ACTC Mission 7.1: Unseen Allies

[tintagel]

Illito walked to the bridge. She felt a little uneasy being in charge, but she wasn’t willing to make a mistake just because she felt a little unfamiliar in this position of trust. Her walk seemed confident though.

She arrived at the bridge, and saw that all her crew had arrived, and was settled in. “Helm,” she ordered. “Take us to Sector 19346,” Illito ordered, and smiled slightly at her helm officer, excited to be nearly under way. “As soon as we’re outside the gravity influence of the Starbase, go to warp seven.”

<Tag Kuragh>

The ship had started on its way to the planet Cymbeline when they received a distress call. “Drop out of warp,” Illito ordered.

As she watched, a Romulan ship decloaked, and hung around for a while. “Hail them,” Illito said, but before there was a reply the Romulan ship exploded.

“Just before the Romulan ship was destroyed, they beamed over some information,” Commander Merit said.

“Route the information to my office,” Illito said. “Commander Zaksh'ris'zhen, can you determine the cause of the explosion?”

<Tag Shris>

“Thank you,“ Illito replied, then went into the office, the office that was temporarily hers, and looked at the information that had come up on her screen. It was encoded, so Illito set the computer to trying to decode the message, a task which was finished far sooner than it should have been. Illito glanced at the computer summary, and noticed that the code used had been a Federation one. Not a top-secret Federation one, but not one that the Romulans should have known. Illito read the decoded information, and frowned. The Romulans appeared to be telling the Federation to go to the planet that the Hope had already been headed towards, and to rescue the people the Hope had already planned to rescue. Which made Illito feel as if they should be heading elsewhere, since chances were high that this was a trap. But there were still people on the planet, people that would die otherwise. Illito didn’t see that she had any choice but to continue on with the mission, but she sent a message to her superior officers to inform them of the situation.

Having finished with that, Illito tapped her commbadge, then paused slightly, before talking =/\=This is Commander Tintagel to all senior staff members, please report to the Briefing Room in 15 minutes, she said.=/\=

<Tag Everyone>

[Deleted]

Shris sat at his tack consle. The new co came aboard and took place on the brige.
He ran a number f tsts on sistems. They all looked fine.
The Hope left startdock and sped into wrap.
They suddenly recived a distres call from a romulan
Shris quikly razed shileds and redyd wepons.
As soon as he did the ship exploded in a cloud of fire.
lllito turned to him.
"any rezon why they blew up" she said
Shris looked at his sacns
"im not sure. Looks like a bomb. In the reactor."
"very well. Keep alert Mr Shris."

Then Tingtal orded a brifing and he went to the room with the big table.

[Deleted]

The Hope shuddered as the warp engines came online.
Kuragh piloted the huge vessel away from Conqueror and took it to maximum impulse until safely away from the starbase.

She arrived at the bridge, and saw that all her crew had arrived, and was settled in. “Helm,” she ordered. “Take us to Sector 19346,” Illito ordered, and smiled slightly at her helm officer, excited to be nearly under way. “As soon as we’re outside the gravity influence of the Starbase, go to warp seven.”

"Aye Ma'am" Kuragh replied and swiftly entered the co-ordinates and activated the warp engines. The Hope shot off at high warp.

Whilst at warp he took a moment to review their current situation. They had a new CO and FO. Tintagel and Reynolds. He had not heard much about them inthe past but they seemed nice enough. The real test would come in battle. Battle forged a persons spirit it brought out in everyone their best and worst qualities for all to see.
It appeared this theory would be put to the test.
Whilst speeding at high warp to their destination a Warbird appeared and then exploded.

Kuragh sensed a trap. Romulans were incredibly seaky and he didnt doubr for a moment they were up to something - it wouldnt be obvious either. They had a track record for subtlty and cunning.

Having finished with that, Illito tapped her commbadge, then paused slightly, before talking =/\=This is Commander Tintagel to all senior staff members, please report to the Briefing Room in 15 minutes, she said.=/\=

Kuragh watched the CO as she made the call and then headed for teh conference room. He called up a replacement to take the Conn and followed her.
Shris was already present and sat at his place.
"Shris" he greeted with a nod."
"KuragH" teh Andorian replied with a returned nod.

[Deleted]

Joanna was sat beside Kuragh when the explosion happens. She had been terrified when teh war bird arrived. She hadnt yet met romulans since leaving the academy and the Warbird seemed far larger than any of the simulations she had seen.

The new captain had called briefing and so she went and joined them in the conference lounge.

"Merit reporting" she stated as she entered.

[Matthew Reynolds]

Matt had barely reached the USS Hope when he felt the familiar jolt of a ship leaving port. He had applied for the the ACTC class months ago and he had totally forgotten that his time had now come. Luckily for him the Jefferson was close enough to Starbase Conqueror for him to get back quickly.

The fresh, cold, crisp, clean air of the ship hit Matt's lung like a splash of cold water. It seemed that every time he stepped onto a new ship this happened.

"Commander Reynolds I presume?" an ensign asked of Matt.

"Yes ensign I'm Commander Reynolds," Matt responded giving the young man a smile.

"Commander Illito is waiting for you on the bridge," the ensign said.

"Thank you ensign," Matt said as he picked up his bag and headed quickly towards his temporary quarters. Matt didn't want to report in with a duffel bag in his hands.
---------------------

Matt knew that he shouldn't be nervous, but he just couldn't help himself. He knew what the class offered, but change was hard for him to get used to. As he stepped off the lift and entered the bridge he noticed that everyone was there except him. Things were already not going his way, but he would need to forget about that and get to work.

"Commander Tintagel, I'm Commander Reynolds your first officer," Matt said as he saluted his new CO.

<Tag Illito>

After the pleasantries were over, Matt quickly got to work. He first skimmed over the bio's of the senior staff and memorized their likes and there names, which to be honest were a lot harder than expected.

Matt knew the gist of the mission that the Hope would be undertaking and it seemed easy enough. They were going on a rescue mission.
---------------------

The trip to Cymbeline was going as planned until the Hope picked up a distress call. Matt was surprised when he saw a Romulan ship decloak in front of there eyes. Things were strange already, but things just turned mind boggling when the ship suddenly exploded into a million little pieces.

The senior staff quickly went to work as they almost immediately reported what had just happened to the ship. Commander Tintagel shortly went into her ready room to find out what the message said..

"Commander Merit can you confirm that it was a bomb that destroyed the ship?" Matt asked.

<Tag Merit>

Matt was about to give some more commands, but was stopped by Commander Tintagel's voice.

=/\=This is Commander Tintagel to all senior staff members, please report to the Briefing Room in 15 minutes, she said.=/\=

"Okay everyone find out any information you can and report your findings at the meeting," Matt said as before he entered Commander Tintagel's officer.

"Commander what did the Romulans say?" Matt asked.

<Illito>

[tintagel]

"Commander Tintagel, I'm Commander Reynolds your first officer," Matt said as he saluted his new CO.

“Welcome aboard,” Illito replied, not sure what to do with the salute, but she decided on just nodding.

"Commander what did the Romulans say?" Matt asked.

“They said we should go to Cymbeline and rescue the people there. I’m half-tempted to turn around,” Illito admitted. “But we can’t do that, we have to rescue those people. I guess we just continue on our way, but I wish I knew why the Romulans told us to go there.”

<Tag Matt>

“And who would be close enough to a Romulan ship to put a bomb in the reactor?” Illito asked, semi-rhetorically, but if Matt had an answer she was certainly willing to listen.

<Tag Matt>

Illito noted that about ten minutes had passed since she had called for the briefing. “Is there anything else?” Illito asked.

<Tag Matt>

“Thank you,” she said. “I believe we have a briefing to go to then,” Illito said, then smiled. “It feels a little odd to be in charge,” she confided to Commander Reynolds. “It’s sort of like I keep waiting for someone else to give orders, then I realize that I’m the one who’s supposed to give those orders. It’s different, but, in a way, sort of liberating.” Illito shrugged, unsure if Commander Reynolds felt the same way, or understood what she was talking about.

<Tag Matt>

They arrived at the briefing, and Illito noticed that all of the senior staff except for Ensign Williams was already there. He arrived, and Illito started the briefing.

“As you all probably know, the Romulan ship hailed us. The message they delivered us was in, curiously enough, Federation code, and they were telling us to head to Cymbeline to do the rescue we have already planned to do. We are going to continue on our path, but Commander Shris, I want you to keep an eye out for potential problems. This whole thing with the Romulans seems very suspicious.”

<Tag Shris>

“Lieutenant Kuragh, we’re going to keep our original course heading. But be prepared for another ‘incident’ such as the one with the Romulans.”

<Tag Kuragh>

“Ensign Williams, we’re going to be evacuating the people from the planet, and there are likely to be injuries. Be sure you have sickbay prepared for any potential disasters.”

<Tag Williams>

“Commander Merit, try to keep a lookout for other ships, and tell me as soon as we’re within scanning range of the planet.”

<Tag Merit>

“Any questions?” Illito asked, when she had finished saying what she had to.

<Tag Everyone>

[Matthew Reynolds]

“They said we should go to Cymbeline and rescue the people there. I’m half-tempted to turn around,” Illito admitted. “But we can’t do that, we have to rescue those people. I guess we just continue on our way, but I wish I knew why the Romulans told us to go there.”

"It's not like the Romulans to help the Federation out," Matt said clearly disturbed," thinking about it since when do they care what happens to Federation colonist and civilians?"

“And who would be close enough to a Romulan ship to put a bomb in the reactor?” Illito asked, semi-rhetorically, but if Matt had an answer she was certainly willing to listen.

"The Tal Shair, they have been known to safcrifice the lives of other Romulans to keep information out of the hands of their enemies," Matt said offering his opinion.

Illito noted that about ten minutes had passed since she had called for the briefing. “Is there anything else?” Illito asked.

"No, Captain their isn't anything else," Matt responded.

“Thank you,” she said. “I believe we have a briefing to go to then,” Illito said, then smiled. “It feels a little odd to be in charge,” she confided to Commander Reynolds. “It’s sort of like I keep waiting for someone else to give orders, then I realize that I’m the one who’s supposed to give those orders. It’s different, but, in a way, sort of liberating.” Illito shrugged, unsure if Commander Reynolds felt the same way, or understood what she was talking about.

"I know what you mean Captain, it is a lot different, but one that I can learn to enjoy," Matt said knowing all to well what the Commander was going through. He had served under RA Loskene for a long time and in that time he had never had to think of giving out orders to the senior staff or anything that could put the ship in danger, but with that said he was still grateful that he had the oppurtunity to do this.

The two of them kept on talking until they reached thier destination. Matt did a quick roll call in his mind and was concerned when he noticed that Ensign Williams was not in attendance. After couple momemts of waiting the ensign walked in and the captain began her briefing.

“Any questions?” Illito asked, when she had finished saying what she had to.

Matt had stayed quiet the entire time, processing the information that the Captain was giving out. Her voice was confident and strong and conveyed the leadership that everyone wanted in there Captain. After the intial flurry of questions, things began to quiet down and so Matt ended the briefing.

"Okay everyone lets get back to work, I want a report in an hour," Matt said putting down the PADD he had been working on.

<Tag everyone>

[Deleted]

Shris wasnt sur he liked wat was appening. The rommies cud never be trusted. They were sneaky slimy litle devls.
"yes mam" he replid when Ilito siad his odresr

He went back on to the bridge whne th brief was over.
He checked his staion then went hmmmm
perhaps weapons could be imporved.
2im goin down to weps" he said,

"perhaps I can help." merit said "i no summin about thos bits"
"sur lets get to it" Shris grnned.

Joana and Shris went down to the fazer control office. It was small with big bits sticking out were people cud stand and press the fire butons.

"lets see what we can do" Shris said "any ideas"

[Deleted]

"perhaps I can help." merit said "i no summin about thos bits"
"sur lets get to it" Shris grnned.

Joana and Shris went down to the fazer control office. It was small with big bits sticking out were people cud stand and press the fire butons.

"lets see what we can do" Shris said "any ideas"

Joanne paused and thought a moment, she was still very new to the job and stil had a lot to learn.
"Perhaps I could allocate more power from other systems."
"That would be Good" Shris said, "It would give our phasers nmore punch. Warbirds are very tough."
"Very scary too" She added.
, "We better get to it or else it may not be ready by time the Hope arrives. I ll run system checks and you rig the conduits for more energy"

[Deleted]

Kuragh listened quietly to the briefing, one could not assimilate all the facts if one was talking all the time.
There was very little new information to be had. The Romulans had arrived, sent a message and blown up.
The message was to do something the Hope was already doing.
Perhaps, he wondered it was a tricky work of reverse psychology - perhaps the Romulans knew we would view it with suspcision and wouldnt go - which would make even more reason for them to go... or perhaps it was genuine in which they should go anyway.
Kuraghs reasoning assured him that the Captain was doing the right thing.

With orders re-issued Kuragh returned to his post. He knew the route to Cymbelline was simple enough but it was getting out again which concerned him the most now. If they met trouble it would be best if they had alternate exit strategies, and he would ensure that the Captain could choose from several.

He spent the next hour analysing the system, entry points exit points, gravitic anomallies and moons. There were plenty of places he mused that could hide a vessel especially one under cloak.

Kuragh disliked Cloaks, they were cowardly - if one had to hunt your opponent do it honourably and give him a chance to evade. Cloaks were for cowards people who preyed upon the weak. It were these sentiments that alienated him from his people. Who for some reason could not see the contradiction in their warrior culture and using cloaks in combat situations. Cloaks were for spies, and spies were for weak and ignorant races.

He was essentially alone on the bridge now - from the senior staff. Shris and Joanne had gone to work on the weapons or something. He checked his console oncemore and decided it was time, he tapped his comm badge.
=^= Kuragh to the Captain.=^=
=^=Tintagel here=^=
=^= Will arrive in the Cymbelline system in 10 minutes=^=
=^=Thankyou Mr Kuragh. I ll be right up=^=

[tintagel]

Illito arrived on the bridge, after being called up. She noticed that two of her senior staff were missing, and remembered that they were working on upgrading the weapons systems. =/\=Tintagel to Merit and Shris, we’ve nearly arrived at the planet=/\=

<Tag Merit and Shris>

=/\=Thank you=/\=

When the two arrived on the bridge and at their stations, Illito turned to Commander Merit. “Scan the planet to see how many people are on it.”

<Tag Merit>

“What?” Illito asked. “Starfleet said there would only be 250 people on the planet, which we could handle, at a slight stretch. But that’s way too many. Where is the nearest Starfleet ship?” Illito asked.

<Tag Merit>

“That’s too far away, they’ll never get here in time.” Illito paused thinking. But they may as well try to do what they could.

“Lieutenant Kuragh, take us within sufficient range to transport them up.”

<Tag Kuragh>

“Commander Merit, as soon as we’re within range, drop the shields and start to get as many people up as possible. Maybe we’ll have time enough to beam up these people, then drop them off at the nearest planet and come back for more.” Probably not though, Illito thought. Still, it didn’t hurt to be optimistic.

“Commander Shris, our shields are going to be down, so be on the lookout for potential threats, and be ready to defend us if necessary.”

<Tag Shris>

=/\=Tintagel to Ensign Williams=/\=

<Tag Williams>

Illito quickly explained the changes in the situation to him. “And be sure to have sickbay prepared for casualties.”

<Tag Williams>

Illito kept the com channel open, because she wanted to give Williams a chance to answer the question if he had an answer. “And if anybody has any suggestions as to how to save more of the people without having another ship magically appear, I’m open to suggestions.”

<Tag Anyone>

After it looked like she had received all the answers she was going to get, she turned to Commander Reynolds. She smiled slightly at him. “I’d like to talk to you in my office, please,” she said.

<Tag Matt>

They arrived inside the office. “I don’t even know what is threatening the colonists/scientists for sure,” Illito said. “But I do know it’s the results of their own experiment, which means the experiment they were working on was pretty dangerous. Which might explain why the Romulans wanted to ‘warn us,’ but I’m not completely sure it does. What I do know is that we have to try to save as many of these people as possible, but there’s no way we can actually save them all.” Illito sighed slightly, then looked at her first officer.

<Tag Matt>

[Deleted]

Joanne finished going through the final power allocations and released an extra 15 kiloquads of energy to Shris's weapons.

"Thats great Jo" Shris nodded as he watched the dial spin round indicating a greater than original power rating, "I m not sure it would take out a warbird but it sure will help"

"I hope so" Jo replied, "I ve had to strip most of science and some crew quarters of half their allocation - theres gonna be quite a few people unhappy with us.

Shris shrugged,
"It will only be a few days perhaps only hours. they can live with it"

"Yes if it means we get to live" jo answered quietly to her self. She wasnt sure she was ready to face combat. At tghe academy it was all so sterile. This ship was there, it attacked here they did this then that... but the reality... well that was different.

Ever since she realised that they might encounter the romulans her stomach had been doing back flips and she had been expereincing difficultites concentrating. Perhaps she wasnt cut out for starfleet life.

"Come on then" Shris exclaimed waving a hand in front of her face,

"Sorry? What?"

"Didnt you hear? The captain wants us back on the bridge."

"Oh right sure" collecting her thoughts she joined Shris in teh turbolift.

On the bridge the whole senior staff were present. She releived the ensign at Ops and quickly scanned the area, phew - no romulans.

When the two arrived on the bridge and at their stations, Illito turned to Commander Merit. “Scan the planet to see how many people are on it.”

Merit qucikly redirected the sensors and did a full sweep of the planets single large continent.

"There are approximatly 356 people on the planet, it coul d be slightly higher there are some dolomitic rocks obscuring areas."

Where is the nearest Starfleet ship?” Illito asked.

Jo called up the latest fleet id transponders and matched them to their long range scans.

"The USS Carolina is in the next system. 3 hours away."

That’s too far away, they’ll never get here in time.” Illito paused thinking. But they may as well try to do what they could.

“Lieutenant Kuragh, take us within sufficient range to transport them up.”

<Tag Kuragh>

“Commander Merit, as soon as we’re within range, drop the shields and start to get as many people up as possible. Maybe we’ll have time enough to beam up these people, then drop them off at the nearest planet and come back for more.” Probably not though, Illito thought. Still, it didn’t hurt to be optimistic.

“Commander Shris, our shields are going to be down, so be on the lookout for potential threats, and be ready to defend us if necessary.”

"Yes Ma'am. It may help if I go to transporter room 1 to oversee the targetting locks?"

TAG Captain

[tintagel]

"Yes Ma'am. It may help if I go to transporter room 1 to oversee the targetting locks?"

“Yes, of course,” Illito replied, glad to see that her officers were taking initiative.

“Be sure you can easily return in case you’re needed up here.” Illito said, smiling, feeling the need to remind Commander Merit of it, even though she was sure the Chief Operations Officer was perfectly capable of handling herself.

<Tag Merit>[/b]

Illito sighed. As a medical doctor she had taken an oath to do no harm, but she didn’t feel it was simply a passive thing, she had to save all the lives she could. But she didn’t see how she could save all these lives. There didn’t seem to be a way out of this problem, and she hated having this problem.

[Deleted]

Merit stood with the Transporter Chief. They had begun to target the small pockets of survivors. It was diffciult to choose who to beam up especially when she knew they couldnt get them all.

"Okay start bringing them up. Use cargo transporters to bring thelarger groups up. I ll have security and medical teams on hand."

"Aye Ma'am" The Cheif replied.

"Energise"

As the image of the first group of survivors coalesced Merit froze in terror.
Before her stood three Romulan Centurions...

[Deleted]

Kuragh sat at the Conn as the Hope entered standard orbit and began the evacuation. It was distressing to realise that they couldnt rescue everyone. He paused as an idea struck him...

"Captain - what if we were to use all our support craft to carry survivors? all our shuttles should be able to take a few more."

[Deleted]

Shris scammed and cheked the space careflly all the time.
He new that the Rommies were out ther and prob wating to attak.
He looked at his screen. Nothing yet. TThen an alrm beeped at him. He presed a buton and saw a shock.
"CAPTIAN I defect rommies on board."
"Go get em Shris - take Matt. Shoot em all"
"Yesss " Shris grined. He grabed a fazer and lobbed one to mat,
"lets get thes Rommy scum"

[Matthew Reynolds]

Captain Tintagel had gone with Commander Merit to see her off to the transporter room. She would be going to over to the other ship and see if she could find out anything.

That left Matt in charge of the bridge, something that he was more than happy to do. He never did feel right of ordering people to an unknown situation and he was grateful that he didn't have to do it this time.

"Captain - what if we were to use all our support craft to carry survivors? all our shuttles should be able to take a few more."

It seemed that the tactical officer was so engaged into his work that he didn't notice Captain Tintagel leave the bridge, but Matt answered him none the less.

"Lt. that is a very good idea something that I hadn't thought about," Matt said smiling at the creativeness of his officers," Please come up with a plan and if its viable I will talk to the Captain."

<Tag Kuragh>

OOC: Kind of short, but pressed for time, I'm at school.

[tintagel]

Illito was on her way back from the transporter room when she felt the ship go to red alert. She ran the way back to the bridge. “Commander, report,” she said.

“A Romulan ship has decloaked, and there are Romulans on our ship.”

“Hail the ship,” Illito ordered.

A Romulan female appeared on the screen, but not dressed in the standard military wear of the Romulan Star Empire. “Captain. I’m Commander Jadeek. I’m here to offer you assistance.”

“If you really want to offer me assistance, get your people off my ship, and maybe then we can talk,” Illito replied, deliberately not giving her name.

“Of course,” Commander Jadeek nodded to a member of his crew off-screen, then turned to Illito. “They’re off the ship now.”

Illito checked to see what he said was true, then turned to Commander Shris. She knew the Romulan Commander could still hear her, but that was part of the point. “Keep our shields down, we need to get as many of those people off the planet as possible.”

<Tag Shris>[/b]

Illito nodded, she didn’t like being defenseless any more than her CTSO did. “But lock weapons on the Romulan ship.”

<Tag Shris>[/b]

Illito turned back to the Romulan. “You said you could help?” she asked. “And how exactly do you propose to do that? Make sure none of these scientists get out of here alive?”

“That wasn’t exactly my plan, no,” Commander Jadeek replied. “I want to help you rescue them.”

“And rescuing them included putting your people on my ship…Why?”

Commander Jadeek smiled. “To prove I could take it over. Not that I really want to, the risk of hostilities with the Federation isn’t worth the bother. I just wanted you to be sure that I genuinely want to help you, when I could have already stabbed you in the back.”

“That’s so comforting,” Illito said, sarcastically.

“I want to help you save those lives.” Commander Jadeek said. “My ship is currently operating at minimum capacity, we can hold two hundred of those scientists.”

“I need to think about it,” Illito said.

“What is there to think about? You can save more lives with my help than you can without it.” Commander Jadeek said.

Illito stayed silent for a while longer, then finished thinking about it, at least for now. “Yes, while then, you will take one hundred of the scientists. Our ship can handle the rest. During this time you will not talk to any of them, except to aid them,” Illito said. She was aware that the scientists had been doing research that could easily be used as a weapon. But her concern for the lives outweighed her knowledge of possible danger. “And they will all be allowed to contact this ship whenever they want. Also, I would like to have a member of my ship on yours and keep constant communication with the Hope.”

“Understood,” Commander Jadeek replied. “And it won’t be a problem. I look forward to working with you and your staff, Captain.”

The commchannel was closed, and Illito looked at the members of the senior staff that were on the bridge. Illito guessed that most of them were crazy because she had just agreed to trust a Romulan, but none of them showed it on their faces-yet.

“Anyone want to volunteer to go to the other ship to make sure the Romulans are playing fair?” Illito asked. “Because if not, I’m fully prepared to go over their myself, I truly believe that the Romulans are not going to harm any of our officers today.” Illito was aware that it was against regulations to have the captain, her, go into a dangerous situation, but she felt far more comfortable doing that than having the possibility of having to order someone to take a risk they didn’t want to take.

<Tag Anyone>[/b]

[Deleted]

"yes mama I ll keep me finger on the shield buton. One move and up thel go."

Then Ilto said somethin else

"Sure. all our fazers are loked on the Rommies. I ll blowm to kingdom com."

[Deleted]

Well that post was hardly worth it - A trained chimp could manage a post like that.

Ah well


IC:
Kuragh turned in his chair,

"My people and the Romulans have bad blood between us but I can assure you I would act according to my uniform if I were sent" he stated,

"Thank you Kuragh. You may join the away team - I will hold you to your promise"

"I still do not trust them" Kuragh added, "This Jadeek does not explain why he wants to help. There is more to this than meets the eye."

"I think we are all agreed on that" Matt agreed,

"Thats for sure" Illito nodded, "You ll lead the away team Mr Reynolds."

Kuragh left his post to prepare for the away mission. He wanted to make sure he was ready for all eventualities. His first step would be to ensure he had his mek'leth and d'ktag with him.


TAG all - and make it good

[Deleted]

Jo listened to the Captain as she explained the latest developments. She had managed to collect herself since her encounter with the romulan but still felt a bit shaken. Perhaps Starfleet wasnt the best choice for her.

"I think I would be better staying aboard" she suggested "I can monitor all the rescue attempts better from my station"

TAG Illito

[Deleted]

rack off krag get a live.

Shris wached all that went on. And saw that krag and Mat had gone to the othe sip.
"ok lets start beming" he said.
very soon all the poeople wer up in space on the shops either the Hop or the Warbrid.
"looks like we gonna save am of dem" he said to the Capatain.
Then hes eyes went open wide and his mouth dropped.
"Miss miss , they gone.. The bird has vansihed. They all done"

[tintagel]

"I ll blowm to kingdom com."

Illito was a little amused at her security officer's enthusiasm, thought she empathized with it. "I don't believe that will be necessary," she said. "We're going to try to work this out peacefully, if it's at all possible." She was sure that Shris knew that, but it didn’t hurt to remind him, it would be easy to forget that they were working with the Romulans.

"I can monitor all the rescue attempts better from my station"

Illito noticed that Commander Merit seemed a little uneasy, so she smiled reassuringly. “Yeah, that would be great.”

----------

On the Romulan ship, Commander Jadeek glanced at the long-range scanners that his operations officer had just quietly pointed out to him. A Romulan warbird was approaching, but hadn’t seen them yet. “Has the Hope seen them yet?” he asked, not caring now if the Starfleet officers overheard him.

“No.”

“We don’t have time to warn them, activate the cloak and block all communications.”

<Tag Kuragh and Matt>

----------

"Miss miss , they gone.. The bird has vansihed. They all done"

Illito glanced at Shris, frowning. “Our officer’s are aboard the ship,” she said. =/\=Commander Tintagel to Commander Reynolds and Lieutenant Kuragh.=/\= There was no reply.

“Captain,” Commander Merit said.

“Yes?” Illito asked.

<Tag Merit>[/b]

Illito was a little confused, why would another Romulan warbird be approaching. “Are they within communications range?”

“Not yet.”

“Tell me as soon as they are.”

<Tag Merit>[/b]

“Can you tell where the other ship went?” Illito asked. She didn’t like this situation, it seemed like the Romulans were trying to coordinate an attack against her. The Hope might well be able to take one of the ships, but probably not too.”

<Tag Shris>[/b]

“And how long do we have to make sure we can get out of this situation without firing?” Illito asked. “This seems a lot like a trap.”

<Tag Shris>[/b]

----------

Commander Jadeek watched the other Romulan ship approach worriedly. And he was getting tired of the Starfleet officer’s complaints. But he was also aware that there were more scientists and officers than Romulans.

“Can you bounce a communication signal so it looks like it’s coming from the planet?” Commander Jadeek asked his science officer.

“I’ll work on it sir,” the officer replied.

“Not sir,” Jadeek replied, smiling. He knew military disciplines were hard to break, but they had to be broken, or there would have been no point to breaking away from the Romulan Star Empire.

“It’s done,” the officer said, a few minutes later.

Commander Jadeek turned to the two Starfleet officers. “You can talk to your captain now. In fact, I need you to. Emphasize to them that they can’t tell the other Romulan ship about us.”

<Tag Kuragh and Matt>

“What do you mean ‘why?’ ” Jadeek asked. “Because if the other Romulan ship knows about us they’ll blow us out of the sky. Which, since you seem to be on this ship, would definitely affect you.”

<Tag Kuragh and Matt>