Debrief: Myths and Legends

Posted on Mon Aug 28th, 2017 @ 11:29pm by Commander Mal Xustos & Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral & Captain Enalia Telvan & Lieutenant Commander Eneas Clio
Edited on on Mon Aug 28th, 2017 @ 11:29pm

Mission: When Iconians Deserve to Die
Location: Enalia's Private Library
Timeline: Current

The Commodore was ill and unavailable, so Mal and Hermes had to meet with Enalia to make their report. Everyone had recorded detailed accounts of their encounter with Hera's minions for Enalia to send back to Starfleet Command and Starfleet Intelligence, along with Mal's account of Hermes explaining that all of the aliens who had impersonated gods on Earth had now returned. This meeting was set aside to debrief Hermes. A record of this debrief would be sent along to SF Command and SFI as well.

Mal and Hermes entered Enalia's private library, escorted by a holocat.

Enalia was uncharacteristically alone and standing next to one of her reading tables with an antique looking book open in her hands. Several sitting chairs had been pulled up around the reading table and quite a few books had been piled on top of it. As the Holo-catgirl maid began to introduce her guests, Enalia put up a hand to silence her and turned to face them as she finished reading a passage. "There's so much in mythology that contradicts itself, I'm not sure what to believe." Setting the book down on the table, it showed a rather unflattering picture of Hermes as his trickster self on one page. "And I suppose you're not here to give us any such enlightenment."

"I can provide some clarity here and there," Hermes said. "But more importantly, I can confirm Commander Xustos' concerns about Hera being back and up to something, and raise you one. They're all back, Captain Telvan, all of them. We didn't just impersonate Greco-Roman gods, we impersonated the gods of many other races. Celts, Egyptians, the Northmen, and others. I'll put together a database of sorts from what I can remember, so you'll have some idea of what you're up against. It will be by no means complete, but it may help. And I'll be consulting with my faction's God of Medicine as well as his teacher, the centaur, Chiron, regarding Nexi's condition. I'll contact Commander Xustos if I discover anything. I'll see what I can find out from the other factions...those that I can make contact with."

At that moment, a holocat maid let Daytona Ral into the library.

"My apologies, Captain, Commander, Hermes," he said. "Clio should be along, but she might not be able to make it. She's been alternating working and playing and while working today, she thinks she may have found a lead on the Master. She's working on it now. She asked me to cover until she is able to get here."

Enalia grumbled slightly as she nodded to Daytona and turned her attention back to Hermes. "Yeah, I have a meeting with Odin and he's promised to be far less helpful. Something about ice giants? Thank you in advance for anything you can provide."

"Oh?" Hermes said. "How do you know the Allfather? He's not my favorite person, but I suppose he's worth contacting."

Enalia pointed to the rather immense ornate fireplace that looked like it had been pulled straight out of Valhalla. "He's helped my family a time or two in the past. In fact, he directed my mother to the super-soldier factory disguised as an orphanage right after a Syndicate attack just in time to save Schwein. If he hadn't delivered the message by raven... Through space... She might have gotten there sooner..."

"Hmm..." Hermes said. "I'd heard rumors that the Allfather hadn't left with the others, but, as I said, he and I don't exactly get along. So, I assume you have questions?"

"I do, but I'm not entirely sure where to begin. Is there anything you're willing to volunteer first?" Enalia asked hopefully.

"Well," Hermes said. "I'm not sure what Hera is up to. I mean, she hates all the illegitimate children of Zeus, but I don't know why she's after me specifically. Despite their differences, Zeus, Hera, and Athena are the royal family of our faction. They usually find a way to work together for the common good, but...everyone's had a long time to plan their next move. I have to tell you, I discovered that everyone is back when two of the other trickster gods made their presence known to me, namely Abarta of the Celts and Prince Loki of Asgard. They contacted me shortly after their return. They were intent on some mischief but since I wouldn't commit right away to join them, they wouldn't share the details. Those are two you should definitely be on the lookout for."

Enalia made a mental note of those two names and pressed forward in her questioning. "With all the deific types back, does that mean all the demonic ones are back as well? Baal, Abbadon, Gremory, Asmodeus... What about them? I know we're tracking the Master, whom seems to be an ancient Iconian Demon Lord of some sort according to new information, and we had a demon-verse version of myself on my own ship for a while... Do we need to worry about other demons coming out of the deck and attacking us?"

Hermes shook his head.

"My people left Earth when Christianity became a thing," he said. "We were already falling out of favor. Judaism and science had taken their toll. Christianity was the final straw. Once the Romans stopped feeding Christians to lions and instead became the Holy Roman Empire, we knew we were done. None of our people impersonated Judaeo-Christian 'demons'. That said, you'll need to watch out for people like Hades and Hela and other underworld gods and their minions."

Daytona listened closely. Not only was his specially designed intelligence tricorder, tucked safely away in a pocket, recording this whole conversation, but he was also making a mental note of everything. Later, he would go over the conversation, looking over everything said, ever facial expression, any body language cues.

"We'll keep an eye out. Next question. How do we kill a god?" Enalia let that question sink into the sudden silence that permeated the room.

Hermes was silent for a moment.

"You don't have to kill my people, Captain," he said. "And I won't help you do that. You don't even have to drive them off of this plane. They have a right to exist. We just have to find a way to keep them from meddling too much. To defeat a god...you need to find their power sources and disable them. They have both stationary and mobile power sources, ships, bases, devices, etc, and they can wirelessly transmit power to themselves if they are close enough to their power sources. You might be able to interfere with that wireless transmission of energy. It won't be easy. The signal is very powerful. Otherwise, devise a way to interfere with their technology. Captain Telvan, some of my people may go too far, and I understand that you may have to deal harshly with them. Others, though, mean well and while you may have to deal with them, killing them won't be necessary. And remember, they often counter each other, cancel each other out. Find those connections and you won't need to kill them."

"I have to agree, Captain," Mal said. "I won't go along with simply hunting them all down and killing them indiscriminately. We must deal with each individual based on the threat they represent."

"I concur, Captain," Daytona said. "Playing them off of each other is a better use of our resources. Trying to kill them all will result in greater loss of life and could take decades, if not centuries."

Enalia shook her head wearily at all three of them before pointing to Hermes and scowling. "Anything that can easily kill you probably has a fair chance of killing the Master. But no, you all jump to the conclusion that I'm planning genocide on some nearly immortal race. My ship is named after the woman causing trouble. I'll deal with her in my own way and I'm sorry, but even with marauding Amazonians, minotaurs, and harpies, my first concern at the moment is still the Master. At least with him, we have solid intel and research. Even with one of them standing here in my private library, all we have to go on for the so called gods is legends and myths that weren't even written down very well in the first place. On top of that, we have orders for our next mission and we may very well find ourselves face to face with the Master. AGAIN! What are we going to do if we have no way of killing him or even a way of detaining him? Nexi tried that. Farenia also tried that. It didn't work out so well either time, now did it? DID IT?"

Enalia's voice had been rising, growing louder and angrier as she spoke, but now she was silent and seething. She was obviously upset at what had happened to both Nexi and Farenia. She'd also lost a crew that she had sent with Farenia, but the others likely didn't know that yet. She was still trying to piece together what happened on her meeting with the Master as well. Trying to calm herself, she turned from the others and gripped the back of one of the sitting chairs and took several deep breaths.

Hermes looked taken aback. Had he been right ally himself with these people? This Captain Telvan sounded no better than Hera.

Mal and Daytona looked at each other. Daytona raised and eyebrow and after a second, Mal nodded.

"We can take a break if you need to, Captain," Mal said.

Having come into the room just in time to hear the tail end of Enalia's apparent outburst, Clio honestly debated sneaking back out and pretending she hadn't seen anything. Unfortunately for that plan, Mal would have seen her enter and there was no chance he'd let her leave again. "Is... something wrong?"

Enalia was somewhat more calm now. "What's wrong is that I lost an entire crew of Artan Privateers to an ancient Iconian demon, Farenia may not live much longer, Nexi's condition is dependant upon unknown deific beings that have no known affiliation with the Federation, we have no plan for either killing or detaining the Master and may be facing him directly in the next two or three standard weeks, and the entire race of deific beings has returned to our plane of existence. We know this last one because the one standing in this room with is has told us so." Pausing, Enalia turned from the group. "Also, pursuant to Regulation six one nine, I am emotionally compromised and do not feel I am able to make rational decisions at the time. Commander Xustos, are you able to take command of the Hera? Or is this a bit too close to your heart as well? If so, Commander Eneas will have to take command."

"Let's not make any rash decisions about this. Farenia was my girlfriend. Do you really think I'm in any better shape to lead than you are?" Where Enalia had yelled and raved, Clio's voice was quieter than what might be considered normal for her. "More to the point, if you let Mal and me take your ship, we're likely to get in trouble. Like... a lot of it."

"And if Lieutenant Jordan takes command?" Enalia asked. "She's next in line. Ah but she's having emotional issues too. What about Lieutenant Thex sh'Zoarhi?"

"I am not emotionally too close to anything, Captain," Mal said. "Pursuant to your orders, I hereby assume command of the USS Hera. If you think you can handle it, Captain, you may remain a part of this debriefing. If not, we can move this debriefing to another room here at the fortress or even to the Hera. Commander Enaes, are you also unable to fulfill your duties? Or can you continue? I believe Lieutenant T'Pral, despite the fact that Cato West is trying to date both her and Nexi at the same time, can be trusted to handle the job of second officer if needs be and Mister Ral can hold down intelligence. Does anyone else want to have a meltdown? Or can we get on with our jobs now?"

"I'll be fine." Clio's tone was somewhat clipped and quite tense, but without any obvious anger to it. "I studied under a Vulcan master. I can handle myself."

Mal glared at all of them for a moment before speaking again.

"Enalia," he said. "I'm sorry you lost your people. That never feels good and nothing, not even revenge makes it feel better."

"Nothing except time," Daytona interrupted. Mal gave him a look that suggested he wasn't in the mood for quadracentarian bullshit at the moment. Daytona held his gaze without flinching then spoke. "Sorry, but it's true."

Mal shook his head.

"Clio," Mal said. "I'm sorry about Farenia. I know you two were close. If you need a minute, take it, but then I need you back on the job. All of you: there are a lot of people depending on us right now. Hermes, after we're done here, if you could put together that database, I would greatly appreciate it. For the moment, if you could stick around, listen in and provide us with any insights you might have, that would also be appreciated."

"Of course, Commander," Hermes said.

"So," Mal said. "Does anyone have any questions for the grandfather of my people? If not, I'd be interested in hearing more about the Commodore's encounter with the Master."

"I do want to know how your people and mine apparently had run-ins with Hera and her friends but no encounters with each other," Clio suggested somewhat humorously despite the grim mood in the room. "But that's better saved for another time, I think."

Enalia took a deep breath and began telling what she knew, only half turning towards the group. "The whole meeting was a trap. We thought we had set a trap for him to collect information but it was a trap for us to send us a message. Rather than negotiating relief medical supply deliveries, he was there with a pair of hellhounds. Baskervilles or something. Giant dogs with more red eyes than I care to count. We have the security footage from the station feeds if anyone wants to watch... The dogs attacked and killed the crew to the last man and woman while that bastard attacked Farenia. She's got some electro-kinetic psychic power - showed me in the Academy a few times. He brushed it off like it didn't even tickle and she was generating enough energy to fry consoles. He bit into her and..."

Pausing, she took a few more deep breaths. "He left her there. She managed to drag herself back into the ship I assigned her and make it back here." Picking up a PaDD from the table, she offered it to Mal. "Here's the list of names. Memorial services will be held in two days. I grew up with most of those people and Schwein served with quite a few of them as well so if you see her..." On the top of that list, the Captain of the vessel was listed as 'Regina Artan - Deceased'.

"Baskervilles are fictional. A myth." The words were out before Clio quite realized what she was saying, and she backtracked a bit. "I suppose that doesn't mean anything anymore. We've got satyrs, minotaurs, and Greek gods. The Hounds of Baskerville may as well join the list." She paused, glancing at the list but not wanting to read it. "I hate to ask... but did anyone get a picture of these things? A tricorder reading? Anything?"

Enalia nodded. "The ship logs have full records of the station logs while they were linked. They've been forwarded to the Hera's Intel databases and should be available."

"I'm sorry for your losses, Enalia," Mal said. "The Hellhounds are disturbing, but not unexpected. We know he uses genetic engineering and manipulation to create soldiers. That he has in common with Hermes' people. They also use genetic engineering. Pan and my people are examples of that."

Enalia nodded and since Mal didn't seem to want it, retracted the offered PaDD, staring at the names - especially the first name on the list. Shaking her head, she tossed the device aside, letting it bounce off the edge of the table and to the floor. "And I'm sure they've gone well beyond what the Federation considers legal as well, though after seeing the works of both deific peoples and the Master, I think the Federation would have a cautious but diplomatic stance with Hermes' people if they ever chose to pursue relations. We all know their stance on the Master."

"I'll take that PaDD now," Mal said. "Sorry, I forgot to ask for it."

"The next time I see this 'Master' he'll die. That's a promise." A promise Clio intended to keep. "Let him send his hounds after me. I'll enjoy the challenge."

"Hmmm..." Mal said. "Yes, well, for that to happen, we need a way to kill him, which we currently don't have."

"Well," Hermes said. "What is keeping him alive? Once you've answered that question, then you attack the problem of how to neutralize that."

"He recovered from massive tissue damage very rapidly, back on Selen VI," Daytona said. "I shot him multiple times with a disruptor pistol."

"How quickly?" Hermes asked.

"Right in front of my eyes," Daytona said. "The tissue just grew back."

Hermes thought for a moment, then hesitated.

"Grandfather," he said. "If you have something, please tell us. This 'Master' is a very dangerous being."

Hermes sighed.

"Hephaestus could probably craft you a weapon that would negate the cellular regeneration process," Hermes said. "But that would mean you'd have to be damned careful not to cut yourself with it. The wound would never heal and if it kept getting infected, even a small wound could kill you."

"I haven't injured myself with my own weapon yet, and I don't intend to start doing so now. I would need to speak with Hephaestus, I assume? So that he would know what sorts of weapons I am proficient in using?" Clio had never met the god-being, but she knew his specialty would be with bladed weapons. Something she already favored in close combat. "I won't ask him to craft more than one. Should such a weapon be lost, the damage it could cause in the wrong hands is... unthinkable."

Picking the PaDD up off the floor, Enalia pressed it to Mal's hands. She spoke softly, finally calm enough. "Services start at noon for Regina Artan and everyone else's will proceed after hers in order of rank." She then glanced to Clio. "You get that weapon, you get close to him, and you kill him. No hesitation. That's an order."

"After what he did to Farenia, hesitation isn't a likely outcome on my part." Though she loved Mal dearly, it was obvious Clio still had a special place in her heart for Farenia too. "He'll wish he hadn't tangled with us."

"I'll arrange a Starfleet honor guard to attend and I will have the senior staff and some others attend to represent the crew of the Hera and our respect for the Artans as our hosts and allies."

"Commander Enaes," Hermes said. "I'll try and find Hephaestus for you. He's likely to have regrouped with his cyclopes assistants by now, at with Brontes, Steropes and Pyracmon. The real question is if they are going to choose a place to be Olympus. If so, we'll find many of them there...at least the ones who get along well enough for a planet, or maybe even a solar system, to be big enough for them."

"Actually," Daytona said. "I might have an idea about where they might start. How many of you have heard of Magna Roma? It is an 'Empire' of sorts in the 892 system. The main planet of this petty 'Empire' is 892-IV. The Enterprise encountered them in the 2200s. They found that a parallel of the of the Roman Empire had risen there. At the time, there was a parallel to Christianity as well, The Children of the Sun. James Kirk and Ambassador Spock believed it was possible that the Children's religion would spread and take over the empire. What actually happened is that there is a power sharing of sorts between the monotheists and the polytheists. The arrival of Hermes' people would definitely tip the balance in favor of the polytheists. It might be worth a look, anyway."

"I think my mother would appreciate that. Thank you." Enalia nodded as she stepped away from Mal and slowly headed towards the main fireplace, leaving any further planning in his hands.

"When Hephaestus is found, please let me know. As far as Magna Roma... I've heard of it. That could very well be where most of the god-beings have been for a long time." Clio paused, gathering what little composure she could hope to maintain. "I have work to do related to finding the Master. If there's nothing else pertinent that I need to hear, I'd like to get to it."

"Maica is handling arrangements for the service. If anyone would like to attend, please send her a message through the maid network." As Enalia spoke, rather than reaching for the booze, she poured herself a glass of water from a pitcher. Plain ordinary water.

"I will, Enalia," Mal said. "Hermes, if we wanted to contact Hephaestus, how would we go about it?"

"Well," Hermes said. "Presuming these Magna Romans are analogous to Earth's Romans, then he would be called Vulcan there. The god, not the species. I know they have a temple to Mercury because I can sense them praying and making offerings there. If I can sense them at the temple to my Roman self, theoretically Hephaestus will sense our request for an audience, now that he's back. That's if we can convince him of our adoration, or maybe just our need if we're lucky. He might come for the challenge of making a weapon that will kill a being that is essentially immortal. He'll need all of the details. You'll have to record everything about the Master, all of the science you've figured out about him. Every last bit of it. Remember, our magic is really just very advanced science."

"Okay," Mal said. "Time is of the essence here. Hermes, I need you to travel to Magna Roma with Clio, Daytona, T'Pral, and the Baroness. I know you said you'd look for a cure for Nexi. I want that possibly more than you do. But it's going to have to wait. She's not in any immediate danger, but in about a week, we're going demon hunting and we need something to kill said demon with. Clio, I know you have work to do, but you're going to have to leave it to Aewia. She's good at her job and she's pretty stable now. She can handle it. Daytona, I know you were looking forward to some time with Akira..."

"We had a very enjoyable afternoon and evening," Daytona said. "And a fun morning, too. Do I have time to stop by and let her know that I'm off again?"

"Of course," Mal said. "All of you can take the rest of the day. You can leave this evening, if that's alright with you, Hermes."

Hermes frowned.

"I'm not happy about it, grandchild," Hermes said. "But I see the wisdom in your decision. I'm...very proud of you, Commander, proud to be related to you. So, I'll go and get my ship ready for our little outing and I'll see you all this evening."

Mal nodded.

"Thank you," he said. "Everyone is dismissed. Clio, a word please."

That could be either a good thing or a bad thing. Clio wondered if perhaps she'd been a bit too eager to take on such a challenge. "Of course."

"Don't worry," Mal said when everyone else had left. "You're not in trouble. I'm going to give you one of my frictionless blades. They are very effective against Minotaur. I assume they would have the same or similar level of effectiveness on any cyclops you might encounter attempting to contact Hephaestus, however...you're going there to ask for his help. Killing or maiming his workers won't earn you any good will from him. I have a kopis and a gladius. I was thinking we could visit the holodeck and get you familiar with whichever one of those you feel more comfortable with."

Since they were alone, Mal was free to take liberties that he wouldn't otherwise take. He took Clio in his arms.

"I'm not just asking as your commanding officer," he said. "But as your lover who has a stake in you coming back in one piece."

"You had me worried for a moment. Though I suppose if you were going to yell at me, you'd have used my rank." Clio leaned gently into Mal's embrace, enjoying the warmth radiating from him. "I don't intend to hurt any of the cyclops workers. I won't make any promises though, seeing as how they might take issue with my presence. I will, however, not start any conflicts." She'd had no contact with any of the god-beings besides Hermes, and she'd certainly never met a cyclops. But she knew if she came peacefully, most people would at least be willing to listen. "I've never used a Pomtoli frictionless blade... and I'm not familiar with the kopis or gladius. So some practice would definitely help."

"We can play 'The Lecherous XO and his Naughty Subordinate' after we're done getting you up to speed on the frictionless blade," Mal said with a mischievous look in his eye. "In the immediate, however, I'll let you try both blades and then you can borrow the one that works the best for you, then we'll really practice. Our frictionless blades were meant to slice through Minotaur. As you can imagine, they'll go through your flesh and bone or the flesh and bone of your allies like a hot knife through butter, so you'll have to learn to be very careful when you use one. Can you meet me on the Hera's holodeck in about an hour?"

A knife slicing flesh as easily as butter sounded interesting, if a bit dangerous to wield. The description reminded Clio of the monofilament mek'leths she occasionally carried. "I should be able to. For once, I don't think I have a mountain of reports to finish."

"Great," Mal said. "I'll see you in an hour then."