http://imgur.com/a/qGT2E#0

**Valery (left) and Sitara (right)***

[RedditChat] Shissh@Gadzooks149: nah man... Drozana, not even once

[RedditChat] Dienne@Dennet: I heard that it's like Goldshire of STO.

[RedditChat] Dienne@Dennet: True or Very True?

[RedditChat] Yunners@Yunners: I've heard the kind of things that go on in there.... feline things..

[RedditChat] Leland@Mikhail_Keeling: goddamnit

[RedditChat] Leland@Mikhail_Keeling: i blink and poof, cat person

[RedditChat] Agouti@atquick: Meow

[RedditChat] Yunners@Yunners: So I see.

Sitara@Ardhanari nods, sips her drink. "Official business then?"

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Medical emergency

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Oh... I won't pry if it's personal."

[Local] Irdros@AdamJC: ~listening to the conversation, drinking his sinthale~

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Wasn't me. My cousin Ally is Joined

[RedditChat] Yunners@Yunners: Away! Foul beastie!

[Local] Agouti@atquick: D:

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Oh... complications with the Joining?"

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: She's been Joined awhile, but there's a hereditary condition we've discovered recently

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Her sister is joined as well, and...it wasn't pretty

Sitara@Ardhanari winces. "Ah, the Commission frowns on surprise hereditary conditions in those chose for Joining. Sorry to hear it."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Yeah

Valery@Roffhessa sips her milkshake

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: I'm worried that Norvu might be at risk

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Well... sorry to bring up a painful subject." smiles softly. "I'm afraid I don't have a lot of gossip. I could talk about the Alieran's culture and physiology at length, but that's only really...

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: fascinating to me, as they're the only First Contact species I've encountered thus far."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ((bloody phonecall))

Leland@Mikhail_Keeling shows Agouti his knowledge of a variety of dance styles.

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Heh, better news than we have

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Other than the war with the Klingons winding down.

Agouti@atquick mixes things up a little!

Sitara@Ardhanari smiles. "Yeah, I've been hearing about that... about time, really."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "There was never much point in that war in the first place other than... politicians being stubborn."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Certainly no point once the Borg and others became such threats."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...well, with the Borg invading Syndicate space and everywhere else...not to mention all the other threats popping up

Sitara@Ardhanari nods. "It would take an idiot not to realize that the Federation and the Empire need to at least cooperate."

Valery@Roffhessa rubs her face, "And now the Tholians are raiding our starbases along that border...or engaging in general acts of piracy."

Sitara@Ardhanari winces. "Tholians... we haven't had to worry about them in... centuries. I wonder what made them pop up again."

Valery@Roffhessa frowns at her drink, "I have no idea

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "I heard some rumors that they'd made some incursions into the neutral zone."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Out near Drozana."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They aren't rumors

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: My old command's been in four different scraps with them

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: So far we're coming out on top

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Makes me happy that things with the Dominion, at least, are quiet... the Gamma Quadrant may not be safe or boring, but at least it's not actively at war with us."

Valery@Roffhessa chuckles

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh you missed it, then

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Oh, I heard about that... unfortunate time-travel incident here on DS9 recently..."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: We were having peace talks with us, the Cardassians, the Klingon Empire, and the Deferi at the same moment

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "I was stuck on the other side of the wormhole when all that went down."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: I was right in the middle of it

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Bloody mess

Sitara@Ardhanari grins. "Sounds... exciting, if unfortunately messy."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: The Founders could have explained the damned situation to them

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: A lot of good people died for no reason, if you ask me.

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Well, most of them were on the wrong side of the wormhole also..."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Imani told me that we found a Founder on this side, though, willing to talk things down."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They had that Jemmie fleet in the wormhole. They could have told them, "Hey, don't frell shite up. It won't be cool."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Or punt them out the OTHER end of the bloody wormhole

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...or anywhere else

Sitara@Ardhanari shrugs. "I'm not aware of the specifics. I just know that communication to and from the Gamma quadrant is hard, except by actually going through the wormhole."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...right on top of the Romulan Capital would have been handy...

Sitara@Ardhanari frowns, then understands. "Oh, are you referring to the Prophets?"

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Yeah, who knows what those things are thinking."

Sitara@Ardhanari glances around to make sure she hasn't offended any Bajorans

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: And to think I once thought of converting *snorts*

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Ah well...let's see...

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh, a certain group is no more...after manipulating a former aide of mine to shoot Kat

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Kat's fine, though

Sitara@Ardhanari sighs, sips her drink. "Kat gets shot at a lot. She should be more careful."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...she was at a football game

Sitara@Ardhanari winces. "Well, only so careful you can be I guess."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "who did she piss off this time?"

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...well...she wasn't blown up for once

Sitara@Ardhanari winces. "Well, only so careful you can be I guess."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "who did she piss off this time?"

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...well...she wasn't blown up for once

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Old employer

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Ah, black ops, spooky, intelligence stuff I gather."

Valery@Roffhessa nods

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: T

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They aren't around anymore, though

Sitara@Ardhanari nods, shrugs. "I gather those sorts of groups come and go with some regularity... dissolving when they get too obvious, reforming under a new name."

Yunners@Yunners sits in a chair.

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Or finally pissing off the wrong people to the point they decide to stomp on them hard

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Then there was the Lovecraftians as I call them...don't ask

Sitara@Ardhanari shrugs. "some groups are too well funded, and can easily simulate being squashed while secretly rebuilding elsewhere. It's hard to really tell at that level of espionage."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Personally, I hope you were successful, but black-ops groups are like earth cockroaches."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: We were. We had a lot of inside help

Sitara@Ardhanari sips her drink, seems skeptical, but doesn't contradict Val

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: And those who were members but not involved in actual treason are in SI now, forming a specops group

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: So it worked out

Sitara@Ardhanari nods. "Excellent, hopefully a group with better oversight."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: For awhile at least

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Trust me, you're lucky you've been out exploring

Sitara@Ardhanari grins. "the power of secrecy corrupts. We'll see how long it lasts."

Sitara@Ardhanari nods. "I'm getting that impression."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh! You seen one of those new Oddies?

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "although I've had some... peripheral shady shenanigans effect me as well..."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Oh, yeah, they're beautiful" smiles

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Shaani was given one. The new Emancipator

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Thing's practically a bloody mobile starbase

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Admiral Octavia promises me I'll get one soon to replace the Sarasvati... a refit Celestial-class isn't really up to deep Gamma quadrant duty for too much longer."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: hmmm

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "But you know how the red tape goes... I think they're saving most of them for front-line duty."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: I can see that

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "You can only make them so fast. Still, I'm hoping" grins

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They are dreadnoughts in all but name.

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They even carry a bloody escort ship in the aft section, about the size of a Defiant

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: yeah, but the power-conversion ratio, the thrust-to-mass ratio, the purpose built photo-emitters... it's top of the line modern."

Valery@Roffhessa nods

Sitara@Ardhanari grins. "And the attached escort... yes."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "I'm amazed nobody thought of adding a detachable escort to the larger cruisers a long time ago"

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh, there's a new Akira variant out too

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "You can build a much more efficient escort if you don't have to worry about crew quarters etc."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: heh

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "crew can live on the larger support ship, the escort can be all guns and speed."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Anyway, that's all I have. Tell me about these Alierans?

Sitara@Ardhanari grins "If you insist..." winks

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Well, they're deep-Gamma Quadrant, they're a client-race to the Dominion, pay tribute and all that, but were unknown to the Federation until I stumbled across them about a year ago."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "the Dominion never used them in the war, as they already had... more warlike allies in the Cardassians and Breen, not to mention their own Jem-Hadar."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "also... I get the impression their relationship to the Dominion is very much a `we pay you to leave us alone' relationship."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "They're... deeply odd. One of the big challenges was just getting the Universal Translator to work with them."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "They don't have a conventional... view of linear time, for one thing, which causes linguistic havoc with basic things like tenses."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: hmmm

[Local] Leland@Mikhail_Keeling: Wave your hands in the air!

Leland@Mikhail_Keeling waves his hands from side to side.

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Weird that

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "they're also not... bipedal, not one of the humanoid races seeded throughout the galaxy... they're amorphous, non-skeletal."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...blobs?

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "they can... extrude... whatever limbs they require to do whatever it is they need to do."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: hmmmm

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: amorphs

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: I've heard theories about that...sounds similar to the Lovecraftians...

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...

Sitara@Ardhanari nods. "Not blobs, exactly, just... really amazingly complex musculature systems that aren't attached to skeletal frames."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: hmmmm

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Sounds like shoggoths, heh

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: But nicer

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "They can't change shape quickly, but given time they can take whatever general form they need to."

Valery@Roffhessa nods

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "and they can't change surface texture or reflectivity like a Changeling can... they have the same rough gray skin no matter what shape they take."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They sound fascinating

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "and the same lamprey-like circular mouth."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...lamprey...*shudder*

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "So they're not true shapeshifters, they're just... amorphous. Yeah, they're pretty interesting. It's the culture that has posed the biggest challenge, which is why Starfleet has made me an ambassador

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "every time I go back through the wormhole, I have to spend at least a few weeks with them, advancing Starfleet's interests, so my time is only half exploration nowadays."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Ow, that stinks. I know how you love being out in the black

Sitara@Ardhanari smiles, shrugs. "Yeah... and frankly, diplomacy was Hanza Xian's thing... I feel like the brass are getting lazy, falling back on Xian's past memories rather than sending a real diplomat."

Agouti@atquick sits in the captain's chair.

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Well, it kind of makes sense

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "But then again, they don't have a lot of ships doing gamma quadrant exploration, so I guess they make do with what they have in the area."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: On the other hand Jadzia wasn't Curzon, heh.

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "It's not too bad. Fortunately the Alierans are.. intellectually challenging to negotiate with, so I'm not bored."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Well that's a good thing

Sitara@Ardhanari smirks. "And Sitara isn't Hanza... not even close."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "but I make do."

Valery@Roffhessa raises her glass, "Wouldn't want you to be, either."

Sitara@Ardhanari chuckles. "No, you probably wouldn't." clinks her glass with Val's

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh! You remember that idiot scoodian bint that used to chase me around here?

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Hanza was kind of a jerk when it came to women."

Valery@Roffhessa chuckles

Sitara@Ardhanari concentrates... "vaguely... Oh yeah, the pink-skinned one right?"

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Aye

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Well, my cousin, in the midst of her issues, caught her

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...then took her to that weird spatial anomaly near here. The one that shrinks people?

Sitara@Ardhanari raises her eyebrows, seeing where this is going, grins.

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Stuck her in a bloody cage and gave her to me as a gift!

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "do you have a mini-scoodian pal now?"

Valery@Roffhessa rubs her temples, "Well...the bloody thing is that's SEVERELY against the regs and laws and all that

Sitara@Ardhanari chuckles, shakes her head. "Well, I imagine you had to let her own... anti-slavery laws and all that... still, that's pretty hilarious."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh no, I'm not even HALF done

Sitara@Ardhanari grins, sips her drink in anticipation

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: So we contact them through channels...turns out the scoodian bird's own lackey staged a coup in her absence, crowned himself Emperor...and told us it was okay, we can keep her.

Sitara@Ardhanari snorts at the concept of a "scoodian emperor"

Sitara@Ardhanari grins

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...they even signed a peace treaty with us making her current state part of our side of the bargain!

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: It was the one bit they wouldn't back down on!

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Oh dear, the Federation has rules about political prisoners...."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: We tried explaining that!

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Ok, now this is sounding like a major diplomatic incident..." chuckles

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Well...the Scoodians are such a minor power in the Empire...and we've got so many other major issues to work with...and she's such a menace...

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: That the diplomatic corps told me to deal with it as I saw fit

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: ...so now I have a tiny scoodian who hates my guts in a birdcage in my office.

Valery@Roffhessa rubs her temples

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Fires, that sounds... less fun now."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "What are you going to do with her?"

[Local] Dezhe@DezheMilvi: shoot her out your party popper!

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: That's the odd thing, she seems bloody happy!

Sitara@Ardhanari shakes her head. "I... really have no idea what to say about that. I've never really had dealings with that species."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Except for the random ranting about my doom

Moklor@Mikhail_Keeling does the Robot for Moklor.

Agouti@atquick does the Robot!

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh God...they are the most ridiculous people.

Valery@Roffhessa downs the rest of her milkshake

Sitara@Ardhanari grins bemusedly, finishes her own gin and tonic...

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Your life is nothing if not... interesting." grins

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Give me boring for a month

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: And I'll be head over heels

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Heh. Come out on a deep-space survey mission with me then... it's boring about 95% of the time."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "It's that other 5% that... makes you wonder if you're going to survive to return home" grins

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Oh no thank you. I get enough of that staring down guns than wondering whether or not a spatial anomaly is going to kill me in new and horrifying ways

Sitara@Ardhanari chuckles.

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: I'm perfectly content with leaving the exploring to you mad people

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: Someone's got to mind the store while you're out, anyway

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Hey, if they give me a new odyssey I'll consider it worth it" grins

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They do have a science variant

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Yeah, and an assault variant... I think the Operations variant is more appropriate for the vagaries of initial exploration. They can send the science ships once I've found something new." grins

Valery@Roffhessa nods

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "Which isn't to say I won't ask for ALL the upgrades"

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: heh

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "too many threats, too many fronts, too few ships, you know the deal."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "but it's not like I'm asking for an assault cruiser or anything."

Valery@Roffhessa nods

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "also, frankly, my First Officer could use her own command, and I know she's fond of the Sarasvati. I kind of want to leave it to her."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "There aren't a lot of Bolian Captains out there, but she deserves the promotion."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: They gave the Lively to my XO

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: So it's got precedent

Sitara@Ardhanari nods. "Not uncommon from what I can tell, for a Captain to move on to a new command and the First Officer or some other high-ranking subordinate takes command of the old ship."

[Local] Sitara@Ardhanari: "I've done it once already with the Damayanti, my old Galaxy class... gave it to my Vulcan First Officer, who, I hear, is still doing well out in Gamma Orionis."

Valery@Roffhessa orders another milkshake

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: hmmm

Sitara@Ardhanari orders coffee, black, looks around. "This place is kind of dead... a lot quieter than I remember."

[Local] Valery@Roffhessa: hmmm, Shaani's got a bar...