Graduation Day pt. 2

*"You don't get to hurt my friends anymore. They are too important; we are too important; I am too important."*
—**ENS Envaar**

**Graduation Day pt. 2** is a special episode. It features different characters, but is still a part of the *Clear Skies* universe.

## **Plot Synopsis**

### **Details**

The episode begins where "Graduation Day" left off. The jackal mastiff, possessed by the Syrotax, lunges at LTJG Jitar, who is currently pointing a disruptor pistol at the Klingon prisoner. Jitar drops the pistol and catches the jackal mastiff by its jaws in mid-air. ENS Envaar rushes over and uses a Vulcan nerve pinch on the jackal mastiff and it goes limp. The hologram ripples with photonic energy as the being inside fights the program. Then, it disintegrates entirely. Saint PADDie no longer detects the presence of the Syrotax.

LTJG Thran looks down a hallway to see if anyone else is coming. They see shadows moving and hear footsteps of guards moving quickly. She returns and asks the Klingon prisoner if he remembers how he was brought in. He says that he does. ENS Syril leaves the cell and finds a control panel. They use Saint PADDie to hack the console and send the guards in wrong directions using the alarms. LTJG Kadix moves to the end of the corridor and tries to sense the Syrotax, but she senses nothing. Thran tells the prisoner to lead the way. LTJG Dahnen grabs the disruptor pistol. Envaar picks up the rear, with Dahnen in front of her and the prisoner in front of Dahnen. Kadix leads. Jitar and Syril trade some ideas about ways they could hack the program to their advantage. Syril says they will need a secure location to hole-up for a bit. Thran asks the prisoner, but he doesn't have any ideas. Thran recalls the layout of the prison from the simulation, and determines the barracks are the best option.

The group moves out. As they reach the end of the corridor, Syril gets a notification on Saint PADDie. It's a message from Daniels. The message says Daniels is working behind the scenes to help. Syril shows the rest of the group. At the end of the hallway, the group pauses. Saint PADDie alerts Syril that the Syrotax is nearby. Envaar says they need to move quickly. Syril looks nervously at the prisoner; they are concerned about the Syrotax taking him over, and suggest they leave him behind. Kadix says she will keep an eye on him. Envaar says he is a good opportunity to trap the Syrotax. Thran says they should move on.

As they move down the corridor, the room begins to ripple and change. At the same time, Saint PADDie alerts Syril to another message from Daniels. In an instant, the walls disappear. The group is outside in the middle of a desert. A blazing sun beams down upon them. The temperature is unbelievably high and the gravity is also higher than normal. Envaar identifies that they are on Vulcan. Dahnen notices they no longer have their disruptor pistol. Envaar turns to Jitar and says that it is warmer than she ever thought it could be (Envaar was raised on Andoria and has never been to Vulcan). Jitar looks around a bit, and then punches the sand. It reveals a small spring of water. Jitar takes some of the mud and begins spreading it on his skin as protection from the sun. A voice comes over the holodeck. The voice says there is a problem with the program, and they are going to reset it. The scenery flickers again, and they are back in the prison. The disruptor pistol is lying at Dahnen's feet, and the Klingon prisoner is there, too. Syril gets another message from Daniels. It says that the Syrotax is in the system, and it is trying to take over the holodeck.

The group dashes to the barracks with the Klingon prisoner in tow. It is a large room full of cots. There are two guards; one of them has a disruptor pistol. Dahnen points their disruptor pistol at the guards and orders them to leave. The two guards shuffle out the back door. Dahnen posts up at the door. Thran goes to Syril and suggests that this is where they make their stand. She also suggests turning off all of the other holograms so the Syrotax can only exist in the Klingon prisoner. Syril pulls out Saint PADDie and begins building the ghost trap for when they eventually hack into the system.

Envaar moves objects to blockade the doors, and she suggests that they search the bags around the room. Envaar finds a Klingon PADD. Thran and Kadix find three d'k tahg (daggers), a mek'leth (sword), and a disruptor pistol. Kadix takes the mek'leth. Dahnen and Thran each take a d'k tagh. Jitar takes the disruptor pistol. Syril finishes building the trap program, and they begin hacking the holodeck with Saint PADDie. They are assisted by Envaar with the Klingon PADD.

Suddenly, Saint PADDie warns Syril that an anomaly is forming. Kadix senses the Syrotax with her telepathy. She can feel rage and murderous intent. She turns to see the Klingon prisoner hologram charging at Syril, d'k tagh in hand.

Break.

Kadix intercepts the hologram and grapples it to the ground. The hologram screams a piercing other-worldly cry. It breaks the grapple and turns to Kadix, still holding the d'k tagh. Thran runs up behind it and stabs it in the back with her d'k tagh. The hologram doesn't react, but it begins to flicker and sputter.

While Thran and Kadix are struggling with the Syrotax, Jitar peeks out the door and sees about 10 Klingon guards running down the hallway. He prepares to shoot whatever comes through. Dahnen does the same on their door. Syril finishes hacking the holodeck program so they can start shutting down the holograms and upload their trap program. In the process, they discover that the Syrotax and the Starfleet instructors are struggling for control of the program. They also discover that the holodeck is locked.

**CONTENT WARNING: Body Horror**
The top half of the Klingon hologram whirls around while its legs stay in place. It stabs Thran in her chest with the d'k tagh. She staggers back, gravely wounded, and drops her weapon. She stares down at the open gash in her chest in shock. Kadix attacks the hologram with her mek'leth and catches it in the thigh. The hologram falls to the ground.

Dahnen runs over to Thran and tries to bandage her up, but the wound is too serious. They start helping her to the corner of the room, further from the doors. Syril summons an EMH Mark I. He calmly starts to bandage Thran while lecturing her about the wisdom of being stabbed. Envaar runs over to Thran and places herself between Thran and the rest of the room, guarding her with her own body. Thran hands her the d'k tagh and tells her to to go help Syril. Envaar refuses to leave her side, and she says that she cannot leave an injured cadet.

The prisoner hologram starts to twist and distort. Its limbs pop out of their sockets and start to fold in unnatural directions. It folds back and stands up on three limbs, its two arms and one good leg. Its neck snaps as its head spins around to look directly at them. All over its body, d'k taghs start to sprout through its skin. Its jaw bends back past the breaking point. There is another piercing shriek as it lunges for Syril. Its body collides with them, and several blades pierce their skin. Syril looks down at their chest covered in blood and starts to lose consciousness.

Jitar calmly strides over, places his hand on the side of its head, and starts a mind-meld. He touches the mind of the Syrotax. He sees its thoughts. It shows horrible images of his future. He glimpses aspects of the timeline. He sees that, throughout the life of the Federation, the Sytrotax species has been deviating the timeline, always to destroy the Federation. He sees them doing the same thing to the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union, and several species he's never heard of. He sees the murderous intent of this Syrotax; it fully intends to murder all of them. Finally, he gets a vision of the six of them in the same Temporal Defense Initiative uniform as Daniels. Jitar and the hologram throw themselves apart, and they both collapse to the ground. Jitar's disruptor pistol falls to the ground.

Dahnen sees Jitar go down, but they stay focused on the back door. They can hear the sounds of the guards about to burst through the door. Several of them have disappeared as the program begins to shut down, but there are more left. They call to the others to hurry. Envaar, shaking with Vulcan rage, takes her d'k tagh and stabs down through the creature and into the ground, pinning it in place. Kadix picks up the fallen disruptor pistol and takes over his position at the front door.

Three Klingon guards brandishing disruptor pistols burst through each door. Dahnen fires the first shot and vaporizes one of the guards. Kadix fires and blows apart another. One of the guards fires at Thran, but it goes wide and smashes into the wall next to her head. The EMH runs over to stabilize Syril. Jitar reaches up a hand to Kadix, and she takes it. He telepathically begins to share the images from the Syrotax with her. Sharing the burden allows him to stand again.

Another guard fires at Thran and the shot hits the wall on the other side of her head. Envaar grabs one of the d'k taghs that are sprouting from the hologram's flesh with her bare hand. She whispers "She is too important", and she rips out the d'k tagh and throws it into the neck of one of the guards, killing them. Another guard shoots at Envaar, but misses. Dahnen shoots twice and vaporizes two more guards. The last remaining guard fires at Jitar, but doesn't hit. Kadix is nearly overwhelmed by the combined power of Envaar's rage, Syril's and Thran's pain, and the thoughts from Jitar. She rushes at the last guard with her mek'leth and carves open his chest.

**END CONTENT WARNING**
The Syrotax-possessed hologram stiffens on the ground as a force-field effect holds it in place. The group hears another voice. This time it says "Computer, end program!" and the program ends. They are all in the black-and-yellow grid of a holodeck. The Syrotax is there, too; it is still pinned to the ground in the hologram's body. Dahnen notices they still have their disruptor pistol. They calmly walk over to the Syrotax and look to Jitar. They ask Jitar if he is going to be okay, and he struggles but he manages to say he will be fine. Dahnen executes the Syrotax. First the hologram disappears, and then they see the brief outline of an energy being before the disruptor energy blows it apart. With the death of the creature, all of their weapons vanish as well. The holodeck is swarmed with emergency personnel.

Starfleet Academy suspends all operations for 24 hours while an investigation takes place. The six of them are thoroughly questioned, but none of them mentions Daniels or the time shenanigans. The incident is classified as a holodeck malfunction. The six of them are granted commendations, and their graduation is postponed by one week while they recover.

The scene flashes forward one week. It is they day before graduation (again). The six of them are together on the quad. They are alone; everyone else has left for the break. They see Daniels walking up to them. He says that Starfleet has figured out that his alias, Keaton Richards, doesn't really belong there. Syril hands him Saint PADDie, and tells him that all of the Syrotax data is on it. Daniels turns to Jitar, and confirms that he mind-melded with the Syrotax and that he shared those memories with Kadix. Jitar mentions that one of the futures he saw looked "quite promising". Daniels looks wistfully at the academy grounds. He says that it will continue to inspire generations of students for hundreds of years. He offers the six of them positions in the Temporal Defense Initiative. Thran and Syril accept immediately. Envaar looks to Thran and accepts as well. Daniels tries to warn them all that it will be a difficult job. Envaar says that she's been waiting all week for him to offer. Dahnen tells a story that, when they were young, they had an experience which told them they were meant for something bigger than they could understand. Dahnen accepts.

   Daniels invites them all to follow him He taps on his data pad. For a moment, across the quad, a man in a commander's uniform (CDR Rogan) glances up from his PADD to see them all vanish into thin air.

## **Cast**

* Eric Campbell - Game Master
* Revati Dhomse - Thran
* Gina DeVivo - Envaar
* Sam de Leve - Syril
* Aki - Dahnen
* Xander Jeanneret - Jitar
* Bonnie Gordon - Kadix

## **Non-Player Characters**

* Daniels
* Tyran Mekler
* Rogan
* The Syrotax (creature)

## **Notable Lines**

*"Why would you be in a hot place? Who does that on purpose?"*
—**ENS Syril** upon arriving on Vulcan

*"You are under strict medical orders not to be stabbed."*
—**EMH Mark I** to the cadets

*"You don't get to hurt my friends anymore. They are too important; we are too important; I am too important."*
—**ENS Envaar**