Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Jan 16, 2021 11:49:51 GMT
OOC: see below, first part of a double post (sorry, thought it a good idea to split this)
IC: Iorte watched the chronometer above the quarters' entrance. His grasp of Romulan characters and ideograms informed him that just over 10 minutes of the Vulcan infiltrator's bridge shift remained. He got up and began pacing once more, the pseudo-Romulan, drab grey-green curtains, tapestries and other adornments of the cramped space having to be batted out of the way so he could pace as furiously as he liked.
He turned to the group, "I believe the correct course is to join the others on Zova Dox. Bear in mind we haven't heard from them; our efforts to make contact have been unsuccessful, we still don't know whether they're at the ingress point or have become casualties or been kidnapped..." He brushed aside a lightweight wall-hanging and tapestry displaying some long-ago battle of Romulans massacring some unfortunate people - writing on the tapestry indicated the unfortunates were Remans.
"I'm sure Elena, Rosa and Iezelda know how -" Tan began.
Iorte nodded, "And yet, we don't know how long this Valdore is to be docked at this asteroid station, it could be quite some time, as you seemed to suggest, or M'Sak's ship could be leaving immediately upon the final end of the inspection and resume its direct course for New Romulus."
"Then we leave the Gecius. Talpa," Tan called in the Crocion scientist who'd taken refuge in the secluded part of the Vulcan's quarters. She peeked her head between two tattered azure blue curtains.
"The mag-gurney and the PicoFarad tech. Come on, we're leaving," Iorte said. Yes, better to stay here at Zova Dox with a possible avenue of escape from there - assuming the four could make it off the ship in the first place (two of them for the second time) - than arrive in orbit of New Romulus and - once they'd been smoked out - find themselves subject to the famous impartiality of the Romulan judicial system.
Checking the mag-gurney was secure, they were about to exit the quarters when it was opened from the outside. The Intel officers and Talpa darted into the shadows - mag-gurney nearly utterly destabilised - and thankfully only the Vulcan spy stepped through,
"I see you are leaving," he said without preamble, heading for the replicator then walking over to the room's small circular portal onto the stars, "So sad, so sad, my dears..." he shook his head and raised a glass of water to his lips, "Yes, I am not unlearned in some of your more quaint figures of speech..."
He turned, "Very well. You can leave, as I suggested you might." He turned to Tan, "And yes, Commander, you were correct: you have no option but to help me." The familiarity of the words (Tan's own) dawned on them as the Vulcan somewhat tiredly pointed out the places he'd installed private listening devices in his quarters.
"I heard every word of your discussion from my station on the bridge; covertly, on an encrypted channel, I may add." He regarded Iorte's phaser, "Yes, you are Starfleet, attached to the USS El Alamein, Section 47. Your attempt to disguise your phasers and Intelligence fatigues as non-aligned replicates could only fail, once you encountered a fellow operative," he said, signalling himself.
"You're Starfleet Intelligence?" Clancy said doubtfully, but warily.
The Vulcan shook his head, "I am a Federation civilian, but I have experience working with your Directorate. Admiral Sato Tetsutaro appointed a highly-regarded Starfleet officer to my team 5.8 years ago. She was resourceful. I'm sorry to tell you that she lost her life on an assignment 3.1 years ago. I assume, given you are here, that certain fleet elements of Section 47 have now returned?"
They said nothing, still unsure he was even Vulcan and therefore not wanting to give anything away about the Section's remnants (even though the Romulan diplomats on SB47 wouldn't be encountering anything like the same problems, for good or ill).
"I'll say one thing for you... I'm still undecided on whether you're a Vulcan, but you're definitely a spy," Iorte said.
"Or a Romulan," Tan added.
"You talked about my assignment, about why I should reveal some of my purpose to you. Now, as I had said, I am here to destroy General Rihavu, and no more than that. Yes, I do have a way off this station and out of this asteroid belt; it's a Starfleet starfighter craft... maximum capacity... four personnel only."
"That's not enough space," Clancy said obviously.
"Nevertheless, the logic is undeniable. You must go to Zova Dox, and I am coming with you; separately, indeed, and perhaps - unavoidably so - in the presence of the Gecius's first officer and his guards." A blaring claxon started up, bathing the room in bright scarlet and mauve; they could hear from the following announcement that Rihavu's people were nearly all off the ship; the Vulcan cut across it, "That is the signal you have waited for. Let us leave immediately before non-essential personnel are released from their compartments and clog the passageways."
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Jan 16, 2021 11:58:50 GMT
OOC: see above post (sorry, I thought it a good idea to split this as the second part is based on Zova Dox)
IC: Taking leave of the Vulcan 'til they could re-encounter him again on Zova, they returned to the port-side airlock nearer the prow; emerging from the maintenance hatchway and thankfully finding no one in the tunnel (from ward room to airlock), they scampered down the rest of the slope to the inner airlock door, Iorte assisting Talpa with the PicoFarad's mag-gurney; soon they were on the inside, but de Luca, Iezeld and the Crocion mother and son were nowhere in sight! Not hidden by the entrance nor in adjoining spaces.
Running for cover from the vestibule, Iorte entered a deserted room some 20 metres down the right-hand passage; no lighting, filthy surfaces, creatures analogous to vermin scampering away from the sudden illumination from the corridor. It may once have been a recreation room, a kitchenette, a mess.
They heard booted feet slamming concussively in the passage beyond, Romulans arriving back from the vestibule from the Gecius. Once the sounds of laughter and the calling out of profanities had faded in doppler-fashion to virtual silence, they set about finding de Luca, Iezeld, Meptia, Vakrik and - they had to trust - the Vulcan some time (hopefully without the Gecius XO).
They paused at an intersection, plunged in shadow; liquid dripped from the ceiling, detritus lay everywhere. Was all of Zova Dox in such a dilapidated state? Iezelda Iezeld thought, laughing at Iorte as water jetted suddenly at his face from a burst pipe in the wall ahead.
The Vulcan appeared - his presence and visage still jarring given his Romulan naval officer uniform - and stood with the two Intel officers and the Crocion Talpa.
They began to speak but a severe look silenced them, "Please, noise to a minimum," the Vulcan said, "I have had to leave the presence of the Gecius first officer and his guard suddenly. He is suspicious of me, but then this to a degree characteristic of his folk. The starfighter is some 220 decks down. Turbolifts in this section are reserved only for those with the highest access codes - which I don't possess. Now, I must return to the first officer. The Crocion device, please, and Talpa. I will sequester her and the device somewhere safe, ready for Vakrik or Meptia's use of it to destroy General Rihavu."
Clancy's visage turned ashen. That space-borne fighter would only hold four people; their current party numbered nine, even if the Crocions - and the Vulcan whose craft it was - stayed there wouldn't be enough room. Regardless, "We've got to find the others... Vakrik, Meptia, de Luca, and Iezelda. Now."
Meanwhile, the El Alamein was being towed at high warp towards the Zova Dox asteroid station.
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Jan 24, 2021 15:43:19 GMT
USS El Alamein ::
The Commander of the D'deridex Class warbird eyed Komin as if trying to weigh up her resolve ..... In a sense, he was reluctant to force the issue with the Federation vessel, but then he could not be seen to be weak by his men, so some form of 'compromise' would have to be made:
"We could of course simply adjust your heading and leave you to drift back into Federation space," he said, raising his eyebrows questioningly, Fran shrugged.
"That, of course, is your prerogative, Commander, I'm sure that a Federation aligned vessel will discover us in due course, and in the meantime, you can return to whatever assignment you were tasked with prior to our meeting,"
"No... I think it best to tow you to a facility that can provide assistance with your repairs," the Commander said, turning to leave.
"Please keep in mind, Commander, any attempt to access or computers, or to interrogate any my crew, will force me to release the probe..." Komin said, watching the Romulan transport off the Bridge, his two Officers following him, she waited a few seconds then turned to Milo Van, "... Send the probe... Now!"
"The warp-capable class eight probe lanced from beneath the El Alamein ..... Turning sharply it left normal space before being intercepted and entered the cerulean nether-realm of warp flight less than a second later. It would take the probe almost four days to reach friendly space, but its size and speed ensured it would not be intercepted en-route. For several moments they waited, but when the Romulan Commander didn't return they were released, knowing the probe had not been discovered. Checking she could see they were still under tow, the D'deridex Class warbird had made no effort to stop the probe and were still on the same heading as before .....
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Feb 1, 2021 19:13:35 GMT
Control centre of the Zova Dox asteroid facilityFingers steepled in his nerve centre's central chair, Tal Shiar General Rihavu's reverie was disturbed by an approaching junior officer. He turned to him slowly, not without annoyance, "Yes?" he barely had to whisper the word.
"General..." the officer began hesitantly, but then realised the folly in addressing a senior officer - very much his senior at that - so timidly; he drew himself up, "General. Our Subcommander Tyrivek has suspicions as to the motives and allegiance of a member of the Gecius's senior staff, given the Gecius officer's actions since coming aboard the station in the company of Gecius first officer Kavik."
"Go on," Rihavu said slowly and raised his right hand from his arm-rest, clenching it into a fist ready to smash the arm-rest's controls.
"Your subordinate Tyrivek believes this Uhlan of the Gecius - his name, Vlotik - is engaged in subterfuge, is attempting to sabotage either the Gecius, Zova Dox, or both."
Rihavu's visage, his next words, were calculated; he remained impassive, "You're certain of this?"
"Subcommander Tyrivek is almost entirely certain, General." The junior officer was then passed a datapad by a passing medical technician (very recently seconded from the Gecius to see to these matters). The officer read over the datapad, eyes trying not to widen even more than they had already. "Uh, General..." - no hesitancy! he warned himself - "... according to the report of the medical department, 'Vlotik' is not a Romulan."
In the pause the air was filled with a silent but palpable scream. "What...?" General Rihavu uttered eventually, his voice a dry whispering rasp, full of hatred. "How did M'Sak not learn of this before? Gah, 'Vlotik' was on his staff for, what, 3.5 cycles? Was he never subjected to a medical examination?!" The junior officer didn't need to tell Rihavu that Zova Dox's med facilities were a lot more advanced than the Gecius's, which had been fitted out mainly for trial-running experimental weaponry. The Gecius's medical equipment had perhaps been unable to identify Vlotik's blood as Vulcan.
Rihavu erupted, "Find that pacifist scum! Now!" His clenched fist finally came down on the arm rest, smashing the pseudo-LCD screen to bits.* * * Iorte and David had reluctantly let the Vulcan go with Talpa, the mag-gurney being shepherded along between them as if it were some reticent pack animal carrying a too-heavy load. The two disappearing round the bend in the dank, grey corridor, Iorte turned to his fellow Intel officer, "Reiteration if such is needed: we must find the others." "Agreed," Tan nodded, and led the way, keeping his tricorder part-way up his sleeve and trusting the lab-coats both he and Clancy still wore would ward off any inquisitive glances or, if worst came to worst, questions/interrogations. They kept to the shadows; fortunately this wasn't difficult as most of the station seemed to be in a state of perpetual twilight, with only the occasional flickering ceiling and wall-mounted light illuminating their path through the veritable sepulchre. Iorte attempted to keep clear in his fractured mind the sequence of events they'd need to follow; his partitioned mind's broken-down genetically-engineered mechanisms no longer functioning, having been so long separated from the Standing Wave and that dubiously supernal environment of circa the 29th century. First of all he and Tan had to find their team - hopefully still with Vakrik and/or Meptia - and then have one of those two Crocions taken to Talpa and the PicoFarad device sequestered by the Vulcan; they would then use it - at long range - on Zova Dox's General Rihavu, and whether or not the Vulcan returned to them from keeping Gecius XO Kavik company, that Vulcan operative would - the Intel officers trusted - eventually discover that his original target - Rihavu - had been permanently incapacitated by the device. Vlotik... that was the Vulcan's name as he'd revealed it to them, Clancy recalled. Or at least, it was his designated Romulan name for undercover work, and not - Clancy hoped - a Romulan name for anything else. He was dislocated from these musings as de Luca and Noon abruptly came into view at the end of a corridor. They ran on soft feet to one another, nodding, delivering clipped reports. Iezeld... where's Iezelda? Clancy found himself wondering. Then she appeared. His face brightened and so did hers; he took a step towards her, then halted mid foot-fall. He'd had the urge to hug her, in his relief she was safe, but he knew full well now wasn't the time for happy reunions; now was the time to escape with their lives and hopefully some experimental new technology. Vakrik and Meptia were present just behind Iezeld. Good... Good, Clancy thought; now they were all reunited (except for Talpa who had the tech - whose usage on Rihavu gave them, courtesy of their guide Vlotik, their ticket out of here). And then it all went to pieces. Reman security shock troops stormed the group's surrounding matrix of corridors from nearly all directions. Behind the Remans were regular Romulan naval personnel, brandishing disruptor rifles. Rihavu had unleashed Zova Dox's defensive personnel. They - or perhaps the Vulcan operative - had been discovered. Grunting Reman soldiers pried open doors into the system of passages (doors which the group of seven had frantically attempted to lock from the three-way intersection they occupied). The shock troops were through all too soon. A close-range melee took place; the Intel officers, Vakrik and Meptia somehow managed to extract themselves from the Remans - before the Romulans added their own weight to the struggle - and drew back to the only exit point to this matrix of passages. The Intel officers fired running backwards, covering each other in their relayed retreat; Vakrik and Noon went down - the latter seemingly only injured, the former... Clancy shook his head at the sight of Vakrik and paused to kneel beside Noon, firing with his unfavoured right hand as he lifted Rosa with his left and continued the defensive action. They kept making for the still-ajar door that led into the next section. Trying to force their way through the door's bottleneck, another melee took place about it; in the midst of the chaos, several of their number who'd escaped were pulled back through the door by the hostiles; Meptia was torn from the arms of de Luca and Iezeld and taken by the Remans. They'd have to come back for her, if they could... We'll have to! Iorte thought, now only she could operate the PicoFarad tech which would enable them - further to Vlotik's instructions - to get to the starfighter bay and a way out of here. Of course, once out in space, there'd be the small matter of evading assaults from the Gecius and Zova Dox's offensive weaponry. A newly-arrived Romulan - in support of the Remans - reached the team's only exit-point and slammed the door's panel to close it once more; de Luca and a Reman were trapped as the duranium door tried to slam shut. Clancy elbowed the officer in the ribs then pivoted counter-clockwise, aiming a raised elbow at the nose of the already stunned Romulan. The battle for possession of the door out of the section continued...
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Feb 13, 2021 14:28:55 GMT
Zova Dox ... Romulan Research Facility :: I Tan's mind, everything was going to hell in the proverbial hand-basket! They had somehow given away their position, or they had been discovered by pure luck, either way, they were in a hand to hand fight to remain uncaptured. One thing he 'had' noticed was that none of the assault troops had seemingly called for assistance, or if they had he hadn't seen it, and apart from the one Romulan Officer, they were almost even in numbers. But then, Mepta had been grasped by the aforementioned Romulan and pulled back through an almost closed door. Given their situation they had little option but to overcome the troops and go after her... He spun, deftly slamming the knife-edge of his hand into one of the Reman troops' throat, the man dropped as if hit by a phaser and fell sideways his larynx crushed. Five full minutes of fighting saw them finally overcome the troops, not without injury to themselves, David had two dislocated fingers, Elena was trying to stem the blood from where two of her teeth had been kicked out, Rosa Noon had a clearly dislocated shoulder. Steeling himself for the pain, Tan grasped at his index finger and pulled, hearing and feeling the bone reset, biting his tongue he grasped the second finger and pulled once again. The knuckles were already beginning to swell, and if they didn't find medical help soon, his hand would be next to useless. Iorte was talking almost in a whisper to Rosa as he tentatively manipulated her arm in preparation to hopefully reset the dislocated shoulder: "On three..." he said, barely a whisper, nestling his knee into her armpit, "... One... Two..." he pulled back on her bent arm while pushing her away with his knee, she slammed a hand over her mouth to quell the scream that was about to burst forth. She felt sick, wanting to vomit from the intense and sudden pain, then glared at Clancy as if her suffering was his fault. "What the hell happened to THREE!" the woman said through gritted teeth. "Maths was never my strongest subject," he replied with a wry grin as he tentatively moved the reset arm back and forth. "We need to get these bodies out of sight..." David said, checking several doors until he found one unlocked. As he and Clancy dragged the troops away, Tan had to ask, "... Did you see any of these calling for help?" Iorte stood up, slamming a fist into one of the troops that were unwise enough to come around while at his feet. for a long moment he seemed to be replaying the recent events over in his mind, then looked at Tan: "No... In fact, apart from that one Romulan....." he didn't finish the sentence. "You think there could be some sort of power-play going on here?..." Tan asked as he threw the last mans legs into the room and sealed the door, "... Why else would those troops not inform Rivahu or his men of our presence?" "He took Meptia," Rosas Noon said from behind them. "Is it possible that he wants the device for himself?" Elena said as she spat blood and half a tooth into a cloth. "I don't know, and frankly, I don't care..." Tan said, rubbing his swelling knuckles, "... We've ridden our luck for far too long already, I think we have two options: One, We go after Meptia then the device. Two, We cut our losses and find a way off this facility and to a ship, preferably a bloody fast one, and get the hell out of here," "One thing is certain, we can't stand around in this corridor indefinitely, someones bound to come our way eventually, either by chance or looking for their missing troops!..." Iezeld commented from further along the corridor, "... In here," The group piled into the small room, seemingly a small office of sorts, Iezelda began opening drawers but found nothing of interest, then she opened a cabinet and grinned. she turned with the Romulan equivalent of a hypospray and began checking the device. Satisfied, she approached Rosa and put the hypo against her shoulder before doing the same for Tan's injured hand. Both felt the pain subsiding almost instantly. "OK, to get back to options," Tan said, thanking Iezeld. "We can't pass up an opportunity to see what the Romulan's are working on David," Elena commented. "Fine... And... How exactly do you propose we go about achieving that?" Clancy asked. "Well, my first thought was to take the troops' uniforms and walk around as if we were supposed to be here, but the obvious issue that we don't remotely resemble Romulans, or Remans kinda stimied that idea ..... What we could do, if find a schematic of the facility and use their access tubes to get from 'A' to 'B' unseen?" "We would need to get our hands on recording devices, there's no point in just looking," Elena said relieved the blood from her mouth had finally stopped. "..... And our original idea to get Meptia back and get hold of the Picofarad device?" Iorte asked. "I have a feeling that that Romulan isn't going to be dragging Meptia in front of Rivahu anytime soon," David speculated. "Right, then fist off we need one or more of whatever the Romulan's use for tricorders," de Luca said ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Feb 17, 2021 19:50:03 GMT
The five Intel personnel clattered along maintenance tunnels, still divided amongst them over whether they should search for an immediate way off the asteroid station, or go in search of more experimental technology whose existence could be recorded for the Directorate.
Iorte considered, if they didn't plan to track down Meptia and the possible Romulan subverter - who presumably would want to use, through Meptia, the PicoFarad tech on Rihavu himself - then wasn't it still advisable for intel purposes to hunt after the PicoFarad tech itself - which he guessed was still with Talpa, unless the insurrectionist had discovered her, too?
"Things may well hinge on whether our Vulcan friend has been discovered," he decided as they turned right at an intersection in this 3D latticework of shafts, "If the Romulans have arraigned him and uncovered his identity, that may well explain why we were suddenly attacked... he gave us up. If he's evaded capture, then those Remans came after us for another reason..." he debated the implications, "And Meptia's captive, that Romulan, as well as trying to use the portable PicoFarad tech on Rihavu, is stealing it from under his nose."
"And M'Sak's, on the Gecius," Iezelda added. "Ah then, the Romulan is willing to compromise the experimental warbird's entire mission - trialling new or stolen technologies - all over some personal vendetta against the General?"
"Regardless, we need to complete our original mission: acquire information on recent Romulan technological and political developm- "
Clancy, having taken point in the line, held up his tricorder so it was visible over his shoulder, "Beg your pardon for interrupting, we do already have information from the Gecius: on the neural device, the psionic blast weaponry... - both partially derived from the PicoFarad tech - that the Romulans are working on. Isn't this enough intel? Shouldn't we be directing steps to... well, I would guess, a fighter bay?"
"The Starfleet fighter craft the Vulcan operative made us aware of..." Tan spoke, "Its location is unknown, Iorte. Do you really think it would be with the rest of whatever fighter complement Zova Dox has at its disposal, just sitting in its midst?"
"We can't leave Meptia," Noon was adamant, at the back of the group.
It was agreed that was enough debate for now.
Checking with their mixture of Starfleet and newly-acquired Romulan tricorders that a section of corridor beneath them was clear, they emerged from the maintenance ways and crept forward several tens of metres to a secluded spot and another deserted and disused set of rooms. Just how many people is this station designed to accommodate? And how many currently inhabit it? Clancy thought disbelievingly.
Now, by his judgement, during their sojourn of the maintenance tunnels they'd passed down three decks - vaguely in search of lab facilities. According to the undercover Vulcan Vlotik, the starfighter bay was 220 decks below their initial entry point to the station; Clancy didn't believe they'd transited up or down levels between then and their entrance of the maintenance system, so they would now be 217 decks above the bay.
"I personally think we have sufficient information," he announced, "If we can find a way to beam Meptia, Talpa, and/or the portable PicoFarad device off Zova Dox and into an escaping craft, then all the better, but the priority should be to leave before more hostiles show up and apply the ultimate sanction."
Two of the group nodded, the other two were dubious - the discussion continued, but Iorte thought if they could just make their way down to that bay, then waiting Starfleet fighter or no (which in any case would only seat four people), they'd find - they had to trust - a whole slew of Romulan craft to choose from and hence take from Zova Dox.
"One, or two, Romulan fighters... Stealth advantage," Iezeld conceded, nodding, "One of the few obstacles will then be to obscure Zova Dox and Gecius's sensors, mask knowledge we're aboard." Another will be to find our way down 217 decks, Iorte added to himself bitterly.
Unbeknownst to them, the Gecius was now beginning to break moorings from Zova Dox and resume heading for New Romulus, and M'Sak's fateful meeting with the proconsul, while the El Alamein was drawing yet closer to the asteroid base, towed by a D'deridex class warbird.
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Feb 25, 2021 21:01:19 GMT
Zova Dox Romulan Research Facility :: "I think we have to face the fact that we're not going to slip by to pass through over two 'hundred' levels of this place without coming across one or more unfriendlies!" David said, clearly frustrated, trying to weigh the prospect of getting their hands on prototype Romulan technology, against finding the safest and quickest way out of the facility to the relative safety of open space. "We know there are craft one the two hundred level..." Elena speculated, "... So I'm guessing the Romulan's assigned here don't traipse up and down on foot, so there have to be turbo-lifts, or better still, transporters?" ".... You would assume so," Tan said, waiting. "So, if we can find somewhere to gain assess to schematics, we find the most viable turbo-lift and isolate it from the internal sensors, drop it directly into the two hundred levels and go from there. We find two vessels we can use, it has to be a given that those levels have access to space, the other, a less problematic option, in my opinion, would be if we did find a transporter, we could likewise isolate it and beam directly into one of the hanger bays, right?" ".... And Mepta?" Iezelda queried. "We transport her and the picofarad equipment directly to us once we have secured a means of getting the hell out of here," "Again you are going on the assumption that we're going to be able to walk around unchallenged!" Iezeld said. "Well, feel free to come up with somethi ....." "OK, fighting amongst ourselves is going to get un nowhere fast..." Tan interjected before the conversation between the two women became more heated, "... One way or another we have to get the hell off this facility, how we achieve that is at present speculative. So, I agree we need to make our way to the hanger levels, let's see if we can find something to give us schematics. If a transporter room is too risky, then the turbo-lift route is all we have, but short of the El Alamein dropping by to beam us away we're all we have, so let's get to work!" Fifteen Minutes Later :: "This will do," Clancy whispered, motioning to the room he had just exited ..... The rest filed in, closing and securing the door. On the far wall was an illuminated plan of the facility, everyone stared at it in awe. They had initially thought the facility was on one of the larger asteroids within the field, but according to the schematic, it was spread over no less than SIXTEEN! "Bloody hell, that throws the proverbial 'spanner' into the works," David said as they realized something that clearly hadn't occurred to anyone earlier: That being that while the levels were in numerical order, they were spread over the sixteen massive asteroids, utilising transporters and in several cases automated turbo-tracks that bridged the gap between one or more of the sub-sections. "Please tell me the hangers are on this rock," Iezelda commented almost exasperated. "No, they are on sub-section fourteen according to this," Iorte answered, ".... And we're?" "On sub-section eight," Clancy said despondently. It was a kick in the teeth for everyone until Iezelda pointed at something on the schematic: "These green tracks, what are they?" the woman asked. David and Iorte looked at the map. "Turbo-tracks, they send small carriages from one sub to the next, they seem to be moving almost constantly, so I would guess we could probably use one to get over to sub-section fourteen unseen. From there we acquire two ships, transport Mepta and the picofarad device over and leave, hopefully without too much trouble," Tan said, suddenly feeling they'd had a piece of good luck. "Why didn't she tell us?..." Rosa mused, seeing everyone turn in her direction, "... Mepta ..... Why didn't she tell us this place was spread over so many asteroids, she must have known?" "Can you isolate a transporter?" David asked Iorte. "Clancy looked at the myriad of controls, each undoubtedly giving access to sub-menus ..... He worked for five minutes then turned, his expression hardly glowing in confidence ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Feb 28, 2021 15:11:00 GMT
"Nope," he said after a moment, and sighed with an air of finality, "The tracks it is." There was a palpable sense of deflation in the room.
They began making their way to what appeared to be the closest available turbo-track according to the schematic - Iorte trusted that the Star Empire (that was, General Rihavu) wasn't already onto them and hadn't manipulated the schematics to give false read-outs, guiding them into a phalanx of Romulan soldiers bearing disruptor rifles...
Thankfully enough, in addition to evading warily-pacing Romulan security guards, they arrived at the entrance to a turbo-track that bore the Romulan numeral for 8 on one side and 14 on the other, with an arrow pointing from former to latter. One reason for worry, however: why on earth was this place left unguarded?
As if having read his mind, Iezeld said, "I have the distinct feeling we're being led into -"
"It's paranoia," Iorte replied, perhaps in self-denial, "We may be being affected by another Romulan neural device."
He considered the possibility that that neural device was the portable PicoFarad tech that - last they knew - had been in the poor Crocion Talpa's possession somewhere on Zova Dox... What if the Romulan who may be trying to usurp authority from Rihavu had captured Talpa and the tech? To add further to his collection of unfortunates: his Reman henchmen, likely suborned for the purpose of insurrection, promises of greater pay, employment, positions on his general staff forming the administration of Zova Dox, now under new leadership... and Meptia, who, Iorte now realised, could well prove to be all the intelligence - embodied in a person - they'd need...
They travelled the turbo-track, boarding empty containers lying some way down the first section and mounting them onto the anti-grav propulsion lines; Noon had taken precautions to ensure no one had been about to enter the track from the sub-section 14 the other side, and had secured the tunnel from prying sensors, casting their webs like roaming spotlights illuminating space's infinite shadow.
* * *
There was something absurd in their having to crouch down in these cargo containers as they shuttled them from A to B, or rather 8 to 14. Still, whether that absurdity arose from deception on the part of the Romulans, or from the mere ridiculousness of the current situation, Iorte had firmly fixed in his mind the resolution that whatever obstructions, webs of deceit their antagonists might weave about them, they simply had to escape Zova Dox, newly acquired tech, or intel to develop that tech, or no.
Kneeling beside Iezelda, he shared an empathic glance with her as the two containers approached the end of the opaquely-outer-surfaced track. The stars... where were the stars... where was his home, that devastated barren world...? The images forced their way violently into his mind, piercing his psyche, his broken-down, always-and-forever antiquated former-Hybrudean cortex. A neural attack! And one particularly distinctive of that used upon three of them by the Crocion scientists at their masters' bidding much earlier (i.e. the PicoFarad tech that'd been utilised from the Gecius's lab).
So it was true; Talpa must've been captured along with the tech. Whether her assailant had been Rihavu or his political rival was immaterial - the five of them had to move.
Iezeld and Elena being deeply affected by the visions, too - just as before, shortly after beaming aboard the Gecius from the El Alamein via the Vicksburg, - the three of them hurried in distress and utter sensorial confusion out of the track and into sub-section 14, not knowing where they were, being guided as best they could by Tan and Noon.
Thankfully sub-sections 8 and 14 were virtual mirror images of each other both in how they were oriented in space and in their internal layouts. More than that, the turbo-track in its path had carried them down a full 170 decks. They were now a mere 47 decks above this section's hangar bay.
"Stop right there."
* * *
The Romulan's face was placid, his voice gentle, "No. Please. Stop right there." He waved his disruptor at Tan and Noon minimally before indicating they and the other three should step into a wide maintenance junction to their left. Despite the clear shock of the moment, their assailant - at least to Iorte - didn't seem entirely disagreeable, he seemed calm, separated from things, almost... alien, and not just in the sense that he was a Romulan. He in fact seemed entirely... Other. Perhaps this was an effect of the neural device.
Their opponent might've had them at his mercy if it hadn't been for Tan and Noon who likewise had weapons raised and the unknown figure outnumbered. Iorte, Elena and Iezelda were down on the floor, their backs to the wall, legs pressed tight to their torsos and arms clutching at their shins, rocking back and forth, tormented by the neural weapon's induced visions.
The Romulan signalled Iorte and co, "It's not me who's responsible for their condition. Rihavu has stolen the technology worked upon by the Crocions. He has discovered you, and is using the PicoFarad weaponry against your colleagues."
Noon regarded him suspiciously, "Where's Meptia?"
The Romulan clocked them and their reasons for doubt, "You think it was I who took the device. This is false. Yes, I will admit, and I see you recognise me... I attacked you with the Remans; I thought you a nuisance, something that could compromise my plans; I wished to extinguish you from this life... But I don't wish this any longer. It would be easier for me now - seeing as you've got this far - to facilitate your escape. I could reach Rihavu without having to eliminate you and cause myself unnecessary trouble. Regardless of whether I succeed in assassinating Rihavu, I will have questions to answer. 'What was that disturbance on 8...? Why did you let them run riot through Zova...?'" He paused, "You get the gist."
"Meptia," Noon stated, while Tan had his phaser pointed squarely between the would-be usurper's eyes (the latter, too, had his disruptor - at an oblique angle so in an instant he could shoot at whoever fired first then dart back to hopefully strike down the second attacker with impunity).
The Romulan burst out laughing at Rosa (Iorte, Elena and Iezelda barely aware of this given the presumed Rihavu's attack). "You think that i would surrender to you my only means to eliminate Rihavu? That I... presumably this is what you'd want, would hand over the PicoFarad technology that's a prerequisite for my action?!"
Iorte was coming to his senses, choking back the fear, the bile, the horrendous scenes of that which'd been lost when he'd been that young 20-something on his colonial homeworld, trying to help lead his adopted people to a better future at another star. "You're at a disadvantage here," he called out, "Give us Meptia. You can keep the tech."
Tan glanced at him out the corner of his eye, phaser unwavering upon the Romulan. "I need the woman," the Romulan was adamant.
"Forget her!" Iorte replied, coughing, rising unsteadily to his feet, "Surely you can find another Crocion! or another of your own species trained or who can be trained by a Crocion, to carry out your damned treachery!" Iorte was by degrees becoming certain that in the kindly, if secretive, though - Karka believed - benevolent Meptia lay a good deal of intel the Directorate would like to obtain: that concerning their mission's objectives, and many additional espionage-based perks.
The Romulan was silent for a long time; the dark passage's lighting flickered, illuminating them all intermittently... light dancing threateningly across their antagonist's face...
"Fine. Take her." And millimetre by millimetre, the phasers and disruptor of Tan and Noon and the Romulan lowered as one. "Throw away your weapons. Watch; I'll dispose of mine." He opened a panel and cast his disruptor inside; after a short whining and whirring, a flash of white-green light was seen round the panel's imperfect seal. "Do the same..." He shrugged, "Or don't. Kill me and you'll be shot down by my allies." He slowly cast his eyes to apertures in the deck's ceiling:
Remans, two dozen of them pointing particle rifles their way. "They'll follow us along from the deck above, firing positions at every point; be assured: these, unlike those you fought before, never miss."
Clancy, Tan, Noon and the now recovered de Luca and Iezeld looked on, not sure what to think. If they lowered weapons: possible death from the Remans. If they kept them trained on the would-be usurper... who knew? They seemed completely trapped, just not in the way that Iorte for one had earlier envisaged, and yet, paradoxically, the trap could lead the way to their escape.
The Romulan turned, safe in the knowledge the 24 Remans were watching and tracking the Intel officers' every move. "Meptia's this way. When we meet with her, I'll guide you to a safe launch bay. It's best to have you out of my affairs. You will be free to go."
Meanwhile, the D'deridex class warbird - whose commander was a personal friend of Zova Dox CO Rihavu's - with USS El Alamein in tow was pulling into Zova Dox station...
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Mar 1, 2021 13:24:32 GMT
USS El Alamein ... Under tow ::
The ship had been boarded three times thus far, each time the Romulans seemingly ran amok, emptying drawers, containers, anything they could to annoy the crew, and each time the crew would return the property back to its containers, drawers, lockers... After the third 'inspection' they were left alone, presumably because the Romulans themselves had tired of their games .....
Fran Komin was entering the Bridge as the Romulan vessel released its tractor hold on the El Alamein.
"I'm assuming we've arrived?" she asked her Exec' Milo Van.
"We entered the asteroid field fifteen minutes ago, I'm guessing they are making efforts not to allow us to see anything useful," as he answered, two smaller craft, similar in size to the Federation 'worker-bee' shuttles came alongside, both activated tractors and moved the Defiant Class to a small asteroid on the edge of the group. There was a loud 'thud' as the ship made contact with an umbilicus, seconds later the air-lock opened and six heavily-armed Romulans entered!
The ranking officer entered the Bridge and approached Komin:
"You and your crew will disembark," he ordered, but Komin remained in her seat, eyes locked on the Romulan Centurion.
"I don't think so..." she said casually, inwardly happy at the man's obvious annoyance, "... We are here to repair our vessel with the kind assistance of Commander M'Sak... If you would care to confirm this please feel free to do so,"
The Romulan Centurion glared at Komin for a moment then reached forward to pull her physically out of the seat, Fran quickly held up a hand to stem any reaction from her Officers. Komin slapped his hand away, receiving a blow from another Romulan for her trouble as another entered.
"What are you doing?..." at first she thought the question was aimed at her and she spat blood from the cut in her mouth and began to reply when the question was asked again, "... I asked you a question, Centurion!" she looked up to see a man addressing the Romulan Officer. She couldn't help grinning at his discomfort.
"I am removing theses Officers for interrogation, Sub-Commander,"
"No, you are not... These Officers have been given our word that we will assist in repairs, on completion they will be escorted out of the nebula and be free to go on their way,"
"I must protest, Sub-Com ....." the blow knocked the man off his feet and he reached, unwisely for his sidearm, unfortunately for him, the Sub0-Commander was faster and the Centurion disappeared in a shower of disrupted atoms. After a moment he looked at the other Romulan's presumably here to take the El Alamein crew, each lowered their eyes, hoping not to feel the Sub-Commanders' wrath, then he turned his gaze on Komin.
"Engineers will board your vessel and assist in repairs, you will deactivate 'ALL' sensors during your stay with us, any attempt to gain access to the facility, or access data, will result in the immediate destruction of your vessel... Is this understood?"
"Yes, thank you, Commander," Komin replied after wiping blood from her mouth. The man eyed her as if weighing up the likelihood the Humans will comply, finally, he nodded curtly and departed, Fran held up a hand as she realised that two Romulans were still on the Bridge, both had boarded with the Sub-Commander and were presumably here to ensure their compliance. Five minutes later two Officers entered the Bridge:
"You will assist in repairs," one said, addressing Lieutenant Commander CarrΓ© directly. Nate looked at Komin, who nodded, and the three left the Bridge as the Medical Officer entered:
"There are Romulan's all over the ship," Adama informed Komin.
"I'm aware doctor, just let them get on with repairs," the Captain said.
"Those would be our 'fake' repairs?" the woman asked. Komin gave her a withering glare then 'suggested' she returns to the Med-bay. She glanced at the two Romulan's both clearly felt that the duty assigned to them was beneath them. She glanced at Nate Massa, who approached the two, instantly freezing as two disruptors were swung in his direction, Massa raised his hands and backed away smiling ........ Rather than disregard their phasers, the Intelligence Officers kept hold of the weapons ..... The Reman grinned up at his cohorts, then back at Tan. "As you wish," he said, heading off down the corridor. David was a pace behind the man decided to risk asking a question: "Going off what you have said so far, are you attempting some kind of coup?..." he asked, but no reply was forthcoming, he decided to push on, "... It's only that given your earlier comments regarding Rivahu ....." "There are those within the Romulan 'Empire' that believe Rumulus is endeavouring to arm itself for all-out war... As you are aware, there is a very tentative truce in place between the Federation and the Empire, this, of course, benefits both parties, but there are some that believe we should have a stranglehold on what is considered a weak and compliant Federation, I, among others, no not..." the man said, not bothering to keep his voice down as they traversed the corridor, the score of Reman's shadowing them from above, "... I am taking somewhat of a risk allowing you to leave, but I have something of, what do you Human's call it, a 'bargaining chip' at my disposal?" Tan felt a shiver down his spine. "Bargaining chip?" David replied guardedly, but the Reman simply smiled, divulging nothing further. Finally, they entered a large room, Mepta was stood at a console and looked toward the door as it slid silently aside, she was clearly shocked as the Intelligence Officers entered. The Romulan allowed them to approach the Crocion as he spoke in whispers to one of his men who had been watching Meptia. It was clear to everyone that the Romulan had taken her in order to hold something over the Human's but Clancy wasn't convinced: "David..." he whispered as de Luca, Noon and Iezelda spoke with the woman, "... I don't think holding Meptia was what he was referring to re this bargaining chip he says he holds,""No... Neither do I, but what could he be referring to if not her?""You will surrender the Picofarad technology and all schematics to my Officer," the Reman said, motioning to the man who had been presumably guarding the Crocion woman. Without a word, Meptia moved back to the console and entered numerous instructions. A moment later a panel slid aside revealing a second Picofarad device! Tan could only look on as the Reman lifted the device out before handing it to another Officer, he held out his hand waiting patiently while Meptia transferred the requested schematics. She handed the man the recording device then moved back to stand with the others. It was now or never ..... If the Reman was as good as his word, he would lead them to the closest bay and allow them to board one or more vehicles and escape the facility, assuming he had some means of remaining alive once their escape was discovered ... If not... Then the Reman above them would open fire, and while those in the room would perish, so would all the Intelligence Officers! David turned as he noticed Meptia whispering to de Luca who's eyes widened. "The El Alamein is here!" she mouthed ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Mar 2, 2021 17:20:29 GMT
"Rihavu..." the Romulan CO, Commander Rovek, of the D'deridex warbird paused, smiling as if sharing a joke with himself, "What is this business of yours on the station? I hear rumours... Rumours of insurrection. Disturbances in some of the sub-central sections...?"
The General gripped the arm-rests of his chair, fury rising and then abating within him. He regarded with cold eyes the man on the viewscreen: this naval CO was an old friend; this was always Rovek's way - his self-knowing wryness to Rihavu's brute honesty, his capricious clemency to Rihavu's unlimited capacity for cruelty.
"I understand you've towed a Federation starship out this way, Commander, and that my subordinates have had it landed on peripheral unit 9-beta. You transported personnel from your warbird to the unit, without my authorisation...?"
"Ah, you know how it is, Rihavu... Come on, we're old comrades, you and I. A glass of Romulan ale, when I'm aboard," he grinned knowingly; Rihavu's fondness for the bluebottle was well-known throughout the empire. "Now, to business. I am to repair this Federation vessel, with the assistance of your own personnel and that of its own poor crew. You are to provide me with technical information regarding current research projects, particularly those under the heading... now, what was it," he consulted a datapad, "TSXR-712041?"
The commander's stating of the entry's whole title grated with Rihavu, indeed it was expressly designed to be irritating.
"Those are classified Tal Shiar files, Commander Rovek, and of that you're fully aware. We can, however, pass you the other information. Now look, as for your comments about insurrection -"
"I know, I know... all about it, Rihavu..." the commander on his ship's bridge leant forward in his chair, shaking his head with a smarmy grin. "You've tried to kill, incapacitate them, with that... Bickofarrat gadgetry, or whatever it's called... that you borrowed from the Crocions. But who are they, these troublemakers?" he had sat back suddenly; for once - Rihavu observed - cutting out the nonsense.
"I don't know... But there is an ongoing attempt on my position over here, that I can confirm to you, Rovek, friend. But there are several factors involved, many insurrectionists, or so it seems." He shrugged, "There was some business in sub-section 8; it was cleared by a Reman detachment led by one of my subordinates, a capable sub-lieutenant who has my full trust. But now there's something going on on 14... I've directed the 'PicoFarad technology'... towards biosigns at the relevant location within that sub-section. What effect it's had I don't know," he shook his head, "Enemies, enemies everywhere... But please, come aboard the station, and we'll share a flask of that ale."
Rovek in his manner nodded condescendingly and rested still more comfortably in his command chair, "And we'll discuss the matter of the Federation vessel... And what it's really doing here."
* * *
The Romulan subverted gestured to them, "Go, please... I've said so before." He was a sub-lieutenant, Iorte now recognised from his insignia. "Your vessel awaits you." A small scout vessel lay through a tight aperture in the wall of the room; having approached and peered through, Clancy and Iezeld could see the space was a fully-fledged launch/shuttle bay - deserted, except for the armed Remans roaming back and forth along the gantries...
"You're really going to let us leave. You're not going to be killed, the instant Rihavu sees some scout mysteriously shooting off into the interstellar void?"
"Your flight has been authorised," the Romulan sub-lieutenant replied to de Luca, "I've had false information concerning the launch passed via channels that will reach those under Rihavu - unlikely to reach the man himself, but even if it did, you would and will be safe... As much as I would've liked to have eliminated you before," he added as if it was only an afterthought while Iorte, his four colleagues and Meptia began edging towards the main bay and its waiting, jet-black craft. Iorte regarded the scout ship: a thing of beauty, it could almost be, with its flowing lines.
"The El Alamein," Noon whispered to Clancy, who nodded, the information now having passed round all of them. Make it out of here; change flight plan once far enough out to prevent Rihavu realising he'd been deceived, and then somehow rendezvous with the El Alamein (currently on some miniscule rock virtually under siege - internally and externally - by Zova Dox and D'deridex personnel alike)
In the craft, Iorte surveyed his console; blinking in bewilderment at the layout and symbols, he turned - as some of the four others did - to Meptia who took the helm. She activated propulsion, the bay doors slid aside, and they drifted on thrusters out of the micro-asteroid into the midst of the larger field, and the dizzying backdrop of the starfield beyond...
The Romulan and his immediate Reman lieutenants regarded one another with satisfaction as the bay doors resealed. Now, the real work could begin...
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Mar 3, 2021 0:23:01 GMT
Zova Dox Facility :: "Your flight has been authorised..." the Romulan Sub-Lieutenant replied to de Luca, "... I have had false information concerning the launch passed via channels that will reach those under Rihavu - unlikely to reach the man himself, but even if it did, you would and will be safe," David watched the Romulan closely, but he still couldn't be certain the man was setting them up, and with the arrival of the El Alamein it only made his suspicions more pronounced! .... Keeping his concerns to himself he waited while the Romulan conversed with the Intelligence Officers, belying their fears, concerns, trepidation until they group climbed aboard the small craft. Mepta took the controls while the others found seats, David was still unconvinced of the man's sincerity, there 'must' be a reason he was willingly ridding himself of what could be something of a coup for the Romulan Senate, the capture of five Starfleet Intelligence Operatives would be embarrassing, to say the least! Slowly, the small craft moved to the launch area, he watched the Crocion make several control modifications in line with instructions presumably given to her by the Reman Commander. As the ship exited the docking area he made a decision: "Mepta, as soon as the bay doors close bring us to a complete stop," he offered. "Our sudden change from the assigned course will be monitored, we will be asked to explain ourselves," the Crocion said. "We won't be stationary for long, can you adjust our course to have us pass beneath the El Alamein?" Tan asked quickly. "It is possible, yes," "Then do so..." Tan said, thinking quickly given they had only one chance, and if anything went wrong they would have plenty of time in a Romulan Gulag to contemplate their error. "... Keep our departure velocity as low as you dare. When we're beneath the El Alamein we'll transport over. Can you program the controls to go to warp the moment we clear the asteroid field?" "I can, but the transporter onl ....." Mepta replied, clearly worried about the sudden turn of events. "Fine, we'll transport in two groups one after the other directly into the Cargo-bay of the El Alamein, set course for New Romulus, highest warp this thing will do ..... From the Cargo-bay we'll find a way to let the crew know we're aboard, hopefully before any of Rivahu's men find us skulking in the darkness," "..... And your reasoning for boarding the ship?" Iezeld asked. "I'm guessing that should our friends' explanation for our sudden disappearance not be believed, Rivahu will focus his attention, and no doubt his weaponry, on the El Alamein, and rather than working in the spirit of the albeit tentative coexistence between the Federation and the Romulan Empire by helping with repairs and allowing the ship safe passage, everyone aboard will undoubtedly be paraded, and summarily executed as spies of the Federation, which will no doubt bolster the Romulan's view that the Federation cannot be trusted!" Tan finished. "Fair enough," Iezelda replied. "So... Where are we on getting off this bucket?" Tan asked, addressing Mepta, who simply pointed towards the view of the El Alamein some five thousand metres away and above them ..... As the vessel slowed, she pointed toward the transporter pad, smaller than in Federation shuttles, but needs must. As the first group vanished, she joined Tan and Clancy on the pad, a second later they too vanished. Now devoid of occupants, the Romulan craft turned onto a new heading and increased speed to comply with its initial transit instructions ..... As those who had transported on to the Federation vessel concealed themselves, they no idea if their plan had worked. agonising moments later a pre-recorded update was sent to the facility and the small craft cleared the asteroid field, leaping to high warp immediately it was clear to do so. In the semi-darkness of the El Alamein's Cargo-bay, the newly repatriated Intelligence Officers, along with their guests, slowly broke cover. de Luca accessed the one terminal and brought up a 'real-time' scan of the ship's occupants, El Alamein crew were designated blue, while the Romulan's were indicated in red. Surprisingly, there were only eighteen Romulan's on board, the majority were in Engineering, the El Alamein crew in their quarters, or at assigned stations. Two of the Romulan's were on the Bridge while another other four seemed to be meandering around the ship with no clear goal in mind. David watched the readout thinking. Realising he couldn't contact Komin directly to let her know they were aboard, modified the Comm then tapped his own concealed communications badge. On the Bridge, Fran was sat idly watching the viewscreen which showed nothing but the Dock they had been towed to. Every now and then she would smile at the Romulan guard, enjoying the fact that her attentions were clearly annoying the man. .- .-- .- -.-- / - . .- -- / .... --- -- .Trying not to make it clear something was amiss, Komin sat as before, then her commbadge vibrated again: .- .-- .- -.-- / - . .- -- / .... --- -- .Changing position as if stiff from the duration she had been seated, she deciphered the Morse in her head (Away team home) then shifted position, again grinning at the Romulan guard, who had hardly raised his rifle as she adjusted her position, clearly thinking that if she actually tried to reach him, he could undoubtedly reduce her to atoms before she was out of the seat .... Happy he wasn't about to leap forward and kill her where she sat, she tentatively reached towards he commbadge: .-- .... . .-. . ..--.. she tapped. -.-. .- .-. --. --- / -... .- -.--..- -. -.. . .-. ... - --- --- -.."Komin knows we're here," Tan whispered.
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Mar 8, 2021 23:44:55 GMT
Clancy had materialised on the El Alamein and fortuitously found himself crouched behind a number of crates - he'd been on his haunches in case any of the interlopers from Dox and the D'deridex class were found to be present in the room.
After surveying the internal sensor read-outs, de Luca and Tan (who'd been following her work) turned to the others and informed them of the 18 Romulans aboard. Only two on the bridge... Iorte thought, that should make things easy - if we can get up there quick enough and evade enemy soldiers, repair-workers.
David modified the internal comms and contacted the bridge, covertly alerting the CO to their presence. After a commbadge-mediated dot-dash conversation, "Komin knows we're here," Tan whispered to them.
"Ok, so how best to go about this, and turn out these intruders?" Clancy asked the clear and obvious question, then realised it was probably best he keep his voice down as much as possible. "The bridge should be our priority," he answered for himself.
"Agreed," Noon said, tilting her head and frowning as she read a display; her multiform expertise may be of some use here, "From these readings it seems the El Alamein has simulated Klingon battle damage to get itself out here. Now... If we could simulate further, or cause a real rupture in some segment of the warp core - from this location or one nearby - that could keep the dozen Romulans in engineering tied down trying to deal with the critical problem. If we're effective in our handiwork - manipulation of ship's systems - they could be running round frantically for an hour more trying to avert catastrophe."
Clancy nodded - there was no question the Romulans would let the El Al be destroyed, not with the potential intel it could provide them and with the threat its explosion would pose to the rest of the asteroid field base.
"Then that leaves the four patrolling the corridors," Tan said, "Hmmm, perhaps in a way similar to how I contacted Captain Komin, we could alert some of the crew who aren't under tight supervision in their quarters as to our presence. Informing them of the position of those Romulans via this console, we can direct them, through the vessel, to neutralise those four intruders."
"And then the way would be clear to the bridge..." Iorte nodded wearily, wandering, almost sauntering off across the small bay, mainly in exhaustion from his and the team's recent travails. Iezeld fell in alongside him - while Tan, de Luca and Noon discussed matters with Meptia. "I take it you've enjoyed your first field operation, Iezelda?" Iorte asked his friend who croaked a laugh and similarly exhausted put her head on his shoulder.
The group set into motion their plans to retake the ship.
* * *
The officer entered General Rihavu's ultra-private study; only his current guest and a few select others knew of its existence. The interview to be conducted here seemed to demand such levels of secrecy.
Rihavu turned to address the man, an officer who until recently he'd assumed to be one of his closest allies, "Sub-lieutenant. You lodged a flight plan for a Scythe class scout vessel. That vessel departed here some two and a half hours ago. Now tell me, where is said vessel headed?" The sub-lieutenant/rebel subverter leader hesitated. Rihavu pressed impatiently, "Its destination, Sub-lieutenant. What is it?"
"The planet Hatapius, General," the subverter and apparent recent liberator of the SF Intel team replied eventually. Courage! Courage, you damned fool! He was well aware a display of weakness at this point would only make his fate - if it proved unavoidable - all the more nightmarish: he'd be subjected to psychological as well as physical torment before finally being brought to a cold swift end - A consolatory act, he thought, one of mercy perhaps and in keeping with Romulan honour, or whatever was left of it these days...
"The planet Hatapius..." the Tal Shiar officer ground his teeth as he repeated the rebel's words; he pushed forward across his desk a printed inverse-colour map of the local sector, "And where does this print-out of the scout's mapped trajectory, passed to me just 15 minutes ago, indicate it is heading?" His eyes pierced those of his nemesis - now recognised as such, unless he was mistaken and he truly was seeing enemies everywhere - a confession D'deridex CO Rovek had coaxed out of him.
Despite his defiance, his zeal, his planned treachery... the sub-lieutenant looked away. "... New Romulus, General; it's heading for New Romulus," he said eventually, trying not to blink, gulp - body language or anything else that would betray absolutely his guilt.
"Ah, yes, New Romulus..." Rihavu sat back. "Now why would that be? What brought about such a change in its flight plan, once it'd reached the confines of the asteroid field?" The subverter once more hesitated. Rihavu's pallid face grew red, "You...! You are a traitor. Underling! You've been plotting against me since day one, since the moment I - as a Tal Shiar flag officer newly surrounded by antagonistic naval personnel - arrived at this facility."
Rihavu was now on his feet, "You will be punished, severely and inexorably!" The Romulan rebel leader didn't back away. Almost paradoxically, he couldn't afford to. "You, your family, your associates, all your fellow conspirators aboard Zova Dox will be liquidated! I will crush you into oblivion, there will be no corner of the quadrant to which you will be able to flee without..." Frothing with uncontrolled rage, Rihavu approached; now the subverter had no choice - he began to run, escape into the command centre... a turbolift... sub-section 8...
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Mar 11, 2021 21:47:18 GMT
USS El Alamein Zova Dox Facility :: "OK, without the use of internal sensors, we're going to be lucky not to come across the Romulans when walking around a corner..." Tan commented, "... If we go in two groups, one watching the other, we can at least watch each others' backs," Everyone agreed, so they split: Tan would pair with Elena, while Iorte would go with Rosa Noon and Iezelda Iezeld, the Crocions effectively sandwiched between ..... They left their confinement and began to make their way towards the Mess Hall on Deck Two, their reasoning being that they would be central once there, and it was likely the Romulans, like anyone else, wouldn't pass up the opportunity to relax while out from under the proverbial thumb of their Commander ..... Moving quietly, the two groups made their way forward. Tan wasn't sure, but for a second he thought he heard someone behind them, but dismissed it when he saw the second group. Clancy was in front of Rosa and Iezelda about to turn into the corridor close to the Mess Hall when he felt himself being pushed forward. "YOU!..." he heard the Romulan and was climbering to his feet when Rosa surreptitiously waved him back down and away, "... Why are you out of your quarters?" the man asked, clearly addressing Iezeld and Noon. "We were not informed that we were confined," Noon was saying as Clancy scrambled further from the junction. He could see the backs of his colleagues, but not the Romulan, who was presumably stood in front of then. "Who else is with you?" the Romulan said, leaning forward to peer around the corner as Tan pulled Clancy into one of the empty rooms, David held a finger to his lips, waving Clancy away from the door as the Romulan, clearly unconvinced at the womens' explanation jabbed with his rifle to force them along the corridor ahead of him. In the darkened room the others waited, poised to jump the Officer should the opportunity arise. David watched as the shadows of two people crossed the open doorway. He risked inching further along the bulkhead and closer to the door as the third shadow crossed the gap. Moving quickly he stepped into the corridor, the Romulan less than two metres ahead, he took one step and slammed a fist into the Officers' throat, grasping at the unconscious man as he fell. Rosa spun and grasped the weapon before it hit the deck then they dragged the man into the room. Quickly, Noon and de Luca bound the man and placed him out of sight. Clancy had found a med-kit and proceeded to load a hypospray, and satisfied he placed the device on the Romulan's neck before activating it. "That should keep him asleep for the next few hours," he explained, pocketing the hypo once he checked the anaesthetic levels. "One down, six to go?" Iezelda commented, trying to keep he voice from trembling. "We can't take too much longer, he'll be missed at some point," David said, instructing Rosa to hand the rifle to Iorte. Everyone knew that they had been lucky grabbing the first of the Romulans, but they also knew that it would only take 'one' to raise the alarm, and the Empire could prospectively get their hands on some valuable assets along with a Federation Starship. They had no option but to try to passively make use of the ships internal sensors, otherwise getting to the Mess Hall, let alone the Bridge, was going to prove impossible. Clancy risked checking the corridor, but there was no movement, no disgruntled Romulan's spoiling for a fight. The Med Lab was further along the corridor, they agreed that was their next objective .... Five minutes of stealth saw them reach their goal, quickly, Clancy and Noon accessed terminals making sure nothing they did would start lights flashing on the Bridge, finally Rosa turned and pointed: "Heat signatures ..." she whispered. Neither David nor Iorte asked if she could do better, clearly, she had done as much as she could, "... We have to assume that all these in quarters are our people, those three 'could' be the other roaming Romulan's, while it's anyone's guess as to which of those indicators on the Bridge are ours or theirs," she finished with a shrug. "So we go for those three first," Tan said, pointing to the indicators on the opposite side of the ship, likely the Science Lab. "If we take transverse service conduit three, here, that should bring us out less than ten metres from the Science Lab," Clancy said quietly, pointing to the aforementioned access tube on the display. With everyone in agreement, they again checked the corridor, which remained devoid of anyone, friendly or otherwise. Checking the unconscious Romulan, the group again split, this time Clancy, Iezeld, and Noon taking the lead. Once they reached the access door to the conduit, Tan and de Luca left the room, sealing it behind them. The conduit was just that, a crawlway big enough for technicians to gain access to numerous systems within, the only way to traverse was on hands and knees, so evading capture if discovered was out of the question ..... It took twenty minutes to cross from the Portside to Starboard of the ninety-metre wide El Alamein, and no-one was in the mood for ide chatter. Iorte approached the cover, listening intently for any sign that they wouldn't step from the conduit into the waiting hands of three bemused Romulans, finally, he gave the nod and grasped the release ..... The door swung aside allowing Clancy to clamber out into a small recess off the corridor. Rifle ready he risked peering out grateful there was no-one in sight. Quickly he stepped across the corridor into one of the rooms opposite, deactivating the automatic lighting, then waved Noon over, followed quickly by Iezeld. David waited, knowing they could be discovered at any moment, then he saw de Luca climb out of the conduit and he approached the door, he was moving when Clancy held up a hand and waved him back. Grasping the door he pulled it almost shut, leaving the merest of gaps. They could all hear the three Romulan's shouting in the Science Lab, something clattered along the corridor to more laughter, then the voices faded, presumably one of them had stepped into the corridor before returning. David quickly exited the conduit and moved to the others: "Any thoughts on how we drop those three at the same time?" he asked. "It sounds like they are messing up whatever they can in there, so I doubt they are carrying their rifles... Right?" Iezelda whispered with a shrug. "So we rush them?" Rosa asked, and given no-one could come up with a better idea, they readied themselves ..... Stepped into the corridor and approached the Science Lab. Tan risked a quick glance and could see two of the Romulan's had their backs to them, while the third was waving what looked like a tricorder back and forth over his chest. Silently, they entered the room. Clancy placed his hypo against one of the seated Romulan and activated it, the second, hearing the anaesthetic discharge, turned to see a smiling de Luca looking at him, even as he took a breath to raise the alarm, de Luca slammed a fist into his face, the third, unaware they company had thrown the chirping device against the bulkhead and turned. Clancy was holding the business end of a phaser-rifle less than a meter from his chest, nevertheless, the man was still convinced he could reach his own weapon, and so tried, the beam passed through him and scorched an angry mark on the wall behind him, he was dead before he hit the deck plating! It hadn't gone unnoticed that they had now killed a Romulan Officer, which meant certain death if captured, after vigorous interrogation obviously. As far as the Intelligence Operatives were concerned, they had completed the 'easy' part of their task ..... Reaching the Bridge, two Decks above them was going to be another matter. "Message Komin, appraise her of our progress, she might be able to help," Iorte suggested to David, who nodded, he took out his modified comm badge and began: ..-. --- ..- .-. / --. ..- .- .-. -.. ... / -.. --- .-- -.--- -. / -.. . -.-. -.- / - .... .-. . .-.-. --- -- .. -. --."I've told her where we are and said we are trying to make our way up there, hopefully, she will be able to devise a way to help us out," David explained. The group quickly ensured the Romulan's wouldn't unexpectedly wake and raise the alarm, then they shut off lighting to the Science Lab and closed the doors to plan the next step ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Mar 17, 2021 23:35:10 GMT
At that moment the research station shook; alerts came in from across the main section and most of the outer-lying sub-sections via Rihavu's numerous consoles which kept him wired into events on the base. Distracted from his nemesis the Romulan rebel, he took steps back into his office/study, He paused, disbelieving as he studied a constantly updating display"... It seems that one of the sub-sections has been destroyed. Cause... unknown." There was silence between the two of them.
More conspirators? the sub-lieutenant nearly said jokingly, quickly deciding better of it. At least this may momentarily postpone his fate, and at least General Rihavu had become too enraged with him before Rihavu could make the connection that there must've been people on that scout ship - SF Intel, escaping from the base - who very much shouldn't have been there on the station, or anywhere in the Romulan Star Empire.
Tal Shiar officer Rihavu returned to the command centre (with the subverter now placed in custody), "General," his tactical/security chief Sub-commander Tyrivek reported, "It seems the lost sub-section, sub-section 9, was fired upon by Commander Rovek's vessel."
What...? Rihavu's mind reeled. Rovek and his D'deridex class warbird were docked to the facility. They were supposed to be allies, compatriots. The General did some mental arithmetic on the attack's feasibility: indeed, the D'deridex's docking port's position gave the warbird clear line of sight to fire on that sub-section. Why, though? his natural fury, capacity for ruthless reprisal, was beginning to boil over.
"Hail them." Duly told the D'deridex class was responding, he acknowledged an image of its bridge appeared on the sizeable main viewer.
Rovek cut across him, "You needn't say, or demand of, or chide me for a thing, Rihavu," the sardonic D'deridex CO said from his command chair, "What you denied me in pleasant conversation... - negotiation, if you will - I've taken by force. Classified Tal Shiar files in sub-section 9. And eliminated the asteroid upon which the sub-section and the files' memory banks were located... The data's irretrievable, I am genuinely sorry." It really did seem to the apoplectic Rihavu that the D'deridex CO actually meant it - such was the nature of their friendship.
"You will pay, Rovek, you will pay tenfold!"
"Useless, useless; hot air, Rihavu," Rovek waved a hand lazily in the air, "I'm already casting off moorings. It'll break some of the mechanisms, I'm sure, linkages and what have you, but nothing a dedicated work detail can't fix in a week, say."
The D'deridex was leaping away from the station. Before Zova Dox disruptors and plasma torpedoes could get a lock, it'd jumped into the supraluminal, towards New Romulus.
Rihavu growled; what political machinations lay behind this? First the Gecius CO M'Sak, called to the homeworld; now naval commander Rovek, with top-secret Tal Shiar information in his possession, on the same heading? Rihavu had better escape from the station himself, avert a probable attempt to limit, or even entirely expunge the Tal Shiar from active political affairs round the new hearthworld and capital of the empire; it would also free the long-prepared noose, fashioned by those conspirators he saw all about him, from round his neck.
* * *
Unbeknownst to the personnel of Zova Dox or to most or all aboard the El Alamein (with most specialist officers consigned to quarters), the destruction of sub-section 9 by the D'deridex - besides mangling nearby sub-sections 7 and 10 - had caused structural damage to the Defiant class.
If any attack came - not absolutely guaranteed, unless they gave their position away, Iorte thought - with the grounded Defiant class's shields down, it may suffer structural integrity field failure, even buckling of the hull - and at any moment.
"Two decks above, only two decks above..." Tan kept whispering, peering at the ceiling of the room they'd found down the corridor from the sealed science lab. Komin, a small number of El Alamein personnel, and two Romulans were up there on the bridge. But how to know which was -?
There was a distant rumbling, shockwaves seemed to propagate through the vacuum to the ship "What the hell was that?" he asked. There were no portals out onto space in this room, so whatever was happening remained a mystery. Let's hope it didn't work out to the Defiant's misfortune.
"With the other dozen still pinned down in engineering according to the heat signatures," Rosa was saying - trying to avert a falsified warp core failure, yes, Iorte had it firmly in his mind - "We just have the two on the bridge to deal with." Her handheld display acquired in the med lab showed a wireframe plan view of the bridge: 6 personnel present; two of them presumably Romulan, four Starfleet.
There was a scarlet glow occupying the command chair. Captain Komin? Iorte considered, had the Romulans given her that faux-luxury? Or was it a Zova Dox deputy, perhaps a middle-ranked officer? Another red aura levitated near the small viewscreen, portside, while the three others (El Al personnel forced to work, they must be) were scattered about starboard, aft and port consoles.
Iezelda spun to the others, "Emergency life support!" The others nodded, one by one seeing where she was going with this. Clancy recognised that room as being on deck 1, starboard-side, down the corridor that led from the deck 1 turbolift and running parallel with the bridge's longer axis. If the group of 5 (with the 6th, Meptia sequestered somewhere absolutely safe - the ladies' WC, sealed with Zova Dox high access codes...) could make it to that room... Well, yes, they'd have to pass four, five sets of officers' quarters, but no heat signals were emanating from any of them, and they'd have excellent line of sight - once they'd took the right-hand turn halfway aftwards down the corridor - at most of the heat signals distinguished on the bridge.
"If we risk a site-to-site transport with our commbadges, communicating with the computer and using our Intel access, and... -" Tan began.
"Yes, but if we move quickly enough from emergency life support to the bridge the occupiers may not have a chance to raise the alarm," Noon protested.
Iorte turned his head towards her, "If." They fell to silence. After a period of evaluation, they decided the newest plan was the quickest, perhaps the only plan to regain control of the ship before such became irretrievable - no matter what'd sent shockwaves across the vessel earlier and the damage to the El Alamein that may have resulted.
"Computer..." The omnipresent device beeped its polite response. Clancy waited in anticipation, expecting claxons to start screaming. Nothing happened, "Recognise SFI clearance, C Iota Epsilon, 457."
A moment, ~ Recognised, Commander Clancy. Please proceed ~ the computer responded much too loud for their liking. He paused, took a breath, "Execute."
~ Acknowledged ~ he heard as the cerulean knots and twisted matter of the transporter effect started about him and he was dissolved, reconstituted as his whole self with the rest of the team in deck 1 emergency life support. The door to the room faced aftwards; no Romulans detected in the corridor immediately outside; they'd head down there, gingerly round the corner to the right and emerge onto the bridge to starboard, a way from and behind the CO's chair and the helm and viewer. Despite the range and clear danger, according to Rosa's scanner, they'd have near or full coverage.
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Mar 21, 2021 15:51:06 GMT
USS El Alamein Docked - Romulan Research Facility Zova Dox :: "If we risk a site-to-site transport with our commbadges, communicating with the computer and using our Intel access, and..." Tan began. "Yes, but if we move quickly enough from emergency life support to the bridge the occupiers may not have a chance to raise the alarm," Noon protested. Clancy looked over at Tan, who, given the lack of alternate suggestions, merely shrugged. Besides, it could all be over before it began if Clancy triggered any of a myriad of alarms. The Crocion's had objected to being left alone, but there was no other alternative given their circumstances. "Computer..." Clancy said, waiting in anticipation, "... Recognise SFI clearance, C Iota Epsilon, 457..." the ship's computer, having been instructed nothing to the contrary, confirmed Iorte's codes. Materialising, they quickly checked the corridor then stepped into the open. At the door to the Bridge they paused, each noting which of the Romulans they would incapacitate, there was no point in all of them firing on the same person, allowing the remaining to get the upper hand. With a silent 'nod' Clancy activated the door which slid silently aside ..... Alan ross saw them first, he had gone to the aft of the Bridge to check on sensor calibration. David held a finger to his lips, understanding, Ross turned away, hopefully out of any 'firing line' pointing left and right surreptitiously as he did so. Clancy stepped onto the Bridge, crouching, de Luca close behind him. David wasn't sure what warned the Romulan's, maybe something just didn't seem right. One of them turned, already raising his rifle, his eyes widened as he came face to face with Clancy, he was reaching for the trigger of his weapon as a beam lanced across the Bridge landing in the middle of his chest. Everything moved very quickly then as the second and third Romulans' spun, both lowering themselves behind consoles as best they could. The firing lasted seconds until both Romulan's and one of the El Alamein's Security Officers lay on the deck! Komin dropped to her knees to check on her Officer but shook her head. De Luca and Tan checked the three unconscious Romulan's releasing them of any weapons and communicators they had. With the help of others on the Bridge, the three were removed before being bound and gagged. Clancy went to the Transporter controls and beamed Vakrik and Mepta onto the Bridge. "There's something going on!..." Komin said quickly, moving to the Tactical Station, pointing out several readings, "... Look... I'd say that there's some internal strife going on between the Romulan's and their Scientists. I'd say at least one sub-section has been destroyed, and there's damage to adjoining ones. We can't scan inside the complex, some sort of jamming field sprung up the moment the firing started," "Hardly Scientists..." Rosa Noon said as she urged the two Crocion's to the rear of the Bridge, "... Rivahu is 'TAL SHIAR' ... Maybe the Reman's are dissatisfied with how things are being run here," "Maybe we should get out of here while the proverbial going is good?" Iezeld commented. "How much data have we secured so far?" de Luca asked, disappointed at the reply. "You may need a physical connection to download confidential files," Meptia said almost apologetically. "... And you're telling us this NOW!" Tan said incensed. "We have data for you, but clearly not what you want..." Vakrik said, taking a step forward, "... Shouting at my daughter is not going to help anyone," David, who had also taken a step, glared at the Crocion's for what seemed an eternity before turning away. He looked at the image on the viewscreen, they were still attached to the docking port, so presuming no-one gave them a thought while they continued their in-fighting, it was possible they could get back onto the facility, find a terminal they could access 'AND' get what they need before anyone notices. "We have the basic layout, some non-essential data, nothing from their research and development facilities," Captain Komin informed the Intelligence Officers. "If you can get me to a nearby terminal, I can give you access..." Vikrik said as all eyes turned on the lead Crocion Scientist, "... Let's say I notice more than the Romulan's give me credit for ..... My only worry would be that if I were to use the access code I copied from one of the Tal Shiar Officers, he or someone else from his group might notice, we would have little time," "I'll take him," de Luca said. "No, Iorte and I will accompany our friend here," David decided, "Captain, do all you can to ready the ship for a quick and hopefully uneventful departure," he said as Nate Massa approached him. "Here, once connected this should be able to hold all the data you can squeeze from their files. "The docking ring should have direct access to the computers, we'll start there..." Tan said, motioning for the others to accompany him to the umbilicus connecting the ship to the facility, "Captain, thirty minutes no more. If we are not back by then you are to disengage and get the hell out of here," "David?" Elena said. "Thirty minutes, or at the first sign we've been compromised," Tan said, leaving the Bridge ..........
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Mar 29, 2021 15:17:52 GMT
Romulan Research Facility Zova Dox :: To say David was annoyed, was an understatement ..... The news that they would need to go back aboard the facility was almost the last straw! ..... Collecting a hastily modified tricorder along with a larger data storage device from Commander CarΓ©, the three approached the walkway giving access to the facility. Tan reiterated his instructions to Captain Komin, repeating his instruction that should they not be back inside the thirty-minute deadline, the El Alamein was to depart and do her best to reach Federation space, and again Komin confirmed the order. Not quite believing the woman, but with no other options open to him, Tan could only accept she would leave on time. With a glare at Meptia, he entered the walkway and stepped back onto the Romulan facility ..... "Which way?" Tan whispered. "That way, the control room for the Dock is close, we should be able to access the facility computers from there," the Crocion woman answered. "I'm guessing we will set off all kinds of alarms the second we try to access the data?" Tan whispered, not bothering to turn to address Meptia. "I should be able to commence a system diagnostic, it 'should' mask anything we are attempting, at least until someone asks who authorised the system check,""Great..." Tan heard Clancy mutter as he followed the other two along the corridor. "Has it not struck anyone as unusual that this place isn't swarming with Romulan guards?" David asked quietly, slowing to peer around a corner. He turned and pointed, signifying that the door to the dock control room was two meters away on their left. "Given what's happening, I believe they are confident that the guard assigned to the El Alamein would be sufficient, Meptia said, the scorn in her tone obvious. David ignored her as he reached the door, phaser levelled, then with the other two ready, he stepped forward, activating the door which slid silently aside. The room held one other, a Romulan, presumably the Duty Dock Officer, and one that was unaware he had company. Clancy stepped silently forward until he was stood over the Romulan, then with one smooth movement, he slammed the edge of his open hand into the man's neck, reaching forward to grasp him before his head impacted the control panel. He dragged the man away and began to bind his hands and legs before ripping a piece of the Romulan's tunic to stuff into his mouth before propping him into a corner. "Whenever you're ready?" Tan said to Meptia who took the offered tricorder and began scanning. After a few seconds, she confirmed she had found the diagnostic programs and began ensuring she would have access once the scan began. moving to the door David looked along the corridor then nodded. The console curtly confirmed it was now running a diagnostic and would be out of use for eight minutes, hopefully, more than enough time to get what they needed and get back to the ship. Meptia constantly checked their progress with the modified tricorder, but all three jumped as the comm sprang to life without warning: =^= Dock Officer .. Our panel shows you have initiated a diagnostic .. Explain .. .. =^= the three looked at each other before Clancy approached the console. With a glance at Tan he replied. =^= My console reported a fault with primary docking latches .. I took the opportu .. .. =^= =^= Who authorised the diagnostic? =^= the man demanded. The three looked at each other until Meptia pointed to Clancy mouthing that he made the decision himself. Unconvinced, Iorte replied. =^= As Duty Officer I took the initiative myself .. Sir =^= he said, grimacing. =^= Complete the diagnostic then report to me =^= the man replied, snapping the comm off. "If he checks the diagnostic he will discover I have isolated the facility' memory... We must hurry!" Meptia said nervously. "How much do you have?" Tan asked. "Sixty-eight percent only," "It will have to do..." David said, heading for the door, "... Sever the connection and let's go," he waited while Meptia began to disconnect from the console, but then he heard something. Quickly, he motioned to Clancy then pointed to the right of the door. Iorte knelt beside the door and risked peering along the corridor, hardly surprised when he saw two Romulan's rounding the corner. He ducked back in and raised two fingers, nodding Tan stood behind him so both could fire without the risk of hitting the other. Tan held up three fingers, lowering each in turn then leaned into the corridor. Two beams of almost pure energy lanced along the corridor from the Intelligence Officers' weapons, hitting both Romulans in the chest. Both readied themselves for more company, but they seemed to be the only two sent to investigate, at least thus far. Tan moved back into the room and pulled the Crocion woman to her feet ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Apr 11, 2021 16:27:19 GMT
"Did you get specs for the PicoFarad tech?" Iorte asked.
"Partial information was retrieved," Meptia replied, and smiling, "the rest of it's in here." She tapped at her pale blue-grey temple.
Iorte nodded; at least then that 68% of hastily collected data had recovered for Intel some of the notable R&D projects and equipment they'd inadvertently found themselves out here for. He turned back to the doorway, glancing right and straight ahead: these the two avenues of approach that Romulans and potentially loyal - uncorrupted by the Romulan sub-lieutenant - Remans might take to capture or eliminate the intruders.
"Ten minutes!" Tan called out, reminding them of the remaining appointed time to return via this superstructure and docking ring to the vestibule and El Al waiting beyond. How long would Komin wait? Would de Luca, Noon, Iezelda pressure here to remain here a little longer, or on the contrary would they insist she follow Tan's directions?
It became increasingly clear to them to return to the ship in anything like good time they'd have to move now, and hope along the way they didn't encounter too many hostiles - Romulans, Remans, Crocions loyal to the Star Empire or whoever else.
An alarm blared from the incapacitated duty officer's bank of consoles. It appeared his superior was attempting contact.
Seconds went by, the possibility of retrieval of the intel data had reached a critical point. "He's discovered you've isolated sensitive information from that console?" Iorte asked. Meptia nodded, having rushed frantically to the controls. "Then there's no use in trying to mollify him now. He may well have an inkling of what goes going on," he added softly, "Let's return to the the ship."
With all links to the data consoles severed, they began making their way back the way they'd come: directly down the corridor outside the door and avoiding the right-hand passage where the two Romulans had come at them before. A thought entered Iorte's mind and remained only briefly - what if the hostiles had learnt the right-hand approach to the databank access room was impassable and would now change their angle of attack, i.e., what if they came face to face with the Starfleeters any moment?
They stood in a supulchral corridor, what illumination there was flickering (intermittent problems at Zova Dox, or a result of damage from the in-fighting?) from antiquated ceiling and wall-mounted sources. Just this passage lay between them and the El Alamein's outer airlock door and yet it was some 50 metres long; what's more only two minutes remained before the end of their self-imposed deadline.
Without any announcement he took the lead, running the guantlet. No fire came his way and Tan and Meptia, seeing this, followed in his wake, at first tentatively but then with greater speed. They arrived at the airlock 15 seconds late by their schedule; Iorte tried the opening mechanism; the lock was still accessible.
News within the lock - as they were patched into the El Alamein's internal comms - was that the ship's structural integrity field was starting to flicker due to the shockwaves of damage sustained by Zova Dox. While its assault upon itself seemed to have subsided and the station now stable, the asteroid field-based Zova Dox seemed a ruined phantom of its former - already fairly dilapidated - self. Parts of or whole sub-sections were missing, leaving only debris, and many of the internal lights had failed. Clancy doubted any further detonations would come within the base - thereby preserving structural integrity of the El Alamein he trusted. But the status of the Zova R&D station's weapons was unknown and hence also its ability to fire on an escaping Defiant class vessel...
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Apr 13, 2021 15:11:38 GMT
Zova Dox Facility Hidden within Asteroid Field ::
Frustration had grown as they realised their tampering was being queried. Someone in the Facility Command Center was trying to contact the Romulan Officer who lay unconscious in the corner of the room. With no options open to them they disconnected from the console and began a hasty retreat back to the El Alamein. There were only minutes to spare so David and Iorte were hoping they wouldn't come across any unexpected opposition ..... The three sprinted the final fifty metres to the El Alamein's airlock, Tan almost dragging the Crocion Meptia along. As they entered they could feel the vibrations through the deck plates as the ship shuddered. Komin was speaking to them even as the airlock opened allowing them access to the ship itself. Leaving Meptia with the first Officer they came across, Tan and Clancy ran to the Bridge, having to reach out to stop themselves from being thrown into the bulkheads as lighting flickered, and the ship shook again and again. Fran Komin was sat in the centre seat, fingers clenching the armrests. "Divert non-essential power to reinforce structural integrity..." she was barking as the Intelligence Officers entered, "... Ahh, welcome back," she said, no hint of sarcasm in her tone. Both David and Iorte stopped in their tracks as they looked at the damage that had been inflicted to the numerous sub-facilities of Zova Dox, it was clear that an ongoing battle for control had gone spectacularly wrong! "What the ....." Clancy said as what looked like a supporting structure drifted past the ship, so close he worried it would impale itself. "It appears that our Remen friends decided they had waited long enough, they opened fire, cutting off life support to several of the sub-structures instantly, there's no way of telling how many died. We picked up orders being sent by General Rivahu..." Komin said, pausing to push herself back into her seat and swipe the hair from her eyes, "... Rivahu ordered M'Sak to fire on the sections known to hold Reman Officers," ".... And did he?" Tan asked. "He was about to, but the Gecius was attacked by one of the vessels assumed to be under Rivahu's Command but clearly loyal to the Remen. There was a brief fire-fight which gave us breathing time, but as you can see..." she pointed to the viewscreen, above them on their Port for'ard quarter, almost missed in the debris, was the experimental Warbird, "... He's been hanging there for the last ten minutes, We can't get an accurate scan of his systems, he'd disabled or destroyed several of the facilities weapons arrays, but he clearly took damage of his own in the process, so have no way to know their exact status. You can bet though that if Rivahu can use them, he will. He's clearly intent on wiping out the Remen offensive," "Can we leave?" Clancy asked. "I'm reluctant to try," Komin replied, shaking her head. "Oh?" Elena asked. "We think Rivahu got a communication out before the Remen's cut the power, it's highly likely we'll have company soon," the Captain explained. "So all the more urgency to leave now before we're hemmed in!" Iezeld said as Meptia joined them. The shuddering finally stopped as Nico CarrΓ© exclaimed he had finally managed to sever the umbilicus to the facility. So now the El Alamein was floating free, separated from the self-destructing sub-sections of the Facility. Komin ordered manoeuvring thrusters brought online. When the Romulan warbird didn't react, she instructed Shana Yip to move the ship back, but in such a way that their drift appeared natural. The Helm Officer gave it a moments' thought then made several inputs on her console. Almost imperceptibly, the Defiant Class Starship began to drift backwards and began a roll to Port. Had anyone been monitoring from the Gecius, they may have believed that the ship was moving as a result of an impact by debris, or so they hoped .... Seconds past and the El Alamein continued to drift away from the Gecius, her lazy roll helping the illusion. "Captain!..." Demik said from Tactical, "... There's a second Valdore Class Warbird moving in our direction," ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Apr 24, 2021 23:31:13 GMT
It'd dropped out of warp many thousands of kilometres from the asteroid field and approached at an obtuse angle from 'above', at a low velocity to allow it to survey the situation, uncover its prey, before it'd made its dive in the direction of that foreign element. The Romulan proconsul's Valdore warbird now swooped over Zova Dox with a silent scream, disruptors lashing out at sub-sections (others of which on the scattered asteroids continued to implode in on themselves, though with lessening frequency) before slowing on to a final heading.
"It does appear the ship has spotted us," Clancy observed, seeing on the viewscreen the proconsul's less massive and more conventionally-painted Valdore type (compared to the Gecius) approaching them, beak-on. An alert came from the tactical console, he nodded, "And they're hailing us."
There was a hubbub of muted terror on the bridge, "Your story should presumably still work, should they ask how we got here?" de Luca asked Captain Komin, who shifted uncomfortably,
"I'm not sure the captain of the D'deridex class bought it, but we can only give it a try. Acknowledge the hail and open a channel," she directed tactical. Iorte understood the reasoning - simply turning to flee would betray their guilt in the Romulans' eyes, and the El Alamein was currently no match for an intact warbird, but remaining and endeavouring to explain would at least give their opponent pause.
"Aye, Captain."
The warbird's bridge appeared onscreen, and in the centre seat, a Romulan female whose rank and standing were immediately apparent from her uniform and the ceremonial guards around her, "I am the proconsul of the Romulan Star Empire, speaking on behalf of the Romulan senate. What are you doing in our space? And has the destruction here been wrought in any way by you?"
Komin gave the woman - second only to the praetor in the Romulan government - the El Alamein's tale of having drifted into Romulan from Klingon space after suffering damage to the port warp nacelle and navigation systems, further explaining how one Commander Rovek's D'deridex class had encountered the Defiant and towed her to Zova Dox to assist in repairs; the El Alamein crew were innocent bystanders.
Which is more or less true, Iorte thought, even if a team of Starfleet Intelligence personnel attempted to steal secrets from the IRW Gecius and then Zova Dox itself.
"We're aware only of an internal battle for control," Iorte was given leave to answer the second part of the proconsul's question, "We only wish to leave, but comm traffic we've picked up indicates a mid-ranked Romulan officer and his army of Reman troops attempted an insurrection against the facility's commander General Rihavu. The Tal Shiar general has lost control of the situation.
"Yes, the Tal Shiar... their meddling in the affairs of the Navy has gone far enough..." the proconsul seemed to mutter to herself, "If what you say about the Romulan insurrectionist and his Remans is correct, then he has done well. So well, in fact, that he has nearly destroyed himself and his cohorts in his efforts," she looked off-screen for a second to witness the detonation of a warhead-packed mini-asteroid and nodded appreciatively as it obliterated a small nearby subsection, "I hate leaving any sort of a mess."
"Regarding our sister vessel, the Gecius, of which I see you have some experience..." Iorte for one wasn't aware of what she was referring to, but Iezelda had lowered her head and put a hand on Meptia's quivering shoulder, "You have something in your possession that belongs to it, to Commander M'Sak."
Iorte gripped Iezeld's spare right hand, not willing to let her suffer alone in her empathy and feeling it strongly himself. Meptia had sometimes seemed a mysterious, duplicitous guide to the Intel team in their explorations. However, her return to the Gecius would almost certainly mean her death, and besides having information on the PicoFarad technology, she now also knew all about the five Intel officers - knowledge which could be extracted by a number of means. She was merely a scientist, snatched from her terrorised homeworld, caught up in these great afffairs.
"Transport the Crocion female that I can see is on your vessel's bridge - to the Gecius, and you are free to go," the proconsul said, "No questions asked as to how you came to possess her. As I said, I hate leaving a mess."
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on Apr 29, 2021 16:22:35 GMT
USS El Alamein :: =^= Regarding our sister vessel .. The Gecius .. Of which I see you have some experience .. .. =^= Daniel noticed his Exec' inch closer to the Crocion, but allowed him to continue conversing with the Proconsul. =^= You have something in your possession that belongs to it .. .. .. To Commander M'Sak .. .. .. Transport the Crocion female that I can see is on your vessel's bridge - to the Gecius and you are free to go .. No questions asked as to how you came to possess her .. As I said .. I hate leaving a mess =^= Out of line-of-sight of the Romulan onscreen, David glanced at Komin, running a finger along his throat, the El Alamein Captain immediately ordered the comm muted then turned away from the screen, Iorte, released Mepta and joined the others: "We can't send her over there, she'll be killed," Clancy said. "You recognise her?" David asked Fran Komin. "You don't...?" the Captain said, rising to go to one of the screens Aft of the Bridge, "... Meet Proconsul Veklak of the Romulan Star Empire and Federation Council member!" she pulled up a record then stood back. "Bloody hell, what's she doing here, last I heard she was on Earth!" Tan said, astonished. "Somethings obviously going on, she clearly knows about the rebellion the Reman's have begun..." Elena said, eyeing the woman on screen, "... There's no way she could have got here so fast unless she had prior knowledge," "It still leaves us in a precarious position, I have to agree, we can't just hand her over," Milo Van said as he glanced at the screen seeing the Romulan seemingly waiting patiently. Hoping to find some time, Komin nodded to the Comms Officer: =^= Proconsul .. I have to admit that I feel a little .. Disconcerted at your request =^= =^= Then I shall ease your concerns .. .. The young lady is part of a scientific research team working for the Romulan Star Empire .. As such her research and that of her colleagues is subject to Romulan Security .. It would therefore be unwise of you to hold one of our associates against her will .. I am sure the Federation Council will agree with me .. Captain .. So .. I shall allow you time to gather your thoughts and consider your somewhat precarious position .. I will contact you again in shall we say .. One hour .. At which time I expect her and all data she holds to be transported aboard my vessel .. .. .. =^= Veklak waved a hand casually and the screen went blank. Having earlier successfully initiated a drift, the El Alamein was still rotating and moving away from the Gecius at less than five meters per second, the Proconsul's vessel was holding station two thousand meters off their stern but keeping firm weapons lock on the Defiant Class. It was clear that the Proconsul, having already turned large sections of the Zova Dox Facility to smouldering rubble, was in no hurry, she knew they were no match, and given the fact that everyone from either side would know of her arrival, the Intelligence Officers couldn't rely on their being any help forthcoming. It was left to Elena to state the obvious: "We have to hand her over," everyone turned to look at her, not condemning her comment, but inwardly, thankful that it didn't have to be them making the statement. "I'm not willing to throw in the towel. There 'HAS' to be a workaround," Iezeld said defiantly. "I've hopefully ensured that if anyone scans us they'll find all our drive systems, including thrusters, offline..." Nico CarrΓ© said, "... If we keep drifting, and the Proconsul keeps her position relative to the El Alamein and doesn't decide to tractor us, they will pass right over a group of deuterium storage silos ....." "And?" Clancy asked, seeing Meptia suddenly look up. "As we come around, the Proconsul's ship will be directly astern of us, but almost directly over the silo's ... If we could adapt the deflector array to focus a resonance pulse into the silo's it 'could' cause one to rupture?" "As long as their ship doesn't detect the pulse they would automatically think they went after structural damage from the infighting!" DeLuca said. "It's risky," Komin said from the centre seat. "Well, how about disguising the transporter signal, send an activated photon torpedo over there instead of this young lady?" Tom Demik suggested lightly. "We could always bargain ....." Elena commented. "How? ..... Tell the Proconsul she can have Meptia once we're in open space? ..... Hmm, I doubt she would fall for that, I'm guessing she didn't get where she is by being stupid," Milo Van replied. "How far are we from where we were docked?" Tan asked. "Fifty-six hundred metres," Yip answered from the Helm. "..... And the Proconsul's vessel is still at two thousand metres?" he persisted. "Yes," the Lieutenant confirmed. Tan was deep in thought for a moment then turned back to the others: "I can't see her leaving anyone alive on the facility, she couldn't risk her own people taking a stand against her actions. She will have to completely destroy Zova Dox and everyone there, including us," his statement was met with silence. "Then we have minimal options open to us," Massa said from Tactical. "We 'could' take the Gecius ....." David said quietly. "We have no way of knowing how many people are aboard that ship, hell, even Starfleet isn't sure of the crew complement of the newest Valdore Class Warbirds, but needless to say, it's going to be a damn-sight more than we could handle. Even if the Proconsul out there sat back and allowed us to try!" the Operations Officer said disbelievingly. "We go over there in 'EVA' suits, access their environmental controls, knock the lot of them out then fire on the Proconsul, while we're keeping her Majesty busy, the El Alamein can run for it!" Tan said ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on May 3, 2021 0:42:14 GMT
The five of them, Meptia and three El Alamein security personnel were already suited and waiting on the pads. Iorte considered again the plan and closed his eyes - it was either the idea of a genius or one of the most foolhardy designs ever concocted by the human mind, or perhaps a bit of both. As he opened his eyes he and five others began dematerialising, soon to be joined by Meptia, Noon and Lieutenant Massa.
He materialised and checked his thrusters, running through the usual quick diagnostics, ignoring as best he was able the rotating starfield which always made him giddy. Of course, they couldn't have beamed through the Gecius's shield grid, but out here in what was hopefully a blind spot on both the Gecius and the proconsul's vessel's sensor fields, they should be able to drift through the shields at low relative velocity, not recognised by the warbird as a shipborne weapon being used against it.
"Rotation to attitude complete," Iorte said in his turn, hearing an echo of similarly reporting voices over the comm. At the centre of his EVA helmet's HUD, picked out by graphic indicators against the near-black mass of the Gecius, now sat the airlock of the warbird closest to its environmental systems' interface.
"3... 2... 1..." he heard distantly over the comm, "Mark."
The nine of them thrusted their main propulsion units mounted upon their backs for a fraction of a second, instantaneous blueish-white light against the vacuum. In Iorte's HUD the relative velocity indicator swung round to fix roughly on the Gecius airlock in question. He made minute adjustments en route, gliding through the Democritean void.
After making soft contact against the airlock and the surrounding section of the hull, the group began decrypting the outer lock using Meptia's access-codes she'd stolen from a Gecius senior staff member. They found their way in and Meptia began accessing a console to administer a ship-wide anaesthetic to which Romulan biology was particularly susceptible - they would be out for nearly 72 hours. Iorte stood guard with his phaser rifle pointed left down the corridor, Rosa Noon doing similarly to the right.
* * *
USS Enzio, Romulan space, after failed rendezvous with USS Schrodinger
V'Maz sat in the command chair speaking once more with the Romulan officer. "We have reason to believe one of our vessels has been hijacked by a Romulan warbird, the USS El Alamein," he told the official.
"Yes, Vulcan, we have reason to suspect the same. This matter is being looked into most closely by our highest authorities," this was the point where V'Maz deduced the man he was speaking with was of the Tal Shiar; why else would he reveal the El Alamein's run-in with the Romulan Navy, given what else the Enzio's crew knew? "We will find your vessel; the perpetrators will face justice."
The discovery of the dead Fleet Commander on the Starbase had allowed a link to be made to the anomalous reading (a cloaked Romulan ship?) that the Intelligence team had beamed into, and the Enzio had headed out, chasing leads to try to locate them - and now also the El Alamein that'd vanished in their wake - for over a week now, leaving the admiralty aboard the station to see to Vice President Laterza's needs. After speaking with the Vicksburg's CO, they had pursued the Schrodinger to its last known coordinates but found nothing except a few dead Starfleet personnel floating in the vacuum (not enough, by far, to constitute her entire crew; analysis of one of the bodies suggested they'd been exposed to Romulan psionic weaponry).
Now V'Maz had the senior staff on the trail of an old D'deridex class warbird which from appearances seemed as if it'd been heading for the little known Zova Dox asteroid field base. Long-range sensors had been reading significant energy flares around the asteroid field in the last 48 hours, sure signs of some sort of battle.
"Thank you," he replied to the Romulan, "And may we continue our own search? Federation property is in Romulan hands, Major."
"Yes, you may. But be aware that you are officially trespassing on Romulan territory; I can't guarantee your safety should you meet with a naval vessel." V'Maz nodded to himself as the channel closed - now the Romulan had virtually admitted it: he was, along with General Rihavu of Zova Dox, at odds with the senate and the navy.
The Enzio first officer rose and headed for starboard and aft; the door opened after he'd paused for a moment. Gheskori rose from behind his ready room desk, "Well, I think you handled that very well, Commander."
"I must admit I had come to the same conclusion."
Ghes nodded and sat again, gesturing V'Maz do the same, "We'll be at Zova Dox shortly. If there is still a USS El Alamein, and an Intelligence team to recover, let's hope we can even the odds a little." He ate another biscuit, guzzling back some coffee noisily. "A wafer?" V'Maz declined and remained seated, wondering whether he'd be allowed to return to the bridge sooner rather than later.
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on May 8, 2021 15:50:50 GMT
Had anyone asked, he would have said that his idea to take the IRW Gecius, the Romulan Star Empires' most advanced Valdore Class Warbird, was clearly a joke ... He was somewhat ruing not stating this minor point as he hung in open space the asteroids of the battle-scarred Research Facility below his boots.
Finally, they moved towards the massive vessel, nine almost invisible specs against the black, incomprehensible vastness of space, moments later they were against the olive-drab hull of the Gecius, waiting patiently while the Crocion gained access. Someone tapped him on the shoulder, one of the Security Officers motioning towards the open airlock, a rectangle of white light Tan was sure could be seen for kilometres ..... Slowly making their way inside, they had to wait while Meptia again concealed their presence from the Romulans. Several times, the Crocion muttered something, presumably defamatory given her tone, before trying yet again. Then she turned to the others:
=^= I have accessed their environmental controls .. I had to search their databanks for the drug required luckily the Romulan's use a variation of your anesthizine .. With a sufficient amount dispersed throughout the vessel it should keep the Romulan compliment unconscious for approximately seventy-two hours =^= she said via her suits Comms.
=^= Can you purge the anaesthetic and still keep them unconscious? =^= Tan asked. Meptia turned back to the console she had been working at and made numerous inputs, she then turned back to face the others before releasing the locking bar beneath her chin. Raising it and the visor, she took a tentative breath and grinned.
"A little salty, but breathable I believe," she said, removing her helmet as the others followed suit.
"Iorte, scan the ship, let's see how many Romulan's are napping," David checked the corridor, still wary.
"There are eighty-six aboard," Clancy confirmed.
"OK, let's go!"
The nine comprising the away team headed for the nearest turbolift and requested the Bridge, everything seemed to be in the same drab green, Tan wondered if they knew any other colours given their lack of variety. As the doors slid aside they were mat by six Romulan Officers, all slumped at whatever station they were at when gassed. Quickly they dragged the unconscious into a small room off the Bridge and secured the door.
"Well, anyone conversant with Romulan control systems?" Elena asked, eyeing what she decided could be the Helm position.
"Any signs that our presence has been detected by the Proconsul's ship?" David asked, eyeing the El Alamein on the viewscreen, still moving away at a crawl, her rotation giving them a three-sixty view of their ship.
"They seem to be scanning the El' but ignoring their sister ship," Rosa Noon said from possibly Tactical.
"OK, can we begin to bring systems online without letting anyone else know?" Tan asked the Crocion.
"Sensors and weapons systems are already online according to these readings," Noon said, pointing to her console.
"That's a bonus then, try to figure out targetting controls,"
"We should check Engineering, I'd hate for us to light up like the proverbial Christmas Tree then lay dead in the water because we don't have an operational drive, I could use some help," DeLuca said. Massa motioned to two of the Security Team to follow her, Clancy said he would accompany them and the four exited the Bridge. Fifteen minutes later Iorte confirmed that as far as he could tell, the artificial quantum singularity used to power their vessels was intact, and he presumed they had all the power they needed at their disposal.
"Rosa, contact the El Alamein, update them on our position and tell them to stand by ... Is there any way we could passively scan the area around the asteroid field for a viable route of escape?" Tan asked.
"Surely you do not intend to try to actually 'TAKE' this vessel from the Romulan's?" Meptia said in disbelief.
"What do you think we came over here for, exactly?" David asked.
"Well, in truth, I believed you intended only to incapacitate the crew to increase your chance of successfully escaping, to think you would want to take thi ...."
"Meptia, this is the most advanced Romulan Warbird, if we could get it back to our REsearch and Development people, it could swing the balance entirely!" Tan interrupted the Crocion.
"They will never allow such an action to succeed, they will kill us, kill us ALL!" the woman said, clearly panicking.
"We have cloaking technology, all we would need to do is get into open space, hopefully forcing the Proconsul to come after us, which will give the El Alamein time to bolt,"
"You cannot ..... Do you have any idea what the Romulans will do to us?!" she was saying as the others returned to the Bridge.
"Problem?" Iorte asked, eyeing the distraught Crocion.
"I want thoughts on taking the Gecius," Tan commented.
"Taking it, taking it where?" Elena asked with a wry grin. Had anyone been looking, they might have seen a small reading on the Gecius long-range sensors ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on May 23, 2021 10:50:16 GMT
Proconsul's vessel
"Sir, I've reason to believe all is not well on the IRW Gecius."
The proconsul cast a glance at the officer who'd so impudently spoken; no bridge crewman addressed the commander of a Romulan vessel unless spoken to - yet this seemed to be a matter of some urgency. "How do you mean...?" she asked tiredly.
"The vessel's 86 occupants appear to be... asleep." The subordinate seemed worried for the moment he would face the ire of the proconsul, as if the incident had been his fault, but the woman rose from her chair and moved to the tactical station,
She was unequivocal, "The ship has been infiltrated." She considered the possibility the Starfleet officers of the El Alamein were somehow responsible but quickly ruled it out (something she was aware may come back to haunt her). More likely the Tal Shiar Zova Dox command remnants, or Reman rebels were attempting to commandeer the Gecius and change the course of the rapidly dissipating fracas about the asteroid base.
"Keep up scans of the Gecius. Search for possible cloaked Reman lifesigns," she ordered and resumed her seat.
"Detecting a vessel on extreme long-range scanners. Approaching the facility at warp 6.5, proconsul," tactical now reported. She nodded; while things were well in hand, it wouldn't go amiss to have a second warbird here to demolish the rest of the forsaken base. Damnatio memoriae, she thought, This place never existed.
IRW Gecius
Clancy returned from the engine room along with de Luca and the two security guards, the group stepping over prone bodies of Romulan (and a small number of Crocion) personnel. The anaesthezine analog should last 72 hours, perhaps far beyond that if Meptia's additional inputs proved effective. Stepping onto the bridge he took in the situation; things were frantic to put it mildly - to steal an experimental warbird from the Romulans, with whom Iorte had had plenty experience of before, could certainly put that agitation into his colleagues' minds whatever their level of training.
"It seems the proconsul's ship's focus is still on the El Alamein," Rosa reported from tactical, "But there've been a few cursory sensor sweeps in our direction. Perhaps they're just checking the Gecius's status, but -"
"No. She's perceptive, the proconsul," Meptia said, "I've had some indirect experience of her. The sudden scans can only indicate she believes something is amiss here." Clancy nodded - then they had to move.
The weak spaceborne signal detected by the scanners and noticed by the team shortly after Iorte's arrival back in the nerve centre had since grown stronger; to their disbelieving eyes as they regarded the readouts and the prompt transposition of them onto the viewscreen - in the form of a full magnification on the unknown inbound - the tentative reading resolved itself as a Federation starship.
"Reading transponder code..." Noon said, taking advantage of the Gecius's highly advanced sensor package, "Let's hope the Romulans aren't picking up these scans..." The console returned the info to her and she gazed at the viewscreen, "... It's the USS Enzio. 0.4 lightyears away."
The implications sprung into Clancy's mind - it was clear the Starbase had learnt what'd happened to them; he only hoped they knew about the El Alamein as well. He turned to Tan, "Set a heading for that vessel?" he asked, the obviousness of the course almost bringing a chuckle in spite of the strained circumstances. Obvious? he caught himself in his presumption: the proconsul's supposed ally the Gecius makes for the unidentified target, abandoning the proconsul in her show down with the El Al?
USS Enzio
The Prometheus class was closing the final gap to the asteroid facility, Ghes not wishing - at first - to rush at maximum warp in case he gave the presumed Romulan occupants cause for suspicion. But it appeared the situation was desperate - scans indicated the El Alamein (indeed intact!) was vastly outgunned by two Romulan warbirds of the newer type. At that point he'd ordered warp 9.99 and they were now just three quarters of an hour away.
"Keep weapons on stand-by," he preempted Miak's question at tactical, "We don't want to give ourselves away as a potential hostile until we're almost upon them."
"That's the worry, sir. What if we've already given ourselves away?"
Ghes disregarded the tactical officer, pensively watching the viewscreen; illusions of stellar matter shot round the warp field. Would they make it in time? "We head in there, prepared for combat. If nothing comes our way, attempt negotiation, and in case of failure try our utmost to recover the El Alamein, no matter what the consequences.
Two Federation starships against at least two Romulan warbirds, fighting it out around what seemed to be a disintegrating asteroid base of uncertain allegiance? he thought, It was what philosophers called an undecidable. Unless there was something he hadn't accounted for.
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David Tan
Starfleet Intelligence
Suum Cuique ...
Registered: Dec 11, 2006 10:56:04 GMT
Posts: 790
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Post by David Tan on May 30, 2021 15:32:05 GMT
Aboard IRW Gecius :: "Set a heading for that vessel?" Clancy asked as David watched the reading. He thought for a moment, the implications of taking a Romulan Warbird, an experimental one at that, could cause grave consequences, should they be captured ... Being paraded around the city on New Romulus would be the least of their problems: Imprisonment, torture, public humiliation, not only for the Intelligence Officers but for the Federation, who would undoubtedly be held accountable! "Is there any way we can get a message to the El Alamein?" Tan asked. "Not without alerting the Proconsul, no," "OK ..... Bring us about, set a course for the Enzio, one-quarter impulse, or their equivalent, let's not give the Proconsul any cause to fire on one of her own," The Gecius rotated, still stationary, every keeping a close eye on the second Warbird, Rosa Noon, at the Helm, began to increase speed until they were moving away from the Proconsul and the remains of the Facility, David watched the El Alamein, still seemingly adrift, her power reading low, he hoped Komin knew what they were doing and was playing possum so as not to alarm the other Romulan ship. "The Proconsul's vessel is coming about," Elena informed them. "Is she coming after us?" David asked worriedly. "No, they have just realigned their position," DeLuca said with a frown. "Iorte, can you raise our shields when we're closer to the Enzio?" Tan asked. "If I've decyphered these controls correctly, yes," "The Proconsul's vessel has picked up the Enzio, she's powering up to intercept. What I can't understand is why they haven't tried to contact us yet, surely the Gecius would hold off, allowing the Proconsul the lead?" Iezeld commented, eyeing the Crocion's who were stood toward the Aft of the Romulan Bridge. Neither seemed willing to supply an opinion one way or the other. Surely they knew there was an issue aboard their experimental ship! "I'm picking up two D'deridex Class Warships heading our way!" Elena suddenly informed them. "Where from!?" Tan asked quickly looking at the readouts. "They were on the far side of the asteroid field..." DeLuca said, adjusting her scans for better resolution, "... It's hard to tell if they were ordered here or were coming our way anyway," "Romulan, or Reman?" Clancy asked. "Impossible to say, there hasn't been any communication between them and the Proconsul's vessel, which could be good news," Iezeld confirmed as DeLuca said that the El Alamein was now stationary, having brought her drive systems back online, Komin was now following the two Valdore Class Warbirds at a distance, while the two newcomers were closing the distance warily from beneath and Starboard of the Gecius ..... With all six vessels now clear of the asteroid belt and the almost ruined facilities, it was touch and go as to how things would play out. "Enzio has raised shields and brought weapons online," Elena confirmed. "It looks like the Proconsul is in two minds, so to speak..." Iezelda commented, "... She's scanning the two D'deridex Class ships but is scanning us too ..... Wait!" Everyone turned in her direction as she made adjustments to her sensors, then her eyes widened. "The Proconsul is locking weapons!" "On who?" Tan asked. "US!" "Iorte, shields, bring weapons online," Tan ordered, but Clancy had beaten him to it. David was about to open fire, possibly starting a war between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire when Iezeld suddenly pointed to the viewscreen. The El Alamein, earlier holding position two hundred thousand kilometres astern of them, flashed past the Proconsul's Warbird so close Tan was momentarily worried they would impact the much larger vessel. The Proconsul's ship banked hard to Port, clearly trying to avoid impact with the Defiant Class ..... Komin brought the El Alamein around, passing close a second time. "David, the two D'deridex Class vessels are in range," DeLuca pointed out. Both had positioned themselves out of the assumed line of fire but close enough to attack if they so chose. Tan looked at the others: "Do we risk contacting the Enzio ...?" was asking as the Gecius shook from a phaser hit to their Port quarter, "... Increase to full impulse, take up directly at the Enzio then drop beneath them!" he ordered Iezeld. "Enzio has locked weapons on us," Iorte said almost matter-of-factly. David didn't reply, he was hoping Gheskori would realise their manoeuvre and hold off firing, it wasn't a given obviously, as he was facing a Warbird heading directly at him. Tan watched the screen as the Prometheus Class Starship grew larger and larger, he tried not to picture the Section Admiral doing likewise with the oncoming Valdore Class. It was hardly a game of chicken, but as the distance closed there would eventually be a point of no return, move out of the way, fire or do nothing! The Gecius lurched again, this time harder, clearly, the Proconsul had lost patience with the sister vessel and whoever was on board. "Shields holding, but that hit hurt us..." Elena informed them, "... Return fire?" she asked. "Wait ....." Iezeld said, pointing at the tactical view she had put on screen, the two D'deridex Class Warbirds had seemingly made a decision, they were closing the distance between them and the group heading for the Enzio. After firing one last volley at the Gecius, the Proconsul's Warbird turned and headed for the two oncoming ships, she fired at both simultaneously and received hits in return. The Gecius dropped beneath the Enzio then came hard about, climbing before approaching the Federation Starship from astern. El Alamein also altered her heading and came parallel to Enzio. All three came to a full stop as they watched the battle ensue between the Romulan Warbirds. The Enzio still had phaser and torpedo locks on the Gecius, and at this range would all but obliterate the Valdore Class with little trouble. "We're being hailed," DeLuca said ..........
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Iorte Clancy
Starfleet Intelligence
Registered: Mar 9, 2016 17:58:55 GMT
Posts: 248
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Post by Iorte Clancy on Jun 18, 2021 1:01:01 GMT
The oversized Valdore-type was responding and Ghes requested open a channel. "Just what on Denobula is going on here, Commander?" Ghes said to the team leader Tan, seeing the rest of the Intel group on the Valdore-type bridge. Despite his tone he was relieved to see the team safe and well. At the Romulan bridge's aft, a small pale, non-Romulan woman (Meptia) stood, seeming relieved with how things had turned out.
"Admiral," Tan nodded, "It's possible or likely our comms are being intercepted but considering our ships are now in virtual combat formation..." he trailed off. "The Romulan aggressor - the other Valdore - against this vessel is commanded by a Romulan proconsul."
"And the other ships, Commander?" XO V'Maz said from the seat beside Gheskori.
"They seem to be allied to the Remans and their imprisoned leader, a Romulan junior officer," Iorte replied. An Enzio officer asked if the two D'deridexes could be trusted as allies. "Not for a moment," Iorte replied, "Or I wouldn't have thought."
"Having been stowaways aboard this vessel the Gecius, we arrived at this Zova Dox asteroid facility and shortly after a power struggle - brewing for some time - started up. We have reason to believe the proconsul had arrived to eliminate both sides: the Tal Shiar General Rihavu, controlling the facility, and the Reman insurgents... and to decimate the base entirely."
As de Luca explined the situation, Iorte took notice of the tactical station; they were being hailed again! "It's the lead D'deridex class warbird," Noon reported. Iorte and David requested 'channel open' simultaneously - audio only.
A voice filtered through, sounding familiar, "You can activate the Gecius's viewscreen, Starfleet. I am Vlotik, the Vulcan operative you encounted on the Gecius and who joined you on Zova Dox to eliminate General Rihavu - my mission. This makes the rebel Remans and myself natural allies."
Iorte was doubtful: the last he'd seen of Rihavu was a ghostly sensor image of his personal craft escaping the disintegrating asteroid base. Why had Vlotik returned here, unless he didn't know that the Tal Shiar officer had seemingly escaped? "Vlotik, good to see you," he and Tan shared wary glances, "Is there any possibility you could hold off the proconsul until we can make good an escape?"
"Affirmative," the Vulcan in the centre chair of 'his' D'deridex said - Remans streamed back and forth in front of him, "Please note however that I too will need a route of escape should we fail to overcome -"
"Very well." The Intel team had the channel closed and conferred. "Vlotik doesn't know Rihavu - his assassination target - is no longer at Zova Dox... we could simply redirect him to the General?" Tan said, "The Tal Shiar is making for New Romulus."
"Or we could convince him - in the middle of the firefight - to board an escape pod and set a course for Enzio, El Alamein and Gecius," Noon suggested, "We could tractor beam him into the shuttlebay of the Gecius - it stands the best chance of integrating with the pod's systems."
As they spoke the viewscreen - returned to its customary sable black studded with stars - lit up for a fraction of a second with all-encompassing white light. As the screen's saturation reduced to allow Clancy to distinguish features again, he saw one of the two D'deridex class ships was no longer there, or was rather in four pieces - spinning away from one another in a mad pirouette, cross-sections showing decks ripped through and through, small and large fires and personnel blowing into space.
Bridge, USS Enzio
"Initial estimate, 975 losses," Rivers reported from Ops, as they watched the main viewer. "No fragments of the vessel are on trajectories that would see them impact either another vessel or the base." Ghes asked about the other D'deridex class, told it was falling back for cover inside a denser patch of the asteroid field.
"An officer named Vlotik is comming us on a private channel, from the remaining D'deridex," tactical officer Miak said. Ghes nodded. It seemed the proconsul's Valdore was ignoring Vlotik, now making for the trio of Enzio, El Alamein and Gecius. "We're also receiving a private communique, Romulan senatorial authorisation."
"Hold that first comm, Gavril," Gheskori requested of Miak, "I'll take the second in my ready room." He entered and activated his terminal; after the Federation seal the screen showed whom Ghes assumed was the Romulan proconsul. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm sorry it couldn't be under more congenial circumstances, proconsul."
"Section Admiral Gheskori, a pleasant surprise," the sarcasm was patenty obvious, "Admiral, you have a vessel in your possession, property of the Romulan Navy. The IRW Gecius. You will transport all your personnel off her onto either your ship or the Defiant class warship, except for the Crocion scientist... err, Meptia. Failure to comply will mean your vessel will suffer the same fate as the USS Schrodinger. Yes," she saw Ghes's reaction, "I don't know how much you know about what happened to her, but her crew became psychopathic upon being subjected to shipborne psionic blast weaponry, weaponry my vessel possesses. The choice is yours. Clear off with your personnel while returning our scientist and the IRW Gecius, and all will be well. Otherwise, face the consequences."
"No good."
For the first time Ghes detected a slip in the proconsul's mask of confidence, "What?"
"No good. You will clear off. It's clear that the Gecius, despite a prototype, is a superior vessel to your own, and excepting the warbird hiding in the asteroid field, you are outnumbered three to one, proconsul."
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