Allegiances 2 – Survival
by Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' Jared

Post Details

Title		Survival
Mission		Allegiances 2
Author(s)		Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' Jared
Posted		Mon Jun 06, 2011 @ 12:09pm

Finding Jared was more difficult than Marie expected. Everyone knew the diminutive TiQ and everyone knew where he was. Trouble was, they were all distracted after the firefight that restored honour to Marla and her House. All might think they knew but they were all wrong. As she searched, Marie started to appreciate what May'bel had said about Jared being a survivor. There is an art to being invisible; similarly, there is an art to being some place other than where everyone thinks you are. Marie finally tracked him down in the Cargo bay. He was tinkering with some device made out of scrap that seemed to be creating little floating motes of light.

He looked up as she entered.

"Oh... hello Marie. Try not to let any of the little light dots touch you. I think they're bigger than they look. Their dimensions are just a little... non-standard."

"I have been talking to May'bel," Marie said once perfunctory preliminaries were out of the way. "He suggested I talk to you about how to survive on a Klingon ship. I must say, you seem to be adept at survival. You're how old now?"

Jared gave a thoughtful frown.

"You know... I honestly couldn't say? You stop counting after a while. Older than Ro, certainly."

"He didn't mean fighting skills though I'll take any suggestions you have on that score. He quite literally meant survival."

Jared looked at her.

"Probably not. My fighting skills are a little rusty nowadays."

He pondered a moment.

"That's a tricky question. My race have a bit of a special status with the Klingons, but I've survived on rough crews where that wasn't true. You need to stay one step ahead."

"In case of dire emergency, I can tell you Klingons have a nerve cluster right there..." he prodded her to the side of the stomach. "It's just under the ribs, and you need to jab pretty hard to trigger it, but it can lock up their breathing reflex for a moment. It's like what humans call 'being winded'. But I'm guessing you're looking for something a little more reliable."

"I'd need a little time to think about it, but I might be able to come up with a couple of tricks for you. You more interested in bargaining chips, toys, or surprise tactics? Toys would probably work best for you, I'd think."

"Unless... I'm assuming we're not thinking about genetic modifications? I mean... I know some tricks along those lines that could easily put you in a Klingon's weight class. But I seem to remember reading somewhere that humans were a little weird about tinkering with genes."

"And become a Borg?" Marie spat.

"More like an augment, but with a bit more finesse. There was a race called the Klarae that had an interesting genetic trick with neuroconnectivity that would work on your species. Triggers neuron activity at an enhanced rate. Basically it means you can switch what you see into slow-motion when you want to - judge all your strikes just right, and let you see and dodge out of the way of theirs. Nifty, because it all happens internally, and they don't know any different. Gives you headaches, though."

He shrugged.

"It's not for everyone of course."

"Toys though...yes, toys I'm good with. I've built my life around bargaining but a few cute tricks to throw into the mix...that I like. What do you have in mind?"

"Toys would be things that could level the playing field, that you could keep as tricks up your sleeve. Cans of spray that blind temporarily. A shockwave device that could knock them off their feet. Complete suits of powered battle-armour that fold out of a wristband."

"Actually... I probably don't have the parts for that last one. But I'm pretty sure I could do you a few handy things to even the odds if you give me a little time to think and tinker. I'll work on it."