Star Trek: Starbase 777

The bridge was quiet as the first lot of the away team entered, having had to split up into two unless they wanted to cram in like sardines. The design of the bridge was large but sparse; consoles far away from each other and not much in between. For a ship that had such a sleek exterior, its bridge was... Rather drab. The area was dull aside from the glow of purple from overhead and underfoot lighting here and there, and upon the viewscreen sat an image of the away team's own ship, the USS Eventide. As the turbolift's doors slid open it was reflected on the internal surface of the viewscreen by a glimmer of light - enabling the bridge crew to see who had entered before they even looked.

There was a heavy sigh from the woman in the captain's chair. Words were spoken without even having turned around, gaze still forwards and watching the reflection on the viewscreen's surface to track what the newcomers from the away team did. "When you said that you were sending officers I had presumed you meant a small number of engineers, Eventide, not enough people to fill multiple away teams. I had also presumed that you were only going to be working in engineering.” She spun in the chair to face them then; posture taut, hands between her knees, and expression distinctly flat. “My officers report that you've been elsewhere, harassing them. I would like an explanation."

"Considering the circumstances of the distress call and how it was handleled it warranted further investigation into the cause. And frankly the conduct of some of you're officers towards fellow crewmen is worthy of a full investigation in of itself." Sadhbh stated flatly.

Vara stood in the back, watching the captains vibe as she stood there. She looked to her phaser with a nervous glance, she didn’t want this to turn into a firefight. She merely stayed quiet, knowing to shut up for once.

Copia's gaze fell onto Tewari - and immediately began watching Tewari like a hawk. But she realized that wouldn't be wise - her eyes darted around to the rest of the bridge, scanning to see who else was there, if they were armed, their position, if they seemed to be aligned with Tewari. Copia had pretty much the entire bridge in her periphery, knowing who was where. She had to be one step ahead of Tewari as much as she could. For everyone else on the away team.

T'she fell in line with the others, looking rather displeased with how this might end up. Really, they were watching the CO, judging Tewari's reactions and trying to see if there was anything they could comment on -- perhaps a medical intervention could be necessary? They would just need to figure out how to do so unobtrusively.

He and his frenemy GG soon entered the door behind the group. How long had they been following them? Or had they happened to be nearby and were just summoned by someone in here as soon as the gang entered so they could block the exit?

"Yeah, these were the people going around harassing us while we were just chilling in the quarters. So rude."

Vara eyed them with malice, ah she had heard of these asshats. She stuck her tongue out at them as she waited for it all to kick off.

8

Copia's head turned around to see the two New Dawn crew members behind the away team enter. Wha-- were they just playing along and saying 'yes' to anything Tewari said? She knew that the away team certainly would not harass anyone, ever. The New Dawn continued to hide what was really going on... And it was starting to frustrate Copia.

Vara'l suppressed a quirk of the eyebrow at that inaccurate assessment of what had happened. One that if anything added to the list of things that seemed off there. That and the way they reported also added a degree to that.

He bared his teeth and growled at Vara. Better watch out - if it came down to violence, Vara had drawn enough attention to herself to be their first target!

He wasn't as angry, though, just sticking up a middle finger at Vara.

7

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, real mature."

He turned the middle finger towards GG instead.

Senang was to the front of the group, looking the captain right in the eyes. As a result, when the CTO and COO appeared, he was surprised, and disappointed in himself to not keep the possibility that someone would follow them inside in mind.

T'she was silent as they seemed to rustle through something in their bag, just in case things did come to a fight they would best be prepared

Mirrim who'd totally been present in the meantime and had simply followed along with what the others were doing was acutely uncomfortable with them being surrounded. She had been lingering at the back of the group and now couldn't stop herself from turning around and then taking a step back, putting some space between her and the newcomers and keeping an eye (the one she had) on them.

Copia made sure to stop Vara before anything else happened. "Don't respond to that, Ensign." (edited)

1

5

Vara nodded to Copia and turned to the front to ignore the pair, they were probably going to go after her if it all kicked off. So go team diplomacy!

Not too long after the Klingon and Nausicaan duo entered the bridge, they were followed in by a smaller, paler shadow - Sioturik, the Chief Security, crept up the group from behind, blocking the door. The usually passionate Reman was eerily silent, just glaring at the unwanted guests with cold interest.

Another sigh, this time at the exchange between the Starfleet officer in the purple-division uniform and her own COO. “I don’t believe there’s a need for all of this hostility,” she stated and stood from her chair. Her arms were held neatly behind her back, head tilted slightly to the side as she regarded the numerous people who had entered the bridge. Silvery eyes locked on Copia’s for a moment, having noticed her staring – and stared back perhaps just long enough to make her squirm. “My own officers will be disciplined for their actions, Commander," she stated to Sadhbh. "I hope you will discipline your own for their incessant questioning of members of my crew. Now – I presume that you’re here to advise us that you’ve completed your work, and that you’ll be on your way? I’m sure that you have places to be, just as we do.”

"On the contrary captain I wanted to have a discussion with you." Sadhbh said plainly, as she was speaking she as casually as she could altered her posture from standing straight on to a shooting posture, with her body turned to the side so she was a smaller target for Rhea. Any officers on the bridge with combat experience would probably notice what she was doing. "What weve learnt from members of your crew is cause for concern and it must be discussed."

The XO stood to join his captain, moving from his chair to stand side-by-side with her as he glanced across the bridge with an intense look. "It is my understanding that we've explained in great detail what happened aboard our vessel, your investigation was not only unnecessary, but invasive as to the privacy and disruptive to the efficiency and running of this ship. I would recommend that if you're done, you return your away team to your ship. If you wish to discuss, you can discuss in private with myself and the Captain. We would be happy to explain any concerns you may have."

2

But Copia didn't let Tewari's scowl get to her. If anything, it challenged her to keep up her confidence. Such a provocative move without even physically moving anywhere was not going to be taken with such a cowardice. Copia remembered the holodeck simulation - she remembered all of her previous away missions - she remembered her creator. And Copia wasn't afraid. She didn't let her nerves go into fear. She didn't retreat. She stayed right where she was. She wouldn't be defeated by something so simple. Was that all Tewari had? With that, Copia didn't move a muscle. Simply, her gaze monitored others around her, especially the XO of the New Dawn as he talked.

”My first officer is correct,” she stated, watching Sadhbh shift her position. “If you would like to talk, then you’re more than welcome to join Commander Cronos and I in the ready room. Your crew may beam back to your own ship – things are… Rather crowded with them all being here,” she added with a hint of distaste.

"'Incessant questioning' is not a persecutable offense in Starfleet." How much did they know about Starfleet's laws? The way they were interrogating that prisoner was the real offense, legally, but he didn't want to point out too many of their mistakes and oddities, like how they avoided physicals, because that could make them turn hostile - but he needed proof these people were what they said they were, too. Masking it as adjusting where his uniform was a little too tight over the chest (which it was, actually), he tapped his commbadge twice to activate a panic button which would set up a call with the Eventide, ensuring they would hear anything incriminating the susenior officers might say. "As a diplomat and a member of the Commander's division, I'd like to request to accompany her to help talk things out, if it comes to that." He did not like the idea of leaving one of their own senior staff here on her own, outnumbered. "However, I'm unsure what you'd have to explain to her that you wouldn't be able to say to anyone else here. I'm sure you can answer our questions with fairly simple, honest answers, so it won't take long, surely?"

3

2

Copia looked over at Eshen and immediately smiled. Aha - he knew exactly what he was doing. And he wouldn't be alone in making that jump - Copia would be right behind Sadhbh and Eshen the whole time, backing them up. Finally, Copia had a chance to -- respectfully -- fight back against Tewari. "And as Mission Specialist, for research and documentation purposes," Copia said, stepping forward. "I also request to accompany Commander Di Nhuill as a member of her division. I am sure we can work things out civilly and calmly, as Lieutenant K'Tann suggests. " With that last line, she looked right at Tewari. Not scowling... Just directly speaking to her.

“I did not say that someone would be persecuted for ‘incessant questioning,’” she replied to this Klingon officer with the pointy ears – the one who seemed to have too big a mouth when talking to those of a higher rank. Her tone had turned steely, glare the same. “But snooping around another person’s ship paints Starfleet in a bad light, does it not? You have no jurisdiction aboard this vessel: no right to question anyone. Furthermore, your Commander here asked for a discussion, not to question us as well. We are not going to entertain your incessant harassment. Now: as a Starfleet Captain, the highest ranking officer presently on this vessel - including amongst all of you - I am going to kindly ask you all to leave. I will advise you that this incident will be reported back to Starfleet Command."

"Something is wrong on this ship and we're gonna find out!" Sadhbh said defiantly. Clearly she had no intention of leaving the bridge to go off with someone she wasn't even sure was human. "Members of your crew are concerned thats something's been changing people's personalities and I intend to find out what's going on."

Copia stepped up. "Commander," Copia said to Sadhbh. "If I may." Copia turned to Tewari. "Captain... You will not be the only one to report this incident to Starfleet. It will immediately go to Commander Di Nhuill's supervisor, Captain -- Tevis...Bor Pog..." Copia emphasized Tevis's name to make the others in the away team were aware that she was not saying Mo's name on purpose. Obviously Tevis didn't command 777. But this would be the lynch pin. Maybe this would catch Tewari off guard... If it really was Tewari. Copia looked back at Sadhbh with a wink. (edited)

Gregor just stood there in silence listening in on the conversation as he didn't have anything to say. Gregor had a firm grip on his repair kit in case anyone who tried to start something physical he could just swing it at them, he quietly picked up a caramel from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth usually he didn't have a sweet tooth but after a long 'wellness check' he thought he'd treat himself.

”There is absolutely no need for the dramatics,” the captain stated at Sadhbh’s shouting defiantly. Her attention then turned to Copia, and she resisted the urge to sigh again. It appeared she was wavering between anger and being completely fed up with this conversation. “Your Commander may also file an incident report to whomever she may wish, be that the Riov of the Eventide or 777’s own commanding officer. Additionally? I am not blind. I can see you wink.” It would appear that both Copia and Sadhbh had gotten themselves into the bad books very quickly. “This ragtag away team,” she swept a hand over the group in indication “has harassed my own staff, acted in ways unbecoming of Starfleet officers, and have now failed to heed a command from a ranking officer. I will state this again. Get off this ship. That is an order.”

Clearly Copia wasn't having it. She didn't care if she got in trouble from Tewari. Tewari was under investigation and surely would not be able to get out of this. If this meant disciplinary action, Copia would take it. But in one last attempt, Copia spoke up, in a voice that would chill anyone to their core... "We don't fear you." Before she looked back to the rest of the away team. With a glance back, she cast a look that would hopefully inspire the rest of the team to keep going. Not to obey this renegade Captain. A Captain who may not have been who she says she was. (edited)

Senang couldn't help but think "please take that back" as he set his shoulders and widened his stance, ready in case someone attacked her for that.

1

Except that Copia’s statement did not chill this officer to her core. “Don’t you?” She enquired, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head. Eye contact was made directly with Copia as she spoke. A defiant little Starfleet officer – how amusing. They always were. “Perhaps we ought to change that. Computer, begin auto-destruct sequence, authorisation Tewari 9-4 Omicron Tau.”

As Tewari spoke, Ti immediately followed, as if he was in perfect synchronization with his Captain, knowing exactly what to say. "Confirm auto-destruct. Authorisation Cronos 7-4 Delta Gamma."

He held up a middle finger at everyone. "Confirm auto-destruct - authorisation Reini 9-3 Epsilon Chi."

He bared his teeth in a sinister grin. "Confirm auto-destruct - authorisation G'gintesh 4-8 Xi Nu."

Oh, finally. "Confirm auto-destruct - authorisation Sioturik 2-1 Xi Kappa," she uttered with a small smile, nasally voice joining in with the rest of her team.

Voices overlapped and the commands were given in only a matter of seconds. The Computer responded instantly: “Destruct sequence completed and engaged. Five minute silent countdown: enacted.”

10

6

Sadhbh pulled out her phaser and pointed it right at Rhea. "So who the fuck are you really?"

Copia followed suit, also pointing her phaser directly at Tewari's head before tapping her comm badge panic button. Well, if Sadhbh did so, surely Copia could do the same... Right? "Start talking." (edited)

Gregor spit out the caramel he had in his mouth 'what the fuck is happening' was going through his mind as he reached for his phaser and pointed it at the one closest to him, his repair kit was in the other hand as a sort of tool to just wack people with it. "This I did not expect." He said quietly.

Vara'l tapped his combadge twice and triggered his own panic button as he turned and with his other hand pulled his phaser. As he pulled it he watched the security chief and kept them held at phaser point. (edited)

Five fucking minutes? That sounded, uh. Not great. He grabbed Gregor's arm to pull him back from all this fighting shit and went towards the doorway. "C'mon, we gotta - get to engineering. Stop this shit from blowing up," he said, not really thinking he needed many words to get that across.

"Aye and quickly to." Gregor quickly followed the Lieutenant, he didn't turn his back as he still had his phaser pointed at well the enemy now after some distance he turned his back though, they needed to be real quick about this.

Senang swiftly drew his phaser. In the short range, he was far more effective with bare hands, but he still wasn't sure what they were fighting, and wasn't sure he wanted to find out in close proximity. Despite Copia's optimism, he doubted anyone actually would talk, and frankly, it wasn't likely he'd like what they had to say anyway.

Copia kept her phaser right then and there, pointed directly at Tewari, her face now evidently angry. She wouldn't let this slip. "You'd go as far as to make this entire vessel self destruct rather than jettison us out? That doesn't sound very Starfleet like," Copia said. "In fact, that is the talk of a coward. No- you are not just a coward, you are a traitor."

The call for self destruct, and it's eventual activation, sent a chill up T'she's spine. So this would most likely come to a fight, oh how they did not like violence...

"Lieutenant, the more you speak, the more you attract attention towards yourself. This is not the time for heroic speeches," Senang told Copia, getting nervous on her behalf. In through the nose, out through the mouth, centre yourself and move in a straight line towards your end goal. In through the nose, out through the mouth...

4

With a snort unlike that of an excited animal, Sioturik - or what pretended to be her, anyways - lunged forward, and was all too quick to wrap her pale hands around the nearest bridge crew's neck. It was snapped in one swift move, bringing quick death to the poor, unfortunate soul that didn't have enough time to save themselves from her advance. A second body followed, not too long after - this one meeting their death from her needle-sharp teeth. Then, she snapped her head around, face painted like warpaint, to look at the Eventide team with glee in dark eyes. So, who's next?

6

The Captain – or whoever she was – didn’t seem at all fazed by the fact that there were multiple weapons pointed at her. She retained the same stance as she had before, hands neatly placed behind her back. In the background, the bridge crew of the New Dawn remained there frozen in a mixture of fear and disbelief. “So many questions at once, Starfleet. Firstly: I’m afraid you do not need to know. Secondly: I’d rather not talk. Thirdly: traitor is the correct term, yes.” She took a step forwards. “But – we are not you.” In the background, there was the sound of the crack from an officer’s neck. “You are weak.” The sound of a second body falling. “And the weak shall perish.” And with that, she sprang into action too.

4

Ah, so Sadhbh was going for it now. He was about to mention something about them having enough reasonable suspicion that their questioning was justified - 'reasonable suspicion' was another real legal term, the one that usually came before 'probable cause'. It wasn't enough to arrest someone, but it was to investigate someone. This was getting a little bit too far into security terminology and he was hardly a lawyer, so he might have gotten a detail wrong, and he wasn't even sure if investigation stretched to being allowed to stay where you were being told to fuck off, but he would have been banking on these guys being imposters who would assume he knew more about Starfleet law than they did. Then Copia said a lot of things that threw all that out the window. The situation had escalated to a point where yes, he did fear Tewari, actually! Well, not fear - by choice, he didn't often feel that emotion. But he had a basic sense of self-preservation, and would have suggested they all just leave and report all this to the higher-ups, but before he could even think about saying it - 'That escalated quickly' wasn't enough to describe what just happened. "Bloody hell. Go do your magic, my love!" With that, he took out his phaser, fired at GG, who was blocking the door, trying to stop Allan from getting out - but he didn't go down. Luckily, it was enough of a distraction that Allan and Gregor could slip out. (edited)

"You lot fucked up." His hand grew to an enormous size, then morphed into a praying mantis-like blade made of bone.

4

"Thank god. I can stop pretending to be this idiot's colleague now. Gonna squash a flea first, though -" He charged at Vara, slashing at her with his bone-blade!

Copia teamed up with Sadhbh, starting to fire directly at Tewari, before herself charging at Tewari, full speed... "AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!" (edited)

Vara'l as he saw several officers go down proceeded to open fire on the arrain with his phaser and tapped his combadge again. "Vara'l to Eventide,New Dawn bridge confirmed compromised, away team under attack" He calmly informed them as he continued to fire.

As his captain moved, he too moved, stepping side by side, it seemed that even his imposter counterpart was in-sync with his Captain as his real version. The two ran side by side, Cronos perfectly blocking the Captain from view as they rushed towards the helm. With a swift movement, the Vulcan grabbed hold of the helmsman from their chair, grabbing hold of them by their uniform as they launched the figure across the bridge like a ragdoll with an unexpected level of strength, throwing the soon-lifeless body towards the away team as he turned towards them, fully blocking his Captain from view.

[COMMS] Tennibrook at the tactical station picked up the communication. "Acknowledged, commander. Should we beam you back? I'm reading auto-destruct."

Senang jumped into action as well, aiming for the 'Nausicaan' who was attacking the mouthy Intelligence officer. It wasn't a clean shot, but he kept his hands steady and his breathing level as he aimed.

It was with the agility of something certainly not Human that she moved, darting under the flurry of phaserfire before Cronos removed the helmsman from their post – quite possibly permanently. With Cronos behind her, she took the helmsman’s place, fingers flying across the console’s screen. In a matter of seconds the shields were raised, and the ship had started to move.

Yes, they needed to protect innocents, yes they needed to check the dead to make sure they were... dead... but for a moment, all T'she could think about was trying to minimize casualties -- that was the logical course if action, right? And so they started moving, pulling the bounties of their rummaging from their pack -- a hypo, something that wouldn't kill, but it could definitely incapacitate one of the people with bone blades for hands. They needed to protect their crew as well, of course.

2

Sadhbh attempted to shoot the helm but due to the ship moving so rapidly she missed her shot in a rather comical fashion and hit the roof of the bridge instead. (edited)

Copia didn't let this deter her. She wasn't going to give up easily. Copia practically opened fire to every enemy she could, at least, when she had time to. She had just made herself a new nemesis! Awww! Copia's first nemesis! A totally rude changeling Captain!

The Reman continued to move swiftly, seemingly unfazed by the bouts of fire - even if some of those rogue shots did, in fact, hit her. Though, she did react to one of the shots that swooshed past her bald head - and, after her eyes traced it's path to see who that lucky shot was, she switched her pathing to go after Eshen instead. "Klingon!" she grinned a bloody smile. Finally, a worthy opponent! This battle will be legendary! With no other words to spare, she lunged herself at the diplomat.

9

Too focused at shooting at the CSO at a moment,Vara'l did what he could as he tried to get the innocent officers still up and near him out of danger. This done by him having moved between them. Seeing that they had now started to move toward Eshen, Vara'l continued to fire on the 'reman' as he increased the intensity of his phaser fire a step away from stun. A step closer to kill.

It took Mirrim about a moment to mentally catch up with what was happening, but as soon as she could think clearly again she reached for her phaser and pointed it at Ahex, firing before she could think about anything else to do. She’d already been looking in his direction, plus the bone arms and the fact that he was with the people who’d decided to blow this ship up with the crew on it, seemed like a good enough reason to try and stun him. If he wasn't moving he wouldn't be able to attack and/or kill any of the people present.

Copia noticed that she was the only android as part of the away team... She had an idea. "Eshen, Mirrim, get behind me!" Copia would continue to fire. Her idea was to use herself as a shield for Eshen, Mirrim and whoever else would be in the line of fire. Surely she'd get hit - and surely it would damage her. But she needed to protect the others. (edited)

"Don't do dumb things," Senang chastised Copia, pulling her backwards when he had a second. "No flesh shielding, and no android shielding either." He kept shooting at the Nausicaan to the best of his abilities, but it didn't seem to do much. Not enough, at least.

9

Vara ducked behind cover from the blade as she took a breath, it was all happening so fast and so quickly. She pulled out her phaser and looked to it. “Stun, good.” She said as she fired at Sogh’s legs.

Copia had to recenter herself briefly before realizing what had happened. Senang had saved her! "Although I am fixable, neither I nor organic life forms are expendable," Copia said. "Thank you!" Before she went right back to going gung-ho on the phaser, firing at enemies left and right. Copia would have to give Senang a proper 'thank you' later on! (edited)

He couldn't get behind anything - he was lunged at, lost his balance, and pinned to the ground! He wrestled with her, trying to roll her over so he could have her pinned and phaser her directly upon the chest. Hopefully they could only stand so much phaser fire. "Sorry I didn't bring a Bat'leth," he said, smirking with gritted teeth. "You lot aren't changelings, are you?" Changelings couldn't take this much phaser-fire.

Unphased by the phaser-fire except for a slight stumble, he made his way toward Vara and slashed at her from above, intending to stab her chest or shoulder. Better dodge!

Upon receiving phaser-fire from Mirrim, his head snapped toward her, and he ran over with the speed of a predator, slashing at her stomach with the blades. She should probably also dodge.

"I doubt phasers will work the way we are using them. Mirrim, do you think you could check the person who went flying from the helm? There is a chance they are still alive. I'll... I'll do something." They spoke quickly before they finally rushed at G'gintesh with the hypo in hand, ready... to strike!

Despite the carnage that was going on in the background – all of the original bridge crew now dead or at least badly injured, people engaged in melee combat or firing phasers – there wasn’t a single glance backwards from the not-captain. Not a thought was given to what was going on behind her, nor what was going on elsewhere on the ship. Were the crew running? Hiding? Trying to evacuate? It didn’t matter. Not-Tewari’s only focus was on the helm in front of her, piloting the New Dawn into reachable distance of the Eventide. If they couldn’t have this ship, no one could – and she was going to take the Eventide down with them.

Copia noticed what was going on with Eshen, Mirrim and Vara. It all seemed like it wasn't going to end well - but then Copia got an idea. She'd distract the enemies, and while distracted, that could give Eshen, Mirrim and Vara time to strike from behind without the enemy knowing! Firing her phaser at the enemies, Copia shouted, "HEY! OVER HERE!" To try and draw the enemies in her direction. Hopefully this would work...

Senang jumped out of the way, trying to create at least a few seconds of distance between himself and the Nausicaan. He set his phaser to kill, the stun setting not doing enough damage right now. He waited for a clear moment to fire, not wanting to hit anyone else by accident.

Vara was quite good at dodging, so she rolled out of the way of that strike before firing more phaser fire this time at the chest. “Hey! Your buddy told me that they want to eat you after this fight! They only pretend to be your friend, should probably do something about that.” Vara said, trying to gauge the intelligence of these fakers.

4

As he finally set his own phaser to kill as he continued to fire and moved. He wanted to try and get some distance between himself and the not-COS. He hoped that distance turned out to be better on the accuracy front for him.

While fights were breaking out all over the bridge Sadhbh made a bealine for the communications console. Once she got there she began to open a shipwide channel to signal the new dawn's crew to abandon ship!

"Uh, yeah, obviously. You think me making fun of him all the time was me trying to pretend to be friendly?" He said, continuously slashing at her and missing because talking while fighting was difficult, and he'd never been a good multitasker. "That would be a totally toxic friendship."

"I would never eat that fucker!" He roared, raising a bone blade toward Mirrim - before he felt a small sting. "He'd taste... Like asshole..." He didn't fall sleep immediately - perhaps he needed another dosage, he was a big guy - but his slashes and staba became more lethargic, slower, easier to dodge, though you certainly still wouldn't want to get hit by one.

7

A low, hoarse sort of laugh flew off her lips, putting up a fair fight in trying to keep Eshen flat on the ground: "Only in a sense!" With that, there was a valiant attempt to swipe at the man's throat with one of her hands - the little lady seemed to be fully intent on quite literally throwing arms with Eshen.

“Oh! Good for you guys! Personal boundaries, great work!” She said as she moved to leap off a console and land on Reini’s shoulders. “Sorry bout this love, first time I’ve ever shot someone.” She said as she tried to unleash a full max stun shot into his neck and back of head. (edited)

Copia saw as Sadhbh rushed to the console. She'd need to be protected, and it looked like Vara had done something to the enemies on their end! But with Eshen still pinned, Copia sent phaser blasts at the Arrain, before rushing over and providing cover for Sadhbh. Copia began firing at any enemy that would seem to be heading in their direction. "You're covered, sir!" Copia said to Sadhbh.

Senang took the opportunity to shoot at Reini again, this time with the new setting. He watched the Klingon go down, at least somewhat, and hoped this would take care of a second assailant.

Having arrived at the opinion that his repeated shots and now kill shots happened to have had minimal effect on the COS, Vara'l turned. As he turned he continued to fire on the COS for a moment before he belined in the direction of what he hoped was the tactical console. While he moved, Vara'l fired on the C.O.S for a moment longer before he switched targets to Sogh G'gintesh

Thanks to Copia's cover Sadhbh successfully opened a shipwide channel. "All hands this is the bridge. Abandon Ship repeat Abandon Ship." Sadhbh hoped the evacuation order wasn't too late for the crew of the new dawn if they couldn't stop the self destruct. (edited)

Alright, so one hypo of tranquilizer was not enough to take out this assailant. That was good to know. But, it seemed like they had the advantage now to administer another dosage... if they could dodge for long enough in the mean time. But... perhaps they could be a little reckless, a little daring. And so, with little margin for error, they went for another hypo.

7

Vara'l had quickened his pace as he moved. He'd hoped as he moved and fired that once he reached the tac console he might be able to bring the shields down, for now though he continued to focus on getting there alive. That being an attempt he carried out with swift movements covered by his own phaser fire as he looked for the console.

Mirrim was taking hurried steps backing away from slashing bone arms, that looked like they would not be the most comfortable thing to come into contact with at high velocity. "Will do as soon as I can get into my bag without being impaled.", she answered to T'she's request. At this point she wasn't even trying to shoot anymore, it was more than difficult enough to stay out of the way, plus she didn't want any of the shots hitting someone they shouldn't, seeing as she didn't exactly trust her aim in this chaos.

The hypo hit, and he could feel himself getting more tired, and even though he couldn't feel pain very well, the phaser-shots were starting to hurt. So, he used the last of his strength to yell, "FUCK YOU, STARFISH!" He faced T'she and SLASHED a green, bloody line across their torso, then fell face-first on the floor.

7

"Agile. It will not save you." He leaned forward, and out of the back of his shoulders, two large blades came from his grew rapidly (literally shoulderblades), which would impale Vara if she didn't hop off.

“Oh fuckity fuck!” Vara said as she rolled out of the back of the officer. “Have you guys tired therapy for all this pent up anger?” She said as she rolled forward and tried to slam her phaser into Reini’s eye and then fire a stun shot.

As he spotted Vara'l rushing across the bridge towards the tactical console, he stepped forward, leaving his captain exposed momentarily to stop a potential breach of their shields... As he stepped forward with speed, there was a sickening crack as his arm stretched out, seemingly growing in length as he reached out and grasped towards Vara'l's leg, to trip him up.

Oh. OH. That was not good, even if they were trained, they were not trained to deal with this. They tried to center themself, act logical, it was their own recklessness that got them to this point, and they needed to live with the consequences. But, as they stumbled back, making sure to stay away from the other assailant, they tried to rely on their own training once more. Keep calm, apply pressure to the wound -- that they could do, they thought as their free hand pressed against the wound. They needed to retreat. They could not fight like this.

4

Senang shot once more at the Nausicaan, who was still not going down fast enough. It was bantering still, far too talkative. Just what was behind these facades? From the corner of his eye, he watched as the Klingon went down, and then watched as green started to bleed through T'she's uniform. He stepped over towards them, backwards so as not to take his eyes off of the others. This was starting to look dire. "I will cover you, Lieutenant," he offered, the 'take care of yourself' unspoken but crystal clear nonetheless. (edited)

Vara'l, faced with this threat attempted first had tried to shoot the commander as they approached and he continued forward. This happened to unfortunately mean that his forward momentum robbed him of much options with which he could have responded to the trip up attempt. So down he had gone as he'd attempted to turn a tripped up fall forward into a roll in an attempt to save himself from serious injury from what could be described as either head desk or head floor. (edited)

He kneed upwards in an attempt to wind Arrain before she could properly slash at his neck, and then, if that worked, grabbed her by the shoulders and SLAMMED his forehead, ridges and all, into hers. She wanted a Klingon? She'd get a Klingon.

The lights dimmed suddenly, the purple backglow dying out. Emergency lights remained on.

There was a pained, bitten off hiss as soon as his head connected with hers, the crunch ringing in her ears like a church bell. She swayed violently, yet still tried to at least grab onto one of Eshen's arms, fully intending to at least leave a scratch or two, the bloodthirsty thing...

Startled both by the fact that G'gintesh was no longer a threat as well as the blood discoloring T'she's uniform, Mirrim turned around in a circle once to access the situation. She had to make sure she wouldn't be attacked while she wasn't paying attention, before she could focus on treating people for injuries. The situation being what it was she decided that it definitely wasn't safe to kneel down right now. Instead she lifted the phaser again and started to shoot at Reini, who was hopefully somewhat distracted by Vara as well as the lights going out.

T'she looked over at Senang with a nod, glad for the help. "I will get myself out of range, Lieutenant, in turn I entrust these two to you... I... can't fight like this... but two should take out one of these officers." They passed over two of the hypos from their bag, the two that they had left.

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Senang nodded back at T'she, taking the hypos from them in one hand, holding his phaser in the other. He wouldn't move or put it away until the other was safe. "You did well," he told them, before turning his back to them once more to keep an eye on the room. He trusted them to do as they promised.

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He yelped when Vara hit his eye, then suddenly - he backed off. Was he giving up? No. He needed space to transform. (CW: BODY HORROR) He stretched his arms out, and his hands, briefly human-like again, grew in size. From each nail and knuckle grew a blade, and his hands became spade-shaped, like a bear's powerful paws. Below his shoulderblades, spikes grew out of each vertebrae, bone spurs grew from his ankles and feet, and then, finally, he unhinged his jaw and spread his maw wider and wider, to reveal huge, snake-like fangs. With a deep growl, he launched himself toward mirrim, batting the phaser out of her hands, about to BITE!

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Lisa was quick to act. Phaser set to stun, as powerful a stun as she could go, she fired at Reini. She wasn’t going to let ANYONE touch any more of her crew, her people..

Vara ran back from the beast and opened fire with her phaser set to max stun. “Well aren’t you ugly!” She screamed out as she rolled over a console to try and make distance while firing.

A very high, very loud shriek escaped past her lips, as she recoiled from whatever this creature was. As she did so she stumbled over her own feet, involuntarily landing exactly where she'd decided she didn't want to be just seconds ago, the floor.

Even aware of the noise that happened to indicate that something had happened as he had fallen forward and attempted to turn a fall into a roll, Vara'l happened to have something else on his plate at the time in occurred so failed to react to it. This happened to partly be due to the fact that all that Vara'l had happened to have seen when what happened happened, was the floor and some of commander.

Copia kept herself in front of Sadhbh, covering her for protection. But once she noticed the transformation of the creature, she immediately began to open fire from her position, not leaving Sadhbh, and keeping her eyes sharp on all sides while firing, in case anyone else decided to say 'hello.' This wasn't the first time Copia had dealt with changelings, and she bet it certainly wouldn't be her last. Regardless, this time was by far the highest risk and, thus, highest challenge, out of any of the times she had dealt with changelings. Copia had a promise to make. For herself, for Sadhbh, for the away team... for Mo. For Yoro'clis... ...for Tobias. Certainly, for Tobias. Copia's focus shifted back and forth between firing at the creature and keeping her eye on anyone else who might be in the vicinity.

Once T'she was far enough away that he was satisfied they wouldn't be targeted anymore, Senang walked back into the fight. He holstered his phaser, not necessary at this moment. His task was to get in close proximity to what had been once the Nausicaan, and finish the job T'she had set up. He walked in close proximity, and, when the shapeshifter was distracted by Mirrim and Vara, dashed in, his right hand extending towards any uncovered skin to unload the first hypospray, his left in front of him like he was trained to do.

Truth be told, the headbutt hadn't been super great for him either, but it would give him a headache, not a concussion. He let her grab his arm and dig her claws in as much as she wanted - but used this as an opportunity to pull her by the arm that was grabbing him until they were flipped over. At some point he'd dropped his phaser during all this, so if that worked, he reached down to grab it and pointed it at her throat. "What are you?"

The man had slinked backwards after attacking Vara'l, having moved backwards once more to guard his Captain, feels slightly outnumbered by the group, but suddenly feeling better with the addition of his now empowered ally. He watched, evaluating the crew around him as he waited, arms outstretched for one to dare to approach...

*A toothy grin was shot back at him... only for it to morph into something different, something stretched out, an almost helmet-like structure stretching back over her head... but before Sioturik could show too much, she swiped at him again, arms noticeably larger, wider, and sharper.*

(CW: blood, description of injury) At this point, his uniform had torn in many places, sort of like when the hulk transforms, so there was plenty of bare skin - it was just a matter of getting past all the spikes. About to maul Mirrim, his attention was caught by Lisa, and, shaking off the stun, he leapt forward to bite her leg with his snake-like fangs, piercing her skin like a two-pronged fork into a chicken drumstick. That was when Senang approached, and as blood dripped from his unhinged jaw, he turned to face him just as he felt a small sting - that was him hypospray'd once. It had taken multiple tries with the last guy, though, so as he was still awake, he swiped Senang's ribs with his gnarly claws.

Copia, still covering Sadhbh, switched her fire to focus on Reini and Sioturik, hopefully hitting them with damage to weaken them, so they didn't hurt anyone else. With what seemed to be an eternity of firing at them, but in reality was only about 10-15 seconds, Copia's phaser fired practically nonstop. Then Copia noticed Cronos. Ugh... the only thing standing between her and Tewari was Cronos. And a bunch of changelings that most likely could turn into terrifying monsters at a moment's notice. But still. Copia liked to think it was just Cronos and Tewari. Staying close to Sadhbh, Copia turned her phaser to max stun and relentlessly fired directly at Cronos. It was the least she could do, while simultaneously keeping Sadhbh protected.

Vara'l attempted to as he rolled and noted the commander had retreated, come up closer to the console. An attempt that was in essence marred by two things. The first being the pain that half blinded him for a second as his head impacted the floor at a reduced velocity, the impact a glancing blow as he managed to only partially protected his head. Something that in itself caused pain as he'd in the name of saving more important things like his face from sudden impact, protected his face and introduced a different part of his head to the ground as he rolled. Rolled and felt another flash of pain as the fact he'd clutched his phaser so tightly in his non-metal ribbed hand caused further indeterminate injury even as his tricorder also proceeded to go flying. Not something he noticed that given how the lights had dimmed. As an idle part of his mind idly hoped that nobody had noticed how that fall had come about as he proceeded to come to a kneel and then started to stand up, his phaser switched from his hurt hand to his other one. So far, he reckoned, he seemed mostly fine. He'd had worse dings either way, his mind rapidly had mused as he proceeded to take in the fact the power seemed to have reduced for a brief moment. He'd then started to fire at the commander who'd tripped him.

That... hurt. Senang was almost focussed enough to not feel it, barely staying on his feet, but the sting was sharp enough to cut through. He'd need others to keep the shapeshifter distracted if he was going to administer the second hypospray. And then he'd need to go to the sick bay to regret his actions for a bit.

(CW: blood, description of injury) *Lisa felt the teeth sink into her leg- right at her calf, thankfully missing the major tendons and arteries and landing firmly in the muscle. Instantly it registered as some of the worst pain she’d ever experienced, topping the time she had her throat cut across, even topping the burns. She let out a scream, unable to control herself for a moment, before quickly going quiet, taking deep breaths to prevent shock and hyperventilation. She quickly put pressure to the wound with one hand, sending one more blast at full stun from her phaser at the horrific abomination before using her other hand for additional pressure. The blood was all over her hands now.* “Bastard! That thing got me good”

The attempts to latch onto the Eventide and bring the two ships together had failed. There had been numerous efforts by the other side – remodulating their shields, using their own tractor beam in reverse to push back – but in the end it was this ship that failed her. The tractor beam had flitted out, the shields had failed, the impulse engines had switched off. It became evident that the ship’s functions were being drained of power in order to divert them elsewhere… And something told her that she knew where. Five minutes had ticked by in her head and yet there had been no self destruct. The New Dawn was still here, the Eventide was still here… And that was the direct opposite of what she wanted. For the first time in minutes she became aware of what was going on behind her, focus on this now-useless console fading. Her head raised, but she didn’t look around and simply observed instead. There was still the sound of fighting behind her, of phaser-fire and snarling and people almost being mauled. She had never cared for the feral acts of her colleagues. They used their ability to change form in ways that were useful for the sake of getting the job done, but… Overdramatic, in her opinion. There was no need… But for now, at least it meant that the Eventide’s away team were distracted. Slipping from her seat at the helmsman’s station – physically slipping, as if suddenly her bones were no longer solid – she disappeared behind the station, and then subsequently vanished.

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Ti had stepped backwards quickly as the shots started to fly his way, the man moved towards his Captain as she started to move, watching her slip away he moved to behind the helm console as he took two large hits on his back from the flurry of shots, letting out a large inhuman sound that was definitely something to be concerned about, but despite the clearly solid hits on him as he fled the man remained upright as now both of the two imposters had ducked behind the console, out of sight and out of the range of the hail of incoming blaster fire.

“So, I’m starting to think maybe the self-destruct wasn’t so bad!” She said as she focused on Reini, blasting a nearby console with her phaser trying to hit him with the explosion. However, her back was turned from anyone from behind.

Out of corner of Sadhbhs eyes she noticed that the helm was empty. That couldn't be good. She rushed over to investigate to find an upturned vent cover under the helm station, the captain and XO had vanished. The only place with other Eventide crew was engineering. She tapped her Comm to warn them before jumping into the Jefferies tubes to follow the pair to engineering.

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Mirrim scrambled to get back up, noting in passing that, while something in her bag had buried itself in her back when she landed on it and would likely cause a bruise later on, she was out of sheer luck still mostly uninjured. Yet again she'd found herself being rescued and while she was endlessly grateful for it ,she was also starting to feel bad seeing as it'd gotten three (3!) people seriously hurt by now. She was not looking forward to the aftermath of this. Where did the phaser fly off to? Nevermid, she'd just pick up the first best weapon adjacent thing she could find.

Vara'l continued to fire upon Ti as the other retreated, shots focused on center mass as best as possible as they departed. The shots as they retreated accompanied by a slow advance as he had followed them as best he could for a moment then before he confirmed they were out of sight. Still buzzed on the Romulan equivalent of adrenaline, Vara'l happened to pause a tad before he responded or did anything as his mind turned to one fact. That fact being the fact that the people in engineering happened to be unaware of a large part of what had happened. Plumping for a name that he happened to reckon belonged to someone on the away team who also happened to not be visible on the bridge, up or down or still, Vara'l tapped his com badge. "Tr'Hara to Lieutenant Allen, further to the commanders message be advised that hostiles assailing bridge group have broke from contact and departed, at least two have successfully gotten away from us" He then idly noted that things seemed quieter on one side of his head as he'd crossed his fingers in the hopes he'd happened to have not just commed someone on the bridge and turned as he looked for another hostile to shoot at.

Her sharp arm slashed across his chest, giving him a wound much like Kirk's in that one strangely homoerotic fight, except deeper. Grunting in pain, he pinned her to the ground; then, taking note of what others were doing, dug into the first aid kit he'd brought with him, grabbed a hypo, and jammed it into her neck, hoping it was one of the sedatives.

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Senang waited for an opportune moment to strike, but not too long in case he bled out before he could administer the second hypo. With great determination he pulled himself together, waiting for a moment Reini was distracted before administering the hypospray to the nearest patch of skin he saw. Only when he saw the shapeshifter sagging did he too sag, holding his chest and attempting to calm his heart and breathing down so he would bleed out less quickly.

Well that was awfully mean! The not-Reman let out a scandalized screech over being pinned, and then a second one, more muffled and guttural one, after being injected with the damn hypo. In the last ditch attempt to fight, the twice concussed being just flailed her limbs around, hoping to either throw the half-Vulcan off, or nick him again, movement uncoordinated and lethargic...

Copia, having saw both Tewari and Cronos shifting and hiding underneath the console, aimed her blaster as close to them as she could without hitting the console. Dammit... she was so close... she could have GOTTEN them! They were too quick... and Copia began to boil. After Sadhbh left to go to engineering, Copia couldn't hold it in any longer. "TEWARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!" Copia practically roared. The changelings certainly had gotten under her skin - well, not literally. if they did she'd probably be collapsed in a heap on the ground. But still. This is the first time Copia had ever grasped the concept... of revenge. With that, Copia began firing at the remaining changelings, doing her best to weaken and eliminate them.

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The transformation had been quite shocking... but it had, in fact, taken a lot out of him to transform like that in the state he was in - less powerful than he'd usually be, due to some restrictions imposed upon his body by the way they'd had to conduct this mission. He was also just exhausted from the phaser-fire, so even though he looked bigger and stronger than his nemesis GG, he ended up going down the same way, in the end - collapsing, exhausted, his twisted body on the floor, sharp bones jutting out like shards of shattered glass, his maw open in a silent scream.

T'she saw the second hypo get administered, and they saw the fact that Senang was injured -- likely bleeding out. Something needed to be done, so they approached with their bag at the ready. "I... I can still perform first aid on you, though... I would suggest that we both beam back to the ship. Dr. Rose is there, they should be able to treat us."

Vara took a breath and fired an extra pair of shots at Renini to make sure they were down. “Take that for a middle finger, asshole.” She moved closer to T’She and Senang to make sure they were covered. (edited)

Having spotted a hostile but also spotted that there were wounded, Vara'l proceeded to move toward Lieutenant Senang as he kept the Arrain covered with his phaser and waited for a safe opening in which to shoot. As he moved and waited for that shot, Vara'l switched his phaser to max stun so if he missed he didn't kill a member of the away team. As the other changeling like entity proceeded to collapse like that, Vara'l responded carefully by moving slightly so he had both changelings covered as best as he could. Whenever an opportunity for a shot presented itself to Vara'l, the Romulan took it and fired, the shots restricted to carefully placed fire only given how close to a melee everything had proceeded to have gotten. In between this time, Vara'l also proceeded to take what opportunities presented itself to try and visually check Senang's injuries. This something he stopped as the med lieutenant approached. "Lieutenant Senang, given your injury I'd suggest you you take that suggestion." He commented, unaware at the time that he happened to also look injured. Nowhere near as badly though, though a ding to the head was a ding to the head.

That’s what you fucking get, Lisa thought as she saw Reini go down. However, Lisa had other things to worry about. Her leg was still bleeding, slower now because of the pressure and the fact that she wasn’t panicking and sending her heart rate through the roof (Lisa was no stranger to being injured and didn’t panic easily). She was, however, pissed at this twisted thing pretending to be her former Captain. How dare this thing impersonate someone she had trusted- if Lisa was in any condition to be going to Engineering, she would be heading there right now to give that thing a proper reckoning.

Vara'ls gaze proceeded to sweep the area for a moment in between attempted shots at the still flailing changeling like entity for a few moments before his eyes then fixed on Lieutenant Sanders. Fixed on her for a brief moment before he then had glanced to Lieutenant T'she as he'd continued to cover them both, just in case. "Lieutenant, I leave Lieutenant Senang in your capable hands." He then turned and as he continued to keep the Arrain under phaser fire should they still seem like they happened to be a threat and moved over toward Lieutenant Sanders. Once he arrived at the Lieutenant's side, Vara'l proceeded to lean down next to them as he checked them over with brief glances and proceeded to say "Hello ACOS Sanders." As he risked a look around for a med kit. "I believe you're already keeping pressure on that leg but I thought you might like some conversation and some cover." "Lieutenant T'She, Lieutenant Sanders also needs attention over here." He then proceeded to say with a raised voice.

[CW: Wound Description] Senang just nodded at T'she, letting them look at the slashes across his side. They weren't too deep, though the muscle was torn and they continued bleeding, too open to clot properly. The more blood he was losing, the shorter his breaths became, though he was still obviously doing his best to control them. "Just help me stem the bleeding, I should be fine after that." He'd been hurt worse before, he could wait until they were on the Eventide to be nursed back to full health.

CW: death, negative thoughts In a bout of drained energy - not actual power, but just metaphorical energy - Copia fell to her knees. This... it was all her fault. Her opening her big mouth caused Tewari to start the countdown sequence. Her provoking Tewari was the reason all this happened. She was ultimately the one to blame for the fallen officers. Her worst fears... the one she explored with Yoro'clis... it was true... the blood was on her hands... Copia couldn't speak - she never thought this would be real... she never thought it'd happen like this... it couldn't... she was dreaming, she had to be! But it wasn't a dream... Copia was living this now. The only thing she could do was struggle to get back up to her feet and approach the others, silently offering help to anyone who needed it. Copia had failed. She had failed multiple times... just like she'd failed before... she failed again.

[CW: Medical Practices] "Understood, Lieutenant Commander tr'Hara, I... I will do what I can, Though... I believe I need to treat myself at some point" They said, keeping their internal thoughts to themselves, perhaps the green on their uniform was not as visible as they thought? But perhaps they would be fine if they tied some gauze around their chest. They opened their medical kit and grabbed some supplies. This wound would not be a good candidate for a tournaquet, but they did have a dermal regenerator, and they did have an autosuture, so they used that in order to stem the bleeding. It would not be a perfect solution, but it would work. T'she worked quickly as they tried to keep everyone alive.

Vara moved over to Copia and grabbed her by the shoulders. “LT, get up. I don’t know what’s going through your head right now, but it ain’t the truth and it ain’t helpful. There are still more of them out there, and we need you. Remember what I said down there, deep breaths, count to 10. At least for now, kay?”

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Before Vara had come over, Copia's mouth began to utter words on its own. "Failure... I've...failed..." Then, when Vara came over to Copia and placed her hands on Copia's shoulders, Copia's eyes immediately looked up to Vara. The presence of Vara, the feeling of her soft hands on her shoulders, and most importantly, the fact that she was trying to help... immediately took Copia by surprise. But Copia nodded silently. She breathed in -- one... two... three... ...held it. Four... Five... Six... ...and breathed out. Seven... Eight... Nine... Immediately, what felt like her heart rate (but in reality was likely a placebo feeling) slowed down... Ten. Maybe... Vara was right. Maybe... she wasn't a failure. Maybe this... wasn't her fault. "You... need me." Copia said, grasping hold of Vara's hands as well. "You need me." Copia's smile returned, although only partially, it certainly was a start. "Thank you, again, Ensign... I shall submit a shining report for your behavior." Copia looked to the others. "Do we have everyone able to be treated for now? What's our next move?"

As soon as Senang had even the slightest idea that the bleeding was stopping, he tried to pull himself upright, wincing when that pulled at the wound and hunching over slightly. "Come on, now you," he told T'she, waving their hands away from himself.

Vara'l proceeded to turn to the medical Lieutenant as they proceeded to say that, the voice one that happened in its quiet to have come through mostly clear for the Romulan. "Ah.. apologies Lieutenant and well, all thats asked of us all is that we do what we can.." He responded then as he then briefly proceeded to shake clear some disorientation as he realized that head ding of his had probably well...dinged the implant in his ear a tad. "And you must also take care of yourself too." Probably explained the things being a tad quiet one one side. Not something he happened to be overly concerned with as other facts about the situation that currently happened to be extant were taken into account as he had considered things. His hand and his head weren't major concerns when he considered the fact that he happened to still be able to operate, mostly. "I think we first address your question lieutenant then move from there" He'd asked as he kept his phaser raised and ready as he watched the still forms of those changelings who were down and looked to where the arrain happened to be. With his phaser raised, it'd probably have been apparent at the time that his former shooting had was one he'd started to avoid using. Might be less apparent if that arrain happened to move again, as he'd already resolved to shoot at any of the changeling like entities that currently happened to be in view should they have decided to move. (edited)

"I... will be" They thought for a moment before they acquiesced to the help. They did need it, and they would better serve people once they were not bleeding anymore. "Yes, I trust you."

“Thank you, Lieutenant Tr’Hara. I think I have the bleeding under control for now, at least until we can get somewhere to actually regenerate it. It’s going to be quite the scar, I’ll say.” Lisa was almost scarily calm. Her response in these sorts of situations was to be calm and focused. She had been trained to respond to disasters- both during her time as a police officer and in her training for Starfleet Security. Lisa was no rookie, and she had a damn near inhuman pain tolerance.

Copia nodded, with an acknowledging smile to Vara'l. "Tewari and Cronos made their way through the console. Commander Di Nhuill followed them in a Jeffries tube - they must be in Engineering by now. And I wouldn't be surprised if they've got the crew down there hostage. The speed they moved was sickening." Copia thought of the options in her head that at least she knew. "Either we stay up here and pilot the ship to a safe location, and evacuate before the self-destruct sequence times out... or we pursue them. Personally, I'd prefer the latter. And I do mean... personally." Copia was thinking of going alone?! Was she crazy?! (edited)

In actual fact, it had been far longer than five minutes now... And nothing had happened. Perhaps they were safe.

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"We need uninjured people here in case the shapeshifters wake back up," Senang pointed out when Copia mentioned leaving. He took the dermal regenerator from T'she, taking care of their wounds as they'd done for him. "I cannot take one on another time," he said truthfully, completely aware of his own limits.

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Vara'l allowed the drop in rank to slide uncommented about with consideration to the current state of the Assistant chief of security. "I suspect you're right Lieutenant" *Vara'l commented before he then looked to Copia again and smiled. "Lieutenant Copia, a significant amount of time in exess of five minutes has passed, we're safe at least for now from that danger I'd reckon." He the addressed their other point. "And the Lieutenant is correct though." He then looked around. "I wonder if it might be possible to stick a allied fleet combadge on each of them and com the eventide to have them placed under guard in the Eventides brig, considering the shields seem to be down." Vara'l posited then before he looked to the wounded individuals and considered the situation further. "..If we could do that successfully, we could also transport those too wounded to assist further to medical for treatment, freeing up those who are unwounded or wounded but still able to continue to process to engineering together to reinforce the engineering lot."

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Copia considered that option for a second... that made perfect sense! Keeping the wounded safe on the Eventide, and throwing the changelings in the brig! That way... heh.... that way... Copia would have her showdown she was craving to have against her new archenemy. "Commander," Copia responded. "You have a point. I agree with it and endorse putting into action."

Vara'l might noticeably take a moment before he responded to that as he worked to parse what had been said with hearing on one side that had.. deteriorated a tad. "If everyone else agree with making the attempt, I propose we action that then." He responded then as he looked around and moved as he conducted a visual check on each officers current state in part as something of an attempt to center his mind. "I'll comm the eventide, let them know whats occurred." Vara'l then tapped his combadge. "Lieutenant Commander tr'Hara to the Eventide, are you receiving this?" He asked first as he checked the channel, just in case these creatures had happened to have undertook some effort that'd disrupted comms or something. (edited)

Now that T'she was patched up, they could see to Lieutenant Sanders, something that they did as soon as they were able, but not before thanking Lieutenant Senang for treating them. They used many of the same techniques that they had employed previously, and everything seemed routine enough. But once that was done, they had a much darker task -- tallying the dead and checking if there were any wounded within the casualties that could still be saved.

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He avoided Sio's flailing arms, holding her down until the sedative took effect. He had to make sure the last threat in the room was dealt with before he could go to engineering or do much else - plus get a quick dermal regen from one of the doctors. At least his uniform had a stylish cleavage window now! (edited)

“Oh, sorry, I think I messed up your rank. My apologies, Commander. The blood loss might have gotten to my head a bit more than I thought. But yep, I’m definitely out of the fight for this one. Everyone who’s able, get yourselves to Engineering to back everyone up.” Despite her best efforts, Lisa had still lost a fair amount of blood. She wasn’t as young as she used to be, couldn’t take as much of a beating as she could in her twenties or thirties. She was starting to feel a bit faint, she was holding on for now though.

"Apologies, Lieutenant, but I would strongly advise against taking more able bodied people away from the bridge. I... Do not know how long those Hypos will last, and if they wake up suddenly? Well... then the injured will be in much more danger than they had been before." T'she themself was looking over the situation with tired eyes, they did not want to see anyone else mindlessly run into danger, and they were not afraid to voice their feelings -- making them seem just a touch more human than they usually would.

“You’ve got a good point there, Lieutenant T’She. Make sure you’re ready if they do wake up though, being unprepared is about as good as not being here in the first place.” She observed. She still had some of her wits about her. Even though she couldn’t do much at the moment, she still had her wisdom. Well, some of it.

As he proceeded to hear responses, Vara'l turned to respond to Lieutenant Sanders. "No need to apologise Lieutenant." He responded then initially before the other then issued the order they did, one that happened to make the combadge idea a tad harder to deal with. "Any of you who remain and are able to do so and nod engaged in other more important medical duties, please could you help me in getting combadges on the changeling like entities, anyone else who's not already departed, please remain to help deal with the changeling like entities here first." He added then simply before he then responded to the Comm response. "Hearing you loud and clear, we've engaged changeling like entities on the bridge that turned out to have replaced the Captain of this vessel, the XO, the CTO, COS and one other, we've neutralized three individuals with the CO and XO changeling like entities still at large, we're intending to try and get combadges on the one we've neutralized, request permission to have them transported directly to the brig." Vara'l proceeded to say as he responded to the combadge message and continued to keep the changelings covered in the face of the situation on the bridge having been made a tad more problematic with some of the able-bodied officers having been authorized to depart he believed potentially prematurely. "Further, we've got wounded here on the bridge, medical transport for the wounded also needed." Needless to say, Vara'l started on the process of getting combadges affixed to the changeling like entities if ones happened to not already be affixed. He attempted to do this while also keeping the changelings covered with a phaser, the success of this attempt was something that an observer probably could have convincingly argued at the time was..open to debate. (edited)

Copia still felt a pang she didn't do enough to help in this situation... in the back of her mind guilt still riddled her thoughts. In the back of her mind, the urge for victory, the need for revenge still made itself known in her periphery. Especially when it came to the fact that these changelings were more vicious than she'd ever seen before. And then she remembered... oh yeah... breathe. One... two... three... ...she thought, maybe her and Vara could become friends! She and Vara seemed to connect on a deeper level when it came to relaxing. Vara seemed to understand Copia on that level pretty well! More than she expected. (edited)

Once each of the changelings had a combadge retrieved for and then affixed to them, Vara'l proceeded to tap his combadge and added. "On the bridge at least, everything seems to be under control sir, we've gotten the changelings com-badged with allied fleet com badges, further requesting transport for them to the brig." After he'd sent that message, Vara'l proceeded to lean against a wall as he idly reached up to the side of his head, pressed his hand against it and then proceeded to grimace in discomfort.

As the aftermath of the battle was being dealt with on the bridge, a familiar figure appeared by the entrance. Third Vakud'zul stood tall, surveying the damages done, and only spoke up when everything seemed to be fully under control, aside from the many injuries. "Whatever's been going on, you've all made quite a big mess of it," he commented to nobody in particular and yet to everyone present, recognising the unconscious bodies of his former colleagues. "Can I help with anything here?"

Lisa looked up, noticing Vara’l grimacing. She was kind of out of it, not entirely present, but she still registered him not having a great time. Her voice was quieter but still audible. “Are you alright?” She asked him.

With the CSO presently being on the dinged side of Vara'l, it'd probably be apparent that Vara'l might have not heard them. He happened to be more focused on the comm conversation and the wider situation in the room at the moment and the voice from that side of him happened to be a tad too quiet for him to hear properly at that time. He twigged to its presence after a moment though, in part thanks to the realization that someone else happened to have just spoken to him as well. "..I took a bit of a ding to the head Lieutenant, I should be alright for now." He informed them simply before he'd half turned to the CSO. "Hello sir, if you've any experience with dealing with wounded we'd appreciate any assistance you can provide those not being medically transported out imminently." He informed them before he then added. "..And .. it would appear your Captain and XO and a few others happened to in fact be some form of changeling like entities, we were attacked by them on the bridge." He had proceeded to explain. "Are you yourself okay sir?" He'd then asked glanced to check if the medical personnel had started to conduct medical transports out or not.

Vakud'zul listened to Vara'l speak, though he started shaking his head halfway through. "Not Founders," he corrected quietly. "Gods don't bleed." And bleed these shapeshifters had, quite profusely. "Go back to your ship, Commander," he asked, though it sounded more like a demand, "I and what remains of the crew will take care of what's still here." He stepped past Vara'l, nodding to every officer who hadn't been transported away by the medical transport yet, walking past every fallen crew member and letting his expression get more grave with every face he engraved in his memory. He used the comms console to send a few messages, it seemed, before moving to sit in the Captain's chair, taking command of AFS New Dawn.

7

The officers from the Eventide, along with the three shapeshifters, were teleported to the Eventide to be treated accordingly.