Mission 13: The Romulan Stratagem

[Carl Torek]

Carl had gone through all the status reports Lieutenant Ramius had given him .. He was waiting for the Captain to conclude his conversation with Admiral Clark, and Star fleet Command .. He didn't envy Mc at this point in time ..

Suddenly, the duty Opps Officer got Torek's attention ...

"Commander Torek .. I'm picking up a signal ... " she said, frowning at her console.

"Signal .. What kind of signal ?" Carl asked, slightly bemused.

"Sir .. It's coming from here .. Inside the Raven .. I can't block it but I'm trying to de-cypher it now .. Sir it's a coded message ..."

"Helm ?" Torek said ..

"Nothing on scanners Sir .. But they wouldn't need to be .." said the duty helm officer, "They can out-run us at our curren ......."

"Thank you Ensign .." Carl said, cutting her off, "Increase speed to warp six."

"But sir .. We wer ......."

"Do it .. NOW !" said Torek, un-characteristically, "Red Alert !" ....

=^= Centurion Donark to Bridge =^=

Carl ignored the Comm, and was about to order the Romulan Comm system de-activated, when Donark spoke again ...

=^= Bridge .. Subcommander Yevin has just transmitted a message .. Unless you want to be totally destroyed before reaching your Star base .. Get me someone in charge .... NOW =^=

Carl was just about to call Mc to the Bridge, when Donark spoke again ...

=^= You have less that SIX hours to make your decision .. After that .. Our war birds will prevent you getting to Star base Bellicose .. Or anywhere else for that matter .. They KNOW i'm collaborating with you .. If you want the information I have .. Then you will have to agree to my terms .. As well as getting me to safety ........ =^=

The Comm went dead .. Carl looked round the Bridge before ordering "As you were" to the crew, then tapped his Comms badge ...

=^= Torek to Captain .. You are needed on the Bridge =^= ..........

[Mc7_of_9]

Of course Admiral, I can see how difficult a decision this must be for Command, but if I've to have any chance of finding out if there are any more devices waiting to sabotage my ship, let alone find out who has been murdering my crew, then this is the only option. You know my history, as far as the Romulans are concerned, their officer died alongside his colleagues. We can make sure that Yevin believes that as well, so the story is water tight.

Before mc7 could continue, the ready room's lighting dimmed, and then the red strips placed on the walls began to pulsate. Accompanying the red light a klaxon sounded, and seconds afterwards Carl's voice came over the comm system.

Torek to Captain .. You are needed on the Bridge

As you can hear I've been called away. Carl is not one to over react, so I urge you, please let us grant Donark's request, and soon. Thank you Admiral.

Closing the channel over which the two Admirals had been talking, mc7 got up from behind his desk and made his way across the ready room to enter the Bridge.

Situation report.

The two words were all that needed to be said after entering the bridge and taking his customary place in the center seat.

Carl quickly explained what had transpired while mc7 had been in his conversation with Command, and as he did so the feeling of dread began to rise within mc7.

Security, please escort Sub Commander Yevin to the brig. Once there conduct a through search to ensure he no longer has the means to send any more messages to anyone.

mc7 to McLean. Scott, I know your off duty at the moment, but another situation has come up. We need every bit of speed you can give us. Carl has taken us to warp 6 already, but we need more. And we need it fast.

Sir, the Raven's structural integrity simply can't handle warp 6, never mind anything higher. The ship will tear itself apart with the stresses it's put under at warp 6.

I hear what you're saying Scott, but if we don't reach Bellicose within the next 6 hours, the chances of us ever making port again are not good. I've just been informed that Yevin has just called for reinforcements. So which option do you think the Raven has a better chance at surviving, a race to Bellicose or a fight with an unknown number of Warbirds?

After speaking the words, mc7 wondered if they had come across too harshly. The silence on the other end of the comm circuit gave mc7 his answer. A moment later Scott replied.

I'm on my way to engineering Sir. I'll contact the Bridge when you can increase speed. McLean out.

Carl, my ready room. And have Donark join us please. It appears that we need to find out the story before we can guarantee him his deal.

Carl made the call to the guards outside Donark's quarters, and the followed mc7 into the ready room. Once inside mc7 went to the replicator and ordered himself a cappuccino. After asking Carl if he would like anything, he ordered a second cappuccino and passed it over to him. The two talked briefly about the conversation the CO had just had with Command, and how they were not ready to give him an answer to Donark's request yet. Carl asked if they realised that by delaying they were risking not only the every single person aboard the Raven's life, but the ship herself.

I know Carl, I know. All we can hope is that they see sense, before it's too late.

As he finished his sentence, the door chime sounded and the doors parted, revealing Donark. Indicating that he should take a seat on the sofa, mc7 offered to get him a drink.

Apparently surprised by the question, Donark asked for Ragnot tea, which mc7 collected from the replicator and gave to the Romulan officer.

Carl has told me about your 'conversation' earlier. While that was happening I was in the process of trying to convince Starfleet Command to grant your request. I'll be honest with you, they haven't said yes yet, but we am hopeful that they will soon. But from what I've gathered, since Yevin sent her message time is a luxury we don't have anymore. I need you to tell us what the hell has been going on on my ship, and why.

Donark was silent, obviously trying to work out what to do. He could either remain silent, and refuse to tell them anything else until his request for asylum was granted, or show he was working in good faith, and tell them everything. He was torn between the two options, and did not know which he was about to follow even up until the moment he opened his mouth.

Very well Admiral, as a show of good faith, and given the fact that if the warbirds do intercept us, then I will not be ablive to suffer the retribution of my masters, then I shall tell you what our real mission aboard the Raven was.

You were told our delegation was made up from a typical crew from the Romulan fleet. This is not the case, we were all members of the Tal'Shiar. I assume you both know what that is?

Both Starfleet officers nodded.

We all knew what our real mission here was bar one of us, Tovan. The Tal'Shiar learned who your science officer was, and wanted her brought back to Romulas to answer the crimes of her mother. The plan was a simple one. Tovan was to be killed, and the blame laid upon your science officer. We would then demand her extradition to the Star Empire to answer for the apparent crime, and the Tal'Shiar would then have her, and you would never see her again. The first part of the plan went fine, Tovan was killed, but there was obviously not enough fake evidence left to implicate your science officer. We did not anticipate her implicating herself at the reception, so that seemed like a welcome boon to us.

Mc7 took a moment to process what Donark had said so far, and then asked the big question which was still to be answered so far,

So who killed Tovan?

Jaren. He was specifically assigned to the delegation because of his skills in termination. Yevin must have been in communication with Romulas throughout and been given the order to eliminate the rest of the delegation since the mission was not going to plan. Either that or she took those actions of her on volition.

I had no idea that there were any devices planted on your ship designed to cause damage. We did install some which allowed us access to your systems so we could monitor the progress of your investigation, but nothing to damage the ship. Or at least as far as I knew.

Before mc7 could ask any more questions, his comm badge beeped and Scott's voice came over it.

McLean to mc7. Captain you can now increase speed to warp 8. I've managed to jury rig some more supports to the whole in the hull on deck 10, but I can't guarantee how long they will last for.

Acknoloeged Scott, and well done. I knew you could do it.

Bridge, increase speed to warp 8. If Cmdr McLean orders a reduction in speed, follow his directions.

After giving the order to increase speed, mc7 allowed Carl a chance to ask his questions to Donark.

[Carl Torek]

"Why involve the Ferengi ?" Carl asked, as Mc finished speaking to the Bridge.

"Oh .. The Ferengi ..." Donark said with a wry grin, "We hired them to 'shadow' the Raven .. That way our own vessels could stay well out of range."

"But they were detected .. Opening fire on us when we tried to ......"

"Yes yes .. I know you destroyed the Bird of Pray .. They got stupid .. As Ferengi have a tendency to do .. We had furnished them with the cloaking device but thanks to their constant meddling it failed."

Mc sat back, listening to Donark's explanation. Carl asked the question Mc had thought of earlier ..

"Why here .. Why on the Raven ?"

"I would have thought that obvious Commander."

"Why not on Bellicose .. You had every opportunity there." Torek prompted.

"We needed you out here .. If something was to go wrong on the Star base there would be very little we could do about it .. Plus it had to look like she was responsible .. Now." Donark said suddenly, "I think I need to hear from your Command before I say anything more."

Carl had the feeling there was plenty the Romulan wasn't saying .. As he reached for his coffee, he noticed a small ripple form on the surface of the drink. It remained for only a second, but to Carl, it was a second too long ... 'Vibration' he thought to himself, as Mc leaned forward to lock eyes with Donark ...

"Oh .. I'm afraid you are very much mistaken there Centurion .." Mc said quietly, "You are going to tell us all we need to know !" ..........

[markoramius]

Sitting in the Mess Hall awaiting for Commander McLean to reply, the mess hall's lighting dimmed, and then the red alert klaxon sounded. McLean and Ramius looked at one another and then parted ways, McLean was heading out of the Mess as he received a COMM from the Captain. He turned to Ramius and said:

“I’m sorry Ramius, I have to go down to Deck 10 and try and improve the structural integrity of the bulkheads concealing the hull breach. Perhaps we can play that game of chess another time.”
He then hurried out of the mess and down towards Deck 10.

“No problem Commander, until next time.”

Marko decided to return to his station on the Bridge and get an update on what was actually happening… As he stepped into the turbolift and ordered the computer to take him to the Bridge he tapped his COMM to receive an update.

=^= Ramius to Bridge, what is going on up there? =^=

=^= Riza here, Commander Torek instigated the red alert and increased our Warp Speed to 6. The Captain and the Commander then went to the Captain’s ready room and were just joined by the Romulan, Donark. =^=
Replied, Ensign Riza – The Duty Ops Officer.

=^= Thanks Riza, I’m on my way to the Bridge just now. Have up-to-date reports for me upon my arrival and keep me apprised of any further developments between now and then. =^=

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of minutes later, Marko arrived on the Bridge and relieved Lowz from his station. He was intrigued as to why Commander Torek had increased speed so suddenly. Then he say the Report which detailed the signal being sent from within the Raven – He then realised that this had caused the heightened alert level across the Raven. Marko hurriedly gathered all the updates from Engineering teams on Deck 10 and then received the order from the captain.

=^= Bridge, increase speed to warp 8. If Cmdr McLean orders a reduction in speed, follow his directions. =^=

The Bridge crew upped the speed to Warp 8 and the Raven made a loud screeching noise as it quickly jumped from Warp 6 to Warp 8. Marko wondered what the Captain & XO were questioning Donark about but he knew as a member of the senior staff he would be informed when he needed to know. Marko kept a COMM open with Commander McLean on Deck 10 in the event that they would have to reduce warp and he wanted to know immediately.

=^= Ramius to McLean =^=

=^= McLean here! =^= Came the reply.

=^= Commander, I'm going to leave the channel open to you on Deck 10 so that if there is any change in structural integrity you can let us know on the Bridge straight away. How are things looking down there? =^= Questioned Marko...

[Carl Torek]

Carl watched the surface of his drink closely .. There it was again, the tell-tale ripple formed on any liquid subjected to vibration .. At their current speed, warp eight, the last thing they needed was a vibration ...

Mc7 glanced at Carl for less than a second, before he spoke to the Romulan before them ..

"So .. Centurion .. shall we continue ?"

"Hmmm .." said Donark, "I seriously believe that you .. This ship .. And I .. Will never reach your precious Stab base Admiral .. We both know that I think." he continued, taking time to look at almost every square inch of Mc's ready room. It was obvious that he too could 'feel' the trembling going through the massive Star ship, "I doubt .. Even a ship as 'advanced' as the Raven could withstand much of this punishment."

"Oh ..." said Carl confidently, "I wouldn't under-estimate the resilience of the Raven Donark." then placed his still untouched coffee back on to the Captains desk, in full view of the Romulan. Who looked at it, then Torek, then finally, the Captain himself .. but stayed totally silent ..

"So ...." said Mc, a grin forming on his face, "Shall we continue ?" ..........



< tag: Mc7 >

[Scott McLean]

“Chet, what’s your report?” McLean ordered as he walked through the doors into Main Engineering.

Chet turned around, shocked to see McLean in engineering. His shock was temporary as there was a major problem to deal with and McLean was probably the engineer everybody wanted around.

“Sir, we are having several problems with the ships integrity field.” Benson replied as he moved over so McLean could have the main engineering console.

McLean studied the information in front of him for a few moments before turning to Benson, “Evacuate that entire section on Deck 10.”

“Aye sir.”

He couldn’t really explain it but he was watching the warp field around the Raven and wondered why it was constantly fluctuating as it was. The fluctuations were causing a whipping action of the warp field up against the Ravens hull.

“Commander McLean to the bridge.” McLean said after tapping him COM Badge.

“Go ahead Commander.” Ramius replied from the bridge.

“Do you any strange readings up there?”

“Not that I can tell Commander.” Ramius replied.

McLean looked back down at the warp field and knew there was something outside the Raven causing these problems.

“Ensign, I need you to scan for a cloaked ship off our bow. It will probably be hard because it is trying to mask it self in our warp signature.” McLean said hoping that they would be able to pick up the ship.

McLean had remembered back to his Academy days when his engineering instructor had done an experiment with warp fields. He had placed two ships at high warp nearly on top of each other. The colliding warp fields eventually caused massive vibrations in both ships causing extreme damage and sometimes caused a warp core shut down leaving the ships dead in space. In the worst case both ships could be lost. This was the situation that McLean feared as the Raven had already suffered structural damage.

For heavens sake, McLean thought. To the best of McLean knowledge they had never caught the man who had assaulted him in the VIP quarters. This same person had shown a above average understanding of engineering and probably had caused the explosion to send the Raven into high warp back to Bellicose, thus sending us to our deaths with a computerized trail ship to cause the warp fluctuations.

“What’s the results on those scans Ensign?” McLean barked.

<Tag Ramius>

[markoramius]

Marko remained on the Bridge reviewing updates, the ship was suffering small tremors from time to time. However, they seemed to be becoming more frequent, Marko just assumed that this was due to the loss of structural integrity on deck 10 and due to the Raven travelling at such a high warp. Marko’s COMM bleeped:

=^= Commander McLean to the bridge. =^=

=^= Go ahead Commander. =^= Marko replied from the bridge.

=^= Do you any strange readings up there? =^=

=^= Not that I can tell Commander. =^= There was a pause and then:

=^= Ensign, I need you to scan for a cloaked ship off our bow. It will probably be hard because it is trying to mask it self in our warp signature. =^= Insisted McLean.

Marko began to run some scans off the Raven’s bow… he noticed the fluctuations in the warp field that McLean had been talking about. There was definitely something there, he scanned the area with the cloak sensor palettes, but there was too much interference from the warp field being generated by the Raven. Marko decided to run a scan and see if there was another warp signature merged with the Raven’s. He summated that with 2 ships travelling so close to one another that the warp fields generated would sort of merge. Mako’s COMM beeped again:

=^= What’s the results on those scans Ensign? =^= McLean barked.

=^= I couldn’t detect a cloaked ship, due to interference from the warp field. However, there is definitely something out there sir. I’m scanning our warp signature for any traces of another ship’s signature. I think I’ve got something… There is a ship out there, virtually on our bow and its Romulan! =^= Answered Marko

=^= It is as I feared Ramius, inform the Captain immediately. I’ll remain on Engineering for the time being and try and come up with a solution. McLean out! =^=

Marko did not want to interrupt the Captain or the XO over the COMM. So he left his station on the Bridge and pressed the button on the ready room door and awaited the Captain’s response. There were 2 security personnel stationed outside the Captain’s ready room, they looked at Marko strangely as he awaited for the Captain's response.

<tag: Mc/Carl>

[Scott McLean]

Romulan, McLean thought, why am I not surprised. As McLean turned back around to face Benson he saw that he was now face to face with other eager engineers wanting to work on this new problem.

He could tell in the faces of these engineers that they were tired, and more than anything needed a few days off; but there was a problem to be solved and the ship was in danger. These weren’t the type of people who just sat around and waited for things to happen, they made them happen.

“All right, here is what we know.” McLean said as he started to inform all the engineers of the current situation. Each engineer listened intently, some took notes on a data PADD while others tried building simulations. With each new suggestion came new problems, and then there was also the ‘unforeseen’ problems that had to be addressed.

“Why don’t we just stop?” Asked a junior engineer from the back.

The group snickered at the young engineer, McLean himself felt frustrated with the young man’s lack of attention to details. It was the one thing that nobody else had dared to ask because they all knew the problem with stopping.

“Picture this,” McLean said as he interlocked his fingers together, “This is the situation we are in. My fingers represent the two warp fields as they are merging. If we simply stop,” McLean breaks his hand free from the other illustrating his point, “The front warp field would pull apart from ours and the pulling would cause a massive explosion that would destroy both ships in simultaneous explosions. The explosion would be so bright they would probably be able to see it from Earth in a few years.”

“Oh.” Replied the engineer in a sheepish tone.

“Now, everybody who isn’t working on keeping out integrity field up needs to grab a PADD and a console and start crunching numbers. We need to figure out how to separate us ASAP. Go.” McLean ordered.

In a hurry the group of engineers hurried away, leaving McLean and Benson standing alone. Both engineers knew they and one hell of a problem sitting in front of them and it needed to be solved quickly.

[Carl Torek]

Carl rose from his chair and walked toward the door .. Sensing his proximity, it opened revealing a slightly startled Lieutenant Ramius ..

Marko was about to speak when Torek got there first ..

"The Captain's busy Lieutenant .. We can talk on the Bridge."

Glancing round the Exec's shoulder for a tenth of a second, Ramius nodded, moving away from the door..

"It's possible .. Probable .. That there's a second cloaked ship." Ramius began, We've just about reached the limit of tolerance on the deck ten repairs .. But we've picked up fluctuations in our warp field on the port side."

"We could do with Commander McLean's input here." Carl said, frowning ...

"It's the Commander who's asked me to report to the Captain .. He's more than worri ......."

"Good .. So at least he's doing something about our structural integrity. " Torek said, "How far are we off Star-base Bellicose ?"

"Three hours fourteen minutes .. Sir." said the duty Helm Officer ..

Stopping was out of the question, he knew that, but what about something else ... He was trying to think quickly, and getting no-where. The only thing that sprang to mind was dangerous at best .. Fatal if it went wrong .. But maybe Scott could fine-tune the idea .. He tapped his Comms badge ..

=^= Torek to McLean =^=

=^= McLean =^=

=^= Scott .. Marko is here .. He's giving me a status report =^=

=^= The ship in our warp field ? =^= Scott asked, knowing Carl would be referring to that.

=^= I had a thought .. What if we were to detonate a photon torpedo ahead of us .. If we do it close enough wouldn't it disrupt 'both' warp fields simultaneously ? =^=

Scott went silent, a sign that he was at least not dismissing Carl's idea out of hand .. So to give him some thinking time, Carl spoke to the COO ..

"Mr Dexter .. Contact Star-base Bellicose .. Apprise them of our situation as best you can .. Ask them .. NO tell them we need anything that can fly to come out here to meet us .. Don't worry about that ship hearing the call I cant see them destroying themselves just to shut us up."

"Aye Sir." Quinn said, getting to work.

=^= Commander =^= Scott said, =^= I'm going to have to give this some careful thought .. Considering our damaged state .. We could be doing far more harm than good .. Give me fifteen .. No ten minutes .. I'll get an answer to you =^=

The Comm closed, Carl looked at the view-screen .. Bellicose was out there, just a few scant hours away .. He was beginning to wonder if they were going to make it in one piece .. Asking Marko to keep him up-dated, he re-entered the Captains office to bring him up to speed on the recent developments ...

'Not that Mc's going to like them' Carl thought,with a resigned shrug ..........

[Scott McLean]

"I had a thought .. What if we were to detonate a photon torpedo ahead of us .. If we do it close enough wouldn't it disrupt 'both' warp fields simultaneously ?"

The idea sparked a few new ones with in McLean. He had been approaching the problem from a engineers perspective and not from a scientific approach.

"That is a good idea Commander." McLean replied with a renewed sense of enthusiasm, "Stand by."

Working frantically with the console in front of him he did some brief calculations and worked out a quick diagram. Each time the photon torpedo explosion in front of the ships warp fields did nothing. The ships shields absorbed the damage. He then tried another idea.

Using the aft torpedo launcher he fired a single torpedo and manually detonated it with out the shields being up. The results were surprising.

"That looks rather extreme." Benson said as he looked over McLean shoulder.

"I know," McLean replied, "The problem is that our shields block the impact of the blast. If this other ships shields are up it wont do any good."

McLean stood back and thought about it the problem some more. Benson too seemed to be stumped as well.

"Scott, what's your recommendation." Torek said.

McLean took a deep breath and was worried about letting Torek down, but just as he was about to speak up a light bulb went off in his head, "Just a minute sir."

Quickly using the console in front of him, McLean worked out his solution, "I think I've got it." McLean said.

"What is it?" Torek said.

"We need to use the deflector dish to disrupt both our shields as well as this mystery ships shields. Then we need to detonate a photo torpedo just behind our warp nacelles. This should cause a massive disruption of the warp fields." McLean said.

"Good work Scott." Torek replied.

"There's something else."

"What is it?" Torek asked.

"We better have damage control teams standing by, there is a good chance we are going to take some serious damage." McLean replied in a worried tone.

<Tag Torek>

[Carl Torek]

It seemed this was the only idea they had to get both ships separated .. He asked for 'ship-wide' comms ...

=^= This is the Executive Officer .. We are about to attempt to get the ship currently inside our warp-field disengaged .. The Raven may well suffer some damage during this maneuver so grab hold of something and keep hold .. Fire and Damage control teams stand-by in all areas .. As this will be better controlled from Engineering .. Commander McLean will run the maneuver .. All departments stand-by for orders =^=

"Helm .. Get ready to turn us away from the other ship once we're freed .. Weapons .. I want a lock on that ship the second you are able .. If it tries to open fire on us .. Or attempts to get a signal off .. Disable it."

A chorus of 'Ayes' came from the Bridge crew .. Carl contacted Scott ...

=^= Torek to Engineering =^=

=^= McLean =^= answered the Chief Engineer, with what Carl thought a hint of eagerness in his voice.

=^= OK Scott .. This ones on you .. Whenever you're ready we are .. All departments have been informed and are awaiting any orders you may have for them =^=

=^= Well as long as damage control is ready there's nothing else .. Except grab hold ! =^=

The Bridge was totally silent as they waited for Scott to begin his maneuvers ..........



< tag : Scott >

[markoramius]

Having just spoken to Commander Torek and returned to his station he had noticed Captain Mc7of9 leaning over the Romulan, Donark. Marko couldn’t help but wonder what they had been discussing.
When the ship’s COMM activated:

=^= This is the Captain .. We are about to attempt to get the ship currently inside our warp-field disengaged .. The Raven may well suffer some damage during this maneuver so grab hold of something and keep hold .. Fire and Damage control teams stand-by in all areas .. As this will be better controlled from Engineering .. Commander McLean will run the maneuver .. All departments stand-by for orders =^=

Marko immediately stood up straight and started frantically redistributing resources. In particular he had contacted Lt. Benson in Engineering to get damage control teams assigned throughout the ship. Marko tapped his COMM badge:

=^= Ramius to Lt. Benson =^=

=^= Benson, here. =^= Came the reply.

=^= Benson, I would like you to have damage control teams ready to move out after the torpedo is launched. We have teams standing by on all decks but we may need more depending on the damage sustained to the ship. =^=

=^= I’ll have teams standing by. Benson out! =^=

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marko then thought it prudent to contact Sickbay to let them know about the manoeuvre and that there may be casualties across the ship:

=^= Ramius to Sickbay =^=

=^= Dr Be’Tor here =^=

=^= Dr Be’Tor, the Raven is about to attempt a dangerous manoeuvre that will likely cause damage to the ship and as a precaution we need sickbay ready to accommodate casualties and medical teams standing by in case of injuries to the crew. =^=

=^= What sort of manoeuvre? This seems reckless to me Marko, I’ll have medical teams standing by in the event that they are needed. =^= Asked the Doctor

=^= It would take too long to explain Doctor, I appreciate your concern but it is the only option available to us. Ramius out! =^=
As Marko ended the COMM.

Marko stood back and braced himself against his station. The entire bridge was silent as they waited for Commander McLean to begin his manoeuvres…

[Scott McLean]

“You ready?” McLean asked Benson.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Benson replied.

Just as McLean was about to start the maneuver he heard the beep of the COM system opening a channel, Now what? McLean thought.

“Ramius to Lt. Benson.” McLean heard over the COM.

”Benson, here.” Benson replied.

”Benson, I would like you to have damage control teams ready to move out after the torpedo is launched. We have teams standing by on all decks but we may need more depending on the damage sustained to the ship.”

”I’ll have teams standing by. Benson out!”

McLean couldn’t help but laugh a little under his breath.

“What?” Benson asked.

“Nothing,” McLean said as he worked on the console in front of him, “Just remind me to give Ensign Ramius some crap later on.”

“Deal.”

Benson finalized calculations on his console and then walked quickly back over to McLean. McLean could feel the sweat starting to grow on his brow, he had just one last button to push and the entire maneuver would commence.

“Computer, open a channel to the bridge.” McLean ordered.

CHANNEL OPEN

“Hang onto something up here.” McLean said.

<Tag ALL>

[Carl Torek]

Something dawned on Carl and he spoke quickly ..

=^= Scott .. After you fire .. I'm going to have the Raven turn sharp to port the second we are free of the other ships' influence =^=

=^= I certainly would Sir .. Because if that ship goes up .. At this range we will be going with it =^=

McLean replied, though it was hardly necessary, he thought, to point out the obvious .. Seconds later the torpedo could be seen arcing away from their ship. It didn't get far, and the screen had to compensate almost instantly to the blinding flash of light ...

The duty Navigation Officer spoke rapidly, almost 'too' quick for Torek to understand ..

"The field .. Warp field has collapsed .." she said, hitting her panel and throwing the Raven into a hard turn to port .. She banked over at almost ninety degrees as she tried to put distance between herself and the other vessel ..

The other ship though, wasn't coping as well with the massive strains on it's structural integrity .. It was coming apart before them. Carl watched as it began to shake itself apart, but the crew were working hard over there .. Slowly, very slowly, the enemy ship began to stabilize herself. It began a slow turn to starboard, heading away from the Raven.

=^= Commander .. We're having systems failures all over the ship =^= Scott said from Engineering ..

Mc7 staggered out of his ready room, a small cut allowing blood to run from temple to cheek, then onto his collar ..

=^= Engineering .. Hows our Shields ? =^= Mc asked, dropping heavily into his seat.

=^= Inoperative Captain =^= shouted McLean through all the noise in his department.

"Helm .. All stop !" Mc continued.

The Raven slowed to a halt, floating totally still in space ..

"Keep track of that vessel." Torek ordered, "If it even looks as if it may turn toward us .. I want to know."

=^= Scott .. How're we doing down there ? =^= he said.

=^= We are getting systems back on-line Commander .. Structural integrity is OK .. Inertial dampers are at ninety six percent .. Warp drive will be out for at least forty minutes .. Other than that .. Peachy =^= McLean replied.

"Donark ?" Carl asked, handing Mc something to wipe the blood from his face.

"Security are watching him." he replied, nodding toward the ready room, then shrugged, slightly embarrassed, "Forgot to grab hold." he said, in way of explanation.

As damage reports began to come in, it was obvious that they had several injured. They would be taken to Sick-bay for E'liana to take care of .. Carl asked the Captain what he wanted to do about the other ship, Mc said, looking at the other ship on-screen, "Let them go." he wanted the Raven back at Star base Bellicose, and safe .. As Carl watched, Mc seemed to sway in his seat for a second ..

"You had better get down to Sick-bay .. Get that seen to." Carl suggested, and as the Admiral nodded agreement, Carl motioned for one on the Bridge security officers to accompany him ...

=^= Scott .. Do we have impulse power ? =^= Torek asked.

=^= Yes .. No problems there .. I'll have to get back to you on the warp engines though Carl =^=

=^= OK Scott .. And well done everyone down there =^= Carl said, closing the Comm.

"Helm .. Get us on course for Bellicose .. Full Impulse .. Tactical view on-screen."

As they began to move, Torek watched the other ship closely, it was in worse shape than themselves, it wasn't going to be coming after them he decided ..

"Normal View." he ordered, then watched as the stars came slowly toward them ..........

[markoramius]

Marko braced himself for impact as the Raven fired upon the cloaked ship, seconds later the torpedo could be seen arcing away from their ship. It didn't get far, and the screen had to compensate almost instantly to the blinding flash of light. The Raven shook violently upon detonation of the torpedo and the collapse of the warp field, with Marko shunted into his console which had winded him. Marko felt like he’d broken a rib but he just applied pressure to his side to try and disguise the injury, he would go to sickbay in due course the Dr. had far too much to worry about.

Leaning against his console and using it apply pressure to his side Marko began to review the reports which were flooding in with every passing second. Marko noticed Captain Mc sway in his seat slightly, he had noticed upon the Captain’s return that the Captain had a gash in his face which was bleeding badly. The Captain then left the bridge accompanied by a security officer and headed for the sickbay. Marko had just received damage reports and a list of injuries from across the ship. Ensign Riza, Marko’s junior officer noticed that he was clearly in pain and approached Marko and whispered to him:

“Marko are you okay?” Asked the young Ensign

“I’m fine Ensign, I need you to give these PADDs to Commander Torek they detail the injuries and damage sustained to the raven and her crew. Just act normally, I would prefer that my injury was not known about, until the Raven is at warp again.”

Riza gave Marko a concerned look but she was a loyal officer and nodded.
“Okay then Sir, but if it gets any worse I am relieving you from your station.”

“That wont be necessary Ensign”
Marko said as he leaned harder on the console. He had definitely broken some ribs but that didn't matter he had a job to do.

Riza went over to the Commander to pass him the PADDs. Marko was concentrating on tracking the Romulan ship with the sensors, to make sure it wasn’t coming back for the Raven. The Romulan ship was continuing in the opposite direction of the Raven but he wanted to be sure. He also scanned for anymore cloaked ships, the last thing he wanted was another surprise. As Riza approached Commander Torek Marko said:

“Commander, here are the Operational Reports and the Damage & Injury Reports. I am also pleased to report that the Romulan ship is going in the opposite direction and according to my scans there are no cloaked ships in the area.”

Riza handed the reports to Commander Torek and he nodded and Riza returned to the Ops Console. Marko thanked Riza for helping him out and hoped the Commander didn’t suspect anything, he would go to sickbay when the Raven had warp capabilities.

[Carl Torek]

Scott and his staff, had worked wonders keeping the ship in one piece, especially considering whet they had gone through ..

On the Bridge, Carl had been informed that the cut to the Admiral's head wasn't serious, and the dizziness was more than likely due to overwork .. E'Liana had sent him to his quarters, with orders 'NOT' to return to the Bridge until he was fully rested ..

Centurion Donark had been taken back to the VIP quarters .. Considering what he'd done, or was suspected of being involved in, Torek would have preferred the Brig, but Mc said no .. Donark was now 'assisting' the Federation, and was to be treated as a willing guest on the Raven. 'Rather that the obvious traitor he was.' Carl thought to himself, as he passed on instructions for the Romulan to be returned to his former quarters, but he was not to be left alone, under 'any' circumstances !

Carl was looking through status reports when the Comms beeped ...

=^= McLean to Bridge =^=

=^= Bridge .. Go ahead Scott =^= Torek replied.

=^= OK .. We have the warp drive back on-line =^=

=^= Good work Scott .. Any restrictions you need me to adhere to ? =^=

=^= No .. Velocity is at your discretion .. Just don't blow us to bits .. We have put a lot of work into getting this running =^=

=^= Understood .. Thank you Commander =^=

Carl could see the relief on the Bridge staff as they over-heard the conversation, they, and he, would be glad to get away from here ...

"Helm .. Increase speed .. Warp seven." Torek ordered.

The duty Navigation Officer smiled and confirmed the order ..

"Warp seven .. Aye."

Seconds later, the massive Intrepid class Star-ship leapt forward, heading home at unimaginable speed ..

~~~~~~~~~~

Six hours later, an almost inaudible beep informed Lieutenant Ramius there was a Comm .. He checked his board and spoke to Star-base Bellicose .. After a moment, he relayed the Comm to Carl ..

"Sir .. Bellicose have on on their sencors .. They say welcome back .. Two ship's have been dispatched to meet us, and escort the Raven into docking .. They will rendezvous in sixteen minutes."

"Good .. Time to arrival at Bellicose ?" Torek asked the Helm Officer.

"Fifty six minutes Commander." she replied ..

"Marko .." Carl said, turning to the COO, "Contact the escort vessels .. Tell them we are looking forward to seeing both them and the star base." As he finished giving Ramius his orders, he tapped his Comms badge ...

=^= Torek to Admiral Mc7_of_9 =^=

=^= Mc7 =^= Came the almost wery reply. Carl had the impression he'd woke the Captain.

=^= Sir .. Just under an hour to Bellicose .. We're getting escorted in .. =^=

=^= I'm on my way Commander =^= Mc said, closing the Comm and looking round his quarters for a fresh uniform.

Carl watched the view-screen .. the escort vessels would be here in moments, then the Raven would be home once again .. her mission was almost over ..........



< tag : Admiral Mc7_of_9 >

[markoramius]

"Marko .." Carl said, turning to the COO, "Contact the escort vessels .. Tell them we are looking forward to seeing both them and the star base."

There had almost been a sigh of relief from the Bridge crew upon the news that the Raven was approaching Bellicose, it had been a long hard mission for many of them. Marko had not been on the ship for the whole mission but he felt like a piece of the furniture. Marko opened a comm to the escort vessels:

“Escort Vessels, This is the Raven we are looking forward to coming home.”

“Acknowledged Raven, we are 15 minutes out.” Came the reply.

Marko then stood up from his station still applying pressure to his side. He looked over to Commander Torek and asked:
“Commander, may I head to Sickbay for a moment. I think I injured my ribs in the blast of the warp field earlier.”

Carl nodded and said:
“Dismissed Mr Ramius, go and get a change of clothes and a cup of coffee. You look like you need it.”

“Aye Sir” Marko replied as he left the Bridge to head for Sickbay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marko entered sickbay to find a duty nurse. He explained:
“I was slammed against my station and I think I’ve broken a couple of ribs.”

The nurse gave a concerned look and looked at Marko’s ribs, she agreed with his prognosis and administered an ultrasonic ray. It literally knitted the broken ribs back together. The wonders of 24th century medicine Marko thought to himself.

“Now just rest up and do not do anything too physical over the next couple of days and those healed bones should be back to full strength in no time.” The nurse said as she turned to Marko.

“Thank you Nurse, I’m just going to head to my quarters and take it easy.” Replied Marko as he slid of the bed and headed for the exit.

“Try to get some rest.” The nurse shouted as he left, Marko laughed and made his way to his quarters for a change of clothes and maybe some classical music until they got to Bellicose.

[Carl Torek]

The escort ships came toward the Raven .. As they approached, they parted, port and starboard of the Intrepid class Starship, before taking lazy arcs to position themselves on either side ..

"Sir .. The Osprey is contacting us." said Marko.

"Open a channel." Carl said.

=^= Welcome back Raven .. We're thirty minutes from Bellicose .. Please drop to impulse for approach =^=

Carl nodded to the duty Navigation Officer, who took the ship from warp and slowed it to full impulse .. Along side, both the escort vessels followed suit.

=^= Thank you Osprey .. Can you see our damage =^=

=^= Yes .. Patching through an image now .. Theres a thirty five meter gash .. At least one deck open to space =^=

As the Commander of the US Osprey spoke, the image was patched into the Ravens view-screen .. In fairness, the damage didn't look half as bad as Carl was expecting .. While Torek was looking at the images from the Osprey, the other escort vessel, the Venture, had dropped one thousand meters below the Raven, and was checking her structural integrity .. As she rose to join them again, she reported no major problems, but Bellicose engineers would do a thorough check, once they were docked and non-essential personnel were off the ship ..

Mc7 entered the Bridge as the Raven's damaged deck was on-screen .. He sat down beside David and sighed ..

"Could have been worse I suppose." he said resignedly.

=^= Raven .. You need to be in the port side space-dock =^=

=^= Thank you Osprey =^= Carl replied, seeing Mc lost in the image on-screen .. As the image changed to show the massive Space Station ahead of them, the Helm Officer slowed the Raven once again, now down to only one quarter impulse, before going to maneuvering thrusters for the final approach ...

"Sir ..." Carl said to Mc quietly.

"Take us in Commander." was all the Admiral said.

As they watched, both the USS Osprey and the USS Venture veered off to either side, giving the Raven plenty of room ..

"Slow forward momentum to ten meters per second." Carl ordered, then a moment later, "Slow to three meters per second .. Steady Helm." he prompted.

Above, and to both sides, they could see the framework of the Space-dock as they entered .. Several small worker-bee shuttles were standing by to get to work on the damage, and to one side a space-suited engineer visually checked the damage ..

"Thrusters at station-keeping." Carl now said, and the Raven came to a halt .. Umbilical arms moved out from either side of the dock. they connected, and would supply the Raven's external power .. In Engineering, Scott confirmed all connections and requested permission to shut-down the core ..

=^= Shut down the Warp core Commander .. Take all engines off-line .. Secure all moorings .. We're about to have visitors and plenty of them =^= Mc7 said, refering to the bast maitainance crews that would shortly be swarming over the Raven ...

=^= Aye Sir =^= Seconds later, the Raven was totally dependent on the Star base for her power ...

They were home ...

"Captain." said Marko as the ship powered-down, "Starfleet have sent a Security detail to take the Romulan Officer into custody."

"Good .. The sooner he's off my ship the better .. Ask Commander Jared to deal with it." Mc ordered, getting up and heading toward his ready room ...

Once alone, Mc sat down, placing his head in his hands, he rested his eyes, silently thanking anyone and everyone that they were safely back ..........



< tag : Admiral Mc7_of_9 :: Final words Captain > ...

[Scott McLean]

McLean breathed a sigh of relief as the Raven docked. He felt the energy rush out of his body as the bridge turned off the warp core, it was as if a part of his own body was shutting down from the adrenaline rush that had carried him through the last few days.

“Well done Chief,” Benson said as he patted McLean on the back.

McLean could say nothing as he leaned over the now dead console. He could see his own reflection in the dark black reflective surface of the touch screen and what he saw was a man who needed some rest.

Other things crossed the Chief Engineers main, such as his resignation letter that he was waiting to send in to the Admiral, his divorce papers which he had long since refused to sign and a warm bottle of scotch sitting alone in his quarters waiting for a companion.

First things first, McLean thought as he pushed himself off the dead console. The walk back to his quarters was slow as he drug his feet every chance he got. Space Dock workers were already quickly rushing through the ship to start their massive repair job on the damaged bird.

“Best of luck to you guys.” McLean spouted out as he passed a few of the repair crewmembers.

Stepping into his quarters he kept the lights off, leaving only the work lights from Space Dock as the only light source in his room. He knew his front room by feel and it was as if he could smell the scotch from across the room.

He slumped down on the couch as he had been before and poured himself another tall glass. In one quick gulp he chugged down the scotch with out the faintest sign of how harsh it tasted; the sign of a true alcoholic.

Just behind McLean in his darkened room came a beeping sound from his wall screen. He reached up and tapped where he knew the accept button would be and suddenly his room was lit up by the bright white image now being projected from the screen.

Message 2-7-8-9-1, Fleet Admiral Elron’s office to Lt. Commander McLean of the Starship Raven. Read the message. Then another beep caught McLean’s attention, it was a priority message beep. With a curious look on his face the Chief Engineer turned around to face the message before him.

He quickly pushed in his priority code all the while trying not to spill his drink. After the near acrobatic performance was up a new message popped up and this time the room changed once again to a dark tone with bright orange letters casting an odd hue about the room.

McLean’s face was one of curiosity until he got to the depth of the message.

“Oh God…”McLean said, “No…no…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The scotch bottle slipped out of his hand and fell the to the floor, pouring out the contents of the bottle all over his carpet. In a single motion McLean smashed his glass up against the screen, cutting his hand deeply in several places.

Tears began to well up in the now broken Engineers eyes and there was no way he could hold them back. His life as he knew it no longer had meaning, he suddenly felt alone in the universe and not even the pain in his hand made him feel alive.

McLean slumped down away from the screen in a sudden and loud outburst of tears and emotion. Left on the screen was the words, May they Rest in Peace.

[Carl Torek]

Carl stayed seated as Mc, seemingly pre-occupied, left the Bridge and went into his ready room .. The ship's crew hadn't yet been stood-down from duty, so they carried on doing their respective jobs ..

Most of the off-duty crew were packing for their move over to Bellicose .. Several would have family waiting, or friends they would normally stay with while on the Star-base. But as Carl didn't have anyone to meet during their shore leave, he had already decided to stay aboard the Raven to oversee the repairs and refits that were going to be carried out ..

The turbo-lift door opened while Torek was going through the departmental reports, a female Officer appeared in front of him ...

"Commander Donna Flinn .. Head of Bellicose Engineering .. I would normally report to the Ships Captain .. But I was told he's not to be disturbed." she said, shrugging.

"Ahh .. Commander." Carl said, glancing at the ready room door for a second before looking at the woman, "We'll be out of your wa ......."

"Call me Donna .. I 'hate' all the formality of rank during these re-fits .. It tends to get in the way." she interrupted.

"Erm ... OK." Carl said, smiling, "Donna it is then .. So where do you want to start ?"

"Already have ......" she said, raising her eyebrows waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Oh .. Sorry." Carl said, realizing he'd not given his name, Carl .. Carl Torek." he finished, reddening slightly.

"OK .. I've got teams ripping down the temporary bulkheads your Chief Engineer placed on Deck ten .. He did one hell of a job there too .. I'm going down there myself .. But I wanted to let you know who was working on the ship." Donna said, turning to leave ..

"See you later." she said with that same warm smile he'd noticed earlier, then, with a wave she was gone .. Carl grinned to himself for a second then, with another brief look at Mc's door, returned to his reports ..........

[markoramius]

Having arrived at Bellicose. Marko was still in his quarters aboard the Raven, he had not received orders to go on any shore-leave and he did not look forward to it. He had joined Starfleet to be on missions and explore the galaxy not sit on a starbase he thought to himself. That was not really Marko’s issue, he just had no-one to spend his shore-leave with. His parents were still back on Earth and he had no friends on Bellicose, who were not his colleagues. He did not wish to impose on any of his workmates so made the decision to stay aboard the Raven.

Having made the decision to stay aboard the Raven during the repairs and oversee the use of ships resources and operations. Marko picked up a PADD he had been writing earlier, it was a message to his parents about his first mission aboard the Raven but he just couldn’t find the words to express his emotions. He had enjoyed his time on the Raven but knew that his parents just wouldn’t understand his decision to join Starfleet. Throwing the PADD to one side Marko decided to make his way to the Bridge and to his familiar station.

After a short turbo-lift ride Marko found himself on the bridge. There were a few officers left on the bridge, including Riza his junior officer and Commander Torek who was in the Captain’s chair reviewing some reports. Riza spotted Marko first and gave him a concerned look then said:

“Are you okay Sir, how are your ribs?”

“My ribs are fine Ensign, I’ll take over the Ops station you go and get your things ready for shore leave. I’m sure you’re family will be looking forward to seeing you.”

Marko knew Riza had family waiting for her on Bellicose, so he did not want her working at the Ops station.

“Thank you Sir, enjoy your shore-leave.” She replied and then headed off in the turbolift.

Marko stood at his console, he had only been away from the bridge for a couple of hours but he was glad to be back. He stared at Commander Torek, who looked to be reviewing reports. Marko wondered if his Commander had any family waiting for him…

“Commander, are you looking forward to our shore-leave? I was hoping that you would allow me to stay aboard the Raven to oversee repairs?”

<Tag: Torek>

[Mc7_of_9]

After her escorts broke away the Raven began to slow as she approached the huge hollowed out structure floating in Space, commonly known as Starbase Bellicose. As she gradually got nearer two doors on the Starbases' upper rim began to open, allowing those on the Raven's Bridge to glimpse inside the behemoth base. As the ship closed the gap between the it and the base it's speed continued to fall, until it was traveling on thrusters only.

~~~~Viewing Platform 8 Alpha, Starbase Belicose~~~~

It had been almost a month and a half since their last visit to the viewing platform, and after his daughter had finished at the bases' school, he had brought her up to the platform to see all of the worker bees go about their business of repairing and upgrading the
docked ships. Just as they were about to leave, he noticed that giant space doors were beginning to part, indicating that a ship was about to enter. He pointed this out to his daughter, and showed her where to look. Moments later, a sleek Intrepid class starship slowly moved through the doors. The ship looked familar, and it took him a moment, but he realised that on their last visit to the viewing platform they had seen it leave the base.

He told his daughter about this, and asked her what she thought the ship had been doing since it had left.

I think it was out talking to new aliens daddy.

It might have been sweetheart, it might have been


~~~~Bridge, USS Raven~~~~

Once the Raven had come to a complete stop and the umbilicals had started to be connected from the base to the ship, mc7 left his ready room and entered the Bridge. Nodding to Steve, he sat in the Command Chair and opened a comm channel to all decks of the Raven.

Mc7 to all crew. We have now docked with the Starbase. This has been a tough mission, which we lost some good crew members on. There will be a memorial service at 1600 hours tomorrow on recreation deck 3 on the base. Later in the evening, I have arranged for a celebration. This has a multiple purpose. Firstly, it will be to celebrate the lives of the crewmen who are no longer with us and secondly it will be promotion ceremony. All crew are now officially on leave, and I mean ALL crew. The Raven is now under the care of the Bellicose engineering team, and I want you all to take some time to relax and spend some time off of the Raven. Finally, I just want to say thank you to each ad every one of you for the sheer amount of effort and dedication you have all put in throughout this mission. It has made me proud to call each and every one of you as my collegues. Now go and have some R&R. Mc7 out.

Touching a button on his command pad on the arm of his chair, he closed the comm channel.

And Carl, when I said all of the crew were to take some R&R, I meant including you! I'll get you over to my quarters at some point for dinner and we can have a post mission discussion.

Now, I'd better get in touch with Elron and arrange my de-breifing with him.

As they both stood, mc7 offered his hand to Steve, and the two of them shook hands.


OOC: And that, as they everyone, is a wrap!

Every report to the shore leave thread on the Bellicose board