Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer

"Fields of Battle"

The Chief of Engineering sat in one of the chairs in his quarters. The lights were on low, enough for Ethan to read a book. There was also some natural light shining in from the outside universe.

Just another day. Engineering seemed to be in good hands. Everything was on schedule. The ship was looking pretty good.

Ethan had tried reading a book for sometime, but the story was unable to grip him. He looked at the glance in his right hand and then over at the wall-mounted display. His eyes narrowed on the stardate... What a way to spend an anniversary. For the past few years, he had been committed to remembering those he had served with during the Dominion war, and honoring those closest to him on the Galaxy of which he had lost. Although none had been more than friends, their loss hadn't made things any easier. One by one, Ethan's friends and loved ones had disappeared or died. It started with his brother, disappearing one day. Only to find out eventually that he had joined the Maquis and had disappeared on a ship in the Badlands.

Then his parents disappeared. Years later, messages had been received from a starship somewhere in the Delta Quadrant, the USS Voyager. His brother, Lon Suder had been serving on the ship as an Engineer, unfortunately, killing had taken him down a path of constant inner conflict and turmoil. He had died. Heroically nonetheless. He had been killed saving the ship from a hostile force trying to take over the poorly designed Intrepid class vessel.

Meeting some of the members of the Voyager crew during his time on Earth had been interesting, seven years of traveling. It should have taken them seventy years.

Then he remembered the people on the original Galaxy. When he had first come onboard, he didn't know anyone. As time went by, he had been committed to his work, but he found time for a few friends. He lost them too. All except McDowell and Dallas. But boy had they shaved death occasionally. Of course they all had. Jiiles was still around, sticking to the warp core like a fly. And Lieutenant (jg) Tom Jason, who Ethan hadn't seen since he was a Cadet and recently shown up. It was as if things were some how falling together. His group of friends were beginning to expand again and none of them had disappeared or died, obviously a great thing, but what about those that had?

He looked at the time on the display on the wall. Several years ago to the day had been one of the longest days of his life.

"Jiiles to Suder?" a voice called out.

Ethan tapped his communicator. "What's up?" he asked licking his dry lips. Clearly he had been in thought for sometime. He took a sip of his drink. "The EPS power grid looks better than ever I think. We've finished running the diagnostics. Do you want someone to check them out manually?"

"No, I'll do that first thing in the morning. But thanks." Ethan offered.

"No problem. Oh, Tom said he was going to be in the Holodeck for a game of Pit Fall in about half an hour. You game?" the Bolian asked from Engineering.

A smile crept out on to Ethan's face. "Always like to keep the little guy in order." Ethan responded.

Jiiles chuckled on the other side of the comm, "Understood, see you there."

Ethan took another sip of his drink and closed his eyes for a second. Tom had certainly come along way. As Ethan was thinking a few seconds ago, it was actually today a few years ago that he had met the Lieutenant.

*** Several years earlier ***

Suder frowned at the view before him. The sun was on it's way down. Dark, nasty clouds and built up ahead of them and lightning flashed across the skies. No doubt it would rain soon. A new element to add to Ethan's uniform, great!

What he wouldn't give to be back on the Galaxy, working in Engineering with Michael, having a laugh, a drink. But no, he had to be stuck here. About to turn away, he could see something in the distance. What looked like a black cloud slowly engulfing the earth, getting closer. "Jem'Hadar." Ethan almost spat. He had to return a few favors to them, something he owed them. He raised his phaser rifle and checked the power cell.

He looked to his left and then right. There were various officers stood along the side of the wall. They were only about twenty. Most of them were Ensigns, fresh out of the Academy. They looked scared. And with good reason. Despite the fact that they were twenty meters higher than the Jem'Hadar behind thick rock, the Jem'Hadar were good shots and there were bound to be a lot of injuries. Ethan became convince that they would breach the walls of the old, but sturdy camp. Their numbers were much larger of that of the Starfleet group there.

"Lieutenant?" a man called out.

Ethan turned and looked at Commander Saito. "Commander, we have incoming." he reported raising his phaser, pointing it at the sky so not to scare any of the kids.

"How many would you say?" Saito asked as he stood next to Ethan. He placed his hands on the cold rock wall and peered down at the force heading for them.

"Hard to see with these weather conditions, but I'd say at least nine hundred." Ethan replied following the Commander gaze at into the open battlefield.

"I'm sorry you got stuck here, Commander." Saito said turning back towards Ethan.

"In a way I should be thankful, if you guys hadn't seen my shuttle go down, the Jem'Hadar probably would have picked me up."

"I just hope someone sees us." the Japanese officer said. Patting Ethan on the arm, he stood up straight. "Well Commander, hold your position here, I'll see you after the fight."

Ethan gave a nod. "Good luck." he whispered.

It had only taken the Jem'Hadar several minutes to cross nearly a mile of territory. It was now or never. They knew they had a superior force, fighting up hill, but they were determined.

"Check your power cells." Ethan yelled out over the increasing winds. "Make sure you have extra cells. Stand by to fire at will. Do not hesitate!" he commanded. He frowned again at the situation. There should be a Marine Division here on this rock, but no, the highest ranking officer had died last night. Captain Hile. The Commander and himself were now the highest ranking or most experienced officers.

"Ready!" Ethan said lifting his phaser and aiming down at the earth below. The Jem'Hadar could now be seen. They didn't look any cuter, even at a distance. "Fire!" Ethan ordered.

An entire volley of phaser fire shot down towards the incoming enemy force. Several hundred blasts, followed by another several hundred. Much dust, mud and debris was created by all the weapons fire. Still they continued to shoot through the dusty mist. Then the Jem'Hadar returned fire. Most of the blasts disappeared into the rock wall, but some of the junior officers had been hit. Ethan ducked behind the wall for a second to change the power cell in his phaser. He looked down at his uniform as he picked up the new power cell from the floor. His uniform had been torn and burnt from the shuttle crash. Covered in mud from where he crawled out. And now rain. He looked up at the skies. The gods of weather were not going to be friendly tonight.

He raised to his feet and continued firing into the dust.

Many screams could be heard, most coming from the Jem'Hadar. Some coming from wounded officers.

"Their approaching the main wall." someone cried out from a level below. "Grenades!" Ethan called out.

The phaser fire for a moment stopped as every officer threw two or three small balls down into the cloud below their camp. After a few seconds, each one exploded. Suder was actually impressed with the photon grenades. The explosions had caused much more dirty and dust to fly up into the air. But the amount of fire shooting towards them was not many at all. Clearly they had killed most of the Jem'Hadar.

Ethan was flung to the floor as a blast hit the wall right next to him. He looked to his left, someone lay next to him. Grabbing his shoulder, Ethan pulled the man over. His face swung around, his cold eyes staring at Suder's.

Ethan frowned and got back to his feet.

"Lieutenant Suder!" someone called out.

Ethan turned around and approached the edge of the level he was on, allowing him to look into the main complex.

A Cadet stood in the middle, an officer at his feet. Commander Saito.

Ethan quickly ran to the steps and seemed to glide down them until he reached Saito. Kneeling down, he placed his phaser on the ground and rested a hand on Saito's arm. The man had been shot in the chest and was bleeding a horrible amount of blood. A trail of blood ran from his lips. "Ethan, you have... Command." Saito mumbled.

Ethan gave a nod and bit his lower lip.

"Look after Cadet Jason.... My nephew."

"I understand." Ethan whispered back. "Honor." Ethan added.

Saito half smiled. "Honor." He closed his eyes. A few seconds later his body went limp. His hand released it's grasp on Ethan's arm and his head fell to the side.

Ethan raised to his feet and looked around. There was still phaser fire coming from somewhere. A lot of it actually. Jem'Hadar reinforcements, from another direction.

Suder grabbed the Cadet by his collar and pulled him to a small corner where the Cadet would be hidden. Ethan pushed him down and got to one knee. "Hey, Lieutenant, I can still fig-"

"Ssshhh!" Ethan snapped.

The Cadet fell silent and tried leaning out to follow Suder's stare, but he was pushed back.

All he heard was a loud explosion. The Jem'Hadar had just destroyed the main gates and were about to intrude.

For minutes, Cadet Tom Jason watched Ethan fire at the Jem'Hadar with his phaser rifle, and with his right hand, hold him down. He hated not being able to get on in the fight. But at the same time was glad. He wasn't ready for this. He was scared. Ethan didn't flinch when several near misses hit the wall behind him on the ground near him, shredding his uniform with bits of rock or more dirt. He wondered if Ethan had lost so much he was prepared to die? Or was he just a battle-hardened officer? One who had perhaps seen too much combat already, even at the rank of Lieutenant? Then what he thought was going to happen did. The power cell emptied out and the phaser rifle became useless.

Ethan turned to the Cadet, frowning. "Stay!" he said through clenched teeth.

Tom nodded in reply and remained still and watched as Ethan disappeared around the corner of the wall, out of view.

He heard many screams of other officers and the shouts of those damned Jem'Hadar as they died. He saw a shadow heading towards him. He flinched and shielded his body before noticing a dead Jem'Hadar body on the floor. Several minutes later, everything went silent. Only footsteps could be heard. Had they won? Did they lose? Another shadow approached the corner where the Cadet hid. Staring at the shadow, he looked at the weapon the soldier was carrying. A Jem'Hadar rifle. "Shit!" he muttered.

Then the figure stood around the corner. It was Ethan, a hand extended. The Cadet took it and was pulled off the ground. Although he hadn't done anything, fear had knocked the wind out of his lungs. Ethan placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you follow orders. You should be on my ship, we could use people who follow orders." Ethan explained as the two walked over the dead bodies of many Jem'Hadar. Many Starfleet officers too stood over the bodies, looking at the devastation of war.

"I'm no warrior or soldier. I'm an Engineer." Tom muttered.

"Really?" Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow. He put his arm around Tom as they continued walking back towards Commander Satio's body. "There might be hope for you yet."

*** Ethan's Quarters ***

The chime to door made Suder open his eyes. Had it been half an hour already. He could sense some anticipation coming from the other side of the door. He got up and strolled across the room. He pressed a button on the wall panel and cleared his throat as the doors opened.

Without even thinking, he raised his right hand and caught something. After a second, his eyes adjusted. It was a staff. One of the many preferred weapons of Pit Fall.

"Wow, I told you he still had it." Tom remarked.

Ethan looked at the weapon he had caught. Apparently Tom had tried hitting him with it. An attempt to catch the Chief off guard. It didn't work. "Ready?" Tom asked, a keen look in his eyes.

"Sure." Ethan said. "Just give me a second." He stepped back into his quarters and removed his duty jacket. He put on a black top and tucked it in. He then joined the others for what was clearly going to be pure fun.

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer

"Pitfall"

The Chief Engineer and Lieutenant's Jason and Jiiles had made it to the Holodeck after a little walking and brief small talk. The large doors opened, presenting the arena. There were steps to the side, leading up to a small walkway that connected to a platform suspend in the middle of the arena. The floor was pillowed with lots of mats to block the fall of the loser. Above the platform on the surrounding walls were vacant seats for spectators.

The three of them made their way to the top of the steps. Along the wall were many weapons allowed to be used by the contestants. Tom had already brought his, the staff.

"So how about a warm up, Ethan?" Tom challenged.

Ethan looked at Jiiles and then Tom. With a nod, he grabbed a staff of his own from the wall and approached the platform.

Tom followed while Jiiles watched.

"Computer, load the referee and spectators." he ordered.

The silent arena suddenly became a loud noise of claps, chants and screams. An audience of all species sat ready for the fight. A referee too appeared on the walkway. He wore the fashionable black and white, striped shirt. He looked old but experienced.

Tom and Ethan stood several feet apart, looking into each others eyes. The referee gave the signal to fight.

Tom launched himself forward bringing his staff down towards Ethan. Raising his own staff, he was a little shocked when it smashed on contact. Tom's staff remained intact.

Ethan dodged a swing and quickly looked at the now two sticks in his hands. Tom was quick with the staff, clearly experienced. Every time Ethan blocked one of the powerful blows with what was left of his staff, the blow seemed to vibrate through his hands and bone, causing a slight bruise in his palm. At last, Ethan ducked and rolled past Tom who instinctively slid the staff under his right arm and pushing back as hard as he could.

Ethan stopped his roll and turned around, only to punched in the chest with the staff. He was pushed back and rolled over the edge. Dropping his weapons, he clung to the edge, at first with one hand, and then with both. Tom approached him and smiled as he looked at Ethan's hands, like a target. Raising the staff, he swallowed and sent the weapon of wood crashing down on the platform.

Ethan moved his hand quickly and grabbed the staff as it came crashing down. He pushed upwards causing the base of it to collide with Tom's jaw. He fell back, allowing Ethan enough time to climb up the edge. Standing, he looked at Tom who got back to his feet. "Not bad kid." he said rubbing his bruised chest.

Tom chuckled and picked up his staff. He then stepped forward, poking the staff towards Ethan's face. Everytime the Chief dodged, Tom continued to poke out.

Suder grabbed the end of the staff that narrowly missed his face everytime it was plunged towards him and swung it around.

Tom lost his balance and staff and found himself on the edge.

Following up with the attack now that he had acquired Tom's staff, he swung around and hit Tom's back, causing him to fall from the platform. He yelled out for a heart beat.

Suder watched as Tom fell on to the mats below, a frown on his face. The crowd for a moment began cheering, but settled down as they watched Jiiles sneak on to the platform.

Ethan could sense the attack and swung around with Tom's staff, only to be punched in the face a couple of times and kicked in his already bruised chest. In trying to block the attacks, he had dropped the staff. Still stood on the very edge of the platform, he was unwilling to move anywhere else but forward. But Jiiles was not going to allow that. Ethan was impressed and proud with the Bolians speed. Sure they were generally large and strong, but boy did he have agility.

Ethan punched out, but hit nothing but air. Jiiles was now to Ethan's left and with two kicks to his right chest, Ethan couldn't help but step back a little. Only the toes of his right foot stood on the platform. Jiiles jabbed out again several times and then thrust his right foot into Ethan's chest again.

Despite the pain, Ethan grabbed Jiiles' foot as he fell back. They both fell from the platform and crashed into the mats below.

Lying still for a moment, they both took the chance to catch their breath. "Not bad Blue." Ethan said.

The Bolian half frowned and then smiled. "Thanks. During you're admiration of victory, did you forget the rules? A contestant may enter a fight at any stage." he quoted.

"Forget the rules? I think we wrote them with our blood, or will be." Ethan commented as he wiped away a little blood from his lips.

"So, which one of you Engineers wants another kicking?" Ethan asked with a smile.

"I'll take you on old man!" Jiiles replied.

"Gitt!" Ethan replied as he stood up.

"You might be the Chief downstairs, but in here, we are the masters." Tom taunted.

They all returned to the platform. Ethan stood in the middle, no weapon at hand. He then turned and faced Jiiles and Tom as they approached him via the walkway.

Once again, the crowd began cheering.

"Computer, initiate random anomalies, level five." Tom ordered.

The lighting level lowered slightly and Ethan felt the gravity in the arena become lighter. The lights began flashing different colours, making the spectators cheer more. Things were going to get interesting.

Tom stepped on to the platform along with Jiiles. They took their offensive posture.

Ethan looked at both of them and stood with his feet apart slightly, willing them to attack.

They both ran forward two meters until they were in attacking range of Ethan. Jiiles was the first to attack, swinging his right fist around. Ethan caught Jiiles' wrist, kicked Tom's chest and followed up with a jab to Jiiles chest.

Each one fell back on to the platform on their butts.

Jumping back up, they attacked again.

For a while, each swing and kick missed. Ethan dodged many of the blows and then began blocking when Jiiles was infront and Tom stood behind.

He focused his Betazoid abilities on Tom, more than Jiiles. Defending his blind side was tricky, but thus far was doing ok. He continued to raise his arms, blocking each punch and kick with his forearm. At last, he jumped on to the offensive. As Tom swung round for a punch, Ethan ducked and kicked backwards, knocking Tom over.

Jiiles attempted to use the opportunity to his advantage. He successfully kicked Ethan's chest causing him to grunt a little. The next punch was blocked.

Ethan twisted Jiiles' arm and kicked the back of his head.

Jiiles stumbled forward and realised his next step was not on the platform. He remained silent during the fall to the mats below.

Ethan turned and faced Tom who ran towards him and jumped in for a flying kick. Ethan stepped to the side jumped up, swinging his right leg around to hit the back of Tom's head, but was blocked.

Tom, after punching Ethan's kick away dived forward and punched Ethan's face.

They both fell to the floor and immediately placed their hands behind their heads, pushing back and jumping back to their feet.

Jiiles smiled as he climbed up the steps back to the platform. The computer program was beginning to activate. Smoke was being vented into the arena, within seconds, everyone on the platform would be unable to see inches in front of them.

Ethan and Tom stepped back after their parry and looked up at the smoke fogging down around them. Before his view was blocked by the smoke, Ethan saw Jiiles approaching the walkway, staff in hand.

"Here comes the pain." Ethan whispered. He closed his eyes and heard Tom moving forward and move his upper body.

Lifting his arms appropriately, he hit away the attempted punches and the ducked when he heard Jiiles behind him.

Tom grunted and fell from the platform after Jiiles accidentally struck him with his staff.

Ethan rolled away from Jiiles and took a quick breather on the edge of the circular platform. He couldn't see anything, but he could sense Jiiles looking for him, swing aimlessly and hitting random areas of the platform. Ethan then stepped into the thick of the fog and walked around, on guard, ready for any attack. For a long moment, he and Jiiles remained still, trying to hear each other.

At last, the only sound that could be heard was the staff whistling through the air.

The next sound that followed was a hard slapping noise. Ethan looked at his hands. He had caught the staff that was on an intercept course for his wounded chest. Dropping to the floor, he swung his leg around knocking Jiiles off his feet. The Bolian landed hard on his back and moaned a little.

Ethan picked up the staff and placed one end under Jiiles' armpit.

Thrusting hard and up, Jiiles was flung upwards. With gravity fluctuating, Jiiles glided through air for a couple of seconds before falling down. The drop was further than he expected. He yelled out before crashing into the mats again.

A noise could be heard above Ethan. It was the crowd. It was a sprinkler system of some kind. It was beginning to rain. The smoke was dissipating. Ethan could now see Tom heading towards him. There was also something else. Two other Engineering officers had entered the arena and were stepping on to the platform behind Tom Jason.

Ethan wiped the sweat from his brow and steadied his breathing. Closing his eyes again, he took his stance and opened his eyes.

Tom approached Suder first, punching out quicker than earlier.

Ethan found it hard to keep up with Tom's speed. His muscles were tiring. But at last he had an opening. He pushed Tom back slightly with his left fist and followed up with an uppercut. Tom grunted and fell backwards. Ethan jumped over the knocked down Lieutenant and ran for the walkway. The other two Engineers, Zack Jackson and Rebecca Matthews stepped forward but were deterred by a blow to their stomachs.

The walkway was only a meter in length, but they were both close to either falling down into the pit or on to the platform.

Suder continued his sprint towards the wall. He saw Jiiles running up the steps with Tom's weapon in hand, the reason for this tactic. At last he came to the wall. Jumping up, he took several steps up the wall, kicking a weapon off the wall with one foot and pushing away with the other. He drifted through air a couple of meters above the walkway and landed on the platform. He impact of his landing caused him to kneel down. At the same time, he punched out at the opponents he had landed between. Zack and Rebecca cried out as they fell down to the mats.

Ethan grabbed the metal bar that had landed in front of him and swung around to defend himself from the incoming attack.

Tom too was tiring, but he continued his assault, getting the odd punch and kick in, but not quite enough to take out the Chief.

On his last punch, Ethan lifted the bar. Tom's hand hit the bar and he cursed. "Bloody thing!" he frowned.

He jumped slightly, making Ethan think he was going for a high kick when really he was aiming for Suder's chest.

The impact sent Ethan rolling across the platform, nearing the edge. He got back to his feet and moved in for the final attack.

Swinging his weapon, Tom was fast enough to duck, jump and dodge the attack. He ducked again, rolled around Ethan and drove his elbow into Ethan's lower back.

Ethan shouted out and fell to the floor. His back had for quite a while always proved to be a target for anyone who knew him. He rolled on to his back and saw Jiiles driving the staff he held down towards him. He sat up and punched out at Jiiles.

As Jiiles fell back, Ethan exchanged the metal bar for the longer object. Getting back to his feet, he spun the staff around and rested it on his forearm. He glanced at tom who took up the challenge and ran forward. Ethan waited for the last second to react. Grabbing one end of the staff firmly, he held the middle with his other hand and swung round as hard as he could. The staff smashed into Tom's side, sending him flying off the platform.

Ethan proceeded to spin around.

As Jiiles ducked the blow, Zack was not so lucky. He and Rebecca had once again reached the platform, but he had once again been knocked off the platform.

Ethan stopped his spin and focused on Jiiles. He stepped forward and swung the staff vertically down toward Jiiles who fell back.

The end of the staff hit the platform. Ethan used it to assist in his weight. He jumped up and pushed away from the staff, increasing his distance, but never letting go of the weapon.

His foot hit Jiiles' chest and sent him sprawling over the edge. Without hesitation, Ethan swung the staff around in his hand and looked at Rebecca who charged forward. Swinging her arm for Ethan's face, he ducked and stepped under her arm. With a simple jab from behind, he poked her back with one end of the staff. She stepped right on to the edge and swung her arms around frantically, trying to maintain her balance. But in the end, gravity went against her and she fell forward, down towards the blue mats that awaited her impact.

Ethan wiped the sweat from his head. "Old man indeed!" he called out to Tom who was climbing up the steps.

"Lose the weapon, take us all on at the same time." Tom replied. Ethan nodded and threw the staff down towards the mats. He waited for the others to reach the platform. He simply stood in the middle. "Anyone bring any drinks?" Ethan asked.

"No, why?" Rebecca asked.

"Cus I thought the next person to fall down could go get some." he explained with a smile.

"Be my guest." Tom said diving in for the attack...

OOC: This is a very, very Backpost, I know. Sorry.

"Coming aboard"

by
Turan Trelar,
Quentite trainee.

"Galaxy, this is shuttle Serengeti, requesting clearance to land.“ called the blue skinned humanoid on the small space craft's pilot seat.

Obviously union, the dean called Starfleet was a colorful mixture of dozens of different species and cultures ...

Some days ago ...

Turan opened the door of his families farm house.

"Mum! .... Dad! I'm back!“

Turan stumbled into the living room. His dark gray Boy Scout Uniform was stained and coated with mud. Turan looked around to find a well dressed elderly man staring at him. Turan was embarrassed. The man was Kel Mehar, the dean of Novela institute for technology, the university he was going to study at, soon.

"Close your mouth, young man“, said the dean.

"I .... ergh ... I'm sorry, sir. ... Welcome. ... If you don't mind, I would like change my dress. I'm came back from a boy scout contest a few minutes ago.“ offered Turan

"Oh, calm down, mister Trelar“ replied Mehar "you don't need to be shiny and clean for what I wanted to offer you.“

Turan looked puzzled. He was not used to be called 'mister' by an older person. And he didn't expect a person as important as the dean of his university to do the journey to the Trelar farm only to make an offer.

"So, what is it, dean Mehar?“ asked Turan.

"Turan, as you may have heard, we've got visitors. Visitors from out of there.“ The dean pointed up to the ceiling. "They watched our first warp ride and landed to have a look at us." told the dean

"But ... ?" Turan tried to ask.

"The landing delegation had a visit at the university. I talked with them, explained my concerns that traveling with speed faster than light could lead to contacts with other species who take our behavior as an act of hostility.

The delegates' lead told me that in their organization strict rules where written to avoid those problems. I asked them to take a delegation of students aboard to learn how to live on a spacecraft for a longer period of time – You can't scat into you EVA for months – How to interact with crew members, other species and probably even enemy.

First, they rejected according to their rule not to disturb the development of a species. But after I made clear that Quentin is on the way to go through this development with or without them, they accepted to take one student aboard on every vessel which was around. I offered them the personnel files of a few selected first year students. So if you accept, you are invited to have a trainee tour of duty on one of their vessels. Although I don't take them for Quentite eaters it's up to your decision to accept or deny that offer. Take your time to decide.“

That was just three day ago. Of course, Turan accepted. Now, he sat on a passenger seat of one of the large spacecrafts small shuttles which by the way where not smaller than the average Quentite experimental space craft.

=/\= „Shuttle Serengti, this is Galaxy shuttle control. Clearance granted. Prepare to change to standard flight path alpha 236. Watch for activity near the starboard nacelle. And ....welcome back.“ =/\=

The shuttle reduced speed a changed course into a wide right turn. Turan had to arch his back to see the pale blue gray shape of the giant alien space craft.

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer

"Victory Rap?"

The Holodeck doors slid open the five Engineers stepped out. Each one with aches and bruises. But their spirits were high. They all began walking down the corridor towards Ten-Forward. There they would just relax and boast about their various victories. After their own personal spar, they began contending against computer driven holograms. They all watched as each individual fought each opponent.

"You've learnt a lot in the last few years." Ethan told Tom. "Rachel was clearly a good instructor. Better luck next time huh?" he smiled.

"Kiss my ass." Tom shot back rubbing his tender right shoulder. "But maybe, you got some pretty good moves too. But don't think you were undefeated. You fell a couple of times."

"I did. But if we're keeping score..."

"Now, now guys. Let's focus on the victory rap shall we?" Jiiles interrupted.

"Victory rap?" Ethan asked stretching his arms above his head.

"Yeah, it's something they do on the Lakota. I introduced them to Pit Fall, after that anybody who was victorious began chanting their victory, taunting the loser. The victory rap." Tom answered.

They strolled into Ten-Forward and each ordered a drink. When the order was complete, they retreated to a table near the corner of Ten-Forward. Each taking a seat, they sighed with relief and pleasure.

"Haven't had a workout like that for a long time." Rebecca moaned.

"Obviously." Ethan smirked.

"Hey, I am a beginner at this thing ok. I thought I did well." she replied with an evil grin.

"Sure, against the holograms." Jiiles joked.

Rebecca responded by slapping his wrist.

"Come on, you were four for four, should have hit the door!" Rebecca snapped back after sipping her drink.

"I think the rap has started." Ethan commented.

"I got one, I got one!" Tom said placing his drink on the table. "Don't go there Zack, you better watch your back, the only way you'd win is if you do a computer hack. Becky you hit the floor hard, take number and put your name back on the card, that is of course if you want another shot, but know in the end it'll go down the pot! Word!"

The team laughed at Tom's lyrics. Ethan was frozen, his eyes locked on to Tom. This is what happened everytime someone won on the Lakota? He could see this becoming a tradition here. It was funny to say the least, but he hadn't expected even Tom to be the first to start off this "rap".

"What about you, Ethan. Any rhythmical song?" Jiiles asked.

Ethan lifted the drink to his lips and swallowed as much as he could, his eyes never leaving Jiiles'. At last he placed his half empty drink on the table and titled his head slightly, stretching the muscles in his head. "All right." he muttered. "Jiiles you're blue, don't lose too much, you might get the flu, he's a Bolian, and he hates Tholians, he goes to bed smelling like onions, Tom Jason's my man, he acts like a fan, cheering for the winner cus he's a sinner, don't take the stand, you can't win the fight, go to the band, outta my sight, start singing those songs and cheering me along, get ready to use that victory bong. Zack is cool, he fights like a fool, to win the fight, you need a tool, or better yet find a stool, don't try and fight us, is like fighting a bus, Becky's my techy, she likes her job, better be careful or you'll end up a slob, next time you fight, pretend you're light, balance is the game and Ethan is my name... Word to my brother!" Ethan rapped folding his arms, mimicking Tom's earlier performance.

Ethan had failed to notice the odd few passerby's who had caught his session. The group were laughing and accidentally knocking their drinks over. Others in the room just gave them confused looks or joined in with the laughing.

"Hmmmm, guess I got carried away." Suder said scanning the room.

"Should let it happen more often." Jiiles added.

Ethan smiled and grabbed his drink. "Perhaps I will." he replied.

Tom smiled and took a sip of his beverage. Brushing his dark hair back, he cleared his throat. "We're on the Galaxy, it's pretty big ship, with this kinda crew, where do we fit? There aren't any poodles, the favorite quote is noodles, if we have an intruder, we turn to Suder. People plays tricks, some are dicks, they can be funny, just like my honey. With all of us together, we will endeavor, to fight forever, but if we're in trouble, the warp core may breach, but we'll stick together, just like a leech, we'll save the day, keep our enemies at bay, most of the crew can sing, most of them have flings, will anyone find true love?, maybe fit it like a glove, my favorite meat is beef, my ultimate goal is Chief..." Tom paused and looked over at Suder. He was then unable to contain his amusement.

Suder too couldn't help but having a bit of a laugh. The group were funny, if not corny.

"So what do you need to do to become Chief of Engineering?" Rebecca asked. Suder looked around and thought about the question.

"Hard work, I guess the best advice I could give would be dedication." he answered.

"So how'd you get the job?" Tom jokingly asked.

"What can I say? I was loyal to the previous Chief, and with my boyish good looks, my future possibilities are endless."

"Yeah right." Tom shot back with a smile. "You were just sucking up to the boss to much."

Ethan leaned forward and sipped his drink. "I wish." he replied with a smile of his own. He sat back and thought for a moment. The others continued the conversation and unusual raps. Each one coming up with something to say about the crew or ship. It was interesting to say the least... it was fun. The day was getting better and better...

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer

"QV"

Ethan opened one of the access control panels and glanced at the circuitry. He rolled up the sleeves of his duty jacket and grabbed the tricorder from his belt. He tapped in several commands and began scanning the console.

The rest of the Engineering crew were busy going about their duties around him. It had been a busy day, the odd few programs and systems malfunctioning. They were only minor, but it was enough to keep the Engineering department busy.

Suder rolled on his back and grabbed the top of the access hatch. Pulling upwards, he slid his upper body into the console.

He looked at all the wires and chips in the conduit and looked at his tricorder again.

"Yo, Ensign?" he called out. He frowned and traced back time a few seconds.

Did he really say 'Yo'.

He had an odd feeling run up his spine. It wasn't like him to use such a term, in fact, he had never used such a term. Every now and again he seemed to 'loosen up' as one would say. Not that he had a problem with loosening up, just that it was completely out of character. As if something was effecting him every now and again. He shook off the thought and lifted his head, looking out of the conduit.

The Ensign he had called knelt down and looked into the conduit, her dark hair brushing over her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow.

"Ensign, several of the components of this conduit are fried." he explained.

"I don't understand, they were replaced just two days ago. And a week before that." she replied, scanning the conduit with her own tricorder.

"How many times has this conduit malfunctioned lately?" Suder asked looking back at the fried components.

The Ensign looked at the readings on her tricorder and bit her bottom lip.

"About eight times in the last month." she said at last.

Suder climbed out of the conduit and got to his feet. Rubbing his neck muscles, he approached the master system display console. He couldn't believe how saw his neck was. The Pit Fall fight the night before had clearly taken its toll. He had fun of course, but he hadn't expected Tom or Jiiles to get as many hits in as possible. There was a time when nothing would distract him. But as of late, he found himself drifting. Something was wrong, that much was true. Probably not anything any Doctor could explain, this was going to have to be something discovered by himself.

"What do you think?" the Ensign asked standing next to Ethan.

Suder thought for a moment and looked at the tricorder again. He slowly turned and looked at the conduit. "Quick Virus." he muttered.

"What, haven't seen a case of that for a while." the Ensign said in disbelief.

Ethan slowly turned and looked at the Ensign. Something in his look made the Ensign look away quickly.

"Every now and then, there are many minor malfunctions to ship systems. Mainly secondary systems. More malfunctions than there should be. Get Lieutenant McDowell down here." he ordered. "I want to look into this further. There's something about this damned virus that doesn't make sense." He watched the Ensign nod and walk off to retrieve McDowell. He sighed again and looked back at the console. He crossed his arms and thought for a long time. Trying to piece everything together about this virus. He knew McDowell had done as much research as possible on this virus. Suder too had been looking into it when he had the time. Perhaps it was time to try and solve the mystery. But something told him it was going to take a lot longer than he anticipated...

NRPG: This is like a Prelude, a Premonition. You'll see of what soon enough.

"Murmurs"

Lt. JG Dr. Klaus Fienberg

Time: The night after "Ding - Round 2"
Location: Klaus' Quarters, but more importantly, his head, but not totally.

Dr. Fienberg sat on his little couch, nodded off with his little dog Ren on his lap. At his side lay a PaDD carrying a message, one that unnerved him.

Message From: Captain Alberion S. Savage
To: Lieutenant Junior Grade Dr. Klaus Fienberg

Hey Fienberg, Just saying hello, AND COME BACK TO MY SHIP! I send this message to any crew member that I personally liked after they transfer off my ship. I've been doing it for years....and you're on the list.

Don't worry, only 2 a year. Unfortunately....I do have a small bit of bad news.

The Ship you were born on, the USS Rennville has been reported as missing in action after a research mission. For the past 3 years it was on a special research mission. Well, it suddenly stopped reporting in and we are unable to locate her. I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but since the ship was the place of your birth, I felt it very important that you know that you will likely never see it again. I beleive that everyone should revisit the place of their birth some day in their life.

I did.....finding that my home was gone. But I was still there. Being alive as long as I have.....even though 70 years of it was an unconscious blur.....well it changes you.

You're perspective on life, on society, on progress, on everything. Just remember that. And Delete this message, and say nothing of it in personal logs. Both of us could be in BIG trouble if the brass knows that I told you.

END MESSAGE

----------------------------------------------------------------------

He slowly came too, his mind filled with thought, his eyes finding it difficult to read. The thoughts. -My Home? Gone? Disappeared, never to be found again?- It was as if a dreamworld had fallen on his brain like a sheet.

His mind....melting...... The world blending.......his brain blending together. The Past, Present and Future coming together. Marriage Plans, Friends, Lovers, Family, Co-Workers, the Living, the Dead.

Murmurs......Murmurs of the mind, the soul. Sleep came quickly.....and a stiff neck and back came in the morning due to the couch. At least he remembered to delete the message from his former captain.

OOC: Any complaints will get a right belting up. It took me a lot of time to figure out how the heck Kira could do this.. I am hopelessly lost with the plot, so this shouldn't fuck anything up I hope.

"Setting Broken Bones"

by
Ensign Kira 'Wow, she actually does spend some time in Sickbay' Murphy

Looking up from the console as the door opened, Kira spotted three boys limping in. They looked to be around twelve or thirteen, and Kira recognized them as Ian Matthews, Tony Jackson and Dale Whittaker.

It was quickly obvious to her trained eye that Ian and Dale were limping because they were currently doing a combination of dragging and carrying Tony, who wasn't using one of his legs to support himself. Tony was gritting his teeth and trying not to cry, but it was obvious it was hard.

Getting up, Kira grabbed a tricorder and headed to one of the beds closer to the boys, "Okay, what happened with you, Mr Jackson?"

Taking over from Dale, she helped Ian lift Tony up so he could scoot back onto the bed.

"Umm, we were playing in the tubes, and I kinda slipped climbing a ladder. It really hurts, Kira."

Nodding as she ran the tricorder over his leg, she spotted a young girl peeking in the door, which hadn't closed, out of the corner of her eye.

"Whoever you are, come inside too. Tony, you have a broken leg. It isn't bad, and I can fix it. But I will have to tell your parents."

"Aww, do you have to? Dad is gonna be furious."

"Yes, I have to. Anyway, the second you stepped in here, the computer would have noted it on your record."

Turning to the door, Kira sighed when she saw who was there, "Oh, I just had a feeling that you would involved in this. Dalia, trouble follows you like the plague. Get in here."

"The what?"

"Isn't that some old sickness?"

As Kira gave Tony an injection of painkiller with a hypospray, she nodded, "Yes. It was a sickness that was spread by rats through Europe many centuries ago. Over a quarter of the population died before it was controlled."

Tony was glad when the painkiller started working, and Kira gently helped him lift his leg up onto the bed.

"I need to retrain your leg so the bone regenerator can work. Won't take long."

Moving over to one of the trolleys, she pushed it over and started setting up the bone regenerator.

Using the device, she adjusted it as time went by, checking its progress with a tricorder as it repaired the fracture that had occurred.

Finally, she switched the machine off and smiled, handing him a lollipop, "There, good as new."

Handing out lollipops to the others, she gave them all a stern talking to, as she helped Tony down, "If I hear of any of you playing in the tubes again or see any of you in here, I am going to have Security send someone to chaperone you all day for a month. Got it?"

Groaning, they all replied in one voice, "Yes, Kira."

"Good, now get out of here and play, just more carefully!"

The kids all smiled and headed out of the room.

"Schools of Thought"

Lieutenant JG Corran Rex,
Vanguard One

Sub-Commander Savar ir-tr'Khellian,
Tactical Exchange Officer

---------------

USS Galaxy
Tactical Offices
Deck 11

----------------

Corran double-checked the sign one last time, and then strolled into the Tactical offices. This was the set of rooms allotted aboard the Galaxy-Class starship for the personal offices and workspaces of the ship's tactical staff - where they served when they weren't manning posts on one of the Bridges or weapons rooms.

A young rating - a Yeoman, judging by the fact that she had large stacks of PADDs on her desk - was manning the station in the outer office. He elected to turn to her first. "Yeoman, are any of the senior Tactical Officers around?"

Yeoman Janeece Brand checked her screen for a moment, and then looked up to the Lieutenant' to reply. "Sub-Commander Savar is the only one presently in, sir. He's in his office, right over there."

"Thank you, Yeoman." he replied, and pressed the doorchime for the Exchange Officer's door.

The Trill stepped over the threshold as the doors hissed quietly open. Savar was standing, poring over a map table, his back to the door. He continued with what he was doing for a moment, and the Trill caught sight of what seemed to be a galactic map of the beta quadrant. A stack of PADDs on the edge of the table was increased by one as the Exchange Officer put down the one he was holding and turned to face his visitor.

"Vanguard One to Galaxy. Reinforcement fighters coming from the Hood. Their weapons are trained on us. If you don't - or can't - come in and help us, we're dead, Captain."

The Romulan twitched, closing his eyes and shaking his head as the faint, strained voice echoed through his mind. He reopened his eyes to see the Trill peering at him, frowning. "Lieutenant Rex," the Romulan observed, wearily, not pausing to consider how he knew the man's name, when they had never actually met before. He gestured to the desk, where a jug of iced water rested. He poured a glass for himself and for Rex, forced by habit to conform to traditional Romulan ritual, a simple but universal protocol followed at any meeting. A drink was offered to the visitor, and it was the guest's privilege to sample the beverage first; to do so also marked respectful gratitude for the host's serving of the drink.

Corran looked down at the drink, not surprised that the Romulan would be so hospitable. They were more courteous culture than many Federationers realized. Silently, he picked it up, taking a sip.

Tr'Khellian eyed the Trill almost accusatorially until he sipped tentatively at the water. The Romulan then seemed to relax as he took a mouthful of the drink, and gestured to the chairs, one of which he took. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

"I'm sorry if I gave offense, Sub-Commander. I wasn't aware that particular tradition was still practiced among your people. But then.. it's been some time since I've been to Romulus," the Trill replied, his eyes gathering a far-away look.

~Since I've been to Romulus, you mean, Kid.~ Vorrin remarked internally.

~Hey, Vorrin, hate to break it to you, but you're dead. You're part of my symbiont now, so it counts.~ the young pilot mentally replied.

~Yeah,. yeah. Whatever.~

The Romulan, unaware of Corran Rex's bizarre medical condition, and knowing relatively little about Trills in general, was oblivious to this internal dialogue, beyond noting the Lieutenant's odd glazed expression. "We are not on ch'Rihan," the Sub-Commander said, with a small wry smile, echoing the earlier rebuke of Legate Curran. "But I am afraid ingrained habits stay with a person for a lifetime." He gestured towards the water pitcher. "It is customary for a host to offer his guest a drink, and the privilege and responsibility of the guest to take the first mouthful. I do not know where the ritual comes from." It probably dated from pre-Rihannsu days, in fact, when guests required immediate rehydration after traveling under the boiling skies of Vulcan. But tr'Khellian was not about to opine that in public. "You have visited my homeworld, Lieutenant?"

"Former host. It's probably best if I don't go into details. It wasn't exactly a .. sanctioned visit." Corran offered obliquely.

This meant some kind of criminal activity - espionage or smuggling being the most likely. The tactical officer eyed his guest silently, lacing his fingers together. He waited for Rex to proceed, and there was an awkward silence until the Trill cottoned on to this.

"Well," the pilot began, leaning his forearms down onto his thighs. "I originally wanted to come talk tactics to you. But it occurs to me that I don't think we've actually met yet. Unless flashbacks count."

"Flashbacks?" Savar queried, rolling the unfamiliar word around his mouth.

"Brief flashes of memory," Rex tried to explain.

Savar nodded once. "I believe I understand." He sipped at his water, and eyed his visitor again. "So you, too, have experienced these 'flashbacks'. I am told that a large number of the crew have memories of the destruction of this vessel on the surface of Quentin."

"That's because I'm pretty sure it actually happened." Rex replied. "My first host was a scientist, and I've been using the holodeck to recreate the specifics of the battle itself. I wonder if I couldn't leave the holofile with you, for anything you might remember from it?"

Savar frowned at the idea of having to recall the details of his final battle again. "What do you hope to achieve, Lieutenant?" he demanded.

"Well, mainly to have a record of what happened... or, what didn't happen, I guess I should say. " the Trill stated, a sour expression on his face. He particularly hated time travel. "Plus, we know the boys from TI are bound to show up eventually, and it'll be easier to give them a hololog than have them interviewing the entire crew about what they half-heartedly remember."

"TI?"

"Temporal Investigations," the Trill replied. "They're a special unit within Starfleet which investigates breaches in the space-time continuum."

Savar lifted his eyebrows. "I see," he replied. Curran had mentioned there would be an investigation, but not that a dedicated unit had been established for this purpose. He wondered whether the Tal Shiar had anything similar, supposing that they must, but that it was certainly not common knowledge. "I will do what I can to assist," the Rihannsu nodded, taking the isolinear rod that Rex offered him. He looked at it for a moment before placing it carefully on his desk. He was unfamiliar with 'holologs' but was not going to admit this to the fighter pilot. He would find out what was needed of him later, by trial and error.

"You said you wanted to 'talk tactics' with me?" the Rihannsu said, looking back to Corran.

Rex nodded eagerly. "I want to discuss the integration of Vanguard squadron into the tactical framework of the ship."

Tr'Khellian blinked slowly. "I must warn you, Lieutenant, that I take a dim view of fightercraft. In the Stellar Empire, we do not use such small vessels. We find them inefficient and of limited purpose in the vast majority of combat situations."

"See, that's not true." Corran responded rashly. "Don't get me wrong - I'm not calling you a liar or anything. Well, I guess I am, but not as an insult."

Tr'Khellian's eyes flared angrily. "Perhaps you should engage your brain, or at least your manners, before speaking to me, Lieutenant," he snapped, his men'shaei tolerating no bruising from this rude example of a minor species.

"Okay, allright. I'm not calling you a liar. But your information *is* inaccurate. Your people introduced the Scorpion-Class attack fighters during the Dominion War, and managed to keep a functioning one of out of Starfleet hands until last year when the Enterprise captured one from Shinzon. And during the War, the Federation had a lot of success with starfighters. Believe me, I know. I was assigned to Rogue Squadron aboard the Miranda for the duration. My wingmate and I were successfully able to take out a Dominion mid-size capital ship, on our own. Starfighters are effective, when used properly."

The seasoned veteran of multiple campaigns made an equivocal gesture using his head. "The Scorpion-class fast-attack cruisers cannot be regarded as the same sort of vessel as your single-seat fighters, Lieutenant," Savar stated. "But, regardless," the sole reason why Starfleet used fightercraft in the Dominion War, according to the information I have had access to, is because the targeting scanners of most Starfleet vessels were inadequate in tracking the faster, lighter Jem'Hadar craft."

" Why not/ Because the Scorpions have a two-man crew instead of a one man? It's all the same thing. Your information's wrong, Sub-Commander. The Federation has used Starfighters for centuries, typically in a system patrol capacity, but occasional as space superiority weapons in contested areas. We just never used them against your people, because Federation tactics tend to be reactive instead of proactive. You didn't attack us with fighters, so we didn't use them in our battles with you."

Tr'Khellian frowned. "The size of your fightercraft is such that the only targets they can engage effectively are equally small - you imply this yourself. This makes them effectively useless for planetary defense. And if they are to band together to attack a single target, they will still be less effective than an appropriately-armed capital ship. Whilst, clearly, all an opposing vessel has to do to escape fightercraft is go to warp." He paused and eyed the Trill for a moment. "Maintaining a fighter wing seems to me to be a very costly provision of chaff," he suggested.

"You are.... entitled to your opinion, Sub-Commander." Lieutenant Rex replied stiffly. "That opinion does a disservice to the thousands who have served in the starfighter corps over the centuries, but you are nonetheless entitled to it."

"Tell me, then," the Sub-Commander said, with a little smile, for he had enjoyed listening to Rex's defense of the craft, and whether or not he saw merit in fighters, they were here anyway, "what is your plan for integrating them fully into the ship's tactical outlook? Given that we accept fighters uses *and* limitations, what are your suggestions?"

The Trill pilot smiled and leaned forward. "My dear Sub-Commander, I thought you'd never ask...."

"Resolutions"

by
Lt. Ella Grey

*****

The concept of the New Years Resolution is not always easy for a child therefore Ella Grey, at age five, skipped the usual guilt trips and promises-soon-to-be-forgotten and resolved to get herself a white pony.

Preferably, a magical one.

At age eight, a few years older and wiser (and a few "non-magical" ponies later), Ella had resolved to be the best singer ever. It was a resolution quickly forgotten about a year later when she had gotten a lesson from one of the mechanics on a new gizmo being manufactured by Grey Technologies while she waited for the business meeting to be over.

She had taken apart the replicator the next day and had spent the next year resolving to spend anytime not devoted to singing towards learning about engineering.

After "it" happened, she had resolved never to be used again by anyone.

During her Academy years, her New Years Resolutions had been to bear the annoyances of Starfleet rules, regulations, and morality and to pass her classes with flying colors.

But now, Ella Grey was unsure of what her resolution would be.

Because she was not sure what she really wanted. She had achieved not speaking. She had gotten through the Academy. She was an assistant chief of engineering.

What now?

What did she want besides a man she couldn't have and a past she could forget?

*****

Perhaps a cure for the common hangover, Ella thought with a grumble as she looked around for some mild pain medication, hoping to sidestep a trip to Sickbay. Really, she needed to tell Indigo to smuggle in something other than Romulan ale.

Ella groaned as her the beat in her head continued at a steady pace and went to replicate herself some water.

"Starfire, I presume?"

Lt. Corran Rex,
Ens. Jasmine Heloi

In the darkness of her quarters, Jasmine Heloi dreamed...

Adora Starfire pressed her slender body against the wall, praying that what meager protection it offered would be enough. The night had always been a friend to her, but this night it was the enemy. The darkness was the source of the evil that had attacked her city, the evil that had attacked her friends.

She refused to give in to the remembered pain of Galelo's death, nor to worry about the survival of Jeff Sandhagen. However, their pain, their suffering, still weighed heavily upon her. Two nights ago the darkness came, swallowing the sun in it's unearthly grasp, and it refused to leave despite all her efforts.

To shame her it took Galelo.

To break her heart it wounded Jeff.

Now, it would die.

Her eyes glowed in the darkness from the otherworldly powers given to her by Galelo's people. She would find the Source, despite the fact she had no backup. There was no Jeff to tell her to be careful, or to warn her from being too hasty in her efforts for retribution. Nor was there a Galelo to advise her on the powers she had been granted. All she wanted was for the Source to receive all the payment it deserved - death at her hands.

Adora smiled grimly as she eased her body towards the corner. Every sense that she had screamed that the evil was just around the bend, waiting perhaps for her. Her fingers curled into a fist as she reached the corner. With a deep breath she moved into the open, facing the looming darkness in the alley and....

Jasmine awoke to the sound of the computer chiming '0800.' With a low groan, Heloi rubbed her sleep encrusted eyes and yawned. It had been a while since she had last dreamt of being Adora Starfire. For a while, when she was acting, her job and her dreams tended to coincide. Thankfully, it stopped after she had left the show with only a few reoccurrences.

---------------------------------------

Corran settled his boots onto his desk, reviewing the latest simulation results from the squadron. They'd had a number of practices runs now, and,in a few days, he hoped to be able to pit them against Wolf's on-station squadron.

Although, if he read one more statistical analysis PADD today, he was going to go stark raving bonkers.

Well, moreso, anyways.

With a heavy sigh, he looked up and called out to the computer. "Computer, onscreen. Random episode from "Starfire" holodrama." Maybe that'd be good. He'd always liked that show. Some good, mindless entertainment he thought as the holo started playing, would be...

Holy Hell.

---------------------------------------

Jasmine was startled, as she finished dressing, to find that someone was ringing her doorchime. Zipping up her tunic, she pressed the panel that opened the door, to find none other than Lieutenant Corran Rex, her CO.

"Adora Starfire, I presume?" the Trill asked immediately in confirmation, looking as though he didn't know whether to be shocked, awed, or laugh his ass off.

Jasmine's jaw dropped what had to be at least a foot. Instead of a highly decorous, 'how did you guess?' or 'let me guess, you want an autograph' she uttered two words that she was later mortified to have said to her CO, "Well, shit."

Two seconds later, her pale skin turned a startling shade of red as she blushed, "Oh, great. Sorry, sir. Um...come in." She mentally prepared herself for a deluge of questions or something, "Yeah. I was on Starfire." And there go her chances for a promotion ever again. Jasmine just wanted to curl up somewhere and start banging her head against the nearest solid object.

"Well," Corran started, ignoring Vorrin's chuckling in his head. "This is embarrassing. I'm.. ah.. sort of a fan."

She was going to cry. Or scream. One of the two. The Betazoid bit her lip and nodded as if she wasn't surprised, "Well, just about everyone was." That was the understatement of the century, heck, the entire millennium.

"So, I'll avoid doing the obvious fawning, and ask you something else. You were a successful actress - why in the world are you in a cockpit? Don't get me wrong, you fly like you were born to it, but..."

Jasmine sighed, how many times has she been asked that? "Come on in, sir, and have a seat. It's a long story."

Once the Trill was seated, Jasmine settled herself on the chair across from him and considered just how to say the words, "I love speed, always have. I got a mechanical engineering degree from the Royal Academy just so I could work on ships. But during that time, I got approached by FWBN to try out for a few shows. Surprisingly, I got hired on in the starring role for Starfire. Being a vid star...isn't all it's cracked up to be. Honestly, you've got the accolades, fans galore, and money...but you have to keep your eyes open among the others in the business. It's a rather cut throat industry, and after they started playing around with what Starfire was, and I was scoffed at for being educated, I called it quits. I joined Starfleet, got to fly, and the rest is history." She smiled slightly and shrugged, "But it never fails that someone, if not everyone recognizes me for Starfire on whatever ship, planet, or starbase I'm on. It's damn hard to have a private life with that sort of attention, especially since the one thing the media loves is for a star to fall. I'm not generally seen as Jasmine Heloi, instead I'm Adora Starfire - a character. It can be pretty annoying."

"I can sympathize. " Corran replied, a strange smile on his face. When Jazz cocked her head, he explained further. "Do you have any idea how notorious a smuggler Vorrin Rex was among various lawmen? I can't tell you how many times I've been arrested by cultures that don't realize one host can't be responsible for a previous host's actions."

A delicate eyebrow arched in unconscious mimicry of a Vulcan. He did understand. She could sense it was well as see it in his expression, "Then you do understand." She offered him a warm smile. "It is hard being famous, or notorious as the case may be. Tell you what," Here her smile turned more brilliant, giving her all the appearance of her former vid star days, "I'll rescue you from 'fans' if you'll do the same service for me."

"Absolutely. Where should we hide the bodies though?"

She laughed lightly, "Ah, that's what the airlocks are for."

Corran kept the deadpan look fixed on his face. "Ah. Knew those things had a purpose."

“What is in DNA”

By
Lt jg Jasmine Bannon

Jasmine walked along the corridors of the USS Galaxy and stopped outside a holodeck. She had reserved it ages ago and when she reached out and tapped in a command, the doors opened and she entered the dark holodeck. Once inside she activated her personal program. One of her own designs.

She looked up as the DNA helix appeared above her. She was trying to figure out how to make her skin white by genetic manipulation instead of plastic surgery. She doubted she would ever go through with it but she wanted to make sure it was possible. If it was, she would be able to write a paper on it and maybe even help people like her who needed a new life after a ruined old one.

She lay back on the floor and looked up at the Helix and began to change the strands around with her hand controls.

"Nails"

Lt. Ella Grey
Ensign Indigo Renkert, NPC

*****

Ella frowned as she looked at the jagged edge of her nail and then concentrated on smoothing down the rough edges with her nail file.

It was hard being an engineer AND wanting to have pretty nails. Most of the time the machines won. She didn't even bother to pain them anymore.

Indigo Renkert, on the other hand, was busy covering her nails with every color they both collectively owned. It looked as if the lacquers had battled over her fingers, the result only slightly less bizarre than the bright orange hair color that Ella had been unable to talk her out of.

Still, if anyone could pull it off...

"Whatcha think?" Indigo asked, holding the long multi-hued nails next to her face.

Ella gave her a 'thumbs-up' before returning to attack her fingers once more. Stupid conduit, she thought sourly. Although the satisfaction of finally fixing the dumb thing had been worth the torn nail.

"Sorry, you couldn't finish your tournament." Indy said out of the blue.

Ella shrugged. Victor, which annoyed her to no end, had been right. She wasn't ready, which was why she had declined to continue in the tournament. She'd just have to practice harder and enter again the next time around.

And next time, Squid-boy was going down. The Legate was quickly rising on her shit-list (under Victor and the Marines, of course) which she found somewhat humorous because she had been interested in learning more about him at first.

She blew the filed-nail dust off her fingers while she watched Indy try to decide between the bottles of red and purple.

"Going out tonight?" Indy asked. "Bill and I were going to Ten-Forward. We could make it a double date."

Ella shook her head. Somehow, trying to seduce some ensign or lieutenant for a night or two just didn't seem appealing. She'd rather stay at home and work on a new holodeck program or play with one of her miniature shuttle models.

"Are you sure?" Indigo asked concerned. She knew something had happened between Ella and Victor but Ella didn't want to talk about it.

The engineer nodded and made a shoo motion with the back of her hand. Go on and have fun, kids. Ella frowned down at her nails again. They seemed uneven. Couldn't have that.

Indigo frowned. Not that she liked Victor but he made Ella happy. And she liked her friends to be happy. It didn't take much for Jay and Bob, just some herbal remedies here and there. For Bill, it was Indigo herself, which always brought a smile to her face. Ella was difficult. Nothing seemed to keep her in good spirits for long, except for Victor, even when he was annoying her.

Indy would wait awhile to see what happened and then, somehow, she would get them back together.

She only hoped she wouldn't have to talk to the man to be able to accomplish it.

"What do you think, El? Indigo asked as she held up her nails. "Red polka dots or purple stripes?"

***CONTENT WARNING: F/F SEXUAL SITUATIONS***

"Even...Match?"

By
1st LT A'Akledorian
(Vanguard Three)

and

Ensign Hunter

----------

T'Shani craned her neck and stretched her antennae. Soon, she would face another challenger in the Hand-to-Hand Tournament.

~I hope that *this* challenger is actually worth my time~ she thought to herself.

True, the first round had almost been *too* easy--but then, again, most humans weren't used to Andorian fighting styles, *especially* Andorian kick-boxing.

She looked herself over in the holo-mirror, again; listening to the crowd outside as her competitor was announced by--of all people--that Doctor Fienberg that had checked her in for this tournament. Everything seemed fit; she wore a sleek black, skintight bodysuit that not only accentuated her shapely form, but also was made out of a special material that the Andorian Guard used for their uniforms. It was virtually *impossible* to get a grip on; the outer-layer was so slippery.

~A tactical advantage, indeed~ T'Shani smiled to herself as she *adjusted* herself in the jumpsuit, pulling the molezipper all the way up her back, to the nape of her neck, the zipper-line automatically *melting* into the fabric once she had pulled the clasp all the way up...another tactical advantage: unless her challenger knew how to specifically grasp the zipper clasp, she'd stay buttoned-up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our next contenders, a pair of ladies from the Alpha Quadrant!"

A round of cheers went up. T'Shani still didn't understand why human males got so worked-up when females fought each other--or kissed each other--for the matter. To tell the truth, she didn't even really care, as she had done *both* in her lifetime.

8-ball listened to the crowd cheer and rolled her eyes. Men. They were like little lapdogs. If a little mud and some skimpy outfits were thrown in, probably every guy in the crowd would be drooling.

8-ball smiled to herself. True, she didn't particularly want these fights to begin with, but if she was going to fight, she might as well put up a show. She waited for her announcement to the ring.

"Standing 1.6 meters and weighing-in at 50.8 kilograms, hailing from Quebec, Earth--Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome T'Pol "Eight-Ball" Hunter!"

8-ball sauntered forward, winking at the audience with a devilish little smile and shaking her hips suggestively. Ah, some days were fun.

Another round of cheers went up. T'Shani sighed. ~Only fifty kilos?!~ Her contender was *tiny*, compared to the Andorian woman. ~But then again, she *is* half-Vulcan~ No doubt, she'd have the Vulcan-esque muscle build, then--comparable to an Andorians, almost twice that of a normal human's.

Plus, T'Shani had learned to *never* underestimate a Vulcan. For a race that blocked-off all outward appearances of emotion, she had learned that they were--in fact--some of the most deeply emotional, and brutally efficient.

T'Shani made her way to the edge of the tunnel leading to her corner of the ring.

"And, in this corner, standing 1.9 meters and weighing 79.4 kilograms, hailing from Ri'noor, Andoria Prime--T'Shani Ardorannan A'Akledorian!"

A huge round of cheers--and a good-many whistles and cat-calls--went up as T'Shani strolled into the ring, clad in her accentuating jet-black attire. She dipped her antennae to the crowd, then turned to face her challenger.

8-ball's smirk dimmed slightly around the edges as she looked at her competitor. This was no little woman facing her, waiting to be beaten. This woman was freaking huge, more than a foot taller than her and noticeably more blue. This was 8-ball's luck: fighting with a giant Andorian who looked like she could easily snap her opponent's neck with her pinkie.

Still, it wasn't like 8-ball had never faced tall people before. Why back on Earth, she had faced off with this green, 8 foot tall, warty looking alien and had easily come up on top. . .though the fact that his physical reflexes were as slow as he mental ones may have aided 8-ball ever so slightly. But hey, nothing was impossible and 8-ball would sure like to see that smug look taken of that Andorian's face.

So sure of herself, was she? All ready for a nice, easy, little fight and then supper, was she? Well, there was no way in bloody Hell she was getting that! Win or lose, 8-ball was going to kick this blue woman's ass a bit and then recooperate later in the evening with a nice margarita. . .and maybe a hot fudge sundae.

8-ball took a quick glance at her opponent's knee. Probably not a bad idea to attack the lower regions of this T'Shani's body, particuarly since she figured she'd need a ladder to be able to punch her in the face. Oh, the fun-ness that was fighting.

"Fighters, to your marks!" Fienberg shouted.

T'Shani noticed where 8-ball's eyes were straying, right to her knees. ~You give yourself away, kid~ T'Shani thought as she hid a smile.

~Umarinis, key'allian'simar r'anoor'aa slya'thro'chatha...~ she offered a silent prayer; not for her, but for the well-being of her competitor. No doubt, she was unaware that T'Shani was not only a Grandmaster, but a former Arena Fighter, as well.

8-ball moved herself to position. ~Well, it's not like this T'Shani's an Andorian Grandmaster or anything.~

"And....Fight!" the doctor slashed his arm between them, and quickly backed out of the ring, a sonowhistle clamped firmly between his teeth. The crowd roared as the two shapely females started cirling each other.

8-ball quickly got bored with the circling. After all, there's only so many times you can move around and look ominious before it just gets redundant. ~Might as well start it if she isn't going to~ 8-ball thought to herself and took a quick launch at T'Shani's right knee.

~Just as I had thought...~ Tish relaxed her body, dipped low, and sprung herself over and behind 8-ball as her competitor fell face-flat on the mat, suddenly having nothing to strike-out at.

~Let *her* make the mistakes, wear herself down, then move in for the kill...~ Tish thought wryly as she, again, stood to her full-height.

"Okay, so not so much then," 8-ball said to the mat and boosted herself up quickly, seeing her opponent rise up again to her full height. ~She's obviously just going to wait for me to attack her so if I was smart, I'd wait for her to attack me. That'd be logical. Logical? To hell with logical; I'm not sitting here, waiting for some blue giant to attack me. Screw that.~ 8-ball knew the move. It was a move in which always made men cringe in agony. However, it was also effective on a woman, despite what everyone seemed to believe.

8-ball moved forward swiftly, bringing her arm back like she was going to punch T'Shani in the face. Even as her competitor saw the movement and easily began to shift out of the way, 8-ball's left leg came up quickly and rammed upwards into her opponent's crotch.

...which might have worked, if Andorian female physiology had been anything *remotely* similar to a Terran's--or a Vulcan's, for that matter.

Instead of a vagina, like most species, Andorian females had a tube-like, dexterous ovipositor that--while working much the same as the others' reproductive systems, and performing the same basic functions--was built *extremely* differently.

Tish looked down and clamped her thighs together as tightly as she could, trapping 8-ball's foot in her crotch, while the men in the stands hooted and clapped, wildly. T'Shani lifted her head, slowly, smiling evily at her captive prey, antennae pointed out at 8-ball...

8-ball had about a millisecond to stare at the evil smile and think ~Oh shiiiiiiit~.

In the blink of an eye--and before 8-ball had *any* time to react, much-less register the movement--Tish arched her back fully, extending her arms behind her head to anchor herself on the mat, 8-ball's leg still stuck between her legs. In one fluid movement, T'Shani pushed up with her arms, rotated her hips, kicked up her legs, and *vaulted* 8-ball over and onto her back, nearly twisting the poor girl's foot off in the process.

8-ball landed on the floor in a heap and cried out in pain for her foot, which was now screaming in agony at her, crying "why, oh why did you get into this fight and do this to me". 8-ball told her foot to shut up and turned slowly to glare at the blue bitch who was standing, looking triumphant and smug and thouroughly evil. Stupid Andorian physiology. Never ever would 8-ball go near another blue person again. Bastards. All of them.

8-ball started to move and felt her foot cry out again and stopped. The evil, evil T'Shani looked even more smug, if that was possible. In 8-ball's mind, she could hear the great Andorian laughing at her.

Tish just rolled her shoulders and arched her antennae, as if she were bored, which wasn't too far from the truth. Why couldn't she get a Klingon to fight against? Or, perhaps a Tholian? Now those beasties were *fun* to fight, what with their four legs and two arms, those crystaline devils could move *fast*, even thought an adult version of one of them weighed as much as a Type-16 shuttlepod--she shuddered as she remembered how that big lummox of a crystal had almost impaled her on its monoblade at the Battle of Hel'mis' Retreat......

T'Shani's mind wandered--so unlike her, but she really *was* getting bored of this--and she wasn't quite paying attention to the fuming little *girl* in front of her, limping around like an injured Teegh....

8-ball gritted her teeth. This was war.

8-ball ignored her foot. She ignored the logic. She ignored the knowledge that this woman was going to pound her ass like a half-Vulcan pancake. 8-ball ignored it all and screamed as she leapt from her half sitting position on the ground and attacked full on with all her strength. A little package of 50.8 kilograms she might be, but she was also strong and quick with the ability to surprise people. Most of her surprises came from the fact that 8-ball had never learned to deal with her emotions, so she let them carry her into amazingly stupid blunders that only worked because no one would expect someone to actually try attempting them in the first place. Her charge on T'Shani was no exception.

Surprised that the minute 8-ball would actually try to play charging bull, T'Shani didn't have time to defend herself and both 8-ball and T'Shani went down on the ground, 8-ball landing on top of her.

~What the f...~ Tish thought as she had been caught unawares, daydreaming... ~This little catball might have some *balls* (or whatever the Vulcan equivalent were) in her, anyway~ She thought as they came to rest, one on top of the other, much to the jubilation of the men in the crowd. She heard someone call out some lude 'request' in Klingon....that gave her an idea...but the little girl tried pushing Tish's shoulderblades to the mat...

The men around the ring were on their feet cheering enthusiastically as 8-ball and T'Shani rolled on the ground, trying to pin each other down. Finally, 8-ball's legs twisted around her competitors, locking them in place. T'Shani's hands went for 8-ball's neck but 8-ball's arms were quicker and slammed them out of the way, holding them away from her body. Out of breath and mere inches from her opponent's face, 8-ball pinned T'Shani to the ground.

...T'Shani had no clue as to why she did what she did next. Maybe it was all the drooling men around her. Maybe, it was that 'request' made in Klingon. Or, maybe, it was just because T'Shani not only loved the unexpected, but was as horny as hell from the peak of her mating cycle, and this workout--however dull--was definitely getting her *going*.

She craned her head closer to 8-ball's, the crowd hushing, waiting for the intertwined females' next moves. Would they wrestle around? Would they start fighting each other? Would someone lose her clothes? They all stood, hushed, expectant...

T'Shani just smiled, looking 8-ball straight in the eyes.

8-ball stared back. She didn't like that smile one bit. ~What the hell is this blue bitch up to now?~

"Mevek'la sorie at'Tha, Vulkoon'ar. Chia'lna veroon'sk'iil chia'ln!" [You have much to learn yet, young Vulcan. Expect the unexpected!] T'Shani whispered in perfect Anakana Vulcan dialect.

8-ball started so much that her grip slipped a bit holding T'Shani down. Then her grip tightened. This bitch was speaking Vulcan to her now? 8-ball glared at her harder and moved her arm to slap her competitor in the face, when, in a split second, T'Shani Ardorannan A'Akledorian, Grandmaster of the Arena of Ri'noor............kissed 8-ball Hunter, full and deep on the lips.

8-ball was so surprised by the sudden kiss that she kissed back for a few minutes. The men were beyond frenzied now. Their mouths all dropped open, unnoticing little flecks of drool dribbling from the corner. They moved forward slowly, as if wanting to jump in the ring and join in, but also wanting to watch the show. The suggestions called to rip off all of her competitor's clothes brought 8-ball out of the kiss more than anything else. Hey, she was a good kisser. But it also gave her an idea.

"Expect the unexpected yourself," 8-ball breathed into T'Shani's face and, as quickly as T'Shani had kissed her, 8-ball found the zipper clasp on her competitor's uniform and grasped it just right.

As the little girl reached for and grasped the moleclasp at the nape of the Andorian's neck, two thoughts raced through Tish's mind. First, she hadn't been expecting 8-ball to actually kiss *back*; T'Shani had devised the whole thing so she could catch 8-ball off-guard, and throw her into a Brikar Stonehold. Second: ~Shit, she's unclasped the zipper!~ Tish thought frantically, trying to push the human-vulcan off of her...

But that only made matters worse. As T'Shani rolled out from under 8-ball, the girl got enough leverage to actually *disengage* the clasp entirely, causing the microseam to unseal...if she pulled it down...

8-ball did. As T'Shani tried to move out of the way and protect the zipper, she had no hand! s to protect 8-ball from leaping at her again. She feinted a punch at T'Shani's face, and then when T'Shani moved to block the attack, 8-ball's hands quickly went under, fully unzipped the suit, and pulled the inner vest down. . . .

...which caused T'Shani's full, D-Size breasts to unceremoniously *plop* right out of her vest.

Needless to say, the men went absolutely...well...*BONKERS*. Some were already climbing over one another in an attempt to get *inside* the ring. Others made offers and cat-calls to the disrobed Andorian. Still others flashed the shutters of their holocameras...

8-ball laughed. For the last ten minutes, she had been thrown around the room, getting the crap kicked out of her, which was ever so slightly embarassing, really. But now the giant woman was the one exposed in front of everyone, in a worse way. ~Teaches her for trying to shock me by kissing me~ 8-ball thought. ~As if she was the fir! st~. 8-ball's smile widened.

"Darling, is that entirely appropriate?" she asked her competitor, still smirking. "You really should cover up. There are gentlemen present."

T'Shani's hands flew to her chest instantly, one hand holding and covering herself, while the other tried, unsuccessfully, to pull the inner vest back over herself. But without two free hands, it was impossible. She glared at 8-ball, a glare that could stop a rampaging Gorn, and make it think twice about taking her on. The look that sent Breen warriors scrambling in fear.

It was that look, that cool, cold, utterly-deadly look that only one other person on the ship--that pig Omar--had seen: the look of a trained, cold-blooded killer. Her antennae reflexively pressed all the way back against her head, as the rage built within her......

8-ball's smile dropped from her face instantly at the dreaded look of death. ~I'm going to ! get knocked out, aren't I~ she thought to herself and sighed. ~Fuck. This is gonna hurt.~

~To *FUCK* with this~ T'Shani thought as she dropped her arms; full breasts swaying; nipples perking in the cool air of the arena.

Normally, since this wasn't true *battle*--or even a sanctioned Arena fight, T'Shani would have been able to keep her tremendous temper in check. But this was definitely *not* a normal situation. And it sure as hell didn't help that her Andorian hormones were screwed up, as well.

T'Shani spun, brought her left leg up, and made full-contact with her foot to 8-ball's chin, a resounding *CRACK* eminating from the girl's jaw, green blood trickling from the sides of her mouth.

Feeling her jaw shatter into a million freaking pieces, 8-ball thought, ~Ow~

But before 8-ball could mount *any* kind of counter-offensive, T'Shani spun again: once, twice; first ! in the girl's groin ~Payback, Bitch~, causing her to double-over. Then, in the second kick T'Shani switched, bringing her right foot up catching 8-ball squarely in the center, below her ribcage, right above her diaphragm, knocking all the air from her lungs.

8-ball tried to breathe but couldn't. There was no way she was going to get any dignity out of this fight. She didn't even try. She briefly considered saying, "Okay, okay, I give up" but decided against it. It would probably just piss this chick off more. The best she could hope for was a quick KO.

By this time, T'Shani's suit had fallen past her belly, hanging loosely and dangerously low around her hips; the top of her ass showing from the back.

The Andorian warrior didn't care anymore, though. ~Let the perverted dogs stare and *wish* they could have me!~ she thought defiantly as she surveyed the ring, the crowd, and her soon-to-be-defeaten foe.

As the hybrid tried in vain to catch her breath from her spasming diaphragm, T'Shani slowly and calmly walked behind her, and pulled her down to her knees by the hair, drawing an instant cheer and more lude remarks about 'eating' something from some of the more imaginative men.

~Fucking perverts...~ Tish thought as she realized what the 'suggestion' had been...

~Fucking perverts...~ 8-ball thought, still trying to remember what air felt like.

And with her hair still firmly grasped in her blue hands, the Andorian pulled down firmly, forcing the exhausted and wind-blown 8-ball to the mat, where she didn't even stir, except for her heavy, ragged, and somewhat spasmodic breathing.

"ONE...TWO...THREE...FOUR...FIVE!!!" Feinberg shouted as the crowd roared. He went to hold T'Shani's hand up high, but she refused, clutching her chest, instead, while holding the remains of her suit to prevent it from falling below her crotch.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Our winner! T'Shani A'Akledorian!"

8-ball heard the words and didn't particularly care. She wondered if someone would carry her to Sickbay. If her jaw ever healed to the point where she could ingest food again, she would have a freaking dozen ice cream sundaes and margaritas. Her eyelids fluttered and the last thing she thought before she passed out was ~Well, maybe twenty years down the road, this will be good for a laugh~.

~What the fuck, why not?~ Tish thought as she reveled in her victory...

With that, T'Shani A'Akledorian let the rest of the suit fall to the mat, and kicked it into the crowd, causing a mad-dash. She turned, dropped her arms to her sides, and as casually as she could muster while completely nude, strolled out of the ring, into the lockeroom...

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