"Beyond the Veil"

[Simon Rajnus]

Captain Rajnus - USS Amazon

"Do it." Rajnus ordered as he was thrown from the chair by the impact of the torpedoes.

"Helm, evasive action." Rajnus ordered as he climbed by into the command chair.

[T'Kar]

(OOC: Been too long. What is star trek?http://www.expansionfleet.com/ikonboard/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('> http://www.expansionfleet.com/ikonboard/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>
T'Kar, Radiant Thunder
^=^Thank you for the compliment, ensign Tigerlead, but I cannot take all of the credit. I will be sure to pass that compliment on to my team. T'Kar out.^=^
When he was walking to one of the consoles, amidst the rocking and shuddering, a crewman screamed. He said No, No, and ran after T'Kar. Surprised for a split second, he jumped into action. It was more difficult than he expected to render the man, as T'kar identified to be lieutenant Hanson, unconscious.
^=^T'Kar to sickbay, I suggest you come down here. Lieutenant Hanson just attacked me. He just screamed, yelled no, and attacked. May it be our close encounter with the Heraani ship that could have done it?^=^

[Voyager]

Lieutenant Dolan - Citadel of Adun

Dolan almost let go of the khala when it sparked and started glowing.  However, he realized quickly enough that it wasn't designed to injure the wielder and instead readjusted his grip into a more suitable position for defense.  He calmed his mind in an effort to maintain control and focused on his opponent.  This was relatively easy, as Dolan had faced many stressful situations in his life and had always needed to be extremely focused and concentrated.

The Heraan seemed somewhat surprised at the khala igniting, causing Dolan to almost be distracted, but the Heraan soon regained composure and charged at Dolan.  Dolan deflected the blows as they came just millimeters from his body, in order to save energy in case the fight lasted longer than Dolan expected.

Survival was Dolan's sole goal at the moment, which was aided by Dolan's rapid reflexes and fast thinking.  The Heraan seemed to realize this and began to increase the strength of its blows, trying to punch straight through Dolan's defenses.  It seemed to get more frustrated as its kill was being denied to it and suddenly Dolan was knocked into the air by a psionic blast, something Dolan hadn't yet figured out a defense to.  He managed to complete a flip and land on his feet.  He stablized himself and prepared to defend against the charging Heraan's attacks.  He distantly heard a shout from the Heraan warmaster but was too focused on the fight to hear it clearly.

The ferocious swings seemed less powerful than they were before and soon Dolan started to think the Heraan was tiring.  However, he didn't let down his guard and began to search for any weaknesses in the Heraan's defenses that he could exploit as he continued to deflect the Heraan's attacks.

[Will Karelia]

Fleet Admiral Will Karelia - Admiral Rellek's Quarters, Starbase Avalon

Will and Julia spoke at length after finishing their respective meals, and both of them were having an incredible time. Karelia stared into Julia's eyes as she spoke, lost in both her words and her gaze. After a moment, she stopped speaking, noticing him staring into her eyes.

When she smiled and gave a slight chuckle, he leaned in to her. "I love you," he whispered, and gave her a passionate kiss. And at the one time in his life when thoughts of duty was completely absent from his mind, the doors opened, and breaking their kiss quickly, both of the admirals squinted at the brightness of the intruding light of the corridor, which outlined a tall, black silhouette.

"We must converse," came the statement of the silhouette, the voice of whom sounded much like that of Master Legudon.

Will got to his feet immediately, "You can't just barge in here, Legudon!" he retorted. "This isn't Gallifrey, and some of us humans like our privacy!" Legudon glared. "Your petty mating rituals are unimportant right now, William," he said, somewhat impatiently. "The fate of my world, and yours with it, are in jeopardy."

Karelia's eyes widened. "You've got my attention."

[Balkazar]

Col Balkazar - Command Vehicle, Heraani border world

"Alright, set up the morters and start pounding the cannon.  We have to take out the defenses then get in unless we can burrow underneath." Balkazar said to Dolan as he worked.

[Voyager]

Lieutenant Dolan - Space Cannon's Secondary Control Room, Heraani Border World

Dolan decided that he didn't have time to translate the Heraan that was written on all of the consoles and a guessing strategy was too risky.  Dolan instead began to work on a simple virus that would infect the system and find the power systems itself.  Once it does, the virus would trigger an overload in all of the reactors throughout the facility, which would almost certainly destroy the cannon.  Dolan began to work on the virus and calculated that it would only take him 10 minutes, 15 tops.

[Balkazar]

Colonel Balkazar - USS Normandy - Motor pool

"Stow that gear on the Puma's and Pelicans, get that back up gear loaded up.  I dont want to be caught off guard and ill equiped!" Balkazar yelled out in a fine drill sergeant style.  Then a female crewmen handed him a PADD.

<He looked over it and studied it as he leaned up against the wall>

=^= "Raszagal I need to talk to you immediately." =^= Balkazar said tapping his comm badge.

[Raszagal]

Private Raszagal - Pelican Dropship Sierra-7-2-5

Raszagal slapped a control pad on the wall, releasing the seal on the door between the troop compartment and cockpit, and ducked carefully through the passage. In the cramped transport, bathed in the dim red light of the troop compartment, the chance of hitting one's head on the doorway was ever-present.

She stepped into the cockpit, and had to squint at the sudden brightness of the planet's reflected sunlight. Gallifrey was a beautiful world, paradise in almost every sense of the word, and the bright oceans and plains made the planet quite luminescent during the day.

"How far are we?" she asked the pilot calmly. The pilot turned his head, and answered: "We're about seven minutes from planetfall, ma'am."

Raszagal settled into one of the chairs behind the pilot, and called up an image of the landing force. There were nine Pelicans, arranged in a wedge, all carrying some variant of the Puma LRV (Light Reconnaissance Vehicle). Her ship was second on the right, just behind the lead ship Echo-1-1-7, the ship Colonel Balkazar was on.

She got up, and made her way back into the troop compartment, where twelve marines sat strapped into two banks of seats, six on each wall, both facing toward the center. "We'll be landing on Gallifrey in a few minutes," she said, addressing the marines on her boat. "Our LZ is right outside the capital city of Antioch, which has since been occupied by the Heraani military. My people have Templars on the ground as well, attempting to breach the enemy defenses to the city, but they'll need our help."

Raszagal then heard a sickening explosion, louder than any of those from the battle raging higher in orbit. She slammed her fist into a button that activated a small viewer on the wall, and is displayed a view from the aft of the dropship. She was shocked to see debris from a Federation starship, debris that was unmistakably from the U.S.S. Normandy.

She turned back to the marines. "And we'd might as well do our best down there," she said almost sarcastically, "because we don't have a ship to go back to."

[Will Karelia]

Admiral Karelia - Jungles of Gallifrey

Will was completely out of breath, but managed to force himself to continue running, trying to keep up with the Gallifreyans. It amazed them how they managed to run so far and so steadily, and not one of them had even broken a sweat. He was sure their psionic abilities had something to do with it, but even without them, Will knew the average Gallifreyan was in excellent shape, both quick and strong.

Suddenly, Legudon halted, and the rest came to a stop with them. "Hunting party," was all he whispered. All four warriors faded from view, their power allowing them to bend light itself away from their bodies, rendering them completely invisible.

Will felt like he should be doing something, but he was unarmed, and no match for a Heraan. He ducked down, and held onto Julia as they both tried to stay hidden and out of the way while the Gallifreyans engaged the Heraan.

[Richard Brown]

Lieutenant Richard Brown-U.S.S Amazon

Richard Entered the Commands into his Tactical Station Pushing the Phasers to Overload status then he Access the Deflector and entered the Commands to Send an Pulse


"Firing, Now" Said Richard


Then Phasers Torpedoes and an Pulse from the Deflector hit the Cruiser Damaging it

"Cruiser Disabled Captain, now to Repeat that 100 Times" Said Richard Signing

[Taurik]

Master Taurik - Citadel of Adun

Steadily and swiftly, the Heraani elites closed in and formed a line behind them, as if to be leading convicts to the electric chair. Taurik kept a psionic eye on them at all times. The Gallifreyans moved just as swiftly, and the procession moved quickly through the grand hall and toward the main chamber. Taurik remembered the chamber as if it were only the day before, as it was in this very chamber that he was first inducted into the Gallifreyan Order, as the first non-Gallifreyan to do so. This planet and it's structures were almost too familiar, he felt as if he had spent several lifetimes here, even though it had only been several years since he joined the Order. Although he would never forget his homeworld, somehow, Taurik regarded himself as a son of Gallifrey above all else. These people had a fire about them, a passion, long lost to his own people. He had read the ancient texts, seen how the Vulcans of old nearly tore themselves apart with their uncontrollable emotions, and was glad that his species had chosen the way of Surak. But he also longed for that passion, one that hinted at him occasionally but remained mostly dormant, and wished his people were capable of controlling themselves without complete emotional detachment.

The procession stopped, and the rear guard made their way around the strike team and flanked a fifth Heraan, taller but much more sparsely dressed. Where most Heraan wore the brilliant golden armor that had become feared and hated within Starfleet, this one wore only the most essential combat adornments, and was wrapped in much more plebeian clothing. Despite his outward appearance, his position, stance, and much more ornate weapon denoted him immediately as Ar'Krakh, warmaster and leader of the Heraan, and their emissary to the Na'jigat themselves.

The tall, slender alien stepped forward, his telepathic voice booming in the minds of everyone present. "So," he said, "I spend my time hunting you down, and you finally come to me. I applaud your efforts, all of you. The Gallifreyan Order has proven quite a capable and extremely bothersome enemy. I commend you on your successes, but I also feel compelled to inform you that it is all over. Gallifrey is mine. And you, my dear masters, whom I've grown so close to over the many decades, will not be leaving this Citadel alive."

Techerakh, the most passionate among them, was about to retort, when he noticed Taurik summoning a response, and deferred. "Warmaster Ar'Krakh," Taurik said aloud, in spite of Ar'Krakh who, as a Heraan, had no vocal chords. "I am Taurik of Vulcan, Senior Master of the Gallifreyan Order, and captain of the Federation starship Rivendell." He waited while Ar'Krakh sized him up; the unlikely, impromptu leader of the Order that he was. "I feel compelled, in return, to inform you that Gallifrey will not be lost without considerable bloodshed. Each and every one of us will fight to the death to keep this world from you."

"It does not need to come to that, young Taurik. I know how much you order cares for it's world, but I also know it cares for it's people. All we ask is that you submit to the will of the Na'jigat, and they will allow us to serve side by side. Taurik, our people could be brothers in our faith!"

"Slaves," Taurik replied sternly. "Your people are slaves to the Na'jigat, and you do not even see it. There is no future in the galaxy the Na'jigat desire. They will consume the lives and worlds and stars of anyone who stands in their way, and when there is no one left, they will turn to their own slaves for sustenance. And when the galaxy finally dies, darkened and drained, they will move to the next. As they did with Scion."

Ar'Krakh's blue eyes burned brightly in his anger. "You spew the lies of a heretic!" he screamed in their minds, painfully to those unprepared. "And if that is your creed, then you shall die the death of every other heretic before you! I will say it once more: submit to the will of the Gods, or suffer the dire consequences of defiance." Taurik searched for an appropriate answer as he and the others drew their weapons. He found only one suitable reply, in the annals of old Terran slang.

"Burn in hell."

[Taurik]

Master Taurik - Citadel of Adun

Despite his greatly expanded power and almost limitless perception, Taurik was being forced onto the defensive. The Na'jigat, in direct possession of Ar'Krakh's body, were easily more than a match for him. It took every strand of concentration in order to just barely escape every attack by the creature. And that was just the physical aspect of the battle, for the Na'jigat were launching a psychic attack on him as well, furthering their advantage. Ar'Krakh was now simply faster, stronger, and more powerful.

"Your time is at an end," their collective consciousness screamed in his mind. "You will falter, and you will die. And then, our victory will be complete, and Gallifrey will be crushed." Taurik deflected two near simultaneous blows, his blade moving so fast that a normal human eye would see only a blur of pale blue energy. He was forced to employ his abilities to augment his natural speed, only to keep up with Ar'Krakh's enhanced skill. The other Gallifreyans were progressing well enoug in their own conflicts, but by the time they might be able to render any assistance, Taurik knew he would already be dead.

"Taurik," cried a voice that Taurik identified as that of Techerakh. "The Chalice!" And then it struck him. The only way Taurik was ever going to have a chance at defeating Ar'Krakh now was to even the playing field. And that required employing a technique that had only been used once, and unsuccessfully at that. It required the usage of the Chalice of Adun, the psionic unification of the entire Gallifreyan race.

Taurik was able to disengage from Ar'Krakh - with a swift and unexpected kick to the torso - long enough to pull the strange crystal from his robe. The crystal, dark when he first acquired it over a year ago, was now glowing the most vibrant purple that Taurik had ever seen. He forced all of his psionic will into the stone, and it began to glow even brighter, with an intensity that gave even the embodied Na'jigat pause. And then, all at once, it began. The crystal began to reach out, invisibly to bystanders, and touched the minds of every Gallifreyan, from the ones in the room with him, to the ones on the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Their consciousnesses, thoughts, feelings, and power all rushed to Taurik, indifferent to distance or isolation, and flooded him. He felt their presences so strongly that he began to lose himself in the torrent of thought that was cascading though his mind.

And when he was finally able to make sense of it all, his own individuality lost among the union, he opened his eyes once more. Techerakh and Raszagal had slumped to the floor, but before their attackers could take advantage of the situation, Taurik glanced at the once fearsome Heraani elites, and with the ease of a breath, reached into their mind and terminated them. The dead Heraan fell to the floor, as still as the Gallifreyans. Knowing that the two companions were safe, Taurik returned his attention to the Na'jigat.

[Alexia]

Gallifreyan Apprentice Alexia - Avalon Station with Master Legudon

<Alexia just followed Legudon and was astonished to see the two Admirals abruptly finish their petty mating ritual, she stood by watching and listening>

[Alexia]

Gallifreyan Apprentice Alexia - With Legudon on Avalon station

"Master, I think we should hurry up and get this meeting over with and return to Gallifrey." Alexia told her master as she strided and kept up with him very easily compared to the Aged looking Admiral.

[Teranis]

Lt. Commander Teranis - U.S.S Iroquois, Bridge

Yes mam, the shields are at optimal capacity, i am still having a bit of trouble with a few power surges when i attempt to reroute power from the replicators to the news ablative armor power supplies, but as long as noone uses the replicators while the armor is active we shouldnt have any problems.