Location: Vegone Encampment
Tricorders were marvelous things. Either the Akritirians didn't have them or they just didn't care to find the Vegone camp that had launched the raid, because after an only an hour the group from the Albatross had found it.
Though most of the area around the Akritirian settlement was fairly open, several kilometers away there was a copse of trees bordering a river at a low point between two hills. The geography provided a defensible position as well as a good screen from prying eyes that might be in the distance. The odd thing was, that as the Icmod, Roquel, and the others approached, no one challenged them. Perhaps there were sentries in the trees in the lowland or on the hills, but so far they hadn't made themselves known. Several minutes later, they were at the tree line and going in.
Zoss and Zal crept up to the settlement first, shrouded by their natural Jem'Hadar camouflage ability.
"Sir, I spot no guards or sentries. Presence of offspring confirmed. Does not look like a war camp." Zoss reported. "Several armed beings in the vicinity, but they are not on their guard."
"Stay cautious, but try not to look too threatening. We don't know how they'll react to our presence." Icmod was glad to have Zoss and Zal along. He wasn't sure if it would be necessary but it made him feel more secure knowing someone had his and Roquel's back. "What was that?"
There was a rustling in the underbrush to the East and a Vegone stepped out into the open. He walked slowly toward the group in a very casual posture.
The Jem'Hadar pair unshrouded and immediately placed their bodies between the would-be attackers and their charges. There was a whine as their phaser rifles and personal shields flared to life.
The Vegone pointed beyond Zoss and the others. While he had played the part of the innocent greeter, seven of his fellows had moved silently up behind them. They were armed with long-knives and the projectile weapons with the explosive balls that had been used against the Akritirians.
"Zal. Rear." Zoss ordered as he heard another group of natives approach from behind. Zal responded by retreating to the rear of the group and aiming his weapon at the approaching natives. The younger warrior was just as well-armed as his father, and Zoss was confident that based on their previous run-in with the natives, they would triumph... but it would be bloody.
"Stand down." Icmod gestured for Zoss to lower his weapon. The XO looked at the leader of the group. The faces of the tribe seemed to carry a lot of pain and grief. If they felt even an inkling of what Icmod had felt during the fight in the arena, he could understand their suffering. "My name is Icmod, I and my friends here wish to understand more about what is happening here. We want to help, we just need to have a better understanding about what's happening."
Roquel touched Icmod's arm. He was such a good man. Every day she loved him more. She smiled to the Vegone in front of them, ignoring those behind. She felt she knew them, somehow. She felt she sensed a certain level of decency in the blue -purple aliens. "We come as friends." She said, slipping her hand down into his.
The Vegone may have been middle aged, because he walked with a stick. Whether it was needed or not, was hard to tell. He wore a headband, below a frilled headpiece that matched his ears in their tallness above his head. He wore a breastpiece and cloak. He may have been a leader of his people. He blinked at them with large expressive eyes. "Then come."
He turned, presenting his back to the group. He had no fear of them and not because there were other Vegones there to protect him. He didn't fear, primarily because he had nothing left to lose. The nameless, rankless Vegone led them back through the point from which he'd come; back through the underbrush.
The procession of Vegones and Albatross crewmen walked for sometime, mostly in silence. But eventually, they came to a glade. There were dozens of longhouses built of a wooden framework covered with bark walls. They ranged in length from 6 to 10 meters in length and looked to be designed for multiple familes. Two to three smoke holes could be seen in their roofs, some puffing lightly, but most not. But despite the size of the camp, the thing that dominated it was a pit on its near side where even now some Vegone were gently laying others to rest, while dirt was being shoveled over them. The leading Vegone turned. "This. This is what's happening."
"Oh, Icmod." Roquel called softly in dismay.
Icmod took in his surroundings. He wasn't really sure how to respond. "The attack from earlier..."
"I cannot speak for the colonists..." Zoss turned towards the Vegone leader. His grip on his weapon was tight, but the muzzle was pointed downwards. "But my son and I acted in self-defense. If this is an attempt to coerce us through guilt-"
"My officers are right, we didn't mean to attack your people. At the time we were just doing what we had to in order to stay safe." Icmod bowed his head. "The orders were mine, I am responsible for any casualties that my people caused."
"What you have done is not the problem that we face." The Vegone's stress on the last word indicated that it wasn't
"We know that your people are being affected by the colonists' recreational activities." The XO didn't have to wait for the leader to bring up the issue, he knew first hand how painful the Raeldra's death had been.
The Vegone nodded, sullenly. "I am Sezha Drayka. Sezha means healer. It is my duty to care for all these." He cast toward the village's populace. Then he indicated the pit with a pointed finger that lingered on its target. "It was also my responsibility to care for them. You did not kill them. The invaders did the killers. They kill the Raeldra and the death of their spirits kills us."
Icmod didn't realize the extent of the damage. Could the link between the Raeldra and Vegones be that strong. If so the colonists were committing murder and possibly without knowing it. The XO couldn't take it anymore, something had to be done. "If you're willing to trust us, we're willing to help."
"We do not fear you." Drayka assured the group. To back up his statement, he dismissed the warriors that had accompanied them back to the village with just a look.
Roquel's body language relaxed at the statement and the subsequent departure of the warriors. But beyond that, she believed Icmod would be good to his word and following her earlier experience with the Raeldra's pain, that meant something. "We should go back to the Akritirians and ask them to stop what they're doing. IMMEDIATELY."
"I don't think the colonists will be willing to negotiate. The Raeldra trade sounds like it's profitable for them." Icmod tried to gauge the manpower he would have available if he needed it.
"We have begged them, several times, to stop slaughtering the Raeldra." The Sezha informed them. "But they are committed to taking as many of them from this world as they can. They don't care HOW and WHEN they kill them, but they will. I'm sure of it."
"If they're not willing to listen maybe we can help you sabotage their operation." Icmod couldn't believe what he was saying. A few years ago he would have never caught himself saying something like that. But now, after all his experiences on Axel and Albatross, he knew there was more to life than just completing one mission after another. He knew he didn't have the authority to make such a decision but Noluk be damned these people needed help.
"What you are saying is illegal and risky even for us." Zoss interjected. "If they find out it was us, we would be banned from doing business in this sector!"
"He's right." Roquel said, adding her support. "Look around. It would be worth it."
"Insanity!" Zoss threw his arms up and stomped away, his weapon clattering against his breastplate.
Zal merely looked at Icmod and shrugged.
"I agree with the Jem Harda," Jillido said "not our problem then again I'm not a member of your crew so not sure this is more your problem then a my problem."
"Can you show us where they keep the Raeldra?" The XO asked. He knew the tribe was running low on personnel, they only needed one person to show them.
"You have seen their largest facility." Drayka replied. "It is right there at the edge of their settlement. We can't get close to it. It is heavily patrolled at all hours."
"We can get close." Roquel said. "The Akritirians still see us as an ally." There was a lot she didn't say, but most everyone knew what she was implying.
Oroins syndicate where not new to stabbing someone in the back sometimes it was needed to rise up in syndicate it did happen as much as it did with Klingons, Romulans or Cardissans but it was known to happen. Jillido just nodded
Zoss came back, looking just as furious as before. "I will NOT go along with this! What will Captain Noluk say?"
"If anyone has reservations about what we're about to do I suggest you leave for Albatross." Icmod looked towards his crew mates. "I can't guarantee there won't be repercussions for the actions we're about to take."
"I'll stay." Zal replied.
"ZAL!" Zoss snapped.
"Father, you were in that thing's head before you took the shot. You KNOW what they do here. You KNOW how wrong this is!" Zal turned and faced his father, trembling in anger.
"This is NONE of our business! There are other ways!" Zoss insisted. "We could inform the Federation, get them to order a stay of operations-"
"How many more would die, in the meantime." Roquel asked.
"You're WRONG! You're wrong and you know it!" The younger Jem'Hadar, already nearing his father's height, seemed to grow a few inches more as he drew himself up. "When you took that shot, for a moment I was in your head too! In everyone's heads! That first shot wasn't meant for the Raeldra! It was meant for the colonists wasn't it? YOU were about to execute every single miserable colonist in that arena until the creature got into your head and made you shoot IT instead!"
Roquel hadn't heard this part of the story. ~Interesting.~ She thought.
The XO wasn't about to get between a Jem'Hadar and his son. He merely stepped back a bit to allow the two to work through their disagreement.
"IT ASKED ME TO!" Zoss roared, the deafening volume of his voice scared several of the natives. "BEGGED ME! WHAT I DID WAS A MERCY!"
Zal's voice cracked from the strain of the still-raw experience. "So what, you mercykilled a Raeldra and now you'll just beam back up to our ship, leave this place, file a report, and never think about this again?! Is that what you taught me of honor? How many times have I heard you lecture me about the 'ineffectiveness of voluntary multicultural galactic confederacies?' How many times have we seen these greedy people get away with things like this? You KNOW that once we leave this place, there will NEVER BE another chance to fix this!"
Stone-faced, Zoss walked up to his son and clapped his hands around the boy's shoulder guards. He gazed into his son's eyes for several moments, still breathing hard, before relaxing his grip and letting out a deep breath.
"Your heart is true on this?" He asked. The true meaning of the words were known only to the two Jem'Hadar.
Zal nodded.
"Fine." Zoss replied grudgingly. "Stay and keep the XO safe. I must report this to the Captain. Whatever else you do is on your honor." With that, the older Jem'Hadar walked off once again while muttering a request to the Albatross. He disappeared into a shimmer of light moments later.
"Well there goes my ride I guess I'm going with you," Jillido said
Now that the arguing had subsided and Zoss was gone. Icmod turned towards the remaining crew members. "Anyone else?"
Shenara had kept quiet the whole time. She preferred to stay silent and listen. Seeing father and son fight reminded her of the fights she had engaged in with her own father when she had made her decision to enter Starfleet Academy as opposed to the Klingon Empire's equivalent. Addressing both Icmod and the Drayka "We stand with you, it would be a dishonor to back out and leave you to fend for yourselves."
"Then it's settled." Icmod turned towards Drayka. "We'll find a way to sabotage the operation. No more of your people have to die."
The Vegone didn't know what to say. These people...these OFFWORLDERS had come to see who and what they were and actually cared about what was happening. The Akritirians had not done this. They hand landed and had determined that they were inconsequential to their own goals. Even when they had been told that "harvesting" the Raeldra like so much wheat was killing the Vegone because of the mental bond that existed between their species, they had persisted. Some had supposed that the Raeldra inspired the Akritirians bloodlust because their different brain chemistry. Who could know. But these people... "I will lead you myself." The Sezha said with firm determination. In this way, I can be the healer of my people."