Evadnian Civil War

[xCommander Vladik Fedorov]

"Get down," Vlad shouted as yet another explosion sounded outside the small system of caves. Just hours ago it felt as if the entire planet had exploded with violence as the two warring factions of Evadne decided enough was enough and took the first step to civil war, all following the loss of communication with the Nike. Each side blamed the other, fearful that their representative had been taken hostage or killed.

There were already many dead on the planet and Vlad had led the medical and engineering team to the caves to join the lab team. It wasn't safe up there, though. A portion of the fighters had broken off, following them.

Vlad looked back into the cave. "How's she doing," he called out. A small cave in, deeper into the system of tunnels, had sent a wall of debris raining down onto Zaynah, who had been examining the gems they had found, the source of the energy reading they had detected earlier. She was still half-trapped by the rubble. Any time they tried to move a large boulder, the area above rumbled dangerously.

"Keep trying to contact the ship."

Vlad flinched as another explosion sounded and sand filtered down onto everyone in the cave.

"Here they come," he shouted. He readied his phaser. Another wave of attackers could be seen, their forms silhouetted through the dust and the harsh setting sun.

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[Lt. Commander Tricia McAdams]

Tricia stood to the right of the Commander and fumed that he wouldn’t get under cover and stay there like a good commanding officer and let the security people do their job.

She shouted and pushed him out of the way as a bolt came zipping past where his shoulder had been a moment before. “I really wish you would get back SIR.” She shouted at him. “You are NOT replacable.”

She fired in rapid succession at least wounding a couple and driving them back into the dust. There was no doubt they’d be back and their party needed a better more defensible position. They needed more cover.

“Each time there is a break I want more rock stacked into piles we can hide behind. All the non combatant personnel should find a way deeper into the cave if possible and please whatever you do stay together.”

She scrubbed her hand on her leg and shifted her crouch.

“Are you ok?” she asked the Commander.

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[Commander Nicholas Grant]

He was trying his best to work on the small Orion but they had yet to free her from the rock fall. He stabilized her as best he could but there were internal injuries.

"How's she doing,"

"Hard to say yet Sir," he called out.

He ran the tricorder again and went to work on her head injury while some others tried to move the bolder without bringing the wall down on them. They'd freed one leg and set up a lever and were about to lift the bolder at least enough to pull her out.

Shots flew over his head and he tossed a glance at the cave opening to see Tricia push the Commander out of the way and start yelling at him. He chuckled and turned back to the groggy Zayna.

He started feeling some of the Orion's effects and figured it was a bit of a survival response. "Zayna, no pheromones please. I won't be able to concentrate on healing you dear." He looked through his bag to find his nasal filters to find he hadn't packed the right ones for this.

He refocused and used his dermal regenerator on the scrapes on her arms and freed leg. Then they were ready to try the bolder.

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[xEnsign Zaynah]

"All the non combatant personnel should find a way deeper into the cave if possible and please whatever you do stay together.”

Zaynah's head lolled to the side in the direction of the overly loud voice. "I'm as deep in as I can get," she muttered, "you're all welcome to join me."

"Hard to say yet Sir."

"Never felt better." The flesh-colored makeup had been removed here and there by the abrasions and a large swatch of green, with blood mixed in, could be seen on her left cheek. She looked like a freak of nature decorated in Christmas colors.

"Zaynah, no pheromones please. I won't be able to concentrate on healing you dear."

"Sorry," she muttered. Closing her eyes, she tried to remain calm. She wasn't feeling too much pain, but he had already given her a hypospray that she assumed had numbed her. Peerz was fiddling with the boulder again and Zaynah's eyes opened at the sound of something above her. "Stop... stop..." she said. She tried to point upward but didn't have strength.

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[xCommander Vladik Fedorov]

As a blast surged into the cave, Vlad found himself flat on his butt by the hand of his Assistant Chief of Security.

“I really wish you would get back SIR. You are NOT replacable.”

"Nobody is," he said as he got back into a crouched position, "and I'm fine. What th' hell is going on out there?"

From his position by the large boulder, Peerz called out, "ask your people. No communications? They probably left you all here and took off with our representative. It's the only thing that makes sense."

He bent down to try moving the boulder again, only to be stopped by Zaynah's plea. "Look what it's cost," he said, gesturing an arm at the Orion, "are you people so callous that you hurt your own kind in order to make a political statement?"

"I could ask the same to you, Peerz," Vlad snapped. Now was not the time for diplomacy. He was fed up.

The Evadnian swallowed guiltily and looked back down at Zaynah. "This is not how it's supposed to be."

"Oh, really," Vlad said, "Just how exactly is war supposed to happen?"

Still looking at Zaynah, Peerz' mouth opened and closed without forming words as he saw the green areas. He took a stumbling step backwards. "What is that," he asked, his eyes wide.

Vlad ignored him as another volley of bolts flew into the cave. "Damn it," he shouted. He rolled up the loose sleeves on his Evadnian outfit and grabbed a large rock, adding it to the pile Tricia was building at the entrance, then jumped back as a bolt singed the hair along his temple. "That was close," he said, breathing heavily.

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[xEnsign Mitra Rhee]

Damn, but the shots were getting closer. Rhee had positioned himself in front of the rescuers, knowing that Tricia was doing her best to protect the Commander.

Shots ricocheted off the wall directly behind his head. Rhee managed to duck just in time to avoid a direct hit to his head. They were too exposed here. Yet, they were also stuck.

Moving out from behind the small rock he was using as a shield, Rhee fired. Once. Twice. Three times, before he took a hit to his shoulder.

"Damn," he mumbled as he slipped back behind the rather small rock shield. He flexed his shoulder and was pleased to note the weapon had just grazed it. He'd be fine. It stung a bit, but that was nothing compared to what could await them outside the cave entrance.

The sound of approaching footsteps to the entrance drew his attention immediately.

"Incoming!" He called out, phaser aimed and ready to fire.

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[Lt. Cmdr. Alexis McConville]

"You're going to be fine, Zaynah," Alexis whispered to her friend and fellow officer as she worked to remove some of the smaller rocks that had landed with the rockslide. She chanced a glance at Nick, who was doing everything in his power to keep Zaynah alive and healthy. Her eyes spoke volumes of the fear she was doing everything in her power to hide. She was a science officer, not a warrior.

Sure, she knew how to fire a phaser, but being caught in the middle of a civil war was not what she had planned. At this point, her focus was on helping to free her officer from the rocks that kept her pinned in place.

"Stop... stop..."

Alexis' eyes flew to Zaynah's face.

"What is it? Are we hurting you?" Concern filled her voice as she tried to determine the reason for Zaynah's words. That was when she heard the rumbling sound growing and getting louder. Doe eyes wide with shock, Alexis looked up and around. Then, the sound of cascading rocks filled the cavern.

"No!" She called out, putting her own body over Zaynah's now exposed head. She couldn't let the rocks fall directly onto the unprotected Orion. By the time she threw herself into position, the rockfall was reverberating through the entire cavern. The feeling of rocks pelting onto her back and neck was nearly unbearable, but she knew it had to be nothing compared to what Zaynah was going through. Suddenly, the room was silent, almost eerily silent. Dust seemed to fill the space, making it impossible for her to see what had happened or where the others were.

The moment she lifted her head, Alexis groaned. Her back felt as though it was on fire. Taking a few deep breaths, she managed to half push, half roll herself off of Zaynah. Alexis felt the rocks that had pelted her shifting away as she managed to land on her side facing the Orion.

"You alright?" She asked a bit weakly, coughing on the dust that seemed to fill the room like black smoke.

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[Lt. Commander Tricia McAdams]

"That was close"

Tricia turned and glared at the Commander “Please Sir…?” she asked in as reasonable a tone as she could manage. “Rhee and I can stack the rocks here, perhaps you can go build us a fall back?” she suggested with a toss of her head toward the back of the cave.

She looked back at Peerz with no sympathy her eyes as cold as ice. If the Commander gave the order she’d cheerfully take him a part to get whatever information was required.

"Incoming!"

She whipped back around cursing at the distractions behind her ducking and firing over her improvised rock pile. She saw one of the attackers spin around and fall to her phaser fire and Rhee got a square hit on another one. “Good shot” she yelled and ducked down again in the resulting lull to stack up a couple more rocks.

Things went silent around the front of the cave and she didn’t like it one bit. But she used it to build a respectable cover.

Either the group of attackers had given up for the moment or they were regrouping. She hoped for the former.

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[Lt. JG Evangeline Vaughn]

Evangeline was busily trying to figure out the best way to free Zaynah without causing her additional injury or bringing the ceiling down on all of them. She had run some scans and found the best point to set up a lever and lift the boulder high enough so the doctors could pull her free. The problem was, the boulder was holding up a portion of the ceiling. The rock was unstable in the area and there was no way to tell just how necessary that portion of the ceiling was.

She stood there looking at the problem as she tapped fretfully on her teeth with her index finger. The situation was far from ideal and time was most certainly of the essence. Going with her gut instinct, she enlisted the help of the CMO and set up the lever. With the fulcrum in place she gave Phoebe the signal and they both began pushing down on the lever.

Then it all went to hell. She heard Zaynah yell and dropped down to cover herself as the rubble began to fall. “Damn it!” she muttered. All she could think was, ‘Please don’t let the ceiling come down…’ If it was just a little pocket of loose rock, then they would be okay. If not, then this was going to get very bad, very fast.

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[xEnsign Zaynah]

"What is that?!"

Zaynah very seldom got angry. In fact, anger was one of the emotions she showed the least. However, Peerz' comment, coupled with the situation they were in, made her see red. "I'm one of the people who would give her life for your people," she shouted at him.

It was at that moment that the cavern above her decided to make a point. As Alexis jumped to cover the Orion with her body, Zaynah tried in vain to push her away. Finally, when the dust cleared, she looked over at Alexis who had rolled over next to her.

"You alright?"

Zaynah coughed a bit from the dust and ended up tasting the rustiness of blood. Her eyes watered from the particles in the air but they held a steely determination. "That's enough," she said, loud enough for all to hear. "No one else gets hurt trying to get me out." She watched Rhee flinch as he took a glancing blow.

"Commander," she called out to Vlad. She didn't care about hiding rank anymore. They were past that now. When she had his attention, she continued. "We know the caves go back further, and sensors show there's an exit farther back." Her eyes locked with his. "Blow the ceiling. Let it fall. Then you can blast freely at the rubble and get everyone to safety. It doesn't make sense to lose all of you because I'm in the way."

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[xCommander Vladik Fedorov]

“Please Sir…?” Rhee and I can stack the rocks here, perhaps you can go build us a fall back?”

He knew what she was doing. He'd do the same thing, himself. Times like these made him wish he wasn't the First Officer and he would be expected to throw himself into the fray with everyone else. Instead, he had to be kept safe, to lead the team. "Yes, ma'am," he said with a grin as he moved further back, closer to the non-combatants.

"Incoming!"

His head swiveled around, and he ducked behind a protrusion in the cave wall as the blasts began again in earnest. Rhee and Tricia were making him proud as he watched them hold their positions.

"Commander!"

Vlad moved over to the fallen Orion. Alexis was lying near her, and she looked injured as well. "Are you okay," he asked the science chief. Damn. He couldn't have both of them down. Even while under fire, he had hoped their investigation into the Borg immunity would continue. "Doctor," he said to Nick, "can you--"

"Blow the ceiling. Let it fall. Then you can blast freely at the rubble and get everyone to safety. It doesn't make sense to lose all of you because I'm in the way."

He stood, with one fist clenched. "Belay that talk immediately, Ensign! No one is dying today." He looked around the room, "none of you! Consider it an order." He glared over at Peerz, who was looking oddly pale. Vlad shrugged. Peerz was the least of his concerns.

"Vaughn," see if you can figure out why we can't get through to the Nike. "I want communications, and I want it yesterday."

He moved off and began piling rocks as a secondary fall-back as Tricia had suggested. The work did much to alleviate some of his frustration.

Meanwhile, with a strange expression on his face, Peerz had moved over to Zaynah and Alexis. He knelt down between the two and brought his hand up to Zaynah's face. Rubbing away the makeup, he exposed more of her green skin. He then tried to do the same with Alexis, but found no makeup. "You would give your life for the others," he said to Zaynah. "...and you would give yours for her," he said to Alexis. He shook his head. The pair were of different species, yet both had showed a loyalty so deep that they would have given the ultimate sacrifice. Peerz was moved more than he had ever been.

Reaching into his pocket, Peerz removed a small vial and a tiny device, setting them on the dusty ground, then he took Zaynah's hand. "I will give you the mark of my people," he said.

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[xEnsign Mitra Rhee]

Rhee flexed his shoulder, glad that the blast he'd taken was really only a surface level wound. He could ignore that pain. He had a job to do and that was all there was too it. Slipping behind his rock pile as the fire fight erupted, Rhee managed to take down two of the attackers before the chamber grew quiet.

Leaning with his back to the rocks, Rhee waited, listened. He heard no sounds outside. What was going on? No matter, Rhee took the lull to do everything in his power to secure their position. That was when he heard the loud rumbling behind them. He whipped his head around, and was relieved to see the whole chamber hadn't collapsed. He wanted to help the others, but he had to hold his position.

He was glad when he saw that Tricia had convinced the Commander to fall back into a safer position. As he moved to pile more rocks as a barricade, he worked to connect both his and Tricia's location. That was when he remembered the strange vine-like object the people had given them before.

"I've got an idea," he whispered as he moved closer to Tricia's location. "Cover me." Then grabbing the vines that had been discarded earlier, he tossed her a goofy grin and than ran for the opening.

As he approached he threw the vines so they stuck to the two edges, basically creating a block of needles and thorns. That was when he heard shouts and loud voices once again. Damn, he through, as he threw up another of the vines. The woman they'd gotten them from said the vines were hearty and could withstand a lot of attacks as they regenerated. He sure hoped she was right.

Just as he was turning to run back he heard the angry calls and the sound of blasts being aimed at the opening. He hoped his idea would work just as he heard a blast soar through the chamber above his head.

As he slid back behind the barricade, slightly out of breath, he nodded towards Tricia and stated, "Hope it buys us alittle more time." He couldn't tell by her expression if she was pleased or angered by his actions without consulting her. Well, he'd deal with any consequences later. For now it appeared the vines were regenerating faster than the enemy could try and cut them down. Now that was a good thing.

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[xEnsign Zaynah]

"You would give your life for the others..."

"It's what we do," Zaynah said as she raised an eyebrow at Alexis, "The United Federation of Planets is just that, planets united for peace. On our ship, we have many different species, all coexisting in cooperation to make the lives of those like you safe."

Peerz was fiddling with something and Zaynah strained to see what he was doing, though her position prevented it.

"I will give you the mark of my people."

Zaynah coughed again and put her head back down on the hard ground. "Do what you want," she said as she suddenly felt very cold and tired.

Peerz uncapped the vial and inserted the device into it briefly, "this will not hurt," he assured her, though he knew she was probably past pain by now. With an calm hand, he began drawing small symbols on the inside of her wrist. When he finished, he withdrew a large crystal from his pocket, similar to the ones found in the cave. Placing it on the symbols, he spoke a sing-song prayer. The crystal began to glow faintly. As he pulled it away, the symbols glowed briefly, a soft blue, then extinguished. Left behind was the black tattoo that all of the Evadnians sported. "Zaynah of Evadne," he said, finally.

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[Lt. Cmdr. Alexis McConville]

"Are you okay,"

Alexis had been a bit dazed from the rockfall, but she heard the Commander's voice and quickly shook off any fogginess.

"I'm fine, sir," she stated with a bit of a wheeze. She heard Zaynah's words and had pushed herself up onto her elbow to tell her ensign that that was enough, but the Commander beat her to it. She nodded her approval. Noone was going to die today. Alexis winced slightly as she pushed herself upright somewhat.

"...and you would give yours for her," "It's what we do,"

"Yes, it is," Alexis agreed and then watched with wide-eyes at the scene in front of her. They had detected something unusual about the crystals, but hadn't been able to pinpoint it. Alexis waited and watched every nuance of his motion.

"Why does it do that? How did that happen? Could I hold it?" She asked him, reaching her hand out, grimacing slightly as she felt pain in her shoulder. Peerz turned and looked her in the eye. His gaze much more guarded than it had been a moment ago with Zaynah. "I'm sorry," Alexis added. "I am a scientist first and foremost and am always fascinated by the unknown. Perhaps I have asked for too much."

Alexis shifted her weight so she was on her knees. Her body ached from the pounding it took, but she knew it was nothing compared to what Zaynah was going through. "Either way, now is probably not the time. We've got to get Zaynah out, and soon." Alexis pushed upright, but wavered slightly as she felt a jab of pain in her leg.

"You bleed like the others," Peerz pointed to a gash on her leg even as he rose to steady her. Alexis simply responded. "It's nothing. I'll survive. I've got to help my friend."

He looked at her quizzically, "You would ignore your own hurt to help someone else?" He blinked as he looked at her, still holding onto her shoulders. "Your people are so different than mine." Alexis didn't know what more to say as she stood there, using his arms until she gained her own balance.

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[Commander Nicholas Grant]

If they weren’t careful they were going to give him more patients and he really didn’t want that at all. At least they were sheltered from direct attack and security seemed to be taking care of things.

Then they tried to move the boulder and he prepared to pull Zayna out when place shook and more rock came down. Alexis lunged to cover Zayna and took some hits. She was in pain obviously and he did a quick scan, no broken bones which relieved him. He slapped the hypospray to her neck and released a quick analgesic into her system. It was the best he could do for the moment.

Bolts continued to fly and one of the security officers was hit yet he got back to work and seemed to shake it off so Nick turned his attention back to Zayna, only to witness her exchange with the Evadnian.

"You would give your life for the others," he said to Zaynah. "...and you would give yours for her,"

He smiled at the wonder on the man’s face. “Doctors do try and prevent that if at all possible.”

Then it was his turn to wonder at the man’s actions. He scanned the items and found no harm in them and then the Orion woman’s skin was marked with a tattoo.

"Zaynah of Evadne,"

He looked down at her with a smile then at the engineer who seemed almost ready with her solution.

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