you owe it to yourselves to at least let us try. We aren't from around here... but perhaps there is something we have learned in our corner of the galaxy. After all, what can it hurt?"

She hesitated. It would be a wonder, true, if these strangers could offer a cure, but if they failed, the consequences would be unthinkable. "Would it... take long?"

Paradox shrugged her ignorance, "I'm a Marine, not a doctor. But again, what harm can it do? We can beam them over, in quarantine, and let our doctors take a look. It's safe for our people and yours would be no worse off. I can contact the ship immediately..."

Biting her lip, Evali nodded. "Very well. But... if they cannot help... if the Change comes in earnest... We will release our loved ones while they still are our loved ones. You understand?"

Day nodded, "If it comes to that, and I sincerely hope it won't, but if it does, you have my word that I will help you. But only if we

cannot help them." Reaching up, she tapped her comm badge for the second time in mere hours, "Paradox to Medusa. Quiet channel, please." She didn't want too many ears listening to spread wild rumors.

"I'm in the Ready Room, Paradox," Harper's voice said. "What's the problem?"

With a brief sigh of relief, she spoke, "We have a quarantine situation here. Apparently, there is more to the Soltans than meets the eye..." Day filled her in on the current situation, then finished with, "I hope we can help them.. It also might be the key to defeating them and finding a way back home."

Ah, y'know I realized that I forgot one part of the Soltans -- we have seen a Soltan before S'b'una; while we were still in the Alpha Quadrant, in fact. Of course, it wasn't alive at the time...

...do y'all think there's a veiled warning in there? :-)

... Veiled? Was it veiled? :)

August 31, 2397: The Agincourt intervenes to rescue a ship being attacked by Soltans. While the Marines beam over to "bounce a boarding party with extreme prejudice," in the words of Colonel Day, the ship attempts to fight off the Soltan vessel. Things get hairy for a time when an unexplained subspace reading appears and the structural integrity field on deck six begins failing. Sustained fire eventually lowers the Soltans' power levels to untenable levels, and they begin a retreat.

TBS: 6-12 hours, as logged

"How are the shield generators?"

"As good as they've been since we've been out here."

"Any chance to boost them? They won't hold long if they start shooting at us."

"Doubt it. Everything is pretty much at full as it is...and by full, I mean full in a damaged and messed up sense."

"This may be a short battle then." -- Kairi, Murray

 

"Sir, weapons fire is decreasing and subspace activity is increasing." -- Black-Knight

 

"Looks like they're trying their way through the tubing system. Probably trying to lay low off the scanners, as if that'll work." -- Rieve

 

"Lieutenant! Evac off deck six Now!! Breach imminent!" -- JoNs

 

"We fled when they came to conquer our colony. They dislike leaving a conquest unfinished."

"Are you at war with them?"

"War? Oh, no. Madam, you are standing on one of the finest ships we own -- do you think we could fight a war with them?" -- Evali, Day

Ag042507.txt

Though taking to heart advice to keep watch in every direction, Agincourt's Security department had an unfortunate tendency not to watch their backs...

August 31, 2397: The Agincourt picks up a distress signal from an unknown vessel. The ship is under attack from a Soltan ship, and requests aid from the Agincourt in repelling a boarding party. Despite some uncertainty, Agincourt prepares to enter the fray.

TBS: almost none

Promotions & Awards:

Day -- service stripe

Condacin -- promotion to Lieutenant; promotion to CSCI/OPS

"We have two hunks of metal and nadion particles, sir." -- Black-Knight

 

"Take a terminal and begin analyzing the records of the distress call. Also, we may be used for a bording party." -- Nimetti

 

"Troll, any clue what we should suit up for?"

"Possible EVA, or Boarding slash Rescue" -- Rieve, Merril

 

"Okay... two ships fighting.. about what? do we even get involved.... Which one is sending the distress call?"

"We ought to at least have a look. Humanitarian duty of Starfleet and all that."

"And if they both turn on us?" -- Day, Harper

 

"Marines, use shipboard BDUs, we're going for lightweight, be sure to test your magboots, artificial gravity is not a certainty... prep EVA suits for possible extravehicular deployment." -- Rieve

 

"I try not to startle biologicals I have not met. The Levy has told me it can be damaging to their bodies." -- Shadow

 

"We're ready down here... Just tell us where the party is."

"Party on the damaged ship, I expect; they'd like a hand evicting some uninvited guests."

"Understood... I hate party crashers. Permission to bounce them with extreme prejudice?" -- Day, Harper

 

"Everyone stay on your toes. We took a beating the last time we faced them. That's how we got in this mess in the first place." -- Kairi

Ag041807.txt

Oh, goodie, for once I can talk on this thread without having to worry about spoilers!

The Races of the Perseus Arm

(in order of appearance)

Soltan -- Humanoid, six-limbed (two legs, four arms), blue-skinned with a slightly plastic look to it. (Think Gumby & Friends). First encounted in the Alpha Quadrant. The Agincourt pursued two Soltan ships to the Perseus Arm, though no identification was made at that time. Later the subspace readings from their propulsion systems led the Agincourt to the planet S'b'una, where a team led by Rieve was warmly -- if bureaucratically -- greeted, and informed that the long-range drives the Agincourt wanted were solely owned by the military. They gave directions and a landing-permit to S'a'va, the nearest planet with a military base. As the team was leaving, however, a military vessel showed up and fired on the Agincourt, also succeeding in kidnapping four members of the crew despite the Agincourt's shields. The Agincourt was forced to flee that encounter. Have now been spotted probably attacking another ship.

Umbara -- avian race similar to Terran cassowary. First encountered by the Gamma section of the Agincourt, helped them make repairs and locate Alpha & Beta sections. Warned Agincourt of "the Enemy" they were fighting; that is: the Selshan. An Umbara speaking to Agincourt crew was stunned by a Selshan at the Ieu'ani market. An Umbara ship later fired on the Agincourt as it was leaving the Ieu'ani market, supposedly to warn Agincourt off associating with the Selshans. The Umbara were implicated by the Selshans as supporting the Gladions.

The Umbara according to the Selshans:

Do make certain you avoid other vessels than ours. Our Enemy is a brutal, conquest-driven race. They will not hesitate to capture your ship and kill or enslave your crew. Terrible, hideous creatures. An ancient race, greedy and grasping, that will do anything to expand its empire. They call themselves the Umbara."

Selshan -- humanoid, very tall and thin, with skin tones ranging through various pastel shades. (Think human stretched like taffy -- not quite as elongated as the cloners from Star Wars, but that sort of effect -- and tinted spring colors.) First encounted by Alpha and Beta sections of the Agincourt. Provided supplies and personnel to help repair sections, warned them that they had entered a warzone and to stay away from the Umbara. Later shot an Umbara that was speaking to Agincourt crew at the Ieu'ani market. Helped Agincourt recover personnel taken by the Gladions, and accused the Umbara of supporting the Gladions. (They seem to get mixed up with the Soltans sometimes; two S-names was probably not wise. I liked the "Aelshan" typo that occurred the other night, but changing the name now would probably be even more confusing, huh?)

The Selshan according to the Umbara:

"We would offer you the hospitality of our station, but unfortunately we are in a perpetual state of alert. You have wandered into a warzone, Commander. It has been going on for a long while now. You are fortunate indeed that you did not meet our Enemy." -- Captain Uualha

"Our enemy? They are souless ones. They take over your body, your mind. They are no longer yours." -- Iocca

Ieu'ani -- humanoid, exact appearance unknown due to cultural tendency towards multi-layered clothing and veils. Run an open market spanning at least one planet and surrounding space, which is enforced neutral territory. Provided shore leave and supplies to Agincourt.

Gladions -- their own name for themselves unknown. Appearance unknown: possibly several species working together. Infected Agincourt crew with a virus at Ieu'ani market, which caused hostility and paranoia. Infected crew jumped ship and were taken aboard a Gladion vessel, where they were forced to fight in gladatorial contests.

Wait, I thought the navigational deflecter took care of oncomming dust and the like.

 

Any indication full sheilds messes with sensory equipment, or makes it harder to operate at warp speed or anything?

Same thing. http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Navigational_deflector - also adresses your other question, and how it's dealt with. Seriously, Memory Alpha -- more than you ever wanted to know about Star Trek.

Sounds like sheilds are kept by default at a fraction of their power, as long as everyone does it it doesn't matter why. B)

You need to have some form of protection for the ship at all times, because given the velocities starships achieve, even micro-metorites can potentially become deadly projectiles. Shields operating at their lowest, non-combat setting are often simply referred to as 'deflectors' since their primary purpose is to deflect particles from the hull. The command "shields up" raises power and probably brings online additional shield generators, in order to resist high-energy weapons or more dangerous navigational hazards.

Happy b-day, Troll!

She was sitting in a corner of the gymnasium on the floor, an intent look on her fact and a padd in her hand. Her knees pulled up against her stomach, she peered at the device as if all the secrets of how to eradicate the Danteri race forever were being displayed upon it. Every few minutes, she made a perplexing hand motion or two, miming something with her fingers before again returning her attentions to the data store. Weight-lifters, pairs of sparring crewmen, and now and then a cocky marine gave her the occasional odd look, responded to with a half-hearted glare, but otherwise, O'd'yl was completely in her own little world, oblivious to the rest of the cosmos.

Word about this eventually got around, of course, and it was inevitable that it would come to Harper's ears, all the more so because it was well-known around the ship that she and 'the Crazy Xenexian' had some history which made (maybe) Condacin more prone to (occasionally) listen to her. This came to pass on the third day after the crew was rescued, at which point Harper was too busy sorting out the physical and emotional wreckage to do more than register the fact that Odile had destroyed neither person nor property. She was therefore inclined to leave it alone.

But fate seemed to work against her, for a few days later, an amazing transformation took place. Joining the Almighty Padd was a large sachel of strange implements, which she would be seen to look over (though no one had gotten a good enough glimpse of them other than to say that they were metallic in composition), and even more accompanying gestures increasing in frequency. She appeared to perpetually frowning during her time in the gym, and her already fragile temper was rumored to have become incrementally worse as she spent more and more time entrenched in whatever the newest obsession might be.

Word about that arrived on day ten, and that was the day every turbolift on the ship forgot how to get from point A to point B, delivering people in the mess hall when they asked for engineering, and to the shuttlebay when they wanted sickbay, and once - memorably - a very embarassed couple headed to their quarters had been deposited on the bridge. The word 'metallic' did register on Harper, in and among the complaints about people late for work, or stuck, or crowding into Jefferies tubes in an attempt to bypass the whole problem. She made a note to drop by the gym the next time she had a free moment. And a working turbolift to get there.

The number of gym-goers had diminished fractionally as a result of the increased physical workouts from having to crawl through access tubes to get the simple things taken care of, but somehow Odile managed to still find time to get there. And by the twelfth day, wild rumors were flying faster than the ship. She was doing something with weapons, and it was only a matter of time before she used them to strangle or stab an innocent bystander who rubbed her the wrong way.

On day thirteen -- and she was glad she wasn't superstitious -- Harper couldn't eat lunch for the interruptions. Abandoning what had been a perfectly good plate of pok tar and was now a congealing unappetizing lump of processed proteins, she stalked down to the gym for a look at the source of all this excitement.

There, nestled in near the door to the gym, was a Xenexian warrior woman, seemingly cocooned in a tangle of knotted yarn and metallic... objects. She held a strand of black yarn in one hand, staring at it miserably with the side of her head against the other hand. Odile didn't look up when Harper entered; she didn't even notice, perturbed by her own string-related difficulties.

Harper stood and watched this for a time, bemused, and then crossed the expanse of floor between them. The few crew members that were working out - one eye on the Xenexian and one on the equipment - got out of her way, but turned to watch.

Standing over Odile, Harper said, "Even your hobbies involve long, sharp, pointy things."

A long, exasperated sigh escaped her. "Can't you see I'm busy? You should just be glad that I'm taking out frustrations on this," she shook the bundle of needles and string roughly, "instead of sticking the needles into annoying crew."

Smiling, Harper crossed her legs at the ankles and folded herself neatly into a tailor's seat on the floor in front of Odile. "What is it, and why are you doing it in the gym?"

"Answer one: Knitting; answer two: eye candy." She jerked her chin towards an attractive enlistee breaking a sweat on the weight set. "Any other questions, ye tentacled prying one?" she asked with a smirk. "Or would you like me to teach you as well?"

She followed the motion to the enlistee in question and had a lingering look herself before shaking her head sharply and turning back to Odile. "You're... knitting." There was a laugh fighting to get free; she smothered it.

"Yes, I am knitting."

"Mind if I ask what brought this on?"

She smiled, as innocently as she could muster. "Perhaps the fact that I know knitting needles and yarn won't suddenly be possessed with the notion that the non-humans are mutinous homicidal maniacs. That they're much more reliable in their tendencies than say... you and your kin?"

"Oh, now, be fair," Harper said, stealing a stray loop of yarn and idly braiding it. "We were possessed with the notion that everyone was a mutinous homicidal maniac."

"True," she relented. "You're rather lucky that none of them encountered me. I could have used a good excuse to have an impromptu sparring match." She grinned. "And then I could have also had a good excuse to un-tie Ms. Dagger here." Condacin patted the weapon like it was a pet.

A wicked impulse seized Harper. She took her loop of yarn and tossed it over the dagger, deftly wrapping the weapon until it was cocooned in fiber. "Try to look a little less manaical when you have the needles in your hands," she advised, rising while Odile was still gasping in outrage over the offense to her dagger. "You're scaring off the eye candy."

The Xenexian was irate. "You... you... how dare you?" she sputtered, jerking off the wrappings lest they taint the weapon with human folly. "If you weren't a colonel... if you were any other officer..."

"You'd still be in the brig for insubordination, Petty Officer?" She raised a brow challengingly, but the dancing grin took any sting from the words.

Tossing the makeshift wrap for the blade after the colonel petulantly, she huffed. "I would have thought that you, of all people, might have the slightest shred of respect for my knife."

"I have great respect for the knife," Harper replied with perfect sobriety.

"You're asking for it. Would this fall under grounds for justifiable Harper-icide?"

She shook her head. "No. But I'd love to see what Day would do to you if you stuck her with the captaincy."

"I'm sure we'd survive each other. We did before. But a world without a venomous medusa to rile... I might not survive that. After all, someone has to draw my ire without serious threat of injury."

"I feel so loved."

"You should, you should."

The Magna Carta. ::hated reading it in Latin::

Bonus points if you can do it with out looking it up on Google.

Stein. Lest we develop a topic, I shall not reply in kind.

I got a haircut today.

August 6, 2397: The Selshan vessel offers the Agincourt a lead on their missing crew, and makes a startling revelation about the kidnappers. Things get more serious for the human crew, as several of them find themselves in a free-for-all combat against one another. Fortunately, Merril and the remaining medical staff have managed to work out a cure.

TBS: 25 days

(and an extra-long quotes section to make up for last week's missing ones. Which have been added, by the way.)

"It's a ring that's been operating in this area for many years. They kidnap other races to participate in blood-sports. We had nearly eradicated them, once, but then they found support from the Enemy." -- Lord-Commander Toran

 

"Do we trust them? Or is it a trap?"

"A trap definitely. But ma'am I see no choice - we have to investigate in order to find the crew." -- Day, JoNs

 

"Hey, they didn't call me "Mongo" for nothing."

"I didn't know they called you "Mongo" at all." -- Murray, Dickinson

 

"I believe I found the counter agen to this virus! Permission to dose Medusa?"

"It won't harm her, will it?"

"It might make her a tad hyper for the next few hours, but otherwise no side-effects showing." -- Merril, Day

 

"Why are you helping us?"

"Because you need the aid, Federationer. And because it will annoy the Umbara." -- Day, Toran

 

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to hit a girl?"

"Yeah...but you're marines right?"

"No, she's a doc."

"Yeah, I was refering to you." -- Levy, Nimetti, Rieve

 

"Did anyone see a way to get out without killing each other?"

"We could try and kill them."

"FIGHT! And your reward will be doubled!"

"On the other hand a double reward might be nice." -- Nimetti, Levy, Voice-over

 

"FIGHT! Or you will all die!

"... and if that voice doesn't SHUT UP, i'm going to kill who it belongs to..." -- Voice, Nimetti

 

"Do you have enough security to guard the cargobay, when we get the crew back?

"They may be...hostile...we need to be careful." -- Kairi, Kansas

 

BONUS QUOTE:

"You're awfully quiet all of a sudden."

"Oh, that's just because my player is typing for three different things plus IMs.. I'm fine." -- Kairi, Melissa. (Psst, you're not supposed to break the fourth wall like that!)

Ag040407.txt

What sort of trouble can the Agincourt expect from the Gladions in the future?

::steals name for the encyclopedia entry, then promptly sits on hands to avoid temptation to weigh in on other matters::