LtCmdr. Talos Dakora - Unmistakable
Travis
((Ruins of Janara Avenue, Medara - Betazed circa 2376))
Talos’ mind raced as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. CloQ had bent reality into a shape that was recognizable, yet uncannily inaccurate. The setting was familiar; the skeleton of Medara was recognizably the city he’d grown up in, but so many of the details weren’t quite right.
Buildings lay in ruin that had never been destroyed. Massive Dominion structures loomed large where they had never been.
It was all just… wrong.
One of the gravelly voices that had haunted the nightmares of his youth called out from somewhere down the street.
Jem’Hadar Enforcer: Stop right there!
Talos had been unarmed at The Chalice and even if he hadn’t been, he couldn’t imagine CloQ letting them off that easily. That left them with precisely one option.
Dakora: Run!
Savel: A wise plan.
Chevalier: More leg work and less comments, Savel!
Z’Vahme: Response?
Together the group of displaced Starfleet Officers darted down the nearest alley as Talos desperately tried to gain his bearings in a city that both was and wasn’t his.
Disruptor fire sizzled past Talos’ head and splashed against a nearby wall, sending a spall of molten masonry sizzling over his fleeing team. Savel’s voice cut through the din.
Savel: Down here!
He saw the Vulcan Security Officer dart around a corner into a perpendicular alley and quickly followed.
Dakora: We need to break line of sight.
More disruptor fire cut through the air in their direction as they ducked and weaved through the back streets of what Talos was fairly certain was the old arts district.
Jem'Hadar Enforcer: I said stop now!
Z’Vahme: Your mother wears combat boots!
As the group rounded a corner, Savel took advantage of the sudden disruption in their pursuers' sight line to try a door that opened onto the alley.
The Four Deities had chosen to shine on them and the heavy door swung open. Without a second thought, the team darted inside to the relative safety of the structure. Quickly, Talos began looking for something he could use as a weapon as Savel found a heavy cabinet and began to push it toward the door.
Savel: I will need some assistance!
If the Vulcan needed help, Talos imagined the piece of furniture must have been absurdly heavy and Chevalier and Z’Vahme quickly moved in to assist.
Chevalier: Good idea, Mr. Savel, let's go move it!
Talos surged forward, adding his strength to the struggle and soon the door was strongly barred.
A pounding on the other side of the door made it clear that their foe had caught up to them.
Z’Vahme: ::helping heft a huge storage cabinet towards the door:: This seems rude. What if that poor patrolman just wants to be friends
He cast a bit of side eye in The helmsman's direction with smirk.
Dakora: You're welcome to stay behind and try that approach, Z'Vahme. Otherwise hold it steady!
The pounding came again and again until something strange happened. The telltale sounds of a scuffle nearby and a sudden cry of alarm preceded an eerie silence.
Jem'Hadar Enforcer: Arghhh!
Talos held his breath for a moment, but the pounding didn't begin again. Something had drawn the reptilian soldier's attention, but they needed to get moving. Backup wouldn't be far behind.
Savel: I recommend we find out where we are, I don't believe the Jem'Hadar will be far behind us.
Nodding, Talos broke a heavy broomstick off, leaving him with a meter and a half of strong composite rod. He tested the weight of the improvised bo staff and shrugged.
Chevalier: Wait a second, Mr. Savel, I'm just in the middle of my shopping list. And this should do the magic...
Jaseb had begun gathering various solvent and chemicals from the janitorial supplies in an improvised sack fashioned out of his uniform top.
Talos assumed the Ensign had some idea of what he was doing and let him work as he scanned the room– what appeared to be a sort of storage area– for any clues to where and when CloQ had sent them.
Dakora: Make it quick. We need to be far from here when that Enforcer's backup arrives.
Z'Vahme: Response?
Chevalier: Alright, sir. I'm going now.
With a nod, Talos signaled Savel to force open an interior door, and they were soon stealthily padding down a dim hallway.
The building seemed to have been abandoned in a hurry. Dressing rooms lay open, with racks of costumes still on the hangers.
The dim illumination of a notice board, covered in a film of dust and grime, occupied one side of the corridor. Talos rubbed away the gunk with his sleeve, surveying the dates and times of plays and concerts that would've long since passed. When his eyes fell on the part of the display that showed the current date and time, his eyes went wide.
Savel: Commander, you said you lived through the Occupation. What is different about where, or rather when, we are now?
Still staring at the board, he replied.
Dakora: I think I do, but it doesn't make any sense. ::He gestured to the board.:: This says the year is 2376.
He turned to face his team.
Dakora: Which is a problem. ::He sighed.:: Because the Occupation– and the Dominion War, for that matter– should've ended by 2375.
Savel: Response
Z’Vahme: I seem to recall hearing that resistance fighters used local flora to craft blowguns with poisoned projectiles. Though I have no idea if those plants are even located in this region…
It was something. But Talos doubted they'd find what they needed in the urban metropolis of Medara.
Chevalier: Response
Shaking his head, Talos led them down the corridor, looking for an alternate way out of the Community Center.
Dakora: I don't know. Clearly, CloQ changed something that caused it all to turn out differently. ::He paused.:: Which reminds me; I probably still exist in this timeline as a kid, so let's play it safe and try to avoid further timeline contamination. Just call me.. uh, Yogan Silveira, if we're around any locals.
Before any of them could respond, they rounded a corner and came face to face with someone Talos had never expected to see again.
His mother, dressed in dark, rugged clothes with a phaser held at the ready, was there to greet them. Against his will, his mind reached out to brush against hers in some decades old force-of-habit. He watched her look of surprise give way to confusion, then eventually recognition.
A million thoughts came to his mind and tried to force their way out of his mouth all at once. The result was a sort of strangled gasp as he watched the phaser fall from her hand and clatter to the ground.
Leera: Talos?
A lump grew in his throat at the sound of his long dead mother speaking his name for the first time in 26 years.
Dakora: M…Ma'di?
He took a step forward, uncertainly at first, before closing the distance between them quickly.
Talos had seen the date. She should've been gone, but somehow she wasn't.
Chevalier/Savel/Z’Vahme: Response
He heard voices behind him but couldn't make his mind focus on what they were saying.
Standing directly in front of him was the woman who had raised him, the person who he remembered most fondly, but also in some ways, a stranger. Inside her was a hardness he'd never felt as a child. A weariness that hadn't had time to develop in his timeline.
With his previous worries about contaminating the timeline rendered moot, he spoke.
Dakora: It's me. ::He gestured to the others:: This is my team, we need help. I'll… I will try to explain everything when we're somewhere safe.
Leera: Response
Chevalier/Savel/Z’Vahme: Response
TAG/TBC
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LtCmdr. Talos Dakora
First Officer
USS Artemis-A
O238811CD0