Topic: S'Cipio: Traitor in the t00lshed

[GDA-S'Cipio]

As S'Cipio enterred the Alliance Tech Ops center, a sudden fright caused him to take a step back into the hallway.  Hydrans could be a frightening sight even in the best of circumstances.   Ever since 762 had invented nose plugs to let him breathe real air, however, he had taken up the habit of wandring Alliance HQ in au naturale.   The writhing tangle of tentacles and noxious fumes he formed in the corner was horrible enough that even a Gorn could be forgiven for momentarily coming up short.

At the moment, the mass or horror was busily flipping switches over a vast computer network, approving and rejecting access to classified information to various users.  His tangle of tentalces made him the fastest at this job that the galaxy had ever seen.  He was also engaged in his new habit of singing.

"Hail!   Hail!   The Gang's all here!" he sang with delight while hitting 'approve' over a series of information request.
"What the Heck do we care,
"What the Heck do we care!
"Hail!  Hail!   The gang's all here!
"Lyran's a bunch of dead ones, not a single live one!"

"Thossse aren't the wordsss," said S'Cipio sternly.   Such things mattered to him.  762 dismissed this objection with a flip of a tentacle, between an approval and a banning response, and treated the Gorn to another verse.

A second flip of the tentacle invited S'Cipio to join in.  The Hydran was clearly in a good mood.  The Gorn, however, merely crossed his arms and lifted his chin.   If 762 wasn't going to sing the right words, then S'Cipio wasn't going to sing at all.  There were principles involved, after all.  Principles such as the one that had brought him here.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to resssign my commission in the Alliance fleet, and cancel my accessss to classified information," he stated calmly.  "I leave to take command of the Romulan vessel Bondage within the hour.  I have not read any of my Alliance traffic, and will not enter the Command Center before I leave."

762 was surprised enough that he sang the correct verse for a moment, then his brain cought up with his mouths and he whirled to face the door.  "What???!!!!" he screamed in his best intergalactic.

"My wife hasss reminded me of the Gorn peace treaty with the Romulansss," S'Cipio explained.  "She hassss aided the Alliance for many yearsss, and now it isss my turn to take a rotation to the Romulan Empire and serve assss an exchange officer."

"PEACE treaty!"  exclaimed 762.  His tentacles whirled in alarm and accidentally banned half the FPF from access to classified information.  "The Gorn and the Romulans are currently at WAR!!!!"

S'Cipio merely shrugged.   "The conditionsss of the treaty were explicit, and made no exceptionsss in cassse of war.  The Gorn are the most peace-loving race in the galaxy.  We have never failed to live up to the conditionsss of a peace treaty, and I will not be the firssst to do sssso.  I am sssorry that I'm going to have to render ssseveral of your ssships into their component atomsss and kill hundredsss of your personell, but that issss jussst the way thingsss have worked out.   No price issss to high to pay in order to protect a peace treaty."

"But!  But!  The Gorn and the Romulans are currently at WAR!" repeated 762.

S'Cipio shrugged again.  "Take it up with my lawyersss.   I can't find a loophole in the treaty, and I doubt you can either.   Look, you and Warlock and the Federation presssident went to a lot of work for thisss treaty, and I thought you'd be glad to sssee it protected.  That'sss why I came to tell you.   More importantly, however, I actually had to *MARRY* a Romulan to form thisss treaty.  I sssure as hell didn't go through that for nothing.  I'm not going to withdraw from the peace treaty over the firsst little silly war that sssprings up.

"Effective immediately, I am transssfering my fleet membership from the Serpents of Doom to the Homeguard on Rotation."

"You mean," gasped 762.

"Yesss," finished S'Cipio.   "I'm becoming a HOR."

====================================================================



762:

After talking to Alliance personel last night, I heard that numbers were a bit off.  Off enough that the Alliance might have more fun if there were more Coalition.  So, I'm jumping ship.   I guess I'll have to settle for killing Agave and Chuut instead of winging with them.  Please remove my access from the Alliance forum.  I have *not* been in there yet, and I promise I will not enter before my access is removed.

And, if the coalition wouldn't mind, I'd like access to the coalition forum.  I had some fun flying as HOR-SCipio tonight, but would feel better if I were sure my actions fit in with your orders.

Thanks guys!

-S'Cipio

[762_XC]

You....you HOR!!!!

[KAT Chuut-Ritt]

Bravo Scipio, the Coalition will surely welcome your services, well at least till they see your name in the victim column of the kill thread courtesy of your old GDT friends.  I support your decision 100%, well done bro.

[Dizzy]

Cool, Scipio! Another target for me! Good RP post too. Nice sprinkling of humor. Well written.

[GDA-Agave]

Well, well, thought Admiral Agave.   This plan is going much smoother than he would have thought.   With a quick communication, Admiral S'cipio had been reminded of the *so-called* peace treaty with the Romulans.   How easy it seemed now to manipulate S'cipio when it came to Romulan politics these days.    Not only does S'cipio have to listen to the over-zealous Romulan ambassador on a daily basis, but he was constantly having to hear all the same arguments at home.

His new wife, the beautiful Nyet, has always let her politics be known.   Tactfully presented, but straight to the point.   The bond between the two empires were first in her heart.   Blah, blah, blah. 

If he had to sit through one more dinner while having the pros of a stronger bond  being spelled out to him like...........well............like a hatchling in a teaching center, he was just going to vaporize the long-eared #$^@%$%.   Just thinking about it infuriated him.

Yes, this plan will work.   Much more subtle.   No one excepts subtly from a Gorn.   Once S'cipio takes his leave to go *fortify* the treaty with those eternally sneaky bastards it will be all too easy to take over the day-to-day operations of the Confederation.   First, to revoke that treaty, then to find and empty his liquor cabinet in his suddenly vacated office.   Ah, yes, the cabinet would be destroyed through a construction accident.   After all, that was the same way Agave had found of his secret codes and passwords.   One stray laser cutter and suddenly the keys to the kingdom had fallen quite securly into his claws.    More time to think about that, back to the plan in progress.

Now to carry out the second phase of his masterplan.  Agave will engage his fellow Tri-Commission member in glorious battle to show just how superior the new Gorn cruisers are those leftover Klingon refits the Romulans have, but also demonstrate just how far the mighty Admiral S'cipio has fallen as a captain of the line.

Yes, this is all going quite well.

[Barack Beard]

Hey Agave,

I understand you have some free office space at HQ.  I took the liberty of poking my head in that office and it will do with some renovations.

Now that I've returned I use use a place to store some of my stuff.  Will need a bigger bar for some good single malt none of that J&B crap that I heard goes with the office, and a fridge as well for my Ben & Jerry's.  Oh and the bidet in the toilet really must go.

Anyway, if its available let me know.

[Hexx]

Amateur.
When I changed sides I made sure it was *after* I had been able to read all the plans.
<sigh>
What are Gorn schools teaching these days?

Good to have you Scip!!

[FPF-Tobin Dax]

Captain Tobin Dax, in the middle of another Federation/Kzinti officer exchange program, keyed his password into the terminal in his quarters. Starfleet Inteligence reports were the first items to come up.

Item number one was on the traitor Hexx. "Intelligence reports that the defection of  Hexx may be worse than first thought. Apparently he can read."

Item number two was equally shocking. "Lord S'Cipio has pledged his allegiance in this war to the coalition at the behest of his wife."

S'Cipio defecting might hurt us worse than Hexx. Plans often had to change once battle began, so Hexx defecting probably would have minimal effect, but losing S'Cipio? He at least knew how to fight. Add to all of this that the coalition had finally fielded superior numbers and this could be a horrible turning point in the war, thought Dax.

[FPF-DieHard]

I will kill you while flying Gorn this server, that is my goal!   

[Dfly]

some goals are unatainable

[KAT Chuut-Ritt]

some goals are unatainable

Did anyone mention Hexx surviving a server without being killed?  I don't think so.   

[GDA-S'Cipio]

I will kill you while flying Gorn this server, that is my goal!   

It is good for an Andorian to have goals.   Otherwise he'd have nothing at all.   

-S'Cipio

[Barack Beard]

Captain's Log Stardate 2272.273

The traitor S'Cipio was intercepted along the Federation Romulan border and battle ensued.  His King Eagle class Heavy Cruiser boldly turned at close range as if daring us to play the Earth game of "chicken", we oblidged him. Neither ship turned off and both ships sustained substantial damage.  The R torp is a fearsome weapon but not of the mythical proportions that some would believe.  The traitor then began to engage in cloak and fire tactics as expected and we caught him in a moderate level tractor, trusting in our phaser crews to finish the job.  The King Eagle turned to put, in sucession, different shield to interpose, but our numerous phasers and transporter bombs broke each down in turn while our tractor beam was turned up further, denying any possible escape.

Strangely enough the traitor's corpse was not found among the Romulan bodies after the ship exploded, perhaps former Admiral S'Cipio was vaporized when the Romulan ship broke in half like an egg cracked for an omlet..  Yet a retrieved log reveals that his last order had been to prepare a lifepod and one appears to be unaccounted for.  Whether he survives shall remain a mystery for the time being. 

Whatever his fate the debris left some fine and some strange trophies.  A stack of fouly scented "corepsondences" from Kroma BaSyl, a book entitled "How to Kiss up to Romulan Women" (with the chapter entitled "Pleading and Begging" having many underlined passages), and a stained Blue Romulan formal dress with emblems of the aristocracy, as well as a pair of Gorn sized handcuffs are among the later.  Among the former are some intelligence data about an alien race called the "Andromedians",  a fine pair of crystal scotch tumblers with matching decanter (the contents of which scanned as something called J & B and were so vile as to require pouring out and decontamination of the decanter being required.  Obviously the Romulan attempt at "homebrew" scotch is largely unsucessful).  Finally the best trophy recovered an ancient Earth weapon of exceptional workmansip.  The Two-Handed double edged sword being quite a beauty and it will make the perfect instrument to decapitate the traitor should he have survived the combat. 

There can be only one.

[el-Karnak]

Where did all the Klingons go?

I remember a big contingent of them last time I played dynas about a year ago.

[Hexx]

Hexx glanced out the viewscreen of the FH-P "Fury", his new ship. He even had a new codename.
Kreugy's orders to report to the Romulan front had included the odd line " You have the Kurse now"
Bit of a silly codename really, but he supposed it was just the increasingly senile Klingon's way of showing admiration.

"Sir we have recovered the lifeboat"

"Excellent, bring our guest to the bridge"

Hexx wasn't sure why this particular Romulan Captain had abandoned his ship, not that it wasn't sensible, but just seemed a little to clever for most of the Romulans he'd met.

The door behind the command chair hissed open, Hexx started to turn towards it when a huge shadow fell across him.
Standing right behind him was the largest Gorn he had ever seen in person.
A gorn that seemed most perturbed.
A gorn that seemed to have his claws wrapped around Hexx's throat in a not alltogether friendly way.

" Ramus" Hexx gasped as his first officer ability to breathe became more impaired " .. said... survivors....from.. Romulan..ship"
he wheezed out.

"I AM from that sship foolisssh one" shouted the Gorn.
Fortunately the Gorn also thought to add to the drama by bouncing Hexx off the com panel.
Oh well, at least he could almost breath again.

Hexx was a bit puzzled when his Romulan bridge crew didn't cut the Gorn down now that he was no longer in their line of fire.
Unfortunately the Gorn moving closer to him pushed Hexx's thoughts in other directions.

"I RESCUED YOU!" Hexx screeched deciding to leap to the other side of the command panel. The Gorn moving quite quickly for so large a creature, snagged Hexx by the neck and began to bounce Hexx's head off the tactical panel.

"YOU COULD HAVE SSAVED MY SSHIP!!" shouted the Gorn, emphasizing each word with another blow to Hexx's poor head.

Hexx tried to explain that if he ordered his ship to decloak during the battle they had witnessed, the Gorn ship might have shot at him, he wasn't going to bring his first Romulan ship back all banged up. Certain things just weren't done.
Unfortunately while his brain was coming up with an eloquent, yet subtle plan to get him out of this , his mouth jumped in first.
 
"Please stop hitting me"

[GDA-Agave]

Lounging in his overly spacious captain’s quarter, Agave’s mind once again turned towards his most recent communiqué.  His old fleet mate, GrazzTzz, had reported a successful encounter with the traitorous S’cipio.  It seems that S’cipio had been caught within the Federation borders and summarily dismissed.   Delicious!!  Wonderful!!  It was almost as good as a newly opened bottle of tequila that demanded to be sampled.

“How much more fun is this going to get?” said Agave to himself.  “With all my allies hunting S’cipio night and day, all I have to do is sit back and coordinate.  Yessssssss” he hissed uncharacteristically.   He was truly savoring the moment.   The first of many, he thought.  He hoped.

“Now, what to do with that moving mass of chaos, GrazzTzz?”  He said.  With sudden ease and much proficiency, Agave now let his mind slip into its most devious and malicious state.   How could the return of this skilled Gorn captain be used to further his plans?   How indeed? 

Unfortunately,  GrazzTzz has always shown the talent to slip carefully arranged plans and find his own most unlikely path.  At times this path did, thankfully, take him to the same conclusion as those arranged plans, but not always.  Those small cracks of hell that he seemed to open at those time would reach out and grab anyone foolish enough to be near him.

“Yes, he will have to be controlled.  But he can’t know it or all will fail” Agave said, now in very good control of his speech so that none of that repugnant hissing most Gorn let themselves do escaped.

Forcing himself up his heatrock, Agave lumbers across to his desk and activates the comm system.

“Communications, send a priority one message to Captain GrazzTzz.  Congratulate him first on his encounter with S’cipio, and then ask him to send coordinates where he and I can meet.  There we will discuss his future back within the Confederation once this war is concluded.  Sign it, his Greatness, Admiral Agave.”

The comms officer replied that all would be done as ordered and signed off.  This left Agave alone once again to contemplate all the various contingencies this meeting might evoke.   Somewhere deep in his psyche a little voice was warning him that he would never be able to think of enough.    

[Barack Beard]

Grazz'Tzz looked at the message from "His Greatness" Admiral Agave, commander of al Gorn forces in the current conflict.  As expected his sucessful encounter with former Admiral S'Cipio had brought praise and attention from the Admiralty, but to have the supreme Gorn commander send a personal message was high praise indeed......it was also highly suspicious.  Grazz'Tzz knew Agave from the earliest days and shared the bond of a Gorn Dragon Templar with him, but the traitor  S'Cipio had also been of the the order, so strange things were happening in Gorn politics apparently.

Grazz'Tzz had never paid much heed to politics.  The maneuverings of this and that faction held little interest for him.  Grazz'Tzz was a warrior, and his concerns were more for his imediate surroundings and comfort than for any quest for greater power.  This attitude had prevented his advancement to higher rank although his skills as a starship captain had made him too useful to be gotten rid of, at least until the episode when he had his Gorn heavy cruiser outfitted with missiles earning the wrath of the Bureau of Military Contracts who had used their influence to have former Admiral S'Cipio banish him.  With S'Cipio gone he had been welcomed back into the Confederation, and now was a war hero after the victory over the Romulan King Eagle Bondage.  A second victory over the Romulans had just cemented his status.  This could provide useful in his dealings with the Admiralty.

It wasn't strange  that Admiral Agave wanted a meeting, it was strange that he asked Grazz'Tzz to provide the coordinates.  The Admiral could order him to go anywhere that the Admiral wanted and he'd have no possibility to refuse.  Agave was obviously testing him.  Agave knew of Grazz'Tzz's current  hero status among the Gorn, if the meeting were on Gdhar or any other major Gorn planet there would be much fanfare and Agave might use this to promote his own image since he had been the one who opened the door of the Confederation for Grazz'Tzz's return and had pushed forth the paperwork that had given him the very ship that had defeated the traitor S'Cipio.  While Grazz'Tzz didn't mind Agave enjoying the rewards of his foresight, he also did not like lpublic appearances, the only speaches he liked were those of war leaders before battles to inspire the troops, and those after the battle to honor the sacrifices of the dead.  Besides Grazz'Tzz hated being used as a pawn in bigger power games.  It always happened as any action would be turned to political use, but he liked to keep as much control over his own destiny as possible.

Hydran space was not an option either as the nominal head of Alliance operations was Admiral 762.  The propaganda 762 would make over this would make any grandstanding Agave could make on Gdhar look like a childs tea party by comparison.  The extended lines of Hydran royalty would mean days of shaking tenticles, a thought that Grazz'Tzz quickly shut off. 

The Federation was a possibility, Admiral Die Hard was known for throwing a good party, and Agave would definately be happy surrounded by Orion green women and Risa girls while drinking his fill of the best Tequilla the Federation had to offer.  yet something about the tone of Agave's request made Grazz'Tzz think that this was not the best answer. 

It seemed secrecy might be best, and if one wanted secrecy it had to be in Kzinti space.  The felines would have their ears to the door of course but Whiskers was everywhere anyways.  With the Shadowlord currently running the military there would be not so much fanfare.  The Shadowlord, known as Duck by those who had earned the right to so address him, was a military man much like Grazz'Tzz and a hero would get congratulated and given his drinks on the house, a few backslaps, but that was it.  Once the war concluded the songs would be written but Duck would not waste time on such with battles still raging.  There was a problem however, there might be more to this meeting than Alliance affairs, some purely Gorn matters would be likely discussed, some things that Agave might not wish others to be party to, even trusted warriors such as Duck.

Grazz'Tzz thought to himself, so even Kzinti space is out....so what is left.....

Grazz'Tzz looked at the viewscreen for a moment, the nebula was quite beautiful.  A supernova of a giant star had created this wonder of nature.  So much like war with its violence often producing something entirely new.  Grazz'Tzz hoped this war would create something so beautiful.  The sacrifice of so many brave warriors of both sides should not be in vain.  The nebula gave him hope, a new beginning from a star's end..........

That is it! ....a star's end....The Stars End.....how appropriate he thought and sent Admiral Agave a coded message with the coordinates to the most notorious Battle Station / Pleasure Resort in the Alpha Quadrant.

[GDA-S'Cipio]

"In my opinion, you did not handle your entry into this vessel in the best possible manner", said the Romulan officer sternly.

S'Cipio paced back and forth in his stateroom as he tried to remember the man's rank.  It was something weird.  Sub-something?  No.  Pente-Centurian?  No, that wasn't right either, and it seemed to have some sort of negative connotation.  Anti-Deluvian?  No, still wrong.   Aw, screw it, thought S'Cipio.   In the Gorn navy the man would be a captain of marines, and so that was how S'Cipio would address him.  The Romulan could just bloody well translate.

"You are likely right, Captain.  I ssshould have been a bit more tactful."

The Romulan shook his head while rolling his eyes, like a man speaking to a very foolish child.

"No, I meant you should have killed him and taken command.  You'd have rid us of the Kurse!"

Rid you of Hexx AND given you an excuse to shoot me, you mean! thought S'Cipio, eying the sidearm the marine captain wore so prominently.  He knew how things worked in the Romulan navy.

Some things still managed to shock him, however.  His own crew, for example, had all chosen to die in the explosion despite his orders to evacuate.   He hadn't expected that.  When he had given the order to initiate self-destruction, another thing he hadn't expected was the response, "I already have, Sir!"  The pointy-ears were an odd people.  Ever since he'd taken command of a Romulan ship it seemed he was always having to slap someone's hand away from the self-destruction button.
 
Note to self, thought S'Cipio.  In the future, disable all officer's ability to intiate self-destruct except for my own.

He had no doubt he'd be given another ship.   Dr. Nyet's father would never miss an opportunity to send S'Cipio some place he might get killed.

"How did you ever get command of a Romulan Starship anyway?" asked the Romulan.

I took a nap at the wrong time, thought S'Cipio.   But he could not tell the Romulan that.

Things had begun well on Romulus.  His in-laws hated him but could do nothing to show it.   That was good.  His nine-year-old niece absolutely adored him.  That was good too, especially since that made his in-laws hate him even more.   He spent hours running around their palace with his niece on his back, loudly playing "Monster S'Cipio", and making sure he ran through every important social function they held.  His in-laws often tried to pass him off as their granddaughter's pet, but her screams of, "Faster, Unca' S'Cippy!   Faster!" usually gave them the lie.

Then came the day on a sunny rock in the park when his niece had woken him up with a swift kick in the earhole.  "Asleep again Unca' S'Cippy?" she'd asked, with the hurt plain in her voice.  (These Romulans had weird ideas about sleeping.  They seemed to view naps as shameful, since they cut into valuable plotting time.)  She had run back home with tears streaming from her eyes.

They next day the summons had come.

"I think it best you leave for the front," his father-in-law had said sternly.  "And I think we have found a ship that turns just slowly enough for you.  You are to take command of the King Eagle RIS Bondage, and I wish you all the success you deserve."

He hadn't heard the conversation that occurred after he left, when his niece learned she'd lost her favorite playmate, but his wife had forwarded the tape she'd been using to spy on her family.

"Unca' S'Cippy!   Unca' S'Cippy!" she'd screamed.   "No!  Make him come back!"

"But dear!" her mother had soothed, "remember how offended you were when you found him sleeping in public!"

The Romulan tyke had stamped her little foot and stuck out her bottom lip in frustration.   "I wanted him to spend more time playing with me!   I wasn't offended, I was being manipulative!"

Ah yes, a Romulan and a female.  Doom in pigtails.  No, he couldn't tell the Marine Captain any of this story.

"Is Hexx going to live?" he asked instead of answering.

"Yes," pouted the Romulan, as he stuck out his own lower lip.

"Then tell him to get me back to a shipyard.  I've a former friend I must kill."

-S'Cipio