Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Oct 21, 2012 15:52:48 GMT
Torek ...
Carl got up from the bio-bed and moved forward ...
"What's our status Andae ?" he asked, feeling the pain surge through his injured shoulder once again.
We're on a heading for Zennai two Sir. I'm convinced there's something more to that refinery." he looked up at Torek, "Sir, with all due respect, I think you should go back and allow the medic's to finish treatment ?"
"OK ... You have the Conn Commander" Carl conceded, then turned back, "What about the Raven, have we heard from her ?"
"She managed to fight off the Cordovin ships attacking her to a large extent. She's headed out of the system to keep ahead of the one remaining ship. I expect captain Watson will head back as soon as he's disabled the last ship and it's safe to return." Andae said as Calli approached the cockpit area.
Torek suddenly realized he needed to rest and headed back to one of the empty bio-beds. He fell into a fitful sleep almost instantly the Medic injected the hypo .....
Calli ...
"Sir." she said as the Commodore passed her.
Looking ahead, she could see they were approaching a large planet ...
"Let's hold here." Blakus ordered.
"Zennai two ?" she asked.
"Yes Ma'am." Wedlerson said, then remembered her reprimand earlier, "I mean Commander." he said, reddening a little. Calli was hurting too much to take a dig at the younger man, "It's what it appears to be. Except for an unusually large fusion-based power generator; four of them in fact, interlinked."
"Where's the Raven now ?" Calli asked.
"She's heading out of the system. I have her on long-range scanners. That damn Cordovin ship is still taking pot-shots at her. I think the Captain is leading them away. If he damages the Cordovin far enough out, he can head back without worrying they will come after the Raven."
"Is there anything else in the system at the moment ?" Calli asked.
"Apart for the standard mining craft, we're the only warp-capable vessel Sir." Harry confirmed.
Calli watched as the lights of Zennai two's night side shone brightly, the refinery at the luminescent heart of it, and its secret mystery.
"OK ... Speculation ..." she began, squatting between the pilots seats, "Given were not being over-run, I'd say that El-Kamat has either already been here and got what he needed, or he's still working round to coming. We know he's been recruiting ships and is using the Cordovin's for protection. Not to mention keeping tags on us ... So, I'd suggest we go down there and take a look around. Commodore Torek is going to be sedated for the duration. One of the Security Officers remain to treat him if required. In the meantime, he can do a low fly-by and beam us in undetected, then establish a high synchronous orbit to ensure constant contact. If we need help then he can come a'runnin." she finished.
"It's a valid idea." Andae said, giving her reasoning some thought.
"Well it's your call Commander." Calli said, a grin forming, "Going off current activity, I'd say they have no idea we're up here, let alone thinking of dropping in. Maybe El-Kamat has given them assurances they will not be disturbed, and we'll try our best not to. But if, and granted it's a big 'IF', Kamat has still to get here, he can only be picking up the duterium needed to maybe power up this so-called weapon of his ?" ..........
< tag : Andae / Alex / All >
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Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
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Post by Alex Watson on Oct 22, 2012 21:04:52 GMT
"Bank left thirty five degrees! Fire phaser banks one and three!" Alex was shouting almost at the top of his voice to make himself heard as various alarms and explosions rippled through the ship. The consoles either side of him sparked violently, causing the whole bridge crew to duck for cover. They had abandoned the main bridge, as the helm console and much else had been rendered little more than a twisted pile of metal, and they were now sat in the Battle Bridge in the Raven's tail section. This had the added bonus of being able to separate the saucer and allow the vast majority of the crew to escape should the battle go awry.
The Cordovin ship lit up the void as its drive core exploded, sending a massive ripple of energy through the Raven as the enemy vessel's entire reserve of anti-matter annihilated all at once. Panels flashed red everywhere, bathing the Battle Bridge in an eerie glow. The sirens continued to sound, but there was an almost serene sort of calm descending now upon the embattled bridge crew. They'd done it.
Alex took several deep breaths, killing the sirens with the touch of a few buttons. He rose and looked around at the crewmen standing with him.
"Sheilds at two percent," informed the computer automatically. Alex nodded to each of the officers in turn, they saluted in return.
"Good work, everyone. Let's get back to the system and pick up our wayward babes."
The ship swung around slowly, almost tortuously. Alex heard several creaks and groans from the superstructure.
"Come on girl...hold together..." he whispered under his breath. That had been his first real firefight, and certainly the first one he'd ever been in charge of. He tried to weigh up the situation. He'd won, but the Raven had taken a heavy beating. That said, it was three against one...he shook his head. He could second-guess himself later on during the debrief. For now, what mattered was getting Torek and the others back on board.
"Sir, Engineering says that we can only safely make Warp 1.5 in our current condition. Anything over that will overstrain the coolant systems and..." Alex cut him off.
"Very good, ensign. Just get us back to Zennai as quickly as we can go. Assign repair teams while we're on route. God only knows this ship is going to need a proper refit when we're through here..."
<Tag Raven Crew, Away Teams>
------
Ka'Rath smiled as his shuttle jumped to warp. He was out of reach now, they'd never track him down. The shuttle had had a transponder fitted, but disabling it had been child'd play. He pressed a button on the dash, opening a secure link. The face of El-Kamat swam into view on the screen.
"Well?" Kamat asked.
"Our ships have been defeated. The Raven is still operational, and Commodore Torek is still alive."
El-Kamat let loose a blistering string of profane invective. Ka'Rath just sat, quietly absorbing the abuse. When he had finished, Ka'Rath spoke again.
"Your captains have paid for their incompetence with their lives. As for myself, my situation on board the Raven was no longer tenable. If I had remained any longer, total failure was certain. That could not be permitted. As it is, I am now still in a position to be of service."
"How? How can you possibly be of service while you are no longer on board the ship?"
"I have my ways. And I happened to come across something rather interesting, something I think you'll be very happy to see."
"Well? What is it? This had better be good!"
Ka'Rath smiled and transfered the file. He saw El-Kamat call up Alex Watson's star map on the other end. His eyes blazed with fury and greed.
"This is most useful, yes. Continue your work, assassin. We will speak again." He closed the link.
"Yes...we certainly will..." murmured Ka'Rath under his breath.
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Oct 26, 2012 13:46:31 GMT
Marionette was currently in a corner of the back compartment using a console as a mirror, wrapping herself with engine tape in order to make herself somewhat more presentable to continue with the mission, and to stop the loss of hydro-fluids seeping from the burned dermaplast panels, which she had painfully peeled away and discarded.
Sufficed to say, it was an .... interesting sensation for her.
She had managed to rig herself back together for now, and with a new shirt, she looked alot less damaged than she really was.
(something of how nuclear power generation was outlawed by the federation ?)
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Nov 1, 2012 21:56:01 GMT
"So this Kamat could still on his way to pick up the duterium needed to power up this so-called weapon of his ?" one of the Security Officers repeated.
"It's entirely possible, yes. We're not going to know that without getting down there and finding out if he's already taken delivery." Calli confirmed looking at the read-outs of the refinery below, "What type of reactors are they using down there. Those readings are a little off in my opinion."
"It's possible they are using a more 'dirtier' type of fuel source." Andae said, beginning to scan the reactors one at a time.
< tag : Andae >
"The Zennai are yet to be approved for membership of the Federation, if my records are correct." Marionette commented, "It is likely this is why El-Kamat chose this location for his power source ?"
"I'm a little worried that given our issues last time, that it is only logical to think those soldiers would be looking for the shuttle. Maybe we should contact the Raven, see how long she's going to be dealing with the Cordovin. The fact the ship was attacked only strengthens my resolve that El-Kamat may not yet have arrived. Unless of course he left the ships behind to destroy all evidence of his dealings and we simply came along at the wrong time, preventing the destruction of the refinery ?" Calli mused out loud, "Harry, try to contact the ship." Wedlerson opened a Comm link and spoke:
=^= Shuttle Piper to USS Raven =^=
=^= Shuttle Piper to USS Raven =^= he repeated.
=^= USS Raven .. Go ahead Piper =^= the reply came, making all, apart from the resident android, breathe a sigh of relief. Wedlerson looked at Calli.
=^= Whats your situation Raven ? =^= she asked.
=^= We've taken a battering .. But the third and final Cordovin ship has been disabled .. We are heading back into the system but at low warp .. The Captain would like to speak to you Commander .. He is coming to the Bridge .. Please stand by Piper ........ =^=
< tag : Alex >
=^= Understood Captain .. ETA four hours thirty seven minutes .. Mark .. We will continue to scan the refinery and surrounding space and await your arrival =^=
=^= It doesn't look like they have anything down there apart from landing and docking radar .. I seriously doubt they can even 'see' us up here given our size .. It's almost ancient and the reactors are non-conforming but they obviously do the job .. Awaiting your arrival Raven .. Piper out =^= Andae added closing the Comm.
"OK, I think we should get our injuries seen to as much as possible while waiting for the Raven." Calli said, receiving a nod from Blakus.
People began to do what was necessary and Calli got some more treatment on her still aching shoulder. The Raven would be back soon, and maybe they would get some answers to get them closer to the maniac El-Kamat ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,447
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Post by Andae Blakus on Nov 3, 2012 18:49:44 GMT
It'd involved no small amount of internal debate for Andae, to eventually deny a low altitude flyby of Zennai 2 and propose a safe withdrawal to a nearby moon. As the people in the shuttle discussed the implications and possibilities of Kamat's location, Blakus began a thorough scan of the facility beginning with its power source.
It was fuelled by a matrix of inefficient fission reactors, involving a multitude of obscure isotopes of heavy atoms. The result was a wasteful and dirty reaction process, whereby the inert by-products had to be stored below ground or shipped expensively into space.
The facility did seem tightly controlled and rather safe however, unlike most of these old-style reactors where runaway reactions and 'meltdowns' were real possibilities. Still, an external attack on the facility gave rise to the possibility that it would set it going.
Now that the Piper had been moved well out of spotting distance of the planet and had scanned the refinery, Andae added to the dialogue with the Raven, =^= It doesn't look like they have anything down there apart from landing and docking radar .. I seriously doubt they can even 'see' us up here given our size .. It's almost ancient and the reactors are non-conforming but they obviously do the job .. Awaiting your arrival Raven .. Piper out =^=
He checked the navigation console over Wedlerson's shoulder, saw that the Raven's ETA was approximately thirty minutes. He was about to comment on this but then his eyes rolled back into his head and he toppled backwards to the carpet.
The next instant was notable for the fact that he had moved some ten metres down the length of the shuttle. He was lying on a pull-out biobed with a couple of the officers standing concernedly around him.
"What?" he commented. Then images rushed at him, memories in black and white with stabs of sepia. There was no timeframe to these fragments, whether they were from the depths of his history or his recent memory, it was not possible to discern.
He was a young adult, standing with palms pressed to the bay window overlooking the modern metropolis of the Gandai capital at the zenith of that race's dominance. No, he told himself, this was a memory within a memory. The adolescent was remembering a time of glory, comparing it to the present instant of despair: half the city's structures disintegrated by ionic warheads and desperate fighting in the previously-beautiful thoroughfares. He watched from the same vantage point the near-black sphere rising with shivery speed on the horizon, touching the starlight with one limb while its eyes beheld in malice the turmoil below. The end was upon them!
Kamat glared at him amusedly, his reflection seen in the window, a devillish curl of a smile touching his lips, "You don't belong here, essence. Only he is important in this picture."
The young adult who was suddenly Andae turned and frowned at Kamat, then turned to look where he was pointing. A large portrait - at least twenty metres in length - hung from the side of a sad tower-rise not far from the structure he was in. It was a rather stately and overly smooth representation of Carl Torek, dressed in an old-style business suit. His eyes seemed to move, almost imperceptibly, watching the embattled streets below.
That was all the sense his mind could make of those images. This time he held nothing back and told those around of him what he'd seen, but he feared it wouldn't make sense to any of them except perhaps Calli and Carl.
<Tag Raven & All>
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T'Brel Peers
Commander
The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
Registered: Jul 22, 2005 5:39:54 GMT
Posts: 324
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Post by T'Brel Peers on Nov 4, 2012 20:09:41 GMT
The current situation was mortifying for any Starfleet officer and T'Brel Peers felt personally responsible for the deaths of the three men under his command. They had died fighting enemies of the Federation and even though T'Brel Peers did not know them well, he mourned their deaths. T'Brel knew understood so little of the situation, but he knew that Kamat would face justice.
Not being able to do much tactical work on the Piper, T'Brel helped with the injuries and pondered the thoughts that were being discussed amongst the crew. The idea of an operative working inside the Federation was the most logical. The technology and sophistication used by their enemies in the last few hours made this the leading idea.
~Kamat has an uncanny mind, he will be a challenge~ T'Brel thought as he continued to work and await the Raven
OOC: I know its short, but I got to get back in the game
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,160
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Post by Carl Torek on Nov 7, 2012 21:37:28 GMT
Star Base Forty Seven:Admiral Tetsutaru had been in his office since before dawn. The issues concerning the USS Raven were beginning to escalate out of control as the diplomats tried to solve the problem.
Sato's Adjutant, Captain Helena Richmond entered his office and headed to the replicator. She returned and placed a mug of green tea in from of his boss, then pointedly waited for the man to pick it up and drink.
"Good ..." she said, seemingly satisfied, "Now for the bad news, the Cordovin representative is outside and is 'demanding' to see you ... She is not taking no for an answer either Admiral." Sato too a long drink from the refreshing brew and handed Helena the cup, she placed it back in the replicator then went to the door. Elder Gastain entered almost at a run.
"Admiral ... This farce has gone on long enough. Unless you have irrefutable proof, I demand you give your Federation, not to mention the Cordovin government, your decision on Torek and his so called 'missing' ship !" she said, slamming her fists onto the ornate desk for punctuation. Tetsutaru looked at his Aide, then the irate woman, trying hard to let the lingering aroma of the green tea soothe his nerves. He finally nodded.
"I am signing the relevant documents this morning Elder Gastain."
"So you have proof that the Raven has indeed been lost, and has not, as suggested, been told to vanish from sight until a solution can be found to save this murderer from his due punishment ?" she asked quietly, putting the aged Admiral on his guard suddenly, "Well ? ....." she prompted.
"Our search has come up with nothing. Possible wreckage was located by one of the search vessels, but it is inconclusive as to whether it could be from the USS Raven, or not ... In light of the unsuccessful search of ...." he halted as the Cordovin woman rose from her seat, then continued when she raised her eyebrows waiting, ".... Search of the region, out to the Raven's projected furthest point on loosing contact with her. We are convinced the ship suffered some form of catastrophic event, and as a result was destroyed."
Gastain nodded understandingly as she walked to the back wall and placed a memory chip into the side of the large screen:
"Then, would you care to explain this to me ... Admiral ?" she said, tapping a code into the panel on the right. The screen lit up showing a star field, a tactical grid had been superimposed, showing relative distances, but Sato was still having trouble identifying the region. But the one thing he did see made his go cold inside. There was an obvious bright dot highlighted by flashing brackets. Smiling, Gastain increased magnification one hundred times then a thousand, and there, unmistakably intact, was a ship ! ... Helena went to the screen and squinted at the vessel.
"That's supposed to be a ship." she asked, "Where was this taken ?"
"The location is of no matter at this point. Admiral, as Head of Star Fleet Security, you deny that this is none but your missing vessel ?" Gastain said, making the leasurely walk back to the screen where she advanced the magnification to one hundred thousand.
"So ... You photographed a ship in space. Congratulations on your advanced technology. A little out of focus though, I'd have your people work on that." Helena said.
Sato, some twenty meters from the screen could see it showed a ship. But not any ship. A Galaxy Class Star Ship. Relief flooded through him at that moment, but he dared not show it. He got up and walked to the screen and made several adjustments until satisfied.
"There is no time index on this image Councilwoman, when was this taken ........ and where. We will need those co-ordinates."
"Why ?" Gastain countered, almost grinning, "You have already acknowledged the destruction and loss of the Raven, so why would this particular vessel interest you. I think it could be only one of two reasons, 'A' you think this image was produced 'before' the ship went astray, or 'B' you 'KNOW' the Raven is safe and now want the details of the sighting to, let's say 'investigate' further ... Alas, I am under instructions from my government not to disclose any details but the image itself. Also, I am required to inform you and your superiors, that as of this meeting the Cordovin Ruling Council is suspending diplomatic relations with the Federation ... We will be investigating this 'sighting' ourselves, and will deal with the Raven when, and I do mean 'WHEN' we locate her. Any interference from the Federation will be deemed an act of aggression on our Council and the Cordovin people, and will result in, lets say, unfortunate repercussions ... I hope I make myself clear Admiral !" Gastain finished, then taking the data chip and wiping the screen clear, she went to the door. Helena quickly opened it for her then shut it behind the retreating ogre.
"Can we get that image back ?" she asked.
"No, but the rooms' security camera's will have recorded it." Sato said, Get the data off the system and check it ... Just YOU, no-one else needs to see this just now. Do it in your office and let me know when you can tell me it's the Raven. Run the star-field through every algorithm we have. I want to know what took that picture and where. One thing is certain, that image was doctored or I'm the proverbial monkey's uncle !"
Helena went into her office off Sato's and began to work ...
Sato looked at the now blank screen. The image of the Galaxy Class Ship still sharp in his mind. Callista was safe and well. Carl too was alive and doing whatever was needed. He closed his eyes and said a small prayer to protect the two people he loved like a Daughter and Son, and asked that they be brought home safely ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,447
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Post by Andae Blakus on Nov 9, 2012 23:12:39 GMT
Pammik was still propped on the reclined platform in the aristocrat's suite. Both wrists were slit now, her blood leaking slowly to the floor while small moans escaped her throat.
"This can't be true... No, it really can't..." she could hear her captor was muttering, lost in the implications of the news they'd both heard. The Raven had apparently destroyed two of the Cordovin vessels sent by the council, and the remaining vessel was adrift, reporting massive power failures.
She grimaced; somewhere in the pained expression was a grin. That ought to make things a bit trickier for Kamat - a traitor to the Cordovin people, him and his co-conspirators in the government.
"Where are the other Resistance members?" she managed to say. She didn't believe they'd been captured. She was here, being questioned... that meant they still wanted something from her, information on Resistance facilities, possibly security.
"Dead," the captor said, "Or in similar suites to this one."
Her mouth was open to speak but then a presumed aide entered the room, talking quietly but urgently in the captor's ear and pushing a data stick into their hands. The tall bald man left, and the captor's attention returned to her. "You were saying?"
[TBC - bear with me on this]
Andae was continuing to scan the surface while they awaited Watson's return on the Raven. The planet was unremarkable, a bitter and barren wasteland of grey skies and poor soils. The settlement around the refinery was the world's only notable habitation.
Suddenly his mind was caught up, inexplicably, in the morals of the situation, but he didn't have long to debate them as a comm alert grabbed his attention. Wedlerson had missed it so Blakus surveyed his own panel. "We're receiving a subspace message, from the surface," he called, surprised. "It's encoded, masked from the main comm network of the planet. The message is text only... he or she requests a meeting and is sending coordinates."
Andae thought for a moment, his fingers steepled before him, then his hands started dancing across the console.
"What are you doing?" Calli said sharply.
"I'm requesting their identity," he said, "The coordinates they give are some ten kilometres from the refinery, underground in an abandoned silo of sorts. It seems to be powerless and cut off from the surrounding infrastructure but I wouldn't trust these results."
Calli said, "Lock on to their position. Find out where they're transmitting from."
"I'm trying," Andae muttered through gritted teeth. "T'Brel, see if you can help triangulate the transmission's source from that console." Blakus's station alerted him; their 'contact' had replied. "They refuse to identify themselves," he reported. "I'd recommend against following their instructions."
<Tag T'Brel> <Tag ALL>
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Nov 10, 2012 4:46:59 GMT
Blakus's station alerted him; their 'contact' had replied. "They refuse to identify themselves," he reported. "I'd recommend against following their instructions."
Marrionette had been sitting in a spare fold-down seat, but now piped up "It is possible that they have information on Kamat, however indirectly, or at the very least, have information that they know is valuable to us.... As to their demands to remain anonymous, it is further possible that they may be some rebel individual or other whistle-blower, and wish to avoid immediate consequences of doing what is technically morally right, in an environment where the usually correct action is technically morally wrong."
She did have a point; they had no real idea if Kamat was yet to come, or had already come and gone, and so any information from potential allies should not be disregarded, especially if said allies wanted to remain nameless due to being the only one bold enough and/or morally upright enough to snitch on .... whomever.
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Nov 10, 2012 19:59:51 GMT
" ..... it is further possible that they may be some rebel individual or other whistle-blower, and wish to avoid immediate consequences of doing what is technically morally right, in an environment where the usually correct action is technically morally wrong."
Calli listened to what Marionette had to say. Her reasoning was sound, but it still didn't negate the fact that they were being hunted. Yes, if they could suddenly acquire an ally on the surface, and one that may well hold vital information on El-Kamat, then they would be negligent to miss the opportunity up.
"I'm picking up the Raven." Harry said suddenly.
Calli looked at his screen ... Yes, there she was. Coming into the system under impulse. She was pleased that both Commander Blakus, and the Captain had chosen the same course, that of not contacting the other vessel.
"Has she picked us up Commander ?" Andae asked.
"She will have yes ... We were scanned passively a few seconds ago. That would be the Raven ascertaining our condition etcetera." Wedlerson replied, "They will be in synchronous orbit with us in fifteen minutes."
"OK ... I'd hate to loose contact with our mysterious voice from the surface, but I don't think we should act until the Raven is in place. I'd say we try to keep the person talking and T'Brel can work on getting us some more definite co-ordinates. What do you think Commander ?" Calli asked Andae, who was technically still in Command.
< tag : Andae >
"The Raven is changing course." Harry informed them, "She's turning and slowing. She will attain a Geo-synchronous orbit directly above us if they continue their new heading."
"OK, I'd suggest we wait, but there are a few things we can be getting on with." Calli said, receiving a nod to continue from Blakus, "Marionette. Use the auxiliary station. Configure it for sub-strata scans ... I know it won't be accurate, given the stuff wasn't designed for this kind of situation, but do your best. I want to know if that location, once Mister Peers establishes a lock on the signal, is physically connected in any way to the refinery ... It's highly possible this person works in the main area and could have access to some sort of conduit to his, or her, location. The signal band is very fine, so they must be pretty sure the signal is not going to be picked up by the communications array at the refinery itself, it's possible they could be using something more 'advanced' that what would be available normally ?"
Everyone moved into action ... Calli looked out in the direction the Raven would be approaching from, and there, a slowly moving white dot against a motionless star-filled black background, was the Galaxy Class Vessel ... She reconfigured one of the medical screens to duplicate Harry's read-outs, then switched to a visual ... Increasing the magnification, she could see some of the external damage the ship had suffered. She was battered and bruised. Massive blackened scars stretched across the underside of the saucer section and along the Engineering hull. It didn't look as if there had been any breaches, but given the level of damage, she knew full well that the Raven would have lost people. She closed her eyes for a moment and silently voiced a prayer for the ship and crew.
In less than ten minutes they would be back aboard the ship. They would be safe and well ...
At least, she hoped so ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,447
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Post by Andae Blakus on Nov 10, 2012 23:02:37 GMT
"I agree." Andae nodded at Calli and moved into the cabin's rear compartment to continue the clandestine exchange. The Raven was moving in on them now, setting up position 'above' the Piper, at a distance at which their apparent length would be equivalent to the shuttle's as viewed from the surface.
He let T'Brel continue the task of pinpointing the coordinates of their 'contact', while turning his own sensor grid on to the Raven. It was indeed in a terrible state. He dreaded the thought of what engineering must be like, and how Milyanov and Taylor were dealing with everything. He didn't want to touch the thought that something may have happened to them, or any of his staff... It was a point of extreme worry in his mind, so he ignored it and concentrated on the surface.
Marionette had had a useful insight: the contact is either trying to help them, or has information that they knew could help them. The obvious conclusion to draw was it was a trap, an ambush. There they'd find Kamat or his colleagues, ready to take them out.
Less thinking, more doing... he told himself. He entered a mode of unperturbable focus for a few minutes, exchanging messages with the surface contact. He wondered if he should be keeping the others informed, but saw that they were busy themselves. They won't mind. Who's in charge anyway? he thought.
+++ Negative. I cannot transmit my identity.....It just wouldn't do. +++
"That's needlessly cryptic," Blakus murmured to himself, "Clearly you have an ulterior motive." His hands hovered over the console as he decided on the appropriate reply. +++ Why? If you are willing to meet with us, why are you hiding things from us now? +++ He waited an agonising couple of minutes before the reply came.
+++ I will have nothing to hide, once you get down here. Four of you; no more. If I register weaponry, or more bodies in the transporter beam, the meeting is over before it begins. +++
Andae was about to retort that that was a threat, but he thought better of it. +++ Please standby. +++ he settled on, and even that seemed dodgy. It made him uneasy to be involved in this exchange. If they had found the Piper, then this constant stream of messages would only allow them to further refine its location. He hoped Wedlerson was ready to shift the shuttle's orbit should they come under attack...
<Tag Raven, all>
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T'Brel Peers
Commander
The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
Registered: Jul 22, 2005 5:39:54 GMT
Posts: 324
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Post by T'Brel Peers on Nov 11, 2012 17:46:22 GMT
Trying to pinpoint the exact location of their mysterious friend was becoming really frustrating for T'Brel. While they had all undergone survival training, this situation felt very different. They were playing a real world game of chess and at the moment, the Raven was loosing.
"Commander, with what I have, I have pinpointed the location of our friend within five kilometers," T'Brel reported," even with the Raven's sensors I don't believe we'll be able to do much better. If we are to meet with these people, we must put ourselves at a tactical disadvantage."
Andae was about to reply to T'Brel's report, when they were once again contacted by their potential ally. T'Brel was accessing the situation and he believed that whoever this person was trying to be overly cautious, but also extremely paranoid. He or She must know that at the moment they didn't have the abilities to pinpoint their exact location, but that wasn't true for Kamat or any of his allies that might be on the planet.
"Commander, while a trap is a high probability I would recommend we give this potential friend an opportunity. We can limit our losses by having myself and Commander Valenti or yourself meet with this individual," T'Brel said knowing that they couldn't let this opportunity slip them by, not when they were so close to finding the pieces this large and complex puzzle.
(All)
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Nov 13, 2012 22:28:18 GMT
As T'brel spoke, Calli had the feeling he was on to something. She moved into the main area of the Piper. She sat down next to the Commodore and waited while the Security Officer finished treating him ...
"You want my opinion ?" Carl said as the Medic moved away. Calli nodded, "OK, well to be honest, the Commander may well be right. If we pass up on loosing this contact, then it could put us back in the hunt for El-Kamat and this 'Super Weapon' of his ... Not to mention my prospects of sitting in a center seat again." he finished with a sigh.
"So we should go down there blind ?" she asked.
From his seat, Carl looked out of the cockpit window. The once gleaming silver/white hull of the Raven was passing above them. His ship came to a graceful stop and hovered in the darkness less than two hundred meters from them.
"Captain Watson is a good Officer. He's not going to turn away from an opportunity like this. I would 'suggest' ......" he held back as Andae approached, then continued, "I'd suggest we get the shuttle back on the Raven and send a team down to the surface from there. The Ravens' sensors are a damn-sight more accurate than what we have. We;ll be able to beam down at the same table if need be. But that's just my opinion." Carl said, smiling at Andae and Calli.
"Commander Wedlerson ..." Blackus ordered instantly, "Go to one quarter impulse. Take us in a wide spiral climb to intersect with the main hanger-bay ... Don't contact the ship. She will see us coming."
"Aye Sir." Harry said.
The shuttle moved forward, then began a lazy turn to port, implementing a five degree climb rate. After one eighty degrees the shuttle was almost level with the Engineering hull. As she completed the three sixty degree turn it was level with the main hanger-bay. Harry leveled off and headed in ... On the last minute the hanger door raised and the shuttle entered, settling on it's engines and shutting down ... A moment later the rear hatch opened and the crew disembarked.
"Welcome back." Alex said, glancing at Carl.
< tag : Alex >
Calli watched the Commodore. It was obvious he was upset and concerned at the state his ship was in. But then most of the internal damage was cosmetic, nothing that a few replicated panels wouldn't fix ... The hull however was another matter. That would need a space-dock and a 'LOT' of new panels. But that could wait, she walked over to Alex ...
"Sir ... We need to get down to the surface quickly."
"I've reviewed the logs we took from the shuttle as you approached." Watson said, "I agree, we should locate the signal and get down there, while we have ....." Alex fell silent as the Comm chirped to life:
=^= Bridge to Captain =^=
=^= Go ahead =^=
=^= We have located the source of the transmission .. Three hundred nine meters below the surface in some sort of maintenance area .. Storage of spares and extra equipment Sir =^=
"OK ... Lets get down there." Carl said decisively !
"Lieutenant ..." Aeryn said, addressing the Senior Marine Officer, "Please escort the Commodore to his quarters. Post two Officers outside the door until ordered otherwise."
"I nee ......" Carl began, but could see he was on a loosing thread here, he held up his hands in submission.
"Sir." the Marine said quietly, "Ma'am ... Are we to regard the Commodore as under arrest ?"
"No Lieutenant, the Commodore is under your protective custody only. But he will be confined to quarters until we can guarantee both his, and his children's personal safety. Is that understood ?" Aeryn said.
"Ye'Sir." the Marine replied, then turned to Torek.
"Sir. If you would ..."
Carl looked around the hanger-bay, then followed the Marine out.
~~~
"OK. Ready an Away team. I want answ ......" Watson began as the Commodore left.
"Sir. With all due respect could I suggest you accompany us to the surface ... Major Tavik can assign a Marine back-up. Combined with our Security personnel we should be covered. Major Tavik could remain in Command until we return ?" Calli suggested. Watson seemed to consider the comment and made a decision:
"Major. The ship is yours ... We are in no fit state for a fight. So 'IF' you come under an attack you feel we're going to loose, then you warp out of the system and contact Star Fleet Command regardless of the away-team status. Get all current information to Admiral Tetsutaru ... Do you understand the orders as stated ?"
"Sir ... I understand the orders fully !" Aeryn confirmed.
"Good. Have Security meet us in transporter room one. Tell them to bring phasers and equipment for a ten man team." Calli ordered.
Within minutes, the team was assembled and ready to beam down ..........
< tag : Captain / All >
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Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
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Post by Alex Watson on Nov 14, 2012 19:06:11 GMT
The Raven coasted back into the Zennai system on impulse power under Alex's orders. This wasn't just because the warp drives were shot to ribbons, but so that they would have more warning and time to manoeuvre in case of another attack. The small shape of the Piper slowly came into focus on the viewscreen. Alex could see that it had had a few knocks, and he quietly prayed that everything was alright with the men and women that he had left behind. If anything had happened to them...he had enough funerals to take care of at the moment. Four officers were dead, along with twenty enlisted men and three civilians. It was the civilians that angered and tortured Alex the most. The other men and women were, had been, soldiers. They knew what they were doing, what the stakes were and why they were fighting. The youngest civilian killed had been ten years old. She hadn't known nor cared why they were fighting, all she had been told was to hide in the cupboard by her mother. She had, right up until the point that the shields over her section had partially collapsed and allowed a phaser pulse right through. The Doctor assured Alex that death had been instantaneous, but it was small comfort.
“I will pay for this,” he had said, standing over the tiny body, “Some time, somewhere, I will make amends. I promise. I will make sure that it wasn't for nothing.”
Right now, though, other things were demanding his attention. The Piper had hailed them, and Alex directed the helm to manoeuvre to bring them on board. He stood up, leaving the chair he had barely left for what seemed like forever.
“I will meet them myself. I'm sure the Commodore will want to know what the hell has happened to his ship.” His voice was dry, cracking slightly at the edges as he thought of the young girl, but he steeled himself before walking into the turbo-elevator to the hangar bay.
The Piper was just setting down as he arrived, the doors hissed open to allow the occupants to leave.
“Welcome back,” Alex said, grinning at Carl despite himself. For everything that had happened, it was like a cool wave of relief to know that the Commodore was unharmed.
“What the hell have you done to my ship?” Carl asked. His tone was light, joking, but Alex sensed a deeper seriousness behind it. Carl wasn't being entirely flippant.
“We've taken a beating,” Alex admitted. “But a few hull plates and...” he sighed, “a few lives, are nothing compared to what we did to them.” His voice was oddly flat as he said it, with none of his usual enthusiasm. “Walk with me, Commodore, I'll bring you up to speed.”
________
The ready room was deathly quiet as the senior staff gathered to discuss their recently received transmission. Many ideas had been mooted, and several heated discussions had been had. Alex had called a halt, taking a few seconds to mull it over. Would be make another decision that would cost lives, one way or the other?
“I think...” he said at last, “that if it were truly a trap, then whoever is behind it would try to make it look less obviously like a trap.”
“Logical,” replied the Vulcan doctor. “Our contact has been remarkably upfront about his or her terms and conditions. If it were a deception, I believe they would have tried to lull us into feeling secure. For instance, they would have allowed us weapons.”
“But you're talking about beaming four people down to a planet that no one has ever properly investigated without the faintest idea of what's down there!”
“Enough,” said Alex, and the table fell silent again. “I appreciate the danger into which I would be putting the men and women who went down. I also appreciate that we are out of options. We have the star-map I put together, but we don't know much about it. We don't even know which direction to go in. Whoever is sending us this signal might. We have to investigate.”
The comm chirped, the ensign at the other end letting the officers know that they had located the source of the transmission. Alex nodded as Aeryn assigned Torek's bodyguards, trying to keep his face impassive as Carl walked out.
"OK. Ready an Away team. I want answ ......" Watson began as the Commodore left.
"Sir. With all due respect could I suggest you accompany us to the surface ... Major Tavik can assign a Marine back-up. Combined with our Security personnel we should be covered. Major Tavik could remain in Command until we return ?" Calli suggested. Watson seemed to consider the comment and made a decision:
"Major. The ship is yours ... We are in no fit state for a fight. So 'IF' you come under an attack you feel we're going to loose, then you warp out of the system and contact Star Fleet Command regardless of the away-team status. Get all current information to Admiral Tetsutaru ... Do you understand the orders as stated ?"
"Sir ... I understand the orders fully !" Aeryn confirmed.
"Good. Have Security meet us in transporter room one. Tell them to bring phasers and equipment for a ten man team." Calli ordered.
Within minutes, the team was assembled and ready to beam down.
Alex looked at the faces around him on the pad. Calli, Peers and Wedlerson. Blakus was in engineering trying to fix up the chronic mess that the fight had made, and he had assigned Marionette to supervising the other repairs taking place on board the ship, particularly the primary bridge. The android had protested, but Alex had made it clear.
“You need to stay here. You've taken a lot of damage and you also need time to repair yourself. This is a big responsibility, ensign. Do not shy away from it.”
“No sir,” she had replied.
“What's going on here anyway?” Wedlerson asked, looking at the six heavily armed officers standing off the pad.
Alex took a small wrist-watch like object and fastened it around his lower arm, beneath his shirt. On a screen next to the transporter, his vital signs began to flash.
“If you lose transmission, or if...I die, beam these men down immediately,” Alex commanded the transporter technician.
“Energise!”
<Tag Away Team, All>
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Nov 15, 2012 17:40:46 GMT
Marionette had protested, but Alex had made it clear.
“You need to stay here. You've taken a lot of damage and you also need time to repair yourself. This is a big responsibility, ensign. Do not shy away from it.”
“No sir,” she had replied.
He did have a point. As much as it might do well to have a visibly damaged android on the initial away team to convince the thusfar mysterous party of their good intentions, it made no sense to step into a situation that would likely cause further damage.
Marionette stayed in the transporter room until the quartet beamed down, and then proceeded to engineering for repairs.
<tag whoever is in engineering ?>
Her initial scans didn't go too well. Most of her primary neural relay circuits were fried, and almost everything except for her Platinum-iridium positronic brain was triple-bypassed "What did you do, stick your fingers in a plasma socket ? " he sarcastically joked. She certainly did look the part; burnt-out fiber-wire hair, partially burned away clothing, and serious burns covered by engine tape as a stop-gap rig to keep stuff from falling out.
"No, i am informed that it was some sort of heavy-ion disruptor" she responded, not getting the 'don't stick fingers in power sockets' joke. She didn't remember getting hit with any sort of weapon-beam, but never the less, there was 2 minutes of time she could not account for, and had 'woken up' on the shuttle soon after with damages.
Almost all of the dermaplast panels above the waist would have to be replaced. A great many of them had melted, and later congealed into a mass of blackened boiled-looking plastic slag-runs, which also covered the screw-heads that would have to be unscrewed .... somehow.
Fortunately, most of the circuitry damage was comparatively light, all things considered. She did look very damaged, though it was a case of looking worse than it actually was.
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Nov 15, 2012 21:49:19 GMT
"What's going on here anyway ?" Wedlerson asked, looking at the six heavily armed officers standing off the pad.
"Our Security detail Harry." Calli replied, taking one of the bio-sign bracelets and placing on her arm. T'brel and Harry followed suit as they joined Calli and the Captain on the transporter pad, "Do we still have a lock on the signal from the surface ?"
"Yes Sir." the transporter technician replied, "I'll be putting you down approximately two hundred meters from the signal, it's the only suitable site Sir."
"If you lose transmission, or if my vital signs pass critical, beam these men down immediately." Alex commanded the transporter technician, then satisfied he ordered, "Energize !"
~~~~~~~~~~
The four materialized in what Calli immediately decided was a dump, quickly taking up points of the compass as they checked the room.
"Nice ... Beamed right into waste disposal ... Brilliant !" Calli commented, making sure not to step in anything too toxic.
"Actually Commander ....." Wedlerson said, checking his tricorder readings, "This is one of the newer construction area's. Radiation levels are a little worrying, but nothing we can't cope with in the short term. Lets just not vacation down here though."
The team moved forward, out of the storage area. The place stank of decay, old lubrication fluids, rust covered fixtures. 'Hell, if this is one of the new sections ....' she let the thought drop as they entered a long dimly lit tunnel, though tunnel was the wrong word, it was more like a thoroughfare. Wide, spacious, and very uninviting.
"The signal is up ahead .... Two hundred six point three meters." Harry said, scanning ahead, No other life-signs so I guess we're on our lonesome for the time being."
"Monitoring devices ?" Alex asked Harry, who was scanning ahead and behind them.
"Nothing Sir. Though I am picking up anomalous readings from approximately seventy meters ahead. Could be a transfer conduit venting" he shrugged, "Nothing we need to worry about, I think, but I'd prefer to move ahead and check it out Sir ..." Alex nodded, and Wedlerson moved forward deeper into the darkness. Calli tapped her Comm badge once, then twice, the pre-arranged signal that they were down and moving toward the target area, she nodded to the Captain that she had received the reply expected.
"OK. Lets move forward. Hug the walls, though not 'too' closely." he added, looking at the red green slime that seemed to be oozing from various panels. Calli too had noticed, and wondered how the hell these people even hoped to join the Federation and supply refined duturium when they clearly couldn't manage their own safety standards ..... The Captain, T'brel, and Calli followed the Commander down the tunnel ... She realized that she couldn't see Harry ahead due to the haze that seemed to hang in the air. She moved up to Watson and mentioned her concern. The Captain checked his tricorder and nodded.
"He's fifteen meters ahead. Left side wall. Still moving forward cautiously."
Calli wondered what the hell they were going to find once they reached their destination. She also hoped that Commander Blakus and Marionette were getting the ship into something like a readiness state ... Because, who knew what was to come, and they may well be needed down here at short notice. Especially if the contact insisted on continuing dialogue with Blakus ! ..........
< tag : Away Team > < tag : Raven >
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,447
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Post by Andae Blakus on Nov 16, 2012 7:52:09 GMT
Andae had checked by engineering as soon as the discussion was over in the shuttlebay. They were to gather in the ready room shortly but the engineer felt the engines, and more importantly his staff, needed checking up on. Almost as soon as he arrived, he was rerouting to sickbay.
"Please tell me they're alright." He said to the CMO, regarding the two biobeds side by side. On one lay Petty Officer Bruce Drayton, third degree burns down his side, and on the other lay Lieutenant Christina Taylor, engineering's third-in-command, with a substantial weapons blast in her chest.
"Drayton will make it." The CMO paused, "But Taylor... It's too early to tell, Commander."
Blakus's mouth hung open to speak but said nothing. A terrifying numbness came over his body, seizing his motor functions. Surprisingly, his mind felt little... it was as if the neural connections for pain, anguish and love had been entirely severed.
* * *
Back in engineering, after the staff meeting, Blakus was coldly handling the engine repair. The warp drive was almost completely shattered along with several key systems. The human cost couldn't be dealt with, but the engines could.
Even with the revelation of what'd happened up here, he was disappointed at not going to the surface. Having performed the exchange with the surface contact, he'd felt he would've been in prime position to be on the away team.
As he considered this, a tall pale Ensign entered engineering. Her top half seemed to have partially melted, mechanical contusions and blemishes mottling her skin and uniform. Smiling despite himself, Blakus let Milyanov start scanning the android, before approaching her himself once the initial scans were complete.
"No, she was shot," he informed Milyanov, simultaneous with Marionette's explanation. He inspected the android's cranium, circling her to see where the primary damage was, and avoiding her piercing eyes as they met once or twice. "We'll do this together," he said to his assistant. They began scraping away some of the fused circuitry and congealed skin matter to get to the screwheads. It was fortunate, the CEO considered, that androids didn't experience pain.
Milyanov began removing one of the cranial plates, exposing slightly burnt positronic circuitry, while Andae scanned with a tricorder. "Your neural net is intact," he told her, "The damage is purely superficial, although we'll have to be cautious not to cause real damage as we repair you." His tricorder began beeping insistently. Casting it a look of annoyance, Blakus ascertained the problem.
"Strange," he frowned, "According to this, your central timekeeping unit is registering two minutes fast. How do you account for this?" That wasn't the only problem, he saw. "This is impossible... there's a high concentration of chronitons in your vicinity... your body is showing signs of temporal displacement." He looked up from his tricorder and gazed into the android's passive face, his own hardly reflecting that, he was sure, "According to this, you're from the future by 127 seconds."
<Tag Marionette>
"Let's take a look at the shuttle..." Andae went to a nearby console and accessed the Piper's sensor logs. "Going by the Piper's sensors, you were aboard the whole time."
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,160
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Post by Carl Torek on Nov 18, 2012 14:54:47 GMT
"We've taken a beating. But a few hull plates and..." he sighed, " ... a few lives, are nothing compared to what we did to them." His voice was oddly flat as he said it, with none of his usual enthusiasm, "Walk with me, Commodore, I'll bring you up to speed." Carl watched the man he had placed in Command closely for a long moment, then realized he couldn't have chosen better. He walked alongside the 'Acting' Captain and listened to his detailed report.
"The third vessel was only damaged ?" he asked.
"It has life support, artificial gravity, and lighting, but little else Commodore. They will be adrift until picked up I'd think." Alex confirmed.
"I'm coming on the away team to the refinery Captain. Torek decided, expecting agreement, he was a little surprised at the reply.
"That's not going to happen Sir." Alex said, a steely defiance appearing in his voice, "We have almost lost you to attack, and to an Assassin's blade. You are staying aboard the Raven where I can at least relax my nerves regarding yours and your children's' safety ... You will have the run of the ship of course, now the killer is no longer aboard, but as for setting foot anywhere but on these deck plates ...... You can, of course, court martial me once you are reinstated, but for now ......" Watson shrugged as if the conversation was now moot.
"OK ..... Captain." Carl replied after a moment, "I'm sure I can make myself useful around here, in my 'civilian' status, of course."
"Go see your children Commodore, I need meet the Senior Staff." Alex said.
Torek looked at the man and nodded. He headed out of the room and into the nearest turbo-lift. Requesting Deck Eight he waited silently, thinking about the damage to the ship, the trouble he was causing by allowing the current course of action, and most importantly, the loss of life that had been caused on his behalf. The door opened and he walked toward his quarters. Two marines were stationed outside his door.
"Sir !" the female Lieutenant said, snapping to attention, "Major Tavik has relayed the Captain's orders that you are to have free reign over moving about the ship. The Major instructed us to remain in close proximity, just in case, Sir."
"OK Lieutenant. I'm going to be in my quarters for a few hours, at least until the children are sleeping. I'd suggest you take split shifts. Get something to eat and get some rest. We'll be making a tour of the ship later ... Thank you both."
"Sir " the two Marines said in unison as Torek left them.
The girls ran to him the instant he entered. Both jumping into his arms. He couldn't hold both of them and he fell to the floor, Bethan and Vanessa landing on top of him. All three burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter. Chloe allowed them to remain in a heap for a few minutes then asked the girls to allow their Father to breathe ... Reluctantly, they got up and Carl got to his knees. His chest and shoulder were acing from the injuries, but he was trying hard not to let them see it.
"OK girls, what did we say .... ?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in question.
"Say 'hello' then go get ready for bed." the girls replied, feigning sulking at the prospect.
"Yes. I'm sure your Father would like a relaxing shower, and a change of uniform." Chloe said, smiling at Carl, "So off you go and we'll get a nice meal ready when you are done. Bethan and Vanessa both hugged their Father, then ran off to their room.
"Thank you Chloe ... I'll follow those orders myself." Carl said, heading for his own bedroom.
~~~~~~~~~~
As Captain, he was allowed both a sonic and real water shower in his quarters ... He stood for a long long time, allowing the almost scalding jets of water to massage his aching back, shoulders, and neck. He didn't know how long he'd stood there, but eventually realized he needed to eat. Leaving the soothing confines of the shower, he toweled dry and went to his wardrobe. Taking out a fresh uniform he began to dress, then changed his mind. He returned the uniform and too out a pair of trousers and a sweater.
Taking the Comm badge off his discarded tunic, he placed it on his chest and headed for the living area. Passing the large mirror on the back of the wardrobe door, he looked at himself ... It was strange, this was the first time in his recollection that he was 'officially' inactive. The thought of a civilian life scared him more than anyone could know. He was a Star Fleet Officer, and he could not picture anything replacing that role. Leaving his room he went into the living area. Bethan and Vanessa accompanied him to his chair and then with a curtsey they took their seats. Chloe brought the food over and handed Carl a knife. With a silent prayer for those of his crew that were away from the ship, he began to carve ..........
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Nov 21, 2012 3:52:45 GMT
"Strange," he frowned, "According to this, your central timekeeping unit is registering two minutes fast. How do you account for this?" That wasn't the only problem, he saw. "This is impossible... there's a high concentration of chronitons in your vicinity... your body is showing signs of temporal displacement." He looked up from his tricorder and gazed into the android's passive face, his own hardly reflecting that, he was sure, "According to this, you're from the future by 127 seconds."
Marrionete's eyebrows did a definite wave from left to right (or rather, one eybrow and an animatronic lever, considering that that part of her face was melted away) "If i am here then, then where am i now ?" she asked paradoxically, her mirrored eyes seeming to look right thru Andae again, and reflect a very much smaller, inverted image of him.
According to her chronometer and memory engrams, 127 seconds ago would put her in turbolift 7, coming down to main engineering, and she would be walking through hallway sections J, K, and L right about now.
She formulated a hypothesis that there was a 22-percent chance that her past-self might come walking through the doorway to main engineering in ....
3 .... 2 .... 1 .........
Turning, she stared at the entryway .......
<Tag andae ?>
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T'Brel Peers
Commander
The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
Registered: Jul 22, 2005 5:39:54 GMT
Posts: 324
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Post by T'Brel Peers on Nov 21, 2012 6:15:30 GMT
The assualt on his nose was the first thing T'Brel noticed as the away team materalized as close as possible to the location of their 'friend'. It took T'Brel a few seconds to get used to the smell that surrounded them. Once his nose became accustomed to the smell, he surveyed the tactical situation. The entire complex appeared to be at best in bad shape. A small blast could easily make a large portion of the area collapse.
"I would rather scrub plasma conduits every day until I retire than work in these conditions," T'Brel said as he took out his tricorder," the air itself is contanimated. We will all need to shower once we get back to the Raven. We are close, but I'm going to recommend we take our time, we need to make sure we have the upper hand."
Commander Welderson took the lead and while T'Brel preferred to be the point man during away missions this was not the time to dictate his protocol. As they approached their destination, T'Brel could tell that their surroundings were getting progressivly worse. It wasn't long before they could see the air they were breathing
"I'm glad I don't mind getting dirty," T'Brel said as they approached a clearing.
"You get used to after a few days," a voice said through the haze," welcome to our home. I'm glad that you are able to follow directions."
(Tag Away Team)
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Nov 21, 2012 22:05:29 GMT
"I would rather scrub plasma conduits every day until I retire than work in these conditions." T'Brel said.
Calli had to agree with the Security Chief, making a mental note to get rid of the uniform she was currently wearing once they got back to the ship, it was making her skin crawl. She peered into the gloom up ahead, hoping to catch a glimpse of Wedlerson, but had no luck.
"Commander." she said to Peers, nodding up the tunnel.
T'Brel moved ahead of the group, making sure to keep visual, albeit, defused, contact with the Captain and Commander Valenti. He was approximately equidistant from Wedlerson and the others when the air seemed to notably thicken.
"I'm glad I don't mind getting dirty," he said as they approached a clearing.
"You get used to after a few days." a voice said through the haze, "Welcome to our home. I'm glad that you are able to follow directions."
Calli reached for her missing weapon, and watched as T'Brel positioned himself between the newcomer and the Captain. Up ahead, Wedlerson heard the new voice and came back toward them.
"I am Captain Alex Watson ... You are ?"
"No need for alarm Commander." the man assured Harry as he reached them, then turned to look at the group more closely, "Where is the Commander I made initial contact with ?" he asked, suddenly cautions.
< tag : Captain ? T'Brel >
"Why are you so 'adamant' that there be only four of the Raven crew in the surface ... Apart from the obvious shortage of breathable air of course ?" Calli asked.
"Believe me Commander. It is much more preferable than the vacuum on the surface." the man replied darkly, before turning back to the Captain ..........
< tag : Away Team > < tag : Raven >
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,447
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Post by Andae Blakus on Nov 22, 2012 22:15:59 GMT
Andae alternately scrutinised his tricorder and the console displaying the Piper's sensor records. He was vaguely aware of the main door to engineering opening. He glanced up, seeing a maintenance tech walking slowly to the side, and noticed Marionette's curious glare at the man.
"What is it, Ensign?" he asked, before getting an alert from his console. "Ah... It seems that the chronitons came into existence during our time on the shuttle. That's their temporal and spatial source."
He regarded Marionette curiously, and found himself mesmerized for an instant, out of wonderment at what was happening more than anything. "I don't think your... 'counterpart' is on the ship, if she even exists in this timeframe," he said. "If I could speculate, I would say that you were transported out of time. Or relatively, the rest of us were temporally dislocated two minutes into the future. You experienced two more minutes than everyone else on the shuttle, but you're not able to recollect what happened in that time. Is it possible you were taken... somewhere? Possibly to another ship, or a planet?"
<Marionette>
"Wild speculation, sir," Milyanov said over his shoulder.
"Lieutenant." Blakus turned, unamused at his assistant's interjection, "What news do you bring?"
"The ship is... screwed, sir." Milyanov's lip curled at the sudden look of rage in his Chief's eyes. "Warp drive is offline. We may be able to push past lightspeed with overdriven impulse but even then we're looking at weeks to the nearest star system. We're crippled until we get access to a drydock."
"Keep working on it. Try to get us at least functional low warp." Andae knew the goal was unrealistic, but a lot of decisions in his career had been based upon such lofty and at times utterly unattainable targets. "Any other suggestions?"
"Ensign Darwin had the idea of contacting Command, requesting that a tug be sent. Obviously that's undesirable given the circumstances..." The Lieutenant trailed off, shrugged.
"Indeed," Blakus said slowly, slipping into deep thought. "Thank you, Lieutenant, carry on."
Turning back to the console he thought on the likelihood of the whole senior staff being court martialled upon return to Starbase, or upon the arrival of the relief unit that he was thinking of requesting. It was doubtful Admiral Tetsutaro would just send a tug... There'd be a small fleet, a task force sent to bring the Raven to heel. He queried Marionette on the probability of these eventualities.
<Marionette>
Once she'd answered and he'd resumed his clean-up work on her, a high pitched alert came from the nearby console. It was on a panel that had lied cold and dormant, but one he'd left open in distant anticipation of a signal. And here it was. He opened the message with one hand while the other held on to a screwhead in Marionette's cranium.
+++ Blakus. Why didn't you come? We have been left to deal with these others, but none of them know of what I told you. +++
Blakus's hands were shaking with... nervousness? excitement? he didn't know as he typed a reply, +++ I didn't know whether to believe you. Besides, the makeup of the away team was not my decision. Captain Watson has authority. +++
+++ They're in danger, Commander, thanks to your lack of assertion and proactivity. There's no guarantee now that our promises, our information, can be shared. There's no guarantee that we won't kill them all. +++
+++ I can tell them what you told me, and I'll tell them it's probably a lie. +++ Blakus accelerated his typing, feeling anger fuel his words as well as a slight doubt at the course he'd taken. +++ And, if you are who you claim to be, you'll know I'm honest when I say that you'll pay dearly for any aggressive act you make against Captain Watson and the away team. +++
The final reply came quickly, +++ Just keep your Commodore under lock-and-key. And remember what I told you about undue interference. +++
<Away team>
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Nov 23, 2012 20:14:50 GMT
"I don't think your... 'counterpart' is on the ship, if she even exists in this timeframe," he said. Marionette agreed, based on evidence. "Indeed, however, it was a more immediately demonstrable theory." she said to his first comment.
"If I could speculate, I would say that you were transported out of time. Or relatively, the rest of us were temporally dislocated two minutes into the future. You experienced two more minutes than everyone else on the shuttle, but you're not able to recollect what happened in that time. Is it possible you were taken... somewhere? Possibly to another ship, or a planet?"
After Milyanov went and did as he was told, Marionette spoke. "I am inclined to agree with Milyanov's assessment, unless there was significant time dilation involved. Any attempts to abduct me for the purposes of hacking my positronic brain would take well over 96 hours, using very few types of force or coercion that would not inherently ruin my brain. As you can see, i am still here."
It was doubtful Admiral Tetsutaro would just send a tug... There'd be a small fleet, a task force sent to bring the Raven to heel. Blakus queried her on the probability of these eventualities. "I concur, Admiral Tetsutaro would be 67-percent likely send a small battlegroup of 9 to 12 vessels. According to current circumstances, All senior staff would be subject to Court Martial once we arrive at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. Our trial may even be televised." She calmly and briefly detailed this out, when any other ensign would go bonkers just imagining what would be a swift and abusively disgraceful flaming end to their career in starfleet.
If they failed and were caught, by either the cordovins, or by starfleet, it would be very very ugly. If they lived through getting caught, it was in doubt that even the Maquis would consider them for service.
Marionette did not see the messages being typed, as her back was to the console, with Blakus in between.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,160
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Post by Carl Torek on Nov 29, 2012 16:13:44 GMT
Star Base Forty Seven:Tetsutaro had been at his desk since before dawn. He had already had a major disagreement with the Cordovin woman, and was suddenly developing a migraine. He opened his desk draw and took two capsules, swallowing both with a sip of water as Helena came back into his office.
"There's no doubt Admiral, it's the Raven." she said, transferring her data to the large screen on the wall, "I've got astrometrics trying to find out the area the image was taken, but it's not looking good."
"We have no idea where the ship is ?"
"Apart from knowing it is in the Deffni Trianguate region, no Sir."
The door suddenly opened and a flustered Lieutenant entered.
"Admiral. I apologize for this intrusion, but the Cordovin representative is demanding to see you. Should I let her in Sir ?" the man asked, but the question was moot as Elder Gastain entered. Helena blacked out the screen and the Lieutenant left hurriedly.
"I have one question for you Admiral ... Are you willing to step aside and allow the Cordovin Government to pursue and capture the Raven and the renegade murderer ?" Gastain said.
"The USS Raven is a Federation Vessel, and as such it is ou ......" Tetsutaro began.
"I will take that as a 'NO' then and inform you that our ships are en-route and will stop the Raven by whatever means necessary ... 'ANY' interference by the Federation or third party vessels will be immediately considered an act of war on your part and will result in the strongest response !" Gastain glared at the Admiral before turning on her heal and leaving the room.
"I want a more detailed examination of that data. We need to narrow down the area we need to search." Tetsutaro said, sitting back at his desk and wondering if his headache was going to ease anytime soon.
~~~~~~~~~~
Helena had been relaying information as it came in from Astrometrics when the door to the office opened once again. This time though it was the Section Admiral himself ... Tetsutaro stood and bowed.
"Give us a minute could you Captain." Drew said, waiting for the Adjutant to leave, "Sit down Sato, you'll injure yourself with all that bowing."
"I assume you are here regarding the Raven ?" the aged Japanese Admiral asked.
"The Federation Council have just received the Cordovin ultimatum ...." Drew said, shaking his head, then requesting two glasses of Awamori, a Japanese Sake, from the replicator and handing one to his friend, "Diplomatic ties have been cut and their representatives on Earth have already arranged to depart. This 'threat' of all-out war is disturbing to say the least, and we were trying to work around it not coming to that when our Diplomat was excluded from the council chambers and instructed to leave the Cordovin Home-world within the hour."
"Are we to, succumb, to their demands Admiral ?" Sato asked, sipping the strong drink.
"Until I have definite instructions, then no ... I want you to look at a preliminary outline for a course of action should we locate the Raven ... I don't want to be starting a war here, but I'm not about to sit back and let the Raven crew perish on the whim of an irate Cordovin diplomat and some decidedly dodgy evidence against one of my Commanding Officers. I'm moving three star ships back into the general area, just in case, but we will keep this as quiet as possible for the moment." Drew said, finishing the hanazake.
Helena re-entered the room as she heard the Section Admiral leave.
"Put up the current locations of the nearest twelve star ships, then go get us some breakfast ... I have a feeling we may be here a while my dear."
Helena nodded, brought up the requested information, then headed out of the office. Tetsutaro didn't enjoy replicated Japanese food, he thought it like eating nothingness on a plate ... She went into the next room where a small galley had been set up and began to prepare something for her boss. Sato looked at the images on screen and wondered what the next few hours, days, would bring ..........
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Dec 2, 2012 17:47:36 GMT
"Why are you so 'adamant' that there be only four of the Raven crew in the surface ... Apart from the obvious shortage of breathable air of course ?" Calli asked.
"Believe me Commander. It is much more preferable than the vacuum on the surface." the man replied darkly, before turning back to the Captain, "We will discuss you're failure to bring the man down that we have been in contact with in a short while, but now you must follow me quickly."
"We're going nowhere !" Calli said.
"Follow me, or perish through asphyxiation ... The choice is, of course, yours !" the contact said, moving off down the passage without a backward glance.
"T'Brel, keep an eye on our, host." the Captain said, following the man.
Within a minute they reached a door, and the contact entered, followed wearily by Peers, the the others. He moved to a cabinet and took out a handful of devices, handing one to each of the away team, keeping one for himself, then throwing the others onto the table before them.
"Place the clip over your nose, and the re-breather into your mouth ... In a few seconds the oxygen level will fall rapidly. Fear not, it will last for only five minutes before levels return to nominal."
"What is going on ?" T'Brel said, eying the contact with suspicion.
"Every six hours we need to pour the unrefined duturium into ingots, before re-smelting and extraction of the refined product can begin. On other worlds, this would all be done remotely, but here it does not ... The process burns off over ninety percent of the oxygen within the complex. These re-breathers allow us to remain in the refinery rather than having to be shipped off the surface each pour. Alas, we do not have the equipment to perform this task artificially." the contact replaced the clip then took the mouthpiece, "The temperature will rise substantially during the pour and for some moments after, but do not be alarmed. Now, insert your breathers."
"What are those for ?" Calli asked, pointing at the ones on the table."
"Unfortunately, the re-breathers are supplied by a less than reputable source, and have an uncanny knack of, failing." the contact said with a shrug.
Calli was about to comment when she realized she couldn't breath. The air suddenly became hot, very hot, and she jammed the device into her mouth quickly. The sound, even at this distance from the furnaces, was deafeningly loud. She put her hands over her ears and watched the others in the group. Only the contact seemed relaxed, and that somehow worried her more than the prospect of the device failing on her. But she realized that if it was a trap, all the man needed to have done was give them a handfull of spent re-breathers ...
"HOWWW LONNNGGG ?" Wedlerson yelled over the din, but as quickly as it began, the noise level began to diminish, the air cooled quickly, and there was a noticeable rush of air, almost like an air-lock recycling but on a massive scale. A moment later the contact removed his re-breather and said it was safe for the others to do so.
"And this happens every six hours !" Alex said, "What would happen if you were nowhere near a re-breather ?"
"You don't !" the contact said simply, "I will need to return to my duties shortly or I will be missed. You must remain here."
Alex nodded to Calli, she tapped her Comm badge:
=^= Away te ...... =^= she began, but the contact snatched the device from her tunic, before looking at each of the team and reluctantly returning the Comm badge.
"You must 'NOT' contact the ship, it will be picked up and all will be lost !" the man said, heading for the door.
"Whoa." T'Brel said, blocking the door, "You will need to answer some questions first." ..........
< tag : Captain / Away team > < tag : Raven >
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