Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on Dec 3, 2012 0:27:00 GMT
OOC: I have another post in the works that should be up by Tuesday or Wednesday. This is another post from the Cordovin angle.
"I'm willing to offer you one more chance," the old man said, fingering his beard as he watched the scenes below.
Pammik could just see his face, if she twisted and strained against her bonds. It hurt like hell, the substantial cuts in her wrists being widened as the metallic constraints dug into her skin. But she then realised she could see his features, his thoughtful eyes reflected in the window looking out on the Cordovin capital, so she stopped pushing.
"Renounce your ties to the Resistance and rejoin Special Ops, Officer." The man still had his back to her. "Obviously you'll be watched... A guard will be kept on you at all times but they will assist you as well, just like before. And, I envisage, your knowledge of the Resistance will provide the Council with a unique perspective."
"They're rioting again," she said, intentionally detracting from his words.
In the window his eyes darkened. "They're foolish... Your Resistance friends knew that, too, but they went the extra step and allowed themselves to think they were the ones to lead the confused masses. In truth the Resistance was the epitome of the foolishness of the people, leading them as blindly as they led themselves." His voice hardened, "We're the only ones capable of maintaining order over our species, of leading it into stars to take up opposition to the Federation."
The Resistance was still alive, she was sure of it now. They endured, somewhere, somehow, still plotting against this sorry bureaucracy. She smiled... it didn't matter if she died now.
The man regarded her, his face sad and bowed by something she didn't really understand. "Think about it." He said simply, and strode from the aristocrat's suite through the far door.
She didn't need long to make the decision, not after this personal revelation. She crunched her jaw, detaching the tooth that'd been shaken loose by the interrogators' strikes. She resisted crying out at the pain, and spat the graphene-edged tooth where she knew the mirrored glass to be.
The glass shattered in a cascade of sparkling hexagonal fragments, but beyond it, curiously was some sort of mechanical grid of silver and grey. "I'm ready now," she twisted her head to face the open door. "Reinstate me."
A voice chuckled from outside, but there was no mirth, only a quiet sadness. "I'm surprised you agree. Deactivate the simulation." The man's voice echoed through the dark chambers outside the room.
With his confusing words, the walls melted into nothingness. The lush interior of the suite, the Cordovin city beyond the windows and the rioting in the streets, all of it dissolved from reality, or what Pammik had believed to be reality. She was lying on the floor of the holosuite, the cuts in her skin just as bad as the holographic simulation had made her believe.
"Take her," the man said, "Dress her wounds, and give her her old uniform back. I'm returning to the bridge." Pammik watched the retreating back of the old man as he made his way down the corridor.
|
|
Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
|
Post by Alex Watson on Dec 3, 2012 19:44:53 GMT
"No need for alarm Commander." the man assured Harry as he reached them, then turned to look at the group more closely, "Where is the Commander I made initial contact with ?" he asked, suddenly cautions.
Alex spoke up, “The commander is making repairs to the ship. We've been badly damaged, and he's our chief engineer. We needed him up there, not down here.” There was no sense in making up some cock-and-bull story, the chances were that they already knew that anyway and were testing to see if they would get a straight answer. There was certainly no way that they could not know that the Raven was damaged, not if they had any kind of scanners at all.
“Hmph,” the man replied, “it will have to do.”
The group followed the man through the dank tunnels. Alex was alarmed at the casualness with which he revealed that they were all going to die unless they used the devices given to them. “Maybe this was a mistake after all,” he murmured under his breath as the roaring noise slowly subsided.
As their contact deactivated Calli's comm-badge, Alex decided that he had had enough. He needed some answers, at least, if he was going to trust his life and the lives of his crew to this man. Peers blocked the exit and spoke, almost as if he had read Alex's mind.
"Whoa,you will need to answer some questions first."
The man looked visibly agitated as he said urgently, “Please, there is little time, we must get where we are going before long or we will be detected.”
“Why the big rush?” asked Alex, “Surely you can spare some time to answer the questions of four unarmed prisoners?”
“You are not prisoners here-” the man began,
“Then why are we being treated like it?” Alex asked. “No weapons, no information, being led blindly through these tunnels to God-knows-where. I need to at least know who you are before I trust my crew's life to you.”
The man's face visibly registered a mix of anger and frustration, but eventually resignation. “We are a society of Cordovin scholars. We were driven from our homeworld many years ago, generations in fact.”
“Why?” asked Alex, “Why would they exile a group of scholars?”
“You'll see, now please, follow me!”
<Tag Blakus (if you want to play the contact)> <Tag Away Team, Raven Crew>
---------------
El-Kamat smiled sweetly as the captain of the only Cordovin vessel to survive was brought before him and flung to his knees. His uniform was tattered, shredded, burned in places. His skin was half-melted along one arm from one of the fires that had raged throughout the ship and his face was registering nothing but terror.
“Three ships. Against one.” El-Kamat said slowly, softly. “Three ships.”
“My lord, I-” began the captain.
“AGAINST ONE!” screamed El-Kamat, rising from his chair and howling into the man's face. He recoiled in horror. “Your incompetence is unbelievable! Unforgivable! How exactly did this single ship defeat your entire battlegroup!?”
“It split us up, my lord. It took us one by one, picking us off.”
El-Kamat turned back to face the man, his rage gone, his face now almost serene. “Ka'Rath?” he said slowly.
“Please, my lord. Let me lead the second party! I will destroy her this time, I will take revenge for URK!”
He looked down, almost mystified to see a shining blade protruding from his chest.
“No, I'm afraid you won't,” said El-Kamat as Ka'Rath withdrew his blade. Blood poured from the wound and the captain's face registered one last look of pain before Ka'Rath removed his head with a single stroke. It rolled forwards, coming to rest at El-Kamat's feet.
“Let this be a lesson to all the rest of you!” he shouted. “If you fail, you'd better make sure you die doing it, because this is the forgiveness you shall receive!”
<Tag All>
|
|
Aeryn Tavik
Command Staff ..
Members Representative
Lieutenant Colonel
Registered: Sept 9, 2010 12:14:15 GMT
Posts: 95
|
Post by Aeryn Tavik on Dec 3, 2012 21:47:26 GMT
JP by Commander Andae Blakus and Major Aeryn Tavik
Andae entered the bridge, aware that he was technically in command while the Acting Captain was on the surface. He had left Milyanov in charge of the engine room, while deciding to man the engineering console on the bridge himself. The bridge was quiet, focussed on the surface as well as the repairs. He saw that Major Tavik was sat in the command chair, directing affairs in the absence of senior staff. A close up of the site of the duranium refinery was on the viewscreen, graphics highlighting technical data and the refinery's key features.
"Major, report," he requested from behind the command chair. "Have the away team reached the coordinates given by the surface contact?"
Aeryn pointed to the left side of the screen. "We've labeled the away team with markers to keep somewhat visible tabs on them. They are on the southeast side of the complex walking towards the center. Heart rates are very slightly elevated, which means they have probably made contact. Other than that, what have little else to go on."
Interesting, Blakus thought, so they had indeed been found now. The contact hadn't been lying at least in that regard. "Keep a close an eye on them." As if she needed to be told, he thought. "And see if you can deduce approximate position or positions of the surface contact from the markers."
Standing up from the center seat, not necessarily to give up the seat, but to stretch her legs, she asked, "What's going on downstairs?"
Andae didn't reply straight away... He walked up to the engineering console, surveying the state of the impulse engines briefly, wondering if they could take the strain of a push for near lightspeed. "I have my staff working double shifts attempting to repair the warp drive and other critical systems. How are you faring in the centre seat?" His voice was tense and sharp as he jabbed at his console, but he made a conscious effort to relax, "I may have one or two workarounds to our engine issues. but they're dangerous and could exacerbate the problem."
For now ignoring his first question and focusing on the problems at hand, Aeryn said, "At this point, I'm pretty sure if we can't warp the hell out of here potential engine explosions will be the least of our worries. How are the weapons?" By this point, she had come right up behind Blakus and was staring over his shoulder, while trying to keep enough distance to not make him any more uncomfortable than he already was.
He regarded the console fixatedly, trying to get the weapons that the Major had just mentioned to lock into firing mode. The torpedo launcher mechanisms were malfunctioning after the fight with the Cordovin. "We have phasers - to a decent level - but no torpedoes." He could almost feel Aeryn's breath on his neck. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't stand so close, Major," he snapped. He was feeling worked up, at the state of the ship, and more importantly about the injuries to his engineers, and now at Aeryn's prying questions. "Scan the surface and be ready to beam the away team out at the first sight of trouble," he ordered.
Aeryn raised her eyebrow to his cocky attitude but backed away from him. She turned and raised her head to the ops officer, who was already carrying out the order.
"We are getting some interference generated from the facility. Attempting to compensate."
Aeryn rolled her eyes as they waited. The ops officer frantically raced over the controls. Turning back to Blakus, she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "He's working, your majesty. Anyone else's head you'd like to bite off before doing whatever it is you need to do?" She asked, commenting directly on his unneeded attitude.
Andae licked his lips, half in relish at her affronted attitude and half in worry. He reconciled, "I'm sorry, Major, that was abrupt. But I'm too busy to take care with my words at the moment." Nor the patience to deal with your incessant talking, he thought. Her questions, which in reality were probably wholly innocent, felt like aggressive interrogation to Andae, who would rather she didn't know of his clandestine exchanges with the shadowy persona on the surface.
Aeryn smiled unnervingly and left the engineer to his work for the time being. She walked around the bridge, eyeing all the consoles and seeing what sort of updates she could muster. It certainly wasn't good. She started again towards ops to check on the officer, who was now sweating.
Once he'd finished configuring the torpedo launchers, he straightened and decided to change tack. He looked once at the viewscreen; the facility loomed like a malevolent angel. Then turned to Aeryn, "Ensign Marionette believes it likely that Admiral Tetsutaro will send a small fleet once they find us out here, or, if we contact them. What do you think?" he said, leaving the question intentionally open.
Aeryn stared at the screen as well for a moment. "Well we can't risk being caught by them right now either. Without catching who is responsible, we are on our own." She shook her head, clearly not enjoying the situation.
Blakus, for the first time since entering the bridge, felt affinity with her. "I concur," he said, "It's simply not an option to contact Starfleet. Still," he said hesitantly, "They might find us anyway, in which case we need a contingency plan. But we can't begin to form that until we know where to find El Kamat. Is he on the way here? Has he already left?" This questions were terribly important, and they weren't much closer to knowing them.
Aeryn looked at Blakus, sizing him up for no reason other than to get some sort of inspiration. As none came, the ops officer quietly said, "Major, I have a lock on the away team."
Aeryn nodded. "Good work. Begin automatic scanning for Starfleet signatures. We need to know when they come." She never thought she would have to give that order. It was a ridiculously stupid situation anyway and now they were running from the Cordovin and the Federation. They day couldn't get any worse.
Or could it....
[Tag All]
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on Dec 11, 2012 13:08:42 GMT
Carl had thought long and hard on the situation the Raven and her crew now found themselves in. He knew it was all on his account, and he was humbled by the loyalty his Command Staff had shown him. But being stuck in his quarters, even though he had free run of the ship, it still felt like house arrest, and he needed to be of some use rather than sitting back ... Asking Chloe to look after the children, he headed for the Bridge. The doors opened and he could see the senior Marine Officer, and the Chief Engineer, now in effective Command, in conversation:
"...... being caught by them right now either. Without catching who is responsible, we are on our own.
"I concur," Andae said, "It's simply not an option to contact Star fleet. Still, they might find us anyway, in which case we need a contingency plan. But we can't begin to form that until we know where to find El Kamat. Is he on the way here. Has he already left ?"
"Major, I have a lock on the away team." the duty Security Officer was saying.
"Good work. Begin automatic scanning for Star fleet signatures. We need to know when they come." Someone had turned to look at the turbo-lift entrance and their movement caused both Blakus and Tavik to turn also.
"Permission to enter the Bridge ?" Carl said, not waiting for a reply as he stepped off the 'lift, "I know I'm not technically supposed to be up here, but frankly I'm ......"
"Let's go into the ready room Commodore." Andae said.
"Carl." Torek corrected him, pointing to the civilian clothing.
"Carl." Blakus said, smiling. He followed the two and laughed as Blakus hesitated over sitting on the far side of the desk. Carl pointed at the chair, and Andae reluctantly seated himself.
"Can you update me on our current situation. I see we're in orbit. I assume we have a te ......" Andae held up a hand before Carl sprung too many questions on him at once. He and Aeryn began to bring the Commodore up to speed.
"Have you had any contact with Captain Watson ?"
"No, we're playing dead in the water, not far off the truth, until he gets in touch." Aeryn answered.
"And the Captain has no intentions of handing this to the Federation to resolve ?"
"NO !" both Officers said in unison, making Carl feel relief that they were seeing this through. It was what he expected of the Raven, "This is our problem and we're going to see it to a conclusion !
"Then I need something to do Andae. I need to be helping ....." Torek said, looking from the Engineer to the Marine and back, "I'm going stir-crazy stuck in my quarters. Surely there's something you can give me to do, even if it's holding a tool kit for one of your engineers ?" ..........
< tag : Andae / Aeryn / Marionette > < tag : Away Team >
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on Dec 16, 2012 14:43:02 GMT
It felt exceedingly strange to be sitting behind the desk in the ready room, with the engineer's CO sitting opposite him. Not only had Andae never sat in this seat - even during his time as XO - he had never envisaged that he would ever do so, nor had he ever expected that Carl Torek would be requesting orders.
"You could take tactical, sir," he suggested. "T'Brel is on the surface, of course. We could use you on the bridge." Andae paused, tapping the edge of the desk with his fingers something turning over in his head. Yes, he had no qualms about that, he decided.
Some might think having the Commodore on the bridge would cause them unnecessary distraction, considering the man was up for court martial (however unjustified), and his natural authoritative presence could undermine Andae or Aeryn's authority. But Blakus knew that Carl was perfectly aware of the boundaries, where he would be crossing the line between helping and bossing.
Andae stood from the chair, having found it uncomfortable. He stepped towards the body-length portal that looked out on the stars. "Sir, if Admiral Tetsutaro sends a fleet... what do you want us to do?" He turned 90 degrees to regard the Commodore.
The question had been plaguing him since Marionette's confirmation of the odds. It was too much for him to handle, he knew now, now he'd just blurted the question to the removed CO of the Raven. Truly, something in his mind still thought Carl was in control, that only he could make these kind of decisions. "Should we flee from the vicinity, or should we stand our ground and explain ourselves?"
<Tag Carl>
They'd returned to the bridge. "Marionette, please join us on the bridge when Lieutenant Milyanov has finished... repairing you."
<Tag Marionette>
The trio approached the area in front of the command seats. Andae stared at the chair for a short moment and then turned to Aeryn, "She's yours, Major." He promptly moved to the upper level and turned the engineering station back on.
There was time to think for now. While the situation on the surface remained unknown and thus certainly imparted some tension, there was a lulling period on the ship while they waited find out what was going on. While Andae had the ongoing communication with the surface contact that he'd continued to hide from everyone, there was also the issue of Marionette's timekeeping discrepancy. Was it possible she'd been taken out of time, and placed back on the shuttle Piper an instant later in the local temporal frame? And what was the reason for such a kidnapping, and by whom?
+++ That is it... I grow tired of your fellow crew. If they make one more wrong move, then we'll execute them all.
The message splayed itself across the engineering console and Andae had to minimise the dialog box rapidly. He bit his lip... There was now a terrible decision to make.
<Tag Away team>
|
|
Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
|
Post by Calli Valente on Dec 20, 2012 22:34:23 GMT
Aboard the Raven ...
Andae had stood from the chair, having found it uncomfortable. He stepped towards the full-length portal that looked out on the stars.
"Sir, if Admiral Tetsutaro sends a fleet ... What do you want us to do." He turned 90 degrees to regard the Commodore, "Should we flee from the vicinity, or should we stand our ground and explain ourselves ?"
Carl remained silent for a long time. He had obviously given the thought of contacting the Federation and allowing them to deal with the problem, regardless of the outcome. But he also had his two Daughters to think about ... If he's given to the Cordovin's then he was dead, and they were orphaned ...
"Andae, I have every conf ......" he began.
"No Commodore !" Blakus interrupted, "Regardless of the farce being played out regarding your 'status' you are still the commanding Officer of the Raven, and I'm sure Commander Watson would be the first to agree ....."
Carl stood ... It was enough of a gesture to silence the Chief Engineer.
"Andae ........ I know how hard this must be my friend, but I've been relieved of my Command, and alas that includes any privilages that accompanied that position. Captain Watson is in Command of the Raven ... You, as Second Officer, and in the absence of the Captain, are currently in the center seat, as per regulations. Before you argue, I'm not simply quoting regs. Look, Alex is relatively new to a Command role, whereas you have the time in, and the experience of both the ship and her crew. I'm one hundred percent sure Calli could quote some regulation where she could take over, but I've known her long enough, and trust her, not to do that, and support you two to the best of her ability. You know without saying that both Alex and you have my full confidence. I couldn't ask for two better people to be looking out for my well-being and that of my children OK." Carl said, placing a hand on his friends' shoulder.
"And the Admiral ?" Andae said.
"Well ... If Admiral Tetsutaro sends ships, or of the Cordovin manage to find us. I'm sure you will do what is necessary, and that's all I can ask of you all my friend ... Calli has 'talents' that neither of us would like to delve into too deeply, and she can help... Or, you could replicate a silver dollar piece and toss for it though." he finished, grinning.
Andae shook his head in mock resignation and tapped his Comm badge as the two left the ready room:
=^= Commander Blakus to Marionette .. Unless there are issues in Engineering that I need to know about please come to the Bridge when Lieutenant Milyanov has finished, repairing you =^=
=^= There is nothing your staff cannot handle at this time .. I will be there directly .. Out =^=
The Refinery ...
Calli was beginning to feel the itch at the back of her neck that usually meant there was trouble coming !
"...... I need to at least know who you are before I trust my crew's life to you." Alex was saying. The man's face visibly registered a mix of anger and frustration, but eventually resignation.
"We are a society of Cordovin scholars. We were driven from our home-world many years ago, generations in fact."
"Why !" the Captain asked, "Why would they exile a group of scholars ?"
"You'll see, now please, follow me !" the contact said, moving out of the confines of the room and into the passageway. As they walked, Calli moved you beside the Captain:
"I'm getting a bad feeling about all this Sir." But before he could answer, the contact stopped and moved close to the corridor wall. He waved a hand over one section and a panel illuminated. He entered an alpha-numeric code and the wall separated to reveal a turbo-lift ...
The group entered in silence and Calli noticed that their Security Chief had edged between the Captain and the contact, and was watching the latter intently ... Going off the duration of the fall, Calli estimated they had dropped one hundred fifty to two hundred meters, non of which had shown up on the scans. The 'lift stopped and the doors opened. The tunnel ahead was rough-cut, almost man-made rather than something the corps of Engineers would knock out, even on a bad day.
The contact walked ahead, T'Brel never more than two meters behind and to the left of the man. Calli knew he could incapacitate him easily from his position ... Minutes later the contact stopped and activated a second hidden panel. This time a section of the rough-hewn wall vanished from sight ..........
< tag : Alex / Away team > < tag : Raven >
|
|
Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
|
Post by Marionette on Dec 21, 2012 17:09:43 GMT
"Marionette, please join us on the bridge when Lieutenant Milyanov has finished... repairing you." =^= Commander Blakus to Marionette .. Unless there are issues in Engineering that I need to know about please come to the Bridge when Lieutenant Milyanov has finished, repairing you =^= =^= Milyanov here, Sir, i will relay Marionette's orders as soon as she has finished rebooting herself. She is currently switched off, and im continuing to remove the damaged panels. =^= the engineering Leiutenant said, continuing to delicately pry and scrape the melted duraplast away from the screwholes. = - = - = - = - = About 15 minutes later, the Turbolift doors to the bridge slid open to reveal Marionette, now practically brand spanking new again, complete with freshly pressed and creased uniform and tactile gloves. Stepping out of the turbolift, Marionette walked to her station and sat down after the other ensign resigned it to her. Blakus turned and with a small smile, said "I trust you're fit for duty, ensign ?" "Yes sir, i am Optimal again.""Good. Make a full scan of the system, I don't want us caught unawares." Blakus said. Scanning the system, she detected a small ship, given that its Cochrane distortion profile was below 500,000 Cochranes of displacement. "Sir. Small vessel entering the system ... Heading two one nine point four, warp three."
"Have they seen us ?" Aeryn asked as Torek headed back to tactical. "Unlikely ... Though they will at some point; they are heading in our direction." Marionette said. "Helm. On the Commodore's mark, increase orbital speed ten percent. Compensate for orbital drift and move us around the planet slowly." the Chief Engineer ordered. Mark Marionette input the thruster commands and adjusted for orbital drift with exacting precision. The rear torpedo launcher fired a buoy every 93.621 seconds.
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on Dec 27, 2012 22:57:27 GMT
The three left the ready room and entered the Bridge, Carl moved to the tactical station, thanking the duty Tactical Officer. It had been a while since he'd manned a single station, and surprisingly, he was kind of looking forward to the role, however temporary. Marionette entered the Bridge: "I trust you are fit for duty Ensign." Blakus said. "Yes Sir, I am optimal again." the android replied, taking her station. "Good. Make a full scan of the system, I don't want us caught unawares." Blakus said, then telling the Senior Marine Officer to remain in the Command seat while he moved up the the Engineering station ... Activating it, he acted quickly as a message appeared. He minimized it to a small window and re-read it. Carl noticed the Commander and spoke: "Problem Andae ?" he asked quietly. The Engineer asked both Aeryn and Carl to look at the message. "That is it ... I grow tired of your fellow crew. If they make one more wrong move, then we'll execute them all !"
Explaining that it was obviously from the contact at the refinery. The man had insisted on speaking to Blakus in person, and his remaining aboard the ship to expedite repairs had angered the contact. They were discussing the problem when the Navigation Officer interrupted: "Sir. Small vessel entering the system ... Heading two one nine point four, warp three." "Have they seen us ?" Aeryn asked as Torek headed back to tactical. "Unlikely ... Though they will at some point, they are heading in our direction." the android said. Quickly remembering the tactical role and scanning the ship, Carl added: "Looks like a supply or transport ship, limited range sensors, minimal weapons. I'd still prefer it not to suddenly find something to attract their attention. We could move round the back side of the planet ...." "We would loose any chance of contact with the Captain." Aeryn said. "We have the survey buoy's." Carl said, "They wouldn't be detected in geo-stationary orbit, they're too small. We could release four, or better six, equidistant, to relay any signals ... Should the away team need immediate beam out we're in trouble. We'd need to come back round." Both the Senior Marine and Chief Engineer considered the option. The buoy's would stay in position for weeks before their orbit decayed enough for them to enter the planets gravitational field. Set to passive scan they would locate the incoming ship and relay it's every move to the Raven. The frequency could be modified to look like static chatter to the casual prying eye ... Andae sent instructions to Astrometrics and Engineering ... Five minutes later the buoy's were ready. "Helm. On the Commodore's mark, increase orbital speed ten percent. Compensate for orbital drift and move us around the planet slowly." the Chief Engineer ordered, as Carl tapped his Comm badge: =^= Bridge to Engineering .. We will begin transit in thirty seconds .. Release buoy's at increments of thirty degrees along our orbital arc from my mark .. Stand by .. Mark =^= "First buoy away ..... Receiving telemetary." Andae confirmed as the ship began her slow rotation. It occurred to Carl that should this incoming vessel be going anywhere but the planet the Raven was currently moving behind, they would simply see the hidden ship as they passed by, and the Raven was in no shape to fight off anything bigger than an irate gnat at the moment. They needed warp drive back and needed it quickly. He just hoped that his crew could work miracles ! ..........
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on Dec 31, 2012 0:51:35 GMT
The small craft detected at the limit of the Raven's short range sensor resolution moved abeam of the Galaxy class vessel, across her line of sight on a high burn for the ecliptic. Of course the vessel was still far outside visual range, but the Raven's sensors gave its crew enough information to tell them that the vessel was no threat, at least in a tactical sense.
Andae nodded in silent agreement as plans were made to increase speed around Zennai 2, deploying sensor-equipped buoys in the ship's wake in order to keep tabs on the surface. "Should they come closer, accelerate our orbit again, keeping the planet between us," he ordered as he watched things unfold.
Andae hoped it was as Carl suggested, some transport vessel, possibly civilian. He really didn't like the thought of this being some ship of Kamat's, or worse a forward scout of Tetsutaro's. He frowned, not sure which one he desired less, but was unable to contemplate further as his console alerted him.
"Are you getting this?" he turned, almost glaring at the stand-in officer at Ops. "I'm no longer reading the away team on the surface. Not on our sensors, and not on the telemetry of any of the buoys."
"What do you mean? We've lost their lifesigns?" Aeryn called back.
"Well we can't tell that," Andae said almost derisively, although he hadn't meant to. "We've lost our tabs on them. The sensor and transporter lock is gone."
"Run an intensive scan of the beam-down coordinates using the buoy over the refinery," Torek suggested.
"Its sensor suite is not as advanced as the Raven's... But it'll have to do." The engineer grumbled, poking at his console. It was a mechanism for staving off panic. Loss of contact and loss of biosigns... there was one explanation they didn't want to face yet, only once they'd exhausted other options would they do so. It was possible that the away team had entered a more secure area, where orbital scans couldn't penetrate and communication couldn't be established. It would make sense given the clandestine nature of the meeting. Andae only wished the Raven had been better informed.
<Tag All>
The old man exited the Latrik's command centre alongside the vessel's CO. The aft screen was switched off, its view of El-Kamat's chamber, his chair, the headless body slumped before it, the fell-handed assassin, the assembled captains and the archaeologist himself dissolving from view.
The old man was unimpressed by Kamat's summary execution of the last ship's captain, viewed by the Latrik's bridge crew by teleconference.
"You shouldn't worry yourself unduly," the nominal CO spoke, taking a position behind the ward room's lectern. The CO had noticed the old man's dark expression, and kept regarding him between strokes made with a black stylus on a sheet of real paper.
"Whether that was meant to be an example to us, or was the simple result of his bloodlust, it was you must concede entirely unnecessary." He saw the CO smile, unpleasantly.
"Now is not the time to doubt our leader. We require unity in this time." The CO said, seeming not to have realised his sneer had been seen. "Where's Pammik, and the others in Special Ops?"
"They're down below, preparing for their operation." The old man brushed some dust off the lectern, a look of disapproval lining his features. Some deep discomfort lay there, visible to all but empathised with by few. "She's been most cooperative. Surprisingly so actually... It's almost like the old times."
"She does her duty," the CO conceded, "She just needed to be reminded of the virtue of obedience. We all follow the leader."
Of course, the old man thought, how El-Kamat decided that he, an archaeologist by trade, should be the one to lead them, was quite beyond him and surely anyone who was in their right mind. One free from pride, he considered briefly.
|
|
Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
|
Post by Alex Watson on Dec 31, 2012 17:38:24 GMT
Alex didn't like this. It didn't feel right at all. They'd been walking for close to an hour and they still hadn't arrived at wherever it was they were supposed to be. He closed his eyes briefly, praying that he hadn't led his men into a trap. He touched the life-monitor on his arm unconsciously, hoping against hope that it was still transmitting and being received. If it weren't it meant two things – it was being jammed, and so was their ability to beam out if the situation got ugly.
“How much further Is this place?” Alex called out to the man leading them onwards.
“Not far, captain. Not far now...” the man called back, the faintest hint of menace barely detectable in his voice, but it was enough to put Alex even more on edge. He looked around, the others were looking just as tired as he was, sweaty, straining to breath through the re-breathers they had been forced to use this far underground.
It was perhaps another fifteen minutes later that they finally emerged into a larger chamber. Alex looked around it quickly, taking stock. It was a natural cavern, not artificial, meaning that either they had deliberately chosen not to use artificial means or they lacked the ability. Alex wasn't entirely sure if he found either thought particularly comforting at this juncture, but it was something. He'd have felt so much more secure if he'd had a gun, any sort of gun, even one of those crude projectile weapons that were now almost museum pieces to humanity.
As they entered, five new figures dressed identically to their guide moved in towards them. They roughly patted them down, evidently making absolutely sure they hadn't broken the no-weapons agreement. When they felt Alex's life-monitor, they tore it off.
“Wait-” Alex, tried to say, but was met with a harsh word that cut him off. He waited, and waited. After about twenty seconds had passed he had no doubt. The moment the life-monitor had been taken off his arm he'd have flatlined on the Raven's screens: they should have been beamed up immediately. There was no real possibility of the transporter chief neglecting them for this long. This, then, was proof. They were being jammed – to speak up and say so would have been folly, but Alex knew now that his instincts had been right, something wasn't going quite as planned.
<Tag Raven>
-----
“Remember, if you fail, the consequences will be severe,” Pammik said to the trembling old man kneeling in front of her. “It's taken us a very long time to root you out of your little hole in the ground, professor, some of my men wanted to shoot you and do the job themselves, but I persuaded them to give you this chance. It would be a shame to let it go to waste, wouldn't it?” It was a lie, El-Kamat had known the location of Professor El-Jilani's secret scholarly coven for years, but hadn't considered them to be worth bothering with until now. They were, after all, harmless scholars...well, mostly harmless.
“Y...yes, absolutely...I...we...will do this th...thing for you,” the El-Jilani stammered. “We will n...not fail!”
“See to it that you don't, it's the only way to save yourself, and your precious grand-daughter.”
“You....you monsters! You have Reina? Where!? I want to see her!”
“You are in no position to make demands, Professor. Rest assured that we have her, and that if you succeed, no harm will come to her. If you fail, however, the nine lords of hell couldn't devise a more painful death for her than El-Kamat will concoct.” All defiance left the old man, he sank to the ground, sobbing and murmuring his assent.
“Get it done, they've just arrived in the outer chamber.”
“H...how do you want me to d...do it?”
Pammik smiled a sadistic smile, “that's not part of the deal, Professor. Do it yourself, or face the consequences.”
<Tag Away Team>
|
|
Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
|
Post by Calli Valente on Jan 2, 2013 17:10:08 GMT
Since moving through the opening made by the generated wall, they had walked for over an hour. The Captain had asked several times how long their journey was to last, and got the same reply each time. Calli and Alex had exchanged glances, both realizing that they could have lost contact with the Raven some time ago, but the bio-bracelets would still be transmitting their individual life-signs, so if nothing else, Commander Blakus and Major Tavik would know they were still alive ... That was about to change though !
As they entered a chamber, roughly hewn by hand into the living rock, they were approached quickly by a group of men. The contact checked Captain Watson for weapons and roughly tore the bio-bracelet from his wrist ! ... Calli, and T'Brel both took defensive postures, but Alex waved them down. Each in turn was searched and relieved of the one thing keeping them in contact with the ship ... To all intents and purposes, the Raven would be seeing zero life reading from the away team members.
"They were not 'WEAPONS' ..." Harry shouted into the face of the man before him, "They could do you no harm !"
"I must beg to differ." the contact said, turning one of the bracelets over in his hand, "If there is a chance, however slender, that your ship could receive a signal from these, then those we would much prefer 'not' to find us, may do so too ... They will be returned to you in due course."
Calli had noticed that one man had not moved during the interaction. She was watching him closely. He was nervous, on edge, eyes scanning right and left quickly.
"Who is he ?" she asked, nodding in the strangers' direction.
"He is none of your concern at this point in time, but to clarify, he is one of the older members of our, community. He was, is, a Professor, philosophical sciences to be exact."
"Little heavy-handed for a group of book worms aren't we !" Harry commented, as the man searching him roughly snatched the bracelet from him.
"Book worms ... ahh." the contact said, almost amused, "I studied Earth history before taking up my present, vocation, book worms ... I think you will find we are much, 'MUCH' more than your worms !" he finished, the first sign of real agitation showing.
"I think it's time you escorted us back to the tunne ........" Alex began, but the contact interrupted him:
"YOU ... I'm afraid, are going nowhere. I am aware of your need for information, but we need something in return, and alas, I am under some great pressure to attain said information. As for your vessel ... Hmmm ... Well as advanced as she is, I'm afraid they will have no luck in locating you. The rock over our head is a natural shield. You have walked approximately five kilometers, not in the same direct by any means, and that, combined with the fact that even if they sent a team down to search for you, they would never be able to find the projected rock face you passed through. I'm afraid you are our guests until we decide otherwise."
"You underestimate the Raven !" Calli said casually.
"Really ........" the contact said, handing her the bio-bracelet, "Then go ahead, there must be some form of emergency recall locator, activate it and beam out of here." he said, folding his arms and watching her intently, as if expecting some sort of miracle to occur before his eyes.
She stared the man down for a long moment then glanced at the Captain. Alex knew it was a bluff, and one that hadn't payed out. She casually threw the bracelet back, as if deciding to hold off on her 'threat' for a while. The contact grinned ... She knew full well that in poker terms, her pair of two's had just been slapped down by his 'four of a kind' ... But there were other hands, and she wasn't going to let this group of page turners get the better of the Raven !
"Well ..... That was fun." the contact said grinning broadly.
No-one had noticed the Professor moving slowly closer to the group of Star Fleet Officers ..........
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on Jan 3, 2013 5:05:40 GMT
OOC: Sorry if it's a bit long.
"Nothing conclusive," Blakus reported, as Aeryn requested an update on the intensive surface scan from the CO's chair. "There are one or two spikes in the spectral analysis that could constitute a biological presence, but there's no real reason to believe that it's more than background noise. One explanation... I could theorise that the Captain's team have been taken deeper into the planet."
He stepped away from the console, probably a bit too satisfied with his deduction, and walked down to Aeryn, "Unfortunately, the buoy's sensor suite is only able to scan to that level of intensity a few metres under the surface. We'd need to head around to the other side to have a look for ourselves."
"And expose us to that ship out there," Torek filled in.
"Yes, sir," Andae nodded. "The pithy ship."
"'The pithy ship' is moving, sirs." Marionette reported.
Andae turned to face the fore simultaneously with Aeryn and Carl, the latter whom was standing behind and above them at the tactical rail, like a father watching his children run amok around his house. Andae ordered the tactical situation display to be brought up.
Marionette had understated it quite significantly. The mysterious vessel was closing with Zennai 2 at a speed Andae wouldn't have thought possible given its size. It was cutting right through the system, in a straight trajectory with a huge amount of thrust.
"Thirty seconds 'til it intercepts Zennai 2's orbit," someone reported. Andae spent a few moments fidgeting, then quickly distributed orders to put the planet between themselves and the vessel's calculated arrival point. "Fifteen seconds.. Ten..." the officer reported "...They're breaking off."
"I'm reading a transporter signature originating from the vessel," Torek said.
"Scan it... sir," Andae added, stepping back to the take the CO's chair. It was becoming more comfortable, since Carl had given him that pep talk earlier.
"Seventy humanoids aboard. Can't be absolutely sure but the biosigns seem to be Cordovin. Minimal weaponry... Over half of the ship's internal volume is taken up by the engine housing, which might explain its speed capability. The transporter beam was aimed for the planet, roughly in the area of the refinery..."
Blakus slammed the chair's armrest. "Get us around the planet, now!" This was happening on his watch. Even though Aeryn had been in control and Andae hadn't been acting like a CO, he should've been thinking like one. Now four members of the senior staff were in extreme danger, if they weren't dead already.
Pammik looked around the dusty interior of the cavern. The whole space had been partitioned; a four metre thick 'wall' made of mixture of lead, duranium and the rock of the cavern itself. She wore her tight-fitting special ops garb, exposed above the neckline, having opted to leave her helmet and other equipment by the side of the cavern. Moaning cut through her senses.
The pathetic old man groping at the cave floor was an unfortunate sight to see. She felt a mixture of sympathy and disdain... It was no internal battle for her, that was simply the reaction his state evoked.
"Get up," she said firmly. The act she had to play out on the ship, appearing hateful and cold towards the man, had felt morally repugnant, but it was proving a surprisingly difficult mode of behaviour to shake now she was down here. Her fellow soldiers being in the makeshift corridor outside the cavern didn't help.
She paced towards him. "Get up," she repeated, pulling his neck back and dragging him to his feet. His weak form teetered there for a moment, before steadying into a pitiful slumped posture. He sighed, seeming to fold into himself as if resigning to some internal fate.
"They're in the other partition." She shook his arm. "Professor. Get your 'literary' colleagues ready. El-Kamat will personally see to your punishment if you don't do this right."
The man tightened his robe, nodded curtly as if he wasn't taking her seriously at all, and traipsed off to a small gap that led to an ante-chamber in the cavern's side. From there, he would enter the other half of the cavern and meet the Federation crew, whoever they were. She wondered absently if the disgraced Commodore was amongst them. She shrugged; it didn't really matter.
Looking to the right, she signalled to her special ops colleagues, who filtered silently into the chamber and started setting things up. She walked towards the corridor, picking up her helmet. "Sensors and transporters jammed, I presume?" she asked. Officer Ratatlei nodded, twisting a dial on the device in his hands.
She blew a strand of hair from her face then locked the helmet in place. How much longer must this act play out before her life ended?
<Tag All>
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on Jan 6, 2013 13:57:23 GMT
Star Base Forty Seven:The Federation Council had sent two Ambassador's to the Cordovin Home-world to attempt some form of mediation in the issue of Commodore Torek and the USS Raven-B ... It had now been three days since the ship had vanished from sight, and the Federation had no less than twelve Star Ship's out looking for her.
Tatsutaro was in his office pouring over the scant information they had thus far. He was less than confident that they would reach the Galaxy Class vessel before the Cordovin ships, and he was fully aware that should that be the case, there would be no Torek to answer for the charges brought against him, and in the process it was likely the Raven would not survive. Sato could not allow this on several counts, least of all his relationship with the Commodore, and Commander Valente ...
"This is getting us nowhere." he said, frustrated. Helena looked at the large screen. It showed the twelve star ships that were currently engaged in the search. It was at times like this that you realized just how 'big' space can be. Despite the resources the Federation had at their disposal, it was still the 'needle in the haystack' thing.
"Who do we have searching section two eight six ?" Helena asked, seeing a larger space between two of the ships.
"No-one at this point, it was deemed a lower priority by someone higher than myself, apparently." Sato said, feeling helpless sitting in his office, and that frustration was beginning to affect his objectivity as Head of Federation Security. His long serving Adjutant could see this too:
"There is nothing urgent on your desk Admiral." she said, raising her eyebrows, "...... Who's to say you couldn't co-ordinate the search from somewhere else ?" she finished, knowing Sato would understand the unspoken suggestion, and he did. Slamming his fist onto the ornate desk, he stood !
"Contact the Hinoiri ... I am going to see the Section Admiral, I will join you aboard in thirty minutes." he said, heading out of his office.
"Aye Sir." Helena said, opening a Comm link.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Admiral on the Bridge !" Captain Yori Hara said, instantly prompting everyone to attention, "Welcome aboard Admiral. I have your orders and we are ready to depart." he said, bowing in respect.
"Then let us depart, before Admiral Drew changes his mind and chains me back at my desk."
The Excelsior Class Star Ship moved gracefully out of the upper docking area and into open space. Sato was pleased to have an excuse, however serious or mediocre, to get aboard his vessel. He was desk bound too much in his humble opinion ... He knew their endeavor could prove fruitless, had he believed in chance, he considered he had as much as the other Federation ships of finding the Raven, but he hoped it was more chance than the Cordovin's had.
"Heading two four seven point nine. Warp six ... Proceed." Captain Hara ordered.
The USS Hinoiri jumped into warp ..........
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on Jan 10, 2013 23:55:27 GMT
"Get us around the planet ... Now !" Blakus said. The Raven increased her orbital speed, altering her angle of attack to the plain to compensate for the centrifugal force that would throw her into space. Within minutes they were approaching the other vessel and Marionette slowed their rate of rotation to close on the vessel. "Commander ..." Carl said from the Tactical station, "If I'm reading this right, I'd swear that ship has opened their warp ejection ports. Why wou ......" "Dump the core on the refinery, there will be nothing left of the planet, let alone anyone down there !" Aeryn said, "What better way to get rid of any incriminating evidence." "Two thousand meters Commander." Marionette informed Blakus. "Hold here ..." he said, glancing at the Commodore, "I want a weapons lock on their core." Carl nodded that it was done. "Why send people down there if they plan on dropping their core on the place. It's suicide either way. There's no way their ship, or us, would survive the blast. Why would El-Kamat even bother, he'd just order the place destroyed. We know he's no fan of loose ends." Aeryn offered. "Kamat isn't down there." Carl said, puzzled, "Though why send a ship on a one-way trip ?" "You .... Commodore !" Aeryn said simply, "Arrange for your capture, and an eventual conclusion to this farce on Cordovin. I think it's a sport thing with him now. We know he doesn't yet have the weapon, or whatever the hell it is, or he'd have used it in some form or other. But he's going to be close. So why not boost his ego by handing you over at the same time ?" "Have they seen us ?" Andae asked. "No signs." Carl said, signalling to the duty Tactical Officer to approach, "In fact I would say they have zero interest in the surrounding space. Possible they sacrificed their aft sensors for power. Their weapons are off-line, as are the shields." "OK, lets hold here for the time being." Andae said, "Scan for transponders or life-signs on the outer rim of the refinery, maybe we'll drop lucky." "Sir ......" Blakus looked round at the new voice, he'd expected to see the Commodore at Tactical, "Sir ... I'm registering a transport in progress." "Override it !" "Too late Sir." the man said, "Whoever initiated the transport, has gone ... Erm Sir, I am registering one person in the transporter room at this time ... It's Commodore Torek Sir." Ensign, you have the Conn." he instructed Marionette before he and Aeryn ran to the turbo-lift. ~~~~~~~~~~The transporter room was empty. Andae looked at the beam-down co-ordinates but they had been erased. He didn't bother checking the back-up log, he knew it would be a waste of time. Aeryn asked who could have left the ship. Shaking his head, already knowing the answer, he picked up the Comm badge that had been placed on the top of the transporter console and shut his eyes. It was Carl's .......... < tag : Andae / All >OOC: OK everyone, it's a new year, the mission is going great, I could never have imagined we'd still be at this, but the multiple facets are giving this outing a brilliant feel. Let's get the energy back everyone and keep this mission going .....
Steve
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on Jan 12, 2013 23:06:18 GMT
Andae stormed back to the bridge, Aeryn and another marine in fast pursuit. Such was the engineer's fury - not at anyone but himself - that he was actually leaving Federation soldiers, trained for such endurance behind.
He felt almost wholly responsible. He'd allowed the Raven to leave the surface team unguarded, moving the vessel from its geostationary orbit; he'd been too caught up in the fallout from the incident with the ship to notice Carl's departure from the bridge. Now he gripped his CO's commbadge in his fist, swearing that he would never let harm come to the man who had appointed him to the Raven those years ago, and who had become a good friend.
The temporary command team of Andae and Aeryn set about locating the CO once back on the bridge. "Any luck detecting the surface team yet?" Blakus inquired, pacing about in an unconvincing impression of a caged animal.
The response was negative. But Aeryn at least had some ideas, "He must've beamed to the other ship..." Blakus looked at her questioningly. "I remember him commenting before he left... The other ship's shields were down. He was free to beam aboard if he wished."
Andae glared at her. Inexplicably he was feeling an incredible amount of anger, and it had become directionless. He sat down, twitching in the command chair. The circles of useless logic, rediscovering continuously the source of his rage and sending him into further loops of futility, slowly subsided. He worked his armpanel, almost unwittingly accessing the comm channel and entering a text-only communication aimed for the surface.
"If you have any power to do so, call off your ship in orbit now."
The reply was curiously almost instant. "It's not possible... I need my daughter back."
"Let me speak to Alex Watson. I know you're with my crewmates and that something is about to happen to them." Andae typed back. At this point the tactical officer reported that the mysterious vessel had positioned itself over the refinery, in fact in the atmosphere of the world, and had raised shields... Andae wondered what Carl was up to, if he was indeed where he suspected. You will give me the shield frequencies of that ship or I'll blast your facility from orbit myself." Andae felt too morally high-strung to carry out such a threat but the bluff's delivery would hopefully be sufficient.
<Tag Alex>
"Aeryn, prepare a strike team for that Cordovin vessel. Primary objective is to take back the Commodore, secondary is to subdue the senior officers. Transport on my order."
Blakus felt an odd wariness, as if he were watched by forces higher and greater. Somewhere, he thought the malevolent eyes of El-Kamat, bloodshot like in his dreams, were regarding them all with a godlike amusement.
<Tag All!>
|
|
Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
|
Post by Marionette on Jan 16, 2013 13:13:44 GMT
"Aeryn, prepare a strike team for that Cordovin vessel. Primary objective is to take back the Commodore, secondary is to subdue the senior officers. Transport on my order."
Marionette calculated a 43 percent possibility of the vessel attacking the Raven. Given the choice, she concluded that her best place would be at Conn, maneuvering the Galaxy-class starship in battle against this other vessel.
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on Jan 16, 2013 20:25:02 GMT
"I want those people found, do you understand my instructions fully ?" the six men on the transporter pad nodded, "I hope so, because should you disappoint El-Kamat, I am certain your fate will be less than appealing ... Transport now !"
The six vanished from sight. The man looked at the two others in the room for a long moment.
"They're down." one confirmed.
"Shut it down and return to engineering, I want the core readied for ejection on my command." he said leaving the room followed closely by the two subordinates .....
Seconds later ...
A shimmer appeared on the pad as a transport was completed. Carl scanned the room, phaser ready. Satisfied he was alone he activated the console and entered a transport echo into the log file. Anyone seeing the beam-in would see this as a transporter glitch in the equipment only. He approached the door, making sure to remain outside the activation area that would operate the doors. Listening intently, hearing nothing, he took the chance the corridor was empty. He stepped through the doors and moved along the corridor. Checking the schematics on the PADD he was carrying, he knew he was approaching a recreational area, given their current activity, it was unlikely to be occupied ... Phaser ready, he stepped through the doors ... Empty, good !
Moving to the replicator, he opened the service panel and connected the PADD. Connection confirmed he downloaded the diagnostic program. It would first check that this device was operating within parameters, it would then shut down the replicator before moving to the next. Hopefully, the low-level system faults wouldn't attract too much attention until it had progressed through the mid-level systems. The cascade would spread exponentially, shutting down each system in progression. Hopefully, the crew would be too busy trying to keep life support running and trying to correct the systems shut-down's to worry too much about him running around !
The replicator suddenly shut itself down, followed seconds later by the lighting in the room. Satisfied his plan was working, Carl removed the PADD and moved back to the door. Pleased he needed to open them manually as the cascade progressed, he entered the corridor and moved toward Engineering as emergency lighting sprang to life ahead of him. Suddenly he heard a door being opened ahead of him, a man stepped into the corridor and looked directly at him ! ... Carl reacted instantly, stepping forward before he could raise the alarm he slammed his fist into the mans neck, impacting his carotid artery and carotid sinus, the rapid change in blood pressure along with nervous shock rendered the man unconscious instantly. Torek grabbed him before he hit the floor and carried him back into the room. Laying him along the far side of the bed he checked he couldn't be seen by a casual search then left the room.
He knew it was only a matter of time before he was discovered and he needed to ensure El-Kamat was not aboard before that happened. His choice of going to Engineering before the Bridge was a simple one ... He would check internal Comms, and if El-Kamat was aboard, he intended to shut off life support to the ship until the man surrendered all information regarding the location of the supposed 'ultimate weapon' he was searching for ... If the cascade virus he planted was doing it's job, everything from the environmental systems, to artificial gravity, inertial dampers, weapons, and shields, would either be fluctuating erratically, or shut down completely by now, with little chance of a quick solution at hand.
He almost grinned at what the ship must look like from the Raven ..........
|
|
Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
|
Post by Marionette on Jan 17, 2013 22:15:05 GMT
-pOp- Aa Phosphoric-tritium fuel tank exploded on the other ship, and the other vessel began listing to port and rolling, as its attitude controls gave out.
Scanning from her console, Marionette reported. "Sir, the ship is suffering cascade systems failures...... I conclude that it is Torek's doing."
Then the ship began barreling towards the Raven. "Adjusting course and drift speed to avoid collision." she said, pressing and stroking the console with various commands.
The Raven tilted starboard and shifted course to a sub-polar orbit, as the other vessel came within about adozen meters of the Raven's lower hull.
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on Jan 18, 2013 3:12:04 GMT
Andae debated the next course of action. The Cordovin ship had positioned itself in a very low geostationary orbit, a mere five miles above the surface of Zennai 2, when the internal explosion had occurred and set it on a collision course. Now he'd had Marionette move the Raven to a safer orbit. The smaller ship's warp core ejection port remained open, but as the shields were still just about operative they couldn't deploy it as Carl had theorised they might.
His only course of action, despite the decimated state of the Raven's weaponry, seemed to be to fire on the ship. Lowering its shields would allow the Raven to beam the assembled marines aboard. And then there was the ultimatum he'd made... He couldn't fire on the surface; not just because it would be wrong but because he couldn't see what good it would do.
"What are you doing, Commander?! Destroy that vessel!"
Blakus spun round at the voice, surprised to see Captain Barton standing on the upper level before the turbolift doors. There was a security officer by his side, surveying the bridge guardedly. Blakus instantly became wary of Barton's intentions... In truth, he'd forgotten about the JAG office Captain. "Welcome to the bridge, sir," he turned his back to Barton, facing the viewscreen again.
Barton came down to stand by him, sputtering his response, "Well, Commander? What are you waiting for?" Andae kept his eyes on the viewscreen and the floating image of the Cordovin craft - wispy clouds and a barren grey landscape locked in the same rotational reference frame beneath it.
"We have reason to believe Commodore Torek is aboard that ship -"
Andae cut himself off abruptly. On the viewscreen, the Cordovin ship's shield bubble had manifested into the visual spectrum for an instant, before obviously flickering out. Tiny cabin lights were going haywire, causing the whole vessel to pulse with light, before failing as well.
"The ship has lost all primary power, sir. Registering auxiliary coming online... But shields are down and environmental control is failing. Internal temperature will decrease and oxygen will slowly deplete."
"Beam the marines over?" Barton suggested. Of course, he'd been keeping tabs on proceedings... Blakus reminded himself not to assume anything of the JAG officer. He steeled his jaw and had the order carried out.
"Transport them into the engineering complex and give them new orders. They need to disable the core's ejection mechanism. If you don't mind, sir..." Blakus said, nearly physically pushing Barton out of the way. He strode to the engineering console and worked it, smiling as he saw the outcomes of Carl's activity, for it had to be the Raven CO's work. He then realised an extra problem... artificial gravity was sporadic on most decks. That could be a problem. Aeryn and the marines had been sent over without grav-equipment.
He ordered for grav-boots and other equipment to be beamed to the necessary coordinates, and had a second group of marines prepared to be sent to Torek's approximate coordinates.
"I've had enough, I'm going over there with the second team. Marionette, with me. Lieutenant Jackson, you have the bridge," he said to the stand-in tactical officer. He smirked, with no trace of amusement at Captain Barton, who was left seething in the Counselor's chair.
With the CEO and CNO gone, Lieutenant Jackson took charge of the bridge.
"Their thrusters have gone offline," the back-up stand-in tactical officer reported. And a few seconds later the news Jackson had been expecting came, "The Cordovin ship's orbit is degrading, sir. It will deorbit in approximately twenty minutes... I don't think it could withstand reentry... It'd come down as a fireball, probably still be in one piece but there wouldn't be anyone left."
"Impact point?" Jackson said, coolly evaluating the situation from the command chair, ignoring the leering Barton to his left.
"On top of the refinery," the tactical officer whispered after a moment.
Jackson blinked, regarding the controls on his arm panel. "Tractor beam," he said, it being a reasonable enough request, but his back-up informed him the emitters were offline after the fight with the Cordovin vessels. The other options... Well, they couldn't bring their officers and marines back aboard and destroy the Cordovin ship now... There was a warp core and several tons of antimatter housed in its engine assemblies... destroying it just four miles above the surface could severely damage the refinery beneath and more importantly the Acting Captain and the away team. But wasn't it doomed to destruction anyway...?
<Tag Carl, Marionette> <Surface team>
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on Jan 18, 2013 11:37:25 GMT
Carl had been moving with as much caution as he could when he suddenly felt light-headed. A second later his feet came off the deck, thankfully, he'd only drifted few centimeters before the artificial gravity snapped back on ! "Hell, that cascade is working better than expected." he muttered. The ship suddenly began an easy roll to port, then pitched downward and began to increase speed. At first he thought someone was moving the ship, but then he realized what was happening. Due to all the modifications made to this ship, the virus he'd implanted was systematically shutting everything, including life support, and engines down completely. Carl revised his initial plan and turned toward the nearest Jeffries tube. Entering, he climbed the three decks that put him on the same level as the Bridge ... It was a moot point now whether El-Kamat was there or not, because in five minutes there would be nothing left of either of them, along with who know's how many crew and personnel on the surface, including the Raven's away team ! "HEY ! ... Who the HELL are YOU !" Carl looked round to see one of the crew, blood running down his face into his eyes, obviously injured when the gravity spiked. The man staggered forward raising his weapon, but his eyes rolled into his head and he fell to the deck unconscious. Torek didn't have time to check on the man and began to run toward the Bridge of the stricken vessel ... Forcing the doors open he ran forward, two men jumped him instantly, dragging him to the deck punching hard. "Wai .... WAIT .... I can help !" he said, trying not to get hit. "Let him up .... NOW." someone said. He was lifted to his feet looking around, El-Kamat was noticeable by his absence. Carl was disappointed, he'd actually expected the man to be here. That thought faded as he caught sight of the view-screen ... The surface of the planet was looming on screen, and it was getting closer by the second, Carl could already see the red gold glow of the thin atmosphere as it burned away from the friction of the massive ship ripping it apart on the atomic level. "YOU ! ... You are Torek." the man said, almost incredulous at the sight of the man. "I can help save the ship." Carl said, looking at the red brown surface getting ever closer, "But I need access to the computer RIGHT NOW ! ... You are going to impact the surface if I don't try. This way we 'MAY' just get out of this predicament with our lives." "Time to impact ?" "Three minutes, give or take !" the Helm Officer reported. The man pointed to the back of the Bridge, waving the men holding Torek off. Carl took the PADD and connected it to the ship. He quickly opened the cascade file and downloaded the antonymous program ... It was going to take time for the 'anti-virus program' to work, he knew that, but suddenly the Bridge was plunged into darkness before emergency lighting activated. The computer was gone ! ..... As the seconds past he realized the cascade had worked better than anyone could have imagined. He closed his eyes at the realization he could do nothing, then turned to face his captors: "It's too late. The cascade has destroyed the computer." he said quietly, looking at the planet as it rushed toward them. The noise was growing as the ship tried to keep itself in one piece. Carl was thinking how he had let so many people down, hundreds were going to die because of his actions. His Command Staff on the surface thankfully wouldn't even know what was coming. He would never see his children again. "FORTY SECONDS !!!" someone yelled. Carl closed his eyes, not wanting to witness the impact. Instead, he could see Bethan and Vanessa, they were singing 'Happy Birthday' in their quarters. He smiled remembering the mistakes Bethan made and both children giggling uncontrollably .... "TWENTY SECONDS !!!""I'm so sorry." Carl whispered .......... < tag : Alex > ..... Maybe now would be a good time for that post ... LOL
|
|
Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
|
Post by Alex Watson on Jan 18, 2013 17:21:11 GMT
Alex stood waiting with the others. His hope that the situation was friendly was slowly ebbing away. Thoughts kept whirling through his mind – he'd failed Carl, he'd failed his crew, he'd failed the Federation, and he'd failed the Galaxy. All anyone would remember was that he was a rogue starship captain who had gotten what was coming to him – and they'd never know the truth.
As this miserable thought bounced around his brain, nearly causing him to choke up, he heard movement from the tunnel ahead. An old man, very old, emerged from the tunnel entrance and slowly took a couple of steps towards the group. The other guards around the room echoed his movements – “the noose is tightening,” thought Alex, but he was powerless to stop it.
“Listen. We are ambassadors for the federation, on a mission crucial to Galactic peace and stability. Attacking us will be tantamount to a declaration of war on the Federation. They will find you, and they will kill you. Let us go, and I'm willing to forget that any of us were ever here.” It was Alex's last, desperate gambit. If he could convince them it was in their best interests then they might...MIGHT, just get out of this. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead as he said it, his mouth dry.
The old man's anguished face looked up at Alex, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
“I'm sorry, Captain. I'm afraid I can't do that. They have my family. This is the only way that they'll survive. I....I don't bear you any ill will, but you m...must understand...my grand-daughter, she's...only four...they'll kill her...” His hand trembled as he brought up the phaser to point straight at Alex's face. To his left and right, the other guards did the same.
“I'm sorry...” he said again, and fired.
------
The world seemed to have slowed into into slow-motion as Carl fell to his knees. All around him people were screaming, running, feebly trying to cling on to the last seconds of their life. Consoles exploded, showering the room with sparks and electrical discharge. Carl felt the temperature begin to rise as the ship started to fall into the atmosphere. Sirens blared pointlessly as the countdown to impact continued. There were a series of several shuddering jolts as the ship began to break apart in the lower atmosphere.
As Carl knelt, he lifted his hands to his face, trying to keep his last thoughts on happy times. Times he'd spent with the girls before all this had happened. He was never going to see them again, and he started to weep. It was more sadness for them than for himself, they would grow up facing the world alone, without a father, and their only memories of him forever tarnished by the accusations he now faced. They would go through life as the children of a traitor, maybe even growing up to despise him for what he had done, and they would never know the truth.
His hands fell to his sides, balling into fists. Taking a couple of deep breaths he rose. He would face death on his feet, not kneeling as if in front of an executioner. As he reached a standing position another great spasm rocked the ship. Carl opened his eyes just in time to see a wall of flame rushing towards him, consuming everything in its path...
“I'm sorry....” he whispered.
-------
“GAME OVER!” shouted a voice. Alex opened his eyes and immediately wished that he hadn't. He was standing in space...his mind reeled as it tried to take in what he was seeing. Was this...was he dead? Is this what death was like? He looked around and saw Carl standing...no....that couldn't be right....floating a few metres away from him, his mouth open in sheer amazement. They caught each other's eyes, staring between themselves for a good few seconds.
“Is this...” Alex began,
“Real?” finished Carl. “I don't know...last I remember was...I was dead.”
“Me too...” Alex replied. “You don't think this is...”
“No...” pre-empted Carl. “No this seems real enough...look, there's the Raven.” He pointed out into the void and sure enough, there was the Galaxy class vessel suspended in space. Not moving. That was odd.
“There's the ship I was on, it was going to warp-dump the away team so I tried to stop it...a bit too successfully as it turned out. It was about three seconds from obliterating you...”
Alex gulped as he took that in. Even if he'd been able to persuade the old man not to shoot, he'd still have been atomised in an anti-matter explosion.
“But it's....it's....”
“Not moving,” finished Alex. And indeed it wasn't. The ship was hanging in mid air above the planet's surface, breaking into pieces, but totally static. It was as if someone had pressed the pause button on the entire galaxy except Alex and Carl.
“Did you miss me, Commodore?” came a voice from behind them, and they both whirled around. There was a figure sitting on a sofa about ten metres away. Carl seemed to recognise him, and his mouth dropped open. It took Alex a little longer, but slowly the bits and pieces swam back to him from accounts and reconstructions he had studied at University, accounts written by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The figure clapped its hands in a gesture of childlike glee.
“Oh, you two are simply the most fun I've had in EONS!”
“What are you doing here?” Carl asked with barely masked hostility.
“Me?” said the figure in an almost comic rendition of innocence. “I might have expected a warmer welcome, seeing as I have saved both of your lives. Aren't you pleased to see me?”
Carl's mouth tightened.
The figure got up and strode over to Alex, offering him his hand. “Captain Watson, we haven't been formally introduced, although I enjoyed your little trick back on Sanctuary – a custom computer virus hidden inside a shirt stud, very clever indeed.”
“Sorry...but who are you?” Alex asked. He thought he knew the answer, but he wanted to be sure.
“Hasn't your dear old Commodore told you about me? No? Carl, I'm almost insulted. And to think I thought we were friends!”
Carl stood rigid, his face showing ever more dislike. The figure sighed dramatically and turned back to Alex.
“Captain Watson, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Q.”
<More to Come Tomorrow!>
|
|
Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
|
Post by Alex Watson on Jan 20, 2013 23:39:56 GMT
“Q?” Alex could barely believe it. He'd thought that it was what he might hear, but hearing it still caused his insides to clench up. This was the being, or one of the beings, of near omnipotent power that had caused so much trouble, but in so many ways had helped humanity along. He didn't know how he felt yet, but he thought he'd probably make his mind up fairly soon.
“Oh...you should see the looks on your faces! PRICELESS!” Q laughed as he flopped back down on the sofa...the sofa that was floating in the middle of space.
“Listen here, Q...whatever you've done...” Carl began.
“Whatever I'VE done, Commodore? I've done absolutely nothing, at least not since you left Sanctuary. I've been contented with just sitting back and watching your exploits. You've been very entertaining!” Q conjured up with a wave of his hand an enormous tub of popcorn and a bag of chocolates. “Yes, VERY entertaining! You've been absolutely RUINING my figure!” He laughed again, and the popcorn and chocolates vanished.
“What do you mean, since we left Sanctuary? That was...”
“Not all that long ago, Commodore. And, if you really put your mind to it, you may begin to see how all of these events are connected. This would always have happened, Commodore, I just chose to cause it to happen to you.”
“You...you CHOSE this NIGHTMARE for me and my crew?!” exploded Carl. “We've been hounded from one star system to the next, we've had assassin's and traitors and who knows what else running rampant aboard my ship! Men and women have DIED, Q, and you just sit there making jokes!”
Q's face held impassive as he endured this verbal assault, as Carl finished, his brows creased together.
“They will be the first of many deaths, Commodore, if you should fail in your mission. You ask why I chose you? I chose you because I believe that you and your crew, Mr Watson here included, are the best chance for survival that this galaxy currently has. You may think of me as a monster, but ask yourself, have I not helped you right from the start? Given you insight, even though you didn't realise it at the time? Pah, and this is how you repay me? Charming! It almost makes me wonder if it was worthwhile!” Q sighed theatrically and draped himself over the arm of his sofa.
“I don't understand...” Alex started to say.
“I expect the full contents of what you don't understand would fill several libraries, Captain Watson,” said Q peevishly. Alex frowned, stung by the comment.
“Fine, but why are we doing this? You say that we're the best shot this galaxy has to survive? Well tell us something! Tell us what we're fighting for and we'll fight for it, but don't expect us to go blundering off into the dark!” Alex hoped that his voice had sounded more confident than he felt.
Q frowned again. “Hmph, very well, but since you've been so rude we're going to start a new game. Rule one, insult me again and the game is over – you all lose, you, your enemies, the whole galaxy. Rule two, we play fair – any information that I give to YOU your enemies will also receive, so think carefully about what you ask me for help with. Also, a tip for playing – I'm not going to keep saving your skins forever, so do try not to get into any more situations you can't get out of.”
Alex and Carl looked at each other.
“I don't suppose we have a choice in this?” asked Carl.
“Not if you want any hope of staying alive.”
“Very well, then we accept.”
“OH GOODY!” cried Q, clapping his hands together again. In a second he was dressed in a party hat, holding a party-blower. He blew the party blower a few times, uncoiling it in the space in front of him. “I do like to play games! Well, ask away then my fine friends, what do you want to know?”
<Still More To Come!>
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on Jan 21, 2013 22:49:13 GMT
<Post Restored>
Andae's away team had searched for ten minutes, traversing the barren corridors that'd suffered power failure. There was now a slight but noticeable vibration in the walls and deckplates, and an external bulkhead they passed felt warm to the touch. The craft was barrelling through the atmopshere, and so far there'd been no sign of their Commodore.
"My tricorder's getting an intermittent human biosign." Corporal Sheridan reported. Blakus looked back at him, stabilising himself against the bulkhead as the vibration became worse. "... On the bridge."
"Lead the way, Corporal," Blakus signalled him forward. They hurried along, mechanically clunking in Sheridan's wake as fast as their grav boots would allow. The ship vibrated violently under their feet, in the lateral plane. Blakus surmised that the craft had slewed about, at the mercy of frictional forces that flipped it around as it burst through the stratosphere.
Almost shaken from his feet, Andae surveyed the situation. There was one more turn in the corridor til the turbolift that would take them to the bridge. He waved Sheridan on, but froze his hand as he heard a transporter effect. He then saw glimpses of steely white, unmarked but very familiar, from around the turn.
"Cover!" he yelled, his limited combat training taking hold. The marines didn't need to be told this and neither did the agile Marionette. Blakus, in fact, was the least combat-competent amongst them.
Tangles of phosphorescent light sprung from around the bend, detonating around the away team who shrunk back. Stepping out from around the corner were three of the same bulbuously suited soldiers they'd encountered on Zennai 3 and on the shuttle Piper. The marine sergeant Chaix bellowed to return fire and one of the hulking forms crashed to the deck. More energy bolts emitted from their disruptors and left Sheridan a fried mess, doubled up in the corner of the passageway.
"Fall back, now!" the Sergeant ordered, covering the rear as they piled backwards through the corridor, struggling against the gee-forces. They managed to get out of reach of the pair of ponderous soldiers, losing them around another bend.
----------
They kept moving, the two privates taking up the rear. Blakus was told by Chaix that the ship was due to disintegrate in three minutes. The engineer nodded, gripping his phaser. "We need to find an alternate route. Recalculate."
Chaix consulted his tricorder and pointed the way they were heading, "It'll take two minutes. Sir... respectfully recommend that we abort the operation and get back to the ship, while we still can."
"No," Blakus said calmly, with more authority than he felt he had a right to. He couldn't leave Carl to his death. "Sprint," he instructed. As he said it he was suddenly spun around; next he knew he was on the floor. There was the stunned feeling of having been punched in the nose and the world seemed to swim before him in a blood-stained haze. The rest of the team had already passed another bend in the corridor, not having noticed the CEO's absence, such was the absolute stealth of the manner in which he'd been assaulted.
He gathered his wits, and the leering form of a Cordovin resolved itself, brandishing a lengthy curved sword. "You..." Blakus said, still stunned from the attack, but recognising the assassin. He'd seen him once, on the Raven, when he had been preying on the crew from the shadows. When he had been attacking Blakus's engineers and had left the CEO's former lover in critical condition in sickbay.
"Those soldiers, they're with you!" he snarled, picking himself up.
The assassin loped forwards, a lethal swagger to him. A cold sneer was on his face and the blade slowly rotated as he flexed his wrist. Blakus stepped back, then pulled the phaser from the back of his equipment belt. He fired trimphantly, vengeance fuelling his attack. Unbelievably, the assassin managed to dodge the beam. Blakus was too stunned to react and was whipped across the torso by the edge of the blade. The cloth was torn and a line of crimson permeated the uniform.
The assassin stepped forwards and Blakus had to quickly come to terms with the fact he was about to die. As the silver blade swung backwards he closed his eyes, but then a organ-pulping vibration pounded through the vessel. The deck ruptured, plasma and steam hissing into the air, while the walls cracked open and left both of them at the mercy of the atmosphere. The assassin was lost in a column of steam, scorched of some of his skin. Blakus barely caught the sound of the transporter that then took the assassin away.
He cursed, furious at the man's escape and also knowing there wasn't enough time to call the Raven. He merely hoped they would somehow be able to beam him the hell aboard, in this, the final few precious seconds of his remarkable life. He saw Marionette down the end of the corridor and signalled. They shared a look of recognition that the situation had suddenly become absolutely hopeless. As he braced himself by a ruptured conduit, trying to stay away from the diffusing plasma, an odd sepulchral glow seemed to fill the entire of space. A flash of white punctuated its climax, obvious only for an instant, but again, awfully familiar. But this was from a different time. A time of infinite possibilities, and the shrieking laughter of court jesters. "What?" he croaked, breathing in scorching hot plasma-filled air. How is this possible?
As he thought it the ship completed its disintegration, and his body was torn asunder as a bulkhead drove its collapsed weight through his midsection. In the last fiery and grief-wrenched moment he saw Sergeant Chaix's body explode.
Lieutenant Jackson watched in quiet desperation from the bridge of the Raven. The small roughly cylindrical vessel, reversing into the atmosphere in a plume of fire had just come apart, splitting itself into roughly equal halves. The segments struck the facility, one containing the warp fuel. A massive detonation occurred. The rest of the ship was splintering into small fiery fragments, spiralling away in the air either side of the refinery, gradually losing the angular momentum they had gathered in geostationary orbit and fizzling away to nothing.
"Sorry, sir. We lost them. We couldn't establish a pattern lock due to atmospheric interference... I'm sorry, sir."
Jackson returned to the command chair in shock. He surveyed his armpanel, unconsciously, his mind wracked with the impossibility of what'd just happened. The Commodore, the engineer, the helmsman... And more, the Acting CO and his own boss Commander Peers, and the others on the surface... All of them were gone.
<Tag Alex & All>
"Sir, registering a transporter beam..." tactical reported. Jackson knew the officer well enough to know she was frowning, "Extremely long range, sir. Passing out of the plane of the system from what I can tell. The matter stream is showing no signs of degradation. It originated from the Cordovin craft."
"Track it," Jackson said, feeling listless, "Take us into low orbit and look for remains, or survivors... Scan the facility."[/color]
<Tag All - OOC: the last part in italics is the future assuming Q had changed nothing once time resumed. Hopefully this isn't the future we'll see! But I thought it might be useful.>
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on Jan 23, 2013 20:17:05 GMT
"I don't suppose we have a choice in this ?" Carl asked.
"Not if you want any hope of staying alive."
"Very well, then we accept."
"OH GOODY !" cried Q, clapping his hands together again. In a second he was dressed in a party hat, holding a party-blower. He blew the party blower a few times, uncoiling it in the space in front of him. "I do like to play games ... Well, ask away then my fine friends, what do you want to know ?"ooo000ooo As Q clapped his hands and amused himself by dressing in some outlandish costume, Carl suddenly realized that time wasn't fixed anymore. He could see the Raven, angling downwards as the majestic vessel closed the distance to the surface. A surface scarred with the burning fractured remains of the Cordovin vessel. Whether by Q's hand, or simple fate, the ship had exploded above the refinery, the two main sections had slammed into the ground to the east and west of the facility. It didn't escape the carnage by any means as massive burning sections smashed into buildings, sliced through drilling equipment, and took countless lives ! Carl looked at Q, who was still admiring his own fashion sense, totally ignoring the carnage on the planet below, carnage he could have so easily prevented on a whim ! "They won't find anyone alive of course." Q said, with little concern, "But you have 'GOT' to admire Human enthusiasm in times like these. "You call this fun Q !" Torek spat at the omnipotent being. "Now Now Mon Commodore, did you not agree to my terms. I cannot remember saying anything about those others not present." Carl turned to watch the scene below him, almost five square kilometers had been destroyed by the disintegrating vessel. Almost every section of the refinery had been either damaged, or was on fire. He looked down on he Raven passing below them, scanning every square centimeter looking for any signs that anyone could have survived. He looked at Alex in despair ... The Acting Captain couldn't start to imagine how Carl was feeling ... He turned to Q .......... < tag : Alex >
|
|
T'Brel Peers
Commander
The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
Registered: Jul 22, 2005 5:39:54 GMT
Posts: 324
|
Post by T'Brel Peers on Jan 23, 2013 23:01:49 GMT
T'Brel Peers was a natural people person, as a combined Trill/Vulcan Hybrid, T'Brel had already lived seven lifetimes. In those seven lifetimes, T'Brel had been a soldier, politician, painter, housewife, and a doctor. Even with all of his experience, T'Brel had not been ready for the actions of one of their captors. As the older man's weapon discharged, T'Brel lunged himself at the shooter. T'Brel immediately realized that he had arrived to late, Captain Watson was now dead and he was at fault as security officer.
"Grab both of them!" one of the captors ordered," you have betrayed us! They must know of our location! We must prepare for the worst people!"
"They had her! I could not allow her to die!" the older man said in between tears.
"What have you done with his body?" T'Brel asked realizing there was no need to get himself killed so soon.
"What do you me..." the leader began to say before he realized their was no body, ash, or residue of weapons fire. He quickly reached for some of his tools and scanned the area. T'Brel quickly realized that something was very wrong with their current situation. T'Brel knew that Alex Watson should be dead, but deep inside he knew that was not the case. Something had happened in the blink of an eye and it would be up to them to understand what that was.
"Please release us, we can help you," T'Brel said, "it is the logical thing to do. Your readings are telling you something different than your eyes. I do not know what has happened, but all of our lives are now in danger. If I'm going to die, I would like to die fighting for my life."
"You are fools, he already knows where we are, he has known for years," El-Jilani said as he began to compose himself, "he has not had a reason to kill us until now. Oh my poor Reina." Before he could utter another word, his eyes enlarged with surprise as a beam of energy hit his chest.
"We are being attacked ready, yourselves," the leader of the scholars, El-Sahid, ordered everyone to take cover. T'Brel, Commander Valenti and Harry immediately took cover, with luck they would be able to survive.
(Tag all)
|
|