Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Feb 20, 2017 16:22:01 GMT -5
Talia found herself intrigued now as her people fanned out on the ancient dig site. Jeb and Lonah were walking the perimeter as Sevuk and Parker and their people were brought up to speed on what would be entailed with providing security and support to maintaining the dig site security. She slowly circled the smooth black marble like structure that had been dubbed 'The monolith' by the original team under Dr. Payden when it was first discovered. Lt/ Kore and Mr Maxwell worked with Dr. Rendino to adjust and repair the malfunctioning power generator in their attempts to restore power to this ancient device.
She marveled at the simplicity of the ancient machine, its ethereal beauty and this hint of a fading cho of a lovely almost magical hum.
She let her eyes wander over to the familiar figure of her recently returned XO. She had been overjoyed by her return...so much so she had lost control momentarily of her emotions and dignity. She chuckled some ot herself instead of chastising herself as she recalled simply diving into her arms and hugging her tightly. It was a breach of protocol as well as her own set personal standards...but...she could not deny in that moment how she felt. Xae was home and beside her once more...safe.
She drew a breath as she pondered the depth of what this truly meant now, the status of the fight against Diamond, an opponent she did feel sorry for, despite all he had done. For her it would not only be like losing Starfleet but her own Keth and the Adagio combined...what was he left with....what might she had done in his place...
She looked back to the monolith and sighed softly...was this why the Dark Lady and Xae had cautioned her, on her own recklessness at times. Would she ever succumb to the hubris as he did...to such a level that she would forget herself and what she stood for?
She had no answer at this time, she thought some more. Perhaps this is why she pitied him She winced some as a flicker of a phantom pain coursed through her stump. She idly reached over to rub it..and forced herself to stop. There is no pain, she mused...there is nothing there to hurt. She chuckled a little as she reached out ot eh cool highly polished surface of the Monolith and pressed her palm to it.
What secrets do you hold old one? She mused. What truly awaits us on the other side...if there is another side.
She turned her gaze back to Liz, recently borrowed from the Inferno Project to help her mother set up shop here on Avernus II. The animated eccentric science officer was consulting with Xae over something. Talia was always amazed how quickly Xae had learned to translate and understand 'Lizspeak', Talia smirked, there was no denying Commander Razzor was brilliant...but half of the time Talia had no clue just what the woman was saying.
She turned her gaze back to the monolith and took just a moment to wonder over it, to share just a tick of a clock with it over its incredibly ancient existence. She smiled, this was truly what she had joined Starfleet for, to experience unique and rare moments of true exploration. To discovery things unknown about the galaxy around them...
and to see just where this might led her next...
...To Boldy Go...
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Post by Lt Cmdr Lonah Demorrie on Feb 23, 2017 12:34:47 GMT -5
Today was a good day to catelouge the inns and outs of the foundations where they were setting up for their mission. So her walking of the perimeter had 'deviated' slightly to walking inside to collect necessary information for the team. It was still settling in for the klingon. Almost a year since boarding the ship, she was finally back in a team. The experience on the bridge was good for her and one day she'll probably be back there again, right now her heart was still in special operations. She needed to continue her personal quest that she was worth of bringing back her dead house. It seem the Adaigo would do just that, provided the experience did not kill her. Well, faint hears did not win fair houses and to die in honor with this crew would be a high point. Not that she was in a hurry to make that happen. This crew was tough, even before she arrived on board. She will do her part, but right now, she would be happier to doing it in something where her heart was.
She walked around the Monolith that was so important for the science mission here. It continued to be important with the trouble the Sentinel manage to drum up. She did not doubt that more would be on its way and Klingon warrior could be happier to face it. Then there was the Captain standing by, lost in thought. Scrapping her foot purposefully against the floor to indicate her presence, she approached. "Plan on adding this to your office? Don't they have a gift shop with something smaller?"
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Feb 23, 2017 14:47:23 GMT -5
Talia's antennae rose ever so at Lonah's presence even before she scraped her boot. Talia never turned as she regarded the ancient relic, the now silent machine that according to reports had sacrificed itself to aid the besieged Sentinel away team during the fight. Using the last of it fading power to spirit them off of the battlefield. Sending them to their sister's ship's sickbay with pinpoint precision.
Talia took heart in this, more often then not such a alien machine did not display emotions that were in tune with their own morality or believed themselves above such things on an evolutionary scale. She smirked with some satisfaction as her mind's eye played out that last shot she delivered melting the M5 housing...
She chuckled some at he Klingon woman's question. "Why 'Chief' why else do you think I have all these people working right now..." She swept her hand around the room indicating Dr Rendino, Liz the recently returned XO and the rest of the away team. "They are just taking the final measurements before we move it into my ready room."
"If you are going to do something, you have to do it right."
She observed the smooth face of the monolith once more as she added. "Beside the gift shop version is so tacky...it is just for tourists..."
She looked around them and assessed Lonah in her tact gear and full Delta load out, and nodded.
"Its good to see you back in proper 'battle-rattle' Chief..." She thumped her solidly on the left shoulder with her fist before asking.
"So how does their perimeter look? You know 'company' always arrives unannounced...are we ready...or...?"
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Post by Lt Cmdr Lonah Demorrie on Feb 24, 2017 9:11:51 GMT -5
Lonah chuckled, it was good to be back in a proper uniform. Now the assessment of their situation. "If we were fighting a standard force, we're in the best place in the area to repeal a significant ground force. A few teleporter disruption devices and we could hold down here for a significant period of time. That chance of that happening with the Adaigo in orbit would be slim at best. Provided our ship was not distracted, or Kahlass help us, destroyed."
Time to let the Captain down gently, but Delta operator knew the Captain already knows the odds they were against. "But, we are not fighting a standard force. We're fighting honorless mongrels who hide in the shadows and throw mythical monsters at us to shake our reserve. They still possess technology that unfortunately still gives them a tech advantage that the Borg would weep to have. We can prepare, but they try to run amok before we proper secure any breaches in our security." Lonah pauses for a moment. "And by securing, I mean killing them all."
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Feb 24, 2017 13:46:37 GMT -5
Talia nodded occasionally as she intently listened to her officer's report.
She smirks some and nods. "This is hardly the first time we have had to make such a stand against such a superior opponent."
"We have done so against the Voth, the Borg...the Iconians and their armies..." She set her jaw. "Yet each was different...and yet...we have never faced such a power as this bunch seems to field..."
She looks to Lonah. "We both know Chief you never underestimate your opponent...but this enemy has weakness. Even their leadership has weaknesses...one we just exploited...another one of us has spent weeks after the initial attack exploiting..."
She looks back to the monolith. "From the initial reports ive seen...the Sentinel found a few in their ground forces....though unified in purpose...they are not unified in strength...they can be toyed with..baited and isolated some of them."
"Numbers and collective overwhelming and coordinated fire on others..." She smirks wolfishly. "While we can not keep them out of our perimeter...we do have ways of sinking our fangs into their throats to never let go, once they get here."
"They have already demonstrated not once...not twice...but on three occasions...they rely on their technological advantage and a shock and awe style assault....so they key on certain emotions...to try and divide and conquer."
Talia looked back to Lonah and nodded. "A Earth poet once wrote...'nothing can stand if the center does not hold...' ...that is another weakness of theirs."
"They do not seem to believe this holds true for them....Arrogance and pride...." She smiled some.
"We can work with those flaws...and open great wounds in doing so should they come..."
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Mar 15, 2017 5:49:49 GMT -5
Talia continued her walk around the dusty, windswept forgotten ruins. Half buried from another age in the dark gray soot like sand, its bite stung her cheeks some as the wind whipped it through the night air. She paused on a small bluff overlooking the initial bunker and landing zone. The dunes behind her, scored and blackened by the aerial bombardment from the Sentinel's air support fire during their recent engagement with Diamond's forces. She noted the fading craters, lost as the dark glass was swallowed up by the shifting sands. The wind around her and far below howled a haunting note as it blew across the vast desolate landscape.
She looked up from the valley that lay outstretched before her to the clear star filled sky above. She smiled at the lovely simplicity of the empty stars with out a moon. With little to no light reflected from the surface she could almost make out the milky white specks of light that came from being so close to the galactic rim. Its occasional pink flicker was a trick of her mind's eye she knew, yet it reminded her of the great barrier, that covered that section of the rim.
The same barrier that had set off the research into the ESPers...she shook her head some.
She instinctively turned her head to look out to the spot in the night sky that faced the location of the monolith's sister artifact. A vast oval shaped crystal ring...an ancient hub of transport so the current rumors had it.
A door...
...a door to a new frontier...new worlds...new civilizations...'to boldly go' she had earlier mused.
She had listened to the 'song' of the gateway as they had arrived, its hauntingly simple beauty. So captivated yet, so lonely she thought.
"You lack purpose now do you not?" She whispered skyward. "You miss your partner who has gone silent...the two of you were all each other had with no travelers...none one to give you purpose."
She thought with great sympathy, still you both chose to help the Sentinel...she nodded and thought once more to the stars, an oath perhaps...
"We will get her to sing to you again...we owe you both this much..."
No not a mere oath, a personal promise...to something she felt at some level she understood all too well.
She smiled some as she subconsciously traced a finger over the covered stump of her right arm.
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Post by Cmdr Xaelei Arnimane on Mar 15, 2017 11:31:30 GMT -5
Xaelei quietly stepped next to Talia and asked, "Enjoying the night air?"
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Mar 16, 2017 4:06:12 GMT -5
Talia jerks her hand back away from her stump as she adopts a forced version of a relaxed posture, her eyes never leaving the sky. Though it is clear by her inwardly curling antennae and a barely visible body flinched she was so distracted she had not heard Xaelei approach from behind. She smirks some inwardly kicking herself but did remember that they were in the middle of a heavily defeated perimeter...
..still though. She fought down the images of a blade moving almost to her at the speed of flight...the burning eyes looking down at her defeat..her death....had it not been for...She drew a breath deeper than she had intended as she collected herself before Xae.
She eventually smiled warmly and nodded, her eyes still fixed on the same point in the night sky.
"As odd as this might appear...I was."
She let her eyes drift over the ancient and vast valley below. "I know that might seem weird...but even with this desolation I was.."
She looks to Xae. "Thinking on the future..what still awaits us with this discovery...where things might lead."
She returns her gaze to the gray sweep of the sands before them.
"Even here...this is not...from war...the ruins...it is ..just the natural decay ...of something lost..forgotten..."
"There is no malice here...not since the Sentinel drove them off...." her tone is almost wistful as she says softly.
"It is like standing in a temple...just waiting for someone to light the candles..."
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Post by Cmdr Xaelei Arnimane on Mar 16, 2017 23:01:53 GMT -5
As Talia flinched at her voice, "I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you."
Xaelei watched and listened to her sister. When Talia concluded, Xaelie asked quietly, "Does it hurt?"
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Mar 17, 2017 7:07:04 GMT -5
"No, dont be." Talia shook her head, her antennae rising. "Its a holdover I am....still learning to deal with..."
She smirked some, expecting this she lifted her stump to run her fingertips over its tight snug black wrapping lightly.
"Yes...and no." She chuckled some. "Asiani called it a 'Phantom pain'. My mind is telling me there is a wound and arm there...and yet..."
She wiggles it a little and drops her fingers from it, with a sigh. "Well...I mean I am familiar with the term..this is not the first such injury i have ever seen."
"Seeing however...is vastly different than experiencing..." She draws another breath and then smiles with a small mix of pride and confidence to Xae, perhap even some reassurance for herself.
"It is hardly the worst obstacle I have had to learn to overcome in order to rise once more..." She half chuckles at that, continuing almost out of trained reflex.
"I am still in this fight..."
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Mar 22, 2017 12:16:10 GMT -5
The lights were dim in her ready room as she entered. She paused a moment as she heard the door close behind her, cutting off the muted and soft sounds of the late night bridge watch that she had just left behind. The ship was bustling with excitement, they along with the entire tak force seemed energized by the most recent success of the Project Magellan's team on the surface of Arvenus II. Working together with scientists her team of engineers and Xae had brought the ancient monolith...back to life and once more in contact with her sister device...the long dormant gateway the Adagio now sat in orbit before.
Everyone seem to feel the tension of the possibility of discovering what lay behind the long sealed doorway. Excited by the possibility of the unknown and unexplored frontier. An excitement she shared yet...as she idly touched the stump of her right arm a glimmer of anger and fear lingered. Of a confrontation yet to come...of a sacrifice she had made in a moments notice without a single thought to...herself. Things were normalizing now aboard ship since the attack from that night. Crew had settled down and some had been restored to where they belonged. She smiled as she heard Sinez's tone as he was restored to Tactical...the light in Lonah's eyes as her warrior's heart was heard and he was restored to the teams...Xae's return...
...Xae.
She looked to her right to the wall above her couch, her eyes moving from portrait to portrait painted by Commander Razzor so long ago now. Each one elegantly created a lovely rendition of a past Adagio. Each vessel taken from her as much as her most recent loss. Each ship had been a part of her, her heart and her soul dedicated to those who served with her aboard each of them. She walked over to the paintings as she briefly reflected on her first two starship commands...the Bolshoi and the Giselle....Both ships had meant a great deal to her..yet...both had reached the end of their time with dedication and honor.
As did those two she loved before...The first Adagio meeting her end in battle in Pi Canis...a glory filled and honor founded run against the Klingons during the war with them. She smirked as she thought so deep was the scars and battles of that campaign that the Klingons still sung about 'The Wrath Of Pi Canis' ... So honored was she there that in the last battle...her enemies rallied with her to defeat the Undine...unified warriors in honor and a duty to save the innocent...
...and yet it cost her, her beloved ship...broken and shattered it was decommissioned.
Yet like a Phoenix from Human lore...the Adagio rose to prominence once more as a Galaxy glass refit...
She chuckled, also like a Phoenix what remained of the first Adagio also rose...to become a dear friend and ally.
The Adagio -A set the bar exploration wise. For more than half a decade she soared across the Federation and even through time. From her came the now legendary Delta Operatives, multiple species discovered, notable first contacts...the Awakened...the alliance with the ROmulan Republic. She was a true Grand Lady of the stars. Graceful, elegant...the forerunner to much of the technology that now puled within the decks of this newest Adagio. She smiled some sadly missing her dances with her.
Yet time and need had caught up to this Adagio, She had been out there long enough to know what was coming...the Project Salvation mess...the arrival of the first Xiati invasion on Ardana III...soldier of darkness moving in shadows. It was time for a new prima dancer to take the stage. So she did...and the Adagio was mothballed until the arrival of a new threat.
A threet that reared its head at the cowardly attack on Starbase 234, New Romulus and the Preserver library.
The newest Adagio...the fleet flagship of the 22ndd was ready and danced with honors throughout the honors. Her crew, many of them still by her side since the first Adagio and the one that followed met each struggle always with strength and honor. The code she insisted her family...her keth lived by. The stood between the dark and the light, they fought for those who could not fight for themselves...and their new lady did just that. Just like her sisters before her.
Talia smiled at that analogy...and nodded.
She knew why she herself did what she had always done on that night. For in all of these ships there had always been one constant. One thing that she herself had always committed herself to. The first in and the last out, never to ask any of her crew to do or to sacrifice anything she herself would not. Through it all...
She closed her eyes and sighed nodding to herself. She opened her eyes after a moment of reflection and walked over to the window to look out across the stars. Through the cold pane of glass she took in the eternal stygian night lit by the dim yet brightly burning distant stars. She lightly fingered her stump once more as her heart surged some.
There had always been one constant by her side. One she always felt by her side, in every battle, every terrifying moment. Never questioning her dedication, always accepting her. She smiled and reached out with her hand to press her fingers to the cool feel of the smooth glass. It was why she had acted without thought that night...it was why she was now fighting her own fear with a burning passion now. It was why she would never allow that fear to cripple her heart again....
"It was was always you..." She said softly as she closed her eyes and sighed gently.
Beyond the pane of glass the stars continued to burn brightly as the cosmos continued its dance in time to its eternal symphony.
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Post by Cmdr Xaelei Arnimane on Mar 23, 2017 11:05:14 GMT -5
Talia could hear the ready room door open behind her as she stared out the window. Her sister's smooth, melodic voice cut the silence.
"I realized I had left some of my belongings in here. I can...comeback later...if now is a bad time..."
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Mar 23, 2017 12:10:57 GMT -5
"It was was always you..." She said softly as she closed her eyes and sighed gently.
Beyond the pane of glass the stars continued to burn brightly as the cosmos continued its dance in time to its eternal symphony.
Talia's antennae surged up just before the door opened. A part of her surged in warning in her heart, she refused to believe this was another attack, she did not yeild to the fear this time.
HE doesn't use the door. She playfully mocked her inner fear. She willed herself to remain calm as she opened her eyes just as the doors parted, already Knowing who this was. As she heard her soft melodic voice confirming this, Talia had to smile a little more.
"No, " She said gently. "It is never a bad time...not for you."
She looked over, as she collected herself some.
"I..." She paused and the tried again. "Congratulations are order."
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Post by Cmdr Xaelei Arnimane on Mar 23, 2017 12:41:05 GMT -5
The door closed behind her as she entered, "For what?"
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Captain Talia
USS Adagio - NCC-99691-B
USS Adagio Captain
'Strength and Honor"
Posts: 1,752
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Post by Captain Talia on Mar 23, 2017 16:31:44 GMT -5
Talia made a face and shook her head some.
"Really?" She chuckled. "Restoring power to 'Hectate'."
"I am assuming your work below was successful given our current alert status."
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