Title: "New Home"
Author: Lieutenant JG Richard Wallace
Stardate: 2460249
Earthdate: April 1, 2383
Location: USS Virgo

Lieutenant Wallace stood at his post ever since he was made the new Chief Tactical Officer several hours ago. He was scanning to see if he could find the Kelvan ship or any sign of the *Ilion* for he didn't know the ships fate as of yet.

"Sir, I am here to relieve you," a young Ensign said, one that Richard hadn't seen or met before.

He shook his head and stepped out of his way and walked to the turbolift and was joined by the captain.

"Well, Lieutenant, how do you like the *Virgo* so far?"

"She seems to be a good ship so far. I won't judge a ship till she has been in battle and how she holds up, Sir."

"Well, she held up quite well the last year and is very sturdy."

The turbolift stopped at the level that Lt. Wallace wanted to get off at. "Here's my stop, sir. See you in the morning, sir."

"Have a good night, Mr. Wallace."

Richard walked into the lounge and saw it was some what full. He looked around and saw a fellow crewmate from the *Ilion*; he was an Ensign.

He sat down and looked at him and said, "Ensign, what's your name again?"

"Ensign Jackson, sir."

"Okay, Ensign, your my second; you'll take over after I leave the bridge if I am to go on a away mission. I want you to gather up the rest of the *Ilion* tactical officers and have them meet in here at 1940 hours. Understood, Ensign?"

"Yes, sir, we have a total of eight tactical officers and one enlisted. I think he's a Petty Officer or something like that."

"This ship is our home now, and this crew is our family. We must commit to them with 100% effort. I was thrust into this position and hope to God I do well."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant, you have 16 years of experience on your side. You'll be fine. Trust me."
 

Title: "The Fall of Virgo"
Author: Captain Stephen Maruu
Stardate: 2460252
Earthdate: April 2, 1999
Location: USS Virgo/Xenon III
 

"What do you think of 'The Fun House'? Ah? Ah?" Dweezle demanded.

"It sounds a bit superfluous, don't you think?" answered a skeptical Lazarus Kox.

"Well, it's your bar. I just tend it. I think you should decide."

"But you're more creative."

"Nonsense. I'm an idiot. You know me!"

"You're right." Kox paused. "What about 'Ten Forward'?"

"Very unoriginal. Another Federation ship had a similarly named bar: the *USS Enterprise-D*. Try again, Laz."

"How about 'The Flat Planet'?"

"It's a bit 'flat'. When to people come here more?"

"At the...Day's End! Great thinking!"

"The Day's End Bar."

"Better yet: The Day's End Lounge."

"We make a great team, Laz."

"Oh yeah. Well, me should inform the captain of our decision."

"I'll leave that to you." Dweezle went to pour some drinks.
_______________________________________________

Maruu was smiling. "Jon, what do you think of the Mess Hall's new name. The Day's End Lounge."

Lataro chuckled. "Well, it's creative."

"What if we all call it the DEL? You think Lazarus would mind?"

"Nah. He's a compromising person. He'll understand."

A few minutes later, Lt. Garek Loran entered the bridge. "Captain, we have a problem."

Maruu became serious. "In my ready room."

The two officers entered the ready room. Loran began, "Sir, yesterday, the photon burst we used to counteract the Kelvan attack cost us a lot of power. Well, sir, today we ran scans of the dilithium matrix and found it almost completely depleted. We have shut down replicators, holodecks, the sonic showers, and other such systems to compensate for the loss in power. The focal point of this is that, if we don't find some dilithium soon, we'll be stranded in space, light years from the nearest planet. We won't even have impulse!"

Maruu's eyes widened. "Do what you must. Reroute power from weapons and shields if you have to, but be prepared to give us warp if we need it."

Loran nodded. "Yes, sir." He left the ready room.

Maruu left his ready room and stood in front of tactical. "Lt. Wallace, do you see a solar system anywhere on long-range sensors?"

Wallace announced, "Yes, sir. I've got a binary star system at 105 mark two."

"Scan for the presence of dilithium on the planet."

Wallace smiled. "The planet is rich with dilithium."

"Good." Maruu looked at Lt. K'Lara, whose belly had begun to show. She had officially been given maternity leave, but she was welcome to pilot whenever she got bored. "Commander K'Lara, set a course. Maximum warp."
_______________________________________________

"It's an M Class planet. Rich in dilithium, iron, gold, and other minerals. In many ways, it's a lot like Earth," explained Valdago.

"All right. K'Lara, set us up at a standard orbit of the planet." Maruu tapped his com badge. "Garek, prepare to transport a team..."

Loran stopped him. "Sir, we don't have the power to transport."

"Well, then take a shuttle or runabout."

"We've already used the dilithium in the shuttles and runabouts to power the *Virgo*."

"Damn." Maruu paused. "Can we land."

"That we can do."

Maruu smiled. "Okay, Valdago, are there any life signs on the planet?"

"None."

"Good."

K'Lara looked at the captain. "Uh, sir, I've never landed a starship on a planet before."

Maruu paused. "Well, I'm sure you can handle. You are a superb pilot. Besides, It's not much harder than landing a runabout." Maruu spoke to the computer. "Blue alert."

The corridor lights began to flash blue.

"Crew of the *Virgo* prepare to land on an M Class planet. We might be there for a while so get ready for some shore leave." Maruu smiled. "Commander, take us down."

The *Virgo* carefully made its way into the planet's atmosphere. Suddenly, a blast shook the *Virgo*.

Wallace yelled, "There's some sort of energy shield surrounding the planet! We broke through but we're coming in too fast!"

The *Virgo* moved quickly through the planet's dense atmosphere.

K'Lara yelled, "Thrusters are disabled! I can't steer the ship!"

Maruu called Engineering. "Garek, can you get thrusters back online?"

[Give me a minute! I'm trying!]

The *Virgo* continued to fall. The ground began to become visible. There was a type of forest below. After a few moments, Loran managed to get thrusters back online. The *Virgo* began to slow minutely as it impacted and skied over the forest cushion. The trees hit the hull hard. Con panels blew. Officers flew. An ensign at one science station crashed face first into his con panel. He died immediately. The *Virgo* began to slow as it neared the end of the forest which led into a clearing.

Benton lifted himself off the floor. "What is that structure ahead?"

Lataro looked at it from his position on the ground. "I think it's a sentry! Hell, it's an entire camp! We're going to crash into it!

A small humanoid figure jumped out of the sentry just in time to avoid having the *Virgo* run him over. The *Virgo* was now only moving at 35 miles per hour, but with its momentum, that was enough to crush anything in its path. The massive vessel ran over a large quantity of huts and shacks. People were running frantically for cover. The lower deck of the ship and deflector shield blew in a few places.

The *Virgo* was approaching a rock wall that, if it were to hit at its current speed, would destroy half the ship and kill everyone in the first ten decks.
_______________________________________________

Five people were in a hut surrounding a small baby. An elder priest was praying. "Oh, humble Kalmar, accept this child in homage to your good will. May he make his clan strong and win the Great War for you." He dipped his finger in a clay bowl. Then, he removed his finger and painted a red image on the child's forehead. It resembled a triangle with two semi circles crossing the two alternate sides at their midpoints and crossing the base at the same place at its midpoint.

Suddenly, a warrior poked his head in the hut. "We have to go! The gods have sent a large, silver fireball from the sky to punish us!"

The priest walked outside and saw the *Virgo* approaching fast. "Oh, Kalmar! Do not allow this to destroy your faithful people."

A wave of strength came over the old man. He heard a voice speak to him. ~I have not caused this, but I will give you the power to stop it.~ The old man lifted his hands at the *Virgo*. Immediately, a surge of energy came from his palms that created a sort of "energy cushion" in front of the *Virgo*. The ship came to a halt after having dragged its belly through nine miles of forest and dirt. It stopped just inches from trampling the old man and the hut, and just feet from having crashed into the rock wall.

Suddenly, a group of warriors assembled around the old man, swords drawn. The young man leading them spoke. "Let us find out who has caused the destruction of our camp." They approached the heavily-damaged *Virgo*.
 

Title: "Jailbreak"
Author: Lieutenant Garek Loran
Stardate: 2460252
Earthdate: April 10, 2383
Locations: USS Virgo

Garek coughed from the smoke. "Give me a report!" he yelled out.

"The warp core's been shut down, Lieutenant!" Ensign Marcus Jacobsen yelled out. The leader of the Delta Team picked himself up from the floor. "EPS relay to the starboard nacelle is offline. Bioneural gel pack links to the saucer are at fifty percent. We're not looking good, sir."

*Perfect,* Garek thought. *Just what we need.* "Do we still have intership communications?" He looked at Jacobsen, but all he could do was shrug. "Great." Garek tapped his badge. "Engineering to Bridge, anyone there?" No answer. "Engineering to Bridge?"

"Communications to the saucer section are non-existent, sir. The communications transmitters in the saucer section are severed." Jacobsen tried tapping a panel.

"Alright. Jacobsen, you're in charge. I'm going for a stroll." Garek made his way across the slanted deck, and then into a jeffries tube. Destination: Bridge.
______________________________________________________

Commander Lataro stirred. His head was pounding. Reaching up, he felt his head. He brought his hand back down and looked at it. Blood. The red liquid covered his fingers. *Perfect,* he thought. Then, the realization of what happened finally came upon him. "K'Lara!" He stood carefully, and ran, swaying clumsily from side to side, over to his wife.

"K'Lara!" He cradled her head in his arms as he knelt down next to her. "Come on baby."

K'Lara's eyes opened slightly. "What in the hell happened? What about the baby? Oh my God."

"Shh," Lataro replied. Looking around anxiously, he picked up a tricorder that was laying on the floor and opened it. Switching over to bio sensory, he began to scan K'Lara. "From what I can tell, the baby's fine. I'm going to have to get you to Dana and have her look at you though."

"Thank you, Jon." She reached up and gave him a kiss.

Jon smiled. "Relax. I'm going to go around and try to get everyone up."
______________________________________________________

Garek was coming up on the main security office. *Benton should be able to help me out,* he thought. It had been awhile since he had actually crawled through these mazes in the ship's hull. Nearing the end of the tunnel, he wedged the access hatch open and crawled out. Garek then made his way over to a wall panel and removed it, revealing an Engineering kit. He took that out, and made his way down the slanted corridor to the security office.
______________________________________________________

Lieutenant Benton was already up and about, gathering phasers, and other tools that he would be able to use in order to rescue people stranded in different places of the ship. Ensign Sitto Lan was at a panel across from the Chief of Security's desk, trying to establish communications with the bridge.

"Sir, I can't get any type of communications through to the bridge. The com relay must be shot to that part of the ship." He punched in another access code in a panel, and removed a type 2 phaser, an emergency first aid kit, and a tricorder.

"All right. Then, the most logical course of action would be to try and make our way to Sickbay. From there, we can break up into teams, and try to get to people with medical emergencies." Benton picked up the supplies he had gathered, and put them in a backpack. He then took the pack and slung it over his shoulders.

Sitto made his way to the security office's door and tried to open it. "Damn." He again tried to open it. "Well, looks like we're not getting out of here anytime soon. The opening mechanisms on the door also appear to be jammed."

Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared in between the two doors. Sitto backed off quickly. The bluish light made it's way down between the doors all the way to the deck. It then began moving upwards, all the way to the ceiling. Just then, the security office doors slid open abruptly. Behind them stood Lieutenant Loran.

"Gentlemen. Good to see you both." Garek smiled, and blew out the tip of the microwelding torch.

"Garek. What brings you here to the security office? You've never stopped by before." Sitto smiled.

"Why should I? I've never had any reason to." Garek grinned, and shook his hand.

"Benton, if you don't mind. I have a strict schedule to abide by. My next stop is Sickbay. Are you interested in coming?"

Benton turned, and held his hand out towards the door. "After you." He smiled.

Garek returned his smile, and made his way out of the room.

"After all, ladies first Lieutenant." Sitto grinned.

Garek stopped, and jokingly pointed his phaser at Sitto, he then made his way to the nearest jeffries tube entrance. Next stop: Sickbay.
 

Title: "The Drums of War"
Author: Captain Stephen Maruu
Stardate: 2460252
Earthdate: April 2, 2383
Location: USS Virgo/Xenon III

Lataro was hovering over the captain when Maruu opened his eyes. "You're awake, Captain."

Maruu looked at the flashing red lights. "The red lights...what happened?"

"Well, when we started falling the computer turned from blue alert to red alert. We crashed on the planet we were trying to land on."

Valdago announced, "This planet has millions of people on it. I can't believe I didn't see it before!"

Maruu stood up and cradled his head. "Maybe the energy shield that brought us down blocked the life signs."

"The turbolift doors are jammed. We're stuck on the bridge and blind," Wallace explained.

Lataro approached Wallace. "There has to be a way to..."

Suddenly, everyone on the bridge vanished.
___________________________________________________

The warriors had begun to bang on the airlocks, trying to get in. Suddenly, a wave of energy blew through the soldiers. They heard a voice say, ~Stop! Kalmar will be the judge of their actions. He and only he will provide the necessary punishment.~

The young leader of the group yelled, "Stop! Kalmar has spoken. Let's let him deal with them."

One warrior yelled, "But Neklus, they must pay for their actions by tasting our swords!"

Neklus retorted, "Kalmar will make them pay. Then, Kalmar will help us win the Great War!" The man turned away from the *Virgo*.

The old priest approached Neklus. "Sire, we cannot win the War with such little manpower. Our most valiant warriors were crushed by that monstrous object."

Neklus looked at the old man with a smile. "My friend, Kalmar will find a way. He will not desert us to the evil of the Horde."

"You are right. I have raised you well, sire. One day, you will be a most benevolent king to our people."

"Thank you, Kaltanthrop. You have always been wise beyond your mortality."

The *Virgo* disappeared, leaving a trail of fallen trees and crushed homes.
___________________________________________________

"Benton! Garek! Sitto! Dana! How did you all get to the bridge? The doors are jammed," demanded Lataro.

Nori answered. "We aren't in the bridge. We're in sickbay."

Maruu approached Nori. "Oh, thank the Prophets you are all right!"

Nori and Maruu kissed.

Valdago pondered, "Is anyone else wondering why we're in a white room surrounded only by light?"

The rest of the group suddenly realized that same fact. They also noticed that, all around them, were over a four hundred crewmembers asking themselves the same question.

Suddenly, a voice hovered over them. ~Why have you killed the Borials of Xenon III?~

Maruu stepped forward. "We didn't mean to kill anyone. Our ship was disabled while we were trying to land on this planet, Xenon III."

~Why did you wish to land on this planet?~

"We were trying to refuel our ship. We have little power left. We barely had the power to get to this planet."

~So you landed here by necessity and killed by incidence?~

"Yes. We are extremely sorry..."

~You're apologies are not required. You will still pay for your actions. However, your soul is pure, and your punishment will hence be less severe.~

Lataro stepped forward. "What type of punishment are you planning?"

~You will fight for those you killed. You will replace them in battle and win the Great War.~

"Our laws forbid interference in another people's culture."

~Surely your laws explain that you are required to interfere if the second interference is enacted to circumvent the first.~

"That is true," explained Benton. "There is a section of the Prime Directive that states: 'Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture.' We would be, in fact, obligated to do what has been asked of us."

Maruu nodded. "All right. We accept."

Lataro nodded in agreement.

~Then it is agreed.~ The voice paused. ~You will be sent to Neklus. He will train your crew in the use of swords and other such weapons. The members of your crew that were injured but not killed during the crash have been repaired.~

Lataro grabbed his head and looked at his hand as he had done before. There was no blood.

Valdago said, "Wait! No phasers?"

~You would not want to further violate your Prime Directive now would you?~ The voice paused again. ~Your ship will be returned once your mission is over. Good luck to you.~
___________________________________________________

The crew appeared in Borial warrior attire and with swords strapped to their backs. The *Virgo* was nowhere to be seen.

Neklus and a group of armed men approached the senior officers, who were all out of uniform. "Kaltar has warned me of your arrival. Welcome to our camp. We will rest for the night, and then we will walk to the city of Noran. There, you will be taught to use the weapons you need to help us win the Great War." He paused. "I am Neklus. And you are?"

Maruu stepped forward. "I am Captain...I mean...Stephen. I am Stephen, leader of the Virgos. This is Com...Jonathan. He is my First."

"Welcome Virgos! Eat, drink, rest. We have a long walk back to Noran ahead of us. Stephen, Jonathan, join me, Kaltanthrop, and my beloved wife in our hut. You must meet my son and bless him, as our tradition deems proper. Then, we will speak of our new alliance. Bring your own wives as well."

"Our wives?" asked Maruu.

Lataro smiled. "I think he means K'Lara and Dana."

"Right." Maruu looked at Neklus. "How did you know that..."

Neklus laughed. "The love you have for these women glows through your chests like our brilliant sun in the horizon."

Dana and K'Lara blushed to hear Neklus's romantic words.

Dana, K'Lara, Stephen, Jonathan, and Neklus moved into the largest tent in the camp.
 

Title: "Values"
Author: Lieutenant JG Richard Wallace
Stardate: 2460252
Earthdate: April 2, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Lieutenant Wallace was studying the camp and looking around at the few Borial soldiers that were there to act as guards of sorts and studied their weapons at a distance to try and see what they were.

"Damn I wish I had a tricorder." he said out loud and noticed that Lt. Benton was walking towards him with some food and drink.

Once there, Benton handed him old copper goblet and a plate that food on it. "Here you are, Lt. Wallace."

Wallace said thank you and took the food and drink. He was glad that Benton had done that since it was almost dark and he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Wallace quickly ate the food and drank the drink. The food had the wild game taste to it and the drink tasted like wine.

"Did you make any interesting discovery yet about our host?" Benton asked.

"Sorry to say, Lieutenant, that without a tricorder all I can make is an educated guess."

"And that is what, Lt. Wallace?"

Wallace turned to see the captain approach. He stood up and straightened his new uniform. "Well we are pretty much left unchecked, sir. Four guards up front and all they are doing is looking out of the camp and three to the rear doing the same. And by the look of the dishware they might be as evolved as far back as the Bronze Age on Earth, say 1 or 2 B.C."

Benton shook his head and was pleased at the level of intelligence that Lt. Wallace showed.

Maruu, who had been listening in, said, "Okay, Richard, do you know how to fight the way these people do?"

Wallace chuckled and gave a brief smile. "I know how to fight like a Klingon. Does that answer your question, Captain?"

Maruu laughed. "Okay, Richard. We need to call each other by name like the Borials do. Every member of the crew will regard rank only as a form of command, not as a ceremonious thing. Also, every member of the
crew will refer to themselves as the Virgos. That way, we'll blend in more." Stephen paused. "Very well; let's get some rest. Tomorrow we have a lot to do." Stephen turned away and walked back to the hut.