...<discontinuity>and the four ships find themselves on approach vector with a planetoid in interstellar space with a large starbase in orbit. Several starships are patroling the system, including Klingon and Romulan as well as Starfleet. Thoma broadcasts an ident code identifying the four starships.



"Hellfire Task Force, you are approved to orbit as specified in your navigation package," says Babel Control, and a light on Collette's console begins flashing.

Collette presses a button and replies, "Hellfire copies."

The turbolift door swishes open and Dworkin steps onto the Bridge, accompanied by another man about a centimetre taller, looking several decades younger and walking with a swagger.
He wears a dark blue business suit of mid-twentieth Earth style with a red and blue regimental-striped tie. He has a shock of silver-grey hair with a large bald spot gleaming pinkly. Dworkin introduces the man as, "My cousin Rufo, Her Glory's representative." Rufo has a pot belly but the fit of his clothing reveals an otherwise muscular body, remarkably fit for a man of his apparent years.

"Pleasure to meet you," Rufo says in English with no decipherable accent. "We've little time to spare and none to waste. The councils are about to go into session, and they request the presence of Rear Admiral McCurrvey, Fleet Captain Mercer, Captain Thelev and Dr. Smith on Babel Station, along with Captains Potrikos, Bowman and Culver, as well as Dr. Soong and Bellandra ferch Jaime. Maintenant! Toute de suite. Allons y, vite!" he finishes in Parisian-accented French, good-natured enough so as not to give offense, but with an air of authority.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:08, Fri 27 Aug 2021.

OOC: Depending on whether we have security on the bridge or not.  If we have, I do A; if not B

A: McCurrvey turns to the security guards: “Security!” McCurrvey gestures to the guards to take up flanking positions on the “guests”.  “Communications please confirm those directions.  Once you do that, please have the landing party assemble in Transporter Room 1.  We will be escorting our guests to the transporter room ourselves.”  McCurrvey ensures that the guards understand that they are coming as well.

B. McCurrvey turns to Dworkin.  “Mr. Dworkin, please note that it is not acceptable to simply enter the bridge and…” he looks at Rufo “begin barking orders”.  “Communications please confirm those orders and have security meet us on (OOC: a deck and section right outside the turbolift on the way to TR 1) and have the rest of the requested personnel meet us in Transporter Room 1”

McCurrvey turns to Thelev “After you, Fleet Captain” and gives him a look that says ‘here we go again!’.  McCurrvey is pleasant with Dworkin but is clearly displeased with them setting the pace of the situation and wants to set clear boundaries.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:47, Fri 27 Aug 2021.

Chief Petty Officer Cobretti is waiting at their destination on Deck three. They proceed down the corridor and enter the dor on their right, where Transporter Chief Narda Wolff stands in the operating booth. Standing on the grating in front of the transporter pads is a member of Diplomatic Security, an Efrosian with the distinctive facial paint of a Warrior-Priest, common in Efrosian Diplomatic Security Officers.

"Ah, Mister Barimen and Doctor Balsamo. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stop wandering off like this. I'm responsible your security and if I can't trust you to..." DipSec Officer Sae-Reyanad begins his protest.

"Nonsense, my good man," breaks in Dwowkin, "Rufo and I are more than capable of taking care of ourselves. You worry too much. I've told your President Ra-ghoratreii that over and again!"

"Regardless, I'll thank you to follow protocol, sir," replies Sae-Reyanad.

With little further fuss, the Dipsec officer and Cobretti usher everyone onto the Transporter pad and Cobretti tells Wolff to "Energise."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:39, Wed 01 Sept 2021.

The Landing Party materialises in the spacious transporter complex on Starbase Babel. Fleet Admiral Bill Smillie, the new CiC Starfleet, is there.

"Brad," He says with a smile, "glad you could make it! What took you so long?" he jokes, shaking Brad's hand.

"I suspect Mr. Barimen has already told you, but you've been breveted up to Rear Admiral, and Khendron has been breveted up to Fleet Captain to act as your adjutant. Thelev will remain as your Flag Captain on the Odyssey. Operation Hellfire is a go and has been authorised by Executive Order of the President, no less!"

He slaps Brad on the back, "But we'll go over all that later. Right now we have a special closed session of the Federation Council, the Klingon Hich Council and the Romulan Continuing Committee; and these two gentlemen," he gestures to Dworkin and Rufo, "will be keynote speakers. That is, of course, if they don't disappear on Sae-Reyanad. Again."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:16, Fri 10 Sept 2021.

In reply to Fleet Admiral William Smillie (msg # 4):

Although Khendron cannot help but be pleased at his sudden—albeit brevetted—promotion, the habit of learning information on-the-fly-and-at-the-last-minute whenever Dworkin is around is beginning to wear thin.

"He was a bit light on the details, but we'll catch up," Khendron comments with a slightly sardonic tone. "Are we expected to be presenting anything in this session, or can we just relax and listen?"

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 5):

[Well, Fleet Captain is always a temporary or brevet position, so a Captain can command other Captains in a flotilla or task force.]

FAdm Smillie says with a chuckle, "You'll be receiving a transcript, but don't start snoring. There will be a Q and A afterwards at which you may ask and almost certainly will be asked questions. Try not to embarrass us."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:48, Sat 28 Aug 2021.

In reply to Fleet Admiral William Smillie (msg # 6):

Thelev looks around who is gathered and finds his appropriate seat. Leaning over to Brad, "Have you had any briefing on what this is about."

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 7):
[OOC: Sorry, Coldnorth is down right now, so images are not available.

Update: Sorry, it seems Coldnorth's Host got hacked. I'm using Imgur to host newer images for now...]

The ampitheatre is one of the largest Thelev has seen in awhile, at least off Earth or Vulcan. It is divided into several radial areas with a central dais. Three of the areas are filled with the Federation Council, the Klingon High Council and the Romulan Continuing Committee. Thelev notices President Ra-ghoratreii, Former President Alistair Fergus, Chancellor Gorkon and his daughter Azetbur; and Romulan Prætor Neron. HoD Kang and la' Mara, and Commander Liviana Charvanek. Diplomatic Security personnel in their distinctive blue-and-white uniforms are stationed at all entrances.

Brad, Khendron and Thelev are ushered to a seating area in the Federation area along with several ranking Starfleet officers including Bill Smillie, Bob Bennett, Harry Morrow and Lance Cartwright.

Dworkin and Rufo escend along the walkway to the central dais. Dworkin begins by clearing his throat, "Ladies, Gentlemen and otherwise gendered Sophonts It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the first Milky Way Interdimensional Forum. As many of your most distinguished scientists have hypothesised, the Universe—that is, the Universes in plural— are far larger and more varied than you could possibly envision. I am the representative of Empress Star of the Twenty Universes, arriving from Centre.

"Center is the capital planet of the Twenty Universes, but Empress Star is not an empress and it is not an empire.

"I'll call her Star as hundreds of names are hers, but it is the name given to her by her husband and I'll call it an empire because no other word is close, and I'll refer to emperors and empresses—and to the Empress.

"Nobody knows how many universes there are. Theory places no limit, though Doctor Skillary Hailstrandter, the Strellarius Professor of Paradoxical Anomalism at the University of Maximegalon has speculated that the ulitmate number of individual universes with a small "u" could be as high as six raised to its sixth power, and the result in turn raised to its sixth power—1.03144x10²⁸—10,314,424,798,490,535,546,171,949,056; any and all possibilities in an unlimited number of combinations of 'natural' laws: each appropriate to its own universe. But this is just theory and Occam's Razor is much too dull. All that is known in the Twenty Universes is that twenty have been discovered, that each has its own laws, and that most of them have planets, or sometimes places, where humanlike beings live. I won't try to say what lives elsewhere.

"The Emperor is sole source of Imperial law, sole judge, sole executive — and does very little and has no way to enforce his rulings. What he or she does have is enormous prestige from a system that has worked for seven millennia. This non-system holds together by having no togetherness, no uniformity, never seeking perfection, no Utopias — just answers good enough to get by, with lots of looseness and room for many ways and attitudes.

"The Twenty Universes include many real empires. Your Galaxy in your universe has its stellar empires, and there are Gates that link the universes. Some planets have no known Gates. The anomaly in the planetoid Bridgetown is a major Gate. About the term universe—for many centuries there was thought on Earth and other planets to be only one universe, defined as all of space and time and their contents; including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. With the dawn of Quantum Theory, there came into being the so-called Multiversal Theory. The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The different universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", "other universes", "alternate universes", or "many worlds". All connected multiverses could be described as a single Multiversal Cluster—English is ill-suited for this level of description. This is what we mean when we speak of the Twenty Universes. Universe with a capital "U" means an individual Multiversal Cluster. Twenty such clusters have, as I mentioned earlier, been discovered to date. Each Cluster has both "alternate" and "parallel" universes with a small "u". Alternate universes are defined by interbranching timelines splitting off from one another and sometimes fusing together; whereas Parallel universes, no matter how much the may resemble each other, never connect to other timelines—at least not directly. These include what your scientists call the Mirror Universe, seemingly a clone of your timeline where the abstract concepts of "good" and "evil" are swapped, such that the Federation is paralleled as the Terran Empire, et cetera. Of course, such parallel universes have their oen intertangled alternates. It can be visualised as a rope made of many cords, each of which has many threads.

"Local affairs are local. Infanticide? — they're your babies, your planet. PTAs, movie censorship, disaster relief — the Empire is ponderously unhelpful. Sort of like your Prime Directive, but on steroids!"

He pauses and takes a sip of water. Gesturing to Rufo, he says, "This is Her Glory's Representative Doctor Rufo Balsamo. He is also her grandson and one of he closest advisors. And now with no further ado, I present Her Glory, Empress Star and Her Glory's Consort, Oscar Gordon."

He pulls out a Tarot card like the one Brad saw him use when he'd disappeared from the Flag Ready Room and stares into it. A bright blue-white glow lights up his face and he says, "Your Glory, I prithee attend us!"

Holding up his hand to shoulder level, suddenly he's holding the hand of a gloriously beautiful woman in what appears to be Her mid-twenties. In turn She holds the hand of a thiryish man with brown hair and a deep scar on the right side of his face. Holographic displays allow eveyone present to view them in closeup. Oscar is garbed in close-fitting forest green not unlike a Robin Hood costume, complete with bow and arrow and a basket-hilted longsword slung at his hip. The leather grip of the sword is sweat-stained and hints at its being a working weapon. Her Glory, on the other hand, is garbed in a swirl of sparkling, glowing mist which neither quite reveals nor conceals her luscious curves. She is tall, blonde and the picture of radiant health.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:19, Fri 10 Sept 2021.

President Ra-ghoratreii, Chancellor Gorkon and Prætor Neron approach the stairs up to the dais.

Alistair Fergus, former UFP President and Azetbur, Gorkon's daughter and Aide; along with Klingon Ambassador Karamag and Romulan Ambassador Nanclus, wait at the bottom of the steps as the President, Chancellor and Praetor ascend.

Ra-ghoratreii steps forward, Gorkon and Neron at his side. The Efrosian meets Her Glory's gaze and says, "Your Glory, on behalf of the United Federation of Planets, welcome to the, er, Milky Way,"

"On behalf of the Klingon Empire, yI'el," says Gorkon, followed by,

"And on behalf of the Romulan Star Empire, aefvadh," from the Prætor; each with a formal bow.

"And in turn, We thank you for your invitation," replies Her Glory, Her voice a warm, full contralto, surprising deep in its lowest register. She does not immediately introduce Her consort, who stands by, a bemused look on his scarred face.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:24, Fri 10 Sept 2021.

Her Glory turns to DipSec Officer Sae-Reyanad, standing behind Dworkin and Rufo. "Might we have some seating?" She requests.

Sae-Reyanad taps a series of keys on his PADD and several chairs rise from concealed panels in the carpeted dais. Star steps to the central seat and sits down gracefully, followed by Gorkon and Neron, then Ra-ghoratreii. Oscar, Dworkin and Rufo remain standing behind Star, and Sae-Reyanad steps behind the President.

"Very efficient. I approve. It bodes well." She says, having dropped the Imperial We.

"I would like to meet the intrepid adventurers whose use of the Infinite Emprobability Drive propelled your three stellar nations onto the Glory Road. Dworkin, my Investigator-at-Large, informs me they are named Rear Admiral McCurrvey, Fleet Captain Mercer, Captain Thelev, HoD Kang son of K'naiah and Riov Liviana Charvanek." She stands and raises a hand and calls out, "I prithee ascend the dais!"

Gorkon leans his massive staff against the chair and begins clapping loudly, followed closely by Ra-ghoratreii and Neron, and suddenly it becomes a standing ovation as the five of them make their way to the aisles.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:25, Fri 10 Sept 2021.

In reply to Her Glory Empress Star (msg # 10):

Thelev is still trying to figure out what was so unique about their most recent usage of the Silver Ball that has now attracted ‘Her Glory Star’ beyond just who they engaged. It has to be more than Lord Dhark.

He waits for Brad to lead the way for their group.

Dworkin steps toward the three and says, loudly enough that the pickups broadcast it to the entire crowd, "I can tell you all have many questions. That's what this symposium is all about. Ask them and you'll get answers. Just be forewarned—you may not like all the answers."

Her Glory says, "Captain Thelev, you look particularly concerned. From what my Investigator tells me; you, the Rear Admiral and the Fleet Captain have the most experience with the Infinite Improbability Drive—I believe you call it the Silver Ball, as your own technical term is equally unweildy, so we'll call it that—the three of you along with Dr. John Smith and a mechanoid named Wesson have the most hands-on experience, though your original ship, the Excalibur, has been destroyed and its successor, the Excalibur-A, has not used it outside of testing though in about 90 years it will be used again by a Captain M'Rel, also with the eventual assistance of Dr. Smith and Wesson. However, since you three have been in command of your new ship, the Odyssey, you have used it with a certain... regularity ...and have made its existance known to the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire—not that you could have avoided that, as knowledge always leaks despite the best of security—until you brought it within a Greater Gate. We'd been keeping track of the usage of the Silver Ball but when you brought in range of the planetoid Bridgetown we decided to contact you. Investigator Dworkin left a calling card in then-Commodore McCurrvey's ready room, hoping that being the curious type he is, that he'd heed the call.

"Unfortunately, before he had a chance to find the calling card, the Odyssey transited the Greater Gate into the Æthereal Plane, taking with her the IKV K'Tanko and the RSN Star Empire, thus necessitating we take a hand. A certain Captain Calista, aided by a being from the Æthereal Plane brought back an arcane ship from that Universe to yours, thus compounding the problem. Your subsequent discovery of the pocket universe into which the Museum at the End of Time had fallen resulted in the destruction of that pocket universe due to its incompatibility with the metaphysical fabric holding it together. Your efforts to save all the inhabitants from destruction was duly noted and counts strongly in your favour.

"To that end, we have decided to acknowledge your use of this technology and welcome you to the Twenty Universes."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Tue 07 Sept 2021.

In reply to Her Glory Empress Star (msg # 12):

Thelev raises a Spocken like eye to 'Her Glory' comments.

Thelev replies "Her Glory, I will let President Ra-ghoratreii, Chancellor Gorkon and Praetor Neron and other leader within our universe work with you and the other members of the Twenty Universes on what it means to be a member."

Turning towards where some of the people they saved "I am pleased we were able to save those trapped in the pocket universe where the Museum at the End of Time had fallen into." before looking back at Her Glory. "I would like to caution you and I am certain the UFP senior officers who are here can agree, we find a way to do the unexpected so we will certainly appreciate anything we can learn about the other member universes and on better understanding how to navigate between universes so we can better use the Infinite Improbability Drive."

Turning and looking at President Ra-ghoratreii "My ship will support this new arrangement in whatever means the UFP seems best suited for us."

Pres. Ra-ghoratreii nods to Thelev and says, "Thank you, Captain."

He steps up to Her Glory and says, "We... that is, the United Federation of Planets Council, the Klingon Empire's High Council and the Romulan Star Empire's Continuing Committee; have all met with Dr. Balsamo and Mister Barimen and have all voted by majority to accept your invitation to enter negotiations with the Twenty Universes vis-à-vis a joint alliance between our four Interstellar Powers. I hereby set my hand to this treaty on behalf of the Federation on this Stardate." He scrawls his signature on four vellum copies of the treaty.

In his turn, Chancellor Gorkon steps up and repeats the message in taHol, "The Klingon High Council hereby signs this treaty. Qapla'!" and affixes his chop to the four copies.

Prætor Neron steps aside and whispers into a small hand conmmunicator. Immediately the distinctive energy pattern of a Romulan transporter envelopes the space beside him and a Romulan woman flanked by two Reman guards appears.

She approaches Her Glory and looks into her eyes and says in Rihannsu [High Romulan], "I, Rhiyrh [Empress] N'alae of the Romulan Star Empire, do hereby sign and ratify this treaty." She takes an ornate stylus from one of the Remans and signs the four vellums.

Rhirh N'alae takes the chairs which has just risen from beneath the deck beside Neron. The two Reman guards take station flanking her. Brad, Khendron and Thelev are ushered to a standing area to one side by Sae-Reyanad. Her Glory's Consort steps over to Brad and says sotto voce, "Admiral, I understand you're from Alpha Centauri. Back in my time we hadn't achieved FTL drive. 'Course, back then I didn't get to chat with rear admirals—I was just a grunt. Oscar Gordon, ex-private first class, US Army. That is, before She wanted a Hero." Brad, Thelev and Khendron can almost hear the capitals in She and Hero.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Sat 11 Sept 2021.

In reply to UFP Pres. Ra-ghoratreii (msg # 14):

Hearing Gordon's reference to US starts Thelev calculating his theoretical age knowing it was quite likely temporally displaced from his original time line.

"Mr. Gordon, if I may ask, are you from this universe or what of the alternate or mirror universes associated to ours. And if I may ask what year are you from be it Stardate or Earth year?"

Oscar grins and says, "I'm from Earth, in this universe and galaxy. Born E.C. Gordon in 1940, played a little college football 'til I blew out my knee, served in the 'Nam—sorry, the Vietnam War—from 1962-'63, where I picked this up..." he gestures at the large, deep scar on his face. "Seems Charlie didn't sterilise his bayonet. After I got out, I answered a newspaper ad in Marseilles that asked "Are You a Coward?" That's when I met Her and Rufo. She decided I fit the bill and I wound up walking the Glory Road with them."

He gestures to his clothing. "Sorry 'bout the Robin Hood costume, but it's sort of my Hero's uniform, if you catch my drift. Dworkin says you have food replicators that can come up with just about anything. Think I could get a big ol' cheeseburger with the works, while I'm here?"

[OOC- YAY! The website is back up and running! Transferring all the new images!]
This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Fri 10 Sept 2021.

In reply to Oscar Gordon (msg # 16):

"Yes our food replicators will be able to provide you a cheeseburger with the works."  Thelev replies and then adds with a chuckle "The biggest challenge is understanding what the works will be. What it was in the 20th century and what it is now has changed."

"I enjoy talking about 20th century Earth so would love to talk to you about that time over a cheeseburger. And would love to hear about your time on Glory Road and see if we travelled to any of the same places." Thelev adds.

The day crawls on, with speeches by various representatives from the UFP, the Klingon Empire and the Romulans as well as Her Glory, Dworkin and Dr. Balsamo. Much of it consists of dry lectures on temporal and dimensional physics and other topics that make Brad's and Thelev's heads swim though Khendron manages to struggle through most of it.

At 11:30 hours the Symposium breaks for lunch. The Dyson Institute has installed the newest food replicators on Babel Station recently and it is the first time many of the delegates have used them. Thelev shows Oscar the operator interface and Oscar is able to get his cheeseburger with the works—two rare grilled one hundred gram beef patties, iceberg lettuce, white onions, cheddar cheese, Canadian bacon and garlic dill pickles with ketchup, yellow mustard and mayonnaise on a toasted bun with a wooden toothpick holding three large green olives; accompanied by onion rings, french fries with ketchup and a litre of dark, foamy German beer in a frosted glass mug. The gigantic sandwich is almost as big as his head but Oscar attacks it with gusto.

Collette and Miss Stone have beamed over with Kyra and Bellandra, who is scheduled to advise Her Glory regarding Calista, and Dr. Okun Soong is there with his 10-year-old son Noonien, who is something of a prodigy. Soong introduces Noonien to Dr. Smith and the youngster is intrigued to meet an android. Noonien has read all of Isaac Asimov's Robots novels and makes startlingly advanced questions about Smith's capabilities and programming.

At 13:30 hours a gong sounds to summon the delegates back to the symposium. Young Noonien reluctantly says farewell to Smith and beams back to the Excalibur-A.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:00, Sat 18 Sept 2021.

At 13:30 hours, the symposium breaks up into workgroups. Brad, Thelev and Khendron are ushered into a meeting room where Collette and Jordan Stone are sitting with Kyra and Bellandra. Dave Bowman and Frank Poole enter along with Ann Potrikos of the Discovery and her exec, Arax, an Edosian. As they all take their seats, Jason Culver of the Fife, with his number one, Wanda Worrenstill usher HoD Kang, la' Mara, Commander Charvanek and Centurion Tevan in. Kang looks around and demands, "Where is Her Glory? I was told to attend her here but all I see are a motley crew of teranganpu, an efroSngan, an 'anDorya'ngan and an edoSya'ngan!"

Suddenly the air ripples and Her Glory, Oscar, Dworkin and Rufo step out of the distortion. Dworkin returns a tarot card to his inside breast pocket. Dworkin looks around "Where are Doctors Smith and Soong?"

Just then, the door swooshes open and the two step in. Soong apologises, "Terribly sorry, I had a terrible time rescuing Dr. Smith from Noonien. Boy has a million questions."


Dworkin looks at the ceiling and says, "Computer, secure the room."

[OOC: Sorry, forgot Khendron the Efrosian!]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:41, Fri 01 Oct 2021.

In reply to Her Glory Empress Star (msg # 19):

Khendron feelings at this moment are very mixed. He sees a great opportunity here for learning and advancement, but history tells him that those on the wrong side of Clarke's Third Law never do well, and at the moment he feels very much on the wrong side.

Shrugging internally, he decides he might as well jump in and enjoy himself. Like any Efrosian male, he has a weakness for powerful women, and would love to have a private conversation with Her Glory.

When Dworkin secures the room, Khendron raises an eyebrow.

"That's new," he says to the room in general. "This meeting is evidently going to have a different agenda than the others."

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 20):

Thelev is trying to see how Oscar is around Her Glory opposed to how he was one on one over a burger.  If it is one of respect, influence of Her Glory over Oscar, love of each other, his love of her.  Trying to determine their relationship to better understand Her Glory.

Thelev turns to Khendron saying quietly but loud enough that if someone was really listening to their conversation that he could be heard, "They have said a lot today but have not really told us anything, hopefully they are finally going to get to the point."

Osar, overhearing Khendron's and Thelev's comments, remarks, "Well, that's politics for you—hasn't changed in three centuries. I remember when they were arguing whether the 'Nam was a police action or a war. A body that's been rotting in the jungle stinks the same in both cases... Her Glory finds politics as tedious as all sane people." Thelev and Khendron can hear the capital letters. Thelev also noticed that a dreamy look crosses Oscar's face every time he looks at Her or speaks about Her. He is clearly devoted to Her Glory. Thelev's heard people talking about himself and Thoma that way and has seen it with Brad and Collette.

"Now we get into the mud—the real nitty-gritty. We need to evaluate the threats caused by the Verlegg, Calista and Lord Dhark. Just how much a threat are they to inter-Universal affairs. Her Glory and the Empire rarely get involved in such local affairs, but She has deduced that this one has the potential to disrupt the balance of power on an interdimensional level. Fortuitously, your Federation's development of the Silver Ball has allowed it to be handled on a local level. Every now and then, She is forced to take a personal hand in events, such as when we met. The Egg of the Phoenix had been stolen and She recruited me to help Her retrieve it. The Egg is a cybernetic device that contains the knowledge and experiences of most of her predecessors. Despite her youthful appearance, she is the mother of dozens of children (by egg donation) and has undergone special medical treatments that extend her life much longer than usual—you may have heard that Rufo is Her grandson."

As they talk, Collette's communicator chirps. She flips it open. She then steps over to Brad and informs him that the shuttlecraft carrying the hellhound in its stasis field is docking now. Stasis fields are usually generated by an external generator, as with a stasis chamber, and can be sent by transporter; but stasis fields of uncertain origin and no discernable external generator are usually carried by shuttle so as not to dispupt the field.

Her Glory Star has obviously been likewise appraised and clears the stage area, setting up what looks for all the world like a witches pentacle on the deck drawn in chalk and with candles at the five points of the pentagram. The door chime sounds and Rufo opens it to allow an Odyssey security team to enter with a grav-sled carrying the mirror-like statue of Vincentius/Pistos. They manipulate it off the grav-sled into the centre of the pentagram. and withdraw. Rufo locks the door behind them, "Just in case." he says.

Star then lights the five candles and the scent of hot beeswax fills the chamber. She speaks a word of power and the air around the pentacle ripple. "So mote it be!" She says and snaps Her fingers. Suddenly, the mirror surface surrounding Vincentius disappears, revealing the scarred and burned Vaarduvée, who immediately snarls and hurls itself bodily forward, only to impact with a transparent spherical force-field which flickers blue as it absorbs the kinetic energy. Vincentius hunkers down on its three remaining legs, scanning the area for an escape route, growling deep in its chest.

"Fear not," admonishes Dworkin, "Yon beast cannot penetrate Her Glory's wards."

[OOC: Sorry for the delay, it's been a bitch of a week.]
This message was last edited by the player at 05:05, Thu 30 Sept 2021.

In reply to Oscar Gordon (msg # 22):

Khendron barely even registers Vicentius' attempts to break out of his invisible cage. He is all eyes for Her Glory, as her display of powers entirely outside of his experience has completely astonished him.

"Who are you?", he gasps unthinkingly. "My pardon," he quickly adds, realizing he has spoken out of turn. "I am just admiring the apparent proclivity of someone of your position to do the hard work herself instead of delegating." Khendron finally realizes he is babbling and shuts himself up.

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 23):

Thelev seeing Her Glory power and control dealing with Vicentius, he is happy for Oscar that he has Her Glory in his life. And gives a quick smile towards Oscar.

He turns his attention back to Vicentius, trying to watch his approach to trying to escape, trying to understand how he is trying to find weaknesses in the containment field that Her Glory built. Making sure there is no weakness.

After watching for a bit he turns to Her Glory and says "And how can we help deal with this threat that you ae unable to handle yourself?" gesturing to McCurrvey, Mercer and his crew members that are here.

Kang steps closer to the pentacle. "Fascinating. How is this force-field generated?" he asks.

"Please be careful, joHwI' [My Lord]," cautions Her Glory. "Knock over a candle or smudge the chalk and the circuit will be broken and the wards will go down. Even wounded so, the Vaarduvée is still extremely dangerous. To answer your question, you don't yet have the scientific knowledge. As an analogue, consider the chalk pattern an EPS conduit and the candles to be force emitters. After a fashion."

"cham 'IDnar [tech magic] !" exclaims Kang.

"Yes," replies Dworkin, "On Earth they have a saying: Clarke's Third Law."

Oscar chimes in, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Kang steps back slowly. "I would adjudge your technology sufficiently advanced, then."

Vincentius sees Kang's retreat and hurls itself at the Klingon, again smashing against the invisible hemisphere.

McCurrvey's communicator chirps. He flips it open and a voice says, "Sorry to interrupt, Admiral. The USS St. Roch is entering orbit. Please join Admiral Smillie in Transporter Room Five." Brad walks to the door and exits the room.

Khendron and Thelev share a glance. 'Why is Myrrisaw here?' they wonder.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:38, Mon 11 Oct 2021.

Brad arrives at the transporter room to see the CiC greeting Capt Myrrisaw and her Exec, Cdr Kevin Jones.

Smillie says, "Capt Myrrisaw, I believe you know brevet Rear Admiral McCurrvey."

"I seem to remember having a Cdr McCurrvey as my XO a few years back," she replies, "but he was just a kid. The beard and the grey temples give you a bit more gravitas, Brad. Where are Athos and Porthos? Do you know Cdr Jones? My new Chief of Security sends his regards—Starfleet Medical has seen fit to clear him for duty."

"Magic? You mean, of course, psionics," remarks the Romulan Commander dryly.

Her Glory expands on the point, "Some magic involves psionics but much is merely extremely advanced technology. As Dworkin and milord Oscar pointed out, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a philosopher on Earth in the latter half of the 20^th century proposed his three laws. 'One) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Two) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. Three) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' Of course, most people don't even understand their own technology - even now, people experiencing the Federations new replicator technology look on it as magical though they accept the underlying technology they've been using for a century—the transporter—as totally mundane. Likewise, your people, being as they are descended from the Vulcans, regard psionics as mundane to the point that many Romulans eschew it for the most part. Still, if it helps you to relate to it you can consider it so... His contemporary, Dr. Isaac Asimov, noted that 'an uninformed public tends to confuse scholarship with magicians.'"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:24, Mon 11 Oct 2021.

McCurrvey grins and extends a hand to each of them.  “Good to see the two of you!  Welcome!  We’ve got some…interesting things going on.”

"Uh-oh! Interesting? Don't know if I like that. But I'm in—heard you were putting together a task force so I volunteered..." she replies, her ears signalling her full attention.

Smillie adds, "Yes, we're going on a full-court press on this one. We're adding Al MacKay and the Genser for backup and we're installing repeaters for the Silver Ball on all ships. They won't be able to initiate a jump, but they can piggy-back on your field effect without having to cuddle up."

FAdm Smillie has no sooner mentioned the Genser than the tannoy announces, "USS Genser entering Babel space. Docking in 30 minutes... mark!"

Smillie responds, "When Genser arrives, beam Captain MacCay to Transporter Room Five." Turning to Brad, he comments, "After negotiation with Her Glory, we're rapidly going from a squadron-level task force to at least a flotilla."

Myrissaw turns to the CinC, her ears twitching. "Her Glory? I've heard of Graces, Exellencies and Eminences, even Holinesses, but now a Glory? And who is she when she's at home?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:00, Sat 16 Oct 2021.

In reply to Fleet Admiral William Smillie (msg # 30):

"You know," Khendron replies to Myrissaw, "I had a similar question!"

Khendron continues, "Anyway, Commodore, we should head back to the meeting room." As an aside to the newcomers he adds dryly "You wouldn't believe what's on display."

Several minutes later, the door swooshes open and a young Human woman in Operations gold walks in. "Excuse me, I was told I could find Fleet Captain Mercer here," she says, snapping to attention. "Ensign Teresa Hernandez reporting for duty, sir! I've been assigned to be your new Yeoman as Adjutant for Operation Hellfire, sir!" Hernandez has raven-black hair and caramel-coloured skin, a dazzling smile and dark brown eyes. She hands Khendron a PADD. "My transfer orders are on the data solid—Pleased to meet you, sir!"

"Genser arriving. Captain MacCay beaming over," announces the Transporter operator.

As MacCay materialises on the pad, Smillie says, "Well, shall we all go see what surprises Her Glory has for us?" and leads the group out of the Transporter Room.

In reply to Ensign Teresa Hernandez (msg # 32):

"Welcome, Ensign," replied Khendron, mildly surprised because he wasn't informed he was receiving an aide. He glances at the orders, as he is curious as to who signed the orders.

"As I wasn't expecting you," Khendron continues "I don't have any specific duties for you just yet. Why don't you shadow me for the time being." Khendron glances again at the transfer order, double checking if Hernandez has clearance to accompany the group to see Her Glory. "Oh, and have you been assigned quarters on the Odyssey?"

"Sir, it's in the standard table of organisation for a task force. As adjutant, you are assigned a yeoman to handle all the paperwork. As XO of the Odyssey, it was pretty much optional, but at fleet level it becomes pretty much mandatory in order to carry out the responsibilities of the adjutancy." She recites this as if she'd memorised the manuals.

"It's all covered in the documentation, sir," she concludes.

The group reaches the entrance to the meeting room and Smillie presses the call button. The door slides open and Dworkin ushers them in. "We've been waiting on you, Admiral. The Vaarduvée is... being obstreperous." He rolls his eyes and grimaces.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:38, Mon 18 Oct 2021.

Within the transparent sphere of the wards Vincentius has resumed the appearance of the painted barbarian; however his arm ends just below the deltoid muscle in a smooth stump. "Ah, more pathetic weaklings to savour their seeming victory over the mighty Vincentius! Enjoy it, puling cowards. Were I not so confined by your wizardry I'd e'en be feasting 'pon your livers," it growls, a deep basso profondo, seemingly originating in its lower chest.

Rufo says to Oscar, "Hey Boss, who does he remind you of, him without a navel and all? Wonder if we could get 'im to swallow himself? Hey Vinnie, are you as dumb as Igli? Sorry, I forgot you're not a he after all. Got no bollocks, either! No belly button, no balls and no brain! You Vaarduvée are bred in vats in a lab—got no mothers, not that even a mother could love something as ugly as you!"

"Welcome back, Admiral!" says Oscar. "Rufo's just keeping it off balance. They're intelligent, but they have a temper that keeps them from thinking clearly when they get pissed off. That's how Dworkin was able to provoke it into revealing itself. They're pack animals, always jockeying for Alpha status. Staring them down really gets to 'em."

"Rufo, enough!"
 says Star in a tone that brooks no disobedience.

"Yes, Your Glory," replies Rufo. He stands at parade rest, his hands clasped behind his back.

Myrrisaw says to Brad, soto voce, "So this is Her Glory?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:52, Mon 25 Oct 2021.

Her Glory hears this and responds, "Yes, Captain, it is. I must apologise for Rufo's behaviour. When he gets away from Centre, he sometimes forgets that he's not in the field and that he's in civilised company. As Dworkin pointed out, Keeping a Vaarduvée emotionally off-balance is often effective in preventing them from thinking strategically, but sometimes Rufo gets carried away.

"And I'm afraid we've not been introduced. You are Captain...?"

"Captain Zrena Myrrisaw of the USS St. Roch, NCC-1941, reporting for duty, Your Glory!" replies Myrrisaw.

"If you're uncomfortable with the title, ma'am will suffice, Captain."

"Yes, Ma'am," says Myrrisaw.

"You're Admiral McCurrvey's former CO on the Excalibur, are you not?"

Myrrisaw nods, "Yes, Ma'am."

"And you have no problem serving under his command?" asks Star.

"It is my pleasure. Brad was always a superlative officer and I'm proud of him. I was just telling him so," says Myrissaw. "May I present my current XO, Cdr. Kevin Jones?"

"Jones, eh? Are you Welsh?" She asks, with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, of Welsh extraction. Ma'am," he replies.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:01, Sun 28 Nov 2021.

Continued in the thread "Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:16, Sat 01 Jan 2022.