~\\_
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`\\\\\ -----------------------------------------
|\\\\\ Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet (OOC)
\\\\\|__.-~~\
_--~ ~~/ Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"
/~ _-~~~' Embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
('-//////-// Vice Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding
////// }}-) -----------------------------------------
/////~ Simulation Teaser
_///~ Stardate 240308.30
`
_______________________________________________________________________
/ Simulation Teaser |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
=/.= The Odyssey =/.=
"There is one more story that has yet to be told," Brian Aldur said.
Aldur stood before them on the Observation Deck above Precinct
Nader... stood before them on the platform that was surrounded by the
gallery seats, the seats full. Nearly 250 people had chosen the
Odyssey. Exiled from friends, exiled from family, they followed
descendants that they had never known. They followed them down the
endless river Alph, searching for the sunless sea. Aldur stood before
them almost as a priest before a congregation, and there was more than
one person in the gallery who later made that observation. Brian
Aldur had never been a priest, but he could have been. He could have
been. He was certainly the only view from the Observation Deck, and
he held every eye in the chamber.
The Observation Deck windows were shuttered and shielded... and that
was a mercy. Perhaps there would never again be a view from this
place. Other than the view of empty insanity that now surrounded the
12 Precincts following the path of the singularity at nearly the speed
of light. Nobody aboard would willingly volunteer for that view.
"There is one more story that has yet to be told," Brian Aldur
repeated, "and that is the story of all of us. Xanadu is a mistake
that should never have been made. By linking Xanadu to the
singularity, the builders set in motion a chain of events that could
destroy our homes, and the homes of countless others. Now we know
that there were three such asteroids," he said. "Three asteroids each
with their own links to these singularities. The Federation's
attempt, whether we knew it or not, to tear the very universes apart."
Aldur paused, pacing the platform. "We are the atonement. You. Me.
All of us. We seek to undo the damage done, to break the links
between these facilities and the Way. To atone for the crimes not
even yet committed." His voice echoed around the chamber. No one
else dared speak; some were holding their breath.
He pressed his hands together and looked from face to face in the
gallery. "We have all sacrificed to be here. There is no way of
knowing whether we will see our families or friends again. We are all
of us trapped in a moment in time until this job is completed. We
will never sicken. We will never age. And we will never die. We are
locked into this immortal moment and in this immortal moment we shall
stay until the damage wrought upon our homes is undone." Aldur paused
again, seeming to lose his breath, then find it again.
"We will find the Tear, and we will mend it. There is one more story
that has yet to be told. But we will live to see it told," he said.
For a moment, the gallery was silent. And then the applause started.
----------------
=/.= 48 Hours Prior =/.=
Commodore William Daren stood before Brian Aldur's desk, chin up, back
ramrod straight. He had been a Tactical officer once, the closest
thing Starfleet had in a non-Starfleet Marine Corps man to a military
officer. It showed.
Sword Admiral Brian Aldur. The new Alliance rank was appropriate,
even if it did smack of Camelynian overtones. The Commodore could
feel Aldur's sword hanging over his head. Daren had arrived in
Aldur's office 12 minutes before, had snapped to attention in front of
the ridiculously large desk. And then been left to sweat in that
position while the Sword Admiral all but ignored him. Instead, the
man was looking over a pair of displays mounted into the desk. Aldur
continued to ignore Daren and the minutes ticked by.
When Aldur did finally speak, his voice was soft. But these was an
edge to that voice. Oh my, yes.
"Commodore, explain to me why you disobeyed my direct order with
regard to not revealing the secret of the viral weapon," he said.
Soft! Aldur could have been asking what the predicted weather was
tomorrow for the Meyer III colony. All except for that edge.
Daren gritted his teeth. "No excuse, Admiral," he said.
"No excuse," Aldur repeated. Now the Admiral looked up. There was no
expression on that face. None. Daren could have handled screaming.
He could have handled icy cold rage. He could have handled anything
at all except that complete... LACK of expression. It was unnerving.
It was far and away Aldur's most potent weapon.
Before he could stop himself, Daren spoke again. "My blood was up,
Admiral. It was plainly a Xur ambush aimed at Regency. I
overestimated the strength of Commander Farley's weapon... and I..."
The Commodore looked at that face again. It still hadn't changed
expression. He decided it would be best first, never to play poker
with the Admiral, and second, to try to keep his eyes off that face.
He picked a blank spot on the wall and locked his eyes dead ahead.
"It was impulsive, and reckless, Admiral. No excuse," he repeated.
"Commodore, as a result of your... impulsiveness... what could
potentially be our most powerful weapon against the tar na zee
subversion has been revealed to the enemy," Aldur said. His voice was
still soft. He still regarded Daren completely without expression.
"Yes, Admiral," Daren said, eyes still locked forward. He would...
NOT... look. Aldur continued to regard the younger man in silence;
Daren could feel the Admiral's eyes on him. Again, minutes passed.
Aldur said nothing. He simply continued to look... just look... at
Commodore Daren. Finally, Daren spoke again. "Admiral, I will offer
my resignation. Commander Tal is past due for promotion to Captain,
and she'd be a fine CO for Coronado--"
Aldur cut Daren off with a word. "Stop," he said. Daren stopped.
And again the minutes passed. Finally, Aldur stood up.
"Commodore, you are not getting away from this that easily. We are on
the brink of what is likely to be the largest fleet engagement in M64
since the end of the Pfhor War, and you will not desert your post," he
said. "Am I being fairly clear?"
"Yes, Admiral," Commodore Daren said.
"I'm not relieving you, Commodore. According to my information..." he
waved at the screens in the desk, "four of your people are dead, their
lives spent EDUCATING you." Daren's jaw tightened. "Commodore, you
will see to it that their lives were not sacrificed in vain. Get back
to your ship. Dismissed."
And just as easily as that, it was over. At least for now. Daren got
the impression that he'd be having another talk with Aldur after the
battle. The Commodore could live with that... with any luck, he
wouldn't survive the battle and therefore wouldn't have to return to
face that... that lack of expression. He saluted, turned on his heel,
and walked toward the door. Aldur stopped him just past the threshold
with that soft voice. Daren didn't turn, so he didn't know if Aldur
was still standing or had again taken his chair. The Admiral's voice
was enough.
"Commodore, let us hope that the tar na zee has been given pause,"
Aldur said. "At the very least, you've proven that we can hurt them."
The door hissed shut before Daren could reply.
----------------
=/.= August 31, 2404 =/.=
Lieutenant Lesabeth Kor stood, leaning against the railings at the
aft bay windows of Seventh Heaven aboard U.S.S. Coronado. Aft of the
frigate, the asteroid Xanadu rotated in her slow orbit about the
Regency star. Just now, the First Chamber entrance was visible, still
scarred from her encounter with the Zheda.
Losses from the recent battle aside, everyone aboard Coronado seemed
to think that the Alliance's major problems were over for the moment,
but Kor knew better. The Alliance's problems were only beginning.
Beginnings were fragile, and this beginning was showing signs of being
more fragile than most.
In a few minutes, the rotation of Xanadu would bring the Third Chamber
entrance into view: the massive triple airlocks would be visible past
the torn and sheared rock and earth that had once been the Fourth
Chamber. Both ends of the asteroid now lay open to space, but the
Second and Third Chambers had survived the sundering in reasonable
shape.
Xanadu would probably never move again -- she was no longer an
asteroid-starshp -- but she would for a long time be a bright star in
the skies of Meyer III and Meyer IV, visible by morning and evening.
Lessa thought Tebrun would have approved.
Lieutenant Kor leaned against the railings at the aft bay windows of
Seventh Heaven, lost in thought, and as such didn't hear Savant
materialize behind her at first. But slowly, Kor became aware of the
presence watching her, noted the reflection of the hologram in the bay
windows. For a long time, neither spoke. It was their first face-to-
face meeting since Tebrun's sacrifice. Kor had become re-acquainted
with old friends from past hosts dozens of times. On Penthia,
Lesabeth had already met Ka'tek vestai'Kharas... "for the third time,"
as Ka'tek had joked.
But meeting Savant again seemed... different, somehow. Important.
Finally, Kor spoke. "Did I ever tell you why I didn't join the
Odyssey?" she asked over her shoulder.
"I made it a point not to ask anyone," Savant said. "Didn't seem
polite, somehow. I will miss those who chose to follow Admiral Aldur,
but their mission is an important one." The avatar paused. "I hope
the... the rest of me... will be of some help to them."
Kor nodded. "I'm sure you will, Savant," she said, smiling crookedly.
For a few minutes, she didn't speak. Then she went on, smile fading.
"Everyone's reason for going, or not going, was a personal reason.
Mine was no exception," Lessa said, turning around. She still leaned
against the railings, placing her elbows on them. It was a jaunty
pose, not at all one that Tebrun would have chosen, but Savant could
see a bit of Belar in it. "Trell zha," she said. "It's a Trill word,
the name for our species. It means 'to change.'" Lessa paused,
looking down at her feet, hair moving to partially cover her face.
"Change is at the heart of who we are," she said, voice soft.
Savant nodded, sympathetic. "I've come to enjoy change, myself."
Lessa looked up. Smiled again. "Hello, old friend," she said.
U.S.S. Coronado sailed on, the asteroid Xanadu behind her.
\_______________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
*Former* Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone" Staff:
Unknown: Lesabeth Kor (Jester)
Commanding, Xanadu: Capt. Sieven Drexler (Brad)
Admiralty Liaison: Capt. Savant (Savant)
Commanding, Blackrazor: Capt. Jarod Bentall (Alffred)
Commanding, M64 Ground: MGen. Jeremy Ironside (Fraser)
U.S.S. Coronado Crew Roster:
Commanding Officer: Como. William Daren (Chris)
Executive Officer: Cmdr. Velorna Tal (Aggie)
Chief Flight Operations: LCdr. Maiko D'Rall (Farrell)
Command Yeoman: CPO Zachery Prentiss (Cloaked)
Civilian Liaison: Zunite Oswald (Sonya)
Battalion Commander: LCol. Jacob Prescot (Prescot)
Chief Tactical Officer: Lt. Derek Canterbury (Spuzzum)
Chief Engineer: Cmdr. Jack C. Farley (CCC)
Assistant Engineer: LCdr. Aramis Skylooker (LewisSharp)
Assistant Engineer: Lt. Brandon Gannsen (Lefty)
Chief Science Officer: Lt. Anna Brooks (Kari)
Chief Medical Officer: LCdr. Samuel Boswell (Santiago)
Assistant Medical: Ens. Nicholas Van Dyken (Tripp)
On Extended Leave of Absence:
None!
Positions Available:
None! (Coronado's final sim is on August 30, 2004)
------
Jester
Vice Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor (KIA)
Commanding, Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"
embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/