Redemption Pt 2
Posted on Wed Sep 14th, 2016 @ 5:31pm by Commander Cor Cordale & Captain Elijah Michaels & Commander Bertrand Cuprum & Lieutenant JG Elliot Keller & Roger Stevens
Mission:
Do Not Follow
Location: USS Victory
Bertrand and Cor arrived at the transporter room at a jog. Even though the ship was on emergency power, and there was much work to be done, Elijah had called for the Chief Engineer to be present on the arrival of the emissaries from the new race, who had not yet even identified their species. They only knew they would be meeting with a Fleet Marshall Tarik Kolan.
As the door opened they saw the Captain standing ready. He glanced at the pair.
"Glad you could make it." He said with a nod as he straightened out his Uniform. "Where is your Red Uniform Commander?"
Bertrand stopped short and blinked in surprise at the Captain's words, "Red unif...?" He ground his teeth, "IF we get out of this someone is getting slapped!"
"So, best behavior. Don't smile if it shows teeth." Cordale listed off his extent of diplomatic comforts. "Don't slap too hard. I'll need all the help I can get in Engineering after this." the Thux reminded before making himself somewhat more presentable than usual.
The transporter hummed and a bright light announced the arrival of the alien trio. Each had the blue skin and piercing red eyes. Kolan was wearing the white Military Uniform with Black Boots. Next to him was a man in white robes with yellow trim. the third in the party was a female wearing a sky blue uniform.
Kolan stepped forward, "The eyes of the Divine are on you. I am here to announce the directives to your Federation. Who stands to receive them?"
Elijah took a step forward. "As the Captain of this Vessel, I am the one who shall receive them." He said with a nod towards the Fleet Marshall.
Kolan inclined his head in acknowledgement, "Then you speak for the Federation. Confessor?"
The man in the robes stepped forward, "We have studied your computer files, and questioned the survivours of your USS Seattle. It is an inescapable conclusion that your Federation is a debase and corrupt culture."
"However," Kolan prompted.
"However," the Confessor continued, "It has been decided that you are not beyond hope of repentance and justification. We have here for you the Holy Dictates."
The third member of the party stepped forward with a case which was placed on the floor between the confessor and the Captain.
"In these you will find the true path that your culture must follow. Heed them and live."
The Confessor stepped back and Kolan spoke again considering Elijah, "We have been too long out of the Galactic forum, tending to our own needs. Your incursion has alerted us to the need for outreach. The dictates must be taken to a corrupt Galaxy, and those who do not correct their ways shall be reduced to ashes."
It was at this point that Cordale couldn't really bite his tongue any longer. "A corrupt galaxy, eh? I have a lot of ship to repair, Captain, and you really don't need or want me standing here listening to this."
Elijah looked towards Cor. "That's enough Commander."
"We calculate that you will reach your Federation in three days, in your current condition. From there you have a Month to spread the wisdom of the dictates to the other cultures in your amalgam. From that day on, if you have not repented of your debauchery then you will meet destruction by our hands."
"For the record..." the Thux now turned to the Confessor and Kolan, "Having already lived under one 'Live how we say you should live, or else' condition I'm not about to live under another. The Federation took me in after I escaped the life of a slave, if they hand me back into the life of one, I'm going to be amazingly disappointed." Cor took a breath to cool that temper of his down to a low boil. The weaseloid turned to Elijah, effectively turning his back to the providers of the one true way, "Dismiss me or yell at my back, but I'm heading to Engineering either way."
"Commander Cordale, you are dismissed." Elijah looked at his Chief Engineer. "But I will be speaking g to you in private about this matter."
Rather then taking it as a future reprimand, or a scolding look now, Cordale took it as a relief. Otherwise, they'd be peeling these three invaders off the walls with a wedge. The Thux gave Elijah a nod before he took his leave of the scene, leaving the Transporter room and heading back to his familiar territory. Back to Engineering. Back to work...
The youngest of the trio looked about to explode, but the Confessor kept him in check with a glance and Kolan simply sighed, "A good example of the excesses we have seen in your culture. Arrogance, Selfishness, disrespect for authority. Your people are lost, Captain. You have one month to find your way."
Elijah ignored that remark. If anything Cor had a valid argument to make and yet here he was in no position to argue with them.
The trio stepped back on the pad and were gone in a bright glow.
"Well," Bertrand allowed, "Whatever you think about their 'doctrine', they believe it wholeheartedly. I haven't sensed such conviction and fanatical dedication since I interviewed a Tal-Shiar Operative."
He picked up the case, "What shall we do with these 'directives'? Give them to Intel to study?"
"I'd say toss them out of an airlock......" Elijah said as he looked at the Case. "But I don't want to be the man who allowed the Galaxy to fall to fanatics, we'll take it to SFI."
"As soon as we have comms again We can contact the saucer section and reconnect," Bertrand considered. "Then we make best speed for the Federation. I suggest we give Cor something to do to put his anger into. Right now you could run the warp drive from his anger. Three decks away and he is still giving me a headache."
"Agreed." Elijah said with a nod. "We best check in with Sickbay and see how they're doing."
In Engineering...
Heavy footfalls echoed in eerily quiet hallways as the Thux took the shortest route through the maze of tunnels and tubes to get to his homeland: Engineering. His crew had already exited the lifeboats and were beginning to take stock of the situation when he arrived, and his assistant knew exactly what to do. He intercepted the angry Thux as he entered the region. "Sir?"
"Harrison." Cor returned with more of a growl than words. "What's the word?"
"The word, sir, is dead. As in dead in the water." Harrison, Cor's Handler for this exchange, explained. "Power is being stopped at each junction and the reactor's gone quiet." and at this last news, Cor shook his head with an actual snarl. "Sir, what happened up there?"
"I'll tell you what happened, we got visited by a trio of pompous holier than thou slavers who told us to live by THEIR RULES OR ELSE! I got out of there before I did something that'd start a war." Cor was furious, but Harrison stood his ground. He'd seen his boss angry before, saw the fur bristle, but this was the first time he ever saw his boss yelling at the air and bearing teeth.
"Here are OUR RULES!! Live by them in ONE MONTH OR YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" Cor screamed to the walls, then stopped to catch his breath, or perhaps just renew his fury. Harrison took this as a chance to step in. "Sir..."
"What!?"
"In your office, there's half a pot of Ketracel-Black. It's still hot." Harrison motioned to the Chief's door. "In the workshop, Still One One Six has three liters of Birch, relatively chilled. Go grab a mug of one or the other, or both, and then come back out here to the floor." Harrison seemed to have done this in the past. The Thux took a few breaths, then gave a nod before wordlessly heading to the workshop. He'd return a few moments later with a large mug, and a few bubbles of some frothy drink on his snout.
"Open Floor?" asked Harrison.
"Open floor." Cor responded. Harrison gave a nod at this, "We're in pretty deep here. Enemy at the gates, and I guess the Captain threw you out before he threw them out. We know your stance on it, but right now sir, we need you in the game. So Thux up." Harrison delivered the oddest pep talk. Though, Cor and his men had an Open Floor policy. It was something like speaking freely, since when you were about to explode, calling someone by their rank slowed down the reactions.
"Morris! Earl!" and two of the engineering hands came forward: a dark skinned human, and a slender female with spots framing her face. "Morris, take a buddy and check our on-hand matter reserves. We're going to eventually need to repair the ship and for that we need the industrial replicator. Earl..." he turned to the Trill, "You got the shit job. Take three, and reset every EPS router and conduit in this room."
"Saved the best for last, eh?" Harrison asked, and Cor shook his head, "Technically we got the shit job. Harrison, get everyone else here double double. They say it takes about half an hour to cold start a reactor. I want this place humming in twenty minutes." he pointed to the injector ports. "Check their alignment, if we're off by a hair, we're dead."
