Hanson Mission: The Forgotten Outpost...

[crystal]

Kalen looked like he was going to say something, but instead Reynolds said they were getting a distress signal, and whatever Kalen had been going to say—probably about his past battle experience—was lost in the sound of the red alert and the feel of the bridge changed from one of anticipation to be one of wary caution.

As Commander Hope approached the navigation console, she spoke to Admiral Drew. “Nothing like a good crisis to test our instructors and cadets, don't you agree?”

Crystal overheard the comment, and smiled slightly at the First Officer. “I don't know, I'm getting to be a fan of holodeck simulations and multiple choice questions.”

Crystal watched Kalen Sol, feeling more like she was supposed to be an interpreter than she was actually doing something useful. She'd been an interpreter once, for a little while, back where there weren't easily available universal translators. Jaradan to Cardassian and back, mostly. Although it hadn't been risky work, it had been boring, frustrating, and very badly paying. This was almost like that, except that she felt such pride watching the cadet go through the proper procedures as he gave Commander Hope their ETA.

Once he'd done so, Crystal asked a follow up question to his concern that the ship couldn't hold top speed for long: “How's the ship doing?” she asked, the single most important question, in her mind, and one that he shouldn't be able to answer alone. Crystal's hope was that he would contact other people on the ship—like Engineering—to find out just how long they could safely push the ship.

[ashleydville]

"Ok. Cadet D'ville, we need those readouts from the long range sensors. We need to know what exactly exploded. Get help from Engineering. Cadet Alex James, in Engineering, can help with metallurgical analysis of the blast. Hopefully enough data was collected in my absence to get a good set of results."

'Astrometrics is all rady collecting that data and it patched to the science and tactical stations on the bridge, I start work at the science station two.'

Ashley called up the data at SS2.

=^= Cadet D'Ville to Cadet James, I sending blast data can to help me work out what it was.=^=

<Cadet James>

Ashley did a quick life sign scan of the station and checked it againist the standard crew numbers.

[Deleted]

A nod was the only response Megan received as the bridge was in chaos and the Commander’s attentions were obviously divided. Quickly crossing to the science station, Megan began to bring up short and long-range sensor data from the outpost. As the data began to flood in, Megan noticed what appeared to be a sensor ghost. It would appear for a moment, but as she would try and lock in on it with the sensors it would vanish. Frowning slightly, Megan began to try and recalibrate the sensors to compensate, but before she got the chance, the station was flooded with sensor readings from Astrometrics.

“Perfect.” Megan thought, as she tied the Astrometrics data in with the data she’d already collected to try and once again lock onto the ghost. It was quite perplexing that the sensors were seemingly unable to lock on to whatever it was, and Megan made a mental note to suggest a complete long-range sensor recalibration and diagnostic to Commander Manto. After trying once again to lock onto the sensor blip and once again failing, Commander Manto arrived on the bridge. Megan began to sign out to hand over the station.

Konal walked directly over to Megan, but before she could speak, a calm male voice said, =/\=T’lal to Commander Manto.=/\=

Taping her commbadge, Konal hurriedly answered, “Go ahead, T’lal.”

=/\=Cadet Ashley and I are on our way to the bridge. Are you there?”=/\=

“Indeed I am, Lieutenant. I have Cadet Garrett here as well. We need to get to work. Manto out.” Konal responded while moving towards the science station to access the sensor data streaming across the screen. As Megan took a slight step back to allow her access, Konal asked, “Why are we at Red Alert?”

“The mining outpost we were moving to rendezvous with sent out a distress call saying that something had exploded. We’ve increased our speed to maximum.” Megan replied, relaying the information she’d heard since she arrived.

Nodding, Konal continued to examine the sensor data. “It looks like Mr. D’Ville has sent his data to the Bridge.” Konal commented. “Excellent.”

A few moments later, Ashley and a Vulcan science officer arrived on the bridge as well. “Commander Manto, what is the nature of the Red Alert?” the Vulcan Lieutenant asked with Ashley standing directly behind him.

“There’s been an explosion on the outpost, and we’re responding to their distress call.” Konal answered as she continued to review the data in front of her.

“If you do not need my assistance at this time, I can better serve the ship in Astrometrics.” T’lal replied, receiving an acknowledging nod from Commander Manto and turning to leave the bridge and return to Astrometrics.

"Ok. Cadet D'Ville,” Konal said turning to Ashley. “We need those readouts from the long range sensors. We need to know what exactly exploded. Get help from Engineering. Cadet Alex James, in Engineering, can help with the metallurgical analysis of the blast. Hopefully enough data was collected in my absence to get a good set of results."

“Astrometrics is all already collecting that data and is patching it to the science and tactical stations on the bridge; I can start work at science station two.” Ashley replied as he moved to Science station two and brought up the relevant data.

Stepping back slightly, Konal turned to Megan and said, “Cadet Garrett, since you are already manning the Science station, see if you can scan the region for other ships or other suspicious objects. Report the results to me when you are through.”

Megan nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.” she acknowledged before moving back to the science station and bringing the information she’d been working on back up on the screen. Commander Manto stayed with her, watching over her shoulder, but Megan was too engrossed in sensor readings and the problem at hand to notice.

[Deleted]

Megan tried yet again to lock onto the sensor ghost, but without success. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she continued to review the sensor logs while watching the current sensor readings simultaneously on her screen. She had calibrated and recalibrated the sensors numerous times, but each scan revealed the same results. The sensors were simply unable to lock onto whatever object they were briefly picking up. Commander Manto stood watching the entire time, and since this was an important mission, and she had not yet jumped in to correct the calibrations, Megan could only assume she was in fact doing them correctly.

She had tried every sensor calibration trick in the book, and even a few she had made up on the spot, but nothing had worked. “Commander, I don’t understand these readings.” Megan finally said. “With the calibrations I made, we should have been able to lock onto whatever is out there by now. From what I can see, either the data is faulty or something’s wrong with the long range sensors. In my opinion, it’s more likely that the long range sensors are malfunctioning.”

Before Commander Manto could respond, Megan continued. “If the problem is in one of the sensor pallets, that would explain why we get momentary readings. The functioning sensor pallet would pick up the reading, and the malfunctioning one would contradict, causing the reading to vanish. It’s possible that the sensor monitoring the pallets is also malfunctioning and thus not able to detect the malfunction. If I rotate sensor pallets, I might be able to isolate which one is causing the problem and lock onto whatever it is out there and properly scan it.”

Glancing at the Commander for confirmation and receiving a slight nod, Megan began the process of elimination. She would disable one pallet at a time and scan with the others. If the sensor reading vanished, Megan would reinitialize the disabled pallet and move on to the next one. If the sensors were able to lock on, the disabled pallet was the one malfunctioning. There were fifteen sensor pallets onboard, so Megan worked quickly to eliminate each one as not malfunctioning.

After several minutes of work, Megan had gone through each pallet and had not yet found the problem. She could feel Commander Manto’s eyes on her as she reinitialized the final pallet before admitting, “Perhaps it wasn’t a malfunction.”

Then, she got another idea and added, “Unless more than one is malfunctioning. I realize it’s not statistically probable, but it is possible.” Turning her attention back to her station, Megan reviewed the data she’d collected from the process of elimination. “If there are differences in the length of time it took for the ghost to disappear, that would indicate that the disabled pallet tested was one of more than one malfunctioning pallet.” she added as she continued to review the data.

Glancing at her screen, it appeared that during three of the tests, the sensor reading had been visible for 2.7 seconds longer than the others. Crossing her mental fingers, Megan disabled the three pallets and ran the sensor sweep yet again. This time it worked, and the sensors locked onto the “ghost” object.
Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, Megan reported, “Got it! Sensors are detecting a Federation cargo freighter, Shelley class, moving away from the station at Warp 8.2. That’s their maximum speed. I can’t identify the ship; they don’t appear to be sending out their registry number.”

Pulling up the station’s logs, Megan continued, “A Shelley class cargo freighter was scheduled to make a delivery of new mining equipment yesterday, but I don’t know why they’d still be in the area or why they’d be leaving so quickly.”

The Commander stood silently next to her, appearing to Megan to be taking in what she had just reported. Not wanting to interrupt her, but still needing answers, Megan asked, “Commander, what are the odds that three sensor pallets and their monitoring systems would malfunction at the same time?”

[tkalen]

Kalen had not planned on keeping up maximum warp for very long. He knew he should have know just how long the Hanson could maintain it but for some reason he just couldnt remember.

He glanced at Commander Shinsei and quickly answered, "The ships in good condition as far as the helm goes Ma'am."


=A= Kalen to engineering. It'll be 15 minutes before we arrive at the station at this speed. Can i keep this speed up for that long=A=

[westgate]

At the end of the two counselors' conference with Commander Manto, a red alert sounded. For Westgate on this ship, it was a first, but he'd had plenty of experience with them before on other vessels. And though Cadet Grey had had some training in red alert scenarios, he was sure that this was her first really meaningful emergency, so he was prepared in every way to make sure that she got through it well.

"Well, Glory Be! It's a Red Alert! The first thing, you know, is to stay calm and don't panic none. That's the worst. We's required to be on the bridge at this time, along with all t'other senior officers."

They both rose from their chairs and headed to the nearest turbolift. They didn't speak more of Manto's conference with them, although Westgate could see that Cadet Grey was feeling quite thoughtful about it. It had been clear that the woman knew more than she let on, and was feeling rather tense about it. Westgate hated that they hadn't had the time to develop a proper rapport with each other, which would have made everything easier.

As they exited the turbolift onto the bridge, there was chaos, but of a controlled kind. Admiral Drew was in his chair, Commander Hope in hers. All stations were manned, and information and analysis were flowing freely among all the crew. Westgate marveled at the competency of all this, given the fact that there were so many Cadets aboard. Westgate allowed Grey to precede him down into the command pit.

Looking at the Admiral, Westgate announced, "Westgate and Grey reportin', sir." They then spent the next few miutes getting acclimated to the events unfolding on the bridge. Westgate nudged Grey and said softly, "Notice, now. Ever'one's at their peak. Get a feel for it. An' be ready for some surprises."

Grey's eyes were shining. She was excited to be a part of a real starship now.

[Deleted]

“Jason, inform the Outpost that we have received their distress call and are en route,” Drew said, turning to face the Ops console, “see if you and Cadet Black can get a status report from the Outpost, what was the nature of the explosion? Any idea on casualties?

=^=Cadet Black report to the bridge at once=^=

(Black)

"Admiral, I have forwarded the message, but I'm having difficulty knowing if they recieved the message," Jason said as he boosted the output of the transmitter. The admiral's response was drowned out by his cadets's arrival whom he immediately put to work.

"Cadet, we need to establish communicaiton with the base," Jason said as he gave way to his cadet," we must also attain all possible information on the explosion. We need to give sickbay an idea of what to expect."

(Black)

[Deleted]

=^=Cadet Black report to the bridge at once=^=

=^= Aye Sir =^=

Sandy had just finished her medical and was on her way up ti the bridge any way, Sandy hadnt expected to arrive at the starbase so early, she steped into a turbolift that was near by, as she did so said "Deck on" the paused for a seconed, "Bridge" ending her sentence.

The turbolift began to move, it was an un eventful journey to the bridge, and upon arrival steped out onto the bridge and went directly to the ops console at the far side of the bridge to where Sandy had come on to.

"Admiral, I have forwarded the message, but I'm having difficulty knowing if they recieved the message" Sandy heard her instrutor say as she arrived at the console.

"Cadet, we need to establish communicaiton with the base," Jason said as he gave way to his cadet," we must also attain all possible information on the explosion. We need to give sickbay an idea of what to expect."

Sandy nodded and began to try and obtain communication with the starbase, Sandy tried hailing, nothing, there was no response at all. "No response to hails sir" Sandy said, while she continued to work. "Boost the signal" her instrutor said, whom she still didnt know the name off.

Sandy decied the best course of action would be boost the signal as much as she could then try it, but it didnt work, she tried again and again, she began to push it that extra 1%, it worked. "Sir I ave established communication, but audio only" Sandy informed admiral drew.

(Tag Admiral Drew and Jason Reynolds)

[Deleted]

As the senior staff all began to arrive on the bridge and take their stations, Drew waited patiently for Cadet Black to establish a channel with the Outpost. Until they knew the full details of the situation it would be impossible to know what they should prepare for, the base could have been attacked or there could have just been a simple accident. Either way they had to be ready.

Drew looked up as Cadet Black delivered his report that they had managed to establish an audio channel.

“Very well,” Drew said, standing his chair and walking to the centre of the bridge, “open the channel.”

“Aye sir,” Black replied, “channel open.”

“This is the Federation Starship USS Hanson,” Drew said in a clear voice, “we have received your distress call and are on approach, can you give us any details as to what has happened?”

There was a brief pause followed by the sound of static and finally a husky female voice.

“Hanson… faulty equipment explosion…. er level many casualties….. assistance.”

Drew shot a look over to the Ops station to see if there was anything they could do to clear up the transmission; he could see both Jason and Black working frantically.

“At our present speed we should be with you in ten minutes,” Drew replied, “we have full medical and repair teams standing by to help, hold in there.”

“Thank you Hanson,” came the response as the channel closed.

“Cadet,” Drew said walking over towards the science station, “what was that you were saying about a ship leaving the area at high warp?”

Cadet Garrett explained quickly about the problem with the sensors and the unknown cargo vessel that was now leaving the space at high speed.

“Interesting,” Drew said as he walked back towards the centre of the bridge, “Cadet Black try to hail them.”

“Aye sir,” Black replied, “no response, but they are defiantly receiving the hail sir.”

Drew nodded his head in acknowledgement and returned to his chair. Rubbing his chin he considered his options. It could not allow the cargo ship to leave the system, but at the same time he had to ensure the safety of the Outpost. It was still unclear how extensive the damage to the Outpost was, they could require the full medical faculties of the Hanson on the other, if the cargo ship had caused the explosion, they could be planning further attacks. Drew could therefore only see one solution.

“S’reena, prepare an away team,” he ordered, “I want you to take the delta flyer shuttle to the Outpost and give whatever assistance you can, the Hanson will pursue the cargo vessel. We can out run them so it should not be too difficult to get them into a tractor beam.”

“Aye Admiral,” S’reena replied, rising from her chair, “Bridge to Engineering, Cadet James meet me in shuttle bay two.”

As S’reena walked around the bridge she gave further orders; “Konal, and Cadets D’Ville, Grey and Sol you are all with me.”

Drew nodded in approval at his First Officer’s selection, a visit to the Outpost may just be the thing that Konal needed make her open up.

“Cadet Garrett, continue tracking the cargo vessel, see if you can establish their status” Drew ordered, “Cadet Black continue trying to open a channel, see if you can hack into their communication systems and force a channel.”


As the away team left the bridge, Drew gave his final orders;

“Crystal when the shuttle is ready for departure drop to impulse, as soon as they have departed, set course to intercept the cargo vessel at warp 9.5”

“Aye Admiral,” Crystal replied.

As everyone else got on with their work, Drew lowered his head and silently wished the away team luck.

[tkalen]

Kalen got up as soon as Commander Hope gave the order to accompany her on the away mission. "Yes Ma'm."

This was his first real away mission and he was a little nervous. He was a pilot and didnt think he would be going on to
many away missions but here he was not even outta the academy yet and going on one. "Oh well" he thought, "It cant be any worse then when I boarded ships as a pirate, but when we did that we were usually armed to the teeth. I wonder how heavily armed i should be?" He relinquished the controls to crystal and followed Commander Hope to the delta flyer.

"Commander Hope, this is my first way mission. what do you suggest i bring?"

[ashleydville]

“Aye Admiral,” S’reena replied, rising from her chair, “Bridge to Engineering, Cadet James meet me in shuttle bay two.”

As S’reena walked around the bridge she gave further orders; “Konal, and Cadets D’Ville, Grey and Sol you are all with me.”

D'Ville looked up from science station and blinked at first he thought he had just imagined the call to the away team, but the eyes was just glancing off him to Cadet Grey.

He grabbed the PaDD from the panel in front of him and headed for the turbolift, he upload a deck plan and crew roster to the PaDD. The lift doors open he moved quickly to equipment just inside the Shuttlebay. He grabbed tricoders and passed them out the other away members.

He fixed a Scientific Tricorder to his right hip.

He then waited for the shuttle to be prepped.

[Deleted]

“Cadet,” Admiral Drew said nearing the science station, “What was that you were saying about a ship leaving the area at high warp?”

”Long range sensors detected what appeared to be a sensor ghost. Once it was determined the sensors were malfunctioning and the error was fixed, we picked up a Shelley class cargo vessel moving away from the station at their maximum velocity, Warp 8.2. A Shelley class freighter was scheduled to make a delivery of new mining equipment yesterday, but I haven’t been able to confirm if it’s the same vessel since they’re not transmitting their registry number.” Megan replied.

“Interesting,” he responded as he walked back towards the command center. As contact with the cargo ship failed and an away team was organized, she listened to the Captain’s orders while watching the sensors. Part of her wished she was on the away team, but the other part wanted to stay and finish what she started.

“Cadet Garrett, continue tracking the cargo vessel, see if you can establish their status.” Admiral Drew ordered.

“Aye, Sir.” Megan responded as she turned back to her station. Something felt wrong about this whole situation, especially the sensor malfunction. The chances of six sub-systems malfunctioning at once were quite slim, especially considering that, according to Megan's calculations, the cargo ship would have been out of sensor range by the time the Hanson arrived at the outpost if the malfunction hadn't already been discovered.

Following the Admiral’s orders, Megan first focused her scans on the ship itself trying to ascertain its status. The ship was producing massive amounts of energy, but there were obvious signs of distress coming from the engines. They wouldn’t be able to hold their speed much longer.

“Admiral, their engines have exceeded their maximum limits. They shouldn’t be able to hold their speed for long.” Megan reported.

After receiving an acknowledgment from Admiral Drew, Megan decided the next course of action should be to correctly identify the ship. Since they weren’t sending their identification and they were too far away to make use of short-range visual sensors, the options were limited.

Deciding to take another approach, Megan locked sensors onto their ion trail and brought their path up on her screen, tracing it back until its arrival the day before.

“Sir, I’ve traced the vessel’s ion train. They entered the system yesterday and were in orbit of the outpost for just over six hours before retreating behind one of the three moons orbiting the outpost. They stayed there until just before we received the distress call, when they left the system at Warp 8.2.” Megan reported. “This would fit with the timeline of the scheduled delivery."

[Deleted]

All the way to the bridge (which took about 2 minutes and probably less), Lucy went over the science officer's posture as she had answered their questions. It wasn't all that easy reading a Cardassian's expressions and attitude but Lucy did her best.

As a counselor-still-in-training, the better she concentrated on reading emotions that were shown in facial expressions and hand gestures, the better she would do at her job. There was something Cmdr. Manto wanted to say but something else was holding her back. The comment about the two women getting together next time for some "girl talk" would be just the thing to open a free-flowing conversation. Lunch? Dinner? Dinner, Lucy decided. A couple of glasses of some kind of alcohol might make the tongue loosen up.

Besides, maybe Lucy would find a willing ear for her thoughts about the wonderful Dr. Westgate.

The turbo lift doors opened onto the bridge right then and Cadet Grey's instructor was saying, "Westgate and Grey reportin', sir."

While getting acclimated to the events unfolding on the bridge, Lucy felt her level of excitement rising.

Westgate nudged her and said softly, "Notice, now. Ever'one's at their peak. Get a feel for it. An' be ready for some surprises."

“Aye sir,” Black was saying, “channel open.”

“This is the Federation Starship USS Hanson,” Drew said in a clear voice, “we have received your distress call and are on approach, can you give us any details as to what has happened?”

There was a brief pause followed by the sound of static and finally a husky female voice.

Lucy didn't listen to the words as much as she was straining to hear the stress behind them. Whoever that was seemed to be hiding something. They wanted help alright but only after they hid their problem.

Leaning toward her sensei (OOC: teacher), Lucy whispered, "Can you hear those stress levels?"

Cmdr. Westgate nodded but kept his eyes steady ahead of him. Then, a hurried reply (and Lucy never thought he could hurry anything!) causing the cadet to listen even harder at the voice coming out of static.

Cadet Grey watched the captain move around the bridge. She tried to read his thoughts by his actions and the infliction behind his words. It sounded like a monotone at first. Then she could hear the rationality behind the words as he gathered the necessary information. There was knowledge and understanding in the way he was processing everything. Lucy smiled with a sense of pride.

“S’reena, prepare an away team,” Captain Drew ordered, “I want you to take the delta flyer shuttle to the Outpost and give whatever assistance you can, the Hanson will pursue the cargo vessel. We can out run them so it should not be too difficult to get them into a tractor beam.”

“Aye Admiral,” S’reena replied, rising from her chair, “Bridge to Engineering, Cadet James meet me in shuttle bay two.” As the XO walked around the bridge she gave further orders; “Konal, and Cadets D’Ville, Grey and Sol you are all with me.”

Cadet Grey? Did she say Cadet Grey? Lucy gave a panicked look at Cmdr. Westgate. He grinned back at her in reassurance.

Lucy felt her panic give way to mere fright. Unable to control the movement, Lucy reached for the instructor's hand and lightly squeezed it. To her delight and surprise, he squeezed her's back.

Quickly, before anyone could notice the confusion she was feeling, Lucy turned to the turbolift.

[Deleted]

S'reena sped into the turbolift, the cadets in tow. The turbolift would take them at the hangarbay where the Delta Flyer, named USS Graeme after one of Drew's longstanding friends, was docked. Konal stood beside her, looking none too happy with the entire situation. "Commander, are you all right?" S'reena whispered, leaning in towards the Cardassian woman.

The turbolift delivered them to the hangar deck, where the maintenance crew had already prepped the smaller craft for departure "Into the Flyer!" S'reena ordered as she ran towards the spacecraft. Once they were aboard, the smaller craft was released from her docking clamps and dropped into space. "Grey, take the engineering station!" S'reena shouted over her shoulder as she took auxiliary control, "keep an eye on environmental control, and keep scanning life support on the station!" Though Grey was no engineer, there was little for the counseling cadet to do until they boarded the outpost.

(Grey, report on station life support, come up with anything)

She watched Konal settle at the science station together with Grey. "D'Ville, longrange scanners, what's coming in and out of the station, and where are their key issues? Also, find us a safe place to land and feed the co-ordinates to Cadet Sol." Again, she locked eyes with Konal. "Commander, perhaps you would like to monitor communications from the station? Report anything relevant that you pick up."

(D'Ville: what goes on aboard the station and where can we dock? Be creative)

Finally, the Romulan turned to her pilot. "Cadet Sol, set course for starbase, keep weapons on alert. I'll keep an eye on security protocols while you pilot the Graeme. Treat her gently cadet, this vessel is your captain's personal pride."

(Sol: take us through some evasive maneuvres...get us fired upon etc etc)

[Deleted]

“Cadet Black continue trying to open a channel, see if you can hack into their communication systems and force a channel.” Adm Drew said.

"Yes Sir" Sandy replied

Hacking wasnt her strong point, and she always let pride get in the way of asking for assitance, so she attenpted it alone. She tried a simple hacking procedure that she knew well, but she knew it wouldnt work, and indeed it didnt, she was blocked strait away.

This was it, it was time to swallow her pride and ask for help, she turned and sad to her instructor, "Sir" she said, to which he turned, "Im not very good at hacking, could you help out please" she added.

(Tag Reynolds)

[ashleydville]

She watched Konal settle at the science station together with Grey. "D'Ville, long range scanners, what's coming in and out of the station, and where are their key issues? Also, find us a safe place to land and feed the co-ordinates to Cadet Sol." Again, she locked eyes with Konal. "Commander, perhaps you would like to monitor communications from the station? Report anything relevant that you pick up."

'Vacuum going to the station, and they are venting atmosphere from levels 15-20 Engineering, the main reactor is off-line, all deck are at 1/3 normal G. I reading 5 main groups of crew, they could be in emergency shelters.'

He glanced at the PaDD with the deck plan.

'One is main sickbay, I am reading over 15 crew in there, at the current power usage the battery will be dead in 25 mins and with all life support. I am reading bodies around the engineering levels, 4 in total. I now getting weapon signature reading from the blast point centered on level 16, the match is Romulan. They hit the main EPS junction on 16. They knew where to kill the station.'

Ashley looked worried, was the Romulan/Federation treaty coming apart already ?

[Deleted]

The turbolift came to a halt at the hangar deck, where the maintenance crew had already prepped the smaller craft for departure.

"Into the Flyer!" the XO ordered as she ran towards the spacecraft.

The team raced into the cratft. Within a few seconds, they were in open space. Lucy wasn't expecting the suddenness of being released from the ship's docking clamps and dropped into space. Her stomach gave a lurch.

"Grey, take the engineering station!" S'reena shouted over her shoulder as she took auxiliary control, "keep an eye on environmental control, and keep scanning life support on the station!"

She wasn't an engineer although she'd taken the required courses. Now she was wondering why she hadn't paid more attention to Lt.Cmdr. V'Soran. She was told this might happen!

Rushing to the station at the front of the shuttle, Cadet Grey keyed in her command codes -cadet command codes, that was- and was surprised, shocked and downright thrilled that she understood what was being said on the read-out. Sleeping with that engineering book under her pillow for 7 days must have worked.

"Commander, they have very limited defensive capabilities. They're only protected by a type-four deflector shield and the station is -rather was- defended by two phaser banks. There wasn't much in the way of personnel, either. I'm reading... Sir, they've venting plasma into space. It's a small, steady stream. The weapons are off-line and her shields are at 30% and falling. There isn't much time, sir. With the atmosphere falling sharply, we might not get there in time!"

Lucy's shoulder's hunched. Test or no test, this was intense!

[Deleted]

Having already been rather pleased with her Cadet, who had just finished passing out phasers, Commander Hope ushered the make-shift crew into the flier.

Manning the science station, next to Cadet Grey, Konal let out a small chuckle. "Hardly lunch, eh?" Konal didn't look up from her console to check for a response. She knew Lucy would find the humor.

Grey, in response, gave the state of the Outpost. Konal spoke in tandem with her when she briefed the bridge of their defensive systems. When the mining consortium took over the Outpost, they left the original equipment. The life support, waste regeneration, and cafeteria of the outpost were one of a kind; self sufficient. The consortium left this part alone, may their workers have living quarters. The research facility, however, was immediately demolished, as it sat upon a less rocky surface. The sonic disruptors could easily move the underlying bedrock there so the transport beam could extract the dilithium.

Lucy hunched her shoulders, and Commander Manto did as well, but for altogether different reasons. Watching her former work site in ruins, was not enjoyable.

"Mr. D'ville - I never got a chance to confirm the readings... What was the metallurgical analysis of the prior explosions?" The current explosions were due to the plasma leak, and Konal had Grey working on the cause of the existence.

Rubbing her neck ridges, clearly moved negatively by the destruction of what used to be her passion in life- the Cardassian continued adjusting sensor readings, looking over the Cadet inexperienced in Engineering's shoulders a few times to make sure she was doing the job she only had only the mandatory training in.

[tkalen]

Kalen took the helm as directed by Commander Hope. The delta flyer was completely different than the Hanson. The craft was more maneuverable and he liked it.

"Setting course for the starbase. Shields up and weapons armed."

Kalen set a course for the station. With the delta flyers speed it would only take 5 minutes to get there. He was thinking about what cadet Deville had said earlier abour reading romulan weapons signatures but Kalen couldnt believe that. Kalen wondered why the Romulans would attack a Federation instillation.

Kalen took a second to glance down at his sensors to make sure everything was normal. "What the.." Kalen murmured as he quickly turned the Delta Flyer hard to port. "Commander I have a ship decloaking. She's firing at us."

"Request permission to return fire?" Kalen said as he took the flyer through a series of Evasive maneuvors. "Shields at 95%."

[Deleted]

"I am not a sir," S'reena snapped at the first person who addressed her as such, "I am not male therefor I do not qualify as a sir...next time, you address me as ma'am, understood?" She cast a troubled look at the forward window as the Romulan Warbird decloaked off their port bow and started using them for target practice.

"Permission to return fire?"

S'reena crossed glances with the navigations cadet. "By all means," she replied, her hands already flying over her console. "Take evasive maneuvres. Grey, give me shield and engine status! Can we make it to the Outpost?"

(Sol/Grey)

She glanced over her shoulder while the computer calculated the most perfect shot to make. "D'Ville, signal the Hanson and tell them we're in trouble. They should still be in communications range. Tell them we got Romulan company!"

(D'Ville)

The Romulan first officers ignored the stares she was getting from the cadets, though she did wonder how they felt. "Commander Manto, under the circumstances, I believe it would be better if you take command of this particular away mission. I would understand if you and the cadets would feel that my position is compromised due to the nature of our attackers."

Of course, she would feel disappointed if the cadets would have such thoughts, as she was first officer for a reason. "Cadet D'Ville, see if you can flag that Warbird and patch me through to their commander. I want to have a strong word with him or her. The outpost is civillian and certainly no threat for them! Konal, get in touch with the Outpost, see if anyone is still able to answer us and direct us to a safe place to dock. Get a move on people, time is short!"

[tkalen]

With the warbird decloaking directly infront of them Kalen had no choice after he turned the Delta flyer port but to execute a barrel roll back to starboard right over the warbird. Because of their close range the warbird missed the flyer with their first round of torpedoes.

"Executing evasive patern Delta 5," Kalen told Commander Hope as he fired the flyers phasers at the warbird.

Kalen new that now the hard part would begin now. "Ma'am, i can outmaneuvor the warbird for a little while but our phasers arent going to do much damage against them."

Kalen hoped that he could evade long enough for the Hanson to get within range.

"Brace yourselfs, she's firing again."

The Delta flyer shook as it was hit with the weapons fire from the enemy ship.

[Deleted]

"Shields at 78%!" Cadet Grey called out.

Lucy fell forward, feeling a sharp pain in her left wrist as she caught herself from flying over the console. Continuing with her duties, she watched the data readout plunge downward.

"Shields down to 48%. Auxiliary power rerouted to shields."

Lucy discovered that she was unable to make her fingers work on her left hand. Pulling her arm back, she rested her forearm on the console to the side of the keyboard. As long as it didn't move, it didn't hurt... Much.

Cmdr. Manto moved backwards to the command seat. Lucy's eyes followed her then snapped back to the viewscreen.

"Incoming!" she yelled. "Brace for impact!"

Cadet Grey was thrown back into her seat, her arm dropping to her side. She reached over, grabbed her sleeve and hoisted it up onto the arm of the chair. Forcing herself forward, Lucy watched the data scroll by.

"Commander, life support on the outpost is down to 43%. Suggest we break away and head over there."

<Manto>

"Ma'am, i can outmaneuvor the warbird for a little while but our phasers arent going to do much damage against them," Kalen Sol said.

Lucy waited and watched out the viewscreen as another torpedo streaked toward them.

[Deleted]

||IRW Kraken
||Romulan Warbird

Cmdr. Ramat dipped his head and looked at the Delta Flyer through his long eyelashes. She wouldn't get away this time. She was his, only his!

The shuttle took hit after hit but was able to maneuver out of the way. Ramat leaned forward, placed his right elbow on his knee and reached back to grab the arm of the chair. He pressed hard, his knuckles turning white with the strain.

If I can't have her, no one can!

Ramat could see the beautiful young woman walking toward him on the promenade. He was unable to remember which Star Base they were on. Her name was S'reena Hope. Married, but that didn't make any difference. He wanted her and whenever he wanted something, he got it!

The luck of finding her out here in the same place he was patroling, was incredible. Once they met face to face, she would love him.

"I said to disable her! Not destroy her! I want that ship intact!" he shouted.

TBC

NPC Commander Ramat

[ashleydville]

She glanced over her shoulder while the computer calculated the most perfect shot to make. "D'Ville, signal the Hanson and tell them we're in trouble. They should still be in communications range. Tell them we got Romulan company!"

=^=D'Ville to USS Hanson, Mayday under attack from Romulan Warbird, Mayday repeat under attack from Romulan warbirds.=^=

Ashley looked at the signal strength it was fine but all Starfleet subspace channels was being block.

'Ma'am they block subspace, will try some thing different, helm hold a straight course 145 mark 25 full impulse.'

Ashley waiting until the Flyer came to the right heading and fired a low power phaser beam in the direction of the Hanson.

He was doing some thing he had read in an old Sci-Fi pulp comic from the early 20th Century. He had tuned it to the last know shield frequency of the Hanson. He transmitted the last message he tried sending over subspace all he could do know was wait.

He did a quick Scan of the Romulan Warbird it was the old D'deridex class he smiled.

'Commander, I got an idea helm head straight for the aft port of the Warbird and drop shields as we cross the shields and slow to 45 kph. There a phaser blind spot there.'

Ashley waited until they was inside the and fired single phaser at what looked like a minor spot on the hull. There was a brief flare of light then impulse engines did a strange cough and all power on the Warbird failed.

A incoming message light appeared on the panel in front of Ashley.

'Commander, being hailed audio only.'

Ashley was looked at the scan he did of the Warbird and wonder how he saw that faultily panel on the Engineering section. He rechecked it and saw that most of the Warbird seem to be a mass of repairs and phaser scarring. The noway that tactic would have worked with Romulans onboard so this was new mystery to be solved.

[Deleted]

Before Admiral Drew could respond, Megan’s station began to signal a change in readings. Frowning, Megan’s fingers flew over the consol as she brought up the readings. “Admiral, I’m picking up a phased signal from the direction of the outpost. There’s an audio signal imbedded in the carrier wave.”

Megan moved to play the transmission even as Admiral Drew confirmed his order to do so. At first, it was only static, but as Megan repeated the message and moved to clear it up, the words began to come through all too clearly.

=^= D'Ville…Hanson…under…repeat, under attack from Romulan warbirds. =^=

There was a brief moment of silence before chaos erupted on the bridge. Megan shifted her sensors from the ion trail to the Delta Flyer class Graeme and reported, “They’re under heavy fire, and their shields are weakening. I’m detecting a subspace jamming signal blocking all communication with the shuttle.”

As soon as she’d reported, she watched in surprise as the warbird lost power after a single shot. “Sir, I’m not sure how, but the Graeme had just disabled the warbird’s power systems. I’m detecting communication between the warbird and the shuttle, and the jamming signal is down.” she informed the Admiral.