Episode 21 Farther from Home pt. 8

*"I do not think I will ever truly understand how it is we lost to you."*
—**First, Il'kat Et'lan**

### **Pre-Break**

The episode begins where "Farther from Home pt. 7" left off. The next morning, they will begin the assault on K'noll. K'noll is actually the Changeling Lee, who is helping them lead the assault. CAPT Sull expects that Lee will try to kill them during the attack. Jem'Hadar First, Il'kat Et'lan, has orders from Odo to take down Lee at all costs, but Lee thinks he is loyal to them. The other Jem'Hadar, Ven'it Rex is unaware of the orders, and will protect Lee from all harm.

Most of the senior staff are in Holodeck 3 (CAPT Sull, AMB Olyn, MCPO Theq, LTJG Lakat, LTCDR M'Qrell, CPO Singh, and Theq's assistant hologram of Dr. Redgrave) making the Quantum stasis field generator. The field generator is capable of preventing a Changeling from transforming.

Previously, LTCDR Prahl had reported that the transmission between Olyn and AMB P'jeeno was jammed by something nearby. 10 minutes later, Prahl calls Sull and Olyn to the bridge. Prahl reports that USS *Ross* received a hidden data packet from Narendra Station. He shows the message. It contains the full blueprints for the quantum stasis field generator developed by the Obsidian Order. Sull notices a message hidden at the bottom of the blueprints. It reads "Your ship is in danger." Sull realizes that someone knew to jam the specific transmission between Olyn and P'jeeno. They order Prahl to double-check all of Ross' systems for bugs. Prahl concludes that the most likely situation is that the cloaked vessel is a Romulan who is listening to P'jeeno's transmissions. Prahl requests that they not tell about the message on the blueprint, so he can focus on the field generator. Sull agrees. Olyn thanks them for looking after Theq's mental health, but Sull corrects them. Sull says that it is inappropriate to assume emotional compromise of any of their senior officers; Theq simply doesn't have a need-to-know. Olyn apologizes, and the two begin to banter about snacks. Prahl cracks a small smile and snickers. Alpha shift ends, and he briefs LT Roh Gerz about the situation and departs.

In the holodeck, everyone is working hard when Sull sends them the blueprints. Lakat immediately recognizes that they are Cardassian. Olyn and Sull return. Sull insists that they finish the task as soon as possible so they can get some rest before the operation the next day. The crew completes the devices in 2.5 hours. Olyn leans into Lakat, takes her hand, and says that they are proud of her. Lakat says nothing, but squeezes back. Theq walks up to Sull and tells them to get some sleep while they all finish up. Sull orders Theq to sleep, instead. Sull orders everyone else to bed as well. They all leave, Olyn begrudgingly.

As Sull is finishing up, the Redgrave hologram walks over to them and asks how they are doing. Sull asks the hologram if she is getting into counselling, like her daughter. Redgrave whispers to Sull, "Don't tell anybody", and she starts to lift off her face. Underneath is the face of the Q which had visited Sull before ("Before Hell pt. 2"). Q chides Sull for leaving the Shackleton Expanse. He says that important things are happening there, and that they need to go back. Sull points out that they were ordered to perform this mission by their government. Q makes derisive remarks about the politics of the alpha and beta quadrants, but Sull accuses him of loving the drama. Q starts to say something about CDR EXEO, and then stops himself, playfully. He repeats the game, but then he finally says it. Q says that Redgrave "cheated" in more than one way when making EXEO. EXEO is "ahead of her time." Sull asks if temporal shenanigans are involved, and Q says yes. Q mentions that the Federation doesn't have a happy history with AI and holographic technologies. Q tells Sull to wrap up the mission as soon as possible and get back to the Shackleton Expanse. Sull says they will do as ordered by their superiors. Q pops away.

The device finishes replication. Sull goes to bed, but has a restless night.

### **Post-Break**

In the morning, Lakat walks into 10 Forward for breakfast. She sees M'Qrell sitting alone, drinking her tea. Lakat gets a cup of hot water from Solun and sits down across from her. Lakat removes a small bag of leaves and places it on the table. She says they are the leaves which M'Qrell asked her to grow in the Arboretum. They talk a bit about M'Qrells tea habits. M'Qrell says she normally drinks *di-rapelli*(sp?) leaves. She says that it is a rare herb that she used to grow with her father. M'Qrell asks if there is anything Lakat needs from her. Lakat asks M'Qrell if she had trouble sleeping tonight, too. M'Qrell says she slept fine, and that she is looking forward to doing her duty today. Lakat pulls out the data pad which she got from YEO3 Azzmi; it has the information on the death of Theq's brother, Reku Lynadas ("Farther from Home pt. 2"). Lakat tells M'Qrell that she hasn't read it yet, and asks if M'Qrell wants to read it with her. M'Qrell says that she was the one who wrote the report. Lakat is shocked and starts to read the PADD.

M'Qrell begins to recite from memory. Reku was on a shuttle of medical supplies to get help for M'Qrell, and the shuttle crashed. Lakat asks M'Qrell if she knew Reku well. M'Qrell says yes, and that he worked for her. The day he died, M'Qrell was supposed to be on the shuttle. Lakat asks how often M'Qrell thinks about it, and M'Qrell says "a lot". She says that Reku was a very skilled doctor, and she wants him to be remembered that way. Lakat comments that she had never built something with kindness in mind, until they made the quantum stasis field generator (Lakat's job was to modify it to not hurt the Changeling). Lakat asks if they should show the report to Theq, but M'Qrell says that he's already seen it; it's publicly available information. Lakat expresses embarrassment that she looked into it. She asks M'Qrell if she thinks about the war, and M'Qrell replies "every day". Lakat asks if this is M'Qrell's first interaction with a Changeling, and M'Qrell says that it isn't. She says that she saw a lot of injuries inflicted by Changeling orders. M'Qrell says that they should all be proud of modifying a device to be gentle on Changelings, but she couldn't care less. Lakat agrees.

M'Qrell says that she is glad Lakat is making overtures to Theq. M'Qrell says that Reku was a wonderful doctor, but he sometimes let his hate overcome is oath to heal. Lakat wonders if the cause was Reku or his circumstances. M'Qrell says that it was because of the war. She tells Lakat that when a person has too much rage inside them, it can overcome their true self. At that, Lakat retreats a little, and finishes her water in silence. She makes an awkward joke and gets up to leave. As she leaves, M'Qrell stops her a moment. She tells Lakat to just be there for Theq as a friend. She tells her to let Theq remember his brother the way he wants to; she adds "don't open old wounds." As Lakat walks out of 10 Forward and gets into the turbolift, she realizes the significance of M'Qrell's words. They were a warning to Lakat. A warning to not dig any deeper into the circumstances of Reku's death. Just as the doors close, Lakat sees a large Goose run across the corridor, chasing some crew members.

The scene shifts to a flashback conversation between Sull and Lee over a communication channel. Lee is very confused that Sull requested the Jem'Hadar Second, Ven'it Rex, stay behind with Nadran. He is a very skilled fighter. Sull says that she thought Nadran would disapprove of being left alone on the ship, and they also mention the incident with the Jem'Hadar killing the pirates ("Farther from Home pt. 5"). Lee asks if Ven'it is under arrest. Sull says he isn't. Lee insists that Ven'it be on the assault team, and hangs up. Prahl gives a hard look at Sull, and asks if they want the Starfleet personnel to use stun settings on their phasers. Sull says that they do.

The scene moves to the briefing room the morning of the operation. Senior staff are already present. Sprak, Il'kat, Ven'it, and Lee walk into the room. Il'kat gives Sull a meaningful look. Sull begins. The plan is for Tirazz and a team of Starfleet security officers to stage a large-scale ground assault on K'noll's compound. Meanwhile, a small assault team will sneak into the back to capture K'noll. The assault team will consist of Sull, M'Qrell, Lee, Il'kat, and Ven'it. Prahl is clearly upset that he isn't attending (he didn't know until this moment). Lee brings up a map of K'noll's lair, and points out his defenses. Sull looks at the map, and they think it looks too small to be a hideout. It looks like a poorly disguised ambush spot. Sull gets the impression that Lee thinks they are an amateur, and is barely trying to be sneaky. EXEO recognizes the area as being very near to Tirazz's hideout, and she starts to recreate the area in her mind. Lee finishes the brief and sits down. She stares at Lakat, and Lakat stares back, this time. Sull says that they will get in contact with Tirazz, and then the operation will begin. Lee exits with Il'kat and Ven'it. Sprak leaves.

With only Starfleet members left, Prahl turns to Sull and demands to be in the shuttle. Sull refuses. Prahl says that it is a violation of regulations, and Sull tells him to file a complaint. Prahl turns to EXEO, again looking for help, but EXEO is distracted by recreating the area and doesn't notice. She looks up a minute later and produces a hologram of the actual cave which Lee described. LT Vrenn is very impressed. Prahl finds the ambush point. It is a long corridor that opens into a large room. There are locations where automatic turrets can hide, and some areas for sharpshooters. Sull says that they will order Tirazz to clear that chamber before the assault team arrives. They say that, after they communicate with Tirazz, they want Prahl to jam all communications between USS Ross and the shuttles. They don't want to give Lee a chance to warn their team on the surface. Sull tells M'Qrell to bring the quantum stasis field generator in her medkit.

As everyone leaves, Olyn grabs Sull. They say they expect Sull to return in one piece. Sull noticeably does not make any promises. Sull takes EXEO aside. They tell her that, if things go bad, she should drop off Nadran and head straight for the Shackleton Expanse. She should get away from all the politics. EXEO says that she hopes Sull doesn't die, and Sull agrees. Sull notices that EXEO is nervously rubbing her finger. EXEO asks Sull to give her the EXEO's ring and her Commander pip. The two exchange heartfelt banter about baggage: emotional, literal, metaphorical, and Sull-shaped.

EXEO finds Prahl. He is briefing the Starfleet security team for the ground attack. This team's purpose is to clean up after Tirazz and Guzz lead the first attack. Prahl looks over at EXEO, rage in his eyes. EXEO says they need him to stay and look out for the cloaked Romulan ship. She asks why he is throwing a temper tantrum. Prahl says he only has to follow orders, not like them. EXEO starts to give him a speech about how Sull knows what they are doing and will be careful, but Prahl interrupts her. He says that he got the same speech from his commander during the war just before he was killed. He leaves and goes to the bridge.

Sull, M'Qrell, Lee, Il'kat, and Ven'it enter the shuttle. Vrenn also enters; he is flying. Vrenn cracks an awkward joke and takes off. The second shuttle leaves with the Starfleet security team to rendezvous with Tirazz. A third shuttle also takes off as a distraction. Vrenn asks the Jem'Hadar if they have sports, but they don't respond. Vrenn asks Lee if they can talk, and Lee says they will only speak if she tells them too. She says they don't have sports. M'Qrell says that war is their sport. Vrenn jokes that an Andorian hockey team is the same way. Sull looks to M'Qrell, and asks for a stimulant since they had a bad night's sleep. M'Qrell gets one from her medket, being careful to make sure the field generator is hidden.

On the bridge, Olyn nervously watches the shuttles leave. Lakat does a sensor sweep and detects something. She spots a transporter signal; someone beamed down to the planet from an unknown point of origin. Federation transporters couldn't have done it, because of the Kelbonite in the crust of Yukani Prime. She is unable to determine how many people transported, or what type of technology did it. She alerts Theq, and then walks up to Prahl to inform him and EXEO. EXEO comments that there isn't anything they can do about it, since the transmissions to the shuttles are jammed. Prahl just shakes his head. EXEO asks Prahl where he would go if he were on a cloaked ship and transported down to the planet. Lakat says that she would ambush the assault team. EXEO hails Tirazz. She asks how things are going with the attack, but Tirazz says it hasn't started yet. EXEO is surprised. She warns Tirazz that there might be Romulans present on the planet. Tirazz is surprised and annoyed. He hangs up abruptly.

Meanwhile, in the shuttle, Vrenn lands. The door opens and they step out. Lee reminds Sull that the opposition will shoot to kill. Sull says the will use stun settings. Sull notices that the Jem'Hadar are unarmed; Prahl never gave them back their weapons. Ven'it asks if they will be armed, but Il'kat says that they are weapons already. They move out. Sull is in front, with Lee behind them. Ven'it takes up the rear, just behind Vrenn. After 500 meters, Sull identifies the location that Prahl determined would be the ambush site. Lee whispers "stop". She says it looks like a good spot for an ambush, and orders Ven'it to proceed alone. He moves forward and disappears into the large room. After a minute, he returns and signals that it is clear. Sull creeps forward, waiting for Lee to strike. As the group enters the room, Sull notices there is a piece of abandoned technology sitting in the back corner. It appears out of place.

At that moment, Lee says "now". Sull spins around to face Lee, but nothing happens. Lee's face goes from confidence to shock to confusion, and then she goes liquid. At the same time, Il'kat Et'lan grabs the phaser out of Vrenn's hand, flips it to kill, and vaporizes Ven'it Rex. Sull has a chance to strike, but waits for Lee to make the first move. Lee strikes in the chest, and the sheer force of the blow throws Sull bodily across the room several meters into the cave wall. Sull can tell they have several broken ribs and is severely injured. M'Qrell drops her medkit at Vrenn's feet and moves to get between Lee and Sull. Lee strikes out at M'Qrell, but M'Qrell counters and hits back with her claws. She throws Lee against the cave wall.

Vrenn grabs the kit, digs out the field generator, and throws it at Lee. Energy explodes outward from the generator. His face is flush with adrenaline, and he goes into a rage. With a primal scream, he turns around and punches Il'kat in the face. Lee gets frozen in place by the field generator. Il'kat pushes Vrenn aside and starts stuffing Lee's liquid form into a container.

Everyone can hear the sounds of large-scale ground combat coming from various passages in the caves. M'Qrell grabs some supplies and rushes over to Sull. She stabilizes them and gives them some pain killers. Il'kat walks over to Sull and asks why they let Lee strike first. Sull says that they needed evidence to arrest Lee. Il'kat expresses wonderment that the Dominion lost to the Federation. Vrenn calms down, and walks up to M'Qrell. He says that he broke his hand when he punched Il'kat. M'Qrell bandages him up.

Sull walks over to the abandoned piece of technology. They identify it as a Romulan holographic communication device, and it's blinking. Sull activates it, and a Romulan appears. He expresses satisfaction that Sull found the device that he left for them after disabling all of the Changelings traps. He describes it as returning a favor, since he intercepted the schematics that P'jeeno transmitted to them from Narendra Station. Sull points out that the Tal Shiar already has the schematics. The Romulan replies that they will be useful to root out traitorous diplomats who transmitted them without permission. He says that he has a deal to propose: Sull hands over Sorex, and he will leave USS Ross intact. Sull replies that they don't have anyone named Sorex on their ship. The Romulan says that it is unfortunate, since he now has no excuse to not blow Sull's ship out of the stars. He disappears. Sull turns to the others, and says that they need to warn USS Ross as soon as possible. Il'kat picks up Sull and helps them race back to the shuttle. Vrenn takes off.

On the bridge, the rest of the crew wait anxiously. EXEO has been trying to discover if there is a bug on USS Ross which alerted the Romulans to Olyn and P'jeeno's call. Lakat picks up the shuttles returning to USS Ross. Lakat scans the assault team's shuttle for life signs. She sees everyone who left, minus one Jem'Hadar. She informs the rest of the bridge. EXEO tells Theq to stop the jamming signal, and she hails the shuttle. Sull tells her to take the ship to red alert. There is a confirmed Romulan ship in the area who demanded they hand over Sorex. Olyn heads down to the main shuttle bay to greet the shuttle.

In main shuttle bay, the doors to the shuttle open, and Il'kat helps Sull out of the shuttle. Sull says they need to get to the bridge immediately. Olyn takes away Sull's pain. Vrenn says that his hand hurts, too, and Olyn takes it. Everyone returns to the bridge. Lakat does a sensor sweep, but detects nothing. Sull orders USS Ross to depart the system at warp 9.8 (exceedingly fast). Vrenn excitedly carries out the order. Theq heads to main engineering to look after the engines. Sull orders Lakat to keep an eye on the sensors.

1.5 hours later, USS Ross is still at warp, but there have been no signs of pursuit. Sull is sitting in sickbay, after M'Qrell finished treating their injuries. EXEO walks in, and hands Sull their ring. She tells Sull that she wants them to take the ring apart. EXEO is concerned that the ring might be bugged. She says that her program and the ring may both be compromised. EXEO takes their hand and says "It is good to see you again, with your ribs in the correct place."

Sull reflects to themselves that, after six years, they finally bagged their Changeling.

## **Cast**

* Eric Campbell - Game Master
* Revati Dhomse - Jane Lakat
* Gina De Vivo - EXEO
* Sam de Leve - Azeri Sull
* Aki - Olyn Madzhin-Nil
* Xander Jeanneret - Theq Lynadas
* Bonnie Gordon - M'Qrell

## **Non-Player Characters**

* Yeri Prahl
* Amandeep Singh
* Q
* Roh Gerz
* Sprak
* Il'kat Et'lan
* Ven'it Rex
* Lee
* Zhyliss Vrenn
* Tirazz
* Azzmi Shanto
* Romulan Admiral

## **Locations**

* Yukovar System
	+ Yukani Prime

## **Notable Lines**

*"That son-of-a-bitch did it."*
—**Olyn Madzhin-Nil** about P'jeeno

*"I stress eat!"*
—**Theq Lynadas**

*"What sweeter words can a captain hear than that they are completely superfluous."*
—**Azeri Sull**

*"Redgrave cheated on more than one level."*
—**Q** to Azeri Sull about CDR EXEO's creation

*"Victory is life."*
*"Life is victory."*
—**First, Il'kat Et'lan** and **M'Qrell**

*"I do not think I will ever truly understand how it is we lost to you."*
—**First, Il'kat Et'lan** to Azeri Sull

*"We should put that on a pillow, captain."*
—**M'Qrell**

## **Notes and Trivia**

* This episode is the conclusion of the "Farther from Home" arc.