Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios. Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World. Tomb Raider and the situations therein are th1e property of Square Enix. All are here used by myself for entertainment purposes only, without permission or intent to profit. Stardates were calculated with the help of the TNG Stardate Calculator available on TrekGuide .com and may be slightly out of sync with those used in the game's lore.
The Traitor Returns
USS Nautilus, Shuttle One Crew, Sam Hayashi's Log, Supplemental:
While in the Dominion research base, Carlin managed to retrieve some old logs revealing the location of a tomb that contains information on the whereabouts of the Star of Yamatai. According to the legends, the Star was among Himiko's most prized possessions, a jewel that never left her person, day or night. Some believed it to be the source of her magic, while others said it was simply an a tool she used to focus it.
In any case there can be no doubt that the Star is important. Carlin believes its the ancient alien device that's been causing these storms. I'm not so sure, but I do know we have to find it and destroy it if we're ever to have a chance of getting off of this planet.
Now we've just got to get back to the shuttle and convince Ursan's greedy, green-skinned girlfriend of this...without getting caught and killed by the Solarii in the process!
Sam ran back to the shuttle, taking up the rear behind Carlin and Ursan. Her yumi was in hand, an arrow on the string, but thankfully she hadn't had to use it. Not yet anyway. They had heard Solarii in the distance as they ran through the canyon, but so far they hadn't seen any on their way out.
Now their feet pounded down the beach, on the final stretch to the Ferengi shuttle. The hatch was open, and Atria and Crusoe were standing guard beside it, their weapons ready. Crusoe smiled when he saw them approach, but Atria somehow managed to just looked annoyed. "There you are!" she said. "I was beginning to think you'd decided to stay."
Carlin ignored the jab. "We got the information," she said. "The Dominion was on the verge of a breakthrough in understanding the cause of the polaric energy when they were attacked by the Oni."
"The Oni?" Atria repeated.
"Primitive natives, but not to be underestimated," said Carlin. "They're extremely dangerous, territorial, and very hard to kill."
"Their name comes from the ancient Japanese word for demons," said Sam. "That should give you some idea of what they are."
"Whatever their true nature, they're clearly connected with Himiko's ancient kingdom here. They may be tasked with defending whatever device controls the storms," said Carlin. "If that's the case, then the fact that the Dominion was attacked right after they made this discovery is a sure sign of its importance."
"And what discovery is that?" asked Atria.
"The tomb of an ancient general," said Ursan. "The Dominion believed it had information on the cause of the storms."
"It told them the location of the Star of Yamatai, the source of Himiko's power," said Carlin.
"It was more like a focus, in the legends," said Sam, who had heard of it before, from Iko. "It was supposed to be a large glowy diamond pendant thing used as the focus of her magic in a lot of her stories."
"It was probably some kind of advanced alien device," said Carlin. "If so, it could have been passed from Sun Queen to Sun Queen and survived the collapse of their society. It could still be somewhere on this planet, causing the storms and the polaric radiation."
"And if we take it..." Atria said, licking her lips.
"We'll probably kill ourselves since we have absolutely no idea how to control it," said Carlin.
"Not to mention we'd be violating the treaty banning polaric energy in the first place," said Sam. "Or more, you'd be violating it, 'cause I'd shoot you, and then destroy the Star."
"Is that so?" said Atria, casually shifting her aim to Sam. Sam simply smiled, because she already had her bow drawn and pointed at the Orion woman.
"If you kill her, we have no way off this planet," Carlin told Sam, then turned to Atria. "And if you kill her, you'll never find the Star. I have the coordinates of the tomb in my tricorder, and nobody is seeing them unless we all agree to work together. Understood?"
Sam nodded reluctantly, knowing Carlin was right. As much as she distrusted the Orion woman, she needed her cooperation. Sam slowly lowered her weapon and Atria did the same.
Suddenly, the sound of weaponsfire rang out from somewhere nearby. Everyone raised their weapons again and turned up the beach. Sam heard a disruptor fire repeatedly from that direction, followed by the distinctive sound of a Ferengi squeal. "Help! Heeelp!" screamed a voice. Sam recognized it as Doctor Mor's. A moment later, the Ferengi dashed into sight, coming out of a ravine firing a disruptor pistol over his shoulder in panic. He ran over to them and collapsed at their feet. He looked up at her. "Sam, help!"
Sam regarded him suspiciously. Her eyes scanned the cliffs and the beach behind Mor, but she saw nothing.
Meanwhile, the others had sprung into action. Ursan was crouching down in front of the Ferengi, shielding him from the unseen threat with his body. Atria mirrored his pose, but closer to the shuttle hatch, where she had an easy escape route and it shielded her body. "How many are there?" she asked.
"I don't know..." said Mor, struggling to push himself up. "I couldn't count them..."
Carlin helped him to his feet. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm...I'm fine," he professed.
"I don't see anyone," Sam said, turning from the beach. Ursan and Atria relaxed similarly, showing they also saw no threat.
"I must have scared them off," said Mor, waving his disruptor and panting. "I feel like I've run for miles!"
"And you've barely broken a sweat," Sam observed.
Mor glared at her. "I must be fitter than I thought, hew-mon," he said, and tried to turn away.
But Sam wasn't finished with him. "You could have led them straight to us, like you did back at the palace!"
Atria raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"
Mor shook his head. "That's not how it was, Sam. They caught me. I had no choice!"
"Which is really convenient for you, isn't it?" asked Sam, unconsciously pulling back on her bowstring.
"They said it was the only way they'd let you and Carlin live!" said Mor.
"They didn't exactly let us leave."
"I tried to warn you!" said Mor.
"You tried to get us all killed!" Sam wasn't sure whether or not she'd made the decision to raise her bow, but suddenly it was there, half drawn, and aimed at the Ferengi.
"Put it down, human!" said Atria, stepping between the two of them and aiming her disruptor at Sam. Sam was so shocked she blinked and relaxed the tension on her bow. "As your Starfleet friend is so fond of pointing out, we don't have time for this!" She looked back and forth between Mor and Sam. "Look, I don't know what the problem is between the two of you, and to tell the truth I don't much care."
"I was only hoping..." Mor began.
Atria pointed her disruptor at him. "Another word, and I swear by the gods I'll blow that expensive dentistry of yours right off your face with this...or have Ursan here remove it manually."
"Stop, stop, stop!" said Crusoe. He laid a trembling hand on her shoulder, and she seemed to calm down. "If we fight among ourselves, then we lose." Carlin and Ursan nodded their agreement.
"You're right," said Atria, holstering her pistol. "Which is why this fight between the two of you is not happening," she said, looking from Mor to Sam. "Whatever it is it can wait until we've found the Star and made it off the planet." She turned her back on them and entered the shuttle.
"The Star?" asked Mor. "As in, the Star of Yamatai, from the legends?"
"What else, genius?" asked Sam, turning away and moving toward the shuttle.
"Have you found it?" asked Mor.
"If we had, we wouldn't still be here," said Sam. She let Carlin explain about the coordinates to the tomb they'd found while they all boarded the shuttle and Atria and Ursan powered up the systems, setting a course for the coordinates Carlin gave them. Sam stayed in the back, where Alex was still unconscious and Doctor Howard was still busy working on his legs. There was Crusoe, but he wasn't much of a conversationalist, and she absolutely refused to engage with Doctor Mor.
She sighed, this was going to be a long shuttle ride.
Solarii Field Notes: Father Matan's Record: Wednesday, May 30, 1 o'clock in the afternoon:
I have gathered all the surviving Brothers I can to converge on the old Dominion research base. So many memories lie in this place...but memories belong to the past, and the past is dead. Using Doctor Mor's notes and the data stored here I was able to locate the Chamber of the Sun, in the old Monastery - the center of Oni activity on this island. It does not matter. Our Queen demands the Chosen One be brought to her, and we must obey!
While I try to hide it, my strength fails because of my wound. The bleeding will not stop until either Himiko reigns again, or I am dead. The Solarii must not know this. Already they are shaken by the losses we've taken, and it is clear to me that they are no longer a match for the Outsiders who have invaded our world. A new, more sophisticated plan was needed. Fortunately, the research base and Mor have again provided everything I needed. With his loyalties switched to me, the Chosen One will soon be in our hands...and Himiko will soon be free!
Matan stood in a clearing on the east side of the crumbling research base, careful to keep his hand from his side, lest the Solarii sense weakness. In the distance, he saw the bronze speck of a shuttle lifting off and flying away, low to the southwest, following the coast. He looked down at the receiver in his hand and smiled as it came to life, indicators blinking slowly. "Our friend Doctor Mor has activated the transponder," he said. It was a Tal'Shiar device. Only two transponders and two receivers had been recovered in working order from their doomed attack on the planet thirty years ago. They were capable of transmitting a coherent tetryon pulse that would elude most sensors, but could penetrate the polaric radiation on Yamatai at ranges of up to 200 kilometers. They were capable of no more sophisticated signals than "on" and "off," but in this case that was enough. That Mor had activated his transponder meant that he had the Chosen One in sight - and the indicators on the receiver told Matan that he was aboard the shuttle, heading southwest.
Matan turned to the remaining Solarii. They were restless. They had all known that something was amiss when someone triggered the alarm downstairs, and when three Brothers had been found dead in the ravine they'd been sure - as Matan was - that it was the Outsiders. They wanted revenge, but Matan had other plans and had sent Mor instead. Now that those plans had been brought to fruition, the Solarii wanted action. Matan smiled. That was exactly what they would get.
"The Dominion had ground vehicles here, trucks," he said. "Round them all up, every one that will run. There is only one place the Outsiders can be going to, one place of importance." He would not be so stupid as to underestimate them. Despite his efforts at wiping the memory banks, the direction of their travel could only mean they'd discovered the Tomb. "We will travel in two groups with whomever the trucks will carry. Everyone else will proceed to the Monastery directly."
"You really mean to do it, then? Attack the Oni?" asked one of the Brothers, fearfully.
Matan glared at the man. If not for his need to have every able-bodied man in the upcoming fight, he would have killed the coward on the spot. "We will have the Chosen One with us," he said. "We will take her to the Chamber of the Sun, at the highest point of the Monastery. Once we complete the Ascension Ritual we will be freed and everything we've lost will be restored to us, even our very lives! The Sun Queen's power will do it!"
The Solarii murmured their agreement, some even beginning to chant prayers to the Sun Queen. The loss of their city had shaken the men out of complacency and the discovery of the Chosen One had awakened faith in all but the most stubborn of them. Even those would follow him to the death, knowing it was their only chance at salvation.
Matan turned from the crowd to Brother Yadock. The Yridian was timid, but he had gained status among the Solarii for standing by Matan's side during the brief battle with the bird-of-prey. He was also, most importantly, completely cowed by his fear of Matan and could be trusted to obey without question. Matan handed him the second Tal'Shiar receiver, leaving the second transponder tucked into his sash beside his phaser. "I'm putting you in charge of the second group. Set up at the main entrance and wait for my signal. When you see it, you attack. When I deactivate it, you stop and withdraw to the Monastery. Do you understand?"
Yadock swallowed and accepted the receiver. "Yes, Father Matan," he said. "Glory to the Sun Queen."
"Yes, glory to the Sun Queen," Matan said. Soon there will be glory indeed, and all this squalor and pain will vanish. He savored the moment in his mind before moving to make it a reality.
Author's Note: Just to be clear, the Star of Yamatai is mostly my invention. While "the Star phenomenon" is mentioned by the Japanese documents and the entries of the mysterious agent sent by "Trinity" to stop them. The nature and importance of the Star is never explained, though it's apparently connected to controlling the storms. I decided to make a place for the Star, and give it an identity connected to Himiko. In Tomb Raider, though, Himiko does not wear any kind of glowing diamond necklace.
Mor's appearance here is not original, however. It's pretty much word-for-word what happens in the game, though Sam is speaking Lara's lines, Carlin is speaking Sam's, Crusoe is speaking Jonas', and Atria is speaking Rejes'.
The tracking devices mentioned in Matan's section here are original. In the game Whitman (played by Mor here) needs no fancy gadgets to lead the Solarii straight to the survivor's camp, which is in plain sight on a beach. Carlin, Sam, and company are in a shuttle, however, which is a lot more difficult to find since it has an annoying habit of moving around. Tetryons are subspace particles which cannot normally be tracked by sensors, which would make them perfect as clandestine signalling devices. As for the feasability of using them for communications, Seven of Nine built a jury-rigged tetryon-based signalling device from shuttle parts while stranded on Ledos (VOY: "Natural Law").
Starting today, Survivors of Yamatai will post one new chapter every day until the grand finale! I hope you're looking forward to this as much as I am!