Atragon9

Excerpt from APD (Above the Prime Directive) info feed The Yaku The accepted history of the Federation focuses on the 4-year Earth-Romulan war in the late 2150's. Many still believe the coalition that defeated the Romulans (Terran, Andorian, Vulcan and Tellarite) decided that there was a benefit in maintaining this mutual pact and they formalized this decision a year after the war ended on what is now referred to as Federation Day, October 11, 2161. APD does not dispute the date of Federation Day, or the groups that started the coalition on that day. The true reason for forming this alliance, however, has been discovered. It was in response to the genocide perpetrated by and, later, on the race known as the Yaku. The Earth-Romulan war was winding down in early 2160; all sides were tired of waging and paying the price of war. Unknown to the other, each side of the conflict was planning one, final, desperate offensive. They were both planning on using almost all of their reserve resources and do their best to make it look like it was a simple plan that could be repeated at will - the truth was that these last attacks would take the full effort of each combatant in all-or-nothing gambles. Just before these last great battles were to commence, alarring news was spreading through the galaxy. The neutral and defenseless homeworld of the Haiweh was under attack. The Haiwehese were a race of simple collectors. They focused on collecting data from all and sharing it with all. Neither the Terrans, Vulcans, Tellarites, Andorians or Romulans felt that Haiweh were a threat and the record of these different races' cultures was in the best possible hands (more flippers, in truth) by allowing the Haiwehese to remain neutral and unmolested. This is why the reports of their planet being bombarded brought both sides of the war to their homeworld immediately. When the warships arrived at Haiweh, they found a new threat. There was a fleet of very small ships encircling the planet and using mass drivers to rain down asteroids on the surface. As the weary combatants watched, the fleet of one or two-person ships was turning the peaceful planet of Haiweh into a wasteland. Soon, the old adversaries found themselves as allies in this strange new conflict. As these small ships were attacked and destroyed, it never really made a dent in the planetary bombardment, it was as if the aliens had an inexhaustible supply of vessels and crew. Within 3 day and in spite of the best efforts to stop them, the Haiwehese homeworld and race were destroyed. Near the end of this set of days, it finally looked like the attack on the alien fleet was starting to impact their strength, especially as they started to leave the sector after they wiped out an innocent and helpless race. The warships from the Earth-Romulan conflict gave pursuit, totally abandoning their earlier plans to attack their old enemy. They had enough honor and duty that they decided to find out where these aliens came from and "teach them a lesson they won't forget," a quote from Admiral Potemkin of the Terran fleet. The alien fleet did not try to evade or fight their pursuers and simply led them all back to their own homeworld, Yaku. What followed is obscured by shoddy record-keeping and shrouded in each race's personal shame. It was known that the conflict took 8 months; that there were massive ground assaults, after the Yaku fleet of small craft was destroyed in the second month; that the Yaku were a strange race of mouthless creatures that could speak telepathically with any non-telepaths and would often turn the attackers on their own people - causing massive casualties with their deceptions. Some accounts say that the Yaku never stopped being aggressive and fighting against their enemies, even when they were on the verge of total annihilation. Some accounts said that they laid down their weapons and stopped trying to control peoples' minds, but their attackers were crazed with revenge for the Yaku's unprovoked initial transgressions. Some accounts even postulated that it was the Yaku-controlled enemies that led the charge for the total destruction of Yaku. All that these histories could agree upon is that, at the end of the 8-month struggle, Yaku became more of a smoldering ember than Haiweh ever was. These reliable, but unverified, reports all show this battle concluding less than two weeks before the peace treaty was signed by Romulus and her old enemies. Many believe that the old combatants were physically, psychically and resource depleted and there was nothing left to do, but make peace. At the same time, there were reports that the Yaku problem was discussed at the armistice table and all decided it was for the best if that chapter of our collective histories was kept secret and shut away from the light of media scrutiny. This portrays Federation Day and the end of Earth-Romulan aggression in a very different light than the "story" we've all been told. When you look at it, including this new perspective, which reality makes the most sense? Terra and her allies overwhelmed the Romulan Star Empire, who simply signed a peace treaty and put down their arms? Or that both sides lost their way and performed dishonorably, draining the last of their war chests and the last shred of good will of their peoples at home, so they bowed to the inevitable and simply stopped fighting. Has anyone ever gotten a veteran of the end of the war to speak about their experiences? It is never a topic for reminiscing or pride, don't you wonder why?

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #901, STARDATE 51604.04 =/\= The Manticore is enroute to Earth, but after picking up supplies at a starbase, we also picked up a "passenger." An alien being is in the cargo bay who can "talk" into most of our minds (without sound) while cancelling out all forms of manufactured energy. Sovak tried to meet it and almost died as he got too close to it. It is asking for our help in finding a remote, non technology place to live (hide?), away from all others. We asked for a tissue sample and it dropped its hand from its arm and left it on the deck. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #901, STARDATE 51604.04 =/\= 160404.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #901, STARDATE 51604.04 =/\= The Manticore is enroute to Earth, but after picking up supplies at a starbase, we also picked up a "passenger." An alien being is in the cargo bay who can "talk" into most of our minds (without sound) while cancelling out all forms of manufactured energy. Sovak tried to meet it and almost died as he got too close to it. It is asking for our help in finding a remote, non technology place to live (hide?), away from all others. We asked for a tissue sample and it dropped its hand from its arm and left it on the deck. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #901, STARDATE 51604.04 =/\=

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #900, STARDATE 51603.28 =/\= The Manticore was enroute to Earth, but after picking up supplies at a starbase, we also picked up more than we expected. An alien being is in the bay who can "talk" into most of our minds while cancelling out all forms of manufactured energy. Sovak went to meet it and now he is now floating in a darkened room, a space with no power, gravity or atmosphere - just our new friend. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #900, STARDATE 51603.28 =/\= 160328.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #900, STARDATE 51603.28 =/\= The Manticore was enroute to Earth, but after picking up supplies at a starbase, we also picked up more than we expected. An alien being is in the bay who can "talk" into most of our minds while cancelling out all forms of manufactured energy. Sovak went to meet it and now he is now floating in a darkened room, a space with no power, gravity or atmosphere - just our new friend. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #900, STARDATE 51603.28 =/\=

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #899, STARDATE 51603.21 =/\= The Manticore is on its way to Earth. After picking up supplies at a Starbase, we end up picking up more than we expected. There is an alien being in the bay who can talk into most of our minds while cancelling out all forms of manufactured energy. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #899, STARDATE 51603.21 =/\= 160321.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #899, STARDATE 51603.21 =/\= The Manticore is on its way to Earth. After picking up supplies at a Starbase, we end up picking up more than we expected. There is an alien being in the bay who can talk into most of our minds while cancelling out all forms of manufactured energy. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #899, STARDATE 51603.21 =/\=

I'm home once again, back on the Manticore. After all I went through and all I put my friends, my crew, my "family" through. After my deep cover Op with the Belosians, when I wasn't sure if the Federation would survive, but was pretty sure that I wouldn't. I'm home. I'm back! I'm flat on my back, that is - in a hyperbaric chamber in Sickbay. No exosuit, no feeling below my waist and searing pain in his joints above the waist. The medical staff is doing all they can, but it just takes time. I have to be patient - great, I'm SO good at being patient, huh? I wonder if they'll ever get the groove out of the deck up on the Bridge from where I always pace. ::he chuckles and then catches himself as his neck and shoulders feel like they've just burst into flames. He slows his breathing and catches his breath:: It was nice of Tess to set the chamber to Titan normal grav, so at least I don't have to fight against Terran G's just to lift my head. They tell me the N2 bubbles in my blood are getting smaller and I guess the pain is less than it was when they first put me in here, it's just hard to be objective about my own discomfort. All I know is that I am slowly going crazy being stuck in this storage pod with just my own thoughts for company. One of my biggest thoughts is, why am I still not able to feel anything below my waist? I keep debating whether I should ask the docs about this, but I know they will tell me anything of consequence once they have the facts. If I push them now, they will offer medically-recommended platitudes designed to bolster my self esteem while promising no real answers. So, I wait - in my little box, feeling the thrumming of the ship beneath me. The monotony broken up only by the occasional chat with Vilanne or Tess or even Nancy. What I'm not getting is an update on the ship, the crew, the mission. Isn't part of the healing process to also include keeping the mind engaged, the psyche bolstered? There I go, second guessing the experts, jumping to conclusions, not waiting for events to take their... "I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU" - The voice is my father's voice. I jerk my head up and look around my chamber and out the window into Sickbay. The people I see through my window looks as stunned as I feel, they are looking around themselves at an invisible speaker. I hear his words in my ears, but it is not coming into my ears, I mean, I don't understand how I'm hearing this, especially since my father has been dead for over a decade. Is this what going crazy is like? Are we all going crazy? "THERE'S NO NEED FOR PEOPLE TO BE HURT" - It is my mother's voice now. She is alive, but she is not on this ship. Without realizing, I raise my arms and clap my hands over my ears. The pain is stunning, but I succeed in covering my ears, just as ... "I WON'T HURT YOU" - My father again, loud and clear, even though my ears are covered. Suddenly, Tess is at the window of my chamber, looking concerned and I realize she hear it too. I slowly lower my hands. "Do we have a special guest onboard, Tess?" "Not that I am aware, Admiral. Did you hear something as well?" I nod yes to her before I can stop myself and wince at the pain. Okay, so something is talking to us and we don't know who or where or why. Is everyone hearing this or just the lucky folks in Sickbay? Is Vilanne experimenting on telepathy? But that didn't feel like communication with a telepath, it was like talking, but no vibrating air in my ears. And the voices... it was like pieces of my memory, spliced together. It was more of the thoughts of safety and comfort and security more than the actual words. It was so powerful - and so comforting - and it stopped! More than anything, this looks like a job for Manticore, I just need to... ::He gasps with pain as he tries to lever himself off the bed and doesn't get anywhere, between the pain and the paralysis. He let's himself go and falls back onto his back:: Yeah, this is the very definition of adding insult to injury. ::he squeezes his eyes shut::

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #898, STARDATE 51603.14 =/\= The Manticore is on its way to Earth. After picking up supplies at a Starbase, the cargo bay with these packages loses all power and cannot be scanned on internal sensors. Sovak is just about to vent the cargo bay into space when we detect a humanoid figure, moving in the shadows of the bay. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #898, STARDATE 51603.14 =/\= 160314.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #898, STARDATE 51603.14 =/\= The Manticore is on its way to Earth. After picking up supplies at a Starbase, the cargo bay with these packages loses all power and cannot be scanned on internal sensors. Sovak is just about to vent the cargo bay into space when we detect a humanoid figure, moving in the shadows of the bay. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #898, STARDATE 51603.14 =/\=

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #897, STARDATE 51603.07 =/\= The Manticore is on its way to Earth. Captain Taggart left the ship at a starbase on the way. At the same stop, we took on supplies and stored them in a cargo bay that has now lost all power and cannot be scanned on internal sensors. That's not a good thing! A9 is still in the hyperbaric chamber, living with pain in all of his joints except those below his waist, since he has no feeling in his legs. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #897, STARDATE 51603.07 =/\= 160307.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #897, STARDATE 51603.07 =/\= The Manticore is on its way to Earth. Captain Taggart left the ship at a starbase on the way. At the same stop, we took on supplies and stored them in a cargo bay that has now lost all power and cannot be scanned on internal sensors. That's not a good thing! A9 is still in the hyperbaric chamber, living with pain in all of his joints except those below his waist, since he has no feeling in his legs. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #897, STARDATE 51603.07 =/\=

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #896, STARDATE 51602.29 =/\= The Manticore has defeated an invasion of Federation space and the only lives lost were four members of the staff of Deep Space 4 including the station CO, Commander Jinks (bye Jinks) - ahh, and the station's pet population. The ship is heading back to Earth to report on the covert mission to the Federation Council. There were many injuries, incurred at the end of the mission, due to A9's desperate personal escape plan. Now, he has made it back to the ship and is a "prisoner" once again - this time in a hyperbaric chamber. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #896, STARDATE 51602.29 =/\= 160229.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #896, STARDATE 51602.29 =/\= The Manticore has defeated an invasion of Federation space and the only lives lost were four members of the staff of Deep Space 4 including the station CO, Commander Jinks (bye Jinks) - ahh, and the station's pet population. The ship is heading back to Earth to report on the covert mission to the Federation Council. There were many injuries, incurred at the end of the mission, due to A9's desperate personal escape plan. Now, he has made it back to the ship and is a "prisoner" once again - this time in a hyperbaric chamber. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #896, STARDATE 51602.29 =/\=

DCS, Caisson Disease, the Bends, Rigelian Dancing Fever (it's Star Trek, there's always an alien name or a future "historical reference") - whatever you want to call it, it affects the great and small, the powerful and the destitute. Once a humanoid body is put under a great deal of increased pressure such as terrestrial deep water diving, moving between space ships and space suits, or even emergency warp plasma conduit repairs (See, I did it again - okay, I'll stop now), you must be careful returning to standard pressure. The condition arises from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization. This can lead to horrible joint pain, shortness of breath, loss of balance, altered senses/memory loss in the brain, spinal cord paralysis, death. ==================== So, where were we? Oh yes, Atragon-9 was in a Belosian shuttlecraft with three of their warriors, guarding him and wearing space suits and helmets because they cannot survive in Terran atmosphere. They decided to set the shuttle for A9's requirements, not their own. It was one of the ways that the Belosians thought differently than many other races, in how they classify their own logical thought. It helped Special Ops defeat their invasion and, he hoped, it would help him defeat his guards. Although they cannot breathe Terran air, their native gravity is similar to Earth, so their outfits were not built as pressure suits. If he was wrong, this experiment in prisoner escape would be quite short-lived. Besides aiming at the Manticore flight path and setting up his thrusters-as-morse-code trick, he had to disable or kill his captors. That would involve the slow build of the shutle's atmospheric pressure. He didn't know how much he could sustain, but he set it for the maximum he had heard about at the Academy. After that, it was a waiting game. Wait to see if they would die before he did; wait to see if he found the Manticore, since he would probably have blacked out by then; wait to see if Manticore would figure out the pressure variance or if they would just rip open the shuttle... From what he was told later, he was very glad to be unconscious when they tore off the hatch. DCS can often take up to 48 hours to kick in, but there have also been cases that affected the patient immediately. Thanks to his good luck, A9 was in the second group. It also didn't help that no one knew why his unconscious and barely breathing form began to suddenly and violently convulse. The Security team in the shuttle bay didn't have the expertise to diagnose his condition, but they had the good sense to rush him to Sickbay. The medical staff had no idea what they were facing, nor were they sure why the initial scans were showing the sudden formation of N2 bubbles in his joints, spine and brain. Thankfully, Dr. Chalice decided to trust in the test results, rather than what should be "possible," in this situation. A9 was moved to a hyperbaric chamber and they cranked it up "to eleven" (Spinal Tap, anyone? In truth, they really had to adjust the pressure to 11 bars just to get the N2 in his system to dissolve once again.) It was going to be a long time before he was able to walk the ship freely, not to mention the extreme stress on his Titanian physiology that has 0.3 Earth G as standard pressure. Maybe he'll look good in the hoverchair with the big shiny X on each side, like Professor Xavier.

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #895, STARDATE 51602.22 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race has huge starships made of an unknown materials and a desire to invade the Federation. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians to get needed intel and confirmed the impending attack. Manticore has now offloaded a Planet Killer at Deep Space 4 and collected all of the staff from the base except for the four people needed to detonate the bomb as the invasion fleet passes and to make it look like the base is still fully up and running. The ship is flying away from DS4, heading in to Federation space and the time for detonation has arrived. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #895, STARDATE 51602.22 =/\= 160222.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #895, STARDATE 51602.22 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race has huge starships made of an unknown materials and a desire to invade the Federation. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians to get needed intel and confirmed the impending attack. Manticore has now offloaded a Planet Killer at Deep Space 4 and collected all of the staff from the base except for the four people needed to detonate the bomb as the invasion fleet passes and to make it look like the base is still fully up and running. The ship is flying away from DS4, heading in to Federation space and the time for detonation has arrived. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #895, STARDATE 51602.22 =/\=

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #894, STARDATE 51602.15 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race has huge starships made of an unknown materials and a desire to invade the Federation. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians to get needed intel and confirmed the impending attack. Manticore has now offloaded a Planet Killer at Deep Space 4 and collected all of the staff from the base except for the four people needed to detonate the bomb as the invasion fleet passes and to make it look like the base is still fully up and running. The ship is now away from DS4, heading in to Federation space and awaiting the detonation. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #894, STARDATE 51602.15 =/\=

{Not really sure what the Belosians call the shuttle, but I'm going to call this one the Bismarck. I hope I can take this into enemy territory and scuttle it with its crew, I just hope I'm not one of the ones found on the bottom of the Atlantic decades later} {Right, where was I? I convinced the Belosians I could provide vital intel, once the invasion fleet crossed into the Federation, from a removed vantage point. They find me useful, but don't really trust me, so they granted my request and have sent me out on one of their least-equipped shuttles... with three of their own crew. The story is that they are needed to transmit my reports to the fleet, but we all know they are really here to guard me. The one advantage I have is that the Belosians don't really see the Federation as a serious threat and that also points to how they see me. Of course, they are concerned I will simply run away of left alone, but I don't think they understand the concept of the double-cross. It doesn't make sense to them that I would endanger my life to escape, so the three Belosians onboard with me just need to keep me from running away.} {So now it's down to me vs. my bunkmates and I don't have any weapons, hmmm. First to aim for the Manticore's flight path, second to make myself noticed by a ship escaping a catastrophic ex/implosion at maximum warp, third - to neutralize three Belosian warriors. No problem, huh? At least the first part. Part of my consulting with them is to map their route into the Federation, so I can easily plot a path from DS4 to the nearest starbase inside our borders. Once I can calculate the distance they can travel from the time of detonation at maximum warp, I should be set... but does Captain Taggart know about our dual warp cores? Will he know our true maximum warp? Will he still be in command? Yeah, I'm so glad that step one will be so easy!} {The second step, yeah, that will be easy. I just need to set the thrusters to make course adjustments that are actually Fed command codes, but in Morse code. I can't have that set to begin while my pals here are still awake/around. So I need to set this for a timed start, I guess after I figure out part one so I know where and when we will be interceptable. I also have to be sure the thruster fire doesn't move us OUT of the lane we need to live in or we will just be puffing around the edge of the Federation, as Manticore flies by, in an alien craft, displaying alien lifeform readings - since my seat buddies will have killed me by then for the subterfuge. Wow, I never realized how hard it is to be evil and sneaky} {Okay then, I guess it's really the third piece that will be easiest, neutralizing three Belosian warriors, watching to make sure I don't escape. I guess the first stage is to make sure I don't try to escape - see, it's simple, ugggh. I can't overpower them, not all three; I can't take their weapons, I dare not fire them in this shuttle; I'm left with poison. Then again, it can't be obvious. I have been thinking about a way to defeat the Belosians on their own ships for weeks and all I could think of was the bends. I just could not think of a way to affect an entire ship. I am hopeful I can pull this off here in the Bismarck. My thought is to slowly increase the pressure in the living capsule, while also introducing higher and higher level of Nitrogen into the atmo. They should compensate for each other for awhile (for me anyway, the Belosians are living in their personal fishbowls for their own atmo). From my studying of their physiology, Nitrogen should be deadly to them, especially if the concentration is very high. So I just pull the old, very old, diving trick and crank up the pressure and the N2 and try not to show any reaction as it becomes hard for me to breathe or move around. If it goes as planned, the N2 levels will be deadly for them just when the atmo pressure causes their helmets to crack open. What I don't know is if I'll be able to remain conscious long enough to reverse the buildup after they have been poisoned} {Yeah, this plan is an easy 1-2-3, except 1 is not a sure thing, since I can't know where Manticore will be; 2 is dangerous as it could send us off from any rendezvous; and 3 is downright deadly, hopefully to the bad guys and maybe not to me (mayyyybe?) I love it when a plan comes together!}

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #893, STARDATE 51602.08 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race has huge starships made of an unknown materials and a desire to invade the Federation. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians to get needed intel and confirmed the impending attack. Manticore has raced back to DS4 with the only plan to stop the invasion, use the PK onboard DS4 itself, to begin a chain reaction just as the Belosians fly by. Time is running out to evacuate the staff of DS4 before the big boom. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #893, STARDATE 51602.08 =/\= 160208.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #893, STARDATE 51602.08 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race has huge starships made of an unknown materials and a desire to invade the Federation. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians to get needed intel and confirmed the impending attack. Manticore has raced back to DS4 with the only plan to stop the invasion, use the PK onboard DS4 itself, to begin a chain reaction just as the Belosians fly by. Time is running out to evacuate the staff of DS4 before the big boom. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #893, STARDATE 51602.08 =/\=

::Atragon sits in his lightly guarded quarters on the Belosian invasion flagship:: {My job is almost done here, feeding my new "masters" slightly wrong intel, calculated to keep me seen as a deeply flawed and disgruntled traitor to the Federation, while not actually giving these aliens the upper hand. Thanks to Sovak and I, we have allowed them to mass their fleet this close to the Fed border. Quite a risk, but the Council felt that having the enemy close by and gathered together was better than a long, drawn out offensive. Unfortunately, it forces our hand to make sure the response to the invasion is swift and massive. We had to be sure they crossed the frontier, so they were seen as the transgressors. We also had to insure they came "ashore" far from a lot of inhabited systems, so that was part of my intel to the Big Bad, showing this as the weakest part of the border.} {Now it's up to Manticore and DS4 to be sure nothing looks amiss all while we lure the Belosians close enough to a point of contact with the Planet Killer. Fleet Science still isn't sure that the station will be enough mass for the PK's matrix, but it's all we have. It just needs to expand to the leading invasion ship and the rest, close by, should fall like dominoes. This won't destroy every enemy vessel, but the Federation fleet is standing by to perform mop up operations for the few that may decide to continue their failed initiative. Meanwhile, the data collected by Sovak will provide us with enough information to prepare for any future attempt by this new enemy. Working directly with them, however, has given me an insight into their perspective on expansion. If I'm right, they will decide we are too much trouble for the benefits they would reap, so they will look elsewhere for more growth.} {So, while I sit here pretending to continue my advising for their offensive, my only thoughts are how to get off this ship not only before it explodes, but long enough before that to be out of range of the chain reaction. Their minds are different enough from ours that there should be a way to convince them my assistance will be enhanced from a different vantage point - but how do I escape without an escort? How do I simply walk into a shuttle by myself? Maybe this is the one I don't walk away from - heaven knows I've cheated death more times than anyone deserves. It's like I'm the star of an old 21st Century vidrama and I have to be alive to come back each week. If it were only that simple. Maybe I should welcome an escort on my shuttle and then dispose of them in flight. I don't know how to accomplish that, but it will be easier than outrunning a chain reaction of massive molecular disruption. I don't know any more, I'm just so tired... }

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #892, STARDATE 51602.01 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race employs undesirable humans as their local "agents" and have huge starships made of an unknown materials. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians and guided Manticore to the Belosian invasion fleet. A recon mission confirmed the impending attack and now Manticore has raced back to DS4 with the only plan left - to use the PK onboard DS4 itself, to begin a chain reaction just as the Belosians fly by. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #892, STARDATE 51602.01 =/\= 160201.txt

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #892, STARDATE 51602.01 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race employs undesirable humans as their local "agents" and have huge starships made of an unknown materials. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians and guided Manticore to the Belosian invasion fleet. A recon mission confirmed the impending attack and now Manticore has raced back to DS4 with the only plan left - to use the PK onboard DS4 itself, to begin a chain reaction just as the Belosians fly by. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #892, STARDATE 51602.01 =/\=

=/\= USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #891, STARDATE 51601.25 =/\= The Manticore met a new alien race, the Belosians, beyond Deep Space 4, out on the far frontier of the Federation. This race employs undesirable humans as their local "agents" and have huge starships made of an unknown materials. A9 and Sovak were working under deep cover with the Belosians and guided Manticore to a location where a Belosian invasion fleet is massing. A recon mission from Manticore was captured and Sovak rescued them, but had to leave his undercover status. Now Manticore is racing back to DS4 with vital information on the invasion and trying to decide if there is any option left besides A9's bold play to use the PK onboard DS4 itself, to begin a chain reaction just as the Belosians fly by. =/\= END USS MANTICORE BRIEFING #891, STARDATE 51601.25 =/\= 160125.txt