"Inner Conflict"
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"In order to survive animals kill to eat, we are no different and must
abide by this rule of nature while at the same time continue to cherish all
life and be thankful for their gifts to us."
- Elwat Cloudbreaker, Head of the Oltharian Klaj~Ra'Shall
--==(/\)==--
The Oltharian had returned to his domain but the journey from the
ANUBIS' Bridge to Main Engineering had not been a peaceful one mostly because
of the giant's thoughts which had come to be in direct conflict with his
people's most sacred belief - that all life was sacred. According to the
general definition of life, the Imperians were *living* entities possessing the right to explore their own destinies as they saw fit, and because of
this Elan could only wish them well on their quest of self discovery. The
problem was that the destiny that this race had chosen for itself went
against all that the Oltharian believed in and threatened everything
that he so deeply cherished.
As hard as he tried the Oltharian could not comprehend why an entire
race could have come to want the destruction of all *life* in the galaxy.
As an engineer Elan could image a mechanical creation turning against its
creator if after having gained a certain level of self-awareness it had
discovered that it had been mistreated. To see rebellion escalade to see the
destruction of the people who had created them had been hard for the
Chief Engineering Officer to envision, but to extend this rage to all
*biological* life in the galaxy had been beyond the gentle giant's grasp.
As Elan worked on restoring the ANUBIS' sensors back to full
capabilities, the Oltharian's thoughts went to the only people of his race who were authorized to take a life. In accordance to the code of the
Klaj~Ra'Shall, the Warrior Priests bestowed with the responsibility to protect the Oltharian way of life, a creature could be killed only if it threatened
the lives of other for something other than basic survival, and only if no
other options were available.
This meant that when faced with an enemy, the priests of the
Klaj~Ra'Shall could respond with all of their training, skills and abilities to bring an end to the threat before any innocent lives were lost. Although the Oltharian knew himself to be unable to take a life for whatever reason,
this being why he had been unable to be given his final acceptance within
the ranks of the Religious Circle, Elan could feel the need to defend
everyone around him grow stronger with each passing moment. The Imperians were something that the gentle giant had never expected to encounter in his
life, or could have imagined during his worse nightmares making him consider
a course of action that he had never before thought possible for him.
In an attempt to block these disturbing thoughts from him mind, the
Oltharian had quickly gone to work the moment he stepped into Main
Engineering certain that the work which needed to be done would be
sufficient to keep his mind busy. To a man who had embraced the ideas
of his people with more passion than most; the thought of actively
participating in any action which would result in the death of
countless others had proven to be too much for the passive giant. Yet Elan could not accept the ultimate goal of the Imperians and knew that something,
anything needed to be done to safeguard the Cardassians, the Federations and all other races who called the Milky Way galaxy their home.
Before trying to save the universe as he had come to know it, the
Oltharian had needed to focus on saving one life, that of the Intel Operative
known only as Enaii. Aside from the fact that her life had been dear to many
others despite the woman's ice cold façade; the Chief Engineering
Officer had also an ulterior motive to fuel his desire to focus solely on the
task at hand. The ANUBIS' ILO had gained the reputation of being fearless
and ruthless, and given the upcoming conflict with the Imperians, her
skills, expertise and resourcefulness would very likely come in handy and prove to be a decisive factor in the final moments of battle to come.
As much as he enjoyed seeing and being around the ILO's daughter Talia
and wife Sabrina as a friend, the Oltharian had to be entirely honest with
himself and admit that there had been another reason which had helped
bring about this inner conflict. Seeing the three of them together had
showed the engineer a glimpse of what family life could be, and that had proven to be another strong incentive to the giant, casting his thoughts on another woman who had also been taken from those who had cared about her.
The more he thoughts of her the more her continued existence proved to
be a stronger incentive to the Oltharian than any other. The woman in
question had been his once fiancée Amber Satori who had been severely injured
following a strange accident which had left her in a deep comatose
state for the last several years. After Elan had accepted to work for Admiral
Koneki, Amber had been transferred to the care of the NEW ALEXANDRIA's medical
facility where the giant had hoped a cure for her condition would be found.
Amber Satori, a woman whom Elan actually knew little about, had touched
the life of the gentle giant in a unique way and had forever changed his
perception of himself and that of his place in the universe. For her,
Elan found himself willing and ready go against the beliefs that he had held
so dear for so long if it would ensure that she would live.
The Oltharian stopped for a moment and forced his thoughts to return on
his work. Although Captain Rikar had ordered everyone to rest prior to
their arrival to SURIAL III, the CEO knew that he would need all of the time
available to get the ANUBIS' systems up to where they would at least
have a chance to succeed. The task of figuring out the dynamics of their
attempt had been the responsibility of Lt. Cmdr. Maya while the medical aspect
of this task had fallen into the lap of Ens. Halliwell leaving the CEO
with the simple assignment to have the ANUBIS ready.
--==(/\)==--
Lieutenant Junior Grade Elan Talak Fairborn
Robotics Engineering Officer 2006 post #040
Stardate: 60341.0600
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Main Engineering
Francois Charette {f_charette@hotmail.com}
Chief Engineering Officer
USS ANUBIS
NEW ALEXANDRIA
