Season Two

227 Fastest and Mostest

Kath'lar and Loras go camping together. A small airborne predator rests by their tent, and quickly ends up on a roasting spit. There is a storm, and they need shelter. And Loras makes a pass at Kath'lar, who considers it.

Tzadoc tells Horah-Morash that the Tholians want New Lhasa to host a diplomatic conference between the nearby Gorn and the Dominion. The Gorn are represented by Duchess Jiline on a ship led by Captain Pilthus. The Dominion are represented by Weyoun.

George and Lyranna hang out at G'rahs bar, which becomes the subject of a raid on the anti-psi paramilitaries. They decamp to the Orion Coffee House where the waiter, much to George's annoyance, repeatedly addresses Lyranna as "Mrs. Quayn".

On the mountainside, the storm is beginning to abate. Kath'lar is about tells Loras that he is the only man he respects, when his communicator bleeps - Starfleet needs him to be accessible if required, which he is not at the moment. He has to return to Po'rama.

He takes Kath'lar to his quarters on the Stevenson, where she tells him that he is the only man she has ever had respect for, and that she can think of him as more than a friend. He wastes no more time.

The Dominion shuttle is escorted into the New Lhasa sector by Tholian vessels, which then disappear from sensors. The Gorn arrive, and complain that the Tholians are attacking them in force. Veltr'a suggests that someone is misinforming them, but is shushed by a the Captain. Tholian Ambassador Tzadoc complains when Starfleet confirms the Tholian attack

The facts reveal themselves. The Dominion want to short-cut through Gorn space to attack Cestus III. A Federation fleet is on its way. Then the Dominion stop waiting, and go through Gorn space anyway. The Gorn are occupied with a Tholian attack, and ignore the Dominion. The two Klingon ships, the Klau and the Koloth, head with the Stephenson to Cestus III, where the defensive force is supplemented with shuttle formations packed with anti-matter charges.

Loras plans to except Kath'lar from his command to civillians to leave the Stephenson before it leaves New Lhasa. He is told that he cannot make arbitrary exceptions, but Horah-Morash appoints Kath'lar, a weapons scientist and engineer, to quickly install the torpedoe launchers. She refuses her own cabin for Veltr'a's, and is given a tactical post for the battle ahead.

Rather than formally ally with Starfleet, the Gorn allow Starfleet personnel to occupy defensive facility. The Klingons try to entice the initial Dominion taskforce into the Gorn defensive array, but fail. Even so, they succeed in disabling the Galor-class craft. The Dominion tries to taunt the Klingons into standing and fighting, but K'Noff manages to convince K'ral that discretion is the better part of valour.

When the initial Dominion Battle Cruiser and Attack Ships reaches Cestus III, Veltr'a wins a pitched battle against the first Dominion wave.

Watching the battle unfold from Apotheosis station, Weyoun reveals that the Cestus sector offensive was a bluff to draw forces away from central worlds. And that the real target is Betazed.

Lyranna goes to her office. She monitors the news of the attack on Betazed. She checks the location of Kal Orioli. She finds out that he was last on the shuttlecraft Hermes. She discovers his current location is unknown.

She returns to the main chamber, yells "Murderer" and attacks Weyoun.

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