Mission 4

[Amanda Rose]

"Commmproomise?" D'Val said slurring out his words, his worry for Keth
plain on his face.

"Yeah take them not meeee!!!" Keth squealed, and looked at Brian
"Sorry...knee jerk reaction." Keth blinked, the vines squeezing
tighter about him. "Wait you can speak... talk, you know about us! We
show compassion to others, mercy...all that good stuff!"

Tegau gave Keth a withering look, annoyance beginning to show on her
face. If the Huanni kept going like this, he would destroy all their
efforts to save him and D'Val..

"Now the Huanni can see that you are truly alive, I'm sure that they
will apologize and make appropriate reparations," Brian shot a glance
at Keth, hoping he would at least play along, even if he didn't
entirely agree, "and that you in turn can show your... um... " It had
been going so well until then, but the word he wanted to use
'humanity' didn't apply here and would probably make matters worse,
"... your Mercy? Perhaps the Huanni even have knowledge or... er...
techniques... that may be of benefit to yourselves?"

He shrugged at Tegau. She should have been the one handling the
negotiations, as the senior officer, but it seemed like everyone was
joining in, for better or worse...

Brian got a nod as Tegau returned her gaze to the plants. "Please let
my people go, and we will make sure they don't harm you anymore. These
two individuals did not mean to harm you- we simply didn't know.
Please let them live, and I think we can begin to understand each
other and rectify this whole situation. But if you kill them,
friendship between us has scarcely a chance. We want to understand
you. Will you help us do that?"

The vines disentangled themselves from Sinclair and T'Pruk and buried
themselves in the ground. However, they remained entangled around the
Huanni, Keth Soban.

The Sinclair plant head spoke to all, "We release the two non-Huanni
for now. We do not understand the word 'reparations.' We only
understand that our most fertile growing grounds were made sterile by
the Huanni and their non-organic material. If that can be restored,
then we will consider releasing this Huanni. Not before."

tag - away team

[Amanda Rose]

Jessie ran her hands over the controls and switched the ship to yellow
alert, which brought the shields to life. The same thing that she had
done just minutes before when the whole thing with that moron Jamison
went down. She couldn't believe that she had let something like that
slip past her even though she had a bad feeling about the man from the
moment that he had stepped onto her ship. She could have stopped it
from the get go but let it go on far to long. Partly because he was a
Starfleet officer and she had no reason to doubt his word and partly
because she was tired of doing things that would keep her from getting
promoted.

Still if there was one thing that she should have learned by now it
was to not ignore her instincts. She should have looked into it more.
She wasn't as deligent as she should have been and it could have
gotten them blown out of space but "The Culture". She owned both the
captain and the crew and apology... one that she would give them when
this was over.

General Tat entered the bridge. O'Connor was actually happy to see him
for a change. She turned to him and said, "Tell them to allow us to
finish our investigation."

Tat shivered and replied, "I cannot tell the Culture anything.

They're big and powerful and well, I'm sorry for what it is worth. Do
you mind seeing if they will allow us off? And, uh, maybe that Mr.
Pendragon, too. My Clarabelle seems to be rather fond of him and well,
despite the fact I disapprove...."

O'Connor interrupted loudly, "Look, General, this is not the time to
plan social occasions. You're going to tell them to allow us to stay
or I'm personally going to make sure that you get the full extent of
whatever the Culture do to us."

Moving her fingers over her console, Jessie prepped the weapons. She
didn't bring them live but it never hurt to have the ready, just in
case. When the Captain gave the word the America would be ready to
fight, even though she was hoping that they could handle this peacefully.

Tat swallowed hard. He was not a coward by Huanni standards but even
he could not prepare for O'Connor's fury. He probably would have
frightened to know that this was nowhere near her worst. "I'll do what
I can."

Tat then spoke to the viewscreen, "Favored, Culture. Those who have
given us so much. Please spare myself and this vessel. They come in
peace. Shoot to kill. Er, that's not what I meant! Wrong song!"

O'Connor restrained herself from killing Tat as the Culture replied,
"WE HAVE NO FURTHER USE FOR YOU, GENERAL TAT. YOU HAVE BROKEN THE
CONTRACT. YOU WILL DIE WITH THE REST IF THEY DO NOT LEAVE."

O'Connor looked at Wells and Kirk, "Friendly sort, aren't they?"

"Yeah and cuddly too." Jessie said as she sneered at the screen.
"Looks like these cats are spoiling for a fight. Should I bring
weapons to full?"

O'Connor nodded towards Jessie. "Yes. It looks like we're going to
be in for a little fight. We'll let them take the first shot, though.
Prepare for evasive maneuvers."

tag - Jessie Kirk

O'Connor then turned to Wells, "Keep this ship in one piece. Do you
need to be in Engineering to do that?"

tag - Wells

O'Connor sneered as she turned back to the screen. She called out,
"Culture, we have no intention of leaving. We are rendering
humanitarian assistance, as requested. We have an obligation to help.
We will defend that obligation with our very lives."

The Culture representative appeared on screen. It was merely a glow
of yellow light, circular in shape. It spoke in a normal tone of
voice rather than the booming tone reserved for the entire ship to
hear, "You have powered weapons. You have defied us. Now, you shall
pay with your lives."

General Tat put his large paws on O'Connor's shoulders and begged,
"Power down. Power down. They will crush us! We've seen it done
before. You must listen! We have to leave!"

O'Connor brushed one paw aside and argued, "We'll do no such thing."

Before she could utter another word, a glow of light appeared from the
Culture ship and only lightly rocked America. O'Connor called out,
"What the hell was that?"

While shields appeared to be intact, something very odd started
happening. The hull sounded like it was creaking. In fact, according
to sensors, America's shields compressed in towards the ship several
meters.

tag - Jessie, Wells

[Amanda Rose]

Jessie ran her hands over the controls and switched the ship to yellow alert, which brought the shields to life. The same thing that she haddone just minutes before when the whole thing with that moron Jamison went down. She couldn't believe that she had let something like that slip past her even though she had a bad feeling about the man from the moment that he had stepped onto her ship. She could have stopped it from the get go but let it go on far to long. Partly because he was a Starfleet officer and she had no reason to doubt his word and partly
because she was tired of doing things that would keep her from getting promoted.

Still if there was one thing that she should have learned by now it was to not ignore her instincts. She should have looked into it more. She wasn't as deligent as she should have been and it could have gotten them blown out of space but "The Culture". She owned both the captain and the crew and apology... one that she would give them when this was over.

General Tat entered the bridge. O'Connor was actually happy to see him for a change. She turned to him and said, "Tell them to allow us to finish our investigation. "

Tat shivered and replied, "I cannot tell the Culture anything.

They're big and powerful and well, I'm sorry for what it is worth. Do you mind seeing if they will allow us off? And, uh, maybe that Mr. Pendragon, too. My Clarabelle seems to be rather fond of him and well, despite the fact I disapprove.. .."

O'Connor interrupted loudly, "Look, General, this is not the time to plan social occasions. You're going to tell them to allow us to stay or I'm personally going to make sure that you get the full extent of whatever the Culture do to us."

Moving her fingers over her console, Jessie prepped the weapons. She didn't bring them live but it never hurt to have the ready, just in case. When the Captain gave the word the America would be ready to fight, even though she was hoping that they could handle this peacefully.

Tat swallowed hard. He was not a coward by Huanni standards but even he could not prepare for O'Connor's fury. He probably would have frightened to know that this was nowhere near her worst. "I'll do what I can."

Tat then spoke to the viewscreen, "Favored, Culture. Those who have given us so much. Please spare myself and this vessel. They come in peace. Shoot to kill. Er, that's not what I meant! Wrong song!"

O'Connor restrained herself from killing Tat as the Culture replied, "WE HAVE NO FURTHER USE FOR YOU, GENERAL TAT. YOU HAVE BROKEN THE CONTRACT. YOU WILL DIE WITH THE REST IF THEY DO NOT LEAVE."

O'Connor looked at Wells and Kirk, "Friendly sort, aren't they?"

"Yeah and cuddly too." Jessie said as she sneered at the screen. "Looks like these cats are spoiling for a fight. Should I bring weapons to full?"

O'Connor nodded towards Jessie. "Yes. It looks like we're going to be in for a little fight. We'll let them take the first shot, though. Prepare for evasive maneuvers."

Jessie gave a slight nod. She knew it was bad but secretly she hoped that they did open fire, it would give her a reason. She had been waiting to shoot, hit or in some other way damage something since she had seen her mother back on Earth. At first it seemed as though Jamison was going to give her the chance. Unfortunately for her... but fortunately for him he went to the brig without a fight or she surely would have phasered him.

O'Connor then turned to Wells, "Keep this ship in one piece. Do you need to be in Engineering to do that?"

tag - Wells

O'Connor sneered as she turned back to the screen. She called out, "Culture, we have no intention of leaving. We are rendering humanitarian assistance, as requested. We have an obligation to help. We will defend that obligation with our very lives."
'With our lives.' Jessie thought. She know that as a Starfleet Officer she had sworn a vow to do just that but she would much rather this "The Culture" pay with their lives if it came down to it. She would defend her ship... her home, her crew... her family, with her life if need be but she was going to be damn certain that these attackers went down with them.

The Culture representative appeared on screen. It was merely a glow of yellow light, circular in shape. It spoke in a normal tone of voice rather than the booming tone reserved for the entire ship to hear, "You have powered weapons. You have defied us. Now, you shall pay with your lives."

General Tat put his large paws on O'Connor's shoulders and begged, "Power down. Power down. They will crush us! We've seen it done before. You must listen! We have to leave!"
Jessie shot a look over her shoulder at General Tat. Some General, he was a coward in the face of danger. Jessie was starting to wonder if the rank of General was an honorary title or he had earned it.

O'Connor brushed one paw aside and argued, "We'll do no such thing."
"Tat I suggest you step back and be quiet for the time being. You're panicking is only going to make matters worse." Jessie said

Before she could utter another word, a glow of light appeared from the Culture ship and only lightly rocked America. O'Connor called out, "What the hell was that?"

While shields appeared to be intact, something very odd started happening. The hull sounded like it was creaking. In fact, according to sensors, America's shields compressed in towards the ship several meters.
And there it was... the thing that Jessie has been waiting for. Whatever they were firing at the America had left the shields intact but definately made an impact on the Constitution Class ship. The Chief of Security made a quick check of the weapons and then targetted the attacking ship, unloading with a volley of phaser fire and salvo of photon torpedoes. If they wanted a fight then that was what they were going to get and "The Culture" would be the ones regretting it.

tag - O'Connor, Wells

Lieutenant Commander Jessica Kirk
Chief of Security / Second Officer
USS America NCC-1776-A

[Amanda Rose]

The vines disentangled themselves from Sinclair and T'Pruk and buried themselves in the ground. However, they remained entangled around the
Huanni, Keth Soban.

The Sinclair plant head spoke to all, "We release the two non-Huanni for now. We do not understand the word 'reparations. ' We only
understand that our most fertile growing grounds were made sterile by the Huanni and their non-organic material. If that can be restored,
then we will consider releasing this Huanni. Not before."

D'Val staggered, blood seeping from wounds in his foot. Someone grabbed him before he fell but he wasnt sure who. It was a start they had time to repair the damage the Huanni had done, if only they could get back to the ship to tell the others.

Bringing his hand up D'Val stowed his phaser, although it took three attempts to get it put away. The numbness was going away, a tingling sensation told him the wounds in his foot and legs were going to hurt.

"Thanks for sssavings us." he said still slurring his words slightly. "I think I'm going to needs a doctor...." eyes rolling up into the back of his head D'Val promptly fainted......

[Amanda Rose]

> The vines disentangled themselves from Sinclair and T'Pruk and buried themselves in
the ground. However, they remained entangled around the
>
> Huanni, Keth Soban.
>
> The Sinclair plant head spoke to all, "We release the two non-Huanni for now. We do
not understand the word 'reparations. ' We only
> understand that our most fertile growing grounds were made sterile by the Huanni and
their non-organic material. If that can be restored,
> then we will consider releasing this Huanni. Not before."
>
> D'Val staggered, blood seeping from wounds in his foot. Someone grabbed him before
he fell but he wasnt sure who. It was a start they had time to repair the damage the Huanni
had done, if only they could get back to the ship to tell the others.

Since Tegau had been supporting Sinclair and Pendragon was busy with Keth and T'Pruk, it
was Tegau who caught D'Val, careful to plant her feet on safe ground before his weight hit
her.

> Bringing his hand up D'Val stowed his phaser, although it took three attempts to get it
put away. The numbness was going away, a tingling sensation told him the wounds in his
foot and legs were going to hurt.
>
> "Thanks for sssavings us." he said still slurring his words slightly. "I think I'm going to
needs a doctor...." eyes rolling up into the back of his head D'Val promptly fainted......

"Umph!" Tegau staggered a little before she adjusted to the dead weight Sinclair had
suddenly become. She really needed to regroup the away team, but the America was up
there battling the Culture.

"Brian- we need to get T'Pruk and D'Val away from the plants before they do some
inadventent damage. T'Pruk, can you walk? If you can, I need Brian over here to help me
with D'Val."

She looked over at the Sinclair plant head. "Let me get my friends to safety for them and
you- it won't take long. Then I want to talk more with you. I have some questions, and I
think we may perhaps come to an understanding. Just don't hurt my Huanni crewmate in
the meantime, okay?" It was getting to be a desperate situation, but Tegau was still
hoping to be able to defuse the situation before it became irreparable.

[Amanda Rose]

"Brian- we need to get T'Pruk and D'Val away from the plants before they do some inadventent damage. T'Pruk, can you walk? If you can, I need Brian over here to help me with D'Val."
Brian checked Keth was able to stand before leaving him, grabbing D'Vals arm and looping it round his neck to take the weight from Tegau.

As they put a little distance between them and the plants, Brian began thinking about what they could do. "Presumably the Huanni went in for large-scale clearance when they set up here. Even if we removed the buildings, it's a brownfield site now. We'd have to remove any toxic chemicals and presumably get the nutrient levels up again... I don't know if we've got access to that kind of kit. We can maybe manage a small area as a gesture of goodwill and then get a terraforming team in to do the large-scale stuff?"
Of course, that assumed they had a ship to call another team in from and that they weren't obliterated by a maddened demi-god-race-thing in the mean time... but Brian was trying very hard not to think of that possibility. He shot a worried glance skywards.

[Amanda Rose]

"Umph!" Tegau staggered a little before she adjusted to the dead weight Sinclair
had suddenly become. She really needed to regroup the away team, but the America was up there battling the Culture.

"Brian- we need to get T'Pruk and D'Val away from the plants before they do some inadventent damage. T'Pruk, can you walk? If you can, I need Brian over here to help me with D'Val."

T'Pruk responded, I am unharmed, Doctor. You and Mr. Pendragon will be able to assist Mr. Sinclair." T'Pruk resumed taking tricorder readings and headed over to the Huanni base area.

tag - Delaney/Pendragon/Sinclair

Delaney looked over at the Sinclair plant head. "Let me get my friends to safety for them and you- it won't take long. Then I want to talk more with you. I have some questions, and I think we may perhaps come to an understanding. Just don't hurt my Huanni crewmate in the meantime, okay?" It was getting to be a desperate situation, but Tegau was still hoping to be able to defuse the situation before it became irreparable.
Brian checked Keth was able to stand before leaving him, grabbing D'Vals arm and looping it round his neck to take the weight from Tegau.

As they put a little distance between them and the plants, Brian began thinking about what they could do. "Presumably the Huanni went in for large-scale clearance when they set up here. Even if we removed the buildings, it's a brownfield site now. We'd have to remove any toxic chemicals and presumably get the nutrient levels up again... I don't know if we've got access to that kind of kit. We can maybe manage a small area as a gesture of goodwill and then get a terraforming team in to do the large-scale stuff?"
Of course, that assumed they had a ship to call another team in from and that they weren't obliterated by a maddened demi-god-race-thing in the mean time... but Brian was trying very hard not to think of that possibility. He shot a worried glance skywards.
T'Pruk raised an eyebrow at Pendragon and responded, "I do not detect anything toxic within the soil. However, it is clear that there are few nutrients within the soil under the Huanni base through Lemmi's crust. It is logical to assume that the Huanni completely sterilized the area prior to building their base here. It is a testament to these plants strength that they could move into such a field and still create the damage they have caused."

tag - all

[Amanda Rose]

T'Pruk raised an eyebrow at Pendragon and responded, "I do not detect anything toxic within the soil. However, it is clear that there are few nutrients within the soil under the Huanni base through Lemmi's crust. It is logical to assume that the Huanni completely sterilized the area prior to building their base here. It is a testament to these plants strength that they could move into such a field and still create the damage they have caused."
"So..." Brian didn't know much about plants, but was sure nitrogen was involved somewhere... and phospherus? phosphates? "... we need to get the right chemical balance back in there and fast..."
He helped D'Val to sit down and pulled his tricorder out. Even with the ship on full alert, he could still access the open channels - news, standard reference, search facilities. There had been something he half remembered from a week or so back. It hadn't seemed that interesting at the time - some breakthrough that would speed up terraforming... Yes - there it was.
"What about accelerated substrata molecularization?" he suggested. "Beam the chemicals directly into the ground? If we can do it, it'd get the chemical balance rectified pretty quickly."

Lt jg Brian Pendragon
Engineer

[Amanda Rose]

T'Pruk raised an eyebrow at Pendragon and responded, "I do not detect anything toxic within the soil. However, it is clear that there are few nutrients within the soil under the Huanni base through Lemmi's crust. It is logical to assume that the Huanni completely sterilized the area prior to building their base here. It is a testament to these plants strength that they could move into such a field and still create the damage they have caused."
"So..." Brian didn't know much about plants, but was sure nitrogen was involved somewhere... and phospherus? phosphates? "... we need to get the right chemical balance back in there and fast..."
He helped D'Val to sit down and pulled his tricorder out. Even with the ship on full alert, he could still access the open channels - news, standard reference, search facilities. There had been something he half remembered from a week or so back. It hadn't seemed that interesting at the time - some breakthrough that would speed up terraforming... Yes - there it was.
"What about accelerated substrata molecularization?" he suggested. "Beam the chemicals directly into the ground? If we can do it, it'd get the chemical balance rectified pretty quickly."
T'Pruk nodded. "By my calculations, it would take exactly 2.3439 minutes to repair the nutrients and soil by substrata molecularization. However, there would still remain the issue of removing the Huanni base. That could simply be done by beaming up the materials. But for either process we need America and it is engaged in battle. I would suggest contacting the Captain." She looked at Delaney, expecting her to do so.

tag away team

[Amanda Rose]

O'Connor then turned to Wells, "Keep this ship in one piece. Do you
need to be in Engineering to do that?"

tag - Wells

O'Connor sneered as she turned back to the screen. She called out,
"Culture, we have no intention of leaving. We are rendering
humanitarian assistance, as requested. We have an obligation to help.
We will defend that obligation with our very lives."

'With our lives.' Jessie thought. She know that as a Starfleet Officer
she had sworn a vow to do just that but she would much rather this
"The Culture" pay with their lives if it came down to it. She would
defend her ship... her home, her crew... her family, with her life if
need be but she was going to be damn certain that these attackers went
down with them.

The Culture representative appeared on screen. It was merely a glow of
yellow light, circular in shape. It spoke in a normal tone of voice
rather than the booming tone reserved for the entire ship to hear,
"You have powered weapons. You have defied us. Now, you shall pay with
your lives."

General Tat put his large paws on O'Connor's shoulders and begged,
"Power down. Power down. They will crush us! We've seen it done
before. You must listen! We have to leave!"

Jessie shot a look over her shoulder at General Tat. Some General, he
was a coward in the face of danger. Jessie was starting to wonder if
the rank of General was an honorary title or he had earned it.

O'Connor brushed one paw aside and argued, "We'll do no such thing."

"Tat I suggest you step back and be quiet for the time being. You're
panicking is only going to make matters worse." Jessie said

Before she could utter another word, a glow of light appeared from the
Culture ship and only lightly rocked America. O'Connor called out,
"What the hell was that?"

While shields appeared to be intact, something very odd started
happening. The hull sounded like it was creaking. In fact, according
to sensors, America's shields compressed in towards the ship several
meters.

And there it was... the thing that Jessie has been waiting for.
Whatever they were firing at the America had left the shields intact
but definately made an impact on the Constitution Class ship. The
Chief of Security made a quick check of the weapons and then targetted
the attacking ship, unloading with a volley of phaser fire and salvo
of photon torpedoes. If they wanted a fight then that was what they
were going to get and "The Culture" would be the ones regretting it.

O'Connor looked over at Jessie and said, "I have no idea what that
was, but it appears to be a weapon. So, you know what to do! Open
fire! Fire at whatever weapons and navigation systems you can find
first."

tag - Jessie/Wells