Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Otr’Iq Mirai (Tactical) in Main Sim: Back at the Beltran Imperial palace

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Thomas McGregor (COS) in Main Sim: Back at the Beltran Imperial palace

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Main Sim: Back at the Beltran Imperial palace
Posted by… suppressed (25) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The away team finally emerged from the depths of the subterrain tunnels back in the courtyard of the palace. The scene was one of utter devastation. Gone were the fancy flags fluttering in the breeze and waiters moving about carrying delicious snacks. Large cracks in the marble patio cause it to cave in and heave up making walking on the surface difficult. Blackened scars from the molotov cocktails that were thrown from the balconies above blemished the once creamy white surface. The large fountain still bubbled water but it leaked from one crumbled side creating a small puddle that mixed with the heaved up dirt where the Volians attacked from underground. It created the sense of brown, muddy blood leaking off to one side.

“Sir you weren’t wrong about those molotov cocktails. They do pack a punch.” Vanessa gestured to the chaos. “The Captain and I launched them from those balcony’s to stop the siege. “I made a catapult with the curtains but those critters are awful fast.”

GM Kate

Magnus looked around the room, eyeing the blackened marks in particular “Molotov?” He asked “What sort of cocktail did this?” He asked curiously.

XO

“Yeah it is when you take a bottle of booze, stuff some paper or preferable a rag into the neck, light it, and toss it.” Vanessa was highly animated in her description of how to make them using not only her words but gestures as she spoke.

Magnus blinked at the counsellor “I see, using alcohol as fuel to a spreading fire, crude but efficient so long as it’s done outside a climate-controlled environment” He appraised the area “Good for crowd control and area denial with minimal resources”

From one of the balconies, a high pitched Beltran voice boomed out. “You made it. I am so relieved.” The voice belonged to the King who had hide in the bunker and now appeared to be back out and in a rather perky mood. “Please come up,” he gestured to the stairs. “We are about to serve refreshments.”

GM Kate

=/\=Lt. Dean, This is Lt. Mirai on the USS Genesis. We are targeting you and our crew at the coordinates you gave and will be beaming you aboard. Hold for Transporter lock!=/\=

Lt. JG Mirai
Tactical

Magnus tapped his badge =^=XO Here, Belay that for now. Keep a lock on and get a lock on the Beltrans with us. Diplomatic protocols Mr. Mirai. If you can reach out to any other Starfleet forces dirtside. We are currently not under direct threat=^= He looked up at the King “Cheerful fellow.” He muttered.

XO

Like nothing had happened, Dagen thought. Looking around and taking in the scene, his nostrils itching from the fuel and fires, he brushed off his dress uniform that had seen better days. They do need to make uniforms that didn’t collect dirt but could be brushed off easily. This was the 25th Century now after all! “There is a story here I’m sure,” he said quietly.
- Dagen, CE

=/\=Lt. Dean, respond! Have you made contact with the Genesis landing party?=/\=
“Open a channel to Lt. Cmdr Pétursson.”
=/\= Genesis to Lt. Cmdr Pétursson. Please respond. We are receiving reports of a siege at the palace. Do you require assistance?=/\=

Lt. JG Otr’Iq Mirai
Tactical

Magnus sighed and looked at the Captain, the overzealousness of some officers was to be commended =^=There was a siege, Hostilities are ended, and we’re about to begin negotiations. Try to raise Dean again and calm his nerves, Peterson Romeo-Alpha-two-five-Echo=^= He ended the call with his primary all clear code. “Five strips of gold pressed latinum that we’re about to get a rescue party” He muttered.

XO

“Rescue us with a change of clothes?” Dagen replied in a low voice. He was an engineer. Even modern rather antiseptic engine rooms had considerable room for being able to attract grease and other equivalents to then generate that scruffy ‘look’ as a kind of badge of honor. Dirt didn’t bother him. What did was dirt on a dress uniform that by it’s intrinsic design was made to be uncomfortable. Dagen supposed it was a design prerequisite. “I’ll pay the strips for that.”

Magnus chuckled, “Give me twenty minutes, a bottle of olive oil, and some strawberry’s, I’ll get us some new clothes”

“I wonder what happened to their vaunted cloaking technology and all their battle stations in orbit protecting them,” he said to the XO. “Doesn’t seem like the Gorn had much of an issue with getting in and out past them.”
- Dagen, CE

“Or us,” Thomas chimed in. “I’m very concerned about the Gorn having gotten past the Genny without so much as a peep.”

COS

The First Officer’s face changed from his amused smile to a more grim expression “Agreed, I don’t want to start any alarms. McGregor, can you reach out and put the Genny on Red alert without anyone knowing?” He asked, he didn’t have any training in tradecraft and with the bad connection they had no information security “Perhaps we should consider that it isn’t how they got here, but when they got here, were they already here when we arrived or did they come after when the fighting started?”

XO

Thomas nodded. “True. Still, they’re a known hostile race, they’d likely treat us as just as handy of a source of incubators as the Beltrans.”

As if out of a dramatic action holomovie, Edelu and Mirai beamed into the space. From their positions and body postures, it might appear as if they were as surprised as the away team them had been beaming into. The spacing was close to several officers so it might feel as if they appeared like a ghost.

Mirai materialized into the Beltran palace mid lunge. As the beams left him he stumbled into the XO. He quickly cleared his throat and stood straight. looking about embarassed and confused.

The beam-out had been abrupt. Disorienting, even.

As the telltale shimmer of the transporter released him, Edelu’s boots met the cold tile of a grand and opulent hall. The lighting struck him first—filtered daylight through stained crystal, shifting on broken columns. Then the people—too close, unfamiliar, startled. His instinct was to step back, but there was no room. He breathed in slowly through his nose, anchoring himself in the moment.

He hadn’t been briefed. That much was clear. He glanced sidelong to Mirai, noting the young officer’s confused stance and polite attempt to recover. Good instincts.

Magnus jumped back sligtly at the arriving officers, blinked then looked at Thor with a half smile and rubbed his tumb, fore-, and middle fingers together as if to signify his victory in the bet

Thomas would be able to get a message to the Genesis with minimal inference if he choose to do so.

Suddenly from several doors, arches, and pathways, Beltrans began to fill the space. They were not military but the same courtisans that milled about the space prior to the attack. They surrounded the crew, again in much the same manner as when they arrived for the dinner reception. Soft music began to filter out of any number of windows. The Beltrans moved to the beat as if they were dancing however the second they second they saw the Volians among the officers they shrieked back in horror. Suspiciously however the Gorn had appeared to slink back into the shadows as if they were never even there.

Mirai did not have much time to be surprised as an entourage of Beltrans began to filter into the room. He was unsure of the situation, but it seemed to quickly grow tense.

Dagen’s jaw may have hit the ground as the Beltrans came out as though nothing had happened, though they at least reacted to the Volians. But still, the place was in a ruin and they were .. controlled?

The air began to fill with a high-pitched squeaking sound emanating from the Volians. If the sound was analyzed using tricorders it would translate to help us help us.

GM Kate

Edelu turned slowly in place, his gaze traveling across the ruined but still inhabited chamber. Beltrans filled the space, gliding as if in a dream—or a ceremony. Yet their movements faltered the instant the Volians came into view. The shift was visceral. Tension leapt into the air like static.

The shrill, near-subsonic wail sent a tremor through his chest. A plea, not an attack.

His hand brushed the edge of his coat, instinctively checking for his medkit. “Why…” Edelu murmured to no one in particular, “…why are we here?”

He stepped forward a pace, gaze fixed on a nearby Volian. The sound they emitted was not meant for ears—it pressed directly against the nerves. His Mintakan physiology recoiled slightly, but he steadied himself with practiced control. “They are asking for help,” he said, voice low, carrying only to those near. “It is not a war cry. It is desperation.”

Dagen checked the scanner and blinked at the result. He nudged Magnus and showed him the result. The Volians were asking for help. The Beltrans certainly needed help. He looked about for the Gorn but couldn’t see them with all the people about. What was this? “Are the Gorn controlling everyone here?” he asked quietly.
- Dagen, CE

Marius heard he high pitched sounds and struggled to stop the feeling of revulsion coursing through his body. It was instinctual due to it being the same sound he heard when he was taken by them however this time the Volian’s were not swarming him. The sound felt more like a message. “Is that coming from the Volians?” It was as much a question as a statement. One could see the jaws of the Volians moving but the sound was more felt than actually heard by human ears.

Calvin Marius CO

Magnus looked up from the tricorder and nodded to the Captain “Dagen, can you create a signal using your tricorder using their communications method, and ask them ‘help with what?’ A request for further information” He said quietly then turned to the Captain “I think it might be time to be a loud and boisterious Marine, calm things a little and get some attention” He gave a hand signal to Thomas: Be Ready

XO

“Will try sir,” he said, working at the tricorder. This was so a science thing and he knew a certain Vulcan from years past in his career who would eat this stuff up, but this was all a matter of physics and he was good at physics. Mechanical physics. Warp physics. But hey, how hard could it be? He worked to tease out a language understanding in the sounds and return them with his typed out message saying ‘what help do you need?’

Thomas nodded, though his internal monologue was more along the lines of ready for what? This entire mission had been a charlie-foxtrot from the jump, and now they were scrambling to salvage things solely to the point of making sure all Starfleet personnel got off the planet safely.

Safe to say, he very much doubted Beltran would remain a candidate member for the Federation much longer.

COS

Mirai walked gingerly over to Thomas to “report in” as it were. “Excuse the intrusion sir. Something seemed to have forced a transport, we didn’t order it. But since we’re here, how can we help?”

Lt. JG Mirai
Tactical

“Be ready to fight everything here,” Thomas said tersely. “The bird-people, the mole-men, and the Gorn pulling all the strings.”

COS

Mirai looked around the chamber at the growing crowd of potential hostiles and his face sharpened. “Aye sir.” He said as he gripped his rifle tighter.

Edelu’s expression barely shifted, but his gaze lingered on Thomas a beat too long. The Mintakan did not flinch at the mention of fighting—he had witnessed far too much death to romanticize it—but there was a subtle tightening at the corners of his eyes. So many had made that same mistake: assuming every unknown thing must be met with weapons.

He exhaled softly. “Or perhaps we might yet learn what it is they cannot say.”

The Volians appeared to move closer to the Federation people as the cacophony of their voices raised. While those in the Federation could not hear the words, the high vibration would make people feel slightly uneasy. It was as if subconsciously the Federation officers knew the message but could not understand it. If and when the tricorders were calibrated to inerprete it, the message would be clear help us. They came from the stars. They killed the Beltrans before the Beltrans made a plan with the Gorn. They both enslave the Volians to kill and harvest for them. Help us

Oh crap, Dagen said to himself and even under his breath. He could see the Volians moving closer even as he showed the XO the return message. “Sir ..” he said, showing him the message: They came from the stars. They killed the Beltrans before the Beltrans made a plan with the Gorn. They both enslave the Volians to kill and harvest for them. Help us.

King Casper of the Beltrans looked down and did not show the fear he should for the Gorn but more hatred and disdain for the Volians. “Captain Marius. Please separate from the creatures. Security,” he bellowed. “Prepare to open fire.” The intent was clear. The kind was about to kill all the Volians in a matter of moments.

GM Kate

Edelu felt the shift in vibration before the words formed meaning. A sound not meant for ears, but for something deeper—some seat of instinct buried beneath language. His senses had already begun to understand: enslavement, harvesting, desperation.

He looked sharply at King Casper as the order came down. Prepare to open fire.

No. Not like this.

He stepped forward. “Captain,” Edelu said, more forcefully now. “The Volians are not attacking—they are begging. If you permit this slaughter, we become the monsters they already fear.”

Vanessa waggled her head back and forth at the term monster. “Maybe but you were swallowed up by their tails and claws like the Captain and I were. I was spitting out fur and I think I still am. There was also the live cocconing process that was oh so much fun. Just don’t get too close,” she said warily.

He moved closer to the Volians without waiting for permission, instinctively outstretching his arms in a protective manner.

He had not forgotten about the phaser rifle he transported in with, slung around his neck.

Dr. Edelu, M.D. ○●●
Chief Medical Officer
U.S.S. Genesis

Mirai heard the order from the King and looked to the Captain for orders. Surely, they weren’t about to allow these people to be gunned down. But, in all fairness, Mirai did not have the full context. How much could they interfere? How much would the prime directive allow them? Then he saw Edelu stand directly between the Beltrans and the Volians. This was not going well. “Sir,” Mirai said, eyeing the Beltrans, while slowly raising his rifle, “Do we have a plan?”

Lt. JG Mirai
Tactical

“Yes,” the King belted down from his safe space on the balcony way about the courtyard the rest of them were stuck in. “The harvesting is over. They are now our enemies. The Volian’s have feasted on our population for the night. They have taken our people into their warrens. All debts are paid until next year. Their very presence signifies a break in the alliance we have cultivated for generations. You can not take one side as right or wrong. The Volian’s harvested the Beltran people all night. They are not innocent. They are luck we let them live.”

GM Kate

‘They are all using the Volians. The Gorn are the wildcards and perpetrators. Remove them from the equation and things might get sorted out equitably. Everyone seems way too familiar with one another though,’ Dagen was thinking and trying to sort things out. “So if you, the Beltrans, and the Volians and, I suppose the Gorn were to be on different parts of the planet and away from each other then all would be well?” He said it. Should he have said it? Dagen frowned. Seemed like everyone was fighting in the sandbox and so what if they had their own sandboxes. That was way too easy a thing in theory but this was a what if? Could they stand to be apart? Who would lose? Who would gain?
Dagen

Magnus unclipped the Beltran rifle and put it down “Thor, can you rig a signal, transmit everything said from now on, send to the Genesis, make sure we can transmit globally” He smiled and started slowly stepping forwar.

The Genesis certainly could do that transmission. “On it,” he said, taking a knee to place the scanner on his leg. First he put it on record to collect everything said and as much in video as he could.”
=^= Thor to Genesis. I’m linking a signal from my scanner through the comm badge to you. XO says this needs to be an ongoing signal connection and says to broadcast this back to the world. =^= How they would do that would be their issue. His was to try to match the frequencies and get a pairing with his badge and the scanner. All the while he was trying not to think of the heated situation this had turned out to be.
- Thor, CE

=/\= Understood Sir=/\= the Genesis officer stated.

Edelu did not move. He did not reach again for words, not this time. Words had become daggers in the mouths of too many, dressed in moral conviction and ancestral grievance. The air now held something heavier than fear—inevitability.

He remained where he had placed himself—between rifles and instinct, between history and a moment that might yet be rewritten.

The Volians’ vibrations thrummed at the edge of comprehension, like the final note of a song still echoing in the bones. Help us. Not a plea, not anymore. A truth. Terrible, complicated truth.

He could feel the edge of every phaser trained nearby—not on him, perhaps, but close enough to sing. He did not raise his hands further, nor did he reach for his own weapon. The tension in the space pressed against his chest like a too-tight pressure bandage. He did not blink.

There was no nobility in dying for a mistake.

But sometimes, to stop one… you had to be willing to stand still.

He did not speak. He simply waited. Breath calm. Feet grounded.

Let them see what mercy looks like. Let them remember someone did not flinch.

Dr. Edelu, M.D. ○●●
Chief Medical Officer
U.S.S. Genesis

Magnus stepped forward with arms raised and smiled, it was his most charming smile and his smiles had charm for days “Your highness, that would be an unwise decision, as the Volians have requested aid from a group of Sworn Federation Officers, you understand the implications of that” He didn’t ask.

XO

“Yes yes but we asked first,” King Casper said with the conviction of a five year old so sure about his response he could not believe there would be any answer except the one in his own mind.

Mirai raised his eyes and thought Ah, so that’s how we’re playing it.

Thomas moved up in support of the XO and CMO, his own rifle raised and pointing towards the Beltran security officers. Was he hilariously outgunned? Absolutely. But perhaps the threat of a single armed man would be enough to dissuade the Beltrans from being the first to fire.

COS

Mirai joined the CoS, rifle similarly leveled, giving cover best he could. He had very little confidence that they would be able to hold them off here, as exposed and surrounded as they were, but it would be a good death that would make his ancestors proud. He leveled his rifle at the Beltran King himself, his thought being, if he were to die, then he’d do his best to kill the one responsible for it. He began to place himself into a Zen trance, focusing only on the King and the XO. The moment the timing called for it, he was ready to both kill and consign himself to his own oblivion. If it were to be his end, he would make it such an end!

As he took aim with his rifle, he brought himself to his full, intimidating, height. Allowing the Klingon physique and his Samurai focus to join into a fearsome sight. He had been told by many colleagues how unnerving such a combination can be.

Lt. JG Mirai
Tactical

“Since we called you here first we are the victims and the ones that you need to protect. Not some hair rodent like creature. I mean they live underground.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Obviously by the state of your uniforms you know this. They have no culture. No civilization and yet,” he made a wide gesture with his hand showing his palace that while in somewhat need of repair from the previous night, was highly ornate and gorgeous. “Look at the Beltrans. If you are going to remove anyone beam those varmints into space. You can do that can’t you. Just beam them out into space from underground. It would be like a version of whack a mole.” The Beltran’s around him matched his laughter at his own joke even if it was in poor taste. “I mean I don’t really care what you do with them but we are the victims. They are the aggressor so do your job and rid us of them.”

The voice of the King echoed some as the Genesis was able to transmit as requested the conversation occurring in the courtyard to every comm device on the Beltran planet.

The high pitched voice of the Volian’s gave an instant response. Now that they had the means to communicate with the Volian’s the language came across the tricorders with minimal delay time. Whoever chose to share it the Volian message was one of frustration and despair. It spoke of how the Volian’s took offense to being called the aggressors and if the Federation was going to systematically wipe them off the surface of the planet. The Volian’s appeared to be taking more of a defensive posture as if unclear what the Federation stance would be.

GM Kate

OOC: Anyone can paraphrase into a post what I wrote from the Volian’s in their own words. I will run with it. ~ Kate