Star Trek: Starbase 777

There was a concerning lack of fleet customers in his restaurant today. Had they all gone to the rapture? Just kidding, he didn't know what the rapture was. Not his religion. He was more into old pagan gods. Actually, there weren't many civilian customers either. As he'd soon find out, it was because of that announcement. Some sort of organisation's scheme... He didn't appreciate this. One might say he was a little displeased. He enjoyed routine, and this was disturbing it. He left the rest of his shop to his Menions and exited Surak Snacks, curious to see if there were any ne'er-do-wells wandering around from which he could acquire some sort of explanation, or perhaps persuade them to kindly take their terrorism elsewhere.

Melody arrived at the Rocket 'n' Roll Comfort Diner in a hurry. "POLARIS!" She said. "We've got company. We need to find the other civvies NOW."

The former Astrolis II Police Officer was busy wiping down tables of her own, ensuring the place was clean. The runner jets were helping out too, providing clean wet cloths so Polaris could continue cleaning the bar. But when Melody appeared, Polaris looked back at her in shock. "Melody! You're okay," Polaris said. "I was getting worried about you. I didn't know if you just stayed put or not. You're right. We need to find any other civilians. Whoever this Marked Resolve is, we can't handle them alone." Before she tossed aside the cloths, and with a click of a button on her work shoes -- POP! A set of roller skates wheels flicked out, allowing Polaris to skate along the floor. "Hop on," Polaris said. "Piggyback style. Let's roll out."

M'arra closed the shop early that day, looking around for any other owners who'd heard the commotion. She didn't like the idea of being alone while there was a terrorist organization on board. Even so, she'd brought a handful of grandma candies, carefully wrapped and in her pocket. Just in case anyone wanted them. "What should we do?" she queried someone she found standing outside Surak Snacks. The owner, she remembered, she visited there quite often. "We have no way of overtaking them on our own, do we?"

Melody hopped onto Polaris back as she rode with Polaris around the food court to see if she could spot anyone. "Anyone around?" Melody called out, not too loudly, but loud enough so people could hear when they skated by. "Anyone? Any civilians around?"

Rojin, in his 60 years of life, has seen many things - such was his experience, instilling an "it is what it is" sort of reaction to many of the spontaneous happenings and adventures thrown his way by forces unseen. But, admittedly, witnessing a Starfleet officer reach out for their drink in the middle of their epic tale about... salamanders or something, only to then suddenly disappear right before his eyes, and then seeing half of his other patrons poof into thin air like it was a chain reaction... it made the man pause and raise an eyebrow, freezing up as if expecting to go too. "...huh." The brief confusion lasted only for so long - the announcement came, bringing some clarity, but mostly more questions, to the bar owner. He looked around some more, before sighing and taking off his bar apron, his mind made up quickly: "Everyone, stay in the bar, please - make sure people who are here don't panic, and offer seats for newcomers if needed. I will go see what this is all about," he took the drink he made for the poor sap and toasted to Kraske, his bar assistant, before downing the mocktail and walking out of the bar, immediately having a look around.

4

2

Men waved over to Melody and co, wincing at the shouting. It's not that Melody was being too loud, though - he just had very sensitive ears. Then he turned to Marra and said, "I do not know. However, we each have our own talents. It is possible we will be able to combine our efforts to assist Starfleet today. Do you have any special skills?"

Polaris saw Men waving, and skated over with Melody, before skidding to a stop, and letting Melody off of her back. "Howdy," Polaris said. "I assume we're all just as confused with what's going on right now."

"My "special skills" mostly include being able to safely handle molten sugar without scorching my fur off," the old woman grumbled, tail flicking indignantly behind her as two very colorful individuals skated over. "I will do what I must."

Melody hopped off of Polaris' back as she stood to her side. "Sorry for the less-than-ideal introduction. Whatever we do now, we just gotta stay calm, if we can. Honestly... Since Starfleet can't help, we need to act like Starfleet officers if we're going to stop the Masked Resolve." After a moment, Melody spoke again. "It'd be best if we all teamed up as civvies. No one walk alone unless they have to." Alyssa had given Melody a very in-depth talking to about survival strategies following the were-epohh incident on Mol'Rihan - this was certainly coming out in how she talked. "Did you mention about skills everyone had?" Melody said. "Maybe that's good to start there."

Polaris had never seen Melody talk this intelligently in her life - and that wasn't an exaggeration. She'd never held herself together as well as she did now, as long as she knew her. "It helps that I'm a former police officer," Polaris said. "And with my roller skates, I can help people who ride with me get around much quicker. If we need to move fast doing anything, I can help."

M'arra clicked her tongue. "I wouldn't advise riding on anyone's back, that sounds dangerous. Strength in numbers. We'll be faster moving together, won't we?" Hell if she knew. She was a confectioner, not a battle strategist.

"Where's everyone gone? Bingo?" he muttered under his breath, realizing that, indeed, there were no uniforms to be seen amongst the confused crowd. It was a bit weird to see if he was to be honest, after getting so used to the grey shoulders always being on the promenade. The Romulan shook his head and started to walk away from his bar, soon spotting a crowd: "What's the commotion?" Rojin inquired, looking at the colorful group, but spotting no apparent trouble. "Everything alright, besides the whole... thing going on?"

5

4

2

Melody did almost fall a few times riding on Polaris' back. So, M'arra did have a point. "If only everyone has roller skates," Melody said matter-of-factly. "But you're right. We need to stay together. Whatever everyone can do to help each other. Although this isn't going to be easy as just classifying everyone based on their division like Tactical to see what skills they have to be able to get to wherever this Masked Resolve person is." Before she realized... "Divisions. Wait a second... Can we group some of us based on our strengths which are most similar? Sort of like divisions! That way we can have a central command group, with smaller subgroups! That way if we have to split up if necessary, then team members will have the same skills as each other!"

"I am a cook. And a chemist. I am also trained in Suus Manha, so if need be I will defend us, though I would rather not." He looked over to Jin. "We are alright, for the most part."

Polaris listened alongside Melody, who really had the biggest brain moment in her life that she could remember. "I think what Melody's suggesting is we essentially form our own Starfleet divisions! Stronger together, and just as strong when we have like minded civilians working together in their own disciplines. Anyone else have police or defense skills like I do?"

"Me. As I said. I suppose Suus Manha is more likely to be of use to people than chemistry." Out of all the Starfleet divisions he'd imagined being in, security was not one of them, though.

Not knowing what Suus Manha, Polaris seemed confused - before she put the pieces together. "Oh! Must be a defense form I haven't heard of before! My apologies - well, if absolutely necessary, and let's hope it doesn't come to it, you know a form of self defense! Looks like we have a proto-Tactical division already, Melody!"

"It is a Vulcan martial art. Primarily defensive. I would say it's more security than tactical, but I suppose the line can be thin." The thing about Suus Manha was that the motto of it was: hope that you're lucky enough to never have to use it. Vulcans we're not inclined to seek out fights.

Melody nodded in agreement to Men. It seemed that finding like minded people with similar skills may have been a good call after all. "Alright, cool! We have a couple Security slash Tactical people!" Melody said. "So we have the start of a Security slash Tactical division! What about everyone else here? Do you all fit in Command, Operations, Engineering? Or any subset of what those might be?" Melody's confidence showed through as she spoke, feeling much more sure of herself knowing she could actually handle this situation with grace and finesse!

"Organizing a group and figuring out a plan to take back the Starbase," M'arra answered, looking up (and up..and up...) at the Romulan to speak to him. "The whole point of this is that we are not Starfleet. We need a plan before we organize anyone into groups at all." came the quiet argument, filled with classic old-lady-judging tone.

The civvies weren't Starfleet indeed. "Nah, we're not Starfleet," Melody agreed. "Don't think we can reach that level at the moment. But you're right - let's make a plan. Does anyone have any other insight into what's going on other than what they saw in the PADD messages and PA system announcement?" Melody looked around again, the confident, leader-like tone of voice showing through once more!

"I do not know, and I assume nobody else knows, anything about who the Marked Resolve are." No idea what their beef with Starfleet was either. "We need to find out where they are physically. I assume they are not here to shop, so I doubt they are here or near any of the businesses."

Suppressing the urge to grimace at the word "police", he instead shifted his gaze down (and down... and down...) at the Caitian: "Organizing ourselves into a parody of the organization that our new neighbors seem to specifically hate, might be... a bit problematic down the road. I can't speak much for I don't have experience, but judging by the message, they offer peace for our obedience." He looked around again, trying to spot someone who was out of place, all to calm for a bartender in a lockdown situation: "Marked Resolve, huh? I'd go find some and try to chat."

4

"We need to get to the one who made the first announcement," M'arra (verbally not literally) piggybacked off of Men, nodding along. "We should see what's going on on the other decks, right?"

Melody listened intently as Men spoke, taking in the fact that the Marked Resolve could be anywhere and everywhere. "It would make sense if they were on the bridge, that's where they sent the PA system announcement from," Melody surmised. "But you can send out a PA system out from multiple places on the ship too, so they could be any in the main divisions areas, I'd think." (edited)

Polaris listened as Jin spoke, taking in the fact that the Marked Resolve didn't really like Starfleet too much and wasn't too fond of them. "Heh, pardner, obedience ain't justice," she said. "We can certainly sit here and let them silence us. Or we can do something about it. I'd think you'd prefer not to be controlled by a terrorist organization. Starfleet does have a good system going for them. And besides, if the Marked Resolve doesn't like Starfleet... That's their problem. Not ours." (edited)

Jesus Romulan Christ. "Spoken like a true cop," he commented through his gritted teeth and pointed canines with a lull in his voice, the irony of what this human was saying prompting him to swallow down the cold chuckle and look somewhere else, the mismatched gaze landing back on the Caitian. He nodded along to her words: "Might be smart to circle the food court first. It's not small, might be more people around willing to follow us."

Melody took in Jin's recommendation to find more people in the food court. "Yes, I agree," Melody said. "Polaris, the food court isn't too big, maybe you can skate around to see who's around here? I'll keep my eye on you at all times."

Polaris nodded, and before long, she was off, skating away from the group that accumulated, and looking for anyone else who was around. "Anyone around? Howdy?" Polaris hollered, but not too loud. "Howdy? Buckaroos? Pardners? We reckon we'd like yer help!" As she skated to try and find others who were around.

"Hellooo?" Terahl poked his head around a corner, sunglasses high on the bridge of his nose. "Oh, thank the prophets, civilization! What's the little party over there about, hmm?"

Noticing Terahl, Polaris skidded to a stop! "Howdy pardner! We're tryna gather all of the civvies we can! It's dangerous if everyone's split up. Come on, we have a lot to talk about - see Melody over there? The baker in the baker's hat with the red bandana and the white ceramic half mask. She's over there with some of the group, maybe gravitate that way so we stay together!" (edited)

Thank the Prophets indeed. Trailing behind Terahl, the tall Caitian looked around the food court area, greeting people with a friendly smile, which was really very bad at concealing the actual look of concern they had on their face.

"No danger to speak of, no? They said they'd leave civilians alone." Tavaen was being an ass, he knew but still. He was also right! And he'd already made up his mind to help, so he had the right, he found.

Noticing M'Noa and Tavaen as well, Polaris skated their way and skidded to a stop. "Howdy pardners! We got a little corral formin' up over yonder! All the civvies are stayin' together. See the baker with the red bandana over there? That's our little meetin' spot!"

"Baker with a red bandana?" Tavaen asked, squinting where Polaris was pointing. "I see a bartender with an ugly mug, is that the group you mean?"

6

"I think his mug is perfectly pleasant to look at," Terahl quipped, cocking his head to the side.

Speaking of danger-- "Khellian," he angled his head, looking at Tavaen with a slight squint and a small yet sharp smile on his lips. "Was not expecting to see you here. Got caught up in all of this during one of your little walks?.." (edited)

"You have strange tastes, friend," Tavaen said to Terahl, though his eyes never left the group as he started to walk over. He'd deliberately avoided the bartender until now, but... ah, well.

Polaris spun around to see the group over with Melody, Jin, M'arra and Men. "Well, he doesn't got an ugly mug, I don't think! But if he's the one yer findin' over yonder, then sure thing, buckaroo! Head on over thataway!"

"You should probably be using the tallest person as a landmark," Men pointed out. That was probably either him or Jin, unless Melody had sprouted a few feet in the last five seconds. He heard the conversation the other lot were having with his Special Ears. "I do not understand why they are insulting Jin's mug. I have been to his establishment. His mugs are perfectly acceptable."

5

Melody watched as more people filed in, seeing the other civilians find each other and head towards the group! "Good job, Polaris! Keep it up!" Melody said to Polaris, who conveniently skated by the group.

With a nod, Polaris kept on circling the food court, keeping her eye out for any more civilians. "Howdy? Hidey-ho? Pardners? Buckaroos, anywhere?"

Having no idea what a howdy, a hidey-ho or a buckaroo was, M'Noa thought it best to join the huddled group, chuckling slightly at Men's comment about using the tallest people as a landmark.

2

"Allow me to make this simple. We are working together on this. You and Ms. Jetwave are not in charge, please do not go barking orders," M'arra sighed, ears pinned down on the sides of her head. "Now, let's get working on that plan, shall we?" She quickly relayed what they'd been thinking to the newcomers, about finding the person who made their announcement, or traveling to other decks to get more information.

"Thank you, thank you. Forgive the old man, he's probably got trouble seeing," he replied to the group, ignoring what was being said by the two humans mostly because he didn't understand what the hell the additional words were. He then straightened out, jabbing at the bastard was fun, but he'd have to tolerate his presence. For now. "Newcomers, have you by chance had any luck running into the group, or overhearing any new information?.. I think learning what the hell is going on, and why, is the priority here."

1

"Nothing on our front. My guess is they're operating everything, keeping everything running. Security detail, engineering, operations," he ticked each off on his fingers. "Keep the starbase afloat while the officers are on surprise vacation, y'know?"

"Aside from the PADD message I got, which I would take a guess I wasn't the only person to get, I have nothing. I don't have a clue how they even pulled this off. This place usually seems very secure and capable of preventing things from happening." They commented, sounding concerned and thoughtful all the same, tail lightly swishing as they spoke, before nodding at what Terahl said. "I mean, if they weren't running the starbase I think we'd start experiencing a few issues once the Computer can't just automate everything. Unless of course they have put everything into automation of some kind."

"That was basically what I was saying, yeah. So I think we're likely to find out what's happening somewhere there.. Does anybody know what parts of the Starbase have the most people operating it?" Terahl looked around for an answer.

"Engineering section, I imagine? The guts of the station?" he guessed after a brief pause, arms crossed over his chest, fingers of his left palm curling around his suspenders. "Operations as well, in similar way."

"I don't think the leader of the whole thing would be in engineering, if you want to get to the heart of the matter. Given that they seem keen on letting civilians do their thing, perhaps they'll talk to us?" Not that Tavaen was of the opinion that terrorists were to be reasoned with, but when in Rome, do as Romans do. Except that's a human phrase, so he wouldn't know that one, but the Tal Shiar probably had a similar one about blending in on infiltration missions. When in... y'know what, nevermind.

4

"Oh, yeah that's a good point. See, I'm not too good at the whole infiltration thing," Terahl chuckled, leaning idly back against the wall of one of the food court spots. You know, like an ass. "So we're gunning straight for the top?"

"Could've gone for the throne, or hidden themself somewhere," the terrorist mused, head turned away from Tavaen but his fake eye glaring right at him under the half-closed lid. "Given that they all are not actively hunting us down, or trying to force us into quarters, I think at least approaching one would be a reasonable option. You know, unlike how it usually goes..."

"I worry that they might not like us doing that." M'Noa commented idly. "I don't really think these people are the kind of people to welcome a bunch of civilians knocking on their door with welcome arms and cups of tea. I was going to suggest only a few of us trying to find someone, but if they're smart enough they'd already know we're huddling up and planning stuff just from using security cameras. Suffice it to say I'm no tactician." They said with a slight nervous chuckle.

She walked towards the group with a hum. “I would argue they would likely go for the throne. If one was to look at people in history with similar….personalities.”

"I'm no diplomat, but I'm happy to have a conversation. I think it's worth a try, and worst comes to worst, at least I'll look hot when I get shot." Terahl snapped a finger-gun motion to M'noa. "We could all go, and have some folks wait outside, maybe?"

"Maybe they like magic tricks," Maggie chirped in an attempt to be helpful. It wasn't.

1

"I worry about things going wrong. I do not want anyone to get shot, hot or not." Worry in the Vulcan sense. Logically concerned.

Chuckling more genuinely as Terahl finger-gunned them, the thought a bit morbid but the humour appreciated (despite not wanting to have to deal with a medical emergency without any equipment), M'Noa looked over as other people approached the group, before looking back at the Andorian. "I'm a psychiatrist in training, so while I know sweet nothing about negotiations I might be able to help at least try to understand their motivations. Or not, they could give us nothing, but I think anything is worth a shot."

"You can't just poof them away, can you?" he asked Maggie, somewhat deadpan, but maybe hoping for a "well yes actually, I can!". Would save him a headache. And the excruciating pain of being in the company of the Khellian. And potentially having a ruined shirt because of blood, again.

Maggie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I wish I could. I could make myself disappear as a distraction or something, but that's about it..."

"Make yourself disappear? Do you have a cloaking device?" Men asked. Considering he didn't have the context that Maggie was a magician, it wasn't an unreasonable question, in a way.

"Oh, it's more of a magic trick thing. I'm a performing magician," they explained with a little flourish of their wand, which, yes, they had with them, okay? "Sleight of hand comes in more handy than you'd realize."

2

“Oh! Could you steal a weapon from one of the terrorists then?” She asked the magician.

"Now that is a sentiment anyone can agree with, I would say," Tavaen nodded. There was little that couldn't be solved or at least improved by being quick with one's hands.

"It's okay, I was joking," he nodded, then looking at Terahl. "I can accompany the talks. As a precaution. Handling angry people who sometimes might try to kill me is part of my job."

"Performed a little overzealously, on occasion," Tavaen remarked, rubbing at his nose performatively.

2

"I'm sure nobody would protest to you as a bodyguard," Terahl quipped, thumbs in his pockets as he looked for any other volunteers. "Anybody better at talking to people than me?"

He nodded wisely, as if he understood the situation. "Ah, customer service."

3

Heading to the food court next, Veldan heard the conversation as he was walking past, catching the odd word and piecing together that they were talking about acting on the situation. Shyly, Veldan walked up to the group and awkwardly coughed to grab their attention, just so he could introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Veldan... Are you guys planning something to save Starfleet? Because if so I want in." The UT coming in clutch to cover for his broken standard.

The Food Court bustled with a higher than average amount of people, well, in comparison to where she just travelled. Making her way inside, she exhaled sharply, “I could have mistaken this station for a ghost vessel. A wonder to note many of us seem so optimistic given the circumstances.” A sting of sarcasm shot through the Nausicaans melodic voice.

"No complaints so far," came the sly reply, as the Romulan pretended not to see or hear Tavaen. Instead his attention zeroed in on a... "Who's kid is this?"

2

Looking over as Veldan approached, the taller Caitian offered a welcoming smile, tail swishing slightly. "I wouldn't say we're planning to save Starfleet, but we're certainly trying to figure out what's going on."

"Optimism drives people forward. Negativity is not so motivating," Men said. Wow. Deep.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The station first, then we can think about Starfleet after." Verelan wasn't even trying with Standard, her country-ass Romulan dialect out and proud to everyone who spoke the language natively.

Tavaen recognised the boy, though that was because of his stellar people-finding skills that had been used once Rilek had informed him of the new additions to the House. The boy was... shorter than expected, around his own height. "I'll vouch for the boy, I know who he is."

"Does anyone... Like... Have any combat experience? Or whatever? In case shit hits the fan?" He paid no attention to the boy. He wasn't a reliable babysitter.

"Street fights and boxing," Maggie admitted. "Nothing beyond that..."

She hummed. “I can fight, I’m not experienced but.” She made a show of her Gorn mouth. “Natural advantages.”

"I bit someone once. It was not pleasant." The doll-like android tilted their head to the side, black eyes surveying the group.

4

"I would hope at least one of you would" The diva sat down and tapped her fingers together.

"I am as experienced in combat as I am hopeful we will not have to put our skills to the test for quite a while still," Tavaen mentioned, suddenly missing his knives he kept in his quarters very badly.

1

"Don't tell me, another one?.." he couldn't help but snark a bit, because Rojin tr'Lareth has had enough run-ins with Khellians this summer to fuel the rest of his life expectancy, and he didn't want more. "As for experience - I do. Romulus academies trained their people well." Not a lie... more like a half-lie. Tavaen was the only one reasonably able to catch up on his bullshit, but he believed that despite the mutual dislike, the ex-agent wouldn't voice it. Too risky. (edited)

"Nope. I'm a pacifist anyway." M'Noa commented with a shrug. "Although that doesn't mean I won't defend people if I have to, of course." They added, before turning back to Veldan. "I'm M'Noa, by the way."

"I'm Tavaen tr'Khellian, and, yes, Veldan is a recent acquisition of Khellian House. Not my doing, by the way, I haven't left the station. But it does mean he is one of mine." Wisely, Tavaen only gave Jin a massive side-eye, not commenting on the "academies" the man had supposedly gone to.

Veldan looked at Tavaen puzzled. "You... you do?" Was he one of Solon's people? Even with the confirmation that he was legally family, Veldan stayed at the other side of the group to Taav, just in case. He was 18 but there was no way he was dropping his guard just yet. "I can try to fight? Done it once before, but it mostly consisted of me running away." He didn't want to admit it, but Veldan really didn't have any experience - after this he was definitely going to ask one of the two other, much harder looking Romulans for combat training after this.

"I'm N01D. Spelled N-0-1-D. Or N-O-I-D. I don't really care. You know, I just had a thought. I don't know shit about terrorist organisations, but, like, they probably didn't send their whole gang after us, right? And there's a bunch of us on the station. Loads. So we probably outnumber them, right? Like that move about the ants. I dunno. Can we use that?" Wow. Unusually smart. "Just go to the station commander's office and batter down the door like an angry mob?" Never mind.

Her tusks clicked disapprovingly at the idea of a pacifist. The ex-Pirate was expecting a fight, from who was unknown yet. "I don't like our odds. We have a soft looking bunch."

"Okay, does anyone have any experience in diplomacy? Or just happens to be incredibly pretty with a nice voice and more than half braincell to boot?" Terahl didn't want to talk to the probably-head of a terrorist organization. He really didn't. If he could pass it off to anyone else, he would.

"Do diplomacy per say, but I understand how at least some of the brain works if that's of any use. As for the other bits, I couldn't possibly comment." M'Noa responded with a chuckle.

"My deepest condolences to the boy," he cocked his head to the side, but soon disengaged. "I hope it doesn't come to this, but in case it does - do prevent him from getting roasted like a baby hlai on a bonfire."

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6

"I have two of those things. Not brain cells, 'cause I'm an android. But I technically have two brains. Head and heart." It was true! He could survive with his head knocked off. Like a chicken. Or a bug.

"I'm sure as long as you stay far away from him, we won't have many issues." Wait, he should be paying attention to what anybody aside from the Lareth was saying. "I have some experience in... talking to people," interrogating them, "but that was some years ago now. I could be of assistance, though."

Not to be stereotyping his entire species, but Veldan was Romulan - a Romulan who had been on the run too, so he could at least act convincing. "So far they've seemed pretty chill, if we go and ask I could play the worried kid." Veldan still looked like he was a child, and he was genuinely about both his mothers.

He had no idea how pretty he was. His husband, however, was very much so. Hopefully Alizati was alright trapped in their quarters with Gwa, his frog. "We are not soft, if I am to understand what you mean. Caitians, Gorn, Vulcanoids, Romulans, Androids... I think we are all fairly durable species. And many of us have combat experience or martial knowledge. For a group of civilians, I feel we are remarkably capable."

"I know how to keep a kid safe, believe it or not. I'm doing this for three of mine," he shook his head. Mesarix was in the bar, surrounded by trusted people and raised by him - she would be fine. As for the two Starfleet officers... also safe, at least for now. Time was ticking, though. "I will see what I can do, both with physical and verbal assistance. That I can promise to all of you."

Terahl clicked his tongue, both at the petty back-and-forth and the doubtful musings, antennae standing up. "Pardon me, but you gonna keep playing debbie downer, or offer a viable solution? I think we've got this in the bag just fine. A pretty capable ragtag group, if you ask me."

"Unless I can blow them out of the water with unfiltered cuteness, I think I'm out of the diplomacy option. But! We should go while we still can. Gods know what they'll do to those poor officers, all locked up in their rooms," they shuddered.

"If you all are sure of yourselves. I do appreciate the effort spent here planning, but a large group in one stagnant location makes me uneasy."

"Let's go bust down the Captain's door, then." He was joking. They probably shouldn't do that. They should make their way to that general area, though.

In the time spent planning, new people had made their way onto the food court floor, and presumably, the rest of the station. Two of these people were standing by the turbolift, one keeping half an eye on the group, but mostly, they were just talking with each other, about their day. Literally nothingburger conversations being had.

6

While the group was planning, he decided to take a glance towards the newcomers. Head still turned towards whoever was in front of him, his gaze shifted to the side, following the moving figures. Fellow civilians, or?..

Acul looked towards them and gave them a pleasant wave.

The one looking at them turned more fully, showing a phaser pistol on their waist, and waved back with a smile, before pointing vaguely in their direction and saying something to their partner.

Acul tilted her head with a smile. “You aren’t scary.”

Noid tilted his head too. In confusion. "They just waved, damn."

"Ah," Maggie glanced over to the turbolift. "Maybe they know where the big important person is?.."

"and with that, more show up" she said under her breath. Catching a glimpse of the phaser she snorted. They probably were not one of this group.

What's up with the phaser gesture? "One or two of us could approach. If no one volunteers, I will go."

I promise the phaser thing was unintentional as part of turning, just a bit of exposition revealing that these people are not regular civilians. They weren't showing their pistol to be a badass. They weren't paying enough attention to this group to sense that much animosity.

5

3

“I can go as well. Tall Gorn normally work well as bodyguards, even if I’m not trained.”

M'Noa really didn't like how the strangers had phasers, especially considering that they were very much not so Starfleet. It didn't take a warp core engineer to figure out they were probably associated with the terrorists. "I can go." They offered.

"Then go. Do not waste any more time speaking of it," Calliope said simply.

"I can also go." Veldan desperately wanted to do something to help, and the best way to do that right now was to gather information.

Ear twitching briefly, M'Noa nodded simply in response to Calliope's simple comment, before somewhat cautiously beginning to make their way over towards the... Whoever they were. Prophets, if anyone got shot by anything other than a stun setting this would turn into a bigger nightmare than it already was.

Yochk stood up, and crossed her arms. She was not going to follow the ones going up to talk, but perhaps a 6'8" Nausicaan with an attitude can add a little bit of weight to their own stature. Where she is from, posturing is everything.

Now that the puppeteer rereads the sentence, she gets it, damn. Skill issue on her part. Anyways, back to the Romulan guy. "You all missed the "one or two of us" part, eh?" he asked in a joking tone. He then gestured for Veldan to come closer, "Come nephew, you are very troubled by the sudden absence of your Starfleet stepmom and we are going to ask these nice armed security people about where she's gone and why..."

"That's my damn..." wait, what was Veldan even to him?

4

Acul hummed. “Have fun! Don’t let the child get killed! I’d get fired if I did that!

Oh word? Veldan stepped closer to Jin and nodded, understanding the assignment. The real question now was who was gonna be good cop or bad cop (the delusion of his job in this was real). Then again, he really was worried about Vovvi and Rilek, so maybe he could pull it off. "Alright, let's do this."

He didn't offer to go, but his hearing was good enough that he could easily eavesdrop on everyone talking to those guys. He would give everyone who couldn't hear them the play-by-play, but it would be really annoying for Onion to have to rewrite everything they're saying.

Glancing behind them at the comment about 'one or two of us', having already begun making their way towards the guards, M'Noa was admittedly a tad concerned about the apparent child being dragged along, but they weren't going to act like they had any authority right now.

As people walked closer to the pair, more of the nothingburger conversation became clear. They were talking about what restaurants on the station they'd like to try, with one of them seemingly having been on the station for a while already, vehemently recommending Surak Snacks to their friend.

5

Draping his arm around the kid's shoulders and subtly positioning himself in a way that would, in the case everything did go to shit, allow him to move quickly to shield the young one from harm, he walked to approach the other guard. "Excuse me?.." he started from a distance, voice somewhat unsure and a bit lost. "Sorry to bother, but we have a question or two if that's alright?"

"Yep, of course!" The one who'd previously waved, a human or at least something visually similar, responded happily, while their companion, who seemed to be a something mixed with Cardassian, stood to the side, quietly but visibly unbothered, not even slightly on their guard. "What can I do for ya?"

They recommended his restaurant. Excellent. Maybe this terrorist was cool, actually. If things worked out well, he'd give them a coupon.

4

She stood there and eyed the hybrid with a hum. She was a 7’3” Gorn who was doing her best to look intimidating as she looked at the terrorist.

Moving to stand alongside Rojin, giving the strangers with phasers a rather forced polite smile, M'Noa decided to let the others do the talking to start with, intending to speak if anything came to mind. They had just as many questions as anyone else here.

Putting on his best troubled child impression, Veldan gingerly looked at the security guy. "My uhhh, my mum is part of Starfleet - I was supposed to meet her here so we could hang out when she was off-shift, but then the whole PA thing happened and I haven't been able to contact her... Is she alright? Why did you confine her?" Veldan looked up at Jin for reassurance, both 'in character' and 'Holy Shit Am I Doing This Thing Right I Love This So Much.'

1

"Oh, I'm sorry bud, if you tell me her name I'll get you beamed to her quarters. We were about to go fix that for the other children on base, we realised that could become a problem." The human one said, completely empathetic and honestly, looking a little sad, before the Cardassian cut in. "Nothing happened to her, she was simply beamed to her quarters, as promised in the announcement. We're not actually out to hurt anyone, you know, even if we took over the station." It seemed like a sore point for them, and they sounded... not angry or annoyed, but still a little affected by the topic.

The opera singer glanced over at the Gorn, and nodded with approval. Tall solidarity. Acul was much taller than Yochk, so all the more respect.

"He's staying with me for now," Rojin was quick to reassure, squeezing the boy's shoulders like he sometimes did with Saren. "I don't want to lose sight of him - my brother would probably rip my head clean off for that. And... are you sure? About the not hurting part? It's just, uh, usually when stations are taken over..." He gestured to the facial scar, the ugly yet convenient thing, trying to sell his paranoid act with everything he had. "Forgive the babbling, I'm probably overstepping-- it's just that intruders are not usually nice, especially to civilians."

Sorry, what was that about beaming him to his mother's quarters? Yeah that didn't seem like a very good idea. Glad that Rojin spoke up, M'Noa nodded in agreement to the idea of intruders not being nice normally.

"Nah, I understand that," the human one took over again from their partner. "We're all technically civilians like yourselves, though, just with a bit more baggage than usual-" and they were cut off again by the Cardassian. "Not our place to tell. If you wanna hear the entire mission statement, go ask Ether, she's holed herself up in the top levels. Take your goons with you, they seem awful concerned as well." They pointed at the group, which currently had Yochk and Acul looking intimidating, and Tavaen keeping a close eye on the interaction, though for a different reason.

"Well, okay, alright, thank you, if you say so... come on then," he patted Veldan on the shoulder as they turned away, lowering his head to murmur a quiet "nicely done" as they returned to the group. That short interaction was... surprisingly productive?

It was fortunate that her plans for today were already cancelled, who knows how long this will take. She checked her nails, in terms of being taken over this was pretty tame. One of them gesturing in their direction meant that at least some discussion was going on over there. Hopefully a somewhat fruitful one. She wish she knew anything about Federation technology, or design. Might be useful for getting around in more roundabout ways. "Well they are chatting and not arguing. Good!"

"Hasar, can I say the thing just once? Please?" The human one asked the Cardassian quietly, the answer going unheard as the group reunified.

"Okay, so what? We're ready to go up there, then?" Their eyes darted to the turbolift.

"Okay, so that went better than I had expected." M'Noa commented quietly. "They seemed nice enough." They added. At least not threatening, right now anyway. That didn't mean they trusted them, of course. They were all for trusting people and giving the benefit of the doubt, but alleged terrorists were alleged terrorists. "I mean, if we don't have any other ideas, I think getting more information wouldn't be a terrible plan."

Minh arrived! In his hover chair, just zooming along towards the food court. "Uh.. late to the party?" Minh looked around the room with his six lil purple eyes. Lots of people here it seemed, he was in good company. He rubbed his bushy white eyebrows and wondered what their current plans were. "I grabbed some stuff from my friend's shop. Nothing too dangerous, but I got a tiny violin, a Kobali spray bottle, and like.. some statues that could be weapons if thrown hard enough."

1

K’tehka had been strolling through the food court minding his own business, mostly, looking for something to eat when the announcement came over the PA system. So the Starbase had been taken over by presumably a group named The Marked Resolve… And shortly after that, his PADD notified him of a message from a Starfleet officer encouraging him and other civilians to take back the base. Well, okay. K’tehka rubbed his beard idly before making his way toward a group of people, civilians aboard the station it seemed, that had began to congregate. Normally, he’d be all joviality and gregarious but not now. Tactically minded brain whirring quickly, K’tehka walked up to the edge of the group as another person zoomed up in a hover chair and began talking about improvised weapons. Damn, if only Starfleet had let him keep a Batleth in his quarters. “I’ll take a statue,” he said with a grin and stretched an arm toward the guy in the hover chair with 6 eyes. K’tehka couldn’t help the thought crossing his mind that this person seemed so pretty there, holding an arm full of weapons. Honorable. “My name is K’tehka, son of Th’omon. What is yours?” He asked, his eyes glittering in the light of the food court.

1

Minh turned his hover chair when he heard the sounds of someone approaching him and waved to the friendly person who asked for a statue! He grabbed one of his statues, a tall naked lady with a very long neck and most importantly a thick base to use as a blunt weapon. He handed the statue to K'tehka and bowed his head respectfully. "Minh Huy son of Xwidtatl, I think that's how it's said," Minh had not considered that different cultures had different naming conventions and did his best to mirror the other's but he wasn't sure if Th'omon was a person or a title, or what. Xwidtatl was the first person in Minh's line so he should use that, logically. "Do you have any combat skills?" Minh asked with curiosity, assuming this buff looking dude probably knew a lil about fighting.

K’tehka took the statue in his hand and looked it over. It was a tasteful, artistic rendering of a nude figure. He wasn’t much of a visual art connoisseur, but he could appreciate the craftsmanship. He did note the base of the sculpture, good for potential bonking. K’tehka nodded back at Minh. “Mm, yes I believe so. Though not all adhere to Klingon naming customs.” He grinned mischievously when Minh asked about his combat skills. He took a moment to respond, thinking about the best way to reveal or not reveal his past in the KDF. Though, as Minh had noticed already, he was a pretty strong man. “Mm, I’ve been in a few battles.” He took a step closer to Minh and whispered, “Too bad Starfleet didnt let me have my Mekleth on me.” He shook his head and chuckled.

1

"Klingon! Ah yes, we are right next to your space," Minh pointed 'upwards' as if he knew where Klingon space was relative to their location,.. on a space station. He was still very new to the powers outside of the delta quadrant. There were so many species, it was hard to keep track of. He barely knew all of the species in the delta quadrant. When the man stepped closer to him and whispered, Minh's entire face blushed dark grey. He was a pretty easy guy to fluster, although even if he was stoic and serious he couldn't imagine anyone not finding the low whisper attractive. "Ohhh Mekleths, great weapon, I like those disruptors myself," Minh whispered back, trying to sound equally dangerous. "I can no scope with the Romulan disruptor."

"We are in the middle of an emergency," M'arra reminded in her quiet disapproving-old-lady voice. "Now is not the time for flirting."

2

"I wasn't flirting. I still offer the weapons," Minh replied back, turning his hover chair so he could face the felinoid. He lifted the spray bottle and pulled the trigger. There was nothing inside, Ik'ala was smarter than to fill it with anything. "If we can like.. replicate some liquid we could fill it in here. Something uncomfortable, like soda because it makes you sticky and it's overly sweet."

Instinctively, M'arra hissed a little as the bottle was pointed and the trigger was pulled, but— nothing inside. Right. "Very well, thank you. I imagine it may come in handy soon.."

"I would suggest redspice powder in water. If you spray someone in the eyes, it will disable their sight and possibly their ability to fight for a brief period of time." That was a nice way of saying it would REALLY HURT, like an onion to the cornea. Yeowch.

3

"Ohh nice! Do we have any redspice powder and water?" Minh asked the guy with the glasses and lucious green lips. He didn't know what species this guy was, but he liked how calming their voice sounded.

Looking over as the Caitian-Andorian was threatened with a spray bottle, M'Noa couldn't help but feel amused when A, nothing came out, and B, they saw M'arra's reaction. Hearing the suggestion of redspice being put in the water, the Caitian winced at the thought.

"We do in my restaurant." He looked in its general direction. They also had cooking knives in there, but he wasn't sure how he would feel enabling other people to use bladed weapons.

"How about we mix some up? Also anyone want a statue? I got a couple more and I got this comicly squeaky hammer," Minh pulled out a small hand held hammer and banged it on the arm rest of his hover chair, making a very annoying squeak noise. "It is apparently of Vidiian origin," He mentioned, thinking Ik'ala would be disappointed if he did not empart at lest some knowledge about the item. One good thing about having a hover chair and not just walking was Minh could carry a lot more items! His hover chair had two cup holders and a little storage space on the side! Very useful!

"I think we should wait for that until we actually need it. Right now, we've got no reason to believe that they've got any resolve to hurt us, so the last thing we want is weapons." Terahl offered, also cringing at the idea of redspice powder in the eyes.

"Well the spray bottle looks innocent enough," Minh said, turning it around to show the pretty hand painted designs across the side. It looked like those greek urns, but like... alien texts and silhouettes. "It would be a good back up plan, right?"

He considered it for a second, before running his fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his eyes. Terahl then finally nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. No problem. Just.. say you're a botanist or something if anyone asks, maybe.."

1

"I agree." M'Noa commentedly honestly as they nodded at what Terahl said. "If we're unarmed they're less likely to see us as a threat, and the only thing I'd want to use violence for is self defence. But the spray bottle does look fairly innocent. I don't think anyone would consider it to be a threat unless they had improvised weapon training or something, so I think it's not a terrible idea to have a backup plan."

"Yeah, diplomacy is best. Okay, we can use this as a back up plan. You know, I heard terrorist in the announcement assumed you know, terror," Minh mentioned, putting the silly hammer back with thte statues, he still had the tiny violin, which he would save for when the time was right.

3

K’tehka peered at M’arra curiously from underneath his bushy eyebrows. Flirting? Him? In a crisis situation? Well, she wasn’t too far off, anyway. He smiled at her and feigned offense, as if he could never. He could though. “Of course, of course. I would never flirt in a situation such as this.” He raised an eyebrow and looked toward the rest of the group. “I agree, however, that it may not be best to come out ‘phasers blasting,’ lest we provoke violence. But it is good to know how resourceful we can be.” He threw a coy look at Minh and continued. “We need to do some reconnaissance. Figure out what exactly they are doing, how many are in their compliment, you know.” He smiled and refrained from gesturing at the ones who appeared to be part of the Resolve. (edited)

"We were told to go and talk with their leader, Ether," Rojin informed the group. "They seemed to be surprisingly okay with our questioning, and just told us to go to the top levels. Captain's office is there, I assume?"

M'Noa nodded in confirmation of what Rojin said. "It's like they're completely fine with us but just... Don't like Starfleet. It's strange, but not totally strange."

"I did say we should go bust his door down earlier. But like, I was kidding about the busting. They might just let us straight in." Noid was bored, so he'd been surveying the ceiling for pianos for the last five minutes.

"Okay, let's go!" Maggie moved towards the turbolift. No use standing around.

K’tehka grunted and nodded in affirmation, tucked the sculpture into a pocket where it didn’t look toooo conspicuous, and followed the group.

Verelan followed after Maggie with little hesitation. "I feel like if they minded civilians they wouldn't tell us to just go up there. Do you think they like the fact that we at least don't look afraid enough to avoid them?"

Terahl followed suit. This was going a little smoother than anticipated, at leasy. "Yeah, maybe. I dunno.."

"Maybe they want us to hear out their side. Be careful. No matter their reasoning, their behaviour is not acceptable." Although these were definitely the politest terrorists he'd ever met. "I will follow in a second." He popped off, gave that one guard a coupon, then came back to follow everyone to the turbolifts.

5

Melody was here the whole time - the peril of the were-epohh situation was getting to her head, and reminding her of how she felt that night - robbing her of her speech for now. Fixing the placement of her Phantom half-mask on her face, Melody followed the group to the turbolift.

Polaris stayed beside Melody, keeping a hand on her shoulder as she noticed Melody's behavior shift, and remained close by as she and the others headed for the turbolifts.

"Wait, dude, that's sick! Hasar, we have to go to Surak Snacks now," the human guard told their companion.

8

K’tehka surveiled his surroundings as he walked. “Many factions have issue with Starfleet but this is the first time I have heard of this group. We will learn more soon, though they will undoubtedly leave information out. We must keep our wits about us, friends.” He grinned and continued with the group.

The stick she had put in her boot now felt silly rather than comforting. It would be horrible for posturing to throw it in a disposal bin now. "I might follow you all up in a bit. For now I am lingering around here" too many people in a turbo lift with no operations officers was also a concern. What if it breaks?

"Feel free, ma'am. Personally, I'd like to see what these people are about." Tavaen followed the group to the turbolift, to the Captain's office.

"I did promise bodyguard services," and with that, he was in the turbolift-that-doesn't-technically-exist. Schrödinger's turbolift.

3

To the turbolift! M'arra moved to follow the group.

Calliope got up into the turbolift. What a curious little collection of people she was with..

A fellow android followed behind.

Following behind, M'Noa tried to look on the bright side of life, their tail swishing as they walked.

He entered the food court from the enviro ring and led everyone to Surak Snacks. Cue description: The environment of Surak Snacks was designed for tranquility. It was quiet, with most talking at a whisper, with the only other sounds the gentle plucking of a Vulcan Lyre from the speakers and the sound of running water from a tank full of colourful fish. All over the room in shelves and tables there were jars, of spices, herbs, Redspice and Gespar jam (which you could purchase for yourself), and most prominently, jars of soil in which a variety of cacti were planted. On the wall opposite the fish tank, there was a large mural of red desert sands painted directly onto the wall. The furniture was minimalistic and plain, made of polished wood, but it was suitable for the environment, since it reduced visual noise and distraction, keeping the head clear. There were open tables in the centre of the room and private booths to the side.

5

Melody rolled in with Polaris, and she took one of the first seats where she figured it would be not too bad for her senses. Her mind still moved a little fast - and normally she'd run her fingers across the Phantom mask she wore, but it reminded her too much of Alyssa and would make her sad again. "Polaris?" Melody said. "Do you have anything I can fidget with?"

As the first to leave, Terahl was only a few paces ahead, though swiveled around to meet the group. "Where do you- want us to sit?" he queried awkwardly. Yeah, station wide emergency, but this was still Men's restaurant and he still wanted to be polite.

Walking in like he meant business, which he technically did, first thing he did was a careful look-around. Just to see if there were any potential eavesdroppers, which... there better not be! For their own sake, mostly.

Polaris listened as Melody asked about anything to fidget with. "Oh! Sure Mels, take mah helmet!" As she pulled off her helmet, exposing her lush, flowing red head of hair, and set it in Melody's hands. "There! keep it for as long as ya need. I'll be with the others. You can join us whenever or if ever you're ready! But just take the time you need." Before Polaris skated to join the rest of the group. "Please excuse Melody from this little discussion, she's recovering from a meltdown. She's autistic. I'll update her on everything that we decide when the time comes."

"Preferably not next to my current customers. Perhaps close to one another, so we can discuss things. There is a suitable area close to Melody over there." He pointed in that general direction. "Please try to be quiet, however."

"Yessir." Terahl took a seat in the designated area, making a careful effort to keep his voice low. "Very well, then, what's our grand master plan?'

Polaris thought about it for a second... before she realized something. "Well, they may have shut off access to the turbolifts, but ya know what they physically can't shut off access to?" Polaris said. "Those little pipe things with the ladders in 'em. I skate by 'em sometimes and see officers usin' em. Maybe that's our way to get back up to the office. Or wherever we need to get."

K’tehka did his best to be quiet. Unfortunately it wasn’t really in his nature. He made a lot of noises and faces and… well. He hadn’t been speaking much but he would make a concerted effort to keep his voice down, which would likely be a slightly louder than normal volume for most people. “This Ether is very reactive.” He said, sitting down next to Terahl.

Following the group along, M'Noa looked around as they headed into Surak Snacks, sighing softly as the tranquil environment was absorbed mentally. Eyes immediately darting over to the fish tank, the Caitian headed on over to watch the colourful animals as they took a moment to mentally regroup, a soft smile on their face as their trail swished to and fro.

"Indeed. That is how we get there. I do not know how we get inside the office, however, nor what we do with that. Would anyone like a refreshment? Free of charge." It might help to soothe some people.

He looked around the table for a moment before speaking again, this time his voice much lower. “Anyone know how to hack Starfleet computers? We need to take control of the system and build a base that they cannot access.”

Hearing the offer for a free beverage, Melody spoke up. "Uhh, a warm hot chocolate, please?" Melody said. "If you have it. Or anything else that's warm to drink. Please? Sorry..."

"That would be nice." M'arra emptied a handful of her candy stash so anyone could grab one if they wanted one, though was careful to not let them plunk onto the table haphazardly. "Just some water."

"The tubes?" Maggie swallowed at the idea, hold tightening on their cane. "I mean. I guess it's a way to get around.."

Polaris heard K'tehka's statement about the computers before she made another connection in her head. "Computers... wait, we haven't been in the engineering section yet! If we somehow are able to get control of engineering, maybe we can perform a switcheroonie and take control from down there. I think..." Before she heard Maggie say the proper names of the jeffries tubes. "Ohhh yes! The tubes! Sorry, I forgot their name for a sec!"

Terahl hummed, folding his hands on the table. "No kidding," he quipped in reply, inclining his head to K'tehka. "I think the only people who could hack a Starfleet computer are locked up in their quarters." A rather infamous example came to mind, along with the station's cysec officers.

2

"I can carry people if need be. I am strong." He waited patiently to see if anyone else wanted refreshments.

"Well, we don't need to hack anything, we'd just need to break it..." It was out there, maybe, but sometimes the easiest way to get something into your control was to make sure it was no-one's to control. "Mess with the transporters, and they're powerless to stop us until they fix that. They'd even have to manually move us into the brig."

5

In that moment Melody felt absolutely useless. She didn't have any experience with computers, she didn't have any experience with weapons or with systems or any of it. She brought literally nothing to the table. So, she sat back, fidgeting with Polaris' helmet, trying to distract herself...

"We have to take into account the possibility that Ether's men were notified of our snooping and might not be too thrilled about our return to the top levels," he quipped, after a quick "no thank you" to Men. Then, he perked up: "Break, you say?.."

Maggie currently being tempted at the thought of being princess carried again. Hmmm.

5

“Mm, fair enough.” He nodded, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “If we do not take control away from them, they will simply transport us wherever they want. I do like the breaking idea, however…” He looked up at Men. “Nothing for me at this time. Thank you.” He tried to remember politeness. He did appreciate Men’s kindness.

"Heh, break things?" Polaris said. "Well, that won't be a problem. Astrolis II Police Force training, requires us to be able to break down doors without the use of a key card or entry key. I can help with that - plus, these skates?" As she took one of them off to show everyone. "The wheels are made of metal. I could swing one of these to break anything we need to."

"I am very skilled at stealth," Calliope offered. "I can also serve as a possible distraction. There is a music box in my chest, which I will not play now."

"A music box? That's cool as fuck. Why don't I have a music box?" Curse his creator for not giving him cool things! All he got was android insomnia.

Overhearing the discussion about breaking computers, Melody got an idea, she snatched Polaris' helmet and scurried over to her. "Polaris! Your helmet," Melody said. "You can use it to break things too! It's made of metal, right? You can use it as a sledge hammer of sorts!"

“Will the Jeffries Tubes on this station accommodate someone of my size? I can go wherever there may be the threat of violence, a bodyguard if you will. I have certain skills.” He smiled, eyes glittering.

5

"A few parts of mine are broken, if that helps. It still works, it simply sounds... wrong." Calliope offered in reply.

"I was less thinking about breaking doors down, and moreso considering breaking a few consoles. There's these nifty chips Federation computers hide behind sturdy panels... if you manage to take them out, they'll mess with the function of the computer. We'd just need to find the bits that controls the transporters. And, if we want to be efficient, the door locks. Get Starfleet flooding back into the corridors." Nobody ask him how he knew all that, he wouldn't give an answer. "If we want to be really prepared, we break open a weapons locker on the way there, really give ourselves a head start."

"So we get down to engineering to shut everything down," Terahl nodded along. Everything was starting to look a lot more hopeful than before. "There'll probably be people there keeping everything afloat. We should be ready for a fight for sure."

"In exchange to nobody asking how I know how to do that, I can offer to sabotage," he said, all too casually for such a sentence. "Something something, good with my hands."

4

3

"Oh, are you?" came the quick reply, though rushed past as Terahl adjusted his sunglasses. "Well, let's put those hands of yours to work. Team Sabotage, I guess."

1

"Oh, are you?" He said at the same time as Terahl. "Jinx! You owe me a kiss or, uh, five dollars. I forget how the saying goes."

1

Both of them. Swatted like the nasty little flies they were. "Enough, you two. We have work to do."

4

3

2

Men came back with the drinks and distributed them among the people. "Please do not hit people in my restaurant. This is not Surak Smacks."

8

7

K’tehka let out a hearty laugh. “I will not ask questions. Externally.”

"Should we all go? I mean, I'm not sure I'd be much help in Engineering... Is there something else I can do to help?" She knew how to fix farm equipment, and how to recalibrate shuttle sensors... Ferengi ones, which especially wasn't helpful. She also kind of wished she'd been Maggie right now, she would've loved to smack Noid.

"Even if she doesn't like it, per se, we could try to wrestle control back anyway. As best we can, at least," she offered among the smackening.

The magician sank down sheepishly. "Sorry.." they mumbled. (edited)

Melody took her drink and sipped from it. "Thank you," Melody said. "I agree with... Verelan? I think that's your name. How can I help?" (edited)

"Once again, no complaints so far," he shrugged, his nose scrunched up mischievously as he glanced at the parrot duo. He was allowed a moment of fun, right? "Anything else we need to consider? And I think we should separate. A large crowd is, usually, more suspicious than a couple of people."

K’tehka watched the group curiously. “I work better when there is someone to distract the mark from my size and presence. Sometimes, if there is someone else who can disable them, I can be the distraction.”

She, who had definitely been here the entire time. “My father is an engineer on the station, I am certainly not educated, but I have some tricks I can try.”

3

2

"No way I'd be able to get through those tubes, anyway. My leg's still healing," Maggie scowled at it, like it would quit aching that second. It didn't. Bitch.

Melody was going to offer the ability for her to break glass with her voice - but that had literally no practical use. So she stayed quiet.

"I was once a chemist. For the sake of breaking into places, I could make some kind of acid, but I worry that would be dangerous." He sipped his own gespar juice. Very refreshing!

He tilted his head. "How are drugs gonna help us break into places?"

3

"Wrong acid," they whispered in reply. Couldn't help but stifle a giggle, though.

“Oh yes, acid might be dangerous. Especially in engineering, but it could have its uses if we were to break into somewhere less critical.” Acul said with a hum.

"As for the people unable to go into the tubes... " he trailed off, thinking. "Having someone take their attention away from us would be good, right?"

The former smuggler had been quietly simmering and observing the situation. He had yet to even unpack his bags on the station and was already thrown into a tough situation. He had thought he had past his days of violence and trickery behind him and in his head he was toying with the consequences of reopening that box. Mainly though he was just trying to get a grip of the people he was surrounded by. The hulking man finally moved a little closer to the conversation as to hear more about the acid they were talking about. He was just a tad disappointed they weren’t popping acid but perhaps in the situation this was the better kind of acid. He had occasionally had to smuggle harmful acids and knew quite well how potent they could be.

"I quite agree. I could probably get down to engineering, if my help was desperately needed, but never in a million years could I come back up." He was willing to risk it, if need be, but would prefer to avoid it.

Finally the ex-smuggler opened up his mouth. “If you need to nominate someone to help as a distraction, that used to be a core part of my old job.” He didn’t elaborate on his past beyond that.

"Look, if you want us to play bait, I'm happy to offer my services. At least it'd be consensual this time," Maggie said. "What're you thinking, Mr. Rojin?"

She hummed. “I could do either truth be told, especially if the baitees need a large target.”

"No solid ideas, but these people really care for the safety of the civilians, right?" he mused, after giving the newcomer a side-eye. Upon discerning the bearded man as a non-Marked, he continued, "Maybe forcing them to fuss over that would be a good enough distraction." He almost suggested for Tavaen to fake having a heart attack and then die for real, but they had a job to do. No time to be petty. Maybe later.

8

"I think that will not be an issue once everything is up and functioning again." Calliope turned their bug-like gaze to Tavaen. "Especially if we manage to unlock the doors. There will be a flood of officers happy to undo our mess. You will likely be able to safely use the turbolift afterwards."

Tavaen nodded to Calliope. "That is a very good point. In that case I will join the sabotage crew, if it's not too much a burden."

“Pardon my asking, but transporters should be a priority no? If we could get a hold of those we could theoretically send any of these bad people into the brig and retrieve any officers helpful to our cause.” She said, having at some point gotten a coffee.

"We will be disabling the transporters at first, so we can go as we please without the risk of being booted right back where we began." Better safe than sorry.

Having decided to stay in the back of the group for a while (because let's face it, having a child at the front won't make anyone feel threatened), Veldan piped up with what he thought was a good idea - building off of Jin's idea, that is. "What about a medical emergency? Like someone has a heart attack and they need to be rushed to Medical - which, the lack of internal transporters would take some of the guards away from this floor, for a while at least." "Oh, I can also join the sabotage team, I know nothing about engineering but I do have tiny hands." Veldan held them up for people to see. They were truly the smallest of raccoon hands.

4

Polaris chuckled. "We'd be able to send anyone, anywhere we wanted on the station," Polaris joked. "Nah. But I'll go wherever I'm needed, I'll take Melody with me so she ain't alone."

"Baby hands.." Maggie said quietly to themself. Little tiny baby raccoon hands..

“I suppose, but even temporarily taking control of them so we could gain weapons from the armoury could be beneficiary. At least before we take them offline. I don’t like our chances against peeved terrorists.” She said with a hum.

"Nah, do any of you know how to operate those? Because I absolutely do not. Better to just take 'em out. I'll join team distraction, I'll be more useful there." Verelan also kind of didn't want to leave Maggie's side if possible, but that was a separate thing. They'd gone through a lot already since coming to the station, she wanted to prevent more harm coming to them.

Medical emergency... "Wait... I'm an actress!" Melody said. "I can perform! I can make it seem like I have a medical emergency! That can be a distraction!"

4

"I'm also an actor, kind of," Maggie made a little bit of a face. "I could be having an actual medical emergency, if I slip and fall hard enough. Jokes aside, I'm happy to lend a hand."

“Wait, shouldn’t the distraction team make some sort of technical mishap happen? That way they might take people away from engineering?”

"These dazzling good looks are always distracting," he said. He did also want to stick near Maggie, though. Not only was Maggie cool, but Verelan seemed to also think they were cool, which made them even cooler. (edited)

3

"I'm more worried about the security officers than anything. Don't want anybody getting brigged during their sabotage attempt."

"You heard Ether, they're not going to hurt any civilians," Melody said. "So if a civilian is hurt, it would essentially be on their hands to try and help. Can Maggie and I take different locations to be a distraction in?"

She hummed. “I also have light concerns with the idea of the medical emergency? Any terrorist in the medical bay are currently the only medical on the station, if they are as moral as they claim they would be obligated to help anyone having a medical emergency. I don’t think we should try to remove them unless absolutely necessary.”

"Oh, yeah, good idea! Spread them out thin." Maggie nodded in eager agreement. "I could have, like..a..a fight, maybe? That way it brings the security officers away from the tubes.."

Melody realized something as Maggie brought up a fight. "Maggie! I know fight choreo! Maybe you and I can have fake fights with another civvie to draw security's attention!"

He laughed to himself a little bit. Every so often at the Boston pubs he would take a fall for a buddy to make himself look better. “You can attack me if you want and I’ll only pretend to fight back. I got very good at taking a fall back in Boston.”

Verelan had a different idea. "Hey Noid, are you up for a battle of fisticuffs? Since you can't win the one of wits."

8

"Yeah, Noid, punch me in the face," Maggie agreed brightly. What a normal thing to say.

8

She hummed. “If it’s a faked brawl, my people do have a slightly stereotypical reputation for violence. I could be of assistance there.”

Melody shrugged. "Well hey," she said to Acul. "You want to be my fight partner? And then Polaris is with us just in case, plus she acts like she's trying to break us up?"

"I don't wanna punch Maggie in the face. I like them. You, on the other hand, I will throw hands with any day." Were any of them even any good at fighting or would this be more of a slap-n-wrestle?

"Boo, you're no fun." Maggie crossed their arms. At least they wouldn't get punched. Verelan, their knight in shining armor, had struck again.

The teacher shrugged. “I suppose. I would be fine being paired up with anyone, but perhaps partners aren’t the way to go about it? If everyone is fighting each other at the same time, they will need to bring more people than individual fights. I would also argue we should fight for real, trying to do choreography would only alert trained terrorists then we’re fakes.”

Well, no, Verelan hadn't struck anyone yet. "I am averse to hitting any friendly party. I am a Vulcan. We are very strong. I may actually hurt someone."

"It may look fake up close," Melody said. "But from a distance, there's a way to make it believable. I know how to make fights look realistic on stage, so if any guards are a distance away from us, we can fight and make it look real without anyone getting hurt!"

“Not with the aim to hurt, but we should certainly try to make it look realer than a fictional vid.” She said with a hum.

"I'm Romulan, but I'm also the shortest person here by a long shot. I think we'll be okay. Plus, once Starfleet is free, there'll be enough medical officers to patch us up!" Verelan lived in the Klingon Empire for quite a while, actually, she was decently happy getting punched. Especially since there was free healthcare here!

He offered to the crowd. “If someone wants to hit me for real in the face they can.” He tried to joke a little bit to make it easier for whoever would end up hitting him. “The beard will cover up and bruising that comes later.”

"Okay. Okay, this might actually work. Awesome. Big brawl to keep everybody away from the tubes. I'll alert the guards that there's a big fight going on." Terahl mentally put together the pieces. "Who all is going to sabotage?" (edited)

Was watching this all unravel and getting entertained by it a normal thing? Probably..? Upon Terahl's inquiry, Rojin raised his hand.

"I think I will be most useful there." Calliope said, waving their hand.

"Oh, very well," M'arra sighed, raising a hand. She wasn't very keen on the idea of getting punched.

"I will be sabotaging as well." Tavaen too raised his hand.

"Actually, since I have things that can break consoles, I think I'd best be with the sabotage team, Melody will be with others she trusts. You alright, Mels?"

“Gorn are not especially suited to sabotage or stealth. I more than fine distracting.” She said with a toothy grin.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," Melody replied to Polaris. "You can go to the sabotage team if you need. I have several people that are gonna be with me, I think."

Veldan also silently raised his hand, small raccoon hands to the rescue!!

Listening to the back and forth of people chatting, planning, figuring out what to do, kinda like how Starfleet would do, M'Noa couldn't help but feel like neither of the available options made sense for them. They didn't think they were very good at distracting, but they especially didn't think they were any good at sabotaging, so... "I think I should stick with the distraction team. I don't think I'll be much help sabotaging anything."

He hummed and nodded, listening carefully as the conversation unfolded. A brawl could work, though he wondered how quickly they’d all get sent to the brig. He wondered how many separate holding cells the Starbase had. “I will stay. Though I am not very good at pulling my punches. Would anyone want to punch me while I laugh?” He grinned.

4

Minh was still hanging! In his 'boogie chair' as he liked to call it. Hearing about Vulcan -- Vulcanoids? Were all strong, Klingons were also strong, oh that was good because Minh was below average strength (compared to most humanoids). "I could be distracting, I'm not physically strong at all, but I can shoot a straight shot. I don't think anyone would ever try to hurt me, I got six eyes and I get dizzy when I stand up," Minh offered with a laugh. He was definitely strong for his version of Illyrian, but at most he could give a human a couple of dark bruises with some well aimed punches.

"I think that's for the best, because it's not..an actual all-out brawl, you know?" Was Terahl taking notes? Maybe. Fucking nerd. "If it helps, I like your six eyes."

"I am only familiar with Klingon, Nausicaan, and technology alike, I have no clue how to break into a Starfleet system, besides my bare hands. ha." She had been stuck in her own head for some time, but snapped back into it. Glancing at K'tehka in their midst was unavoidable as she said this. The pirate ship Dar was originally Klingon in make, but hand parts cobbled from a few other species as well. Yochks knowledge only came from being a sort of get away driver from the home ship to whatever poor cargo vessel was around. "I like a good brawl though," Her face pouted a bit as she twirled finger in her hair. "There are few good ones on this station. At least, when ii'mm there"

K’tehka nodded as Terahl and Minh and Yochk spoke. “They are alluring,” he said, throwing a grin at Minh before turning to listen to Yochk, taking note of her glance toward him. He wondered what she knew of Klingon technology. It was always interesting to hear who had what specialties. “Oh?” He asked, curiosity blooming. “Where do these brawls take place and how do you set them up? I would like to join.” He laughed, his belly shaking and his gravelly voice rumbling.

"Few, as in there are not many. There is no 'Fight Club' that people talk about. At least to my knowledge." She chuckled shaking her head, her phrasing was a bit off.

"Oh thank you, I like them too. I am a little jealous of people who don't take two hours at the eye doctor though," Minh said with a little laugh. He then turned to the others talking about setting up brawls? "There's the fighting app Rumblr. I am unsure if it exists in this quadrant, but it is a big hit within the Delta Quadrant." Minh said, holding up his PADD to show the fighting app in question. Minh had an account! But he mostly participated as a referee because who best to referee a fight than the guy with 6 eyes.

Squinting at the PADD she nodded tapping her chin, "What a convenient little application. I will have to check it out under less pressing circumstances."

"Alright. Team distraction, where are we headed? The shopping plaza, maybe?" Terahl tucked his notepad back into his pocket.

"Why not, might as well get a little distance from here. Hey, wanna start arguing a little so the fight look more believable? Because me personally, I think you're all unimaginative wankstains, and the Marked Resolve should transport you off the station the minute they get the chance to." Verelan said all this with the brightest grin on her face, and while it wasn't clear what her true feelings were, per se, she at least looked like she was having fun.

Melody handed back Polaris' helmet to its rightful owner Polaris, before she looked to Polaris with a bit of an anxious face. "I'll be okay," she said. "Go, you got this."

Polaris affixed her helmet back to her head, before she looked at Melody. "You got this too," Polaris replied, giving Melody a hug - hopefully to provide more comfort for Melody after her meltdown - and then let go. Polaris slowly skated over to where team sabotage was about to head off!

"Anywhere with some cover. So shopping Plaza is good, there is also the environmental ring." She said cracking her knuckles and dusting off her shoulders

"Can't do that, too far down. The shopping plaza is a bunch of levels further up, we should go there instead," she pointed out seriously. She wasn't the station's brightest mind, but she wasn't stupid either. Also, she'd been on the run from the law before, not that anyone needed to know that, but it meant she knew some things about keeping them off your backs.

Melody scurried over to team distraction - and caught the tail end of what Verelan was saying! "Agreed, anywhere that's closer to the captain's office so we can get to Ether," Melody said. "Plus the guards may be more inclined to stop fights when it's around a bunch of shops with expensive items in it."

"Sabotage team will leave a little after you. We need to find a good place to enter the station's guts, without being spotted. I suspect that between myself and Mr. Lareth, it won't be much of an issue, but we should be cautious." This was taking him back to old times... he tried not to think about it too hard, but it was difficult sometimes not to miss the effortless capability he'd had in those days, and the excitement of missions when he carried them out.

looking up as if she was doing some calculation in her head, she nodded again. "Right. Should we go up staggered as to not cause too much alarm?" Her tusk clicked together patiently.

"Oh, good idea. I'd rather die than be somewhere with too many of you for much longer, anyway," Maggie retorted, piggybacking off of Verelan's idea to start the fighting early. "Um- I'll go ahead so I don't stagger behind. Just to be safe."

"Good luck," Calliope called out, waiting patiently for their turn to get the hell out of there. What a dizzying first week aboard...

"Don't let the turbolift hit you on the way out" she snorted.

5

Maggie gave a mock salute, which quickly turned into a middle finger before they made their way out. They were an entertainer, keeping face was their job, but it was VERY hard not to laugh.

2

Verelan followed after them easily, shouting back into the restaurant as the two of them left. "The nerve of you people, unbelievable! You're so getting banned from my shop!" (edited)

Not really knowing what to say, Melody just followed behind Melody, Yochk and Verelan like a little duckling. Quack!

Acul followed with the distraction team. “Perhaps we should save banning’s for when we’re done.”

"I wish I had my camera," Terahl mused mournfully, cheek pressed in the palm of his hand. "Maybe I can get someone to give me a clip of the footage..."

Following along with the rest of the distraction team, M'Noa really wasn't all that happy with the tactics, but if it worked it would work.

Tavaen watched as the first group of distraction left, already shouting at each other. Somehow, civilians with no proper training did better at staging a proper distraction than some of his former colleagues... though he supposed there was little reason to learn about distraction when you had a disruptor pistol in your hand. "Alright, sabotage team, I vote we find a tube entrance in the corridor, out of sight enough. We go in as quickly as possible, and we're climbing down, so there should be little need for breaks or people falling behind."

Calliope delicately rose to their feet. She was tired of sitting around, anyway. "Yes, let's go." They brushed off their skirt, following Tavaen.

Looking over at the commotion that was being impressively caused, he had a look around the court for any hatches nearby, before his eyes rested on one glaring hatch that had been staring him in the face the entire time. Grabbing the attention of someone™️, Veldan pointed at the turbolift. "Over there, the turbolift tubes run all the way through the station - surely they'd be a lot more direct than taking maintenance tunnels right?" He genuinely didn't know, this was his first time on a mission and he was feeling like an action hero!!

"And what will you do when the lift starts moving, son? The tubes are safer, and it'll be easier to avoid detection." It wasn't a bad idea, per se, but they didn't have the power to shut the lifts off, so they should under no circumstances go with it. Where did Rilek find him again?

"Sounds fine by me," he uttered, sitting all still and casual while waiting for the distraction team to take their position, casting a quick, knowing glance at Tavaen. He was working with an ex-enemy, a man who he saw kill his people all but forty years ago... gods, if only Aeirv saw him right now. But with the station at stake, and his nephews in captivity, he didn't have the time nor chance to be choosing his allies. "I can ask my bar workers to be on the lookout while we get in, just to be safe."

M'arra was NOT looking forward to climbing around, but very well. "The faster we get moving, the better. I imagine they're making quite the ruckus out there. They seem the loud and obnoxious sort."

Before not too long, the human and the Cardassian ran past the restaurant and into the turbolift, headed for the shopping plaza. Seems like the distraction team was doing their job?

"I am glad I am not with them. My insults would be too cutting. They would not emotionally recover." Was he kidding? Maybe. "Let us finish our drinks and go." And so he did.

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