Oren-De entered the Pandora's transporter room with Shrel and a security detail in tow. As they stepped up onto the transporter pad, the attending transporter engineer handed them each a phaser rifle and a belt that provided a personal shield. The team was in the business of donning this equipment when the doors to the room suddenly slid open, making way for a very agitated War'en.

"Sir, I must protest your decision to join the away team. You are the captain of this vessel and this mission is entirely too dangerous."

Oren-De looked momentarily surprised at War'en's outburst, but quickly resumed his normal calm composure.

"Your objection is noted, Lieutenant Commander Lok."

An awkward silence filled the room as the two looked at each other. It wasn't until Oren-De realized that his first officer wasn't going to leave without some justification that he finally elaborated.

"While I am the Pandora's captain, I am also her most experienced ground tactical officer. Indeed, for a mission this dangerous, I am one of those best-suited for the away team. Sending someone else would only needlessly jeopardize the away team and the staff of the outpost."

War'en looked at Oren-De in surprise. He wasn't sure whether to balk at his superior's arrogance or be impressed by his sense of duty. Finally, after a moment of thought, War'en relented.

"Acknowledged, sir." He then shot a look at Shrel, who nodded in return. It would be Shrel's duty to keep an eye on Oren-De and the Bajoran seemed to already have realized that. Oren-De, who seemed to have missed the brief nonverbal exchange, gave the go-ahead to the transporter attendant before looking back at War'en.

"You have the Bridge, Lieutenant Commander. We'll be tagging survivors for transport to Medical as we find them."

With that, the away team disappeared in a shimmer of blue light. War'en shot a look at the transporter attendant as he turned to leave. The young ensign seemed to almost wilt under the wave of frustration that poured out of his chief's gaze. He watched as War'en stalked out of the room and gave a relieved sigh when the doors finally hissed shut behind him. Out in the corridor, War'en began barking out orders to the Pandora's crew via the comm system.

"Lok to the Bridge. Begin monitoring the away team's progress. Stay alert for any approaching hostile ships, but keep shields lowered for now. Medical, prepare to receive casualties from the outpost ASAP. We're expecting a sizeable number."

And hopefully none of them will be our new captain...

Meanwhile, deep inside the outpost, the away team was taking stock of their surroundings. They were in a cargo bay that looked to be untouched by the Klingon attack. As soon as they had materialized, Shrel had taken a tricorder scan of the immediate area. After quickly reading the display, he snapped the device shut and looked at Oren with a soldier's seriousness.

"Just like the Pandora's scans, sir. This room is free of Klingon activity, and they're not heading in our direction. The station's subsystems are too damaged for them to detect a beam-in."

Oren-De nodded. "Good. They will be on the alert for us though, as I imagine the two Birds of Prey alerted them to our presence."

"The largest cluster of lifesigns is down the corridor from us, in the outpost's operations area. From the clustering of Klingon and non-Klingon readings, I'd guess that they are holding the remaining staff hostage while they try and find whatever it is they're here for, sir."

"Let's begin, then. Be alert and on your guard," Oren-De commanded as he raised his phaser rifle and activated his personal shield. Shrel and the rest of the security detail did the same, and the team slowly exited the cargo bay and proceeded down the corridor toward Ops. They were halfway there when Shrel suddenly held up a hand and gave a whispered hold order to the rest of the detail. They went into a crouch, with Oren-De following suit next to Shrel.

"There is a group of Klingons advancing this way. We can ambush them if we remain hidden at this position."

Oren-De nodded, and the team trained trained their rifles on the intersection ahead. Soon, the sound of heavy Klingon bootsteps began to echo down the corridor. The footsteps grew steadily louder and, soon enough, the group stepped just into view. One of the Klingons spotted the Starfleet officers out of the corner of his eye and barked a loud warning. Oren-De and the rest of the team fired their weapons, stunning a number of Klingons. The three remaining, protected by shields, responded with blasts of disruptor fire, causing the team to dive out of the way. Shrel came out of his roll alongside most of the detail and, with military precision, fired as one on the lead Klingon. The attack was too much for his shields, punching through them and blasting the Klingon a few feet down the hall.

Meanwhile, the remaining two had rushed toward Oren-De and a lone security member. The two fired on one of the Klingon pair and managed to bring him down, but the second was now too close to hinder with a second assault. The Klingon reached back and raised his bat'leth, bringing it down on Oren-De. The Enhasan rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. With a primal yell, the Klingon made another attack. Oren-De looked up and saw the weapon coming down. It was too close to get out of the way in time. Shrel saw the danger his captain was in and brought his weapon to bear on the Klingon, but there was no possibility he would make the shot in time.

Just as the weapon neared Oren-De's head, the brilliant amber color of phasers filled his vision as four beams lanced through the air above him and struck his attacker. The Klingon was lifted from his feet by the assault and dropped a good six feet away. Oren-De looked over his shoulder and saw four Starfleet officers running toward them from a distance away. As they approached, Oren-De first that the lead officer, a young Human male with short, cropped brown hair, was wearing a blue and green visor that completely covered his eyes. The team from the Pandora stood as the newcomers stopped and stood at attention in front of Oren-De. The lead officer shouldered his rifle and grinned.

"Ensign William Lacera, sir. And may I say, you are all a sight for sore eyes. I was worried that Starfleet wouldn't even know about the attack, since we never even got off a distress call."

Oren-De nodded. "I am Commander Oren-De of the USS Pandora. We originally came here to pick up an officer that was posted to our ship, but we have come to render any aid you need in light of this surprise attack."

Will nodded with a look of recognition. "Ah, the Pandora. You're here for Lieutenant Matoya. Well, hopefully she's still alive. She's going to be one of the staff that the Klingons are going to be 'speaking with', and I've heard that those discussions don't last too long if you don't tell them what they want to hear."

"What interest do they have in her?"

"Well, sir, this outpost recently discovered the the Klingons were using the nearby nebula as a staging area for raids. The nebula hides their presence, so they can build up their forces there inside Federation space for raids. While I can't be sure, I'd guess that the Klingons listened to the chatter from our outpost, figured out they'd be discovered, and attacked the base to get at the data. I don't think the outpost had alerted Starfleet yet to what it had discovered, so as long as they got the data and prevented its transmission, Starfleet would never know. As for Lieutenant Matoya, well, she is one of those with access to that data. The Klingons will likely force her or one of the other officers to give them access."

Shrel looked at Oren-De with some alarm. "We don't have much time then, captain. The Klingons have some methods of interrogation that are impossible to resist."

"Agreed. Lieutenant Shrel, report everything that Ensign Lacera has told us to Pandora and have them transmit it to the nearest Starbase. Ensign Lacera, your team will join mine in rescuing the personnel held in the Ops section."

"Yes, sir!" Will said with a grin.

Let me know what you all think:

JWH, may look human, act human, but he most certainly is not human.

He is species 8472 or Undine.

Trained on one of the 13 "terraspheres" in the Delta Quadrant that recreated Starfleet Academy within as a staging ground for an intelligence gathering mission on Earth, he was given a mission of infiltrating Starfleet moving up to the highest ranks possible

However, when Kathryn Janeway made peace with his species, while she was in the Delta Quadrant, his mission was called off.

JWH never returned to fluidic space nor to his natural form - as he enjoyed the pleasures of his human body.

As the years went by, he had to change forms so other humans would not notice that he was not aging.

He was surprised to see his species declare genocide on ALL non fluidic life - instead of just the Borg who started this in the first place.

He disagrees with his fellow Undine, and decided to re enter starfleet to fight against them because he believes what they are doing is wrong.

In 2408, he met a human male, and fell in love. Being that his species has no gender (except while in human form), the oddity of a same gender union never crossed his mind like some other humans. He would have thought by 2409 humans would be more open minded to things.

His mate now lives aboard ship - servering his first officer and cheif engineer. If his partner ever really knew who... or what he really was... well... it would be unbearable.

JWH will stop at nothing to protect those he cares about and what "he" believes in. Even if it means he is to be the last Undine in existance.

JWH's true name in unpronoucable by humans, nor is the Starfleet database capable of storing his true name, even if they did find out as no non fluidic species has writings capable to represent his true name

go right ahead! :D

Awesome story! Do you mind if I include references to this story in mine, Josh?

Quick question about the Fleet Action contest at Starbase 24: is there a level cap to enter?

We have gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenerders and straight members, but more of that beginning of that list and less of the ending. Wish we had a better split.

there was at least one TNG episode that dealt with this case (hetero of course, since stewart wasn't playing a mo this time) and a number of others with inter-Boff relations and relationships. :D

Really great! I've thought about how my characters fit into the intro story, but you completely nailed it. I did not see the Borg BOFF coming. Brilliant.

I wonder what Starfleet's rules are about fraternization between officers and those under their command... :)

if you are still interested in writing for The Stonewall Times, request to join this group :): Writers of The Stonewall Times

I am getting closer to joining a gay fleet beings I am getting tired of all the gay bashing in other fleets. I am so sick of trying to ignore it even in the gaming world. I want to be with my own kind. But, the fleet that I'm in makes me trying to be faithful and loyal. But, that may change in the near future.

BTW, is this a fully gay fleet or a mixtue of all?

EPILOGUE:

“What the hell were you thinking!?” Admiral Quinn shouted.

“Sir...” Edgar began.

The admiral ignored him and continued shouting, “This virus is highly unethical and violates a number of treaties decades old...”

“Sir...” Edgar attempted to interrupt once again.

The admiral seemed to subside slightly, turning the firey rage into a scolding smolder. “The Federation has always been against the usage of bio-weaponry. Now that synthetic life forms like Holograms and androids are now recognized as full citizens, we have to consider the ramifications that a computer virus could have to these things.”

“But Sir...” Edgar protested

“Do you know what kind of nightmare I’m dealing with just from the Judge Advocate General regarding your stunt onboard the Khitomer?” The admiral stopped shouting for a moment to allow Edgar to speak.

“No Sir. It was not my intention to—”, Edgar began once again.

“If we weren’t in this nightmare of war right now you’d be court marshaled.”

“Understood, sir.” Edgar resigned into the seat across from the Admiral.

“Detail your command experience for me, Ensign.” Admiral Quinn ordered, emphasizing Edgar’s rank as though to belittle him, he was trying to move on from the incident on the Khitomer's main engineering section.

Edgar scrambled for his wording, “The crew performed admirably, particularly in fighting off bog spheres and the cube, Sir. Given the history with encounters with the Borg, I consider my short stint in command to be a great success, regardless of my methods.”

The Admiral shot a look at Edgar, “And you really think your success in the captain’s chair excuses your actions onboard the Khitomer?”

“Sir, if I can explain...That wasn’t the only time that virus was uploaded into a Borg drone.” Edgar explained. Admiral Quinn looked livid, but merely leaned forward to listen closer. “Near the Vega colony there was an uplink station that also got a dose of the virus. Due to the nature of its programming, both instances of the upload were met with success. In fact, it seems the Borg response to the attack is to disconnect the infected drone from the collective. One such case is a human drone on board the New Orleans.”

Admiral Quinn weighed what Edgar had reported. “Can you confirm it?”

“It said ‘help me.’ Given the syntax I made the decision to transport it to the brig. The security reports indicate that it is disoriented, unfocused, and showing biological needs for food and water as well as rest.”

The Admiral sneered. “Ensign, this makes at least two cases this virus of yours has obtained this outcome. I guess congratulation is in order. Even one liberated Borg is usually considered a win, but two? I do not condone your actions, but given the further details of what the true intent of your virus has...This puts me in a very difficult position, Ensign”

“Sir?”

“Your virus now has a consistency of liberating drones from the collective. This can be viewed by some as destroying a species, or by others as curing a disease. I cannot begin to anticipate the consequences and make the right decision.”

“Sir, what’s going to happen to the New Orleans?” Edgar asked.

The Admiral paused. “Well, you are the commanding officer, are you not?”

“Sir, as you have so aptly reminded the conversation, I am an Ensign. I’m not qualified to captain a ship outside emergency cases.” Edgar retorted. The Admiral sneered again.

“Viral weapon tactics aside, you did perform admirably. Normally we wouldn't consider putting someone of your rank in the captain's chair, but things are different today. I’m putting you formally in command of the New Orleans, Lieutenant.” The admiral stated, opening a drawer and bringing out a yellow pip to add to his uniform. Edgar almost fell over from the weight of the sentence. Not only was he just promoted, but his own command.

“Sir...why...?” He stammered.

“You’ve given us a weapon against a very dangerous adversary, and you have shown a great aptitude in command even when faced with a great loss. Given your actions, you’ve earned it, even if the JAG office decides to follow through with a different course. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“U-understood, sir. Thank-you.” Edgar responded, taking his new pip.

“Lieutenant, don’t pull another stunt like that again. You’re dismissed.” Quinn ordered.

“Aye sir.” Edgar said as he exited.

Edgar walked outside and he fitted the new pip on his uniform. After marching back to the docking platform and boarding the New Orleans once again, he found his way to his quarters. Inside, he stumbled upon Solek lying on his bed taking a nap. Edgar moved quietly, and began taking off his uniform. “How did the debriefing go?”

“It was…interesting. I thought you were asleep.” Edgar said, running a hand through his blonde hair.

“I was resting, but not asleep. You presume too much courtesy trying to be quiet.” Solek responded, sitting up slightly. Edgar smiled at the sight.

“Blame it on my humanity then. We are incorrigibly habitual in nature.” Edgar removed his uniform jacket and tossed it towards the closet. “Admiral Quinn promoted me to lieutenant and gave me command of the New Orleans.”

“Fascinating...An illogical if not unorthodox response to our actions...” Solek mulled.

“I don’t know what to think about all of this.” Edgar resigned, sinking into a chair.

“Edgar, you’ve given the crew thirty-six hours shore leave. Repairs to the ship will take at least another forty-eight. I suggest you beam down to surface and relax yourself. I can accompany you if you’d like.” Solek suggested. Edgar started to chuckle at Solek’s comment, reading through the logic to find the emotional drive behind it.

“You just want to see me in a swimsuit.” Solek gave a slight expression indicating he’d been caught.

“Getting you on a beach would be the most logical method, and the situation supports such a logical action from both of us.” Edgar laughed once again.

“Fine. We’ll transport down. Do you have a preference on a beach?” Edgar said, moving to the closet to grab a change of civilian clothes along with his swimsuit.

“I believe the nature of our relationship would be most acceptable in Europe, perhaps Mykonos?”

“Done. Come get a spare suit and put some clothes on.”

In the spacedock transporter room, Solek and Edgar stood on the platform awaiting for the clearance from traffic control for beaming down to the Athens Space Port Authority. It was a short ferry from there to the island, where Solek and Edgar spent the majority of the day relaxing on the beach and spending time experiencing the local scene.

Close to four hours prior to the shore leave ending, Solek and Edgar returned to the New Orleans. Back in uniforms, Solek followed Edgar to the ready room. “Captain, have you given thought to your choice for first officer?”

“Oh no, I haven’t.”

“Then might I suggest—” Edgar stopped Solek from making his suggestion.

“Solek, you mistake my lack of thought on the matter to mean I haven’t made a decision. On the contrary, you’re my first officer. Since I am now the captain...heh...I’ll be approving your transfer, and given the circumstances, Commander Davis has already informed me he has approved your request. It is logical that you serve the position since you are now the only other qualified bridge officer on board.”

Solek began to protest but his Vulcan logic stopped him. “I must confess, that is the most logical decision, and the one I was going to suggest.”

Edgar smiled. “See, I knew you wanted the job. I’ll be in the ready room.”

starseed wrote:

Can we see the screenshots of all the entries?

yes. They will be posted tonight with the winners :)

Can we see the screenshots of all the entries?

Oops!, sorry I missed it. I haven't even played in a couple of days. My lover keeps finding more interesting things for me to do. In fact he just texted me wanting another date tonight. I think he is jealous of STO :unsure:

if you are still interested in being a writer for The Stone Wall Times, join this group: Writers of The Stonewall Times
Thanks!

Very cool to know! I'm on Eldre'Thalas Horde side (same name), so if anyone is floating around WoW and on ET, say hi.

-Xakhareth

Whee! I'll be there, looking crazy.

This sounds like a hoot, I'll be there as something strange :)

This video is abyssmal quality however I think this has me even more excited about Versus XIII than XIII itself. It's a recording of the most recent footage of Versus XIII at Jump Festa earlier this year.

Huge Final Fantasy fan. Got hooked on number VIII for the PC and never looked back. I still think VIII is the greatest game ever created.

I bought a PS3 back in 2008 for the sole reason that FF13 was going to be exclusively on it (til M$ got its claws on it).

Will definitely be taking time out to play it.