>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: You Can't Go Home Again Day: 23 Stardate: 2444.06.23 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (Mystique – Security Center – Security, Ens. Svend Saarsgard – 01.45) (Mystique – Medbay – Sec, Ens. Svend Saarsgard – 01.49) (USS Mystique – Personal Quarters - SEC, Ens. Saarsgard - 1035) (USS Mystique – Security Center - SEC, Ens. Saarsgard - 1045) (Trill - Outside -SFI Agent – Rebecca Faust - 1232) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- aACSO(R) - Ensign (jg) Seka- 1303) (Trill surface - Beam in Sight - Ensign JG Trip Williams - 13:05) (Trill - Tresh Plenary Senate Building, Meeting Room - Science Officer Ensign Jaton Alyl - 1305) (Trill surface – Star Fleet Intelligence -Agent – Rebecca Faust - 1309) (Trill surface – Intelligence officer Ensign(jg) JaelleFoxglove - 1311) (Trill surface – Intelligence Agent – Rebecca Faust - 1313) (Trill - Tresh Plenary Senate Building, Personal Office - Kazran Batos - 1315) (Trrill Surface - Tresh Park District, Golden Sun Cafe - Ensign JG Trip Williams - 13.20) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- CO – Ambassador MacCaullay - 1321) (USS Mystique, Bridge - ENGOPS, Ens(jg) Vex'ahlia - 1323) (USS Mystique, Bridge, Tactical Ensign jg Taya, 1324) (Trill Surface - Tresh Park District, Golden Sun Cafe - Ensign JG - Ire Williams - 13.25) (Trill Surface - Tresh Park District, Golden Sun Cafe – aACMO Ens(jg) Ailynn Bracken - 13.28) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room – aACEO – Ensign JG Keira Merek – 1331) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- CO - Admiral Remae Ktell - 1345) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- President of the Trill Government- Taylin Zon-1346) (Trill surface- Jovan's Tavern - Petty Officer, Steven Hammons - 1348) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- aACSO(R), Ensign (jg) Sekal-1348) (Kir Kumari - Ready Room - Kumari CO, Kera Sheia - 1350) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- Mision OPS Billy Alexander-1350) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- CO - Admiral Remae Ktell - 1355) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- Trill president-Taylin Zon-1356) (Trill - Beach - Ensign JG Erin Cortez - 13.57) (Trill - The Senate Building - Foyer - aACSO, Ensign Sekal- 1358) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office- Trill president-Taylin Zon-1359) (Trill - Market - ENS jg Counselor Ariel Trei - 14.00) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office - Ambassador Addison Maccaullay - 1405) (Trill - The Science Ministry Building - Foyer - aACSO, Ensign (jg) Sekal- 1405) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office - President Taylin Zon- 1406) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office – Ambassador Addison Maccaulay- 1407) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office – Trill president Taylin Zon- 1408) (USS Rebel Wind - Main Engineering, Master Status Room - Head of Reactivation & Refit Command’s Weapons & Propulsion Dept: Utopia Planitia, Ens. T’Loren Sevant - 1439) (USS Rebel Wind - Primary Quantum Torpedo Storage Bay - Refit Command: W&P Department, Ens. T’Loren Sevant - 1456) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (Mystique – Security Center – Security, Ens. Svend Saarsgard – 01.45) Svend yawned as he leaned back in his seat and stretched out. His elbow jogged the underarm holster for the phaser he was now wearing, which irritated him, but he supposed it wouldn’t take all that long to get used to again. He’d had to wear all sorts of uncomfortable equipment during his security and tactical training, a holstered phaser was hardly the worst. “You didn’t have to read all that at once, you know.” He looked up and immediately crossed his eyes. Two inches from his nose was a steaming mug, behind it a slight hand was holding it. He focused back out and noted the non-comm Officer of the Deck that had helped him out all those hours before. “Shouldn’t you be off duty by now?” he asked, as he took the mug from her offered hand. The chortle that was her reply was throaty, “I’ve been gone for three hours, came back to hook up with that doof over there for a holo-mystery.” Her thumb jerked over her shoulder, to where a crewman seemed to be signing his nightly report and handing it in to a different commander of the deck. “Ah,” he saluted with his mug and took a sip. It wasn’t half bad, really, someone could program a food dispenser, anyway. He looked around and nodded, “I suppose oh-eight-hundred comes early in these parts, I probably sho...” =^=Ensign Trip Williams to the Mystique. I have a medical emergency. Two to beam up, straight to sickbay=^= His thought process shut down and redirected immediately. The mug was on the desk and he was on his feet before the message had even finished. All emergency calls of all types were also routed to security, and they were over potentially unfriendly territory with two potentially unfriendly races in the immediate vicinity. ~Shite. No word they were under attack though, that’s something.~ Though deeper in his mind, he thought he could hear the voice of a trickster god howling in mirth. That it sounded like his mother wasn’t surprising, she’d been the one to teach him all the mythology of his ancestors. Still, if no attack had been registered... he didn’t have to run. Not that he could dawdle either. He kept half a ear on the Bridge’s replies as he moved out into the open security area. The Officer of the Deck was about to say something until Svend’s existence made itself known, he promptly shut his mouth. Svend pointed two fingers at one of the security guards who were part of the ready-force, and made a single ‘come along’ gesture as he moved toward the door. The guard nodded, and fell into place as they left security at the quick-step. (Mystique – Medbay – Sec, Ens. Svend Saarsgard – 01.49) Sickbay wasn’t busy, but there were definitely people moving about. He’d stepped aside after entering, content to spend the first few moments getting the lay of the land and making sure he wasn’t directly in the way of any life-saving operation. There was no blood in evidence, no smell of charred flesh or loose bowels. ~Let it not be the start of a war, that’s all I ask. A simple broken leg would be nice, I won't even have to write a report for that....~ He moved forward and said, in a low but firm voice, “Ensign Trip Williams?” He glanced from face to face to see which would answer, as he hadn’t had a chance to memorize the roster yet. (reply: Williams, any) (posted by Trout) (USS Mystique – Personal Quarters - SEC, Ens. Saarsgard - 1035) “At least I’m not sharing quarters,” he said to nobody in particular. He’d contacted the Quartermaster after exiting the bridge, and this little hole that looked like it was made for a couple of non-comms to share had ended up being his temporary place of rest. Temporary. That was the word he had to keep in mind. It was *all* temporary. Just until this 200 year old bucket made its way back to Sol System and he could hop a transport to wherever the hell the Wraith had disappeared to in its Loki-damned hurry. In the meantime, he had security logs to catch up on, people to meet, a ship to memorize, and non-comms to deal with... non-comms with far too large a mouth. It might be considered a bad attitude, he mused, but this place was apparently only a quarter-mile from the address of his own perfect hell. Besides, he’d be sleeping alone here. And that sucked. Granted, he knew it would be - that’s why he’d packed away his belongings, but still... He sat back in one of the two chairs and rubbed his face. It’d been a long day, he’d only gotten a brief nap after saying goodbye. And in no way could he sleep while the only pilot of a shuttle, not unless he’d taken a few horse tranqs with a gallon of aquavit to wash it down. Maybe two gallons. Perhaps three. Svend closed his eyes and shook his head before cupping his chin in his hand, with his pointer-finger tapping against his lips in thought. He moved his eyes around, against taking in the spartan quarters with their two bunks. That wouldn’t do, but he’d have to fix it later. He’d already put in a request to the quartermaster to either remove, or raise, the top-most bunk. At the moment, as much as he wanted a nap, he didn’t fancy waking up and slamming his forehead on it. ~Screw it.~ He stood, performed a Picard maneuver, and headed for the door. “Computer, location of Security Center.” (USS Mystique – Security Center - SEC, Ens. Saarsgard - 1045) Svend looked around in near-despair, though he kept the thought off his face. The security center wasn’t in any better shape than the rest of the ship. Someone had taken the Mystique, run it through the wash, and hung it up to dry in a dust storm. How the hell was this ship even on-duty? She should have been undergoing a complete refit. “Can I help you Sir?” He half turned and saw a woman behind the desk looking at him. He grunted, “I’m Ensign Saarsgard, on detached duty here for the foreseeable future. I need added to the roster and rotation, along with whatever documents I need to study - and also a deck-by-deck engineering schematic for the Mystique.” “Ah yes, I was told about you. Didn’t expect you ‘til tomorrow.” She held up a PADD that came off her desk, “Please verify your identity, Sir.” Svend took the PADD, pressed his thumb to it, and typed in his private security code. It beeped, and the screen came alive with an archive list of pretty much everything he’d asked for. No surprise, it was typical stuff for a new transferee. “Tomorrow at 0800, here, Sir. Once you’re up to speed, the Chief’ll decide where he wants you exactly. In the meantime, you’re on the emergency callup list.” “Very well.” He looked around for a moment, and noticed a few empty terminals. “I’m claiming one of those for the next few hours.” He jerked a thumb to the one furthest away from central security, and moved on over before he could get an answer. He took his seat with a sigh, then tapped the PADD and flicked its information towards the large monitor he was facing. The data transferred over, so Svend leaned back to start reading. (reply any, if desired) (posted by Trout) (Trill - Outside -SFI Agent – Rebecca Faust - 1232) Rebecca had left earth a few hours after the arrival of the Trill ship. Her boss at Star Fleet Intelligence Special Operation had specifically picked her for this mission. She had been taken to the medical department where she had undergone resequencing and skin marking procedures so that she would look like a Trill right down to the genetic level. She spent the trip to Trill dealing with the nausea and the cramps as the changes took hold. She had deployed to the surface where she had been collecting and analysing intelligence. She had spent time exploring the streets and ally ways in the guise of a local woman. She had also emplaced taps on as much of the comm net she could get access to without rising suspicion. She had been informed that she would be in contacted by the Intelligence section on the Mystique when she had arrived in orbit and was now in position to have a commanding view of the beam down sight. She was sitting in a small café with a clear unobstructed view of the Senate Building and the open area in front of it. She sipped her drink as the Mystique crew began to beam down and she mentally ticked them off the list she had memorised. She saw sipping her drink as she saw a male Trill walk from the building that she was on towards the Admiral who had just arrived with his aid. “My name is Kazran Batos. I am the Chief Science Officer of the Trill Government. The president is currently speaking with the senate. So, if you would please follow me, I will show you to the meeting room where yourself and your delegation can wait.” Although she was too far away to hear the Trill she could read his lips. She could not see the Admiral’s reply as he had his back to him, but they followed Batos toward the building. She finished her drink and paid as she got up and walked unhurriedly towards the Senet building to start the next phase of her mission. (reply none) (Posted by Robbie) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- aACSO(R) - Ensign (jg) Seka- 1303) The Admiral had given the science officer a task and a scientist never left the ship except for specific reasons without a tricorder. Since being instructed to pick up everything he could on possible Trill scientific advancements then he had been using the device which the native who had met them did not seem to mind. Indeed what he had witnessed and scanned so far was little removed from that which was available to Vulcan and only slightly advanced over current Federation technology. This was due greatly to the environs which were distinctly not military nor highly technical. In order to be a party to greater advancements a change in location would be necessary. There were improvements in energy efficiency on a number of fronts such as lighting and data transmission which could come in handy for the future but were by no means ground breaking. While they waited for the Trill representative then Sekal was planning a visit to the scientific ministry offices here in Tresh to 'nose around' in the human vernacular. It was logical to assume that as a fellow scientist he might be allowed access to some innovations that others would not be privy l though secretive research would logically not be shared. However the Vulcan had his own 'ace in the hole' that might open doors that would otherwise remain locked. So for now as he sat at the table waiting for the representative he kept his eyes and ears open... and his tricorder silent at his side as he sipped from a glass of water he had poured from a handy pitcher. The walls were painted in accents of blue-green trimmed in gold with an off-white ceiling and the table and chairs were the same shade of aqua with gold trim around the edge. The pitcher he poured from was also gold toned. He had passed it around the table for any who were thirsty since hydration in such a climate was of the utmost importance. (Reply: Any in the Admiral's party) (Posted by Charles G) (Trill surface - Beam in Sight - Ensign JG Trip Williams - 13:05) Looking at the assembled group of 'Intrepid explorers' getting ready to conquer their next big mission, lunch, Trip was excited to see what was going to happen. The new tastes, new sounds, new delicious beverages. However looking around, he realized that the one person he had hoped to be their tour guide had left. "Hey has anyone seen Jaton?" Trip said looking at the group of excited ensigns who were left after the delegation had gone to meet with the Trill government. (Reply Any of the remainders) "I guess he most have gone with the Admiral. No matter, we're smart enough to explore right? I think Quinna said there was a park and some shops and cafes down that way. Might as well go see what we can find." (reply Any of the remainders iyw) (Trrill Surface - Tresh Park District, Golden Sun Cafe - Ensign JG Trip Williams - 13.20) As they were walking the city was very beautiful and the warmth, though humid, felt good on Trips skin. It mas nice to be in a real atmosphere, rather than in a climate controlled environment like the Mystique was. It was nice to feel an actual sun. It reminded him a little bit of summer back home. As they entered into the district by the park he scoped around looking for a place to sit and eat that seemed to have seating for every one, that also was outside overlooking the park. What was the point of being by a park if you weren't going to sit in a spot where you could see and enjoy the beauty. As they sat down and settled into the table on the patio, Trip smiled at his assembled group of friends. They kind of stood out among the rest of the Trill populace. Even though they were not in uniform, it was pretty evident that they were Starfleet, just the way the carried themselves, the way the walked, and of course the fact that they didn't have spots. Sure they could have been tourists, but with a Federation Starship in orbit, it was pretty clear who they were. Not that Trip wanted to hide that reality. As they began to peruse the menu, loud chants came from the park across the street. To Trip's knowledge they hadn't noticed them. They were far enough away that they could hear the group, but the group perhaps could not see or make them out. Trip could hear a variety of different chants aimed at showing the displeasure that this group had with both the Andorians and the Federation. Chants indicating that the displeausre that both the Andorians and the Federation were agents of war and violence. That being with either group would mean war and death for the people of Trill. It was clear that whoever the protesters were, they were not happy with their government's decision to meet with both parties. Trip was hoping they wouldn't notice them. They were a little bit too close for his comfort and he didn't want an incident to start just because they sat at a cafe too close to an anti Federation protest. "Well guys," Trip said looking at his comrades, "Looks like some folks don't want us here." (reply those who went to the Cafe) (reply those who went to the cafe) (posted by Will) (Trill - Tresh Plenary Senate Building, Meeting Room - Science Officer Ensign Jaton Alyl - 1305) It wasn't long before they were taken inside and the entire delegate was dropped into a meeting room while they waited for the president to make an appearance. Kazran had left them with all the comforts of a meeting room, couches, replicators and a cool environment. Jaton breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know whether or not his older brother had recognised him or not, but if he did he had enough wherewithal to not mention it. "Counsellor Ravenstone, what can you tell me?", Remae asked as he walked around the room. (Reply from Ravenstone) "Ensign Alyl, I realise that this is difficult for you and its been a long time but does anything seem amiss or problematic to you?" "Admiral, if I may have a private word on that matter?" (reply Remae) Jaton moved over to a corner of the room away from everyone else and spoke in a hushed tone. "I may have to bow out of this mission as a liaison for fear of compromising the mission. The official that escorted us here is my brother." (reply Remae, any) (posted by Spencer) (Trill surface – Star Fleet Intelligence -Agent – Rebecca Faust - 1309) She walked away from the Senet building content that she had achieved what she had been ordered to do although she was bemused by what he had been asked to do but then Intelligence did have a peculiar sense of hummer some times. As she reached the far side, she noticed a fresh group of Mystique crew materialise. She gave them a passing glance as she began to turn and head towards an alleyway. There was a soft pop and click as her small unobtrusive ear peace which was hidden under her hair activated. She stepped over to the small café she had been sitting at earlier and pretend to scan the menu as she looked at the group of Starfleet who were moving in her direction. She scanned them as they passed and then trailed far enough behind to make sure that she had was not spotted in the crowd. She flowed with the crowd she recalled the people in the group and remembered Jaelle Foxglove who was the ships intelligence officer. It would make sense that she had contacted her rather than someone else. “Ensign Foxglove.” She knew that the comm bud would pick up her words with out anyone else hearing what she was saying. (Reply Foxglove) (reply Foxglove) (Posted by Robbie) (Trill surface – Intelligence officer Ensign(jg) JaelleFoxglove - 1311) Jaelle followed the group as they headed to a restaurant to grab a bit of lunch. Right now however, intelligence was key they had to make up for what they did not know what was going on. =/\= Ensign Foxglove =/\= Came the voice over her hidden communication device. It was a closed circuit system, with genetic encoded encryption. Hacking the into the communication would take someone getting their hands on an already configured device that was set to Jaelle's DNA sequence, and since cloning the Signos thread at the levels found in Jaelles DNA was near impossible, it was highly unlikely that it would be hacked. Lifting a menu to cover her face she looked over the items as she spoke softly into her comm. device. "Go ahead for Foxglove." She looked over the menu and across the courtyard. Upon hearing the protesters. It was clear Trill was becoming a powder keg and that something was going to give, unless they could find a way to reconcile all the sides involved. (Reply Rebecca) She listened to the intelligence report as she waited for the waitress. Once she arrived Jaelle ordered a bowl of fruit and a glass of water. She figured to it was best to stay hydrated in the humid heat of the Trill jungles. (Reply any in the group) (Posted by Matthew Locke) (Trill surface – Intelligence Agent – Rebecca Faust - 1313) =^=Go ahead for Foxglove=^= She moved so that she was walking along an ally that was parallel to the protesters so that the sound of their chanting would cover her own conversation. “This Agent Faust. As you may have noticed that there are three political groups working on Trill. One for the federation, one for the Andorrans and then third as a more radical group who wants to not join any. Since I have been here the third group has been the most vocal, but the Andorran side has not been sitting on their hands. They have been less marches but more political moving behind the scenes. I get the feeling that those two groups maybe gearing up for something there has been violent clashes between each other and with the security forces, but I have not been able to get deep into their system in the time I have been here to get more. The federation group from what I can understand is pushing totally diplomatically. I have not seen any overt aggression from them.” “On a side note on of the main primary hospitals in the city has stopped receiving patient and closed. The gossip has gone over time on the topic but there has been no official statement.” (Reply any Foxglove) (Reply any Foxglove) (Posted by Robbie) (Trill - Tresh Plenary Senate Building, Personal Office - Kazran Batos - 1315) Sitting down in his chair, Kazran rested his head in his hands and sighed heavily. ~It looked like him, walked like him and talked like him but it cannot be him. He died…. He’s dead and has been for 25 years. I supported his children through this, our family turned to me to lead them and get them through losing him. They still do. I can’t deal with this. Not now.~ He thought to himself as he rubbed his forehead. Sitting back in his chair, his fingers hovered over the viewscreen call button. ~I just…. My baby brother comes back from the dead. How the hell am i supposed to feel? Angry, for one. Angry at Starfleet for killing him. Angry at them for bringing him back and not telling us? Damn right.~ Stabbing the console infront of him, he placed the long overdue call home and waited for someone to answer. (Reply No-one) (Posted by Jackie) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- CO – Ambassador MacCaullay - 1321) They has been waiting for a while when the familiar hum of a transporter swept across the room. Ambassador MacCaulay appeared as Remae was pleased to see her. "Ambassador.", he said walking over the greet her. Addison watched as the away team, inexperienced as they were showed signs of wanting to expand into the roles that they had already begun to encompass. Time was, how many years ago, that she herself had been the same, standing at a position that they thought informal, though those that were as trained as she was were not fooled by mere body language. ~It’s in the eyes~ she thought. ~There was always…always a hint about the eyes that separated them. Despite what race, Bajoran, Human, Vulcan, Romulan, Betazoid…the list went on, but there was always the tiniest hint about the eyes. They were always outgoing, always seeking, it had been that quality that had cemented her time in the Fleet. There was always a sense that despite differences, or maybe perhaps because of them, Life had prospered, every race that had been part of the Federation had become greater than the sum of their parts, as had society in the Federation as a whole…before the dark times. She remembered her time on the Hades, with both the greatest sadness, Jaton’s ‘reincarnation’ had been a knife to the heart, but she trusted Ailynn with every atom of her being, her hands, assisted by Tesha’s had been the first that had held her, she was truly her mother’s daughter, as her eyes swept across she saw other similar histories, deeply she wondered if those truly in Command of the Federation thought of it as a backwater posting, somewhere to send those with a bit too much influence. ~If so~ she considered. ~They had badly badly miscalculated. You never…never…put this many of this personality type in one place. They tended to have…ways…of creating mischeive.~ Addison smiled. ~Either someone really did know what they were doing, or they really didn’t,~ but she had spent twenty years making this happen, and it was all happening as well as she could hope. She stepped forward toward Remae, moving toward the double cheeked kiss that was a recognised greeting, but of neither of their cultures, a single word whispered to him on each peck. “Beware…” Kiss…left cheek. “Dissidents…” Kiss…Right cheek. (Reply Remae) (Posted by Mark) (USS Mystique, Bridge - ENGOPS, Ens(jg) Vex'ahlia - 1323) Vex was sat on the Bridge of the Mystique as she'd come accustomed to in the past week or so. The big difference this time was that she was sat in the Admiral's chair whilst he and a large portion of the crew were down on Trill. She looked around the Bridge, it was certainly quieter than normal but she could hear, see and feel those officers around her were silently doing their due diligence. A lot of them were temporary stand-ins and for most it was their first time taking up a shift on the Bridge of the ship. One of the reasons she'd offered to stay behind on the ship was the relationship she'd built with Luma and with the amount of staff now on the surface it was increasingly more likely that Luma would need to help run elements of the ship if anything were to happen which required immediate reaction. There was a sound which drew her thoughts back to the present, =^=Admiral Remae to Mystique, situation update? Anything to report?=^= She reached out to Luma and checked in with her briefly to make sure there was no immediate fires which needed putting out before replying to the Admiral, (Reply Luma iyw) "Mystique here Admiral, everything is as expected. We're still monitoring the Andorian ship closely but keeping a distance. Transporter locks are being kept on key personnel as much as we can. Is there anything you need us to do, Sir?" (Reply Admiral) (Posted by Jono Bradley) (USS Mystique, Bridge, Tactical Ensign jg Taya, 1324) When those that were exiting the ship for shore leave on Trill had gone, Taya at tactical, realized the command chair was vacant. The most experienced ensigns from Mars were gone, leaving her as the only commissioned officer there. The bridge was being manned by petty officers. Taya had chosen to remain on board, mostly because of the heat and humidity of Trill. Though she could tolerate the extremes for a while, it wouldn't have been a pleasant experience for her. She also felt it would be irresponsible to leave an even more inexperienced group in charge, especially with the Andorian warship nearby. Add to that how distracted she was at seeing her shen mother, she wouldn't have enjoyed herself on the planet. Being on the Mystique was the best place for her now. Taya stared at the center seat. It was as if she was expecting it to leap off the floor and lunge at her, like a rayth (A type of feline creature whose females are the dominant huntresses, like the Terran lion.) preying on an alneesh. (A type of marsh bison.) Shaking off the image, she glanced at some of the others. It was clear they were waiting for her to do something. Taya nodded to Petty Officer Lou Ramsey and pointed at the tactical station. "Yes, ma'am," said Ramsey, moving to take her place. Taya cautiously approached the chair. As she walked past it, she rubbed her hands along the top of the backrest. Circling around to the far side, she stopped. Taking a deep breath, she walked back behind it, moving towards tactical. Behind her, Taya heard someone sigh. Taya was an ensign junior grade on her first assignment, less than a month out of Starfleet Academy. How could she sit there and take command? What had she done yet to deserve that honor? The Mystique had a history of service and dedication. She was just beginning her journey. Regardless of her trepidation, someone had to take charge and it had fallen on her. Taking one, last, deep breath, she started to move, but stopped at the sound of the turbolift door opening. Ensign Vex'ahlia Jordaan, Luma's bondmate, stepped out. She smiled, looked around, walked directly to Remae's chair, and sat down. Taya's mouth fell open and her antennae vibrated. Several snickers could be heard. Ramsey was struggling to keep a straight face. Wrinkling her nose, Taya motioned for Ramsey to move and she took her place back at tactical. So much for her first command. (reply any) (posted by Rob B.) (Trrill Surface - Tresh Park District, Golden Sun Cafe - Ensign JG - Ire Williams - 13.25) Ire walked with the others through the streets of the city. It was nice to be off the Mystique, but it was too humid for him and the air felt strange. There was also just that little bit too much space even with the small tight ally’s they had wondered down everything was still far to open and he was looking forward to getting back to the climate-controlled environment that was the Mystique. Where the walls were closer and that there was no endless sky. ~Come on Ire you are here to see Trill from the surface not from orbit~ Trip steered the group over to a seated patio where they could eat that overlooked the park, they were walking thought. They took their seats and Ire started looking over the menu when he heard the sound of chanting coming from across the park. He paused for a moment as he tried to make out what they were saying. As the chanting came closer, he could make out that they were demonstrating about the Federation and Andorian and that they were would bring war and violence to Trill. "Well guys," Ire looked over at Trip "Looks like some folks don't want us here." “I hope its not a large group as we need the people here as much as they need us.” (reply those who went to the Cafe) (reply those who went to the cafe) (posted by Robbie) (Trill Surface - Tresh Park District, Golden Sun Cafe – aACMO Ens(jg) Ailynn Bracken - 13.28) Ailynn followed the others onto the patio area of the café, taking a seat next to Sienna. The seat that she had chosen was in a sheltered corner, her eyes had started hurting, she removed her sunglasses, rubbed her eyes, stretched slightly and put them back on, smiling gently at her girlfriend. After glancing at the menu, she reached down, taking one of Sienna’s hands in her own. Then, only then did she really look around her and pay any attention as to what was going on around her. Chanting, getting louder and louder. The message was very anti-Federation, but perversely, didn’t seem pro-Andorian either. "Well guys," Ire looked over at Trip "Looks like some folks don't want us here." “I hope its not a large group as we need the people here as much as they need us.” Looking across she nodded her agreement, pouring a few glasses of water and passing them around, before taking a sip of her own. “Let’s hope that the mood of the people is rather more reasonable than those voices sound like.” (Reply any) “This is a time for rebuilding, not for increased separatism, surely they can’t be advocating that Trill remain a solitary voice between the Federation and the Andorians?” (Reply any) (Posted by Mark) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room – aACEO – Ensign JG Keira Merek – 1331) Keira had enjoyed her time out in the fresh air, by the fountain. The local flora and fauna were beautiful to behold. She would have to remember to program something similar in the holodeck when she gets some free time. Now they had transferred to a large building with what looked like marble floors and green roll out carpets. ~Probably to keep the rain off of the marble floor~ They were lead into a conference room of sorts nestled inside the building. The fixtures emitted a soft yellow lighting similar to the sunlight of Sol as seen from Earth. Inside was a long oval table with chairs lined on all sides. In the back off to one side there was a snack tray and several gold hued pitchers of a clear liquid, with spheres of a solid also transparent substance floating at the top. The sides of the pitcher were moist with condensation. There were several glasses upside-down on trays next to the pitchers. She surveyed the room with her eyes before committing to a direction of movement. Satisfied there was no immediate threat she entered and circled around the table on her right side, she ran a finger along the table as she passed. She gave it a single knock and listened to the reverberation, which was short, and did not echo. Glad she brought her tricorder she flipped it open and began scanning. The building structure was mostly stone and wood with a unremarkable metal support “skeleton”. She did note however, that the wood was real and not replicated. The scans revealed signs of many decades of use, but well taken care of. So old in fact that buildings this old on Earth always showed signs of war. There were buildings on Earth that still had lead projectiles from that planets second World War in it over 500 years ago. Here there were signs of some tectonic activity, some slight shearing of the structures, but no signs of war. She continued scanning turning her attention to the power sources. There was no power generation within range of her tricorder, but what she could find was not just simple electricity. They had apparently updated over the years as new more efficient technologies became available. She found a speaker of sorts, not physically connected to anything. Scans showed a krellide-type power cell and a receiver. She found no listening devices. The speaker could become one if a person were so inclined. She remembered when her old microphone broke on her language program when she was a child. It was beyond repair. She ended up separating the two headphones and making an old-style handset. Her mom had called it “talking on the phone”. It wasn’t as accurate, she had to yell into the device, but it worked. She used her tricorder to send a coded signal to the Admiral’s PADD, detailing her findings about the speaker and how it was likely some sort of public address system, but that with a few tweaks it could become a listening device. She also informed him that if it was detected that it began surveilling them she would notify him. She set the tricorder to alert if the device began transmitting and to scan while closed. And put it back into it’s storage on her belt. She poured herself a glass of water, and descended into boredom. (Reply Any) (Posted by Todd) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- CO - Admiral Remae Ktell - 1345) Ensign Vex’ahlia was on top of the situation, and there was nothing to do but keep doing what they were doing… he indicated he would be in touch. Remae had flopped into a chair while they waited and he was grateful for the hospitality shown, but diplomacy wasn’t his strong suit and he was looking at the door, wondering if he should go and find the President himself. He sipped on the water provided as he considered what the Ambassador told him about the dissents. Not the best news he could have received, coupled together with the idea that the person who had escorted them was the brother of Ensign Alyl. ~ What a small world ~ He was starting to get a bad feeling about what they had walked into and the idea of beaming up to the Andoirans would looking more attractive by the moment. ~ Dissents ~ The word ran through his mind… what was a dissent?? Someone who was opposed to something, the Andoirans being here were part of that puzzle. A second group of Trill trying to form a relationship with the separated worlds? So many had left the Federation, there were hundreds of worlds, quite a collection, quite a group. The Admiral looked at the Ambassador… she had invited them, she knew about the other side, the dissents, as mentioned. What has she brought them into? He needed to see someone in authority. ~? That’s it!? ~ Kazran, was on the other side of the door. The official who had met them and the newly reveal brother of Jaton was quick to depart, did he know his brother was now alive? Had they talked? Remae stood up, “I’m done.”, he said, heading for the door and opening it, revealing the entrance to the outer office. “Mr Batos, if you please. We need to see the President now. We can’t wait here any longer.”, he said to the official. “Where is Present Taylin Zon?”, he asked drawing up onto his full height. (Reply from Admiral’s Party, Batos, Zon, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- President of the Trill Government- Taylin Zon-1346) “Where is Present Taylin Zon?” Just as the admiral asked about the whereabouts of President Taylin Zon. The doors to the meeting room opened . Through the doors entered The Trill president . He was a rather young looking man but his eyes reflected lifetimes of experience, lifetimes of confidence. He wore a simple grey suit which reflected his humble nature. As he entered the room he looked at Kazran Batos " Thank you Kazran, you may take you seat". Taylin walked to the table in the meeting room and gestured to the Admiral " I am sorry for the delay Admiral Remae, running a government requires me to be in more places than any one person should be " he said with friendly smile. " Please sit Admiral, we have much to discuss " ( reply Admiral) He nodded his head to the admiral. " I understand your time is precious. So I'll get right to it. We have invited you here to discuss the future. The future of both Trill and the Federation, hopefully a future in which we work together in benefit to those we have sworn to serve either through an oath of office or a direct order from a superior officer. " ( reply Remae) " Admiral, there are many who wish to have no part of an alliance with the federation. They feel as though the Federation is unstable and unreliable. Many, myself included remember the times before the civil war . Many lifetimes of cooperation and and respect. This respect however was greatly tarnished by the Federation withdrawing starfleet from our space and leaving us alone. For years we the people of Trill gave the federation every resource we could spare. " Taylin said as he drew a breath and and tapped his finger on the table in front of him. " I want to believe that federation is being reborn into something greater than it ever was, but my wants are an absolute secondary commodity when it comes to the needs of my people. " (Reply Remae) " The Andorians? , yes some within our government reached out to them. The andorians can offer us protection. We are pacifist, Yet we live in uncertain and dangerous times. We could benefit from an alliance with the andorians. We could provide them with our academically renowned scientific knowledge, but the andorians even though they helped found the federation and laid the building blocks of its core values are nothing more than ...protectors at best . " (Reply Remae) Taylin looked at the admiral sternly yet oddly reserved. " We withdrew our own membership because the civil war caused a disturbance among our people. We did it to preserve ourselves. It was the only thing we could do at the time to protect ourselves. " ( reply admiral, any in the room) (Posted by davis ) (Trill surface- Jovan's Tavern - Petty Officer, Steven Hammons - 1348) Hammons leaned back in the chair with a smile as Jared returned to the table with a new bottle. He had already passed pleasantly 'buzzed' and his head was a bit fuzzy around the edges. Boyles sat down with exaggerated care then sighed as he settled in and began to crack his new prize open. His eyes looked the slightest bit glassy and it took him slightly longer than necessary for the operation. Or was it just Hammons' point of view? He realized that his cheeks were starting to feel numb as though his face was falling asleep. "Boyles I think we may be out of practice on this." His chuckle turned into a guffaw. "It's that damned synthehol." Jared shot back with a lopsided grin. "You forget what the real stuff is like." He carefully poured a shot in each glass then set the bottle down as Hammons picked his up and swirled the scarlet liquid around enjoying its eddies and whorls. The raw taste was only a bitter memory and he gulped the liquid fire down like it was ambrosia. Boyles started cackling with his glass in hand as Hammons looked over at him questioningly. "What?" "Dude you should see yourself! You look like you could lay down and sleep for three days." "Are you sure it's me you're looking at?" Steven retorted. "You're looking a little cross-eyed." Boyles started giggling then abruptly stopped and gulped his shot down then clapped the glass on the table. Hammons watched as Boyles started pouring the next round. The bottle was wavering alarmingly. Boyles compensated by placing the neck against the top of the glasses and didn't spill a drop. Steven had to put a great deal of thought into it before realizing that their goal of getting wasted was well within reach and he grinned at the thought. "What are you grinning about?: Boyles voice was suspicious and he had paused with his glass at chest level. "Oh nothing." Hammons laughed until he coughed. "We're just getting started a little early is all." "Better early than late." Jared replied then suddenly paused. ,"It feels like my cheeks are touching a live wire. How about you?" Hammons lifted his glass in salute. "Don't know, I can't feel them anymore." They both laughed uproariously then tossed back their drinks. The night wasn't even young yet and they were already having a lot of fun... with more to come. (Reply: Any) (Posted by Charles G.) :) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- aACSO(R), Ensign (jg) Sekal-1348) The Vulcan continued his silence as the Admiral displayed his impatience followed by the entry of the Trill President. He understood many aspects of diplomacy including the use of overt gestures to make a point. Had the President been testing their tolerance? His abrupt entry immediately after Remae's display could not be a coincidence. Neither was his hard stance as he coolly mentioned the Andorians. Sekal didn't miss the fact that he distanced himself from the reason for their presence then quite brazenly used them as leverage during the opening salvo of the discussions. The fact he was taking a hard stance early in these discussions was not a surprise as such actions were normal in the early stages of talks. Every word, every nuance in such a diplomatic meeting had meaning and he had no doubt Zon had carefully considered each step from many angles during the intervening days and weeks. 'Working together' for instance could have a number of interpretations and would no doubt be expanded upon and his note of trading scientific knowledge with the Andorians underscored the game of 'hardball' he was playing. Trill was not going to meekly agree to anything this much was obvious but the Vulcans also had something the Trill had no idea of and that might very well play a part in further talks, time would tell. For now this Vulcan watched, listened and planned. (Reply: Remae, any present) (Posted by Charles G) (Kir Kumari - Ready Room - Kumari CO, Kera Sheia - 1350) Kera Sheia sat back in her chair and reflected on current events. Politics and Interstellar relations aside she was conflicted and was considering the meaning behind that conflict. Andoria and its people had been one of the four foundational member worlds of the United Federation of Planets after finally committing to peace with the Vulcans and the Federation in its heyday had been a monumental achievement of which all parties had been proud. While some might have seen StarFleet as a military arm its primary purpose had been exploration and peace keeping with that last one aimed at protecting member worlds from violent civilizations that threatened that peace. It was a necessity then that their ships had been armed to the teeth with the most updated and powerful weapons they could carry as they were developed but this was always secondary to the primary mission of contact, finding new habitable worlds, charting the galaxy and extending the boundaries of knowledge. The attacks on the seat of Federation power had been inevitable and no doubt the civilizations that had done so as enemies of the Federation had thought themselves justified because while StarFleet's purpose was peace its ships were armed for war. It could not have been an easy thing for the Breen, Romulans, Klingons and others to have such an extensive and powerful military force at their borders and wars were fought over territory and suspicion. The Klingons had become allies, the Cardassians eventually members, the Romulan civilization destroyed by a climactic event and the Breen had withdrawn to strengthen and rebuild. From the ashes of war which the Federation had not sought some good had been done, friends made, enemies had perished and the frontiers had been extended. War was glorious in the eyes of some but the shambles, broken bodies and ashes it left behind were terrible to behold. It was what was built upon it over time that caused one to forget the horrors that progress had been laid upon. But then treachery had brought it all to ruins. A coup de'ta had riven the once shining monument to planetary cooperation and a different type of war had resulted. And as a result Andoria had come into the crosshairs of the most powerful segment of the war machine. It was naive to believe that Andoria would never be a target perhaps but the devastation wrought by those once considered brothers couldn't help but stir up hatred and loathing among its citizens struggling to rebuild their shattered infrastructure and broken lives. Kera Sheia realized how pervasive that mentality had become as she now looked it in the face herself. She had been with the 52nd battle fleet and while not directly involved in the onslaught she was just as culpable, equally as guilty. She sighed and closed her eyes as she came to terms with how those racial hatreds had infected her as well to a ridiculous degree. Why had she held the alert so long? Had she been hoping for a battle with an outgunned and outmanned vessel? "I am the captain of my ship, an instrument of peace and justice. I am not a feral animal." Her voice was quiet but firm in the empty chamber. Her thoughts turned then to the Admiral, where would he wish to speak with her? The place was not important but the preparations would be. If here she would have to make ready at any rate. "Computer activate ship wide comm." =^= Ready. =^= She spoke then, her voice firm. "This is the Kar. The Federation representatives are hereby given diplomatic status. During any contact with those representatives they will therefore be given all due deference. Breaches of decorum on the part of any member of this crew will be judged harshly and punished accordingly. Consider my words carefully. Kar out." That done she began to consider what purpose the peacemaker might have in his intent to speak with her and what her replies might be within the framework of her orders. (Reply: Any on the Kir Kumari) (Posted by Charles G) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- Mision OPS Billy Alexander-1350) As the President was speaking, Billy was meticulously gathering information from his PADD to give to the Admiral. He wasn't a logic master, not like Ensign Sekal anyways, but he did appreciate the importance of a logical argument. Billy quickly and put some information into his PADD and had it sent directly to the Admiral's PADD in front of him. "Sir," The note began, "They are right that we pulled out of many sectors of Space. However, a lot of it had to do with the destruction of the subspace river and the loss of a lot of the 52nd fleet, numbers being down across the board. The Trill pulled out after the Andorians, limited our fleet capacity. As evidenced by personnel reports dated from that time frame. Starfleet had to determine what areas were of greatest concern. While it is true that many Federation worlds were at risk during the Civil War, historically however Earth has been the greatest target and risk of any world in the Federation. This isn't a hubris thing. It is the seat of the Federation Council and Starfleet, meaning it is a high profile target for every Federation Member world, the loss of Earth would devastate all of the Federation. It was a hard strategic decision to make, and one that ruffled feathers sure. But the reality is, Trill was at risk during the Dominion War and the Civil War. But Earth has been attacked by the Borg, twice, the breen, Changelings, Parasitic organisms infiltrating Starfleet in the mid 2360's. Just to name a few. That is not to say that there worries, concerns, and feelings of abandonment are not legit. But given all the turmoil the Federation was in, it made sense to be more strategic about fleet placement, and a devastating attack on Earth had the potential to cripple all member worlds. Thats just my two bits of latinum, not sure if they'll buy it sir. I'm sure they deep down already know that, and that it felt like a proverbial middle finger. I know every planet wants to feel important, safe, and they matter, and they do. Maybe this line of thinking will just exacerbate things. Maybe the best way to get them to come back would be to work on moving Federation and Starfleet HQs to a more neutral, easily defensible location, like a Starbase of some kind, Then other world wont feel like they are being slighted just to protect Earth, Earth wont be as much of a Target, and it creates a sort of more Neutral capital. Much like how many countries of Earth would establish a Federal District, like Washington D.C. or Mexico City, capitals that were not part of any one State, so it could be entirely federal and no one state would have power over the capital. Hell, maybe the Andorians might like this idea." (Reply Remae iyw) Once he had hit send Billy stopped typing. (reply Remae, any) (posted by Will) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- CO - Admiral Remae Ktell - 1355) At the same time the door opened for the Admiral to find the President on the other side of the door, that was an amazing coincidence or games were being played. "Please sit Admiral, we have much to discuss.", he said and it was clear that the Trill wanted to talk here, now, in this meeting room and although it was convenient, Remae thought it was for the best as a place to start, after all, it could be hours before they found a room to talk in! "Thanks.", he said and sat down in a chair. Being the low-back type of chair, the Admiral performed a well-known chair mounting procedure, his own PADD was neatly placed in front of him as his officers retook their seats. "I understand your time is precious. So I'll get right to it. We have invited you here to discuss the future. The future of both Trill and the Federation, hopefully a future in which we work together in benefit to those we have sworn to serve either through an oath of office or a direct order from a superior officer.", said the President of Trill. ~ Right ~ Remae had to switch to political mode and made the adjustments in his demeanour. However, it seemed Billy had his back as information began to flow to it. For now, the Bajoran picked up the PADD and made glancing references to it as the conversation progressed. "Indeed. The Federation have placed high priority in reaching out to our friends to see if any of them will rejoin our family. Even though many worlds have left, the Federation has over 140 member worlds at this current time.", he said eager to remind the President of Trill that, it was a Federation of Planets after all. "Admiral, there are many who wish to have no part of an alliance with the federation. They feel as though the Federation is unstable and unreliable. Many, myself included remember the times before the civil war. Many lifetimes of cooperation and respect. This respect however was greatly tarnished by the Federation withdrawing Starfleet from our space and leaving us alone. For years we the people of Trill gave the Federation every resource we could spare.", said Zon before adding, "I want to believe that federation is being reborn into something greater than it ever was, but my wants are an absolute secondary commodity when it comes to the needs of my people." "President, you need to appreciate that the protection of Starfleet is important, look at the Dominion War, Betazed was captured and being in the same sector, Trill was vulnerable but Starfleet through its entire resource at this sector, to regain it. Each member world worked for the benefit of the other.", he said remembering the recent attacks. "We must not forget either that its Earth that has been attacked more than other worlds, if not the Borg, the Breen, and of course, from unknown parties.", he said before putting his hands together, alluding to recent incident that kick-started the Federation's interest in being active once more. "Adopting a more defensive posture was more a reaction to being hurt than the intentional abandonment of our friends, but yes, you are correct, we did. We can't change that fact but we can try to repair and move forward.", he stopped and then added a question himself, this time, why were the Andoirans here? "The Andorians? Yes some within our government reached out to them. The Andorians can offer us protection. We are pacifist, Yet we live in uncertain and dangerous times. We could benefit from an alliance with the Andorians. We could provide them with our academically renowned scientific knowledge, but the Andorians even though they helped found the Federation and laid the building blocks of its core values are nothing more than ...protectors at best.", he said before pausing to look at the Admiral one more time. "We withdrew our own membership because the civil war caused a disturbance among our people. We did it to preserve ourselves. It was the only thing we could do at the time to protect ourselves. " Remae thought for a moment, someone from their government reached out to the Andoirans, did that mean he didn't know who they were? Turning to the Andoirans was an interesting move; given the scale of who they had and the sheer resources of the Federation, it was where the Trill had turned to for protection. It was understandable if confusing. He continued to read the PADD and without seeming too obvious, he completed what Billy had sent him. "Thank you for your time, President, I hope we can meet again soon? I now need to speak to the Andoirans and see what their position is but before I go, I would like to give you a little food for thought.", he said now leaning forward to emphasise his point. "As the Federation re-establishes its presence, the fleet deployments come back online and our construction of facilities start up again, I think the sector of space would benefit from a new Starbase being built. It would require planning and years of work but, I could recommend such a course of action.", he said hoping the offer would reassure Trill that such a presence would cement their commitment plus at the same time, offer reassurance. "Anyway, I hope to see you again, soon.", he said now standing, offering his hand to the President and indicating that this meeting, for now, was concluded. (Reply from Admiral's Party People, Zon, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- Trill president-Taylin Zon-1356) Thank you for your time, President, I hope we can meet again soon? I now need to speak to the Andoirans and see what their position is but before I go, I would like to give you a little food for thought.", The Bajoran said leaning forward. "As the Federation re-establishes its presence, the fleet deployments come back online and our construction of facilities start up again, I think the sector of space would benefit from a new Starbase being built. It would require planning and years of work but, I could recommend such a course of action.", "Anyway, I hope to see you again, soon.", Admiral Remae stated as he stood and moved to shake Taylins hand Taylin shook the admirals hand . And without looking at his betazoid companion made his mid scream as loud as it could ~ We are falling apart, if you can hear me . We are falling apart. We only have days . We cant hold on any longer.~ Without breaking concentration he looked at the Admiral. " I hope we can talk more. Please try to remember it was I invited you here, not the andorians...until we meet again Admiral." Taylin said in lowered tone. He glanced at the admirals party and turned to walk away. After a few steps he stopped and looked back at Jaton " Welcome home " he said with a smile that quickly faded as he turned away. ( reply Jaton, Ravenstone, remae if you want ,any in the party ) (Trill - The Senate Building - Meeting Room- Trill president-Taylin Zon-1356) Thank you for your time, President, I hope we can meet again soon? I now need to speak to the Andoirans and see what their position is but before I go, I would like to give you a little food for thought.", The Bajoran said leaning forward. "As the Federation re-establishes its presence, the fleet deployments come back online and our construction of facilities start up again, I think the sector of space would benefit from a new Starbase being built. It would require planning and years of work but, I could recommend such a course of action.", "Anyway, I hope to see you again, soon.", Admiral Remae stated as he stood and moved to shake Taylins hand Taylin shook the admirals hand . And without looking at his betazoid companion made his mid scream as loud as it could ~ We are falling apart, if you can hear me . We are falling apart. We only have days . We cant hold on any longer.~ Without breaking concentration he looked at the Admiral. " I hope we can talk more. Please try to remember it was I invited you here, not the andorians...until we meet again Admiral." Taylin said in lowered tone. He glanced at the admirals party and turned to walk away. After a few steps he stopped and looked back at Jaton " Welcome home " he said with a smile that quickly faded as he turned away. ( reply Jaton, Ravenstone, remae if you want ,any in the party ) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office- Trill president-Taylin Zon-1359) The president left the meeting room through side doors and entered his office within the Senate building. In his office a Senator was waiting for him. Taylin shut the doors behind him. " Didn't you have enough in session Dyl?" Taylin asked the senator who was sitting in a chair smugly eating fresh fruit. " Oh so now I'm Dyl to you ? What happened to Senator Lorn Dyl? Or are you trying to be my friend again?" Dyl responded . " That was 4 lifetimes ago for me and 2 for you " Taylin answered as he sat down at his desk. " You always did have a habit of dying young Zon , A pattern you are very close to repeating yet again" Dyl said laughing . Taylin shot the Senator a vile look. " Need I remind you of your place Senator?" " No , not at all. But maybe I should remind you of the andorians who are in orbit who have intentions of welcoming us into their warm embrace ?" Dyl said . " You mean cold and frigid ?" Zon replied sharply. The senator erupted into laughter. " You continue to keep this up ...why? Dont you see that the andorians left the federation for a reason. They are our kindred equals. We too left for a reason, to pursue a better opportunity. Now you want us to go crawling back to the federation and for what ? So that we can tear each other apart with our own political disagreements. ? Siding with the federation will have you regretting it every day of your life." Taylin slammed his fist down in anger. " How dare you come in here and bring that rhetoric before me ? I am trying to please all of you . That is all I have ever done. Yet you all behave like children. Spoiled pompous brats like the youth outside chanting hate speech at our guest " " Your guest , not mine. Young starfleet brats led by a broken man. " Dyl said with a grin " What are you talking about ?" Taylin asked . Dyl slid a padd to the president. " Of course it could be mere rumors, but the Admiral is a trouble man" Taylin slid the PADD back to the senator with force. " I wont look at anything you think you may have on them. " he said as he stood and walked to the door. " Now senator leave before you find yourself behind bars for attempt to conspire " Dyl stood and walked to the door " Its only a matter of time and you know it " he said as he glared at the president one final time as he walked out of the office. Taylin slammed the large wooden doors and walked over to the window and looked out into the capitol. ~ Please hurry back admiral. You dont know how much we need you the federation, how much I need the federation ~ Taylin thought to himself...as he drifted away into deep thought . (Reply as previously mentioned) ( posted by Davis and special guest star Mrs Davis lol) (Trill - Beach - Ensign JG Erin Cortez - 13.57) "Nice bikini. You look great. What do you think of my bikini set? Let's go in the water." Looking at her, Erin put on a smile and replied, “It’s a definite choice. Not my cup of tea but it suits you.” Walking towards the water, she stopped just before the ocean and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Trei, “I suppose you can sense me can’t you?” (reply)^ “ I know you are part Betazoid.” she sighed heavily, “Look, i’m not trying to be awkward but this is something from my past that was recently brought back up again. I’m… struggling to keep it from…. Interfering with my day to day. If it’s okay with you, I’d rather not talk about it right now. I just need to relax, forget for a while.”^ (reply) ^ ^ Nodding, Erin put one foot in the water and sighed happily, “I’ll be okay. I will, i won’t let this…..” ^ ~Let him~ “ …. Beat me. I’ve worked to god damn hard to get where i am today to let it.” (reply) (Reply Trei, Any) (Posted by Jackie Smith) (Trill - The Senate Building - Foyer - aACSO, Ensign Sekal- 1358) The initial meeting had been abrupt, serving only to "break the ice" prior to in depth negotiations. This was unusual though not unknown. The Admiral's gesture of inserting a meeting with the Andorian Captain had now elevated this talk beyond a face-to-face meeting of two command officers into the diplomatic arena. Unusual certainly but the crew of the Mystique had found themselves thrust into unusual circumstances. The motivations had become clear, some element of the Trill government had reached out to the Andorians, no doubt in response to the invitation extended to the Federation. The Trill President had made the decision to use this as a bargaining chip and his bet had been called by the Admiral who was now going to meet with the Andorians personally. it was a gamble which might yield nothing but was worth the effort, how Admiral Remae handled this could be the key in further negotiations with the Trill. The Admiral certainly did not need his science officer on the Andorian ship and Sekal had prior orders to carry out so as the others awaited further instructions he strode away after questioning one of the locals on the direction to the science ministry which was in an adjacent building. Having adjusted to the climate the heat no longer caused an issue and he had no intention of spending overlong in the humidity at any rate. (Trill - The Science Ministry Building - Foyer - aACSO, Ensign (jg) Sekal- 1405) The foyer of the building was large and opulently ornamented, perhaps more so than the Senate building he had just left and owed its acclaim to Trill veneration of scientific advancement. His boots rang upon the ocher colored tile floor with its elaborate patterns of gold and green as he walked to the front desk. The Trill watched him come closer with some degree of astonishment until he stood before her. "How may I help you sir" The presence of a Vulcan in StarFleet uniform was undoubtedly unexpected. "My name is Sekal and I arrived with the Admiral's diplomatic party. I am one of the senior science officers on the Mystique and would like to speak with the Science Minister if available." She batted her eyes in further surprise then activated the comm unit behind the desk. "Minister I apologize for the interruption but a scientist from the Federation diplomatic party would like to speak with you if you are available." She watched as Sekal rocked back on the balls of his feet with hands clasped at the small of his back and looked down at her from his impressive height. (Reply: Science Minister) After a short conversation she addressed him. "It will be a short wait if you would like to make yourself comfortable." He nodded and moved about the room, examining the various displays as he waited. (Reply: Science Minister) (Posted by Charles G) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office- Trill president-Taylin Zon-1359) The president left the meeting room through side doors and entered his office within the Senate building. In his office a Senator was waiting for him. Taylin shut the doors behind him. " Didn't you have enough in session Dyl?" Taylin asked the senator who was sitting in a chair smugly eating fresh fruit. " Oh so now I'm Dyl to you ? What happened to Senator Lorn Dyl? Or are you trying to be my friend again?" Dyl responded . " That was 4 lifetimes ago for me and 2 for you " Taylin answered as he sat down at his desk. " You always did have a habit of dying young Zon , A pattern you are very close to repeating yet again" Dyl said laughing . Taylin shot the Senator a vile look. " Need I remind you of your place Senator?" " No , not at all. But maybe I should remind you of the andorians who are in orbit who have intentions of welcoming us into their warm embrace ?" Dyl said . " You mean cold and frigid ?" Zon replied sharply. The senator erupted into laughter. " You continue to keep this up ...why? Dont you see that the andorians left the federation for a reason. They are our kindred equals. We too left for a reason, to pursue a better opportunity. Now you want us to go crawling back to the federation and for what ? So that we can tear each other apart with our own political disagreements. ? Siding with the federation will have you regretting it every day of your life." Taylin slammed his fist down in anger. " How dare you come in here and bring that rhetoric before me ? I am trying to please all of you . That is all I have ever done. Yet you all behave like children. Spoiled pompous brats like the youth outside chanting hate speech at our guest " " Your guest , not mine. Young starfleet brats led by a broken man. " Dyl said with a grin " What are you talking about ?" Taylin asked . Dyl slid a padd to the president. " Of course it could be mere rumors, but the Admiral is a trouble man" Taylin slid the PADD back to the senator with force. " I wont look at anything you think you may have on them. " he said as he stood and walked to the door. " Now senator leave before you find yourself behind bars for attempt to conspire " Dyl stood and walked to the door " Its only a matter of time and you know it " he said as he glared at the president one final time as he walked out of the office. Taylin slammed the large wooden doors and walked over to the window and looked out into the capitol. ~ Please hurry back admiral. You dont know how much we need you the federation, how much I need the federation ~ Taylin thought to himself...as he drifted away into deep thought . (Reply as previously mentioned) ( posted by Davis and special guest star Mrs Davis lol) (Trill - Market - ENS jg Counselor Ariel Trei - 14.00) After a refreshing swim at the beach, she changed back into the skirt and T-shirt that she beamed down in. She checked in to the stuffed animal stall in the market. She picked up the cute stuffed lion and grabbed a cute baby elephant too. The gold coin she prepaid with was enough for both of them. She sent a glare at the little boy as she left the stall. He will be better off not challenging a betazoid and Klingon mix. The animals will be great for her office to help clients feel comfortable. She carried the items back to the beam in site and returned to the Mystique. (Reply None) (Posted by Edward) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office - Ambassador Addison Maccaullay - 1405) Addison nodded to the secretary at the desk as she knocked and entered the President’s Office. The situation had changed so much since she had left the system to request the presence of the Admiral and his senior Officers. More fragmentation, protests both pro, and against the federation. The city was a tinderbox. “President. You’re pardon for my intrusion.” She nodded, a respectful gesture to the office the man held, but also, primarily to the man himself. (Reply Zon) “Taylin.” She moved toward the window that overlooked the city. In her minds eye she could see the machine that it was, a fine mesh of interweaving gears, and cogs. A single speck of grit would bring the system to a grinding halt; and given the opposing nature of the two ~ no, three~ sets of protestors. “The situation is getting from bad to worse. We now have three opposing factions all protesting in the city. Pro-Federation, Pro-Andorrian, who knows where they’re getting the false narrative that they are spewing, and those who want us to ‘go it alone’ and tell all those Empire builders to stay out of our system. We have to get a grasp on this. The entire city is a tinderbox waiting to erupt. One spark is all it will take.” (Reply Zon) (Posted by Mark) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office - President Taylin Zon- 1406) Taylin was thought about the importance of his next steps. Nearly 70 percent of the Senate was in favor of joining one side or the other. Within that 70 percent, 56 percent were pro federation 30 percent were were in favor of trill being independent And the remaining 14 percent favored joining the Andorians. Taylin had the majority behind him. Only if he could convince those who supported joining with the andorians he would gain more support. Trill was a republic. The rights of the minority were to be protected from the might of majority, but when the safety of the majority was being directly threatened by the minority. That's when action was needed to be taken, a firm stance . The Senate backed Taylins decision to rejoin the federation and he was their president. The ball was in his court. There would be repercussions but nothing drastic that couldn't be dealt with. Suddenly his thoughts were broken by a familiar voice... “President. You’re pardon for my intrusion.” " No intrusion ambassador, you are always a welcomed face around here. Please come in " Taylin said with a sigh of relief. “The situation is getting from bad to worse. We now have three opposing factions all protesting in the city. Pro-Federation, Pro-Andorrian, who knows where they’re getting the false narrative that they are spewing, and those who want us to ‘go it alone’ and tell all those Empire builders to stay out of our system. We have to get a grasp on this. The entire city is a tinderbox waiting to erupt. One spark is all it will take.” Taylin looked at the ambassador. " The Admiral is talking with the andorians as we speak. If the federation and the andorians could come to an agreement on their own it would save us alot of problems. I have the support of the Senate to move forward with the motion of rejoining the Federation. I just need the people to understand that this is in our best interest. When the Admiral returns I want to talk with him immediately" (Reply Maccaullay) " I see two options ambassador. We could have the admiral address the Senate and he could tell them of the federations good nature. Some will protest but I feel ,I truly feel many will change their minds once the hear the federation speak. " (Reply Maccaullay) " Well the other option is to meet with the Andorians and The Federation together. Perhaps the two sides can come to an understanding. But no matter what Trill will join the federation the power to make that decision is mine now. The only thing we have to worry about is damage control. In time the people will see this is for the best. What are your thoughts ?" (Reply Maccaullay) (Posted by Davis) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office – Ambassador Addison Maccaulay- 1407) Taylin looked at the ambassador. " The Admiral is talking with the andorians as we speak. If the federation and the andorians could come to an agreement on their own it would save us alot of problems. I have the support of the Senate to move forward with the motion of rejoining the Federation. I just need the people to understand that this is in our best interest. When the Admiral returns I want to talk with him immediately" She had known Taylin a long time, and each trusted the other absolutely. There had been occasions that they had disagreed, but both had the utmost respect for the other, and on this matter they were of one mind. “That support will be valuable. I would rather that the Separatist movement were smaller, but the less vehement ones can be…reminded of the strength and influence that we once had and can have again. Options?” " I see two options ambassador. We could have the admiral address the Senate and he could tell them of the federations good nature. Some will protest but I feel ,I truly feel many will change their minds once the hear the federation speak. " “I hope so. Those that stand against have forgotten, forgotten an awful lot of things. One of them is that even the most junior Ensigns are amongst the most highly able people that this sector has. The other option being?” " Well the other option is to meet with the Andorians and The Federation together. Perhaps the two sides can come to an understanding. But no matter what Trill will join the federation the power to make that decision is mine now. The only thing we have to worry about is damage control. In time the people will see this is for the best. What are your thoughts ?" She turned and stepped gracefully toward the chair on the other side of his desk, and sat down, drawing a breath, and letting it out slowly. “My time in the Fleet was the happiest in my life. I worked, if you can really call it that, with most, if not all of the major races in this sector, we got sent here, and there, and some of the Officers that I served with remain close friends, even though our political ties have been broken these last few years. That secession was the greatest miscalculation that we as a race made.” (Reply Zon) “I understand why it was done of course, but in retrospect, the Civil War had ended, some wanted it to continue, others, happy to rest on the laurels, failed to carry on the exploration that was the backbone of the Fleet, and the Federation as a whole. They withdrew, preferring to try to secure what they had. Now though…the powerbase has shifted…and by a great deal.” (Reply Zon) “The old base on Mars, long abandoned, is being refitted, rebuilt, and is crawling with staff, young…ambitious…idealistic, and extremely good at their individual jobs. Whoever thought that staffing it with young Ensigns as Senior Staff would be a disadvantage has made a grevious error. We need to get ourselves back in, sure, it may cost us resources, manpower at the least, but…Taylin old friend...you are not going to win everyone's heart or appease everyone." (Reply Zon) (Posted by Mark) (Trill - The Senate Building - Presidents Senate office – Trill president Taylin Zon- 1408) “My time in the Fleet was the happiest in my life. I worked, if you can really call it that, with most, if not all of the major races in this sector, we got sent here, and there, and some of the Officers that I served with remain close friends, even though our political ties have been broken these last few years. That secession was the greatest miscalculation that we as a race made.” " My predecessor was a fool. She was an isolationist at heart. " Taylin scoffed “I understand why it was done of course, but in retrospect, the Civil War had ended, some wanted it to continue, others, happy to rest on the laurels, failed to carry on the exploration that was the backbone of the Fleet, and the Federation as a whole. They withdrew, preferring to try to secure what they had. Now though…the powerbase has shifted…and by a great deal.” " The federation is certainly making up for lost time. The ambitious nature of the Federation is once again coming to life. " He smiled at the ambassador “The old base on Mars, long abandoned, is being refitted, rebuilt, and is crawling with staff, young…ambitious…idealistic, and extremely good at their individual jobs. Whoever thought that staffing it with young Ensigns as Senior Staff would be a disadvantage has made a grevious error. We need to get ourselves back in, sure, it may cost us resources, manpower at the least, but…Taylin old friend...you are not going to win everyone's heart or appease everyone." Taylin pondered his friends words. She was right. The decision had to be made. " You know years ago when I was Jatio Zon. I was a writer, a journalist during the dominion war. I saw the horrors. The alpha quadrant was well on its last leg. I was sent to sectors full of carnage and saw devastation first hand. I reported so many deaths to so many families, many families read about the death of their loved ones through my written works." He said as tear filled his eye . He slammed his hand on his desk in an enthusiastic manner " But I saw the good the federation was doing my life was saved ,our lives were saved more times than I could count. They risked everything for us and how do we repay them? We do it by leaving like spoiled brats. " "But No!! Not this time. We wont be ungrateful we will reconnect with the federation. We will make a few made sure, but we will wake up in the morning and once again look up and know we are apart of something good ,something right . We will be a unified government. A unified people with unified future as part of the United Fredertion of Planets..." Taylin declared with confidence. ( reply Maccaullay) " Tomorrow we will join the federation and once again usher in a new era my friend. Inform the admiral " ( reply Maccaullay) ( posted by davis) (USS Rebel Wind - Main Engineering, Master Status Room - Head of Reactivation & Refit Command’s Weapons & Propulsion Dept: Utopia Planitia, Ens. T’Loren Sevant - 1439) “These new warp field configurations will not work,” T’Loren said in her standard work-tone, which was only a hair removed from being toneless. It was a habit she’d picked up as a child on Vulcan; If one didn’t conform, then one was awash in a sea of logical disapproval. It had served her well enough in Starfleet too, though, few liked to argue with a Vulcan. And even though she was only a quarter vulcan, she still had the pointy ears. Nobody cared about the rest of her pedigree, few even tried to find out if she was less than pure-blood. It had also helped that her main major at Starfleet Academy had been subspace dynamics, and her later doctoral thesis had been the clean application of trilithium in a supercooled carbon-cobalt matrix to boost the power of standard phased energy array technology - a way of making phaser strikes more powerful, in short. Along with almost any other system that converted alternating current to a single stream of direct current. The price of being given ships and phaser banks to test these theoretical upgrades was taking a position at Utopia Planitia; signing off of materiel requests as mothballed ships were pulled out of the ghost fleet and reactivated - and almost always refit, as some were as much as fifty years behind current Federation technology. It was a price she happily paid. Her time as a science officer had been boring, very little exploration was being done anymore. Most of her work had been cataloging changes in known subspace anomalies. Something any computer could have done. “No, they just won’t work.” She said after another moments consideration; before she turned and tossed the PADD to one of the dedicated Lieutenants who was in charge of upgrading LCARS software packages after propulsion upgrades. “Her max speed will be .2% slower if these configs are not optimized.” He blinked at her, “I ran them through the computer twice, it could find no faults or improvements.” She sighed inwardly. Most engineers and scientists were far too attached to virtual-AIs and near-AIs. Those were terrible at predicting subspace events and making program based changes. Instead of answering directly, she turned back to her station and uploaded her calculations to the backup server of the Rebel Wind. “Computer, recognize the uploaded changes to the new warp configuration files and run a max power simulation with them.” [Completed.] “Theoretical Results, when compared to the base configuration?” [Warp 9.982 for approximately twenty-five hours. This speed is a .237 increase in the overall speed of the ship, and causes of .051 decrease in warp field saturation. Energy Density of the warp field...] “That’s enough.” She turned to Mick and quirked her left eyebrow. “I trust a computer to do a simulation, though I will take its results with a grain of salt. I never trust it to tweak configurations or equations to improve overall efficiency.” “You’re can be a real b*tch, you know that Loren?” She cracked a smile, “Why, Yes... and I enjoy it. So do you.” He grumbled and tossed the PADD she’d thrown him on the master situation table. “I’ll code the changes into the primary core as soon as I’m done with what I’m doing. Why don’t you go play with your phasers some more?” T’Loren, minus the ‘t’ to her friends, shrugged. “I thought I’d move onto torpedoes.” “There is absolutely no way you can add trilithium or any of its basic alloys into an antimatter explosion and not poison everything carbon based for a few hundred thousand miles in any direction.” Mick replied as he turned back to his monitor and began typing. “You only get away with it on phasers because the energy is being passed through the shite, it’s not being tossed head-first into combat.” “You say that with all the casual confidence of someone who thinks they’ve known everything about this subject for all their lives. I only proved it theoretically possible within the last year. Besides, I didn’t plan on loading them onto photon torpedoes, I’m playing with the ramifications of the technology on quantum torpedoes. I think there’s an outside chance it could help tap into the Zero-Point horizon and reduce energy attenuation - thus tripling the explosive output before the ZP device is vaporized... maybe. The math gets a bit hairy, but...” “But I don’t have the time to try puzzling out all the extra letters you put into your mathematics. I’ll stick with warp fields, thank you.” “You mean, those things I just helped you improve?” she asked, innocently. He turned and stared at her from hooded eyelids. “If you want me to spring for a beer tonight at Utopia, you’d best make your butt disappear... Sir.” Though he was of higher rank, she was head of his sub-department. Engineering departments in Sol could be strange like that, sometimes. “You say ‘Sir’, but I hear ‘Cur’.” Her smile broadened, “Alright Lieutenant, I’ll twaddle off and play with my toys. Let me know when we’re ready for a full power test of the M/ARC.” Mick waved over his shoulder as she jumped into the turbolift and called out for deck 7. (USS Rebel Wind - Primary Quantum Torpedo Storage Bay - Refit Command: W&P Department, Ens. T’Loren Sevant - 1456) “Computer, activate the EMH holographic system in this room and download executable Sevant-5 from the Utopia mainframe to it.” The computer beeped, and the image of a full size quantum torpedo appeared in front of her, using the EMH holographic projectors. Well, pirating the projectors, they weren’t made for anything but the EMH. She’d done as much as she could with this beasts’ phaser array until she could get the ship to a weapons range, and most of the engineering jobs that could be done before the refit progressed were also complete. That left her with plenty of free time in which to hammer away at improving the torps, as the next ship to enter reactivation was still a week off and all the rest were in a holding pattern for one reason or another. Beside the torpedo came a scrolling list of mathematical equations and formulas that she’d been working on. She no longer thought trilithium was the answer, but there had to be a way to reduce the feedback and increase power draw before the unchained zero-point energy vaporized its siphon, and the rest of the torpedo with it. She hopped up onto one of the empty torpedo racks and studied the scrolling matrices. She’d chosen the torpedo storage bay not because she was working on torpedoes, but because nobody ever came here. There were no weapons aboard the ship beyond the phasers, so guarding an empty bay was a serious waste of personnel. It was quiet, but the empty racks were something to focus on while she was doing theoretical mathematics in her head. Her earpiece buzzed, so Loren tapped it absently. =^=You wished to know when the USS Boudicca left her station;=^= her quasi-AI computer assistant on Utopia Planitia said deep in her ear. =^=She just left Neptune's orbit at high warp, with no flight plan recorded in public or anywhere within any of your security clearances.=^= “Ah, thank you. Please inform me when she returns.” The channel closed after the AI program acknowledged. Loren pulled at her ear, a bad habit from childhood, and went back to looking at the scrolling maths. Though, now, her mind was otherwise occupied. (reply: none, yet) (posted by Trout)