SB Assailant Mission 3.1 - Diplomacys Veil

[Deleted]

Ezdreiana was not happy at the fact that she was being escorted to the Commission. She wouldn't and couldn't accept the fact that she needed armed guard to go about on her home planet. It was absurd, but rather than get into an argument with people who were just doing their job, she relented and were soon on their way.

"Ambassador we will reach the Commission in two minutes," the pilot reported from his seat. Ezdreiana acknowledged the man and got herself ready. The Admiral had informed her that his officers would be waiting for her.

When the doors of the shuttle opened, she wasn't met by the Starfleet officer's, but by Commission staff.

"Ambassador what are you doing here today?"

"I'm here to meet, two Starfleet officer," was Ezdreiana's response.

"Starfleet officer's there are none of them here."

Ezdreiana immediately knew that something was wrong. She knew that the Admiral wouldn't lie to her, and she had the feeling that this women was lieing to her.

"Please move, I will go look for them myself," Ezdreiana said. As she made her way forward she felt herself being held back by the women. "Let go of me, or my guards will be forced to shoot you."

The women thought about it and decided to let go of Ezdreiana's arm. Ezdreiana quickly forgot about the women and made her way inside. When she entered the building she saw the people she was looking for and two other people hovering over them.

"Who are you?" one of the men said as he made his way towards Ezdreiana. She would not take the chance and fired on the approaching man, immediately her other guard fired onto the other man.

"Healer, Commander, please follow me, I know there will be more on our tail," Ezdreiana said as she motioned for them to follow her to safety.

<Tag Mercy, T'Val>

OCC: Sorry about not posting sooner, been really busy.

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan was nearly at the vases when the call came through from Voran.
=^= Hang tight I m nearly with you =^=

It took Magellan a further 5 minutes to reach the Caves and met up with Jamey and Voran,

"We had the same problem at the Commission. They denied there was a problem. They also denied that Laurana existed."
"How strange" Voran noted,
"Very. I ve contacted Ambasador Ezedriana, she is going to help Mercy and T'Val access their records."
"So whats our next step" Jamey asked,
Magellan shrugged,
"I m not sure but I for one want to find Laurana."
He pushed past the others and went to the main gate. A guardian stood uneasily on the otherside.
"Let me in." Magellan demanded
"Sorry the pools are closed to everyone."
"Everyone?" Jamey asked "Even the commission?"
"Especially the commission, now be on your way"
Magellan was having none of it.
"I am here to see Laurana, she returned here last night."
The man looked up, "One moment."
He backed away from the gate and then spoke into a comm unit.
Behind them a hopper appeared, it sped up carrying 4 people, each of them armed.
The guard didnt seem to notice them and returned to the gate.
"Okay you can come in" he stated, he pressed a key pad and disabled the forcefield around the fence. As they began to enter the Hopper skidded to a halt and the men with alarming speed leapt out. The fired swiftly at the small team who dashed inside quickly. The Guardian pulled his own weapon and let off a shot before diving for the forcefield. It flashed in to life and the rest of the shots bounced harmlessly off.
"What the hells going on" Voran excliamed,
"That was close." the Guardian sighed, !"The Field will protect us for now, but it will also block comm channels so be warned you wont be able to call out. Come with me and I ll take you to Head Guardian Loran."

OOC will finish this when I get home later.

[Magellan Lin]

The Guardian led Magellan, Jamey and Voran into the main complex that provided the only entrance into the Caves of Mak'ala and the symbiont pools therein.
They passed a number of rooms one of whichs door was still open, the brief glimpse given showed a group of Guardians sat on the floor obviously exhausted, around them was bedding in what was obviously an office.
"What is going on here" Magellan asked
"Loran will tell you" was all the reply he got.
They spent the rest of the journey in next to silent. They were taken in to the caves and down to a small cavern where an older trill dressed in a dark blue tunic stood. He stood from his bent position beside a pool of milky like fluid that coruscated with tiny electrical discharges.

"I am Loran I co-ordinate the Guardians... those that remain anways."
"I am Admiral Magellan and these are Cmdr Gaz and Captain Voran. Whats going on here?"
"Laurana told me we can trust you."
"Shes here?"
"Yes in the deeper pools. I ll take you to her soon. First I will answer your questions. I have taken the unusual steps to closing the pools to all. We are in grave danger and constant attack. In the last year the commission has been making unusual request of the symbionts. They came and took many symbionts, more than they had hosts. They answered none of our questions and none of the joinees came back to the pools to visit like many do who first become joined. I investigated and didn’t like what I saw, nor did the symbionts. They felt unsafe being so few in number. They sent out a mass telepathic signal to try and attract joined Trill like you to return to the home system. Unfortunatly their signal caused more problems, creating all manner of problems with joined trill.
Just after Laurana left to see you, things took a turn for the worse. I discovered that the director of the Commission is infected by the parasites. Our wicked ancestors having failed to destroy us with the USS Gryphon now seek to destroy us from within. I locked the pools down to protect us raising the forcefield, They block our comms, and watch us. Waiting for the time to strike, I have sent several people out to get help but each one has been intercepted they are watching all the exits. As you may have seen.
We are running low on power and before long the field will fail and they will attack en masse. And who do we trust. The police? The President? Who knows who is infected now? I hope that now you are here you can help us.”

[adislo]

Adislo packed up her belongings again, and left to catch a shuttle to Starbase Assailant. She felt that she was moving quite a lot, after having spent 7 years on Trill apprenticed to the Senior Bolian Ambassador there, now she was leaving Bellicose after only a few weeks here. She smiled, she was quite willing to do this, she always looked forward to where she was going next.

She arrived at Assailant, and she knew that she had to go to the station office to report in. She found the office, and saw that there was staff in an area, and she went up to one of them. “I’m Ambassador Adislo, I would like to talk to Admiral Lin,” she said.

<Tag>

“I see,” she answered. “Who should I talk to in his absence then?” she asked, since she still needed to make the command staff of the station aware of her presence, and she would like to have quarters and take care of anything else that she could take care of.

<Tag>

[Magellan Lin]

"I m afraid Admiral Lin is currently on Trill." a gruff Regulan replied, " I am Flight Controller F'rras"

“I see,” she answered. “Who should I talk to in his absence then?” she asked, since she still needed to make the command staff of the station aware of her presence, and she would like to have quarters and take care of anything else that she could take care of.

"Until Admiral Loskene returns from the Jefferson, Commander Zoilip is currently the duty officer. Like you he is also a Bolian. You will find him in 'The Fishtank' at the moment. Its in the Starfleet Secure area, just follow the signs."
"Thankyou F'Rras, what is this fishtank?"
"Its is the bases officers lounge/bar"
"I see thank you good day"

[adislo]

Adislo was relieved that she generally packed lightly, it made the fact that it seemed like she was walking around half the Starbase with her bag, at the least. She entered ‘The Fishtank’, and glanced around. She only saw one Bolian in a Starfleet uniform with the pips that matched the normal Starfleet ones for Commander, so she went up to him.

“Are you Commander Zoilip?” she asked, she was fairly sure she was right, but she didn’t want to just assume he was, since there was a possibility she would be wrong.

<Tag Zoilip (Lin)>

“Hello,” she said. “I hope I’m not bothering you. I’m Ambassador Adislo. I was told that you are the duty officer, to find out what I have to do to make sure that my diplomatic clearance has been approved, and the like,” Adislo said, not sure what all was needed, but she knew that it was possible that she would need to answer questions, and possibly get a medical physical at some point.

<Tag Zoilip (Lin)>

“I was also hoping to get assigned quarters,” Adislo asked politely, it wasn’t a truly pressing issue, but she felt that knowing that she would have somewhere to would help her feel more at comfortable on the station, and it gave her one less thing to worry about.

<Tag Zoilip (Lin)>

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan listend to the elder Guardian, it was worse than he could possibly have imagined. His home, his people infested with their evil siblings.
"This has to be stopped" He stated blankly
"We have been trying. But who to trust?" Loran asked, "They could have taken over anyone."
Suddenly Magellan remembered T Val and Mercy, they were in grave danger. He had left them at the mercy of the aliens. No not left - ordered. A chill ran over him.
"We need to get back out" he stated,
"But we need you. Guardians are not trained to fight. We have been doing our best but very soon the field will come down and they wil rush in to wipe out the symbionts."
Magellan frowned. That was part of the problem their telepathic call for help had caused problmes in joined trill but they had returned to the Commission before the pools - a deadly flaw in their plan.
"We must shut down that signal. Jamey go with Loran go into the pools and talk to the symbionts, get them to stop there call for help.
Voran you probably have more tactical knowledge than any of us, but I also suspect you have other skill. I need you to sneak out of here and do two things, make sure Doctors T Val and Mercy are safe and get help."
"But who from?" Voran asked,
"Ambassador Ezedriana, she gave me the details of her homestaed. She is not infected then if you can and are sure they are okay contact starfleet Admiral Hitagi should be able to help."
"And what will you do Sir?"
"I will try and set up a defence here. We will hold them as long as we can."

TAG Voran and Jamey

[Magellan Lin]

“Are you Commander Zoilip?” she asked, she was fairly sure she was right, but she didn’t want to just assume he was, since there was a possibility she would be wrong.

"Indeed I am" the bolian grinned turning round, "how can I help you."

“Hello,” she said. “I hope I’m not bothering you. I’m Ambassador Adislo. I was told that you are the duty officer, to find out what I have to do to make sure that my diplomatic clearance has been approved, and the like,” Adislo said, not sure what all was needed, but she knew that it was possible that she would need to answer questions, and possibly get a medical physical at some point.

"I think I can help with some of that. Ambassador Saarok administers all Federation Diplomats. As for a medical you can make an appointmenty with Nurse Tsomba for Dr MErcy to see you when he returns."

“I was also hoping to get assigned quarters,” Adislo asked politely, it wasn’t a truly pressing issue, but she felt that knowing that she would have somewhere to would help her feel more at comfortable on the station, and it gave her one less thing to worry about.

" I know for a fact that there are spare quarters on the diplomatic level you will also find your office there. You ve arrived at quite the right time. Our dealings with teh Debrune are at a sensitive stage and I hear rumours that there are rifts forming between the Romulan and Debrune."

"I see" Adsilo replied somewhats taken aback by the amount of information heaped upon her.

Zoilip seemed to notice this and smiled,
"I m sorry I can be a bit direct at times. Perhaps you would like a drink and you can tell me how you came to be a diplomat and then I can show you to the diplomatic level."

Tag Adislo

[Deleted]

ooc: apollogies for the lack of response on this front.....

ic:

“I once had pride that despite our differences all Debrune were respected – you have shown me how wrong I was. Perhaps my father was right – perhaps the council is corrupted. Either way I will not be extradited back to you.”

Tedak frowned at hearing this story, and at the same time it got him really concerned about the situation with the Debrune. "I doubt the council would order any extermination of opposition," he said softly, "and personally I wouldn't condone such actions." He glanced sideways at Ji'Zhan. "No offense elder, as I trust you completely, but I believe that miss Jo'leen would be safer aboard starbase Assaillant."

<Ji'Zhan>

The Romulan turned back to Jo'leen after the Debrune elder had excused himself and had left the Romulan to deal with the fugitive woman. "Perhaps we should contact your father, so that he knows you are aboard this station. However, I still strongly advise against visiting him on the planet, but if he wishes to visit you here I will ensure both his and your safety. As diplomat, I can ensure this to both of you. If either of you gets harmed, it will be my responsebility."

<Jo'leen>

[Deleted]

"Healer, Commander, please follow me, I know there will be more on our tail," Ezdreiana said as she motioned for them to follow her to safety.

T'Val looked back over her shoulder and saw both guards lying unconscious on the floor. "We cannot leave them like that," she protested, "they may have tried to infect us, but as healers we cannot leave them. First do no harm ambassador, by leaving them we may be doing them harm."

The Vulcan knew that the Trill ambassador probably would not agree to this, but she just wasn't going to leave like this. Her eyes sought Mercy's but he wasn't looking at her but rather at the parasite which was still lying thrashing on the floor. "We will also acquire the parasite," she stated, "by studying it we may be able to prevent further infection. Would you not agree doctor?" She nudged her friend and collegue, then walked up to the parasite.

Kneeling down beside it, she wondered just how to get it back into it's box without touching it hands on. She had no way of knowing what would happen if she did touch it. Quietly, she sat beside it and just studied it, taking in its form. Then, she decided to just give it a nudge with her foot and hopefully shove it back into the box. "I am not leaving without it," she stated, though she knew it would neither be safe nor the most smart thing to do. "Stuard, I could use your assistance," she continued.

Looking over her shoulder at the ambassador, she raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for the rescue ambassador, but if you wish to leave please do so. We are healers, we can handle ourselves."

<Mercy/Ezdreiana>

[Magellan Lin]

Jo'leen looked up at Tedak,
"I m not sure it would be safe to meet my Father here. Perhaps a transport could be arranged for Romulus. There I could contact my Fathers allies and join him that way"
"I believe I can arrange that. But perhaps I can suggest rest."
Tedak ushered Jo'leen out and into the care of one of his aides
"I will depart too" Ji'Zahn stated " Imust make some enquiries. What she says is most strange, there are elements of truth to it. Since the election we have been able to highlight those that support Ja'ron and Jak'tel."
The Romulan nodded. "You do that, I have a job to do now and this is serious. If this girl gets killed on my watch I cannot guarantee what that will do to Romulan-Debrune or even Debrune-Federation relationships. The Federation does not condone executions, and neither do I." With that he raced after his aide and Jo'leen. "WhileI may be able to arrange transport for you, I do not think it will be safe for you to do so. However I can guarantee your father's safety if he comes here."
"Thankyou but I do not trust this place. I feel a meeting elsewhere is more prudent." Jo'leen replied, She looked tired and worn. "I must rest before I drop" She smiled sweetly, "Do you have quarters for me?" Before Tedak could reply, the aide said, "Excuse me Ambassador you have a new visitor"
"Now what," Tedak sighed, as he motioned for Jo'leen to wait a few seconds.
"He didnt leave a name. Shall we" Nelon indicated the guard "Take her into secure quarters?"
Tedak nodded. "Miss Jo'leen, my aide Nelon will escort you to quarters." He looked up at his aide. "Inform Tomlinson and make sure she's well protected."
He gazed back at the young woman. "I will come by later and discuss means of transport and neutral ground."
"Thankyou" she replied and left with Nelon
"Now, what about this guest?" Tedak querried, "where is he?"
"In your office sir"
"Very well. Good day miss Jo'leen." He bowed lightly towards the woman and headed back to his office. "May I help you?" he asked, upon entering his office.

The man turned round to face him. Tedak recognised him instantly, it was High Priest Kale.
"Good evening Ambassador. It is a matter of much importance"
"Please be seated," Tedak invited him, "and please explain what is so important that you come visit me here,"
"It relates to Jo'leen. Ji'Zahn informed me she was here and as I was... in the neighbourhood. I felt I should come and explain and apologise."
Tedak sat up a little straighter, a little alarmed that news of the girl's arrival had spread so fast already. "Howso," he demanded, "just remember this girl is under my protection. If anything happens to her....."

"Oh indeed Ilikewise have nothing but concern for her. We were most worried when he heard she was gone."
"When who heard when she was gone," the Romulan demanded, "the girl was in a panic when she knocked on my door. She was exhausted, clearly afraid of something and in shock. Who is after her Kale, who wants her dead."
The priest chuckled, "Im sorry. No one wants her dead. Jo'leen - her real name is Ja'lot is mentally ill. She was in a hospital under treatment for paranoid delusions"
"Prove it."
The priest eyes hardened a little but didnt falter from Tedaks. "You doubt the High Preist of the Debrune Faith?... nevermind. I can have documents sent to you directly. They will prove what I say. She is ill and needs our guidance, our nurses in the seminary were about to medicate her when she broke free and ran."

"Documents prove nothing, they can be forged," Tedak countered, "I believe I've proven that myself not so long ago."

His eyes narrowed as he gazed at the high priest. "There is only one person who can prove to me that she is indeed ill, and that is her father. if she were ill, she would not have known that I as Romulan diplomat can grant her sanctuary. No-one will touch her without my permission, is that clear?"

"I must protest at the insults you throw at me. You accuse me of lying. ME I am HIGH PRIEST" his voice rose in anger.

"Hand the girl over or I maybe forced to make diplomatic moves with the Federation or other parties. I will not be slandered by you"

"I knew it!" Tedak retorted, slaming his hands flat on his desk while rising to his feet. "You will not touch the girl, she is under my protection. Make any diplomatic sanctions you feel you mut make, but I will not be blackmailed. The girl stays where she is."

"It is not a matter of blackmail. It is a matter of manners. You accuse me of lying. I take that attack on my honour on my faith most seriously. I will not be insulted in this way. "

The Romulan sat back down with a sigh. "My apollogies high priest, " he answered, though his tone never changed, "but I take matters of security very seriously. Until it is proven that the girl is not in danger, I have to make certain she stays safe. I made her a promise, and it will be a serious breach of honour if I back on my word."
" I will get you your documents. and I will get that child her treatment, If i have to get ever major power involved. She will be looked after. Good Day to you sir. And watch your tongue in future."
Tedak shook his head in dismay. "The girl stays here," he called after the retreating Debrune, "and no-one visits her without coming through me first."

"That is fine. You look after her. Any harm will rest on your head until we can collect her. You will have your proof. The documents will be sent directly. You are far less amenable than Ji'Zahn has suggested." with that he stormed out.

Again the Romulan sighed and rested his head on his hands. "Some people," he sighed, then touched his combadge. "Tedak to Nelon, is the girl secure? If anyone but me tries to enter her quarters, shoot them on sight. I foresee trouble. Big trouble."
Nelon confirmed that Jo'leen was safe and well and resting.

[evoran]

"Voran you probably have more tactical knowledge than any of us, but I also suspect you have other skills. I need you to sneak out of here and do two things, make sure Doctors T Val and Mercy are safe and get help." said Lin.

"But who from?" Voran asked.

"Ambassador Ezedriana, she gave me the details of her homestead. She is not infected then if you can and are sure they are okay contact starfleet Admiral Norado should be able to help." said Lin.

"Hitagi Norado?" asked Voran in surprise.

"Yes," said Lin, "you know him?"

"He was my first officer on the Galaxy." said Voran. "And what will you do sir?"

"I will try and set up a defence here. We will hold them as long as we can."

Voran was directed by one of the guardians of a way to sneak out of the caves. It worked and he escaped undetected. He was glad; he hadn't brought a phaser with him, but he made a note to himself that he should get one as soon as he got the chance.

The old excitement that he used to get when on dangerous missions was back. It reminded him, as it always did, why he loved being in Starfleet.

Within an hour, he had travelled to the city and had verified that the ambassador and the doctors were okay.

They had captured one of the parasites and Voran decided that they should all go to the Starfleet Headquarters on Trill.

They were there in a matter of minutes and Voran instructed the three to take it to the science labs to be examined.

<Ezdreiana/T'Val/Mercy>

Meanwhile, he was going to see his old friend, Hitagi Norado.

He argued with a receptionist for a while who eventually agreed to let him see the Admiral. He made his way to the right office and pressed the chime.

"Come in." Came the voice from inside.

Voran walked in and saw the Admiral behind his desk. He was a lot balder than he remembered.

The Admiral looked up and his face lit up.

"Captain Voran!" he exclaimed in delight. "It's wonderful to see you!"

"It's good to see you too Hitagi, but we have a situation on our hands." said Voran.

"You've only been back a couple of months and you're already stuck right back into the action." said Norado, smiling. "What's up?"

"You remember the parasites that tried to take over the Federation back when we were on the Galaxy?" asked Voran.

"Of course, the Enterprise exposed and destroyed the conspiracy."

"Well, they're back Hitagi and they're here and they're trying to destroy the Trill. Admiral Lin and some of his men are trying to hold out at the caves, but they won't hold out for much longer."

"We'll assemble a security team." said Norado.

"We need ships too, there's no telling what space capabilities these things have." said Voran.

"Admiral Lin's ship..."

"Is too small and too slow to stand a chance against anything moderately big."

"I'll check the ship assignments." said Norado.

The tapped at the computer on his desk.

"The only ship in the sector is..." he smilied, "It's the Galaxy."

"Call her here." ordered Voran, even though he wasn't Norado's commanding officer.

"I just did."

"Who's commanding her?" asked Voran

"Captain Alan Hedges." said Norado, smiling.

"My ops officer? He's a Captain now?" said Voran, "Well Hitagi, looks like we got ourselves a good old reunion on our hands."

"Now, let's get some weapons and meet up with that security team." said Norado.

"Right." said Voran and they left the office.

OOC: I'll write the rescue soon!

[mercy]

Everything had become a whirlwind. First they were almost infected by these parasites, then rescued by Ambassador Ezdreiana, T'Val insisting to take a parasite with her and checking on the condition of the guards, which Stuart could have done without but he was a doctor after all.... ~whew~ ...Stuart had to take a mental breath from all of this.

Finally they were safe and secure. It was time to try to study this parasite to see if its effects could be reversed or at least kept ineffective for future use.

Captain Voran had been sent by Admiral Lin to check on their safety. He was now discussing their courses of action with the Ambassador. Stuart overheard them, it seemed like Starfleet was going to be involved in a major way.

Studying the parasite, Stuart noticed something while poking and prodding it with the instruments provided by the Ambassador.

"Look here T'Val. Squeezing its mandibles, I presume they're mandibles or pincers if you will...anyways...notice the liquid that it secrets. I think it might be some type of venom that may take over the central nervous system of the host. If that's the case, we might be able to come up with some type of an anti-serom or anti-venom. What do you think?"

[Deleted]

T'Val could not be certain whether it was some form of serum or a venom, and she dared not test it through touching. Carefully, she reached towards the parasite with a type of swab and let it absorb some of the fluid. She did not sway her gaze off the parasite as she continued working, lest it move faster than either of them could.

The Vulcan held the swab near a scanner, which in turn started beeping furiously. "It seems this substance is unknown to our medical database or even the science database," she observed, "but that should not disable us from devising an anti-serum or toxin for it." She knew the fastest way to create antibodies of some form was through direct introduction with a host, but Trill hosts were out of the question as they generally were alergic to any type of venom, though insect venom in particular. Though this was not an insect, but rather a form of symbiont, she still dared not ask a Trill.

"Suggestions?" she asked, as she moved to take a closer look at the parasite, which was now contained within a forcefield. "How long would it survive without a host?" she pondered, as she knew symbionts who lost their host needed a new host within hours, or needed to be returned to the pools within hours. "Is there anyone we could ask about it?"

[adislo]

"I m sorry I can be a bit direct at times. Perhaps you would like a drink and you can tell me how you came to be a diplomat and then I can show you to the diplomatic level."

Adislo nodded slightly and smiled. “Sure, I’d like to, but I appreciate the directness too, it takes me a little off guard is all, I don’t necessary expect it.”

Adislo sat down next to Zoilip, since he had invited her to talk and she didn’t think it would be polite to keep standing. “I guess I wanted to be a diplomat so I could make important choices and so I could understand what all was going on. I think that was the thing that most directed me towards a career in diplomacy: understanding. Understanding why other people did things.” Adislo remembered being on her Bolarus IX, during the Dominion War, not understanding why her home was under attack, why her parents were afraid, and why she couldn’t help. Her sister had gone to the stars to fight for her future, but Adislo didn’t see how that would help. It may not have been possible or of benefit to negotiate the Dominion, but that wasn’t always the case.

Adislo had been silent for quite some time now, thinking, and she looked at Zoilip, and smiled slightly. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I got lost in my thoughts.”

[Deleted]

Ezdreiana didn't want to stay and allow the parasites time to come after them, but she already knew that their was no convincing the two doctors. Their damn doctor code, Ezdreiana thought to herself, it can get us killed.

Ezdreiana relented the fact and just hovered over the doctors and put her guards on watch. Anyone who was not in a Starfleet uniform was to be shot and the officer's were to be brought to her. She just couldn't take a chance, she couldn't gamble with her people.

"Thank you for the rescue ambassador, but if you wish to leave please do so. We are healers, we can handle ourselves."

"Healer T'Val don't talk such nonsense, I like your husband would never abandon allies," Ezdreiana said. She had met Tedak before and she had heard some really good things especially from a Romulan.

<T'Val>

"Ambassador there is someone approaching," one of her guards reported as he got into a better defensive position.

"Who is it?" Ezdreiana asked hoping it would be a friend not a foe.

"It's a Starfleet officer," was the response from the guard. Ezdreiana didn't want anything bad to happen so she made herself known.


"I'm Ambassador Ezdreiana of Trill, and who you are you?" Ezdreiana asked.

"I am Captain Voran, Admiral Lin's crewmember," was the response. Ezdreiana looked at T'Val for reassurance and when she received it she gave her signal to allow him to pass.

After the pleasantries were said Captain Voran and Ezdrieana immediately went to work. They needed to go to a secure location. She had thought of her home, but she knew that the doctors would need a lab and she didn't have one.

"Captain, Starfleet headquarters are about three miles away from here, I have a shuttle outside this complex," Ezdrieana explained.

"Okay, T'Val, Commander take your parasite and lets go," Voran ordered. They quickly complied and they were in the shuttle in two minutes.

"Take us to Starfleet headquarters as fast as possible," Ezdrieana said as she felt the burst of phaser fire on the hull of the shuttle."They have arrived, get us out of here now!"

The shuttle shook again with the multiple phaser fires, but the shuttle took off and they were safe for now. Ezdrieana was certain that these parasites were capable and had fire power.

They quickly arrived and they were awaited by a squad of security officers. Ezdrieana didn't trust them, knowing that any of them could be infected, but she kept her tongue. They were quickly escorted inside and Ezdrieana went to work. She needed to bring all her friends into the fold and have the man power to protect her home.

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan left Jamey in the care of another Guardian who led him down to the symbiont pools. Things were not as Magellan had expected at all. He had returned home to a nightmare. Never before had Trill been so threatened the parasites had very nearly one and still might.

“Magellan”
Magellan turned at his name and saw Laurana entering the room.
“Lauarana. Its… well its great to see you. I was worried they had got you.”
Laurana smiled broadly “it would take more than parasites to put me down”
“Too right.” Magellan shifted uncomfortably, “I was concerned when I couldn’t contact you.”
“Yes sorry about that but when I returned I found the Pools all guarded and secure. It took me awhile to get back in and then once in I wasn’t permitted to leave. They need us all here.”
Magellan nodded,
“How many Guardians are there?”
“Only 25 the others were all away from the caves when the crisis got so serious. We can trust anyone out there.”
“There are some” Magellan replied with more confidence than he felt, “Where are these Guardians now?”
“Resting mostly, we have some watching the front and rear entrances.”
Magellan paused and took a few calculated paces,
“Gather them all here now and bring all the weapons we have.”

Slowly the weary guardians assembled in the small ante-chamber. They were dirty, tired and dishevelled or wide range of ages and backgrounds. Arrayed on the table were 1 standard issue Starfleet Phaser, 1 starfleet mark 2 phaser pistol, 3 Trill Enforcer Stun Guns, and 2 antiquated Pulse Rifles. Laurana had also managed to gather together 2 laser scalpels, a vibro knife, and 4 spades.
Not much to work with he mused.
He took one of the Pulse Rifles and squinted down the barrel, it was off slightly but would do.
“We are not many and the shield will fail soon, when it does they will come. Infested Hosts are stronger and more resilient to phaser fire. You will need to have any energy weapons set to maximum. That will unfortunately deplete the energy cells quicker but by then help will have arrived.”
He paused looking at their despondent faces,
“We aren’t fighters. We are people of peace we tend the symbionts” one said bitterly,
“No” Magellan answered “You aren’t fighters, you aren’t soldiers. But this is your fight. I know all Guardians are prepared to give their lives to protect the symbionts and that may be necessary, but be damn sure I m gonna do everything to avoid any casualties. So we act as a team and you listen to what I say.
You 6” he pointed to several of the older Guardians “You will begin making barricades around the main entrance to the pool cavern. “You here, you will carry these hand weapons” he gave the spades, knife and scalpel to 7 of the younger and more physically fit among them. To Laurana and the Guardian who had been on the gate he passed the 2 phaser pistols and to another the rifle.
“Okay then that’s us armed” he stated tucking the remaining phaser in to his belt.
“How come you get two weapons?” one hissed
Magellan ignored the venom in the comment,
“This is not for me. This will help limit the odds. All those without weapons or only hand weapons go to the main pool. Those with energy weapons with me.”

Magellan led the small band through the tight tunnels that ran through the mountainside.
“There are still just a main and a rear entrance?”
“yes” Laurana replied,
“Well its time we have just one point of entry.”
He plucked the phaser from his belt and set it to overload,
“Everyone back” he shouted as he tossed the phaser down the descending tunnel.
There was a huge explosion and the roof of the tunnel collapsed.
“There we go. Only one way for them to get in now.”
“And no way for us to escape.” Someone mused
“That was never an option” Laurana shot back icily.
“Okay break it up. Save your anger for them.” Magellan demanded.

[Magellan Lin]

The Director was not amused, all their plans were at grave risk. They had spent years carefully infiltrating the Commission and now when they were close to their domination the pools were shielded and the two Doctors they were going to use to infiltrate Starfleet again had escaped.
“Director. We are detecting a phase variance in the force field around the caves.” The secretary reported,
“Excellent, the shield will fail in moments. Gather everyone. When it fails storm the caves. Kill everyone and that includes the symbionts, it will take too long to subvert them. Better just to eradicate them”
“What about you?”
“I m going to tie up some loose ends. Namely the president.”



The entrance to the caves was eerily quiet. Its remote location meant that few civilians were likely to be passing. So it was that no-one noticed the 4 skimmers that pulled up outside. A large mass of some 20 people exited each bearing a phaser. The Secretary led the group. The walked with confidence to the main gate and stood impassively. They noted the lack of guards.

With a slight surge and flash the field failed. A wave of smug smiles passed over the infectees and the tore the fence down and entered.

Magellan and those with him sat crouched behind a flimsy barricade pulled across the narrow tunnel leading from the main entrance. The first infectees came at a rush eager and over confident.
“Now” Magellan shouted and they popped up from concealment “A number of shots were let off and the first two infectees dropped to the ground two more shrugged off shots that should have taken down a targ,
They came more cautiously now. Taking cover and carefully shooting at the barricade. It punched great holes in it as well as one of the sheltering Guardians.
The fire fight intensified. Beneath the din Lauarna shouted over,
“I m down to half charge.”
“Me too” Magellan shouted popping up and letting off another shot. “This is no good. Pull back. We’ll reform at the second barrier.”

[mercy]

***Starfleet HQ, Trill Home-world***

No serums or anti-venoms worked against the parasites without affecting the host as well. Stuart even started experimenting with electrical charges, but they would appear to be too lethal as well for the carrying host. He was almost at his wits' end.

T'Val was in another room of the complex, conferring with Ambassador Ezdreiana. Not wanting to shout and seem room, Stuart tapped his com badge to signal her. When he had done that, he noticed that the parasite appeared to be writhing with agony across the specimen table.

=/\= T'Val here. What is it doctor? =/\=

"Hold one T'Val. Let me re-establish my link."

Stuart tapped his badge to disconnect from her only to tap it again. Once it chirped and opened its special subspace frequency that their com badges used for communication, the parasite was writhing again in pain.

By now T'Val had entered the room, looking questioningly in Stuarts direction. "There is no need to re-establish communication with me. I am here." She said stoically.

"No, no...watch this T'Val." Stuart went through the sequence of events again to try to make his point. T'Val raised one eyebrow, the Vulcan version of 'interesting'.

"What do you think?" Stuart was wondering if they could use this somehow.

[Deleted]

"I think you have found something interesting," T'Val commented, though somewhat coldly. It just didn't feel right to be experimenting on a sentient creature that was quite visibly not dead yet. The Vulcan deposited one phaser in front of her collegue/friend, then tucked one between her own waistband. "I have locked us in," she announced, "and though I do not like wearing a weapon, we must be able to defend ourselves."

She walked around the table and examined the parasite, somewhat intrigued by it. "I believe we should find a way to disable them, that will not kill the host, and preferably not kill the symbiont either." She nodded at Mercy. "Yes I say symbiont," she repeated, "they may be a parasite, but so are the symbionts in the pools. A parasite is a opportunist, needing a host to survive. Symbionts need hosts, or the pools, however this is no ordinary parasite. What we are dealing with here is a neural parasite, whereas the Trill symbionts are vermiform life-forms."

She sat down on the nearest chair, looking somewhat troubled. "I have been doing some research regarding these parasites," she motioned at the creature on the examination table, "the parasite that had infected Commander Remmick stated that they meant no harm and wanted peaceful co-existance. The mother creature infecting Remmick was killed, which in turn killed all the other creatures. If we wish to find the source of this, we need to find the mother creature"

She paused, looking at her phaser with sheer disdain. "We are doctors," she sighed, "we should not need to have to carry phasers. Stunning infected hosts will not have any effect, only the kill setting will have effect and will in fact stun the host."

The Vulcan looked up at Mercy. "We need an infected person," she stated, "and test your theory on that person. If we can remove the parasites without hurting the host it is the preferable course of action." She gazed towards the door. "Perhaps we should find that secretary, if we can lure her here, then we have our test subject."

<mercy>

Now that that was out of the way, she moved closer to Stuart. "There is something else you should know," she whispered at him, "I should have told you sooner, but circumstances prevented it. Now that we are alone, I believe I should tell you. While we were staying with Magellan's parents, my attorney contacted me. She informed me that Tedak has signed the divorce papers we had drawn up, and has agreed to all terms and made no demands of his own."

The Vulcan took a small step back, their eyes meeting. "It is official now," she said softly, "what remains now is a Vulcan priestess dissolving our marriage bond, which will be seen to as soon as possible."

<mercy>

[Deleted]

Ezdrieana at the moment felt useless concerning the situation. She had already contacted her friends on Trill, but she quickly realized that she couldn't trust them. They could all be under the control of the parasites. The only person that she could trust was her family and their guards, but at the moment she only had five royal guards at her disposal and that wouldn't be enough to do much.

She knew that T'Val and Doctor Mercy
were studying the parasite at the moment, and so they were unavailable. Ezdrieana knew that she needed to act now and the only way to do that was to take the fight to the parasites. That would be the only way to save the Trill homeworld.

"Come with me we are going to the caves," Ezdrieana said as she made her decision. The parasites would be there and there they could destroy them.

"Ambassador we should not, we are under orders to protect you, and it would be illogical to put yourself in danger," her Vulcan guard said to the agreement of the others.

"I understand, but I will go and you will not stop me," Ezdrieana said as she made her way to her shuttle. The others stood there for a moment before they joined her.

"Take us out," Ezdrieana said preparing for the fight of her life," contact the caves tell them we will arrive shortly."

<Tag Caves>

[Magellan Lin]

By now Magellan and his small band of fighters had fallen back to their third and last line of defence. There existed now only their barricade and a narrow winding corridor and staircase between them and the pools. All of those that remained and they had lost two of their number were tired, and bloodied. Magellans normally pristine uniform was torn and ripped, he had abandoned the jacket in the heat and crouched in the red command over vest.

"We can't hold out much longer" Laurana wheezed her golden hair plastered by sweat to her forehead,
"The others will come. We just have to give Voran time." Magellan replied,
"Its been over 2 hours." she sighed in despair,
"Well we have no further to go, perhaps we need a change of tack." Magellan laid down his nearly depleted rifle and stood up right
"What are you doing?" Laurana hissed grabbing for his leg to pull him back down to safety but Magellan shrugged her off.
"Hello" he called boldly his voice scratchy and dry in the dusts of the cave.
There was silence but movement could be seen some distance along the corridor.
"What?" came a demand,
"I wish... I wish to negotiate terms" Magellan stated as calmly as he could.
"Lay down your arms"
Magellan shook his head and managed a dry laugh,
"Not till we have terms. I suggest one of us each meet half way."
There was silence again and then an echoed reply,
"Agreed"

Magellan gave Laurana a reassuring tap on the arm to asway her disbelief and stpped over the barrier before she could stop him.
He took cautious steps down the corridor expecting at any moment a bolt of energy to terminate his existence. None came.
Halfway along the corridor he met the Secretary, her expression was smug and arrogant.
"You cannot doubt our superiority" she stated in a manner one might normally use for discussing the weather.
"I agree you are stronger and faster. But you are not better."
The woman scoffed,
"Here are your terms. Through down your weapons, allow us entry and you will be made one of us rather than killed."
"I m not sure if that is not worse."
The woman shook her head,
"I cannot understand - we are the same as Symbionts, granted our physiology is different but we want the same thing... to expereince the universe through others."
"There is a difference Symbionts are symbiotic, you are parasitic."
"Mere semantics, we are their brethern, the mistakes of their experiments. We want acknowldgement and retribution for their crimes."
Magellan sighed,
"And what of your crimes, the hundreds you have killed, the thousands you will kill. All I can see are the flaws in your argument."

The womans eyes narrowed,
"You have no intention of surrendering, you lie." She shrieked lunging at Magellan,
Magellan tried to pull up his hands to block her advance but she was faster and knocked them aside. She shoved him backwards and he struck the wall with enough force to knock the breath from him.
Magellan struggled for breath and had just staved off the oblivion of unconciousness as the womans vice like hands closed around his neck. He tried to pull her off but could barely budge her. Within him Lin awakened, like other times when Magellan had been in danger the symbiont broke all the laws of joining and took full control of Magellans body. The part of the mind that was Magellans was shoved roughly to one side whilst the symbiont fought to save their lives. Calling on unknown layers of strength Lin resisted the grip but only a moment.

The woman grinned but the smile changed to the rictus of death as a scorching hole of charred flesh was burned into her back. Lin/Magellan pushed the corpse from him and saw Laurana stood above the barricade her now completly dischraged weapon in one hand and her other ushering him to the flimsy safety.
Behind him the other paraistes, shocked at their leaders death regained their composure - she wasnt their Queen and so didnt matter, they charged anew.
Lin still in control of Magellan rose and pelted down the ocrridor, energy bolts sizzled arond him, one sizzled straight through his thigh, had Magellan been in control he would have collapsed but Lin had no regard for humanoid physiology and pushed Magellans body harder and harder until with a finaly fling they leapt over the barrier landing in half roll with bone shuddering impact.

Magellan lay a moment, it felt like an eternity as slowly and begrudgingly Lins, personality returned to the blend, whole once more he coughed and noticed blood on his sleeve. Laurana was bent beside him his rifle in her grip.
"They ve halted again, its too narrow for them to come other than one at a time - they don t seem to be very brave."
Magellan coughed again and sat up,
"Lets hope they lose all hope. And for us, lets hope that bought Voran and the others enough time."

[mercy]

Stuart barely remembered the '...using the secretary as a test subject...' part as he was now focused on what T'Val had revealed afterwards.

"Divorce papers...no demands of his own..?" Stuart was quite exited by the news, but tried to be as calm as he could be.

"Yes. As I have said, the only requirement that remains is a Vulcan Priestess to dissolve our marriage bond."

T'Val stepped back slightly which allowed Stuart a full gaze upon her features. He no longer had to worry about showing his affection towards her, feeling that it might be the wrong thing to do. Although he couldn't help but feel that he was the cause of this breakup.

"T'Val, I am happy for what this might mean, but I feel responsible for causing all of this. I don't know what to say....." Stuarts voice trailed off into a hushed whisper.

[Deleted]

"You could say you loved me," she answered lightly, though she was smiling. It remained an odd sight, seeing a Vulcan smile and T'Val was very much aware of that. "You are not responsible," she assured him, "the only one responsible is me." She caressed his cheek, then motioned towards the creature on the table. "We have work to do," she continued, "but tonight we shall discuss this further. We need an infected host to continue our studies, but how to proceed?"

The Vulcan walked around the examination table to take a closer look at the parasite. The creature was lying there, as though asleep, though either doctor knew that the creature would jump at the earliest opportunity to infect them both. As long as the mother creature lived, this creature would most likely also live.

Her gaze locked Mercy's again, then she tapped her combadge. "Madam Secretary, your presence is requested at Science Lab three, in Starfleet Medical Building one," she said coolly, her gaze never leaving Mercy. "We have a situation, I am unable to convince Doctor Mercy to join us. He may need to be forced."

Response took a very long while, but at last another voice answered, on the secretary's communicator.

<anyone infected?/Mercy>

ooc: hope this helps somewhat....

[Jamey Gaz]

~ Backposting ~

Jamey had woke early that morning and decided to go to the pools and get a head start on find the reason behind the Gaz/Jamey separation. His parents, who had suggested this, told him to take a bio suit and descend in the pools to a depth that would crush a person not wearing the suit. It was only known to a few people of the adventure that Ezri Dax took to the most deepest parts of the pools where she meet the oldest symbiotic known to the Trill world. However, that knowledge was still being withheld from the Trill by the Commission. Jamey’s parents thought that being so close to more elder symbionts would somehow cure this disassociation.

Jamey waded out into the pool sensing the almost electric communications between the symbionts. Gaz almost instantly started to behave different while Jamey started to have feelings associated with some type of euphoria. Jamey was starting to become merely a spectator in his own body. Gaz wasn’t in control either, but Jamey didn’t know that. As his body started to submerge below the milky white water, behind all of the chatter of symbiont talk, Jamey could feel unrest too. The exhilaration was too much however, and the thought was brushed aside as Jamey and Gaz dropped of a self of rock and started to go deeper into the pool.

It has only been what seemed to be only an hour when Jamey remembered to look at this gages to check the oxygen level remaining in his suit. It had been twenty hours and his first pack was almost out of energy. He was glad he brought another charge. As Jamey started to line the charge behind the now almost depleted one, the last of the connections between Jamey and Gaz was completed. Jamey’s body seized into a stiff board and thousands of memories rushed to and through his mind causing a moment of unconsciousness. The voice that Jamey heard was sweet and calming; it was the voice of Gaz. Jamey hadn’t heard that voice since the day of joining when that same voice comforted him until the joining was complete. Jamey finished charging his pack and the two spent the next five hours simply talking but no audible sound was heard.

~current~

Gaz told Jamey that when they left the pools, that Jamey and Gaz would have a normal symbiotic life until that time when a new host would be needed. This made Jamey feel sad and a bit afraid, but Gaz stepped in again comforted its host. As this was taking place, the electro chater from the other symbionts in the pool became hectic. Jamey asked Gaz what was the new chatter. Gaz took several moments before replying. It seemed that an old experiment wasn’t eradicated after all and had returned to its nest as Gaz and Jamey had done. Jamey didn’t need to ask for the details, while in the pool details just seemed to come and understanding was easy. The symbiotic two started to ascend to the top of the pool. As the surface drew closer, the ‘news’ in the pool became more interesting Jamey new that there was a fellow officer in trouble and needed help. The top of the bio suit just reached the surface as the data of the surrounding events started to show in Jamey’s suit. It was Admrial Lin and Laurana held up behind a keep that wouldn’t be there much longer. The opening Gaz told Jamey, shut the opening.

Jamey found a footing on a rock and pushed with all his might with his legs. He sprang from the milky water holding the phaser from the suit in one hand. A red beam emitted from the phaser hitting the face of the rock just above the attacking group of infested people. The entrance collapsed sealing the entrance and killing one of the attackers in the process. Jamey ran to Lin and Laurana seeing that Lin was injured

“Sir,” Jamey mumbled while taking his helmet off, “are you ok?”


<Lin>