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Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 4.1 - Countdown) #Amalgaverse A Klingon Bird-of-Prey has decloaked and its captain, Kordath, has demanded the Enterprise hand over Harven Zax. Kirk apprises Councilor Robespierre of the situation, and for the first time since he came aboard, Robespierre looks genuinely happy. A legal battle is exactly his kind of fight. He comes to the bridge, steps up to the viewscreen, straightens his collar and begins.  Under the Khitomer Accords, he informs Kordath, a passenger under Federation protection cannot simply be surrendered on a captain’s say-so. There are extradition protocols. There are jurisdictional reviews. There is a formal process for the presentation of charges, which, as far as he can see, Kordath has not begun. Kordath’s patience thins visibly with every clause. “We are not in a courtroom, Councilor.” “No,”Robespierre agrees pleasantly. “If we were, you would already have lost. Now, I’ll need to see your warrant.” Kordath glares at him for a long moment.  Then he transmits it. Robespierre studies it with obvious relish. “Verifying this through the proper diplomatic channels will take at least half a day. Perhaps longer.” “You have four hours,”says Kordath, and the screen goes dark. The Bird-of-Prey takes up position off the Enterprise’s bow, its weapons still trained on her. With four hours on the clock, Scotty and Maia get to work restoring the systems still damaged after the attack. That gives everyone else time to deal with the problem the ambush interrupted: one of the four guests aboard sabotaged the cruiser. In the brig, the captured strike team members are no help. Under questioning, they offer nothing beyond the fact that they were following orders. Whose orders, beyond their direct superiors, none of them seems to know. Kirk has already sent Starfleet a routine request for background information on all four passengers. But Starfleet will take its time, and the crew can’t afford to. What do you do? A) Quietly question them. Find out where each guest was when the cruiser’s engines failed, without telling them why you’re asking. But casual questions may yield incomplete answers, and pushing too hard risks tipping your hand. B) Confront them with the sabotage. Gather all four, reveal that you know the cruiser was sabotaged, and question them openly. Their reactions might tell you more than their answers. But the saboteur will be on guard from here on. C) Search their quarters. While the guests are kept busy elsewhere, look for anything that connects them to the sabotage. But a careful saboteur may have covered their tracks, and searching a diplomat’s quarters risks a diplomatic incident. Choose! Recruit a crewmate: Share this with a fellow fan! Then turn on notification so that you don't miss a moment of this mission! New to the mission? Catch up with our Previously On in the reply below.

Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 3.5 - Predator) #Amalgaverse The cruiser breaks away from the Enterprise and runs for open space, leaving its soldiers behind. It doesn’t get far. Behind it, space ripples and a Klingon Bird-of-Prey shimmers out of cloak, its wings lowering into attack position. Two torpedoes, two direct hits, and the cruiser is gone, leaving behind a spreading cloud of wreckage. The Bird-of-Prey comes about, bringing its weapons to bear on the Enterprise. Then it hails. A Klingon captain appears on the viewscreen, scarred, grey-bearded and entirely at ease. “This is Captain James T. Kirk, of the U.S.S. Enterprise.” “I am Captain Kordath, of the warship Vor’nak. You are welcome, Captain. The vermin who attacked your ship will trouble no one again.” “I don’t recall asking for your help,”says Kirk. “A Klingon never waits to be asked.” Then he gets down to business. Harven Zax is wanted by the Klingon Empire for crimes against it, and the Enterprise is in Klingon space. Kordath demands that Zax be handed over to them. What do you do? A) Refuse. Zax is under Federation protection, and Kirk has his orders. But the Enterprise has only now come back to life, and a Bird-of-Prey that just destroyed a cruiser may not take no for an answer. B) Stall. Demand to see the warrant. Bring in Councilor Robespierre to argue jurisdiction and drag out the talks while Scotty brings the ship back to full strength. But Klingon patience runs short, and Robespierre may make things worse. C) Run. Go to warp and leave the Klingons behind. But it’s a long way out of Klingon space, and a Bird-of-Prey is built for the chase. Choose! [END OF ACT THREE] Recruit a crewmate: Share this with a fellow fan! Then turn on notification so that you don't miss a moment of this mission! New to the mission? Catch up with our Previously On in the reply below.

Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 3.5 - Predator) #Amalgaverse The cruiser breaks away from the Enterprise and runs for open space, leaving its soldiers behind. It doesn’t get far. Behind it, space ripples and a Klingon Bird-of-Prey shimmers out of cloak, its wings lowering into attack position. Two torpedoes, two direct hits, and the cruiser is gone, leaving behind a spreading cloud of wreckage. The Bird-of-Prey comes about, bringing its weapons to bear on the Enterprise. Then it hails. A Klingon captain appears on the viewscreen, scarred, grey-bearded and entirely at ease. “This is Captain James T. Kirk, of the U.S.S. Enterprise.” “I am Captain Kordath, of the warship Vor’nak. You are welcome, Captain. The vermin who attacked your ship will trouble no one again.” “I don’t recall asking for your help,”says Kirk. “A Klingon never waits to be asked.” Then he gets down to business. Harven Zax is wanted by the Klingon Empire for crimes against it, and the Enterprise is in Klingon space. Kordath demands that Zax be handed over to them. What do you do? A) Refuse. Zax is under Federation protection, and Kirk has his orders. But the Enterprise has only now come back to life, and a Bird-of-Prey that just destroyed a cruiser may not take no for an answer. B) Stall. Demand to see the warrant. Bring in Councilor Robespierre to argue jurisdiction and drag out the talks while Scotty brings the ship back to full strength. But Klingon patience runs short, and Robespierre may make things worse. C) Run. Go to warp and leave the Klingons behind. But it’s a long way out of Klingon space, and a Bird-of-Prey is built for the chase. Choose! [END OF ACT THREE] Recruit a crewmate: Share this with a fellow fan! Then turn on notification so that you don't miss a moment of this mission! New to the mission? Catch up with our Previously On in the reply below.

And now the hunters become the hunted... Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 3.4 - Face Off) #Amalgaverse The surviving strike teams act on their orders, converging on the guest deck, where Harven Zax is being held.  Surprisingly, they meet no resistance.  One squad moves toward a closed door, rifles raised.  From behind it comes a voice, rich and theatrical: “Confined like a common felon!  Herded about by ninnyhammers in pajamas!  I, who have dined with ambassadors and been toasted by admirals, left to cower while my life hangs by a thread!” The squad leader signals.  The door slides open. Inside, a heavyset man sits with his back to the entrance, his broad shoulders draped in an extravagant embroidered coat, hand raised in a grand gesture to an empty room. “Let the canker-blossoms come.  Let history record that I faced my fate as I faced every audience: seated, composed and magnificent.” The soldiers move in, slow and silent, and fan out behind the chair.  The man doesn’t turn.  For the first time, one of the soldiers speaks, the voice flat and distorted through the helmet: “Harven Zax?” The chair swings around. The face looking back at them is wrong. It has the rough shape of a face, but it’s smooth and featureless, like soft putty or a candle left too long in the sun. “No,”it says. Then the man begins to change.  His body melts into a surge of golden-amber liquid and rises out of the chair, stretching and swelling into something monstrous.  It towers over them, hunched, all hooked claws, wrong-jointed limbs, and eyeless head.  It opens its maw ringed with needle teeth, throws back its head and shrieks. Now the strike team gives ground, backing away with their rifles still trained on the thing in front of them.   Before they can recover, Carter, Lucinda, and Aeryn come out of hiding and take them apart hand to hand, three very different fighting styles that turn out to work well together: Carter’s tactical discipline, Lucinda’s surgical precision, and Aeryn’s Peacekeeper brutality.  When the last soldier drops, the three women exchange looks of grudging professional respect. The creature shrinks, softens and settles into a familiar form: Odo, adjusting his uniform with obvious distaste. “A little over the top, but circumstances demanded it,”he says. Back in the corridor, the remaining strike teams find themselves surrounded by O’Neill’s team on one side and Sheppard’s on the other.  It turns out the orders that brought them here never came from their commanders.   They came from Data and Rommie, who cracked their comms and sent them straight into a waiting ambush. Then Data reports from the bridge.  The last strike teams are down or captured.  And the cruiser, abandoning its own soldiers, is breaking away from the Enterprise. What do you do? A) Lock a tractor beam on it.  Hold the cruiser in place, and its crew can answer some questions. B) Give chase.  Disable its engines before it can go to warp. C) Let it go.  Secure the Enterprise and find out who’s under those helmets. Choose! Recruit a crewmate: Share this with a fellow fan! Then turn on notification so that you don't miss a moment of this mission! New to the mission? Catch up with our Previously On in the reply below.

And now the hunters become the hunted... Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 3.4 - Face Off) #Amalgaverse The surviving strike teams act on their orders, converging on the guest deck, where Harven Zax is being held.  Surprisingly, they meet no resistance.  One squad moves toward a closed door, rifles raised.  From behind it comes a voice, rich and theatrical: “Confined like a common felon!  Herded about by ninnyhammers in pajamas!  I, who have dined with ambassadors and been toasted by admirals, left to cower while my life hangs by a thread!” The squad leader signals.  The door slides open. Inside, a heavyset man sits with his back to the entrance, his broad shoulders draped in an extravagant embroidered coat, hand raised in a grand gesture to an empty room. “Let the canker-blossoms come.  Let history record that I faced my fate as I faced every audience: seated, composed and magnificent.” The soldiers move in, slow and silent, and fan out behind the chair.  The man doesn’t turn.  For the first time, one of the soldiers speaks, the voice flat and distorted through the helmet: “Harven Zax?” The chair swings around. The face looking back at them is wrong. It has the rough shape of a face, but it’s smooth and featureless, like soft putty or a candle left too long in the sun. “No,”it says. Then the man begins to change.  His body melts into a surge of golden-amber liquid and rises out of the chair, stretching and swelling into something monstrous.  It towers over them, hunched, all hooked claws, wrong-jointed limbs, and eyeless head.  It opens its maw ringed with needle teeth, throws back its head and shrieks. Now the strike team gives ground, backing away with their rifles still trained on the thing in front of them.   Before they can recover, Carter, Lucinda, and Aeryn come out of hiding and take them apart hand to hand, three very different fighting styles that turn out to work well together: Carter’s tactical discipline, Lucinda’s surgical precision, and Aeryn’s Peacekeeper brutality.  When the last soldier drops, the three women exchange looks of grudging professional respect. The creature shrinks, softens and settles into a familiar form: Odo, adjusting his uniform with obvious distaste. “A little over the top, but circumstances demanded it,”he says. Back in the corridor, the remaining strike teams find themselves surrounded by O’Neill’s team on one side and Sheppard’s on the other.  It turns out the orders that brought them here never came from their commanders.   They came from Data and Rommie, who cracked their comms and sent them straight into a waiting ambush. Then Data reports from the bridge.  The last strike teams are down or captured.  And the cruiser, abandoning its own soldiers, is breaking away from the Enterprise. What do you do? A) Lock a tractor beam on it.  Hold the cruiser in place, and its crew can answer some questions. B) Give chase.  Disable its engines before it can go to warp. C) Let it go.  Secure the Enterprise and find out who’s under those helmets. Choose! Recruit a crewmate: Share this with a fellow fan! Then turn on notification so that you don't miss a moment of this mission! New to the mission? Catch up with our Previously On in the reply below.

The help Kirk needs comes from the last place anyone expected... Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 3.3 - Crossfire) #Amalgaverse While O’Neill and Sheppard’s teams take the fight to the strike teams, Carter’s team digs in to defend the guest deck, leaving Kirk to hunt the beacon with Scotty, Teal’c, and Data.  The signal leads them to main engineering, but there’s nothing there to see.  Then Data recalibrates his tricorder, and something shimmers into view, clinging to the warp core housing: a small, many-legged mechanical crawler, cloaked until now. Teal’c pries it loose.  Scotty cuts its power.  The signal dies, and across the ship, the lights flicker back on.   “Main power restored, Captain,”announces Data.  “Shields are back up and at full strength.” “Then their reinforcements are cut off,”says Teal’c.  “We need only defeat those who remain.” Scotty turns the device over in his hands.  Someone carried it aboard and set it loose.  It crawled through the vents to the warp core and latched on, dampening the ship’s power and knocking out every system.  Then it started broadcasting the Enterprise’s position and guiding the strike teams’ transporters straight in. “It’s a wee bit of genius, Captain,”Scotty begrudgingly admits.  Then, pocketing it: “I’m keepin’ this.” The team falls back toward the guest deck.  But on their way, a strike team rounds the corner dead ahead.   Another immediately closes in from behind.  Kirk’s team takes cover behind a bulkhead, pinned down, as the masked soldiers advance in perfect step.  There’s nowhere left to go. Suddenly, behind the advancing strike teams, the turbolift doors slide open. Algernon fills the doorway, his rotary cannon leveled.  He opens fire, and the soldiers caught in the open go down. He steps aside.  Behind him stands Maia, the utility android who joined the crew after their last mission.  She fires, her weapon finding the breaches in the enemy’s armor. She steps aside.  Then Mira drops from the ceiling hatch, a pistol in each hand, firing wildly, cackling with pure delight. She too steps into the corridor, revealing Dunsel, armed with a soup ladle.  He trundles over to a fallen soldier, raps him several times, then hurries to catch up. Kirk’s team comes out of cover.  Kirk looks from Maia to the two escaped prisoners, now very well armed. “They offered their assistance,”says Maia.  “And you appeared to require it.” They were in the brig when the power failed.  The force fields went down with everything else, so the pair availed themselves of the opportunity.  “Our former employers likely sent those squads to tidy up loose ends, among them Mira and myself, just as your tailor foresaw,”says Algernon.  “Such ingratitude rather settles the question of allegiance, wouldn’t you agree?” There’s no time to celebrate.  With internal sensors back, Data can finally see that O’Neill and Sheppard have taken out their opponents, but the remaining squads are converging on the guest deck. What do you do? A) Reinforce the guest deck.  Carter’s team is holding, but every surviving squad is converging on her position, and she’s outnumbered.  Sending everyone to help could turn the tide, but it leaves the bridge with a skeleton crew, and the strike teams have already shown they know exactly where to hit the ship. B) Hijack their comms.  Data has isolated the encrypted chatter between the soldiers’ helmets, and Rommie, who is herself a warship’s AI, can help him crack it.  Once they’re in, they can feed the squads false orders, sending them the wrong way or straight into an ambush.  But it takes time to break the encryption, and if the strike teams realize their comms are compromised, they’ll switch to hand signals and the advantage will be gone. C) Turn the guns on their ship.  With power back, the Enterprise can fight.  Open fire on the cruiser holding position over the saucer and cripple it, leaving the boarders with no ride home.  But the cruiser will fire back, and Carter’s team is on its own until the battle is over. Choose! Recruit a crewmate: Share this with a fellow fan! Then turn on notification so that you don't miss a moment of this mission! New to the mission? Catch up with our Previously On in the reply below.