The Gathering Storm, Pt Two

Posted on Sat Aug 5th, 2017 @ 5:38pm by Commander Mal Xustos & Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral & Lieutenant Commander T'Pral Jordan & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi & Baroness 2nd Class Schwein von Alcott

Mission: When Iconians Deserve to Die
Location: Hera's Folly/Nimpella III/Eos Misley
Timeline: Current

The Hera's Folly entered Nimpella Three's orbit. Schwein was at the helm and Nexi was in the co-pilot's seat. Nexi hadn't liked being the co-pilot, but Schwein was more familiar with the repurposed Romulan runabout. T'Pral was at Tactical. Mal and Daytona, having been summoned to the bridge, were standing.

"Mister Ral?" Mal said.

Daytona started, as though he had been daydreaming.

"Right," he said he leaned in over Nexi's shoulder and called up an image of the planet below. "According to the most recent information Starfleet Intelligence has on Hermes' last known whereabouts, he may be somewhere down there. He made a delivery here recently. A friend at SFI did me a solid and had word sent to Hermes that their might be another job for him in a day or two and asking him to stay put. The planet is sparsely populated, mainly a haven for smugglers, pirates, thieves, and various and sundry other criminals. There's a spaceport town...here. That's where we think he is."

"Right," Mal said. "Nexi, contact the spaceport and find us somewhere to park and then you and the Baroness can set us down. Then we start hitting the bars and brothels until we find Hermes."

"Bars and brothels, so glad I joined Starfleet to get away from all of that..." Nexi said dryly as she opened a line with the spaceport. "Nimpella, this is Hera's Folly requesting permission to dock."

"Please stand by," came the gruff response from port control. "Hera's Folly, you are cleared for bay 13 landing pad 4." And with that, navigation coordinates were sent to the helm that would direct them to the appropriate bay.

"There," Nexi pointed out the location to Shwein. "Looks like we gotta come in from the east."

Shwein pursed her lips as she studied the weather patterns and their approach vector. "Those pig-dogs have us flying through a storm. Fools to them and luck to us." Flipping up her eye patch, Shwein expertly began the landing procedure, but instead of following the flight plan exactly, she came in low and left a sensor shadow where they were supposed to be with the runabout's singularity core. "Sneaky-sneak, ja? My old ship could do this too."

"Can't do that in a Federation runabout!" Nexi said with a grin; she really liked Shwein's style!

"Ja, I just wish we could take this with us on the Hera." Shwein grinned as her hands glided across the controls. This ship was a fair deal smaller than the converted Romulan freighter she had, but almost everything was the same, really. Once they found a design they liked, the Empire tended to stick to it.

"Hmmm..." Mal said. "I'll see what I can do about getting Enalia to let us keep it or at least borrow it. I have a feeling this vessel could be very useful. Nexi has her own ship, but Mister Ral might need transportation from time to time. Okay. I'm assuming I can trust you three to set us down without screwing the pooch, so I'm going to go gather my things. When we land, we'll head out."

[Later at the Spaceport]

The weather was bleak as the group walked the streets of the town of Eos Misely. The sky was dark gray with no hint of the sun to be found anywhere. It was early afternoon, but seemed like late dusk. A mist of rain fell on the pedestrians on the street while a moderate wind blew the mist into their faces.

Shwein had donned a cloak to keep out the damp and she pulled it tighter around her as the wind pelted her. "It stinks more since the last time I was here... Please watch yourselves, ja? Dis ist a den of scum and villainy most wretched."

Mal wore a cloak as well, Greco-Roman in design, over his tunic and leather-style armor. The Greco-Roman style armor only looked leather. It was actually made of a much stronger material. In addition to being resistant to solid weapons such as blades and arrows, it was also resistant to energy weapons. Beneath the cloak he carried a kopis style frictionless short sword, designed to slice through flesh, muscle, bone, an several other materials like a hot knife through butter. They were particularly effective against Minotaur, if you could get close enough to use them without getting gored or pummeled to death. Not wanting to appear too 'Starfleet', he had a phase disruptor pistol on his belt as well. It was not the most pleasant weapon he'd every used, but he'd learned to use one in a foreign weapons familiarization course years ago. It had several settings, each one more unpleasant than the next. It was currently on it's lowest setting, neural disruption, which disrupted the target's voluntary nervous system which essentially dropped them like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The next one up shut down both the voluntary and involuntary nervous systems, resulting in the target dropping dead. There was a setting up from that which disrupted the molecular bonds keeping the target together and causing their molecules to explosively fly apart. Depending on the level of this setting, it either caused major tissue damage or completely destroyed the target.

"So I've noticed," Mal said, trying not to be irritable. Hermes hadn't been in the first two places they'd looked. Maybe the third would be the charm. Suddenly, a shadow seemed to fly by overhead, a bit to fast to be a passing cloud. Mal looked up and around, but he didn't see anything or anyone. He frowned.

"Baroness," he said. "How close are we to the next location on our list?"

"Zhe Gilded Boar ist just ahead past zhe blue box on zhe corner," Shwein replied as they rounded a corner, recognizing the sign for her crew's old haunt instantly. "I know this one well. I'll handle security."

Nexi kept pace with the team, undaunted by the misty rain around them; she simply pulled up the collar of her leather jacket to shield her face from the mist and carried on. It felt strange to be back in an old haunt like this; though her enlistment with Starfleet was still recent, she had been with the Hera for about a year now! "I might have a few contacts that could help us find him. You want me to see what I can shake loose?" she offered as they trudged along.

"Alright," Mal said. "Do it. Be cautious. Be smart. Find out what you can, but do not go after Hermes by yourself. I don't want him getting spooked and making a run for it. We'll never catch him if he bolts. And Nexi, remember that we may not be the only ones looking for Hermes. Even her Magna Roma followers, who are basically Human, will be armed with advanced tech, making them dangerous. The higher tier followers are far more dangerous. So, again, be cautious. I don't want to have to explain to your sister how I ran off and let you get yourself killed."

"Puh-lease; as hard as I try to keep my line of work away from her, Aewia knows exactly what I do, so if anything happened she wouldn't blame you," Nexi said with a grin. "But I'll be careful, so don't worry," she added as she peeled away from the group to make her way down one of the side streets.

Mal looked at Daytona.

"Go with her," he said. "I know she can handle herself, but she's impulsive and this is not situation in which any of us can risk getting in over our heads."

"Of course," Daytona said. He turned and faded into the shadows as he took off after Nexi.

Shwein felt the tap of the long barreled polaron rifle resting gently at her waist as they walked. The Artan Privateers were her family so she was slightly envious, but she knew that if it came down to it everyone here would have her back just as she'd have theirs. Pulling out her Artan Privateer ID and a few slips of latinum as they entered the Gilded Boar, she flashed her ID and dropped the latinum into the palm of the beefy looking Regulan bouncer. "Flex, it is good to see you again my friend. We are here on official business." With a nod, the apparently silent mountain of flesh allowed the party to pass unhindered.

"Well," Mal said. "Let's start asking around. Time is of the essence."

T'Pral had remained silent as she listened to the conversation carry on between the Commander, the Baroness, and Nexi. She was dressed in tan utility pants, leather belt, holstering a Type 2 Phaser, and a black t-shirt with a grey/black shawl worn around her neck, with her hair pulled back to hide the tips of her ears as from what she read in regards to James Kirk's encounter, Spock had reminded Apollo of Pan and did not want him on the planet so she took it as these people either didn't like vulcans or preferred not to be associated with them for some reason. T'Pral nodded. "I will start in the southeast corner."

"Good," Mal said. "I'll start over there."

Mal strolled over to a group sitting at a table and took a seat.

"Gentlebeings," Mal said, using the non-gender specific pronoun. "I'm looking for someone. There's a little something in it for you if you can provide me with something that sounds credible. Latinum, not Fed credits, which would require Federation bank accounts, which I'm assuming you lot can't get without getting arrested."

Mal reached into a pouch at his belt and pulled out a PaDD. He'd specifically picked a commercial model, one that didn't look Starfleet issue. He called up the most recent image of Hermes he could find and showed it to the group.

"I'm looking for him," Mal said to the surly group. "He's a courier. Takes jobs other people won't. Known for getting his cargo where it's going faster than anyone else. He likes to hit the bottle and probably spends some time with prostitutes, when he's sober enough to get it up. Speak truth and get paid. Lie, and I walk. Do something stupid and I end you, right here, right now."

The men and women looked at each other, then leaned in and whispered to each other. Finally, they turned back to Mal. A woman, at least Mal thought it was a woman, spoke.

"Show us the scratch first," she said.

Mal did nothing for a moment. There were three thugs at the table. Mal reached into a pouch and pulled out nine strips of latinum and lay them down on the table. The woman's eyes narrowed.

"You trying to be funny?" she said.

"Is making your brain work so difficult that it demands higher pay?" Mal said. "If you want real money, get off your ass and work for it. This..."

Mal gestured at the strips of latinum.

"This will pay for a meal and a room for the night," Mal said. He wrinkled his nose. "Preferably a room with a shower, which you all need to take really, really, badly. So, you talk sense, I give you the latinum."

The woman hesitated. She was clearly gauging whether or not she should just kill him and take all of his money. She'd never seen any beings like Mal before, never heard of anything like him. For just a second, she considered having her companions attack the Pomtoli officer. In that second, she saw something in the satyr's eyes that told her not to trifle with him.

"We know who he is," she said. "But we ain't seen him today. Heard he was in town..."

"I know that already," Mal said. "Give me more."

The woman licked her lips nervously and she and her companions whispered to each other again. They all nodded to each other and then the woman turned back to Mal.

"You ain't the only one looking for him," she said. "There were three females asking about him."

Mal controlled his reaction, so his informants didn't notice that he tensed at the news of others looking for Hermes.

"What kind of females?" Mal asked. "What race? What did they look like? What were they wearing?"

"Like big, Human, females," one of the men said. "Really built up. Lots of muscle. They were dressed a bit like you. A little more exposed flesh maybe. An Orion tried to hit on one them. She beat him to death. I ain't seen nothing like that before!"

Amazons? Three of them? This isn't good.

"If you had to guess," Mal said. "Where might the courier be now?"

"He runs the circuit of bars around here," the other man said. He looked at his chronometer. "I'd say he's about to leave the Spotted Dick now. He'll probably hit the Bolthole soon. There's a girl there he's sweet on. She usually takes pity on him and throws him a mercy poke here and there."

Mal slid the latinum strips across the table to the informants.

"Thank you," he said. "You've been very helpful."

The three greedily grabbed the money and split it between them. They talked among themselves and decided on a place they could get a warm meal, a warm bed, and a shower for three strips of latinum a piece, then quickly left the bar.

Mal put his PaDD away and went to see how Schwein and T'Pral were doing.

Over in the corner of the bar where T'Pral had gone to inquire about Hermes, a bulky male Orion stood and sauntered over to her.

"Looking for a good time, Sweet Cheeks," he said. "That wasn't a question. I'm looking for a good time, Sweet Cheeks. You won the lottery. What do say we get out of here? We can go back to my room or, if you're in a hurry and filth doesn't bother you, I don't mind giving it to you in the alley behind the bar."

T'Pral looked up at the Orion and grinned. "Oh, really?" she paused before continuing. "I doubt you could handle me, so the answer is no."

Shwein sidled up to the bar next to one of her old contacts she recognized and dropped a few latinum strips on the bar. "The usual. And don't water it down." After the barkeep slid a glass of clear smokey alcohol in front of her, she glanced to the rough man to her left before taking a drink.

"You know something about Hermes, don't you?" Shwein asked in German.

Glancing over his shoulder back at her companion, he nodded and replied, also in German. "Yeah, I know something. I know a Pomtolli when I see one. I also know a harpy when I see one. Look... Little piggies shouldn't get involved in this... I wish I hadn't but it's too late for me. We were comrades once, which is why I'm telling you this. Run away. Run far away."

Turning to face her, he pulled part of his shirt aside to reveal a brand freshly burnt into his flesh by something that would, by her knowledge of technology, be called magic. "Hera's Amazons will be back here in the next hour and I'll have to tell them you're here looking for Hermes. I'm sorry."

Her eyes widening at the realization of what her old friend had just said, Shwein flipped her eye patch up and scanned the brand just to confirm it and indeed it was far beyond her comprehension. Sighing, she downed her drink in one go and hopped off the bar stool.

"I'm sorry too..." Without hesitation, Shwein pulled her rifle free, shot him in the head one handed, and reholstered her weapon all within one second. Before his body had hit the ground, she had flipped the bartender an Artan family pirate mark. "Sorry about the mess."

Turning to meet Mal, her eyes were a bit moist but otherwise she was composed, her eye patch still flipped up from her scans a moment before. "He had been taken by the enemy's power and they likely know we are here."

"Hmm..." Mal said. "According to what I found out, there was a trio of Amazons here a bit ago. They're ahead of us. But I know where they're likely to be headed next. Come on. Let's collect T'Pral and..."

Mal looked over to where T'Pral was being sexually harassed by a large Orion.

"Uh oh," he said. "This isn't going to end well..."

The Orion now put one hand on her arm and the other on her left breast, squeezing it. T'Pral looked down at the Orion's hand as rage and pain filled her, biting her lip to keep from crying out in pain. T'Pral's leg snapped forward striking the Orion in the groin as he howled in pain, releasing his grasp on her. Not done yet, she grabbed the Orion's right wrist, twisted it as she pulled down and towards her as her other arm struck the elbow with full force, causing an audible crack as the arm was broken. As the Orion stumbled, barely standing and crying out in pain, her leg snapped out to the side of his right knee as another crack could be heard, sending the Orion to the floor in agony.

Mal drew his disruptor pistol quickly flicked the setting to molecular disruption and fired off a shot into the floor. The target area glowed for a brief second and then exploded. Everyone in the bar froze.

"Show's over," he said. "Anyone who disagrees with that, I'm happy to use this pistol on them. Ladies, let's go. We are making our exit."

[Elsewhere...]

Nexi was a little bit miffed that of all people Mal had sent Daytona to accompany her; if he felt she needed supervision, why couldn't T'Pral come with her? But done was done and Nexi would make the best of the situation. She made her way through the side streets to a small bar; it didn't have any signage, but she knew the name, it roughly translated as Bolthole, and she passed through the dimly lit and tiny establishment to a table in the corner. Glancing over to the bartender, they each acknowledged each other with a nod, then Nexi held up two fingers to indicate she needed two orders of whatever brew they had on tap, then Nexi took a seat and watched the patrons while she waited for their drinks.

Daytona took a seat with Nexi and looked over the patrons of the Bolthole. At first glance, he didn't see anything that stood out. Still, he continued to observe without looking like he was observing, a skill he'd picked up over the centuries.

"I've been to this place a few times in the past," he said. "Some of those times were WAY in the past, like over two hundred years ago. But my work has brought me here more recently. If this doesn't pan out, I might have someone we can talk to. She's not the most trustworthy sort. She'd sell her own children if the price was right...and if any man was insane enough to breed with her."

"I got a guy here, if he shows," Nexi said as a cute little waitress with blond hair and the bluest eyes anyone had ever seen came over to set their drinks on the table. "Thanks, cutie," Nexi said to the waitress as she leaned forward to take her drink, 'accidentally' brushing her fingers over the hand of the gentle young woman, and quite intentionally sending a slight pulse of current through her hand, which the young girl experiences as a pleasing tingle, causing her to blush. "Any of these rough boys give you a hard time, you let me know," Nexi said to the woman with a subtle smoldering gaze, then leaned back in her seat with her drink and returned her attention to Daytona while the blushingly adorable waitress continued on with her service to the other customers.

"My guy, he's an information broker; he only trades information for more information or a favor. I've brought him a lot of information over the years, so I got a few favors saved up with him, but it's been somewhere around 6 years since I've dealt with him, so that currency may not be good anymore," Nexi explained, sipping at her beer here and there. "He's got this whole spaceport under surveillance, so if he decides to honor those favors, he'll come around soon."

"Here's hoping," Daytona said, taking a drink from his mug and then grimacing. "Ack! I swear, the swill they serve on this planet get's worse every year. My first trip here, the brew was pretty good. Then again, I didn't really give a damn about anything at that point in my life, so I doubt I would have noticed if it was terrible. If I did and it was, I probably thought I deserved to be served brew that tastes like it's been strained through someone's very dirty socks."

"Yeah, it is pretty bad," Nexi said with a grimace as she looked into her mug of swill, and yet she just kept on drinking. "I think if it weren't for cutie over there this place would go under," she added, then took another swig.

They stayed there for a few more minutes longer, and just when Nexi was about to suggest they move on, another patron came through the door. The figure wore a cloak and had his hood pulled up to obscure the details of his face, but he strode right up to Nexi and Daytona and sat at the table across from them.

"What do you need?" he asked with some agitation, looking back at the door for a moment to make sure that he hadn't been followed.

"Hey, take it easy, Bodie," Nexi said, glancing at the door as well. This wasn't anything new, her contact was always a little on the paranoid side. "We're just looking for someone; think you can point us in the general direction of a guy named Hermes?" she asked.

"Maybe, but not for free," Bodie replied, glancing back once more, but this time he was looking at the waitress. "What do you want with him?"

"Nothing bad," Nexi assured him. "If he is who we think he is, then there's a situation going on that could benefit from his assistance. I don't have any information to trade right now, but you know I'm good for it."

Bodie made a move for a switch on his wrist band. Daytona quickly reached into a belt pouch, grasped a device and activated it just as 'Bodie' pressed the button he was reaching for.

"Huh," Daytona said. "It worked. Good thing Thex had enough spare parts to make two of these comm jammers."

'Bodie' looked like he was going to rabbit, so Daytona rose and laid hands on him, or tried to, 'Bodie' was really fast...too fast. He rose and sidestepped Daytona.

"What the...?" Daytona said. Just then, the saloon doors burst open. In walked three tall, Humanoid, women, dressed in Greco-Roman armor. They had short swords on their belts and their wrist bracers looked...strange, as though there might be some technology in them, hidden in the ornate designs.

"We come in the name of the Goddess Hera!" the lead Amazon said. "By order of our queen, Hippolyta, we are here for the fallen god Hermes! Deliver him to us and be spared our wrath!"

'Bodie' made a run for the door, faster than anyone should have been able to move. He made it past the Amazons, but collided with male bovine monster over seven feet tall that was now standing in the doorway. He bounced off and hit his head on a table, knocking himself unconscious.

"Ha!" cried one of the Amazons. "Leave it to a man to panic and attempt to flee!"

"Indeed," said the lead Amazon. "Men are sniveling cowards."

"Uhm...hold that thought, please, ladies," Daytona said. He tapped his wrist comm. "Commander, Nexi and I are in a dive called the Bolthole. We need help...really, really fast. Oh, and I think we found your...friend."

"How dare you give instructions to an Amazon, sperm-donor!" one of the Amazons said.

The leader put her hand on her comrades shoulder to restrain her.

"Did you notice how fast that sniveling scum moved?" the leader asked. "Minotaur! Pick that pathetic excuse for a god up we will now return to our vessel!"

"Sorry," Daytona said. "I can't let you do that."

Daytona drew his disruptor pistol.

"Nexi," he said. "If we let them leave, this will all be for nothing."

"And just when I thought this trip was going to be boring!" Nexi said with a big grin on her face; she was already on her feet and drawing her pike. As she ignited the plasma blade, she leveled it at the Amazons. "Never killed an Amazon before, or a Minotour; at least one of you better be a challenge or I'm gonna be pissed."

Shwein and the others had just left the Gilded Boar when they got the call for help. Putting a finger up to her earpiece to hear better, she mumbled some german curse under her breath. "Keep up if you can," she called out as she took off towards the Bolthole. If she read that tone of voice right, things just went south in a very bad way and they needed backup in an even worse way.

Hoping the other two were still with her, Shwein turned the last corner and caught sight of a mountain of a beast - a minotaur. "Verdammt..." Rather than reaching for her polaron rifle, she reached for her short sword at her back. Pulling it free, she used her left eye to scan for a weakness in the few seconds before she was upon the beast. Finding what she hoped was one, she leaped across it's back and sliced in a circular motion across the back of its neck, hopefully slicing both jugulars and its spinal column in the neck around the third and fourth vertebrae.

Her landing was perfect... However the supporting structure was not and it collapsed and she found herself inside of a fried foods cart so she couldn't even see if she had killed the beast as she had hoped, or if she hadn't cut deep enough and just pissed it off.

The Minotaur was apparently not impressed with Schwein's blade. There was a cut, and it was through several layers of skin, and it even drew a little blood, but it wasn't deep enough to do much damage. The beast bellowed and started moving towards Schwein. Mal drew his frictionless blade, but instead of using it, he put his head down and charged the Minotaur, hitting it amidships and knocking it off balance and away from Schwein.

"Pull yourself together," Mal said, going over to the downed pirate. "Go help Daytona and Nexi with the Amazons. This beast is mine. T'Pral, go with her."

The Minotaur was back on it's feet now. It snorted with rage and shook its head about, brandishing its horns. The two half-men circled each other, Mal moving away from Schwein so she wouldn't get gored or trampled. The Minotaur suddenly lowered its head and charged at Mal. The nimble satyr sidestepped and swung his kopis. The blade, which was designed to be nearly frictionless, designed especially to fight Minotaur, cut through the side of the bovine's chest. Unfortunately, in order to avoid being gored, Mal stepped out far enough that while the cut was serious, it wasn't immediately terminal or even disabling. The Minotaur let loose a bellow that would have chilled Mal's heart if he wasn't already resisting the urge to void his bladder and bowels right then and there and run away. They circled each other again, then the beast pulled a mace from it's back and charged at Mal. Again Mal stepped to the side. This time he swung his blade up, seemingly to block the strike by hitting his sword against the Minotaur's mace. The Minotaur realized what Mal was really up to at the last minute, but he couldn't stop his forward momentum in time. He was only able to redirect his blow to avoid losing a limb, but not enough to avoid being cut deeply.

Another deep but not particularly fatal wound. This is ridiculous! What am I going to have to do? Kill him with the death of a thousand cuts?!? We don't have time for this! Come Xustos, get it together.



Meanwhile, outside, a Harpy suddenly began an attack run on T'Pral. It was swooping in quickly from behind her, talons bared, ready to strike! As she got closer, those on the street could hear a terrifying shriek.

T'Pral turned upon hearing the shriek in time to see a Winged creature diving at her. She ducked to the side into a roll, but not before one of the Harpy's talons ripped into T'Pral's shoulder. T'Pral drew her phaser as she kept her attention on the Harpy as it raised and banked to the right into a tight turn for another attack run. T'Pral, guessing the creature would have the same attack pattern as many birds of prey on various worlds, fired her phaser where the creature should be at the moment of impact. The Harpy spun and dived but the beam struck the Harpy's wing, causing her to fall to the ground. T'Pral fired again to make sure the Harpy stayed down.

Pulling herself free of the fried goods cart, Shwein tossed off her cloak, her golden eye glinting like a beacon as she nodded to Mal and headed inside to assist the others with the Amazons. It seemed her sword wasn't enough to do more than scratch such a monster, even with her strength so she had no trouble leaving it to Mal since it seemed he had the skills and tools to fight it properly.

Quickly assessing the situation inside, she pulled free her polaron rifle and fired a three round burst straight into the back of the nearest Amazon. "Oi! Sau! Your mother was a pig's plaything!"

The polaron bursts dissipated against the Amazon's armor. She grunted, indicating that she may have felt some of the effects, but certainly not enough to slow her down. She spun around to the right, turning her arm, deactivating the wrist shield and switching to the energy weapon. She let several fly pulses fly in Schwein's direction as she charged forward with her sword.

With her golden cybernetic eye, Shwein dodged the pulses with ease as the Amazon charged her. Steeling herself, she braced herself as the Amazon tried to slice her in half with a two handed strike starting from where she parted her hair. Her sword may not have been the sharpest there was, but it was made of some pretty solid metal. So was she. The look of surprise on the Amazon's face as a woman over a foot shorter than her stopped her blade with little more than a grunt was somewhat satisfying. Especially since she did it one handed. Leveling her polaron rifle at an unguarded part of the Amazon's leg, she pulled the trigger.

The pulse from the polaron rifle burned a large hunk of flesh from the Amazon's leg. She screamed in pain and shock. Furious, she sent a powerful backhand slash of her sword at Schwein while she struggled to keep her leg from buckling. She failed and went down on one knee.

The strength of the swing from the Amazon was far from what it was and Shwein barely even had to knock it aside with her own short sword as she now looked down on the dying Amazon. The shadows in the bar almost made her look demonic as her face was dark save for her golden glowing cybernetic eye. "Odin danke dir für deinen Tod." With those words, she swung her sword with all her strength into the Amazon's neck, sending her now lifeless body the rest of the way to the floor.

Meanwhile, Nexi and Daytona were facing down two very perturbed Amazons.

"You have never killed an Amazon, disgrace to women everywhere!" the lead Amazon said. "And you won't kill one today, whore! But, if I have anything to say about it, you will be killed by these Amazons! Attack, my sisters! Leave no survivors!"

Daytona politely waited for the Amazon leader to finish her rhetoric, then fired his disruptor pistol at her. The bolt flew through the air, but just as it closed on its target, the Amazon raised her left hand and crouched slightly. A force field in the shape of a shield manifested, apparently from her left wrist bracer. The bolt ricocheted off of the energy field and hit a bystander, who dropped like a rock. Luckily for him, Daytona had reset the weapon to neural disruption.

Daytona expected the Amazon to go for her sword, but instead, still protected by the shield, she raised her right arm and aimed her fist at Daytona. Daytona was confused at first what she was up to, but when she pointed her knuckles down, he figured it out.

"Oh, crap!" he said, diving to the side at the last minute as a bolt of energy flew through the area his chest had been in a split second before.

The other Amazon activated the shield on her left wrist and drew her sword as she moved in on Nexi.

"Why do you service the needs of this man," she said. "You don't have to be a whore, whore! Selling your body and soul for the approval of a man! Use your power! Free yourself and we will teach you to be a real woman!"

By this time, Daytona had rejoined Nexi, ready to fight. He was carrying what amounted to two long knives, Filipino in origin. They were called Kambantuli and were used primarily by the Moro tribes in the southern Philippine islands. They were nineteen point five inches in total length with thirteen point five inch blades that were wider as you neared the point. They were nasty looking things, designed for hacking and slashing but with enough of a point to stab with if he could find a large enough area of exposed flesh.

"You probably don't need too much help here," Daytona said. "But why don't I take one of them anyway? Just so I can feel useful, you understand."

"Enough talk!" the lead Amazon shouted. "Attack!"

She deactivated her left wrist shield and turned that arm so she could aim her energy weapon, all as she began to move forward. She gave a battle shout and began firing at Nexi as she charged forward with her sword.

All this 'free yourself' man-hating talk had Nexi all fired up inside; sure, she thought men were the weaker sex as well, but they had their uses, and life would be kind of boring without them, so their offer fell on deaf ears.

"I'm all too happy to put you in your place: the kitchen," Nexi said with a grin, just to piss off the Amazons and to build their rage thus forcing them to attack first. The Amazon still holding her sword charged at Nexi; Nexi blocked with her pike staff, but her eyes went wide when she felt the amount of force these Amazons could impart with their attacks. It felt like getting struck by a runaway boulder, her arms were buzzing with shock! She pushed back, then swung the butt of her staff into the Amazon's head; it made contact, but most of the force was diffused by the energy shield protecting her. And so Nexi began testing the limits and boundaries of these shields, rapidly swinging her pike at the Amazon, barely letting her get in any counter attacks. Then suddenly, the Amazon charged with her energy shield, throwing Nexi across the small pub and against a wall. As Nexi returned to her feet, she found the Amazon there, again using her shield in a charge, but this time to trap Nexi against the wall, her piked being held uselessly between their chests. Then burning, searing pain! The Amazon had brought down her sword for the kill, but Nexi managed to deflect the jab with her own blade to pass relatively harmlessly into her shoulder; still, it hurt like hell, and something about this blade just burned! Releasing her pike, Nexi grabbed the Amazon by the neck and released everything she could into the woman. The Amazon howled in pain, but the charge surging through her had her paralyzed, she couldn't pull away; Nexi doubled down and increased the intensity of the current and soon Amazon slumped to the ground, her now hollow eye sockets smoking. The resulting drain to Nexi caused her knees to give out, but the blade in her shoulder was embedded in the wall, preventing her from falling. Nexi cried out from the jolt it sent through her shoulder, and she grabbed the blade and pulled, slicing her hand open as she yanked the blade free. Now now longer pinned to the wall, she fell to the floor beside the dead Amazon.

The other Amazon followed suit, firing at Daytona while charging him. Daytona rolled out of the way of the bolts, ducking behind a table. After her last shot, Daytona stood, flipped a chair into the air in front of him with his foot and then kicked it at his opponent. The Amazon reactivated her wrist shield and hunched behind it. She wasn't quite able to brace her self properly, though, and the force of the impact knocked her off balance.

Daytona charged forward, blades flying around in front of him. The Amazon recovered just in time to put up a defense. She tried blocking with her sword, but the two weapon technique reduced her to enlarging her wrist shield and huddling behind it. At first Daytona was pushing her back, but then the Amazon began to push back and began to work in jabs with her sword which were either evaded or parried by Daytona. One of his parries left and opening and the Amazon backhanded him with her shield, knocking him down. Daytona snapped back to his feet and the two began to circle each other looking for an opening. While Daytona could match the Amazon in strength and speed, there were a few disadvantages that might just get him killed. The Amazon had energy weapons in her wrist bracers, while his pistol was in its holster. All she had to do to open fire on him was point her wrist at him...either wrist, while protecting herself with the shield on the opposite wrist. Daytona needed a way around the shield. It was time to do something different...and possibly suicidal.

Daytona charged ahead, banging on the energy shield with his weapons, driving the Amazon back. The shield began to flicker. In response, the Amazon reduced it's size. Apparently it was weaker the wider out it was spread. This Daytona could use.

As soon as the shield reduced in diameter, Daytona feinted high with one blade, then dropped low and spun his leg around, knocking the Amazon's legs out from under her. Springing forward and going in low, he got in inside the Amazon's shield arm and sword arm. Now sitting on her chest, he used the two Kambantuli in a scissor configuration and severed the Amazon's head. Breathing heavy, he rose to his feet in time to see Nexi fry her opponent. At first he thought she was fine. Her jacket was dark and he didn't immediately see the blood. Sheathing his knives, he ran over to Nexi.

"Schwein!" he called out. "Get over here! Nexi's been hurt."

Daytona felt around the back of Nexi's shoulder and saw that it was a through and through. He pulled two handkerchiefs out and applied pressure to both sides of the wound.

"You'll be fine," Daytona said. "You're far too tough to let a little arterial bleeding slow you down."

"Yeah, still sucks, I really liked this jacket," Nexi said with a grin, but it was clear that she was forcing the pain down, trying to ignore it but failing.

"The jacket will have to be removed," Shwein said as she rushed to Nexi's side and pulled out several tools from her hidden pockets, her eye already scanning away at the hole in her patient. She slapped a neuro stabilizer on Nexi's forehead to help ease the pain, then gave her a hypo of a cocktail of meds before cutting the jacket and shirt off her shoulder with a laser scalpel and slapping a quickseal patch on her back so she'd at least have a bit more time to work before her patient bled out.

"No real bone damage... Just everything else. Next time, I recommend doing the stabbing, ja? Not so pleasant, the stabby-stabby." Shwein tried to at least distract Nexi as she shoved a deep tissue regenerator into the wound and clicked it on. It wasn't a pleasant device, but in a combat situation it would get her back on her feet in a matter of minutes.

"GAH!" Nexi cried out as Shwein shoved the regenerator into the wound. "I think I prefer the stabby stabby to what you're doing now," she squeaked out. "Note to self, never give Pig a reason to use this thing ever again."

Giving Nexi a funny look, Shwein continued to work on her. "My name is Shwein, not pig. Also, I am sorry pirate medicine is not up to Federation standards." As she spoke, she pulled the tissue regenerator out, wiped it clean, and started working with a normal tissue regenerator on the damage closer to the surface. Once that was done, she slapped a bandage over the whole thing and rolled Nexi up on her other side so she could use the standard regenerator on her back as well.

"Yeah, all I hear is 'Pig', my translator probably don't recognize your name as a name, whatever it is." Nexi grunted and winced as Shwein moved her around, but she was still glad she wasn't going to bleed out. Although she was starting to breathe heavy and her vision was growing dark and fuzzy. "I need... uhg, can't think... Uh, sugar, I need sugar, and... it's, uh, electro- something... I'm crashing..."

Finishing up with Nexi's back, Shwein slapped another bandage on it and pulled out another hypo and a pack of ampules. Loading up the first one, she injected it right into Nexi's neck. The second into her chest. The third, she injected into her thigh. She loaded up a fourth, but just kept that one at the ready. "Nexi, I just gave you enough energy boosters and electrolytics for three people. You may be a little jittery for a few days as your body processes them. We will need to get you back to the ship soon."

As she felt the first and then second ampule being injected, Nexi recognized the affect as the chemicals entered her bloodstream, and she tried to push Shwein's hand away to prevent her from injecting her a third time, but the gesture was so feeble and she ended up getting that third injection anyway. "No more," Nexi gasped out. Her heart was racing now, but she didn't feel any more energetic, it felt like her heart was going to explode! Whatever it was about Brekkian physiology that allowed them to conduct and expel a powerful current, it didn't like synthetic stimulants, and while these boosters also contained the much needed glucose and electrolytes she requested, the stimulants in the cocktail weren't helping. "No more, no more," she continued to ramble incoherently, her body shaking in a combination of shock and stimulant overload.

Scanning Nexi a bit more with her eye, Shwein adjusted the neural stabilizer to help with the stimulant overdose. "This will make sure you survive with so much blood loss. Please bear with it, ja?" Indeed, it was the only thing Shwein could have done to keep her blood pressure high enough for long enough to get her back home alive.

Nexi managed to nod, though she said nothing in response; she just kept shaking and shivering, unable to move herself from where Shwein had moved her.

"She can't stay here," Daytona said. He deactivated the jammer from before, just in case, and started fiddling with his wrist comm. "It doesn't look like the others are hurt...give me one more second..."

Daytona frowned.

"It seems we're not the only ones who thought to jam comms," he said. "Well, since it appears we can't do this the easy way..."

Daytona effortlessly scooped Nexi up in his arms.

"Just relax and leave everything to me, Nexi," he said with a grin. "I bet you were hoping you'd never hear me use that phrase in regards to you!"

When Daytona didn't get a snarky response, he looked down at Nexi.

"I've got you, little one," he said in a gentle tone. "Just relax. Doctor Pig, if you want to stay and see to the others, I'll take Nexi back to the Hera's folly."

Shwein just facepalmed. "Shwein Shwein Shwein Shwein...." she muttered as she headed over to the bar and slapped down an Artan token. "Sorry about the mess."

"Let us get out of here, Herr Nascar," Shwein said as she returned to Daytona's side. "We must hurry before the enemy goes hog wild."

Daytona was familiar enough with Federation Standard to get the pig/hog/Schwein pun, and he'd heard NASCAR jokes ever since he joined Starfleet because of his name. He rolled his eyes.

"If you're saying we need to unass this area, I'd already figured that out for myself," he said. "Lead the way and don't get too far ahead. I'm not going to be able to fight mythical creatures while carrying this precious cargo."

"Ja, we must ankle," Schwein replied with a nod before leading them out of the bar.


Outside in the street, Mal still had his hands full with the Minotaur. He was faster than the beast, especially now that the bovine nightmare was cut and bleeding, but the creature was still very strong. He attacked Mal with a combination of powerful swings with his mace and slashes and jabs with his horns. Mal had scorned a few more hits to the beast on its thighs and arms, but the monster was still frustrating his attempts to score an immediately fatal blow. Mal wondered for just a moment how the others were doing. This was a mistake. The bull man swung his mace and, while Mal saw the swing in time to avoid the brunt of the blow, he did take a hit to the horn on the right side of his head, which rattled him. He barely recovered in time to see the Minotaur make a sweeping movement with his torso and head, very nearly goring Mal in the process. All was not lost, though, as Mal scored another deep cut to the Minotaur's shoulder, this one down to the bone.

Okay. I clearly can't dance around with this thing until it bleeds to death. Time to finish this!

The Minotaur raised his mace above his head, charged at Mal. This time the satyr didn't dance to the side. Instead, he met the beast's charge head on. In one simultaneous movement, Mal blocked the blow from the incoming mace, hitting the Minotaur's forearm with his, and at the same time thrust his sword forward into the beast's heart, letting the Minotaur's forward momentum add to the force of his thrust. The frictionless blade pierced the Minotaur's thick hide and slid through its ribs and into its heart. Mal twisted his blade, then yanked it free, stepping out of the way and letting the Minotaur fall to the ground. The beast twitched a moment and then died.

The phaser in T'Pral's hand was forceably kicked out, her hand stinging from the impact as T'Pral turned to face an Amazon who had rushed up on her. "Let's see how good you are without your energy weapon!" the Amazon challenged, with her sword in mid swing at T'Pral.

The blade missed T'Pral by less than an inch as she jumped backwards. The Amazon pushed her attack as T'Pral did the unexpected and moved forward as the Amazon swung again. T'Pral dodged the swing, ending up inside of the weapon as she struck the Amazon's wrist, causing her to drop the sword. The Amazon saw her opening and struck T'Pral with her shild with the other arm. The blow staggered T'Pral as the Amazon delivered a kick to her chest that sent T'Pral falling on her back as the Amazon let out a scream and jumped at T'Pral with her shield. T'Pral slammed her feet into the shield instead that sent the Amazon back and stumbling. T'Pral jumped to her feet and delivered a hard blow to the woman's solar plexus that caused her to drop to knee as she struggled to catch her breath just as T'Pral's fist connected with the woman's jaw, sending the Aamazon to the ground unconscious.

Mal, breathing hard, his head ringing, turned back towards T'Pral just in time to see her put down an Amazon. He gave her a once over and determined that she appeared to be fine.

"Let's go see if the others need help," he said to T'Pral. As he entered the Bolthole, he saw a man on the floor being tended to by an attractive bar wench. There was a mask on the floor next to him. As Mal passed he caught a glimpse of the man's face and stopped.

"You!" he said. Before he said anything else, he reached into a pouch on his belt and activated Thex's device. "I would have words with you!"

"If you just turned on a jammer," 'Bodie' said. "That wasn't necessary. Your Rigelian friend already did that. It's working, too. My compliments to whoever designed it. It's not only jamming my comms, but it's making it difficult for me to draw power from my ship. And, since your friend was obviously able to contact you, your engineer must have found a way to exclude your comm frequency from being jammed. Very clever."

'Bodie' sighed. "I suppose this was inevitable. I drink too much and when I drink too much I get sentimental. That's why I sent that cryptic message about my father's wife and her Minotaur. That, and...well, my son Pan created a nearly ideal society for his children...my grandchildren, I suppose you'd be. I guess I just couldn't stand to see that world destroyed."

"Hermes..." Mal said. "Grandfather..."

Mal sheathed his blade and crouched down by his grand patriarch.

"I have a million questions," he said. "But unfortunately time seems short and I have to stick to the ones relevant to the danger I'm perceiving here. What is going on, Grandfather? Is Hera back? Has the angry goddess returned? Is Pomtol in danger?"

Hermes shook his head and chuckled, then laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound.

"Is Hera back?" he said. "Is that what you think? That Hera is back. Well, short answer, yes Hera is back and Pomtol is in danger."

Mal felt a cold dread come over him.

"What's the long answer?" he asked the grandsire of his people.

"Ah," Hermes said. "More than just a pretty face I see. Intelligence as well as beauty. My son did well. You are correct, little one. There is a longer answer. And here it is: They are ALL back! Every last one of them. Far more than just Pomtol is in danger!"

Mal looked shocked for a moment, then, ever the professional, regained his senses.

"I need to get you back to my ship," he said. "I need you to help me convince Starfleet of the danger we face."

"I can't leave my ship here unattended," Hermes said. "Even with our technology protecting it, someone could access it and you know as well as I do that we can't let that tech fall into the wrong hands."

"Even if I let you go," Mal said. "Won't Hera just track you down again? What is it she wants with you? And why now?"

"If you know your history, you know she hates me," Hermes said. "I am the bastard child of her husband from the wrong side of the blanket. I'm a loose end that she's always wanted to clear up. I'd been pretty good about staying out of sight, but I guess I got careless."

Mal hesitated.

"Get out of here," he said, turning off his jammer. "Go back to your ship. Here, take this."

Mal handed him a PaDD.

"There's information on how to contact me," he said. "I won't be able to convince Starfleet of the threat unless you come in. Promise me."

Hermes looked at Mal, then nodded.

"When I can come in safely, I will," he said. "You have my word."

Hermes turned to the bar wench.

"And you, my dear?" he said. "Are you finally ready to let me take you away from all this?"

The young blond beauty stared at Hermes with awe and wonder. All this talk of Pomtol had been confusing, but she had heard talk that this 'Hermes' and 'Hera' were gods; was her dear Bodie a god?!

"You really mean it?" the young woman, Lyra, said with a gentle smile; she had been waiting what seemed like ages for him to do more than simply flirt with her, and god or no god, he was still her beloved Bodie. "But where will we go?"

Hermes smiled and gently caressed the young woman's face. He pointed up at the sky.

"Out there," he said. "Travel the stars with me. My ship is comfortable, room enough for two people, more than two actually. Plenty of creature comforts...and we'll have each other. Let me take you away from this terrible world and show you the majesty of the galaxy, my love."

"Yes!" Lyra replied with blushing excitement. "Yes, I will go with you!"

Hermes pulled Lyra in for a kiss. Mal gave them a second, then cleared his throat, getting Hermes' attention.

"Grandsire," Mal said. "Please don't let me down. I need you...Pomtol needs you...the entire quadrant needs you to come in from the cold and tell your story to Starfleet. You know how powerful your family and friends are, and how fickle they are. On a whim, for some sleight real or imagined, one of them could declare war on the other. Not only would the collateral damage be severe, but they could very well drag some of the lesser species into their petty squabbles. Please, Grandsire, do not betray us."

Hermes looked at Mal. A change came over the fallen 'god'. It was as if his pride and sense of duty were returning.

"Do not fear, grandchild," Hermes said. "I will honor my promise. I will not abandon you."

Mal nodded.

"Then we must leave," he said. "More of Hera's minions could be near and we're not equipped or staffed for an extended street fight against a superior force. Go. If you keep your word, we'll meet again soon."

Hermes nodded, a determined look in his eye.

Lyra said nothing, keeping her worry of her beloved's 'family' to herself; this whole situation seemed to impossible, but she trusted Bodie- no, Hermes, and she trusted these people who defended them so valiantly. Instead of letting herself fret over things she had no control over, she beamed brightly, letting her heart soar at the idea of going off to see the galaxy with her love.

Hermes turned to Lyra.

"We're going to have to go right now, my love," he said. "Don't worry about bringing anything. I can provide you with just about anything you need."

Hermes turned back to Mal.

"What is your name, my child?" he asked.

"Mal Xustos," Mal replied. He hesitated. Then he went on, the pride evident in his voice, both in his accomplishments and in being able to share them with Hermes. "Commander Mal Xustos, United Federation of Planets Starfleet, executive officer of the USS Hera.

Hermes smiled. He placed his hand on Mal's shoulder.

"I am very pleased to finally meet one of my son's children," he said. "And I am very glad that the first one I've met is you, Commander Mal Xustos. Farewell. I will see you soon. You have my word. Come, Lyra, let us away!"

Hermes let go of Mal's shoulder and rose, pulling Lyra up with him. He attempted to signal his ship again. Nothing happened. Frustrated, he tapped his wrist comm again. Nothing.

"Hmm..." he said. "It appears Hera is trying to keep me from leaving. No matter. Come Lyra! Let us away, take two!"

This time Hermes scooped Lyra up in his arms and suddenly dashed off so fast that all Mal saw was a blur as Hermes zipped through the streets, headed towards the spaceport.

Now it's time for us to make our exit.

Mal turned just in time to see Schwein move quickly past him, followed by Daytona carrying Nexi.

"What?" Mal said. "Is she..."

"Schwein stabilized her for now," Daytona said his concern for Nexi's well being clear in his tone of voice and the expression on his face. "But I've got to get her back to the Hera's Folly and back to the fortress as fast as possible."

Mal faced Nexi and gently brushed a lock of hair out of her face.

"Hang in there, Nexi," Mal said. He turned to Daytona. "Go! T'Pral and I will be right behind you!"

Daytona nodded and took off at a steady, brisk pace, a powerful sense of urgency evident in the way he moved and carried himself.

"T'Pral," Mal said. "If you're done playing with that one, we should break camp out of here. The locals I talked to mentioned three Amazons. Yours makes four. That, and the fact that something is jamming our comm frequencies tells me we should unass this area RFN before anyone else shows up."

T'Pral nodded. "Agreed. I will cover our rear."