Andae Blakus
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Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 23, 2023 18:10:02 GMT
Blakus opened his eyes, expecting that he'd experience the effect of moisture being blasted from them now he was out in the starry vacuum.
There was a question whether he'd even get to feel that, as surely almost immediately the blood vessels in his eyeballs - and through a lot of the rest of his body - would burst and send their fluid into the darkness.
Surprisingly, none of this happened, or at least wasn't given a chance to, as he felt himself whisked away in a transporter effect. The last thing he saw before he passed out were the blurry surroundings of a Starfleet-design transporter room... The Raven.
With his epidermis only partially desiccated, he was permitted by Roach to head to the bridge, after about 15 minutes emergency triage. The areas where his skin was mottled and ruined caused him pain, to put it mildly, the CMO's analgesics and quick work with some skin restoration device giving only some relief. He was only glad the starship had been on station to detect and save him from the harsh environment beyond the terraforming sub-unit...
"Admiral," he nodded, appearing at the port-side aft turbolift and striding out, limping as a large amount of the remaining ruined skin and dried musculature beneath was on his left leg, which felt extraordinarily weak... He could apply little pressure on it or with his right hand.
"Andae," Carl said in surprise, "Roach let you out so soon? I'm not sure that's wise."
"The situation demands it, sir. There's not much time to explain. Those terraforming units out there are going to begin injection of the nerve toxin into Eta Iridi I's upper atmosphere in about 60, 70 minutes. Once it's deployed, the colonial population will have about 18 hours before they're all dead."
"Some Tkrnn told you that, over there?" Carl gestured to the viewscreen which displayed a few dozen of the cubic sub-units as well as the IRW Mok'pa which seemed to be on evasive manoeuvres against them. It seemed the Mok'pa had destroyed one sub-unit, perhaps trying to make it appear they were enemies.
"Yes, sir." Something else on the viewscreen - the right hand side of it, with the display set up to show a split view - caught his attention, "What's that? An approaching fleet?" He was finding it a little difficult to speak due to dried skin on the left side of his face dragging at his lips.
"Yes, more Romulans. Seems these are Navy, and not Tal Shiar."
"Admiral. They're hailing," the duty tactical officer nodded to the Romulan ships, "On screen at your demand, sir." Torek nodded and a Romulan Commander appeared.
"Federation starships USS Raven and USS Maracanda, I am Commander Selok of the Star Empire's Navy. You will leave this area of our space immediately. My flotilla intends to destroy the shapeshifters' terraforming vessel before it starts in the next hour to annihilate the population of our colony. This is your only warning."
Blakus understood the Romulan's position. Over 400 million Romulan colonists were on the world below. But Selok had to wait... The whole of the rest of the away team was still over there on the terraformer, on two or more sections. Besides, he thought, who's to say the 499 sub-units won't be able to defend themselves? But there was another issue, and Torek had picked up on it,
"How do you know the Tkrnn are about to do that, Commander Selok? We know it, but how do you?"
"We've received the information, from Colonel Karuth on the Tkrnn vessel. Her squadron broke through a jamming field. So at least one of the Tal Shiar out here is still loyal. I am aware you have your own personnel on the terraformer. But I cannot delay. Hundreds of millions of lives of Romulan civilians are at stake. I must attack the Tkrnn immediately."
"We still have about an hour before the nerve toxin designed to kill your citizens is deployed," Blakus blurted, "Give us that time. At least some of it. You have your own people to protect; we have ours. When we have our crew back in the next hour -" however we achieve that, he thought gloomily "- we'll take on the Tkrnn together!"
"The shapeshifters will soon detect my flotilla," Selok retorted, "And so will surely speed up the deployment process of their nerve toxin!" He paused, "I don't know how much time I can give you... But act quickly to save your people. Then I must strike the terraformer sections."
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
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Post by Carl Torek on Jul 23, 2023 22:48:00 GMT
USS Raven-C :: Carl had admittedly been shocked at the extent of his Exec's injuries following his surprise return to the Raven, Doctor Roach's initial examination didn't sound encouraging, though truth be told, she could make the announcement of an upcoming birth sound like a funeral lament without having to put too much effort into it. So Andae stepping out of the turbolift onto the Bridge came as a shock to everyone! "Andae ..... Did Roach let you out so soon? ..... I'm not sure that's wise." "The situation demands it, Sir. There's not much time to explain. Those terraforming units out there are going to begin injection of a nerve toxin into Eta Iridi I's upper atmosphere in approximately sixty to seventy minutes..." Blakus informed Carl, his eyes glancing at the Exec's chair before continuing, "... Once it's deployed, the colonial population will have around eighteen hours before they're all dead." he finished, lowering himself into his seat as everyone watched. Carl was about to order him back to Medical but something told him Andae wouldn't agree, and wouldn't go willingly. He took his own seat and watched the viewscreen, trying not to make Blakus feel watched. He was about to ask about the remaining Away Team when the Commander of the oncoming Romulan fleet requested communication, which didn't go well. Finally, Blakus thought he should speak, asking, almost pleading, with Selok, to be given time to retrieve their Officers and hopefully prevent mass bloodshed: =^= I don't know how much time I can give you.. But I suggest you act quickly to save your people .. Then I must strike the terraformer sections =^= the comm snapped off before either Raven Officer could reply. Carl had asked Andae to join him in the Ready Room, not for privacy, but to stop the looks of concern on his Bridge Officer's faces when the door chime sounded: "Come," Carl said. The duty Tactical Officer glanced at Blakus before speaking: "Sir, we're picking up more life signs on the individual sub-cubes," "On how many?" "All of them Admiral..." the man said, "... It looks like whatever system they have in place is waking the Tkrnn from hibernation, there are over two thousand life signs spread throughout the remaining cubes!" "What about our people?" Andae asked. "We're still having trouble getting a solid transporter lock, but it seems whatever shielding they were employing must need to be deactivated before their terraforming process can commence," "OK, well some lock is better than none at all..." Torek said, rising from his seat, Blakus and the Tactical Officer following as Carl re-entered the Bridge, "... Continue scanning for our people Lieutenant, I don't care how flimsy that lock is, just get them off whichever cube they're on before our Romulan Navy Commander decides to start blowing them up one by one!" Carl ordered. "Sir, I'm picking up several small craft ....." the Tactical Officer informed Torek a moment later. "On screen!" Carl ordered. At first, it was almost impossible to make out the craft against the black background of space, then he could see one move across the path of one of the sub-cubes - tiny in comparison - But then it seemed to grow exponentially as the viewscreens systems locked onto the craft bringing it into sharp focus: "What the hell is that supposed to be?" Harry Wedlerson asked from Operations. "One, maybe two-man ship, looks bloody fast," the Tactical Officer replied. Torek watched as the small ship, a gnat passing over a behemoth, moved in a slow curve seemingly circumnavigating the sub-cube before coming to a stop so fast Carl had to applaud the Tkrnn's inertial dampener design. 'Bloody hell, anything we have coming to a complete stop so fast would have literally pulverised the occupant instantaneously!' he thought. "Sir, it looks like each sub-cube is launching one or more vessels. I'm running a scan, they are armed and have shielding, though given what we've seen of that first one, I'd be surprised if they ever got hit," Jor Svensson said from Science. "Any signs they are taking an interest in us?" Blakus asked. "No ..... In fact, they all seem to be aligned on a parallel heading, but seem to be, holding station," "What heading?" "Directly for the oncoming Navy flotilla," the Tactical Officer confirmed. "Comms, open a channel to the lead Romulan Navy ship, I want to talk to Commander Selok," "No reply Admiral," "Typical bloody Romulans," Wedlerson said, Carl couldn't agree more. "Any signs that they are making any aggressive moves?" "No, Sir..." the duty Tactical Officer said, "... In fact, they look as if they have powered down, I'm picking up only minimal power signatures, maybe they're just there as a preventative measure?" "Any signs that the Romulans have seen them?" "They're still on their original heading, they haven't raised shields or brought weapons online," "Should we go out to intercept them? Wedlerson asked. "How long before you can get our people back over here Ensign?" Carl asked the man at Tactical. "I'm confirming transporter locks now Sir, two minutes ....." "You have one!" Carl said, eyes still on the multitude of gnat-like ships. He was well aware that one, two, even twenty couldn't really do much harm to the Sovereign Class Raven, but hundreds? ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 30, 2023 13:11:33 GMT
"Could those ships be set to do something once they get over to the Romulan flotilla?" Svensson suggested.
Blakus shrugged, "Well, surely they're there to do something. Let's see, perhaps they're going to activate quickly, destroy themselves and take Selok's unshielded fleet unawares."
It seemed indeed that each of the well over 500 one-man ships were equipped with a powerful warhead, but it was unclear whether these were meant to be detonated in some self-destruct sequence or whether they were to be fired by each ship that carried them; it made no difference to the Starfleeters, unless the craft were additionally armed, and had firepower left after discharging their payloads?
"Sir, I'm losing transporter lock on the away team," the third most senior tactical officer (with T'Seng and Gerelo absent) spoke, "It was uncertain before, but now I'm no longer picking up the Federation species' lifesigns on those sub-cubes. Wait... There they are again. Hazy and indistinct; I don't know how many of them I'm detecting... No lock available at the present time, sir."
This monologue from the man was met with confusion by the senior officers who followed the changing fortunes his speech suggested.
Irked by its ending, Torek asked Blakus about the situation over on the terraformer, "What was the disposition of the away team before the separation started, as far as you know?"
Still struggling to speak and quite unable to get to his feet so he could pace and gesticulate as he'd like, Blakus replied haltingly, "Myself, Valente, Milyanov, Burwell and Wedlerson were together in one group before I was dragged off to the airlock. Lieutenant Gerelo was with Lieutenant Yang and Sergeant Peel, the sergeant returning to them with some of my blood... Yang's condition was critical, last we knew - a changeling attack. They'll be in a different sub-cube from what we were in. As for Lieutenant Taylor, she was with some of the Romulans, including Colonel Karuth. We lost Boon, Broad and some Romulans. Wilks I don't know about."
"He contacted us. He's at the beam-in site."
Blakus took this in and nodded, "Then that means there are four distinct elements of the away team in four separate sub-cubes, in all likelihood. However and whenever we get them back, we'll need to cast our net as wide as possible." Meaning the emitted transporter beam, he thought.
It was known that they only had about half an hour now before the deployment of the nerve toxin. Already some of the sub-cubes, unaffected by the manoeuvres of the Raven and Maracanda and by the Mok'pa's half-hearted interventions, had changed the shapes of their orbits and taken themselves lower, grazing regions of the upper atmosphere, ready to discharge the toxin into the stratosphere once they reached minimum altitude.
"Admiral, the shielding, or jamming signal, is coming down round the low-orbit sub-cubes," tactical reported, "As I reported before, they need it lowered if they're to deploy the toxin... Thus it seems we now have clear transporter locks on some Federation biosignatures on those -"
"Then now's the chance to get them back," Blakus managed, turning with difficulty to look at the starboard tactical stand. The man nodded and passed the information to transporter rooms 1 and 2. The Raven lowered its orbit itself to increase transporter resolution, leaving the Maracanda at a higher station.
"We have them! Not all of them, though, missing Valente, Burwell, Wedlerson, Milyanov, sir," tactical reported and Torek acknowledged.
"They must be on one of the high-orbit sub-cubes, those without a payload of toxin..." Andae said half to himself. "Look, the Romulan fleet!" Anna Fields gestured at the viewscreen, which showed far-off muted explosions of pinpricks into circles of harsh white light, snapping and fading in instants like some types of chemically fired display lights once popular on the 5th of November.
"Detecting detonations of concentrated quantum vacuum energy," the Ops officer said, "Tkrnn versions of quantum torpedoes... Reading seven warbirds destroyed, sir. More undergoing catastrophic systems failure."
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Carl Torek
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Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
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Post by Carl Torek on Jul 31, 2023 11:09:31 GMT
The USS James Clark Maxwell, in pursuit of the fleeing Tkrnn Scout Vessel holding two of the Intelligence Team, had no way to pick up on the explosions light-years astern:Bridge ... USS Raven-C :: "LOOK ... the Romulan fleet!" Anna Fields gestured at the viewscreen, which showed far-off muted explosions of pinpricks into circles of harsh white light, snapping and fading in instants like some types of chemically fired display lights once popular on the 5th of November. "Detecting detonations of concentrated quantum vacuum energy..." the Duty Opps Officer said, "... Tkrnn versions of quantum torpedoes?... Reading seven warbirds destroyed, Sir. More undergoing catastrophic systems failure." "So they didn't wait..!" Carl said, glancing at Andae, who had slumped into his seat, clearly fighting his injuries, "... Let's see a Tactical view Lieutenant, for what it's worth," The viewscreen changed now a superimposed plot of all vessels within the System was showing. the Raven, Maracanda, and El Alamein were all clearly visible, identified by the Federation glyph, the Romulan vessels were indicated by their own insignia, while the computer had helpfully displayed the Tkrnn cubes as just that, hundreds of small illuminated cubes. Orange circles indicated the hundreds of small craft. It looked like something had gone drastically wrong with the viewscreen the image looking more like chaotic static than ships. "Have we identified which cube the remainder of the Away Team is on?" Torek asked, glancing from the screen to the Duty Tactical Officer. "I'm trying to narrow it down now, Sir, but those ships are making a precise lock almost impossible. I'm also pretty sure that at least fifty percent of the Tkrnn attack craft are unmanned!" "How's that work exactly?" Blakus asked, sounding like he was about to empty the contents of his stomach. "Not sure commander, but I'm picking up a pattern, or at least something approaching a formation..." the Lieutenant at Tactical explained, "... It looks completely random, but I've ascertained that they seem to be manoeuvering in pairs, tandem maybe?" "Sorry?" Carl said, eyeing the chaos on the viewscreen. The Tactical Officer highlighted three groups of two compact vessels, in each case it appeared that one was closely following the lead ship, so close that Raven's computer almost missed the fact that there were indeed two in extremely close formation. The lead vessel darted among the Romulan ships with seemingly little or no regard for the formidable weaponry being brought against them. Now that could see what was happening: The lead vessel would dive at the Romulan ship, veering away at the last possible moment while releasing its hold on the second craft. It was possibly 'these' that were in fact laden with the suspected quantum explosives. Once released, the unmanned craft would slam into the Vorcha's shields while the first ship would turn and fire its own torpedoes into the resulting damage, thus, despite their shields the Romulan vessels were suffering massive losses! "Comms, contact the El Alamein and the Maracanda, they are to assist in defending the Romulan vessels as best they can!" Torek ordered. "..... And us?" Blakus asked as Doctor Roach, summoned to the Bridge by the absence of her patient, placed a hypospray on the Exec's neck and activated it. Andae winced, lifting a hand to his throat and glaring at the Doctor: "Pain suppression only, Commander," Roach said, looking like she was about to have Blakus hauled off the Bridge like it or not. "Where are we on locating our people?" Carl asked. "I think I have them Admiral..." the Tactical Officer highlighted a single cube, currently in high orbit around the planet, "... That cube seems to still be repositioning," "Helm, get us up close," "Sir, manoeuvering will be diffic ....." Anna Fields began, but fell silent as Carl simply nodded at the screen, "... Aye, Sir, moving now," the woman said, happy that her Commanding Officer knew her concerns but clearly had faith in her ability. "Ensign..." Fields said with a glance at Tactical, "... Clear tactical plot, this is going to be hard enough," With the screen now showing the view directly ahead, Anna applied thrust to begin moving towards the target cube. They were still well below, and behind, the still changing orbital trajectory of the cube in question, and she was forced to make continual adjustments to avoid other cubes, or debris from destroyed ships. At five thousand metres, she was forced to make yet another change, wincing as she was sure she had heard something scrap along the underside of the Drive Section of the sovereign Class Starship. Silently she hoped she had just imagined the glancing hit, otherwise, her colleagues, let alone Admiral Torek, might not let her forget her collision, no matter how inconsequential. "That was close," the Ensign at Tactical said with a wink at Anna, easing her concerns for a fraction of a second as she returned her full concentration to the task at hand. "One thousand metres and closing," Anna confirmed, her fingers making delicate thruster adjustments as the almost seven hundred metre vessel closed on its target. "Eight hundred metres ....." she said. "Transporter lock?" Blakus asked. "The cube has its own forcefield, presumably to prevent damage while in orbit..." the Duty Tactical Officer said frowning, "... Another five hundred metres should suffice," "Any closer we might as well dock with the thing..." Anna muttered, continuing to work, "... Four hundred metres..." Fields said, her eyes flicking to something on the screen, her mouth fell open as she realised it was one of the Tkrnn attack craft with a clone mere metres behind! "Tactical, destroy that incoming ship... NOW!" Carl ordered. The Ensign locked phasers and fired, the first volley hit the lead vessel, the second slammed into the clone, and the presumably unmanned ship began to tumble end over end while both continued to rush headlong towards the Raven ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Commander 1C
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Post by Andae Blakus on Aug 6, 2023 18:22:16 GMT
"Tractor beam!" Andae managed to say, the skin dragging at the right side of his face and growing increasingly painful as it continued to dry out in places, cracking, with lines of blood seeping to the surface in a couple of places, the edges of which would harden and may quickly become septic and/or very itchy.
Torek nodded, "We can give it a repulsive force once we initially grab the two objects. Go!" he snapped quickly and the ensign at tactical nodded and carried out the task.
A couple seconds passed and the man had a report, basically unable to get his words out in any coherent order such was his haste, "I've deflected, sir, one, other but is still inbou- !"
The manned leader of the two tiny incoming craft impacted the port-forward shield grid and collapsed it instantly. Absorbing the shock of the incident energy, the adjacent shield facings crackled, partially failing. Andae had been sent sprawling and needed the assistance of the Ops officer to get back to his feet. In the end Ops had to resort to gently throwing the tottering Blakus back into the XO's chair, or he'd have hit the deck again.
"We're holding. Shield energy being redistributed to fill the gap, Admiral," tactical reported having dragged himself back to his own station.
The lead flyer had disintegrated against the shields; the unmanned one had been sent, by the successful tractor, careening off into a slightly adjusted orbit, joining the vast swarm of other Tkrnn craft about Eta Iridi I - 499 cubic sub-units, 230 manned flyers, 223 unmanned flyers.
The destruction of the flyer had imparted a motive force not only to the Raven but to - what was presumably - Naqno's cubic sub-unit as well. Anna Fields fired the thrusters again, as the cubic sub-unit had started heading away from them with opposite signed relative velocity, in order to start closing with it again.
"300 metres... 250 metres..."
"Acquiring a lock. Registering Valente, Burwell, Wedlerson, Milyanov..." tactical started saying.
"Station-keeping at 225 metres from the near side of the cube, Admiral," Fields reported.
"Two of those crewmembers appear to be unconscious," tactical went on, "And they're all in different parts of the cube's structure."
Andae managed to stand and shuffle over to Svensson's console, looking over Jor's shoulder just as he was bringing up a wireframe schematic of Naqno's sub-unit with the three Starfleet and one UFP marine lifesigns highlighted. "Hmmm," he managed to say, "It seems that one of the conscious team-members is in the central hub of this sub-cube - the hubs with the six spoke-like passages leading off, that I saw while over there. That's where the Tkrnn humanoid woman Naqno was, too, while I was there."
"And the unconscious team-members..." Svensson looked sharply at Blakus, "They're in airlocks. And seems they're about to be evacuated."
"Beam them out now, tactical. You said you had a lock," Torek turned.
"I did indeed, sir. I've passed the information to transporter room 1... The chief is energising!"
"Sir," Ops alerted and gestured at the viewscreen. The cubic sub-unit had detected the attempted beam-outs, and was charging some mighty weapon against the Raven. Streams of energy were running round its six smooth sides and gathering at a point projected along some pylon. The pylon was positioned at one of its eight corners.
"We have the away team, some of the four anyway, how many is uncertain at this time," tactical was now saying.
<Tag Valente, Burwell>
"The one-man flyers are repositioning," Ops said, "Seems some are heading for the decimated Romulan fleet, others are setting up intercept courses in their orbits in order to reach us and this sub-cube."
"Admiral, Commander Selok is hailing from the Romulan flotilla." Torek nodded on screen.
Ah, so Selok is still alive, Andae thought, as the Navy man's face appeared. "We're a little busy here, Selok, what do you need, besides a tow?"
"We need you to stop the deployment of the nerve toxin into the upper atmosphere, Admiral..." Selok said. His nonchalance in the face of these enormities was impressive, if nonsensical. "Raven, target the sub-cubes that are grazing the atmosphere. My flotilla is dead in the water, and the Tkrnn are coming back at us for more. You and the USS Maracanda must prevents the deaths of 400 million Romulan colonists."
"Get yourselves moving. Use what you can of your fleet," Andae managed to say to the Romulan, "We'll do what we can, but we don't have the firepower to take out hundreds of sub-units, not before their deployment is due, Selok."
<Tag Torek>
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Aug 9, 2023 11:23:57 GMT
OOC: I wasn't sure if the Tkrnn on this sub-cube had Changeling ability, but given the eventual outcome it seemed moot?IC:Tkrnn Sub-Cube Designation: Unknown :: They had been retracing their steps, hoping to get back to the original central 'hub' of the section when Burwell and Milyanov had been hit by the Tkrnn equivalent of phaser fire! ..... Valente and Wedlerson had dived for cover, and unable to return fire had seen the Raven's Engineer and Marine Officers dragged out of sight! Making the decision to go after the two unconscious Officers, they fired a volley down the passageway, now empty. But as they began to go after the two injured, bulkheads slammed into place behind them, Harry spun in time to see duel bulkhead doors, a metre apart, shutting off any retreat they had hoped to have. He was approaching the now sealed bulkhead as the deck beneath his feet shuddered and eyes wide, he watched as the corridor beyond the bulkhead separated, leaving open space between the two previously 'joined' sections. Seconds later he called Calli and both watched as seemingly countless smaller .sub-cubes' began to move as if by some orchestrated ballet, rotating, moving past each other before most fell out of the limit of the small window set into the bulkhead itself. "The cube is separating into individual smaller cubes, maybe this is how they commence their terraforming procedures?" Calli speculated. "Where does that leave us?" Harry said, looking back in the direction Burwell and Milyanov had been dragged. "Look...!" Calli said, pointing down the corridor, there, set into the bulkhead, was a tiny point of light, "... Come on," they made their way along the corridor, pausing at every intersection half expecting to be fired upon by the Tkrnn they now believed still on this part of the larger cube. At the farthest end, they saw another small window set into a bulkhead. Calli looked back, estimating the main or central corridor to be approximately one hundred fifty metres in length with at least eight intersections, she was only guessing, and believed they didn't have time to speculate, their priority was Burwell and Milyanov! "So we're in a smaller cube, we still need to find the others, 'AND' find a way off this damn thing!" Harry said, his frustration growing as their cube moved in unison with countless others beginning to encircle the planet below along its equator. "OK, we'll go corridor by corridor..." Calli decide, lifting her phaser to change the setting to maximum, then motioning for Wedlerson to do likewise, "... We can't take chances Harry, it's him or us," she said by way of explanation before striding back the way they had come, only pausing as she reached the first intersection. "It will be quicker if we split up. I'll go left, you right," Harry suggested. After a moment, Valente agreed and she cautiously stepped into the cross corridor, phaser ready. At the farthest end having checked the dozen rooms off either side, she retraced her steps once again and waited for Wedlerson to return. He shook his head, motioning for them to move to the next intersection - This too proved fruitless as did the third and fourth, but the next made them pause: "This is wider..." Harry said, frowning, before pointing his phaser in the direction Calli would be going, "... There's something at the far end, could be another bulkhead, we should stick together for this one?" "..... Agreed," Valente said, moving to the opposite bulkhead, Wedlerson flattening himself against his side before they moved into the corridor. They had searched rooms on either side when Wedlerson suddenly held a finger to his lips and pointed ahead. The two froze then Calli saw the shadow, the briefest hint that someone was inside the room ahead on their left, She motioned or them to move forward, both now crouching, and then, without warning, the Changeling stepped into the open, grinning, already morphing into something almost indescribable! They raised their weapons and fired simultaneously into the central mass of whatever the Tkrnn was trying to become! It writhed in pain, twisting, curling in upon itself, transforming into a cascade of horrible creatures in its efforts to regain control of its body. Without a word between them, they fired again, this time sustained beams that almost cut the thing in two. Calli gagged, Wedlerson lifted an arm to his face as the fetid smell of flesh burning assaulted their olfactory senses. Finally, whatever the Tkrnn was trying to become lay still, a hapless mass clinging to the deck plates. Neither Starfleet Officer spoke to what seemed an aeon, as the cloying putrid mass began to solidify until Wedlerson tore his eyes away and pointed his phaser ahead. She could see what he was referring to as they inched past the dead Tkrnn and approached, it was another bulkhead, but different, rather than stars beyond the small inlaid observation port, they could see another door. "An airlock?" she asked, rising to her tiptoes to look through the small access port. She was about to continue when for the merest fraction of a second she was certain she had seen the gleaming silver-white hull of a Starship. She was already turning to Wedlerson when she felt the tell-tale caress of a transport in progress ..... Transporter Room One USS Raven-C :: She materialised on the pad, and with the briefest glance to confirm Harry was with her, she moved towards the Transporter Chief: "Colonel Burwell and Commander milyanov are on that sub-cube, do you have a lock on them!?" she asked urgently. "We're working on it, Ma'am..." the woman said, with the briefest glare at the Intelligence Officer, "... It looks like they are in some kind of 'airlock' that appears to be cycling through its decompression sequence," "If you can't get a positive lock on our people, can you lock onto anything inside that airlock and beam the lot over here?" Calli asked as Harry relieved the Transporter Chief and began making rapid inputs. Seconds later the Transporter Chief confirmed that the airlock had cycled and the outer access was open to space ..........
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Aug 9, 2023 12:13:11 GMT
Bridge USS Raven-C ::
"The one-man flyers are repositioning..." the Duty Operations Officer said, "... It seems some are heading for the decimated Romulan fleet, others are setting up intercept courses in their orbits in order to reach us and this sub-cube." "Use the phaser arrays in attacking the flyers, focus on the unmanned craft, it's likely they will do the most damage!" Torek ordered, glancing back at Andae, who looked like he was about to collapse. He was still concentrating on the swarm of Tkrnn attack vessels when the Comms Officer spoke to his Exec'... Carl heard Andae's reply and that of Commander Selok: =^= We need you to stop the deployment of the nerve toxin into the upper atmosphere .. .. =^= the Romlan Naval Commander said. His nonchalance in the face of these enormities was impressive, if nonsensical, he continued before either man could reply: =^= Raven .. Target the sub-cubes that are grazing the atmosphere .. My flotilla is dead in the water and the Tkrnn are coming back at us .. You and the USS Maracanda 'MUST' prevent the deaths of four-hundred 'MILLION' Romulan colonists =^= Carl turned to Andae at this statement, he was certain that the Raven had scanned the planet and while they had found readings that indicated life on the surface, they had seen nothing to indicate the millions Selok was now referring to! =^= Get yourselves moving .. Use what you can of your fleet .. .. We will do what we can .. But we don't have the firepower to take out hundreds of sub-units .. Not before their deployment is due Selok =^= "Lieutenant Svensson...!" Torek said, turning from the viewscreen to the Science Officer, "... Run another scan of the planet, there's no way we could have missed that many people!" Svensson began scans but again came up with numbers a fraction of what the Romulan believed were on the surface. "Maybe they are using some sort of shielding...?" the Duty Tactical Officer speculated, "... Something to ensure the real number isn't discovered?" "They 'could' have something on the surface they'd like to keep quiet," Blakus said, Carl could only nod, the Romulans were well known for their deceitful activities, and this might prove one of those, but that said, this was a planet in Romulan Space, so why the subterfuge, surely they would have no reason to hide colonists, so what the hell did they have down there that the appearance of the Tkrnn Terraforing Vessel was jeopardizing? Truth be told Torek neither had the time nor the inclination to speculate either way, lives were in danger, primarily, in his opinion, those on the Raven herself - That took priority - He could always ask questions later, if indeed there 'was' a later! ..... "Sir... I'm still getting minimal life signs on the surface," the Science Officer confirmed. "Forget it Lieutenant, we have other things to occupy us," Blakus said. "I've been thinking about dispersing the toxin ....." Svensson said from Science I. "..... And?" Carl prompted with a glance at the carnage the Sovereign Class' phaser arrays' were causing, while seemingly making little or no headway into the task at hand. "There's no 'quick' solution to dispersing the toxin, at least not while we're fighting ..... But we could burn it before it fully enters the atmosphere ..... If we could leave our current position and make a full planetary circumnavigation, adjusting from equatorial to polar, whilst dispersing Parizene Gas into the thermosphere, we 'could' ignite the gas using photon torpedoes, the resulting burn 'should' irradicate the toxin simultaneously?" Carl looked at Andae, who admittedly couldn't come up with anything better at that precise moment, he nodded silent agreement of the plan. "Helm, make the necessary orbital adjustments, take your heading from Science..." Torek ordered, with yet another glance at the chaos on the viewscreen, "... Tactical, keep those gnats off our shields!" he said, dropping into the centre seat as the Raven began her first of several high-orbital passes over the planet ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Aug 15, 2023 14:57:58 GMT
"Bridge, this is transporter room 1, Wedlerson here. Myself and Commander Valente are accounted for, and we have an unconscious Milyanov and Burwell! As well as a whole heap of Tkrnn machinery... that we had to bring with us to grab them."
"Get on up here, both of you! Send the engineer and marine to sickbay."
* * *
The Raven had already begun a series of orbits of increasingly high inclination, firing the impulse engines each time round in order to - in a time of about 30 orbital periods - adjust their equatorial orbit to a polar one.
So far so good; each time, at a particular point in their traverse, they entered the upper atmosphere and released parizene gas that promptly filtered down to the troposphere.
Andae thought he saw a problem with the plan. "We're only in the atmosphere for about a third of each pass," he pointed out after the first few plane adjustment manoeuvres, "So we're only going to transmit the gas into about a third of the planet's air. Not enough time for diffusion, surely." About a sixth of the planet above the equator, about a sixth below it.
"That issue should be accounted for," Svensson answered and pointed at the science console with its display of the planet along with geophysical information, "We're reading quite high wind speeds throughout the troposphere. If there is a substantial amount of life down there as Selok claims, it can't be very hospitable for it."
"So the gas should be dispersed in short order by the fierce air currents," Andae understood, and felt faint once more from his vacuum exposure injuries, "Should cover about three quarters of the planet once we're done."
"What about the rest of it?"
"The nerve toxin that's in the last quarter of the atmosphere will ignite due to a chain reaction from the gases elsewhere in the air - the already lit parizene and the rest of the toxin," Svensson said.
"Sounds good then," Torek said as Valente and Wedlerson finally entered the bridge from transporter room 1, "As for what life there is down there, if it's affected adversely by the climatic conditions, what's your own opinion? Any more down there - 400 million or so more - than your readings show?"
"I couldn't say at the moment, Admiral," Jor replied.
* * *
With the sweep of the entire globe conducted (including only about a third of the atmosphere due to the aforementioned issues), the crew had raised themselves into their designated polar orbit, just about avoiding an unlikely collision with one of the cubic sub-units along the way.
"The parizene gas is fully deployed, sir," the beleaguered ensign at tactical spoke; he'd been on duty all through this, some 24 hours.
"Then hurry," Blakus said from the XO's chair, his wrecked limbs feeling heavy and immobile with what he thought must be an advance towards unconsciousness, "Fire those photon torpedoes at the parizene before the toxin has a chance to do its work."
<Tag tactical officer>
The Tkrnn toxin was itself already in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere. If there actually were over 400 million Romulans down there, this phase was crucial, and would be anyway if there were say only a few tens of thousands. The thought occurred to Andae though, as the tactical ensign prepared to fire the torpedoes to ignite the parizene and nerve toxin,
What then? What will we do about the hundreds of cubic sub-units and flyers still swarming about the planet, their toxin ploy foiled but still having their guns? A lot of guns.
As he thought this last he found himself short of breath from his injuries, and he was carried into unconsciousness.
"Transporter room 2, lock on to Commander Blakus on the bridge and beam him direct to sickbay. Dr Roach, you have an XO incoming. Lieutenant Svensson, any more thoughts on how many Romulans colonists we have?"
"I've been running some analyses," Jor nodded, "To me this colony does seem more like some remote outpost rather than a thriving hub of civilian activity. If you wanted, say, some secret listening outpost somewhere, this would be the place for it. Perhaps the Tkrnn know it and are achieving two or three things here at once; eliminating the listening station, if it or whatever it is exists, killing what people do happen to be here, and terraforming the planet for themselves, all in one go."
"And Selok's 400 million would just be a ruse," Wedlerson added, "Or perhaps an exaggeration, in addition to an attempt to mislead us as to a secret outpost. He adds the exaggeration out of desperation to save the number of colonists that are actually here."
<Tag Torek, Valente>
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Aug 19, 2023 21:00:56 GMT
USS Raven-C ... In Orbit Around Romulan-Occupied Planet Eta iridi I :: "What about the rest of it?"
"The nerve toxin in the last quarter of the atmosphere will ignite due to a chain reaction from the gases elsewhere in the air - the already lit parizene and the rest of the toxin," Svensson said.
"Sounds good then..." Torek said as Valente and Wedlerson finally entered the bridge from Transporter Room 1, "... As for what life there is down there if it's affected adversely by the climatic conditions, what's your opinion? Any more down there - four hundred million or so more - than your readings show?"
"I couldn't say at the moment, Admiral," Jor replied."Then you're telling me that somehow, the Romulan Star Empire hid close to half a 'Billion' people on a planet we assumed held less than a few hundred thousand?" Calli asked, but again Jor Svensson could only shrug. Obviously, the question was for another time, but Torek couldn't help but wonder 'why the subterfuge' and on such a massive scale - Again, a question for later, thought who he'd ask was anyone's guess! Twice during the successive six orbits, the attack vessels pounced, but somehow the Raven managed to fight them off while periodically igniting the gasses dispersed in the upper atmosphere. If all were going to plan those on the surface would be treated to nothing more severe than a spectacular light show. If officials on the planet below had been informed, he neither knew nor cared, his task was to prevent genocide on a planetary scale, and what the Romulans did afterwards was, in his unspoken opinion, hopefully not going to concern himself, or the Raven. "Admiral, two more orbits should see complete atmospheric clear-up," Jor Svensson said, the relief in his voice palpable. "Thank you, Lieutenant..." Carl said, turning from the show on the viewscreen to Helm, "... Anna, once we're done get us out of orbit, I want room to deal with these bloody gnats!" ..... ----- Calli was watching Andae - He looked anything but well, and she wasn't wondering too much how Carl was allowing the man to remain on the Bridge, she knew he would give the Exec' exactly as much proverbial 'rope' as needed until either his body or he himself realised enough was enough. She was frowning as Andae began to lean forward in his seat then the colour drained from his face" "Carl!" she whispered urgently, making Torek turn. He saw the condition of his friend and had him beamed off the Brideg within seconds, then he turned to the Science Officer: "..... Any more thoughts on how many Romulans colonists we have?" "I've been running some analyses..." Jor nodded, "... To me, this colony does seem more like some remote outpost rather than a thriving hub of civilian activity. If you wanted, say, some secret listening outpost somewhere, this would be the place for it," "And Selok's four hundred million would just be a ruse..." Wedlerson speculated as he retook Ops from his Deputy, "... Or perhaps an exaggeration, in addition to an attempt to mislead us about a secret outpost. He adds the exaggeration out of desperation to save the number of colonists that are actually here?" "So we're going with the 'Listening Post' scenario?" Calli asked, seeing others around the Bridge nod in agreement. "So all we have 'really' done is ensure the Romulans 'stap put' and keep on doing whatever it is they're doing down there?" Carl said, fighting to contain his annoyance at the Romulans and Selok in particular. "Is it possible that Selok doesn't actually 'know' what is down there, he could have been fed the population information by someone higher up?" "But why?" Harry asked. "We need to put an end to the Tkrnn attacks, while somehow making sure the Romulans don't take advantage of any possible lull in activity," Torek said, dropping into the centre seat deep in thought. "Why not just ask them?" Anna Fields asked from the Helm as she began to move the Raven out of her current orbit and into open space after completion of the toxin-neutralising activity. Carl loved the idea that he allowed free discourse within his Bridge Officers, sometimes the most seemingly innocent of queries could work. He turned to the Comms Officer: "Take this down then send on 'ALL' frequencies, including the Romulan channels: 'This is Admiral Carl Torek of the Federation Starship USS Raven-C .. I am requesting an immediate cease of all hostilities .. Continuing to attack will only result in needless loss of lives on all sides and I wish to prevent this in the hopes that a diplomatic solution could be agreed upon .. We 'WILL' begin to fire on individual cubes if all firing doesn't cease .. You have sixty seconds to consider my request.' He ran a finger across his throat and a few seconds later the Comms Officer confirmed the message had been transmitted. "..... You 'do' know that anyone and everyone will receive that message..." Calli said, watching Carl's supremely proficient poker face, "... Including whoever's on the surface of Eta Iridi I ....." Carl just grinned ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Aug 25, 2023 16:03:50 GMT
Andae opened his eyes and glimpsed ceiling lights that gleamed anaemically in a sickening pall over his body. He realised he was in sickbay, and he looked around, seeing Dr Roach, a couple nurses and a trolley of hyposprays and medicines; he then saw the two biobeds immediately to his left, seeming to hold Colonel Burwell and Commander Milyanov.
He recalled that the latter two officers had been recovered from Naqno's cubic unit successfully, and just before vacuum exposure, while he hadn't been quite so lucky, though obviously was still alive.
"Commander. You're awake," Roach stepped up to him, gesturing to a medic who nodded and approached quickly.
"Evidently," he managed. "How am I, Doc? And how much longer are you planning to keep me here." The answer was at least the next six hours. "You must be joking."
"Your body's reparation will take at least that long. If I let you go too soon, you'll collapse again in short order, much quicker than how long you lasted up on the bridge."
Apparently he'd been brought in only half an hour ago. What'd happened since? What was the combat situation? And the planet, Eta Iridi I? He seemed to recall that, before blacking out, the last of the nerve toxin had been destroyed by ignition of the parizene, but perhaps he'd imagined it.
"It's my understanding we've broken orbit. We've contacted all ships and anything with a transceiver in the area, requesting a truce between all three parties. As for the planet, it seems it's safe for now, but there's something untoward going on with it," Roach said. "That's all I know. Satisfied?"
"No, but I guess I shall have to be." Before long, and still being awake, he had a visitor, and was surprised to see that it was Christina Taylor, engineer and one of the away team who'd been snatched away just before the recovery of the last four on the team. She and Andae had once been an item, and though that was long ago, he was quite glad to see her.
"What's happened? Have we heard from the Romulans? From the Tkrnn? The communique," he tried to clarify and gasped as the left side of his face and body seized up with pain, the skin still desiccated from the vacuum exposure, and his lungs still in a state of partial ruin.
Roach warned Taylor not to cause Andae any over-exertions, and told her she only had five minutes more before the XO had to rest.
"Selok's responded," she said, "He says he's willing to abide by the cease fire, but that would require the Tkrnn to do the same. The Tkrnn haven't said anything directly; they've moved out of orbit of the planet with us but on a different trajectory; now they're in a holding pattern at a few tens of millions of kilometres from us, engaging with any Romulans of Selok's flotilla that come close to them but apparently not starting any fights."
=/\=Lieutenant Taylor to bridge. You're needed at the engineering station urgently,=/\= she received a comm.
She regarded Roach and the prone Blakus and raised an eyebrow, tapping her commbadge, =/\=Acknowledged. Can you tell me what it's about?=/\=
=/\=Yes, but don't tell Commander Blakus about it if you see him. We don't want to stress him unduly. We've detected some set of structures on the surface of Eta Iridi and we need an officer-ranked engineer at that console to help analyse. It seems the message we broadcast was received by whoever and however many Romulans are on the planet, and they've reacted with some aplomb. The 'colonists' are in the process of beaming down, apparently as willing guests, tens of thousands of Tkrnn from a number of the sub-cubes!=/\=
Not being aware that Taylor was in Blakus's presence, the bridge had inadvertently informed Blakus of these inexplicable events together with the lieutenant.
It did indeed cause him some panic. =/\=What about Selok?!=/\= he virtually shouted to make himself heard on Christina's commbadge.
There was some consternation as Torek's voice broke in on the line, =/\=Andae? Selok and his ships have jumped to warp away from here. It seems they're just as bewildered as us by the event. They might be heading to New Romulus or somewhere else to regroup. Now get off comms and rest.=/\=
=/\=And I'm on my way,=/\= Taylor said and nodding to Andae and Roach, departed sickbay, leaving the XO with his thoughts, to ponder this change of circumstances with the thrum of sickbay's devices about him and in the company of the sedated Burwell and Milyanov.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Aug 28, 2023 1:27:42 GMT
Bridge .. USS Raven-C :: =^= Yes .. But don't tell Commander Blakus about it if you see him .. We don't want to stress him unduly .. We've detected some set of structures on the surface of Eta Iridi and we need an officer-ranked Engineer at that console to help analyse .. .. It seems the message we broadcast was received by whoever and however many Romulans are on the planet .. They have reacted with some aplomb .. The 'Colonists' are in the process of beaming down apparently as willing guests .. Tens of thousands of Tkrnn from a number of the sub-cubes! =^=Carl was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on as Christine Taylor was called to the Bridge, he was surprised when Andae interjected into the conversation and wondered if he needed to place his Exec' in a forced 'coma' before the man would allow himself time to heal, though even with that thought he half expected Andae to reappear on the Bridge sooner than later, despite orders. "Anything from the Tkrnn?" he asked, trying 'not' to glance at either turbolift giving access to the Bridge. "Still nothing Admiral," the Comms Officer said. "OK, let's try to contact the surface, Someone down there has suddenly extended one 'hell' of a hand of friendship, I'd like to know who, and why!" "Sir, there's anything from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand or more down there..." Harry Wedlerson speculated, seeing Carl nod "... So is it possible that 'whoever' is on the surface either expected the terraforming vessel, or at least knew that the Tkrnn were going to arrive in numbers?" "Sir, I can't raise the surface..." the Comms Officer said, her frustration obvious, "... My readings show that our transmission is getting through, so either no one is home, or they're ignoring us?" "Can we risk going down there?" Harry asked. "At this point, we're playing referrer in this conflict..." Calli answered, rising out of her seat to continue, "... Our directive was to investigate, going to the surface puts us directly in the conflict, would the Romulans, the Tkrnn, or even the Klingons, who have also been prime movers, allow us to simply waltz in. I'm not that sure," she finished, looking at Torek. "Well, if we're supposed to be the 'Peacekeepers' in this situation, none of those involved should have a legitimate gripe against us wanting to acquire all the relevant data before acting ..... Right?" Wedlerson asked. "I'd rather not go down there..." Torek said half to himself as he looked at the viewscreen, "... At this point, we're holding a tentative truce, ideally I'd like the Tkrnn to agree formally to the ceasefire," "Admiral ...." he turned to see the Comms Officer glance at Major Nulakr for a fraction of a second before returning her gaze to Carl. He walked over the the Communications Officer who continued, "... Sir, might I have a word, in private?" "My Ready Room, Lieutenant," Carl replied, allowing the young Comms Officer to precede him into his office. Once the door closed she almost relaxed: "Sir, I picked up a transmission a moment ago," "Yes?" Carl replied. "As far as I could ascertain, it was from Colonel Karuth ..... She was contacting someone deep within Romulan Space," the woman said. "Who would she be trying to contact?" Carl asked. "Sir, I didn't explain, the communication was on an 'open' channel," "Not encrypted...?" Torek asked, puzzled, "... Who the hell would she be contacting on an open channel?" "The communication was specifically directed to, General OhVok," "..... OhVok ..... the former Head of the Romulan Military, considered by the Romulans as some kind of Deity?" Carl said in disbelief, what would a Tal Shier Colonel be doing contacting an aged, retired, Romulan war hero? "Sir, the communication went out uncoded via open subspace, pretty much everyone with a commbadge in the quadrant could have picked the comm up if they were inclined!" the woman said, clearly concerned. "So, we believed that our Colonel was working for herself, so presumably by extension the Tal Shiar, or some faction that was clearly against the Romulan Ruling Council, yet now she's openly contacting the one person that since he gained 'ANY' kind of position or respect, had criticised the Tal Shiar as a group of murderous thugs, now worthy of being Romulan?" Carl said, more to himself than the woman standing opposite him. "Sir?" "Thank you, Lieutenant, you can return to the Bridge, please keep monitoring Communications, specifically Romulan. I want to know everything that's sais between them," "Aye Sir," "Oh, and Lana, please 'politely' ask SIckbay when Commander Blakus can be released," "Yes, Admiral," the woman said with a grin as she left the Ready Room. Carl dropped into his seat, his mind in turmoil ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Aug 31, 2023 19:58:19 GMT
It'd turned out that Milyanov's injuries were much less severe than had first been thought and also not as bad as Blakus's, so he'd been let go from sickbay and permitted to return to engineering, though on the way he diverted towards the bridge and joined Lieutenant Taylor at the engineering station.
He was present for most of the discussion on the bridge before Torek and the comms officer had gone into the ready room. He spoke as the two disappeared through the door, "I can't understand just this one thing. Why would the colonists - Romulans and whoever else might be down there, if anyone) - want to bring all those Tkrnn down there, just after our elimination of the Tkrnn's nerve toxin that would've killed all colonists in under a day?"
Indeed, it was a troublesome question, something that didn't add up at all. "What if..." Wedlerson began, "... the nerve toxin was never designed to kill them? The Tkrnn always knew that their plan to poison the atmosphere would be circumvented, by the Romulan Navy or by Starfleet."
"So it would be a ruse by the Tkrnn and colonists to have us believe they were on separate sides," Milyanov nodded to himself.
It still didn't make full sense to him though. Why go through the whole process in the first place? Perhaps they'd meant simply to draw Romulans and Federation here so they could destroy them? The potential destruction of the planet's population prior to terraforming was certainly enough of a draw.
Torek and the comms officer emerged from the ready room, and they all got to talking about the retired Romulan general. Who else who'd once been in the military (perhaps should always be considered to reside within) might Karuth and other Tal Shiar potentates be courting?
"Is it possible there's some sort of arrangement, an alliance, between the Tal Shiar and various Romulan grandees, acting behind the back of the Senate and the Navy?" Valente asked, whose field it more properly was.
Milyanov couldn't really comment either way; let him keep the engines operating nominally, leave the politics to command division and Intel operatives.
"Where has Karuth broadcast from? The Mok'pa?" Taylor asked beside Milyanov.
"Affirmative. It seems the surviving Romulans were pulled off the cubic sub-units around the same time we brought you and the others back here," Torek said to her, Valente, Milyanov and Wedlerson.
Indeed, it seemed the Tal Shiar Mok'pa was still out there, steering clear of the burn-out remnants and debris of the Romulan Navy flotilla (the rest having fled) as well as the sub-cubes.
Unbeknownst to them Nulakr had reentered the bridge, flanked by security officers. He'd been let out of the brig the previous day, being present but a moment ago when the comms officer had gestured to Torek to inform him secretly about the subspace communique sent from the Mok'pa's belly.
The Raven crew were to understand that Major Hirt'vak was still in charge over there with Colonel Karuth apparently under house arrest, but which wasn't secure enough to stop her sending communications on an open channel apparently... Presumably she had Hirt'vak's agreement.
Now it was evident that Nulakr had heard some of the conversation. "What a terrible... terrible thing to impute to my commanding officer," he snarled, "That she would consort with that pig OhVok... What? In an effort to overthrow the Senate, or some such?"
Unable to contain himself, in a sharp movement the major ripped the phaser from the hand of the security guard to his left, and pointing it at the comms officer, shot her with it. She yelped and fell backwards on the deck in front of the central chairs, heavily stunned. The weapon had been charged only to mildly incapacitate their Romulan charge with his more robust physiology.
"Perhaps so, Nulakr, perhaps so," Milyanov managed to growl as he grappled with the Romulan who was seemingly intent on throwing off all comers.
<Tag Carl, Calli>
Meanwhile, thousands of Tkrnn continued to transport down to the colony, materialising on large octagonal pads designed to hold hundreds, and being escorted off in the howling wind to a set of low grey structures, in the midst of a blasted inhospitable plain surrounded by precipitous mountain slopes.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 4, 2023 22:22:22 GMT
USS Raven-C :: "..... Oh, and Lana, please 'politely' ask SIckbay when Commander Blakus can be released,"
"Yes, Admiral," the woman said with a grin as she left the Ready Room. Carl dropped into his seat, his mind in turmoil as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. He was about to return to the Bridge when he was commed .....Stepping out of his Ready Room he first saw that Commander Milyanov, apparently released from Sickbay, was grappling with the Romulan major, Nulakr, then saw Calli kneeling beside Lana Keel, who had been hit by phaser fire! "What the hell is going on...!?" he demanded as Security pulled the Engineer off Nulakr and dragged the Romlna to his feet, "... Security, I want this man confined, NOW," he said, ignoring the Romulan's barrage of threats as the four Security Officers dragged him to the back of the Bridge. Carl knelt beside Lana who's head was resting in Calli's lap. She had taken the full brunt of the heavy stun-setting and was having trouble breathing, the weapon having scrambled her entire nervous system as it passed through her body. "Medical are on their way," Calli reassured the young Comms Officer, silently happy the woman seemed to be responding, but that lasted only a second. As she watched, Keel's eyes rolled upward and she began to gag. Calli rolled her onto her side as Doctor Roach and two Marine Medics almost sprung from the turbolift barely missing the still-opening doors. Roach moved quickly, running a tricorder over the woman as the medics laid her down while one lifted her head off the deck. Torek watched, knowing there was nothing he or anyone else could do, but he silently vowed that should this young woman not make it, Nulakr would suffer the consequences! "You are weak, it shows in your every action," the Romulan goaded, receiving a punch in the gut from one of those holding him. He turned to the Lieutenant and smiled, but a second blow wiped the smile away very effectively and he fell silent, watching the Doctor as she stood to make room for the injured Keel to be lifted onto a maglev stretcher. Carl took his time moving towards Nulakr, knowing full well that all eyes were on him: "If she suffers long-term damage, you won't leave this ship ..... I promise you...!" he whispered, "... Take him to the Brig, make sure he's thoroughly searched," "I DEMAND TO BE RETU ....." Nulakr began, but the punch from Torek, so unexpected, slammed the man's head against the bulkhead and he tasted blood as it ran freely from the deep gash in his upper lip. "You'll be lucky if you ever see another Romulan ..... Get him off the Bridge Gentlemen..." Carl said, trying not to wonder if he'd broken any bones in his hand, "... Where are we on the communication from Karuth?" he asked. "The comm was brief, we think it may have been prearranged," Harry Wedlerson replied, pointedly ignoring the blood on Carl's left knuckles as he handed the Admiral a cloth he'd taken from Roach's medical kit. "Do we have a location for General OhVok?" Calli asked. "No, but he may be closer than we believe..." the replacement Comms Officer confirmed as he checked the communications logs, "... The comm' lasted less than fifteen seconds," "So he could be right on top of us?" Calli speculated. "I thought he'd retired with all manner of honours, he was aged, even for a Romulan still on active service..." Wedlerson said, having brought the General's record up, "... He was put out to pasture, or whatever the Romulans take as retirement," "Well it's clear he hasn't retired, I seriously doubt that someone like Colonel Karuth was asking for military advice..." Carl said, dropping into the centre seat, "... Is it possible that he has been working with Karuth, or the Tal Shiar all this time?" "he was extremely vocal with his opinions about the Tal Shiar, to the point that he was almost relieved of command on numerous occasions..." Harry read from the report, "... He's got friends in 'very' high places, that's for sure, we all know what happens to people, military 'or' civilian, that criticise the Romulan Secret Police," he finished with a shrug. "We could contact the General ourselves," Calli suggested. "Then he would know that we know he's involved..." Carl said, deep in thought, "... No ..... Let's try to see if he makes an appearance. Meantime, I think it prudent we contact Section Admiral Gheskori and the Federation Council to update them. Comms, send a subspace message to Starbase Forty-Seven, include our complete logs up to this point, who knows, maybe there's some diplomatic angle we're not privy to," "How long are you going to keep Nulakr locked up?" Calli asked. "Oh, I don't know... How long until he's about to celebrate his three-hundredth birthday...?" Torek retorted, silently happy that several people laughed at the comment, "... Are the Tkrnn still transporting to the surface?" "Yes, Sir," Wedlerson said as he returned to the Ops station. "Any idea how many thus far?" "Best estimate is somewhere in the region of tens of thousands so far, we don't have accurate numbers as they are using multiple platforms throughout the larger continent," "So we're not sure how many Romulans were down there - Anything between a few dozen and hundreds of thousands - Same goes for the Tkrnn. So ..... Given we haven't picked up anything we could construe as fighting on the surface, do we think that are went down there on an invite?" "The electrical storms throughout the regions in question are so intense they are preventing accurate scans of the surface. They could be having one hell of a party, or killing each other, we wouldn't know the difference," Lysia T'Seng said with an almost apologetic shrug from Tactical. "Hard to believe we're sat on the most sophisticated Starship the federation has designed, yet we can't scan through a bit of rain..." Carl said, shaking his head in dismay, "...This whole situation is becoming one HELL of a mess!" he finished. "We 'could' destroy several of their platforms..." Lysia suggested, "... If nothing else it might slow the beam-downs," "We'd need to find ones that were not currently being used. I'm not willing to kill for the sake of slowing down what might be inevitable," Carl replied. "There's another option we haven't considered as yet," Valente commented. "..... And that would be?" Harry urged. "Well, we know the Tkrnn presence on Starbase Forty-Seven has been removed, and they have been ordered to vacate Federation space, either voluntarily, or with Federation help ..... At this point, we could consider ourselves 'surplus to requirements' here. It's clearly the Tkrnn and Romulans in conflict. Had issues not escalated on the starbase, we might not even be in this fight at all," "So ..... Your suggestion?" "We get the hell out of Dodge..." Calli said, eyeing those around them on the Bridge, some clearly not understanding the reference, "... This isn't our fight. We should contact all Federation vessels in the Sector and withdraw. If - W hich I seriously doubt - The Romulans find themselves in over their collective heads, they can always ligitimately apply to the Council for assistance, that would give us a reason to come back in force," "Sir, I've just picked up another subspace communication, again less than thirty seconds between message and reply," the Junior Comms Officer informed them as they were absorbing Calli's suggestion. "Could you get anything?" Carl asked. "Sorry Admiral," the man said. Carl looked at Calli, then at Harry and Lysia, wondering if Calli's suggestion wasn't a viable option given their situation ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 7, 2023 20:20:14 GMT
Shuttering lights seemed to greet Andae as he awoke periodically from his tortured sleep. "Where are we now?" he managed, feeling the dried skin become taut along the left side of his face, and depressed in knowing that his injuries from the vacuum exposure had still not healed.
"Still in the Eta Iridi system. No longer in orbit of the first planet. The Romulan Navy has gone. The Tkrnn are beaming down to the planet, some of them at least."
In his gathering consciousness he was aware of a senior doctor, Roach it must be, and various nurses milling about, though the world still seemed one of half-light, punctuated by light and shade and feverish thoughts of having been abandoned to whatever the thoughtless depths of the cosmos had in plan for him. He concentrated on the present moment, where in this melange of uselessness was his purpose, his duty?
"Am I well? Am I well enough to return to duty?"
"Six hours are almost up," Roach replied.
"Then I'm leaving." Though it was difficult, physically and verbally, he was permitted to rise to his feet and stagger towards the sickbay doors. He was told, just remember that his collapse on the bridge had been brought about by a similar action, but then he looked at himself in a mirror, and recognised that he was not only in good physical shape but in the right frame of mind.
He headed for the bridge, and entering found everything as it should be, sans the standard communications officer, and on the viewscreen the bright star of Eta Iridi, with another graphically highlighted object heading towards it, apparently on a trajectory that would have it transit that star.
"It's OhVok," Torek said from the centre seat, managing by means of formality to conceal his alarm at seeing Blakus again so soon entering the nerve centre. Andae understood - indeed he thought his own action somewhat insane himself, and yet he'd found himself able to walk, with a severe limp, and speak with enough clarity to demand a destination from the turbolift's interface, so he'd decided to head to the bridge.
"The warbird has finished decloaking, Admiral," T'Seng reported as Andae took his XO's chair with difficulty.
It was clear what'd prompted the D'deridex class vessel to come here. The open comm from Colonel Karuth, broadcast across the near western half of Romulan space, as well as into the fringes of the Federation to the galactic west.
Everyone in those regions who'd been listening, intentionally or otherwise, would've heard Karuth. But it was the case that only this newly arrived warbird had responded to it. It had got to be OhVok, the retired Romulan war leader, hero and effective trillionaire. His vessel's gravitational singularity engine matched with that of his ship during the Dominion War.
"We were just preparing to break orbit of the Eta Iridi star, now that the planet's safe, though they have new guests," Calli explained, "and head back to the Federation to explain to them the depths of the conflict between the Romulans and the Tkrnn. The Romulans may have trouble with them, but they can probably last a good few years yet."
"Then why don't we leave?" Andae asked.
"OhVok has been contacted by Karuth, who's in supposed house arrest aboard the the IRW Mok'pa. It seems the Tal Shiar and OhVok have forged an alliance. Evidently the open comm that the Mok'pa sent was a call for help."
Anna Fields alerted them at the helm. On the viewscreen, the D'deridex class of OhVok's vessel was drawing alongside the beige-tinted Valdore type of the Mok'pa. Communications were detected to and fro between the two warbirds, private instructions, exchanges of information, and from afar, back towards the colonial planet, Grant Manley's Maracanda sped towards the Raven, did it need help?
"Sir, the D'deridex class, General OhVok, is hailing."
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 19, 2023 15:02:40 GMT
USS Maracanda Eta Iridi System :: At Admiral Torek's request, Grant Manley had kept the Maracanda out of harm's way, but it had been clear for some time that things, rather than going smoothly, seemed on the brink of falling into all-out conflict, with the Raven stuck in the middle!"Sir, we should make our presence known....." Frank Scober said, eyeing the tactical plot on the ship's main viewscreen.
"..... I'm inclined to agree with you," Manley said to his Exec's back before almost slumping back into his seat.
The Raven had been holding her own in the continuing situation, and while she had made clear her position, neither the Tkrnn nor the Romulans had seemed interested, that was until the Raven neutralised the airborne toxin.
"Sir, the two Romulan vessels are talking..." the comms Officer confirmed, "... Whatever they're saying is encrypted,"
"But they are clearly in cahoots...!" Greg Jarves said from Tactical, "... Why else would a Navy Warbird and a Tal Shiar vessel get in such proximity, there's hardly any love lost between the two?"
"Do we move in...?" Scober asked, glancing back over his shoulder at the still-seated Captain. After a moment of consideration, Grant nodded, Scober turned to the Navigation Officer, "... Helm, move us into the System, full impulse, make a bee-line for the space between the Raven and those two Romulan ships. At least it will give them a second target should the proverbial hit the fan," he said with a wry grin as he took his seat.
On the viewscreen they watched as the Raven grew, but so did the two massive Romulan Warbirds ..... At the distance they were holding, Manley wondered just how quickly they could turn on the Sovereign Class USS Raven, and would their crew have time to take preventative action before being blown into atoms and spread throughout the System and beyond. Once they were close, having traversed the planet below and making no effort to hide their approach, Scober ordered the ship to hold position half facing both the Raven and the two Romulan ships, almost the tip of an invisible triangle.
"Raise shields, bring phasers and torpedo launchers online but don't target anyone for the moment," the Maracanda's Executive Officer ordered.
"Sir ..... The D'deridex Class is scanning us!" Jarves said.
"Let them, we've nothing to hide..." Manley said, "... We're just here for support," he leaned forward as if the extra half-metre closer to the viewscreen would help in any upcoming decision-making.
"Gregory, where is the remaining Navy flotilla?"
"Still beyond the far side of the planet, maybe the General is holding them off so as not to spook Karuth, or whoever's in charge on the Tal Shiar ship?" he speculated, making Manley nod in unspoken agreement.
"What I don't get..." Shuna Hurst, the Maracanda's Senior Marine Officer said with a frown, "... Is, why do the Romulans and Tkrnn now seem to be sitting back? ..... Hours ago it was a given that both would do everything possible to obliterate the other, yet now, they're just contentedly sitting there?"
"Sir...!" the Comms Officer suddenly said, "... The D'deridex is hailing the Raven,"
"Try to decode what's being said!" Manley ordered.
"No need Captain, they're broadcasting on an 'open' channel," the woman said, piping the communication over the ship's speakers:
=^= .. .. is still seems a little .. .. Convenient =^= Torek was saying.
=^= That is as maybe .. Admiral .. But I am again instructing you to depart and take that newcomer with you .. This is a Romulan Tkrnn issue and the interference of the Federation is neither wanted nor welcome =^=
There was a pause in the conversation, presumably, Torek was mulling over options ..... Bridge USS Raven-C ::Carl was indeed hesitating. He looked at andae, then Calli, both knowing he was expecting their input. With his back to the viewscreen and the clearly agitated Romulan general, Blakus wiped a finger across his throat to instruct the Comms Officer to mute the communication: "Why's he suddenly keen to get rid of us?" Harry Wedlerson asked. "There's definitely something going on we're not privy to," Carl said, rising from the centre seat making sure not to look at the glaring Romulan waiting on-screen. "How sure are we that he's not going to start some internal 'war' between the Navy and Tal Shiar once we leave?" Calli asked. "Hold on, a few moments ago we 'were' leaving, what difference does OhVok's demand we do just that make?" Blakus asked, shifting in his seat to try to relieve the pain in his back. "That's just it..." Torek said, his frustration obvious as he paced back and forth, "... This was supposed to be the Romulans helping us find a solution to the Tkrnn's headlong rush through the Galaxy, yet now we're the intruders?" "Sir, OhVok is still waiting," Harry said, nodding almost imperceptibly towards the viewscreen. Carl turned to Lieutenant Keel at Comms: "Shut that down," he said, unwilling to engage the Romulan in any further conversation ..........
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 22, 2023 19:40:34 GMT
Offics of the President United Federation of Planets
Ri-Ghoranni
βββββ I am still somewhat confused as to precisely 'what' you are demanding, Mister Ambassador," Ri-Ghoranni said to the Romulan.
"You declared a state of 'WAR' against the Tkrnn race, did you not?"
"We did, and sanct ....."
"SANCTIONS ..... SANCTIONS .... This is unacceptable..." the Romulan diplomat shouted, barely able to contain his growing anger, "... What precisely do you believe you are going to 'sanction' against a race the Federation has no associations with?"
"You would rather we send every Starship into Tkrnn space and eradicate the race?" the President asked patiently.
"We do not ask, Mister President .... We 'DEMAND' it ..... The Federation has ties with both the Romulan and Klingon races. We are currently under attack and as per our treaty, 'YOU' are expected to supply any and all assistance necessary to help the Romulan Star Empire protect itself, its territories, and its people ..... By remaining inactive, you risk breaching the accord between our races..." the Romulan said, pausing to look at the others present. His eyes narrowed as he returned his attention to the Efrosian, "... Or perhaps you are hoping for the demise of the Romulan Empire so you may expand your influence?"
"I'm sure that if your government believed such a thing they would have taken appropriate actions well before the intervention of the Tkrnn," the Vulcan Ambassador, T'Nul, speculated.
"..... And what of you, VULCAN ..... You too would benefit from our demise, do not try to deny it, you have long wished for our demise but have been too weak to take action to satisfy your hunger for new worlds,"
"This is getting us nowhere Veklek..." the Klingon Diplomat said, shaking her head, "... You are voicing opinions I am certain are not condoned by the Romulan Senate, at least, not all of those sitting in that Senate. Maybe it would benefit everyone present if you were to confine yourself to the facts as we know them, rather than indulging in your fantastical beliefs of hidden conquest."
The Romulan turned away, clearly losing the battle against his growing frustration.
"As of this moment, how many worlds have been 'conquered' by the Tkrnn?" Ra-Ghoranni asked.
"None, but that does not mean that if we continue to allow the Tkrnn to encroach on our space they will not eventually begin to succeed in their exploits,"
"So, would we be correct in saying that your 'demands' upon this Council, might, be somewhat premature?" T'Nul asked. But it was clear the Romulan had made up his mind.
"You have twenty-four hours to begin dispatching Starships to aid the Romulan Star Empire. Failure to comply as per charter, 'WILL' result in our ceasing any association with the Federation and her allies!" With the unspoken threat as to what any consequences left unspoken, the Romulan Ambassador turned and walked out of the President's office. Those remaining stayed silent for a moment before each Representative rose and bade farewell to the President before they too left the office.
Once the last Ambassador left, Admiral Efan Kist, the Haed of Starfleet, entered the room.
"You heard all that?" Ra-Ghoranni asked.
"I did, and I'm not too happy with that ultimatum Mister President..." Kist said, helping himself to a coffee before taking one of the recently vacated seats, "... We have a great many people, civilian and military, who could be at risk if the Romulans cut all ties with the Federation,"
"So you would cede to his demands then?"
"I would not, but it might at least delay and rash decision the Romulans make if we were to begin moving resources closer to the Romulan borders,"
"We do have commitments elsewhere Admiral," the President replied.
"We do, but I am sure there are several vessels whose assignments could be postponed while they reposition,"
"Very well Admiral. Begin reassigning tasks, but do not send any vessel into Romulan space,"
"Understood, Mister President," Kist said, rising. He replaced the now empty cup to the tray and left the room, already thinking of just which vessels he could reassign without causing too much of a delay to their current assignments ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Sept 24, 2023 16:03:51 GMT
"Is it possible that the halting of the fight here between the Romulan and Tkrnn forces is to do with what's going on on the planet? And wouldn't that mean the two sides here away from the planet are aligned with their respective peoples on the surface?" Andae managed to say. While the dried and emaciated skin still caused him pain, that was definitely, to his great joy, beginning to lessen.
"That may be so. But I doubt that it's that simple," Torek replied.
"Agreed," Calli said, "We saw that the Navy flotilla knew little or nothing of the true number of colonists down there (or whoever those inhabitants are). Unless..."
"Unless Selok was lying," Andae completed, "But he didn't seem to be. Romulans are full of guile as we know, but this one certainly seemed to be telling the truth as he knew it. That's how I see it at least."
Then those weren't allies of the Romulan Navy inhabiting the planet. Perhaps they were aligned with the Tal Shiar instead? Andae thought. And perhaps General OhVok - back from retirement - was in the process of switching his allegiance from the Navy to the Tal Shiar, the former being who he'd fought for decades when called upon, even though he was of non-Naval rank, having instead been part of an elite regiment of Romulan land-based forces.
"What about the Tkrnn, then? And why are they and the Romulans cooperating here, or at least not fighting," Carl said, "while elsewhere they're knocking seven bells out of each other, in various Romulan systems and along the border?"
"The Tal Shiar," Andae answered. It was beginning to make sense. By process of deduction, it seemed this was a Tal Shiar operation. The colonists then were Tal Shiar operatives, foot soldiers, and perhaps some actual civilians corralled for the purpose of... of what? Who knew.
By this reading at least, the initial deployment of the Tal Shiar warbird Mok'pa against the Tkrnn terraformer was a ploy by both Tkrnn and Tal Shiar.
The Romulans had attempted to ambush the Starfleeters, and they'd failed; the terraformer had headed here, the Raven pursuing, and the Mok'pa had pursued the Raven; here the Mok'pa - in disguised fashion - had begun realigning itself with the terraformer once again.
"What advantage do the Tal Shiar possibly think they could gain, by allying themselves with their species' enemies the Tkrnn?" Wedlerson interjected.
"Who knows what drives them, what the particulars are of their games in Alpha-Beta quadrant politics?" Andae retorted, "All we can say is that they think somehow this will be to their advantage, in the power struggle within the Romulan political and military hierarchy. We should be aware - we should already know - that the Tal Shiar will do anything to advance its position." No matter how many lives of their own species it costs, he thought.
"And the Tkrnn?" someone asked.
They'll be trying to gain - apparently successfully - whatever allies they can amongst the Romulans in order to influence and impose themselves upon matters in their territory. There are rumours though that it's just one group - perhaps a clique amongst the Supreme Rulers of the Tkrnn - that are responsible for any possible agreement with some of the Romulans."
=/\=Sir, General OhVok's vessel is hailing again,=/\= Keel reported.
"What now?" Torek said and ordered on screen. It was more of the same from the Romulan grandee, leave or else. Apparently more Romulan ships were on the way. Tal Shiar presumably?
"We were planning to leave, OhVok. But now that you are so insistent, we think we could do with staying around for just a little while longer."
"General, it is peculiar that you should make these demands," Andae added, "now that the enemy's terraformer is no longer whole and its nerve toxin has been eliminated from your colony's atmosphere, we'd have thought we were due to leave anyway. Aside from perhaps a short get together by way, if not of celebration, then of recognition of our achievement, that you and the Mok'pa are apparently not willing to entertain."
OhVok seemed disturbed by this and again closed the channel his end. Then extraordinarily both the general's warbird and the Mok'pa - whether it was Hirt'vak or Colonel Karuth in charge - fired near simultaneous disruptor bolts at the Raven and Maracanda.
They were warning shots, missing by a couple hundred kilometres respectively. With that the warbirds began backing off, keeping their prows towards the Raven and Maracanda, eventually heading towards a low orbit of the Eta Iridi colony but still maintaining the same aspect to the Federation starships.
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Sept 29, 2023 22:44:27 GMT
USS Raven-C :: =^= General .. It is peculiar that you should make these demands that the enemy's terraformer is no longer whole and its nerve toxin has been eliminated from your colony's atmosphere .. We'd have thought we were due to leave anyway .. Aside from perhaps a short get-together by way if not of celebration then of recognition of our achievement that you and the Mok'pa are apparently not willing to entertain =^= Before Carl could add to the comment from his Exec' the comm abruptly snapped off! "Is it just me, or did they just give us a gentle 'hint' as to our next move?" Harry Wedlerson mused from Opps. "Lieutenant..." Torek began, watching the Romulan vessels moving away but still keeping a firing aspect on the Federation Starships, before turning to the Comms Officer, "... Contact the Maracanda, and tell them to follow our lead, but if fired upon again they are to take whatever action necessary to protect themselves," "Aye Sir," Jenni Gold confirmed as Carl motioned for Andae and Calli to join him close to the portside turbo-lift: "It's becoming pretty clear the Romulans no longer want our presence," Carl began. "This whole outing began with 'us' looking for the Tkrnn to somehow turn them away from Federation Space..." Calli said, shaking her head, "... We've clearly stumbled into something they didn't want us to see," "The Tal Shiar you mean?" Andae asked the Intelligence Officer. "Well, from what I can see ..... The Romulans are, as usual, coping with some internal strife, this time it's the Tal Shiar and the Navy. There's no way to know how the Senate is leaning, but I would bet it's not with the Tal Shiar ..... General OhVok has their support, that's obvious, but would the Romulan military risk all-out open conflict with their Secret Service, I doubt it," "According to the Starbase, they have, or will soon, have rounded up all the Tkrnn and thrown them out..." Torek said, recalling his last conversation with Colonel DΓΊpin, "... So, my question is: If the Tkrnn are pretty much ignoring our presence, and the Romulans obviously want privacy for whatever they have in mind, then what's actually keeping us here?" They were still discussing the issue when the ship suddenly moved, Carl looked forward, to see the Maracanda passing what seemed meters from them. "REPORT!" Blakus demanded as the Senior Officers returned to their positions. "The Mok'Pa came under attack from several of the Tkrnn fighters, Captain Manley fired on two of them before moving to support the Romulan Warbird," Lysia T'Seng reported. "Has the Maracanda been fired on?" Carl asked. "No Sir, in fact, they have just been warned off," Jenni Gold said from Comms. "Open a comm-link to the Maracanda!" Carl ordered, waiting impatiently, mere seconds later the Bridge of the Intrepid Class filled the screen: =^= Captain? =^= =^= Admiral .. We detected almost a dozen of the Tkrnn craft making what appeared to be an attack run on the Mok'Pa .. For some reason they didn't seem to be reacting .. I thought it prudent to offer assistance =^= =^= Underst .. .. .. =^= Carl began, only to be interrupted by Commander T'Seng: "Admiral ..... A large number of the Romulan Naval vessels have begun moving towards us..." "Towards us?" Calli asked. "Confirmed, their current heading will put them directly between us and the Tkrnn sub-cubes," "OK, well if that isn't an 'invitation' to bugger off, I don't know what is..." Carl said, dropping into the center seat, his frustration at the situation obvious, "... Contact Maracanda, and instruct them to follow us out of the System," "Marcanda confirms her orders, Admiral," Lieutenant Gold confirmed. "Let's go ..... Helm, set course for Starbase Forty-Seven, engage at maximum impulse when ready," Torek instructed. "Impulse?" Blakus asked. "In a hurry to be somewhere else?" Carl asked with a grin. Andae nodded knowingly then shrugged before replying thoughtfully: "I might have had a date lined up," "She'll keep," Calli said. "Helm. once we're out of the System, come about then hold station..." Carl said, still grinning at Andae's comment, "... The Romulans are up to something and I'll be damned if we're going to be used like 'pawns' to satisfy their aims," The Sovereign Class Raven-C continued on course for two hours then came about as instructed - On the edge of the Eta Itidi I Star System, she and the Maracanda slowed until stationary one thousand meters apart. All their sensors were now trained on the Romulan flotilla and the Tkrnn sub-cubes now seemingly moving into an open region, presumably, this was where they would reconfigure, returning to one single massive cube. Either way, the Raven and Maracanda were going to monitor and record every iota of data they could, something was happening, and it was abundantly clear that the Romulans no longer approved their presence. Alas - Starfleet - Far from tucking its proverbial tail between its proverbial legs and scurrying back into the bosom of Federation Space, wanted answers, primarily, 'WHY' they had been drawn into a situation where war was the only logical outcome! "Comms, send everything we have thus far back to Starbase Forty-Seven, and Starfleet Command. Ask Maracanda to do likewise..." Blakus ordered, "... Next move?" the Exec asked, turning to Carl. "..... Karuth, Nulakr, Selok, OhVok..." Carl mused almost to himself rather than as a reply to his Executive Officers' query, "... I don't have the first clue as to games are they playing, but I'm damnded if I'm going to be hung out to dry as 'surplus to requirements' ..... I'm convinced the Romulans were responsible for the Tkrnn presence on the Starbase. lives were lost, and we don't just shrug and forget those losses!" He fell silent, eyes on the stars on the viewscreen ..........
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 2, 2023 22:44:38 GMT
With the Romulan vessels placing themselves, presumably intentionally, between the Federation Starships and the oncoming Tkrnn sub-cubes, Carl was trying 'not' to ponder on what possible outcome could result should the Changelings decide to attack! "Admiral, we're receiving a priority one communication from Starfleet Command," Lieutenant Keel informed Torek. "My Ready Room please, Lana," he said, glancing at the viewscreen before leaving the Bridge. ---------- Ten minutes later he requested Andae and Calli join him ..... "Following the official declaration of hostilities, Command has sent six Starships..." he began, motioning for his two Officers to sit as he poured coffee and handed each a cup before retaking his seat, "... They have been instructed to take up a position across approximately twenty-five light-years, midway between Starbase Forty-Seven, and one of the Romulan outpost, Phillo Tox V ..... Inside Romulan Space, I might add," "Six ..... It's hardly a blockade," Calli said, sipping at the seemingly molten beverage. "I assume they have objected?" Andae commented. "Oh, you could say that, in fact, had it not been for the fact that the Klingon Ambassador, Chu'Vok, being somewhat exaggeratedly amused, I'm sure we'd already be at war with the damn Romulan Empire," Carl said, shaking his head in dismay. "So the Starships are there as a deterrent, nothing more, Command believes it's unlikely the Tkrnn will try to enter Federation Space while we're parked out there?" Calli mused. "Just out of curiosity here, but what has Gheskori had to say?" Andae asked. "Well, apparently he was 'informed' of proceedings after the fact..." Carl said, seeing both his Officers' eyes widen in disbelief, "... Yes, I imagine he's non too happy. It's unconventional, to say the least," "Have you spoken to Ghes?" Calli asked. "Not yet ..... In fact, I was given 'very' explicit instructions not to discuss my conversation with anyone, including you two..." he paused with a shrug, "... So, now that you don't know any more than you did five minutes ago, what are your thoughts on how we proceed, presuming you might have already privately considered that Command might move ships into the region of course?" "I think we should still leave. I know you're concerned about what's going on with this in-fighting..." Calli began, rising to return her cup to the tray, "... But hell, when aren't those bloody Romulans fighting each other, this time they have the added bonus of a possible occupation from the Tkrnn to throw into the mix. Besides, it was made 'very' clear our presence was no longer desired or required," "Andae?" < Tag : Andae > "Personally, I think we're rapidly running out of options, we came here to investigate the Tkrnn following what happened on the Starbase..." Carl said, "... Given we're now 'officially' in a state of war with them, I think it only right that we continue our investigation pending orders to the contrary from either Starfleet Command or Section Admiral Gheskori," "That would mean our moving through the Tkrnn in an effort to head into their Space," Calli said, frowning as she retrieved the cup she had put down a moment ago before refilling it and taking her seat. "Agreed..." Torek said, glancing at his Exec' who remained uncharacteristically silent, "... Andae, you think we could run the gauntlet, get past the Tkrnnsub-cubes and those gnats of fighters?" "It could mean us having to defend ourselves, but yes," Blakus said. "OK ..... Well, I think we have to take some time to consider options. Both of you take an hour, I want pros and cons to the proposal that we run through this fight and go directly to the source. Thank you both ..... Dismissed," Carl sat in silence as his two Seniormost Officers stood and left the Ready Room. As the door closed, he rubbed his temples, trying and failing to rid himself of the headache he had been suffering from for the last few hours. He knew that if they decided to leave the Romulans and Tkrnn to run this situation to a conclusion while they were still in the vicinity, the Romulans might, or might not, react to their unspoken 'demand' that they leave the region, depending on if they needed the Federations aid, or not! As Commanding Officer, it was inevitably his decision, but he always appreciated the opinion of his Officers - Had Fleet Admiral Kist, not directly instructed him not to discuss this situation with anyone, he would have held his usual 'Chinese Parliament' on the Bridge of the Raven, providing all his Senior Staff the full facts and allowing them to voice their opinions or suggestions without the constraints of Rank ..... Alas, this time, at least for the time being, he would have to confine his Council to Andae and Calli. He picked up his cup, shuddering at the fact his hand-made coffee was cold. Sighing he stood and poured away the cold liquid before replenishing his cup, retaking his chair he turned to look out at the stars ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 3, 2023 17:18:15 GMT
The Raven received a comm from Starfleet Command, and after speaking to them Carl brought Andae and Calli into the ready room, where Blakus was asked his opinion on whether to remain in the system or head back.
"... Besides, it was made 'very' clear our presence was no longer desired or required,"
"Andae?"
"I don't see that we ourselves can do much more here. We've assisted the Tal Shiar. The terraformer has been stopped, in a sense. Even if it may actually have been working with the Tal Shiar all along, in which case there's nothing that can be done about it, not immediately anyway."
"The Federation is now in a state of war with the Tkrnn, and you're advising we just walk away?" Torek asked, "While we're here, and not that far from the Tkrnn border?"
"Well, first, it's the Tkrnn's border with the Romulans, not with us. Yes, Romulan space at this point is only a few lightyears across; it's about the nearest that there Federation territory is to Tkrnn territory, but the Romulans are here sovereign, and some of them at least are happy with the Tkrnn's presence. And second, we have the six Federation starships en route to Romulan space, I presume."
"Personally, I think we're rapidly running out of options, we came here to investigate the Tkrnn following what happened on the Starbase..." Carl said, "... Given we're now 'officially' in a state of war with them, I think it only right that we continue our investigation pending orders to the contrary from either Starfleet Command or Section Admiral Gheskori," Carl said.
The conversation progressed and Andae and Calli were given an hour to come up with advantages and disadvantages to trying to force their way through the Tkrnn-Romulan skirmishing, hopefully unperturbed, to get towards Tkrnn space.
Blakus made all the notes he needed in half an hour and then took a short stint on watch on the bridge, encouraging the Admiral to take another break. Their two starships, Raven and Maracanda, had sat out at the edge of the system for some 12 hours now, sensors trained on the inner system and the situation about the Romulan colonial world.
The event they'd been waiting for took place and the terraformer reconstituted itself into its original behemoth form.
The naval flotilla moved off to the left as they looked at it, while the Mok'pa and General OhVok's ship slotted into an even lower orbit about Eta Iridi I and the terraformer moved up out of the system's plane so it maintained a position over the planet's north pole. The naval warbirds took occasional pot shots at the terraformer.
With the second thirty minutes up, Carl emerged from the ready room and turned to Andae and Calli, "So, what have you come up with?"
About to reply and proffering his PADD, Blakus was cut off by Keel at comms, =/\=Sir, the six starships from the Core have appeared at the edge of long range sensors. The nearest is coming to its station about 8 lightyears from our position... Excelsior class. Ah, it's the USS Charleston, sir.=/\=
Blakus turned briefly to the CO and mission advisor. Now they knew why the SA hadn't been consulted about the decision to send the half dozen ships...
"The Vice President's starship," Valente said.
"Indeed." Further alerts sounded from Keel's console, "Admiral, long range hail from the Charleston by subspace."
Torek ordered to accept the hail and appearing there on the viewscreen were Vice President Laterza, her bodyguard Commander Williams, Ambassador Crelev and the Charleston's CO. The very woman who'd sent them on their way, going over Gheskori's head, seemed to have done it again to bring herself into Romulan space and, what? Take over the Raven's mission? Andae asked himself.
Crelev spoke first, "The Romulan Senate, and the Federation Council," he acknowledged Laterza to his right, "send their compliments, Admiral. Know that the Tal Shiar who've welcomed the Tkrnn into Romulan space do not speak for us; they've committed treason against the Senate, the Navy, the People."
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Carl Torek
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 3, 2023 23:20:32 GMT
USS Raven-C :: Carl had been mulling over the problem they might, or might not, actually have ..... The hour he'd given Andae and Calli to give thought to that very problem was over - He stood and reentered the Bridge ..... "The President's Flagship?" Calli queried, clearly as puzzled by the turn of events as everyone else. Carl ordered the comm on the viewscreen. He tried not to show his concern at who he was looking at: =^= The Romulan Senate and the Federation Council end their compliments Admiral .. Know that the Tal Shiar who've welcomed the Tkrnn into Romulan space do not speak for us .. They've committed treason against the Senate .. Navy .. The People! =^= =^= I'm sorry Ambassador .. I'm a little confused about Charleston's arrival .. We were not informed =^= Carl said, vying for time to think. =^= Given it was my decision to send you into this situation Admiral .. I thought it best to be in the theatre of conflict to make assessments in real time .. I believe that with the reassurance of Ambassador Crelev our participation is no longer required =^= =^= Sorry? =^= was all that Carl could say. =^= I am hereby issuing instructions for the Raven and Maracanda to return to Starbase forty-Sevn .. Immediately .. Admiral =^= =^= Madam Vice President .. .. With all due respect .. Is it possible you are not fully cognisant of the relevant facts thus far? =^= Carl said, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with SabinΓ© Laterza. =^= Far from in Admiral .. I have been keeping a 'very' close eye on proceedings .. I will be submitting commendation recommendations for both the Raven 'and' Maracanda Officers on my return to Earth .. .. Now it is time to depart =^= Carl took a long moment to digest what the Federation Vice President was saying - Something wasn't right, but for the life of him, he couldn't put a finger on what was wrong - Given their so-called war footing with the Tkrnn, he couldn't bring himself to believe that President Ra-Ghoranni or Section Admiral Gheskori wouldn't have either issued instructions or contacted him via secure sub-space to appraise him of the minute to minute situation, let alone the Romulans. Calli surreptitiously got his attention, her eyes flicking from him to the viewscreen then back. He looked up, realizing that Laterza was deep in conversation with the Romulan Representative while she too kept glancing at the Charleston's viewscreen, no doubt trying to gauge his reactions. =^= Madam Vice President .. .. Given what we believe is more than a simple .. Misunderstanding .. Conveniently clarified .. I respectfu .. .. .. =^= =^= Admiral Torek .. You have been given your orders .. Your presence might cause undue concern for all parties concerned .. So please follow orders and depart the System .. Now! =^= =^= As you wish .. Madam Vice President .. .. =^= Carl said, turning to his Comms Officer: "Lieutenant, please instruct Captain Manley to follow the Raven out of the Star System," he looked at the viewscreen, and for a second before she realized he was watching her, he could have sworn Laterza was grinning! =^= Thank you .. Admiral .. I would be honored if you would allow me to buy you a drink when I get back to the Starbase .. Safe journey .. Laterza .. Out =^= The viewscreen defaulted to the external view ..... Stars ..... No one on the Bridge spoke as Carl retook the center seat, seemingly deep in thought. Calli was the first to comment: "We're not going back, are we?" "No ..... I don't believe we are..." Carl said, falling silent for several minutes before coming to some inner decision, "... I'm about to defy a direct order from the Federation Vice President, Please feel free to voice any objection here and now, or place them in your personal logs for Command review when or if required," "What about the Maracanda?" Calli asked. "They can follow us out of the System as instructed, once we're beyond sensor range, we can tell Captain Manley we're parting company," Harry Wedlerson mused. "I can't believe the Vice President is involved in something with the Romulans without the President's approval," Lysia T'Seng said from Tactical. "What if she doesn't know she's being used?" someone else speculated. Carl grinned, this was what he encouraged, open discourse, Most Starship Commanders took it upon themselves to make decisions, whereas the Raven was at times quietly criticized 'and' also admired, for their somewhat unique approach to problem-solving. "OK..." Carl said, after the discussion, "... Let's go ... Helm, set course for Starbase Forty-Seven, warp three... Hold that course for six hours. Once we're well out of sensor range, we'll part company with the Maracanda. No point in dragging them into something that could see us all practicing advanced 'rock-breaking' for the rest of our lives," Carl said with a wry grin ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 7, 2023 19:58:45 GMT
The Raven had proceeded with the Maracanda out beyond the edge of ship's sensor range as viewed from the confines of the Eta Iridi system. Once there Manley and Scober gave them their regards and headed onwards for the Starbase, picking up to warp 7, while the Raven came to all stop and its crew began thinking on the next move.
En route, Andae had been told about some rumour or commotion amongst the engineering staff. He headed below - seeing that Milyanov had now returned fully to duty - to see what the problem was.
The Betazoid in the department - Ensign Berai, Andae was only vaguely aware of her, she having joined long after he left the engine room to once more take up the Executive Officer role - had something to say about who and what they'd left on the outskirts of the Eta Iridi system... Now here, out at the point they'd parted ways with the Maracanda, she'd been invited to the conference room.
Conference room
"I wasn't sure of it at first, and not having any visual access I couldn't draw on any but my most rudimentary empathic abilities, but it's about Vice President Laterza. I was told she was on the starship we'd run into; I directed my mind that way and I became aware of her person. But I didn't pick up anything from her, not a thing. She was a complete blank, a void."
"Is that possible? To find a human that's so impenetrable?" T'Seng asked from the full table.
Blakus and Milyanov by the Betazoid's side nodded at her encouragingly.
"Not unless he or she's undertaken some very rigorous training of the mind, a coaching by Vulcans, or a species with a similar level and tradition of mental discipline," Berai answered the CTSO.
"I don't believe Laterza has," Torek said, "I know her well enough. And her file fills in the gaps."
"What could make her unreadable, even if you didn't actually see her?" Wedlerson asked.
Berai turned to him, "That I wouldn't know about, sir. Above my pay grade," she said confidently. Blakus approved of that; at first she'd been hesitant, perhaps a little intimidated in this company; now if anything she was getting a little too cocky. Good work, he thought, all in one meeting. She was thanked for her help and told she could go.
"Well, how about it? It makes no sense at all, as it is," Milyanov said to the sitting company once the doors were closed. Unless, Blakus thought, all was not as it appeared to be, unless Sabine Laterza was not who she appeared to be...
Bridge
Blakus sat on the bridge in the CO's chair, the lights customarily dimmed about him. He'd agreed to take the night shifts on the further phase of their mission, which was now set seemingly against, or at least not for, the authority who'd given them the assignment in the first place. That being some in the Federation Council and their associates, Ambassador Crelev, his staff, and notably the apparent Vice President of the UFP...
The viewscreen showed the vessel at warp, the Raven having pivoted at its halting point and made obliquely back towards the Eta Iridi system, back within sensor range of the ships there, but effectively cloaked by an intervening series of ion clouds.
There were five other starships (besides the Charleston) out here spread over 25 lightyears, also to be avoided.
What could give Ensign Berai the blank she sensed when focussing on Laterza? Blakus wondered, Did Founder changelings read as the same absence when detected by ESP sensitive species during the Dominion War? Is something similar going on here? Could the dread thought be true and Laterza - or someone who was only apparently her, who'd replaced her - is linked directly to the Tkrnn?
"Commander, long range sensors are detecting mass weapons fire from within the Eta Iridi system," T'Seng's night shift counterpart announced.
During breaks in the ion cloud coverage the Raven was able to scan through. Blakus acknowledged. "Focus on it, try to resolve it further," he directed when nothing more was forthcoming.
"The USS Charleston has headed into the system and has been attacked by the Romulan Navy flotilla," the man said bluntly.
"Admiral to bridge," Andae commed. Wondering what to make of it, and whether there was anything the Raven might even do to assist, despite the uncertainty round the VP's starship, he was cut off in his musings once more by the tactical officer,
"I believe... Well, it doesn't make any sense, sir. The attack has ceased. And now the Tal Shiar Mok'pa and General OhVok's warbird are in loose formation with the Charleston. And... I believe they're using their long range sensors, pointed out this way." At this point the Raven darted behind another ion cloud; how long before the Charleston discovered the Raven had refused its orders?
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 8, 2023 12:20:33 GMT
Conference Room USS Raven-C :: "..... Not unless he or she's undertaken some very rigorous training of the mind, a coaching by Vulcans, or a species with a similar level and tradition of mental discipline," Berai confirmed to T'Seng who had just asked a question of the Betazoid.
"I don't believe Laterza has," Torek said, "I know her well enough," he said with a frown, trying to recall anything that would have caused him concern regarding the Federation Vice President. With there seeming to be no further input, Carl stood, effectively closing the briefing. He spoke to Andae to tell him he was going to his quarters, Andae and Calli could follow up with the young Engineer as they saw fit.---------- =^= Admiral to the Bridge .. .. .. =^= Carl was hungry, approaching the replicator in the family suite, despite Elise's insistence that he ate healthy, he tended to revert to replicated meals when the family was away. He heard the comm as he was pondering what to have. Sighing, he replied: =^= On my way =^= he said ..... He was being updated by his Exec' when Lysia T'Seng interrupted: "..... It doesn't make any sense, Sir. The attack has ceased. The Tal Shiar Mok'pa and General OhVok's warbird are in loose formation with the Charleston. And... I believe they're using their long-range sensors, pointed out this way." "Towards us?" Carl asked as Anna Fields at Helm moved the Sovereign Class into another Ion Cloud and effectively out of sensor detection. "Yes Sir, they were passively scanning until a few seconds ago when they focused their scans towards us," T'Seng confirmed. "This is bloody unusual..." Carl muttered as he watched the cloud of ionized particles that were now passing slowly over the Raven's hull, "... You're sure we haven't been detected?" "I don't see how," Yor Svensson confirmed from the Science Station. "Do we still have coms...?" Torek asked, glancing back at Lieutenant Keel, who nodded, "... Set up a secure subspace link to the Starbase in my Ready Room, I want to talk to the Section Admiral, Andae you have the Bridge," he said. Ten minutes later he returned: "I've spoken in length to Gheskori, he's of the same opinion as I am, he's somewhat 'dubious' that Laterza has been replaced with a Changeling, though given her recent activity he's not ruling it out. He's going to carry out some 'discrete' inquiries at his end. We're to proceed as we think fit given this new information," "Admiral, if she has been replaced, where's the real VP?" Harry said from Opps. "Your guess on that Harry is as good as anyone's..." Carl said, dropping into the center seat, "... So we still have a decision to make, go after the Tkrnn in their own front garden, or head back to the Starbase ..... We're still continuing the investigation, but there's something you should know that might be relevant to any change to what we're planning. The Section Admiral informed me that Intelligence had people missing," "Missing?" Lysia said quietly. "A team had been sent to investigate another Tkrnn angle, they had boarded the USS James Clark Maxwell as the El Alamein was unavailable. Captain Kemp contacted Admiral Lemond several hours ago, the Intelligence team, comprising David Tan, Iorte Clancy, Elana de Luca, Roas Noon, and Clark Maxwell's Chief Navigation Officer acting as Pilot, had taken a shuttle to investigate anomalous readings, possibly a massive structure, but they failed to make the last three scheduled contacts," "Could mean anything," Wedlerson said, nodding deep in thought. "Agreed..." Calli said, "... We're all well aware of how Intelligence operates, and speaking from personal experience, time-keeping never was high up on our priorities," "You think they might have been compromised?" Andae queried. "There's no way to tell one way or the other, suffice to say that we might find ourselves adapting to a rescue mission at some point," Carl said. "Is it possible they have been taken into Tkrnn Space?" Anna Fields asked from Helm, her seat turned to face the Bridge, back to the viewscreen. "We have no information, other than they haven't contacted Captain Kemp, who, after due consideration, rightly reported the facts to Lemond..." Torek said, understanding everyone's concern, "... I'd risked contacting the Section Admiral, and we were lucky, but given our situation, we can't dare risk contacting Clark Maxwell for further information, on the off-chance that transmission is picked up ..... So at this point, Tan and the others are on their own," "Helm, scan the region ahead, let's try to find a way around the ships out there, preferably 'without' lighting up every sensor they have," Blakus ordered as Carl retook his seat ..........
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Andae Blakus
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Post by Andae Blakus on Oct 12, 2023 12:27:08 GMT
The order given, Blakus asked for permission to go off duty, he having been on his shift for two more than the allotted night-time hours, and now that the new day ship-time had begun, Torek having returned to the conn and the ship's skipping from ion cloud to ion cloud having resumed.
"Not just for the moment, Andae," the Admiral told him, "We still need a final decision on whether to remain here or return to Starbase, or potentially even help that Intelligence team."
The last mentioned would only be if new orders to the effect come through, but we need to be ready for that contingency, Andae thought. He sighed deeply and considered the matter, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Either way, sir, we need to get past the rest of that relief force out there, evading their long-range sensors."
The six Federation starships (including the Charleston) were scattered over 25 lightyears along the Romulan-Federation border, on the Romulan side.
The Senate wouldn't be happy about that, and - unless the Tal Shiar's talons went even deeper than the Federation had supposed and into the Senate - they wouldn't be happy about the Tal Shiar's apparent collusion with one of the Fed ships' number either.
"I think we can say that evading the half dozen ships will be less important if we head for Starbase, than if we try to remain here," Valente joined them and remarked.
"Less important?" Andae queried, "Yes, I can see that. If we're detected at the edge of sensor range by one of the starships while trying to return to Starbase 47, they might think we were simply delayed in our original return which we were ordered to make by Laterza."
"And if we try to stay in the vicinity of Eta Iridi, on finding us the starships are obviously not going to reach the same conclusion as regards a return, and so it'll be essential to keep out of range of them, or amongst these clouds," Torek completed.
As Andae saw it, Laterza had given them their orders, and if she wanted to remain in the Eta Iridi system with the Tal Shiar for company, and in opposition to the Romulan Navy ships present there as well, that was her choice.
True, remaining, the Raven might understand why exactly the Charleston had chosen this course, but the Sovereign class had been dismissed, and apart from those personnel on the other 5 starships strung out over the 25 lightyears, no other Federation citizens were present in this or surrounding sectors whose protection the Raven crew might've needed to consider if Laterza (changeling or otherwise) was up to no good.
Resolving to return to Starbase then, the command team ordered a tactical-strategic overlay to be put on the viewscreen, and the position of the six starships in addition to the Raven - whose icon was right next to the Charleston's that sat within the Eta Iridi system - was plotted. On the left was Fed space, on the right Romulan.
"Helm, come to a heading of 276 mark 4 by 31 mark 5," Carl instructed after a while. That would give the Raven the mask of an intervening ion cloud and hopefully have it bisect the arc between the SS Milwaukee and the USS Andoria, two of the six vessels. "Engage."
"Isn't it possible that those on the other starships might not know of Laterza's apparent ill intentions?" Andae asked the bridge non-specifically.
"Yes, it is," Wedlerson said.
"I'd suggest we don't try to communicate anything to them though," Calli said, "Just in case in betraying our presence we discover they're her staunch allies."
"Admiral, we will be passing between the Milwaukee and Andoria in 15 minutes, equal space either side. No sign we're detected so far."
<Tag Torek> OOC: if the suggested course of action is no good I can edit
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Carl Torek
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"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Oct 16, 2023 22:10:42 GMT
USS Raven-C Eta Iridi System :: Discussions had gone on for some time. Andae, having left the Bridge to get some rest, had already returned ..... "Isn't it possible that those on the other starships might not know of Laterza's apparent ill intentions?" Andae asked during the ensuing conversation. "Yes, it is," Wedlerson had replied. "I'd suggest we don't try to communicate anything to them though..." Calli said, "... Just in case by betraying our presence, we discover they're her staunch allies." "Admiral, we will be passing between Milwaukee and Andoria in fifteen minutes, with equal space on either side. No sign we're detected so far." Lysia T'Seng confirmed from Tactical. "OK, well now or never I suppose," Carl said, dropping into the center seat, eyes on the tactical plot which was currently showing the nearby Federation vessels, along with the green blinking arrowhead of the Raven. He could only assume that they wouldn't be challenged, presuming they were following orders from the Flagship, but if they were then he would state as such. ---------- "..... Milwaukee and Andoria are now half a million kilometers astern, neither ship scanned us, nor have they reacted to our passing," Lysia said, inwardly relieved. "Good, then let's hold course for another hour," Carl instructed the Helm. "Sir, I'm picking up a small craft in our Sector," T'Seng said suddenly. "One of the Tkrnn?" Calli asked, glancing at the view now showing the stars beyond the Raven's hull. "No, it's, hmm, if sensor readings are correct, it looks like an old-type Argosian Freighter..." the Tactical Officer said with a frown of confusion as she tried to clarify the readings, "... Confirmed... Definitely Argosian," she said with a shake of her head. "What's it doing?" Blakus asked, standing to walk closer to the viewscreen as if the three meters would help. "Sir, the Commander of that ship is requesting permission to dock," Lieutenant Keel informed them from Comms. "Is he declaring an emergency...?" Valente asked, glancing at Carl and Andae, who both wore the same puzzled expressions, "... Given their dislike of the Federation, and Humans especially, I can't see any other reason for the request," "No, he says he's been sent by Starfleet Command," "That, I find very hard to believe...!" Carl said. asking for the ship to be put on the screen. He looked at the thing, wondering how it was holding together, the thing looked like a wreck, "... Well, let's not let it be said we're not hospitable," Ten minutes later the Argosian Freighter came astern of the Raven, Carl was almost sure he'd seen at least one, maybe more, hull plates detach and fall far behind the aged craft as it moved into position a thousand meters behind the Sovereign Class. Comms tried several times to communicate with whoever was aboard, but the occupier remained stolidly silent until he all but 'demanded' to hard-dock rather than come into the Shuttlebay, or transport over. Carl looked at Andae, who could only shrug after confirming scans showed it was no danger to the Raven. "Fine, Lysia, instruct our visitor to dock, Portside Saucer Section. Oh, and send Security down there to meet him, we'll see him in the Conference Room," ---------- The door slid aside and the Argosian entered, he looked back at the two Security Personnel before lowering himself into the seat at the far end of the conference table. "Welcome aboard, mister ....." Carl began. "You will address me as 'Captain' ..... I am not here of my own volition, Admiral, so let's dispense with the niceties, shall we?" "Fine... Captain... Captain Dar'Kal" Torek said patiently, wondering how quickly he could get the meeting over with and wave goodbye to their obnoxious visitor, "... You said you weren't here by choice?" "According to our records, Captain, that wrec... Your 'ship' was impounded by Federation Authorities almost six months ago after a spot inspection found you were a little lax in declaring what you were carrying," Calli said. "That was a mistake!" Dar'Kal spat. "You said Starfleet sent you?" Carl queried. "I have made an agreement with your Authorities, for my assistance, they are willing to drop all charges and return my vessel, alas, my cargo is forfeit..." Dar'Kal said, eyes straying admiringly to Calli once again, "... They have assured me that you will affect numerous repairs and upgrades to my ship prior to our continued cooperation," "SORRY?" Andae said in disbelief. "Repairs... Upgrades," the man repeated. "We're not doing anything with that ship of yours, Captain, in fact, if you don't convince me as to the reason for your unexpected arrival, I will have no option but to ask you to leave," Carl said quietly. "Oh, I believe you will," the Argosian Captain said with a snide grin. "What the 'HELL' are you talking about?" Calli asked. "..... I regularly trade with the Tkrnn ..... I am, in fact, one of the very few people who can go to their Primary Homeworld... As such, I have been asked to convey an Away Team on my vessel and get them to the surface to continue their investigation into, well, whatever it is you people like to investigate. Personally, I couldn't care either way what you get up to, but freedom, such as it is, is preferable to being held in a Detention Center for years for doing nothing wrong!" Carl had been listening to the man and couldn't quite figure out if he was insane, or had genuinely been sent by Command. he needed to speak to Gheskori. He asked everyone to remain seated while he went to speak via sub-space with the Section Admiral. ---------- "It seems our Captain here is genu..." he said as he retook his seat, he was about to continue when he noticed Dar'Kal was now sitting on the opposite side of the long table and was sporting the beginnings of a bruise under his left eye, "... Did I miss something?" he asked, glancing at the two Security Officers, who seemed to find the ceiling panels fascinating, then at Andae then Calli, who both seemed not to know what he was referring to. Carl suspected the Captain had very likely made some inappropriate advance to the Intelligence Officer, who had obviously made her opinion on the matter very clear. "What did the Section Admiral have to say?" Blakus asked with a glance at Calli. "It seems Starfleet Command believes we might benefit from getting onto the Tkrnn Homeworld. They had hoped that the Intelligence investigation would have progressed, but with the loss of contact, and the possibility they might have been taken, we have been asked to investigate both the Tkrnn issue, along with information on the missing Intel Officers," he said, clearly unhappy with the instructions, and the fact he was now having to rely on the idiot Captain. "Captain... I'm still taking this option under consideration..." Torek said after a long silence, "... But for now, if you will see to releasing any security protocols on your vessel, we will have Engineeri ....." "..... CARL. You can't seriously be thinking of going along with this farce!" Calli said before she could stop herself, falling silent as Torek gave her a look as he stood to leave the Conference Room. Dar'Kal slid a battered PADD over to Andae. "These are my immediate requirements," Blakus looked down the list eyes widening, among other things, the Argosian wanted upgrades to his phaser arrays, photon torpedoes launchers, and a personal transporter, among a myriad of other things. He reread the list, nodding, then threw the PADD back at the man. "You're getting a replicator," he said, rising with Calli as the Security Officers stepped forward .......... OOC: Andae - The above is a possible option for moving forward, but if you have something planned following our return to the SB I can easily remove this post.
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