Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jan 17, 2010 3:47:14 GMT
"Geban said this key beams him back to the ward." Carl said, retrieving the glass-like key, "So we must be able to set co-ordinates, or at the very least get back down to the surface."
Andae took the key, plugged it into a console and looked at the display. "Hmm, well this isn't much good," he said. He pulled the key out of the slot, inspecting it closely in the dim light, tinged with yellow.
He handed the key back to Carl, dusting his hands off on his trousers instinctively and making cursory checks outside of either entrance to the room to make sure they were not watched. He turned to Carl after that, looking the man up and down trying to gauge his thoughts. "What do you want to do... Captain?" he tested the title for weight, it felt right.
Both men realised they needed to expose the Kobaltek, that immediately became clear. From what Torek had been saying, half the administrative staff in the hospital - and doubtless many many more over the rest of the planet - knew about them, yet didn't seem to want to get rid of them; except for a man called Geban, and a few others perhaps, Carl told him.
Now, whether the exposure of this alien force took a day, a few months or maybe more, both Andae and Carl had virtually resolved to do it. Besides, they would have plenty of time, considering it would take Starfleet at least a month and a half to get a ship out here that had the sufficient capabilities. The Raven, if it had indeed existed, was no more, so the two Starfleet men were as good as stranded, along with all the other crew still on the surface... Unless..
"I have an idea," he said, still keeping an eye on the entrances, "It might seem mad, but why don't we try and take this ship? Assume for a minute that we try and we succeed, we could use the ship to fly back to the Federation; request help. We can then return and free the rest of the crew, as well as removing the Kobaltek influence for good. It will also remove their supply of 'empty bodies' for a while unless they send another ship." He turned to look at Carl, a questioning look was on his face.
<Tag Torek>
Before he could react to Carl's long-ish considered response, both men were zapped to unconsciousness by an unseen attacker. The electric snap faded, Blakus's eyes were rolling up, the whites visible for just a second before the lids flapped down, surrendering to the forced sleep.
Swinging into vision, the room appeared as a dark mass. Memory floated back to him like the strands of a lost dream, and he remembered where he'd been. Another room, dark like this one, yellow and dank. Before that, more dark, and before that... again, blackness. Yes, he was on a ship; the whole place was as dark and inaccessible as a particularly disturbing surrealist novel.
There were clattering noises of metal striking some stone, and Blakus realised that someone had walked in; the door they'd entered through had scraped against the stone floor in intervals as it slid back. Silently the person walked over. First he moved off to Blakus's left, standing by something checking it carefully. Blakus realised he couldn't turn his head to see what was going on. He also realised that he was tied down on this 'bench', which was set at about sixty degrees to vertical. Next the man came to him, performing the same careful check, wordlessly, and typing some information into a hand-held device.
"What do you want?" Blakus asked, finally managing to meet eyes with the man for a second.
The man's eyes didn't meet his for long; he looked back down at his device and peered at that instead. "Shut up," he muttered.
"Who are you? You're not Kobaltek."
"No..." the man said, patience clearly thin. "No I'm not. I'm Hamaroan."
"So I see; what are doing here? Why am I tied up? Why is Ca - ... My companion, tied up also? I assume that's him over there." Blakus wondered how much longer he could keep asking questions before he got smacked in the face.
"None of your concern, other than you were caught trespassing, and you're now to be dealt with." The man looked up at him, snapping his device shut and tilting his head, studying him for a second: "Clearly your brainwashing has been lifted, your original mind and personality reasserting itself, probably in the wake of strong evidence from a source likewise lifted from brainwashing." Blakus saw him very briefly glance to the left, over where Torek was tied up. "A shame; you would've made great hosts for our masters." He appeared to look wistful, regretful for a few more seconds before eventually shrugging, perhaps sadly, and turning from Blakus and heading from the room.
"Carl..?" Andae started... "You there?"
"Yes, Andae, I'm here," said a voice off to the left.
Blakus smiled wanly, eyes fixed on a bright patch on the ceiling. "How are we going to get out of this?"
An indeterminate length of time later, the room was flooded with blinding white light. Every surface, previously gritty, dark and seemingly unilluminable, lit up, saturated with the sudden burst of photons. Blakus squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his bench rotate counter-clockwise. Then he opened them just a little to see that the bench was also moving, Carl's too, towards the light. "Hmph," he said, thinking of antiquated faiths. He had to shut his eyes again because of the brightness, which was now increasing to unbearable levels even behind his eyelids. Just as it finally began to fade, a voice spoke, very pure and improbably clear.
"Hello," it said.
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jan 17, 2010 3:55:54 GMT
Tick tock, clock on the wall; hands turning, cogs grating; tick tocking, tock ticking. Hmph; pens spinning, mind whirling. Very simplistic, easy to understand and to comprehend. Every time it hit the top would be one more digit to tick off, one more subtracted from the tally of hours that'd been preprogrammed, by mechanism and by mind. If only it meant something.
He'd just received word that the transporter had been used yet it again, not from ship to planet, but from planet to ship. Someone else; the first officer's friend perhaps. He supposed he should be grateful for the information; it wouldn't have been information at all if they'd not been monitoring the specific access key. They weren't all fools, then, he decided, someone had had the sense to 'grass up' on the treacherous Geban.
If only he didn't have to do what he had to do! It would make things so much easier... No, there was now no option; there wasn't any point in waiting 'til the morning, they were both up there now, on the ship. Granted, he could cull half the population - of the hospital only, of course - but would that serve much purpose? It wouldn't be the same... Or would it? No, it wouldn't be the same as before. The bombing of the town had arguably been a mistake; wasn't worth having done again. Such an outburst would be indicative of rage, nothing else. Hardly representative.
He got up, heading out to his secretary. "I'm off out for a little while," he told her.
"Ok, where?" she asked. "If people come calling.."
He turned in the exit, seeming to stare into space before looking at her. He shrugged and shook his head, swaggering tiredly through the exit.
He reappeared in darkness, quickly taking stock then moving forward. He'd have to be quick this time. Taking the device he'd brought with him, he ran his scan. The scan revealed the two of them not far ahead in one of the waiting rooms. He smiled, so they're at that stage already. Following the directions of the silver device, he came eventually to the room and, stealing in, set about removing their bonds.
Blakus could see now; it was a person! The light behind silhouetted the figure into black, none of the person's features were visible. He felt the figure tug at his bonds, also feeling the cold touch of a metal blade. He flinched as the knife cut the bonds on his left hand and his neck; the figure stepped away with Blakus's right hand still pinned to the bench. Then the figure was gone, having likely performed a similar operation on Carl.
After waiting a moment in case anyone else came in, Blakus rushed to sit up and hurriedly ripped himself free of the remaining bond. "We're free," he said to Carl, seeing him at last and helping him remove his bond. Neither of them questioned who their mysterious saviour had been, for they had more important matters to think about now.
Carl stood up as Blakus looked over his shoulder to the wall behind. Not long ago, that wall had retracted to reveal the blinding light. He looked at Carl, "Did you get what I got in there?" he asked simply.
"I suspect so," Carl said.
"Then we both know how to break the sensor blind, and how to beam back down to the planet?"
"Yes, they told us."
"The difficulty will be being in a position where we can be rescued. The Raven will pick us up on the planet, yes, assuming we break the blind, but I can't see us surviving for long down there. We'll need to be on the ship when the time comes."
"Aye," Carl said.
"You should go to your family, if you want them to come." Andae watched Carl for a reaction.
<Tag Carl>
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Jan 17, 2010 11:18:56 GMT
He couldn't believe they had been discovered. He thought nothing for himself, but his Officers on the surface, his friend, his lost ship, that was different. His mind was racing at the thought of what the Kobaltek might do, would most likely do to Galla and Bethan.
Whatever the room was, it's function was now obvious. They were to receive another, most likely more severe treatment. He would forget he was Torek, Federation Officer, and fully 'become' Javin ... But then there was a change in fortune ..
"Hello." the voice said.
~~~~~~~~~~
Carl woke .....
Yes, Carl, not Javin. the elation was momentarily overwhelming and he almost cried out. He was no longer bound to the table, his arms and legs had been freed of their bonds. 'Why ... Who ?' he thought as he lay still, listening for the slightest sign they were not alone.
Andae spoke then, and he realized someone, but who, had helped them.
Both men sat up then lowered themselves to the floor, neither wanting to make the slightest sound. They were back in the other room, the lighting seemed to have been dimmed, but that could just be a trick of his mind. After checking the room, the two Officers exchanged what they knew.
"The difficulty will be being in a position where we can be rescued. The Raven will pick us up on the planet, yes, assuming we break the blind, but I can't see us surviving for long down there. We'll need to be on the ship when the time comes." Andae said.
"Aye," Carl replied quietly.
"You should go to your family, if you want them to come." Andae watched Carl, puzzled at his reaction.
"The Raven is gone ......" Carl said, looking at the floor, then at Blakus, who wasn't sure he had heard right. But before he could speak Carl continued, "...... When they had the people they needed, the Raven was flung to the far side of this system. There's a sub-space anomaly out there, micro fracture, I don't know, but every ship thats been trapped here has been sent into the rift and destroyed. So you see, it looks like your idea of taking this ship might be our 'only' option ..."
A dumbfounded Blakus looked at his Commanding Officer in silence as the realization that over a thousand souls had perished.
"Listen. We know for sure that Commander Jamison is on the surface. We need to find a way of contacting him .. There's every chance others, maybe the majority of the crew are down here." Carl said, and Blakus nodded. The distinct possibility that the Kobaltek had simply chosen the few bodies they needed, discarding the rest, remaining unsaid by both men.
Silently, both men moved to the far doors, which opened with the glass-like key. This room was bigger, more equipment. They began looking round some sort of auxiliary control room, tentatively identifying a communication console, transporter controls, scanning systems, life support, auxiliaries ..
"Could we adapt this to scan the surface for Raven personnel ?" Carl asked, hoping that it could pick up Galla and Bethan too, foregoing the risk of going back to the surface.
Andae came over and looked the console over.
"Possibly." he said, activating the equipment while Carl moved round the room. It occurred to him that they could be discovered at any moment. He needed to find something akin to their self destruct mechanism. Because if they couldn't escape he would ensure the Kobaltek took no more innocents ..........
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Jan 20, 2010 19:11:16 GMT
(Star drive section)"Start with McLean." Barry said, pushing broken glass off the Ops and Helm consoles. He was guessing at their status, simply on the fact that they had not been crushed to nothingness by the enormous pressure outside, but he needed information and quickly ... He checked their engine status. The thrusters had been running at one hundred and thirty percent for almost three hours, burnout was inevitable, it was just a matter of time.
Suddenly, he noticed a reading that was out of place. The gravity well, or rather, spatial 'furrow' running around the gas giant was trying to pull them downward, but something was also trying to pull them UP !
He tried reconfiguring the readings, and sure enough it was there. Something, likely some sort of tractor beam, was attempting to 'tow' the Raven out of the well. He felt a momentary sensation in his stomach as the Raven suddenly dropped, faster than the dampers could compensate for, but then it looked like the ship was actually rising. Barry couldn't quite believe it .. The sensors suddenly began to clear. The ship was indeed climbing out of the well, and fast .. Too fast in fact !
"Reduce thrusters to seventy percent ... NOW !" he yelled over the din.
"Oh my God. There's a runabout above us !" Richards shouted.
"Barry had figured that out, he had run to the Helm and leaned over Parkin. Working as quickly as possible he began to increase power on the port thrusters, hoping to somehow pass to on side of the oncoming runabout, but it wasn't working.
"We're going to hit." he said.
"That ship will be destroyed if we collide at this speed." Erin said.
"Dorsal thrusters ... Maximum power." Fishner said, trying to slow their rate of climb. Erin didn't hesitate as Richards barked the order. But it was too little, too late.
"Collision Alert ... Impact in five seconds." the computer casually informed them.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT !!!" Barry yelled, grabbing a firm hold of whatever was fixed to the deck.
The collision itself was horrendous .. The whole ship shook violently as the runabout made her presence known.
"Dorsal shields buckling." Copeland said, "The runabout is breaking up. I'm trying to lock on to whoever was on there but I can only get a partial. Dorsal shields gone. Re-routing to secondary systems. Power holding, shields coming back up. Seventy five percent on the lock. I don't have any choice, it's now or never !"
"Go ahead." Richards said as the Bridge was flooded with a momentary burst of white light ... The runabout was gone, "You get them ?" he said, looking at the Assistant Tactical officer.
"I've got 'someone' yes." he replied after a few seconds, "Female. On the pad. She's unconscious and in need of emergency treatment now."
"Go." Lieutenant Fishner ordered, then turned back to the Helm, What's our status Erin ?"
"The shields took the full brunt of the impact, barely, We're powering away from the gravity well into the Exosphere, we can relax ... I think."
"Reduce power. Put us in a stable orbit. Higher the better, in fact make it a minimum of ten thousand kilometers. Get scanners back on-line, lets see where the hell we are. I'm going to see our guest." Barry said, getting up and moving toward the turbo-lift, "You have the Con Lieutenant." he said as the doors closed.
~~~~~~~~~~
"How is she ?" he asked as he arrived at the transporter pad.
"Stable." Toby replied, sweating profusely, it was obvious from the equipment scattered around that he'd been busy, "Lacerations, dislocated shoulder, bruising, oxygen deprivation ... I'd say she is the luckiest Lieutenant junior grade in Star fleet at the moment."
The woman, mid twenties at Barry's guess, was stirring. Her eyes flicked open then slammed shut. An almost inaudible groan escaped her lips. She opened her eyes again, this time managing to keep them that way. Toby rested a hand on her undamaged shoulder to prevent her from moving. She winced as she moved her re-set shoulder, then managed to focus on Barry.
"That was 'some' entrance." he said, a wry smile forming, "Welcome to the USS Raven ... Lieutenant ?".......... < tag : Miesha >(Hope I didn't overdo the injuries)
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mieshafranklin
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Post by mieshafranklin on Jan 30, 2010 0:07:58 GMT
Stinging pain. Heat. Burning. Fire.
That was what the science officer felt before the Tel Aviv exploded. Miesha felt herself slipping away into the unknown. Was this death? Was this what death felt like? It wasn't a bad sensation. She was now pain free. She felt larger than life. Miesha opened her eyes to the clouds all around her. It was happiness. She was happy. Miesha surveyed the scene in front of her. She was among the clouds, far up in the sky. There were others there with her, or at least around her. Miesha did not know any of them, but yet they all seemed so familiar. Perhaps she was in the heaven she had read about in Earth History. Perhaps those theologians were all correct. This isn't so bad... she thought.
Miesha suddenly began to get light-headed. She felt as though she was falling. She tilted her head downward to try to catch a glimpse of where she was falling. She saw a blank wall. A face peeked over from the right side. It seemed to be looking up at her. The face disappeared for a moment but came back shortly thereafter. Another face joined the view. This face had a mouth and it was moving, as though it were trying to tell her something. Miesha couldn't hear it, or even read the lips to try to understand. The vision was blurry. She closed her eyes tightly and reopened them. It did not help. She looked off in the distance in every direction, but all she saw were these two faces. She had no idea who they were, but they seemed to be trying to communicate with her. She began to feel her body pull in another direction. It was a sensation she recognized. Miesha couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew what it was. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was seeing the man on the right and hearing him say, "We've got her!"
Heat. Stinging pain. Burning.
Miesha slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling that was now in front of her. Her body was still tingling with pain, but it was somewhat subdued. As she gazed at the ceiling, she recognized it as the wall she had seen in the the vision. She had no idea where she was, but wherever she was, she was alive. She then saw a face, right where she had seen the one in the vision, except instead of looking up at her, he was looking down at her. She recognized him as a Starfleet officer, thanks to the uniform.
"That was 'some' entrance." he said, a wry smile forming, "Welcome to the USS Raven ... Lieutenant ?"..........
Miesha's shoulder hurt like no other. She felt an arm holding her in place. "I always liked to enter with a bang," she said, almost sarcastically. "Miesha Franklin. I'm your new Chief Science officer and the last time I checked, medical officers didn't wear yellow.....sir," she added, recognizing his superior rank.
Barry chuckled. "You would be right , Lieutenant. Lieutenant Barry Fishner. As it stands I'm in command right now."
Miesha tried to get up, but could not, whether it was because she didn't have the strength or because he was holding her in place. As she tried to get up, Barry felt her struggle. "Easy now. Take it slow." He helped her to sit up. "How are you feeling?"
Miesha sighed. "Well given that the last thing I remember is a fire, I'd say pretty good. What happened?"
"From what we've found out, you turned out to be our savior. You towed us out of the the gravity well, but at the cost of your runabout. We hit it on the way out and just barely got you out in time."
Miesha raised her eyebrows. "Well, I guess I won't be returning that shuttle to base." She looked around before trying to stand up. "Well, Miesha Franklin, reporting for duty."
She stumbled and Barry caught her. "Understood. Your duties are to get back on that biobed and get some rest. You need to rest."
She wasn't going to fight it this time.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Jan 30, 2010 10:24:36 GMT
(Star drive section)"Well ... Miesha Franklin ... Reporting for duty." She stumbled and Barry caught her.
"Understood." he said, grinning at her determination, "But your duties are to get back on that bio-bed and get some rest."
She didn't argue, just gratefully lay back and closed her eyes. With a look at the still unconscious McLean, Barry left Sick-bay and headed for the Bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~
"What's our status ?" he asked, taking the Command seat.
"We're recouping some of our lost power reserves." Copeland said, "Shields are back to one hundred percent. Weapons are on-line, phasers have eighty six percent power and climbing. Torpedoes are on-line. I'd say we're looking pretty good given the erm, circumstances."
"Glad you think so." Fishner said with a wry smile, "What about long-range sensors ?"
"On-line, but I'm having problems with the further distances. Maybe the array's were damaged during our trip through the atmosphere. it was hardly wine and roses." Erin said from the helm, "More acid and more acid ... From what I can tell there are three planets within range. I'd say the furthest has the best chance of being the one we're looking for."
Barry pondered the information. Logically, it would make more sense to check them in order, nearest first. But he trusted Erin, and if her readings were good, then it was there they needed to be.
"Set course .. Maximum impulse." he ordered, and was relieved when the gas giant below them vanished from view.
~~~~~~~~~~
With warp drive still off-line, and the limited power they had, they were moving at less than one third impulse. frustratingly slow given the circumstances. But there was no point in getting annoyed, it certainly wasn't going to make the journey any shorter. The turbo-lift doors opened, Miesha stepped onto the Bridge as Copeland spoke.
"Sir ....." he said, a frown forming, "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think there's something in orbit around that planet."
"A ship ?" Fishner said as his head snapped round to face the Tactical Officer, and wondered fleetingly if the star drive section was up to a fight.
"A ship, or some sort of platform maybe, but from this distance and with our sensor issues it's hard to tell, but if it is a ship then it is a 'damn' big one !"
"Any signs we've been detected ?
"You're guess is as good as mine." Copeland replied with an exaggerated shrug.
"Lieutenant, you OK ?" he asked Miesha, finally able to acknowledge her presence, and received an 'Aye Sir' of confirmation, "Good, Science station, see what you can find out about that ship or platform out there. Helm, stay on this heading. Increase power to forward shields, make sure all weapons are on-line ... Let's hope they are not looking our way." Barry finished, watching the stars drift, almost leisurely past on the view-screen ..........
OOC: Welcome to the Bridge Miesha ..
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jan 30, 2010 21:48:38 GMT
"Possibly," Andae said. His nerves were playing havoc with his movements, making it impossible to work the unfamiliar controls without thinking about being discovered at any instant. But he shoved it aside, seeing that Carl was walking around the room, making sure they were alone. It was hard, of course, to be sure either way; it was so dark outside the room, silhouettes inside might be seen against the light, but those emerging from the darkness could be unseen.
He soon discovered how to use the sensors, learning how to grasp them and point them in the desired direction. He swung them towards the surface, and in so doing pointed them along a line of sight that ended in something big, spaceborne and made of metal. He raised an eyebrow, experiencing a flicker of a smile when he read the scan results. The sensors were now pointed at the surface, a rush of further returning knowledge allowing him to know what to scan for to find lifesigns. The trouble was finding actual Raven personnel.
"Hmm," he said, "The issue is locating the Raven's crew. We can't find them by their commbadges because not all will still posess them, and we can't scan for purely non-Hamaroan lifesigns because many Hamaroans are prisoners themselves, and some non-Hamaroans are non-Raven crew anyway."
"What about Galla and Bethan?" Carl asked from across the room. Both men were listening intently to each other.
"I can't locate them either. They're non-Hamaroan, but there's no other way to detect them." There was a moment's pause, during which it became clear that Carl was contemplating something, and very hard. He turned to watch his Captain.
"I could beam down to the surface," the Raven CO was saying, "Find them at the hospital. I might be able to gather up the Raven crew as well. Get us altogether."
There was a piercing beeping sound on Blakus's control panel then, its monotonous tone irritated him so he hit the alarm button to silence it. He scanned the console for what it meant and, oddly, found himself smiling with the irony. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said off hand. "The ship's preparing to fire on the surface; it looks like they're aiming for all their equatorial facilities, starting... about twenty kilometres east of Galla's hospital."
"Why isn't it a good idea? We need to get them away from there if what you say is true."
"No, because there's another ship in the area now. Have a look at this." Andae stepped aside, allowing Carl to stand over the display and see for himself the scan results showing the Raven still existed. Loud and clear, picked up at a distance of 0.46 AU from Hamaro and closing.
Andae evaluated the expression on Carl's face as the latter read the display. For a moment he thought Torek might be dissuaded from his new, obvious personal objective, but when the man turned to face him, it was clear that his mind had not been changed. Carl planned to head to the surface, find Bethan and Galla at the risk of his own life.
Slowly he gathered his thoughts, preparing to spurt out his list of numerous objections to Carl's coming course of action, but he never got the chance. Because now the at once familiar and unfamiliar feeling of a transporter wrapped around both of them, grabbing the duo from their stance of silence and whipping them away to a faraway ship. Andae mouthed the words to an equally disbelieving Carl:
Long range transport!
On a shiny ship realms away from the dark place before:
He condensed into tangible form on a pad of light. The expression of disbelief on his face from before didn't fade, but it did contort itself into something resembling shock and also anger. But why? He looked across and saw the other man, seeing the quiet resolve he'd kept broken away into confusion and then perhaps an air of desperation.
Standing, struck-still, on the transporter pad, he watched the Starfleet Captain - for the moment with just one goal - stride to the transportation console and demand the ensign there to enter coordinates for the hospital on the surface. Bralzath, Geban, Bethan and Galla, names and faces such as those seemed a million worlds away now. The ensign looked at Carl confusedly, started to program the coordinates, but then stepped back and folded his arms. Carl pushed him aside and worked the console itself.
"Blakus to bridge," the XO said after striding to a wall companel and activating it, "Well done on the transport, we're aboard, I'm sure it used some power reserves up. We'll give you the run down, but tell me quickly, when we reach the planet is it possible to locate all Raven personnel on the surface and beam them up?" An unfamiliar female voice responded.
<Tag Miesha>
However, they already both knew that they couldn't beam up any particular civilians - specific non-Raven personnel. He looked over to Carl, still programming his coordinates, and pondered.
No, it still wasn't worth it. The risk associated with returning down there, even if he needed to find Galla and Bethan, was too great. The barge would be firing on the surface by now, and the Raven was still five minutes from phaser and torpedo range. The hospital would be a ruin.
"Carl. Stop." It was clear what the Captain was doing; he wanted to get back to the surface to rescue Bethan and Galla immediately. The power reserves might withstand a consecutive long range transport yes, but it wasn't worth it when Carl could end up dead himself. So in what was perhaps a moment of folly, Andae put his arm across Carl, pushing him back from the transporter console. "We can't do anything about that ship until we reach the planet, sir!"
<Tag Carl> <All>
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 5, 2010 10:23:52 GMT
Carl thought he had located the Kobaltek equivalent of a 'self-destruct' when he suddenly felt the tell-tail grip of a transporter beam ..
"NOOO !" he began, finishing the single word as he re-materialized on the other ship.
For a second he was confused ... This looked identical to one of the transporter rooms on the Star drive section of the Raven, but that couldn't be right. The Raven had fallen into the anomaly and was gone, so where the hell ! ...
His mind put filed conflicting information as he realized he now had the means to save the ones he loved. Stepping forward without a word, he looked at the transporter console, unknowingly pushing the confused Ensign to on side in the process. His eyes darted over the board, irrationally trying to set co-ordinates that he simply didn't have.
Blakus finished speaking to the Bridge. He hadn't taken his eyes off his Commanding Officer, and still wasn't one hundred percent sure as to what he was trying to do. But he did know that beaming, or attempting to beam, onto the surface, let alone into a zone being bombarded from orbit wasn't going to happen.
Without giving himself time to 'second guess' his action, he put an arm across Torek's chest and backed him away from the console.
"Carl ... Stop ... We can't do anything about that ship, or risk beaming until we reach the planet ...... Sir !"
The room was deathly silent as Blakus spoke, and it took Carl a few long seconds to realize he'd been spoken to. He glared at his Executive Officer, his mind racing to process the information of what had occurred. The 'technical' assault on a superior Officer never even entered Torek's head as he looked from the console, to Blakus, the Ensign, then back to his friend. His body began to relax as the taught muscles accepted they needed oxygen to function. his eyes fixed on Andae's ...
"Galla ... Bethan ..." was all Carl could manage to say.
"I know." Andae replied almost soothingly, then nodded to the Ensign, "Make sure we're ready to beam people from the surface as soon as we can locate them." he finished, gently urging Torek toward the doorway.
Carl understood that Blakus was right, it was obvious, but it didn't prevent the frustration starting to well up once again. But this time Carl was ready. He took a breath, as if this was the trigger needed to regain his senses .. He stood taller, easing his friends' hand from his own arm.
"Thank you Andae .. I'm OK now."
Blakus nodded and waited for Carl to move ... Entering the turbo-lift they remained silent as travelled upward toward the Bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Welcome back Captain." Barry Fishner said, almost thankful to be leaping out of what he had started calling the 'Hot seat' !
"Thank you. How long until we're in range ?"
"Two minutes to maximum firing range Sir ..... This is Lieutenant Franklin, our new Science Officer. She joined the ship from a runabout that had been searching for us." Copeland said, noticing Torek glance at the newcomer.
"Nice timing Lieutenant. Welcome aboard 'half' of my ship. You are not seeing her at her best at the moment I'm afraid ... We'll talk later if that's OK with you." Torek said with a wry grin before turning to his Tactical Officer, "Toby, target that vessels weapons first .... If they attempt to leave orbit, or god forbid start to fire on us, I want the ship disabled ... Where's Commander Sharp and Commander McLean ?"
"Both injured Captain. Sharp is serious, but nothing we won't be able to fix. Commander McLean received a massive concussion." Barry said.
"Thirty seconds Captain. All weapons ready."
Carl had nothing to look at. The shattered view-screen was in thousands of pieces littering the deck. He wanted to get up, do something, but he knew he had people here that while not taking offense, might think they had a job to do too, and maybe he should trust them do so ... Carl looked at his Exec' wondering what the next few minutes would bring ..........
< tag : Andae / Miesha >
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mieshafranklin
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Registered: Apr 25, 2024 16:23:59 GMT
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Post by mieshafranklin on Feb 8, 2010 23:08:07 GMT
Miesha crossed the threshold of the bridge, seeing a Galaxy Class battle bridge for the first time. She was used to smaller ships, but as she looked around, she immediately appreciated the space, only imagining what the standard bridge looked like. She took her station, acknowledging the Lieutenant's greeting.
Immediately, Miesha scanned for the ship the bridge officers had been talking about. It was huge! Nearly eight times the size of the Raven, it loomed above the planet, menacingly. The sensors barely penetrated the outer hull. She could not get a clear reading on anything more than a few meters in. "I can't penetrate the hull. It's emitting some sort of radiation. Its not a dampening field, but whatever it is its blocking our sensors." She carefully skimmed the results of the latest scan. "This thing huge. I honestly can't put a number on how many particle cannons they have, but suffice it to say they could blow us into the next dimension without even batting an eyelash." She read the next bit nearly word for word, "The hull is made of an unknown alloy, protected by three shield generators. There is a hangar on the backside, that is large enough to hold a small fleet of ships. Whatever it is, its here for a reason."
Miesha shook her head in disbelief. This ship was a giant. Other than a few erroneous power fluctuations, this ship was perfect. Impenetrable. At least, not by a Galaxy class. It was now a waiting game.
---------------------------------
A short while later, Miesha and the others had located some of the Raven crew on the planet. At this point, the unidentified ship had not made a move, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time. Once she had a lock, she initiated the transport. Now aboard the ship were, who Miesha saw in the records, to be Commander Blakus and Captain Torek. The executive officer was the first to call the bridge.
"Blakus to bridge. Well done on the transport, we're aboard, I'm sure it used some power reserves up. We'll give you the run down, but tell me quickly, when we reach the planet is it possible to locate all Raven personnel on the surface and beam them up?"
Miesha responded. "I have located other crew, sir. I'm working on locating the rest." She worked as quickly as she could. ------------------------------------------
The Captain and first officer came to the bridge. Lieutenant Fishner relinquished command and introduced Miesha, telling the Captain the short story of their rescue. The Captain acknowledged Miesha, but aruptly turned his attention to the other ship, ordering weapons to be readied. He also inquired about two other officers.
As the time ticked down, Miesha noticed something about the power fluctuations she had noticed earlier. Now that they were much closer, she got better readings. The fluctuations at first seemed to be sparking up in random spaces, but as she looked closer, and at a three dimensional model, she noticed they sparked only in specific areas, and only a few spots at a time. She ran an analysis of the sparks, finding them to be fluctuating in a pattern. She brought up the weapons analysis of the ship.
"Thirty seconds Captain. All weapons ready."
Miesha quickly analyzed the pattern more as the call was made. It could only mean one thing.
"Wait!" she said with some sort of surprise. "Captain, if I am reading this correctly, whatever they are using as a power source can't power all of their weapons at one time. At full power, we are easily outgunned by them, but the way these readings are fluctuating, they have to center all the power in one space at a time." She motioned for him to look at her console. "I'm no tactical officer, but if memory serves correctly, if we hit exactly when the power spikes at each point, we might be able to send a surge through their power grid. A few shots might take that ship offline in a matter of seconds. But we will only have one attempt, because if those shields come online we will dead in the water instantly, at best case scenario. I don't need to tell you the other end of that spectrum." As he looked on, she said, "If we hit, here, here, and here," she pointed at the indicated places, " plus do some other damage around the area of their engines, we could disable it quickly. We might want to get a little closer though."
Tag Torek, any
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
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Post by Andae Blakus on Feb 9, 2010 4:25:06 GMT
Despite his outward relief, which was by-the-way genuine, Andae was more surprised that his Captain hadn't seized the opportunity to attempt a beam-down. True, it would've used more power, but Carl had hardly been in a rational mood when he'd been programming coordinates. He eyed his Captain carefully, cynically expecting some deception. He could not know what Carl had planned; perhaps nothing, but one could never be sure.
So they headed to the bridge, walking shoulder-to-shoulder at similar pace. They were back, but there was no time to stop and think about what they'd been through right now. The grimly lit doors of the battle bridge greeted them, and they then parted to reveal an even more grim interior.
Viewscreen smashed; some consoles knocked out of position, their standing struts impossibly twisted; the limited seating was covered in some odd deposit from reeking smoke, that was exuded by the leaking wall consoles. Blakus paused next to his designated seat but didn't occupy it; instead he manned an empty console with some extensive sensory functions. Scanning the bridge quickly, he saw across it the ship's new science officer. He did a double-take on her, then returned his sight to the display.
Blakus scanned the surface, at the same time listening to the exchange between Carl and the science lieutenant. Raising eyebrows and moving hands across the controls, he realised he could help the Captain make a decision. "Confirmed, sir, Lieutenant Franklin is correct. The Kobaltek ship needs to focus its power, thus providing us a way to exploit a weakness. I recommend closing to... five hundred kilometres...."
<Tag Carl, Miesha>
Unbeknownst to the others, Andae had not ended his sentence definitively but had drifted off. His attention was now firmly returned to his sensors: They were currently scanning the planet; specifically, the equatorial regions where most of the now revealed 'facilities' were located. The Raven's XO could only accept what he now read... Half the facilities were in ruin, including the one he'd gotten to know so well... The names.. Bralzath, Geban, Hwaar and so on. Bethan and Galla. All were either at extreme risk or were dead. Maybe not Bralzath, but it was very possible that the others had been killed.
"Captain," Blakus called, seeing but not caring - for it was in all their best interests - that Carl Torek, along with a good portion of the bridge, were in final preparations for their attack on the Kobaltek vessel. "Captain, I recommend we lock on to all remaining lifesigns along the planet's equatorial facilities and beam them aboard."
The Galaxy class was well equipped for evacuations, and thanks to the devastation planetside, its evacuee number limit shouldn't be exceeded... Andae steeled his eyes in concentration with the coming task, for regardless of Carl's answer, he was going to beam those people aboard. He only hoped his Captain didn't decide to beam down himself now... through some sudden fear for Bethan and Galla or because of some other psychic ailment.
<Tag Carl>
So as the Raven's stardrive section glided crippled over the static planet, it unleashed its weapons arsenal on the Kobaltek vessel. The Starfleet crew could only wait and see if the overload they'd hoped to induce did indeed occur.
And it was only now that Andae noticed the docked Kobaltek barge departing the behemoth hide of its mother. He knew just by his sensors that this was the craft he'd been on not half-an-hour ago.
<Tag Raven weapons to fire!>
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Carl Torek
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Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 12, 2010 0:30:37 GMT
Carl's frustration at their helplessness was growing by the second. He needed to get down to the surface, to save Galla and Bethan. But he understood his Exec's argument. It just wasn't feasible for the Raven's Commanding Officer to beam into what was now essentially, a war zone.
"Captain ..." Blakus said, breaking him out of his thoughts, "I recommend we lock on to all remaining life signs along the planet's equatorial facilities and beam them aboard."
"At this range how many can we positively get locks on .. No .. I think we need to wait. Close the distance first." Torek answered.
As they neared their orbital track, Toby Copeland informed the Captain he was ready to open fire on the Kobaltek vessel. It was essential that it was crippled and prevented from continuing their bombardment of the surface facilities ... Carl nodded and the Tactical Officer turned to his panel.
Phasers lanced across the void of space ... Instantly destroying weapons and power systems. A volley of photon torpedoes smashed into the outer hull of the massive vessel. Carl could see their weapons, once aimed at the surface, beginning to get a lock onto their gnat annoying them, but it was too little, too late as the last of the weapons banks fell silent. The massive ship, crippled beyond repair was beginning to rotate away from the Raven, her engines destroyed, her orbital capability gone, she began a slow arc toward the surface ...
"Sir !" Erin Parkin suddenly shouted over the din, "We have full sensors back ... Communications too. I'm picking up the saucer sections ident' ... Whatever they were using on us seems to be off-line."
"Begin scanning the surface." Torek said, standing, "I want a lock on all Star fleet personnel. Start transporting to the star drive section as soon as possible.
He looked at Andae, who seemingly understood the unspoken request.
"I'm scanning the hospital complex now, or what's left of it ....." Blakus remained silent for what seemed an eon, then looked at Torek, "..... Eighty four confirmed personnel. I also have Galla and Bethan ... Don't ask me how, but I've got them ..."
"Transporting now." Copeland confirmed, but Carl was already heading for the turbo-lift, "Beaming into shuttle-bays two and three. Commander, I've beamed the two life-signs you locked onto into transporter room five."
"Captain." Blakus began.
"I heard him Commander ... You have the Bridge." Carl said as the lift doors closed.
~~~~~~~~~~
Almost crashing into the doors as they parted, he ran into the transporter room.
"DADDDDDDDYYYY ......" Bethan screamed as he entered, hardly giving him time to regain his footing before throwing herself into his arms. He almost fell, but managed to get an arm around the six year old before walking toward Galla. She tenderly put her arms round the two of them, squeezing tightly for a second.
"The hospital ... It was being fired on ... I didn't think we wou ....."
"I know ... I know." Carl said into her shoulder, her body shaking as she sobbed, "It's going to be OK now."
=^= Captain .. We have all Raven personnel from the surface .. The Kobaltek vessel is beginning to fall into the atmosphere .. It will impact well outside any habitable region .. Wait ...... I'm picking up a smaller ship .. It is breaking off from the larger vessel =^=
=^= I'm on my way ! =^= Carl said.
Galla stepped back, tenderly taking Bethan. The little girl didn't want to let go.
Holding Bethan in one arm, he took Galla's hand.
"Come on." he said, turning toward the turbo-lift ..........
< tag : Andae / All >
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Deleted
Registered: Apr 25, 2024 16:23:59 GMT
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2010 21:39:19 GMT
Imar awoke to find himself laying in a strange bed, in a strange room, with a pounding headache. He tried to sit up but quickly discovered that he was in some sort of force field. Movement off to his left side caught his attention. Could he? Yes. His head was free to look around.
"You." he said to the young woman standing over beside the other bed.
"Where am I? Who are you?" he asked. "This isn't the hospital. What kind of place is this?"
The young woman spun around and smiled as she approached. "Welcome back, Commander." she said. "How are you feeling?"
"Commander? What are you talking about?" Imar said with a quizzical look upon his face. "Commander?" he muttered once again, more to himself this time. "Great. Have the patients gotten loose and taken over?"he wondered. More of this commander talk just like that Delik fella.
"You are you?" he asked the young lady once again.
"I'm Ensign Pierce, sir." she replied before leaning a little closer. "Are you alright, sir? DO you need to see the captain or someone?"
"Yes. Yes. Let me see whoever is in charge of this facility right as soon as possible." he told her. "I need answers."
OOC: Sorry it isn't longer and that I have been out for EVER. (See Roll call for more. lol)
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 18, 2010 15:15:52 GMT
Carl entered the Bridge carrying Bethan, Galla followed. He placed the six year old in his Command seat and turned to his Exec'. "Status ?" he asked. "The larger vessel is entering the upper atmosphere. The smaller scout vessel jumped to warp before we could open fire. We have a partial track but nothing solid." "How long before impact ?" "Three minutes." Andae said from Tactical. Galla had sat down in his seat after picking up her daughter, placing her on her knee then wrapping her arms around the child. She watched as Carl paced the Bridge, a helpless look on his face. She knew that he was blaming himself for what had happened, for the loss of some of the ships' crew, and it would take time to convince him otherwise. "Impact in fifteen seconds ... It will crash on the eastern continent ... Ten seconds ... Five ... IMPACT !" Torek was almost grateful that the view-screen was inoperable. He wasn't sure he needed to see the devastation the impact, a matter antimatter reaction equivalent to something like two hundred kilotonnes of TNT exploding .. But it posed another problem ... Radiation ... There were thousands of people from differing races still on the surface. "Do we have Comms ?" Torek asked quietly. "Aye Sir." the Helm Officer confirmed. "Send out a 'PRIORITY ONE' distress. ALL vessels in range. Assistance required. Send to Star fleet Command." "Sending now Captain." .......... =^= Sick-bay to Bridge =^= the Comm chirped =^= Bridge =^= Torek answered. =^= Ensign Pierce .. I have Commander Jamison down here .. He is 'requesting' to see the Captain =^= "Get everyone with medical training ready to beam down. The city and hospital took heavy damage. There are going to be casualties. Lieutenant ..." he said, addressing the Security Officer, "Take Galla and Bethan to my quarters." Galla started to object, holding a hand up to the woman, but Carl stopped her with a pleading look, "Please Galla, take Bethan ... Andae we need the saucer section." "She's just informed us they are thirty six minutes out. Apparently witnessed one hell of a firework display ... They have requested immediate docking." =^= Sick-bay .. I'm on my way .. I want all non-essential medical personnel ready to beam to the surface when I get there .. Bridge out =^= "Good I'm going to Sick-bay then back down to the surfa ....." he continued. "Captain I'm sorr ....." Andae began, but Carl cut him off. "We're safe now Commander. But there are injured on the surface we can help. See to the docking then arrange for anyone qualified on the saucer section to beam down." He leaned down and kissed Galla briefly, silently mouthing 'I love you' then placed a kiss on Bethan's cheek. Then headed for the turbo-lift. "Let's get some help down there." he said as the doors closed. .......... "Mister Jamison ..... Good to see you back on board." Carl said without preamble as he entered the secondary sections Sick-bay, "I know you are having difficulty processing whats happening. You will remember me as Javin ... A patient at the hospital ?" Jamison was obviously still under the influence of the drugs administered while on the surface. But Carl needed his Tactical Officer back so he took a step he wouldn't normally condone .. "Nurse .... I need his memory back ... Will ... You are my Tactical and Security Officer. She is going to give you something to assure you of that. Once you are treated I will need you on the Bridge." She looked at him about to speak, but decided against it considering the look of determination on the Captains' face. He nodded to Will then tapped his Comm-badge as he left. =^= Torek to Bridge =^= =^= Bridge =^= =^= Have the first relief team in transporter room five in five minutes .. Torek out ! =^= He didn't wait for the objections .......... < tag : ALL >
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 19, 2010 19:31:01 GMT
It had taken three days for the first of the relief ships to arrive. The Raven, now back in one piece, had transported all the injured to these vessels, and her own hospital shuttle was back in the hanger-bay. Carl had requested the Raven be allowed to go after the Kobaltek ship that escaped, but permission had been denied. He sat in the Command chair. Hamaro rotated serenely below them, the only visible scar to the idyllic planet left by the massive vessel that had crashed on the surface. "All departments report ready Captain." the Operations Officer informed him. "We have done all we can Carl." Andae said quietly, noticing the Captain's hesitancy ... Torek nodded. "Help ... Take us out of orbit ... Set course for Star base forty seven." "Course laid in Captain." the Helm Officer said as the planet below slipped from view. "Warp seven ..... Engage." Carl said .......... ~~~~~~~~~~During the three days of their journey back to their home base. Carl had spent most of the time with Galla and Bethan. He had assigned quarters on deck eight for them both, and had visited them as often as duty allowed. Galla, being a qualified psychiatrist, had insisted on helping with the crew repatriate themselves into their real lives. He was worried about Scott McLean ... His Chief Engineer had suffered a bad concussion during the saucer sections return, and Doctors were worried that he wasn't showing signs of recovery. He had visited Vanessa and they had gone to Sick-bay together. She was understandably worried about her Father, but everyone assured her they were doing all they could to make him well. To take her mind off things a little, Carl had introduced her to Galla and Bethan. The two girls, despite the five year age gap, got on like the proverbial 'house on fire' from the moment they met. Bethan almost looking at Vanessa like a big sister ... =^= Captain to the Bridge =^= Carl looked up from the game he was loosing, mainly due to the less than regulation play of his two adversaries, and stood. Kissing Galla he bent to place a kiss on the forehead of both girls before leaving the quarters. "Status." he said, entering the Bridge. "We're at the outer marker Captain. Docking Master is requesting our repair requirements. I've told them we need an internal dock facility." D'Kor said from Operations. "Very well." Carl said, looking, as he did every time they returned, in almost 'Awe' at the silver blue jewel floating in space. =^= Star base forty seven to USS Raven .. Welcome back .. Thought we had lost you there for a while .. We will take over docking guidance at this time =^= Carl nodded to Sharp, who gave flight control over to the 'base. The Raven smoothly glided through the doors of the docking area. turning through thirty degrees before moving toward a vacant dock. In the observation lounge people watched as the massive ship slowly came to a halt outside the plexi-glass windows. Umbilicals snaked out and prepared to take over the power requirements of the Galaxy Class ship. Three enclosed walkways extended, giving access to the ship. =^= Engineering to Bridge =^= =^= Go ahead =^= =^= Fishner Captain .. I'm ready to go to external power and shut down the core =^= =^= In your own time Mister Fishner .. Bridge out =^= An almost imperceptible change signaled the shut down of the core. The Raven was now running on the lifelines to the Star base. Carl stood, resisting the urge to stretch his aching back. He turned and tapped the ship-wide Comm .. =^= This is the Captain .. We are now docked at Star base forty seven .. All Officers and crew will be granted shore leave for the duration of our stay .. There will be a meeting for all Department Heads at zero nine hundred hours tomorrow .. Welcome home everyone .. Please enjoy your leave .. Captain out =^=He closed the Comm and sat back down. "One hell of a mission." he said, then looked at his Exec, "Make sure you take some time away from the ship Andae. 'THAT' is an order." "You too ... Sir." Blakus replied grinning .......... ~~~~~~~~~~ooooo00000ooooo~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Mission 19: Isle of the Sane ~
~ Is now concluded ~
I would like to thank everyone for a well thought out, exciting and enjoyable mission It certainly kept me on my toes with numerous twists and turns Thank you again it has been a pleasure Please continue to post on the Shore Leave thread until we commence our next exciting outing
;D
Best Regards
Carl Torek Commanding Officer USS Raven-B
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