Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on May 22, 2016 0:08:37 GMT
Dan couldn't believe the man had actually rammed the Excalibur ! ....
As the tumbled end over end Admiral Connolly chose that moment to make contact:
=^= Commander .. Do you require assistance ? .. .. .. I did order you to stay away but perhaps I was wrong .. Not in the sense that you should have accompanied us but that none of us should have gone anywhere near that shipyard until we fully knew what we were dealing with =^=
=^= Where's the Commodore Sir ? =^= Karka spoke up, Dan allowing it with a wave of the hand.
=^= She is .. .. Indisposed at the moment Mister ah Psonoir yes ? .. .. A terrible injury in the gym .. My doctor is looking after her =^=
=^= We will transport over and bring her ba .. .. .. =^= Daniel began, but was interrupted:
=^= I'm afraid she is too unwell to be moved at present Commander .. .. .. It has not gone un-noticed that you have declined our offers to assist you .. Or do you intend to continue your tumbling act for the foreseeable future ? =^=
Before he could reply they felt the caressing touch of a tractor beam on low power. It gradually increased it's hold on the Excalibur, slowing her tumble then finally arresting it completely. Thanking Connolly, he was about to continue his questions when the Admiral cut the communication and moved off, placing himself between the stricken Excal' and the other vessels in close proximity. Was he protecting them, or simply avoiding having to answer questions he knew he couldn't without a great deal of lying ! ... Dan took Karka to one side out of earshot of the other Bridge Staff:
"What do you think ?" he asked, nodding as the Engineer voiced his opinions, "At first I thought he was simply out for revenge for some reason only known to himself, hell, he is practically throwing his career down the proverbial toilet if this goes wrong. Is he out to kill Vason, destroy the Augments, or god forbid, win them over for some unknown reason ...."
"I doubt he's here to make friends." Karka said quickly, "We know they are using Veson / Green for their own ends. my main concern is the Commodore."
"Yes, mine too ...." Dan said, eyeing the Massachusetts through the 'window' while trying not to let his worse fears surface, "Could Connolly be in league, however tentatively, with the augment upper echelons, and I mean without Veson even being aware of his complicity ? ... You have to admit, he's hardly acted according to regulations regarding this farce, and practically holding another Commanding Officer against he will is tantamount to treason. he could be put away for the rest of his natural for what he's doing."
"So what's the plan ?" Karka asked, a wry grin on his face.
"Plan ? ... I have no idea." Dan said, looking at the activity on the Bridge, "How long before we're fully functional ?" Karka moved to the Science Station, quickly bringing up Engineering and the status of ongoing repairs.
"We can move right now as long as you don't need the manoeuvring thrusters, I thought you knew that."
"Pitch us forward fifteen or so degrees. I'm guessing the inertial dampers could hae been damaged during the collision ?" Psonoir shrugged non-committally, "I'll take that as a yes then ... Let's make Connolly think we're hurt more than we are. then we'll see which way he goes."
"..... And if he goes after the SN2 ?"
"Sir, the Wichita is moving out to intercept two Augment vessels approaching from the orbital station." The navigation Officer informed them, "The Massachusetts is still with us."
"Can we scan the Massachusetts without them knowing ?" Dan asked Karka.
"I doubt it, as with us the scan would be picked up on their sensors. You looking for the Commodore ?"
"How long to locate and beam her off there ?"
"Too long." Karka replied instantly. Dan moved to the 'window' and looked at the Massachusetts, two thousand meters away and still holding position, almost as if waiting to see who jumps first ..........
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on May 26, 2016 22:41:20 GMT
"Sir, I'm picking up the Charon ...." Chief Petty Officer T'Seng informed him, ""She came around the planet and is heading directly towards the SN2-Beta !" "What the hell is Escude playing at now." Daniel said, exasperation building by the second, "Has Admiral Connolly made any move ?" "No Sir. In fact he isn't even scanning the Charon, it's almost as if he's completely ignoring her, and us along with her Commander." "Could he be going after Vason ?" Daniel asked Karka, who was obviously only able to offer an educated guess. He thought it likely. "Bring everything back on-line. The Commodore will have to enjoy the Admirals' hospitality for a little while longer ... Set course to intercept the Charon, I want to be ahead of her 'before' they get into transporter range Navigator. Chief, keep a close eye on the Mass' ... If it begins to power up I want to know immediately." < tag : Commodore Ryat >The Excalibur righted herself before moving away from the Massachusetts ... She dove below the Admiral's Flagship before turning hard to Port. rising back to the Universal Plane she accelerated to maximum impulse as she sped toward an imaginary point in space that would intersect the heading of the USS Charon. She needed to pass the point and come about to face head-on the oncoming Charon in a bizarre game of 'chicken' ... It was hardly a life or death situation as both vessels were designed to avoid collision by using their forward sensor array to detect immovable objects. If the Navigation Officer failed to react, the ships computer would activate protocols which would cause the oncoming vessel to rise above the object in question before dropping back once clear of the obstacle. It was this that Dan was counting on ..... "Commander, the Charon is showing no signs of reducing her speed." the Navigation Officer informed him. "Open a channel." Schirra ordered. the Comms officer confirmed the channel open: =^= Excalibur to USS Charon .. .. .. .. =^= Dan waited but there was no reply. =^= Charon .. You are on an intercept course and need to reduce speed immediately .. .. .. Confirm =^= "Chief T'Seng. Lock phasers on the Charon." he said, knowing full well that the Comm channel was still open. =^= Charon to Excalibur .. 'Captain' Juan Escude .. Commanding Officer .. You will move your vessel aside 'Commander' and allow us to proceed .. Failure will result in your remove from Command until such time as Courts martial proceeding can be brought against you .. Commander Psonoir .. If the Commander fails to obey my order you are to remove him from the Bridge immediately .. Is that understood ? =^= Karka looked at Dan then back at the screen: =^= I understand your order .. Captain =^= Psonoir said, vaguely. =^= Captain .. We are in the process of recovering an Officer suspec .. .. .. =^= =^= Move your ship .. .. 'NOW' .. Commander .. I will not ask you a second time =^= "Sir, at their present speed they will be on top of us in three minutes fifteen seconds." the Navigator said nervously. "Open a Comm to the Massachusetts. I want to speak to Admiral Connolly." Daniel replied. =^= Commander Psonoir .. As per Star Fleet order One-Zero-Four--Section C .. You are ordered to remove Commander Schirra from command and detain him .. You will assume Command and and await further orders =^= =^= You require the Chief Medical Officer to confirm that I am either medically or psychologically unfit .. Captain =^= Dan said before Karka could react. =^= Commander Psonoir .. Carry out my order immediately .. .. .. Have no doubts .. I 'WILL' fire on you to achieve my goal .. Remove Schirra from the Bridge =^= The silence could be cut with a knife on the Bridge of the Excalibur as the chronometer above the 'window' counted down, and everyone waited to see how their former Chief Engineer would react .......... < tag : Karka >
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on May 27, 2016 15:54:54 GMT
Escude was still technically his commanding officer, though he and his inner circle, their secret machinations, had long since shorn Karka's interest loose of whatever they were looking for, their zealous hunt for John Vazon as if that would bring back to life Escude's ancestors who'd died by Phillip Green's hand. Ironically Karka could actually make it happen, though the entirety of human history from that point would be changed as a result, unless one considered that as an alternate timeline while this one would of course continue to exist and may as well be inhabited by him.
"Captain Escude, while I'm bound to you as an officer of the Charon, your breaking of regulations over the last three days vastly outweighs anything you may accuse Commander Schirra of. I don't believe your wishing to execute an attack on the augment vessel, and I know what your purpose for such an attack would be, is just cause for having us move the Excalibur or to demand the Commander be removed from command. Therefore, I must..." He was distracted by the communications officer, "Yes, Ensign?"
"Sir, Captain Escude cut the channel shortly after you started speaking."
Karka appeared irked, "Right." Then his (former) CO must've got the message. He wondered who would end up being court martialled at the end of this outing (if they came out of it intact), Escude, Schirra or himself; some of them or possibly all three? And Admiral Connolly for good measure.
"What's he doing now?" What Escude was doing was banking the Charon away back towards the gas giant, skirting the edge of the shipyard where the Triaud and Constitution class ships remained ensconced. The shipyard itself was just about holding together, having had two of its spokes ripped away by the Charon's admittedly impressive attack - it was still operational according to mid-range scanners and those ships that'd been damaged in the Excalibur and the (schizophrenic) Charon's attack were already in dock undergoing repair. Escude was waiting, circling like a shark, biding his time for the SN2-Beta to make itself known again, that was where Escude might be able to launch his ship on a clear trajectory for the stolen Triaud vessel - the task of the Excalibur and ostensibly the Massachusetts was to keep themselves between the Charon and SN2-Beta, prevent being attacked by either of them and start probing each other instead.
The comms officer signalled to the XO who nodded to have a channel opened, the gruff voice coming over (audio only), "Commander Schirra, this is Connolly. I have the Wichita battling a Constitution class and one of those Triaud ships; right now I have a ship doing nothing, to be precise, yours. I want you to attack SN2-Beta, Commander; lower her shields if you can or make a hole; get a boarding party prepared. This is gone far enough, this Vazon must be rescued before he can be harmed by either the augments or Captain Escude."
<Tag Schirra>
Psonoir found himself being pierced by Lirwa's presence, his Hybrudean colleague using the microcosmic representations of the null-markers in Karka's partitioned mind - structured much like the Archives' central atrium interface network - to find his way from his own real null-marker into Karka's skull... "Don't worry, Karka, Vazon is safe and well in the brig - I told Axar I saw him taking a close look at one of the escape pods. They're going to get Connolly to send Escude packing - likely something along the lines of, 'Now's not the time for personal vendettas, Captain, you're already in disgrace don't add murder to your list of crimes, report back to Starfleet Command' - ha! the hypocrite."
Psonoir raised an eyebrow, directing psycho-lingual chains into his mind, "So Connolly is in with Axar Kurio. Presumably they'll try to join up, how do you intend to stop that ... Oh, and what happens when Kurio realises you've had his token leader locked up on false charges?"
<Tag Both>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on May 28, 2016 0:58:38 GMT
Dan was watching the USS Charon, which had finally backed away from the Excalibur and turned away .... It was now prowling as if awaiting the ideal time to strike .... But, strike where, and against whom ? The Comms Officer got his attention, informing him that Admiral Connolly wished to speak to him, Dan nodded: =^= Commander Schirra .. This is Connolly .. .. I have the Wichita battling a Constitution class and one of those Triaud ships .. Right now I have a ship doing nothing .. To be precise yours .. .. .. I want you to attack SN2-Beta Commander .. .. .. Lower or criple her shields if you can or at least make a hole .. Get a boarding party prepared .. This is gone far enough .. .. This Vazon must be rescued before he can be harmed by either the augments or Captain Escude =^= =^= With all due respect Admi .. .. .. =^= "He's closed the Comm Commander." Dan was informed as Connolly vanished from the inset on the window, he waved Chief T'Seng over then turned to Karka: "What do you think ?" he asked, repeating the query when the Engineer failed to reply. "You have to wonder on the Admiral's motives for his orders." T'Seng commented. "We're not here to question Chief, though to be perfectly honest, it had crossed my mind too, so at least we're all on the same page regarding his actions, or lack thereof." Dan said, glancing at the window before continuing, "Can we make a hole in their screens, something big enough and damaged long enough for us to get in, snatch Veson, and get back 'before' we get blown to bits ?" "We can make an educated guess that Veson is going to be on the Bridge, or his quarters. There's little chance of him being in Engineering etc, so grabbing him isn't going to be easy." T'Seng mused. "Unless we can keep then busy with other problems, Karka, can we access their Helm ?" "Not from here, no ... I'd need to be at a terminal on the ship. Once there I can pretty much play havoc." the Chief Engineer replied, "As for getting aboard ....." "OK, how about this: We close on the SN2 ..... Get as close as possible then fire on their Engineering Section. If we can narrow of phaser emitter to the minimum we should be able to get through their shields before they can run for it, or with luck, fight back. Once crippled, we'll punch a hole in whatever shields they have left and transport over. We have Green's bio-signature on file, so we can at least scan to see where he isn't. The three of us and two Security will beam in, snatch Green, and get the hell out." "Just in time for tea and biscuits." T'Seng said, a wry grin on her face. "EXACTLY !" Daniel said, smiling with a outward confidence that wasn't matched inwardly. "Just out of curiosity here ....." T'seng asked, "But what if the SN2 runs before we can get aboard ?" "Then Connolly will need to think up another idiotic plan to snatch Green, won't he." Dan said defiantly, turning to speak quietly with Lieutenant Commander Gold, who would have the Conn while Daniel and the others were away. Fifteen minutes later they were ready ::
With Escude and the Charon on it's outward leg of it's skulking circumnavigation of the two stationary vessels, Dan gave the order to move :: The Excalibur turned, heading below and not quite directly at the SN2 ..... Almost feigning indifference it seemingly ignored the Augment vessel in favour of finding a route away from the conflict. Thankfully, Kurio, in Command of the vessel in question, seemed to believe that the Excalibur had other things on her proverbial mind as it dipped and closed the distance between them. At the very last minute Dan ordered a full stop and instructed Psonoir, now at the Tactical Station, where he could modify the ships' phaser emitters second by second for the best result, opened fire !
The first volley's slammed into the SN2's shields, weakening them significantly, the third and forth disabled both drive systems and the SN2's ability to return fire. "They're not going anywhere, though I can't say how long that will last, so if we're going ......" Deck Four - SN2-Beta ::The five materialized, phasers ready ..... The two Security Officers took up positions ahead and behind the three Officers. T'Seng took a tricorder and began scanning for Greens bio-signature, while Karka ran to an Interface Terminal. they had picked this deck for that precise reason ... Within a minute lights began to flicker as if their power supply was being tampered with, as it indeed was. Then, for a second, Dan felt his boots leaving the deck as Psonoir meddled with the artificial gravity and inertial dampers. With a grin he turned to the others: "That should keep 'em busy." "Set phasers to heavy stun. we're not going to have time to talk our way to where we need to be." Daniel ordered, "If we don't have him in ten minutes we're out of here. The Excalibur has orders to return to it's previous location at that time and beam us out, job done or not." "Target is two decks below us, and not alone." T'Seng informed them ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on May 29, 2016 18:39:52 GMT
The team made its way down the corridor towards the nearest lift shaft so as to make it down two levels to Green's location at which were several others; others indeed, augments, and in a place not too accessible. Karka cleared his throat (weapon out before him, checking for assailants coming from ahead, from around the bend), "Yes," he said coughing again, "It will be difficult to extract him from there, from the brig of the ship."
Dan glanced at him sharply, "He's in the brig? How do you know he's in the brig?"
Careful now, Karka, he thought. "Well, at the last moment before we left the bridge I noticed something familiar about the internal layout of the SN2-Beta, a Triaud cruiser standard, that indicated the presence of detention cells in the vicinity of our target - I deduced through... some other means... that Vazon must be in one of the brig cells. Which of course offers him ample protection from attack."
"And you didn't think to mention this before we set out?!"
"My apologies," he steeled himself as they entered a lift (slow Triaud lifts, no turbo propulsion), soon finding an augment floating up near the ceiling of the gravityless vessel. The buzz from Karka's boots reminded him of his firm and welcome attachment to the floor, "Oh, hello," he said pivoting to look at the augment flailing about helplessly and shouting with fury (his superhuman strength, ability to impart significant force on a target nullified by the zero-gravity). Psonoir put the man out of his misery, phasering him unconscious; the augment barrel rolled in mid-air, slowed only gradually by the air currents and ventilation pumped into the lift, floating now in blissful sleep.
They stepped out onto deck 6. Lieutenant Prescott took point with Karka second, phasers raised as they neared where Psonoir knew the brig section to be. Lirwa, where are you? He thought it but didn't transmit it; he knew his friend was somewhere on the ship, having bundled Green into the brig probably for his own safety; unfortunately his measure would seem to be working better than intended... blocking the Excal's boarding party from carrying out their objective.
Suddenly Karka and Prescott found themselves cut off from the rest of the boarding party; Prescott glanced round, calm, assured as he'd shown himself to be during Psonoir's tenure on the ship, but mystified about the disappearance. "Don't worry, Lieutenant, they will find an alternate route; I can still see their biosigns on the tricorder...
"Just ahead and to the right is the entrance to the brig," he said, "No augments out in the corridor and the door to the room is unsealed; seven lifesigns within however, one of which is behind a forcefield..." That one was showing signs of being an unaugmented human, yes, Karka thought, but more significant to him was that one of the other six augments was, quite clearly, a Hybrudean: Lirwa. Karka knew where to look to discern that a scanned individual was a member of his own species: the peculiar connections in the brain of a Hybrudean - undetectable by Federation medical science, regardless of whatever species' body that Hybrudean decided to synthesise for itself - too obvious to Psonoir's sensors.
"Yes, I'm in here, Karka, I can see you both through that wall; I implanted with this one," he meant his augment body, "Optical nerve and ocular modifications that allow my neurons to change visual sense data in such a way that I see the world phased, gaps in the walls like shutters and blinds in a 20th century Earth house in midwest America..."
"Yes, yes; so, you can assist I presume?"
"I'll knock Clarence unconscious."
"Ah, I know Clarence Tetho, from Charon's database on the augments who'd been stationed on Triaud. I have three more officers with me," Karka informed his friend. "How will I recognise you?"
"The orange suit."
Karka entered to find five augments and the undercover Hybrudean Lirwa in his orange jumpsuit floating in various postures throughout the brig; airborne Green, down the hall, could just be seen occasionally rippling his forcefield which then promptly failed (or was deactivated?). One of the augments - Clarence Tetho - was shot dead by Lirwa while Karka wheeled away from the initial fire from augments, who'd righted themselves when they'd realised what was happening, firing into the pack of them as Prescott followed him in.
Artificial gravity restored itself. The augments fell to the floor but Karka was unable to capitalise - having been about to shoot the last two augments (Prescott incidentally had been hit, a wound in the leg and now losing consciousness) Karka's phaser was now snatched away and he was confronted by a towering individual, who he recognised as Baratz Talavi's personal bodyguard. "You're not doing your job are you?" he asked the 7 foot augment. "Why, is Talavi dead?"
Expressionless the augment grabbed Karka by the collar, making to pull him off his feet; there wasn't much Karka could do in terms of strength... if there was room to use his agility he felt he could better the man. "Ah, look, brother and sister," the augment gestured around to the female augment still standing and Lirwa, "He's of Starfleet's science or medical division. Ha, such people are cowardly; weak..." he spat at the engineer.
Remaining as neutral as possible, Karka peered (well, as best he could) over the 7 foot man's shoulder at Lirwa, trying to draw his eye. He saw Vazon also, over the other shoulder, the forcefield disrupted, approaching to stand at the back of the group, rubbing his neck from a painful fall. Himself and Lirwa against two augments, unless some of the latter started getting up, and Vazon whose loyalty was questionably just three metres away from Karka...
<Tag Schirra> <Tag Ryat>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on May 29, 2016 23:53:47 GMT
"Set phasers to heavy stun. we're not going to have time to talk our way to where we need to be." Daniel ordered, "If we don't have him in ten minutes we're out of here. The Excalibur has orders to return to it's previous location at that time and beam us out, job done or not."
"Target is two decks below us, and not alone."
They traversed two decks, encountering a drifting Augment in the less than ideal turbo-lift ... Exiting, they inched forward, knowing that they could be discovered at any moment. Not on the ship's internal sensors, Karka had placed them in a looping diagnostic which would take someone with the Engineer's skill level to deactivate, and Dan doubted there was one such person aboard, thankfully.
"There are two routes to our destination. We need to seal this deck until we're ready to leave. There's another access panel that way. We should be able to access emergency bulkhead control from there." T'seng informed them. Dan pointed to one corridor, moving off with T'Seng and Lieutenant Woods, Karka took Lieutenant Prescott with him down the other .....
Moving silently, Woods slightly ahead, they reached the panel and T'Seng got to work while the others watched both ends of the corridor. After a moment he turned to the Tactical Officer and asked what the delay was, she continued to work without replying and a second later the heavy bulkheads began to silently slide into place.
"This will have been spotted on the Bridge, so we can expect them to be opened pretty quickly. I've instructed the computer to show vacuum on our side, so they'll need to confirm atmosphere before opening any of the bulkheads."
"Good, let's double back and join the others. Hopefully they will be having it as easy as we are." Dan said, nodding back the way they had come. Suddenly Woods held up a hand, halting their progress. He held up two fingers and motioned ahead. after a couple of seconds Dan could also here the voices, they were commenting on the dire systems on the ship, constant break-downs, systems going off-line, artificial gravity on and off, and now the damn bulkheads trapping them. They were approaching from around the corner on their left floating about a foot off the deck. Woods handed his phaser to T'Seng and placed his back against the wall, then as the two turned the corner he slammed a fist into the closest man's throat, folding him double gagging and choking as he drifted back along the corridor. Woods pushed forward and punched the second in the chest below the sternum, he hit him twice more then allowed the man to drift down to the deck, unconscious.
"Clear now Commander." he informed Schirra needlessly as he retrieved his weapon as the artificial gravity was restored. Thankfully all three were able to cushion their landings and got to their feet:
"If you didn't detect these two before, how did they end up on our side of the bulkhead ?" Dan asked.
"It took a moment to activate them, they must have been heading this way when the doors closed." T'Seng said with a shrug, "You'll have to teach me how to do that, Lieutenant."
"Any time Chief." Woods said with a grin of satisfaction as he eyed his handy-work before moving on. Approaching the room T'Seng instructed, Woods inched closer and could hear conversation, it seemed their entrance had not gone as planned:
"...... ther and sister," an unknown spoke, addressing a female still apparently still standing, "He is of Star Fleet's Science or Medical division. Ha, such people are cowardly ... Weak ! ..." the man spat. Woods risked a peek around the door then ducked back quickly before turning to Schirra and T'seng:
"Prescott in on the deck to the right, an augment is holding onto Commander Psonoir, holding off the deck to be precise ... Mister Vason is towards the back of the room but in plain sight unless he dives into one of the cells ....." he whispered quickly, "I could only see two others, but there's a possibility there could be more out of line of sight. I suggest we step into the doorway and open fire. We'll need to hit the Commander Sir, the augment is holding him with his back to the doorway, so no clear shot. I'll go left. Commander, if you could take right, Chief, you'll need to get to Commander Psonoir and bring him around."
"OK, agreed, one change though." Dan replied quietly, "Chief, set you're phaser to minimal stun setting, I don't want to drop the Commander like a stone, the Lieutenant and I will take care of the others." Woods held up a hand, dropping one finger at a time, then stepped out into the open doorway, Dan at his side and T'Seng kneeling between them. Schirra could see the look of surprise on the Augments face who was holding Psonoir off the floor before T'Seng shot the Engineer, his head and arms dropping as he lost consciousness. The Augment threw his baggage to one side and Daniel fired, hitting him in the chest. Woods hit the female twice, then a third time before she dropped to the deck. T'Seng ran to Psonoir as Daniel fired again and again into the Augment, astonished it had taken no less than four shots to finally drop the man ... Two phasers arced around and steadied themselves on Vason:
"You're coming with us." Dan said.
"What makes you think I would comply ?"
"This !" Daniel said, pushing the business end of the phaser under the man's chin.
"Three minutes Commander." T'Seng informed them as Karka got unsteadily to his feet, glancing at the orange-suited person, unconscious now after being hit in the brief fire-fight, "We'll need to return to our beam-in point for extraction, but once I release the locks on the bulkhead doors, we'll have company very quickly."
"You can't operate them individually ?" Dan asked.
"We don't have time Commander, I would need to access each dedicated system. It's all or none I'm afraid."
"She's ...... Right .... Dan." Karka stammered as he regained his equilibrium. Schirra turned to Vason:
"Run, or don't, but if you want to live you'll do as you are told."
"You won't kill me Commander, so please, let's dispense with the baseless threats."
"Test me Vason ..... Please !" Schirra whispered venomously before dragging the man to the door, "Let's go." ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 2, 2016 18:00:36 GMT
Karka made his way back to the extraction point with the rest of the boarding party, supporting the injured Prescott with an arm round the shoulder while taking note of Vazon ahead of them, seeing in the Vazon's body language that he didn't know where his allegiance should lie, (if he at all cared): between the augments where he held the position as their nominal leader, or back with his old life as a librarian on Deneb V in the moneyless Federation - money which the augments had promised to give him if he led their ridiculous campaign to conquer the Federation and then the quadrant...
"Well, I just about managed to escape that one, Karka, no thanks to your fellow officers." Well you did disguise yourself as an augment, Lirwa, Karka thought. "I've escaped as far as the 26th and am still climbing; I just thought you should know that Kurio's found out about your kidnapping of poor Vazon and is sending security contingents to the place they suspect is the extraction point. They're correct about that by the way."
"Their progress has been helped by the simultaneous opening of the internal bulkheads no doubt," Karka winced, given even more reason for consternation as he was unable to inform Schirra of the news (or by extension of the secret messages he was receiving in his head...)
Lirwa replied, "Indeed. And just so you know, Karka, the worldline I'm on here correlates with your worldline's future - if I'd remained it would be the reality I'd have been witnessing, the same permutation that by freak coincidence reaches me now in my present quantum state, thus, I'm able to look back and see that the Excalibur will escape from this unscathed. As for the USS Charon and the USS Massachusetts, that is still cloudy to me. Perhaps in a few minutes once you work out the forward time-limiting probabilities the fate of those ships will resolve itself. See you at Xetleti."
Karka thanked his friend as they arrived at the extraction point. En route Vazon had tried to break away from the group in the direction of an escape pod. Before he could work the panel to open the hatch, Tseng and Woods had grabbed him away groaning. Now Schirra brought Vazon up alongside and pointed to the extraction area. "In there, huh?" Vazon asked, seeming disinterested, upon which Lieutenant Woods shoved the Col. Green descendant forward.
"One minute, sir," Tseng informed. At that moment augments appeared around the corner of the corridor curving away to their right, the dark suited superhumans levelling weapons with another in the background - Axar Kurio, Karka saw - shouting orders. They opened fire -
OOC: If more action on escaping from the ship takes place I can back-post in reply to that if needed
* * * * *
Still in a daze, Karka entered the bridge of the Excalibur and took the science console. Vazon had been thrown in the brig (from one cell into another, Karka considered amused; the man had managed to upset both the Excalibur crew and his willing adherents in the augments). One person he certainly hadn't upset was Admiral Connolly, assuming however that Connolly had truly wanted Vazon rescued - what if he'd only authorised the dangerous mission for the purpose of getting the Excal officers killed, to get them out of the way?
There was also the possibility, in Karka's view, that Connolly wanted to position himself more centrally within the augments' command hierarchy (Karka of course alone knew that the Admiral did have a link with Kurio, having had it confirmed by Lirwa). The Admiral's link - Karka hoped he could prove it to the Excal crew without having to reveal certain facts - was not to a high level in the Talavi Augments power structure... Perhaps by kidnapping (or liberating) Green from the augments Connolly was attempting to show them they no longer needed the Col. Green descendant, that they'd be better served by allowing Connolly to lead them, or at least to have him in joint command or in their inner circle of advisors to Kurio or Talavi... if the latter still existed. Connolly may see himself as a man to challenge the Federation; if so this augment uprising gave him his opportunity - not to mention the additional resources - to press forward with his subversion.
"Commander. The Massachusetts is hailing." Speak of the devil.
Schirra nodded. The channel opened and the devil appeared on the screen. "Commander," there were bags under the Admiral's eyes, as well as a grudging expression on his face despite his trying to hide it, "My congratulations on your successful rescue of John Vazon. I trust he is secured in quarters?"
"The brig, sir."
"Very well," the Admiral brightened suddenly. So perhaps he was wanting to dispose of Vazon for the augments, position himself as Vazon's natural successor, Psonoir thought.
The comm ended cordially and Karka swung round the starboard-aft quarter to the communications console, seeing if there was a way he could infiltrate the Massachusetts comm network and discover evidence of Connolly's disloyalty: anything said by and to the Admiral that suggested he'd gone rogue, unusual orders or log entries - and also to deduce the true whereabouts of Commodore Ryat aboard the vessel and see if Connolly's story in that regard held up...
<Tag Both>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 5, 2016 21:04:18 GMT
Daniel was rapidly loosing patience with this whole scenario ... He physically dragged Veson towards the door and instructed Lieutenant Woods to shoot him if he caused any problems .... vason had attempted to escape but T'Seng and Woods had caught up with him easily and had brought him back. Dan could see the beginnings of a a discoloured right eye,and silently commended the Security Officer for his thoroughness.
moving as quietly as possible through the ship, still reconfiguring numerous systems after Psonoir had played havoc with routines, they came to their beam-out point, but as they were about to enter, T'Seng heard something. She spun her phaser in the direction of the sound, informing the others quickly:
"One minute Sir." she whispered, but needn't have worried about being overheard as several Augments came around the corner. Thankfully, they were completely unaware of the intruders, so took one second too long to react to the group of people before them. it was the second the Star Fleet Officers required ! ... Firing, the Augments dropped quickly, with only one managing to get a shot off that had clipped Lieutenant Prescott. Helped by Karka they used the remote access to transport away from the Augment vessel. The Excalibur banked away and dove below the SN2-Beta before increasing speed to put distance between them.
"Take him to the Brig. Keep two of your Officers in there at 'all' times Lieutenant." Psonoir instructed Prescott, the others headed for the Bridge.
~~~~~
"Commander. The Massachusetts is hailing ....."
"Speak of the Devil." Karka muttered as Schirra nodded to the Communications Officer:
=^= Commander .. .. .. My congratulations on your successful rescue of John Vazon .. I trust he is secured in quarters ? =^=
=^= He's in the Brig .. Sir =^= Daniel replied, seeing the Admiral's demeanour alter almost instantly, though he couldn't decide why.
=^= Very well .. .. .. I trust you will be joining the Wichita and ourselves ? =^=
=^= Yes sir .. Though given we now have the figurehead leader of the Augments I would suggest we call for their immediate stand-down pending charges =^= he added, knowing Connolly wouldn't go for the suggestion in a millennium.
=^= Don't be naive Commander .. The suggestion is unworthy of what I know of you .. You've done well to procure their leader .. I will of necessity want to speak with Mister Vason in due course .. Maybe he will be willing to divulge information helpful to our defeating the .. Enemy .. Re-join us and we will discuss options .. Connolly out =^=
The Comm snapped off and Dan looked at Karka and T'Seng, who had listened in out of view.
"Did anyone else think he put just a little 'too much' emphasis on the 'Enemy' bit of that statement ?" Dan asked, allowing them to reply before continuing, "Tactical, where's the Massachusetts and the Wichita now ?"
"The Massachusetts is holding station one hundred thousand kilometres from the orbital facility, the Wichita is heading back to the Mass' .... She's took a bit of a battering but is still functioning from what I can see. The Augment vessels are regrouping around the far side of Anderson's Planet ... They have suffered four losses, including two that were leaving the facility, with a further two taking heavy damage. The SN1-Phi is crippled and drifting, the SN2-Beta is still where we left her. They are having more trouble reinitializing their warp core start-up apparently."
"Helm. Take us to the Massachusetts. Port side at one thousand meters then hold position there."
"Sir's if I may comment ?" T'Seng asked, receiving a nod from Schirra to continue, "how do you think the Admiral is going to justify holding the Commodore against her will ? .... Unless he has specific charges to bring against he, he is currently violating numerous regulations ... His actions are questionable in the extreme, even for a Flag Officer. Surely there will need to account for his actions once we return to Earth." Dan glanced at Karka once again, realizing the Chief Petty Officer was more insightful that they had given her credit for.
"Lieutenant Unwin, you have the Conn, we'll be in the Captain's ready room." he said, getting out of the centre seat and heading off the Bridge, Karka and T'Seng following.
~~~~~
"OK ... Have a seat you two. We have some thinking to do regarding where we go from here. Please speak freely if you have anything." Dan said, realizing their precarious position. If Connolly had plans outside his remit, then they would need to be careful. Their position, Dan thought, pretty much depended on the Admiral's consent, or lack thereof, when he asked for the Commodore to be returned to her vessel. But there were other issues that far outweighed her repatriation with her ship, for example, did Connolly have designs on an affiliation with the Augments, and if so, what would they be required, forced, to do, to prevent such an affiliation ? ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 9, 2016 18:44:05 GMT
"Well, Commander, I do have suspicions, that I'd thought about raising on the bridge," Karka said, "That Connolly is in communication with the augments, directly. I believe, having read through," Karka was thinking this up quickly so he didn't have to explain the messages from Lirwa in his head, "Official logs and internal communications on the Massachusetts following my infiltration of their comm network, as well as Connolly's Starfleet personnel profile, that he has had correspondence with some of the augments connected with Axar Kurio. He may want to supplant Green, Vazon that is, as the leader of the augments, or if not that then as their joint leader or a member of Kurio's staff - his order to us to 'rescue' Green from the augments was an attempt, in my view, to achieve one of two things, the first, our deaths in an unsuccessful rescue effort, or the second, Green's incarceration and Connolly's subsequent demonstration to the augments that he is now best placed to join them."
<Tag Schirra possibly>
"He may want to lead them against the Federation, being fed up with Starfleet curbing his warlike tendencies towards the Gorn and others, or in any case wanting to join their cause." Before the meeting finished Karka added one final thing once T'seng had spoken, "Sir, after the ramming of us by the USS Charon I detected a communication from the Charon to the SN2-Beta... I don't know why Escude would want to contact them, unless, improbably, he is in league with them as well, or if he merely wanted to send a message of warning to them."
Returning to the bridge the three officers set about their work, Karka again taking the science console, finding it more useful at present than merely surveying the engine performance from the port side. What were the merits, he thought, of boarding the Massachusetts, finding some excuse that would have Connolly lower his shields to allow a party aboard for some staff dinner (despite the circumstances), a party which was actually yet another boarding party carrying out an operation to free another leader - the Excalibur's CO - from the prison that was the Mass.'s sickbay.
<Tag Ryat>
The ship fell into shadow, Karka realising they were passing behind a planet farther in in the system which was now eclipsing (from their point of view) the system's star - their projected circle areas coincidentally matching at the Excalibur's current distance from each body.
They were cut off from the Massachusetts that lay some ten million kilometres the other side of the planet, with the SN2-Beta incidentally arriving from behind the Excal, above and to the left, as the Excal looked towards the star; visually and in terms of communication the Excal crew could make no contact with the Mass., though like that ship the Excal was a refitted Constitution class, whose sensors would still be able to discern objects and events behind bodies such as planets and at this range...
"Sir, detecting a building transportation signal coming from the Massachusetts... It's programmed to be directed to the SN2-Beta!" tactical exclaimed. Karka's infiltrations of the Constitution class were telling them more than just the intraship communications then... The tactical officer studied his screen, "Evidently the Massachusetts is taking advantage of the shield disruptions we inflicted on SN2-Beta during Vazon's rescue."
"Commander," Karka leaned over from his station to Schirra in the centre seat, "If that beam's to be carrying Admiral Connolly or any entourage of his, I recommend we attempt to intercept the matter stream. If we -"
"What?!"
"Dan, please, I believe if we put ourselves directly in the path of the stream we can have our transporter system lock onto his signal and dematerialise him, or them, ourselves, into the transporter room." But what could the benefits be of that if Connolly was wholly innocent? Then again, why would someone on that ship wish to beam through the defective shield grid of the SN2-Beta?
<Tag Schirra>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 11, 2016 1:55:58 GMT
"....... in my view, to achieve one of two things, the first, our deaths in an unsuccessful rescue effort, or the second, Green's incarceration and Connolly's subsequent demonstration to the augments that he is now best placed to join them."
"Bloody hell !" Dan exclaimed, "So, going off your findings, Connolly could be in league in some way with the Augments, or, may be playing one 'HELL' of a dangerous game allowing Kurio, or more likely Talavi, to believe he's acquired an ally, and what about Escude, and his Exec' what was his name, Jaso ? ... Could they all be part of this conspiracy ?"
"I wasn't giving you facts Commander." Karka stated almost casually, but his annoyance was evident in his tone, "I was giving you the information you requested, interpreted by myself."
They discussed the situation for another thirty minutes before returning to the Bridge ....
~~~~~
"Sir, detecting a building transportation signal coming from the Massachusetts ...." T'Seng informed them.
"If that beam is to be carrying Admiral Connolly or any entourage of his, I recommend we attempt to intercept the matter stream. If we ...." Dan expressed his shock, but the Engineer continued regardless, "Dan, please, I believe if we put ourselves directly in the path of the stream we can have our transporter system lock onto his signal and de-materialise him, or them, ourselves, into the transporter room."
"... and what if they are transporting something other than Connolly or his confederates ?" he finally asked. Karka almost shrugged, "So, our frighteningly dubious options here thus far are: We intercept the transport, we get onto the Massachusetts and grab Ryat, likely incurring Courts Martial's all round in the process. Or maybe we take the fight to the Augments ourselves and destroy the Beta ? .... Oh, hold onto that thought .... "
"Commander." T'Seng commented, making both Officers turn to face her, "With all due respect, I need to inform you that the transport has been completed. I read two life-forms plus approximately two hundred kilograms of freight. What freight, is your guess, they scrambled the matrix. It was all I could do to distinguish between organic and inorganic."
"OK, we dropped the ball there." Dan said under his breath, "Open a Comm to the Massachusetts, let's see if Connolly is at home." he said, dropping warily into the Command seat. Seconds later the Comm was projected onto the 'window' ...
=^= Commander Sulin .. I was trying to contact the Admiral =^= Dan said, unsure if he was surprised or .....
=^= The Admiral is unfortunately unavailable Commander .. But he has authorised me to confer on his behalf .. What can i do for you .. Commander ? =^=
=^= My Officers and I are beaming to the Massachusetts momentarily .. On our arrival you will produ .. .. .. =^=
=^= Your 'request' it contrary to my standing orders Commander .. I will of cour .. .. .. =^=
=^= Check the following authorisation thoroughly Commander : Schirra-Gamma-Theta-Upsilon-Eight-Four-Seven-One-Pi-Lambda .. .. I'll wait =^=
Dan knew full well he was breaking almost every regulation regarding his status within Star Fleet Intelligence, but needs must, and at this point, knowing what Admiral Connolly was up to took priority, but, where Commodore Ryat was, and her situation, in his opinion, a critical element if their speculation that Admiral Connolly was indeed in league with the Augments ! ... They were running out of options faster than light at this point, and their next moves could either see a successful outcome, or the possible overthrowing of the Federation until the Augments were supreme rulers !
=^= Commander .. I have been 'instructed' to co-operate with you and your Officers regardless of any countermanding orders from 'presumed' Superior Officers .. That said .. I have already filed a complaint regarding your conduct and will be pressing for full disclosure should this incident come to light =^=
=^= Good for you Commander .. .. .. Now .. I want to know how Commodore Ryat is and where she is being held =^=
=^= I'm sorry Commander .. But Commodore Ryat is not aboard the Massachusetts .. She accompanied the Admiral when he transported to the Augment Flagship =^= the man said, matter-of-factly.
=^= By 'FORCE' ? =^= T'Seng asked. But Sulin remained mute so Schirra repeated the query:
=^= I am not in a position to comment =^=
=^= Commander Sulin ! .. .. You will transfer 'ALL' information pertaining to this assignment to the Excalibur computers .. Immediately .. you will then wipe any and all records regarding said transfer .. You yourself will of course treat my interference as confidential .. That information by the way should include any records personal or otherwise from the Command Staff .. Including yourself and the Admiral .. .. You will do this immediately .. Or using the aforementioned authority I will remove you from your position .. Then .. I will install a Commanding Officer of my choosing and we will take the information from your own computers .. I'm not usually one to push time limits here Commander .. But alas .. Sooner is much more preferable to the end of your career =^= Dan ran his finger across his throat, signifying the end of the communication.
"Sir, I'm assuming you have allowed for the possibility that Sulin is in league, as you put it, with the Augments. What's to stop him simply cotacting the Admiral and relaying our demands, thus making us one heck of a target ?"
"That code is a 'one-off' ... If Sulin, or Connolly, or Ryat for that matter, try to access it they will be sorely disappointed." Dan said, wondering what their next move could be ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 11, 2016 21:36:01 GMT
Karka retook the science station and observed the beginning of the data transfer from the Massachusetts, "Dan, they're transferring it across," he confirmed, "They're transferring something across at any rate..." Ah, but here were the internal sensor records... Now the first of Connolly's official logs came through; it was dated to nearly a week ago when the task force had set out for Gorn space: nothing but businesslike remarks on the coming assignment and a fleeting mention of the Excalibur the efficiency of its crew which he'd observed. Karka smiled and read on, ready to report anything circumspect to Schirra at first mention of it in the logs.
So Sulin did appear to be loyal, whether or not he was aware of Connolly's intentions. Either that or he had been scared into obedience - for the moment fearing that Starfleet Intel held greater weight in these matters than did his commanding officer.
The datalink was still open, only 30% of the information processed thus far; Karka had however already found something potentially damning: "Commander. I've read enough to know that from the start Connolly knew there were augments on Triaud II and that he had been planning to reach them. He didn't know, apparently, about Escude's revenge mission or by extension that John Vazon was on the planet being protected by the augments - it complicated matters but also gave him a good excuse to get to Triaud. It seems Connolly is linked to a network of criminal organisations that stretches across the Federation, a loose confederacy which has been discussing casually the overthrow of the Federation for decades. It would seem the time is at hand."
He returned to reading details of the classified mission but was distracted by an alert from next to the science scope; he turned off the alarm and peered into the scope's blue... He spoke slowly, not able to believe what it was showing him, "Sir, the USS Charon is approaching at high velocity, two Triaud ships flanking her, identified as... the SN3-Zeta and the SN1-Kappa."
They were being hailed. Schirra nodded to the Comms Officer and garbled voices filled the bridge; one rose above the storm, "That's it Connolly! You've breathed your last! Escude over and out!"
"It seems it wasn't meant for us, Commander," Comms said quietly, the channel having closed, "Escude transmitted that on wide-beam."
"He's approaching from our aft, from back towards the Andersen's Planet's shipyard." What the hell is he meaning to do, more to the point, Karka thought.
The Charon was charging weapons, along with the two Triaud vessels which had been crewed by Charon crewmembers - previous derelicts, taken over when Escude had returned to the shipyard. On the Excal viewscreen, an unmodified Constitution class and two smaller Triaud vessels (smaller than SN2-Beta in fact) flew by overhead silently, eclipsing the system's star and banking off as silhouettes towards the Massachusetts; they fired in tandem, phasers and particle beams, torpedoes photonic and otherwise, at a single point on the Mass.'s shields; after five seconds of drilling - after which they would pass the Massachusetts due to the great velocity - the beams and torpedoes burst through the opened hole, the shield grid almost visibly being flayed away into the outer blackness, having lost its tension provided by the generator, and struck the saucer section of the Mass., conspicuously heavily around the bridge which promptly vanished behind a hailstorm of released energy glowing white and jewel-studded.
Now past the ship, the Charon fired its aft torpedoes into the engine complex, also phasering the two nacelles together with the one Triaud ship that hadn't been caught in the explosions across the saucer section (and had inadvertantly plunged in a kamikaze attack (purely accidental) into the port edge of the saucer). The ship had started rolling left, the nacelles shattered, leaking plasma before the white glimmer characteristic of a new-born star showed itself in the stardrive section on the viewscreen of the Excalibur, the ship's antimatter store having been ignited...
Schirra shouted for all power to shields just before the shockwave rippled over them; the ship shuddered, a vibration in the chassis like the striking of an awesome chord at resonant frequency making the whole grand piano crack to pieces, the lights switched off momentarily before auxiliary cut in and then main restored itself after a few seconds of stunned silence with people collecting themselves from the floor, spitting out blood and teeth.
"The datalink's been lost. All information that we'd acquired has been expunged," Psonoir said, choking on fumes rising from beneath his console. Nothing left on Connolly or what he's been up to, he thought, nothing left of his ship at least. "Massachusetts has been destroyed," he added unnecessarily.
"Escude, you damn fool," Unwin was saying, at the engineering console, "You aimed for the wrong ship, the wrong damn ship."
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 11, 2016 21:37:41 GMT
On the SN2-Beta...
Kurio entered the situation room, these Triaud ships not having natural bridges - they had attempted to install one at the apex of the dorsal side, as was ubiquitous amongst Federation starships, but now... observing what'd happened to the Admiral's bridge (and starship), perhaps it'd been a wise choice to abandon the endeavour. He tugged down on his black uniform, having recently patched up the holes made from similar such manoeuvres in the past, and stood at the table, "Why did he do that?" he murmured, not to himself but to the person standing across from him, a Starfleet Admiral.
Connolly was spitting with rage, surveying through the portals near the floor the space where his vessel had once been. The SN2-Beta was above and to the left, from the USS Excalibur's perspective, of the former Massachusetts, "At the same time," he reasoned, suddenly sober, "I have preserved my life, as well as that of our hostage, Commodore Ryat."
"Is she stowed in quarters?" another augment asked.
"She is. And we should look, as I previously pointed out, to use her as a bargaining chip with the Intelligence officer on the Excalibur." Connolly explained the bargain, "We're allowed to go free from this area - I can explain to them quite legitimately that without my ship I have no way of returning to the Federation for court-martial; if they've realised my connivance with you by now - and Commodore Ryat is allowed to return to her ship. You, Axar, will act on the pretence of taking me back to Starbase to deliver me into the hands of the authorities for my court-martial, or all is lost. We can discuss where we'll actually go en route."
"You, Connolly, will call me Kurio, your leader, until such a time as Talavi is returned to us and I'm made your equal under his command. But I'll go along with you on this; the more we can make you legitimate in the eyes of your superiors the better it will serve us in the short run. Very well," he declared, "All of you, dismissed."
He headed to Alyana Ryat's quarters, the passage achingly slow due to the pulley and winch lifted and lowered elevators - lucky they had those dampeners installed in the shafts or it would be a rocky ride during evasive manoeuvres, to say the least. He entered without permission, the two augments with him at the signal of Axar's pointed finger heading towards the Commodore and lifting her by either arm, "You're to come with us. You'll explain to your ship that by your own consent you're being accommodated here; that we are keeping you and Admiral Connolly safe until such time as both of you are able to return to your commands, which you will be shortly, assuming that your XO believes in our sincerity."
<Tag Ryat, Schirra>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 11, 2016 23:53:35 GMT
"Sir, the USS Charon is approaching at high velocity, two Triaud ships flanking her, identified as ... the SN3-Zeta and the SN1-Kappa." They were being hailed. Schirra nodded to the Comms Officer and garbled voices filled the bridge:
"That's it Connolly ! ... You've breathed your last ... Escude over and out !"
They could only watch as the three vessels began to attack the Massachusetts, but he wasn't about to sit here indefinitely. He turned to the tactical officer:
"Bring weapons on-line. Helm, move us closer on an interce ...... SHIELDS !" he almost yelled as stray weapons fire, obviously aimed at the Mass' slammed into the second of the Triaud Vessels ... It tumbled, spiralling towards the Massachusetts. They had no chance of survival as the two vessels came together in a spectacular explosion. Dan couldn't, didn't want to, speculate on the number of lives lost in that few fateful seconds, "Scan for survivors." he said, the futility of the request not lost on anyone on the Bridge. Kieron turned to him and shook his head. As the Excalibur steadied herself, Dan glared through the 'window' at the aftermath of the collision, thousands upon thousands of tonnes of wreckage, intermingled with the lifeless bodies of those serving on the vessels. He could hear the Tactical Officer giving instructions to turn the cargo area's into makeshift morgues and to begin transporting the dead from the Massachusetts aboard. Once done, Dan spoke:
"Where are the ships remaining ?" Dan asked the Tactical Officer.
"Apologies Commander ..." the man said, but Dan assured him that he had done the right thing, "The USS Charon and SN1-Kappa are ten thousand kilometres from the SN2-Beta ... They are currently two hundred seventy thousand kilometers from our position and stationary. There seems to be a lot of Comm traffic between the three vessels, but no-one appears to be taking any notice of our presence Sir."
"Then lets get their full attention ! ...... full impulse, approach to keep us at their backs and lock 'ALL' weapons on the Charon."
"Sir, the USS Charon is peeling off from the group; the SN1-Kappa... is remaining, sir." They soon had the answer to that oddity; Escude must've crewed those Triaud ships with his own people, going by the state of them they may well have been derelicts and it was unlikely Escude would side with augment-crewed Triaud ships, however it seemed a transportation had taken place from the Beta to the Kappa, and it was supposed that the Kappa had been seized by the augments under Kurio. "The Kappa is falling in alongside the Beta now, Commander," the Tactical Officer commented, "If the augments meant to take control of it it would seem they've succeeded."
"Open a Comm to the SN1-Kappa, I want to know what's going on over there, perhaps Escude left them a surprise - make sure the other Augment vessel can listen in." Schirra ordered then stood to approach the 'window' ... A second later a man he recognised as the President of Triaud II, Horace McNulty of all people appeared.
=^= Mr President.. You are in on this conspiracy, too? I should have known from your lack of support when the Excalibur entered your planet's orbit. You will transport to the Excalibur once this conversation is concluded .. While not a member of the Federation, your prospective candidate status means you're still liable for indictment under Federation law. You will be held pending charges =^=
=^= I am afraid I cannot comply .. Commander .. But .. I do have a counter-proposal for you to consider .. If you are willing to listen ? =^= Dan could do nothing but nod, so McNulty continued, =^= Shortly after this somewhat unfortunate situation developed.. Brought on by necessity I assure you .. I 'acquired' two personnel whom you may be acquainted with .. For your word that I can remain in Command of this vessel for the duration of our journey to a Star Base of your choosing .. Where I will willingly surrender myself to authorities and face charges .. I am willing to return my 'guests' once we are en-route =^=
=^= I have zero interest in who you may or may not have McNulty.. You will ensure your shields remain down and all weapons systems off-line .. Then .. I will transport two Officers to your vessel and two to the SN2-Beta who will also surrender themselves into our custody .. .. .. The following people will transport to the Excalibur without delay .. Yourself .. Axar Kurio .. Baratz Talavi .. =^=
=^= You need to listen to my proposal Commander =^= McNulty urged. Dan turned away and the Comm muted. seconds later, beams of almost pure energy lanced from the saucer section of the Excalibur. They slammed into the main Engineering section of the SN2-Beta, instantly crippling it. In the background Karka surveyed the engine damage through the science scope, Dan turned back to the 'window' ...
=^= Understand me .. Mr PRESIDENT .. While I would much prefer to have you held accountable for your crimes .. It is not a requirement ! .. Any attempt to bring your warp core on-line raise shields or lock weapons 'WILL' result in your immediate destruction .. My weapons are locked on your Engineering section and I will fire on you the second I feel you are being less than one hundred percent co-operative =^=
=^= If I may Commander .. I would like to patch in the SN2-Beta .. .. .. It may clarify the situation ? =^= frustration rising, Dan nodded and the screen split, showing the SN1 on the left, and the SN2 on the right. he wasn't prepared for who stood before him on-screen:
=^= As you can see Commander .. Both Admiral Connolly and Commodore Ryat are in good health and aboard our vessel at their bidding .. they were fully aware of the situation and agreed to transpo .. .. .. =^=
=^= Commodore .. .. =^= Dan interrupted, completely ignoring Connolly, =^= We are ready to transport you back to the Excalibur immediately =^=
=^= It is good to see you are well Daniel .. .. .. Now .. President McNulty.. .. .. Has been forthright in his statements regarding his intention to hand himself over to the Federation Department of Justice and has 'requested' I and the Admiral remain aboard while being accompanied to the nearest Star Base that has a Federation attorney.. =^=
Dan knew she was lying through her proverbial teeth. they, or Ryat at least, were being held and if he tried to do anything about it the stalemate could erupt into a two against one fight. even though he had effectively crippled both Augment vessels, they still had firing capability, and could catch the Excalibur in a crossfire considering that, as Psonoir reported, the SN2-Beta still had for the moment impulse power and could round the Excal to have the ship attacked from both port and starboard. He decided on another tack:
=^= I think we should discuss this face to face .. You, McNulty .. Will transport to the Excalibur with the Admiral 'AND' our Commanding Officer in fifteen minutes .. At which time we sha .. .. =^=
=^= Not going to happen Commander .. Your Commanding Officer 'AND' Admiral Connolly per-se have assured you that they are safe and well and are willing to remain with Axar Kurio and myself to ensure our safety en-route .. If needs be you may have your Commanding Officer, if you would leave the Admiral with us and allow us to head to Starbase independently from yourselves; the Admiral is quite satisfied to remain, doesn't that convince you of our good intentions? you have little option here Commander given either of my guests out-rank you and could compel you to follow their orders =^=
=^= Actually, Mr President.. You as much as anyone should know that any Command Officer being held against their will or suspected of being coerced into making statements no longer hold their Rank and are considered prisoners .. So my choosing to comply or ignore Commodore Ryat or Admiral Connolly is my option and will be discussed at any hearing convened on said matter .. So .. That said .. I will expect you here in .. Eleven minutes =^=
He ran a finger across his throat to signify the end of the conversation
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Alyana Ryat
Commodore
Registered: Sept 5, 2007 16:34:56 GMT
Posts: 347
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Post by Alyana Ryat on Jun 12, 2016 14:43:25 GMT
OOC: Work has been busy the last two weeks, but, more oddly, apparently I dreamed about posting for Aly in such detail that I believed it... So, this is me attempting to play catch up.
Aly was still slightly out of it when she was sent back to her quarters, the Massecusettes medical crew had decided that she was about to die and so having put a small neural monitor on her it had been declared that she could return to her quarters/prison. She was more than a little annoyed that her strategy hadn't worked. She started to check the room for potential access panels, if us he could get at some of the comms circuitry she was sure she could sent a message back to her ship that bypassed both the main comms array and the internal recordings. She was also sure she could get out of this room but if she did that they would attempt to hunt her down. If she was going to escape she needed a plan. Aly smothered a yawn. She also needed sleep, proper sleep, not the slightly drugged doze she was still coming out of. With a sigh he realised that she was actually going to have to rest first.
She sprawled full length on the bed not even troubling to remove her boots.
She had definitely slept, that was clear when she woke up to two people 'escorting' off to another reasonably luxurious prison, which is not to say she wasn't thoroughly sick of the whole situation. She delivered the words they told her to over the comms link, it was clear that he didn't believe her. When the comm link cut she and the Admiral were escorted to what was probably a office, she looked around. There were three guards in the room with them. She was sure they were paying more attention to Admiral Connerly than her. This would be a one shot option. She glanced at the Admiral and then at the guard nearest him. He nodded minutely. Aly sidled closer to the guard nearest her. Then threw herself at him catching him hard around the knees and both of them went to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Admiral moving too. She grabbed his gun hand with both of hers, wrestling the weapon from his hand when his head hit the deck. She shot the guard who was trying to get a clear shot at the Admiral who was grappling with his guard. As the guard Aly shot dropped the Admiral landed a right hook that sent his attacker sprawling. Aly went to get to her feet only to have the guard she had stunned with the fall's hand close around her throat. Admiral Connerly shot him too.
Aly got to her feet, weapon still in hand, gasping for air. She sucked in another lungful of air, she was definitely going to have bruises. "I think we'll be left on our own for a while, unless anyone heard anything. Do you want to deal with the door while I take the comm link?" She offered. Admiral Connerly got to work jamming up the door lock while Aly started hacking into their computer and the communications system. Their internal security wasn't great and the ship wasn't in brilliant shape either.
She soon had a secure line to the Excal. "Hi Commander, it's me again, the situation here has changed and we would very much like to come back to the Excal, now please. "
Tag: Dan
Aly knew she would have to speak to the Admiral about how much he had known about what his crew were up to, and certainly they must have been complicit in her second kidnapping/his first but how had he let things get that bad. Still all those questions could wait until they we somewhere relatively safe.
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 14, 2016 17:03:40 GMT
=^= Actually, Mr President.. You as much as anyone should know that any Command Officer being held against their will or suspected of being coerced into making statements no longer hold their Rank and are considered prisoners .. So my choosing to comply or ignore Commodore Ryat or Admiral Connolly is my option and will be discussed at any hearing convened on said matter .. So .. That said .. I will expect you here in .. Eleven minutes =^=
He ran a finger across his throat to signify the end of the conversation.
"You think he'll comply ?" Chief T'seng asked.
"He has little option in my opinion." Daniel said, returning to the center seat and rubbing his eye warily, "Keep a weapons lock on the 'Kappa Tactical, if they attempt to raise shields or bring their core on-line I want them disabled."
They watched as the chronometer counted down the remaining ten minutes. If President McNulty decided to call his bluff, Dan would be forced to commit what could only be seen as an act of mutiny: He would need to fire on the Presidents vessel and forcibly take him into custody. With three minutes until the deadline, the Comms Officer informed him that someone was attempting to contact the Excalibur ... Dan ordered the Comm onto the 'window' ...
=^= Hi Commander .. It's me again .. The situation here has changed and we would very much like to come back to the Excal' .. .. Now please =^=
=^= Commodore .. Is the Admiral with you ? =^=
=^= He's here what plans do you have for our return Commander ? =^=
=^= I have informed Presid .. .. .. =^= he began to explain, when the comm suddenly snapped off, leaving everyone on the Excalibur frustrated as to why, knowing they had no way of getting the Commodore back without the transmission being pick-up by their Bridge, but a moment later President McNulty re-established a link, this time a standard communication:
=^= Having 'conferred' with my Staff and Senior Officers .. We have decided to decline your gracious offer Commander =^=
=^= I wish to speak with Commodore Ryat or Admiral Connolly .. Immediately .. Please do not misunderstand me Mister President .. I WILL fire on your vessel and retrieve our Officers .. You will be detained whichever course you decide to take .. You have thirty seconds to produce our Officers on-screen =^=
He turned away, trying to hide the concern he was feeling inside. McNulty had done the one thing he had dreaded, and now he had a decision to make, and quickly. He ordered the Excalibur closer to the SN1-Kappa, if he had to fire he wanted the resulting damage to be as precise as possible. He was informed that the USS Charon was approaching. He spun to face the 'window' as the Tactical Officer overlaid a Tactical Plot showing the Excalibur in the center, with the 'Kappa in close proximity, a third vessel, known now as the Charon, was closing the distance between them, albeit slowly.
"It's as if Captain Escude doesn't want to become directly involved in our situation, it's almost as if he's holding off to await the outcome of our ultimatum." T'Seng commented, "He's altering course. looks as if he's going to place himself between us two and the SN1-Beta. Think he's going to go after the Augments ?"
"He would have no way of knowing that Tavali and Kurio are aboard the Kappa, so whats his interest in the crippled vessel ?" Dan pondered.
"Open a comm to the Charon, quickly !" Dan ordered, knowing there was only seconds before his second deadline to the Triaud President:
=^= Captain Escude .. You are currently approaching our position .. What are your intentions ? =^=
=^= .. .. .. .. .. =^=
"He's not going to answer." Karka commented as they listened to the static. Dan didn't have time for this, he ordered the original Comm to be re-established:
=^= You can't seriously be calling my bluff McNulty =^= Dan said as Admiral Connolly stepped into view.
=^= Commander .. It is our understanding that President McNulty feels 'safer' in our presence .. It is also possible that the approaching USS Charon intends to fire on this vessel in an effort to replace the President .. Therefore .. .. .. You will cease your threats against this vessel immediately and will escort us to the nearest Star base as originally decided .. I am under no duress Commander .. You have my word on that and that of commodore Ryat .. She is currently assisting in Sick-bay but asked me to inform you of her well-being and willingness to remain aboard the Triaud Flagship with me =^=
Dan eyed the man on-screen ..... He knew Connolly was lying, but if he chose to call him out he would need to reveal Commodore Ryat's hidden communications.
=^= Sir .. If I may ? .. .. .. As we read it here .. Captain Escude's sole reason for being here was to apprehend one John Veson also known as John Philip Green .. that could have changed considerably obviously but .. He has no way of knowing which vessel Green is currently on .. So why would he risk attacking the very one you are being held on ? =^=
=^= Once again Commander .. For clarification purposes only .. myself and the Commodore are here of our own choosing and will remain aboard until such time as we deem necessary .. Please remember that and that I am a Flag Officer and as such out-rank you by a considerable margin .. .. .. Drop your weapons lock on this vessel and move to intercept the Charon .. Now ! =^=
The communication snapped off almost angrily ... He turned to the others, wondering how his bluff had effectively been counter-bluffed ! ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 16, 2016 22:46:07 GMT
Having positioned itself between the sparring Triaud ship and the Excalibur, the Charon had begun boarding operations on the SN2-Beta, having discovered members of its own crew aboard, transferred there when the augments had hijacked the Kappa that'd previously been hijacked by Escude's own crew and taken from the Andersen's Planet shipyard. Let them engage in their futile war of words, was the thought of the commander, he was now a hair's breadth away from capturing Vazon.
As Connolly ordered - from his formal status of prisoner - the Excalibur to go after the Charon Karka detected a build-up of power coming from the ship that the Charon was currently eclipsing: the SN2-Beta's impulse drive had reactivated, it was now moving off at a third of lightspeed and Escude's vessel was sluggishly moving to catch up. That confirms what their target is then, Karka thought, glad in a way that Escude was going after the Beta and not turning his guns on yet another Federation starship.
"Sir, if we wish to go after the Charon in accordance with the Admiral's orders I'd suggest now would be the time to do so," he said, having the view of the Beta and the pursuing Charon shown on the viewscreen, "However, I don't believe Admiral Connolly is telling us the whole truth... He is genuine about wanting to remain on the Kappa but not for the reason he's stated; if I was right about his defecting to the augments, if what is in his personal logs from the Massachusetts tell us the truth and aren't part of some elaborate ploy to work his way into the augments' confidence..." Karka decided he'd better get to the point, "Then I don't believe we should pursue Juan Escude at this time, even though he did destroy a Federation starship and killed over five hundred individuals."
"What would you recommend?" T'Seng asked boldly.
Karka smiled, "I would recommend... boarding the Kappa. Recover the CO, find Axar Kurio, discover whether Connolly and/or McNulty have been manipulated or are genuine in whatever they're telling us, and take the augments into custody."
"You don't ask for much then. Sir," T'Seng added.
"The only thing that caused Escude to destroy the Massachusetts, I posit, is that he discovered Admiral Connolly was in league in some way with the augments; he therefore realised he had another obstacle to overcome in his effort to capture or kill John P. Green, and thus took rash action in order to remove Connolly as soon as possible. If this is right, Escude won't discover any signs of collusion between us and the augments because... well, there are none, so there is as close to a zero percent probability that he'll attack the Excalibur as you're likely to get.
"My suggestion," he continued, "Counter-proposal. To President McNulty. We transport aboard his vessel rather than him being transported to ours; make it seem like now that the Charon is gone we are potentially outgunned or in either case left without options. With that on our side, we lie to the effect that we are ready to talk on their terms. Hmm... perhaps I may even be able to simulate an engine or weapons failure." It wasn't proper procedure he supposed while he was still technically a member of the Charon's crew and wearing a science division uniform but then, "Unwin," he called to the Chief Engineer who'd been listening in, "See what you can do with that will you?"
Five minutes later McNulty was hailing them, "Commander. We notice you are having some trouble with your impulse drive. Is there any more proof needed of our sincerity? That we didn't flee the scene the moment we detected your engine malfunction?"
They asked to be transported aboard the Kappa, party of five (plus a dozen security personnel ready to be beamed across when they received the signal, not divulged to McNulty obviously...); the five including Commander Schirra, Karka, T'Seng, Unwin and Totorski, the official Acting Chief Science Officer. Lieutenants Hearan and the fast-recovered Prescott would lead the two security teams now scrambling to transporter room one.
"Alright," a husky voice said from behind McNulty, concealed in shadow, "But no weapons. No communications equipment. We will lower our shields so you may beam aboard and can thus leave as soon as you wish to, but at the first sign of foul play, any explosives or anything else you care to beam aboard, or hidden communicators, you will all be held and your crew ordered to surrender your vessel with your lives held for ransom."
"Sir. Care to dine with the enemy?" Karka asked, signalling towards the turbolift, "If we're right they won't give Commodore Ryat back despite our best protests... If we can find a way to locate her and quiz her without the phasers pointed at her back... Maybe find a convenient time to leave our conference with McNulty and co."
<Tag Schirra>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 17, 2016 23:40:41 GMT
Lieutenant Unwin's mysterious engine fault worked exactly as they needed it to ... The SN2-Beta contacted them within minutes ...
Daniel sat back in the Command seat as Karka spoke to President McNulty, who was condescendingly smug though trying hard not to show it. Karka requested they be allowed to transport over during repairs, to speak with the President directly, and also talk to Admiral Connolly and Commodore Ryat, though he was careful not to mention the latter part of the plan, nor the Security details awaiting orders to join them if necessary:
=^= Alright .. .. But no weapons .. No communications equipment .. We will lower our shields so you may beam aboard and can thus leave as soon as you wish to .. But at the first sign of foul play any explosives or anything else you care to beam aboard including hidden communicators .. You will all be held and your crew ordered to surrender your vessel with your lives held for ransom =^= someone out of shot instructed. Karka turned to Dan as the comm closed:
"Care to dine with the enemy ?" ........
~~~~~~~~~~
Materialising, they were faced, not unexpectedly, with several Augment Security, along with a Federation Officer they were unfamiliar with.
"I am commander Sulin, Adjutant to Admiral Connolly, please, follow me to the ward room." they filed out of the transporter room, security in close proximity ahead and behind, "I'm sure you have questions, but please, the Admiral would prefer it if you didn't make any unforeseen problems during the repair time of your vessel."
"What are you doing here Commander ?" Schirra asked casually, "We were unaware that any other Federation Officers were, aboard.
"I was one of the, lucky ones, to escape with my life when the Massachusetts was destroyed."
"By our hosts if I'm not mistaken ?" he prodded, hoping to cause a slip from the man, but he Sulin well trained, or more likely well briefed.
"Alas, Chief, I have no knowledge of that, with the assistance of President McNulty we are currently investigating. Sabotage is not ruled out." He stepped aside as he reached a door which slid silently aside to allow them to enter. Once inside Sulin informed them that it would be 'unwise' to attempt to roam the ship un-escorted, there was a lot going on and the President didn't want anyone to be injured, "The President and mister Talavi will join you shortly." he turned and left, Dan noticed he pointed to the door and two men took up position either side before it closed ...
Unwin held a finger to his lips, pointing at the corners of the room, everyone got the message:
"Not very polite to dump us in a room and walk out." he said, dropping into one of the plush seats at the long table, obviously set up for them to dine. Dan counted places for ten guests, the five of them he assumed, plus McNulty, Tavali, Kurio, Sulin, and one other, but who ? .... They had been left alone, obviously under surveillance, for twenty minutes and Dan was about to go to the door despite the warning from the Admirals' Aide, when it opened. In strode the people he expected and the President asked everyone to sit as the meal was ready to serve. The last seat remained unoccupied and he was almost itching to ask who the place had been laid for, but thought better of it for the moment as the President was talking about their bad fortune and his offer to send his own people over to the Excalibur to assist. Unwin, ever protective of his engines as Acting Chief Engineer, thanked the man a little more forcibly than necessary.
McNulty smiled almost knowingly then changed the subject as the first course was served .... Dan wondered how long they would keep up the pretence, the charade of friendship between them. He couldn't help keep going back to Sulin ... What was he doing here, was he working with, or for, McNulty, was he liaising with the President and Kurio on behalf of Connolly ? ... One thing was obvious, the man was all too comfortable in whatever position or role he was currently undertaking, and that was a dangerous thing. It meant he would act quickly if the need arose, but on who's side !
Two hours had passed, with no mention of the metaphorical idiom of the 'elephant in the room' ... Unwin commented across the table that he should probably contact the Excalibur for a progress report. Kurio immediately told the Engineer he could use the anteroom for his communication. Eyeing Schirra for an instant, he stood and left the table ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 20, 2016 23:18:30 GMT
From Baratz Talavi's look Karka could tell he was recognised. Of course, he was that man in civilian clothes who with his bumbling colleague had accosted Talavi on his way back from the Ministry of Propaganda, Triaud II planetary government.
Unwin returned shortly after his comm which had just been audible to the people in the room; luckily he'd shown sufficient caution to realise that possibility and had instead blundered his way through some false talk about the impulse engines, but had managed to transmit a few code words that would've gone completely unnoticed by the augments, he hoped...
With the engineer's return the main course was served. Karka picked at his lobster, realising that the augments were also unaccustomed to this food; they regarded it uninterestedly while McNulty happily tucked in. "Of course," Baratz Talavi spoke at last, "The President here was more than willing to join our cause when he learnt that the Federation were invading his world, the USS Charon seemed only too eager to get me and my people back, and didn't care who stood in his way, Triaud citizen or otherwise..."
"Escude was after John Vazon, as you well know," Karka replied.
"Yet he had no qualms about destroying what is left of my race in his pursuit of the leader you subsequently stole from us." Karka fixed his eyes on Talavi's, Kurio beside the man watching Schirra intently. "My people are dying, Commander; what was once a great civilisation populated by us representing the transhuman, and led by Singh, has been reduced to ashes, saved only by the miracles of deep sleep in long-range interstellar transport. Now you have a mad Captain out for revenge for some long-ago offence against his family, not minding that in having his vengeance he will extinguish us entirely."
"Colonel Green, your other hero, was the perpetrator of that 'offence' against his family," Unwin said bravely, Karka glanced aside, thinking it uncharacteristic for the man to show such a lack of timidity.
As the course waxed to full so to speak, with Karka putting away the rest of his lobster - unfortunately not under the table - McNulty clapped once and stood, making as to address them all, augments and Starfleeters alike, "Now I think it is time we brought in our guest of honour. Axar Kurio, if you please." Kurio, looking at the man with disdain, nodded to augment guards at the wall behind the Excalibur officers and abruptly the five of them were flung off their seats by the pull of electified whips brandished by the augments - Karka felt the whip coiling round his leg dragging him across the floor, sending a jolt of electricity every half-second up to the bone in his leg, now spasming helplessly.
Kurio and Talavi rounded on them, training beam weapons as the officers writhed about on the floor. Karka saw out the corner of his eye the door to the room retract, a bright light blinding him for an instant before it was cut off by the silhouette of a hulking figure, now approaching the table and taking the mysterious fifth seat.
"Does Connolly suspect anything?" he heard Talavi saying.
"No," Kurio, shaking his head. Wait, if that's Connolly, Karka thought, why would they speak like that in his presence?
"If you can orientate yourselves, my guests..." McNulty glared at the prostrate Excal officers as the spasming of their limbs began to subside, "So that you're facing the table, you'll see who I'm talking about." Karka, shutting out the pain, applying a small amount of consciousness acceleration such that the electrode-like stimulation of his mucles was segmented into manageable quanta that passed by in a flash - analogous to substituting the excruciating agony of a dagger drawn slowly through flesh for the sharp instantaneous pain of a limb being severed... He found his focus on the table and saw a person whose countenance was vaguely familiar, only... older.
McNulty was saying, "Marcus Vazon, henceforth to be called Marcus Phillip Green, is our new leader."
Astonished, Karka through tears of pain saw this new Vazon settle at the table, "I follow my son's exploits with interest. I encouraged him, the dissolute youth, to join the augments, with the promise that it would fetch him and myself vast sums of money. Unfortunately, he wasn't as committed to the cause as I'd hoped, didn't wish to take on the mantle of or was wholly ignorant of our visionary forefather Phillip Green."
What had Talavi meant when he'd asked if Connolly suspected anything? he thought. Was this confirmation then of the Admiral's siding with the augments? Would another Vazon's appearance quash the man's hopes of supplanting Vazon as leader of the augments or in any case as one of their higher ranking members, if he found out about Vazon? Indeed, did he know about this new Vazon? (Another damn one to capture).
"We'll leave you for now, honoured guests." President McNulty snickered as he left the room with Talavi, Kurio, Sulin and Vazon Senior in tow, "Don't think we won't be watching." The door locked behind them.
Karka staggered to his feet, glancing at Unwin who set about trying - stealthily - to locate surveillance devices. Showing himself to be the miracle worker Karka always knew him to be, the acting Chief had them located and disabled leaving no signs that they'd been tampering with; Karka headed through to the anteroom and accessing the comm console hailed the Excalibur on a secure channel. Schirra came to stand beside him.
"As they won't be aware of our sabotage of their surveillance, the shields should still be down," he said, "Thus we can have Prescott's team beam into the area about sickbay, and Lieutenant Hearan's team into the corridor here, where hopefully they can unlock the door for us. If Commodore Ryat is helping out in sickbay as they claim then she should be found there. Admiral Connolly, I advise sir, is to be placed under arrest. He is genuine about wanting to remain here during transit, but not for the reasons he's stated; if any more proof of it was needed Dan, he's working with the augments, and I believe that means the Commodore is in grave danger. He must have tricked her into believing he was loyal."
<Tag Schirra, Ryat>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 23, 2016 0:24:23 GMT
The atmosphere during the meal had been, uncomfortable, but when they were jumped on and attacked, Daniel knew they had made a mistake: "If you can orientate yourselves, my guests..." McNulty glared at the prostrate Excal' officers as the spasming of their limbs began to subside, "So that you're facing the table, you'll see who I'm talking about." ~~~~~~~~~~"...... I advise Sir, is to be placed under arrest. He is genuine about wanting to remain here during transit, but not for the reasons he's stated; if any more proof of it was needed Dan, he's working with the augments, and I believe that means the Commodore is in grave danger. He must have tricked her into believing he was loyal." Karka speculated. "Was there any record of Veson having a Father ?" Schirra asked, but T'seng said there had been nothing in the files, "So now we're dealing with this new Augment Ruler, we are still no closer to getting the Commodore back to the Excalibur, and as for Connolly, I am beginning to think your hypothesis is correct, so we go on the assumption that the Admiral is going to be no help. Contact the Excalibur, we'll need to move quickly, they need to reach the Commodore quickly and get her off this ship as a priority ... Hearan's team can get us out and we'll go after Veson Senior and Connolly." Schirra waited, eyes unconsciously flicking to the door every few seconds, half expecting someone to barge in. "Fifteen seconds." Psonoir confirmed .... They didn't hear the teams arrive, but they heard several 'thuds' and a moment later the door opened. Two Security Officers wearing Excalibur uniforms entered and quickly covered all inside, Lieutenant Hearan entered, quickly assessing the room and it's occupants: "Commander." he said, addressing Schirra directly, "Lieutenant Prescott is in sick-bay as we speak. I am unaware of his status as we are keeping Comm silence, they beamed-in successfully and we scanned only six other people in the immediate area, but it's a given Sir that someone knows we are here by now, so I suggest we make a move ?" he said, handing a phaser to Daniel, the other Security Officers furnishing the other four with weapons. One of the Security team stuck his head into the room and pointed: "We're about to have company." Hearan informed them. T'Seng moved to the door and listened, she could hear them coming and a second later four Augments rounded the corner. They knew someone was aboard, but obviously didn't expect to encounter any serious problems, so they came at the room almost casually, that alas, was their mistake ... The first of the Security Team dropped,hit by phaser-fire from the lead augment, but he was felled along with two others as T'Seng, Hearan, and two of the Security team stepped out into the open. The fourth reached for a wall-mounted comm, T'seng shot him twice and he too fell to the deck. "Let's go Sir's !" Hearan said, motioning along the corridor, Schirra and Psonoir, along with Unwin and Totorski stepped into the corridor, Security Officers flanking them front and rear, "We are beaming out." he said. "No !" Schirra said quickly, "We have a job to do Lieutenant. We need to ensure Commodore Ryat is off the ship, then we go after Veson and Connolly." Hearan looked at the man for a second then nodded. "Sir's ... I'm reading several life-signs converging on our location." Everyone raised their phasers, covering both ends of the corridor they were in, but Hearan grinned. he took out a Communicator and entered a brief sequence on the small panel. Grinning he told everyone to remain still ... Dan felt the tell-tale grasp of a transporter beam caressing him then the corridor disappeared. A second later he materialised, but not on the Excalibur as he'd expected, but still on the SN1-Kappa, more specifically, in the ships Sick-Bay. The room was now occupied by thirteen Excalibur Officers, Dan looked around quickly, looking for Ryat: "Where is the Commodore ?" he said urgently. Lieutenant Prescott approached him and Dan could tel instantly that he had nothing good to say: "Sir, the Commodore is in one of the side rooms, she was hit in the cross-fire, midriff left side above her hip, she could be bleeding internally. We can't move her without medical attention, more than we're trained for Sir." "We are in a 'SICK-BAY' !" T'seng said, pointing out the startlingly obvious, not for the first time. "With all due respect, Chief ..." the man replied, "You can sit at a piano, if you can only play 'chopsticks' then it is unreasonable to expect you to perform Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata." "OK, OK, point taken Lieutenant. Have your men locate Admiral Connolly and Veson Senior, it's likely they will both be in the same location." Dan said, playing mediator before going to the side-room to check on Ryat. It wasn't looking good and he knew the Lieutenant was correct in his assessment of her injury. If left untreated it could be fatal, but they were working on her, so apart from needing some rest to recuperate, and possibly a skin graft, he thought she was likely to survive. He was about to speak to Karka regarding their suddenly limited options, when Prescott's communicator chirped to life: =^= Lieutenant Unwin to Away team .. .. .. =^= Prescott handed the device to Daniel quickly. =^= Lieutenant .. Commander Schirra =^= =^= Sir .. We are picking up power spikes on the SN1 .. They will have secondary systems back on-line in ten minutes .. Primary systems inside fifteen .. If they get weapons on-line we will need to move .. Quickly =^= =^= Can you get a lock on the Commodore .. .. .. =^= =^= Negative Commander .. .. As far as we can tell they have no clue that we are in close proximity to them .. But that can change .. Their shields are at fifteen percent and climbing .. It's preventing us getting an accurate lock .. You'll need to lower the shields .. Prevent them getting sensors back .. Or find an alternate escape route .. Again sir .. We are looking at a maximum fifteen minute window here .. Can you remain undiscovered for that time ? =^= Karka shook his head and mouthed 'not a chance' to Dan. =^= I am afraid that 'proverbial' ship has sailed .. .. .. Commander Schirra =^= Dan looked at Karka and T'Seng, it was obvious now that Connolly and Veson had been listening into their conversation, choosing the right time to interrupt, no doubt for dramatic effect. =^= I would much rather not have to fight my way into Sick-bay Commander there could be 'unfortunate' casualties as a result.. So .. Please .. Allow my people to enter .. I assure you that you will be unharmed .. You have my word of honour .. .. .. .. You cannot win Commander .. Would the needless sacrifice of your Excalibur be required to persuade you to cede to my will ? .. .. I am a very reasonable but inpatient man .. Commander .. So I will allow you .. .. .. Ten minutes .. At which time I will decompress the deck you are on and open it to space .. I know you have a vessel close by .. No doubt the Excalibur .. .. Once we have the required systems on-line I will destroy your vessel if you have not capitulated =^= Veson Sr stated almost matter-of-factly. The Comm snapped off with a distinct finality. Dan turned to the others ..........
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 23, 2016 21:28:08 GMT
"Any thoughts ?" he asked the others. "Sir, I get the feeling that if we hand ourselves over he'll destroy the Excalibur the second his systems are on-line, despite his, reassurances. I don't trust the man." T'Seng commented. Schirra had to agree with her assessment. "Karka ?" he asked. < tag : Karka >"Then it's settled. We're not walking out of this room, at least, not into the less than loving arms of the Augment's and their maniacal new leader." Daniel said, looking around the room for something, anything, they could use. Karka meanwhile was at the terminal, working feverishly ... Dan looked over his shoulder, grinning as he realised what the Engineer was trying to set up. He looked at the chronometer over the door, Veson Senior had accommodatingly changed it from ships' time to a countdown readout, presumably for their benefit and his warped sense of amusement: 00:04:38
00:04:37 "I can't get us off this ship !" Psonoir said, slamming a fist into the desk in annoyance at the computer more than at himself. "Then don't try." T'Seng said, eyes darting around the room before fixing on what she was looking for. She took as much loose paper as she could and piled it against the door, adding a blanket and a couple of other things, before taking an ignition source, "Can you get us off this deck ?" she asked when she was done. Karka turned back to the console and began entering instructions, bringing up system after system, accessing them in turn. Dan looked up at the countdown: 00:01:19 "Might be an idea to work quicker." Dan said, grinning. =^= One minute to go .. I do hope you are making the right decision =^=
"His voice is really beginning to grate on my last nerve." Daniel said as Karka confirmed he was ready, or as ready as he could be given the circumstances. T'Seng want over to the door and set fire to the pile, standing back, as if pleased with the outcome, she threw on whatever she could find at hand then went back to the desk where Schirra and Psonoir were waiting. A light began to blink on the desktop screen and an audible warning informed them that the fire suppression system throughout the ship had been deactivated and locked-out by a random alpha numeric access code. It would take time to decrypt, time they desperately needed. "Pity." T'Seng said, a wry smile on her face as the fire reached the Sick-bay ceiling. They could hear the alarm sounding beyond the door now, and imagined the stress the Augment's were under to get in. Daniel had ensured the door would remain closed, at least for long enough for them to make their escape. "You 'DO' realise that anyone noticing what we're doing on the Bridge can override it instantly." the Engineer informed them. "Then lets hope they have more on their minds." Dan said, eyeing the countdown, which was showing less than thirty seconds remaining 'at least Veson Sr is a man of his word' he thought as he told Karka to go ahead. He felt the tell-tale caress of the transporter as they de-materialised, reappearing seconds later in an unfamiliar room : "Where are we ?" he asked quickly as T'Seng moved to a console. "Their equivalent of our ready Room I suppose." Karka said as T'Seng informed them she had disabled internal sensors in the room as the remainder of the Security Team was transported in along with the unconscious Ryat. Dan went over to her but couldn't tell how serious he injury was. Internal bleeding the Medic had said, but how bad, and how long she had was anyone's guess. By now, Veson Sr would have realised they had escaped his clutches, at least for the time being. Dan's communicator chirped to life insistently, he flicked it open: =^= Schirra =^= =^= Sir .. I can get a lock on you .. But it will be a one-off transport .. So .. .. .. =^= Dan told several of the Security team to grab the Commodore and move into the center of the room. =^= Lock onto this signal and transport all you can off .. Then move to a safe distance .. They know you are here but once you beam her our they will know exactly where .. The Kappa 'WILL' fire on you the second they have a lock =^= he didn't wait to hear Unwin's objections, but threw the communicator to one of the Security Officers who confirmed they were ready. "Good luck Commander." he said as the group disappeared. "Is there 'any' way we could find Veson and McNulty from in here ?" Dan asked, but karka said no chance. "How about from there ?" T'seng asked, pointing to the door which obviously led to the Bridge of the SN2-Kappa ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 25, 2016 1:18:49 GMT
OOC: Sorry for the length, I really need to figure out a way to condense lol
Karka remained with the seven others as distant as possible from the ready room door in case they should accidentally trigger its proximity sensor. He manoeuvred the tricorder round his body, glancing at Schirra, "I've specially modified this one with Totorski's permission, such that it can scan through walls and precisely locate all lifeforms on the other side, which way they're facing, body heat, whether they're armed or not... whether they're speaking even..."
"Some resource," Hearan said.
"Indeed..." he pointed the tricorder's primary scanner at the ready room door, turning the dial to optimise the frequency for detecting biochemical interactions, "Hmm..." Nothing. No lifesigns whatsoever on the bridge - could it be possible, if Triaud upper deck layouts had the same configuration as Starfleet ones, that all the senior augments, along with Vazon Sr., McNulty and Connolly could be in conference, on the other side of the bridge, or perhaps on the deck below?
"It's all clear, Commander," he said, as if the situation called for there being no one present when they'd very much expected, no even wished for the opposite. Schirra nodded and led by Hearan the octet gingerly made their way out of the room. The bridge truly was empty; damaged-looking consoles, screens blinking as if malfunctioning with an acrid smell on the air...
"Does anyone get the impression this is a trap?" Hearan asked, tracking across the aft side of consoles for any explosives that may have been left behind, "This thing doesn't have a battle bridge does it?"
"A... battle bridge?" Psonoir pretended to wrinkle his features in confusion.
"Never mind. Just an idea I picked up listening to Professor Sommers at the Academy."
"They're in what I surmise is the conference room," Psonoir said suddenly, "Nine of them, seven of them armed going by the scanner. And, wait also..." Right, he thought grimacing, "Duck!"
The two lifts had chimed and their doors slid aside, four augments piling out of each and rising into firing positions, discharging beam weaponry at the occupants of the bridge, who all ducked as prompted; two security officers were however swiftly dispatched. Behind the command chair and sheltering himself from view of the augments - still in their narrow space (they would've been pinned if they'd been on the defensive) on the upper deck near the lifts - Karka redirected the tricorder to the conference room the door of which was on starboard. Sounding from around him were weapons' discharge and the occasional grunt of pain - or lapse into unconsciousness as opposed to outright death the distinction of which Karka was able to draw - it seemed, improbably, the augments wanted them alive. But they weren't going to be captured again, Psonoir resolved.
In the conference room, by process of elimination according to vital signs and biochemistry, were Vazon Sr., President McNulty, Kurio, Connolly and five others of unknown personage. Then where was Talavi? he wondered.
* * *
On the deck below, a smiling Baratz Talavi - former Minister of Propaganda for the Triaud II planetary government - lowered himself into a brightly-lit escape pod, strapping himself in knowing that these vessels, no matter how large or small, lacked decent inertial dampeners and regarded the portal that already looked out into space; that sight shot much closer to him now as he was ejected into space, hurtling through the void in his cut diamond shaped pod, on course for the hidden moon of Andersen's Planet, hidden because it orbited in sync with the shipyard and was close enough in altitude above Andersen's Planet's accepted 'sea-level' that its presence was obscured from ships' sensors.
"Next time," he murmured, having a secret communique open with Kurio, "Next time... We will surely defeat them, old friend... Perhaps the Gorn would be willing to listen to reason. I'm sure they wouldn't mind exterminating a few humans if it meant killing their nemesis Connolly in the process. And as for McNulty... I think we've seen the back of the people of Triaud, don't you?"
The augment, wondering how far Connolly and Marcus Vazon were willing to go with this, was for himself no longer concerned with defeating the Federation in the immediate future, and he made away unseen towards that low-flying moon...
* * *
"Anaesthezine gas... It seems they don't care who they incapacitate, as long as they get us," Karka said, choking, holding his arm to his mouth and nostrils. The remaining augment was making a valiant last stand; he'd stunned unconscious four of the eight Excalibur officers, but as he arced through the air over the rail towards the command chair, yelling something like a battle cry, Prescott coolly took aim and from mid-air brought him down with an unceremonious thump on top of Karka.
"Sorry, sir... Sir, my apologies."
Karka grinned, rising and brushing himself off, "Nothing to worry about, Prescott... Now... I..." he collapsed to the deck - was it only him feeling this anaesthezine gas? Was it, he thought in sudden realisation, anaesthezine gas at all...? Why was it only affecting him? "I'm... fine," he managed, just able to remain conscious after all, though feeling as if he'd been given a very heavy sedative by the Excal's CMO.
"My scanner's not picking up anything past that wall," T'Seng said, pointing to the conference room.
"It wouldn't, I noticed just a moment ago they've erected a forcefield... an un- " Karka coughing, "Undetectable one." He gasped and turned over to Schirra, "Sir they've redirected bridge functions to the conference room... They can fly, use their weapons, operate their shields all from in there; what they can't do however is continue with repairs, unless they have a way of communicating outside the undetectable forcefield to the augments scattered throughout the ship, however many of them remain."
The door of the conference room opened. Appearing were three augments with weapons raised. "Don't try anything, Commander," they heard the laughter of McNulty from behind, in the shadows of the conference room, "The moment you fire your phasers," as opposed to the augments' weapons, Karka surmised, "The gas vented into the bridge will ignite and you'll all be boiled alive. We, minus the augments before us, can retreat to the safety of this room."
"Now," another... deeper and more guttural voice spoke, "We're going to make an ultimatum to you. You will leave us be, or allow us to destroy your starship; otherwise these two people..."
The three augments in front nodded, seeming to receive instructions from behind and moving aside; two people were pushed out, one shrieking in fury, the horrific ambience thus created seeming to fill the bridge and mingle with the volatile gas on the air... not anaesthezine, no, and perhaps not something designed to incapacitate Psonoir, perhaps it'd been incidental that he alone had suffered the gas's effects. Pushed forward past the augments were the hysterical President McNulty and a pale and sullen looking Commodore Ryat.
"How..." Karka croaked, "Is she here?"
"Otherwise," Vazon Sr. concluded, "These two people will die." The weapon of Axar Kurio and that of another augment were jammed against Ryat's temples; two others (augments) having McNulty who was crying in a similar situation.
<Tag Schirra, Ryat>
"How is this..." He gave up on speaking for the present entirely; could they've found a way to intercept the matter stream, or pull one of the transported individuals back when they'd reached their destination in the Excal transporter room? What other explanation was there for Commodore Ryat's seemingly inexplicable appearance here?
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 25, 2016 23:39:43 GMT
"Anaesthezine gas ... It seems they don't care who they incapacitate, as long as they get us." Karka said through his choking. Daniel too was on his knees, trying hard not to vomit as the door to the Conference Room opened. It was all he could do to keep the contents of his stomach in place as Psonoir spoke to someone in the shadows:
"Now ...." another, deeper and more guttural voice, Dan recognised Kurio, spoke, "We're going to make an ultimatum to you. You will leave us be, or allow us to destroy your Star Ship; otherwise these two people ..." to Schirra's utter shock, President McNulty and Commodore Ryat were pushed forward, "otherwise, these two will die !"
"How is this ......" Karka began, but spluttered into silence as the gas took delayed effect. Schirra struggled to his feet, using the Helm console for support as he looked at the two hostages. He had 'SEEN' Amanda beamed away from the SN2, he had seen it happen, so how could she be stood before him now ? ... He looked at the woman as Kurio again announced his ultimatum but something was wrong, not with the situation, but with Ryat herself. Yes, it was possible they had her sedated, possible she was still suffering from the effects of being hit by the phaser fire, but again, he needed to ask the same question, 'HOW' was she here !
Kurio stepped onto the Bridge as the gas infused air was replaced by fresh clean oxygen. It was obvious that he was pleased with how things were progressing, he had the upper hand, held all the cards, so to speak, but Daniel wasn't about to give up. He wasn't about to sacrifice the Excalibur, nor, in an ideal universe, was he going to allow Ryat to be killed, so he needed to think.
"Commodore, how's your wound ? .... Do you need further Medical assistance ?" T'seng asked, inching forward until one of the augments turned his weapon to her. T'Seng stopped her approach and looked at Ryat, completely ignoring the Augment, then she turned to Daniel and Karka, "This isn't the Commodore." she announced.
"What are you talking about Chief ?" Ryat asked before turning to Schirra, "Commander, I have made an agreement that we will depart this System immediately on my return to the Excalibur. As for President mcNulty, I see no sense in taking him with us so he will remain here."
"It's not the Commodore Commander." T'Seng reiterated.
"You are out of line Chief T'Seng, please allow my Officers to conduct these negotiations."
"That's the second time you have referred to me as 'Chief' ... Commodore." T'Seng replied, seeing both Schirra and Psonoir look from one to the other but remaining silent, she turned to Daniel and asked a simple question, "Commander, at which point did you promote me to Chief, I know the precise time and date, but for clarification, was it 'after' the Commodore was abducted, or before ?"
Dan suddenly realised what she had been leading to since she began addressing Ryat. There was no way Amanda could know he had promoted the Tactical Officer to Chief !
"You have us Kurio, but you don't have the Commodore, or our ship. My advice, allow us to return to our ship, take your Augment friends and find somewhere far away to play. You've come to the end of your time here."
Axar Kurio eyed the Federation Officers with something approaching pity, he shook his head before instructing the Augments under his control to force Ryat and McNulty back into the conference room, then he walked over to stand in front of Schirra. Rather than speaking, he motioned to the view-screen, a wry smile on his face.
"It seems our erstwhile associate, Mister Talavi, has chosen to dissolve our 'partnership' ... As you can see, he is making his escape but he is of little consequence to our plans, yes, he proved useful, but I think he knew his time was coming and thus ran before we could act. I could of course fire on the escape pod, but to what end, We know where he is, and one day we shall pay him a visit. now, to the issue at hand, are you willing to return to your vessel and leave us be to continue ?"
"Continue what !" T'Seng asked.
"That my child is of no concern to you."
"Where's Green, or whatever he's calling himself, surely negotiations of this importance should be carried out by the 'so-called' leader of your little band of rebels, should they not ?" she retorted, obviously trying to anger the man, "Oh, and just out of idle curiosity here, but you have not mentioned Admiral Connolly at all, doesn't that strike you as an issue to be addressed ?" she finished, raising her eyebrows as one of the Augments again pointed his weapon at her, which she pointedly ignored.
"We are 'detaining' the Admiral until we can be sure you are holding up to the agreement." Kurio answered, a little too quickly.
"He's working with you, or for you, that's a given !" Daniel said, not waiting for the former SN2- Beta Captain to reply, "You might as well keep him, hell, if he comes back to the Federation with us he'd be unlikely to see the Sun again in his lifetime, he's a traitor, plain and simple, and he, along with all of you, will pay, eventually." Dan spat.
"Admiral Connolly has been nothing more than, what is the term, a 'Pawn' in our schemes. Yes, a pawn, nothing more, he will be returned in due course and will be able to continue his good works." Karka was finally getting to his feet, whatever the presumed Anaesthezine gas was in reality, it had flattened him until now, "Ahh, I see your Engineer is now recovered, you didn't miss too much I assure you Commander." Kurio said as if rewarding a child with a sweet who hadn't cried at the dentist's.
"I'm not making any 'deal' until I can speak with our Chief Medical Officer, and with the 'Commodore' you are holding prisoner." Dan said defiantly, "In private !"
"You do know that we could simply destroy your ship and dispose of you without fear of retribution, after all, 'YOU' are our prisoners, not the other way around." Marcus Philip Green said as he entered the Bridge ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jun 30, 2016 16:04:49 GMT
Karka took his opportunity and dived through the door of the conference room as Vazon Sr. stepped out, the new leader making his claim as to the Excalibur officers' captive status - they would see about that, Karka thought. He applied a short burst of consciousness acceleration to get him over the line - not allowing him to move faster of course but merely to experience events at a slowed rate, take account of the possibilities, and act accordingly in the best way to secure his objective.
As the door slid shut - Vazon Sr. not having been aware of what he'd done - Karka was confronted with the darkened conference room of the refurbished Triaud ship (evidently they'd succeeded in part in converting the top-most section into a workable bridge on the SN1-Kappa, something according to the schematics they hadn't achieved on the SN2-Beta).
Figures were picked out from the darkness for him courtesy of the distant star, host of Andersen's Planet, and as they rose into the light - three augments, levelling weapons at him, behind them Commodore Ryat (possibly an impostor) and Triaud President (surely former) McNulty. The other three augments were on the bridge, along with Vazon; opposing them Schirra, T'Seng and the security guard still standing from the away team.
The lead augment approached and demanded Karka lower his phaser; when Karka refused the superhuman raised his disruptor-bearing arm, making to dash it across Psonoir's face. Ducking in just about the appropriate time - having felt the edge of the weapon glance off his cheek and by the feel of it open up a wound - Karka swivelled on the floor and took the augment's legs out from under him.
The second approached, Ryat rising behind him more out of protection - Karka thought in the heat of the moment - than because of any attacking move she wished to instigate on Karka's assailant, now drawing his dagger and growling words to the effect that what he presumed to be Karka's species, the humans, were little better than already-scavenged refuse to be collected from the gutters at street side.
He cried out and lunged at Karka, thrusting for the Hybrudean's abdomen but it a was blow was soon parried by the grip of Karka's phaser, and leaping on the conference table and rolling around the startled augment he flipped the phaser over in his hand and fired it point blank through the nape of the augment's neck, the phaser beam emitting through and out of the mouth and a fine red haze taking to the air before the superhuman collapsed dead.
Turning on the last of the three, it was to his not wholly insubstantial surprise that McNulty had taken one of the fallen disruptors and was aiming at the augment. Crying and shrieking with fury, vengeance, retribution, etc., in equal measure, he dispatched that is to say vapourised the remaining augment.
The sizzling of opened wounds, burnt flesh frayed away on the air and through the smoke Karka rose, facing McNulty, "Put the weapon down, Mr President," approaching now that it was just them and the possible impostor Commodore Ryat.
"I'm with you, Commander, I'm with you... Let's get these usurpers and assassins, destabilisers of our efforts to join the Federation!" Horace McNulty made towards the conference room door.
Karka strode forward and promptly disarmed the man, "You've done a lot to contribute to that yourself, sir. You made your government side with the augments, had them pursue the USS Charon which despite its Captain's misdeeds was lawfully not to be punished by your planet - a prospective Federation member - and most certainly not by the augments."
=/\= Commander Psonoir, this is the Excalibur. We've detected weapons fire near your location and have located your biosign as being in the conference room. Do you require assistance?"=/\= Uhhh. =/\= Don't worry yourself, sir, this is a secure channel... and we note that no augments are present with you in there.=/\=
=/\= There's plenty - well, three - on the bridge.=/\=
=/\= Yes, sir. We thought it best not to communicate with the others given the situation there. Can we render assistance? The security teams returned to us are ready to beam in once again upon your signal. Oh, and the doctor told me to let you know Commodore Ryat is recovering well in sickbay. She should be back on duty within the next couple of hours. Sir?=/\= after a pause.
=/\= I'll need to evaluate the situation on the bridge and, if I'm able, get Commander Schirra's permission for further armed assistance. I'll contact you again shortly, Psonoir out.=/\= He finished, glaring now at the impostor in the form of Commodore Ryat.
"What more do you need?" McNulty was asking. "Kill her." Psonoir hesitated, Ryat speaking no word but her eyes telling him no. "She's a fake, an impostor, a changeling for all we know, mister, now kill her! Or I will!" McNulty dived forward, grasping for a disruptor in the slack hand of a dead augment but Karka placed a firm boot on the man's wrist, his features now wracked with agony.
"Commodore..." he said warily, approaching her whose eyes continued to bore into his own, flashing now he noticed in green electric fury about the irises and pupils; with improbable speed she jumped backwards onto the table and batted aside the raised phaser whose trigger Karka had been about to press to stun her unconscious; before she could bring an elbow down on his shoulder he - wincing at what he had to do despite the knowledge this wasn't Ryat - whirled round on the ground, collected the phaser, turned the dial up to the highest setting and fired at the ceiling above false-Ryat's head; it glowed red, yellow, white hot for less than two seconds then came tumbling down, a mix of searing duranium and wall plastics. He checked for pulse amongst the rubble, relieved to find it was at least in the normal place for humanoids - just unconscious. The noise of the ceiling caving in would surely have been heard from the bridge, if the fighting from before hadn't.
<Tag Schirra>
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Daniel Schirra
Captain
Registered: Apr 8, 2013 21:02:47 GMT
Posts: 468
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Post by Daniel Schirra on Jun 30, 2016 20:35:12 GMT
"I'm not making any 'deal' until I can speak with our Chief Medical Officer, and with the 'Commodore' you are holding prisoner." Dan said defiantly, "In private !" "You do know that we could simply destroy your ship and dispose of you without fear of retribution, after all, 'YOU' are our prisoners, not the other way around." Marcus Philip Green said as he entered the Bridge. "Ahh, the newly appointed leader shows his face." Dan said, glancing at one augment who had inched closer to him then back at Green, "I want to speak with my Officers .. Now !" Suddenly the lights flickered, he saw a figure throwing himself against the unsuspecting Green and both fell to the deck, he turned to make sure T'Seng was still on her feet when something slammed into the back of his neck. he just had time to see one of the Augments dragging her across the Bridge but getting caught by phaser-fire before he lost consciousness entirely. ~~~~~~~~~~"..... iel .... aniel .... Daniel .... Commander .... WAKE UP !" Dan opened his eyes, the glare of the lighting causing him to snap them shut for a second before he tried again, more cautiously this time: finally he looked at Karka, who was standing over him with T'seng. He looked around the room and could see several downed Augments. Slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position, back against the bulkhead, then tentatively rose to his feet, Karka and T'Seng supporting him until he was steady enough to hold himself up. "What happened ?" "A lot !" Psonoir said, giving him the quickest synopsis ever, "We need to move, the Augments will be here in seconds. I think we should get back to the Excalibur and cut our losses, then regroup." "What about the Commodore ?" Dan asked. "It's not her. We have the genuine article in our sick-bay, I'm sure of it." Karka said as they heard running footsteps approaching. he took out his communicator and called the ship: =^= Psonoir to Excalibur .. Lock onto us .. Now =^= T'Seng was near the door now, firing along the length of the corridor hoping to at least delay the Augments arrival. Dan made a decision, he took the communicator:
=^= Excalibur .. Find an unoccupied area of this vessel and transport us there on my mark .. Once transport is complete have Lieutenant Prescott beamed to our location with two Security .. They need to bring four anti-matter mines with them and be ready to set them up .. Understood ? =^=
=^= Mines .. Yes Commander .. Lieutenant Prescott is heading for the Armoury as we speak .. His team will be ready to transport in four minutes =^=
=^= Make that three ! .. Transport us now Lieutenant =^= ~~~~~"Find out where we are, quickly." he ordered, leaning against the nearest bulkhead as a wave of nausea swept over him. Prescott and the two Officers appeared, they were both carrying heavy bags. "We;re two decks above their Main Engineering ... Weapons Auxiliary control is one deck below us, and Hydroponics." T'Seng informed them. "Hydroponics ? .... What the hell do they need with hydroponics !" Prescott asked. "Don't know, don't care ...." Dan said, turning to the two Security Officers, "You both have communicators I see, good .... I want those nuzzled up to four major components on this thing, when they go I want it torn to pieces, if not destroyed completely. I don't want anything left to reconstruct, they will need to rebuild from the warp core to the toilet seats, understood Gentlemen ?" "Yes Sir !" they replied in unison. "Concentrate on Engineering obviously, but place one as close to life support as possible." the two nodded and left the room, conscious they could be detected at any time. Dan turned to the others: "This has gone to Hell in the proverbial 'hand-basket' in my opinion. We need to cut losses and get out. We can bring reinforcements back if the Augments attempt to encroach into Federation territory further ... As for Green, Ryat, the fake one, that is, Connolly, and McNulty, I'm willing to sacrifice them to ensure, or at the very least, delay, the Augment progression." he looked at Psonoir, T'Seng, and Prescott, then told them they were free to comment, but to make it quick ! ..........
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Karka Psonoir
Commander
Registered: Apr 9, 2013 19:55:13 GMT
Posts: 422
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Post by Karka Psonoir on Jul 3, 2016 12:13:59 GMT
"That seems reasonable, sir," Karka replied, "If we have to choose between bringing the likes of President McNulty to a Federation court, risking that he may try something between here and the nearest Starbase, and allowing him to perish now, I would choose the latter. The same goes for Admiral Connolly, unfortunately."
"How are your officers doing, Prescott?" T'seng asked, the security officer not batting an eyelid at being addressed so by an NCO and withdrawing his communicator as if he'd forgotten about the two men with the antimatter mines.
=/\=Simpkiss, Larn, report.=/\=
=/\=I have my mines laid, sir - I've not heard from Larn, not since he split for weapons auxiliary.=/\=
=/\=Return immediately. Do not go after Larn, Ensign.=/\= Really they only needed the mines placed around or near the warp core, which Simpkiss's mines presumably were; weapons control and life support were to be disabled in case something went awry with the first mines, such as augments discovering them or worse, discovering Simpkiss, and the Ensign being forced in some way to reveal the new subterfuge. How, Karka wondered, did the augments not know that they were still aboard? Were they detecting them right now, or were internal sensors offline in the same way that external sensors were or had been?
The truth was that the SN1-Kappa was now very much reading the USS Excalibur, if only that vessel, and were using it to orientate themselves by, having no other fixed point of reference. The problem of course with this use of the Constitution class ship, was that it was by no means necessary a fixed point in space - it could, for instance, be moving, in which case the Kappa was moving with it in sync to the degree that they were allowing their relative velocity vector to match with the larger ship.
Ensign Larn didn't return, and Simpkiss arrived two minutes later than had been scheduled, precipitating a hurried discussion about what they should do with regard to the mines that probably hadn't been placed in weapons control - more worrying was the inevitable conclusion to be drawn that they'd been discovered, despite Simpkiss having avoided detection (but having had to go a long way round to return to the current room).
Karka scanned as far as he was able with his tricorder, finding strangely that he couldn't penetrate through many of the internal walls, as if some sensor-dampening insulation had been installed - only able to scan approximately ten metres in all directions, he didn't see the augments coming.
=/\=Excalibur! Transport immediately, we've come under -=/\=
Simpkiss who'd managed to grab the fallen communicator vanished under a hail of electric fire, it glowing yellow-white in a sickening fireball that exfoliated snarls of plasma into rapidly pressurised air, ionised with the spherical expansion of the shockwave that ate up all oxygen in the vicinity. Karka, as he watched Simpkiss being vapourised, was flung against a wall. Dark shapes that were augments filled the room like ants, a leering Green at their rear with McNulty being pushed into the expanding fireball that now diminished, cutting off suddenly in the same fashion as McNulty's death scream.
Falling to the floor as augments entered and grabbed T'seng by the arms, pushing them behind her back and forcing her to the floor as she began to vanish... taken by the transporter, Karka looked around, verging on panic as he realised both Schirra and Prescott were being taken also, snatched back by the Excalibur on Simpkiss's rushed and interrupted command... yet Karka remained. He attempted to crawl out of the room but the metal door slammed shut in his face; Green's finger was pointed at him, augments holstering their weapons and approaching him dutifully, picking him up by the arms.
Green smirked, "Captain Escude's puppet." The augments set Karka down on a chair and Vazon approached, striking the Hybrudean with the back of his hand, "You killed my son. I hope the Charon's Captain enjoyed his petty revenge."
"Not true," Karka panted, wondering why he too hadn't been rescued, "Vazon's in our brig... the USS Excalibur." Green blinked as Karka dissolved under the golden effect of the transporter.
"We're at warp eight, sir, and the Kappa is still closing. Estimated time 'til detonation of the antimatter mines, three minutes," the helm reported as a bruised Psonoir entered the bridge, the viewscreen showing an aft view of the pursuing but doomed hijacked Triaud vessel.
"They don't know where they're going, sir, they only have us to orientate themselves by," Karka murmured, peering into the blue of the science station scope.
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