Mission 26: Shadows of Tomorrow

[Andae Blakus]

Six months ago, Venus, Sol...

The man passed ghostlike through the corridors of Medical Facility V-Beta, anonymous in his Starfleet Medical uniform. The USS Hebrides had not infiltrated far into the organisation - as was its supposed remit laid down by the ragged Starfleet arm of the Federation Remnant; in fact, he was the only tentatively dubbed 'time agent' in the field at the moment, at least within Sol.

He gradually came to a standstill in the curving corridor - surfaces antiseptically clean, crimson-overalled surgeons passing him on the way to some emergency triage - to look out through one of the portals that seemed to contain only blackness. The volcanically wracked grey-gold globe of Venus rotated beneath him. He'd never been down there, beneath the cloud layers, to that 5% terraformed world, but he'd heard stories of it in his youth, when he'd been on the run from the Alpha Quadrant with his mother Leanne and the rest of humanity.

He was 24 years old, born in the year 2407 almost exactly one year before the disaster had struck the Federation - coming out of the galactic halo, passing first through Cardassian space and on through the Federation 'til it'd met with the Tholians and what was left of the Gorn's territory. Then the Romulans, and subsequently the Klingons, had got involved, and the entire of known space was embroiled in the fierce but brief struggle with the indomitable enemy. The Federation had surrendered and sued for peace four months later, pleas which went unanswered.

"Report, Lalkovic."

That was the Hebrides's first officer, Marine Captain Dacian Blakus. The man, Lalkovic, turned away from the Starfleet Medical personnel roaming the corridors, hushing his voice, "I'm in the surgery's main section, approaching cold storage. Keep your voice down will you? You know how many checkpoints I've had to pass through to get here?"

"Let's hope our quarry is in place," Dacian replied simply, the comm device buzzing uncomfortably in Lalkovic's ear.

Lalkovic shrugged, "If we go by the records. 31 years ago the target patient was given treatment at this facility; her biological -"

"Spare us the details and just get on with the mission. You know the plan; locate the specimen, head to beam-out coordinates at blind spot other side of the station. We raise the cloak and head out of system to beyond scanning range, before engaging the tachyon drive to get back to 2431." Dacian Blakus cut the comm.

Lalkovic composed himself and traversed the corridor, ignoring the probing eyes - as he imagined - of the personnel that passed him. He was the first one, the very first, to arrive back here in Sol, in this time of peace, after so many years. He entered the innermost concentric corridor - operation theatres on the outer wall, the primary storage area beyond the inner wall.

Specimens piled rack upon rack stretched off into the interminable distance in the dimly lit place, the far wall obscured by an icy blue haze that filled the air. The hazmat suit he'd donned in the ante-room didn't entirely stave off the cold. He walked down the aisles of specimens, the racks cold to the touch as he feeled his way along, narrowing down his search. F... E... No water was in this place; no icicles formed around the stored items... there was only the stinging sensation of metals brought to very low temperatures.

D... Darby. Here it was, right in front of him. "Lalkovic. Lalkovic, the USS Galaxy has spotted us." He only half heard Dacian's voice, turning the specimen over in his hands. "Repeat, we've been detected! They won't know it's a Starfleet ship but they'll know something's up. Lalkovic, get out of there, damn it."

"Ok, ok... As long as I get to name her." With shaking hands he placed the specimen in the cryostasis unit he carried.

"Name her what you like, just get the hell out of there. Do you want to be the first agent to fail in the field and have to explain yourself to Command, or worse The Captain?"

Lalkovic made a fast exit, undisturbed by Medical Facility V-Beta's staff who remained blissfully unaware of their part in the operation that'd been perpetuated by the cloaked USS Hebrides. The USS Galaxy chased the sensor ghost, until much to the Galaxy crew's confusion it seemed to pop out of existence. Twelve years would go by before the plans for the stolen specimen came to fruition.

[Andae Blakus]

OOC: Mage Teiler

Teiler stared daggers at the First Councillor. Still, First! That she'd not been assassinated during his time off the ship had stunned him. It had certainly been part of the plan: that the Councillor would not be there anymore once he returned to the Community, that all her supporters on the Council would've been removed, and that only Wedlerson - who he might more easily be able to forgive - would remain, along with of course his own supporters and Captain West, whose position on the Council was tenuous at best.

He circled the roundtable of the Council from the upper level. At the centre locus of the table was a small pedestal with a small device perched atop it, borrowed from the Tholians circa 2390: a holographic imager that could project a schematic of the known layout of the ever-changing interior of the ship, tactical overviews of the surrounding space and topographical maps of the eddies and rifts of the regional subspace.

"The damage to the Community's engine complex was moderate," he answered Jessica T's question. "It will take approximately 8 hours to repair." He paused in his stalking of the circumference of the table, smirking, "They will think we'll need 24 hours to repair the engines, but of course, our engines don't necessarily need to be of Federation design..."

"As for the damage we caused to the Raven," West said offhand from the table, "We did supply my Defiant ship with the coordinates for the Raven's dilithium matrix and succeeded in capturing it. That would've crippled them indefinitely. We simply miscalculated the resourcefulness of - "

"Silence!" Jessica demanded, "A member of the Council will only speak in my presence if they're being asked a direct question. No one has asked your opinion at this stage, West!"

West looked wistful, as if he had some sympathy for Admiral Carl Torek's position, before glancing up at Teiler again. Teiler dismissed the man's look with a wave of his hand, tired of this puppet of The Captain's. It was pitiful how he'd allowed himself to be dragged into collaboration with The Community so easily. There were plenty other scavengers out there, with far less degrees of anonymity as offered by an employer such as The Captain - the most enigmatic of the ship leaders since the catastrophe. No one had ever seen his face, not since he'd taken command of this vessel.

Teiler, his Warlocks, their adaptive roles as demanded by The Captain since they'd boarded this vessel and assumed the identities of supposed Raven engineer descendants over the last two months, were ready to commandeer the ship, take it from The Captain by force once the opportunity arrived. Having been ordered to murder the former Mage - due to that man's inadequacy in fulfilling the role of the supposed descendant of the deplorable Commander Blakus - Teiler had assumed the role in his place. Now it was time to transcend that position, go beyond being a pawn in the nebulous game The Captain was playing and capture that position for himself.

"He didn't loan you that agile little ship lightly," he rasped into West's ear, before continuing to pace around the chamber.

"The Warlocks are already enacting their repairs," he said to Jessica. "Deck 6, I understand, has undergone some changes since I've been absent. The mechanoid race The Captain created have rebelled? You amaze me, First Councillor," he concealed a foul grin, "Not only did your fighter craft nearly kill me to make a convincing display of my 'escape' from The Community, on my return I find that you've surrendered our laboratory grounds to the 'Pril'."

"But the real question is, why hasn't the Raven left yet?" He leaned over the roundtable, between Wedlerson and one of his allies, slamming a fist on the surface, "Surely they can request the support of Starfleet? We are dead in the water, albeit for a third of the time they think we are. But they have full warp power!"

He looked up at where he knew a hidden surveillance device to be, in the ceiling of the Council Chamber. The surveillance screen for it was in The Captain's abode on the ship's theoretical bridge. He glared at it directly, knowing who would be watching, "Why haven't they left!" he demanded.

<Tag Jessica, The Captain>

[Carl Torek]

OOC :: Posting as Jessica ::

IC ::

"Silence !" she demanded, glaring at the Captain, "A member attending the Council will only speak in my presence if they're being asked a direct question. No one has asked your opinion at this stage, West !"

As soon as she had berated the Captain he turned to Teiler as if expecting support, but the Mage was already on one of his usual grand-standing plays with the Council. He was parading around in front of the curved table as if holding an election campaign. It was no secret that Jessica despised the man, both as a person and as one of the Ruling Council of the community who had from the beginning made it plain that he wanted more and more power, even to the point of running the Council itself, and obviously, that wasn't about to happen while she was still the First Councillor ...

In some bizarre way, his plots and ploys for control amused her, but she had always known that he would try to remove her from her position and she constantly guarded against his attempts .....

She sat in silence as he slammed his fist against the table, making several of the Council lean back. He glared at each of them in turn as if they were naughty school children about to be punished. as he once again began his rotation around the room, not allowing time in his seemingly endless narration for anyone to get the proverbial word in, she motioned to Veson, who as her personal bodyguard was allowed in the Council sessions, much to the chagrin of her fellow members ... He leaned in so she could speak to him without being overheard by the others:

"Are his estimates on getting the engine complex back on-line accurate ?"

"It would seem so My Lady." Veson replied, watching the man as he moved around the room making point after point, The Raven didn't inflict as much damage as first thought ... The Mage does make a valid point if I may Madam. I too had been wondering why they hadn't yet made contact with their Command. Since the attack they must be aware our interference of their communications has ceased."

"If I had to hazard a guess, I would think they are confident they have prevented us from leaving, and are now working on how to stop us altogether. The obvious ramifications of destroying us are plain and undeniable, but they may also be concerned with what affect we would have if we were to remain in this time-frame. They would have to segregate us from, well, everyone." she mused over the idea, completely ignoring the Mage, who seemed to be targeting yet another shortfall of the Council, "I also have the distinct feeling that should we attempt to open another rift to escape, they will not hesitate to damage us far beyond any hope of repair. The Admiral simply cannot allow us to escape."

"You think the Mage will attempt to return the compliment once we are able ?"

"He will not be allowed to take any action without my approval, even if he were to attempt to approach The Captain directly ...... I'm in his way." she said simply.

"I will increase your personal protection once you leave this chamber My Lady ... It is an undeniable fact that he will make further attempts on your life now you have both returned." Jessica was about to argue she didn't need the protection, but she trusted Veson implicitly, and on her safety she would never question his actions. Teiler's slamming fist on the table directly in front of her brought her attention back to the meeting.

"Is the First Councillor not interested in our plans ... Maybe you have something in mind yourself Madam ?" she looked at the Mage, then made a point of looking up at the same surveillance device he had glared at earlier, before leaning in as if expecting some wondrous insight from the man, who chose to glare his upper hand in the situation.

"Yes, I have." she said, standing and looking at the other Councillor's before returning her smile to Teiler, "I think it is getting late. We shall adjourn for the evening and meet again tomorrow."

"ADJOURN !" Captain West shouted in disbelief, striding towards Jessica. But Veson reacted quicker and slammed a fist into the man's throat, dropping him like the proverbial stone. She held up a hand before Teiler, or anyone else could react further, then glared directly at Teiler:

"Keep your trained monkey's on a tighter leash Mage ! ...... The next time will be his last ...... And yours ..... Do not forget that, Mage !" she spat, before replacing the smile, making no attempt to hide the open threat against the leader of the Warlocks.

Teiler was barely controlling his urge to strangle the woman where she stood. He spun on his heel and stepped over the wheezing choking West without a glance before leaving the chamber.

"I may have reacted a little too stro ......" Veson began, bowing deeply.

"NEVER apologize for your actions when protecting me." she said placing a hand on her bodyguard's shoulder, then turned to leave the chamber, "Someone get him medical assistance before the unfortunate 'Captain' chokes to death." ..........

[Carl Torek]

Zero nine hundred hours ~ Observation Lounge ::


With everyone around the table, Carl stood and looked through the panoramic windows into space ... He couldn't see the future vessel obviously, but he knew it was there, and knew without a shadow of a doubt what threat it presented, not only to this time-frame, but countless others should they be allowed to continue. He returned to his seat and began:

"Earlier this morning I was informed that our communications are no longer being blocked. How long that will continue is undetermined, so with that in mind I contacted Star Fleet Command and requested additional help be sent, along with a long-range tug ....." he let the information sink in with his Senior Staff then continued, "For obvious reasons, we must not allow them to return to their own time. So, it is my intention to prevent that using any means necessary. I will open the meeting to discussion as we normally do, but I just wanted to make my decision known at the outset ... Command have received all the information along with our log's and are of the same opinion ... That ship will not be leaving this time-frame ...... How we achieve that is something we need to discuss."

"We intend to fire on the ship again ?" Doctor Roach asked.

"Yes ....... I would hope that the arrival of the USS Yosimite and the USS Laffite would persuade them not to try fighting it out, but we 'will' use everything at our disposal to ensure that ship doesn't escape in the meantime. The option of allowing them to complete repairs and open one of their tachyon rifts, doesn't bare thinking about in my opinion." Carl reiterated.

"When can we expect the other ships Admiral ?" Wedlerson asked.

"The Yosimite in twelve hours, the Laffite in fifteen. They are coming here at maximum warp. Luckily both were en-route to system's on our general heading, so it was easy to divert them. Andae, what's our status ?"


< tag : Blakus >


"Are we going to inform the future ship of our decision ?" the Doctor asked as the Chief Engineer finished his report.

"That, we can discuss ..... Personally, now we are pretty confident as to what they have planned, I'm inclined to get over there and completely cripple that ship before they can effect repairs ..... They still greatly out-gun us, even if we can run rings around them. Which is saying something for our Galaxy Class ship." he said, getting a few laughs from those present, given running rings wasn't the Raven's style. They tended to turn up and frighten the life out of people due to their shear size.

"If we are determined not to allow them to leave, especially before we're joined by the Yosemite and the Laffite, then we have no option but to completely disable their ship now, while ensuring they have life support and minimal systems to survive." T'brel said, looking at a chorus of nods from around the table, "They will be working on repairs to weapons and engines as we speak, and I seriously doubt they will be taking their time. I think it's a given that they will attempt to retaliate for our attack. We should preempt their actions and ensure they stay put ... At this point we are one hundred percent confident they have no drive or weapons systems on-line, but that won't last. To prevent further injuries we could perhaps warn them of our intentions and have them clear the area's we intend to target ?"

"It's certainly an option." Calli said.

"OK ..." Torek said, "Commander Peers has brought up an option that may well be a double-edged sword. Yes, we need, we 'will' be stopping that ship. Warning them could save lives if the area's we're looking at are targeting evacuated, but telling them could make them reckless and they may well put every effort into preventing us, regardless of the cost to their Community."

"That leaves a when ... I assume we are not going to wait for the other ship's before we attack the Community ?" Colonel Burwell asked.

"No, I have the feeling that their repairs are going to be completed sooner rather than later, so it is my intention, now that Commander Blakus and his teams have worked their usual miracles, and dependent anything else we come up with during this meeting that is a better option of course, to move on the Community vessel at eleven hundred hours." he allowed everyone to put forward suggestions and listened intently to each of them in turn ..........






< tag : All at the meeting >

[Andae Blakus]

Blakus arrived back at his quarters after an all night shift in engineering. It hadn't technically been his - Lieutenant Tinsley the man appointed to ensure the reintegration of the dilithium matrix was completed successfully and that the resultant plasma flow to the warp coils was stable - but Andae had considered it a duty, as much as he sometimes abhorred that word.

All was dark. A red light flickered from across his quarters, in a midnight recess soon identified by his sleep-deprived brain as his personal terminal. Tiredly he made his way across his quarters, calling for lights from the computer and sliding into his desk chair. He leant forward, the blurred screen resolving itself:

~ Incoming transmission, USS Raven-B ~

His mind took several seconds to work out the seeming impossibility of this, eventually realising that the comm was coming from the spectre of the vessel in their midst, casting a weak shadow caused by the presence of a nearby star over the present Raven. It remained just out of sight, to the prow - no matter how he craned his neck, he couldn't quite discern its dark outlines against the endless vacuum.

He pondered how to answer, a finger tapping the terminal next to its 'accept' button. Eventually he decided it was worth taking the risk, but whatever this was about, he wanted no part of it. The future Raven - or whatever it was - couldn't be allowed free rein in this time or any other; Blakus was resolved on that matter along with the rest of the crew.

The figure that appeared on the screen was not who he'd expected. "Commander Blakus," she sighed with seeming relief, features just visible against a dusty blue background, "It pleases me that it's you who has picked up this communique. Please be assured this is a secure channel, routed through subspace - there's no chance of detection."

"What's this about? I'm breaking several regulations just answering this comm," Blakus said bitterly, leaning back to reach for his commbadge that he'd just discarded with his uniform jacket. He could see that she was one of the Pril; he'd become thoroughly disenfranchised with them since his kidnapping and their dissatisfactory explanation of their objectives in the aftermath of that kidnap.

"I wouldn't have attempted contact unless it was under desperate circumstances, Commander. I've placed myself at significant risk as well in contacting you." She stepped into the light. It was Councillor Andromeda.

"Are you really descendants of Marionette?" Blakus asked.

She brushed over the question, "There's something you need to know. The Raven, or what you believe to be the Raven..." Blakus rolled his eyes; they'd figured this out already, "... Doesn't just travel backwards in time to secure its resources, it travels forwards too." Blakus allowed his uniform jacket, hanging from his fingers as if they were his biological coat-hanger, to slip to the floor. He leant into the terminal again, eyes fixed on the Pril.

Andromeda paused, composing herself, seeing that Blakus's interest was piqued, "What is true is that we're from the same time as Captain West, the year 2443. But we have someone... One of the Unnamed - you may have heard of them during your time on our ship - called Ultimus. He claims to be your direct descendant; our vessel took him from the year 2905, approximately 500 years from now."

"The Unnamed," Blakus murmured, eyes fixed on the screen but also checking - fingers flying across a subsidiary console without looking - that the channel was indeed secure. A positive alert sounded: secure subspace communique. "Do you have him there?" he said offhand, momentarily distracted as he glanced at the chronometer:

08:36

Twenty four minutes 'til the staff briefing; he was an exhausted wreck. Andromeda stepped back from the dusty light, a shrivelled, almost hunched figure appearing in her place. "Hello," Blakus said.

"I... I..." the man croaked, bending down on his knees outside of the visual display's range. He heard muttered curses and demands from behind the man. The man rose to his feet, looking Blakus in the eye, inexplicable tears forming.

"Farseer. Farseer! You predicted a future of darkness, and into that we fell... Take us to the Eternal City, where time has no meaning... I have few memories of a life lived in the distant future. My wife, my children, were all that remained to me; now they're gone; all that remained was the Light and now that has been stolen from me as well. I am beyond death, beyond heaven and now exist within The Captain's holy realm."

Blakus's face had taken on a growing expression of distaste. He waved a dismissive hand, "Take this madman from my sight." Andromeda obliged, apologising and explaining Ultimus's bewildering reverence for him. The name did indeed fit with the naming convention of the Blakian line, but it could well be coincidence, or a further attempt at deception...

"Now you see the conditions the Unnamed have to live in," Andromeda said, stepping back into the light, "Most of them believe they're living on a planet, a few know of the Community, fewer still, if any, know of The Captain. They're helpless people, Commander... oppressed by the feudal aristocracy of the planet from which the originators came. And in Ultimus, you see an example embodied in your own blood of what they've done. I beg you to consider mercy, Commander Blakus. We suspect that you're planning an attack on our vessel before we have a chance to repair our engines. You've seen the rents in our hull; we're vulnerable, a weapons hit in an apparently non-critical area could cause a chain reaction that would vent what little atmosphere is pumped through to the Unnamed's sections into space."

"I see," Blakus said, tapping his lip. "So you'd have me dissuade my CO from an attack on your ship so that you may continue your scavenging exploits?"

Andromeda held her hands before her, clasped in supplication. Blakus blinked, unsure what she was hinting at. Was she apologising for what the Council of the Community had done over the last few years, in the wake of the downfall of the Federation (if that'd actually happened)? Was she apologising for capturing him from the away team?

He mused in the darkness of his quarters as the comm channel was closed, having called for the lights to be put out again, his face intermittently lit up in scarlet by the screen before him.


OOC: Sorry, this post turned into a bit of a monster. I'd intended it to cover the briefing as well. That will be coming next.

[Andae Blakus]

OOC: Note my post above

"The Yosimite in twelve hours, the Laffite in fifteen. They are coming here at maximum warp. Luckily both were en-route to system's on our general heading, so it was easy to divert them. Andae, what's our status ?"

"We have full warp power," he said, still trying to disguise that he'd gone the whole night without sleep. The drooping eyelids and creased uniform were evidence enough, but the staff were courteous enough to brush over it. "Tinsley reports the PTC is functioning within normal parameters."

For periods throughout the briefing he felt his concentration slipping but he maintained focus on the important matters, namely, the timings involved in the coming operation. He'd predicted and had stated during the last briefing that the future ship would need 24 hours to repair its engines. That left ample time for the Yosemite and Laffite to come to relieve them, although - as Carl had suggested - they may have less time than they thought.

Well, Councillor Andromeda certainly hadn't given that impression, he thought. He'd yet to divulge the information given to him by the Community Council member over that secure communique to his quarters.

He decided it was best to keep it that way. He could pay the consequences of concealing the information later. There was something of importance, he felt, in what the Councillor had said. That decrepit form of his supposed far future descendant (perhaps where this apparent future Raven had acquired their idea of claiming themselves as coming from circa 2900).

"... At this point we are one hundred percent confident they have no drive or weapons systems on-line, but that won't last. To prevent further injuries we could perhaps warn them of our intentions and have them clear the area's we intend to target ?"

"It's certainly an option." Calli said.

"I'm for it," Blakus said, it bursting out of him louder than intended. It was cruel, in a way, he thought, That they were planning not only to remove the future ship's fight or flight ability, but that they were going to message Jessica Torek's crew telling them what they were going to do, just before they did it. He could imagine how it would be received by the Council, something illustrated by Admiral Torek moments later. Yes, it might provoke a reckless reaction from the Community's Council. It was intended as a forewarning, however, a humanitarian message that The Captain or Jessica should evacuate appropriate engine and weapons sections to avoid casualties amongst their crew - precisely in line with Andromeda's wishes as she'd stated them during the communique.

"There are thousands of people on that ship," he said, having caught the attention of the present staff, "Many if not most of them given the collective title of the Unnamed. They exist in sections shielded barely from the vacuum; one stray hit on our part could cause a breach and hundreds, if not thousands of innocents might perish."

He looked at Admiral Torek, "I agree with you, sir, and Commander Peers," he nodded at the tactical chief. "We should give them forewarning of our intentions and that we intend to very specifically target their weapons and engines systems. And be prepared for any action of outrage or onslaught from them in the aftermath."

1100 hours... Going by his calculations they had plenty of time, but something told him intuitively they had less time than expected. He felt things would come to a head sooner than expected; that frantic, fell hours lay ahead of them.

<Tag Torek, ALL>

[Carl Torek]

"I agree with you Sir, and Commander Peers. We should give them forewarning of our intentions and that we intend to very specifically target their weapons and engines systems. And be prepared for any action of outrage or onslaught from them in the aftermath."

Carl looked at Andae. His friend was looking tired, or rather more tired than he had been of late. The work on the Raven had taken time and he couldn't actually remember if the Chief Engineer had taken any down time during all the work. He could see Peers and the Doctor nodding in agreement and glanced at Calli, who remained neutral. he knew her thought's on not allowing the ship to escape them, and he doubted she would approve of giving them any sort of warning.

"Let's get ready Gentlemen." Carl said, standing to signify the meeting was at an end .....


Eleven hundred hours ~ Bridge ::


The Senior Staff were all in position when he entered from his ready room and he was happy to see the Chief Engineer was monitoring his department from here rather than staying down below ..... He took his seat, Will in his seat, Calli on his right. Andae stood on the upper level of the Bridge. Harry had put the image of the future ship on the view screen, and even on there it looked a formidable craft, over three times the size of it's original design specifications, bristling with weaponry that could do substantial damage to this Raven if it were allowed to do so. He wondered how many vessels had resisted their piracy, and how many had been lost because of that, and he needed to put a stop to it ..... Now ! .....

"Harry, what's the status of the other ships en-route ?"

"Yosimite is ten hours away, the Laffite thirteen Admiral."

"OK .... Bring all drive systems on line. Weapons and shields to maximum." he said, waiting for confirmation of his orders before continuing, "Open a channel to the community vessel. I want to speak to Councillor Torek." he was a little surprised when a moment later the screen changed to show one of the Ruling council of the Community, but not the one he was expecting:

=^= Admiral Torek .. What an unexpected surprise .. I am afraid Councillor Torek has been delayed but will be here shortly .. Is there something I can do for you in the meantime ? =^=

=^= Councillor Andromeda ...... I was expecting to speak to ...... No matter ... I am giving you warning that we are about to approach your vessel .. We intend to disable specific systems to prevent your departure through one of those tachyon rift's of your's .. I am contacting you as a courtesy to allow you time to evacuate the designated target area's before our approach .. ANY attempt to bring your engines or weapons on-line will result in our immediate response =^=

=^= Are you now =^= Andromeda said,raising her eyebrows in question, before looking away from Torek to someone behind and above him. Carl looked around to see the Chief Engineer, eyes locked on the Android on screen, he turned back and continued:

=^= You must realize that we cannot allow you to depart this time-frame Councillor .. I have no desire to injure or cause the deaths of any of your citizens so I assume you will carry out my request to vacate your main drive center and all weapons platforms and all long range communications systems =^=

=^= I believe I am not in a position to make this decision alone Admiral and would need to speak to the Council before any direc =^=

=^= Oh I think something of this importance wouldn't need a vote .. Please issue the order for the departments I have just mentioned to be evacuated immediately .. We will commence our run in ten minutes time .. Any casualties will be on your head Councillor .. Please do not rely on my compassion in this matter to cause me to delay .. It won't .. Ten minutes Councillor =^= he nodded to Harry who closed the Comm. 

He sat in silence as everyone double-checked their consoles and ensured all relevant systems were running .... Within minutes Andae came around to the Command area and confirmed that he had full power for drive, shields and weapons. He held Carl's gaze for a few seconds longer than normal, making the Admiral nervous. He stood and told Harry that he had the Con, then nodded to Will and Calli, before asking the Chief Engineer to join him in his ready room. As the door closed Carl turned to the Engineer:

"Something on your mind Andae ?"


< tag : Andae >


After listening to what Blakus had to say Carl got up and returned to the Bridge. Wedlerson informed him that the Android Councillor had been attempting to contact him and asked if he should re-establish communication, but Carl waved it away. They had had their warning, which was what the meeting decided upon, there was no need to prolong the conversation as far as he was concerned. It was a given that should the Community vessel have time to complete repairs, they could, and likely would, attack the Raven, possibly even destroy her, before escaping once again back to their own time. There would be nothing to stop them from returning at will to continue their piracy of other, less fortunate vessels. He took his seat and looked at the screen.

"Commander, have you plotted an optimal approach for us to complete our tasks ?" he asked the Navigation Officer.

"Yes Admiral ... I have sent the trajectory to Commander Peers along with optimal firing solutions ... Weapons yield will of course be at his discretion."

"Good ...... Very well, begin your run Commander. Commander Peers, I assume you have taken care not to do any more damage than absolutely necessary ?"

"Yes Sir. Their shields are still down and the core unprotected, so I am going to beam their anti-matter chamber into space before I fire on the drive systems, that should guarantee minimal damage in that area."

Carl didn't reply as he watched the stars, then, on the left of the screen he could see the Community vessel. Harry turned to the Command area and informed him that Andromeda was trying yet again to communicate, but he told the Operations Officer to ignore the Comms ... Almost leisurely, the ship pitched over to port and began to turn towards their target, growing in size by the second. Had one iota of doubt surfaced he would have ordered the ship turned away, but he knew the tremendous risk involved should he allow that massive vessel to escape ... Peers informed him he was about to begin transport and a second later Carl watched as a beam of almost pure energy lanced over the top of the Community vessel and slammed into the drifting matter / anti-matter chamber. The screen blacked out for a second as the brilliance of the explosion threatened to damage their own optical systems. In quick succession, several more beams arced across the space between the two ships damaging or totally destroying weapons platforms and torpedo launchers scattered around the massive hull. The Raven curved over the community, still hitting targets throughout the hull and dove down below Zee, making a turn he didn't think a Galaxy Class Star Ship could manage, before approaching the community from below .... Two beams, running parallel, slammed through the underside of the ship close to the semi-integrated warp nacelles. Two more followed in quick succession as the Raven passed underneath, then began rising back to Zee, Marionette turned the Raven, this time more slowly making a final pass over the community vessel and heading away ......

The Helm Officer turned the ship, reducing speed as she did so, until the Raven was ten thousand meters from the Community vessel at a dead stop .... They sat in silence, watching as sections of the massive ship struggled to hold together, enormous panels were falling away and drifting randomly into space. Flotsam and jetsam, forming a ring around the darkened ship.

"Sir ....." Marionette said, "I have scanned the debris. No biological signs." Carl closed his eyes for a second. The last thing he wanted to see was the bodies of deceased floating among the wreckage.

"Scan the ship. See if you can determine if there were any casualties in the area's we targeted."

"I am unable to establish if there were ant casualties Admiral, but from the numerous scans I have carried out, I am confident there will be minimal fatalities." the Android said neutrally.

"Should we contact them ?" Calli asked quietly.

"I think they will have their hands full Calli." Carl said, standing, "You have the Bridge, I'll be in my ready room." ..........

[Calli Valente]

She sat beside the Admiral as he and Andromeda had their conversation. She knew that the Android was wasting her time trying to broker extra time as any delay from here could prove detrimental to the task at hand ... After watching the Raven approach the Community vessel and fire on her, she was almost relieved that no more damage had been done. She had had the sinking feeling that the more fragile sections could have opened up allowing live-giving atmosphere to escape.

"Sir ....." Marionette said, "I have scanned the debris. No biological signs." Carl closed his eyes for a second. The last thing he wanted to see was the bodies of deceased floating among the wreckage.

"Scan the ship. See if you can determine if there were any casualties in the area's we targeted."

"I am unable to establish if there were any fatalities Admiral, but from the numerous scans I have carried out, I am confident there will be minimal casualties. Commander Peers' targeting was very, precise." the Android said neutrally.

"Should we contact them ?" Calli asked quietly.

"I think they will have their hands full Calli." Carl said, standing, "You have the Bridge, I'll be in my ready room."

She watched him go as Andae came around to the Command area and sat in the center seat. Both of them knew that Torek's actions were the only option given the consequences should he have done nothing and waited for the two ships en-route. Part of her wanted to contact the Community and check on their condition, but she wasn't going to go against her Commanding Officer, so sat watching the wreckage as it drifted in a lazy circumnavigation of it's parent. She was about to get up and leave the Bridge when Harry turned to inform them that the Community vessel was trying to contact them. She looked at Andea, who shrugged, wryly pointing out that she had the Conn before sitting back as if ready to watch a movie he'd been waiting for ... Calli looked at him, tempted to point out that 'he' was the Second Officer, and with Jamison still incapacitated due to illness in the Sick-bay, he was in essence the next in Command, but instead told Wedlerson to open the Comm:

=^= Why have you done this ! =^= Jessica almost shouted as her image sprang to life on the main view-screen.

=^= If you could give me a moment I will ask the Admi ...... =^=

=^= There is ... NO ... NEED ... To 'ask' the Admiral Commander .. You are in communication with me at this point in time and I am therefore asking 'YOU' why you felt it necessary to attack a disabled vessel ! =^=

=^= It was felt that allowing you time to fully repair your drive and weapons systems could have proved detrimental .. We could not allow you to escape to your own time .. For obvious reasons =^=

=^= I am sure the loss of life following your unwarranted attack upon us will justify your decision =^=

=^= We are scanning your vessel closely Councillor .. We can detect no fatalities among your citizens .. So let's not start going the blame game route shall we .. You are lucky we restricted our weapons fire on your drive and weapons .. We have researched your ship and know you have made numerous journey's into the past for equipment .. While I am sure you are not directly responsible for 'every' disappearance of Federation Star Ship's .. But I am equally confident that you 'ARE' responsible for a large number of those .. Our records show at least nine ships missing with approximately three thousand crew .. So please let's not compare body counts .. But if you feel you need assistance I am sure the Admiral will make our Medical shuttle available if you wish ? =^= Calli felt a hand on her arm and knew Andae was telling her quietly to calm down.

After a moment's silence, where Jessica seemed to be fighting some inner demon, the Councillor continued:

=^= Your attack damaged our life support systems .. We estimate the Community has approximately ninety six hours of oxygen remaining .. I hope you are pleased with the results =^=

=^= Why has your Captain not demanded these answers Councillor ? .. .. I mean .. If things are as bad as you are saying wouldn't he be incensed and be demanding answers himself =^= Calli asked almost casually.

=^= I speak for the Captain in all things .. You are aware of this already .. I want the answer to my original question .. Immediately =^=

=^= Then you will have to be disappointed Councillor .. As I informed you .. The Admiral is not on the Bridge and my offer to request he come here was rejected .. If your vessel is indeed damaged as you say I am sure you have better things to do than argue with me so please don't let me detain you further .. I will inform Admiral Torek of your communication and I am sure he will contact you in due course .. Our offer of Medical help stands if you need it .. Otherwise ....... =^=

=^= You're unwarranted attack on us 'WILL' have consequences ! =^=

Jessica closed the Comm before Calli could. She turned back to the Command area where Andae was looking up at her, his face unreadable. At this point she didn't know what he thought of her outburst, nor did she care. She had initially been against the attack, but knew of it's need to be carried out, but she wasn't going to be held personally responsible regardless of 'who' was doing the accusing !

"Next time 'you' can pick up the phone." she said to Andae, dropping into the Exec's seat suddenly exhausted, "Any idea how long Will is going to be out of commission ?" Blakus shrugged. All anyone knew was that the Exec had been crippled by a burst appendix three days earlier and the Chief Medical Officer wasn't going to let him up until cleared.

"Commander Peers. Scan the area's of that ship that we fired on. I want to know if you pick up any fatalities immediately." Blakus ordered. After three long minutes Peers was ready to report:

"I've scanned both the drive area's and main weapons. I'm not picking up any life-signs in those area's at all ... There are no bio-signs, living or otherwise."

"You are sure ?"

"I've run the scans three times. There are no bodies in the area's we fired on." Peers confirmed.

"What the hell is she up to then ?" Calli mused.

"Something else Commander ...." Harry said, "She said life support had been damaged ....."

"Yes ?"

"Well, according to scans, four area's lost life support immediately following our, pass .... According to our previous information, three of those area's were already open to space." he said, frowning.

"And the fourth ?" Calli asked.

"Deck six ... But there is no way it could have been opened to space from our firing Sir" Harry confirmed. She looked at Andae, sudden realization of what Jessica had done.

"She purged the Deck ! ...... The labs. The cells. Everything ... Anyone who was on that deck is gone ... But WHY !" ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Andae was forced to wonder, as Carl concluded his communication with Andromeda, whether she would actually consult with the other Council members about the impending attack. In fact, he began to question the state of the entire Council. Who on the Council was controlling what? Were they even talking with each other?

Listlessly he made his way down to the main area of the bridge, informing the Admiral as to defence systems and weapons power. Two minutes later he was standing before his CO in the ready room.

"Something on your mind Andae ?"

"Only that the future ship will suffer heavy casualties if we're not careful," he said matter-of-factly. Then, his eyes downcast for a moment, he acquiesced under Torek's steady glare, "At approximately 0830 hours I was personally contacted by Councillor Andromeda via subspace to the terminal in my quarters. She pleaded with me not to initiate the attack. I think anyway..." He looked out the portal at the stars for a moment, the centre of the view eclipsed by the dark hulking future 'Raven'. "She showed me a descendant of mine - although of course we can't trust anything they say - and said that while she was from 2443 this descendant of mine was from 2905."

Of course, that was their original claim, he thought. But there was something in Ultimus - his supposed descendant - that struck him as being more true than Teiler. No resemblance in that pallid blueish face, only the dark eyes; unlike in Mage Teiler who looked as if he could indeed have been (Blakus's future wife) Christina Taylor's son. There was a hope in Ultimus that Andae felt connected to - despite the claimed generational gap that would cause massive genetic divergence - much more than he felt with Teiler who was likely not his relation at all but someone dressed up to look as such.

* * *

The burst of light from the exploding antimatter containment units saturated the viewscreen, bathing them all in a golden energy that seemed to course through the air. They shielded their eyes. Andae looked across the bridge and saw Carl, clearly resolved on this course of action. The CEO had to agree - but the uncertainties as to the vessel's origin... all the unanswered questions, made this seem a cold, thoughtless act, on all their parts.

He watched, muted and disconnected, as the screen showed the future Raven sliding under them, silent phaser fire streaking across the 1.5 km long vessel's blackened sections; then the dark hulk was above them, then it was shifting in several rotational dimensions, continuing to take fire. The contemporary Raven had executed its attack run.

* * *

"No lifesigns, living or otherwise?" Andae repeated, looking back up at Peers. He received an affirmative nod and slumped back down in the command chair relieved.

As they discussed the results of the future ship's weapons' destruction, drive systems, life support, Andae reflected on Jessica's defiant statement - finding he was able to detach his mind's ruminations from the words he spoke. He frowned, fiddling with his fingers as Calli asked about the fourth life support area.

Why had Jessica in her furious address to Calli disregarded the warning the Raven had issued to her Council? Had she been unaware of the warning? Andromeda... she may have evacuated those areas without Councillor Torek's knowledge or the rest of the Council's! That would explain why Jessica claimed there'd been significant casualties... She had probably not bothered to check the casualty reports, assuming that what she perceived as an unprovoked attack had caused great loss of life.

There could well be a war going on on that ship, never mind the external war they were fighting with their supposed ancestral clone. Andromeda had been on deck 6 - the last Blakus, Valenti, Burwell and the girl Leanne had seen of her anyway - along with the rest of her Pril colleagues.

Andae glanced at Calli, surprised to find that she'd simultaneously turned to look at him.

"She purged the Deck ! ...... The labs. The cells. Everything ... Anyone who was on that deck is gone ... But WHY !" ..........

"Deck 6... Councillor Andromeda, or her followers?" he said. "We knew there were factional struggles. Jessica may have decided to remove them entirely, especially if let's say, Andromeda didn't tell the rest of the Council about our warning."

On the other hand it could well be down to a guilt complex; Jessica wiping from her mind the horrific experiments carried out on her own 'crewmembers' by evacuating the entire deck of atmosphere. Petrified lungs encased within tortured, malformed bodies sucking in the last particles of oxygen - whatever life that would give their wretched bodies before their period as test subjects was due to expire...

OOC: Post was too large again, split into two Lol

[Andae Blakus]

Upper levels, The Community...

Enraged, Teiler strode down the passageway heading away from the circumferential corridor that enclosed the Council Chamber. The place had only just ceased being a shooting gallery.

He and the Warlocks had exited shortly after the fight reached its climax - ducking away from disruptor and phaser fire and making it out of a secondary entrance. Ironically Mage Hunt had been killed in the crossfire, Teiler once more taking up position as head of the Warlocks on an official basis. Blood and bionic componentry were now splattered, scattered over the floor of the now silent Chamber. At the height of the melee, Jessica Torek had impaled Andromeda against the wall, the dagger twisted and remaining there for several seconds before she'd withdrawn it and let the Pril slip unconscious to the roundtable's tabletop.

Pril soldiery had pulled her away from the scene. Teiler knew well of the Pril's recuperative powers. She may survive yet.

Twenty minutes! That was all that'd remained before his Warlocks could've reignited the drive systems. They had planned to put the engines into overdrive, ram the Raven with their own vessel's elongated prow - a chaotic assembly ending in a crooked but needle-sharp dagger - and drive a wedge into the old ship's saucer.

All his plans had been thrown into disarray. His attempted coup d'etat against The Captain had also failed when he'd been unable to gain access to the Ascender. Apparently as soon as anyone stepped within a millimetre of the Ascender's entrance without The Captain's prior permission they're instantly vapourised by an invisible forcefield. Teiler was glad he'd allowed a dozen Warlocks to go before him, storming ahead into the invisible barrier and killing themselves before he committed himself.

The vessel shook around him, minor secondary explosions shuddering through the ship in the wake of the treacherous Raven's assault. Outer layers of the ship were peeling away, the vessel beached in space like a floundering whale on a shoreline. It was of no matter, for he had other plans to finally seize control of the beleaguered Community...

* * *

The quartet slipped silently through the door to the First Councillor's personal quarters. The massive bodyguard, Veson, lay outside slumped against the wall, rendered unconscious by a sustained Klingon painstick attack.

In the sepulchre of Jessica T's private space, four silhouettes moved silently against a sepia background: a wall-mounted illuminator behind the headboard of Torek's bed. The lead assassin - Jerdo Krecik, once bureaucrat of Alpha Centauri, once lover of Andae Blakus's daughter Aurelia, once vagabond, once mercenary brought into the employ of The Captain, now directionless killer given this tired duty by Cesif Teiler - raised the dagger above his head. He plunged it down towards the shifting form in the bed!

<Tag Torek, All>

[Carl Torek]

It had been six hours since the Raven disabled the Community vessel, and they had still to reply to any attempts at communication. Torek was furious that they could have deceived him almost to the point of him loosing the ship itself ... Maybe it wouldn't have come to that, but from the information they had gleaned thus far, it was a decided possibility ... He had gone back to his quarters to freshen up and get a change of clothes. once he had eaten something he returned to the Bridge:

"Anything from them Lieutenant ?" he asked the Duty Officer, nodding at the Community vessel on screen.

"Nothing Admiral."

"Contact the Yosimite and the Laffite ... Simultaneous comms." he waited while both approaching ships were contacted and the faces of the Commanding Officer's appeared on-screen:

=^= Captain's .... I assume you have been monitoring proceedings over the last hours ? =^=

=^= Yes .. Yes .. Our scans show the Community vessel is disabled .. No drive systems or weapons on-line at this time =^= Ryland, the Captain of the Yosimite informed him.

=^= I have no intentions of allowing them to return to their own time free to come back at will and continue their scavenging .. It is unknown how many lives have been lost and how many vessels have suffered at their hands but it stops here .. You are here to ensure that happens is that understood ? =^=

=^= Do you intend to destroy the vessel on our arrival Admiral .. Or are you planning to take them into custody ? =^= Captain Maute asked.

=^= That will depend on their reactions but I don't think destroying the ship and those aboard is a viable option unless we are in grave danger .... On arrival you will form up on my location .. We will have a face to face then .. I would like to send teams over there to ascertain the damage levels for ourselves .. We're getting differing readings that don't tally with the brief reports that have come from them =^=

=^= Admiral .. Am I right in saying the Community vessel is in fact from our future and if that is correct won't remanding them cause possible issues ? =^=

=^= Yes .. That is my main issue .. But we will discuss it on your arrival .. How far behind you is the tug ? =^=

=^= Approximately four hours Admiral =^= Ryland confirmed.

=^= OK .... Contact the Raven when you are alongside .. Torek out =^=

He nodded to the Duty Comms officer who closed the link. Beta Shift was running now, but he had allowed his Senior Staff to get some well needed rest. he decided to wait until the Yosimite and the Laffite arrived before calling them in again. He stood in front of the massive view-screen, looking out at the Community vessel ... Turning he went to auxiliary Navigation at the back of the Bridge and began scanning the surrounding systems. he needed something very specific if what he had in mind was going to be a viable option. He had already spoken to Star Fleet Command, and they had in essence given him carte blanche in dealing with the Community and it's citizens.

His idea would all depend on if he could find a 'G' type main sequence star remote enough to be well outside normal shipping lanes, containing at least one 'earth Type' planet. He fully intended to forcibly repatriate the Community to that planet ... The priority would be to find a planetary system with atmospheric conditions that would not allow warp technology to be developed. He would supply them with everything they need to establish a workable pre-warp society ... Buoy's would be set effectively quarantining the system from outside interference. The Federation would be the only vessels allowed to enter the system or approach the planet itself ... Effectively, the Community would relocate to the surface rather than having the ability to roam or slip into time-frames other than their own !

It was hardly the ideal solution, and he seriously doubted the Council would approve, alas, it was no longer their call to make ... While thousands of men, women, and children were ignorant of what was happening to them, the Command structure knew only too well the atrocities they were committing in order to survive, and it could go on no longer ..... It would be impossible to return the Community vessel and everyone aboard to their own time, and holding them in detention centre's, even if scattered throughout the Federation, would lead to 'leaks' of information on events yet to happen, thus possibly altering those events. In all honesty, he couldn't see how punishing those who Jessica and the Council classed as the 'un-named' would benefit anyone. They in his opinion were the innocent parties in this situation, and if nothing else deserved a place to finally call their own, somewhere to live out their lives as members of a community with land to settle as they pleased Rather than being fed scraps and being held in what could only be described as abject poverty ! .... And yes, he fully appreciated the fact that once on the surface the Ruling Council could simply continue to rule as before, but he would stop that too ... If need be he would locate the Council and their collective entourage' on one continent, the remainder he would settle on another continent half a word apart ..........



What other members of his crew would think of his decision, was yet to be heard. But finally it was going to be his decision, and his alone, to make ! ..........

[Andae Blakus]

The man on the screen seemed distracted. The background to the image was distorted, but he could make out blotches of red against the off-white walls, spread in fractal-like patterns. Indents in the wall showed where weapons had made impact, missing, or perhaps shooting straight through their mark.

"Is it done?" the man asked.

He wiped his mouth, the blood that'd leaked through his teeth, as he'd been forced to drop to his knees and bite down on his own tongue, having seeped it out through his pursed lips. The area around his mouth looked like an attempt at obscene make up. "It is," he said, "Barely. She struggled, but the Community's now in the hands of the Mage."

"The Community," the man repeated derisively. "Look at me. Look behind me, if you can see through the blood smears on the viewing lens. The Community, can no longer be run by the Council, Mr Krecik."

Krecik nodded slowly, distractedly, looking away distantly at the stars. His mind was suddenly transfixed on Alpha Centauri. He'd like to visit there, see himself in this year 2401 in his cordial role as junior council member of that Federation founding world's civil government. The portals from the First Councillor's quarters were framed by heavy curtains, of some rich old fabric from the 1800s. The plexiglass was splattered with arterial blood, all from his fellow assassins - all of whom lay dead.

"The middle classes are rioting in the upper levels. The superstructure around the Ascender is packed full of them; even some of the Unnamed have found their way up through the shafts. They're spreading like termites through the main habitat areas. Roadblocks and curfews are proving ineffective..."

Jerdo Krecik had ceased to listen to the man. Instead he was watching the bloodstained stars, watching, waiting for some kind of deliverance. The knocking came within the cupboard. He averted his eyes from the portals and made his way across the opulent but now bloodied quarters. Veson, the bodyguard, had regained consciousness; tore into his fellow assassins; Krecik had stood aside, arms raised. Now the brutish guard stood in the corner, watching Krecik warily.

"Shh..." He whispered at the cupboard, then turning back to the terminal with its channel still open to the man on the upper levels said, "I'll catch up with you and West at the port saucer airlock. Ten minutes." The man on the screen seemed to find this acceptable and the channel was closed.

The knock from the cupboard came again, resonating through the dark blood air. "Ok, I'm letting you out now." The doors parted, the defiant woman stepping out, bloodied but alive, so alive.

"First Councillor," Krecik bowed slightly, stepping back, "Apologies for the deception. I had no choice but to follow Mage Teiler's orders. He would've executed me on the spot if I'd not submitted to his will. I never intended to kill you."

[Carl Torek]

OOC :: Posting as Jessica ::

IC ::

She had been dealing with an issue on one of the lower levels when the klaxon sounded followed by an announcement she hadn't hear in some time:

** Councillors are requested to attend the Chamber --- Councillors are requested to attend the Chamber **

She looked at Veson who quickly began to clear a path for her through the throng of un-named ... Reaching one of the ascenders they rose to the level of the council chamber and entered. She was surprised to find almost everyone in attendance ... Councillor Wedlerson approached her as soon as he saw her enter:

"The Raven is approaching us !" he said.

"Why would they do this ?"

"They have made no attempt to contact the Community Jessica. Why would they suddenly decide to approach us ?"

"Conta ......" she didn't get any further as the first volley of phaser-fire slammed into the community vessel. Shock replaced confusion as the ship was rocked again and again. Even in the protected council chamber the members could hear the unmistakable sounds of metal being torn asunder. She couldn't understand what had happened to cause the other ship to suddenly attack them ... Veson approached, saying it would be best if she were taken to somewhere safe, but she refused, unable to remain steady on her feet as the Raven pummelled the Community yet again ... During a lull she told the Councillors to contact their designated departments and ascertain damage, but the barrage began again, harder, closer, more destructive than before. She fell back, catching her head on one of the chairs as she dropped to the floor dazed. Veson ran to her side and lifted her into his arms as she regained consciousness, but again she insisted on remaining in the chamber ....... Then the attack was over .......

"I cannot believe that Admiral Torek would attack us unprovoked and without warning !" she said as Veson tended to the cut on her scalp. Mage Teiler entered the chamber dishevelled and obviously irate, three of his personnel following and firing back into the corridor beyond, before sealing the chamber door and turning to face the other Council members.

"HOW DARE YOU !" Jessica shouted, rising unsteadily to her feet with the help of her bodyguard, "Lower those weapons immediately or I will execute each and every one of you myself !"

"This is the work of Councillor Andromeda." Teiler spat, "Do not address my personal guard in such a manner Jessi ....."

She raised her correction device, activating it three times in rapid succession. Teiler's guards vanished from existence instantly. The Mage had been raising his own weapon but halted the movement as he saw Veson, now holding his own weapon, and pointing it directly at his head. He grimaced then dropped the phaser to the floor, kicking it in the general direction of Jessica's personal guard, who seemed decidedly disappointed at the sudden change of heart ... Jessica sat in her seat and activated the view-screens set around the chamber above their heads. They showed all the major sections of the Community and what she saw was destruction on a large scale ... Engineering, internal systems, the hydroponics gardens, all had been targeted in the Raven's sudden attack upon them. Communications were flooding in from all area's asking questions the council had no way to answer.

"We should retaliate !" Teiler demanded.

"With what Mage ...... Your precious Star Drive .... Your mysterious engineering that powers the community and only your trusted Warlocks have access to ......" she asked, almost in a whisper, enraging the Mage even more, "No. You yourself said you needed more time to reinitialize your drive systems, and now it would seem you have lost the component essential to that drive. And before you make the suggestion Mage, no, we shall not be attacking the Raven any time soon, if indeed, at all .... I have received a report that Captain West's ship was destroyed during the attack, so that option is no longer open to us, and would have been useless against their ship in any event."

"I DEMAND audience with 'The Captain' he will need to take personal control of this situation, not one of his puppets !"

Jessica stood and approached the Mage, slowly raising the correction device. Teiler tried to move back, away from her outstretch hand, but Veson was now beside him, phaser pushed hard into his side.

"I promised to kill you the next time you spoke to me in such a manner WARLOCK !" she said darkly, then moved the device until it touched his forehead, "I believe you have a death wish Teiler. You certainly appear to from my point of view, otherwise why would you continue to attract my displeasure at every opportunity ?"

Teiler didn't answer, he just looked defiantly into her eyes, almost daring her to carry out her threat. But Jessica knew that the man was needed, and despite her need to set the example, she slowly lowered her arm.

"No-one can see 'the Captain' at this time ...... I have tried and failed." she said, finally admitting she was struggling with her apparent rejection, "This attack was not unprovoked, someone must have known, but whom that would be is impossible to ascertain at this time, but we will find out the reasoning, and when we do, someone will pay with their LIFE ! ..... Take all communications off-line and set about repairs ... We will have no further contact with, the RAVEN !" ......


~~~~~


The repairs were continuing, but without their matter/anti-matter they were effectively dead ... They had power for many months, but only for the most essential systems, with life support requiring the bulk of that power. More levels would need to be devoid of life-giving air, heat, gravity as the power finally began to diminish. If they were struggling before, they were about to suffer beyond anything they had even envisioned 'and all because they chose to come back and attack the USS Raven' she thought bitterly, as she finally managed to place her head against her pillow for the first time in almost two days.

In the living area, Veson worked tirelessly until the door chime sounded. Frowning at the hour, he stood and approached the door before activating the screen that showed the corridor beyond. A woman stood beyond, he watched her closely as she once again raised her hand to activate the chime. He tapped the communication pad and spoke:

"Speak."

"I am deeply sorry for the intrusion My Lord Veson." the woman said nervously, "But I have word from Councillor Andromeda .. She wishes to speak with Lady Jessica in private .. But due to the recent attack she is rightly concerned about appearing in person at this time .. She requests you allow a meeting .. She has sent a token of proof. I have it here"

After a moment's thought he looked toward the night chamber of his Lady, then he stepped in front of the door which automatically unlocked as his bio-sign was read, and he stepped forward looking left and right. He held out his right hand, phaser aimed at woman's midriff ... She took a small octagonal box from under her cloak and placed it in his hand. The needle punctured the skin of his palm and released it's contents in less than a second ... He had just enough time to fire the phaser .......

The bed chamber door slid silently aside, and the four intruders entered .... Standing at the foot of the bed, three watched for signs of their discovery while one, Jerdo Krecik, assassin, raised his knife above his head as he watched Jessica sleep. As he watched, she frowned, possibly detecting the strange odour in the room. She turned onto her back and opened her eyes ... In that second she could only see a dark hooded figure against the darkness of the room, his silhouette against the dark and the glint of reflected light as the weapon plunged into her chest ! .......


~~~~~


"My LADY ... My LADY ! ......" she opened her eyes to see Veson carrying her from her room, her chest was wet, something, a dream, no, someone had been in her room, but not her trusted bodyguard. Other's ... Surrounding her in a frantic confusion of movement, a mask covering her face, then Veson leaning close, telling her she was safe. a man, a stranger, being held to one side wishing to speak. She lifted her hand for silence then nodded to the captive:

"First Councillor ...." Krecik bowed slightly, stating his name before stepping back, "My deepest apologies for the deception. I had no choice but to follow Mage Teiler's orders. He would've executed me on the spot if I'd not submitted to his will. I never intended to kill you my Lady, you have my solemn word."

"Keep, him alive ......" she managed to whisper to Veson, before the Doctors returned to their medications and she fell into darkness once again ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"Keep, him alive ......"

Keep him alive? Krecik thought. That wasn't very reassuring. He knew well of the Community's routine torture practices, through the self-appointed Captain West his loyal associate since the downfall. Apparently however, the 'torture deck' had been vented of all atmosphere during the Raven's assault, so perhaps any potential atrocity committed against him could be ignored for now.

Warlock 'Milyanov' would be wondering where he was, why he hadn't reported back to the apparently flagging superstructure of the Community. The upper levels were rife with civil disorder, chaos, riots started by the middle and lower classes, clamouring at the doors in the walls of the concentric corridors leading into the Community's heart: the Council Chamber and the Grand Ascender set in its outer wall, up where The Captain maintained his silent vigil, surveying the madness playing out below him, unknowable thoughts in his mind.

It wouldn't be long before the Council Chamber was overcome by the furious middle classes, their chance for freedom from these dictatorial shackles perhaps finally realised.

Milyanov would wait forever, or until he was cut down in the Chamber. Krecik knew the warlock had plans for escape, but he doubted the warlock and West's ability to make it to the port airlock in time; then even if they were to make it, where would they go?

"I submit to your will, my lady..." he turned, caught in a sudden shadow. "Veson," he nodded, intimidated by the giant bodyguard leering over him.

The guard ignored him, turning back to the barely conscious First Councillor. "My lady, the Observatories report that the Raven is making another run towards us."

"Another attack?" Jerdo blurted. He looked about panicked, thoughts of possible impending torture entering his mind - however irrational - along with wishes to return home to Alpha Centauri, live out his life in obscurity but with an eye on his past self, perhaps mould his future to ensure he never set upon the path that'd caused his arrival here. But if they were to be pounded into ruin -

"No," Veson said curtly, once more turning away from Krecik. "No weapons have been activated. The Observatories report failure of understanding."

* * *

"Useful," Blakus said, looking at the PADD that Milyanov had presented. He nodded, satisfied, placing the specifications on the desk before him. The combination of tractor beams proposed to lock the 'future Raven' into steady rotation and drag it, at warp, towards the M-class planet of choice seemed to work.

"Five simulations, all work out..." the Russian said. "Further tests required of course. A bit of tweaking here and there may be needed."

Blakus spun in his desk chair, rotating 720 degrees. "If successful, consider yourself eligible for a promotion." The Admiral had presented his plan to the staff a few hours earlier and the CEO had been working on plans for relocation of the Community ever since. Now the task was virtually complete, he was at a loose end. Repairs to the Raven from The Captain's retaliatory strikes were nearly finished; all engineering duties considered formalities were concluded; the holodeck beckoned although he was still on duty.

<Tag Torek, Alllll >

[Carl Torek]

Carl had gone through the short-list of remote system's that held an 'E' type planet, and from that list Carl picked out Proxima Culuanni 24601 as the location for the Community .... As the Yosimite and Laffite approached, Carl told Harry to contact the vessels and tell them to hold station on these co-ordinates, then request the Captain's beam aboard for supper at nineteen hundred, He told Marionette to close the distance to the Community ship to five hundred meters and hold. He stood and moved to the turbo-lift:

"Calli, Andae, you're with me. Commander Wedlerson you have the Conn." They dropped to deck six and entered the transporter room.

"Chief, Lock onto the Community vessel's Council chamber." he said, sliding a panel aside and taking out three phasers. Handing one to each of his Officer's he stepped onto the platform and waited while Calli and Andae followed suit, "Keep a lock on us Chief. If I need to come back in a hurry I want to be here before I finish the sentence, understood ?"

"Aye Sir, back here quick fast, no problem."

"Don't you just hate it when people drop in uninvited ....." he said, shrugging, "..... Energize."

~~~~~

To say their sudden unexpected arrival in the Council chamber was a surprise, was an understatement ! .... Several of the Councillors raised their correction devices, but Blakus and Valente were quicker, and had them covered. Each of the Council lowered their hand and sat down. glaring at the intruders.

"How 'DARE' you trespass in this Chamb ......"

"I Dared." Carl said, eyeing each in turn until his eyes fell on Jessica, "I've taken the liberty of inviting myself over as you refused to answer any of our hales. Given the activity among your 'crew' I suspect this is due to you not being informed of our decision to disable your drive and weapons systems. Alas, I can't be held responsible for what your fellow Council members choose to tell, or not tell you ... But that being as it may, I am now informing you that we have been joined by two other Star Ships, and when our space-going tug arrives we will be tractoring you into tow ... You are to be taken to a system where you will disembark this vessel for the last time."

"YOU CANNOT DO THIS !" Teiler screamed, his temper finally getting the better of his self control.

"I can, and I am, so you might as well accept your fate .... It would be impractical to say the least, to allow you to return to your own time. Our research shows that this vessel is responsible for the loss of at least nine Federation vessels and Civilian transports, with the loss of life from your 'piracy' well into the THOUSANDS, including innocent women and CHILDREN ! ... So don't tell me what I can or can't do, Mage. if it were my call, I would destroy your ship now, but unfortunately, the Federation Council was less than eager on that option ... So ....."

"Admiral. You mean to abandon us on a planet, am I correct ?"

"Yes, but there are conditions to the relocation ......." he said, looking around the ring of Councillor's, "Once we reach the system, the Ruling Council and their entourage' will be transported to the surface. We intend to relocate your 'un-named' on the other side of the planet from you, as we're understandably concerned you'll reassert you're dominance over them the second we depart ... Further, you will be allowed nothing that will give you access to develop warp technology. You will receive only what you need for basic survival, no replicators, no weapon's, your 'correction devices' will be confiscated before you transport to the surface. Both continents will receive the same to allow your continued well-being, albeit a difficult well-being, for five years. If you have not developed systems to feed, clothe and survive in your location in that time, then you will perish."

"You can't do this to us Admiral. The Federation will not allow it, the very Constitution your United Federation of Planets is based upon will not allow forced relocation. You may leave us to our own devices, but you are bound by the very doctrine of the Federation to ensure our continued existence."

Carl shook his head ......

"No ... I'm afraid not Councillor ... Once the relocation has been completed, and you have everything we deem necessary from your ship for you to eat and live, then we will destroy the Community vessel ........ Buoy's will be placed throughout the system effectively quarantining you from any and 'ALL' outside assistance. No-one will enter that system once we leave it .... And please, do not misunderstand what I say next .... We will 'NOT' be returning to this system, for any reason. You will effectively live out your lives on that planet, and with luck and good leadership, form a society of your own. But your space-faring days are done."

Jessica came around the table as Carl was reaching for his comm badge, she held up a hand that stopped him activating the Comm:

"I have had ample opportunity to read about our history while on this vessel .... There have been numerous cases of forced relocation, Genghis Kahn and the Mongol horde, Adolph Hitler, The Australian's and the Aborigines, even your own people's persecution and attempted eradication of the Native Indian nation's in the United States of America .... They all got what was due to them in time, and I think you shall too."

"Well at least I'll be remembered among your people, for the wrong reasons I'm sure, as they won't want to remember the circumstances leading to their arrival on what is to become their home world."

"We SHALL prevail TOREK ! ..." Mage Teiler spat, but Carl just looked on the man with sadness and pity:

"I'm not too well up on my Latin literature, but I remember one phrase that Virgil wrote ...... 'Sic itur ad astra : Thus one goes to the stars. Such is the way to immortality' ...... Alas, not for you." he said, looking with sadness at Jessica as he tapped his Comm badge.

"Energize." ..........

[Calli Valente]

"We SHALL prevail TOREK ! ..." Mage Teiler spat, but Carl just looked on the man with sadness and pity. Calli raised her phaser to ensure the Mage didn't attempt to step forward and do something stupid.

"Engage." Torek ordered and they vanished from sight ..... As they materialized, Calli looked at Carl with raised eyebrows.

"Quoting admiral, not like you." she said with a wry grin.

"It seemed, appropriate." the Admiral replied as they left the transporter room and headed for the Bridge, "Teiler doesn't like the situation. I seriously doubt any of they do, but they brought this on themselves."

"What about Leanne ?" Calli asked.

"She's staying here." he said simply, before taking his seat.

"Admiral, Captain Ryland and Captain Maute send their compliments and will transport over at eighteen thirty hours." Carl looked at the chronometer above the screen. He had two hours before they arrived.

"Keep a close eye on that ship Harry. I'm going to my quarters to freshen up. You two will be joining us ...." he said to Calli and Andae, "... So I suggest you both follow suit."


~~~~~


It was twenty two hundred and the meal was over .... Captain Burl, Commander of the space tug, had joined them mid evening. They had discussed every aspect of the procedure they were about to carry out. Fairclough informed Torek that it was going to be very difficult to tow the enormous Community vessel given it's state of disrepair, but they agreed that with the Yosimite extending her shields to cover the future ship, and the Laffite using her tractor beams to assist the tug, they should be able to make good headway. Fairclough had initially insisted that the ship be evacuated, but Torek was not allowing anyone to leave, regardless of the danger. Between them, they could accommodate the whole of the communities population, but Carl was not allowing it ...


Zero eight hundred hours ::


All the Senior Staff, apart from the still unwell Executive Officer, were assembled on the Bridge of the Raven ...... They watched as the Yosimite passed them and made a slow turn. It climbed above the Community vessel then settled into place a mere fifty meter about to central mass of the ship. The tug and the Laffite moved away, returning to position themselves ahead of the massive future vessel ... Captain Burl had suggested he have control over the Intrepid Class Laffite for the duration of the tow to ensure that it remained precisely in position throughout. With Burl on the Bridge of the Laffite he instructed his Exec' to lock onto the Star Ship and hold position in relation to the Community ...

"Sir. Yosimite, Laffite, and the Ganemede all report they are ready to begin."

The Raven would act as a monitoring station for the Tug, the Star Ships, and the Community vessel. Any issues would be relayed throughout the flotilla and if necessary they would halt. He asked Marionette to ensure the Raven remained close to allowed all stations to monitor the other ships unhindered. Then he asked for a Comm link be opened to the Community ... He was surprised when they answered immediately:

=^= So .. Our enforced exile is to begin I take it =^= Jessica said. He could see the effect everything was taking on the young woman, she looked as if she hadn't slept for a month, but he couldn't allow his personal feelings to interfere in the task at hand.

=^= You know we have no other option Councillor .. If you wish to remain among the living that is =^=

Calli glanced at Carl, knowing he was being harsher that was needed, but it was the only way to get the seriousness of their situation across she felt.

=^= We will not reach this 'new home' you speak of Admiral =^= she relied matter of factly.

=^= Have you made every effort to secure all sections of your ship Jessica ? =^=

=^= What do you care .. You will drag us into this purgatory you call home .. We no longer wish communication between us Admiral =^= she said, closing the Comm before Carl could reply.

"We can hardly blame them for being aggrieved Admiral. Maybe we should have tried to have someone over there, to help ?" Calli said, sadness in every word.

"No. They had their chances to be cooperative. You think we should allow them to leave ?"

"No .... They deserve much less than they are getting from the Federation. I ju ......"

"We are doing everything we can to prevent their continued attacks on vessels Calli. If there were other, more practical options, we would have come up with them." he said, placing a hand on her shoulder for reassurance. Calli smiled, she knew what they were doing was right, and once they arrived at their new home the un-named would for the first time be able to life their lives without the torment of the Council hovering over them. She nodded and Carl turned to the screen:

"Open Comms to all Federation vessels." he waited then spoke:

=^= Yosimite .. Activate and extend shields .. .. .. Laffite and Ganemede .. Lock tractor beams on the bow of the Community vessel =^=

He received confirmation from all three ships that they were ready, and with one final look at the now very dilapidated Community, he turned control of the tow over to Captain Burk on the Laffite.

=^= All vessels .. .. One quarter impulse power on my mark .. .. Three .. .. Two .. .. One .. .. Engage =^=

The four conjoined vessels began to slowly move forward. The Raven monitored structural stresses on the bow of the Community vessel as did the tug.

At warp speed the journey would take weeks to complete, but at their present speed, a mere crawl, the Luyten's Star System, and Proxima Culuanni 24601, would take thousand's of years to reach. Almost the equivalent of walking from the Earth to the Moon with both feet tied together. So, over the next seventy two hours Burl would slowly, very slowly, increase their speed, until they reached point nine nine of light ... Then, and only then, could they even consider going to warp ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"The bridge reports all four ships in formation, sir," Milyanov said to Andae. They were in engineering, their surroundings pulsing and humming as the core gradually increased its power flow to the impulse engines and the adjoining fusion reactors.

The quintet of vessels had to be accelerated very slowly as to avoid structural stresses on the Community. Odd, Andae thought, that four Federation vessels should have to be so careful not to damage the 1.5 km ship that had caused so much destruction to Federation vessels in its previous incursions into the past. He reminded himself, some of those incursions were still to come, but that future had now been prevented, at least in this timeline with their escorting of The Captain's broken vessel to Proxima Culuanni.

He acknowledged his assistant and moved into his office, taking the desk seat and accessing his personal console. He analysed the torsional and shear stresses being placed on the lower areas of the Community - the homeplace of the Unnamed.

Great rents in the future ship - gashes in its dark underbelly - punctuated those lower sections, many of the vessel's internal areas open to vacuum, others with their atmospheres locked in, barely, thus maintaining the fragile but continued existence of the Community's 'underclass' civilian population. If the alignment in the Laffite and Ganemede's tractor beams was lost even by the slightest fraction of a radian the Community's vast chassis might acquire a small rotational element, enough to introduce intolerable stresses on the most vulnerable sections of the hull. Andae remembered his supposed relative from 500 years in the future, during that unusual communication from Andromeda. Ultimus: he didn't want him to die.

In his mind during his return visit to the Community, and then again on the bridge as Jessica had ended her final communique, Andae had believed that the Raven was in error. He thought they had allowed themselves to be swept up in a riot of enthusiasm, with the idea that forced relocation of the Community was the right thing to do. He could see the argument, that the Ruling Council should be forced to fend for themselves, go their own way and build a society based on fairness and equality rather than oppression of the masses. But was it right to 'force' them to relocate? Most importantly, was it right to impress Federation ideals onto this culture, no matter how tyrannical and corrupt they might be?

The ships continued in sync until they reached 0.98 lightspeed (outlawed impulse velocity, the maximum impulse as defined by Starfleet regulations being 0.25 lightspeed). Back in main engineering, the constrictors were starting to thrum with the familiar frequency of warp factor 1 - they had only to feed the necessary plasma into the nacelles and the warp coils would activate the bubble around the co-jointly shielded vessels and propel them into the realm of non-Einsteinian physics.

"Sir, the Ganemede is reporting a slight radial shift in the Community's position."

Andae hurried to the 'pool table'. "Is their tractor beam stable?"

Milyanov called from the other side of the table, "That's the thing, sir, they say it's at the correct alignment. The Community's doing it itself."

"Are they trying to kill themselves! At this speed their ship will be torn apart if they try -"

"Never mind that," Tinsley said, "How are they doing it? We've disabled their engines. Unless they're ejecting mass of some kind to change their momentum vector, or using rotational thrusters..."

Andae worked furiously at his part of the pool table, letting his senior assistants argue over the particulars of the Community's apparent escape attempt. He ran calculations, confirming that what he'd thought was feasible and presented a minimal risk. "Blakus to bridge, I assume you're reading that drift in the Community's position. If it continues it will tear them apart. I strongly recommend we jump to warp 2.5." After the cries of alarm had died down he continued, "We can't wait until we reach 0.99; it will all be over by then. We need to accelerate hard, and now, sir. It's the only thing that gives the Community a chance of being pulled back onto our heading; any slower, say warp 1.5, they'll continue to rotate faster and faster and will come apart, likely taking us with them."

[Carl Torek]

Sixty eight hours later ::


It had taken almost three days to reach their current speed, and Carl was looking forward to the up-coming jump to warp ... Everything had been going so well, unfortunately, too well .....

"Admiral. I'm picking up anomalous readings from the tractor's ... If I had to guess I'd say the Community vessel was using their Port manoeuvring thrusters, causing a twisting torque in the superstructure against the tractor beams ... They can't remain intact with so much stress on the hu ....." Harry began, but the Comm chirped to life as he spoke:

=^= Blakus to bridge .. I assume you're reading that drift in the Community's position .. If it continues it will tear them apart .. I strongly recommend we jump to warp two point five .. We can't wait until we reach point nine nine .. It will all be over by then .. We need to accelerate hard and now Sir .. It's the only thing that gives the Community a chance of being pulled back onto our heading =^=

=^= We're seeing it up here Commander .. Hold off on the jump to warp for thirty seconds =^= Carl closed the comm and told Wedlerson to open a Comm link to the Community vessel. Harry said they could hear him even if they chose not to answer. He stood and moved to the view-screen:

=^= Raven to Community vessel .. We are aware of what you are attempting .. You will cease 'ALL' activities now .. If your ship disintegrates it will destroy the three vessels towing you =^= Harry shrugged, they had heard the communication but were either ignoring the order to cease, or were doing their best to destroy themselves, and the Federation vessels along with them. He repeated the order again, but with no time to pander to their childish attitude, Carl opened the Comm:

=^= Bridge to Engineering .. Stand by to jump to warp two point five on my mark =^=

"Commander Peers, can you isolate individual member's of the Community ?" Torek asked.

"Well, I can use the transporter logs to find anyone who beamed over here previously. If you need anyone else tha ...."

"Scan for Jessica, the Mage, and Andromeda." Torek ordered, watching the massive Community vessel on-screen.

"I have them Admiral." Peers informed him.

"Lock onto each of them and transport direct to our Brig ... Do it now !" Fifteen seconds later the Chief Security Officer informed him the Councillor's were aboard.

"Helm. Move us out to twenty thousand kilometers." Torek ordered, tapping the Comm button on the arm rest.

=^= Bridge to Engineering .. Synchronize our Drive system commands with the other vessels and jump to warp when ready ! =^=


< tag : Andae >


It seemed to take an eternity before the Raven transited into that non-Einsteinian realm .... Because the five vessels were travelling at the same speed only the stars beyond signified their faster than light state. He looked at Harry who was scanning the Community vessel and waited patiently. He needed to hear from his Chief Engineer, but knew better than to pester the man, so wait it was .... The Comm chirped to life:

=^= Detention to Bridge =^=

=^= Bridge =^= Harry replied.

=^= Sir .. Lieutenant Jeek .. Brig Officer .. Our 'guests' are demanding to be returned to their vessel =^= Harry looked at the Admiral who ran a finger across his neck as he watched the Community ship.

=^= Are they causing you any other problems Lieutenant ? =^=

=^= Erm .. No Sir .. One of them is moaning as you can likely hear .. The other tw .. .. =^= the seemingly bemused Officer replied.

=^= Then let them moan .. The Admiral will get to them in due course =^=

=^= Aye ...... Sir =^= Jeek said to an already closed Comm, before turning back to his unexpected guests. The tall woman simply stood looking at him, the young attractive woman just shook her head and sat on the extended bunk at the back of the cell, only the third occupant was vocal about his apparent imprisonment, and Jeek knew that if he didn't shut the hell up he would ask medical to sedate the maniac.

"TOREK ! ... TOREK ! ... Show yourself ... YOU ... Minion ... Release me NOW or you will feel my wrath. I will NOT be held here against my will !" the man slammed himself against the force-field time and time again. This ranting went on for a further fifteen minutes until the young Lieutenant feared the man would seriously injure himself. He waited while the man gathered himself for another onslaught on the force-field, and as he stepped back to take a run Jeek lowered the field, lifted a phaser from his podium and fired into the cell, raising the barrier less than a second later ... The now unconscious man was prostrate on the floor ... Replacing the phaser he sat in silence and continued filling out his reports ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Computers were always better at this. Andae surveyed the screen: four vessels' engine readouts arranged inside graphical squares above the larger wireframe image of the Community that rotated in its display, the stressed hull areas and overloaded thruster ports flashing angry red.

It was no use trying to synchronise the four Starfleet crafts' jump to warp with manual communication. Only by allowing access to each others' computers could they ensure that the warp coils of each ship were engaged within picoseconds of each other. Any greater margin of error would result in catastrophe; while the four ships would be fine, as they all shot off on slightly different supralight trajectories, the Community, having no propulsion of its own - and being tractored by two of those ships - would undoubtedly be torn apart.

"Warp field stable..." Milyanov said, diving from one side of the master display to the other, "The Community is with us." There was a collective sigh of relief from the engineers situated around the 'pool table'.

The magnetic constrictors throbbed with greater frequency as Commander Marionette ramped up the speed on a sharp acceleration curve to warp 2.5. More areas were flashing red on the wireframe image of the Community on Andae's console; it rotated about wildly as the computer alerted him to new areas of concern. "Lieutenant? Milyanov?"

The Russian hurried from wall display to master console, "Yeah. The Community has lurched violently back onto our course. They've suffered minor further structural damage, nothing critical on first analysis. Whatever mass they were ejecting before they've ceased it now. Within the warp bubble and under the tractor beams it won't be any use to them anyway, if they do decide to try and break formation."

=/\= Bridge, this is Blakus... The Community is on a steady heading, in sync with the Ganymede and Laffite. We're on the way to Proxima Culuanni. =/\=

<Tag Torek>

---

He walked the red plain: seemingly endless, one rise after another, a heat haze, the near horizon lost in a mirage of melding bronze, grey and gold that was somehow perforated. The air was close about him, a dense atmosphere of high pressure. His steps were heavy, the next rise never seeming to come any closer.

Slipping in the red grit, the red-robed Warlock fell unceremoniously. He looked up, a grimace on his features, a fiery sky reflected as red in his eyes which seemed to burn with the same fire. Smoke rose from invisible pores in the ground, as if this was the skin of some vast being exuding a greater flame that lay within.

Eventually, coming to the top of the rise - although it had seemed he'd been making no progress in his traverse of the demonic, infinite plain - he saw a ruined city: eroded columns, grey cubic blocks adorning the surface, collapsed temples and statues. The silent wind blew dust through the air towards the city; dusk descended as the Warlock made his way down the shallow slope to the outskirts of the ancient settlement.

He staggered through the deserted avenues, his hollered calls echoing into nothingness, rebounding through the hollow towers. He built up the courage to walk down one of the alleys; peered through the windowless frames into the silent residences - only skeletons remained, caught in various horrific reposes of death.

"Captain... Captain!" he cried again and again as he roamed the grey streets. Detritus littered a large square up ahead; a central statue snapped at one of its ankles lurched over the square at an absurd angle. Teiler came into the shadow of the monument, looked into its chipped eroded face. He didn't recognise it.

He ran around the square, eventually coming to a halt and sinking into the dust. "Captain..."

Laughter broke the skies; he looked up. A giant hand, golden, reached through the scarlet clouds; a finger extending towards him, closing in as if to swat him from existence. Teiler curled up on the ground, choking, mumbling, gripping his knees and curling into the foetal position. His mouth opened to scream.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Jessica said, grumbling and turning over on the cell's bunk. Andromeda was regarding him quizzically.

Teiler wiped the sweat from his brow. He wasn't aware that he'd just screamed - to him the vocalisation had been lost somewhere in the gap between sleep and wakefulness. His side and chest still hurt where he'd been hit by the forcefield and the phaser beam respectively. He ignored his fellow Councillors; both thought he was insane anyway.

The chance would come once they reached their accursed destination, to exact revenge on the Raven by oppressing even more the populace of the Community. Continents would not be barriers - the Unnamed would come under the dominance of the Council again, whether or not that future had a place for Cesif Teiler.

[Carl Torek]

Once the flotilla had successfully made the transition to warp speed and Commander Blakus, monitoring the primary vessels towing the community was happy they were stable, Carl decided it was time to go to the Brig to question the leading Council members as to what he could only describe as their apparent suicide attempt ... He, Andae and Calli entered, telling the Lieutenant on duty to step outside for a moment.

"Return us to our vessel Torek !" the Mage said weakly, obviously still suffering from his exploits, and the Lieutenant's phaser.

"You waste your breath Mage." Andromeda said. Her only comment throughout the meeting.

"You are not going back Teiler, so you may as well accept the fact. Precisely 'where' you spend the remainder of the journey is down to you." Carl said, stepping in front of the cell containing Jessica. He lowered the force field and stepped inside, Blakus and Valente remained outside and raised the 'field behind him, "Jessica ... We need to talk about what you were attempting when we beamed you off your ship."

"I don't think I want to answer your questions, Admiral." Jessica said, turning away to signify the conversation was over, but he continued anyway:

"You could have killed almost three thousand people if Commander Blakus hadn't managed to counteract your actions, though I'm sure you knew that when you began, so, is your demise and that of the Community preferable to our option ?"

"There are 'THOUSANDS' of innocent men women and 'CHILDREN' on your ship Jessica !" Calli said, unable to keep quiet, "You don't deserve to be in any position of authority ... 'NONE' of you do !" but she fell silent as the Admiral glanced in her direction.

"What you are doing is illegal ....... Yes, we would have destroyed our ship, yes we would have caused those deaths, and 'YES' it is preferable to exile !" Jessica spat.

"Did you have the Captains blessing for what you were attempting ?" Carl asked, seeing Jessica hesitate for the first time.

"He ... He has secluded himself from the Council. He refuses to have contact with us at this point. No doubt due to your unwarranted attack on our Community."

"Oh, I seriously doubt it's because of what we have done." Calli said.

"We 'WILL' escape Torek .... And when we do we will destroy your Federation vessels." Teiler shouted from his cell, making Calli turn to face him.

"No, Mage ... You wont, because if need be, you will remain where you are until we reach our destination. Maybe we should consider sedation ?" she said, a wry smile forming, infuriating the Mage in the process.

"Think about your options Jessica." Carl said quietly, hoping he could get through to her on a personal level, "Your relocation 'is' going to happen. Your ship 'is' going to be destroyed .... We want to do this with as little upheaval as possible. It is going to be traumatic to most of your so-called 'un-named' to suddenly find themselves on solid ground, not to mention with no Council to lord over them and dictate their actions. But I am confident that they will likely adapt to their new environment a lot quicker than your Council members and their minions. Either way, it is going to happen, and in my opinion, you need to realize something right now ... Once on the surface there will be approximately twenty thousand kilometers between the Council and the rest of the ships crew. You will number less than one hundred people, while they will have almost three thousand, and plenty of time to figure out how they can defend themselves against their former rulers should you even manage to make the journey. So I think any thoughts of popping over and taking up your previous positions isn't viable. What should be uppermost on your minds is how you live once on the surface ...... You need to realize that your options are non-existent in this matter Jessica." Carl said, standing and walking toward the force-field, as he stepped over the threshold and the 'field was re-activated, Jessica spoke:

"On the surface ... We will regain our former position Admiral. It is inevitable ... We will destroy you and your Federation if it takes the lifetimes of each and every one of the Council."

"Oh, I think you are somewhat deluded on that matter too Jessica." Carl said, a sadness in his voice, "We have been in contact with the remainder of your Council. We got the distinct impression that they feel they are much better off now you three are no longer there to assert your will upon them."

"If we are released, you will suffer." Teiler spat from his cell.

"Then make yourselves comfortable Councillor's ....." Carl said, motioning for the Duty Officer to return inside, "From this point you are not to lower the force-field on any cell without my direct instruction."

"Understood Admiral." the man said, returning to his station, glancing at Teiler as he sat ... With one last look at the Councillor's Torek walked out of the Brig, Calli and Andae walking behind him ........


Day twelve:


In the preceding two weeks, the Raven's Command Staff had been in contact with the Councillor's held in the Brig. Carl had asked if they had changed their minds as to wanting to remain in isolation. The reply confirmed his decision to keep them in the Brig until it was time to transport them to the surface ... It seemed that the other Councillor's on the Community vessel had accepted their fate, in fact, the impression they almost welcomed their relocation was uppermost in their conversations with the Raven crew. In the absence of Jessica, Teiler, and Andromeda, Councillor Christine Schich, a descendent of Commander Jamison, and Councillor Rachel Peers, with the full approval of the other Council members, now represented the Community. A daily conference takes place to ensure everything is well ... The riots and unrest had eventually subsided until only small pockets of dissidents remained, and they were being handled easily. The loss of life during the unrest could not be prevented, but the Community had eventually adapted to the new dynamic ..... On day six, the flotilla had been forced to drop out of warp so Engineer's from the Raven and the Yosimite could reinforce section's that had ruptured during the transition, but they were now travelling at warp three point nine, a large improvement on their previous maximum, and one that would cut the journey time to to Proxima Culuanni down to twenty three days in total.

Carl hoped that there would be no further incidents that could disrupt the journey. Part of him knew that what they were doing was unethical, but the Federation had deemed there was no other viable option in the matter, and he had come to accept the fact ... He had gone down to the Brig on several occasions in an effort to get Jessica to accept their fate, but each time he was rebuffed. He realized that there was nothing more he could do, and almost reluctantly, he began to anticipate their arrival at the Community's new home ..........

[Andae Blakus]

The Raven was one day out from the Proxima Culuanni system. Blakus watched from his quarters' aft facing windows the Ganymede and Laffite that continued to drag the hulk of the Community in their wake. The outline of the misshapen Galaxy class vessel eclipsed the stars. Had it ever been determined that it'd once been a Galaxy class ship? Could it indeed change its form to suit whichever interstellar civilisation it infiltrated in its incursions into the past?

He pushed off the window frame and retreated to the couch, some place of temporary comfort of which he'd had too little on this outing. Two padds were on the table before him; one detailing the future Raven's specifications they'd managed to glean from close proximity to it during this long-distance haul, the other displaying a transcript of the secret communique between himself, Andromeda and... Ultimus. The man's words had been pathetic; broken, subservient, worshipful. Blakus wasn't so much surprised by the man's absurd reverence of him as he was by the fact that his line had managed to be preserved for 500 years (if Andromeda's words were to be trusted).

Whatever the truth of the future vessel's origin - whether they were direct descendants, from 42 years in the future or 500 years; or if they were aliens having at The Captain's will taken the roles of plausible descendants - its fate, its final resting place was decided. It would be dismantled, its inhabitants abandoned on an E type planet to carve out a future for themselves that didn't rely on scavenging and marauding through time. Making him jump, an alert signal flashing red from his bed compartment attracted his attention. An incoming communique.

He sighed and sat at the console, answering the secure subspace message. It was Pike, Andromeda's subordinate aboard the Community. Only his pale face was visible, the background all in darkness.

"You shouldn't be contacting me..." Andae said, "Hasn't the violence ended there?"

"The Pril are no longer represented on the Council," Pike answered bluntly, "No replacement was allowed to step in after you stole Councillor Andromeda from us."

"Your Council's days are numbered anyway, Pike." Blakus hadn't forgotten this Pril soldier's rough treatment of him when he'd been captured aboard the Community, "Soon it won't matter. Pril and human - if that's what you truly are - will have equal rights on Proxima Culuanni."

"Hah! Listen to you spout the drivel of your superiors. It was a mistake to think you had our best interests at heart, not even your poor descendant moves you." Pike stepped back, the light on his face panning, some of the background illuminated. It dawned on Blakus; the soldier was in the ruined Council chamber. Presumably then the new Council had relocated their HQ. Pike continued,"And the Deity has vanished! We fear for her safety. The riots were brutal; the Council's soldiers and the rebelling civilians both suffered heavy casualties."

Blakus's face moved slightly, "Sorry. I have more pressing matters to attend to... We'll see to it that the area we settle you in has sufficient natural resources..." he trailed off as the comm ended, Pike spluttering his disbelieving retorts as the image faded away. The door to his quarters had become a rectangle of penetrating light.

[Carl Torek]

Proxima Culuanni 24601 ::


The Raven and accompanying vessels had been in orbit around Proxima Culuanni for seventeen days ..... They had transported all of the un-named from the Community vessel and had provided supplies to last five years. Many of those transported to the surface had requested to be allowed to travel back to Earth, but the Federation Council had refused all applications. As the days had passed, most of the Community families had picked out area's to settle, some were already building homes and helping other's to do likewise. It had taken all the replicator facilities of the three Federation Star Ships to produce materials and food for the settlers, but eventually they had everything they would need.

All three vessels, along with the space tug Ganymede had allowed shore leave to anyone not assisting in the resettlement, and many had made friends among the former Community population. Carl had spent almost two weeks on the surface himself, helping with construction of what was to become the main town buildings. The un-named had appointed several of their number to oversee the work and he was happy to see the progress being made. he began to think they would be able to move on to relocating the Council members and their personal entourage's within the next few days. He needed to be sure that everything that could be done had been, because once they left the settlers, there would be no returning, under any circumstances !

oooOOOooo

Sitting in the observation lounge or the Raven, Carl watched the planet slowly rotating below them. He had agonized over what they were doing, and had wondered on more than one occasion if he should have taken the suggestion to the Council in the first place, but in truth, he could not find any justification to rescind the Federation decision ... The door opened and Calli entered, a little surprised to find him sat in the semi darkness.

"Sorry, I just needed somewhere quiet to go through these reports." she said by way of apology, "I'll leave you to it."

"No, there's plenty of room." he said, motioning towards one of the empty seats, "I can't believe how much we had replicated and sent to the surface, not to mention how much tonnage the portable replicator's we are using down there are pumping out."

"Yes .... It's a massive undertaking." she replied, seating herself and spreading the Padd's out before her.

"How are we doing with the Community vessel ?"

"Well, we've stripped everything usable out and sent it to the surface. We've divided it over both continents ... Commander Blakus is overseeing the mechanical aspects of the dismantling, I think he's enjoying juggling the Engineering teams from the four ships. I've not seen him stop for day's and yesterday caught him napping on his desk." she said, grinning.


< tag : Andae >


She put the Padd she was reading onto the table and looked at Torek:

"I have to say Carl, that I was totally against this forced relocation at first, especially when Jessica compared us to Hitler, the Native American Indian's, and whoever else she dropped in for good measure."

"..... And now ?"

"Now I think it was our only viable option given the circumstances."

"That's good to hear Calli." he said, standing to look down at more of the planet they were orbiting. Calli joined him and linked her arm in his. They were practically Brother and Sister, and she had the sudden feeling that a little understanding would go a long way. After a few moments stood in silence, both contemplating their thoughts, she returned to her reports, watching Carl walk out of the lounge without another word .....

As he stepped onto the Bridge Captain Ryland from the Laffite was waiting for him:

"Admiral. The members of the Diplomatic Corps are asking if the USS Joyce Miller can remain in orbit indefinitely ? ..... I've already explained that once we leave the system it will be placed under quarantine, but you know how these people are."

"Tell them no. When they are satisfied they have made sure no-one on the surface is in harms way, then they go. If you have any problems tell them to come see me, they always seem to need more and more time, what for is frankly beyond me ... How's things going on the surface, have we transported everything the Council member's will need yet ?"

"Nowhere near ... Commander Blakus is doing one hell of a job coordinating everything as well as readying the Community vessel for destruction. Don't know how he does it. I'm going back down when we're done here."

"OK ...... I'm going to take one last trip to the surface tomorrow and we'll go from there. Thank you Captain."

"No problem." Ryland said, leaving the Bridge. Torek sat down and pondered the time he would need to go to the Brig and inform the three Councillor's that it was time fro them to leave ..........

[Carl Torek]

The relocation of the Community was almost complete. The Raven, along with five other Federation vessel's had been in orbit around Proxima Culuanni for almost five weeks. In that time the three leading Councillor's still held on the Raven had steadfastly refused to speak to anyone from the Federation, in fact, they seemed to all intents and purposes to be playing the silent game, refusing to have anything to do with anyone but themselves ... To say their attitude was frustrating was a massive understatement. it was like having to deal with petulant children, throwing their teddy bears out of their proverbial prams.

Over the last week the remaining Councillor's from the Community vessel had been transported to the surface. The majority had admitted that it was what they needed while one or to remained defiant, but it had made no difference, they were going to the surface willingly, or by force, it didn't really matter in Carl's view. But now, he needed to inform the three on his ship that they were leaving ..... He wasn't looking forward to it by any stretch of the imagination !

~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting in the Observation Lounge with his Senior Staff and two representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, Carl waited while the three remaining Councillor's were brought from the Brig, where they had spent the last two months. They filed in, contempt on their faces as they took their seats without a work of acknowledgement to the Officer's present. After a moment he began:

"All the personnel you deemed as the 'un-named' have been settled on the warmer, southernmost continent ..... The remaining Council members, along with their personal guards or entourage have been located on the northernmost, and admittedly cooler continent. The Federation vessels in orbit have, over the last month replicated and transported over seventy thousand tonnes of equipment and supplies to both continents. I am reliably informed that there is more than enough for you to survive for approximately 'five' years ! ..... In that time you will be expected to develop an eco-system and begin to farm. Failure to do so will ultimately result in your starvation, and as I have emphasized over and over again, there will be 'NO HELP' from the Federation of anyone else once we depart this system. So, I would strongly suggest you find your green fingers."

"You think this a joke !" Jessica shouted, standing and glaring at Torek.

"A joke ? ..... No ..... Far from it in fact. You brought this on yourselves Jessica. You, the Mage, Andromeda, and this 'Captain' which by the way we have found no trace of whatsoever ..... I was going to ask you about that small issue, but frankly I couldn't care any less than I do already. I believe you fabricated this Captain of yours a long time ago. Why, I have no idea, and as I said, don't care ..... You have in my opinion lorded over almost three thousand civilians, keeping them in abject poverty and used them for any number of unspeakable things. They are free of your hold now, and in my opinion all the better for that. You won't be continuing your little empire from here on in, though I have no doubt in my mind that the people who served you loyally only weeks ago are about to find their positions much changed as you and the other Councillor's assert you dominance on them."

Mage Teiler stood up, throwing his chair over in the process, but before he could move he was looking into the business end of a phaser.

"How are we to live Torek !" the Mage spat, but Carl simply shrugged, waiting patiently while the Security Officer coaxed the Mage back into his seat.

It was then that Jessica realized that the planet was falling away below them. She slowly stood up, not wanting to be forced back into her seat as a second phaser-clad Officer began to step in front of her, but Torek waved the man away so the Councillor could approach the panoramic windows. Immediately she noticed the other Federation vessels, and the Tow-ship Ganymede, pulling the Community vessel out of it's high orbit. It took her a moment to realize what was happening, then she spun on Carl:

"NO ! ..... You cannot do this to us ..... Please, I'm begging you Admiral."

The other Councillor's realized what was happening. Teiler reacted badly, but Andromeda sat as if contemplating a piece of music she was listening to ... The Comm chirped to life:

=^= Admiral .. We are in position =^=

Carl looked at the Councillor's in turn, wondering how he would be reacting should their roles be reversed, then he spoke, keeping his eyes locked on Jessica's:

=^= Proximity protocols set ? =^=

=^= All ready Sir =^=

With inhuman speed, Andromeda suddenly stood and threw herself at Torek. Three beams from three phaser's slammed into the Android as she passed over the ornate curved table and she fell to the floor in a heap all her systems overloaded. He looked at the mechanism sadly before turning to the other's. Both Jessica and Teiler looked almost 'disappointed' at the outcome of Andromeda's sudden attack.

=^= Weapons Officer .. Lock onto the Community vessel with quantum torpedoes and stand by .. Comms patch this communication to all ships .. .. .. Torek to all vessels .. Lock weapons and stand by for my order .. .. .. =^=

He looked at Jessica again, then a the small spec that was the two kilometer long Community vessel.

=^= Torek to Bridge .. Fire ! =^=

Six quantum torpedoes arrowed across the five thousand kilometers of space between the Raven and the Community vessel. Less than a second later the Yosimite and Laffite both fired their own volley of torpedoes. The impact, and subsequent explosion was spectacular beyond words. Even though Engineers had stripped the vessel of all fissionable materials, some obviously remained as the ship exploded in a cascade of luminescence. The light show continued for two full minutes as every last square centimeter of the enormous Community vessel twisted and wreathed in her death-throes. But eventually the lights diminished into nothingness .......

=^= All vessels report successful detonation of their torpedoes Admiral .. We're scanning the region for debris .. .. .. Confirmed total destruction Admiral .. Residual radiation subsiding as per estimations =^=

=^= Thank you bridge .. Continue to monitor and request the other ships stand down and make ready to depart the system .. I'll contact all Commanding Officer's shortly =^=

=^= Aye Sir =^=

Carl looked at the Councillor's as the Comm closed ... Both seemed to be attempting to deal with what had happened in their own way, but unfortunately he didn't have time to allow their wallowing .....

"We are returning to orbit of your new home where you will be transported to the surface. Commander Peers, see to it these people are returned to the Brig pending transport." he said, standing and leaving the observation lounge without another word ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"Chief? You in?"

Blakus vaguely heard the call from outside his office. Groggily he came to, lifting his head off a scattered stack of padds and wondering how he could've fallen asleep in such an uncomfortable position. "Of course I'm in..." he murmured. There was excitement behind his eyes.

Milyanov rounded the windowed wall of his office and presented the status of the dismantling of the Community. Seeing his Chief's hesitation, he gestured to the desk, "Shall I add it to the pile?"

Shaking his head Andae took the padd from his assistant and read it through. Just an hour ago he'd been on the Yosemite, coordinating with its Chief Engineer and Chief of Operations over transport of construction materials that would facilitate completion of or repairs to the sections of the Community that had been landed on the planet. Before that he'd had a meeting with the commanders of the Laffite and Ganymede concerning the structural stresses placed on the Community over the course of the two ships' haul of The Captain's vessel to Proxima Culuanni, and whether those stresses presented any obstacles to safe transit of the Un-named, in their tenuously atmosphered sections, to the surface below. And in the course of the week before, he'd been working hands-on with his own engineers in transporting tonnes of supplies to the two continents.

Still though a nagging doubt remained. Leaving them to fend for themselves for 5 years with no Federation assistance... The Council was paying for its crimes, yes, and the Unnamed were free, yet it seemed to Andae - ever the idealist - not to be in the spirit of the Federation to abandon a culture so utterly, no matter what they'd done. The Federation's mission was supposed to be humanitarian in the sense that it was a universal mission of good will.

And yet, he thought - as he felt the distant force of the explosion of the Community's shell as it was obliterated, waves of milky white light expanding, streaking from its ruptured and depleted core - these plunderers from a future realm, these marauders who'd done all they could to survive in the unforgiving vacuum, should know what it is to feel the sunlight on their bodies, the coolness of grass running through their fingers, the sight of light reflected in ripples from a far-off river. No more of the segregating void of space, that indomitable wall that separated the Community from the rest of the universe, caught in their nightmare trap between stars.

* * *

Teiler had watched the planet below, averting his eyes from the explosion of the Community, his home for the last eight years. Light from the blast leaked its way into his vision, fragments of the destroyed vessel spinning and eclipsing his view of part of the planet.

Since that blasphemous act he'd fallen into a sullen rage. Lined up in the transporter room with his fellow Councillors - feeling a curious kinship with them at this moment no matter how much he truly hated them - he made one last request of the transporter operator.

"Put me down somewhere with a view."

The operator looked up, regarded Cesif oddly and shook his head, returning his attention to the transporter console, "Energising." Teiler watched as the operator tapped his commbadge to signal the bridge that the last of the Councillors were away, then, his eyes burning with fury he dived forward... but too late! He'd been caught in the matter stream and was whisked away to a new hell.

In a blowy field among bare rolling hills, three figures materialised. Two stood absolutely still, somewhat dazed, while the third materialised flying forward, landing in a mudbath. The unrobed Warlock rolled over; the sky above him was an off orange. He dragged himself to his feet, looked around briefly at Jessica and Andromeda standing statuesque against the overcast sky, then peered into a puddle of water in the clay-rich muck in which he'd landed. The wind rippled the water, distorting the reflection of his piercing green eyes.

* * *

Three jagged peaks cut the off-orange sky of the southern continent. People were everywhere; a myriad of colours. Sounds unheard of permeated his senses, aromas, tactile sensations. A wash of the long-oppressed masses were issuing out from the landed residential sections of the great stargoing vessel that it was now clear had been their home.

The man led his children across the fertile plain. Voices of bewilderment, excitement, and the shrieks of construction work were all about him. A gushing sound of liquid came from somewhere in the distance... A real river! he realised, looking forward with glee. It was enough to bring a tear to his eye; he fell short of the stream, his fingers in the shallows and his sight incidentally falling upon a distant hill. Something beckoned him that way.

Those ruined peaks behind, the top of the Shafts presumably, of the Community - that did after all exist! - loomed over them all. Taking the hands of his children, he led the great column of people towards that distant hill. This infinite planet, this ruined city, and the Eternal City still to find.

[Carl Torek]

They transported the remaining Council members to the surface and stood in silence, no-one willing to utter the first words ...

Eventually Carl turned and began to leave followed closely by his Senior Staff. The Community was done, their murderous rampage through time and space was finished, no more praying on the innocent, no more ....... Over the next few hours the Commanding Officer's of the three vessels that had assisted in bringing the Community to their new home, along with the inaptly named 'repatriation' division of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, had all joined Torek at one point or another. Each making their final reports on the situation, or rather lack thereof, on the surface. Once again the Diplomats requested they be allowed to remain for several months to ensure both factions of the now disbanded Community were coping with their new surroundings, but again he denied their request, and after the lead Diplomat decided that he had seniority, Carl threw him into the Brig and contacted the Federation himself. An hour later the man was returned to his ship. The portable replicator's, used to manufacture most of the every day essentials the newly established society's would need for their survival were dismantled and returned to the vessels orbiting high above. Only then were all Star Fleet personnel ordered off the surface ...

ooooo

"I think they will be OK." Calli asked, sat beside Carl on the bridge looking at the blue green planet majestically rotating below them, "The once 'un-named' have already established a workable Government, with elected Officials and have sworn not to allow anyone to get too power-mad in their new positions." they both laughed at the comment.

"I hear they were having a meeting to name the first settlement."

"Yes .... It's called 'Haven' .... Apparently one of the younger children came up with the idea and everyone jumped right on it." Calli said smiling. Carl stood and looked at the view-screen then turned to Harry:

"Commander. Contact the Commanding Officer's of the ship's that assisted us. Extend my thanks and inform then they are free to leave orbit at their discretion."

"Aye Sir." Wedlerson acknowledged, then confirmed all vessels had replied and were readying to depart.

One after the other, the Yosimite, the Laffite, and the Tow-ship Ganymede slowly turned away and headed out into open space, they would lay buoy's on the outer edge of the system effectively surrounding the planet. Once the Raven departed, Torek would activate the quarantine and from then on nothing would enter this section of space again ... Only the USS Joyce Miller remained, steadfastly defying his order to leave ... He stood watching the ship counting silently to himself, wondering if he would actually have to actually 'force' the Diplomatic vessel out of it's orbit of Proxima Culuanni. But eventually, no doubt after a heated argument with Command, the Star Ship began to finally turn away from the planet and jumped to warp ... The Raven was alone for the first time in months .....

"We'll remain in orbit for another day." Carl said, heading for the turbo-lift, "I'm going to go down to the sur ... To Haven, in the morning for a final on-hand check, then we're going. Anyone who wishes to join me should be in the Observation Lounge at zero nine hundred hours. I'm going to see my Family and hopefully get a good nights' sleep. I suggest you all do the same. Harry, you have the Conn. Make sure these people are off my Bridge in short order." he said, waving to signify his Command Staff.

"Deck Eight." he said. Once in the 'lift he allowed himself to lean against the cool wall, eyes closed, only opening them as the carriage came to a halt and the doors opened. He walked to his quarter's suddenly realizing how much this mission had taken out of him thus far. He would be grateful for the rest once they left the system that was for certain ..........






< tag : All >

OOC ::

As stated, I'm going to post going down to the surface. Please feel free to post any closing from your perspective that you feel fits with the mission so far.
I'll be closing this mission off in the next few days, then we'll head back to SB47 for some well-earned R&R ...

Regards,

Steve.