ST:UNI211 Pt. I | "Talys"

Stardate 100639.8

After settling matters at the colony, the fleet moves on and while they are in between destinations it is an ideal time for the cadets to take Captain Vix up on her offer to spend time with the Klingon crew. But Cadet Kayleigh doesn't seem herself ever since the storm incident...

---

View Episode

The first thing we see is a Klingon bridge. The lighting is dimmer than usual and everyone is hard at work as it becomes clear they are in combat

Weapons Off: "Target acquired!"

Helm Off: "We are in position to strike on your order"

Science Off: "Standing by decloak!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIupYyn0VG4

Externally we see an asteroid field all around us, nothing else in sight like we're in the middle of it all. The QanwI' decloaks right in front of our field of view, rising up behind it's unsuspecting enemy which is presumably behind us. Zooming out, we see more asteroids, and... more asteroids and the QanwI's wing cannons flare up bright red

And... the equivalent of a squirt gun low yield zap 'pops' out from them and disintegrates the poor unsuspecting asteroid

Back on the bridge, we see a central view looking back from the viewscreen

The infamous targeting periscope is down and we hear the weapons officer confirm the 'kill'. A less-leather clad glove than usual folds the scope arms in and pushes back up

Kayleigh sits there in the command seat, staring blankly ahead

Lexi slaps her on the shoulder, "And /that/ is how you launch a surprise attack utilizing your cloak! Admittedly, it's more fun when it's an actual enemy..."

Kayleigh stands, "Yes, the experience was rather more underwhelming than you sold it to be. I imagine killing an enemy in such a fashion would be far more fun and exciting"

Lexi almost double takes at the comment

Kayleigh sighs, "Well thanks for that, I guess. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm sure I can find a real challenge somewhere on this ship" she goes to walk off

Lexi scowls and grabs Kay's shoulder, "Cadet!"

Kayleigh shrugs it off and pushes her away with some force, she glances back at the surprised look and then continues out

Lexi straightens, looking around, "It's not just me right, but she's getting less Vulcan and more Klingon with every day that passes?"

Miklos glances over, "I'm almost a little scared of her now..."

Mariel "Maybe she's trying to blend in here?"

Kerafar looks to Miklos, "Only now? I was always a little scared of her..."

Lexi meanwhile barks at her officers in Klingon, seeming to resume their normal operations and heads over to Mari and slides an arm around her shoulders, steering Mari away from general earshot, "You know her better than most right, I think you two come as a set?"

Mariel "You could say that...we are pretty close friends."

Lexi "She ever do stuff like this before? You know, being all... un-Vulcany in any way?"

Mariel nods, "Oh definitely. But usually...humany? Or Oriony. Not like a Klingon. But she's a lot more social than her Vulcan appearance would make you think, which is why I have a feeling she's just trying to blend in with your crew or something..."

Lexi hrms, "There's blending in, but if that's her game she needs to reassess her approach. Anyone else on this ship pulled a stunt like she just did, they wouldn't have walked off this bridge. Maybe you could try talking to her? Whatever's up her ass, she needs to extract it and get herself in order before someone else does it for her"

Mariel nods, "Yeah, I'll talk to her and see if I can get her to...tone it down a bit."

Lexi taps at a console, "Hmm... looks like she's in the bar. Keep me posted"

—

Mari walks into a typically lively atmosphere in the QanwI's small homemade bar area

To one side of the room she can see a group of Klingons gathered around a table cheering at something of particular interest, from the sounds of it

Mariel finds Kay at the centre of this crowd. Coming into view just as Kay slams down a victory in an arm wrestle with one of the Klingons, who all laugh and cheer loudly, clearly entertained by the strength of the small Vulcan and egging each other on to be next.

Mariel approaches, watching both to see what happens and from not wanting to muscle through the Klingon crowd to get to Kayleigh. Another Klingon slams into the chair across from her, taking a big slug of bloodwine he offers a toothy grin before raising his hand into position to have a go and Kayleigh eyerolls, leaning in and grabbing the much larger hand. The crowd all cheer and chant, slamming their tankards on the table in a countdown to start the match

Mariel tries to jump and wave to get Kayleigh's attention

And... Kay slams the Klingons arm straight down, exacting a yell from the Klingon as his arm dislocates in the process

One of the Klingons see Mari's attempt and laughs, "You're a brave one if you want to challenge her too!"

Mariel "Oh no, I'm not here to challenge, just talk!"

The Klingon groans with disinterest, "Bah, you Humans and you're talking!"

Kayleigh meanwhile seems to grown tired of the competition and leaves the table, heading over to the bar

Mariel "I mean I could challenge her, but it wouldn't be a very interesting match..." she watches Kayleigh walk off. "See, even she agrees!"

The Klingon grunts and wanders off to get another drink

Mariel follows Kayleigh over, "Hey Kay!"

As she approaches, Kit jumps up on the bar and snarls at Mari

Kayleigh looks over at this, and finally spots Mari, "Kit..."

Kit growls a little more, slinking back and jumping down to curl up at Kay's feet

Kayleigh turns to Mari, "Pay her no mind"

Mariel "Huh. It looks like you aren't the only one acting like a Klingon..."

Kayleigh perks a brow

Mariel "I guess you two are linked and all. What was the word again, bonded?"

Kayleigh looks down to Kit and back, "You mean Kit? Yes, but you know this. What does that have to do with this accusation?"

Mariel "No, I mean...wait, accusation? You're just acting, well...very Klingon!"

Kayleigh turns back to the bar and swigs her nug of bloodwine, "If having a little fun is being Klingon, I was not aware that was a crime"

Mariel "It's not a crime, the Captain's just worried that you might go overboard and get into an actual fight with one of her crew or something."

Kayleigh "Well at least that might alleviate the boredom..."

Mariel "The...boredom?"

Kayleigh gives an exacerbated groan, "Yes, it's infuriating! The most fun I've been able to have so far is breaking a few Klingon's bones. But maybe a real fight when they're actually trying to kill me..."

Mariel narrows her eyes, "You're not just trying to blend in to the crew, are you...?"

Kayleigh throws her a wicked grin, "Blend in? With this rabble?! Puh-lease! I'm going to destroy them!" she marches off, Kit trailing proudly after her

Mariel blinks as she stares at Kayleigh marching off, "Um..."

—

Following the encounter with Kay in the bar, Mari heads back to update Lexi, "So, uhh, Captain..."

Lexi looks around, "Cadet, you're back!" she waves her over, "Come, talk to me"

Mariel steps over to the bridge centre, "So, I don't think Kay's acting the part to fit in..."

Lexi wags a finger, "See now, you're words are reassuring. But your tone invokes a subtle sense of impending doom. I take it you found her in the bar, what happened?"

Mariel "Well, I found her arm-wrestling with your crew at first and beating anyone who challenged her. And she seemed to be getting bored or something and was talking about looking for more fun activities. Even Kittiah seems more aggressive."

Lexi waves her hands, "Wait, wait, wait... your little Vulcan friend was... arm wrestling?!"

One of the officers chime in, "K'chem /is/ in the medical bay now with a dislocated shoulder from one such match"

Lexi glances around, "Seriously?! Damn, she's really not playing then..." looking back to Mari, "And you said she seemed, what, bored? And talking about fun?"

Mariel nods, "Yeah, exactly. It's almost like her personality's just changed to be more Klingon. Maybe some psionic effect? But why would that only be affecting her and not anyone else? The other cadets with us might not be as psionically sensitive maybe, but I'm also a psionic. And I'm not feeling any urges to punch people or eat raw meat..."

Lexi "Are we jumping the gun by assuming it's a psionic thing maybe? Vulcans are all well and good, but when you've been around long enough you soon learn it's all just a front and they're actually all quite crazy when they want to be"

Mariel "You think she lost her emotional control or something?"

Lexi "I don't know, maybe? Vulcans do lose it periodically anyway, it could be her time?"

Mariel "You mean...don't Vulcans have an idea when that would happen beforehand? And don't usually let outsiders see themselves in that state. If that was the case wouldn't she have not come on the training cruise at all or something?"

Lexi slouches back, "hmmm.... you make a good point. The only way that option would make sense would be if she had no inclination about it. Alright, what about that pet of hers? You said it was being weird too right? So what if that's the cause?"

Mariel "Kit's been around her for a while now, and that's never happened. Well, I guess Kit's never been on a Klingon ship..."

Lexi "They are a strange species, certainly. But I never heard of T'Quila having any issues like this. Well, I'm certainly open to suggestions right now and you know her better than anyone still"

Mariel "Well before we look for a way to get her back to normal, we have to figure out what's causing the problem. Without getting our shoulders dislocated in the process, preferably. Maybe I can try and get close for a scan or something, but we might need her on a proper biobed to monitor for any abnormal brain patterns or something."

Lexi "We're still a few days away from the fleet, so we'll have to make do with what's on board. You think you can get close to her for a scan?"

Mariel "I was decently close when talking with her at the bar. And I don't think she'll attack me, but I don't know about Kit. She seemed...very ferocious earlier when I got a little close."

Lexi "That's more problematic. If that thing decides to start doing more than bark at people, then we're all in trouble"

Mariel "Yeah, Kit has some pretty powerful psionics at her fingertips. Tailtips?"

Lexi snorts, "Good one!"

Mariel chuckles, "I'll see what I can do to learn what's up with her. Do we know where she is right now?"

Lexi looks over to her side, but someone else interjects from the opposite side of the bridge

Officer: "Captain, I think I can save you the trouble of asking"

Lexi turns expectantly

Officer: "The albino just messaged, says you should get down to the arena asap"

Lexi stands, looking to Mari, "With me Cadet"

Mariel "The arena...that does not sound good..."

Lexi leads her out, "It's... the cargo bay. Not much of one, and we don't exactly need it for much. So, we made it into a little training arena”

They walk into the cargo-arena to see another lively crowd gathered. As the lower level comes into view, they see Kayleigh slam backwards against a bulkhead. Bruised, and with green blood seeping from her nose. She glares back at her opponent with a wicked grin, "Is that all you've got albino? Or what is the word you pitiful creatures use... pet-tak?" she teases. The albino stands across from her, bat'leth in hand and equally beaten, "You are out of control child, stand down!"

Kayleigh laughs wickedly, launching herself at the albino

Mariel looks to Lexi, "I don't suppose you know the nerve pinch that Vulcans like to use...?"

We don't see what happens due to the size of the crowd, but we do see the albino launched up into the air, landing a short distance away

Lexi cracks her knuckles, "This has gone far enough" and jumps down

—

Lexi 's world slowly comes into focus through a pounding headache. She finds herself in the medical bay, laying on a slab and feeling like a targ's chew toy. Lexi groans and sits up, groaning more at the unpleasant sensation of the pain from it

Doctor: "She's awake, finally!"

Lexi eases herself up, "What...? Eugh, the last thing I remember was..."

Mariel "Getting punched by a Vulcan?"

Lexi has a sudden flashback of adrenaline fueled fighting like she had not experienced in years. Thoroughly revelling in a surprisingly challenging back and forth with a pink blur. Then the memory of a tiny Vulcan fist slamming her jaw out of it's socket

Lexi groans again, rubbing her jaw, "Yeah..."

Mariel "Glad I didn't jump in after you..."

Lexi frowns, "That little green blooded hopgoblin sucker punched me! Where is she now?"

The doctor shares an uneasy glance with Mari

Lexi 's eyes narrow, "Doctor..."

The doctor squirms with unease, "Thing is Captain, you've been out a little while and... when you couldn't reign her in, well..."

Lexi "Hold on, how long was I out?!"

Doctor, "It's been almost 9 hours"

Lexi "9?! Alright, enough skirting around. What is that little Vulcan up to?"

Doctor, "She's, well... she's kind of taken over the ship..."

Lexi goes wide eyed, "WHAT?!"

The doctor taps on a console and calls up a recording from the bridge. It shows Kay enter, surrounded by a swirl of what looks like dark clouds. Dark clouds with red lightning streaking through them. She hurls lightning around and chars everyone in the room before the feed turns to static

Mariel "So much for that plan of getting up close for a scan..."

Lexi "It would seem so" she rewinds the recording and watches her entry again, "What the hell is that?"

Mariel "That's the lightning she absorbed on the planet we were doing resettlement work on. I'm beginning to suspect maybe that did something to her..."

Lexi "I heard about that. She saved the colonists from a storm or something right?"

Mariel "The team at our ground base, but yeah. She used her psionics to absorb the lightning from the storm. She seemed okay afterwards, but maybe there were some effects that we couldn't see. Like eroding her emotional control. Or just outright making her more aggressive. Kittiah helped her get rid of the energy, so maybe that's why she's affected. Oh, and that lightning was red, exactly like what she's using now!"

Lexi "It's definitely no coincidence. But I never heard of lightning having an effect like that, psionic or not. But then, I've never really come across someone absorbing a storm either..."

Mariel "Hmm...maybe it's not eroding emotional control. That would explain Kay's behaviour, but Kit isn't exactly a disciplined Vulcan or anything. Maybe the lightning just made them aggressive. Or something about the energy in that lightning being different..."

Lexi considers Mari, "Walk with me. And tell me more of what you're thinking about this lightning being different" she hops off the bed

The doctor goes to stop her but recoils at the look Lexi gives him

Mariel follows along, "Well the storm was apparently always a thing on the planet, a constant storm that circled the equator. Which is already different from most storms, but as far as we can tell, the lightning just used to be normal lightning. But then after the Horde was destroyed, all the debris left in orbit gathered into a ring around the planet which ionized the storm. That ionization seems to be what's giving the lightning its red hue and making it strike harder than regular lightning."

Lexi "So it was a constant storm, and now it's in her. Wait, did the storm actually disappear after she did... whatever she did?"

Mariel "No, it kept going, she just absorbed the lightning strikes that hit the base on the ground."

Lexi "And electrics is her thing right? So I guess maybe it could have overloaded her or something... Still, getting a bit wild is one thing but if she's taken over the ship that means there more of an agenda at work"

Mariel "Maybe this does tie back to psionics after all. Wait...you don't think the Horde's somehow taken control of her through the lightning, do you?"

Lexi pauses mid-step and looks at Mari, "Well /now/ I do!" she continues into the engineering bay where the rest of her officers are at work

Mariel rushes after Lexi, "I mean the storm /was/ energized by the Horde debris and all..."

Lexi "No, it couldn't be. I mean, that was all controlled through the Architect and he's gone. The Horde all vanished... right?" she clearly seems to be starting to doubt

one of the Klingons turns to Lexi as she enters, "What's this about the Horde now?"

Lexi waves her hand, "Just brainstorming what the hells going on with our cadet. Now what did I miss?"

Another Klingon turns, "Well she's sealed in on the bridge. We're travelling at warp, but we don't know where. Anyone who tries to get in there just gets fried by that whirlwind"

Lexi "And of course we can't just shut the reactors down"

Some engineers nod

Lexi barks, "WHY CAN'T WE JUST SHUT THE REACTORS DOWN?!"

One of the engineers stammers, "It's the way she has everything tied in. It could just as easily blow us all up, or fry any one of us who does something at a console she doesn't like"

Lexi 's eyes narrow, "Are you saying...?"

Another Klingon nods towards the corner of the room where a charred body lays next to a blown out console

Lexi looks up and around, "Sneaky little..."

Mariel "Well, it is looking more like Horde behaviour and less like slightly emotional Vulcan..."

Lexi "Ok people, let's stop with the moping and get with the making it right. I need ideas, and..." she sighs, "Someone get that out of here before it starts to stink..." she points to the charred body

A pair of junior officers rush over and drag the body away

Mariel looks around and spots Kerafar, "Kerafar, this is what you're good at. Any Engineering ideas?"

Kerafar: "Uhh...if we can't get her off the bridge or cut off her power from down here, I...can't really think of anything we can do. I mean, I guess we could sever every EPS node that leads to the bridge, but that's as likely to fry whoever does it as whatever we do here. With the power flowing through them and all."

Warrior: "We don't have to touch them. We could blast them with disruptors."

Lexi "Can we cut off the bridge like that without disabling our systems?"

Kerafar: "I don't think so. If we just blast every EPS conduit leading to the bridge we'll probably end up turning off the life support and communications and leave ourselves stranded with no oxygen."

Lexi "Yeah... I'm kind of fond of my oxygen. It might come to that though, depending what she's planning"

Mariel "Is there no way to even tell what course she's on?"

Lexi "Can we tap into the navigational array, even the viewscreen would be something!"

Mariel looks around, "Have we tried that yet? Maybe something less drastic than cutting off the power won't result in someone getting fried..."

Lexi looks to her officers, they shake their heads, "We've been busy trying to regain contr-" and throws a PADD at him, "Well try now!"

The Klingon engineers all get to work

Lexi looks to Kerafar, "You're an engineer too aren't you?"

Kerafar nods, "I'll help how I can. And hopefully not get fried..." he steps over to assist the Klingon engineers

Lexi looks to the other cadets, "Alright, we still need plans to deal with your friend. What do you guys know that we can use against her?"

Mariel considers, "Well, her powers are psionic but lightning based, so we might be able to redirect them if we have something else to draw them away. I'm not sure how we could achieve that on a ship, though. Even if we had lightning rods, we won't be able to get them onto the bridge without being struck."

Lexi "And I'm assuming these bursts of lightning are how her power manifests?"

Mariel nods, "Yeah. Normally she just shoots them from her hands though, the stormclouds are new."

Lexi "They're... new? They're new! The stormclouds, the red lightning, that's all new right?"

Mariel "Well the lightning isn't usually red, but she did produce red lightning right after she absorbed it from the storm. That's when Kit helped her disperse the energy, she expelled the red lightning and Kit was absorbing it for her."

Lexi "Well she clearly didn't disperse all of it, if any in fact..." taps her chin, thinking, "When we fought, I could have sworn I saw it in her eyes. There was something venemous about it, well beyond the emotions of one little Vulcan. It almost felt... malevolent. Whatever was in that lightning she absorbed, I'm sure it's responsible. But if that's what we're fighting, that's the strength of our enemy. The cadet herself, she is not our enemy. She may be an unwilling passenger in all of this, but this malevolence... it's attached to her. So she is the likely weak point"

Mariel "Maybe we can still reach her, appeal to her as Kayleigh? Or is this...whatever it is too strong for that?"

Lexi "You tell me. You're the one who knows her, and you've spoken to her more since this came to light"

Mariel "When I talked to her, she still knew who I was. It's not like she was someone else entirely. She was just acting not like herself."

Lexi "But things have clearly escalated"

Miklos chimes in, "It is like she's been getting worse since that day. You know, more snippy than usual at first. Then all... this!"

Mariel "Maybe whatever's taken control of her, Horde or something else, is slowly gaining more and more control. At first it was just affecting her emotions, but now it's actually making decisions," she peers over at the engineers. "Do we know where she's taking us yet?"

Kerafar looks up, "We haven't got the nav yet, but we might just have a feedback loop from the viewscreen..."

Lexi heads over, "Show me"

Mariel follows over as well

They all gather around the console and watch the crackly distorted image from the stolen viewscreen feed

At first all they see is stars, but then a pair of Starfleet nacelles dip into view from the top of the screen as the QanwI' appears to be rising up behind a ship just like they did with the asteroid before

Lexi "Oh no... are we cloaked?!"

Engineer: "Uncertain but... from the power drain in here, we could well be"

The view continues to shift and the Saturn comes into view, as unsuspecting as the asteroid was...

—

Captain Snow is overseeing activity on the Saturn's bridge, with some of his officers working with the other cadets

Skagror, "Captain, a ship is decloaking to aft. It's... the QanwI'?"

Snow  "They're not due back yet, are they? What are they doing approaching us cloaked, anyways?"

The viewscreen shifts to show the rear and the QanwI' in it's attack position, it’s wingtips start glowing red

Skagror, "Captain, they're charging wea-"

The bridge is shaken as the QanwI' unleashes a volley of fire straight through the midsection of the exposed Saturn

Snow grabs on to the arms of his chair, "Shields up! QanwI' must be compromised somehow."

The bridge turns into a chaos of activity as damage reports flood in, and they scramble responses

Meghan: "Helm, evasive action"

Shavi takes over on comms as her buddy is knocked out cold, "No response from the QanwI' to our hails"

The bridge shakes again, less violently now with the shields up. The QanwI' recloaks and turns away

Snow  "Did we get any sensor readings on the QanwI'? Lifesigns?"

Meghan, "Checking now Captain... and yes, not an exact count but we've definitely lots of Klingons, Human, Vulcan, Trill... looks pretty complete"

Snow  "And nothing that shouldn't be on board?"

Meghan shakes her head, "Not that we could tell from the brief look we got at least"

Snow  "It doesn't seem like the ship was boarded and taken over, then. Either its systems have been taken over remotely, or the crew themselves are somehow compromised."

Meghan nods and looks to Shavi, "Relay instructions to the rest of the fleet; reform into defensive formation and maintain yellow alert"

Meanwhile back on the QanwI'..

Lexi watches helplessly on the viewscreen, seeing the QanwI' turn away from it's attack

Lexi "Well, at least she actually paid attention to my lessons. Not so good that she used them to sucker punch our flagship..."

Mariel "Yeah...whatever's taken control of her, we need to get her off the bridge."

Lexi "At the very least, we need her attention on us and not the fleet"

Officer: "Looks like we've recloaked for now"

Mariel "Without any better ideas, I guess I could get up there and try to talk to her. At least it might give us a better clue to her condition which can be helpful."

Another officer chimes in, "I wouldn't recommend that. You couldn't even get in the room right now. It's like a full on storm in there and your friends at the eye of it"

Lexi "He's right, you'd be fried before you even got through the door" turns to another, "Get everyone up the linkway and start blowing EPS junctions"

The officer gives a firm nod and rushes off

Kerafar: "Now that we're back at the fleet, if we end up disabling the ship, we'll probably decloak and they can rescue us."

Lexi "It's going to take some time, but it should get her attention pretty quick. Now when it does, we'll have to deal with her"

Mariel "If that storm keeps following her around, we still won't even be able to get close..."

Lexi "I'm no psionic, but I've dealt with enough of them to know that they can't exert themselves indefinitely. Unless that's changed now?" she looks to Mari

Mariel "True, we definitely don't have unlimited power. I mean, normally Kay already would've worn herself out. But I don't know what her limit is now, how much extra energy this whole storm business gave her. She'll weaken eventually, but I don't know how long that eventually is."

Lexi "It's the best we can do for now, we'll have to try and keep her attention on us and hope we wear her down"

Mariel nods, "I'll do what I can to reach the real Kayleigh through everything. I wonder..."

Lexi turns to Mari, "An idea?"

Mariel "Nothing specific, but I was wondering if your engineers can rig up something which absorbs energy. To weaken that storm around her a bit, or drain her own power or something."

Lexi "Like a lightning rod or a faraday cage?"

Mariel "Maybe something a bit more high tech, but that basic concept, yeah."

Lexi looks to the engineers with a nod, "See what you can do. Preferably before she comes down here in a rage"

Mariel "I don't suppose you have any weapons with stun settings around..."

Lexi "We have blades and we have blasters"

Mariel "Nevermind, let's just hope the draining can power her down completely, or that I can get to her somehow..."

Lexi "Meanwhile, we are still stalking near the rest of the fleet. If we could get through to them then we could maybe coordinate our efforts" she eyes Mari's uniform, and her delta, "Your communicators work at orbital distance right? And we're not that far away right now"

Mariel nods, "Oh yeah..." She taps her combadge, "Cadet Tanglao to Saturn. Can anyone hear me?"

Shavi responds, "Goddess! Mari, are you on that Klingon ship still? What's going on?"

Mariel "We're not sure still, but something's taken control of Kayleigh. We think. It's that lightning she absorbed, she attacked the bridge with red lightning and took over the ship!"

Lexi ahems, "Is your Captain there?"

Shavi, "Right! Sorry, it's just... right! Patching in now"

Lexi "Captain Snow?"

Snow  "Captain Vix. Did I hear right? One cadet took over your whole ship?"

Lexi "You heard right Captain, but I'm not sure it's just the cadet any more"

Snow  "I don't suppose you have control over any ship systems anymore?"

Lexi "Nothing right now. She's sealed herself in the bridge, but we're working to cut off systems"

Snow  "If you can get your cloak down and ensure the shields remain off, Saturn or one of the other ships might be able to beam support over to assist."

Lexi "I appreciate that Captain, but if we can't reign her in they'll end up getting fried by that lightning like everyone else who gets close"

Snow  "We might be able to beam out your crew if your shields and cloak are down, if you have anyone you need evacuated. Wounded, or some of the cadets perhaps."

Lexi "It would be good to get the cadets out at least. My warriors are prepared to die in bringing down an enemy, but that is not expected of these children"

Mariel "I should stay behind, I think I have the best chance of getting to Kayleigh through whatever's happening with her."

Lexi slaps a hand on Mari's shoulder and gives an approving nod

Snow  "Alright, if we see you decloaking with your shields down, we'll try to get all the cadets except Tanglao out. Anything else we can do to help?"

Lexi "Not unless you know something more about calming down this crazy little Vulcan, or about this weird red lightning storm that seems to be in control of her now"

Snow  "Wait. Did you say the lightning storm is controlling her?"

Lexi "It's our best guess at least. Seems she's been acting more strangely with time passing since that incident, to the point where it got fully out of hand. She even put me in the medbay, but when we fought... I could see that lightning in her eyes. And since then, it's grown stronger to the point where my bridge is one big old storm right now. So we're figuring it's some psionic... residue or something? Some leftover from the Horde presence that got drawn into that perpetual storm, you know?"

Snow  "But the Horde's gone now, isn't it? Maybe it's not the Horde, but the storm itself. The indigenous population of that planet apparently used to worship it as a god. I figured it for old superstitions. What if there is some kind of psionic entity inside the storm, though?"

Lexi "An entity living in the storm? Or maybe a bit of both? Either way, it's a better theory than any other we've got. What do we know about this entity?"

Snow  "Not much. The locals have a name for it...Talys, I think it was. It's their god of the cycle of life. I assumed it was metaphorical because the storm would cause a lot of damage but also bring rain for the crops. But it's associated with rebirth, and that's about all we know."

Lexi "Well, it's insight we didn't have before. So that's a step forward. I'm not sure if she's still stalking and planning to attack you again or not, but stay on guard for now Captain"

Snow  "We have the whole fleet on yellow alert now. She shouldn't catch us unaware again."

Lexi "Maybe that's why she hasn't attacked yet, she's figuring out her next move. We'll try and stay in touch Captain"

Snow  "Stay safe over there, Captain."

—

Mariel "So Kayleigh might be possessed by the storm. I guess that makes a bit more sense than the Horde, as weird as that sounds..."

Lexi "Maybe. Assuming there is some non-corporeal entity at work, we only know that it's able to interact at a psionic level. There's no telling how it was impacted by the Horde activity here so maybe we're dealing with a bit of both. But regardless, this - assuming it's correct - changes our situation here. We're no longer trying to reign in your Vulcan friend, but to rescue her"

Mariel "We probably still want to reign her in first. I don't think we can separate this entity from her when it's using her to shoot lightning at anything that gets close..."

Lexi nods, "Indeed, we need to get close to her still"

Mariel "And cut her off from the ship. Have the engineers made any progress on that, by the way?"

An engineer nods, "We're almost through the eps relays"

Mariel "I fully expect her to storm down here once they are, so I hope we're ready for that too..."

Lexi "Unless we can keep her attention elsewhere..."

Mariel "Sounds like you have an idea for that."

Lexi "Could the Saturn triangulate our position from your combadge signal? Doesn't need to be exact enough for transporters, just enough for a rough location"

Mariel nods, "I think so, but what for? We don't want them shooting us or anything."

Lexi "On the contrary, that's exactly what we want"

Mariel "Wait...what?"

Lexi "Think about it! What better distraction than being shot at, especially while cloaked. She'll not only be distracted, but she'll have to focus a lot more of her energy which gives us a window to cut her off and get close. She'll undoubtedly decloak to attack them and that gives us the window to evacuate your classmates too"

Mariel "That's a good point...let's ask the Saturn not to hit us /too/ hard, though."

Lexi "Agreed. Open the channel for us again please"

Mariel nods and taps her combadge, "Cadet Tanglao to Saturn."

Snow  "Saturn here. Something we can do to help?"

Mariel "Yes, but this is going to sound weird. Captain Vix wants you to lock onto my combadge and shoot us. Lightly, of course!"

Lexi "Yes! Lock phasers on the cadet's combadge signal and fire"

Snow  "Okay...I definitely wasn't expecting that. We can do that, but what for?"

Lexi "We need this... being's attention elsewhere while we cut off it's control from the ship. And when she counters, you'll have your window to evacuate the cadets"

Snow  "Very well. Are you prepared for us to fire now, or should we wait for another signal?"

Lexi "Wait for our signal, we're moving into position now" she nods to the others and heads out

A few minutes later, they arrive outside the main bridge

Lexi "Alright, inform your Captain that we're ready"

Mariel taps her combadge again, "Cadet Tanglao to Saturn. We're ready for you to fire on my position now."

Snow  "Firing now."

The Saturn hits the QanwI' with a relatively light tap of its phasers

Lexi steadies herself and looks to the crew working here, "Now! Cut the last connections"

An engineer comms Lexi, "Captain, we're still monitoring and looks like she's moving to counter". A few moments later they feel the thrum of main torpedo launcher firing multiple shots, the QanwI' does indeed decloak and hit the Saturn with a barrage, which is fortunately swallowed by it's shields this time. But the raptor presses it's attack

Lexi "Tell your Captain to get the other cadets out. If the Saturn can't drop shields, get one of the others to grab them the next time she decloaks to attack"

Mariel "Did you get that Captain?"

Snow's voice comes through the combadge, "Already ahead of you. We had a ship standing by, figured QanwI' would target us as a counterattack. Just checking for confirmation that the other ship has the cadets."

Lexi "Good to know" she gives Mari a grin, "And good job keeping an open comm link, you!"

Mariel smiles back, "Thanks. I thought we might want to maintain communications through all this."

Snow  "We have confirmation that the other cadets are safe. Be careful over there, Tanglao."

Lexi gives a nod to her crewmen to cut the final connections. As they do so, power fluctuates throughout and the ship starts to drift

Lexi "Engineering, get control back. Now!

An unearthly roar echoes from the other side of the door

Lexi "I'm... going to go ahead and guess that she's figured out what we've done... Ready to play diplomat?"

Mariel "I'm guessing it might be more like counselor for an angry Klingon this case, but I'll try my best..."

Lexi laughs, slapping her on the back, "That's the spirit!" and leads the way

Opening the door, they are greeted by a ferocious storm cloud swirling around the room

Lexi shields her face, calling out, "Cadet Kayleigh?" she waits with no response before trying a more tentative, "...Talys...?"

The storm swirls around the opposite direction and begins to thin. It reveals Kayleigh levitating in the middle of the room. Turning to face them, they see her eyes are completely lightning now and her hair flows long behind her back in a deep blood red colour

Mariel glances from Kayleigh to Lexi, "Yeah...she's deeefinitely not herself anymore."

Kayleigh glares at the pair, "Meddling children"

Mariel "So.../are/ you Talys?"

Kayleigh grins, raising her arms and inviting the storm to dance around the room, "You may bask in my glory. I may even forgive your transgressions and afford you all a quick and painless death"

Mariel "Transgressions? You're the one who took over Kayleigh's body and Captain Vix's ship here."

Kayleigh "The child is mine now, and this vessel is a useful tool. I will enjoy them both. Until I do so no longer"

Mariel "...enjoy them? Is this what it is? Just hijacking a ship and taking it for a joyride?"

Kayleigh "The freedom to roam amongst the stars for the first time does bring tremendous joy, yes"

Mariel "So that's all you want? To roam amongst the stars?"

Kayleigh scowls, the storm flaring up, "Well why not?! For eons I watched the universe pass around me. Then the children came below, and they provided entertainment for the blink of their existence. But then this child of mine came and opened up a conduit for me to finally be free"

Mariel "You weren't able to take control of any of the locals, were you? You had to wait for Kayleigh to come along and absorb power from the storm."

Kayleigh "And in doing so she proved to be above them, that is why she is now mine. All others are inferior, and I have learned over time that inferior children bow to their superiors" she waves a hand and storm swirls around the pair, immense forces pressing them down to the floor

Mariel "Hey, wait a moment, you've got access to Kay's memories right?"

Kayleigh "She resists, but I always prevail"

Mariel "No I don't mean being in control, I mean you know what she knows! So you know I'm a psionic too and not inferior!"

Kayleigh "I know you are seer, but you can not handle my presence therefore you are inferior like all other children"

Mariel "I guess not...well can you at least let us up so we can talk more properly? Not much I can do to harm you anyways, and you know it."

Kayleigh laughs as she floats down to the pair, taking a stand before them. She leans in and caresses Mari's cheek, "But where would be the fun in that child?" she shudders with satisfaction, "When your suffering elicits such delicious angiush in this child of mine"

Mariel "Wait, in this child? Are you enjoying this or is /Kayleigh/?"

Lexi "Think about it, she said her anguish. I think that thing is enjoying making your friend suffer"

Mariel "This is a long shot but...maybe you could try going to a club or something? If you're enjoying her emotions, maybe you'll enjoy it when she has fun, and it'll be good for the both of you?"

Kayleigh frowns, "I have no interest in pleasing this child of mine. She is my plaything now, and nothing satisfies quite like her suffering"

Mariel sighs, "I thought that was a long shot. Why were you on that planet to begin with? Did someone lock you in that storm because you were having too much fun with making people suffer?"

Kayleigh "I have always been"

Mariel "And this is your first time leaving?"

Kayleigh "Never before has there been a suitable vessel"

Mariel "What about Kit? Is she just affected by proxy of Kayleigh's bond with her, or is she a vessel for you too now?"

Lexi "All that stuff she said about watching the universe... she's existed as that storm for who knows how long"

Kayleigh "The quadruped is an interesting appendage"

Mariel "Appendage? Nevermind, well...what about the Horde? You saw them and all, right?"

Kayleigh "The noisy children. They scared my children away, then everything was quiet with nobody left to worship me"

Mariel "Did they change you in any way other than that?"

Kayleigh "You dare to imply that such feeble creatures could impact one such as me?!" the storm flares around them

Mariel "Uhh...sorry! Change of topic! Did you enjoy being worshipped, before the Horde showed up?"

Kayleigh "It was the only entertainment I had ever known"

Mariel "So if we can find some kind of entertainment for you that's better than controlling Kayleigh and this ship, you'll leave us alone?"

Kayleigh "Why give up one form of entertainment when I can have it all?" she scoffs, "Soon all of you children will bow before me. And every death, every sadness will elicit more delicious anguish from this child of mine!"

Mariel "But if you kill all of us, then you'll have nothing to have fun with. Like when the Horde came and you lost all your worshippers."

Kayleigh "Kill you? Oh dear child, I don't want to kill you. But thanks to the memory of this child of mine, I know a whole manner of ways to elicit suffering without causing fatal damage" she extends a hand and encompasses Lexi in an electrical field. The way it sustains around is almost like a Terran agony booth, and it seems to have the same effect from the painful response

Mariel "Wait! If something happens to Kayleigh, you'll be stuck without a host again, right? And floating in the middle of space at that, without even a local population to worship you."

Kayleigh releases Lexi, who slumps to the floor, groaning and smoldering, "Nothing will happen to this child of mine. She is mine now"

Mariel "No, but there is a whole fleet around us now. If you cause enough trouble, that might make them shoot you again, and with more weapons. The QanwI's a tough little ship, but she's not invincible."

Kayleigh "That is why I intend to enjoy it for now. When it no longer serves me I will enjoy another" she turns to the viewscreen, "Like that one. That bested this one, that will make a worthy temple. Now go! You will repair the damage you did to this vessel, or you will see how much I can make this child of mine suffer as well"  she waves a hand and the door closes

Mariel blinks at the closed door before turning to Lexi, "Well, I think that could've gone worse..."

Lexi groans and gets back to her feet, " Could've gone at least a bit better though. You know how hard it is to get this charred smell out of Klingon leather?"

—

Following their encounter with Talys, Lexi and Mari head back to engineering to regroup

Mariel "Well, at least we got the other cadets out."

Lexi "A small grace for now at least, but in a way they may have been safer here if that creature gets it's way"

Mariel "True. And reasoning with Talys doesn't look like it's going to be an option. It seems like it's always been that way, but I guess it's not impossible that the Horde changed it, and even it doesn't realize it used to be less malicious."

Lexi "Possible, but I get the sense that thing has always been this way. It's like pure malevolence and it just doesn't know any other way. You could hear the bitterness and resentment behind its words; it /hates/ the universe for tormenting it over eons by showing it the vastness of reality while it was trapped in its little storm cloud. Hell, /I'd/ probably be a bit salty after that too if I'm honest. But that doesn't help us"

Mariel "Yeah...and it doesn't seem to bite any offers of other ways for it to travel the universe. Not that we even have any to provide it..."

Lexi "True, but that might still be it's own ignorance of simply not knowing any different. Captain Snow, I assume you've been attentive through all of this, what are your thoughts?"

Snow  "We'll look into alternative ways for it to travel and potential peaceful resolutions, but it's looking like we have to consider the possibility of separating Talys from the cadet by force, too. She mentioned Cadet Kayleigh was trying to fight back. Maybe with some help, we can force it out of her."

Lexi "Yes I picked up on that too" she looks to Mari, "It was a good idea to try and draw your friend's memories out back there"

Mariel "Not sure if it's enough on its own, though. And my psionics aren't the sort that'll be particularly helpful against Talys..."

Lexi "And nobody's asking you to try that either, so don't worry about it. Your connection to your friend is still our strongest card here. Maybe trying to convince Talys to share in her idea of fun didn't work, but if we can reach your friend then maybe she can help us fight Talys from the inside"

Mariel "You mean talk to her again, or reach her some other way, like psionically?"

Lexi "I don't know, I'm far from an expert on these things. I just look at the tactics and right now we have an ally behind enemy lines"

Mariel "Well, I have a feeling if we try and talk to her on the bridge again without bowing down and worshipping her, Talys miiiiight not react so well. I'm not exactly a telepath though, so I'm not sure if I can reach her without talking to her the old fashioned way

Lexi "Agreed. Not only that, but I'm sure you all caught what she said at the end there; if we don't do as she demands then she is not above hurting the cadet. If we want any hope of getting close enough to try, well, anything... we might have to play along"

Snow  "That may be for the best. Play along, try to stall for time and we'll see if we can figure out a peaceful solution over here. Just try to keep her from shooting us or any other ship in the fleet."

Lexi "She seems reliant on us to repair the ship where we cut off her control. That suggests she doesn't know the intricacies any better than the cadet, so we can show willing without giving her any real control again for now"

Mariel "Good idea. Let's play along for now, maybe make some surface repairs. And while we do, I'll see if I can draw out Kay, or learn something new about Talys we can use."

Lexi "Alright then cadet, it's on you for now then. We'll start work on the showing willing, and when you're ready we can go back and try talking with her"

Mariel nods, "Let's get some repairs underway to cheer her up a little. Then I'll head back up to the bridge to try again."

—

Mariel proceeds to the bridge a short while later as repairs are underway, the storm inside subsides again, allowing them to enter, "Talys?"

Kayleigh stands in the middle of the room, "Have you come to bask in my presence? Because I do not have my vessel back yet, so you are not here to report success"

Lexi silently scowls at Talys talking about the QanwI' as her vessel

Mariel "We're working on it. Just wanted to come, uhh...bask in your presence I guess."

Kayleigh turns, looking very smug at that, "Of course, it is only to be expected"

Mariel "So, are you actually working the bridge's controls, or can you just tap into them with your lightning?"

Kayleigh "This crude vessel has rudimentary control systems allowing you children to interact with it. Those systems all use power, and I am power"

Lexi eyerolls

Mariel "Right. Very impressive indeed..."

Kayleigh "Yes I am"

Mariel "So, do you have any plans on what to do with your newfound freedom, or are you just planning to enjoy whatever comes to mind?"

Kayleigh "I will allow all of creation to bask in my presence"

Lexi mutters under her breath, "Eugh, I'm going to be sick..."

Mariel "Are you going to be staying with Cadet Kayleigh, or do you have any plans to switch hosts when you get bored of her? Or if someone better comes along?"

Kayleigh "This child of mine will expire one day. But by then I will have found a new child to take as my own"

Mariel "But what if you lose a host without having another one on hand? Then you'll be stuck again. Wouldn't it be better to explore alternatives too?"

Kayleigh "It is understandable that you care for the wellbeing of your worshipped one, but you need not trouble your child mind with it"

Lexi snorts, "In other words, she doesn't know what she'll do and is just making it up as she goes along!"

Kayleigh scowls at her, "Your lack of faith disturbs me. Apparently your last punishment was insufficient"

Lexi holds up her hands, "No no, I'm good on the punishment doesage thank you"

Kayleigh glares with narrowed eyes

Mariel "No need to zap her again. You know everyone on the ship listens to her, and she ordered them to start the repairs. She's being helpful, she just talks, well...Klingon."

Kayleigh "She talks too much, and she is yet to learn respect. You on the other hand clearly know your place, you may speak further"

Mariel "Thanks. So, uhh...you said you /are/ power. That means more than just a metaphorical sense, right? Since you were a storm and everything. Your natural form is energy, and you managed to take over Kay because she absorbed your energy."

Kayleigh "Correct. And I can make this crude vessel a further appendage through it's energy systems"

Mariel "So you have Kayleigh, Kittiah and the ship as your appendages now."

Kayleigh "I do"

Mariel "So you can have multiple appendages at once...does that mean you can control multiple ships too, if you wanted to?"

Kayleigh "I... could if I wanted to..."

Lexi scoffs and points, "HA! You're many things Talys, but you're about as good at lying as that cadet you've possessed!"

Mariel "So you...can't?"

Kayleigh turns away, "To say that I can't do something would only apply if I had already attempted and failed"

Lexi laughs, "Wow, she even sulks like your Vulcan friend"

Mariel reigns herself in from giggling, "Do you have to be on board to take control? Or can you do it from afar?"

Kayleigh "Proximity is a factor. Your crude vessels are only operable from within

Mariel "Right. Well, let me make some arrangements, I might be able to get you in a position to try. And if you succeed, you'll be in control of the flagship..."

Kayleigh gives a satisfied grin, "You know your place well, this pleases me"

Mariel smiles, "Oh you'll be even more pleased once everything's in place..."