Predator and Prey

[Star_Dragon]

(OneUnder, please help - I can scarcely get a post in because the stubborn reply form refuses to load completely. Nine times out of ten, all I get is the file attachment options. Hope that explains why I haven't been posting.)

 

Bohdan, realizing the importance of the figure he bumped into, straightened his posture. Elizabeth followed suit. Bohdan's 7 foot tall stature dominated the corridor, and he was only inches from hitting his head on the ceiling. He folded his wings as tightly as possible in order to allow others to pass by. "My name is Colonel Bohdan Zenobi Chmielnicki of the Ruthenian Imperial Army," he announced. "As an official envoy of the Czar, I request that you take me to the leader of this ship."

"I'm with him," Elizabeth said bluntly, nodding her head.

​(Just so you know, Arminius, the Romulan "Subadmiral" rank [both Subadmiral I and Subadmiral II, the latter of which is Trask's official rank] is the equivalent of a Rear Admiral. Also, the halls of a Reman warship - like Trask's vessel as well as the Reman Warbird Scimitar which his vessel is based off of - have a near-12 foot clearing, judging by what I have seen in ST: Nemesis. Just clarifying.)

Trask raised an eyebrow at the tall dragon, thinking fractionally over his request. Being the owner of the Retribution's Thunder, he was as much it's leader. "You're looking at the leader of this ship, Colonel. Subadmiral Trask Makron, formerly Romulan Military Foreign Branch. I'd love to chat, but I have a meeting with the leader of the Romulan Republic forces that assisted us with Hakeev. Unless, that is, you want to tag along." He looked at Elizabeth and added, "And you, too, if you so desire. Just let me do the talking."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Very well, Subadmiral," Bohdan replied, zipping up and straightening out his dark-red jacket and rolling down the sleeves. Elizabeth straightened her officer's cap and zipped up her officer's jacket, as well. "We shall come with you. It is about time I was given a proper explanation from the highest authority you can get."

[CrypticQuery]

(OneUnder, please help - I can scarcely get a post in because the stubborn reply form refuses to load completely. Nine times out of ten, all I get is the file attachment options. Hope that explains why I haven't been posting.)

​(Try clearing your internet browser's cache and deleting all of SF-O's cookies.)

[Star_Dragon]

(Uhm... okay... dunno what I did, but I seem to have resolved the problem. And yes, OneUnder, I cleared out the cache - did that the day before yesterday. No dice.)

Trask led the dragon and his friend toward Transporter Room 2. It was as he entered the room and stepped onto the transporter pad that he contacted Sal. "Trask to Sal and Neil - I'm at the transporter room. Soon as you two get here, we can beam aboard the Republic Flagship." That said, Trask unslung his H1M1 rifle and checked the load, then subsequently reloaded it, seeing as he had only one round in the mag. He checked the power level of the integrated disruptor, as well, while he waited.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Are you low on ammunition, my friend?" Bohdan inquired to Subadmiral Trask, as Bohdan noticed the Subadmiral checking his weapon. He saw that there was barely any ammunition within it. "All of the blasters, phasers, disruptors, and lasers in the Universe are nothing but toys once their energy has been depleted or drained." Bohdan then unsheathed his bastard sword, a monster of a weapon with a 110 centimeter-long blade. It was solid ghurium, a unique metal found only on Ruthenia, his home world. Ghurium is 10 times stronger than steel or titanium, yet half as heavy. It was a most balanced weapon. Bohdan carefully examined it, running the blade along his left hand. "But this," he began. "This will never run out of ammunition.

"Ok," Elizabeth said nervously. "Put that thing away before you hurt someone."

"Hmph," Bohdan grumbled. "Very well." He then placed his bastard sword back in its scabbard.

[CrypticQuery]

​(I had the same issue with the post box a few days ago and it seemed to randomly correct itself within the hour.  I'm glad to see that you've met a similar success.)

Putting some pep in his step at Trask's most recent update, the raccoon broke into a quick jog down the hall, keying his mic to offer a response.

"Ten seconds and you'll have some company," Neil called out in between breaths.  Sighing in relief as he saw the threshold into the second transporter room in front of him, he stopped to catch his breath and patted himself down to ensure that no equipment had shaken loose or dislodged itself.  Looking up as the automatic doors before him parted and stepping into the room, his gaze snapped to the three other individuals that currently inhabited the space.  Instinctively stepping backward at the sight of the dragon and inadvertently tucking his tail nearly between his legs, it took a moment for the initial shock to wear off.  It was admittedly an assumption that the two that he didn't recognize were friendly, but he figured that Trask wouldn't allow himself to be cornered in such a fashion if not.

"What the hell have you been feeding that guy?," the raccoon chuckled, motioning his thumb in Bohdan's direciton before taking a few steps toward the trio.

Edited May 20, 2015 by OneUnder

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Candy," Bohdan said humorously as he revealed a caramel-flavored wafer covered in vanilla and sprinkled with chocolate fudge. He unwrapped the candy bar and consumed it. In Ruthenia and Papetoon, it is an iconic candy known as a Radoslav Bar, or an R-Bar for short. It is named so after its creator, Grand Prince Radoslav II, former Steward of Ruthenia, who famously sent a cargo ship with its hold full of R-Bars to the Premier of the People's Republic of Papetoon as a sign of friendship. Honoring that momentous occasion more than a century ago, it is custom for Ruthenians to offer strangers an R-Bar in hopes of forging a new friendship. It is considered an insult to reject an offered R-Bar. Bohdan pulled out another R-Bar and offered it to Neil the raccoon, so that the two of them may do exactly that. Bohdan outstretched his arm and opened his palm, revealing the comparatively small candy bar in his hand.

"I suggest you take it," Elizabeth advised. She, too, took out an R-Bar, unwrapped it, and bit off a portion of the candy. "Trust me, it's good stuff."

[Star_Dragon]

"Sword user, eh?" Trask chuckled. "Not gonna argue with that; I, myself, have a neat-looking - not to mention incredibly sharp - Bat'leth. To answer your question, however, no, I am not low on ammo. I was merely reloading my weapon. The integrated Disruptor is fine." He accessed his radio and asked, "Sal, what's your location? Over."

[Clearwater]

''I'm right here,'' Sal mused as he turned a corner into the room where Trask, Neil and another two dragons he had not yet seen were
waiting for him. ''Didn't see you on the bridge.'' He said, landing and tucking his wings behind his back. ''Either you were some of
the refugees we picked up, or I didn't see you around the ship. Either way, it's good to have another amigo with us. I'm Sal.''
Sal introduces himself.
A few seconds later, Neil had turned up, gasping for breath. Sal sniggered.
''And you say that you're quick on your feet.'' He couldn't help but laugh.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Clearwater

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

(FYI, Elizabeth is an Alaskan Klee Kai.)

Bohdan dug in his pocket for more R-Bars to accommodate the new face in the room. "Hold on," he requested. "I must have more of these bars somewhere." Meanwhile, to his left, Elizabeth greeted the colorful macaw warmly.

"Hey man," she said casually. "I'm Elizabeth. You can call me Liz." She then gestured to Bohdan. "This guy here's Bohdan."

[Star_Dragon]

"Assuming we're done making fun of each other," Trask said officiously, "D'Tan is waiting. Let's not keep him that way." He waited for Sal and Neil to get onto the transporter pads, during which he said, "Piece of advice - close your eyes. Makes the transporter experience less nauseating."

When Sal and Neil were on the Transporter pads, Trask would look to the transporter officer and say, "Energize." Then, the lot of them would vanish in the teleporter beam, and reappear in the halls of D'Tan's flagship. Trask, having been transported in this manner multiple times during his stint in the Romulan military, felt no side-effects. He wondered how the others' bodies would take being teleported this way...

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan and Elizabeth readied themselves for this momentous occasion. Neither of them had been transported in this manner before, so it was both a revealing and somewhat daunting experience for the two of them. Bohdan inhaled deeply, and closed his eyes. As the transporter energized his whole body, he felt every particle of matter that made up his body being disassembled and reassembled, piece by piece. To him, it was quick, yet almost mystical. There was no pain, just a slight tingling sensation as he felt himself rebuilt on the Republican vessel. When the process was complete, he checked himself to make sure all of Bohdan was there. He was. "That was..." he began, but nearly failed to finish, as his experience was difficult to describe. "Interesting." However, Elizabeth had a much different experience. She ignored Trask's warning, and kept her eyes wide open as she was dematerialized and rematerialized on the Republican vessel. She, too, felt herself being pulled apart and then back together again. The process was not just nauseating, it was simply too much. The moment she was completely rebuilt on the other side, Elizabeth collapsed to the floor, unconscious. "Elizabeth!" Bohdan yelled, crouching down to attend to his fallen friend.

[CrypticQuery]

Deciding to heed the female canine's advice, Neil accepted the offering and gingerly plucked it from the dragon's hand.

"Thanks - I might have to reconsider watching my figure if this thing turns out to be good," he nodded with a chuckle, stowing it in jacket's inner pocket.  The raccoon's black-furred ears perked up at Sal's commentary, however, and his brown narrowed as he thought up something to send back. 

"I might be outta' breath, but at least I don't have to watch out for power lines," he replied with a smirk, soon thereafter snapping to attention to listen to Trask's instructions.  Admittedly, Neil either tuned into the conversation too late, or hadn't been paying as much attention as he should have.  He realized this the moment he stepped onto the transporter pad and the dull echo of his footsteps reverberated in tandem with a slight lapse in his memory.  He heard something about closing, but wasn't sure exactly what needed to be closed!  His eyes widening in a slight panic, as he wasn't entirely sure whether or not missing that advice would cost him some of his molecular structure, the raccoon felt himself yelping out.

"What was that about cl-!"

* * *

Neil couldn't even begin to describe what had just happened, mainly because he didn't have any comparable precedent to compare it to.  Was he in there for seconds?  Minutes?  Hours?  Where was 'there' anyway?  Did he actually come out on the other side unscathed, or was this dark void he was seeing blindness caused by the transportation process?  It better not have been permanent!  Everything lethargically began to focus, but it was fuzzy beyond any reasonable expectation.  Thinking that he'd try to explore his new surroundings, his upper body wanted to move in one direction, and his lower body instead staggered off into another, while his ringed tail practically pointed straight up!  After lightly knocking himself into a wall a few times, and shaking his head until the sensation of being trapped inside of a blender that was inside of a washing machine stopped, he braced one hand up against the nearest wall, clutched the other one to his head, and took a few deep breaths.  They were more akin to gasps to be fair, but they were delivering oxygen nonetheless.  After a few more moments, he mustered up enough strength to voice his opinion.

"T...tell me there's a different way back to the Retribution's Thunder.  Or at least a number that I can call for a cab." 

He was still adjusting, and hadn't even noticed that they were one crewman down.

 

Edited May 22, 2015 by OneUnder

[Clearwater]

Sal burst into laughter at hearing Neil's very witty comeback.
''How DO you manage to think these things up?'' He managed to blurt out. This guy really knew all of the wisecracks.
The time came for the team to get teleported away. Salto moved onto the pad that was in the corner, hearing Trask advising him to
close his eyes during the voyage.
''And why should I do tha--'' He began, but was cut short when the whole of his surroundings blacked out for a few seconds, and
felt the wind being knocked out of his body. Just as he was beginning to black out, his surroundings came back into view, although
now different from what he saw before getting teleported. Sal collapsed to the ground, feeling dizzy.
'Ugh... That's why.'' He muttered, before seeing Elizabeth also down on the ground. She wasn't responding to everyone beckoning
her name.
''Oh, jeez.'' He said, taking it slowly. Once his head stopped turning, Sal grabbed Elizabeth's head in his wings so she wouldn't
wake up with the hard ground pressing into the back of her head.
''She must've ignored your advice, Trask,'' He suggested. ''Either that or she didn't get a second to register it.''

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"No, no, no, no, no...." Bohdan muttered restlessly as he leaned in to Elizabeth's lifeless face. He has not looked this worried in a very long time. Suddenly, Elizabeth opened her eyes, and looked into Bohdan's.

"Gotcha!" she said jokingly. Bohdan did not look amused at all as he turned to Sal holding up Elizabeth's head.

[Star_Dragon]

As much as Trask appreciated a sense of humor, now simply wasn't the time for pointless pranks and jokes. "Good to see you never left the living, Elizabeth; but transporter accidents - though quite rare - are no joke. Now, assuming we're done with the pranks, D'Tan is waiting, and I don't know about you all, but I'd very much like to know why a joint task force of Elachi warships and Tal Shiar troops struck my home and forced me out of retirement." He turned to the Romulan Republic soldiers now arriving on the scene. "Where is D'Tan, gentlemen?"

One of them apparently recognized Trask, and snapped to attention. "Subadmiral Trask, sir! D'Tan is waiting on the observation deck!"

Trask nodded, then told the soldiers to carry on. Looking back to the others, he said, "Again, keep close, and let me do the talking." That said, he headed into the halls of the Romulan ship...

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

After getting up from the cold floor of the vessel, Elizabeth, along with Bohdan, followed the Subadmiral out into the hall. "Please do not embarrass us again," Bohdan said.

"Don't worry, Bo," Elizabeth assured, straightening her officer's cap. "I'm a professional."

"I thought I had lost you," Bohdan said genuinely, looking down on his canine partner.

"Bo," she said, stopping herself and Bohdan temporarily from leaving the room. "I've got no intentions of leaving anyone. Especially you, yeah?" The duo nodded in agreement.

[Star_Dragon]

(OneUnder, Clearwater - waiting for one or both of you to post before I proceed.)

[Clearwater]

(Got it)

Sal sighed when he realized that it was all just a joke. First he sighed in relief, then his mood changed to a more deadpan style.
''Very funny,'' He mumbled. ''We wouldn't be laughing though if you really passed out though.''
Salto followed Trask and Tovan down the hall, along with Bo, Elizabeth and Neil. As he did, he noticed that Neil was looking a little
queasy and could throw up at any moment. Must've been the side-effects of teleporting first time. Sal was also feeling a little nauseous
as well, but nothing a quick pause and a few deep breaths couldn't fix. As for Neil though...
''You okay, amigo?'' He asked Neil. ''You sure do look unwell.'' Sal paused while he retrieved something from his backpack.
''Here.'' Sal passed to the racoon an orange, sweet-looking fruit. ''Passion fruit,'' He explained. ''Go on, eat up. You'll feel
a little better afterwards.''
The team walked into a lift, and Trask closed the door and hit the top most button, which made the lift shoot straight up to the
observation platform.
''So, what exactly is the Tal Shiar's problem with us?'' Sal asked Trask and Tovan.

[CrypticQuery]

(Sorry for the delay; thankfully I can focus on this now as other obligations have been satisfied for the time being.) 

Sal wasn't wrong; the raccoon had the classic look of malaise on his face, and he hung his muzzle open partly in order to take deeper breaths.  He was slightly hunched over as he walked, and hoped that the spinning sensation that remained would soon rectify itself.  As he was in no mood for speaking, however, he simply shook his head at the fruit offering and brushed the avian's wing aside.  Anything that touched his stomach right now would likely be all over a wall within a few minutes if things kept going like they did! 

Unable to appreciate the finer bits of architecture of the current vessel, and perhaps even...borrow something for his own personal collection, Neil continued on, doing his best not to fall behind and hoping that Trask would enlighten the group on their current circumstances.  The raccoon didn't even know what a D'Tan was supposed to be!

 

Edited May 26, 2015 by OneUnder

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

As the elevator made its way to the observation platform, Bohdan did his best to squeeze in and give enough room for everyone else. His massive frame meant that there was not that much space left with him inside, so he sacrificed his comfort for the comfort of his comrades. Elizabeth stood beside the giant dragon. "I saw him, Bo," Elizabeth said decisively.

"What?" Bohdan asked, not registering what Elizabeth had uttered.

"I. Saw. Him," she repeated more slowly, looking Bohdan in the eye. After a moment of deep thought, it dawned on the dragon: she saw her husband.

"You saw Lucas?" he asked, looking very disturbed.

"Saw, talked to, touched, the whole nine yards." Elizabeth had a fiery look of certainty in her eyes. "It felt like half an hour went by before I woke up."

"...What..." Bohdan began, but struggled to finished out of sheer disbelief mixed with a pinch of terror. "What did he say...?"

"He said that he misses me a lot, that he hopes that I'm living my life to the fullest, that I'm happy, that I've moved on." Elizabeth had developed a lump in her throat. "He looked really down when I told him otherwise. Ah, crap..." She looked down to the floor of the elevator in shame.

"What did he have to say... about me?" Bohdan asked apprehensively. Elizabeth returned her sight to the Sclavic dragon.

"He said that he doesn't want me to kill you, that he forgives you for what you did." Bohdan looked away from Elizabeth. "I told him that I agreed with him on one of those things." Bohdan stood in silence, staring at the sidearm the husky was grasping rather ominously, and glaring at him menacingly.

[Star_Dragon]

(Okay, so it seems that the larger each page gets, the harder it is for me to reply. Just my luck. Oh, and Clearwater - Tovan isn't present in this particular situation. Trask left him in command of the Retribution's Thunder while he went to have a word with D'Tan.)

Trask sighed at Sal's question. "Sal, comrade, do you think I'd be coming here to have a word with this... D'Tan... if I knew why the Tal Shiar attacked us?" Trask paused, overhearing Bo and Elizabeth conversing, then noticed Elizabeth's clearly hostile gesture. He triggered the turbolift's stopping mechanism and rounded on the two of them. "Look, I don't know who the hell you two really are or what the beef is between you two, but you better grill it up and eat it. Now simply isn't the time for grudges and rivalries. Once we've dealt with Hakeev and the Tal Shiar, and we're all free to go our separate ways, feel free to kill each other - not before." He looked Bo dead in the eyes. "Do I make myself clear, Colonel?" Trask growled, making a clear verbal and nonverbal reference to the fact that he outranked him.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan scowled, with a distinct bright red glow emanating from his mouth and piercing through his teeth. He shook his head, and regained his composure. Elizabeth looked back at Trask, and moved her hand away from her sidearm. Bohdan cleared his throat, and observed the superiority of Trask. "Yes, Subadmiral."

"You pullin' ranks now?" Elizabeth questioned. Nevertheless, she too accepted Trask's rank. "Fine," she stated bluntly, straightening her officer's cap. Bohdan then decided to ease the tension, and change the subject.

"I hope Sandor will be fine. We left him with a quite substantial disruptor wound." he said.

"Pshh," Elizabeth uttered, downplaying the situation. "Korby's got this. He's a trained professional, and has a degree in battlefield medicine."

[CrypticQuery]

(S_D, try deleting any cookies from SF-O that your browser has saved previously.  That's the only thing that comes to my mind that could conceivably prevent the reply box from loading consistently.)  

 

Great, these two have got a history between 'em, Neil thought as he witnessed the incident unfolding, his ears perking up at some of the commentary and brow furrowing.  Trask's defusal of the situation couldn't have come at a better time, especially when considering the rather intimate nature of the comparatively miniscule elevator car.  The sudden stop of the elevator car caught him off guard, however, and he nearly lost his balance.  This also didn't bode well for the queasiness incurred through the aforementioned transporter, although he did feel markedly better than when he first beamed onto the ship.  Shutting his eyes and taking a few short breaths, he braced against the bar in the back of the elevator and cocked his head to the side with a bit of advice for the occupants.

"You make him do that again," he muttered out in Bohdan and Elizabeth's direction, referring to Trask having to stop the elevator, "and your new wardrobe will be what I had for lunch." 

Running his black-furred hand through the fur atop his head, the raccoon exhaled and straightened his posture to his full, albeit still short in stature, height.  The full on upchucking feeling was beginning to subside, and a light flick of his ringed tail exhibited a marginally improving mood.   

Edited May 27, 2015 by OneUnder

[Star_Dragon]

There was a pause in the situation, where Trask stared at Bohdan. "Before my stint in the Romulan Military, I served in the Dragon'taan Marauder Corps. I served under Dragons like you. I know what they're like. So, it goes without saying that I have a lot of respect for your kind..." he looked at Elizabeth. "... and anyone who has the guts to even be a dragon's friend is more than okay in my book." His eyes returned to Bohdan. "But this better be the last time I have to keep you two from tearing each other's throats out. We have much larger concerns, now." He slapped the stop button again, and the turbolift gently began it's ascent. "Now, when we speak with D'Tan, I'd much appreciate it if you all let me do the talking, unless D'Tan speaks to one of you. Romulans are known for many things, one of which is asking direct questions; if D'Tan asks you such a question, give him a direct answer."

The turbolift doors parted not two seconds later. "About time!" growled a Romulan on the other side of the parting door. "Who's been holding up the damn--" he stopped midsentence upon seeing Trask, stepped aside, and snapped to attention, visibly trembling at the sight of Bohdan. Trask looked back at Bohdan before heading into the hall to say, "Don't let this Centurion's intimidation fool you; not all Romulans are afraid of dragons. Some, like myself, respect them."

Trask moved through the halls, and finally reached the observation deck, where Republic Romulans tended to various tasks - all but one, dressed in attire more political than military. This particular Romulan stood, hands clasped behind his back, staring out at what appeared to be this vessel's port wings and warp nacelles - or perhaps he was staring at the space beyond, or the fleet gathered around this gargantuan vessel. Trask really couldn't tell. Trask approached the figure, then stood at attention. "D'Tan, sir... you wanted to speak to me?"

The Romulan turned to face Trask, making his somewhat advanced age apparent as he looked at the lot assembled before them. "I don't know if any of you were close to those who didn't make it of Virinat," he stated, "A stranger's sympathy may not count for much, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Unless you attacked Virinat, sir, you have nothing to apologize for," Trask said.

D'Tan looked at the faces before him, stopping at Bohdan. "I haven't seen one of your kind in years... who are you?"

Edited May 27, 2015 by Star_Dragon
Minor correction