Star Trek: Theurgy

Star Trek: Theurgy | Season 2 => Episode 01: Advent of War => Topic started by: Auctor Lucan on May 03, 2021, 03:44:10 PM

Title: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Auctor Lucan on May 03, 2021, 03:44:10 PM

HIDDEN RAPTOR

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[ Drauc T'Laus (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Drauc_T%27Laus) | Briefing Room | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nolan @Havenborn @SummerDawn  
[Show/Hide]
The podium of the Fighter Assault Bay's briefing room was usually frequented by the Wolf Leader, the Chief of the Deck or someone from the Senior Staff, but in that brief time after arriving at Qo'noS, a series of events had led to there being someone entirely unexpected standing there instead.

In his threadbare robe and scarred hands flexing at his sides, Drauc T'Laus stared at these warp fighter pilots in their seats, seeing how few they were compared to when he first came aboard the Theurgy. Be that as it may, given what he was about to tell them - on behalf of Mission Ops and with the approval of the Senior Staff - whatever numbers were available had to do. Next to him stood Thea, serving as some kind of unspoken verification that what was about to be said was true, and regardless whom Drauc would be, the urgency dictated that he spoke with the Lone Wolves directly. They had all been summoned by Thea three minutes ago, and the only reason they were present so quickly was that the Theurgy was in Yellow Alert, and the Lone Wolves had been mission ready to begin with. And a mission they now had on heir hands, sufficed to say.

"I am Drauc T'Laus," he rasped quietly to the wolves before him, staring at them through the tresses of his burgundy hair, "formerly of Starfleet Security, and I am currently working with the Intelligence Department aboard. This, in regard to the threat of Romulus. Commander Fisher is currently a captive of Martok's rival, so he cannot be here to speak for me, and there was no time to send anyone else and also brief them of the circumstances. The Senior Staff has already approved of this mission, and I am merely here to give you the intel you need rather than giving orders. That is for your Squadron Commanding Officer to do. Time is of the essence, so I ask that you listen. Twenty minutes ago, I got a message from an acquaintance of mine in the Star Navy."

Drauc looked towards Thea, who in turn interacted with the screen behind Drauc, showing a Romulan face. [Show/Hide]
"This is Situka, a Donatra sympathiser working in the Star Navy, and whom I know from my years beyond the RNZ. After Praetor Tal'Aura declared war on the Federation, Situka have assisted Commander Fisher by giving his contacts in the Empire intel about Thalaron weaponry development, but the message I just received revealed her current commissioning, it being on an D'viret-class incursion cruiser belonging to the Tal Shiar... and it is heading for Qo'noS as we speak. It will be in orbit over the First City in twenty minutes, and Situka claims it may carry a thalaron bomb akin to the one detonated in Paris."

"Bloody hell," said Lieutenant Rawley, seated with her exosuit's boots resting on the back of the chair in front of her.

Needless to say, time was short, so Drauc immediately gave the last information the Lone Wolves needed before they addressed the threat to the mission and to the Klingon Empire as a whole, since should all other contingencies of the Infested fail, then the Romulan cruiser might be the final solution of theirs. "Situka is defecting, having given us the cruiser's coordinates and heading, and she will sabotage the cruiser's cloak if you approach it. She will try to leave on a shuttle, carrying Tal Shiar secrets, so try to recruit a House K'Tal captain to take her aboard a Klingon ship, unless she managed to leave on a Romulan shuttle. In which case, she needs an escort back here. This Ship A.I. has sent her station's encrypted subspace frequency to your warp fighters, but since she is undercover, she will have to contact you first, lest you may compromise her."

Thea spoke up next, arms folded behind her back and shoulders square. "I am is still locked here in my standoff with House Mo'Kai, and with the threat on Praxis, I am afraid you are on your own for the time being. You are free to launch immediately. On behalf of the Senior Staff, I cannot stress enough the urgency and the required haste in this matter.... Good luck, Lone Wolves."

Rawley leapt on her feet, ready to launch her Valkyrie, and looked towards Thomas with a grin. "Commander Ravon, I fancy me some Romulan arse. Let's blow her up, aye? Your orders?"

On the podium, Drauc merely stared at the fighter pilots, knowing that they were the sole means of survival for Situka, hoping she would outlive her defection and the sabotage she was prepared to commit on the incursion cruiser.


OOC: This is the starter for the Story Objective Hidden Raptor. If the Oneida makes it of its battle with House Mo'Kai in the thread New Renegade, this Objective may be an option for where they might arrive in the sector around Qo'noS. It is too early to introduce the Oneida yet, however, but it's a potential option to bear in mind, given opportunity. @Nolan , @Havenborn and @SummerDawn , have fun! You have 7 days to reply. :)
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Havenborn on May 10, 2021, 11:02:08 AM
[ LT Daniel Havenborn, Callsign: Salvo & ENS K’Ren, Callsign: Neko | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class “Hellcat” ] ] Attn: @Nolan, @SummerDawn, @Auctor Lucan

Daniel sat next to K’Ren in the briefing room as he listened to the mercenary speak.  It seemed like a fairly simple mission, extract the defector and destroy the cruiser.  As long as they could convince a Klingon ship to help out, which admittedly shouldn’t be that hard considering that Klingons and Romulans don’t get along well.  A pair of Mark-IIIs and Daniel’s Gryphon plus a Klingon ship, preferably a cruiser of some kind but they’d have to take what they could get, even if it was just a Bird-of-Prey.  He had decided that K’Ren needed something to occupy her time at the moment, the short rest that they had had during the Theurgy’s transit to Kronos had been good for her but if Theurgy needed a pilot for whatever reason back here he decided that Knight would be a more stable option, his friend was rated on the Mark-IIIs after all.  It would be interesting to have K’Ren as his RIO, he was more used to her flying as his wingmate after all.

He also wanted to make sure that K’Ren had something to focus on other than Deacon right now.  He listened to Thea explain the urgency of the mission and the blessing of the Senior Staff and that was good enough for him.  If they could prevent more innocent lives from being targeted then that’s all that would matter.  He looked over at K’Ren as he heard Lieutenant Rawley jump up excited to get the mission started.  He stood up and waited for Commander Ravon to issue their orders to begin the mission.  “Salvo and Neko ready for the mission Commander.”  Daniel said as he again looked back at K’Ren.  Once they were underway he’d check in with her and see how she was doing, he knew that it had been quite some time since she had sat in the RIO position and even had a second person in a fighter with her since she had taken up piloting a Mark-III.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Nolan on May 15, 2021, 09:55:43 AM
[ Lt Cmdr thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Briefing Room | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Havenborn @SummerDawn 

The wolves had been licking their wounds after the last major battle with Klingon forces. Their forces spread thin to say the least, Ravon had been present during the senior staff meeting that opted for the wolves to be used on a quick response mission. A time critical mission and it didn't take long before he and Drauc had moved over to the fighter assault bay. Seated at the front row, Thomas had one leg crossed over the other while he watched the Romulan operative speak. He only glanced once or twice over his shoulders to look at the present pilots. Those that were combat ready and had been called in to attend the briefing.

The goal of the mission was rather simple. Get to Qo'nos, find the defector, destroy the ship if it had the Thalaron equipment on board. When Drauc was done, Thomas stood up, Rawley eager to get into a new fight and Daniel spoke up as well to volunteer for the mission with K'Ren. Ravon looked at the both of them and he had a slight worry about the Caitain crewmate. Heh ad hears about her loss, yet hadn't gotten the chance to speak to her in person about it. Daniel however seemed to be looking out for his wing mate and if they deemed themselves ready for the mission to come, he wouldn't deny any more help.

"You heard the man, this is a time sensitive mission. Get in your flightsuits. I want us on route to Qo'nos in five minutes." he stated decisively and gave a nod for them to get changed before turning to Drauc "We'll do our best to get your contact out, though I can't promise we'll succeed. The prevention of that ship hitting Qo'nos is adamant, it'll be our main focus."

Without further ado, Thomas turned on his heels to march out of the briefing room. Leaving Drauc in there whilst he entered the locker room to change gear. It didn't take long, under a minute really since they were drilled for these kinds of situations "I hope your ships were re armed after the battle. We won't have time to switch load outs." Picking up his helmet, he left the locker room headed over to the fighter that was his and fired up the systems. He started to look for any Klingon vessel that was close enough to help them out. When he saw K'Ren enter her craft he called out to her "Neko! Try and find us some support ship for the mission while we fire our birds up and head on out."

Looking at Rawley whilst she boarded her ship, he waited till she got her helmet on before contacting her as well "No heroics this time. Surgical precision is what I'm aiming for today."
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: SummerDawn on May 22, 2021, 07:32:55 AM
[ Ens. K'Ren (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=K%27Ren) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nolan, @Havenborn and @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]

K'Ren listened to the briefing from the Romulan agent (or whatever he was) brief them on the mission. The mission sounded straight forward enough, though almost any mission given by intel rarely ran to plan, so they'd most likely have to adapt to rapidly changing mission parameters, in many ways like a furball of a battlefield, just less chaos. She glanced over at Daniel, who'd asked her to fly as his RIO for the mission. It'd been a long time since she'd been in the back seat, she'd always been the front seater in her old craft, and now solo in her latest fighter.

She'd understood Daniel's logic in bringing her along. He needed a RIO, and with her pulled from flight status, there was nobody to man her fighter, but by placing her in the back seat, he freed up his RIO to man her fighter, keeping the number of available birds higher. She followed the other pilots into the squad locker room and began to suit up. It felt good to put her flight suit on, even if she wasn't going to have the controls of a bird, at least she'd have something to distract her, hopefully enough of a distraction that she'd be okay till they got back and she could properly grieve Deacon's passing.

She nodded when Ravon gave her an order to find a friendly klingon vessel to follow them, "Understood Commander." she answered back as they headed out onto the flight deck, force of habit she walked around the craft checking it's surfaces before she went over to the ladder for the back seat. She settled into the seat as a crew chief finished some last minute items, and she connected her suit into the fighters life support and comms systems. Felt a bit weird to not have a stick in front of her, but she had enough comms & sensor gear to keep her busy once things got crazy.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Havenborn on May 25, 2021, 11:04:11 AM
[ LT Daniel Havenborn, Callsign: Salvo | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class “Hellcat” ] ] Attn: @Nolan, @SummerDawn, @Auctor Lucan

Daniel nodded as Commander Ravon gave his orders and followed the other pilots out into the hangar.  He walked over to his fighter and nodded to the techs who had finished reloading his quantum torpedoes, luckily he was still loaded for anti-ship warfare so he would at least have that edge against the Romulan vessel.  He did wonder what it was going to be like having K’Ren as his RIO.  He and Knight had a good rapport and a lot of times Knight was able to predict what Daniel needed in order to complete their missions.

He climbed the ladder to the cockpit and sat down running through the pre-flight checklist and activating systems.  “All set back there Neko?”  Daniel asked as he closed the canopy of his fighter and activated the thrusters preparing to launch his fighter back into the vacuum of space.  He always looked forward flying, even during combat sorties.  “Good, let me know if you feel a madness fit.”  Daniel said, if something happened and she had a fit he was working on a shortcut that could cut her console just in case.  He hoped that this mission would keep her focused but he was going to make sure he had options available.

He began to taxi his fighter into position, lining up behind Commander Ravon, a moment after he launched Daniel would engage his thrusters. “Salvo to Razor, ready to launch on your mark.”  Daniel said.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Auctor Lucan on June 09, 2021, 01:14:04 PM
[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Evelyn_Rawley,_callsign_%22Ghost%22) | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ]
Attn: @Nolan @SummerDawn @Havenborn
[Show/Hide]
No heroics this time. Surgical precision is what I'm aiming for today."

"Fine," had Rawley said whilst rolling her eyes, not keen on playing doctor with her Valkyrie. She preferred 'playing doctor' off duty, for sure, but when taking on a Romulan spy-ship that could potentially bomb the fuck out of Qo'noS? She'd rather have the delicate touch of a sledge hammer if it got the job done. Still, orders were orders she supposed, so when it was time to launch, she was ready.

The Chief of the Deck and his crew had patched up her Valkyrie as well as they could on such short notice. Luckily, the damage sustained over Andor had been largely superficial, with a majority of the hull plating being freshly replicated, and a lot of the computer components had been replaced to ensure smooth handling and reliability. The pre-flight checks showed some niggles and minor errors, some power fluctuations, but still within tolerable levels. Having made her armament request before the briefing, her Valkyrie now packed four torpedo launchers (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=AC-409_Mk_III_Valkyrie#-_Torpedo_Launchers), all of them stacked with quantum torpedoes, and she would rely on the standard amount of microtorpedoes housed inside the fuselage. She tended to run dry of those rather quickly, so she'd simply have to be a bit more conservative with those.

"Thanks!" she called to the weapon technicians when they'd finished with her launchers, and she idly wondered where Sithick was at. She had gotten so used to seeing the Gorn on the flight deck that she actually missed him when he wasn't there. Dismissing the thought, Rawley donned her helmet and closed the canopy, ready for launch, and soon enough, the order came, and she throttled up her thrusters - bringing her into the cue out of the bay. Once it was her turn, she was off, switching to impulse once she cleared the launch strip. "This is Ghost. Setting me course according to the intel. Thea gave us some encrypted subspace frequency to that Romulan defector's duty station, aye?" she asked over the squad channel. "I suppose she doesn't want to have our voices heard all over that bridge, right? Have you already asked your computer to send a text message to her, Razor? She might wanna know we're coming to collect her arse, so it be time to fuck up the cloak, innit?"

They shot past the destroyed moon of Praxis on their course towards the inbound Romulan ship, and little did they know that the Allegiant was there on a mission of its own, addressing another contingency of the Infested should their plans on Qo'noS be foiled.

[ Ensign Liam Herrold (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Liam_Herrold) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]
Attn: @Eden @P.C. Haring @Lathaniel @Nero
[Show/Hide]
Not long after the Valkyries had appeared, rumours began to spread on the flight deck that the bridge had received an unexpected hail, and that the 'Freedom Sentinel' was about to reach Qo'noS. Allegedly, this was an ally that the insider that supported the Theurgy from inside Starfleet Headquarters had found, and apparently, it wasn't just some shuttle... but a whole starship filled with Starfleet officers that had learned the truth about Statfleet Command. It was the USS Oneida, an Iroquois-class ship under the command of a Captain Jackson, and they had helped Captain Ives and Martok on their voyage to Qo'noS.

So, when their new ally had dropped out of warp, Liam had learned that they were about to receive new pilots, and that they needed fighters immediately for launch. With a thalaron-armed Romulan warbird inbound for Qo'noS, there was no time for flight tests or extended theory sessions. The new fighter pilots needed to know how to fly MK III Valkyries and Valravns, and they needed to launch immediately. Unique circumstances to say the least, but Liam had a plan.

"You, you and you," he said pointing out three of the deck crew, "You are the best test pilots I have here, and I need you on standby on the flights stairs to the cockpits so that you can show them the differences between our birds and the Mk II Valkyries, which would be the birds these new wolves flew before. I need you to configure the flight control HUDs to have the Mk II interface, which should go a long way to make them understand the controls. I know, the actual differences are nominal, but the new layouts may throw them. Go on, hop to it. Weapon technicians, arm the birds for capital ship engagement. Torpedo launchers, hellbores and cluster bombs, two of each, and while they will have the twin-mount turrets, I don't know if they have learned to use them yet. For those who pick a Mk III, caution them about the tetryon pulse phase cannon. They will not know how it affects handling, and if they are unprepared and deploy it, they might shear something on their Valkyrie. Understood? Get going then."

The Romulan in the threadbare clothes approached, having learned from Thea that he'd had to brief a new group of fighter pilots, and Liam was a little bit intimidated by the brooding alien with scarred hands and unkempt hair. He seemed like he could explode into action any second, the intensity of his stare not the least softened by the impression that he was able to sense people behind him as well. He said naught, and Liam had little to offer. As if saved from having to talk to the Romulan, a few shimmering figures appeared before them, materialising into Tactical CONN officers, already in exosuits and ready for the mission.

"Welcome to the Theurgy, I'm Chief Herrold," said Liam with a quick smile, his eyes not staying on the newcomers for long since he had to make sure his deck crew was on point with the readiness of the fighters.

"These are the mission parameters," rasped Drauc in a deep voice, flexing his scarred hands by his sides. He didn't seem to bother with an introduction. "A Donatra sympathiser is working in the Star Navy, serving aboard a D'viret-class incursion cruiser belonging to the Tal Shiar, and it is heading for Qo'noS as we speak. It will be in orbit over the First City in fifteen minutes, and the sympathiser - named Situka - claims it may carry a thalaron bomb. Just like the the one that detonated in Paris. No doubt you learned about this on the Oneida. Situka is defecting to the Theurgy, having given us the cruiser's coordinates and heading, and she will sabotage the cruiser's cloak as you approach it. The Lone Wolves have launched ahead of you, and is arranging for her extraction, but knowing my people, and the Tal Shiar, I suspect the Romulan ship will not so easily be deterred. In summary, extract Situka if you are able, but save Qo'noS. If Martok remains in power, the Infested will likely try to decimate the First City. That is all."

"Okay," said Liam, clearing his throat to get attention from the new wolves on the deck. "If you have a RIO with you, I suggest you pick either of the Valravn fighters on the far end of the bay, but if you are okay with flying solo, the Mk III Valkyries have substituted the role of a RIO with an upgraded computer interface. Take your pick, do it now, and my crew will help you sort things out in the cockpits. Time is of the essence, to listen well, listen quick, and launch as soon as you possibly can. Flight Ops is standing by to give you clearance. I hear Logan Hale, callsign Wraith, is waiting for you outside the bay in his Valravn, so follow his lead until you rendezvous with the other Lone Wolves. Unless you have any questions... good luck out there."

What a way to be transfer to a new ship...


OOC: Welcome to the thread, @Nero , @Eden , @Lathaniel and @P.C. Haring ! :)
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Stegro88 on June 11, 2021, 05:28:45 PM
[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Donna_Petterson,_callsign_%22Chance%22) | Wolf -11 | AKA Maxine ‘Max’ Gentry | | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn:  @Eden @P.C. Haring @Nero @Lathaniel
[Show/Hide]

"What a clusterfuck!” Max thought to herself as she watched the four fighters exit the Theurgy’s Fighter Assault Bay. By some vein of providence, she had been assigned to remain behind aboard the Theurgy in case they had some need of additional defence. “Like a single warp fighter is going to be able to do much out there. I’d be better off just making a run for it.”

That was something that she had considered while she had been showering. Entering the den, it was quickly demonstrated to Max why she was so uncomfortable wearing the exosuit. Unlike herself, who was still wearing the Starfleet uniform provided to her from when she was discharged from the Savi hospital, the other pilots wore very little, if anything, underneath their suits. Something she had taken to heart even as she considered how to get off the ship. 

Qo’noS was the capital of the Klingon Empire which meant that ships were coming and going all the time. At least, that would have been the norm if it wasn’t for the current political differences. Now, she’d be lucky if she could find a place to lay low and hide without the Theurgy being able to track her down. There were too many unknowns to risk going to the planet at the moment. She had considered simply flying away at the first opportunity but had quickly realised that that was a foolhardy notion. She was in a fighter and while it might have had the size of a runabout, it certainly wasn’t one. It just wasn’t designed for the kind of long duration flight that Max needed to be able to get somewhere useful. No, for now she was suck playing the part of her creator. The role of a wolf.

Shimmering light from outside the cockpit drew her attention and Max looked up to see three newcomers materialise, all of them in exosuits. The deck chief appeared to have been expecting them and Max was soon informed by Flight Ops that they were replacement pilots from another ship and that she wouldn't be launching with them.

“Terrific,” she noted after acknowledging the transmission. She watched the pilots separate and make for their assigned craft before looking back to her controls. She had used her free time well after her shower, familiarising herself with as much of the fighter as she could. Now, she waited for the arrivals to activate their comms.

“Alright pups,” she called out through a local channel, looking out of her cockpit. “My name is Chance but I won't be flying with you today. Try not to die,” Max quipped, trying to replicate some of the banter she had watched Donna use over the years. “If you have any questions, please direct them at Wraith. Otherwise, feel free to introduce yourselves,” she directed as she settled back into her seat. Her orders were to wait. It was something neither she, nor Donna hadn't been good at.


OOC: Post Edited as I was reminded that Max hasn't been allowed to launch as yet. Apologies for the confusion.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: P.C. Haring on June 21, 2021, 04:49:06 AM
[Lt. Reggie Suder, Callsign: Gemini | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn:  @Nolan  @Havenborn  @Auctor Lucan  @Stegro88

Reggie’s breath escaped her as the Oneida’s transporter beam released her.  The last time she had stood an a launch deck this large she’d been aboard a Spacedock.  Even the Omega training center didn’t have a launch deck this large.  She’d heard about the Theurgy class hull, knew it was sizable.  Even so nothing could prepare her for actually being aboard ship.

She turned at the sound of a man’s voice, likely that of the chief of the deck welcoming them to the ship.  Another voice started explaining the mission parameters and did a double take at the sight of a Romulan, clad in threadbare clothing.  She was no politician but she understood that relations with the Romulans were…complicated, that despite the Star Empire claiming credit for the attack on Earth, some were working against the empire…. A classic civil war scenario.  She bore the individual no ill will or hostility and was not one to shoot first.  Still she had to stop herself from drawing her phaser.  The thoughts of the rest came to her and she sensed no hostility towards the Romulan.  Between that and the lack of security presence guarding the man, she eased up.

The mission seemed simple enough, find the cruiser, extract the spy, and eliminate the thread the cruiser posed.  Preferably in that order.

The officer of the deck started talking again, explaining the locations of their two fighter options.  She did not care all that much for a computer as her RIO so she turned to the far end of the bay where the Valravns had been parked.  She clapped Kalil on his shoulder.

“Lets go to work.”

Together they made their way for the nearest Valravn.

She scrambled up the ladder and plopped herself down in the cockpit, much to the surprise of the deckhand who had been prepping the ship.  She slipped on her helmet, but did not secure it as she brought up the flight controls.  Something wasn’t right.  They were too familiar to her, unlike what she had seen while she was learning the ropes with Wraith.  After a moment, she recognized it as the configuration for the Vakyrie Mk II. 

That wouldn’t do.  If she was going to master the Valravn, she needed to immerse herself in it.  Perhaps not the most strategically sound if things went pear shaped, but she could always re-reconfigure the controls on the fly.

“Computer, reset flight controls to original configuration.”

The console blacked out and lit back up, this time in the configuration she had expected to see.

She snapped the helmet closed and began preflight.  She switched her commlink online, tying into both the squadron and the the Theurgy flight control comm circuits.

“Alright pups.  My name is Chance but I won't be flying with you today. Try not to die.  If you have any questions, please direct them at Wraith. Otherwise, feel free to introduce yourselves."

The sound of that voice, a pilot climbing into the cockpit.  There was something about her, a vibe,…
She shrugged it off.  Probably nothing more than pre-engagement adrenaline combined with the opportunity to haze the new kids.  Someone like Chance… had to be her call sign… would not show respect until it was earned in battle.  Too bad that day would not be today.

“This is Lieutenant Regiene Suder, call sign Gemini, logging on.  In my back seat,” she turned and gave him a playful wink.  The entendre not withstanding, their relationship had never gone down that route.  “I have Petty Officer First Class Kalil Daik, call sign Athen.  We are running pre-flight and requesting departure instructions.”

She stopped talking to give the Theurgy flight ops team a chance to do their job.

“Ya hear that, Chance?  Shame you won't be with us today.  Would be nice to get a proper introduction, don't you think?"

Earning her respect would have to wait another day, but Reggie enjoyed a challenge.


Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Nero on June 25, 2021, 06:33:00 PM
[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-02 | Orbit over Qo’noS] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Havenborn @Nolan @Stegro88 @SummerDawn
[Show/Hide]
Somehow it was good to see the Theurgy again. The impressive barge hung over the greenish-gray planet Qo'noS and seemed to have taken quite a beating. Across from it, some distance away, Logan could make out the Klingon battlecruiser IKS Ta'Rom. It was an imposing ship, radiating a certain menace. Logan could still remember his time aboard an Imperial battleship. Back then, he had been aboard the K'tang, an older bird-of-prey class ship. Despite the ship's age, it had been impressively strong and, more importantly, maneuverable. The pilot wondered what had become of the ship. After all, several years had passed since then.

Logan steered his freshly rearmed Valravn toward the USS Theurgy's warp nacelles and tapped into his comrades' radio traffic.
"This is Wolf-02, Wraith and Hunter. Reporting back with good and bad news."
Logan shifted the control stick to the left to lay into a long sweeping turn.
"Good news: We've brought reinforcements with us. They are currently beaming up to the Theurgy and will man the free fighters. As soon as they are all launched, we will rally to you."
What came next was hard for him. Saying it out loud still hurt, and Logan was aware that it would for a very long time.
"The bad news is that we lost Angel and Blizzard. They didn't make it, unfortunately."

An uncomfortable silence fell. Such news was never easy to deal with. It was no different when he learned that Miles Renard hadn't made it either. Logan had met the Vulpinian with the call sign Iron-Fox only once, briefly. That had been when he said goodbye to Meerkat and Dragon. Somehow, death seemed to follow Logan. Since this whole thing started, he had had to pay his respects to many friends. Logan looked out the cockpit window. The reinforcements he brought with him were by now leaving the dreadnought's hangar and closing in on him. There would be plenty of time for mourning later.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Nolan on June 28, 2021, 10:09:26 AM
[ Lt Cmdr thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Havenborn @SummerDawn

Whilst shooting past the destroyed moon of Praxis, Razor was just finishing up on the message for the defector aboard the Romulan ship when Rawley called out to him. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head and sent the message before answering Rawley "I did just that. Lets hope that ship'll be in sight the moment we get there." Looking to his left and right, he could see the small contingency of fighters form up while they made their way to Qo'nos. Unaware of the new reinforcements that would be joining them.

Whilst the rest of his systems lit up green on their way to their target, Thomas couldn't help but hope that their contact was at her station. That nobody was looking over her shoulder when his message got sent to her and that the intel they had gotten from Drauc would be accurate. A nasty surprise would greet them otherwise and it might be one of those surprises where they wouldn't be around to tell the tale any longer.

"When we get on target, we split up. All taking a different angle at the ship to disable or destroy it. Supposedly we'll be more successful if we aren't going to bunch up together. Let them spread their fire and work for their money. Good luck wolves."

Before he could focus on flying altogether, Wraith's message came through and Razor turned his head to look behind him as the Theurgy was getting further and further away from them. Whilst the pilot brought good and bad news, Thomas was happy with any reinforcements he could take.

"Roger that Wraith, you'll be the second attack squadron. I take it you can lead them into battle. We won't be hard to find, just follow the big explosions. Let me know when you've arrived and make sure the new guys are stocked up on weapons and ammo. Good to have you back."
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Havenborn on July 06, 2021, 11:50:08 AM
[ LT Daniel Havenborn, Callsign: Salvo & ENS K’Ren, Callsign: Neko | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class “Hellcat” ] ] Attn: @Nolan, @SummerDawn, @Auctor Lucan

Hearing Commander Ravon’s orders Daniel gave a simple acknowledgement.  “Understood Razor.”  Was all that he said.  “Neko, give me an passive scan of the area, is there any debris or hazards we need to be aware of?”  Daniel asked her, he knew that the madness could set in at any moment but if he could keep her distracted and busy maybe he could stall it.  Daniel began to plot a vector for their attack run, once the ship was found and identified he’d follow attack vector as much as possible.  He knew that most of the time battle plans didn’t live past the first minute of combat, at least aerospace combat that was, but he too needed to keep focused and making sure that he at least had a battle plan was good enough.

Daniel did kind of wonder what Knight was up to, probably hanging out in a Mark-III readying himself, or more likely he was hanging out the in briefing room, either way he was going to miss his RIO.  Not that he didn’t mind having K’Ren sitting behind him, hearing her voice from behind him was a welcome change.

Daniel refocused himself, he needed to be in the here and now.  “Also Neko, be prepared to switch power, both auxiliary and primary to shields, engines or weapons; whichever one I call out.”  He said, trying to help her get settled a little.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Lathaniel on July 14, 2021, 11:21:04 PM
Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Eden 

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With the blur of the transporter beam fading around Lieutenant Morgan, the young, handsome hybrid took a moment to orient himself. This very brief moment he had to glance around the Fighter Assault Bay of the USS Theurgy was enough to make his jaw drop in disbelief. This place was magnificent, a dream for everyone invested in the Tactical CONN business. "Wow..." The expression of awe escaped his lips before he had the chance to prevent it, but trying to make a good first impression, he did not continue with the words that were on his mind. Questions over questions, remarks and praise in abundance, which all had to wait. Sorek was certain that they would not have the time for many words.

When the Romulan started to talk, Sorek immediately turned his attention towards him. He did not have to see someone in order to identify a Romulan, though. Soreks first impulse was to ask the Ensign next to the Romulan why this person was on a Starfleet vessel, but this particular specimen seemed to have been outfitted with enough authority to order Starfleet personnel to action. And since Morgan was new on this ship, he no other option but to trust that this was okay. But even though he was willing to play along, while mustering the man, Sorek could not help but wonder: Who was this guy? And who on earth trusted him enough to grant him this much power? More questions to ask, once this battle was fought. Sorek was happy to get into a fighter cockpit again. The origin of the person who briefed him in advance of that was not his concern at the moment.

When the unknown Romulan ended his elaborations, Sorek nodded. Not out of respect, but merely to signal that he had understood his orders. With a swift motion he turned his attention to one of the Mk III fighters. He had no RIO and had no other option, but this did not bother him. The most important task was to get to his fighter and learn the differences between a Mk II and this fabulous piece of warfighting equipment.

Lieutenant Morgan listened closely to the test pilot giving him the quick and dirty introduction, asked all necessary questions and jumped into the seat right after the high speed tutorial was over. Connecting himself to his new fighter, he wondered for how long they would let him fly this thing. The urgency of the current mission demanded quick and easy solutions, but would this mean that Suder, Callax and him would have a shortcut into the Squad itself? Sorek doubted that.

He initiated the routine systems check with dancing fingertips. Had the crew not exchanged the original setup for the Mk II config, Sorek would have had way more guesswork to do. He made a mental note to thank them properly upon their return and just a second later realized that said return might not be as probable as he would hope, regarding the whole thalaron situation. But he would be damned if he allowed that to ruin his first flight in a Mk III.

"Alright pups.  My name is Chance but I won't be flying with you today. Try not to die.  If you have any questions, please direct them at Wraith. Otherwise, feel free to introduce yourselves."

Sorek heard the unknown voice, knew that Gemini would react swiftly and waited for her to finish.

"This is Lieutenant Junior Grade Sorek Morgan, callsign Chaos. Systems check completed, ready on your mark, Ops."
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Eden on July 15, 2021, 05:12:41 AM
(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png)Lt. JG Callax Valin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Callax_Valin) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Lathaniel
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Bidding the Oneida farewell was a bittersweet moment. The ship had been his salvation but it had not become his home. Despite earnest attempts otherwise he was treated as something of an outsider. A guest by necessity rather than invitation with little need for cocky fighter pilots. Save for a few acquaintances he made he would not be leaving anybody behind. Stepping onto the transporter pad alongside the others he realized with a final thought that he would not be missed by the Oneida--nor would he much miss it.

It took only a moment for the young fighter pilot to rematerialize in the Fighter Assault Bay of the USS Theurgy, a cavernous space he could scarcely believe was connected to a ship. The scale of it all elicited a silently mouthed ‘damn’ as he took in his immediate surroundings and counted the number of vessels within sight. All of it put the USS Jadestone, the Akira-class he had first served on, to shame. However, there was no time for sightseeing for as soon as Callax began to get his bearings, an ensign and a Romulan began to address them.

That was a surprise. Though, after learning the truth about the Infested and fighting off Klingon birds of prey this was hardly the most out of the ordinary event to befall the young pilot of late. Noting that none of the other crewmembers were finding the Romulan’s presence out of place, Callax’ archived the myriad of questions he had and paid close attention to the mission briefing.

Donatra sympathizer. D’viret-class cruiser. Thalaron bomb. Extraction. Straightforward enough.

Of course, things rarely went according to plan.

Finally the ensign spoke up. “Okay. If you have a RIO with you, I suggest you pick either of the Valravn fighters on the far end of the bay; but, if you are okay with flying solo, the Mk III Valyries have substituted the role of a RIO with an upgraded computer interface. Take your pick, do it now, and my crew will help you sort things out in the cockpits. Time is of the essence, to listen well, listen quick, and launch as soon as you possibly can. Flight Ops is standing by to give you clearance. I hear Logan Hale, callsign Wraith, is waiting for you outside the bay in his Valravn, so follow his lead until you rendezvous with the other Lone Wolves. Unless you have any questions... good luck out there.”

Callax eyed the Valravns with a covetous gaze made all the more difficult by the sight of ‘Gemini’ and her RIO approaching one of the fighters. He had not been assigned a RIO since his rescue by the Oneida and hoped that might be something remedied soon; though, he was just as confident in his ability to fly solo.

And solo he would fly as he approached one of the Mk III Valyrie fighters and climbed the ladder into the cockpit. He wasted little time getting himself situated, immediately appreciating the more familiar Mk II interface as he gave the affirmative hand gestures to the flight deck crew.

"Alright pups. My name is Chance but I won't be flying with you today. Try not to die. If you have any questions, please direct them at Wraith. Otherwise, feel free to introduce yourselves."

Callax allowed himself a grin. It took barely a minute for the banter to begin and he was already enjoying it. Easing the Valkyrie to a hover he got a feel for the controls, or at least as well as he could from there on the launch pad. Even from those little interactions he could tell there were improvements over the Mk II. While he knew he was flying into danger, a part of him began to get excited for the thrill of discovering a new fighter.

With a mischievous grin he switched on the comms system. “Lieutenant Junior Grade Cal Valin here, callsign Archon. Let’s fly.”
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Hope on July 15, 2021, 10:52:11 AM
Lt Sabrina Lail | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Oneida ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Lathaniel @Eden
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Following the agreed-upon course of action between Lieutenant Commander Natalie Stark, acting captain of the Theurgy, and Captain Jackson, Sabrina tapped buttons on the display in front of her and the Oneida started to move; breaking away from the parallel formation with the larger ship and backing off towards the launching warp fighters rallying around Lieutenant Logan “Wraith” Hale. Lieutenant Commander Ikthan tuned the Oneida’s subspace transceiver array to listen in on the Lone Wolves audio channel, they were likely completely unaware of why the Oneida was maneuvering into the flight path of the warp fighters.

As the ship rose on the z-axis to meet the same plane Hale was on, Sabrina looked out the wide viewscreen and noted, “that ship is immense.” She didn’t realize she said it aloud at first as her inner dialog ran through how close the Oneida was to the Theurgy’s upper starboard nacelle and how the launching warp fighters could be seen departing from the massive ship’s fighter assault bay. Fortunately, no one had said anything about the comment.

“We’re in position and clear of the Theurgy,” Lail stated. “We should have enough clearance between the launching warp fighters and ourselves for warp,” she continued.

“Very well,” Captain Jackson acknowledged as he stood from his command chair. “Open a channel to the Lone Wolves,” he ordered the Oneida’s Ops officer to do. A sound signifying an open hail played through the bridge. [“This is Captain Jesse Jackson of the USS Oneida. If you have been briefed you will know us as the “Freedom Sentinel.” I have spoken with your acting captain, Lieutenant Commander Stark and we have reached an agreement on how best to handle the situation at hand.

To surmise our discussion, the Oneida will accompany the Lone Wolves in search of the Romulan warbird posing a threat to Qo’noS. Make no mistake, this is still a Lone Wolves mission - we are here to provide support and back up to you brave men and women.

We have received the believed coordinates of the Romulan warbird from the Theurgy and will depart with the launching warp fighters. The Oneida may not be the Theurgy when it comes to firepower but she can put up one hell of a fight. Jackson out.”]

“Ready for warp,” Sabrina stated with confidence in her voice.



OOC: Continued from Praxis Crucible
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: P.C. Haring on July 19, 2021, 04:49:32 AM
[Lt. Reggie Suder, Callsign: Gemini  | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-?? | U.S.S. Theurgy Exit Vector] 
attn: @Stegro88   @Hope  @Eden   @Lathaniel   @Havenborn   @Nolan   @Nero   @Auctor Lucan   @SummerDawn 

Having received departure clearance from Theurgy Flight Ops, Reggie eased the Valravn out of the bay and into the black of space.  At once, both a comforting and overwhelming feeling took her.  She was back behind the cockpit, flying into combat, not training nor simulation nor routine flight patrol  This was why she had signed on all those years ago.  She was back.

Yet so much had happened since then.  A war, far too many friends and colleagues lost, a teaching assignment that had forced her to shoot down one of her own students, the catastrophic damage she had inadvertently caused.  She flew a ship she had only just trained on and the fate of the Klingon home world depended on her success in finding a hidden Romulan cruiser potentially carrying another Thaloron bomb, like the one that had decimated the Federation capital city, Paris.

No.  It wasn’t all on her.  Not this time.  There were almost a dozen pilots out here with her.  Wraith was here too.  At least someone she knew and someone she had already worked with.  And the Oneida was now joining the hunt as well.

That brought her comfort.  If one Valravn, an Aerowing, a Type-9 and the Oneida could take on four Klingon birds of prey, then the Oneida and almost a dozen Wolves could handle a single Romulan vessel.

Easy there, Reg.  We got this. 

Kalil’s voice in her mind soothed her.

No one expects us to break out any heroics.

As he spoke to her, the familiarity of his presence within her mind pulled her back to the familiar and she opened up, letting him in and she slid into their battle link.

It’s just a basic search and destroy.  Fall in, follow orders, and we’ll be just fine.

They cleared the exit lane and Reggie brought the ship up to flight speeds.

We have Wolf-02 on sensors.  Setting course to rendezvous and engaging at full impulse.

She switched over to the squadron’s active comm channel.

“Wolf-02, this is Gemini.  I’m on approach to form up, eta 45 seconds.  Do you by chance have a flight designation for us?”
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Auctor Lucan on July 22, 2021, 02:21:16 AM
[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Evelyn_Rawley,_callsign_%22Ghost%22) | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ]
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Being on an approach trajectory to the coordinates they'd been given, Rawley had keyed in the warp factor given by Razor, and the Lone Wolves were off. Apparently, Razor had delivered the message to the Romulan defector, so they were simply waiting for a reply, or some kind of reaction. They really needed this woman to compromise the cloak of the warbird so that they could do their part to stop it from bombing Qo'noS, but regardless her reply... there were bad news coming in from House K'Tal after Neko raised them. The hail came to the squad channel.

[This is Captain Grech of the IKS veS targh, and whatever is happening on Qo'noS, it has House Mo'Kai making its move. Of the ships we have in the sector, they are all locked in formations to challenge their ships. We have no ships to spare for long range deployment. Grech out.]

"Fuck, does that mean our Romulan friend is toast?" she asked, thinking that she may not be able to escape and frowning behind her helmet's visor - the streaming stars of warp flight caressing her exosuit. "Let's bloody hope she can commandeer some damn shuttle or something and bolt out before we fuck that bird up. It's not like we can choose her over saving Qo'noS."

Whatever the reactions may be from the other Lone Wolves, Rawley didn't really notice, because they'd reached the coordinates, and it was time to drop out of warp. Whomever commanded the warbird had to be suspicious about Federation warp fighters intercepting it so close to the Klingon homeworld, Rawley thought, so if the defector was about to make her move, it had to be soon, for they were completely blind, not picking up anything around them on sensors.

"Did we overshoot it?" Rawley asked on comms, concerned about the warbird already being at Qo'noS while they were just enjoying the view of Klingon space...

Then, there was a flicker on sensors, and ahead of them... a large silhouette materialised against the light of a nearby star. Sweeping wings and a beak decloaking. Moreover, a series of silent explosions running along the fuselage. Internal sabotage, undoubtedly, caused by this Romulan hero that would not side with her people in obeying the Praetor. There was a chirp from Rawley's LCARS screens, and a text message appeared on it.

CLOAKING DEVICE OFFLINE AND WARP VIABILITY COMPROMISED. NEED IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION.
Shit, she really pulled through for us... Rawley thought about it and spoke. "Even if we have somewhere to beam her to, that warbird just raised shields and armed its disruptors. We'll have to cut through those shields if we're to save her. Razor, how do we do this?"

Little did they know that there were more Wolves on the way, not to mention the Freedom Sentinel...


OOC: Suggested posting order! 1) @Nolan 2) @SummerDawn & @Havenborn first, and in these two posts, we need to illustrate a 5 minute engagement with the Romulan ship. NPC the warbird in the battle in your posts, and have fun! Make the most of this and don't make it too easy. This is a Tal Shiar ship and ought to have some aces up its sleeve, be it via jamming or whatever you guys come up with. Next, after these two posts, the Oneida arrives together with the rest of the Lone Wolves. I suggest the next sequence of posts come from 3) @Nero , identifying himself to the Lone Wolves as the new group drop out of warp and introducing them somehow? 4) @Hope , illustrating the Oneida's actions forllowed by 5) @P.C. Haring 6) @Lathaniel and 7) @Eden ! Same deal here, continue the battle and NPC the warbird's actions and opposition. Do not wait for me to write what it does. Make the most of the battle, and make it hard. Needless to day, y'all need to figure out how to save the defector too, if that is an option. Your call if efforts are made to save her! Looking forward to your posts!
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: SummerDawn on July 29, 2021, 07:01:53 AM
[ Ens. K'Ren (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=K%27Ren) | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class "Hellcat" ]
[Show/Hide]

"Weird riding backseat again but I'll manage Salvo," K'Ren remarked as she finished configuring her screens. Without having to focus on flying, many of the navigation displays she'd have called up she pushed off to one side, focusing instead on the quasi holographic view of the 360 degree space around the craft. Between the console in from of her and the augmented reality of the helmet, she just had to keep her head on a swivel and her mind on the situation, and with a little luck she'd make this mission without incident. She also knew she had to remain in the present, not let the fog of the madness take hold, a fit in a bad moment could cost her the life of not only herself, but Salvo, the Wolves, Theurgy, and countless others she couldn't fathom. It seemed the fate of the galaxy rode on her shoulders and her sanity, the blood on her paws would be unbalanceable if she failed. "You'll be the first to know, trust me, you'll be the first to know."

---

Neko nodded, "Running Scans Salvo. Nothing we can't see, a few items tagged on the sensors, feeding to your display." She softly purred through the work, glad for the distraction, and in the relative peace before the storm, she could focus on her sensors, looking around, keeping their tail, and their nose clear until the combat began. "I have power controls on automatic, override close at hand." She grinned, "Forgot how much the back seat micromanages the fighter." Micromanage, and for now as they moved into position, wait for the fight to start. Not that she jad long as they were quickly in the target area, and once the warbird began to decloak, it would all change, most likely for the worse. And most warbirds carried the Stalker fighters, which in good hands were a match for the Wolves. She wondered how many would fall, before pushing the thought away from mind. She needed to focus on the now.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Nolan on August 02, 2021, 08:54:42 AM
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Havenborn  @SummerDawn @Nero @P.C. Haring @Lathaniel @Eden

The Klingon message didn't bode well, in fact it pretty much torpedoed their chances of getting out of this endeavor alive. Thomas didn't answer to the comms as they had gone into warp. He used the time to focus and to think of what he left behind. The love of his life and his probable only chance to something that resembled a family. It didn't take that long for them to drop out warp. There was no sign of the Romulan ship, neither on visual nor on the sensors.

Ravon was about to answer Rawley's question if they overshot their target before the Romulan ship began to decloak while the explosions made it apparent that their defector had kept her part of the deal. The chirp and message that came on their screens said enough and Thomas exhaled slowly before he handed out his orders.

"Neko, get a message to our friend inside the ship that she should find a shuttle to commandeer."

In the meantime he throttled up his fighter and began to race towards the Romulan ship.

"Rawley, on my tail. We're going to say hello to that bird and try and take out whatever we can to ensure our on board friend has a chance to escape."

Whilst still closing the distance, the Romulan ship began to deploy their own fighter contingency. A group of six Stalker fighters poured out of the ship and converged onto the leading Wolves. Thomas narrowed his eyes, not underestimating the fighters as the Romulan ship began to open fire on them. Evasive flying had to be incorporated.

"Salvo! Get these stalkers of our tail!"
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: SummerDawn on August 03, 2021, 01:34:49 AM
[ Ens. K'Ren (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=K%27Ren) | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class "Hellcat" ]
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"Roger," K'Ren remarked into comms. She'd been monitoring the frequencies so when the text came in, she was already readying a reply, and very quickly retransmitted the reply towards the vessel, hoping their contact aboard got the message and got aboard a shuttle. She then turned her attention to the tactical board as the Wolves accelerated to do battle with the now crippled, but hardly toothless warbird. And her guess about the stalker fighters had been correct as almost as she began to run targeting scans on the mighty warbird, a squadron of stalker fighters launched from the vessels main flight deck.

"Looks like this just got exciting Salvo," she remarked through the fighter's internal comms. "I'll paint them, you nail them. Stalk and Pounce." Even as she said it she knew the odds were against them, and for the briefest second she worried she might die, but she quickly pushed the thought aside, if it was her day, it was her day, and she'd be with Deacon in the afterlife, that much she knew. But she would be damned if she was going to roll over and let death have her without a fight.

As they began to maneuver, Razor calling out several bandits, K'Ren fed Salvo targeting data, trying to be the eyes and ears, and keep situational awareness for the squadron. She was the backseater of the only two seat bird in the flight so she was the eyes and ears of the squadron at this moment. She had an open comms to the other fighters, and a secured datalink letting her pass the targeting and threat data on to the other fighters. "Two bandits vectoring in on Razor. Two more on Ghost, and two vectoring onto our six. Looks like a proper furball," she remarked, doing her best to keep her eyes focused on her screen as Salvo began manouvering with the others to fend off the fighters. six on three wasn't a fair fight, but the Wolves were used to being outnumbered.

She noticed as Ghost maneuvered, one of the pair was maneuvering into a position for a clean shot. "Salvo, Target Charlie 2." she called out. "Ghost, Second bandit, Break right."
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Havenborn on August 17, 2021, 11:36:11 AM
[ LT Daniel Havenborn, Callsign: Salvo & ENS K’Ren, Callsign: Neko | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class “Hellcat” ] ] Attn: @Nolan, @SummerDawn, @Auctor Lucan

As the items that she tagged appeared on his display he made note of them.  They were nearing the location of the warbird and he wanted to make sure that their attack vectors were more or less clear.  Although knowing the locations of some of the larger items, such as debris or asteroid remnants could be useful when the dogfighting began against the warbird’s fighter complement.  Hearing her confirm that she was all set in the backseat brought some comfort to Daniel, it meant that she was focused on the job at hand and not focused on the loss of her mate, at least for now.  He'd definitely need to keep an eye on her.

As they neared the supposed location of the warbird there wasn’t any sign of it, then suddenly a series of explosions light up the emptiness of the area and the decloaking warbird appeared.  Daniel watched as a moment later six Stalker-class fighters were launched from the warbird and felt a smile form and an adrenaline rush.  He enjoyed this feeling and his hands reacted across the control panels automatically.  Hearing Ravon over the communications channel he acknowledged him.  “Aye sir, targeting Stalkers.”  He said as he maneuvered his fighter in formation with the others as he watched the Stalkers attempt to break their formation, he returned fire while performing evasive maneuvers.

Daniel watched as a moment later Neko painted one of the Stalkers the computer had named as Charlie-2.  He maneuvered into position and a moment later his targeting computer locked and the the locked tone sounded letting him he had a good target lock.  “Target locked, torpedo away.”  He said as he pressed the trigger stud and watched as one of the six quantum torpedoes he carried launched towards the Stalker, he also fired several pulses of phaser fire, watching as it hit against the Stalker’s shields and a moment later the torpedo found its target and struck true destroying it.  “Target destroyed, one down five to go.”  He said over the fighter communications channel.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Nero on August 21, 2021, 07:28:28 PM
[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-02 | Near Qo'noS] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Havenborn @Nolan @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @P.C. Haring @Eden @Lathaniel @Hope
[Show/Hide]
Lead them into battle...
Logan swallowed hard when he heard the words. Yes, he would now lead the new ones directly into battle. However, they were not so new anymore. After all, he had already joined them in taking care of four Klingon Bird of Prey. Logan knew they were capable. Still, now he was in command of them and that was unexpected. Briefly, he acknowledged the order and then gathered "his" people to follow the others. One by one in short intervals the pups left the hangar of the Theurgy and caught up with him. He peered through the transparent aluminum of his cockpit canopy and surveyed the motley crew.

"Take a breath, Wraith." it was Alith, speaking to him in her usual Vulcan manner. "You can do this."
"If you say so, Hunter." Logan sounded anything but convinced, imagining all the things that could happen. Every detail that could go wrong would go wrong; he was sure. His thoughts turned to Alessia. She had been a damn good pilot. They both flew at the same level knowing what the other would do even before the other knew it himself. In flight and on the ground, there was no better wingman for Logan and yet she had died under his command. Gone forever and Logan blamed himself for it. Now this change, being directly responsible for more lives than just his own and the one in his back seat was a special challenge. He imagined the death of everyone who accompanied him on this mission.

Logan imagined a hand rest on his shoulder. He knew there wasn't enough room for such thing inside the cockpit, so Alith must had to contort herself quite a bit to make it happen, but the pilot appreciated the gesture. Even if it was just his imagination. He thought of Alith, that her ass was on his flyingskills, too. Logan tore away from his dark thoughts. He released the controls and held his hands in front of him. He spread his gloved fingers and clenched his hands into fists several times. Logan imagined his knuckles standing out white.

"Just be a good pilot, don't ask anything of your people that they wouldn't do themselves without hesitation and they will follow."
He squeezed her hand and thanked her for the warm words. "You actually seem to believe in me, don't you Hunter?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Lieutenant. It's only logical that I encourage you. Otherwise, I'd have to report you, and the Theurgy can't afford to be without a reasonably competent pilot momentarily."
Her imaginary grip slackened and some relief spread through him. Logan showed a smile on his features. He took a deep breath, as he had been advised to do by Alith. He managed to focus and concentrate on what was in front of him. Alith was right. If he sets a good example, others will follow him.

["Wolf-02, this is Gemini.  I'm on approach to form up, eta 45 seconds.  Do you by chance have a flight designation for us?"]

Logan briefly consulted with Alith, then quickly agreed with her on a response. "Hey, Gemini, fancy vehicle. As for your designation, are you okay with Wolf-10? Archon, Wolf-11, Chaos, Wolf-12."
Logan gave the newcomers a moment to feed their designation into the computers, then began explaining in short bursts what they were about to do. "We're going to catch up to our people at warp speed. When we get there, we'll get right down to business. Split up and find your targets, which our RIOs will give you. Focus on flying and fighting, let the RIOs survey the battlefield. Listen, I know you can do this, but these aren't brutal Klingons, they're shifty Romulans. Watch out for each other and we'll get through this in one piece."

A quick glance at his scanner showed him that the Oneida was changing course and joining them as well. "And as before, the same applies here: Keep enemy fighters away from the Oneida, understand?" While the answers were coming in, Alith had already contacted the Iroquois-class ship and coordinated the intercept course with them. It was time for them to get going. Logan grabbed the thrust control and pushed it.

A few minutes later
The warp jump did not last long. The elongated stars came to a stop and gave the view ahead again. A familiar image appeared before him, and the scanner quickly showed who was friend and who was foe. Logan dove right into the action and attacked the first target Hunter gave him. On his displays, he could see the others also scattering and throwing themselves into the action. The Romulan stalker came into his field of fire and Logan reacted immediately. The red-orange beams of phaser energy cut through the black lit by pulse fire. One of his attacks hit, sending the enemy fighter reeling, and it took evasive action in response. Those things were agile, Logan had to hand it to the Romulans, but so was his Valravn as Logan yanked on the controls to lay down a quick change of direction. He opened the comm to his comrades, who were also already in the midst of the fighting. "Hunter, coordinate with Hellcat and Gemini, get an overview. Good hunting, Wolves!"

He then opened the channel to Razor, Salvo, and Ghost, "This is Wolf-02, I've invited some new friends to the party. I hope you don't mind. They’re all hungry."
Only seconds after this radio message, the Oneida dropped out of warp.
"Incredibly hungry."
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Hope on August 22, 2021, 11:54:46 AM
Lt Sabrina Lail | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Oneida | Near Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nero @Havenborn @Nolan @P.C. Haring @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @Eden @Lathaniel  
[Show/Hide]

As Sabrina maneuvered the Oneida which was ready for warp, Alith transmitted the interception coordinates which were immediately routed to Lail’s station. The brunette keyed in the coordinates into the Oneida’s navigational computer and set the warp factor to seven. While not as fast as the warp fighters, the short jump based on the coordinates would negate any disadvantages of not pushing the battle-damaged warp engines and ensure Sabrina had the ability to take the ship to warp eight if needed.

Looking at the ultra-wide viewscreen, she could see as the Lone Wolves that had launched from the Theurgy jumped to warp nearly simultaneously. “Engage,” commanded Captain Jackson as he ordered the Oneida to warp.

“Engaging warp engines,” Lail announced as she keyed the final command into the CONN. Following the warp fighters, the Oneida flew above and clear of the Theurgy as its three working nacelles illuminated a hotter turquoise from the energizing warp coils and the ship jumped to superluminal speeds.


A FEW MINUTES LATER


“Captain,” Sabrina said as she turned slightly. “We’re approaching the designated coordinates.”

“Take us out of warp,” Captain Jackson ordered.

With several keypresses entered into the CONN by Sabrina, the Oneida dropped out of warp into the midst of a battlefield. “The Lone Wolves have already engaged the Romulan Stalkers,” Lieutenant Commander Ikthan noted.

“Leave the Stalkers to the Wolves. Our target is the Romulan warbird. Lieutenant Lail, coordinate our attack pattern with the squadron leaders; don’t get us caught in the crossfire,” Captain Jackson stated. “Commander Ikthan, target weapons systems and shields.”

The positioning of all the ships reflected in Sabrina’s eyes as she tried to determine a maneuver for Lieutenant Commander Ikthan that would not put the Oneida in the crossfire of fighters. She had finally decided. “Attack pattern, Lambda sequence,” she informed Ikthan who stood ready to fire the Oneida’s weapons.

Distance between the Iroquois-class and the D’viret-class closed as the Oneida fired its yellow-orange phasers from its forward arrays followed by a series of six photon torpedos as the ship came about, firing another volley of torpedos from the aft launchers. Four green disruptor pulses fired from the warbird hitting the Oneida’s aft shields.

The inertia dampers couldn’t compensate for the sudden impact which threw everyone off balance. “Aft shields down to eighty-five percent,” informed Ikthan. “Minimal damage to the warbird.”

“What the hell did the Tal Shiar do to that ship?” Lail asked rhetorically. “Switching to evasive pattern Epsilon five.”
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Auctor Lucan on August 23, 2021, 02:12:22 AM
[ Major Ael Situka | Tal Shiar D'viret-class Incursion Cruiser | IRC Aliqui ]
[Show/Hide]
Having set a brisk pace down the corridor, Major Ael Situka kept her disruptor next to her thigh - hidden by the folds of her uniform - since she had no interest in announcing her defection to anyone catching a glimpse of her whilst she made her way off the Tal Shiar ship.

The incursion cruiser shook from the assailment it got from the Theurgy warp fighters, and she had to catch her balance. The klaxons seemed louder to her, knowing she was responsible for the loss of the crew she'd served with up until that hour. She also knew it was only a matter of time before they could narrow down the sabotage of the cloaking device software to her duty station. In fact, they'd already run that diagnostic, but she'd broken the neck of the sub-lieutenant that ran it the first time, and she'd deleted the logs before set off towards the aft of the cruiser. Ael knew, keenly so, that the distance to the shuttle bay still mattered little, because the chances of her escape were still equidistant to the nigh moment where they would find the body.

At the next intersection, she pushed herself up against the wall, knowing where the internal sensors nodes were at. She holstered her weapon and pulled out a small data tablet, which she used to access the shipboard systems. With a couple of taps, she disabled any surveillance left between herself and the shuttle bay. She knew that the small crafts awaiting her there were far slower than the Stalker-class fighters that had been launched against the Theurgy fighters, but it was better than remaining at the mercy of the crew she'd betrayed.

Not for the first time, she wondered if she would be remembered as a traitor of her people, or a hero who stood up against a common enemy. A darkness that might either unite the Galaxy against it or devour it. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and decided it was time.

Resolutely, she activated the weak subspace transponder in the data tablet. She kept her voice low, even as the battle hid her words from any passing crew. "This is Major Ael Situka to any present Federation or Klingon ship," she said on the frequency she'd used at the duty station she'd abandoned, hoping that the transponder was weak enough to remain undetected. "I am heading to the shuttle bay... though I prefer if you manage to lock on to this signal and transport me off the ship. This, as soon as you manage to make a breach in the shield envelope."

A text above the intersection fell into her view, the letters in Rihannsu. She took a breath, and regretted the idea immediately, even though she knew she had to do it. "I will make a small detour to lend you a hand. Situka, out."

With the faces of the crew she served with at the forefront of her mind, knowing them ignorant lackeys of the real enemy, she walked down the corridor with the text ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS.


OOC: Looking forward to the upcoming posts depicting the battle! Situka's hail could possibly reach the Oneida, of course. I will be posting with Rawley and Situka at the end of the earlier suggested posting order. Have fun! :)
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: P.C. Haring on August 24, 2021, 01:27:11 AM
[Lt. Reggie Suder, Callsign: Gemini | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-10 | Near Qo’nos] attn:  @Stegro88  @Hope  @Eden  @Lathaniel  @Havenborn  @Nolan  @Auctor Lucan  @SummerDawn  @Nero

[Hey, Gemini, fancy vehicle. As for your designation, are you okay with Wolf-10? Archon, Wolf-11, Chaos, Wolf-12.]

Reggie smiled at the sound of Wrath’s voice over the comm.  Damn how she had missed this and damn how good it felt to be back in the seat.  She keyed ‘Wolf-10’ into her IFF designator and refocused her attention on her controls. 

“Wolf-10 acknowledged.  Thank you Wolf-02.  Glad you appreciate the bird.  She’s a beauty ain’t she,” Reggie said with a tease in her voice knowing full well it had been Wraith who had introduced her to the Valravn.  She formed up on Wraith’s wing and followed him into warp.

You good back there?  Yes.  You up front?  Yes.  Begin long range scans and prepare to mark targets as they come into range.  Already on it.  How is the ship handling?  As well as can be expected given we haven't flown this thing in test flights much less combat.  You’ll do just fine.  Just relax and remember no one is expecting you to save the world today.  Funny, though, that is our mission after all.

The stream of thought between Reggie and Kalil ebbed and flowed like the tide on the beach.  While not unified in the way a borg collective might be. ( Why are you thinking about the Borg?  Old memories.  I’ve missed this.  I have too), the two betazoids communicated in a stream of thought conversation where neither pilot nor RIO stood out individually from one another.  Their battle sense, they called it.  Thinking and communicating as one… or at least two parts to the same whole, they could act and react faster than most.  It had saved their lives more than once during the War and they knew it would save their lives yet again.

Minutes later they dropped out of warp.

[This is Wolf-02, I've invited some new friends to the party. I hope you don't mind. They're all hungry.  Incredibly hungry.]

They did not need sensors to tell them what their eyes, at least her cybernetic eyes, could see.  The battle had already been met.  The Oneida had just entered the arena and was already turning towards the Romulan Warbird which itself had already launched a half dozen fighters to engage the veteran Wolves, callsigns Razor, Ghost, and Salvo.  Salvo responded in kind and sent a Stalker to it’s fiery demise. 

[Target destroyed, one down five to go.]

The Warbird and Oneida exchanged greetings by way of photon and plasma torpedo volleys.

Oneida took the worst of that exchange.  Her shields are holding but they barely scratched the Warbird’s defenses.  We should rally and take a run at the target.

Before they could react, two of the remaining five stalkers peeled off from their allies and turned to bear down on the the four of them led by Wraith.  The lead stalker fired a plasma torpedo at the formation.

Reggie reacted before the call came in to break, and she peeled Wolf-10 off the formation.  But she had over compensated.  What was supposed to have been a fifty degree pitch and roll away turned into a nearly 90 degree roll.

Easy there.  Controls are sensitive.  Still locking in.  I understand.  Just don’t overdo it.

She needed to remember just how touchy the Valravn’s systems were.  She would get it locked in eventually, she knew..  She just needed time.  Behind her, Kalil was hard at work coordinating and calling targets with the other three RIOs on the field.

Tally on bogey fifteen degrees off starboard.  Come about and engage.  Coming about and accelerating.  Call it in to the squadron.

“Wolf-10 engaging target at bearing 183 mark 044.”

Reggie settled them into attack position.  The Romulan was good as he maneuvered trying to lose her, but he had no idea who he was trying to evade. 

Target lock established.  Firing.

The orange red beam lanced from the starboard emitter a single column of destructive energy.  The Romulan evaded the weapons fire with ease, but as Reggie maneuvered to match, the phaser beam pivoted away, still firing at the target coordinates before cutting out.

“Fuck!”

She had forgotten the Valravn had beam phasers as opposed to pulse phasers.  Pulse weapons dealt less damage per blast but their rapid fire sequence allowed the computer to re-target every burst.  Beam weapons had a slower firing sequence but tended to pack a harder punch once they connected.

Re-target.  Free float the lock so it stays on the target, not the coordinates.

She leveled off again, and another volley of phaser fire lanced forward.  This time the Romulan evaded too late and she hit home, penetrating his shields and scoring a hit.  It wasn’t enough to destroy the Stalker, but her sensors registered a severe drop in the target’s impulse output.

She closed in, intent on delivering a pair of micro torpedo up it’s ass and finishing it off, but as she did, the readings on her console went haywire. 

Without warning, the sensors on her ship went dead, leaving her all but blinded.  Were it not for her optical implants she would have lost her visual on the target.  Even so, with sensors down, she lost weapons lock.

Fifteen seconds later, her systems were back online, but the Stalker was no where to be found.

Subspace wave defense. Something that the warbird did.  Sensors back online.  Notify the squadron of the countermeasure.

"Wolf-10 to the Wolfpack," Kalil started.  Reggie winced at the reference to the squadron as the "Wolfpack".  It made sense, but as a newcomer to the unit she wasn't sure how appropriate it was. "Be advised the Romulan ship is equipped with sensor jamming tech.  If you're caught in an unexpected subspace wave, expect to lose your systems for 15 seconds."

Having been a pilot for longer than most of the Wolves were in Starfleet to begin with she hated the idea that she was now considered a ‘pup’ within the squadron.  But as she turned back to find a new target, she felt as though the Romulan had schooled her quite well.

You’re limping on an damaged impulse engine.  Round two is just around the corner.


OOC - After consultation with @Auctor Lucan , the sensor dampening attack is a countermeasure of the Tal Shiar warbird.  It is loosely based on the sensor jammer weapon of the griffon class Romulan vessel in Star Trek: Armada and is designed to blind sensors of enemy ships in range for about 15 seconds..  Reference link here: Griffon Class from Star Trek: Armada (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Armada#Griffin-class)
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Lathaniel on September 06, 2021, 08:12:28 PM
[Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Wolf-12 AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Near Qo'nos] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Eden 

[Show/Hide]

Sorek was thrilled. The launch of this motley pack was a bit more bumpy than he had hoped since he was not yet used to the fighters response to his inputs, but he quickly figured out how to handle the Valkyrie he had been entrusted with. Although his ability to adapt quickly played into his cards, he was relieved that the battle they had to fight was not waiting right outside the Fighter Bay. Being thrown right into it would probably have meant trouble.

Having received his designation, he quickly encoded the IFF algorithm.

"Wolf-02, this is Chaos. Designator Wolf-12 confirmed."


A few minutes later.

"Holy crap!" Sorek swore and bit his lower lip, a bad habit he never really understood. Before them, the battle was already raging and Sorek was able to identify not only the Romulan Warbird but a handful of Stalker fighters as well. Those little bastards were volatile foes.

With everybody breaking formation almost simultaneously, Sorek sped up Wolf-12 and perfomed a diagonal starboard dive in order to evade the first incoming torpedo. A quick glance on his screen confirmed his suspicion; the Stalkers were onto them, utilizing the disadvantageuos position of the new arrivals to the battlefield. "Not gonna happen, folks!" He growled with determination, finally letting his lip slip out of the grasp of his teeth.

Sorek looked around and within seconds had visuals on a target. One of the Stalkers was passing the pack, already starting to maneuvre into an upward arch which would allow it to come down onto Archon eventually. At least that was what Sorek predicted.

With a fierce maneuvre, Sorek managed to steer Wolf-12 behind the enemy fighter. Locking on to the Stalker, he aimed a bit low to make sure the pilot understood that diving and attacking the Starfleet fighters below him would be a bad idea. Sorek sent a salve of pulsed phaser beams out and prepared the micro torpedos for launch while trying to keep up with the now rapidly accelerating enemy.

"This is Chaos, got a lock on one of the..." Sorek's attempt of providing an update to the pack was abruptly cancelled as he observed the target vessel launching something from it's aft. He needed two seconds to realize what happened and another to send Wolf-12 into a chillingly steep climb. Below, the pod that the Stalker had dropped launched a cloud of smaller spheres, and a couple of them were triggered by the wake of his Valkyrie. It caused a cascade of explosions, spreading out below him. Mines!

His fighter evaded certain destruction by mere meters. Had he needed only a fraction of a second longer, he would have been dead. His heart pounded in his chest and he had to force himself to get his head back into the game. While analyzing the enemy's trajectory and marking the location of the mines for the others, he opened the channel to the pack again.

"This is Chaos. Be advised, those fuckers are playing with mine pods." Ending his calculations, Sorek forced Wolf-12's nose down in order to get back behind his Tango.

"Let's play, my friends." He said to himself with gritted teeth and finally readied the micro torpedos.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Eden on September 13, 2021, 06:50:23 AM
(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png)Lt. JG Callax Valin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Callax_Valin) | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Wolf-11 | Near Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Lathaniel
[Show/Hide]

Once free of the Fighter Assault Bay, Callax had the chance to better get a feel for the Mk III in open space. Falling into formation with the other Wolves, his movements were initially somewhat imprecise as he slowly became more familiar with the flight controls and computer interface.

The fighter was undoubtedly impressive. Scanning through the computer readouts revealed the true depth of its firepower. In addition to the tactical specs, its other technical specifications were enough to make any pilot drool. Luckily for the ship’s maintenance staff, Callax was far too preoccupied with flying and managing comms to drool. It would be one less mess for them to clean up; that is, if he returned at all.

Those thoughts, too, were luckily suppressed by his concentration on the mission. Beyond just becoming accustomed to the new fighter and surviving the coming engagement he had the added concern of not embarrassing himself in front of the others. Some he knew and had flown with on his previous mission but the others would be surely judging him more intensely.

Just don’t make a fool of yourself and you will be fine.

[Wolf-02, this is Gemini.  I'm on approach to form up, eta 45 seconds.  Do you by chance have a flight designation for us?]

[Hey, Gemini, fancy vehicle. As for your designation, are you okay with Wolf-10? Archon, Wolf-11, Chaos, Wolf-12. We're going to catch up to our people at warp speed. When we get there, we'll get right down to business. Split up and find your targets, which our RIOs will give you. Focus on flying and fighting, let the RIOs survey the battlefield. Listen, I know you can do this, but these aren't brutal Klingons, they're shifty Romulans. Watch out for each other and we'll get through this in one piece.]

Callax keyed the designation into his flight computer. Wolf-11. It had a satisfying ring to it though he had no idea if it would be a designation he would keep beyond this mission. That would be a thought for another time as there was little time to think about the future when the present demanded everything of him. Moments later he was at warp…

...and exited onto a battlefield.

Flashes of weapons fire in varying shades of color lit up the darkness of space revealing the general state of events. A second later his targeting computer indicated that the Oneida had exited warp and joined the myriad of differently sized blips on his sensor readout. His fighter immediately accelerated to join the fray.

It was dogfighting like he had never experienced before. His computer screamed at him with a chorus of alarms and indicators as he piloted his fighter into the thick of it, narrowly avoiding oncoming weapons fire. Like a poorly choreographed game of cat and mouse, he would find himself briefly on the tail of an enemy strike craft before having to take evasive maneuvers as another enemy got on his tail. The sequence repeated itself until it became like a rhythm with neither side gaining the advantage.

Of course, it could not just be that simple. First a warning that the enemy possessed sensor dampening countermeasures--a fact Callax experienced firsthand just as he had acquired a torpedo lock. Second was the reveal that they were not only in pitched battle but also doing it within an apparent minefield. Had he been a smoker he was sure it would not have been a good day to quit.

[Wolf-11 to Wolf-10 and Wolf-12. We need to get creative. I have an idea.]

A fool's idea, perhaps. However, it was time to disrupt the status quo and turn the tide.

Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Auctor Lucan on September 25, 2021, 05:17:58 PM
[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Evelyn_Rawley,_callsign_%22Ghost%22) | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ]
[Show/Hide]
When the six Stalker-class fighters had been launched against them, Rawley, Ravon and Salvo were all chased by two each, and that meant they had to work together to save each other from their pursuers.

Cursing under her breath, having seen how her already beat-up Valkyrie wasn't keeping up well with the onslaught of disruptor fire, she got a moment's reprieve when Salvo and Neko took out one of the two Stalkers on her tail. Neko being the RIO in Salvo's bird, Ghost heard her over the comms and trusted that the two had her back, so she focused on the pursuit of Ravon's shadows. They bore down on him from on high, and she had intercepted them halfway there. She had felt the reverberations in her Valkyrie's fuselage when her micro torpedoes were released, and she'd caught one of them, making him veer off... but the other one just vanished. Cloaked. Fucking coward.

She had no way of knowing where it went, her sensor suite not good enough to locate it, but she could see Razor keeping the pressure on the remaining Stalkers that pursued Salvo. It was about this time she noticed the arrival of reinforcements, and she whooped with a grin inside her cockpit, seeing not only additional warp fighters (all but Logan's identity unknown at that early point) but a bloody Iroquois-class starship dropping out of warp. Suddenly, the stakes were not so grim any more. When the Klingons had decided to not show up, she'd had no idea how to deal with the Stalkers and drill a hole through the Tal Shiar ship's shields. Bloody hell, we might actually do this!

That was about the same time as things turned really sour again, though. At least for her personally.

The warbird sent our some sensor jamming pulse, which had her go blind entirely, and loose track of all enemy fighters.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed, since not only were the remaining Stalker on her tail still kicking - Salvo and Neko yet to take it out - the one that had cloaked suddenly appeared on her starboard side and pelted her with disruptor fire as it passed by overhead. Her shields were toasted toughly, a small explosion going off somewhere behind her in the cockpit. As if that wasn't enough, the one she'd hit with micro torpedoes earlier had re-joined the dogfight, and did so by ascending towards her from below, firing against her ventral shields. Razor was in the clear, but she recognised the fact that any stray shot coming her way from that point on might be the last thing she ever saw.

"This is Ghost! I'm hit! Trying to regroup and let my shields regenerate, but these fuckers won't let up!"

Her heart pounded loudly inside the confines of her helmet, and she wondered if this would be her last fight, after having survived so many by the skin of her teeth before. She eyed the ETS system, seeing that the Theurgy was well beyond transporter range, and swore under her breath. "I can't fucking shake them!"

In the distance, the Stalkers that had chased Salvo had gone against the newly arrived Lone Wolves. Rawley recognised the fact that her life depended entirely on if Razor kept up the chase or turned around, or if Salvo were on top of things. She had no way to get a bead on those on her tail, her only means for survival being her consecutive release of countermeasures, which were running dry any moment.

[ Major Ael Situka | Tal Shiar D'viret-class Incursion Cruiser | IRC Aliqui ]
[Show/Hide]
"What are you doing here, Major? Shouldn't you be on the bridge?"

The voice had Situka freeze in her step, and she tried to pinpoint the sound - how far away behind her the speaker was. She did recognise it, however.

Sublieutenant Ritella...

"I got orders, I can't talk right now," she said, seeing the entry to the environmental controls but twenty meters away down the corridor. She still had her datapad out, with the access to the ship's surveillance system still active. She raised it, saw her own back, as well as the figure of her lover aboard. She had hoped to not see him, of all the crew on the Aliqui. "We need to reach Qo'noS."

"There is a Federation starship in the way, and we can't go to warp or cloak. All signs point towards sabotage..." The ominous pause the man made told her his suspicions had been raised, and she closed her eyes. He wasn't finished, however. She was surprised at the softness of his tone, all things considered. "Again, Ael... What are you doing here?"

"Call me traditional..." she whispered, and lowered her data pad, "...but I do this for what our Empire used to be."

And then she drew her disruptor, and fired it straight into Ritella's chest. His slanted eyebrows climbed up his forehead ridges, and he stumbled. She had heard his suspicion in his voice, so why did he look so surprised? And why could she feel her face being clenched up as if she'd eaten something sour? She just couldn't stop staring either, when the man fell to the deck, looking at her still, even if he didn't linger there... behind his bistre eyes.

"Qazh... Qazh... Qazh..." she breathed, and ran for the door ahead. They would pick up on the weapons fire, and she had precious moments to act. Once inside, she shot the posted technician as well, point-blank, and accessed the controls before the body had even settled against the bulkhead. At least she didn't know that officer's name.

Removing safety protocols... Raising gravity plating output by five hundred percent everywhere... but here... and down along the path to the shuttle bay... She would have stayed longer, dealt with temperature, life support and more, but there was no time. She would have to settle with everyone being pinned down to the deck across the ship, until someone managed to access the system and override her encryption. The Captain - the Infested - would be the quickest to override her sabotage, but it was too late to be more cautious. She had to make it to the shuttle bay.

When she ran down the corridor, passing Ritella's body, the Aliqui shook from sustained weapons fire, and she could but hope the Federation forces would be able to pierce the shield envelope. Regrettably, it was one of the key systems she wasn't privy any access to, and Situka knew that it might spell her doom.

Funny, how despite the situation, it was the last look Ritella gave her that remained on the forefront of her mind...


OOC: I know there is a JP in the works between the newly arrived, but the rest, feel free to post whenever you want! No set posting order, so just have at it everyone! Oh, and just to be clear, this fight is not in orbit of Qo'noS, since they all had to warp away from the Klingon Homeworld to intercept the warbird. Any other references in the thread have been amended to reflect this fact, to avoid confusion. :)

Also, there have been some discrepancies about the sensor jamming pulse, it having been mentioned that the Stalker class fighters could use that kind of ability, but it was the Romulan warbird who sent out that pulse, not the fighters. This has also been edited. Lastly, for sake of reference, a wiki page that is still a WIP that shows the abilities of the Stalker class fighters can be found here (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=IRF_Stalker-class_Fighter)! It wasn't announced since the work on the 3D model has been delayed by Kalashnikov being too busy. Check it out and make sure to keep the abilities of the Romulan fighters as listed there!
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Hope on September 26, 2021, 04:37:45 AM
Lt Sabrina Lail | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Oneida | Near Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nero @Havenborn @Nolan @P.C. Haring @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @Eden @Lathaniel  
[Show/Hide]

The familiar chime of an incoming hail emanating from the Operations station had drawn the attention of the crew on the bridge which had otherwise fallen silent. “Incoming hail; audio only,” the Oneida’s Operations officer said. He looked puzzled in Sabrina’s eyes. “I’m trying to identify the source - wait, this can’t be right,” he continued puzzled. “If this sensor reading is correct, it’s coming from inside the warbird.”

Could it be? Could the Romulan saboteur that allied with us still be alive? Sabrina wondered, her thoughts drifting between how advantageous it was given the unknown capabilities of the D’viret-class incursion cruiser of the Tal Shiar that had been sent to bomb the First City and the safety of their ally aboard. “On speakers,” Captain Jackson ordered.

[“This is Major Ael Situka to any present Federation or Klingon ship. I am heading to the shuttle bay... though I prefer if you manage to lock on to this signal and transport me off the ship. This, as soon as you manage to make a breach in the shield envelope. I will make a small detour to lend you a hand. Situka, out.”]

“Can we respond to the message using the same transponder frequency?” Captain Jackson inquired.

“Negative. The Romulans will pinpoint the signal if we do. Our transceiver only picked up the transmission because Lail had us nearly on top of its origination point,” the Operations officer said adamantly. “However, I am keeping a lock on the transponder,” he added.

Captain Jackson turned to Commander Mag’Lev and shook his head at the executive officer. “Right then, we’ll have to assume she can handle herself while we do our part,” Jackson stated. Commander Mag’Lev nodded in agreement. “Lieutenant Lail, I need you to turn us about and head for the warbird. Commander Ikthan, find me a way through those shields,” Jackson continued.

Lail turned slightly further in her chair to get a better view of Captain Jackson. “Well, Captain - I’ve been thinking about that and I think I might have a solution although it was developed for the Intrepid-class. When I was posted to Starfleet Command, we created an attack pattern that solely relied on the ventral weapons and forward torpedos of an Intrepid-class ship located in the blind spot of an enemy vessel to swiftly and decisively bring an end to an engagement. We called it the ‘ventral sweep.’ The Iroquois-class like the Intrepid-class has more ventral phasers than it does dorsal and it's just as maneuverable. If I can navigate us into a position above and behind the warbird where it has the smallest firing arcs, Commander Ikthan would have as long as I can hold the position to collapse the warbird’s shields with most of our weapons.”

Jackson appeared to contemplate the suggestion. He turned to Lieutenant Commander Ikthan. “Can you make this work, Commander?” Jackson asked.

“It's definitely unconventional but if she can keep the ship where it needs to be I believe I can pull off this pattern of attack,” Lieutenant Commander Ikthan reassured Captain Jackson.

“Coordinate our new attack pattern with the Lone Wolves; we don’t want the warbird destroyed while we’re rescuing our informant,” Captain Jackson iterated. “Lail, at your discretion, engage with your attack pattern.”



OOC: The "ventral sweep" as it would become to be called was developed at Starfleet Command in 2372 as a high-risk, high-damage maneuver: [2372] Unorthodox Tactics (https://uss-theurgy.com/forum/index.php/topic,3207.0.html)
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: P.C. Haring on October 04, 2021, 04:50:10 PM
[Reggie Suder, Callax Valin, Sorek Morgan & Logan Hale | Wolf 10, 11, 12, and 2 | Near Qo'Nos]  Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Nero  @Havenborn  @SummerDawn  @Nolan  @Stegro88  @Eden  @Lathaniel  @Hope

- A Joint Post -

Wolf-12 was chasing the Romulan fighter now. Sorek's harsh downward spiral had brought him back into an advantageous firing position. His fingers pushed the buttons and followed by a micro torpedo,  bursts of pulsed phaser beams spat out of his turrets.

"Gotcha!" Sorek yelled when he saw the phaser beams impacting the rear end of the Stalker. The Romulan opponent dove rabidly, obviously trying to evade the torpedo. And to Sorek's disappointment, he did. His sensors told him that he had dealt enough damage to render this Stalker quite a bit less dangerous.

Sorek was just about to continue the hunt, when he heard Callax' voice over his comm.

[Wolf-12 here, I'm all ears!]

"Fuck," Reggie cursed as another stalker evaded her targeting.  She hadn't seen ships this maneuverable since the War and even the Jem'Hadar attack ships had presented bigger targets than these.  Now there were mines.

Her proximity alarm went off and she switched to the twin mount cannons and opened fire.    The mine ripped apart with ease.

Bringing Wolf-10 about, she found herself eye level with that damn warbird.  She had seen the message indicating it's warp systems were offline, but if it was carrying a Thaloron weapon, they could light it off at any time and kill everyone in the area.  But these damn Stalkers.  The Oneida was trading shots with their quarry, but her weapons weren't doing enough damage fast enough.

Then the Romulan strategy set in.  The stalkers weren't trying to drive off the Wolves.    The stalkers were stalling for time.

"We're getting bogged down," she said to Herself.  "They're pulling us off our focus."

[Wolf-11 to Wolf-10 and Wolf-12.  We need to get creative.  I have an idea.]

Great minds think alike

Reggie replied.  [What did you have in mind?]

The shockwave from a detonating mine caused Callax to break off his pursuit of one of the Romulan fighters and brought him momentarily face to face with the warbird in the distance. A pair of disruptor bolts forced him to bank left just in time to see the Oneida’s aft shields take a bruising.

[The fighters are a distraction. We need to make a pass at that warbird or we are just wasting our time. If we concentrate our Hellhounds on their forward shields we can give Oneida an opening. Might be enough to crack that shell open.]

Another evasive maneuver followed the pilot’s words as a Stalker pulled up on his six before being driven off by incoming Wolves. He was thankful for the assist as his mind was momentarily distracted as it worked fast to calculate the best angle of attack and formation. Too steep an approach and the torpedoes could cause just a glancing blow. Too low and they would be sitting ducks for the warbird’s tactical officer. It took just a few seconds—what felt like an eternity in the young pilot’s mind—before he was confident in their approach.

[Transmitting approach vectors now. Thoughts?]


Reggie had to wonder if Callax was indeed telepathic as she’d couldn’t have described the situation any better herself.  Within the combat sense, she knew Kalil agreed with the idea.  But when the vectors came in, they gave her pause until she remembered she had not had the chance to train her wing on tactics against Romulan heavy cruisers.    Bad instructor, no biscuit



Before she even finished speaking, Kalil had sent a new set of vectors to Wolfs 11 and 12, as well as her own nav computer.  Indeed those vectors showed them coming in on the Warbird’s starboard side.  It was less convenient for the Wolves, but it was a much better position for the Oneida.

[Come about to 118 mark 024 and form up.  We go in tight and fast right along the plane of the axis and we hit ‘em hard.]

Realizing that the Stalker he had damaged did not pose a threat anymore, Sorek grinned. His hands flew over the controls, bringing his fighter about to follow Gemini's orders.

[Acknowledged, Wolf-10. Coming about, taking your left flank.]

While flying a wide arc in order not to get into the middle of combat, his sensors warned him about another set of mines which had been deployed right in his path. Evading hard, his original flight pattern was shot to bits. He had to barrel roll his way through some stray disruptor beams before his Valkyrie was forced sideways all of a sudden. One of the mines had been detonated, if by stray weapons fire or a vessel was indistinguishable to Sorek, who did his best not to collide with any of the debris already spread over the battlefield.

Leaving the hot zone, Sorek exhaled, letting the tension drop for a second.

[Be careful, guys. There are more mines than I thought. Or they are spread further than expected. This was a close call.]

Increasing his speed, he quickly closed in on Wolf-10.

[I'm on your eight, Wolf-10.]




No shit.

Did Gemini think he was an idiot? That he had no clue as to what armament a Romulan warbird possessed? Even in the heat of battle Callax felt the temperature in his cheeks spike. He had no issues being corrected when he was wrong; but, to be—in his mind unjustly--chided publicly over comms brought about him a resentment he had not felt since the Renao had gone rogue.

As he fell into formation on Wolf-10’s four, he bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying something he might regret. Instead, he took a deep breath and with only the faintest hint of irritation chimed in and attempted to not sound acrimonious.

[Did not say they were the best vectors, Wolf-10, just the least-worst. That warbird is already forcing the issue hard on Oneida’s aft quarter. Your vectors will work if we can coordinate it with Oneida and if they can come about to exploit the opening without exposing themselves too much to those fighters. Too many ifs for me but it’s your call. If anybody can pull it off, it’s Oneida. Damn fine ship that.]

Reggie saw the situation as Callax described it.  She had misread the sensor data and missed the Oneida's orientation relative to the warbird.  His analysis was not wrong, but at the same time, the fact remained the situation sucked and no matter how they went in it would be no cake walk.

[Acknowledged and understood, Archon,  we'll have to give Oneida cover from the fighters.]

She keyed her controls as Wolf 11 and 12 fell into formation they settled into their attack vector.

[Wolf-10 to Oneida- we're going to try and open the door for you.  Come about and lay in attack vectors for the starboard side.  Wolf-10 to Wolfpack,]  she still was unsure if that was a good name for the squadron in action, but it felt appropriate.  [Some additional cover against the Stalkers as the Oneida gets into position would be much appreciated.]

Her proximity alarm went off and before she could think, she fired the Valravns's forward twin mount turrets.  The slugs shot forward, tearing into the mine in front of her, detonating it harmlessly before it could do it's own job.

[Wolf-11, Wolf -12, forward phasers weapons free.  Lets make sure the attack vector is clear of mines and any stalkers dumb enough to try and stop us.]

"What the hell are they doing?" asked Logan into the frantic silence of his helmet as Hunter and he rebooted the computers, which were affected by the jamming pulse. He saw on his displays Gemini, Archon, and Chaos bunching up and launching an attack run on the Romulan cruiser.

"Fuck." he breathed. "Hunter, can you hear me?"

His Valravn's radio system had taken most of the damage. The day's exertions were taking their toll. But his RIO was already up to her elbows in the bowels of the mechanical bird. A terse message popped up on his screen. A simple "Yes."

"Good," he said with relief. I have control of the propulsions, torpedoes, and shields again. Navigation, radio, and phaser banks are offline. If you can get those going, then we can really kick some Romulan ass, but until then, I'm going old school."

Another simple message. "Okay."

Logan pushed the throttle forward and watched his gauges change. A few short pushes left and right showed him he could steer the Valravn. How well? They were about to find out. Logan had been glad to have the stalkers distracted when he had floundered thanks to the jamming pulse. They were just sneaky little bastards, those Romulans, but fortunately for him, they hadn't been the smartest.

Through the transparent aluminum, he could see the three fighters, led by the only other Valravn in the battle group, heading for the cruiser. He briefly considered what they might be up to and concluded that they were trying to shred up the cruiser's shields to give the Oneida a favorable firing position. That was one hell of a cunning idea, and Logan realized the deeper meaning behind it. The Stalkers were only supposed to slow them down. Logan knew that the fighters out there were equipped with cluster torpedoes. However, he was also sure that the Romulans were prepared for such tactics. So, he had to act and went full throttle. Flying a fighter without all the technical aids was an interesting experience, but the equally experienced pilot was able to quickly adjust to the changed circumstances and catch up with the three other Federation fighters to close the diamond formation. Not a moment too late, the attack flight had begun.

Sorek had followed the short argument between his two comrades, but has kept his mouth shut. His interpretation of Archon's vectors was pointing towards a dangerous necessity. If they wanted to tear up the warbird's shields, it ought to be risky as hell. But opening up an open discussion over comms - which his two cents would have done if spoken out - was the least thing on his mind. He rather concentrated on scanning their path.

[Acknowledged!] He spoke as a reply to Gemini giving forward weapons permission. His eyes focused immediately back onto his screen, making out two more of those nasty micro-mines. With a short salve, he took them out. Then, suddenly and without announcement, he had a different blip on his sensors. A quick analysis revealed it to be Wolf-02.

[Wolf-10 and 11, Wolf-02 now coming up behind us, joining the formation.] A short pause in which he studied the sensor data coming in, which he had requested as the sensor spot appeared. [Seems as if radio, navigation and phasers of Wolf-02 are down.]

He was sure the others had the same sensor data as he had, but he had learned to always share any information vital for a battle, unless already shared by others. Who knew if Gemini and Archon were focused on acquiring targets just as Wraith showed up behind them.

Flying ‘hands on’ in this mess was ballsy by anybody’s definition and Callax could not help but crack an admiring grin as Wraith joined them as escort. With support close at hand, Callax thrust the throttle forward to its maximum as he and the others began their attack run.

It did not take long for the Romulans to calculate what they were planning. As the squadron of Federation fighters approached the warbird, a pair of Stalkers broke off from the mix and accelerated in an attempt to head them off. The warbird itself even began to turn in an attempt to cut off their approach.

[Wolf-11 to Wolf-02. Not sure if you can hear this or see this but a pair of bogeys inbound bearing 030 mark 1-5. Keep them off of us for a hot second, yeah?]

As if to announce their arrival, Callax’ fighter shook as streams of green weapons fire from the approaching Stalkers glanced off the forward shields. He grimaced and thanked the mental discipline of Starfleet for maintaining his flight path and not taking evasive maneuvers as his self-preservation instincts were screaming at him to do.

[In range in 3… 2… 1…] He began to read out as the trio of fighters approached the warbird at speed. [Weapons hot. Torpedoes away.]

Half a second later the colored trails of the Hellhound cluster torpedoes filled his forward vision as the Valkyrie’s pulse cannon opened fire on the warbird’s shields. A bright flash indicated a solid impact on the Romulan shields as Callax banked hard left to avoid spread of disruptor fire.

Reggie’s sensors alerted her to another ship closing in.  The transponder flashed as Wolf-02.  Before she could call to him on the radio, Kalil broke into their link.

Wolf-02 forming up at our nine O'Clock.  Multiple systems off line including comms.  Going to try to reach out telepathically.  Not sure if we’re close enough but have to try.

For the moment, Reggie cut off her link to Kalil and focusing quickly on a burst of telepathic thought towards Hale.

Glad you could join us, Hale.  Taking a bombing run at the warbird.  Will countdown as we g…

Wolf-10 rocked as Stalker fire struck against her shields.  The sudden jerk of the ship to starboard threw Reggie off balance in her seat and her helmeted head smacked against the side of the cockpit.  She grunted in pain as a dull throb formed along her left temple, and the jaw on her left side felt like it was on fire.

“Damnit!” 

With her attention focused away, she’d failed to evade.  Reggie had also had no clue as to whether or not Hale had heard her. 

Get it together, Gemini!  Torpedoes are armed!

Kalil’s voice pulled her back into her focus. 

[Weapons hot.  Torpedoes away.]

Reggie hadn’t even heard the countdown, but when the instruction came back, she hit the firing sequence.  Time seemed to slow as she watched her hell hounds fly, only a half second or so behind the four fired by Chaos and Archon  She looked on as six torpedoes streaked from the flight of Federation fighters towards the warbird.  It almost appeared as if the two stalkers tried to turn to intercept the incoming ordinance, but they were too far out and the torpedoes too far away.  Drawing closer they detonated in sequence, each spreading its ordinance of 24 micro torpedoes along the firing path.  In rapid succession the 144  warheads impacted against the warbird's starboard shield, a wide line of antimatter explosions racing the length of the warbird.  It reminded Reggie of the Starhawk's Assault on the Dominion Ketrecel fungus farms during the war and how they carpet bombed the surface of that moon leaving a blackened scar in their wake.  The traveling line of explosions were beautiful in their illumination of the warbird’s shield.  But as the last handful of torpedoes exploded, there was no flare of the defensive field.

The rest of her flight unit broke off and as they peeled off, Reggie pulled up only slightly, skimming low over the warbird’s dorsal hull, taking pot shots as they became available and giving herself time to check her readouts  They confirmed what she already expected and with an excited whoop she keyed over her comms. 

[Oneida, Wolf-10!  Target shields down on the starboard quarter. Get our asset out of there so we can finish this thing off!]

Logan was trying to keep up with the others and stay in formation when he suddenly thought he heard the radio. Logan let out a soft cry of joy, as it seemed Alith had managed to fix the radio. "You're the best, Hunter."

But when he received no response from the Vulcan in his back seat, he realized how he was being communicated with. It was Gemini. The Betazoid woman was telling him telepathically that they were flying an attack run on the Romulan warbird and that the countdown to the bombardment had already begun. Logan felt strange. He had heard of the Betazoids' telepathic and accompanying empathic abilities but had never experienced them firsthand. It was as if there was another voice in his head, as if he was imagining it, and Logan wasn't sure if Reggie was really talking to him now, or that it was just a desire to be able to talk to someone at that very moment.

Then suddenly green disruptor fire flew around his ears and Logan had to react quickly. Since he had no armament to do serious damage to the warbird's shields, he would assume the role of escort for the bombers. Logan pulled on the control stick and brought his Valravn up at a steep angle high above the three other fighters. When he thought he had reached the apex of his turn, he slowed down a bit to make the turn as tight as possible. It was that moment when his systems failed completely. Logan cursed inwardly and loudly into the silence of his helmet. Now his fighter was miming a cheap clay pigeon just waiting to be picked off, and the two stalkers that came to the warbird's aid came to the same conclusion. Both pulled their noses up and headed for him and Alith. Their aim seemed to be off, though, or they were just damn poor shots. But only one lucky hit would be enough to put an end to him. In his mind's eye, he could already see the intro to the recap episode of his life starting up, when suddenly all systems kicked back in at full power. Within an instant, the shields charged. Not a moment too soon, as Logan realized with relief. For as he realized, the Stalkers had simply been out of their effective range. Their shots became more precise and accurate with each passing meter. The two Stalkers moved past him and readied themselves for another attack.

Shields, propulsions, weapons, navigation, radio. Wolf-02 was fully operational again.

"How did you...?" asked Logan.

"Hard reboot."

"What?"

"Turned it off and back on again."

Logan laughed. "I see."

The pilot swung the Valravn around on the spot, then activated his thrusters. Being able to rely on his readouts again was a relief he had rarely felt, and in some way, he felt even more connected to the fighter now. It was as if they had merged into one. Logan was performing feats he had never dreamed of before. His entire approach to flight had changed in those minutes which felt like an eternity. He was certain the Valravn program was a complete success. Logan would now assume one of the roles for which this fighter had been envisioned back in its development: Space Superiority.

"My turn," he said with an ominous undertone. The pilot closed in on the two stalkers at a monkey's pace and fired his phasers. The orange-red lances of light whirred through the airless space and hit the shields of one of the two bandits. His shields flared brightly, and Logan used this to fire two of his photon torpedoes. Both hit their targets. The first burst the Stalker's shields, the second destroyed the Romulan fighter in a blinding explosion. One remained. But he realized what was waiting for him and fled into his cloak. Logan could no longer see him, nor could his systems determine where he was, but the pilot didn't give up. He knew the other stalker was out there, and that was his advantage. Now if he could just assess which vector, he would use to escape... Logan fired his phasers. He had more luck than sense. The pilot had only listened to his gut as he aimed the phasers on a lower trajectory and the cut through the black hit the Romulan stalker and destroyed it as well.

"This is Wolf-02, systems fully operational again. Two bandits down."

[Weapons hot. Torpedos away.] Sorek heard Archon's voice over his comm. He had used the time of the countdown to ready his torpedos as well. His finger had been hovering over the red button for a solid before Archon reached 1. The lieutenants finger was trembling, although not in fear but in anticipation. This might well turn out to be the most important shot he ever took. His finger pushed down, setting of the ignition of the micro torpedos and sending them off into space nearly simultaneously.

His Valkyrie rocked sideways as a stray disruptor beam hit his starboard wing from an upward angle. Sorek had to counter the impacts effects on his flight path, therefor missing the amazing sight of his torpedos joining the others to strike a hefty blow against this damned, green Goliath of an enemy. Just as he was able to look back up at the Warbird, the last detonations disabled it's shields. "Fuck yes!" Sorek yelled, before quickly steering his Mk III to the right. A rapid curve brought him away from the Warbird's dangerous disruptor beams and into relative safety.

He did a quick check to see if everyone made it out. He had noticed Wraith distracting the two Stalkers after he joined the formation. He realized that unconsciously he had heard him over his comms. Two bandits down? That guy is good. Damn! He thought to himself, admiring the skills of this amazing man.

[This is Wolf-12. Thank you for having our sixes, Wolf-02.] He radioed back, smiling at the prospect of inviting Wraith for a drink and thanking him properly.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Hope on October 06, 2021, 07:08:31 AM
Lt Sabrina Lail | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Oneida ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nero @Havenborn @Nolan @P.C. Haring @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @Eden @Lathaniel  
[Show/Hide]

Sabrina slid her right hand counterclockwise from the bottom to just past the top of a circle made up of multiple LCARS buttons. The Oneida turned sharply to the left on the same plane it was traveling on and realigned with the warbird on a direct intercept course. On the viewscreen, the Lone Wolves that dared to take on the incursion cruiser alone now falling back from their assault positions.

“The Lone Wolves have successfully penetrated the Romulan warbird’s starboard shields, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Ikthan said. “Recommend we fire photon torpedoes and disable the shield generators before continuing with Lail’s plan. This ship cannot withstand a frontal engagement with that warbird,” he continued as violent shaking from the warbird’s weapons fire impacting the Oneida left everyone off balance.

“Standby photon torpedoes; do we still have a lock on Major Situka?” Captain Jackson asked.

“We have a clean lock,” the Oneida’s operations officer indicated.

“Beam her to Transporter Room One,” Captain Jackson ordered, “and have security standing by,” he added,

“Captain, that warbird is getting awfully large on the viewscreen. If we’re going to disable its shields before I have to maneuver us, now would be the time,” Sabrina stated.

“Forward shields down to forty-two percent, Lieutenant Commander Ikthan notified the bridge crew.

“Photon torpedoes, target the warbird’s shield generators; high yield, full spread… fire!” Captain Jackson commanded.

Between the exchanged green pulse disruptor fire and the yellow-orange glimmer of phaser fire, bright orange spherical glows of high yield photon torpedoes launched from Oneida’s forward launchers aimed directly for the starboard vector of the Romulan incursion cruiser. The torpedoes passed without incident through where the warbird’s starboard shields would ordinarily be and made a direct impact with the hull, the resulting antimatter explosion creating blinding yellow lights on the surface of the warbird.

A chime came from the tactical station. “Captain, I’m detecting a cascade power failure in their shield grid. Their shields are failing,” Lieutenant Commander Ikthan stated.

“Bringing us about and into position above and behind the warbird,” Sabrina stated as she tapped in commands into the LCARS display. The Oneida came about, positioning itself in a very tight weapons blindspot.

[“Transporter Room One to Bridge, we have the Major. She’s a little banged up but no worse for wear,”] a deep voice over the communications systems said.

[“Understood,”] Commander Mag’Lev responded freeing up Captain Jackson to deliver his next orders.

“Target weapons systems and impulse engines. Commander Ikthan; Lieutenant Lail, coordinate your actions carefully - let’s disable this warbird. All ventral phasers, fire at will,” Captain Jackson said.

The Oneida had gained the upper hand thanks to the bravery of the Lone Wolves and Sabrina’s tactic. With the Oneida now positioned in a tight blindspot of the D’viret-class incursion cruiser the dance or yellow-orange phasers and green disruptors simply turned into yellow-orange flashes piercing across the void of space and making an impact with the warbird.

Momentum had led to less accuracy from Oneida’s ventral phasers as Sabrina focused on keeping the ship within the tight envelope where the warbird couldn’t fire back at them as both vessels moved at variable fractions of impulse power trying to outmaneuver the other. Even with Ikthan dealing with less accuracy, he had become certain that the unorthodox tactic they were using was starting to inflict serious damage on the warbird as he detected power fluctuations.

“Mines!” Ikthan quickly shouted.

“Damnit!” Lail caught off guard. The Oneida hit the mines, decimating the forward shield strength as the Romulan warbird slowed down allowing the Oneida to pass it. Surges in the main power grid led to overloads in some of the conduits on the bridge adding to the damage already existing from the previous battle with Klingons. The warbird fired pulse disruptors at the Oneida depleting the ship’s aft shields and setting it adrift.

“Aft shields are offline,” Lieutenant Commander Ikthan reported.

With exception to the warning alarms, beeps, and klaxons, the bridge fell silent. “They’ve targeted our warp core,” Ikthan further reported.

“Divert auxiliary…” Captain Jackson began to state when Lieutenant Commander Ikthan interrupted, “incoming plasma torpedo.”

Sabrina quickly tapped several buttons on her LCARS display and activated the Oneida’s maneuvering thrusters to partially rotate the ship on the z-axis allowing the dorsal shields to take the force of the torpedo. While the interior may have shaken, at least they were all still there.

“Auxiliary power to the aft shields,” Captain Jackson ordered. “Emergency power to forward shields,” he continued. “What’s the status of the Romulan ship?” he added.

“They’ve sustained critical damage. Their shields have been disabled, most of their weapons are offline, and their propulsion is limited. Not to imply they aren’t still a threat. Given our condition I would recommend that the Lone Wolves finish disabling the ship; we can support them from afar,” Lieutenant Commander Ikthan said.

“Lail, adjust our course, move us away from the warbird but keep us in weapons range,” Jackson commanded. “We have the Romulan asset, the Wolves should be able to finish it up from here given the damage we’ve done to the warbird,” Captain Jackson commented.

“Breaking off,” Sabrina stated. One way or another, this battle is going to end. Sabrina thought to herself as she moved the Oneida away from the warbird.



OOC: The "ventral sweep" as it would become to be called was developed at Starfleet Command in 2372 as a high-risk, high-damage maneuver: [2372] Unorthodox Tactics (https://uss-theurgy.com/forum/index.php/topic,3207.0.html). This is the first time Lail has put it into practice.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: P.C. Haring on October 06, 2021, 02:59:20 PM
[Lt. Reggie Suder, Callsign: Gemini | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-10 | Near Qo'nos] attn: @Stegro88   @Hope   @Eden   @Lathaniel   @Havenborn   @Nolan   @Auctor Lucan   @SummerDawn   @Nero  

Reggie brought Wolf-10 around as the Oneida began her assault.  The fast and furious exchange of weapons fire momentarily took her back to the War, the flash of explosions along the Warbird’s hull almost blindingly bright but for her ocular implants automatically adjusting the input so as to not overwhelm her.

Romulan shields are down

[Oneida to Lone Wolves, we have the package.]

Reggie breathed a sigh of relief.  One objective down, one more to go.

[Acknowledged Oneida.]

She maneuvered away from the engagement intent on re-focusing her efforts on the stalkers.  With the Romulan shields offline, the Iroquois class starship had things well in hand.  Her proximity alarm went off and she cut hard to port, narrowly avoiding a direct hit as a mine exploded, dropping her starboard shields down to 24%. 

Oneida has taken damage.  Forward and aft shields down.  Reading critical damage on the warbird.  Romulan plasma torpedoes powering up again.  Oneida is moving off.  Need to cover their retreat and end this before the warbird does more damage.

The warbird was a wounded bear surrounded by a hungry pack of wolves.  Its time was limited.  Even so wounded animals were often the most dangerous.  Reggie pulled the Valravn around and vectored in on the warbird from above.  Fires burned where the hull had been damaged, but despite the beating it had taken it seemed that main power was still online.  Kalil could confirm that with sensors, of course, but even from this distance, she could make out the consistent interior lighting in the Warbird’s viewports.  Clearly the warbird needed some help on it’s one way trip to hell.

She trimmed her vector, angling for a tighter approach toward the end of the port wing, where the hull connected with the nacelle, and keyed her weapons inventory.

[Wolf-10 to the Wolfpack, we need to finish off this warbird and make sure the Oneida gets out of here in one piece..]

She lit both Helbores off as soon as the the target locked.  The two torpedoes flew unimpeded before striking the port side ventral wing.  The explosion was massive and even with her implants, Reggie instinctively turned away.  By the time she turned back, the port Nacelle was blinking out it’s glow dying after it’s explosive amputation.  Sections of mounting that had not been destroyed by the explosion itself still held onto the engine as if the metal itself was desperately trying to keep the ship in one piece.  But even reinforced hull plating had to give way to physics as the stress of the torque from the nacelle’s motion was too much for the damaged plating to hold. As the last fingers of hull gave way and the nacelle floated  free, a dead hunk of scrap metal, the structure of the Romulan hull seemed to sag as power flickered on and off throughout the rest of the vessel.

Now there would be no chance for the bear.  The only question remaining would be how long the wolves wanted to play with their food before putting it out of it's miserry.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Lathaniel on October 07, 2021, 08:34:34 PM
(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) [Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Wolf-12 AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Near Qo'nos] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Eden 

[Show/Hide]

Sorek was just about finished running his Mk III through a wide arc, when he noticed the Oneida getting into trouble. He had hoped - and probably wrongly so - that their micro torpedos would have helped the Oneida finish the Warbird and save the day. His sensors told him that this was not the case. The shields of the Romulan D'Viret class were down, generators shot to shit, but that was not the end of this green bastard.

[Wolf-10 to the Wolfpack, we need to finish off this warbird and make sure the Oneida gets out of here in one piece..] He heard Gemini's voice over his comm and immediately realized that it was time for the wolves to feast.

[Acknowledged, Wolf-10. Time to get out the fangs!] He replied and forced his craft into another curve. Quickly calculating his trajectory, projecting the path of the Warbird and bringing both into one single chart showed him his opportunity. A fast and dirty adventure which might make a difference.

He maneuvered his fighter to come down in a wide angle from above the bow of the Warbird, programmed the course to shoot past the head of the enemy's ship after his attack. He knew that what he planned was risky, but it also held a high success rate. He remembered what the Engineer aboard the Theurgy had told him a few minutes before launch, but he had to put this aside. There was no battle without the risk of dying.

His Valkyrie shot past debris, evaded a wrecked stalker and diverted back to it's original course. Sorek, meanwhile, was having a last look at his weapons configuration before arming it.

15 seconds, time to mark that fucker! He thought and activated the tetryon pulse cannon. It unfolded from it's compartment on top of the fighter and immediately it marked the enemy directly at the front of the Warbird's head. If his calculations were correct, this would be the exact spot where the bridge would hide behind thick - but not impenetrable - armor.

Suddenly, Sorek's ears were penetrated by the unnerving klaxon sound of the fighter's targetting alert system. The Warbird had it's sights on him. Prepared to pull through, Sorek started to take evasive actions, sending his Valkyrie into gut wrenching barrel rolls while trying to stay on course. Yet, evading every single disruptor beam was close to impossible.

He was yanked halfway out of his seat, the impact dampeners hardly capable of cushioning the graze shot that had impacted his left wing tip. If the beam had hit just a few inches closer to the hull, Sorek would have surely died.

Another alert went off. He had reached the perfect distance and angle to take his shot. Still stunned from the blow his craft had received and unsure if his calculations still held after being hit, he slashed his hand on the trigger panel of his controls. The cannon above him immediately spat it's highly concentrated beam of tetryon particles through space.

Sorek had no chance to watch the impact. He knew from the Engineer, that the maneuverability of his ship would take a serious blow if the tetryon cannon was fired. And he had no intention to crash into the enemy's ugly ship. His trajectory - he now realized - was slightly off. His sensors told him that his shot had landed a hit, but he had no time to see where exactly. If he did not manage to pull the Valkyrie at least 1.43 degrees further away from the current - deadly - angle, he had no chance of survival.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Nero on October 09, 2021, 10:24:44 PM
[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-02 | Near Qo'noS] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Havenborn @Nolan @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @P.C. Haring @Eden @Lathaniel @Hope
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Logan tilted his head as he surveyed the situation out there outside his cockpit. He saw the Oneida some distance away, making an interesting and high-risk attack maneuver to harass the Romulan Incursion Cruiser. The pilot hoped the ship could secure the package. Then the Oneida retreated. During her attack, she took a bad beating. That and the damage from the previous skirmish with the four Klingon warbirds, in which one of the Iroquois-class cruiser's four warp nacelles was badly damaged, were reason enough for Logan to assume that the Oneida would not fly another attack and would move to a safe weapons distance. Finally, word came from the Oneida that they had secured the target and Wolves could get underway to shoot the Romulan cruiser incapacitated. Reggie confirmed this directly as well.

"With pleasure," Logan replied seriously.
He briefly checked the condition of his weapons and asked Alith about the condition of the rest of the machine. When she confirmed this with a "Everything in the green range," Logan pushed the thrust control forward.
"This is Wolf-02, attack run on the cruiser. Engage the warp nacelles and disable its maneuverability."
Logan dove in a slight spiral deep under the Romulan cruiser, narrowly escaping enemy defensive fire. Suddenly, mines appeared on his LCARS. Instinctively, the pilot accelerated further.
"Gravity waves ahead." reported the Vulcan from the rear seat.
"'Seen it."
Logan pulled up and cut a sharp right turn. The mine following him adjusted its course to follow. But now that the other mine was also setting off to chase him, Logan chose his course so that the two mines collided and destroyed each other. The explosion was violent, but Alith reacted quickly and distributed the shield energy to the rear so that they swallowed most of the energy of the detonation.

Logan shook his head in disbelief. "That was closer than it should have been."
He resumed his course. This time, none of the cloaked mines got in his way. Logan aimed for the starboard nacelle and fired his phasers. Along with a load of micro torpedoes, they slammed into the still-strong shields. They flared under the bombardment, showing him that he needed to weaken them even further. So, Logan launched another approach.
"Wraith, shields are down. Tetryon pulse from Wolf-12."

"Very good, Chaos." radioed Logan. Then he fired a set of photon torpedoes. The warp nacelle faded into a blinding light. Logan immediately put it back on. He had to take his chances while the Romulan cruiser's shields were down. Logan fired a broadside of micro torpedoes, followed by a pair more photon torpedoes and phaser fire. Multiple impacts along the hull caused some damage to the cruiser.
"Starboard nacelle destroyed," he informed his comrades.

Logan saw Sorek's Valkyrie approaching the enemy's hull ominously. If it did not turn soon, it would inevitably collide with him. Logan didn't hesitate.
"Damn it, we've got to help him. Reinforce dorsal shields. I've got an idea."
"Understood.", Hunter confirmed curtly. She could very well guess what Logan was up to and distributed shield power to the upper emitters accordingly.
"Chaos, this is Wraith. Strap in and redirect your power to the ventral shields. This is going to be a bumpy ride."

Logan pulled the control stick slightly toward him while tilting the nose forward. It rose steadily, but quickly. Until the shields of the two fighters touched and flashed in a flickering light. Suddenly there was a heavy knock and the Valkyrie moved away from him. The blow to Sorek must have been similarly hard. When Logan checked his readouts, he saw that he had managed to move the Valkyrie off its collision course. Hunter redistributed the shield energy evenly again, and Logan accelerated away from the cruiser.
"Chaos, are you ok?"
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Nolan on October 12, 2021, 01:50:45 PM
[ Lt. Cmdr Thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @SummerDawn @Havenborn @Nero @Hope

Whilst the odds never were in their favor, the announcement of fresh reinforcements felt like the sun hitting you with those first rays in the morning. Four extra fighters and a fucking Federation ship that wouldn't blast them to the tiniest of molecules at first sight. This day couldn't get any better already. That was at least Thomas' last thought before the disruptor fire of the stalkers hit his aft shields. He cursed lowly and failed to reply to Hale as he started to twist and turn his fighter into different and unpredictable patterns to shake his pursuers. In the meantime, he was tagging the chasers on Salvo's tail.

Those fighters dispersed however to deal with the newcomers and Rawley her microtorpedoes had detonated behind him. which turned his active chasers away. The sensor jamming hadn't affected Razor's ship as he seemed to be just out of range for the warbird to have any effect. He glanced around and saw the trouble Rawley was in. It was pretty clear she was in trouble as her shields gave out. The Stalkers could probably taste the kill already at this point.

It didn't take long for Rawleys voice to come through the channel as she voiced out the situation she was in. Thomas gave a command to Salvo and Neko to join the others in defending the Oneida from the incoming Stalkers. The fact that the Oneida was there meant that they didn't have to go and try suicidal tricks to destroy the Warbird. Thomas pushed his ship around to fly head on towards Rawley. It seemed like a pure collision course and he marked the two ships flying behind her. He narrowed his eyes and without warning Rawley, opened fire with his phasers. The shots would nearly scrape her canopy yet were calculated, shots as they impacted the Stalkers behind her who had no way of seeing what was coming for them. The lone stalker that had pelted on her last shields was awarded a volley of microtorpedoes as he had to veer off from his attack to save his hide.

At the last moment, Thomas barrel rolled under Rawley and launched a new volley of microtorpedoes to deal with her Stalkers. Flying through the debris, he opened a channel to Rawley "Head on back to recharge, I got your back." his voice cool, determined as if it had been a standard tactic he had utilized. He remembered how Miles had once done a similar thing to Rawley with torpedoes, he only could hope she'd not react the same way.


With him covering for Rawley, he took in the rest of his HUD and finally answered to Hale "Good to see you've brought friends. Focus on defending the Oneida and if possible, try and take some shots on the Romulan bird." He opened up a channel to the Oneida as well and smiled at the viewscreen "You lot sure are a sight for sore eyes. Give them hell! Though please bear in mind that we still have an active asset aboard the ship. We'd owe you a big one if you could retrieve her. I'm sending you the details now to contact her."

With the Oneida taking care of the defector, the Wolf leader hurried back towards the Federation ship as it would provide more cover and a chance for Rawley to recharge her shields. The rest of the Wolves had begun to prowl and assault the Warbird next. Thomas observed it while he stuck with Rawley for now.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Lathaniel on October 13, 2021, 03:37:04 PM
(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) [Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Wolf-12 AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Near Qo'nos] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Eden 

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"Fuuuck!" Sorek swore, breathing rapidly while trying everthing in his power to divert course. The thrusters had a hard time compensating for the shock the whole vessel had experienced when the tetryon pulse was fired. His trajectory was almost unchanged, still headed for lethal disaster as his instruments informed him about an incoming craft on his six. But before he could identify who or what it was, his comm told him.

[Chaos, this is Wraith. Strap in and redirect your power to the ventral shields. This is going to be a bumpy ride.]

Without a reply, Sorek hastily did as told. With a few movements of his fingers, he quickly redirected most of the power to the ventral shields, keeping only the life support running on fifty percent. His hands instinctively searched for something to hold on to, since he had a rough idea about what Wraith was planning.

Still, the suddenness of the impact hit him relatively unprepared. He had tried a lot of maneuvers throughout his time with Tactical CONN, but this particular move was new to him. The blow to the ventral section of his Valkyrie was transfered into his body, the inertia dampeners only able to take this much. His head was forced towards his controls then yanked back against the head support of his pilot's seat. And even though his helmet took a good amount of the force, he lost consciousness for a second of two.

[...you ok?] The message only partially reached Sorek's mind as he came back to. With a feeling of dizziness, he checked his controls, set the power distribution matrix to auto again and exhaled deeply. Fuck, that was close! He thought and activated his comm.

"Roger, Wolf-12 alive and well. Thanks to you, Wraith! I owe you one!" He replied and regained his concentration. This fight was not over and he could not afford to make any more stupid mistakes. Letting his fingers fly over his controls, he brought some more distance between himself and the Warbird while at the same time trying to assess the battlefield's current situation.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Havenborn on October 18, 2021, 03:23:28 PM
[ LT Daniel Havenborn, Callsign: Salvo & ENS K’Ren, Callsign: Neko | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class “Hellcat” ] ] Attn: @Nolan, @SummerDawn, @Auctor Lucan, @Eden, @Stegro88, @Nero, @P.C. Haring, @Lathaniel

Daniel had been maneuvering well, keeping the two Stalkers on his aft from getting a lock, he wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to keep it up but he didn’t need to wait long before finding out.  As reinforcements arrived, several fighters from Theurgy and an cruiser, the USS Oneida, emerged from warp and immediately engaged the warbird.  The Stalkers chasing him veered off to engage the newcomers, a mistake on their part as far as Daniel was concerned.  He was going to move in to support Ghost but watched as Razor moved that way as well.  Knowing that Razor would be able to handle the Stalkers attacking Ghost, Daniel turned his attention back to the Stalkers that had moved away from him and began lining up an attack run against one of them.

“Acknowledged Razor, moving to support.”  He said as he then spoke a few quick words to Neko to have her begin locking onto the nearest Stalker, he intended to destroy another, the Oneida and the warbird had traded blows but the warbird was heavily damaged.  As he flew his fighter towards where the reinforcements were at he watched as chaos erupted throughout the battlespace, hearing about the sensor jamming he checked his systems but found that he had been outside of the range, he hoped that Ghost and Razor were as well as it seemed that some of the newly arrived reinforcements had gotten caught in it.  He warned Neko to be ready for it if it happened to them.

A few moments later and he heard Wraith call out that he had dropped two more.  Only three left, and only one in front of him, hopefully Razor would be able to destroy the other two harassing Ghost.  The fourth Stalker had unfortunately cloaked so Daniel slowed down, if the warbird didn’t have other problems to worry about he would have made a tempting target, but as it stood the Oneida and the other Theurgy fighters were a more direct threat than Daniel was.  He slowed down to a quarter impulse and watched the stars, cloaking devices weren’t entirely perfect, they managed to fool sensors but if one was careful they could see the refraction of the stars, it was minute but it was there and Daniel hoped that he could exploit that.

Daniel watched and waited for what seemed like hours but in fact was only a few seconds, suddenly he saw what he was looking for, however he also realized that the Stalker was decloaking right in front of him, he fired a burst of his pulse phasers and they grazed along the Stalker’s shields.  His enemy had managed to get their shields raised a split second before he had fired.  He increased his speed back to full impulse and juked out of the way of the Stalker as it returned fire and scored a direct hit on his shields, dropping them down forty-six percent.  Daniel assumed that had been a full power shot from the enemy fighter, he swung his fighter around and managed to get in behind the Stalker.  “Neko, target lock!”  He called out to her as he lined up to fire another burst of his pulse phasers but the Stalker juked him and he missed.  Daniel loaded up a spread of micro-torpedoes and fire several volleys around the Stalker as well as firing his pulse phasers directly forward, the Stalker attempted to juke him again but this time got caught in one of the micro-torpedo volleys, its shields flared and Daniel fired a final volley of micro-torpedoes, again catching the Stalker.  Its shields flared and his sensors read that they had broke.  Hearing from Neko that she had a target lock he fired a photon torpedo.  He watched as the torpedo chased the Stalker and for a moment he thought that it was going to miss but it struck the Stalker and Daniel watched as it blew apart.  Smirking he set his course back towards the Oneida to help protect the cruiser.
Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Eden on October 20, 2021, 03:35:47 PM
(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png)Lt. JG Callax Valin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Callax_Valin) | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Wolf-11 | Near Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Lathaniel @Hope
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The initial attack run had been a success with sensors confirming that the romulan cruiser's shields had been disabled. Whatever sense of joy Callax felt however was short lived as despite being weakened this particular bird still had talons and they had made it very mad. The fighter shook violently, a sensation the young Ardanan was quickly growing frustrated with feeling so often, as the enemy vessel attempted to give him a less than friendly farewell. He banked hard to the right to evade another parting gift and managed a glance at his shields readout before twisting the joystick to the left in a last second evasive maneuver.

Shields at 40%. Not great. Not terrible.

He quickly checked the status of the other Wolves and Oneida, at least so far as his sensors would allow. Most all were still engaged with the enemy fighters as the Oneida was falling back. It had sustained damage--that much was clear--but appeared to be better off than the cruiser which had a death grip on life even as it was being dismantled piece by piece.

[Wolf-10 to the Wolfpack, we need to finish off this warbird and make sure the Oneida gets out of here in one piece..]

[Acknowledged, Wolf-10. Time to get out the fangs!]

[No complaints here, Wolf-10.]

The Valkyrie banked upwards and rotated 180-degrees to bring the cruiser back into view. The romulans had fought well--were still fighting well--but now with the loss of their starboard nacelle the writing was on the wall.

Power diverted to the forward shields as Callax accelerated the fighter towards the cruiser just off its starboard quarter. Debris from the nacelle made the target lock more difficult than it needed to be but as soon as the computer confirmed the lock on the desired subsystems he opened fire. Cannon fire lit up the darkness of space in front of him as a salvo of micro-torpedoes followed suit with a dazzling stream of impulse trails. Even with death there could be art and beauty.

The fighter banked sharply to avoid collision with the cruiser and accelerated away now off its port side. In his peripheral vision there was a bright flash of light and soon after a satisfying rumble of a shockwave as it shook the Federation fighter.

Title: Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor
Post by: Auctor Lucan on October 22, 2021, 03:39:43 PM
[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Evelyn_Rawley,_callsign_%22Ghost%22) | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ]
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When any moment could be your last, one tended to have baited breath.

Though Ghost willed herself to breathe through every second of pending death, trained to not freeze in a fight, and glared through her canopy in search for the Stalkers hiding in dark. She was stress-testing the fuselage of her Valkyrie in her manoeuvres, twisting and turning to shake off any torpedo lock gained on her, and if a Stalker got lined up in her sights, she fired as best as she might. With no tactical sensors available, and the Stalkers ganging up on her, it was a loosing fight nonehteless... until a white figure appeared ahead of her, and fired right past her cockpit. Eyes widening against the glare, she thought it was aimed for her, but it was a Valkyrie that whisked past her, and only when her HUDs lit up with markers again did she see what had transpired.

"Razor... Damn you. Ghost to Wolf Leader, lucky you that you're a great shot," she said with a grin, heart beating fast in her ears as she turned her helmet in his direction. His daring manoeuvre had saved her life, cutting it close, but at least he hadn't used her heat signature to lead torpedoes into the midst of an enemy formation. She still couldn't believe Renard was dead... but at least they'd had the chance to put that incident behind them. Razor gave his instruction, and it was sound. "Aye, regrouping and rerouting power to shield for regeneration.

Circling wide, going around the outer bounds of the engagement, she got a fairly good overview of the fallout with the warbird and its fighters. The newly arrived Oneida, Wraith and the new wolves made a great difference, turning the tide, and after the warbird's shields were offline, the wolves otherwise not engaged with Stalkers made a pass against the damaged warbird, which was still firing even though it was adrift - one nacelle torn off by the anlage of phaser and torpedo fire. The Stalkers were slowly being decimated, only one left, and then even that one was destroyed by her fellow wolves. Ghost checked her shields, seeing that she's got some percentage points back. Decided, she bared her teeth and set a course straight for the warbird.

"This his Ghost, I'm firing all my remaining hardpoints against the warbird. Coming in hot!" she said, and joined those who attacked the crippled Romulan ship. She still had four out of six quantum torpedoes left, and she armed them all, even as she emptied her mirco torpedo magazines against the unshielded body of the beast. "Torpedoes away!"

With so many attacking the D'viret-class warbird at the same time, there was no telling which volley finally caused the artifical quantum singularity core to give in. The breach in the core's containment made the entire thing collapse on itself in an implosion around the exposed singularity, and the gravitational pull was an immediate and acute experience when in the cockpit of a Valkyrie. "Fuck!" Rawley had quickly a course away from the thing to avoid the blast, but once her bird stabilised, she saw that she was off course by several degrees because of the gravitational pull of the implosion. As alarming as it was, and realising that she was still alive, she let out a cry of victory over comms. We did it!
 
"This is Ghost," she said eventually, "ready to head back when you are."

Finally having a moment to take things in, her eyes widened when looking at the IFF readouts on her display. Archon and Chaos? From the Jadestone? No, it can't be... For real? Shit, is it really them?

[ Major Ael Situka | IRC Aliqui > USS Oneida ]
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The klaxons blaring through the ship, Major Ael Situka had been on her way to the shuttle bay in hope to leave before the warbird was destroyed. She cursed her fate, perhaps dying a traitor of her people, without being able to join those more enlightened about the current leadership of the Star Empire. Her sacrifice might help save the Klingons, delay the oncoming war, but it was hardly enough for her. She did this for her own people, and she wanted to set things right again. Doubt mired her thoughts as she ran down the corridor, thinking that she could have done things differently, but she saw no other recourse. Still, the dying eyes of Rinella prevailed in her mind, which might have been why she didn't see the figure in the intersection before it was too late.

The strike sent her straight into the bulkhead, and she lost the grip on her disruptor. Disoriented, head hurting she raised her eyes to meet her assailant's... and it was the Captain. He must have used a site-to-site transport from the bridge, abandoning his bridge crew as the ship was falling apart around them. Just to reach me...

"Thrifty little susse-thrai..." he said, his voice distorted... unreal, as if an echo out of another dimension. "This changes nothing. You will all be devoured by the dark... your matter returned to its dormant state."

Situka tried to rise up, to get away, anything, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the Captain's face, the flickering lights of the damaged corridor making him look like some creature from a nightmare. "You are an infection... a festering wound never meant to be, but eventually... there will be nothing left."

Grinding her teeth together, Situka pushed away, and started running. She could hear the voice, following her... gaining on her. "You cannot stop it... It is inevitable!"

She felt fingers coming around her throat...



...and then she stumbled off a transporter pad, landing on the blue carpet of a deck - the smells completely other than that of the Aliqui.

"Transporter Room One to Bridge, we have the Major. She's a little banged up but no worse for wear," someone said ahead of her in Federation Standard. She didn't need a universal translator to make out the words. Her thoughts were on what the Captain had said, however, and she reached for her throat as if the fingers were still there. If there had been any form of lingering doubts about the nature of the enemy they all collectively faced... they'd been cleared by the sound of that voice, and the promise in those words.

We were 'never meant to be', he said... Situka thought, swallowing as she tried to regain her footing. Yet does that mean they wish us gone because we are a mistake, a random mutation in the cosmos never meant to be...

She stood tall, facing the Starfleet officers in the room as serenely as she could manage.

"Major Ael Situka," she said quietly. "My gratitude."

Or do they consider us a threat?

- FIN
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