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 Mar 12, 2016 2:36:47 GMT
The Comm chirped repeatedly, and finally Chloe sat up, glancing at the still sleeping Carl before speaking quietly, not wanting to wake him un-necessarily: =^= Yes =^= =^= Apologies but I need to speak with the Admiral Ma'am =^= =^= I'll wake him .. .. .. Oh and Calli .. Don't call me Ma'am again .. Or else =^= she said, a grin on her face despite the hour, knowing Calli was simply annoying her for the fun of it as she shook Carl awake. =^= Torek =^= =^= We're being contacted .. I thin you should hear it =^= =^= Give me five minutes .. Get everyone in the Observation Lounge =^= Carl shut the Comm off and climbed out of bed. ~~~~~~~~~~"What do we have ?" Torek asked. Calli replayed the message, apparently from one of the cloaked Federation Vessels: =^= USS Raven .. I am Commander Hemak of the Federation Starship T'Ehleyr .. We have been in covert communication with you .. You will have noticed the protogeneic sequencer we beamed aboard four hours ago .. Mark me Admiral .. The sequencer will not only deprive the Khan of his ability to transfer his immortality it will outright kill him if used .. My Captain's intent had been to have you carry out the act .. Admiral .. We need deuterium .. There is a shortage throughout the Federation and our harvesting techniques in obtaining it from stellar coronae have failed of late owing to insufficient deuterium to power the resource harvester technology .. On behalf of the Federation of Worlds .. .. I propose a trade between our peoples .. Your deuterium for our dilithium crystals .. .. I await you reply Sir =^= "You know the old saying about playing both sides ?" Calli asked, knowing Carl would get her meaning, "I think, given your position with the Khan, and his Daughter, opening what could be perceived as 'negotiations' with his sworn enemy could be viewed as a conflict of interest. I'd suggest someone else interact with the Federation representative on your behalf." Torek nodded. "Open a Comm to the vessel the signal originated from." Carl ordered, then told Calli she was it. before she could object, the figure of a man new to his role filled the screen in the Lounge: =^= Captain Hemak .. You wished to speak with us ? =^= =^= Commander .. .. It is regretful that my Commanding Officer met with a sudden .. Accident .. I wish to speak with 'Admiral' Torek .. Your Commanding Officer =^= =^= As you will appreciate .. Commander .. Admiral Torek speaking with both sides in a conflict we have no say in could be viewed negatively .. Therefore .. As Admiral Torek's appointed Deputy .. I am authorized to conduct communications between our two parties .. .. .. Now .. Given the early hour of your Comm I assume you expand on your original communique ? =^= =^= I think it better if I were to speak with the Admiral persona .. .. .. =^= =^= Then we have nothing more to say Commander =^= Calli said, nodding the the Communications Officer to close the Comm, and as expected Hemak was on-line within seconds: =^= We should meet .. As did your Admiral and the ruler of Delkhii .. We feel it prudent that you hear both sides of the story before making a decision that could have a very 'negative' effect should that be the wrong decision =^= =^= Agreed .. But you will meet with a team of our choosing otherwi .. .. =^= =^= You and one other .. No more =^= Hemak insisted, and Calli knew better than most when to concede a point to the opposition, she nodded and arranged to transfer to the T'Ehleyr in ten minutes. "You do realize that he could simply hold you once you're over there !" Carl commented. "He set the limits. I'd like to have someone technical with me, we're not going over there as Diplomatic Envoys after all." she thought for a moment then turned to Blakus, "Any chance I could borrow one of your Engineers ?" "I'll go." Carl began, but Calli interrupted quickly: "No ! ..... You are better suited to the Delkhii angle. They have already met you and I assume trust you to some extent." Calli interrupted, turning to the Chief Engineer, "Who do you have we could use Andae ?" "Milyanov." Andae offered up instantly, "He's a damn good Engineer, and knows when to look and learn, but importantly, when to keep his mouth shut." "Milyanov it is then." Calli said, frowning for a few seconds before continuing, "One other thing before we go a visiting ... Milyanov is a Lieutenant if memory serves. Put him in a red shirt and with Commander rank. The last thing we want to do is appear 'less' than we actually are. Having two Senior Command Officers board their ship is a massive show of faith, one hopefully, that they will appreciate from the second we arrive." ~~~~~"Get Milyanov up here. Andae, brief him en-route, have a tunic ready when he arrives and we'll go from there." he looked around the room, hoping, knowing that his Senior Staff knew the seriousness of their situation, and knowing they would as usual, be fighting every second of the time, "Marionette, do whatever it takes to get into their computer records, without getting caught in the act obviously .... Open a 'secure' Comm to the T'Ehleyr. Inform Commander Hemak that my appointed representatives, will be more than happy to visit his vessel with a view to clarifying some, inconsistencies." Torek said ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 12, 2016 22:14:52 GMT
Andae was on hand with the tunic at the conference room entrance, Milyanov arriving on the bridge and entering the room, looking down with some fret at the prospect of the uniform. The Chief looked on him drolly, "It's not like you're actually getting promoted. I wouldn't get so nervous about it."
"It's just so sudden. I don't know how to pass for a command grade officer, they'll take one look at me and... Andae. I'm a dead giveaway for a second rate grease monkey!"
Blakus sighed, "Don't put yourself down, man!"
The Russian snatched the uniform away and bade the engineer exit while he put it on. Blakus shook his head, smiling and made his way back onto the bridge. He took up the engineering station and surveyed the information on the crystals' degradation; if Hemak was true to his word, and if Valente and Milyanov could persuade him to depart with said dilithium, all their problems - regardless of where they lay strategically with the Mongol Khanate and the Federation of Worlds - would be solved.
Milyanov materialised on the T'Ehleyr along with Calli. Stepping down he was greeted by who he presumed was Hemak and his senior officers, some of them anyway. "You're the senior officer?" the Vulcan asked, "Our arrangement was that Commander Valenti would be your representative for these negotiations."
"And you're correct! Commander," he blurted out hopelessly. He backed up a few paces to Calli, clearing his throat slightly, "Er, you have the floor." Seeming on the verge of losing patience with the assistant CEO, Valente pushed her way past him to Hemak.
Hemak stepped aside, giving the best Vulcan approximation of a smile and gesturing for them to leave the transporter room. The party followed them out and they were led to the conference room on the deck below the bridge. The interior, Milyanov noted, was strongly Vulcan in aesthetic, and doubtless much of the technology in use was from the 40 Eridani - this place's equivalent - system too.
"Captain S'uro is now in our brig, along with her few loyalists; this was no mutiny, Commanders, I was given authorisation by our High Command to seize command of the T'Ehleyr... Now, we wish to open trade relations," Hemak said once they were all gathered round the table - perfunctory nods of one party to the other before they took their seats, "Between our Federation and... your, so I'm told, Federation..." he paused, "We state again, quite simply, that we will supply you with all the dilithium you need to return to wherever you may wish to return to, in exchange for seventy megatonnes of deuterium... enough to supply a fleet of sixty of our ships for six months."
Milyanov hid well his disbelief at the amount asked for. The Raven didn't have that much deuterium; he was on the verge of actually suggesting to Hemak that maybe it would be better for him to open trade negotiations with the Mongols themselves, who had a whole fleet amply supplied with the stuff, as well as adequate harvesting methods. But of course, the Federation of Worlds would never stoop so low...
The Raven could conceivably travel round several systems and harvest as much as they could from stars - not draining the Raven's deuterium (or its dilithium for that matter) too much in the process; in that way they may just be able to provide the Federation with all the deuterium they needed...
"We admit the amount of deuterium requested is perhaps unreasonable given you're only one ship," Hemak said, "And we would be open to alternative arrangements to address the missing balance in deuterium provided... Please be assured that if our demands are met you will receive all the dilithium you need if not more. We would ask, if you're unable to provide all the deuterium necessary, that you surrender to us your... saucer section I believe you call it. You would of course remain fully warp capable." The Vulcan glanced at his staff; the technology of the Raven, something they'd never encountered, and in many ways, superior to the tech of the Vulcan-led Federation of Worlds. It would be a fine prize.
Milyanov - learning from previous mistakes in the transporter room - sat as still and neutral as possible, sharing a glance with Commander Valente. Our saucer section?!
<Tag Calli, All>
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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: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Mar 16, 2016 23:16:25 GMT
"..... We admit the amount of deuterium requested is perhaps unreasonable given you're only one ship," Hemak said, "Of course, we would be open to alternative arrangements to address the missing balance in deuterium provided ... Please be assured that if our demands are met you will receive all the dilithium you need if not more. We would ask, if you're unable to provide all the deuterium necessary, that you surrender to us your ... 'Saucer Section' I believe you call it ... You would of course remain fully warp capable." The Vulcan glanced at his staff; the technology of the Raven, something they'd never encountered, and in many ways, superior to the tech of the Vulcan-led Federation of Worlds. It would be a fine prize. He couldn't help but laugh out loud as he listened in to the conversation via the sub-dermal transceiver implanted in Calli's neck. "Hell, why didn't he simply ask us to vacate the ship altogether !" Carl voiced as the conversation continued: "Well, that is not about to happen." Calli informed the seemingly delusional Vulcan, "We are obviously new to this Sector, and our sole aim is to meet new races, new peoples, so that we might mutually benefit. But asking us to surrender half of our ship as a what, a 'Good Will' gesture, is not going to happen. There are over a thousand men, women, and children on the Raven, and separating them is out of the question!"
"You have, children .. Aboard your vessel ? .... Is this, normal practice among your people, or are they there to sway our actions .... Answer me ... NOW !" Calli glanced at Milyanov, both realizing that the Vulcan stood before them was anything but devoid of emotions.
"Captain. We agreed to come aboard your vessel, assuming you would be willing to supply the materials we require. If this is not the case then I think it only prudent that we return to our vessel and make, alternative, arrangements." Calli said, a hint of threat in her tome that she hoped the Vulcan's so-called 'Superior Intellect' would pick up on."
"Correct me if I am in, error ...." Hemak said slowly, "You are but one vessel, one vessel that is quite obviously in distress. We speculate that your power will reach a critical level within a day, so, I make the offer once more ...." Hemak was saying as one of his Officers leaned close to speak with him. The mans expression, unsurprisingly, didn't change as he took in whatever information his subordinate was giving him, Once the woman stood and moved away, Hemak returned his attention to the two Raven Officers, "I have been 'advised' by the one who is my Wife, and Science Officer aboard the T'Ehleyr, that I am being inhospitable to my guests, so, we shall dine, and we shall delay a decision on the handing over of your Saucer Section until we have the required amount of deuterium ... Please, let us move to more appropriate surroundings ......" ~~~~~"We still have a lock on them Captain." Wedlerson reminded him. "Disengage the Comm link until we receive the signal again." Carl said, standing and looking over at his Chief Tactical Officer, "Commander, at this point I know it would be useless to request any tactical options, but if, no, 'WHEN' we do get what we need, what are our chances of just warping out of here without getting into a serious fire-fight ?" "Initially .... We would need to retrace our previous heading, and even then, there's no guarantees. Shields would protect us, once we get them on-line, as to weapons .... " Commander Barr informed him. Soooo ... It came down to the simple fact they 'IF' they wanted to at the very least have options, they they needed to replenish their Dilithium, by fair means, or foul ! ..... Temugin, or rather, his Daughter, would have access to what they needed, and if she could be persuaded to provide the Raven with what they needed ? .... No, he realized his mistake instantly: The Mongols had the crystals the Raven required, of course they did, how else would they achieve warp drive on their own vessels ! ... Could they 'bargain' with Delkhii, could they offer to assist in their conflict with the Federation of Worlds and against the Vulcan Empire ruling it, he couldn't know at this point in time. All he knew was, they needed dilithium crystals, and needed them before the Raven fell out of the sky above Delkhii in a flaming torrent of death to those below ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 18, 2016 16:33:52 GMT
Hemak showed his guests into the holodeck, a program started entitled Dining Room, VIP's Facilities, Base Camp Mount Seleya. Attendants stood waiting with beverages and soon Vulcan vegetarian foods were laid out. Milyanov smiled wryly and took a seat at the circular table facing the red-orange plain and sky of Vulcan through the paneless windows, the slopes of Mount Seleya curving upwards beneath him.
"We should clarify," Hemak said, as the meal began, "We demand that you turn over your saucer section only in the case where you're unable to provide all of the deuterium requested. If you can find enough for us to provide 60 of our ships for 6 months, you will have your crystals immediately." Wine was poured, Milyanov and Valente taking glasses tentatively. "The benefits of this alliance cannot be measured in words; you will return home, perhaps even assisting us in our conflict with the Mongol Empire before you do so. We will be able to carry on the war, and perhaps will send - as thanks for helping us in our conflict - one of our own vessels back to where you came from to learn of your culture, your own Federation."
"Our culture, or rather our species, is the same as the Mongols'," Milyanov said, adjusting to this diplomacy lark, "You would gain little further knowledge of human customs by visiting our own world."
A reasonable lie, he thought. This Federation of Worlds, under Vulcan leadership, seemed expansionist, wanting to subsume or defeat cultures they came across and have new territories from which they could collect... a tax, perhaps. They couldn't let Hemak take the Vulcan-led Federation into their own space; while their technology might've been inferior, their imperialist instincts might lead them into conflict with the other, the true, Milyanov liked to think, Federation in the Alpha Quadrant.
"Oh, we can already see that there are vast differences between your humans, and the humans of the Mongol Empire," the science officer, Hemak's wife said. "Your dialect for instance, it is unfamiliar to us, while bearing certain similarities to cultures in Delkhii's north-eastern quadrasphere several hundred years ago by our research, but phased out by the emergent Mongol movement of the time. No such people exist on Delkhii. There is, on the contrary, much to learn from you." The scientist exchanged glances with Hemak.
"Yes, very much indeed," Milyanov said, seeing the duplicitious nature of these Vulcans and their own Federation, plain to see, before him. He stood suddenly, throwing his wine at Hemak, who stood up spluttering as it'd soaked his chest and neck. "We reject your offer! We'll try our luck with the Mongols!" Milyanov screamed, storming from the holodeck, back into the hardly less dismal surroundings of the corridor, breathing heavily and having left Calli at the table inside; he turned, bashed his head against the wall a few times.
<Tag Calli, Raven>
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 18, 2016 16:57:55 GMT
Blakus was next to the dilithium chamber, the matrix withdrawn from its housing and the crystals upon it laying inert, seeming almost dead. He checked the master console, relieved to see they still operated if only barely; nine more hours of power - with all rewiring of internal systems, efficiency of power usage measures put into effect to arrest the slide of the remaining life in the crystals... They'd done all they could; now there was only the slow, sad countdown until they drifted through space powerless.
"Tinsley, I'll be on the bridge," he withdrew himself from the apparatus about the dilithium crystal matrix and made for the exit.
"Aye, sir." He laughed, "I'm getting used to hearing that, what with Milyanov gone half the time."
"Computer, transfer engineering to bridge." He sat at the console, resuming his studies of the degradation of the crystals, where he could also survey the fuller tactical situation in relation to the Mongols and the invisible Vulcans behind their cloaks... He frowned, halfway into an internal recitation of that line from Hamlet when he's lambasting the actor for showing too much emotion, to look at the reading on the adjacent mission ops console, "Admiral, we're reading a build up of energy on the surface. It seems... weapons-oriented in nature..." he turned round to the new Chief Security and Tactical Officer, Commander Kieron Barr, to confirm the reading. He nodded, eyes now on the viewscreen showing a close-up of the source of the anomaly on Delkhii.
"That's one of their planetary defence batteries," Wedlerson commented, "They have six of them situated about the conurbation of the capital. Reading build up of energy in the anomaly."
"It's no damn anomaly... Wait, they're firing." Blakus looked over his shoulder at the screen, zoomed out quickly by Barr to show a quarter of the planet and the Mongol ships in orbit against the vacuum. A burst of white-bluish, blinding light shot out in a narrow stream from the surface of Delkhii, impacting on... nothingness. Blakus checked his readings, "Sir, they've hit one of the cloaked Vulcan ships. That vessel's shields will be down!"
<Tag Torek, Barr>
As third moon showed itself above the rows of crooked buildings, shining over the gloom of desecrated monuments on which the Mongol city had been founded, on which its pathways and roads snaked and airborne traffic streamed in their preset patterns, the old sage exited his shack, the wood door swinging shut and the metal lock clattering against the frame, making his way down Yelu Way. His staff rapped upon the planks bound in their iron frames that kept the path elevated off the primordial rock, medicinal bag swinging by his side, clothed in only a loose robe clasped with a worn leather belt on which he had his various potions.
There were nods his way as he reached the communal meeting place at the end of the Way. He bowed his head and entered the large marquee, shuffling around at the back while the community leaders led the heated debate in the centre of the room about the situation table.
One had noticed his entrance, "Venerable sage, old man! We would hear of your wisdom this night!"
He clambered forwards arachnid-like to the leaders, expectant eyes laying on him as he placed his staff like a ceremonial mace on the table, covering up the map's southern hemisphere features. "I come, with news from the Palace. The Khan's son was executed this last moon." General alarm, some knowing faces and exclamations that this was already known. He continued, "I bring before you magicks," his hand fished in his medicinal bag, "The key, to the pearl from the stars and their ready departure, and the gift of immortality for our Khan, to whom I denied the power so long ago." He placed on the table a set of dilithium crystals, bound by the apparatus of a Mongol starship's warp core DC matrix.
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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: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Mar 19, 2016 1:36:28 GMT
The Raven had been monitoring the anomalous readings for only seconds when ....
"It's no damn anomaly ... Wait, they're firing !" Carl looked as if he'd been shot out of the center seat as Blakus continued, "Sir ... They've hit one of the cloaked Vulcan ships. That vessel's shields will be down !"
"Raise shields !" Torek demanded, only to have his Engineer tell him they couldn't afford to without draining the last of the power from the dilithium crystals, "Are we being targeted ?"
"Not that I can see Sir." Barr confirmed.
"What's happening with the other Federation ships, are they powering weapons ?" Carl asked, wondering if the Raven was going to find herself in the middle of a fire-fight they simply couldn't survive.
"The vessels we had detected earlier are all leaving orbit, but not the System." Commander Barr informed him.
"They're not going to retaliate ?" he asked, incredulous, receiving a shrug from the Tactical Officer, Carl had a sudden thought, "Where's the T'Ehleyr and the Delkhii vessels that were shadowing us ?"
"Still in her previous position, tho we can't tell if the Vulcan's have raised shields. Both Delkhii ships have't as yet." Barr said, a look of confusion crossing his face.
"Why the hell haven't the Federa ...." Torek began, when the reason became startlingly obvious, "It's us ! .... The Federation won't retaliate for fear we'll be caught in the fire-fight, so it is blatantly obvious that they want something from us, or they want us at their table rather than the Mongol's table. I think the Delkhii took advantage of the opportunity we presented them, and took out one of the Federation of Worlds covert vessels. It was one hell of a risky play on their part, because if the Federation were confident we were of no use I have the feeling this conversation wouldn't be taking place."
"Sir, Commander Valente and Lieut ...." Harry began.
"Lock onto the away team." Carl ordered, hoping that the T'Ehleyr hadn't in fact raised her defenses, or there was no chance of ...
"I have a lock Admiral !" Blakus said.
"Transport ... NOW !"
"Sir, the T'Ehleyr is transporting them back as we speak !" Wedlerson informed him. A second later the Transporter Chief confirmed that both Officers were back aboard and en-route to the Bridge. Carl stood patiently waiting, seconds seeming like minutes, even hours as his glance switched between the view-screen and the turbo-lift doors. The door won as Calli and Milyanov stepped onto the Bridge and approached Torek:
"I've no idea what went on over there, but I'm glad to see you both back here safe and well, you can give your repo ...." he stopped speaking as Calli raised her left arm and Carl noticed the silver bracelet adorning her wrist, he was about to ask about it when Milyanov followed suit. He too was wearing an identical bracelet, "What the hell are those ?"
"Suffice to say Sir, they are a form of, guarantee, against us deciding to leave early." Calli explained, "Things were not going well over there Admiral, despite their openly friendly appearance. They made certain demands that the 'Commander' here took extreme objection to. He reacted as I would have had he not beaten me to it Sir, but it seems their attempts at persuading us to give up the Saucer Section of the Raven were, interrupted. Milyanov demanded we be allowed to return to the Raven to report, it seemed that Hemak was well aware of the unprovoked attack on one of his ships, though he only said so a second before we vanished off his ship."
Carl nodded to the bracelets and raised his eyebrows, prompting Valente to continue:
"These are, devices designed to ensure we, or at least, Milyanov and I, remain here ... Any attempt, and I do mean 'ANY' attempt, to leave the System under our own power will result in a catastrophic outcome. Likewise, any attempt, either 'physical' or otherwise, to remove these from our wrists will have the same result." she said, frustration mingled with annoyance in her voice as she eyed her own bracelet, "It is a means for Hemak to keep track of us, but essentially, should either of us move more than a thousand kilometers from the partner 'bracelet' they will self-destruct. The resulting blast will decimate everyone and everything within a sixty thousand kilometer radius, Sir."
"They're bombs !" Wedlerson said, taking Calli's arm and studying the gold seamlessly fitted bracelet.
"So beaming them, or us, into open space is a death warrant for everyone on the Raven ... Not to mention countless thousands on the surface." Milyanov said, looking at his arm as if pondering the logistics of lopping it off ..........
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Deleted
Registered: Apr 25, 2024 21:21:40 GMT
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2016 20:59:45 GMT
----BEFORE TRANSFER TO USS RAVEN----
Kieron was in his temporary quarters on Starbase 47 making his final preparations for his new assignment as Chief Tactical and Security officer on the USS Raven. It wasn't a posting that he had requested himself, so it came as a bit of a surprise to him. That's not to say it wasn't wanted.....just unexpected.
It had been a number of years since Kieron was in active duty on a high class ship of the line, and the more he thought about it, the more worried he was staring to feel. What if he wasn't up to the task anymore? What if people got injured because of his failings? Worse, what if they died??
With a mental slap, Kieron shook himself out of it and carried on packing. All of a sudden the penny dropped, and he realised how and why he got the position. His cousin was none other than Admiral Steven Smith, formally of the USS Olympia. HE must have requested the transfer and assignment...but why the Raven?
Kieron and Steve weren't close....but then not all cousins were, so he didn't know all the in's and out's of his career. With that in mind, he sat down at the desk and quickly opened up the data terminal before calling up Steve's bio and service record. Scrolling down a fair way he soon came across the answer he was looking for. Prior to being promoted to Captain for the second time and taking command of the Olympia, Steve had served on the Raven as her Acting XO, and during that time he has served with her current CO, Admiral Carl Torek.
'So, that's the connection then.' He mused, 'Well, best not let either of them down, considering the trust that's being put in me.'
Kieron turned off the terminal, picked up the rest of his belongings and headed out of the now-empty quarters to head off towards his transport to the Raven.
---NOW---
Kieron was eyeing up the bracelets. Having essentially two walking bombs on the ship did not sit well with him, and neither should it.
"Goes without saying that we shouldn't do anything that will rile them." Kieron said, matter of factly. If there was one thing he hated, that was events being dictated on someone elses terms...out of his or the crew's control.
Still focusing on the bracelets, Kieron was going over events in his mind. "Ok, so you were transported back just before we brought you back ourselves...to what end? What else do they want?" He muttered under his breath to himself, but also perhaps loud enough for someone else to hear.
Speaking louder, he added "How do we know the bracelets will not be detonated anyway, no matter what we do? What gaurantees were given, if any?"
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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: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Mar 20, 2016 22:28:07 GMT
"It goes without saying that we shouldn't do anything that will rile them." the Tactical Officer commented as he looked at the matching bangles, scanning them with a tricorder and frowning at the readings, "How do we know the bracelets will not be detonated anyway, no matter what we do? What guarantees were given, if any ?"
Carl looked at Andy, who could only shrug in response.
"Is it possible they are simply what they seem ?" Wedlerson pondered.
"I doubt that this Federation would try something so banal. No, I think we have to take it as read ...." Carl said, rapidly loosing any patience he had for both sides, he turned to the Chief Engineer, "Andae, take them both to Engineering, I want every scan you can think of run on those bracelets, and when you've run them think up half a dozen more to run. They can't be so naive as to think we won't look into them. Commander Barr, go with them, you might have some insight into what could be done about these things."
"Admiral, if I may ....." Calli spoke, waiting until her Commanding Officer nodded, "We should show both sides that we're not going to be pawns in their little game of one upmanship."
"Oh I'll have 'plenty' to say to both parties, don't worry about that !" Carl said, instructing Commander Wedlerson to open a Comm, all frequencies:
=^= This is fleet Admiral Carl Torek of the USS Raven-B .. .. .. We are fully aware of your conflict but will take no part .. We are desperate for replacement dilithium crystals .. Our orbit will begin to decay in forty eight hours .. At which time we will enter the atmosphere of the planet currently below us .. We did not wish to be embroiled in your situation and ask only for assistance in restoring our core systems .. Any further 'interference' from either party will be construed as an act of aggression against this vessel and we 'WILL' react accordingly ! =^=
Carl swiped his finger across his throat to signify the end of the one-way conversation, then sat back in his seat.
"OK, we've played the interested visitor and got our hands slapped for our trouble. I want possible scenario's with a view to acquiring the crystals we need on our own, at which time we will hopefully be able to get the hell out of here and leave them to it ! ......" he turned to Commander Lysia Teng, Barr's Deputy Chief, at the Tactical Station, "I want to know where the nearest dilithium crystals are located. I don't care if they are in storage on one of the ships in orbit, stored on the surface of Delkhii somewhere, or in the warp core of the closest vessel. I want to know where they are and how we can go get them ... Understood !"
"Yes Sir." she replied, turning to her console and beginning her investigations ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 21, 2016 17:22:20 GMT
Blakus entered engineering with Milyanov and Calli in tow, having them position their wrists over the pool table - not to take a shot but to have their bracelets analysed. Any tinkering with them, Blakus already knew, could have dire consequences for both the wearers and the Raven, indeed anyone within a 60,000 km radius.
"Careful does it. Not down so hard, for crying out..." He activated the console, wondering if the apparatus the wrists with the bracelets about them were lowered into would be compatible with whatever software, or circuitry was within the bracelets. If they were of similar Vulcan design to that of the Vulcans from their own... space, then there shouldn't be a problem.
Removing them physically, beaming them into space... instant detonation. And as he found out upon beginning reading the output on the pool table's surface, they would've destroyed themselves on the instant that a transporter activated, so if he'd attempted to beam the bracelets out beyond a radius of 60,000 km it would've meant death for the Raven, and probably Hemak if he wasn't careful, regardless.
"Scans only, Tinsley, come on," he sighed at the assistant deputy chief, who'd been on the verge of touching Milyanov's bracelet, the Russian deputy chief gasping in panic and starting to tear his arm back.
The information came to the screen, Vulcan code compressed now sprawling through the local computer; he looked back at the bracelet, glinting in the ceiling lights the intricate patterns engraved into this one - Calli's - picked out, raised to the surface. It didn't resemble Vulcan script, from what Blakus could remember... and the code displayed before him, while recognisably Vulcan, wasn't like anything he'd seen before, the complexity... "This technology's way beyond anything I've... Tinsley, get me a tricorder, configured for quantum dating."
The device was pushed into his hands; his eyes widened as the value given by the dating was arrived at by the tricorder - a negative number... "These bracelets are from the future," he stated. Positive numbers were the expected result from quantum dating when one had an artefact from the past... here they had negative. "Could the Vulcans, have used their Federation alliance to procure technology from the future?"
"An impression I got on Hemak's ship," Milyanov said, keeping his wrist completely still, "They're perhaps using the Federation of Worlds as a puppet organisation, a front for aggressive imperialist tendencies, making all of the Federation subordinate to them. I can see that they might've used the Federation of Worlds in such operations - surely their alliance includes species with that capability or inclination." Blakus nodded, pensive. "What date?"
"Hmm?"
"What date are the bracelets from?" Milyanov asked, then was given a small shock it seemed from the bracelet. He cried out but kept his wrist still with difficulty.
"Oh, year 3719." Blakus soon realised what'd happened, checked over the console and saw the nature of the problem. He turned to Barr, "Commander, the apparatus for analysis has partially fused with Milyanov's bracelet; I can't think of any way of separating them except," he cleared his throat, pointing at the CTSO's phaser.
<Tag Barr, All>
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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: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Mar 23, 2016 19:07:51 GMT
The next hour seemed to pass slowly as everyone went about their assigned tasks. Having been relieved by the Gamma Shift Duty Officer Torek decided to remain on the Bridge ... The comm chirped to life: =^= Blakus to Admiral Torek =^= =^= Go ahead Andae =^= Carl listened intently as the Engineer explained his findings. He couldn't believe that yet again they had come across future technology, thinking that those supposed 'temporal detectives' were less than adept at their jobs. He was about to comment when Lieutenant Teng informed them that she was picking up several anomalous readings, but was unable to identify them due to their power shortages throughout the ship. Carl told her to keep him and Commander Barr informed if there was anything new, then he left the Bridge and headed for Engineering ..... ~~~~~"Is there any possibility that the Vulcan Federation are being aided by someone from the future ?" he asked. "I think it unlikely Sir ....." Wedlerson commented, "..... Let's face it, two suspected explosive bracelets is hardly helping the Federation conquer the Mongol Empire, besides, why wouldn't they supply the Federation with everything it needs, why wait to see if 'we' do their job for them ?" "What if only a very small number are aware of the assistance they are receiving ?" Calli asked, watching the others as they processed this idea, "It would stand to reason that whoever is aiding the Vulcan's, either chooses not to show themselves outright, or more likely, can't ... From what we managed to get from our scans those vessels are of this Era, no signs of advanced modification, which given one of their ships was recently destroyed, must include shield technology and most likely weapons tech' too." "So the Federation's need for Deuterium is genuine." Carl said, "They need the Raven to get what they need, thus the requirement for them to take control of the Saucer Section." "It's a given that Temugin and his Daughter need our help to defeat the Federation." Wedlerson added, seeing everyone nod in agreement. "I need more time on these bracelets." Kieron said, eyeing the two gold bangles, brow furrowed in thought. "We need answers Commander." Carl said to the Chief Security Officer before turning to speak to Andae, but an alarm rang out, the Comm springing to life ! =^= Bridge to Admiral Torek ! =^= =^= What's happening up there ? =^= Carl asked, fearing the worst, apparently with justification. =^= SIR ! .. .. Scans are showing that four hundred personnel have been transported from the ship ! =^= =^= WHAT .. Beamed away .. Where to ! .. .. Raise shields NOW =^= =^= Inoperative .. Admiral .. Another four hundred seventy transported away =^= He was about to reply when the Comm filled with static: =^= Admiral Torek .. I must apologize for my actions .. But it seems we are in need of your vessel rather sooner than anticipated =^=
=^= Ogljai ? =^= Carl said, confusion and anger vying for dominance.
=^= You're Crew along with your Families are safe and well on the surface of Delkhii .. Should you cooperate fully there is no reason why they should not remain in good health =^= Blakus motioned for Carl look at his screen on the Pool Table: 'They are on what on Earth are the Cayman Islands' he whispered.
=^= We are fully aware of your visit to the Federation Vessel Admiral ..Along with the fact that the Vulcan's are demanding what we consider a high price for your cooperation =^=
=^= Why have you taken our people Ogljai .. .. .. Is this how you treat visitors to your world ? .. I demand to see the Khan immediately ! =^=
=^= You are in no position to make 'demands' Admiral .. At this point your Command Staff and yourself are the only ones remaining aboard your ship .. Should you fail to assist us you will be allowed to fall fro .. .. .. =^=
=^= Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES must you attempt to transport anyone from this location Ogljai ! =^=Blakus interrupted urgently.
=^= .. .. and why not ? =^= the man asked, sickeningly.
=^= Two of my Officers went to speak with the Federation Commander .. They were sent back baring gifts .. Gifts which will decimate everything in a sixty thousand kilometer radius should any attempt to remove them be tried .. Oh and by the way .. Regarding your 'threat' .. .. If you have scanned our power reserves and our current orbit you should be able to see that our moving to a higher orbit earlier has used up all but a minimal percentage of our power .. We are going to fall into the atmosphere with or without your help .. So .. I suggest you arrange an Audience with the Khan 'HERE' as soon as feasibly possible =^= Carl informed the man.
=^= It seems my attempt at coercion .. Forcing you into aiding us as in fact greatly benefited you and your most fortunate crew and their Families .. I shall need to reconsider =^= Ogljai said, as if mulling over a decision he may well reverse.
=^= If you want this ship to remain in orbit you will need to supply us with new dilithium crystals .. Quickly .. If not .. Then we're of use to neither side .. .. .. At least with my people on the surface they will live out their lives without having to mourn too many losses =^=
=^= Oh .. .. I would not count on their continued well-being should you prove to be of no use to us .. Admiral =^= Ogljai said darkly ...... Carl looked at Barr: "Access your station from here, I want to know if Commander Teng found any dilithium, and if so, where the hell it is." "According to this, the nearest is on the Ne'Var." Kieron confirmed. "The Ne'Var is running a skeleton crew since Hemek snatched S'uro. Its holding station two thousand meters off the T'Ehleyr's port quarter." Wedlerson informed them. "Is there 'ANY' way we can get over there ?" Carl asked ..........
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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 Mar 31, 2016 12:13:40 GMT
"Are you kidding !" Calli commented as the Chief Tactical Security Officer spelled out his somewhat audacious idea to the group. "If we transport over it will be detected immediately." Harry said, seeing Barr's plan as their only option if they were going to take the crystals from the N'Var. ".... and a shuttle is out, obviously." Kieron said, waiting to see what they decided. Forty minutes later ::=^= This has got to be one of the .. .. =^= Calli began, but Milyanov interrupted her: =^= It's the only viable option .. .. Lieutenant .. You're certain that your safeguards will not trigger any internal warnings when we open the access port ? =^= =^= As certain as I can be Commander =^= Second lieutenant David Scott said into the suit microphone. Calli took a breath then opened a Comm to the Bridge: =^= Away team ready .. Open outer lock =^= The door slid silently aside, before vanishing into a recess. They could see the blackness of space beyond the portal and there, five thousand meters away, seemingly hanging above the planet below, was the Vulcan vessel Ne'Var, the much larger T'Ehleyr ... Their 'plan' all rested on several things falling in their favor, firstly they needed to get where they were going undetected by either Vulcan ship, second they needed to gain access to the Ne'var, thirdly, they needed to retrieve the dilithium crystals and return to the Raven without being discovered ! Calli took a step forward, her magnetic boot on the lip of the airlock. Resisting the urge to look down at the unfathomable void, she concentrated her vision on their target, then pushed away into nothingness ... Ten meters behind her, tethered together, Milyanov followed suit, as did the two Marine Officers accompanying them. ooo000ooo
~ Traveling at a mere three meters per second, it took aproximately twenty seven minutes for the group to reach the massive Ne'Var ~ Calli was first to place a hand on the hull, feeling the strain of having to decelerate rapidly through her arms as she hit the metallic plating hard. Edging aside she heard Milyanov grunt as he landed, followed closely by the Marines. Yang took out her tricorder checking their position in relation to the access port they wanted to get to. =^= Thirty four meters out .. .. The hatch is astern and six meters above us =^= she informed them. =^= Let's go .. .. Try not to fall off =^= Calli said. Raising her knees to her chest, then tentatively placing fist one boot, then the other, on the hull, she heard and felt the magnets take hold. They began the 'walk' to the access port, each keeping their eyes in the hull plating ahead. It didn't take long and as far as they could tell they remained undetected ... Milyanov took out his tricorder and connected it via an optical cable to the outer access controls. he worked for several long moments hoping to ensure that there would be no inward alarm activation's once the hatch opened. =^= That should be it =^= he said, turning to look at Calli, she nodded for him to go ahead. Milyanov turned back to the hatch and entered the code into his tricorder, the door opened immediately and the four clambered inside, thankful that the inner door had no view port. Removing the cumbersome 'EVA' suits, they placed them either side of the inner door, hopefully so they could get back into them quickly if the need arose. Lieutenant Scott was scanning the ship and reported that there were only twenty two crew aboard, none within a hundred meters of their current position. Their ingress into the interior and recovery of the crystals would require the internal sensors to be disabled. Blakus and Milyanov had written a program to show a fault in the sensors where they knew crew would be, on the Bridge. It would cause the computer to begin a diagnostic which would deactivate the sensors for the duration. given there were no signs of anything untoward, they hoped the Vulcan's would simply allow the diagnostic to run ... Milyanov access the internal systems once again and implanted the virus, seconds later he confirmed that the sensors had been taken off-line and according to the readout would take twenty eight minutes to run. "I want to be out that door in twenty." Calli said, pointing at the outer lock door. Taking out her phaser she nodded to Milyanov to open the inner hatch ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 31, 2016 23:36:33 GMT
Milyanov brought up the rear, the two marines leading the way as they headed down the corridor towards the engine complex. The lighting was dim, the Ne'Var seemingly on reserve or auxiliary power - having little need currently to support a full crew of however many hundred, auxiliary life support for 22 people would suffice, and they could save and build up their main power for when it's necessary.
They neared the aft, Milyanov withdrawing his tricorder again and evaluating the readout. He whistled breathily, "Ok..."
"Lieutenant, if there's something we should know about..." Calli uttered.
"It's alright, well, no it's not alright..." He had the other three step into an alcove next to an EPS relay junction. "The dilithium crystals we want are in storage, two decks below this ship's engineering. Ordinarily, that is to say if this were one of our Federation starships, that wouldn't pose a problem. But according to the interior's schematics," he showed them the tricorder, "We'll have to pass through engineering in order to descend those two levels - by ladder - to the crystals' storage area. There's no other way to access that deck."
Indeed, internal sensors being offline wouldn't do them any good if they had to come face to face with the Ne'Var's engineering team; Milyanov wondered if it wouldn't have been worth trying their luck taking what they needed from the Mongols...
"How many are in there?" Scott asked, hefting his phaser rifle. Milyanov told him five, all Vulcan, the rest of the crew being either on the bridge, in deflector control, sickbay or the briefing room. "No problem then, we take them down before they have a chance to raise the alarm."
"Internal sensors may be offline but the computer's damage control program's still going to register the discharge of a beam weapon," Milyanov retorted. There was also the issue of what were to happen if the bridge or anyone else tried to contact the engineering chief...
He checked his tricorder again, seeing the five dots representing the Vulcan lifesigns moving around the engine room - some fifty metres away from the away team. Milyanov grunted, we could sneak through on tiptoe I suppose... wait. "Hearing." The trio looked round questioningly, having been about ready to resume the walk. He explained, "Vulcan hearing... Very acute, four times as sensitive as humans' at particular high frequencies... There's one frequency I heard about but have never seen tested on any subject, only read it in textbooks at the academy... that will render a Vulcan unconscious. My tricorder can be reconfigured to emit such a frequency."
Calli shrugged, nodded - that was it then. They stole forwards towards the engine room, once having to find cover quickly as an Andorian approached and marched past them down the passageway. Reaching engineering's entrance, they stood to either side careful not to activate the proximity alert that would open the doors, then Milyanov set his tricorder to emit the pulse and pushed it towards the door, allowing it to skid through the opening towards a bank of consoles to the left, the Vulcans turning mystified at seeing the door open for apparently no reason... It closed again and they waited two minutes...
Descending the ladder towards the crystal storage area, having passed the prone bodies of the Vulcan engineers, Yang asked the question, "Lieutenant. Why has it never been tested? And why didn't we hear the pulse?"
"Ah, beyond our range, a very particular frequency that's technically not even audial, ultrasonic or otherwise; lucky I have a modified tricorder." He stepped off the last rung, faced now with four octahedron containers, "And theoretical models indicated a 10% risk of death to any test subject should it be used. So yes, one or more of them could be dead." He started opening up the nearest container, the gleam of dilithium crystals filtering out of the gap as they caught the light in these tight confines.
<Tag Calli, All>
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Apr 1, 2016 1:45:36 GMT
Delkhii capital city, suburbs...
The light reflected in the crystals shone throughout the whole room, lighting up the old man's face as he peered into his satchel, the two Palace guards behind him - at a respectful distance - watching him warily. They knew the import of the objects that the sage had brought back to his shack (their very presence on his person demanded reverence), that dwelling that lay at the pinnacle of one of the higher areas of the road network-relief above the fallen monuments that were the foundations of the city.
The sage cackled and took a set of crystals from the satchel, placing them on the table next to these two Palace guards, "Get your crystals, get your crystals here..."
The lead guard gripped him by the arm, staying his hand from touching the starship-powering talismans, "If the Khan's third son, our master, hears of what you're doing here, you will die in much the same manner as his brother did!" He released the sage's arm, throwing it away from the crystals.
"Then I'll just have to make sure you don't tell him," the sage whispered, his voice crackling like old parchment, "And why won't you tell him?"
The guards bowed their heads, "Because, sage, they gift us with immortality, much as your own magicks gave the Khan eternal life a thousand years ago."
He turned away, back to the table and his maps: the layout of the city and the places he frequented marked out; those who were most in need of their 'immortality' could be found there, sulking in their unhappy collectives and pining for invincibility, wishing they didn't have to barter with the sage to acquire that which the Khan had as innate. Dilithium crystals were in short supply these days - as was the case with their visitor too, pearl from the stars in orbit. He'd had to handle his affairs more covertly, but fortunately the black market had proven fertile ground for his operations... The 'magicks' business was booming, dilithium crystals supplied to all quarters of the city giving the needy citizens their imagined immortality, all a con but a fruitful one, and in a society superstitious as this, any imagined benefit would keep them from exposing him.
100 years ago when dilithium replaced lithium in starship engines, the engineers found that not only were the crystals impervious to matter-antimatter reactions, but were capable of storing vast amounts of data, enough that the Khan's government - a particular department of it called Historical Studies of the Khaganate: Modern Applications - made an acquisition of 70 megatonnes of crystals from the Empire's reserve (all state owned) and, mysteriously, had agents distribute them over a number of years to a select number of citizens, visiting them at their homes and, as the sage understood it, having these citizens swear never to reveal they possessed them. The sage had heard second-hand what was stored on them: huge quantities of inaccurate historical data or some such... disposed of by the government he supposed, it mattered little.
Still there were people in parts that looked into what was stored on the crystals, and in their accessing them to seek out that imagined promise of immortality, the configuration of the molecules, how the crystals were structured, in turn shaped their minds in ways the sage found difficult to understand: it was as if they were living a different life in a different culture a bit like how he imagined the Vulcan worlds to be, on an alternate path through history that correlated and yet somehow did not correlate with the modern Mongol world.
He'd heard from people stories, theories, of an alternate city, other roads that were travelled and curious social interactions that were hinted at. Drawn out on these theorists' maps, they were impossibly complex networks of graphical representations of human relations, and urban geographical pathways like a wireframe schematic of a giant biomechanical structure... He would've been astounded to see how closely these wireframe paradise drawings resembled an aerial map of Paris, Earth in the year 2402, heart of the United Federation of Planets.
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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: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Apr 3, 2016 21:13:52 GMT
OOC :: Apologies, but I'd completely forgotten about the bracelets being connected when I sent Calli on the away team, so we'll need to go with them being separated successfully by Kieron prior to them going to the Ne'Var .....IC ::Looking up at the chronometer above the view-screen, Carl was shocked to see that only thirty minutes had passed since the away team left the ship ... There had been no further contact with the Khans Advisor, and for that he was both grateful and concerned. He doubted that the J'aut quri had taken his word, at least, not completely, and he feared the man would attempt to enforce his demands on the Raven now her crew was on the surface. "What I can't understand ...." Wedlerson said as Kieron continued to work on his bracelet, "Is why attach these, they could have destroyed the Raven and still can whenever they choose, so fitting an explosive device to the Commander and myself doesn't make any sense at all, right ?" "Tracking ..... Listening devices ?" Kieron offered, shaking his head in frustration. "If they are tracking, then they must know Calli is heading for the Ne'Var, so why haven't they done anythi ......" Carl began, suddenly realizing they might have already done what he was about to say. Harry, use the narrowest beam possible, scan the Ne'Var for Human life-signs, quickly !" "Reading two, three, four, all away team personnel accounted for and aboard the Vulcan ship. Sir, I'm only reading eight other life-signs over there." Wedlerson said, wondering where the others had gone as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Sir." the Comms Officer said, "I'm getting a message from the surface. J'aut quri Ogljai requests he be allowed to transport aboard immediately." "Now he decides to be diplomatic." Blakus said, sarcasm in every syllable as the Khans Advisor materialized in the middle of the Bridge, two heavily armed guards on either side of him. He smiled as is greeting an old friend and approached Torek. placing a hand on each shoulder by way of greeting. "I feel we have, what is the expression, 'got off on the wrong foot ?' yes, that sounds about right. You are rightly concerned by our demands, but I am here to reassure you that we no longer require you to surrender your primary section into our hands ... I am also somewhat concerned that several members of your crew seem to be unaccounted for ... Do you have any, explanation for this inconsistency, Admiral ?" Ogljai asked, raising an eyebrow to emphasize his query. "Since you took it upon yourselves to remove all but my Senior Staff, I cannot account for anyone at present. In fact, I have no means of knowing if my crew and their Families are safe and well, let alone who is there or not. So pardon me if I am unable to answer your question Ogljai." Carl said, stepping forward until the J'auts guards moved between them, "Your actions against our vessel are tantamount to an act of war, you realize that !" Ogljai waved his guards away and stepped around Carl before dropping into the center seat. He took his time, seemingly assessing the comfort and upholstery, shaking his head as if deciding it was inferior workmanship and below what he was accustomed to. He looked up at Torek, smiling as is goading the man into reacting, but Carl remained in place, almost indifferent to the man before him. This obviously annoyed the Mongol, who was now fighting some inner battle to control his temper. He sat back, legs stretched before him and took out one of the small daggers he routinely carried. Placing the tip of the blade on the armrest he absentmindedly turned the blade between his fingers. "Your demand for dilithium crystals was disrespectful Admiral." "I did not 'demand' anything Ogljai .... I simply stated a fact, that if this ship doesn't get them it will fall out of the sky, and likely crash into one of your populated areas." Carl said, shrugging for effect as the J'aut continued to whittle a neat hold in the arm of the chair. "That may well be so, but I fear your Families will not survi ......" "STOP THREATENING US !" Carl shouted, slapping the dagger out of the mans hand before the guards restrained him. Ogljai stood and walked over to where his dagger had fallen and picked it up. Returning it to its scabbard he approached Torek. The blow from the back of his hand was both unexpected and painful. Carl spat blood from the cuts inside his mouth as the guards trained their weapons on Blakus and Wedlerson. Ogljai looked at his gloved hand then hit Torek with another backhand. Carl felt his tongue split and blood began to fill his mouth, he spat it forward, covering the J'aut quri. Ogljai smiled, wiping the blood away with his arm. "I have killed men for even considering what you just did, Admiral." he said dangerously then took out a small communication device: =^= Kill twenty of the males .. .. Now ! =^= "NOOOO !" Carl shouted, struggling against the men holding him, "Please, don't do this." he almost begged, but Ogljai grinned. =^= It is done my Lord =^= "Choose your next action very carefully Admiral, because it may cost the lives of ten of the Women, then ten of the Children until you learn civility." Ogljai said as he replaced his communicator. "BARBARIAN !" Wedlerson spat, receiving the butt of a rifle to his face for his trouble. "Now, we have things to discuss, and I would like to do so without the need for further killing." he said, retaking the center seat, "We 'may' have use for your vessel." "You are not having the Raven Ogljai." Torek stated, almost matter-of-factly. "You are, I am sure, aware of the Federation presence in our System." he said, not expecting or gatting and response from his captive, ""We feel that, an unprovoked attack on the Vulcan's, by let us say an 'outsider' may well turn their attentions away from Delkhii for a short period of time. Not long I grant you, as it is obvious that anyone attacking a Federation Vessel will come under fire from the others present, and will have no chance of survival, but you can take heart that should you agree to our 'request' that we will ensure that your Families and crew members will be held in high esteem for the remainder of their long lives, your Children, and Children's Children will be integrated into our Society." "Let me get this straight." Wedlerson asked, spitting blood through his swollen lips and two broken teeth, "You want us to attack the Federation so you can get the better of them while they are, preoccupied. In return for our obvious suicide attack, you promise not to kill our crew and Families ?" "Indeed ....." Ogljai said, grinning broadly ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Apr 4, 2016 21:30:57 GMT
There's also the issue, Blakus thought, of our damn away team on one of the Federation ships. He turned round to the science console, starting quietly to input commands. Ogljai was quickly onto him, or so he thought, "I wouldn't think about it, Commander Blakus. Anything you do to hinder this arrangement, trying to imprison me, using violence, breaking my connection with my warriors on the surface will result in the Raven crew's immediate extermination. I have ordered my warriors that this should be done if they do not hear from me."
Damn, that rules out decompression, he thought, anaesthezine, sonic waves, osmotic or diffuse phaser burst... "I wouldn't dream of it," he replied, lifting his fingers from the console, the command now completed.
"You are wise. Now sit down next to your friend with the bloodied face." He meant Wedlerson, who was breathing heavily, on his knees and waving to and fro. He did as instructed, and knew now all he had to do was wait. Ten to fifteen minutes went by, and he finally had good reason to look at the viewscreen...
Ogljai, who'd been sitting in the command chair playing with his knife again - this time scratching his name in Mongol lettering into the plexiglass panel on the armrest - saw Blakus's (simulated) surprised look towards the screen, looked that way himself and was immediately on his feet, "What are they doing?!"
"The lead ship is hailing, J'aut quri Ogljai," one of the guards said, who'd taken over the tactical station and was being instructed on its use by Commander Barr, who'd had little choice in the matter.
"Don't answer!" Ogljai raged. Blakus breathed a sigh or relief, Wedlerson alongside him glancing at him in confusion. Blakus found Torek's eyes, gave a signal to which the Admiral nodded near-imperceptibly, evidence he understood the subterfuge.
On the viewscreen were four Mongol ships, holographic projections beyond the Raven's hull, approaching the Galaxy class and locking holographic weapons. Of course the hail was also simulated, and if Ogljai had demanded a channel open he would've found nothing. But the weapons were real enough, and the ships would register on scanners as belonging to the Mongol 4th Space Fleet under Timapei.
"The Vulcan ships are moving to intercept!" the guard said.
Indeed they were, likely taking advantage of the confusion in much the same way as Ogljai had been planning to do with them. However, what would they make of the Mongols attacking the Raven, surely having realised that something was amiss on the Raven - reading the crew being beamed to the surface, then detecting additional human (Mongol) lifesigns being beamed up there... "They're charging weapons, locking onto our fleet!" the guard exclaimed.
"And our fleet is charging weapons on this vessel!" Ogljai shouted; it was becoming comic, both men were outraged and were voicing it to ever higher tonal registers.
"What do you do now, Ogljai? Strike up an alliance with Hemak's ships?" Blakus's laughter was fey, that old righteousness returning that could sometimes get him into trouble.
Ogljai strode towards him, planting a fist on his jaw and collapsing him to the deck before spitting on his back, "You'd do well to keep quiet, engineer, or my guard will dispose of you as easily as my surface warriors disposed of your cowardly men." He turned round to the guard at the tactical station, "Withdraw!" he raged. "Leave this ship at the mercy of our wayward warriors of the 4th Fleet. We will look to punish them later. Certainly I am not going down with these dogs!" He spat on Blakus again for good measure, who restrained himself with difficulty, and strode from the bridge with his guards en route for the transporter room.
"Commander! Good work," Wedlerson said through bloodied lips as the senior staff recovered themselves, and confirmed that Ogljai and his Mongols had beamed away to Delkhii.
What would happen to the crew on the surface now though? Now that Ogljai had been spurned here he may unleash his frustration on the Raven crew, or, worse, he may find out that the Mongol 4th Space Fleet was a holographic manifestation... As it turned out, they had more immediate issues... "Admiral. The Vulcan ships closing on the Mongol ship holograms are now redirecting their weapons on us..." They may have realised two things, he thought, that the ships were holograms - their technology was supposed to be superior to the Mongols' - and possibly that they had four intruders aboard one of their vessels...
<Tag All>
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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: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Apr 9, 2016 0:42:35 GMT
"Let me get this straight." Wedlerson asked, spitting blood through his swollen lips and two broken teeth, "You want us to attack the Federation so you can get the better of them while they are, preoccupied. In return for our obvious suicide attack, you promise not to kill our crew and Families ?" "Indeed ....." Ogljai said, grinning. Carl had inwardly dismissed the mans ultimatum out of hand. Every Star Fleet Officer knew the risks and ultimate sacrifice they may be called upon to give ... The Families, the Children, that was a different matter, but at this point he was unwilling to cede to the J'aut quri's demands, sacrificing the lives of the few still on the Raven would be a very small price to pay for saving the thousand men, women, and children on the surface, if Ogljai was to be believed that is, and Carl could see no gain whatsoever for the man to execute them if Torek carried out the suicide mission. He'd watched the Chief Engineer edging his way around the upper level until Ogljai finally confronted him. Truthfully, Carl had no idea what Blakus had been up to, but when the 'phantom' vessels appeared it was all he could do not to laugh out loud. While Ogljai may be the Khan's right-hand man, he couldn't be further from a space-borne Officer. The sudden and unexpected appearance of the ships had been the last straw and he had fled the Raven with his guards in tow, though it went without saying that if he were to discover the deception it would not bode well for the Raven crew ! ..... What Carl hadn't counted into the equation was what happened next: "Admiral ! ... The Vulcan ships closing on the Mongol ship holograms are now redirecting their weapons on us ......" Barr informed them. "Andae !" Torek said, nodding toward his Bridge Station. Blakus ran back, accessing the holo-ship program instantly. He reprogrammed one of the vessels and turned to the view-screen impatiently. Carl could see one of the 'fictitious' Delkhii ships come about, positioning itself between the USS Raven-B and the two Federation vessels, both of which came to an immediate halt relative to the Raven herself. "If they look too closely at that ship they'll realize it's holographic." "We 'could' shoot it down ourselves." Barr suggested. "Shoot the ship that was moments ago intent on destroying us, but now seems to be taking up a position to actually 'defend' us from attack by the Vulcan's ?" Wedlerson asked, admittedly confused by the comment. "Andae. Have the holo-ships target the T'Ehleyr, quickly !" Torek ordered, hoping his ploy would work before anyone on the Vulcan vessels decided to start calling bluffs. The seconds passed with no change, then as they entered the second minute of the apparent 'stand-off' the Vulcan ships targeting the Raven withdrew to their previous orbital positions, "Increase the speed of the Delkhii vessels and send them around the far side of the planet before the Vulcan's start asking questions no-one can actually answer, then open a Comm to the Principality ... I want to speak with the Khan !" ........ Aboard the Ne'Var ::"Lieutenant ... 'Why' has it never been tested, and why didn't we hear the pulse ?" Calli asked as they descended toward the storage area.
"Ah, beyond our range, a very particular frequency that's technically not even audial, ultrasonic or otherwise; lucky I have a modified tricorder." He stepped off the last rung, faced now with four octahedron containers, "And theoretical models indicated a ten percent risk of death to any test subject should it be used. So yes, one or more of them could be dead." He started opening up the nearest container, the gleam of dilithium crystals filtering out of the gap as they caught the light in these tight confines.
The Engineers' comments sent a shiver down her spine as he got to work opening the first containers, the Maya blue luminescence of the dilithium crystals within illuminating the surrounding area.
"All these containers are marked up identically, hell, they must have 'thousands' of crystals simply sat here doing nothing !" Milyanov said astounded.
Calli was looking around the room looking for something to transport the crystals without damaging them. Finally luck was on her side as she spotted several containers which seemed ideal. Approaching she picked up the first and opened it, knowing instantly it was ideal. She took six and returned to Milyanov and the others:
"Lieutenant Yang, there are more of these against the bulkhead. Go get two more. We'll take eight of the crystals back with us."
"We don't need eigh ......"
"They wont miss em." Calli interrupted the Engineer, who returned to placing one of the valuable crystals into each of the containers she had provided.
Fifteen minutes into their excursion aboard the Ne'Var, their return journey through the vessel uneventful, they were back at the air-lock ... Retrieving and donning their 'EVA' suits, they sealed the inner air-lock door. Milyanov had already programmed his tricorder to implement their equivalent of a 'Level Five' diagnostic on all systems throughout the Ne'Var thirty minutes after their departure. hopefully they would be safely back aboard the Raven when it implemented the command.
=^= Remember .. .. Radio silence one en-route to the Raven unless absolutely necessary .. .. Understood ? =^=
A chorus of 'Ayes' came back through her helmet Comms. She tapped Lieutenant Scott on the shoulder, the prearranged signal for him to open the outer air-lock door. Elation spread through the away team on their apparent success, but it was short-lived, as when they stepped out onto the hull, they could see one of the Vulcan vessels that had previously been in orbit almost seventy thousand meters distant, was now much much closer ... There was no way their space-walk back to the Raven couldn't be detected at such close range. Hell, one of the Vulcan's only had to look out the right window at the right time, and they would see four figures traversing the gap between one of their ships and that of the newcomer ! .... She, like the others, seriously doubted they would simply 'ignore' the presence of four space-suited figures out of hand. Indeed, in her humble opinion, no-one would, let alone the bloody Vulcan's ! ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Apr 14, 2016 15:23:27 GMT
Blakus sent the holoships - 1.2 km Mongol warship monstrosities - around the other side of the Delkhii planet, keeping out of sight of the Vulcan fleet that'd just now retreated to its previous position before making its dive towards the holoships and then the Raven...
"Holographic projection remains stable," he confirmed - despite the long range and the lack of line of sight to the Raven's deflector, they continued to appear very much like ships of the Mongol Empire's 4th Fleet.
Barr had opened a channel to the Mongol capital, predictably the Khan not appearing on the viewscreen but some advisor or secretary, backed by regal banners in beige, gold and scarlet with the device of the Khanate emblazoned large at their centres - a light breeze blew through from open windows behind, adding effect, Blakus assumed.
"The Khan is occupied with matters that transcend your vessel's presence in the orbit of our holy world, Admiral. If you wish to enquire about your missing crewmembers, I am able to answer whatever questions you may have. Your crew," he preempted, "Are safe and well. None have been touched by the blades of our warriors, though the J'aut quri did demand the execution of half their number, he was overruled by the Khatun."
Blakus watched Torek impassively; obviously he would be boiling with fury that Ogljai would've been willing, and had come so close to being able to, destroy the majority of the Raven crew now in some desolate outer suburban area - or pure wilderness about - the Mongol capital city, strewn with fallen monuments of some bygone age, rickety pathways lit by dim lamps that swayed given the altitude, matrices of these thoroughfares down which crept strange old mystics with glinting gems in their sacks, old fire in their hearts from before the rise of the Empire in the Earth's (Delkhii's) middle ages... somehow prolonged in endless life along with their Khan, courtesy of the gleaming.
His attention was returned to the engineering console, "There's a build up of energy in the T'Ehleyr's stardrive," he reported, "The core's overheating, magnetic constrictors or some equivalent not reading the power flow from the MRI, AMRI complexes accurately..."
She was hailing. Torek nodded, having the contemptible Mongol advisor cut off from the viewscreen while Hemak's face slotted into his place, "Admiral Torek, our engines are going critical... We are now in desperate need of an infusion of deuterium... None of our other ships can supply us, their own reserves are running low themselves; will you help us? Will we give you 4 dilithium crystals, free, if you can supply enough deuterium to save our ship in this moment."
<Tag Carl, Kieron>
"Well, these crystals should supply us amply for the foreseeable future," Milyanov said into his helmet's comm, as they jetted their way back through the black, star-ridden abyss in air-suffocated silence to the airlock - centered on their visors with a sort of 'HUD' display indicating if they were on correct heading or not. "Not just enough to arrest our slide towards the surface of the planet but enough, perhaps, to give us time to find a way to open a rift back to normal space, and the real Federation."
"Eight should do the trick," Yang agreed.
They were starting to pass dangerously close to one of those Vulcan vessels, just now slotting back into place after seemingly having been on some excursion in the direction of the Raven... "Umm," Milyanov checked his control panel affixed to his right forearm, reading the sensor information and verifying that they're still outside visual range of the vessel, whichever one it was... "Yeah, we can't be visually ID'd, yet."
"Don't worry so much, Lieutenant," Scott's voice, "Almost home."
It was growing out of their faceplates that was for sure, their appointed airlock of the USS Raven, sliding forward now for some reason, entering transporter range of one of the Vulcan vessels behind them and to the right. A sudden crackling burst of an incoming communique, "Commander Valente, USS Raven, the Vulcans want a trade, as a matter of priority - one of their ships is at risk... If you're out there when she blows, then... well..."
"Why's the trade back on? Have they given fairer terms?" Valente commed back.
"In a manner of speaking. They've offered 4 crystals for free in return for just enough deuterium to keep their warp drive functioning, and hence their ship intact. Now, you've got crystals, we presume?" They did indeed, 8 of them. "Then that could present a problem: we've stolen those 8 from them shortly before they were to offer us half that number for free." Milyanov heard a sigh on the other end. "Get aboard, quickly, in case the T'Ehleyr goes up before expected, and we'll sort out what to do with the crystals from here. We can't very well say to the Vulcans, 'Oh, you're giving those for free? Well here are some we've stolen. Thank you very much.'"
"Alright, Chief," Milyanov laughed, it having taken a while to work out who it was on the other end, verified once the sarcastic remarks had started coming. His brief - despite being beset by peril - mirth was shortlived however as the Vulcan ship down and to their left, now beginning to pass them, manoeuvred violently to its left. Calli and Scott ahead of him - Yang behind - hurriedly began activating emergency thruster units to boost them towards the Raven, but Milyanov was too late...
He plunged towards the Vulcan ship. Coming at him at an angle pointing away from him down and to his left slightly, he was going to impact it on its port side... "Raven, Milyanov... Can you - can you lock onto my signal at all?! I'm on a direct collision course with one of the Federation vess- "
Inside the mess hall of the Vulcan ship that'd just made its innocent course correction, the occupying Vulcans, Andorians, Xindi and other species suddenly had reason to look towards the panoramic viewing portal: some had spotted the figure immediately, most only turned at the sound - a white-suited humanoid shape clunked into the transparent aluminium of the portal, rebounding off at high relative speed towards aft... Excited - excited as Vulcans are likely to make their speech - murmurs broke out amongst those taking their lunch... Who, or what, had that been?
To say it was a cry of pain would've been an understatement, but he lived still. "Raven..."
<Tag Raven>
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
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Post by Carl Torek on Apr 14, 2016 23:13:23 GMT
=^= The Khan is occupied with matters that transcend your vessel's presence in the orbit of our holy world Admiral .. If you wish to inquire about your missing crew-members I am able to answer whatever questions you may have. Your crew are safe and well .. None have been touched by the blades of our warriors though the J'aut quri did demand the execution of half their number .. Fortunately he was overruled by the Khatun =^= Carl's attention was pulled from the man on screen as Wedlerson informed him that the Vulcan 'flagship' was hailing ... =^= So now you are in dire need you are willing to assist us .. Am I reading you rightly there ? =^= =^= We are both in some difficulty Admiral .. Alas .. Ours is more immediate =^= Wedlerson was signalling Torek out of sight of the Vulcan, mouthing that he had picked up the away team. =^= We'll get back to you =^= Carl said, nodding to Harry to close the Comm. "Where are they !" he asked urgently. "They departed the Ne'Var moments ago, we picked them up but only because we were looking for their return trip. I doubt any of the Federation vessels have spotted them at this point." "Can we beam them back ?" "No Sir, they are too close to the Ne'var, but given the fact the Vulcan's are re-positioning their ships we may have no option but to do so. They have the crystals we need but if any of the Federation ships pick up on our transporter lock I doubt they'll just sit back and watch proceedings." "Keep a close eye on them, if the opportunity arises, beam them back." Four hundred twenty two kilometers above Delkhii ::They had stepped out of the air-lock ten minutes earlier on their thirty minute journey ... Calli had ordered Comm silence but that changed when they all heard the Raven:
=^= Commander Valente .. USS Raven .. The Vulcan's want a trade as a matter of priority .. .. .. One of their ships is apparently at risk .. If you're out there when she blows then .. .. .. =^= ........
Everyone was listening to the conversation as they drifted towards the Raven, but almost too late they realized that one of the Federation vessels was going to pass by them too closely for comfort. Calli Scott and Yang immediately activated thrusters but Milyanov was orientated in an acute angle to their travel so hadn't see the massive vessel until it was too late !
USS Raven ::"Sir, three of the away team have entered the air-lock, commander Milyanov has impacted with the Vulcan vessel. His suit integrity is down to forty three percent, life support if failing !" "Lock onto him and transport direct to sick-bay ... NOW." Carl ordered. "Transport complete." Barr informed him as Wedlerson received a second Comm from the T'Ehleyr. "Andae, how much deuterium would they need to stabilize their engines and hold position ?" "If their drive systems are comparable to our own, we could send them in the region of V≈2.54×105 so one antimatter container should keep them alive for several hours." "Enough time to force them to prioritize." Harry added. "Beam it directly to their Engineering Section." Carl ordered. Blakus contacted his department and carried out the instruction. =^= Thank you Admiral .. We are in your debt .. Might I ask .. .. .. How is your Officer ? .. I was informed that one of my vessels attempted a course change while returning to their station but could not avoid collision with someone participating in activity 'outside' your vessel .. If you require assistance retrieving your Officer I am sure we can provide a small craft ? =^= =^= Sorry but I haven't authorized any excursions outside the ship .. .. .. I do hope whoever it was wasn't injured too badly .. .. I have beamed over a small supply of deuterium for your use .. I hope you will use it wisely =^= Carl ordered the comm closed and sat back in the center seat ...........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Apr 18, 2016 20:00:44 GMT
"I'll be in engineering," Andae said, "Hopefully Hemak's people won't be too long in deciding whether to give us those four crystals." He got Carl's attention, a thought suddenly occurring to him, "Admiral. What if Hemak finds irrefutable proof of our excursion to the Ne'Var? Should we volunteer the dilithium crystals we've stolen?"
There were two problems with doing that of course, the most obvious being that they'd be admitting their guilt after which all 'negotiations' with the Federation of Worlds would likely be broken off, but second and perhaps more crucially for getting the hell back home, the extra eight (with the presumed four already accounted for) crystals would give them sufficient power for over a year, time enough hopefully in which to find a way back to Earth, Vulcan and company.
In sickbay Milyanov was being forced to remain for medical observation; one didn't simply collide with a vessel's exterior (that vessel which was moving towards him) at relative velocities around 300 km/s without needing significant care afterwards, if one wasn't already dead. His left arm had been broken (it bearing the brunt of the impact with the window of the Vulcan Ne'Var's mess hall), while he was suffering from severe concussion - his head bashed about the inside of his EVA suit's helmet as he'd gone spiralling towards aft and the hotly burning impulse drive exhausts...
"When I'm ready, Lieutenant," the acting CMO said, running the scanner that accompanied the medical tricorder annoyingly close over his face, "You also have three broken ribs. You're lucky you weren't pulped inside your suit..."
"Well I would've been if the other ship had been going about 200 km/s faster, or at half impulse or above. Would you get that off me," he batted the CMO's hand away and tried to sit up, feeling - almost hearing he was sure - the crunch in his ribcage from the bodily manoeuvre. The howl was not kind to the ears of the other occupants of sickbay.
"Now, see? Back down, Lieutenant, you're out for the next two weeks if you keep breaking your own bones like this."
While Blakus was in engineering, circling the pool table and observing how the core was taking the new dilithium crystals - all good so far - he received word that another comm was coming through from the Vulcan ship T'Ehleyr. He hadn't been ordered to insert the new crystals into the DC matrix; considering they were stolen perhaps precautions should, or should've been taken on their installation, in case the Admiral changed his mind about their miniature space heist, though if they were theirs permanently, then why not put them to immediate use and test-
"The message read, Commander," Tinsley his temporary acting chief - who also hadn't been beamed down by the J'aut quri with the others - cut off his train of thought, reading off a PADD on which he'd downloaded the message data from the bridge, "The Federation vessel T'Ehleyr is pleased to grant the claimed Federation vessel USS Raven-B four dilithium crystals. Prepare for immediate transport."
"No need to lower our shields..." Blakus murmured. The Vulcans had already accomplished the feat of beaming through a shield grid in giving them the Protogeneic Sequencer, that device that'd never been meant to work, had supposedly been for robbing the Khan of his immortality, or killing him, or preventing him from passing on his immortality, whatever story of promise the Vulcans had spun the Raven about the sequencer's true potential after 'gifting' it to them on one of the lower decks.
Indeed, the four dilithium crystals in exchange for the amount of deuterium was found by Security in transporter room 2. And another communication was incoming before Andae could ask Carl what he wanted to do with these four.
=/\= USS Raven, this is Vulcan Commander S'lring of the Ne'Var... We know you have stolen dilithium crystals from us, and that one of your crewmen collided with another vessel in our fleet on his or her return journey with your EVA team. We are willing to let you have them, and to conceal from Commander Hemak, CO of this fleet, that you acquired them illegally. You will understand, USS Raven, that Commander Hemak is not well liked among the Vulcan High Command, that body which controls the Federation of Worlds. I and the crew of my vessel are among those who dislike Hemak, and his political manoeuvres of late among the Command. We will fabricate evidence that your officer's collision was space debris. S'lring out. =/\=
<Tag Carl>
"We have enough crystals to arrest our decay in orbit now, Tinsley," Blakus said, heading to the warp core and watching the crystals, in their matrix, protruding from the warp core as his staff took detailed surveys of the information stored on them... for they were of an odd configuration, they were discovering, something programmed into the crystals' (for it was a lattice, crystalline molecular grid structure after all) framework, some coding or something of another nature beyond their ability to define. "Try putting them back in," he instructed his staff, "Simulate a warp drive test of up to warp 9.5, incrementally higher by 0.1 factors every half hour. Inform me of the results." He retreated to his office.
On the surface, the great Khan, Khan of Khans who the Raven crew had even now never met (only as a hologram) sat on his opulent throne feeling his immortality being leeched away from him, from all around and above.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Apr 21, 2016 22:33:13 GMT
Altan Alaqa-Beki ::"We must act, now .... My 'Father' is showing weakness with this unknown vessel, and is barely keeping the all mighty Federation at bay."
"I am yours to command My Queen."
"I am 'NOT' your queen, and you would do well to remember that lest someone overhear you ! ....... Did you retrieve the potion ?"
"I did My Qu, Khatun."
"..... and you are certain it will do what was requested, because failure would only mean one thing. For you it would be a quick death on the blade of a thousand cuts, but for me, much, much, worse. I believe my Father would keep me alive for many days as an example to all those who would defy him.
"I trust the man My Lady, he is loyal to you and knows the consequences to him and his family should it fail."
Altan stood up from the minor throne in the Great Hall. He father was currently two hundred meter away in the audience chamber, a large room with expansive windows that were normally open at this time of year. She picked up the small, almost insignificant yet ornate glass flask and secreted it beneath her robes. The two left the Hall and made their way along the long wide corridor to the audience chamber ... Greeting her Father she proceeded to speak about the current situation with both the Federation and the newcomer vessel while she poured out two goblets of wine. The man accompanying her stood off to one side silently observing proceedings as Altan took both drinks to the ornate throne on which sat her Father.
Immediately, his personal taster stepped forward and took the offered goblet and eyed it with suspicion before sniffing at the contents. Altan waited patiently then offered her own chalice to the taster. The man stood before her and after a long moment waved the offered drink away as he sipped the contents of the goblet intended for the Khan. Satisfied, and obviously not writhing in agony from some exotic poison, he handed the goblet to the Khan. Smiling, she sat at his feet on the plush pillows provided and they spoke of the war with the Federation, the possibility of an alliance with the unknown vessel and their home system before dismissing formal issues for Family ones. The Khan still hoped that his Daughter would consent to marry, but as he was speaking he realized his throat was dry and took a long drink from the chalice ... Moments later he needed to do so again, this time he glanced at the goblet before drinking. Realizing it was now empty he requested another, but Altan offered hers ......
Two men entered the Audience Chamber un-noticed and edged around the room until they were stood close to the Khan's two most trusted and proven guards.
"The Khan, having drained his Daughters' goblet, was now worried about the dryness in his throat and the fact that he was struggling concentrating. He was about to call for his guards when both fell dead at his feet. Temujin tried to get out of his seat, his only need to protect his must precious Daughter from whatever was happening. While he was essentially immortal, Altan was not and if someone was attempting to usurp the throne then she must be taken to safety immediately. He called for her ward, stillstood quietly watching proceedings, he wondered vaguely why the man had not reacted to protect his Queen when the guards fell dead, but Altan got his attention before he could demand an explanation !
"We need changes My Father." she said compassionately.
"We will defeat the mighty Federation, with or withou ......." the Khan began, realizing he was seriously unwell but knowing his immortality would overcome whatever was happening. His confidence was alas, short-lived :
"The concoction has been over a year in the making My Father. Under any other circumstances you would have been proud of it." Altan said, easing him away from the throne and down on to one of the pillows, his taster almost collapsing in confusion as Altan explained further, "You, and the ever loyal taster, were given a substance that would bring upon you a dryness of the throat. It was essential that I be within arms reach of you when the substance took effect so that you would take my offered cup, which contained a much-concentrated serum aimed at mutating two of your genes. They in turn would begin to attack the sequence and ultimately, despite your ability to live 'forever' that would be compromised when your gene sequence homology was irrevocably altered. So .... The very Deoxyribonucleic acid that once rejuvenated your body and mind, has finally been corrupted to such an extent that you will die ... Very soon in fact."
"Nyan will execute you." Temugin said, falling to the marble floor, unable to retain his upright stance any longer, "My Wife will cut your throat, and you will never sit upon this throne." Khan said.
"But here I am father ... Do you not see me upon your precious throne ? ..... Oh, and as for 'Mother' your Queen, alas she too met with an accident only moments ago, so it seems that unless you have left instructions for your first Son, the ever argumentative Yesugan to succeed you, then I seem to be the one to inherit your vast kingdoms, indeed the Planet itself, do you not agree ?" she asked, watching as the poison destroyed her Father cell my meticulous cell until he was no longer able to reply. She stood and walked down the steps to kneel beside him, "I shall be known as Temujin Altan Khan .... I took your name, do you like that, Father ?" .....
"Your wish .... My Queen ?" Ogljai asked, prostrating himself before her.
"Have the body dragged into the Square, and that of my mother too .... Gather our citizens, let them see that the Khan is gone and that I am now Ruler. Have them cast to the floor and burned for everyone to witness."
"My Queen." Ogljai replied ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Apr 27, 2016 21:40:49 GMT
They must have notified the OUK, the sage thought, browsing through his maps and bringing one out on the table, it showing the location of the old palatial square where the Khan's sons of four generations previous were all simultaneously ritually beheaded before a bloodthirsty crowd of baying citizens from the poorer quarters of the city. "Where did they go... where?" he whispered maniacally, turning the rustling pages of the map book.
Knocking on the door of his wooden shack and emerging out of the night were three of the palace guards, direct subordinates of the J'aut quri Ogljai but loyal to Temujin Khan whose throne had just been usurped. They were bearers of the same message to hundreds of households, all those houses to which had been delivered the dilithium crystals decades ago, holding the secret information about some alternate history theory. Now they'd come for him.
"The death of the Khan is on your head, old man!" the first guard barked, dragging him screaming off his feet and through the front door out into the rain that fell torrentially on the planks of wood making up this part of the raised street. "Your pretend magicks have bewitched too many of the soldiery already. Now the Khan succumbs at the hand of his own daughter?! You will pay the ultimate price."
The guard looked to his companion across from him, who nodded solemnly. Given the all clear the guard raised his axe above his head, the old man beneath him bringing up his hands, begging desperately, before bringing it crashing down, decapitating the howling sage in one blow.
Blakus muddled over the PADDs in his office, taking in the information on the warp drive simulations. It appeared that the four crystals acquired from the T'Ehleyr - as a gift from Hemak really - were fully compatible with the dilithium matrix and would give them enough power to operate for seven months, assuming a normal usage of the warp drive at average speeds. They also had the eight they'd stolen, and the uncertain assurances of the captain of the vessel they'd stolen from that their act would go unpunished; from what Blakus gathered there was a power struggle between Hemak and this S'lring of the Ne'Va within the Federation fleet.
The question remained, how might they get home now that they had sufficient power to keep them from plummeting into the Delkhii planet's atmosphere? The rift if that was indeed what they'd passed through, had displaced them in space and quantum reality, but not in time - which made it a lot easier in comparison with recent assignments, such as to the Xallac/Halanan empire, Andae thought. If they could pinpoint the exact location of the rift, or the exact point when new constellations, new planets, unfamiliar ships had started springing up, then they could head back there, scan the area, test the deflector in several modes - random firing of different particle streams at the rift location. It may yield results.
Tinsley entered his office - one of the now-skeleton crew remaining - handing him the latest data. Blakus took it, "So the warp drive will operate for four hours continuously, at warp 9.97? What - what about transwarp?" he stuttered.
"The Vulcan-Federation haven't invented it yet, or stabilised it enough for use perhaps. The crystals they've supplied are for non-transwarp vessels only," Tinsley replied. Blakus sat back, sighing. It was lucky the rift was probably not far away. "The bridge requested I inform you," his temporary assistant added, "That Khanate ships are moving away from the Vulcan fleet, lowering their orbit and setting themselves geosynchronous over the capital city. Also, our holoships have been discovered; either that or they've run out of power. We've only just installed the new dilithium crystals after all."
"Thank you, Lieutenant... That will be all." Blakus interlocked his fingers, the two indexes protruding and tapping his lips. Perhaps the situation in the Federation of Worlds fleet wasn't the only domain of a power struggle, he thought, visualising the Mongol capital.
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
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Post by Carl Torek on Apr 28, 2016 1:28:39 GMT
Having finally left the Bridge, Carl had returned to his quarters and dropped straight into bed beside Chloe .... The insistent chirping of the Comm woke Chloe first and she shook him awake: =^= Admiral .. Commander Wedlerson .. Sorry to disturb you but we are picking up some disturbing transmissions on the surface .. I think you should see them =^= =^= I'm on my way =^= Carl said, closing the Comm and seemingly having to drag himself out of the bed he felt he'd only got into thirty seconds earlier, though the chronometer above the door showed it was almost six in the morning. Bridge ::"This is being broadcast plant-wide !" Harry said, putting the feed onto the main screen as Carl dropped into his seat .... "...... oadcast live from the Capitol of our First cCty. It has come to light that our glorious Ruler, Temujin Tolui Ghengis Khan is dead. We say once again, the Khan is dead ... You see his body, and that of his wife for many years, Nyan Tolui being dragged unceremoniously into the Central Square. Guards, once loyal to the Khan, are pulling them onto the dais and dousing them in oils. The Khan's Family, nor the Ruling Council, have not made any form of announcement regarding the events being played out before our eyes .... Now, you can see that two of the Royal guard are approaching the bodies with torches .... Both are now alight ! .... Our most cherished leader, Father of our World, is burning before my very eyes. It is a sad sad day for our planet. We are trying to ascertai ....." "Turn it off." Carl ordered. He stood up, rubbing his still tired eyes and wondering if he was going to wake up to breakfast in bed and realize this was all a dream. Andae entering the Bridge scuppered that faint hope instantly: Both Federation and Delkhii vessels are making sudden course changes." he said, putting a tactical plot on the view-screen, "The Delkhii are dropping into low orbit, practically all of them are now in geostationary orbits above the Main City. The Federation ships are moving to extreme range once more." "Ask Commander Valente to come to the Bridge ....... Play the broadcast again please, put it up on the Science Station." Carl said once Calli arrived, then he concentrated on the tactical plot, knowing it wasn't going to change the fact that a coup had taken place on the planet below, where a man, thought to be immortal, had been murdered and burned for all to see. He could understand why the Federation were backing away now, despite Delkhii being one world, it was a powerful one, and one the federation know to their detriment that refusing their application into the Federation was a substantial mistake on their part, and may well now lead to all-out war, instead of the constant sniping at each other that seems to have gone on for so long. Depending on just 'who' emerges as the new Ruler of course. "Bloody Hell !" was all Calli could comment when they turned back and walked down from the upper level. "Bit of an understatement, but yeh, that describes the situation to a proverbial tee !" Harry commented without a hint of sarcasm, "So who the hell is in charge down there ?" "I can't see that snake Ogljai having the nerve, let alone the backing to do this and retain a hold on the throne, for want of a better title." Calli offered. "Well it 'HAS' to be someone close ..... and someone in his inner circle with knowl ......." Harry began, then turned to his console as the signal for an incoming communication began to chirp, "Sir, it's the, Palace ...." Carl nodded, then waited for the screen to change. =^= Admiral Torek .. You and your Senior Officers are requested to attend the new Ruler of Delkhii =^= "So it isn't him then." Harry muttered. =^= We would be happy to do so .. .. .. We have been monitoring your broadcast of the .. Events over the last hour .. .. .. We would very much like to congr .. .. .. =^= =^= You will transport to the coordinates previously supplied .. You will transport to the Palace unarmed and without any form of Security Detail .. The invitation is .. Shall we say .. More requirement than optional on your part and failure to attend the audience could be detrimental .. Both to you and your vessel .. Our guards will expect you in twenty minutes time .. I suggest you do not keep our new Ruler waiting .. It would not bode well .. Not bode well at all ! .. .. .. .. =^= the Comm snapped off before Carl could object. He turned to the others: "It has to be one of the Sons ...." Calli said, "Yesugan, or Kouang are my vote." "Dress uniform. Transporter Room Three in fifteen minutes. Let's not keep this 'New Ruler' waiting shall we." Carl said, leaving the Bridge and heading for his quarters ........ ~~~~~~~~~~ Materializing, Carl, Andae, Calli, and Harry were confronted by twenty of the Royal Guards, all brandishing ornate, and doubtless extremely 'sharp' scimitars, their energy weapons hung from their gold sashes: "You will come with us. The J'aut quri is waiting." one of the guards instructed, then fell into step obviously surrounding the Raven Officers while appearing not to be doing so .... At the end of the long corridor, Ogljai, resplendent in his obviously new 'Robes of Office' awaited them: "Have they been thoroughly searched ?" "Yes My Lord." the lead guard confirmed, as Ogljai stepped forward and removed their comm badges, throwing them into a silken pouch before handing them to one of the guards. "You will come with me." he said, turning and walking through the ornate double doors into the audience chamber without bothering to check if they were following. The lowered scimitar's made his lack of concern justified. They walked the length of the room in silence, each eyeing the throne and the melee of underlings and Ruling Councilmen surrounding the new Ruler. They were 'instructed' to remain on the lowest step while the J'aut quri rose to the throne. more guards enterd, positioning four more people on the same step as the Raven Officers before they stepped back, but not too far. Harry nudged Calli and nodded, she was shocked to see four Vulcan Officer's ... Ogljai spoke for long moments before those assembled around the ornate throne separated, dropping down and away, to reveal the new Ruler of Delkhii. To say Carl, and no doubt the others, were surprised, was yet one more understatement, managing to beat the Vulcan's he stepped forward half a pace, all he could manage as his progress was barred by a piece of ornately decorated scimitar: "Khatun ..." May i express my sympathy for the sudden loss of your, parents, especially the Khan. While congratulating you on your unexpected succession to the throne." "My title, Admiral, is: Mandukhai Altan Alaqa-Beki Temujin Khan ... You may address me as Mandukhai, or, Altan Temujin, as you prefer." ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Apr 28, 2016 21:44:31 GMT
The courtesans, servants and officials peeled away from the dais and throne, the Raven staff now seeing that the Khan's daughter, Altan Khatun sat upon it. Blakus blinked slowly, not sure he could believe what he was seeing: a child on a vastly oversized throne, surrounded by fierce warriors, robed dignitaries and eunuchs, everything around decked out in royal finery.
The Vulcans right next to Blakus were inscrutable in how they watched the scene; the one beside him was clearly an ambassador of some sort, the other three were in Starfleet uniform - captains of three of the vessels, none of them Hemak thankfully.
"How did this come to pass?" the Vulcan ambassador asked the new Khan suddenly, and scimitars and ceremonial spears were thrust in his direction, a hubbub of warning voices rising above the almost surreal silence in the chamber. "Who, Altan Temujin Khan, was perpetrator of your honoured father's downfall?"
Blakus's eyes returned to the child, who opened her mouth to respond when their friend J'aut quri Ogljai cut in front of the Vulcans violently, "The manner of succession of the new Khan is of no concern to outsiders. Know only that a powerful and honourable new leader of the Mongol Empire has come into possession of -"
"It is alright, J'aut quri, I can and will give my own answers to our esteemed guests," Altan said, Ogljai bowing and backing away. The old Khan's daughter surveyed the gathered crowd, courtesans, Raven and Vulcan Federation staff, "I am responsible for the death of my father." Barely restrained tumult, "I had him killed, and I also killed my mother."
"The Mongol Empire needed new, strong leadership!" Ogljai hollered, again silenced by the new Empress and several of her personal bodyguards moved towards Ogljai, who backed away, seeming Blakus thought ashamed of his actions. The Vulcans raised eyebrows at one another, while Andae and the others just looked at the dais in disbelief.
"Don't trust them," he heard a whispering in his ear. "They'll be the death of us, of our race, yours too." Irked, Blakus turned and saw the robed figure - with his hood up, dark eyes peering out from the cowl pierced with the light from the ceiling high above, "Come, I can free you from my people's clutches. This is only the beginning of the end: the new Khan won't stop until she has annihilated you and the Federation."
Blakus frowned, keeping his voice quiet, "I don't know, she's seemed quite friendly thus far. She has held audience with my CO a couple of times, and allowed us to survive up here despite her fleet detecting our holosh- " He stopped himself before he said something stupid, shrugging off the Mongol's attentions and returning his eyes to the dais.
"But she and the J'aut quri have most of your crew imprisoned here!" the Mongol whispered harshly, Blakus sighing. "Please! I can show you how to free your people. They're under tight guard by Ogljai's warriors, in a complex guarded every hour of every moon on the outskirts of the city."
"You're the military aide to the fourth son's governor, aren't you?" Blakus said, recognising the Mongol from their first meeting at the palace. "Why the change of heart?"
"Our history is wrong, has been manipulated for centuries for the benefit of those in power, so that they might make their exploits seem all the more glorious. 'History is written by the conquerors', ah, I see you recognise the phrase - parallels between our worlds perhaps, yes, for I know you are true human like us, only different in your demographics and historical progression, such a progression that ours may have a lot more in common with if our records hadn't been tampered with.
"So, Commander Blakus, I can have most of the guards called away. Ogljai, unfortunately, is unreachable - I had planned to poison him - something I acquired from the city... I can of course also give you the location of the internment camp where your crew are being held." Blakus unexpectedly had a padd type device pushed into his hands; he looked over it surreptitiously: sure enough it showed a schematic of a section of the city's outskirts, there were nearby abandoned industrial works and a commercial air/spaceport, with a large space annotated with the dimensions of the camp and the guard rotation.
He approached Torek, "Sir, from a trustworthy source," he gestured over to the man in the cowl, cleared his throat, "Hmm, well I'm sure I can trust him but never mind, he's given me a detailed map of the place where our crew are being held. It's protected by a shield grid. The only way we could free them without firing on the surface would be to sneak into the camp ourselves." Also if we fired on the surface to disrupt the Mongols' shield, Andae thought, Ogljai would likely have all the stranded Raven crew executed on the spot.
<Tag Carl, Kieron if with away team>
The question was how and what juncture would it be appropriate to attempt a liberation of the stranded Raven crew? For the time being things seemed amiable between the Khatun (rather Altan Temujin Khan) and the other parties involved. Might they find an easier way to settle the problem of their missing crew by talking to the Mongols, or should Andae insist they heed the words of the informant that Altan wouldn't stop 'til the Raven was destroyed?
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Andae Blakus
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Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
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Post by Andae Blakus on May 4, 2016 4:28:23 GMT
Bridge, T'Ehleyr...
Hemak strolled the bridge of the T'Ehleyr, darting a look at the tactical officer, "Are they keeping their distance?" referring to the Mongol fleet.
"They are still in orbit of Delkhii, Commander, yes," the Vulcan officer replied. "Geostationary above the capital. Perhaps they're protecting their new monarch. In so doing blocking the way for any of our ships, or indeed the unknown grey ship, to penetrate that area and perhaps force a rapid regime change on Delkhii... On the other hand, the Mongol ships may have situated themselves at that point to welcome the foreign ambassadors and dignitaries, and to indicate by their presence there the nature of what has and is unfolding on their homeworld."
"Indeed, Lieutenant. Thank you," Hemak said dryly and returned to sit brooding in his command chair.
His small fleet had been obligated to retreat to maximum range given what'd just transpired, back towards the tentative border between their space and the Mongols'. Delkhii was for now, strategically, tactically at least, free of Vulcan influence - except for the ambassador (his overtures thus far having apparently been met with silence by the Mongol imperial court) and the three Federation ship commanders. Hemak understood the Raven's officers were down there, too.
The reasons for his own exclusion from the surface team to the Mongol capital were obvious. None of the other commanders trusted him. His reasoning: it was self-evident to them all that the Raven had stolen dilithium from the Ne'Va (and were now likely putting it to use in their power core), yet Captain S'lring of the Ne'Va hadn't made a single attempt at contact with Hemak since the event - it'd taken Hemak himself to contact the Raven and demand an explanation - playing coy, condescending other species may say (but such was the Vulcan way), he'd probed the Raven's CO on the missing crystals and had of course been met with flat denial. In the same position Hemak would've likely done the same thing.
His seizing of command of the T'Ehleyr, having Captain S'uro confined to quarters, then to the brig, was done on the pretence that the rest of the fleet waiting beyond the border - just five lightyears from Delkhii - had given Hemak their full support for the action; his claim that the fleet supported him and that it hadn't been a mutiny on the T'Ehleyr but a removal of an ineffectual CO was also on shaky grounds... The starship Spock and its fleet beyond the border (of which the Spock was the leading vessel) didn't trust him, and he'd stated to his own crew (who'd grown increasingly untrusting of him) and to the Raven's officers something quite to the contrary.
So he had foes closing in about him... All he could do now was hold off his usurpers and keep command of the T'Ehleyr for long enough, and await a possible new uprising on Delkhii in the wake of the new Khan's succession, whereupon the planet may well be thrown into anarchy and the ships above its capital disperse - then he could hail the Spock's fleet beyond the border, have them join him, show them how he'd identified this new weakness in the Mongols' defences and - his position reaffirmed - spur the Federation of Worlds on to conquer the Mongol Empire.
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Carl Torek
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Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
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Post by Carl Torek on May 7, 2016 12:20:14 GMT
Carl had held his increasingly rising annoyance in check thus far, though he had the distinct feeling that it wouldn't last much longer as he listened to the newly 'appointed' Khan and her minions. it didn't help that the Vulcan's representing this version of the Federation, were almost smiling at the situation, did they know something the Raven Officers didn't, were they playing for time now that a sisteen year old was in charge, hoping someone may wish to, change that ? .....
~~~~~
Andae moved away from a cloaked figure and approached him:
"Sir, from a possible trustworthy source ..." he gestured over to the man in the cowl, cleared his throat, "Hmm, well I'm sure I can trust him but never mind, he's given me a detailed map of the place where our crew are being held. It's protected by a shield grid. The only way we could free them without firing on the surface would be to sneak into the camp ourselves."
"Why would he want to help ?" Carl asked surreptitiously motioning for the informer to approach. When he did Carl asked his name, the man immediately replied: 'My name is Dorj, I am in the employ of one of the Ruling Council'
"And who would that be ?" Carl probed, eyeing the Vulcan's one of which was taking an interest in them.
"Alas, I have been instructed not to divulge that information at this time, it could place my 'employer' in jeopardy." the man said, cagily, "But I was instructed to tell you that should you wish not to take advantage of his 'hospitality' then he will respect that and make no further contact. You cannot find, nor effect a rescue of your crew without his help, that is certain, and he can guarantee their deaths without that help."
"Admiral, Torek ...." they turned to see one of the Vulcan's had approached and was stood several meters away, though obviously still close enough to have heard the conversation, "I hope I am not, intruding. I thought given the current changes, I introduce myself. I am Vl'rok, High Ambassador to the Federation of Worlds, it is I who has been 'negotiating, a solution to the Delkhii / Federation, issue."
"Issue ?" Carl said, deciding to ignore the mans introduction, which the Vulcan noticed but didn't comment on.
"Our problems in incorporating the Delkhii and their world into the Federation. I assumed that you were aware ...." Vl'rok said, eyebrows raising questioningly. both Carl and Andae hadn't missed the fact that he had said 'incorporate' rather than 'become a member' and that worried them both inwardly, "But I am sure we will have ample opportunity to discuss this, and many more 'intriguing' matters in due course. I assume you will not be leaving in the near future, especially as the new Khan is accommodating your entire crew on the surface ?" Blakus noticed that the cloaked figure had apparently slid away unnoticed.
"I assume you would have acted differently regarding our crew ?" Andae asked.
"We are not in the habit of 'kidnapping' ... Commander." Vl'rok said, apparently hurt by the unspoken suggestion, "I would invite you to dine on our Flag-ship this evening, Admiral ... Your Senior Staff Officers are also invited, if of course, you do not already have plans to dine here ?" the eyebrows again.
"We would be happy to accept." Carl said.
"I shall expect you on the T'Ehleyr at twenty one hundred hours then. I must return to the Captain's ... Until this evening." Vl'rok said, bowing before returning to the Vulcan contingent. Carl took Andae by the arm, motioning for Calli, Harry to join them then moved to one side, hopefully out of ear-shot of anyone present, especially the Vulcan's:
"If you're thinking of beaming everyone back to the ship, forget it." Harry said before he could begin, "There's approximately a thousand people being held, it would take us almost an hour to snatc ...."
"We need Altan to release them .... Though there 'is' another option ...." they turned to face her, "We could ask the Vulcan's to get them out."
"Hold that thought." Carl said, seeing Olgjai approaching:
"I believe you are attending a dinner aboard the Federation Flag-ship this evening." he said darkly.
"We are neutral in this matter between you and the Federation J'aut quri. We have dined with you and the Khan, I don't see any issue with doing likewise with the Vulcan's .... Do you ?" Carl asked.
"It may not meet with the Khan's approval."
"Speaking of the Khan, I would like an audience with her as soon as possible. could you see to it ?"
"The Khan is very busy, as you can appreciate. What reason would you have for such a request might I ask ?"
"You have my entire crew imprisoned somewhere on this planet. I would like them returned to the Raven immediately." Carl said, not even attempting to hide the fact that his comment was more demand than request.
"You misunderstand Admiral. You're crew, along with their Families, were brought to the surface for their own protection, not as a bargaining tactic on our part. The Federation have made numerous attacks on unidentified vessels that may or may not appear to be in alliance with the mongol's and Delkhii, it seemed, prudent' on my former Masters' part to remove them from danger, as it were ... I can assure you that once hostilities between us have ceased, they will be returned to your vessel unharmed .... They are not 'prisoners' as you call them Admiral, in fact, the island they are on is one of our most luxurious resorts. They have everything they need, and more. I am quite sure tha ....."
"Except their freedom !" Calli commented, receiving a look from the J'aut quri.
"I will speak with the Khan in due course regarding your request for an audience." Olgjai said, then with one last look at Calli he retreated back to the dais.
"Now what ?" Harry asked.
"We asked, they said no, so unless Altan allows their return, we look for another option." Carl said with a resigned shrug, "Contact Commander Barr, we're returning to the ship." ..........
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