If you don't mind, that's OK...a lot of authors do mind though, hence my trying to stick up for you.
Looking forward to the new section, and also, I read the other Dannover fic you linked me and I thought it was excellent. That had to be terrifying for her, for sure.
Oh yeah. In fact, Old Wounds deals with the repercussions of that experience.
Will read. In fact, I think that'll have me all caught up on your major works.
EDIT: Now I've read it, and I'm all caught up. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Post edited by gulberat on
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I think you might have been better off to start your own thread. Maybe you'd consider snipping the self promotion and pasting it into a new thread? That way if you want to discuss your ideas it won't distract from Ryan's.
I was thinking about it once I properly finish the prologue and first chapter. There is a slight correction I need to make, because at first I wasn't thinking of introducing my intelligent starship at the very start of the book, but I changed my mind about it and now she'll come into fray during the first chapter. So after slight modification the prologue and first chapter will should be over soon. Once that's done I'll make a proper thread about it. And I do apologize for distraction. Just wanted to hear some ideas from Ryan about it.
I think you might have been better off to start your own thread. Maybe you'd consider snipping the self promotion and pasting it into a new thread? That way if you want to discuss your ideas it won't distract from Ryan's.
What gulberat said... I'll look forward to reading your work, sovereign, but putting all that info in the middle of ryan's work is rather disrespectful and distasteful... :-\
You are also right. And I apologize once again for that, but as I said, I wanted to hear fellow writer's Ryan ideas about my work. Sure, I might overdone it a bit with details, but got myself carried away and that's the reason for so many details. I wasn't even aware it was that big until I posted it and then it was too late.
I don't mind that much. Besides, I don't check the forum page that often, so if he had only posted it there I may never have heard about it.
That is another thing that has occurred to me as a possibility so I thought it would be fine if I did it this way. Only yeah, I should have shortened it a bit.
One thing I will say is this; if you keep rewriting it until it's perfect, you'll never finish it. In my mind, the beginning and the end of a story aren't nearly as important as how you get there. Most of what I write is spontaneous: I have a vague idea of the plot and where I want to take it, but everything else is what pops into my head as I write. The sparring match between Dannover and Kala? That was completely spontaneous. I had no plans to do it until I started typing it. Don't worry about making your work perfect. Just make it good enough for you.
Yeah, my perfectionism hasn't done me much good. I rewritten beginning for several times now and this time I made myself a point that this will be the last rewrite and only thing I'll be doing now is going forward with the story and eventually do some minor corrections if needed.
You got right about spontaneous writing also, because while it is hard for me to start, once I do the things are just popping into my mind like crazy and that's the reason I liked play by post RPG's very much and have been involved in dozens of them throughout several years.
That sparring match was very good idea and nicely executed too. It hasn't occurred to me for a bit that it wasn't really planned so it fits perfectly I might say.
Well, I'll just have to block that perfectionism of mine a bit so I don't fall into a doomed circle of endless re-writings and reboots This last rewrite so far seems to me a best one out from all and I think I'm going to stick with it. Also the main plot concept never changed for me so that's another good thing and I have too a vague idea of how it should be executed.
Another thing is don't worry about what others think of the story. You can't please everyone and if you try you won't get anywhere. I've had several stories which failed to go anywhere because I tried to make something others would enjoy instead of something I'd enjoy. While I do appreciate feedback (and have been known to take ideas from that feedback), I usually only concern myself with addressing problems pertaining to plot holes (which I seem to have avoided so far, somehow) or just basic errors and inconsistencies.
Write it how you want to write it, and it'll turn out great.[/quote]
Another good advice and good guess about me trying to make it good for everyone. Well, I know that ain't possible, but I would like it to be decent for majority of fans out there and to be truly like a Star Trek serial, or to be more precise like Deep Space 9, but only on a bigger (galactic) scale. However, I do think that it should be first enjoyable to me and then in extensions to others as I also appreciate the feedback. What I want to execute best are my new characters I'm going to introduce and the old ones from Trek shows/movies so far. They need to be done accordingly to how we seen them in the show. And some are little harder to write than the others. Well, there aren't going to be that many of old characters around, but enough of them to keep story developing and prove that it has connections to a timeline of prime universe, or more precisely post-Nemesis era. And yes, just like you I'm trying to avoid those errors and inconsistencies as much as possible. I can't stand such things so I tend to overthink a bit too much in hope that I will not have them at all. And so far, I might say I don't have any of them as I'm trying to keep story, characters and events in it as convincing as possible. And that also extends to starships and technologies too. In that department I'm seriously nitpicky
Oh, and don't think too hard about it. If you do, you could burn yourself out or get 'writer's block'. That's part of the reason Moving On Part 4 took so long for me to get out (that and a major school problem).
Yes I already been there (writers block) so I get your point and thus have promised myself to not get stuck like that anymore.
But yeah, sometimes RL troubles and other stuff can be also distracting so that happens to me too. I'll watch out for that in the future.
Chapter 6 will be up tomorrow. I was going to get it out today, but I was jumped by a surprise trip to the cinema to see Star Wars (which was amazing!).
Can't wait for it! And speaking of SW, I'm going to see it today finally and I do hope it will be amazing as much as was for you and some other people I know.
FED ENG:FA Sirius Verax (USS Leviathan) , FED TAC (Delta): FA Adria Tyllex (USS Thunderblade) , ROM TAC:ADM Kill'ina (IRW Imperix Thrai) , KLING ENG (Delta):LT. GEN Ghol'Vaq Martok (IKS Qeh'Ral II) - 44th Fleet member SUPPORTING PLAYABLE CARDASSIAN AND DOMINION FACTIONS!
WARNING: The following chapter contains scenes which some readers may find uncomfortable, extremely violent or NSFW. You have been warned.
Chapter Six: Round Two.
U.S.S. Victorious, Ushilev Nebula.
Ryan is lying down on the sofa in his Ready Room, listening to a calm piano melody as his uniform jacket rests on the back of his chair. He’s been spending the last few hours since the attack going through damage and casualty reports as well as reading status updates from the chase ships. After Carter nagging him for the fifth time about getting some rest, he finally decided to yield to the inevitable and relax.
After an hour, he hears the door chime sound, slowly sitting up, blinking a few times to wake himself before rubbing his hand down his face and responding to the chime. “Come.”
Alpha steps through the door, turning to Ryan and handing him a PADD. “We have received a message from Commandant Tr’zanac, Captain. He has dispatched a Forward Repair Cruiser to assist us.”
“Thank you, Alpha. Anything else?” Ryan gives the PADD a cursory skim before looking back up at the Soong-Type Android.
“He reported that two Hydari-Class Frigates have been freed from the Battle with the Orions and are en route to intercept the Raiders, but that they will not arrive for 3 days.”
“By which time we’ll have lost them.” Ryan sighs through his nostrils. “Thanks, Alpha. How long until we can return to warp?”
“Chief Ford believes it will require an extra 2 hours to effect repairs.”
“At least no one was killed in the ambush.” Ryan stands up, looking out into the stars, seeing the hue of the nebula in the background. “Alpha, did I make a mistake?”
Alpha twitches curiously. “There was insufficient data to conclude the Nausicaans had mined the nebula. Statistically, it would have been impossible for them to mine all sections of the nebula’s perimeter. I predict the odds of us striking a mine at having been less than--”
“Alpha.”
“Aye, sir.”
Ryan affords himself a little smile. “I could use any insight you have into our situation.”
“The Raiders are attempting to move from nebula to nebula to escape our sensor network. Logically, they will be heading towards an Orion outpost. They will be limited to impulse inside the Paulson Nebula, allowing us time to place ourselves ahead of their course.”
Ryan looks at Alpha. “Alpha, you just gave me a plan! Get down to stellar cartography and find out what Orion outpost those Raiders are heading for!”
“It is unlikely I will be able to narrow it down to a single--”
“Alpha, trust me.” Ryan rests a hand on the android’s shoulder before striding out of the ready room. “Carter, tell the Medusa and the Santissima not to pursue the Raiders into the Paulson Nebula! Order them to wait for further instructions.”
Carter nods as he clears the Captain’s Chair for Ryan. “Aye aye, sir.”
“It’s time for us to ambush them for a change.”
Andoria, Takara City.
Tala is walking around the city’s lower level, avoiding eye contact with the other pedestrians around her, some of whom give her accusatory looks upon seeing her Starfleet Uniform jacket. She does her best to screen them out as she arrives at the Shran Plaza. She stands at the police line for a few moments, taking note of the Imperial Guard troopers still stationed at the scene. Her heartbeat slows as she becomes fixated on the carbon scoring on the marble-like benches, fountain and plinths. She can hear subconsciously the sound of phaser and disruptor fire, panic and screams of pain. She shakes her head, whispering under her breath, “I should have been here…”
Suddenly, she feels a tingle in her left antenna, quickly ducking as she hears something whiz over her head, before smashing on the floor behind her. She turns her head to see a shattered glass bottle, before glancing back to see where it came from, discovering a large crowd of people shouting and jeering. She curses under her breath. “Sa’kri.”
She backs up from the crowd, who are getting louder and quickly turning into a mob, shouting profanity at her and phrases like “Starfleet go home!” and “Traitor!”, as well as insults far more personal which should not be repeated as more objects are thrown at her at a steadily increasing rate. As it becomes clear she’s only a few seconds away from getting lynched, one of the Guardsmen fires his phaser on low power across the mob, barking out. “Disperse immediately! Return to your homes!” Other guardsmen take note and form a firing line between the mob and Tala, while one of them escorts Tala back to the compound.
Once she gets into her quarters, Tala locks her door, leaning back against it as she wipes her eyes, stinging with tears before ripping her combadge off, looking hard at it. In a fit of frustration, she throws it across the room, hearing it clink off the opposite wall and bounce onto the floor. She then slowly slides down to the floor herself, burying her face in her knees, tormented by the thought of being attacked by her own people.
Meanwhile, Kronn is marching through the lower levels of the city with a platoon of guardsmen as the mob begins to advance on the troops at Shran Plaza. He taps his communicator. “Plaza Unit, if they get within 10 kilars of you, you are free to open fire. We cannot afford a riot.”
“Understood.” A voice crackles over his comm as he turns a corner and arrives behind the mob as his platoon take up positions behind cover on either side of the street. He pulls his phaser pistol up, firing it into the air as the blue bolt illuminates the darkened street.
“This is Commandant Kronn Tr’zanac of the Imperial Guard! You are in violation of public order protocol 24 and are liable for charges of assault, psychological attack, incitement to riot and intention to cause grievous bodily harm! Disperse immediately and there shall be no repercussions further! Failure to do so will result in your incarceration for the aforementioned crimes! This is your final warning!”
He waits several moments, the crowd continuing to shout and jeer, before slowly members begin to leave and disperse into the side streets. Suddenly, with only a few members left, the crowd attempts to charge the blockading unit in front of them, the street flashing with blue bursts as the troopers unleash stun blasts and move to arrest their would-be attackers.
Kronn shakes his head. “This is getting out of hand. We need those hostages rescued…”
1800 Hours, Training Room.
Dannover is seated on one of the benches, her jacket resting on her shoulders and her head hanging down as she snores lightly, before a blue hand rests on her shoulder and shakes her gently. She shakes her head, blinking as she looks up to see Tala standing over her. “Oh, it’s you. Sorry, I must have dropped off.”
Tala smiles at her, before looking over at the ring and seeing Kala leaning against the bars wearing a dark grey tank top cutting off just above the hips as well as a pair of black shorts and fingerless gloves, plus a set of elbow pads. Tala is wearing a similar kit, except most of her outfit is in starfleet grey, with the sides of her tank top bearing gold panelling and her gloves matching the colour.
Dannover feels the temperature cool several degrees as Tala locks eyes with her sister, seemingly simmering with anger as Kala steps into the ring. Tala follows her and the two get to opposite corners as Dannover walks over to watch from the side of the ring.
Barely a moment after the two signal each other that they’re ready, Tala gives Kala a cold stare and lunges forward, and both of them are soon duking it out in the middle of the ring, with Tala throwing a furious combo of punches at Kala, who manages to block any heading for her face, but Tala manages to get two into the side of her left ribcage before Kala guards it and knocks Tala back against the barrier with a powerful palm strike to Tala’s chin, causing Tala to grunt as her lower spine slams against the top bar.
Tala manages to take a couple of breaths, before ducking below a clothesline from her sister, catching Kala’s arm, holding the wrist and pushing the elbow forwards violently, causing a creaking sound as Kala lets out a short cry of pain, before using her strength to bend the elbow inwards, pulling Tala towards her and delivering an elbow strike to the face, making contact just above the bridge of her nose.
Kala then swiftly manoeuvres her right foot to the inside of Tala’s left, spinning around clockwise and pulling the foot through, tripping Tala to the floor. Tala quickly tucks her legs in, before releasing the energy to flip back onto her feet and dodge a right hook from Kala, replying with a right straight kick to Kala’s nose, slamming her against the barrier and cutting the bridge of the nose open. Tala manages to growl between breaths, “Had enough yet?”
“Dream on!” Kala snarls back before tackling Tala down and unleashing a brutal barrage of fists on Tala’s face, finishing by barring a knee across Tala’s collar, pushing it down with her hand into Tala’s throat.
Getting just enough traction, Tala is able to slip her neck under the knee enough to push it up and clear, before pulling the leg into a scissor lock and twisting it. Kala lets out a short cry of pain again before pulling the leg in and delivering a sharp kick into Tala’s diaphragm, forcing her to release the hold and allowing her to get to her feet and deliver a harsh kick to Tala’s ribcage, forcing a cry of agony from Tala as a crack is audibly heard.
U.S.S. Victorious, departing the Ushilev Nebula.
Heja Kalynn turns towards Ryan from her helm station to report. “We have reached warp 6, Captain.”
Ryan gives her a grateful nod. “Thank you, helm. Alpha, do you have anything yet?”
The Android turns from his station as Heja turns back to hers. “I have narrowed down the possibilities to 3 likely candidates, sir. The first is the Veela System. It is the closest significant star system to the Paulson Nebula and has been subject to several Orion attacks in the past two weeks. The second option is the Mandel System, where a small-scale raiding campaign by a Nausicaan war party is currently taking place. The final possibility is the Tostig System. Orion ships loyal to the Tri’an Cartel have been sighted in that area.”
Carter quickly looks across at Ryan. “The Veela System would make the most sense. It’s the closest.”
“It’s also the easiest for us to respond to.” Ryan shakes his head. “The Raiders have been very careful about their destinations so far to avoid being caught.”
Carlisle speaks up from the tactical station. “The Mandel System then. Starfleet is too tied up elsewhere to effectively prevent a hostage transfer.”
“Also unlikely. The Nausicaans don’t do slavery themselves, and any warband these Raiders sought assistance from would want a cut of the profit. Tostig is the most likely. Starfleet’s presence in that sector is limited because of the Klingon offensive a few months ago and Tostig II’s defence network has been offline ever since the Gorn attacked the planet last year. Plus, the Tri’ans are notorious for their position in the multi-species slave trade, and they own a monopoly on the trade of Andorinoid slaves.”
Alpha speaks up again. “Sir, the Raiders can arrive at Tostig in 5 days at their maximum warp factor. However, the Santissima and Medusa are currently proceeding above design limits to keep up. They will not be able to pursue after the Raiders reach the nebula for 23 hours, 13 minutes and 22 seconds.”
“Which means they’ll miss the transfer.”
“Correct. However, if we proceed to Tostig II immediately at Warp 9.7, we will arrive in 4 days, 22 hours and 57 minutes.”
Ryan nods. “If they’re headed fo Veela, the Medusa and Santissima will at least be able to catch them in time to find out which ship they transfer to.”
Heja turns from her station again. “Sir, if they are headed for Mandel and we set course for Tostig, we won’t have time to change course to catch them before they arrive.”
“How long will we miss them by?”
“At least 2 hours, and that’s if we push past the red line for most of the trip.”
Ryan looks grimly at Carter. “We can catch them at either Tostig or Mandel, but not both.”
Carter returns the look. “It’s your call, sir.”
Ryan looks down at the carpet, clasping his hands together and resting his chin against them thoughtfully. After a few moments, he looks at Heja. “The Tostig System: Make it so.”
Meanwhile, Andoria.
Tala dodges a right cross from Kala, the two panting from exhaustion as blue blood trickles from a cut on Tala’s left cheek and the cut on the bridge of Kala’s nose from earlier on. Suddenly, Tala roars forward into a lunging right-handed punch, Kala dodging and launching a kick into Tala’s lower back, hitting a bruised area from where Tala hit the barrier at the start of the fight. Tala crumbles to her knees, grunting in pain as she tries to get back to her feet, before Kala kicks her forward onto her stomach, circling around her now-helpless sister. “Tala, just give the shrack up!”
As she circles back around to Tala’s legs, Tala traps her right ankle with her feet, twisting so Kala is brought to her knees before scrambling around to lock a rear choke hold, pulling Kala onto her back and locking a scissors hold around her body, focusing the force of the scissors on the diaphragm. “Why don’t you pass out first?!”
The two strain against the shear strength of the other for several seconds, each second locking the choke tighter and tighter around Kala’s neck, before Tala finally runs out of strength and Kala pulls free, groggily turning around into a top mount and throwing as many punches as she can muster into Tala’s face. After the third blow, she too runs out of energy and collapses next to her.
Noticing that both of them are trying to muster the strength to get back up, Dannover hops over the barrier and puts her hands on both of their shoulders, prompting them to stay down. “Enough. You’ve proved your points, don’t you think?” She checks both of them over, hauling them to a corner each and giving both of them some water to rehydrate before a medic arrives to start addressing their injuries. As Tala slowly gathers her breath again while the medic heals her, she looks over at Kala, who responds with the same laboured, exhausted look, before they smile at each other.
Whatever offense Tala committed in Kala's eyes, it must not have been so severe as to be a mortal insult, given that Kala seems to have been satisfied with their "merely" beating the crud out of each other.
One other thing I wonder. I know Kala has had her differences of opinion over Tala's career choices, but I do wonder how she would've reacted to seeing her sister abused by a crowd of hateful strangers. Would family honor have taken precedence over their personal disputes? How might Kala react to being told about incident after the fact?
I'm also curious though, since she jumped in the middle of the fight like that, does Dannover have any enhanced strength at all, or was she just lucky that Tala and Kala had already mostly worn themselves out? (On another note, it's nice to see Dannover in a situation where SHE isn't the one with her butt on the line, seeing as she's taken so much abuse.)
I like the "chess game" going on here. One thing about the McAllister C5 Nebula though. That's right on the Cardassian border in the Minos Korva area (which is why the 77th Fleet in my own work refers to that nebula by its Cardassian-language name...that and McAllister C5 is a mouthful ). One danger in my mind COULD be the possibility of the Nausicaans crossing the border into Cardassian space. While I think the CDF would likely NOT take kindly to slavers, pirates, or kidnappers, we also know the Breen--also slavers--aren't far from Union territory. (As for the True Way...based on their attitudes towards the Bajoran Occupation, I'm not sure I'd put slavery past THEM either...)
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Whatever offense Tala committed in Kala's eyes, it must not have been so severe as to be a mortal insult, given that Kala seems to have been satisfied with their "merely" beating the crud out of each other.
One other thing I wonder. I know Kala has had her differences of opinion over Tala's career choices, but I do wonder how she would've reacted to seeing her sister abused by a crowd of hateful strangers. Would family honor have taken precedence over their personal disputes? How might Kala react to being told about incident after the fact?
I'm also curious though, since she jumped in the middle of the fight like that, does Dannover have any enhanced strength at all, or was she just lucky that Tala and Kala had already mostly worn themselves out? (On another note, it's nice to see Dannover in a situation where SHE isn't the one with her butt on the line, seeing as she's taken so much abuse.)
I like the "chess game" going on here. One thing about the McAllister C5 Nebula though. That's right on the Cardassian border in the Minos Korva area (which is why the 77th Fleet in my own work refers to that nebula by its Cardassian-language name...that and McAllister C5 is a mouthful ). One danger in my mind COULD be the possibility of the Nausicaans crossing the border into Cardassian space. While I think the CDF would likely NOT take kindly to slavers, pirates, or kidnappers, we also know the Breen--also slavers--aren't far from Union territory. (As for the True Way...based on their attitudes towards the Bajoran Occupation, I'm not sure I'd put slavery past THEM either...)
I got confused between the McCallister C-5 nebula and the Paulson Nebula. I'll go back and address that in a moment. Thanks for catching that. (EDIT: Okay, that's the post amended. Strangely, the first time I mentioned the nebula, Chapter 5, I actually got the correct name. *Shrug*)
As for Kala... Admittedly, I didn't make it clear, so it's my own fault, but it was meant to be implied that Tala made the first assault (basically still furious about the mob and blaming Kala for it because of their history). I might go back and make that clearer (EDIT: Also done). Also, remember how Tala commented at the start of the story how the last time they fought, Kala had a broken arm and ribs by the end of it? Adrenaline can be a dangerous thing. Especially if both combatants have been trained to the point where they're fully capable of breaking the average person's neck with a few motions.
And if you read carefully, you'll notice that when Dannover stepped in, they were both face down on the ground and barely conscious. Even so, even if she'd jumped in while the two were still going strong, they have enough self-control to stop themselves from accidentally attacking her. Tala may want to punch Dannover into another dimension sometimes, but she tends to be pretty good at not acting on those urges. Besides, do you really think Starfleet would let an ex-Borg get away with keeping the cybernetic enhancements that increased her strength? Do you really think that if they did she'd lose to Tala so often as she does?
Whatever offense Tala committed in Kala's eyes, it must not have been so severe as to be a mortal insult, given that Kala seems to have been satisfied with their "merely" beating the crud out of each other.
I got confused between the McCallister C-5 nebula and the Paulson Nebula. I'll go back and address that in a moment. Thanks for catching that. (EDIT: Okay, that's the post amended. Strangely, the first time I mentioned the nebula, Chapter 5, I actually got the correct name. *Shrug*)
It's OK...I'd thought that the raiders were going to go from the Ushilev to the Paulson to the McAlister C5. I wasn't trying to call you out, just brainstorm.
As for Kala... Admittedly, I didn't make it clear, so it's my own fault, but it was meant to be implied that Tala made the first assault (basically still furious about the mob and blaming Kala for it because of their history). I might go back and make that clearer. Also, remember how Tala commented at the start of the story how the last time they fought, Kala had a broken arm and ribs by the end of it? Adrenaline can be a dangerous thing. Especially if both combatants have been trained to the point where they're fully capable of breaking the average person's neck with a few motions.
It's possible I didn't read as clearly as I thought I had. But yeah, I did figure the mob had made Tala even angrier, as it would seem to "validate" all of Kala's words to her (or she might think Kala would assume such validation and agree with their assault).
And if you read carefully, you'll notice that when Dannover stepped in, they were both face down on the ground and barely conscious. Even so, even if she'd jumped in while the two were still going strong, they have enough self-control to stop themselves from accidentally attacking her.
I could tell they were both pretty beaten up, but I wasn't sure if they might have been able to get back up and start again.
Tala may want to punch Dannover into another dimension sometimes, but she tends to be pretty good at not acting on those urges. Besides, do you really think Starfleet would let an ex-Borg get away with keeping the cybernetic enhancements that increased her strength? Do you really think that if they did she'd lose to Tala so often as she does?
I am not quite sure how Andorian strength stacks up, so I wasn't sure whether Dannover had retained anything like that or not.
In my stories Starfleet actually has allowed a Liberated Borg to serve who has all of the implants and exoplating because for a number of reasons, physical deassimilation was not possible. But with a fully human personality, there's a level of trust there that isn't always present with Liberated Borg. She would be VERY nasty in combat though, for sure. Think of the angry Borg from "Descent" and you'll have a pretty good idea what she might be like in a fight. You're right in that it would NOT be a pretty picture.
Well, they are still family.
That's good that things didn't progress THAT far. I wasn't sure at what point, culturally, something would cross from a grudge demanding a beating to settle it, to something that would result in getting disowned.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I got confused between the McCallister C-5 nebula and the Paulson Nebula. I'll go back and address that in a moment. Thanks for catching that. (EDIT: Okay, that's the post amended. Strangely, the first time I mentioned the nebula, Chapter 5, I actually got the correct name. *Shrug*)
It's OK...I'd thought that the raiders were going to go from the Ushilev to the Paulson to the McAlister C5. I wasn't trying to call you out, just brainstorm.
As for Kala... Admittedly, I didn't make it clear, so it's my own fault, but it was meant to be implied that Tala made the first assault (basically still furious about the mob and blaming Kala for it because of their history). I might go back and make that clearer. Also, remember how Tala commented at the start of the story how the last time they fought, Kala had a broken arm and ribs by the end of it? Adrenaline can be a dangerous thing. Especially if both combatants have been trained to the point where they're fully capable of breaking the average person's neck with a few motions.
It's possible I didn't read as clearly as I thought I had. But yeah, I did figure the mob had made Tala even angrier, as it would seem to "validate" all of Kala's words to her (or she might think Kala would assume such validation and agree with their assault).
And if you read carefully, you'll notice that when Dannover stepped in, they were both face down on the ground and barely conscious. Even so, even if she'd jumped in while the two were still going strong, they have enough self-control to stop themselves from accidentally attacking her.
I could tell they were both pretty beaten up, but I wasn't sure if they might have been able to get back up and start again.
Tala may want to punch Dannover into another dimension sometimes, but she tends to be pretty good at not acting on those urges. Besides, do you really think Starfleet would let an ex-Borg get away with keeping the cybernetic enhancements that increased her strength? Do you really think that if they did she'd lose to Tala so often as she does?
I am not quite sure how Andorian strength stacks up, so I wasn't sure whether Dannover had retained anything like that or not.
In my stories Starfleet actually has allowed a Liberated Borg to serve who has all of the implants and exoplating because for a number of reasons, physical deassimilation was not possible. But with a fully human personality, there's a level of trust there that isn't always present with Liberated Borg. She would be VERY nasty in combat though, for sure. Think of the angry Borg from "Descent" and you'll have a pretty good idea what she might be like in a fight. You're right in that it would NOT be a pretty picture.
Well, they are still family.
That's good that things didn't progress THAT far. I wasn't sure at what point, culturally, something would cross from a grudge demanding a beating to settle it, to something that would result in getting disowned.
Well, if they were headed for the C-5 nebula, the Victorious could expect support from the Defiant, Oxford and any other ships guarding thew Cardassian Border. Either way, thanks for mentioning it.
Anyhow, as far as Andorian strength goes, given Archer's performance against Shran in ENT: S4 (the episode with the Ushaan, part of the Romulan holo-ship arc), I figure their strength is comparable to a human's (granting certain benefits to resilience based on the fact that Andoria's surface makes Siberia look like Costa del Sol).
As for the Borg comment... Admittedly, if it was a case where the strength enhancements couldn't be removed, it would be a different matter entirely. And, as you say, it would NOT be pretty at all.
I figure that no matter how angry Tala got with Kala, she wouldn't say anything that would make Kala truly hate her that much. Although, the mutual belligerency between the two does fit Tala's aggressive tendencies when she and Dannover have sparred in my stories (admittedly, while Tala gets rough, it's usually out of arrogantly making an idiot out of Dannover, not out of her actually wanting to hurt her). Another example is Tala's encounter with Corani in 'Old Wounds' (SPOILER ALERT), where Tala and Corani were basically focused on beating each other into a pulp until the Borg finally started trying to attack them.
Author's Notes: Alright, I've managed to get a break from school and writer's block to get the ending sorted for this. Next fic probably won't be up until late May, when I finish my A2 Exams. Sorry about the long delay on this one.
Chapter Seven: The Element of Surprise.
Klingon Defence Forces High Command, First City, Qo’nos.
The sky crashes with lightning as the tall spire of the KDF High Command complex is silhouetted against a white flash while a shuttle lands at one of the ground level landing platforms. As the acidic rain splashes against the hull, Lieutenant General Torpal steps off the boarding ramp, stopping and feeling the sulphur-diluted rain strike his hand, smelling the metallic aroma before letting out a small grunt and pulling a silk hood over his head as a feminine Orion wearing a panelled black uniform with red shoulders and sides steps out with him, pulling her own hood over her head. “You know, I for one didn’t miss the acid.”
Torpal turns to her, smiling at his personal honour guard before walking towards the blast doors into the spire. “The weather control system was supposed to filter out the sulphur dioxide. Power must have been rerouted.”
“Funny how that seems to keep happening.” The Orion, Lieutenant Corani S’ian nods to the Klingon guard on duty as Torpal is allowed through. As she attempts to follow, the guard grabs her arm. “Take your hands off me, before I put mine on you.”
Torpal gives the guard a look, before wryly warning, “It would be unwise, Bekk, to refuse.”
The Bekk releases her, and Corani follows Torpal to the turbolift. “Any idea what High Command summoned you here for?”
“No. Level 62.” The turbolift hums to life as they begin ascending up the spire. “Only that we are to be briefed by Dahar Master Gralok himself.”
“Maybe they changed their mind about the Mauritania Affair.”
“If they were going to let the High Council put me on trial for treason, we wouldn’t be here. We’d have been taken before the Chancellor in chains.”
“Well, the armistice is holding, so why else would they want you?”
Torpal looks at her, nodding as the lift begins to decelerate. “We are about to find out.”
The pair step out of the lift moments after it comes to a halt and opens up into a round chamber surrounded by polarised panoramic windows, the sights of the First City clearly visible against the dark, sickly green skies of the Homeworld. In the centre of the room is a large holo-table surrounded by audio-dampening field emitters embedded into the floor, glowing a dark blood red. Surrounding the table are two Klingon Generals, decorated with golden sashes and multiple honours, as well as their House crests. Between them is an aged man wearing the robes of a Dahar Master, leaning on the table, looking at what appears to be a rendition of the Neutral regions between Klingon and Cardassian Space. Upon noticing Torpal and his entourage, the Dahar Master motions them over. As the pair step inside the dampening field, the two Generals and the Dahar Master salute, pulling their right arms to their chests and standing at attention. Torpal quickly returns the salute, as does Corani. The Dahar Master then gestures to the holomap. “I trust, General, you are up to date on our relations with the Cardassians?”
“You’re referring to the bilateral revisions to the Treaty of Bajor between them and the Federation?” Torpal inspects the map, noticing a series of supply ships positioned between Klingon and Cardassian territory, skirting around Federation space. “You’ve positioned these supply ships so that the Federation Early Warning Beacons will not detect them.”
“The plan is that our forces will not be detected until they have already entered Cardassian territory.”
Corani folds her arms. “Just one problem; the Federation isn’t just going to allow us to invade their closest neighbour. What’s the objective?”
“The revised treaty grants Cardassia a Hutet-Class Dreadnought and overall increases to their military strength, as well as Starfleet-assisted modernisations to their technology.” Dahar Master Gralok begins pacing around the table. “If the True Way were to succeed in their insurrection, or if the Detapa Council were to formally ally with the Federation, the Cardassian military could pose a serious military threat to the Empire.”
Torpal nods slowly. “So the High Council wants us to convince the Cardassians to reconsider their new treaty arrangements.” He then turns to Gralok. “But, Starfleet will not stand by while we invade the Union. On the contrary, they will undoubtedly mobilise a force to counter us.”
“Which is why we are only committing a single strike force.” Gralok taps several controls and the map changes to the Klingon-Federation Neutral Zone, where many task groups have remained mobilised for almost a year, since the armistice. “Our forces on the border shall be repositioned for a first strike if the Federation do attempt to intervene. That will force them to mobilise reserves to aid the Cardassians; a process which will take at least two weeks. In that time, you will meet only light Federation resistance.” Gralok turns to Torpal. “I intend for you to lead the offensive against Cardassia Prime, alongside General Korvak.” He nods to one of the Generals, an eyepatch over a scarred right eye socket.
“I assume, General, that you will take charge of forward operations?” Torpal nods in deference.
“Precisely. You will cover the fleet’s flank and engage any minor forces attempting to hinder the advance.” General Korvak leans on the holo-table as it changes again to show a longitudinal view of Cardassian space from Cardassia Prime to the Minos Korva Sector. “We will conduct a lightning strike along the old DMZ and assault Cardassia Prime itself, forcing the Detapa Council to surrender and accept our terms.”
“It’s risky.” Corani points out, “If the Federation is able to hold you off, or you run out of supplies before reaching Cardassia Prime, we will have to fight a war on two fronts, and we won’t be able to maintain a force that far from our main supply bases.”
“Which is why our strategy relies on speed and surprise. Until we engage, we have to assume the Federation will attempt to counterattack. The two weeks’ mobilisation period should be enough time to reach our objective.”
Torpal examines the strategy in his mind. “Success or fail, we will find ourselves once more in open war with Starfleet.”
4 days later, U.S.S. Victorious, Tostig System.
Ryan is speaking with Ensign Carlisle in the aft torpedo bay. “I’d like the probes configured to emit a wide-area graviton pulse as soon as the Nausicaans arrive. I don’t want them warping out again.”
“Aye, sir.” Carlisle begins working on the modifications as Alpha calls down from the bridge.
“Alpha to Captain Allington.”
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.” Ryan walks over to a comm panel.
“Sensors have detected 2 unidentified vessels approaching at high warp.”
“Gotcha.” He closes the channel and opens a ship-wide broadcast. “Now hear this! All stations go to General Quarters! This is not a drill! I repeat, General Quarters! This is not a drill! First Officer and Acting Security Officer to the bridge!” With that, Ryan quickly makes pace for the turbolift.
***
Moments later, Ryan and Carlisle step onto the bridge, as Carter looks over from the conn, having arrived a few seconds earlier. “Captain on the Bridge.”
“Status report, Alpha.” Ryan takes his place in the centre chair, Carlisle taking the tactical position.
Alpha is busily tapping away at his console. “All stations answer Red Alert, Captain. Ready for battle.”
“Captain.” Carlisle leans over his console as Ryan turns to face him. “I couldn’t finish the probe modifications, but I can duplicate the effect with a spread of photon torpedoes directly ahead of the raiders as they drop to impulse. It should destabilise their field matrices long enough to disable them.”
Ryan nods to him. “Make it so, Mister Carlisle.”
A few moments later, a proximity alarm sounds from Carlisle’s station. “Contact confirmed! Two Nausicaan Raiders!”
“Shields up! Fire torpedoes!”
A series of bright red bursts erupt from the ship’s forward torpedo launcher, exploding all around the raiders now dropping from warp, shedding hull plates as an explosion occurs near the nacelle of one of the raiders, causing it to drift limply. Carlisle reports from his station, “One Raider disabled. The other is attempting to raise shields.”
“Fire phasers. Target their weapons.”
There’s a shrill chime confirming the phaser fire as an orange beam lances across the aft of the raider, a blue gas leaking from the gash. “They’re leaking weapons coolant. Subsystem offline. They’re increasing speed, shields up.”
Carter exhales. “They’re making a run for it.”
“Tractor beam, Alpha!” Ryan steps out of his chair. “Carlisle, fire a yield 3 torpedo as they pass! Aim for the impulse drive!”
The Victorious locks a tractor beam, which refracts off the Raider’s shields as a photon torpedo breaks through, hitting the impulse engine with reduced force. The tractor beam now firmly grabs hold of the hull, bringing the raider to a halt. “Target is adrift. Their shields have collapsed!” Carlisle begins compensating for the sudden loss of friction in the tractor beam.
“Transporter Room, beam the hostages aboard! Now!”
Carlisle drops the shields and, after a few moments, a voice is emitted from the comm system. “Transporter Room here, sir. We have them. Some minor injuries, but they’re all alive.”
“Acknowledged, transporter room.” Ryan closes the channel and looks at Alpha. “Open a channel.”
Alpha taps a set of controls as a chime sounds from his console. “Channel open, sir.”
“This is Commander Ryan Allington of the United Federation of Planets. Surrender and prepare to be boarded.”
Two hours later, Takara City, Imperial Guard Command.
“The Victorious is now on her way back with all the Andorian hostages on board. The Santissima and Medusa are taking the Nausicaan crews to Earth for trial.” Dannover hands a PADD to Kronn, who looks it over briefly. “The Victorious took no damage in the final engagement and there were no fatalities on our side. Only minor injuries among the hostages.”
“Thank you, lieutenant.” Kronn nods and returns the PADD to her. “I suppose that means you and my niece will be departing soon?”
“That depends on if Starfleet has another assignment for us. Captain Allington will probably want to grant shore leave after a mission, and I’ll be up there handling repairs from the nebula ambush.”
“Well, if it happens that you do have to depart early, please extend to Commander Allington my sincere gratitude on behalf of the entire Andorian Empire.”
Dannover nods before leaving.
Meanwhile, U.S.S. Victorious.
Ryan is in his Ready Room, speaking with Admiral Ross over subspace. “With respect Admiral, the Victorious should at least put in at Spacedock for engine repairs.”
“I appreciate that, Commander, but circumstances have conspired against us again. I can’t discuss this over subspace, but suffice it to say we’re noticing some disturbing activity along the Klingon frontier. I need the Victorious on standby. The Montgomery Scott is en route to rendezvous with you at Andor to assist with repairs.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Starfleet Command, out.” The viewer goes to the standard Federation emblem.
Ryan leans back in his chair and sighs. “Computer… Tracy Lounge Piano…”
The room fills with a calming piano melody as Ryan sighs again calmingly, taking a hypo from his desk and injecting the painkillers into his neck. He puts the hypo down again before slowly falling asleep.
*** One hour later. Deck 5, Crew Quarters.
“Deck 5 contains mostly the Senior Officer’s Quarters and those of Department Heads.” Tala remarks as she leads Kala down a corridor. “We also have 2 weapons lockers on opposite ends of the deck. Each one contains enough Type 3 phasers to arm double the number of crewmen usually on this deck.”
“And here I thought Starfleet was about exploration.” Kala’s voice bears a tone of both irony and slight contempt.
“Kala, if it weren’t for Starfleet, those 15 hostages would be in an Orion slave auction right now.”
“The Nausicaans wouldn’t have got them if Starfleet had been here in the first place.”
“Kala, Starfleet cannot be everywhere at once. What makes Andoria more important to Starfleet than Vulcan, or Tellar Prime? We pulled the Victorious out of dock in the middle of a refit to make sure those hostages came out alive. The Victorious knowingly went into an ambush to save them, getting crippled in the process.”
“Alright, alright. I’m sorry.” Kala looks at her.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, Kala. Really, I am.” Tala places a hand on her sister’s shoulder, before the two share a short hug.
“Well, one thing your timing was good for…”
“What?”
“It let me recover enough to beat the ice out of you.”
Tala laughs a little. “I’m fairly sure most of the hits landed on you.”
“If that makes you feel better, think that.” Kala smirks at her teasingly. “So, where next?”
The two continue on their tour of the ship. “Deck 8. I thought I’d show you the Flight Deck - our crew lounge. Then, maybe the gymnasium.”
Comments
Will read. In fact, I think that'll have me all caught up on your major works.
EDIT: Now I've read it, and I'm all caught up. Can't wait to see what comes next!
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I was thinking about it once I properly finish the prologue and first chapter. There is a slight correction I need to make, because at first I wasn't thinking of introducing my intelligent starship at the very start of the book, but I changed my mind about it and now she'll come into fray during the first chapter. So after slight modification the prologue and first chapter will should be over soon. Once that's done I'll make a proper thread about it. And I do apologize for distraction. Just wanted to hear some ideas from Ryan about it.
You are also right. And I apologize once again for that, but as I said, I wanted to hear fellow writer's Ryan ideas about my work. Sure, I might overdone it a bit with details, but got myself carried away and that's the reason for so many details. I wasn't even aware it was that big until I posted it and then it was too late.
That is another thing that has occurred to me as a possibility so I thought it would be fine if I did it this way. Only yeah, I should have shortened it a bit.
Yeah, my perfectionism hasn't done me much good. I rewritten beginning for several times now and this time I made myself a point that this will be the last rewrite and only thing I'll be doing now is going forward with the story and eventually do some minor corrections if needed.
You got right about spontaneous writing also, because while it is hard for me to start, once I do the things are just popping into my mind like crazy and that's the reason I liked play by post RPG's very much and have been involved in dozens of them throughout several years.
That sparring match was very good idea and nicely executed too. It hasn't occurred to me for a bit that it wasn't really planned so it fits perfectly I might say.
Well, I'll just have to block that perfectionism of mine a bit so I don't fall into a doomed circle of endless re-writings and reboots
Write it how you want to write it, and it'll turn out great.[/quote]
Another good advice and good guess about me trying to make it good for everyone. Well, I know that ain't possible, but I would like it to be decent for majority of fans out there and to be truly like a Star Trek serial, or to be more precise like Deep Space 9, but only on a bigger (galactic) scale. However, I do think that it should be first enjoyable to me and then in extensions to others as I also appreciate the feedback. What I want to execute best are my new characters I'm going to introduce and the old ones from Trek shows/movies so far. They need to be done accordingly to how we seen them in the show. And some are little harder to write than the others. Well, there aren't going to be that many of old characters around, but enough of them to keep story developing and prove that it has connections to a timeline of prime universe, or more precisely post-Nemesis era. And yes, just like you I'm trying to avoid those errors and inconsistencies as much as possible. I can't stand such things so I tend to overthink a bit too much in hope that I will not have them at all. And so far, I might say I don't have any of them as I'm trying to keep story, characters and events in it as convincing as possible. And that also extends to starships and technologies too. In that department I'm seriously nitpicky
Yes I already been there (writers block) so I get your point and thus have promised myself to not get stuck like that anymore.
But yeah, sometimes RL troubles and other stuff can be also distracting so that happens to me too. I'll watch out for that in the future.
Can't wait for it! And speaking of SW, I'm going to see it today finally and I do hope it will be amazing as much as was for you and some other people I know.
SUPPORTING PLAYABLE CARDASSIAN AND DOMINION FACTIONS!
WARNING: The following chapter contains scenes which some readers may find uncomfortable, extremely violent or NSFW. You have been warned.
Chapter Six: Round Two.
U.S.S. Victorious, Ushilev Nebula.
Ryan is lying down on the sofa in his Ready Room, listening to a calm piano melody as his uniform jacket rests on the back of his chair. He’s been spending the last few hours since the attack going through damage and casualty reports as well as reading status updates from the chase ships. After Carter nagging him for the fifth time about getting some rest, he finally decided to yield to the inevitable and relax.
After an hour, he hears the door chime sound, slowly sitting up, blinking a few times to wake himself before rubbing his hand down his face and responding to the chime. “Come.”
Alpha steps through the door, turning to Ryan and handing him a PADD. “We have received a message from Commandant Tr’zanac, Captain. He has dispatched a Forward Repair Cruiser to assist us.”
“Thank you, Alpha. Anything else?” Ryan gives the PADD a cursory skim before looking back up at the Soong-Type Android.
“He reported that two Hydari-Class Frigates have been freed from the Battle with the Orions and are en route to intercept the Raiders, but that they will not arrive for 3 days.”
“By which time we’ll have lost them.” Ryan sighs through his nostrils. “Thanks, Alpha. How long until we can return to warp?”
“Chief Ford believes it will require an extra 2 hours to effect repairs.”
“At least no one was killed in the ambush.” Ryan stands up, looking out into the stars, seeing the hue of the nebula in the background. “Alpha, did I make a mistake?”
Alpha twitches curiously. “There was insufficient data to conclude the Nausicaans had mined the nebula. Statistically, it would have been impossible for them to mine all sections of the nebula’s perimeter. I predict the odds of us striking a mine at having been less than--”
“Alpha.”
“Aye, sir.”
Ryan affords himself a little smile. “I could use any insight you have into our situation.”
“The Raiders are attempting to move from nebula to nebula to escape our sensor network. Logically, they will be heading towards an Orion outpost. They will be limited to impulse inside the Paulson Nebula, allowing us time to place ourselves ahead of their course.”
Ryan looks at Alpha. “Alpha, you just gave me a plan! Get down to stellar cartography and find out what Orion outpost those Raiders are heading for!”
“It is unlikely I will be able to narrow it down to a single--”
“Alpha, trust me.” Ryan rests a hand on the android’s shoulder before striding out of the ready room. “Carter, tell the Medusa and the Santissima not to pursue the Raiders into the Paulson Nebula! Order them to wait for further instructions.”
Carter nods as he clears the Captain’s Chair for Ryan. “Aye aye, sir.”
“It’s time for us to ambush them for a change.”
Andoria, Takara City.
Tala is walking around the city’s lower level, avoiding eye contact with the other pedestrians around her, some of whom give her accusatory looks upon seeing her Starfleet Uniform jacket. She does her best to screen them out as she arrives at the Shran Plaza. She stands at the police line for a few moments, taking note of the Imperial Guard troopers still stationed at the scene. Her heartbeat slows as she becomes fixated on the carbon scoring on the marble-like benches, fountain and plinths. She can hear subconsciously the sound of phaser and disruptor fire, panic and screams of pain. She shakes her head, whispering under her breath, “I should have been here…”
Suddenly, she feels a tingle in her left antenna, quickly ducking as she hears something whiz over her head, before smashing on the floor behind her. She turns her head to see a shattered glass bottle, before glancing back to see where it came from, discovering a large crowd of people shouting and jeering. She curses under her breath. “Sa’kri.”
She backs up from the crowd, who are getting louder and quickly turning into a mob, shouting profanity at her and phrases like “Starfleet go home!” and “Traitor!”, as well as insults far more personal which should not be repeated as more objects are thrown at her at a steadily increasing rate. As it becomes clear she’s only a few seconds away from getting lynched, one of the Guardsmen fires his phaser on low power across the mob, barking out. “Disperse immediately! Return to your homes!” Other guardsmen take note and form a firing line between the mob and Tala, while one of them escorts Tala back to the compound.
Once she gets into her quarters, Tala locks her door, leaning back against it as she wipes her eyes, stinging with tears before ripping her combadge off, looking hard at it. In a fit of frustration, she throws it across the room, hearing it clink off the opposite wall and bounce onto the floor. She then slowly slides down to the floor herself, burying her face in her knees, tormented by the thought of being attacked by her own people.
Meanwhile, Kronn is marching through the lower levels of the city with a platoon of guardsmen as the mob begins to advance on the troops at Shran Plaza. He taps his communicator. “Plaza Unit, if they get within 10 kilars of you, you are free to open fire. We cannot afford a riot.”
“Understood.” A voice crackles over his comm as he turns a corner and arrives behind the mob as his platoon take up positions behind cover on either side of the street. He pulls his phaser pistol up, firing it into the air as the blue bolt illuminates the darkened street.
“This is Commandant Kronn Tr’zanac of the Imperial Guard! You are in violation of public order protocol 24 and are liable for charges of assault, psychological attack, incitement to riot and intention to cause grievous bodily harm! Disperse immediately and there shall be no repercussions further! Failure to do so will result in your incarceration for the aforementioned crimes! This is your final warning!”
He waits several moments, the crowd continuing to shout and jeer, before slowly members begin to leave and disperse into the side streets. Suddenly, with only a few members left, the crowd attempts to charge the blockading unit in front of them, the street flashing with blue bursts as the troopers unleash stun blasts and move to arrest their would-be attackers.
Kronn shakes his head. “This is getting out of hand. We need those hostages rescued…”
1800 Hours, Training Room.
Dannover is seated on one of the benches, her jacket resting on her shoulders and her head hanging down as she snores lightly, before a blue hand rests on her shoulder and shakes her gently. She shakes her head, blinking as she looks up to see Tala standing over her. “Oh, it’s you. Sorry, I must have dropped off.”
Tala smiles at her, before looking over at the ring and seeing Kala leaning against the bars wearing a dark grey tank top cutting off just above the hips as well as a pair of black shorts and fingerless gloves, plus a set of elbow pads. Tala is wearing a similar kit, except most of her outfit is in starfleet grey, with the sides of her tank top bearing gold panelling and her gloves matching the colour.
Dannover feels the temperature cool several degrees as Tala locks eyes with her sister, seemingly simmering with anger as Kala steps into the ring. Tala follows her and the two get to opposite corners as Dannover walks over to watch from the side of the ring.
Barely a moment after the two signal each other that they’re ready, Tala gives Kala a cold stare and lunges forward, and both of them are soon duking it out in the middle of the ring, with Tala throwing a furious combo of punches at Kala, who manages to block any heading for her face, but Tala manages to get two into the side of her left ribcage before Kala guards it and knocks Tala back against the barrier with a powerful palm strike to Tala’s chin, causing Tala to grunt as her lower spine slams against the top bar.
Tala manages to take a couple of breaths, before ducking below a clothesline from her sister, catching Kala’s arm, holding the wrist and pushing the elbow forwards violently, causing a creaking sound as Kala lets out a short cry of pain, before using her strength to bend the elbow inwards, pulling Tala towards her and delivering an elbow strike to the face, making contact just above the bridge of her nose.
Kala then swiftly manoeuvres her right foot to the inside of Tala’s left, spinning around clockwise and pulling the foot through, tripping Tala to the floor. Tala quickly tucks her legs in, before releasing the energy to flip back onto her feet and dodge a right hook from Kala, replying with a right straight kick to Kala’s nose, slamming her against the barrier and cutting the bridge of the nose open. Tala manages to growl between breaths, “Had enough yet?”
“Dream on!” Kala snarls back before tackling Tala down and unleashing a brutal barrage of fists on Tala’s face, finishing by barring a knee across Tala’s collar, pushing it down with her hand into Tala’s throat.
Getting just enough traction, Tala is able to slip her neck under the knee enough to push it up and clear, before pulling the leg into a scissor lock and twisting it. Kala lets out a short cry of pain again before pulling the leg in and delivering a sharp kick into Tala’s diaphragm, forcing her to release the hold and allowing her to get to her feet and deliver a harsh kick to Tala’s ribcage, forcing a cry of agony from Tala as a crack is audibly heard.
U.S.S. Victorious, departing the Ushilev Nebula.
Heja Kalynn turns towards Ryan from her helm station to report. “We have reached warp 6, Captain.”
Ryan gives her a grateful nod. “Thank you, helm. Alpha, do you have anything yet?”
The Android turns from his station as Heja turns back to hers. “I have narrowed down the possibilities to 3 likely candidates, sir. The first is the Veela System. It is the closest significant star system to the Paulson Nebula and has been subject to several Orion attacks in the past two weeks. The second option is the Mandel System, where a small-scale raiding campaign by a Nausicaan war party is currently taking place. The final possibility is the Tostig System. Orion ships loyal to the Tri’an Cartel have been sighted in that area.”
Carter quickly looks across at Ryan. “The Veela System would make the most sense. It’s the closest.”
“It’s also the easiest for us to respond to.” Ryan shakes his head. “The Raiders have been very careful about their destinations so far to avoid being caught.”
Carlisle speaks up from the tactical station. “The Mandel System then. Starfleet is too tied up elsewhere to effectively prevent a hostage transfer.”
“Also unlikely. The Nausicaans don’t do slavery themselves, and any warband these Raiders sought assistance from would want a cut of the profit. Tostig is the most likely. Starfleet’s presence in that sector is limited because of the Klingon offensive a few months ago and Tostig II’s defence network has been offline ever since the Gorn attacked the planet last year. Plus, the Tri’ans are notorious for their position in the multi-species slave trade, and they own a monopoly on the trade of Andorinoid slaves.”
Alpha speaks up again. “Sir, the Raiders can arrive at Tostig in 5 days at their maximum warp factor. However, the Santissima and Medusa are currently proceeding above design limits to keep up. They will not be able to pursue after the Raiders reach the nebula for 23 hours, 13 minutes and 22 seconds.”
“Which means they’ll miss the transfer.”
“Correct. However, if we proceed to Tostig II immediately at Warp 9.7, we will arrive in 4 days, 22 hours and 57 minutes.”
Ryan nods. “If they’re headed fo Veela, the Medusa and Santissima will at least be able to catch them in time to find out which ship they transfer to.”
Heja turns from her station again. “Sir, if they are headed for Mandel and we set course for Tostig, we won’t have time to change course to catch them before they arrive.”
“How long will we miss them by?”
“At least 2 hours, and that’s if we push past the red line for most of the trip.”
Ryan looks grimly at Carter. “We can catch them at either Tostig or Mandel, but not both.”
Carter returns the look. “It’s your call, sir.”
Ryan looks down at the carpet, clasping his hands together and resting his chin against them thoughtfully. After a few moments, he looks at Heja. “The Tostig System: Make it so.”
Meanwhile, Andoria.
Tala dodges a right cross from Kala, the two panting from exhaustion as blue blood trickles from a cut on Tala’s left cheek and the cut on the bridge of Kala’s nose from earlier on. Suddenly, Tala roars forward into a lunging right-handed punch, Kala dodging and launching a kick into Tala’s lower back, hitting a bruised area from where Tala hit the barrier at the start of the fight. Tala crumbles to her knees, grunting in pain as she tries to get back to her feet, before Kala kicks her forward onto her stomach, circling around her now-helpless sister. “Tala, just give the shrack up!”
As she circles back around to Tala’s legs, Tala traps her right ankle with her feet, twisting so Kala is brought to her knees before scrambling around to lock a rear choke hold, pulling Kala onto her back and locking a scissors hold around her body, focusing the force of the scissors on the diaphragm. “Why don’t you pass out first?!”
The two strain against the shear strength of the other for several seconds, each second locking the choke tighter and tighter around Kala’s neck, before Tala finally runs out of strength and Kala pulls free, groggily turning around into a top mount and throwing as many punches as she can muster into Tala’s face. After the third blow, she too runs out of energy and collapses next to her.
Noticing that both of them are trying to muster the strength to get back up, Dannover hops over the barrier and puts her hands on both of their shoulders, prompting them to stay down. “Enough. You’ve proved your points, don’t you think?” She checks both of them over, hauling them to a corner each and giving both of them some water to rehydrate before a medic arrives to start addressing their injuries. As Tala slowly gathers her breath again while the medic heals her, she looks over at Kala, who responds with the same laboured, exhausted look, before they smile at each other.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
One other thing I wonder. I know Kala has had her differences of opinion over Tala's career choices, but I do wonder how she would've reacted to seeing her sister abused by a crowd of hateful strangers. Would family honor have taken precedence over their personal disputes? How might Kala react to being told about incident after the fact?
I'm also curious though, since she jumped in the middle of the fight like that, does Dannover have any enhanced strength at all, or was she just lucky that Tala and Kala had already mostly worn themselves out? (On another note, it's nice to see Dannover in a situation where SHE isn't the one with her butt on the line, seeing as she's taken so much abuse.)
I like the "chess game" going on here. One thing about the McAllister C5 Nebula though. That's right on the Cardassian border in the Minos Korva area (which is why the 77th Fleet in my own work refers to that nebula by its Cardassian-language name...that and McAllister C5 is a mouthful
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I got confused between the McCallister C-5 nebula and the Paulson Nebula. I'll go back and address that in a moment. Thanks for catching that. (EDIT: Okay, that's the post amended. Strangely, the first time I mentioned the nebula, Chapter 5, I actually got the correct name. *Shrug*)
As for Kala... Admittedly, I didn't make it clear, so it's my own fault, but it was meant to be implied that Tala made the first assault (basically still furious about the mob and blaming Kala for it because of their history). I might go back and make that clearer (EDIT: Also done). Also, remember how Tala commented at the start of the story how the last time they fought, Kala had a broken arm and ribs by the end of it? Adrenaline can be a dangerous thing. Especially if both combatants have been trained to the point where they're fully capable of breaking the average person's neck with a few motions.
And if you read carefully, you'll notice that when Dannover stepped in, they were both face down on the ground and barely conscious. Even so, even if she'd jumped in while the two were still going strong, they have enough self-control to stop themselves from accidentally attacking her. Tala may want to punch Dannover into another dimension sometimes, but she tends to be pretty good at not acting on those urges.
Well, they are still family.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
It's OK...I'd thought that the raiders were going to go from the Ushilev to the Paulson to the McAlister C5. I wasn't trying to call you out, just brainstorm.
It's possible I didn't read as clearly as I thought I had. But yeah, I did figure the mob had made Tala even angrier, as it would seem to "validate" all of Kala's words to her (or she might think Kala would assume such validation and agree with their assault).
I could tell they were both pretty beaten up, but I wasn't sure if they might have been able to get back up and start again.
I am not quite sure how Andorian strength stacks up, so I wasn't sure whether Dannover had retained anything like that or not.
In my stories Starfleet actually has allowed a Liberated Borg to serve who has all of the implants and exoplating because for a number of reasons, physical deassimilation was not possible. But with a fully human personality, there's a level of trust there that isn't always present with Liberated Borg. She would be VERY nasty in combat though, for sure. Think of the angry Borg from "Descent" and you'll have a pretty good idea what she might be like in a fight. You're right in that it would NOT be a pretty picture.
That's good that things didn't progress THAT far. I wasn't sure at what point, culturally, something would cross from a grudge demanding a beating to settle it, to something that would result in getting disowned.
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Well, if they were headed for the C-5 nebula, the Victorious could expect support from the Defiant, Oxford and any other ships guarding thew Cardassian Border. Either way, thanks for mentioning it.
Anyhow, as far as Andorian strength goes, given Archer's performance against Shran in ENT: S4 (the episode with the Ushaan, part of the Romulan holo-ship arc), I figure their strength is comparable to a human's (granting certain benefits to resilience based on the fact that Andoria's surface makes Siberia look like Costa del Sol).
As for the Borg comment... Admittedly, if it was a case where the strength enhancements couldn't be removed, it would be a different matter entirely. And, as you say, it would NOT be pretty at all.
I figure that no matter how angry Tala got with Kala, she wouldn't say anything that would make Kala truly hate her that much. Although, the mutual belligerency between the two does fit Tala's aggressive tendencies when she and Dannover have sparred in my stories (admittedly, while Tala gets rough, it's usually out of arrogantly making an idiot out of Dannover, not out of her actually wanting to hurt her). Another example is Tala's encounter with Corani in 'Old Wounds' (SPOILER ALERT), where Tala and Corani were basically focused on beating each other into a pulp until the Borg finally started trying to attack them.
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Chapter Seven: The Element of Surprise.
Klingon Defence Forces High Command, First City, Qo’nos.
The sky crashes with lightning as the tall spire of the KDF High Command complex is silhouetted against a white flash while a shuttle lands at one of the ground level landing platforms. As the acidic rain splashes against the hull, Lieutenant General Torpal steps off the boarding ramp, stopping and feeling the sulphur-diluted rain strike his hand, smelling the metallic aroma before letting out a small grunt and pulling a silk hood over his head as a feminine Orion wearing a panelled black uniform with red shoulders and sides steps out with him, pulling her own hood over her head. “You know, I for one didn’t miss the acid.”
Torpal turns to her, smiling at his personal honour guard before walking towards the blast doors into the spire. “The weather control system was supposed to filter out the sulphur dioxide. Power must have been rerouted.”
“Funny how that seems to keep happening.” The Orion, Lieutenant Corani S’ian nods to the Klingon guard on duty as Torpal is allowed through. As she attempts to follow, the guard grabs her arm. “Take your hands off me, before I put mine on you.”
Torpal gives the guard a look, before wryly warning, “It would be unwise, Bekk, to refuse.”
The Bekk releases her, and Corani follows Torpal to the turbolift. “Any idea what High Command summoned you here for?”
“No. Level 62.” The turbolift hums to life as they begin ascending up the spire. “Only that we are to be briefed by Dahar Master Gralok himself.”
“Maybe they changed their mind about the Mauritania Affair.”
“If they were going to let the High Council put me on trial for treason, we wouldn’t be here. We’d have been taken before the Chancellor in chains.”
“Well, the armistice is holding, so why else would they want you?”
Torpal looks at her, nodding as the lift begins to decelerate. “We are about to find out.”
The pair step out of the lift moments after it comes to a halt and opens up into a round chamber surrounded by polarised panoramic windows, the sights of the First City clearly visible against the dark, sickly green skies of the Homeworld. In the centre of the room is a large holo-table surrounded by audio-dampening field emitters embedded into the floor, glowing a dark blood red. Surrounding the table are two Klingon Generals, decorated with golden sashes and multiple honours, as well as their House crests. Between them is an aged man wearing the robes of a Dahar Master, leaning on the table, looking at what appears to be a rendition of the Neutral regions between Klingon and Cardassian Space. Upon noticing Torpal and his entourage, the Dahar Master motions them over. As the pair step inside the dampening field, the two Generals and the Dahar Master salute, pulling their right arms to their chests and standing at attention. Torpal quickly returns the salute, as does Corani. The Dahar Master then gestures to the holomap. “I trust, General, you are up to date on our relations with the Cardassians?”
“You’re referring to the bilateral revisions to the Treaty of Bajor between them and the Federation?” Torpal inspects the map, noticing a series of supply ships positioned between Klingon and Cardassian territory, skirting around Federation space. “You’ve positioned these supply ships so that the Federation Early Warning Beacons will not detect them.”
“The plan is that our forces will not be detected until they have already entered Cardassian territory.”
Corani folds her arms. “Just one problem; the Federation isn’t just going to allow us to invade their closest neighbour. What’s the objective?”
“The revised treaty grants Cardassia a Hutet-Class Dreadnought and overall increases to their military strength, as well as Starfleet-assisted modernisations to their technology.” Dahar Master Gralok begins pacing around the table. “If the True Way were to succeed in their insurrection, or if the Detapa Council were to formally ally with the Federation, the Cardassian military could pose a serious military threat to the Empire.”
Torpal nods slowly. “So the High Council wants us to convince the Cardassians to reconsider their new treaty arrangements.” He then turns to Gralok. “But, Starfleet will not stand by while we invade the Union. On the contrary, they will undoubtedly mobilise a force to counter us.”
“Which is why we are only committing a single strike force.” Gralok taps several controls and the map changes to the Klingon-Federation Neutral Zone, where many task groups have remained mobilised for almost a year, since the armistice. “Our forces on the border shall be repositioned for a first strike if the Federation do attempt to intervene. That will force them to mobilise reserves to aid the Cardassians; a process which will take at least two weeks. In that time, you will meet only light Federation resistance.” Gralok turns to Torpal. “I intend for you to lead the offensive against Cardassia Prime, alongside General Korvak.” He nods to one of the Generals, an eyepatch over a scarred right eye socket.
“I assume, General, that you will take charge of forward operations?” Torpal nods in deference.
“Precisely. You will cover the fleet’s flank and engage any minor forces attempting to hinder the advance.” General Korvak leans on the holo-table as it changes again to show a longitudinal view of Cardassian space from Cardassia Prime to the Minos Korva Sector. “We will conduct a lightning strike along the old DMZ and assault Cardassia Prime itself, forcing the Detapa Council to surrender and accept our terms.”
“It’s risky.” Corani points out, “If the Federation is able to hold you off, or you run out of supplies before reaching Cardassia Prime, we will have to fight a war on two fronts, and we won’t be able to maintain a force that far from our main supply bases.”
“Which is why our strategy relies on speed and surprise. Until we engage, we have to assume the Federation will attempt to counterattack. The two weeks’ mobilisation period should be enough time to reach our objective.”
Torpal examines the strategy in his mind. “Success or fail, we will find ourselves once more in open war with Starfleet.”
4 days later, U.S.S. Victorious, Tostig System.
Ryan is speaking with Ensign Carlisle in the aft torpedo bay. “I’d like the probes configured to emit a wide-area graviton pulse as soon as the Nausicaans arrive. I don’t want them warping out again.”
“Aye, sir.” Carlisle begins working on the modifications as Alpha calls down from the bridge.
“Alpha to Captain Allington.”
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.” Ryan walks over to a comm panel.
“Sensors have detected 2 unidentified vessels approaching at high warp.”
“Gotcha.” He closes the channel and opens a ship-wide broadcast. “Now hear this! All stations go to General Quarters! This is not a drill! I repeat, General Quarters! This is not a drill! First Officer and Acting Security Officer to the bridge!” With that, Ryan quickly makes pace for the turbolift.
***
Moments later, Ryan and Carlisle step onto the bridge, as Carter looks over from the conn, having arrived a few seconds earlier. “Captain on the Bridge.”
“Status report, Alpha.” Ryan takes his place in the centre chair, Carlisle taking the tactical position.
Alpha is busily tapping away at his console. “All stations answer Red Alert, Captain. Ready for battle.”
“Captain.” Carlisle leans over his console as Ryan turns to face him. “I couldn’t finish the probe modifications, but I can duplicate the effect with a spread of photon torpedoes directly ahead of the raiders as they drop to impulse. It should destabilise their field matrices long enough to disable them.”
Ryan nods to him. “Make it so, Mister Carlisle.”
A few moments later, a proximity alarm sounds from Carlisle’s station. “Contact confirmed! Two Nausicaan Raiders!”
“Shields up! Fire torpedoes!”
A series of bright red bursts erupt from the ship’s forward torpedo launcher, exploding all around the raiders now dropping from warp, shedding hull plates as an explosion occurs near the nacelle of one of the raiders, causing it to drift limply. Carlisle reports from his station, “One Raider disabled. The other is attempting to raise shields.”
“Fire phasers. Target their weapons.”
There’s a shrill chime confirming the phaser fire as an orange beam lances across the aft of the raider, a blue gas leaking from the gash. “They’re leaking weapons coolant. Subsystem offline. They’re increasing speed, shields up.”
Carter exhales. “They’re making a run for it.”
“Tractor beam, Alpha!” Ryan steps out of his chair. “Carlisle, fire a yield 3 torpedo as they pass! Aim for the impulse drive!”
The Victorious locks a tractor beam, which refracts off the Raider’s shields as a photon torpedo breaks through, hitting the impulse engine with reduced force. The tractor beam now firmly grabs hold of the hull, bringing the raider to a halt. “Target is adrift. Their shields have collapsed!” Carlisle begins compensating for the sudden loss of friction in the tractor beam.
“Transporter Room, beam the hostages aboard! Now!”
Carlisle drops the shields and, after a few moments, a voice is emitted from the comm system. “Transporter Room here, sir. We have them. Some minor injuries, but they’re all alive.”
“Acknowledged, transporter room.” Ryan closes the channel and looks at Alpha. “Open a channel.”
Alpha taps a set of controls as a chime sounds from his console. “Channel open, sir.”
“This is Commander Ryan Allington of the United Federation of Planets. Surrender and prepare to be boarded.”
Two hours later, Takara City, Imperial Guard Command.
“The Victorious is now on her way back with all the Andorian hostages on board. The Santissima and Medusa are taking the Nausicaan crews to Earth for trial.” Dannover hands a PADD to Kronn, who looks it over briefly. “The Victorious took no damage in the final engagement and there were no fatalities on our side. Only minor injuries among the hostages.”
“Thank you, lieutenant.” Kronn nods and returns the PADD to her. “I suppose that means you and my niece will be departing soon?”
“That depends on if Starfleet has another assignment for us. Captain Allington will probably want to grant shore leave after a mission, and I’ll be up there handling repairs from the nebula ambush.”
“Well, if it happens that you do have to depart early, please extend to Commander Allington my sincere gratitude on behalf of the entire Andorian Empire.”
Dannover nods before leaving.
Meanwhile, U.S.S. Victorious.
Ryan is in his Ready Room, speaking with Admiral Ross over subspace. “With respect Admiral, the Victorious should at least put in at Spacedock for engine repairs.”
“I appreciate that, Commander, but circumstances have conspired against us again. I can’t discuss this over subspace, but suffice it to say we’re noticing some disturbing activity along the Klingon frontier. I need the Victorious on standby. The Montgomery Scott is en route to rendezvous with you at Andor to assist with repairs.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Starfleet Command, out.” The viewer goes to the standard Federation emblem.
Ryan leans back in his chair and sighs. “Computer… Tracy Lounge Piano…”
The room fills with a calming piano melody as Ryan sighs again calmingly, taking a hypo from his desk and injecting the painkillers into his neck. He puts the hypo down again before slowly falling asleep.
***
One hour later. Deck 5, Crew Quarters.
“Deck 5 contains mostly the Senior Officer’s Quarters and those of Department Heads.” Tala remarks as she leads Kala down a corridor. “We also have 2 weapons lockers on opposite ends of the deck. Each one contains enough Type 3 phasers to arm double the number of crewmen usually on this deck.”
“And here I thought Starfleet was about exploration.” Kala’s voice bears a tone of both irony and slight contempt.
“Kala, if it weren’t for Starfleet, those 15 hostages would be in an Orion slave auction right now.”
“The Nausicaans wouldn’t have got them if Starfleet had been here in the first place.”
“Kala, Starfleet cannot be everywhere at once. What makes Andoria more important to Starfleet than Vulcan, or Tellar Prime? We pulled the Victorious out of dock in the middle of a refit to make sure those hostages came out alive. The Victorious knowingly went into an ambush to save them, getting crippled in the process.”
“Alright, alright. I’m sorry.” Kala looks at her.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, Kala. Really, I am.” Tala places a hand on her sister’s shoulder, before the two share a short hug.
“Well, one thing your timing was good for…”
“What?”
“It let me recover enough to beat the ice out of you.”
Tala laughs a little. “I’m fairly sure most of the hits landed on you.”
“If that makes you feel better, think that.” Kala smirks at her teasingly. “So, where next?”
The two continue on their tour of the ship. “Deck 8. I thought I’d show you the Flight Deck - our crew lounge. Then, maybe the gymnasium.”
“Thinking about a rematch?”
The End.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
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