Star Trek: Theurgy

Episode 04: Simulcast | Chapter 05 "Battle of Starbase 84"

"Whenever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear... and another hand reaches out to take up our arms."

[ Captain Ives | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

The battle for survival was fully under way. Vector 02 and its dedicated wolves had attempted to take out Starbase 84's tactical array. Unfortunately, it had merely taken some damage, appearing largely intact.

"Report," Ives had said, her teeth clenched, fearing what Trent might say. One of the fighters had been destroyed. Unless she'd managed to eject somehow, it meant another wolf dead. The tactical array was likely still operating, so if the pilot had died, she'd died in a failed assault.

[Allegiant to Theurgy. Deploying the TPS probe (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Manta-class_Advanced_Scout#Tetryon_Pulse_Sensor_Probe) now. Target; that tactical array,] It was Lieutenant Commander Dewitt, taking the initiative after the first assault had failed. It seemed the Black Opal's CO did not lack for bravery, that was certain, much less the Allegiant's new dedicated pilot.

"Acknowledged, Allegiant. We'll try to draw the fire," Ives turned her head and saw the scoutship changing course, heading towards the starbase. The Manta-class scoutship would be able to take more hits than a Valkyrie could, and if the probe hit correctly, then they would have a painted target for all to concentrate their fire on. "Ives to all Vectors, move in! Draw the attention away from the Allegiant! Then fall back once she's made her pass."

"Aye, Captain!" called Aisha S'Iti from the helm, her lightly scaled finger quickly tapping in the new course heading. "Engaging Beta 1-4-0 evasive manoeuvres for the approach!"

Said and done, they shot forth towards the base and initiated a series of rapid turns to throw off the phaser fire that followed their trajectory. Vectors 02 and 03 moved in as well, acknowledgement heard from their respective bridges. Even the Lone Wolves moved in with the Vectors, firing against torpedo launchers and phaser banks on the starbase in hope of penetrating the Orunal-class spacedock's shields. Most importantly, the Allegiant did not draw all the fire from the base, and allowed it to shoot past the tactical array. With her heart beating fast, Ives waited for the acknowledgement from the Allegiant that the probe had been deployed, and that they had a tetryon marker for the array to concentrate their fire upon.

As the bridge shook from the bombardment, Jien saw something else as they drew near. One of the bay doors on the mushroom head of the base was blown apart and sent adrift - apparently destroyed from within the spacedock. As alarming as the sight was, knowing how there was an entire Air Group of interceptors commissioned to the base, it had been expected that they'd get out eventually. Things would become a great deal more difficult, so it was imperative that the base's own tactical systems were impaired. Without word from the Allegiant, Ives' eye was kept drawn to the opening of the spacedock. She expected to see the black and white swarm of interceptors spilling out into space, but instead...

...she saw the damaged hull of a Luna-class starship. She remembered Trent mentioning the USS Resolve earlier, the ship believed lost beyond Romulan space, and while she had not counted on the ship to be the first contender they faced from the starbase, she suspected it was just the beginning. For indeed, right behind her swarmed the interceptors, darting out from behind the Resolve and engaging the Lone Wolves Squadron, the Allegiant and the Theurgy's three vectors.

---

[ Lit Cmdr. Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 Cockpit | Outside Starbase 84 ]Attn: Lone Wolves Squadron & the Allegiant

Game's fate was still uncertain, but it was evident her Valkyrie was destroyed. When the orders came that they were supposed to draw attention away from the Allegiant, Renard bit his teeth together against the trepidation of a close pass. Nevertheless, he opened the squadron channel and spoke.

"This is Wolf Leader. Morrigan, you and Husker join Outrider and guard Vector 02. The rest of you, stay with your Vectors as they move in towards the base. The objective is to draw fire from the Allegiant. Target launchers and phaser banks on the base, and while you won't likely get through the shield, you are to be noticed and draw attention. Wolf Leader, Out."

[This is Morrigan,] said Fasha, breaking off from Vector 01 as ordered, [acknowledged. Changing Vectors and moving in.]

[Outrider here, acknowledged. I'll fall in on Husker's six.] Miles heard how Outrider was shaken by the loss of Game, but her death was not yet verified.

[This is Ghost, acknowledged!] came the reply from Rawley, [Staying with Vector 03 and making bloody some noise!]

When the last pilots had reported in, all three Vectors were converging on Starbase 84.

---

OOC: This chapter features the Battle of Starbase 84, meaning that unlike Chapter 02: Crucible, all the writers with characters on the Resolve will be posting in this thread as well. Here is the posting order for the different ships in this Chapter as of its beginning:

Vector 01 of the Theurgy| Main Bridge: 1) Natalie Stark + Sarresh Morali 2) Carrigan Trent 3) Tovarek

Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Main Sickbay: 1) Doctor Maya taking command 2) Heather MacMillan 3) Hylota & Vinata Vojona 4) Hayden O'Connor

Vector 03 of the Theurgy | Main Engineering: 1) Lin Kae 2) Rihen Neyah + Carla Abner 3) Nolak Kalmil

Lone Wolves Squadron: 1) Husker 2) Goldeneye 3) Iron Fox & Ghost

USS Resolve | Main Bridge: 1) Derik Veradin 2) Six & A'vura 3) Tristan Kendrick 4) Keval ch'Rayya 5) Depends on Development

USS Resolve | Fighter Assault Bay: After Kendrick's/Keval's post 1) Havenborn 2) K'Ren 3) Krystal Tancredi

USS Allegiant: 1) Sithick 2) Jaya Thorne

Some locations are not listed, but nor are they forgotten. Check PMs in that case. ;) Happy posting!

[ Ens Derik Veradin | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Attn: Resolve Crew

Derik had been sitting in silence for the last little while, steeling himself for his next steps. While the parlay had been going on, he'd kept his mouth shut, itching for the order to take them finally out of this cursed docking bay. Despite plenty of room on the Resolve bridge, he'd started to feel a growing sense of claustrophobia, as if he was experiencing the ship's own stress and desire to leave the bay as well.

Finally the talking had ceased and the order was given. Responding with just an, “Aye, sir,” Derik executed the commands he'd already lined up to take them out of the base. It was still a tight fit having just the charred piece of the one door open and out of the way, but they made it out, followed by dozens of the interceptor fighters.

He glanced at a secondary screen showing him warp status from Engineering. Everything was green. Their course would look, at first, like they were heading straight out to battle the Theurgy, but when they cleared the base’s shields, he angled them just a few degrees off, clear of the other ships present and brought his hand down to execute the jump to warp.

Nothing happened. Well, that's not exactly true, things were starting to happen all around them as it would be obvious to all observers that their new course was an escape vector… but the warp drives didn't take them to warp.

He stared in disbelief at the console and tried hitting it again. Again, nothing. “Sir… the warp field isn't stabilizing and taking us to light speed. Veradin to Engineering, our warp engines aren't working!”

[Lt. JG. Suq | Main Bridge | USS Resolve ]

Suq was happy to see Derik as alive. It cut the edges off his tension. He could feel the muscles in his back release slowly and thought he could feel them roll over his shoulder bones. He carried a shudder across his upper back.

But then he heard Drauc's voice. That Romulan voice. There was nothing actually wrong with the voice itself, really, he had a nice voice as far as Suq was concerned, but the words he carried made him want to close communications, cover his ears, scream, anything to stop the bad news. He stood stock still. The tension rose right back up to his shoulders. Worst of all, he felt hatred for Hawthorne. Hatred like a horrible poison in his chest. A great hungry soulless black hole.I'm home to a lot of those these days.

He was not religious but found himself thanking the spirits anyways. Kendrick had given the order to scram and Suq no longer felt any moral obligation to stay. He kept his eyes locked on the engineering console as the Resolve eeked out the bay doors. He didn't like how close they were coming to scraping the paint off, not that they had much left to scrape, and god he wished those stupid Interceptors would just leave the big girl alone while she eased herself out of the bay. She was like a wounded whale surrounded by parasites waiting to feast. Go away, he wanted to shout. Shoo.

They made their slow, limping way to the shields. Suq vividly remembered seeing the shields on screen and thinking he was about to come home. Never this. Never being made to be a gladiator. He saw Derik prepare her for warp, he sighed in relief, they were gone...

Wait a minute. The viewscreen still showed the Theurgy, mocking them by looming so quietly. There were still Interceptors buzzing about. This wasn't right. Most importantly, there was this god-awful whine. A high pitched sound clearly coming from the engines, a sound that was not there the last time they tried warp and a sound that he's sure a healthy ship should not be making.
"It's my professional opinion,"He spoke out loud, his voice wavering, but he tried to keep his confidence up, he was, after all..."as head of engineering," He took large steps over to Derik's console, looking at his readings and confirming them with his. His mind processed them all rapidly, and he had to double check the numbers. This...This was beyond words. "That we're not at warp. But we should be. Because these numbers say we're at warp. We're using power like we're warping. We have the power to warp in the first place. We're not making our subspace bubble-thing. Oh god, look at these numbers, slow her down, our matrix compositor will fuse!"

His voice went from calm, to loud all within a few seconds. Without knowing where the failure was taking place, any number of disasters could occur. Anything from conduit explosions to a warp core containment failure could happen if the engine stalled like this. Worst of all, the ship was, to put it kindly, shit. He had no way of knowing if it was one of the many jury-rigged fixes put in place, just to hold them until they got home, or if it was something more sinister...

It could be the borg woman, he thought. She was in engineering, he was not, and she was borg. But that didn't make sense. Chances were very good she wanted to get out of here as bad as they did, and if she wanted to ruin them, she could've done so back in the docking bay. Conflict blossomed across his features, he buzzed her with his combadge. "Suq to engineering. We're not entering warp. What's going on down there?" There shouldn't be anything wrong, he thought. He maintained the warp core. He ran checkups just before they got here. The only people who would've touched it between then and now is--

And then, with his combadge link still open, and all of bridge watching his slow descent into his odd state of tightly controlled panic, he stood ramrod straight, face pale, and voice startlingly calm.

[ USS Resolve | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All Resolve Bridge Crew

After the Efrosian made his announcement, another hail came to the Resolve. Once it was opened, Ian Hawthorne's face was seen on the viewscreen.

"Going somewhere, Kendrick?" he said, but there was no jest in his tone - the words belying the darkness in his stare. On the contrary, the fact that the Resolve had tried to flee the battle had been apparent on Starbase 84's sensors, and he did not stay the Sword of Damocles. "You should have surrendered when you had the chance."

Then, the transmission ended, with no chance for a reply.

Within five seconds, the first Interceptor opened fire against them. Then the second, and the third. In short order, the Resolve's shields were bombarded by pulse phaser cannons, Interceptors sweeping across overhead and carving lines into the dorsal hull when the emitters couldn't regenerate the shield quickly enough. Five Interceptors became ten, then fifteen. A whole squadron had made its pass, cuttings its mark, a whole pack tearing at the Resolve with its teeth. Within thirty seconds, when the first squadron had made its pass, a second squadron followed. Sixteen more interceptors going for the ventral side of the already damaged Luna-class ship, releasing photon torpedoes into the deflector dish and the starboard nacelle. Without mercy or delay, Commander Jared Salazar had ordered his pilots to take out the Resolve...

...and unless something was done quickly, the shield generators would not keep up, and the ship would be destroyed within a minute.

The lights flickered on the bridge with each jarring impact. Hull breaches sprung where the shields failed all across the ship. Life-signs vanished from the internal sensors. Consoles detonated in bright conflagrations. Sparks rained from the ceiling like sediment sinking to the bottom of a glass. Smoke from fires welled up, and burning plasma shot from the bulkheads. The noise on the bridge was deafening, and warning klaxons were heard on all decks.

On Starbase 84, Captain Hawthorne watched the viewscreen that showed the Resolve's plight - hiding a faint smile as he watched its dance of death.

[Jaya Thorne (https://orig05.deviantart.net/12e0/f/2016/300/a/4/imgpsh_fullsize_by_auctor_lucan-damefg0.png) |  USS Allegiant Bridge] Attn: Auctor, Kaligos, Allegiant Bridge Crew, Every ship drawing fire away from the Allegiant

Jaya compensated for a further weapons range than expected by moving to her maximum distance, but even this far away the Starbase still fired the occasional potshot in their direction.  But those shots weren't connecting, which meant at this distance they couldn't be reliably targeted.  Unfortunately, the Allegiant would be rendered useless at this distance as well, unless those wolves could get in there and get the job done. 

That's when they saw the torpedo impact one of the fighters.  Jen had ordered fullscreen magnification, but no one on the bridge knew if the pilot made it out or not.  It was a sobering moment.  The kind where you realize what sort of stuff you're made out of.  Those without the proper stomach for battle always broke down in some way, but a Starfleet crewman was called to be better than that.  And so was Jaya.  But the crew was already shaken from the presumed loss of the pilot and the failed first plan.  Jaya knew what that meant: back up plans were now in full gear.  And Commander Dewitt wasted no time in implementing the next one.

"Thorne, we are going in. New course; One-Zero-Niner, mark Four. Employ whatever tricks you know, but you must take us that close before we launch the probe. We will be far inside the base's weapons envelope, to keep the probe from being shot to pieces before its activated. Do you understand? That targetting array must be destroyed."  Commander Dewitt's orders were clear.

"Aye, Commander!  Inputing new course, One-Zero-Niner, mark Four.  Course Set."  With the Starbase still operation, this was basically a suicide run and everyone onboard had to know that.  Sure, if the probe was fired and it actually hit the targetting array, their sacrifice would not be in vain, but even if they made it in that close, they wouldn't make it back out again.  The Starbase's weapons would make sure their ship was destroyed.  But Jaya had flown against impossible odds before, and she'd done it with far worse technology at her fingertips than the Allegiant had to offer.  A particular mission run came to mind and she suddenly knew what she needed to do.  Jaya looked over her shoulder at her CO.  "Commander, I might have a way to make this work, but.. it's not exactly protocol.  And I'll need help from Tactical and Engineering.  I can't fly this baby entirely by myself."  She flashed an overconfident grin and waited for Commander Dewitt to give the OK before adding, "Oh, and this might get a little bumpy." 

"Bridge to Petty Officer Sithick. Stand ready to release the clamps and deploy the sensor probe through the airlock. Deployment is imminent. Dewitt out."  Commander Dewitt issused another order, this time to Sithick.

Despite Jen's legitimate reasons for wanting Sithick to have an accident by the airlock, now was not the time to think about her would-be-assassin-roommate.  Not with everyone's lives on the line.  Jaya's brown eyes focused back on her console as her fingers tapped again and a warning box appeared in front of her.  She acknowledged it, and looked back to the viewscreen which now showed the Starbase growing larger in the distance.  "Rogers, track those bursts and tell me when to adjust." 

"Torpedos incoming!  Calculating.  Now!"  Rogers had done his part, now it was up to Jaya.  She watched the flashes of light from the Orunal-class station and glanced to her console.  She made a series of quick adjustments and the Allegiant pitched up and rocked left, allowing the shot to miss wide to their right.  She grinned.  The trick wouldn't be dodging their fire.  No, it was going to be choosing which blasts to take.  She knew the Allegiant would last longer than a fighter, but at the range they would need to be at to launch the probe, everything would be targeting them.  All the fancy flying in the universe wouldn't get her out of this one.

Jaya glanced across to the Tactical Officer.  "Ensign Rogers, I'm gonna need you to alert me to incoming fire and to field the torpedos that I can't dodge.  Once your power returns, you'll also need to shield us before we take a hit.  Trust me, once we're in range for the probe, there will be a lot of torpedos and hits."  She pivoted in her chair slightly to catch the eye of the Acting Chief Engineer.  "And Ensign Felr, I'm gonna need a power cycle between the shields and the thrusters.  In order to dodge the blasts as we get closer, I'll have to borrow some power, but we also can't afford to take too many hits.  So I'll need you to count down my bursts and then shield where we need it."  Jaya refocused on her console and exhaled.  "I've got a computer prediction on their torpedo paths and I'm going to get us out of the way.  If this works, we'll get in, take a few hits and get out without being blown to bits.  Everybody ready?"  Nervous affirmations resounded from all stations.  "Ok, here we go."

The next few rounds of torpedoes were easy enough for Jaya to duck, roll and dodge with Rogers giving her the necessary data and timing, and Felr cycling her thrusts to literally push the Allegiant out of the way with the course corrections.  Now that she had this information coming at her from the other two Officers, Jaya could bank, dive and pitch like the Allegiant was a fighter ship.  It took several minutes of the fanciest flying she thought the Allegiant had ever seen, but finally Jaya had come into her own.  Her piloting skills, in conjunction with the other two Officers helping her, were keeping their ship unscathed while pushing deeper into enemy territory. 

But they had now crossed a little over half the necessary distance and not only were the torpedo arrays were coming faster but the margin for error had significantly dropped.  When Jaya's correction was 2 milliseconds late and the shields weren't coming up in time, Rogers jumped in and had the ship's phasers destroy the torpedo before it could damage them.  The resulting explosion showered the viewscreen in orange sparks, but the ship remained otherwise unharmed.  "Nice work Rogers!  You saved us there!  Let's go though, this is no place to be resting!"  Jaya congratulated her Tactical Officer as Felr counted down to the next thruster cycle.  It was working exactly how it was supposed to, at least so far.

[Engineering to bridge! Whatever you are doing is overheating the conduits down here, and I am alone!]

"Alright, Morwen, take over for Felr and field Thorne that cycling countdown.  Felr, I need you down in Engineering while Sithick is launching the probe."   Commander Dewitt announced to her bridge crew.

The second half of the journey was considerably more harrowing, but Morwen proved to be just as good at the power cycle as Felr was.  Which Jaya was grateful for because her course corrections were coming so quickly, she had to focus only on keeping up with the changes while Rogers double focus became targeting incoming torpedo fire and raising shields up when he had them.  Unfortunately, even with the Allegiant's ducking and weaving, and their attempts to blast out the extra torpedoes, they were still taking hits.  Each one had so far been deflected by some portion of the shields, but each blast also weakened the shields and thus lessened the amount of power  Jaya had at her disposal.

Thank god for the Wolves and the other countermeasures to draw the fire away.  As the Allegiant neared the launch point, their personal fire decreased enough that they could raise shields and prepare to launch the probe.  Commander Dewitt then tapped her comm. 
"Bridge to Petty Officer Sithick.  Probe deployment on my mark. in three, two, one, now!"

[ Captain Tristan Kendrick | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Atten: All

'Schrodinger's warp field' Kendrick took a deep breath they were both at warp and not, it was perhaps the worst situation they could be in, and he would leave it to the current team of engineers to get the problem settled. His chief engineer could worry about what they needed to do in order to get this ship moving he on the other hand had to work on some way to save this ship, as it shook and took fire Kendrick needed a plan.

"Scramble our fighters yesterday, get them back in the air now, prioritize Starbase targets." He gripped his chair. Looking at the view screen there were two enemies they would have to face, the starbase behind them, and the theurgy in front of them, but the Theurgy hadn't fired on them yet.

He was banking on a very old human addage, there was no keeping the enemy out of this fight, but they couldn't survive a fight on two fronts. So he had to cast his lot with one of two sides. "Maximum impulse Veradin. Get us as much distance from the starbase as possible."

"Keval, load aft torpedo banks lock onto the CAG, and fire everything we can towards him. Take down the head of the fighter squadron, maybe a lack of command for a moment will slow them down. All banks ignore the Theurgy, and it's fighters."

He leaned back in his chair it was a stupid plan, he was banking on confusion, and perhaps a little more, be it a thought of mercy from a ship that was a traitor but more than that he was hoping that firing on the starbase openly would earn them an ally because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And for the moment he desperately needed a friend.

[ Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark and Lt. (jg) Sarresh Morali| Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ]

Re-configuring her console to include comms monitoring, Natalie reached into a small compartment on the underside and fished out an earpiece. A throw back to an older time, she slipped it into her right ear and let the stream of comm traffic babble in the background. At the moment it was a simple din of distress as the base went to red alert. Certainly nothing was directed at the ship itself - it was all internal back and forth comms leakage from vessels around and inside the confines of Starbase 84.

Paired with this was the output for the MVAM sequence that Thea had triggered on Captain Ives' request. She watched as power was redistributed among the multiple cores, cutting off the over all ship flow and rerouting to the three vectors instead. Each would manage its own power from there on out, though Natalie would still see distribution readings and be able to monitor the status of each of the vectors from her console.

There was the chirp over the comms from the launch of the Allegiant and the brunette found herself smiling. That little ship had been - technically - Natalie's first command, and she was understandably fond of it as a result. "Allegiant is underway," she chimed in, not the only one to make note. Silently she wished Lt. Cmdr Dewitt luck, and hoped she'd take care of the yacht.

As the situation unfolded before them, Sarresh turned his full attention to the read outs for the drones.

"Mister Tovarek, most of your drones will be deployed as a distraction during our escape, but with the base detecting us this early, we might need them before then. How many are fitted with hardpoints?" A good question to be sure, but not one directed at him, and so Lt. Morali kept his mouth firmly shut. Worry trickled down the back of his neck and he half wondered if soon he would be hit by another one of those 'insight seizures' that the reprogramming his brain had underwent sometimes inflicted upon him. They granted both a moment of clarity and insight, as well as intense discomfort and pain. All the misery of a hangover without any of the fun of drinking.

But so far, as he monitored the drone's, the only sensations he had were of worry and anxiety - normal, under the circumstances. Certainly not a forewarning of impending doom or future insight. He perked back up when Ives replied to Tovarek's assessment of drone count, but before he could say anything else the base was hailing. Lt. Cmdr. Stark was beat to the punch by Thea with the announcement. She kept her eyes on the console as the voice came in over the channel, but Sarresh looked up towards the main view screen.

He got an excellent view of the starbase opening up fire, streaks of phased energy and spreads of torpedoes ripping out towards them. He also saw Ives make her way over to the ops station, placing a hand on the back of Stark's chair and leaning forward slightly. From where he was, Sarresh could still easily make out the Captains words to the COps.

"Hail them, and if they won't heed, send this message: The Theurgy is not here to harm anyone on the base. We must defend ourselves, but we have not come to do battle. The boarding teams only have the objective to ensure the most minimum of casualties in this operation, where we hope that you will listen to us, and understand that we are truly not the enemy you have been led to believe. Cease fire, and hear us out."

"Aye aye, Captain," Natalie replied, keeping her voice steady, buoyed by the other woman's calm presence despite the rather drastic odds they seemed to be facing. She set about hailing the starbase, and unfortunately, Ives suspicion of no reply was confirmed. So Natalie broadcast the message at the station any anyone who could pick it up anyways, though part of her greatly doubted it would be well received when it was followed up with a tactical spread of quantum torpedoes.

Sarresh was still watching the captain as she turned back and looked directly at him. He was no people person, but even he was able to translate that look. He gave the smallest shake of his head, side to side. Nothing was cropping up yet, at the very least. No temporal incursions, no sudden interference, and as far as Sarresh could tell, no oncoming seizures. Annoyingly enough, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that, despite how subtle the exchange was, he was being watched by multiple sets of eyes. It was certainly unpleasant.

But they all had something to swiftly distract them from any exchange between Captain and TAO - the shuddering of the deck under their feet as Vector 01 took the first new round of hits, lashing out from the Starbase. Knowing that reinforcements were on the way - for the starbase - only made the nerves on the bridge seem to skyrocket. Natalie found herself gripping tighter to her console, and forcing her breath to come slow and regular, falling back on newly gained experience. Despite the failure to destroy the tactical array of the starbase, they still had to press forward. And it was her job to make sure they kept at it.

"Damage reports coming in from all three vectors, Captain," she called out, her own voice joining the mix, even as on the screen, Vector - 03' shields flared, bleeding off the energy of a phaser blast, rippling out across the blue shell. Any more words cut off from the brunette as the clamshell doors of the starbase opened, forcefully. She could hear someone swearing behind her, but didn't dare look away.

In the back of the bridge, Sarresh spared a glance to his own console, as the sudden appearance of the Luna-class spiked his curiosity, and his concern. "What the hell?" He muttered as the swarm of fighters seemed to flow in the wake of the damaged ship. There was something cold about sending a ship that had - supposedly - been lost behind enemy lines for three years out to attack an oncoming threat. It made Sarresh wonder just what kind of man Captain Hawthorne was - and what threats Sel was dealing with just then. Which was a very much unbidden thought, catching him by surprise.

"CAPTAIN!" Stark called out, shock clear in her tone, to the point that she turned from her own console, back to Ives, and drawing everyone's attention,  "The fighters...they're targeting the other ship!"

[ Lt.Com. Martin | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Attn: Resolve Bridge Crew
[Show/Hide]
Martin's head was spinning. She had arrived from the Starbase and travelled directly to the bridge just in time to hear Drauc's reveal. She had remained silent, trying to understand the events while the ship began to fall apart. Sabotage to the warp engines, Commander Hawthorne's determination to see them fall, and the starship full of traitors, the USS Theurgy, moving in like a pack of sharks. She had thought the long night over, she had thought they would finally be able to return home, that she would once again see the serene mountains of Edessa. That she would see her family again. She tried to peel herself away from her shock and focus on reality, she tried to put herself in the moment and focus on the situation at hand. It was then that she heard the captain again.

The Resolve was dying, that much was apparent. It was only a matter of time before the destruction consumed them all. Martin quietly felt into her pocket, squeezing an isolinear chip she had stored data on for the past three years of the Resolve's journey and stood to face the rest of the bridge.

It was then that she heard the captain's voice pierce through the commotion. "...down the head of the fighter squadron, maybe a lack of command for a moment will slow them down. All banks ignore the Theurgy, and it's fighters."

Martin hesitated, confused. The Theurgy were traitors weren't they? With the revelation of Captain Hawthorne's treachery, the idea had occurred to Martin that Hawthorne and Ives might even be in league with each other. But there was something odd about the situation, had the Theurgy made any hostile actions against them? She had to admit to herself that it had been difficult to keep track of the situation as it occurred. Nonetheless, she made her presence known on the bridge as she spoke up. "Captain... I'm not sure I understand. Why ignore the Theurgy?"

[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Resolve Bridge]
Attn: All on the bridge & Resolve fighter elements

Before Kendrick's words had finished leaving his lips, Keval was already back at his tactical station with his azure skinned fingers quickly flying over the tactical controls.

"Keval to Salvo, remember how I said to keep all of your birds at ready deployment stations..well now it's time for a mass deck clearing. Resolve Actual's orders are thus-full scale fighter deployment with all Starbase elements to be considered fully hostile and to be dealt with, Theurgy elements not to be touched at all but the Captain wants starbase crit locations as priority targets which I am uploading to you now." Keval said into the channel. "From this moment on, all Resolve fighter elements to use Tactical Channel Three, if anyone is contacted from TC One then consider them hostile as all Resolve communications will come from TC Three."

Keval then double checked his torpedoes and started to mentally do the math that would enable him to track the smaller craft used by the starbase's CAG as he reconfigured the phaser banks to auto ignore the Theurgy and focus solely on the starbase and it's forces, thus ensuring a lack of accidental fire without his manual "say so".

Keval heard Martin's question and turned his head just enough to give the pinkskin a slight look of dark amusement. "Because my dear, the plot is afoot." Keval said as he continued to do his mental math and started to input it directly into the firing and tracking systems. "The captain and I had a meeting with base's commander who then proceeded to spin quite the yarn about the Theurgy plus doesn't it seem quite strange that we return and suddenly there just happens to be an attack on the station which one of our officers, an Orion officer at that, is located near by?"

With his gut still yelling at him that he was missing something important, Keval kept at it and then checked his math one more time before inputting the targeting and firing solutions that would enable his first torpedoes to do what Kendrick needed of them. "In short, Commander, we are ignoring the Theurgy because they are not the traitors here but the commander of this starbase is and I can tell you from a special operations point of view, Hawthorne's ploy was clever and I do look forward to having him explain things to me and the captain.." Keval continued, mentioning the little known fact that he had once served in the fleet's Special Operations branch to Martin as a way to validate his understanding of the depths of what Hawthorne had done but his look of dark amusement became one of extreme cold. "...right before I hand him his lying tongue."

It wasn't easy to anger Keval, among his people he was a little bit more.."laid back" for all intents and purposes but when it came to his people, those that traveled the long hard road out of hell to get back home again-he viewed them as a kind of "Family" (even though he had deeper feelings for one or two especially in a less than "familiar" sense) and that this Hawthorne had the audacity to pull this stunt was enough to make his cold blood run hotter then the height of summer in the Forge on Vulcan.

"Oh and by the way, I'm sending the base's CAG a lovely parting gift from us, Kendrick. I hope you don't mind that I didn't wrap these gifts." he added, a twinge of dark humor in his cold, cold expression as he launched his specially calibrated photons at the hostile CAG. 
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

[ Chris "Husker" Slayton | Wolf 04 | Space around his assigned element | USS Theurgy ]
Attention: Star-fighter related

Husker ignored the possible loss of "Game" and focused on how busy the squadron was suddenly as he quickly shifted his fighter out of the line of the interceptor's pulse fire as it roared past him. "Noy Jitat, I thought those lines looked slightly familiar. Frakken interceptors..." he growled as he banked his Valk left to start chasing after one that had slipped on a downward-left angle towards the element.

<I agree with you, Husker. But do you think they're any tougher then our fighters?> Outrider asked over the comm.

"Not a chance in frak, Outrider. They might be designed to do one kind of game while our's have multi-function." Husker said as he lined up his phasers and then let loose with a burst of pulse fire which red-lined the interceptor's shields before following it up with a beam blast that swatted the hostile fighter away but didn't destroy it.

<Are you toying with our enemies, Husker?> Morrigan asked, her tone was calm even in the midst of a fight.

"Not at all, ma'am. I'm experimenting with a couple before I start doing the hard work." Husker explained as he realigned his weapons onto another interceptor and quickly switched the width and bandwidth settings on his phaser bank before repeating the process with the second interceptor.

<Hm, very well but remember that this is your first real test..Harbinger.> Morrigan stated simply before terminating the line.

<Man..you ever gonna live that connection down?> Outrider quipped.

Husker didn't say anything as he noticed another fighter was starting an attack run on the element and then quickly dropped his right wing to allow it fly past him as he spun his fighter quickly and then opened fire on the enemy fighter, scoring several hits in quick order before it was ashed due to it's pilot had chosen to keep his shields double front for maximum effect rather then keeping them in a normal configuration.

"I honestly don't know, Outrider..you tell me." Husker said, his tone now utterly professional as he went about his dark work.
////////////////////////////////////////////

[Provisional Ensign Lin Kae/ Vector 03 Main Engineering/ USS Theurgy]
Attention: Rihen, Carla, and Novak.

Kae was too busy being focused on the various readouts that he didn't see the system couplers starting to spark until suddenly a pair of strong hands pulled him away before the station exploded.

The young half-breed blinked away the spots in front of his eyes a couple of times as he watched an actual ghost as he watched Chief Nolak walk through the room, making a comment which Kae had a slight problem hearing through the ringing in his ears.

He then simply nodded to the man's comments but was unable to speak at the shock of seeing someone that he thought had been killed a short while prior walking around again as he got up and went over to a new station to resume his work.

Kae attempted to keep his focus solely on the situation at hand as he quickly made adjustments to the primary systems of their Vector as the battle roared around them in the cold of space.

"I picked the wrong day to give up sweets..." Kae muttered darkly as he noticed a system error in the code for the ventral shields and started to quickly address it before rolling his eyes in frustration. "Fucking hell!!"

Kae then shifted his work to a different station with a bigger access panel and started working there. "Rihen, I'm doing some calibration modifications to the ventral shields. For some reason the coding for the shield's refresh rate has been slightly corrupted due to all of the havoc we've put the ship through over the past few months." he explained as he manually made the corrections as he spoke.

His dark eyes flicked up to the Risan woman and gave her a slightly embarrassed smile. "Don't worry, I won't let you all down again. I'm on this!" he said before lowering his eyes and quickly starting to refresh the code portions as soon as the damaged ones appeared. "Just let me know when something else comes up!"

"Come on Kae, stop thinking like that..people are depending on you." he snapped at himself as he went back to trying to keep the code up to date.

[ PO2 Sithick | USS Allegiant | Air Lock ] Attn: Auctor, Angles

The probe wasn't arming, Sithick tapped away at the device like he had done in the simulations, and he was finding the device to be infuriating to work with. It was free it was moving so he had to use some of his strength to hold it while his other claw did what it could to steadily tap at the controls and get the thing to work. Of course the one device they actually needed on this ship wasn't going to work.

He muttered small cusses in his alien tongue the translator filling the air with half strung sentances that seemed to melt into inane gibberish as he worked against time limits. He hated time limits, he wasn't fast though he certianly wasn't slow, he liked to consider his work 'proficient'. and he felt like he was burning precious minutes with each delay the probe sent him.

Finally he decided that if the controls weren't working he was just going to do this the hard way, and qiuckly ripped the front panel off the probe exposing the wiring, and probably some radiation. This wasn't the time to consider the future hatchlings that he would never actually have because this was a human ship, and he had never actually bothered to check in with the doctors about genetic compatability between him and any other living species.

Sithick simply went to work bending down and finding the disobedient wires, and quickly performing a reroute to make the damn thing function. He quickly slapped it back together and dusted his claws.

He was out the door of the airlock and back inside the ship proper as quick as his claws could carry him. Tapping his com badge "Probe ready for launch."

With some minor damage that he wasn't going to bother reporting. It was probably nothing, and the next part he had to do was simple enough, blowing the airlock doors remotely he watched as the probe was ejected into space, and felt some amount of peace before he quickly started back towards engineering. There was a lot of work to be doing.

[ Ens Derik Veradin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Derik_Veradin) | Bridge | USS Resolve ]

Luckily for Derik, the console exploding near the helm covered the slew of profanities he was allowing to come out of his mouth. They were all kinds of fucked... but then again, things had seemed this way before and they'd survived somehow. He wasn't sure The Resolve would this time, but who knew. He doubted anyone on the bridge would have cared about his breach of professionalism in that moment, but he was taking it as a good sign, one of the few he could grasp onto.

In the seconds after the first interceptor attack run, many things happened all at once. He took in the Captain's orders and paid attention to Keval's targeting and piloting instructions. "Full impulse, aye."

Everything else he tuned out immediately. Time seemed to slow as Derik took in the sensor data and his mind began plotting possible paths to take through the chaos, trying to determine which was the best option he could see. He dialed down the warp engines before they burned out as Suq had warned him about while slamming the ship to full impulse and beginning those evasive maneuvers. The interceptors were swarming around them like angry hornets once again, only this time they weren't worried about their survival, they were worried about killing the Resolve.

Damaged though she was, under Derik's deft controls the Resolve began to dive, turn, juke, literally anything to give them any kind of edge possible. He also made a point to swing the aft of the ship towards the enemy CAG, giving Keval the best shot possible. It also allowed their fighters to launch somewhat unmolested.

So far from what he could tell, the Theurgy was not yet attacking them either, so chalk one up to one more small silver lining.

[ Commander Trent | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

The moment he saw the icon for one of the Valkyries disappear on his screen, Trent's breath caught in his throat, but only for a moment.  Where there had been the symbol for a fighter making an attack run, he could instead see the one for an ejected pilot drifting away from the wreckage.  And to that, there was only one thing he could say.  Speaking into the boom of his headset, he called up the Allegiant, given it was already headed in that direction even as he highlighted the ejected cockpit in the overall plot to make targeting easier.  "Allegiant, we have one ejected pilot in close proximity to the Starbase.  Perform a combat rescue while you're dropping the TPS probe." 

Battle was ever a chaotic environment, but at his place at Tactical, the Executive Officer was talking quietly into his boom mike, either directing the fire of the other two vectors or interacting with members of the crew, particularly his EW officer as he was slowly but carefully bringing up the power levels of the barrage jammer and ensuring the sensors of the fighters and the other vectors remained in sync with that particular system.  If the algorithm on any of Theurgy's support craft went out of sync, they would find their sensors blinded and pretty much useless.  And to remind Yukimura to keep the reactive jammers under wraps for now.  After all it would not do to show all the cards that were on the table just yet...

But when the doors blasted open and a ship, under heavy fire came out, the situation got even more chaotic, especially as masses of fighters were starting to pour out, first engaging the ship, which happened to be the Resolve, and making their way in overwhelming numbers towards Theurgy's vectors and her fighter element.  Stark's own call in itself was evident of her surprise, but that could only mean one thing: the Resolve had been missing for years, since before the rot at Starfleet Command had become more active, according to his own research.  And given their long absence, they would be quite likely to sense something was off...

And given the amount of effort deployed against the Resolve, that the commander of the Starbase was one of the true enemy.  "Captain, there's only one person on that Starbase who could order that kind of force deployment, and the tone of voice he used... Ensign Henshaw could be headed towards one of the enemy."  Trent's tone had been flat and calm, but it was hard and unyielding even as he assessed the tactical situation.

But at this point, there was something he could do.  "Mister Yukimura, bring the barrage jammer to full power, reactive jammer is authorized.  All Vectors, no more deceptive fire, point-defence to maximum efficiency; priority is self-defence but let's try to give the Resolve some cover.  Shift phaser-fire to cover her, torpedo fire to remain directed at the Starbase."  But that was not all.  He knew Ives trusted him and his instincts, so in the wake of the message sent to all ships, he opened a direct link to the Resolve, audio only.  "Resolve, this is Theurgy Tactical.  We can provide you with cover so you can withdraw.  But if you would rather stand with us, we can make room for you in our formation where you'll be covered by our point-defence net."

But that did not solve the issue of the fighters coming at them.  And that left Trent with one option, one he could not enact on his own given the rules of engagement.  "Captain, that fighter element coming for us is damn heavy.  Request permission for a double-broadside from the pods to prune them back."

A double-broadside; emptying the pods from both port and starboard at the same time for a heavy punch.  No careful laying, just the space engagement equivalent of discharging both barrels of an old side-by-side shotgun.  But instead of lead pellets, it would release hundreds of Type V microtorpedoes.  Individually, they would not knock out even a relatively fragile Knight-class interceptor and there would be plenty that would wander off-course, hit debris, or even each other in flight.  But several hits could cripple or destroy a fighter (or just cause enough damage to drive it off or make it combat-ineffective) and that single concentrated punch could be enough to disorganize the incoming fighters. 

Ensign Six (http://pre05.deviantart.net/5d9e/th/pre/i/2016/254/f/7/ensign_six___under_fire_by_auctor_lucan-d91bxn0.png) | Engineering | USS Resolve ] Attn: All on the bridge and inside Engineering

"Fault-tracing already, Mister Suq," Six had said when the Resolve's Chief Engineer contacted her from the bridge, and she did everything she could to reconfigure the warp drives so that they would actually work, but nothing she did seemed to be helping the matter. Even with her borg interfaces rerouting power and struggling to bypass the commands that had them showing as online but neglected to let them run nothing seemed to happen except for the warp cores to go into overdrive and eventually get to the point of overheating. Eventually she stopped and hit her combadge to the bridge. "Six, to bridge, Suq, we have absolute power in the warp field, but it's not doing anything. The power is there but the energy isn't going anywhere. If we don't stop trying we're going to overheat the warp core and that would be disastrous. You mentioned something earlier about some sort of upload into your computer systems. It is my belief that this is the core of the problem. Whatever the Starbase uploaded, is preventing the warp from occurring."

All the while she could feel the ship lurching and shuddering from the impact of phasers and photon canons. She readjusted her link to the ships computer and went from forcing the warp to move to stabilizing the shields and keeping them up as high as she could. Every ounce of energy she could spare or muster went into that act. But the bombardment was great, and for every percentage of shielding she got back to the Resolve, 5% more was taken away little by little, chiseling away at the shields that were keeping them safe. "Captain I don't know how much longer I can keep these shields up. I'm rerouting power to our weapons. Something spectacular needs to  be done, and fast!"


_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ensign A'vura Zeshryr (https://orig08.deviantart.net/ca09/f/2015/289/a/2/a_vura_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d9d9ngm.png) | Main Bridge | USS Resolve ] Attn: All on the Bridge

A'vura listened on the bridge as everything happened. Orders were quickly dispatched to the Grey Wolves and the Tribble Squadron to launch. Their Chief Science Officer had arrived, and Keval brought her up to speed. All the while, the creeping feeling that the Resolve was beyond saving couldn't be ignored.

It wasn't until Six's communications came in that it dawned on her that indeed, the ship had been compromised and potentially sabotaged. "Captain I wouldn't put it past the Captain of the Starbase to do such a thing. We've already witnessed to what extent he will go in order to frame us. This is only further proof of that. He's trying to keep us here and fighting. There is no doubt in my mind that Captain Hawthorne is wanting us to take the brunt of all of this to save his own skin."

In the meantime she held fast to her computer console for dear life. Lights flickered and sparks flew as they continuously took on damage from the squadron of interceptors. "Captain there has to be something we can do. We managed to maneuver around them in the docking bay. Perhaps we can swing behind the Theurgy and hail them for assistance? I'm finding it harder and harder to believe the story Captain Hawthorne spread about them when we know for a fact that he is a traitor in his own rights. How do we know that he's not trying to frame them as well?"

That was when another hail came, this time from the Theurgy, an audio transmission, and A'vura glanced towards Kendrick before she patched it through.

[Resolve, this is Theurgy Tactical.  We can provide you with cover so you can withdraw.  But if you would rather stand with us, we can make room for you in our formation where you'll be covered by our point-defence net.]

"It seems as though the Theurgy has beat us to the punch Captain. Personally I think we should take them up on their offer. Since we can't warp out of here at the very least we would have someone to have our back in this mess. If all else fails The Theurgy can start beaming our crew on board so they're not killed if this ship goes down. Six seems to be doing her best to keep the shields up but slowly but surely they're depleting them little by little. It's only a matter of time before we start taking on some real damage."

[ Cmdr. Jared "Deadline" Salazar | CAG 23^rd TacCONN Air Group | Interceptor Cockpit ][/color] Attn: Resolve crew & Grey Wolves Squadron

To the Resolve's credit, and despite how the it looked like it might fall apart any moment, it sure still could fly, defying swarm that gave it chase.

Jared glared at it as it tried to make a run for it, but it was his prey. No, not just him. It was the prey of all his fellow officers in the 23rd. Because of these traitors to the fleet, so many of their friends had just died in the spacedock. No... Not a single one of Jared's subordinates were going to let the Resolve escape. Between all the survivors that hounded the Luna-class ship, there was not a single merciful soul.

Leading two Wings of the Air Group during the pursuit, the third went for the Theurgy and its fighters.  Jared sent squadron after squadron to bombard the Resolve - coughing pulse phaser fire as they overshot the crippled beast. After one squadron passed, the next would follow, not letting up on the diminishing shields. The starship might spin and dive, dodge and roll, but his pilots continued the assault regardless - their staccato cannon fire flaring against Jared's visor. Malestrom Squadron gave way to the Shadows, followed by the Red Lancers and the Griffins. The Raptors came in from below, followed by the Eagles, the Knighthawks and the Rooks. When the shields could not compensate for the collective yield of their coordinated assault, they made the prey bleed plasma and loose hull  plating.

It had been a mere question of 'when' the Resolve would fire its aft torpedo bays. Jared saw the weapon signature and broke away. His interceptor screamed warnings, and he knew he had the torpedoes in his wake. They were meant for him, as much was clear. Diving into a barrel roll, he released countermeasures. "Besa mi culo, puto!*"

For a moment, he thought the torpedoes would ignore the ECCMs, but when the detonation came, he immediately resumed the chase.

---

[ PWO Rihen Neyah | Main Engineering | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: MasterRat & DocReno

When Vector 03 took a direct hit and threw people off their feet, Rihen ended up on her belly - almost hitting her head in the process. "Oh, my..." she said and climbed to her feet, dusting off her tight uniform's front with her hands. She saw Lin Kae getting back to it seamlessly, and it was almost as if the newly arrived veteran hadn't lost his footing at all - already making himself useful. Rihen could but rake her hands through her short blonde hair and snap to it, and she heard how Kae had found a malfunction.

"Are you sure you can fix all that?" she asked with wide eyes, since a projection fault in the ventral shield emitters was quite serious given the battle and all, but when Kae reassured her that he was on top of it, she was relieved, swallowing as she kept an eye on her readings and calibrated plasma output through the EPS grid.

Close by, Abner sent away Koizumi and Rodriguez with teams to quench plasma fires outside engineering. Then, Rihen heard her answer Nolak Kalmil. "I will make sure to let you know, and we do really need another set of hands," called Ensign Abner to the former Chief Engineer with a wry expression, and to her merit, she did not seem like she had taken offence at the suggestion to be relieved of command. "From what I've heard, you are supposed to be quite the shaman yourself!"

No more had she spoken than another barrage of torpedoes slammed into Vector 03's shields. Unfortunately, they struck the ventral side of the hull. After the hit, it seemed like the turbulence never ended, and even if Rihen had managed to stay on her feet, holding on to her console for dear life, she realised that the g-forces were just getting worse.

[Inertial dampeners are offline,] explained Thea tonelessly on the intercom, which meant that with each toss and turn the Vector made, they all felt it quite keenly.

"What do we do?" called Rihen, shrieking when she lost her grip and was sent rolling across the walkway.

"Kalmil!" called Abner, and in the havoc, Rihen saw the blonde woman holding on to the railing of the walkway that led to the warp core. The next moment, she lost her grip, and screamed as he flew sideways across engineering... and then down towards the decks below.

---

OOC for all: Since we have events playing out across a lot of places, I feel that we need to try and establish a chronological sequence of events between some of you who are about to post. Therefore, here is a posting order to preserve the space-time continuum and make it easier to write for for everyone, and I have/will have contacted these writers so they know what's afoot:

Current Posting Order

• USS Theurgy's 3 Vectors, the Allegiant & the Lone Wolves:
  1) Doc M. w. Maya + Tessa 2) ch'Xinya w. Shall
  
• USS Resolve & the Grey Wolves Squadron:
  1) Havenborn + FollowTomorrow w. Suc + Arista w. Parnak & Ejek (no order set between them, then...) 2) Kaligos w. Kendrick

When all the above have posted, I will post with Ives and advance the story to the next phase! *grins in excitement* Then, below, we have ad hoc posters at this short juncture, which can be found below. So, these characters can chime in whenever their writers deem fit during the above order, adding upon the development in the story however they wish. I am available for brainstorming too, of course.

Ad Hoc Posting:

• Vector 01 of the Theurgy| Main Bridge: Tovarek
  
• Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Main Sickbay: Triage, The Counselor & Zenozine w. MacMillan, O'Connor and the Vojona siblings (after Doc M. has posted with Maya)
  
• Vector 03 of the Theurgy | Main Engineering: MasterRat w. Nolak Kalmil & DocReno with Lin Kae.
  
• USS Allegiant: EAC w. Jaya Thorne & Kaligos w. Sithick
  
• Lone Wolves Squadron: DocReno w. Husker
  
• USS Resolve | Main Bridge:  Hastata-Nerada w. Vivian Martin, Mathis w. Derik Veradin, Vystori w. Six & A'vura
  
• Grey Wolves Squadron: Triage & SummerDawn w. Tancredi & K'Ren (only after Havenborn)

Looking forward to all your posts!

* "Kiss my ass, Bitch" in Spanish

He heard Six speak from somewhere in the vicinity of his chest. It must be his combadge.

"Six, to bridge, Suq, we have absolute power in the warp field, but it's not doing anything. The power is there but the energy isn't going anywhere. If we don't stop trying we're going to overheat the warp core and that would be disastrous. You mentioned something earlier about some sort of upload into your computer systems. It is my belief that this is the core of the problem. Whatever the Starbase uploaded, is preventing the warp from occurring."

Sabotage, as he had thought. All those paranoid thoughts he had entertained before, now they're all real. Cool. Suq heard many people talking, one over another, but he could listen to them all relatively easily. One voice caught his ears more than the others, by coincidence...

"Six seems to be doing her best to keep the shields up but slowly but surely they're depleting them little by little. It's only a matter of time before we start taking on some real damage."

And then the full spread of torpedos, a gift from the starbase, hit the Resolve.

Suq had gotten the hang of the Starfleet Shuffle by now. When the shields took a heavy hit, the ship would always lurch in about the same way, and without ever truly knowing how he knew, he could counterbalance himself in turn. He had a feeling most people aboard could do the same. Something about the way the shields distributed the impact, power fluctuations in the grav-plates, yadda yadda.

This was not the Starfleet Shuffle. This was the Stafleet Shitstorm. This was an entire array of torpedos all hitting at once, this was taking out a whole nacelle, this was ripping the ship in half, this was plasma leakage so high that it could be considered pollution.

Of course, none of that could be confirmed until he got his readings. It was all just a gut feeling and he hoped he was wrong. Suq had hit the ground hard with the jolt, if it could be called that. He was sure he'd bruise, but that was for another time. Now, he jumped to his feet and threw himself back over to his console to keep an eye on engineering. His panic melted away completely, all he had now was cold analysis. Ironically, this is how he knew he was really and truly panicking, when he no longer felt it.

"Damage report," Suq announced, "Starboard nacelle severely damaged, may be detached altogether, Plasma surges intermittent across the entire ship, plasma leakage from where our starboard nacelle used to be. Structural integrity field in place at 43% and failing. Switching to single-nacelle navigation now. Shields hovering at about 0.025%. Lost plating across starboard and ventral, multiple hull breeches across starboard and at least one going all the way through to port side, multiple fires reported across ship, we're leaking atmosphere and power. Computer unable to give accurate readings on leakage, still recalculating with the loss of our nacelle. Just had someone punch a few ventral holes, structural fields going up, more reported fires. Fire suppression system can't keep up."

He was on autopilot, reading things out as he saw them and working to find a solution. If he stayed like that, he'd never stop reading disaster reports and searching for a solution that'd never come, but what else could he do?

"Mass reported casualties, the numbers rise too fast to give a count, we're closing in on one hundred quickly, secondary sickbay disabled due to fires, primary sickbay losing power due to plasma surges in the area, no communications from several personal quarters areas, may have mass casualties there."

At least, he thought, he could be thankful that he did not have to figure out what to do. Silver linings, or something like that.

"Taking all power from life support to shields. Shields raising to 30%. That'll buy us a few minutes but we can't continue in sustained fire and another array of torpedos aimed at either us or our former nacelle will end us. Make a choice and find some gods to pray to."

[ LT Daniel Havenborn & Eric Randall | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Resolve ] Joint-Post by Auctor Lucan & Havenborn Attn: Triage, SummerDawn, Auctor

"Chief Randall, get me everything you can about the Theurgy's fighter element."

Both Eric and Liam stepped out to Havenborn's Valkyrie, following the SCO and watching as he got back into his cockpit. Eric had a bad feeling about the development, the hairs on the back of his hands on edge as he lowered his PADD. He cleared his throat. "Well, the Theurgy Project was all the rage back when we encountered the space anomaly, and it was due to launch on October 9th that year, so I only know the hearsay from those days. They are not flying Mk IIs, that much is certain. the Theurgy was picked to be the base-ship for the Valkyrie Program's latest fighter - the Mk III - and I only saw the same images you likely saw. The specs were yet to be released, but rumor has it that it was so advanced they eliminated the need for a RIO. Sounds like a lot of computer assistance, but I can't say if it's a liability. Moreover, there was something odd about the ventral side of the hull, as if it housed some large cannon that could fold out."

Liam spoke up, weaponry being his forte. "My best guess is that it was a tetryon pulse cannon they installed, sir, since I have heard it wa-"

They were interrupted by Kendrick's voice on the PA system in the Fighter Assault Bay, and the Captain explained the reasoning behind his orders. He spoke of the starbase's commanding officer, his treachery and the implications of what he'd done. It was a harrowing thought, that they had just returned to witness the onset of a new galactic war, and Eric was stunned, eyes traveling the still flight hangar as the words from Kendrick ceased to be heard. K'Ren was back in her cockpit, and Eric still couldn't shake his nerves about the situation. The plan was good, he supposed, given the shitty situation they were in. His thoughts went to their First Officer, and hoped for the best. It was, indeed, the best course of action to escape the base and spread the word about Hawthorne's treason.

After Kendrick had finished his second speech Daniel put his helmet back on and activated it once more.  Hopefully they'd be able to run and the starbase wouldn't get a tractor beam lock on them as they tried. However if they did he knew his pilots would be up to the chance to take it out.  Hopefully they wouldn't have to go up against the Theurgy's fighter element, what little info they had might be out of date nowadays but at least it was something to go on if they had to fight them.

Suddenly, deck shook... and Eric Randall's eyes went wide. Liam nearly lost his balance, but they both quickly scurried away, clearing the deck. That was when the new order's came. Once they cleared the deck, Liam's eyes rested on Neko's fighter for some reason, and Eric wondered what could be going on between Liam and the Caitian.

Daniel took a moment to himself as he listened to Lieutenant ch'Rayya's orders over the intercom.  He'd never have thought that he'd be fighting against other Starfleet elements before but they were shooting at them and were now his enemy and he'd treat them as such no matter what uniform they wore.

"Understood Lieutenant, Tactical Channel Three only."  Daniel said into the intercom before switching to the squadron channel.  "Grey Wolves we are going to be launching two at a time in a staggered formation, Tribbles will follow suit.  All pilots are to use Tactical Channel Three and consider all requests from other channels to be hostile.  All starbase elements are to be considered hostile while Theurgy elements are to be considered allied."  Daniel said as he began to upload the starbase's priority targets to the squadron's battle net.  "Priority targets are being uploaded to you, feel free to take targets of opportunity as well.  Prepare to launch on my mark.  Salvo out"

As Daniel closed the squadron channel he prepared the two EMP torpedoes, hoping to catch some of the enemy interceptors in the blast zone so that his fighters and shuttles had a chance to fully clear the launch bay. "Knight I want you to launch the EMPs as soon as we clear the bay, I want a 5-second timed delay detonation.  Coordinates as follows."  Daniel said as he punched in the coordinates to show up on Knight's screen. "Got it Salvo, ready to fire."  Daniel nodded and opened the squadron channel again.  "All squadrons... Launch!"

Daniel pushed forward on his control stick and felt the fighter's thrusters kick in launching the small fighter out of the bay and into the large vacuum of space.  "Knight, fire."  He said as he got an affirmative from Knight and watched as both EMP torpedoes fired from the fighter heading towards a group of interceptors making another attack run on the Resolve.

[ Maya (https://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/e/7/maya_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n3n.png) | USS Theurgy | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay ]

"Uhm...who's Herbert and Maal?" Heather McMillan asked.

"Maal is the Klingon," Maya replied.  "Nurse Herbert is new.  He arrived from the Harbinger..."

[All hands, this is Arisaka. We have orders to make an assault on the base, the objective being to take out its tactical sensor array. Brace yourselves.  Arisaka out.]

The chief medical officer went to the viewscreen on the wall to check on the battle and what he saw alerted him placed an expression of alarm on his face that even someone as unskilled at reading faces could recognize.  "Secure the patients! Hold on to something!" Lucan cin Nicander shouted before moving to assist the pregnant Hylota.

The shaking of the ship and the sounds of the space battle had temporarily sent the little Vulcan back to the Battle of Cheron in the Earth-Romulan War over two centuries ago, the battle that ripped a hole in time and space, cost the NX class frigate USS Discovery forty seven lives and stranded Maya of Vulcan two hundred and twelve years in the future.  She staggered forward and placed her hands against the wall of the corridor to steady herself when the torpedo hit.  In the meantime, the chief medical officer was sent sprawling sideways into the nurse's duty station and got a rust colored gash on his head for his troubles. 

Thanks to her discipline and training, the mesiofrontal cortex in her Vulcan brain reacted by suppressing her emotions with the same intensity of her fear.  Enlisted humans called situations like this 'sphincter tightening' moments, but for Maya the 'tightening' occurred in her brain rather than her anus.  During situations of intense stress, her normally smooth and languid movements became quick and jerky and her voice was nearly a monotone.  Her face became as unreadable as a cat's and to an observer's eye she seemed either distracted or incredibly focused, depending on who one asked. 

By the time Maya returned to reality, Lucan had returned to his feet.  "Prepare for arrival of injured personnel. Clear the last beds in the ICU and prep the ER. There are still beds available in the Recovery Ward. I will return shortly," Doctor Lucan cin Nicander ordered his hand instinctively went to his wound.  "Doctor Duv is on standby for beaming onto the base, so you are in charge, Doctor Maya," he said as the doors to sickbay hissed open and the wounded began to arrive. 

"Yes Doctor," she replied in a strangely distant voice as rose from her crouch with an eerily fluid movement before she turned her attention to the job at hand.  "Bring the patients into the intensive care unit until we can diagnose their injuries according to severity," she announced in a crisp clear voice at a volume that was likely the loudest most people in the vicinity had ever heard her speak during the entire time she had been aboard.  "The overflow will go into the primary care unit until we can treat them.  The most severe injuries will be treated first.  Orderlies will be on stretcher duty until notified otherwise."   Most of her announcement was unnecessary for the experienced medical personnel of the Theurgy but with all of the new people from Black Opal and the  Harbinger, not to mention the untrained volunteers such as Heather McMillan, the ritual of the announcement would bring some order to the chaos that had arrived. 

As the volunteers and orderlies helped their patients into the intensive care wards, Maya and her fellow doctors descended on the wounded like the Valkyries of Norse legend.  "Cracked clavicle," she said as placed the fingertips on the back of a groaning patient's neck.  "Surgical Suite Two."

---

[ Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Outer space | Within phaser range of Starbase 84 ] 

Speaking of Valkyries...

"This is Goldeneye," Tessa reported.  "Leaving Vector Three as ordered!"

[This is Hurl], came a familiar voice in her headset.  [Acknowledging order.   We're with ya, Commander,] her wingman announced confidently before alarm appeared in his voice.  [Torpedoes!  Torpedoes incoming!]

"Deploy tetryon pulse phase cannons!" Tessa ordered.   "Confuse their sensors and try to get in formation!" 

As the two pilots struggled to evade the torpedoes and get join the rest of their squadron, they came dangerously close to the Allegiant, just in time to see the Manta class yacht launch tetryon pulse sensor probe.  If the sensor probe performed as advertised, it should mark the starbase's tactical array for bombardment while emitting tetryon pulses that would flush out any cloaked vessels that might be hiding in the area.  As if displayed on a special viewscreen just for her, the vision of the probe through Tessa's canopy window soared through the void, avoiding the photon torpedoes and the AC-347 Knight-class interceptors to hit the station's tactical sensor array, neutralizing it with an impressive display of cerulean lightning bolts.  

Elated over fortune favoring the Theurgy for a change, Tessa contacted her mothership's bridge.  "Goldeneye to Mission Ops, probe deployment successful!  I repeat, probe deployment successful!  The target is lit!" she repeated as she glanced at her panel to see the array appear as a tetryon- painted mark in her cockpit's targeting systems.  "We can commence firing!"

[Goldeneye, another ship's in the area!  It came out of the station], Hurl's voice informed her.  [And it's bringing a barge full of fighters with it!]

"Just what we need, another capital ship," Tessa grumbled as she viewed the scarred hull of the Resolve and the Knight interceptors swarming around it like angry bees.  "Hey wait a minute.  Why are the station's fighters attacking it?"

Then it hit her.  Whoever commanded that Luna class starship wasn't part of the Big Scary Conspiracy that had taken over Starfleet.   Either the crew of that ship had just found out and had to be silenced, or they had planned their own attempt to take over Starbase 84's subspace communication array and had inadvertently put the station on the alert.  Who knew how many little rebellions were happening all over Starfleet?

[ Lt.Com. Martin | Bridge | USS Resolve ]
[Show/Hide]

Martin's thoughts raced when Suq read out the damage report. In a strange way, the entire situation was almost excruciatingly ironic, that the one thing to finally seal the fate of the Resolve and her crew was not the terrors that plagued them in their departure, but the very Federation they had all sought to return to, that had welcomed them. As the ship rocked around her, she began to utter a quick prayer in Hebrew before an idea wormed it's way into her mind.

"I think..." She said, putting the pieces of the situation together in her mind. "We can still do some damage before divine intervention becomes necessary."
 
Martin rushed over to a nearby console, making sure to step over a pile of rubble which had fallen from the ceiling of the bridge. "Captain, there might be a way to deter the fighters while giving us additional momentum." Looking over the tractor beam systems on the console, she singled out a remaining emitter that might still be functional enough for her plan. With luck, they should be able to create a graviton beam which not only repulses or disables much of the fighters, but also push the Resolve ahead of any other pursuers. "If we're going to do this then Suq, I'm going to need some additional power to the tractor beams and Keval, we're going to need our fighters to stay out of the way."

Martin's fingers flew over the console's controls, making the necessary modifications. She stood up and wiped her brow of perspiration before motioning to the helm. "Mr. Veradin, for this to work, you'll need to aim one of the rear tractor beams at the starbase's fighter wings, as wide a spread as you can muster."

She turned and addressed the rest of the bridge. "This might be something we can only do once, the power conduits leading to the emitters might rupture." It might buy them a few extra minutes, but it was all she could think of at the moment. She looked around at the rest of the bridge, at all the faces she saw, hoping beyond all hope that they survive this.

[Zelosa Ejek | Bridge | USS Resolve] Attn: Kaligos, Mathis, Vystori, FollowTomorrow, Hestata-Nerada, Auctor Lucan, Anyone else

The force of the impact sent the bridge rocking, upon which both the Cardassians present clung for dear life. Parnak to the console in front of him and Ejek to the chair in which Silim sat. While the elder male had managed to centre himself, Ejek's grip upon the seating slipped, causing her to tumble to the floor. Sighing, she rubbed her left eye ridge. She had caught herself on the back of her own damn chair on the way down. Internally, Ejek hoped that she was lucky and wouldn't bruise. If she was truly lucky, she added as a sombre afterthought, they all wouldn't be atomized by another salvo of torpedoes from the base. Scanning the room, Ejek searched for her dear friend Suq. When she found him pulling himself back to the engineering console, Ejek smiled, although her grin soon turned to ashes in her mouth as he gave the damage report. So many hurt. Her heart ached for her friends, co-workers and comrades who were injured. If they were to survive this, her schedule would no doubt be filling up.

Martin surged to life, laying out a plan. Grace under pressure, Ejek had come to expect nothing less of the stalwart science officer. Even though she was one of the most unexperienced officers on the bridge, Zelosa couldn't help herself as the words came tumbling from her lips.

"Might I suggest that if we are to do something, then we should get on with it while we are able ..."

[IrnaShall ch'Xinya | Stellar Cartography | Deck 15 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy]

The response from the Bridge wasn't unexpected, Captains always wanted more information than was immediately available.  Shall resisted the urge to roll his eyes and bit back a sarcastic remark.  "You'll have it as soon as I do Captain! Cartography out."  Resetting the display to show subspace distortions, the Andorian zoomed in on the source of the ion bloom he first picked up.  With all of the excitement going on outside there wasn't much to see: at six light years even a fleet of ships would barely register unless active sensors pinged them, and then there was all the "hash" thrown into the sensors thanks to the raging battle outside.  It would take quite a bit of work and a lot of luck to parse out anything useful, but that's why Shall was here.

Tuning out everything but that one point in space, the Andorian pulled out every trick he knew on how to parse out every gram of data.  Parallax stutter to pinpoint individual sources, multi-geometric overlap to find simple shapes among a larger conglomeration, even the subspace equivalent of wiggling the lens for finding the warp field blob when it got lost in the background clutter came into play.  Of course it would be much easier to do this highly detailed work if the ship weren't constantly moving and shaking.

Gripping the console to keep his seat yet again, Shall decided he had enough to report, these conditions weren't going to let him dig any deeper, and if his numbers were right somewhere between 17 and 23 ships of various classes were on the way.  "Stellar Cart..." he started to comm the Bridge but then something happened.  One part of the warp field conglomeration split off from the others, just far enough to have a distinct field.  A few moments later the warp field changed, a massive burst of energy accompanying the metamorphosis.  "What in the name of Uzaveh..." Shall muttered, antenna turning forward in curiosity.  It seemed that the ship's warp bubble was now much slimmer than the norm.

The reason was obvious a moment later, that ship just got a massive increase in speed. A quick bout of arithmetic caused the Andorian's heart to sink and his antenna rise.  "Oh not good...Stellar Cartography to Bridge, one of those incoming ships must be brand new since it has a higher maximum warp factor!. New ETA, less than two minutes.  As for the rest, we're looking at around twe..."

A massive hit cut Shall off and threw him from the chair.  Hitting the deck, the pitch slid him into the railing at the edge of the walkway, and hard.  Biting back a cry of pain, Shall grabbed one of the rail's supports as extra insurance, it was nearly a full deck to the floor below.  "Inertial dampeners offline." Thea's automated voice droned over the speakers.

"Oh this just got much more interesting..." the Andorian hissed, pulling himself away from the rail and back to his console, staying as low and wide as possible.

[ Captain Tristan Kendrick | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Atten: All

Kendrick's chair was rattled, and he himself was almost thrown out of it by the force of the damage to his ship. He gripped his arm rest for dear life as he looked to Suq for the damage report and what he heard was that his ship, the Resolve was hanging by a thread. All of the years trying to get back to Federation space, and it would end up being their own people that destroy it. He cussed for a moment hating everything about this plan.

At this point they had no reason to write the Theurgy off as anything other than the Calvary to their aid. They already had an offer to join them, but the Resolve was too heavily damaged. Suq was already getting rid of life support and a hundred of his children had died, probably more. After all the struggles, and all the damage he couldn't exactly let everything end here.

When Martin spoke up he turned to his Chief Science officer and felt some amount of hope return to the situation. A few minutes and some more momentum was all they really needed, and in the moment it was critical that they got it. "Martin, do it. Put every resource you can towards it, Suq give her what you can, take power from any non-essential still running. All I want on this ship, is shields, momentum and weapons. if you can turn that useless warp core into a battery fucking do it."

Cause they were out of power otherwise, and going to run low on air. "Derik use Martin's repulsors to get us behind the Theurgy and her complement of fighters, get us as close to them as possible."

Finally there was a deep breath. "We won't be joining the Theurgy in battle." putting himself on shipwide for the third time in one day. He gave one of those orders that a captain could only give once in a career. An order he hated, and never thought he would have to give. They weren't going to survive this battle on the resolve.

"All hands, prepare to abandon ship." With the order given they would be more vulnerable then ever needing a way to secure help for the life boats he knew there was pretty much only one chance for the survival of his crew. While he didn't know what Ives plan was, and hadn't really intended to be their ally rather just ignore them, that was no longer a possibility. Using the armrest com system he opened a link to the Theurgy unsure if they would listen to his request it was kind of dangerous after all.

"Resolve to Theurgy we have undertaken massive damage and casaulties, we need to abandon ship, if one of your ships could break their formation protect us and pick up my crew I would be eternally grateful." This was the kind of order that ended a career, which was fine, his was long over he was supposed to retire from all of this after what happened. He was content with not serving. "Once were in position I want all of you gone. The Resolve will be fine, I'll stay here man the weapons and keep firing at any projectiles that might try to get at the life boats. Once our shields are down I'll hit up a transporter pad, and if we are all lucky enough we can have drinks after the battle is over."

Without all the bodies taking up precious air the bridge alone had enough to last a day or two, he would be fine, and he would catch up with the crew once they were safe.

[ Simon Tovarek | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Tovarek looked at the carnage unfolding before his eyes, he followed the Resolve on the viewscreen as it seemingly limped out of the starbase. The Xo had given the Resolve a chance to stand with them yet as the fighter squadrons took up most of the viewscree, Tovarek looked back at his console as there was an abundance of information slipping through. One message stood out as he read that initial scans showed that the Resolve was unable to assist in combat with them. The damage they had taken was just too great. Logically, he figured their next order would be an evacuation order.

The troublesome thing was however that Resolve was a prime target for being hounded by hostile fighters. Even with their combined space squadrons, there wouldn't be enough cover to be somewhat safe. Tovarek looked at the XO as he requested permission for a broadside on the fighters. It would hold off the bulk of them but who knows for how long. He looked over at Jien "Captain, permission to launch drones. It won't be much, but I guess every help is needed if we are to protect the Resolve for now. 15 elements are now armed and ready to launch."

With a simple nod of Jien the order was sanctioned. Tovarek relayed the message to the CONN officers who were prepped for flying the drones as well as the hangar bay. "Attention, drone pilots, fire up your ships and prepare to fly out to ensure protection of Vector 1. Protection of Vector 01 as well as Resolve is paramount. Good hunting." With the order given, it didn't take that long before the signatures appeared on numerous radars as the drones begun their maiden voyage into the hostile space.

|MCPO  Nolak Kalmil | Main Engineering | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy | Attn:All

Master Chief Kalmil smiled at being called a shaman of engineering. He was about to make a reply but was suddenly cut off before he could speak. He had taken only a few strides before the ship suddenly rocked with the force of a hurricane from another direct hit from the Starbase. From the sound of the impact and feel of the ship’s movement he could tell that the ship shielding was compromised.  As the ship’s internal dampeners shut down the movement of the ship now affected crew and equipment, making a dangerous combination of free moving body and debris.

Nolak’s low center of gravity, and his many years in Starfleet, combined with his love of recreational yacht sailing had conditioned his body to react automatically to the ebbs and sways of the ship. This often helps him keep his footing as the ship pitch at steep angles. This time the ship began to increase at a steep angle as he started to feel his sandals began slip and give way.  As he started to slide across the floor he hear a disturbing noise.

The sudden alarm cry from Ensign Carla Abner, he looked towards her and saw her lose balance and fall over the railing grasping the rails. He made a desperate lunge towards her while he still had some traction left, sliding across the engineering floor. With one hand he grabbed the railing the other he reached out to try to grab Carla Abner as she fell. Unfortunately he was a moment too late as she slipped from the railing. He felt her fingertips slide through his hand and watched the wide eyed Ensign fall downward. Lucky for her the ships angle was severe enough to prevent her from falling all the way down to the bottom of the warp shaft. However her landing wouldn’t be a skip in the park either. He watched the Ensign bounce off the lower deck flooring and slide into the wall and out of sight. He spared a couple seconds and thought a quick prayer for her safety before drawing his attention back to the crisis at hand.

Cursing at himself for being too slow to save the young woman he began to work his way up the railing into a standing position. Inching his way along the rails with both hands firmly grasping it he crossed the gangway over to the main computer station by the warp core. Beads of perspiration began to appear on his polished Deltan forehead as he struggled to keep from flipping over the side and down into the decks below. Finally he reached the main terminal safely and hugging it he pulled himself in front.

Slapping the intercom switch to the battle bridge of Vector 3 he spoke in a calm controlled voice, “This is Master Chief Kalmil in main engineering, I'm trying to stabilize the ship before we barrel roll and bounce around all over the place sending everything and everyone tumbling into space. That last blast damaged one of the massive gyros knocking out the internal dampener, and like your selves we are being tossed around like rag dolls down here. Also try to brace yourselves to accommodate for the sudden loss to ventral shielding to our underbelly, some sort of glitch has happened and we need time to find the cause and fix it, Kalmil out!”

While he was talking into the intercom he was doing two tasks. First, diverting a little extra power to the maneuvering thrusters and attempting to maneuver the ship to regain control before it tumbles aimlessly in space. He was also pulling up backlog data and shield read out information. However because the ship angle steepened he more or less was more concerned about slipping and joining Ensign Abner somewhere below than the information being displayed.

[ Captain Ives | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

"CAPTAIN! The fighters...they're targeting the other ship!"

True to Stark's words, the interceptors had suddenly turned hostile against the Resolve, opening fire and making the Luna-class ship's shields flare blue. Seeing all the bright orange beams from the Knight-class vessels blasting against the starship, she ran over to Stark's shoulder and saw the readings - saw the number of life-signs decrease person by person, life by life. How could this be?

"Captain," said Trent, providing the possible answer, "there's only one person on that Starbase who could order that kind of force deployment, and the tone of voice he used... Ensign Henshaw could be headed towards one of the enemy." And as soon as he said it, Ives knew that it might very well be the case. There were, however, no proof for it yet.

"Stark, try to reach her..." It would be futile,  but Cam did not know what might have happened to her father.

Jien saw the lifesigns decrease, and then, when a full spread of torpedoes hit the Resolve and set it tumbling, she knew that whatever reasons Hawthorne had, it did not matter. Trying to save the Resolve was the only option for them, lest they would not live by the tenets of the Federation that they tried to protect. Jien was not alone in this either, the whole bridge around her equal in thought. "Do whatever we can for her! She won't last a minute otherwise."

Trent was already on it, increasing the jamming signal of their EW suite and distributing firepower to try and save the Resolve. He tried to send them a message too, and when he'd done it, Jien turned her oaken eyes the XO's way. The commander asked to use the pods against the interceptors that came for Vector 01, and Jien nodded. "Give the order to Arisaka, furthermore, the EW suite might make it difficult for them to defend themselves. Identify the fighters and feed them as well as the Resolve with our tactical sensor readings - giving them all the targeting abilities they need. Now!" As she said it, she turned back to see on the viewscreen how the interceptors were just too bloody many. The reply from the Resolve came in, a spoken message rendered into text on the screen, and the reply was the expected from any Captain in the same straits as the Resolve's. Soon, the remaining crew on the ship would be ejected in the midst of the battle, and their chances of survival minimal. In fact, Ives doubted they would have time to abandon ship at all, given the state of the starship and how the interceptors just wouldn't let up.

Thoughts racing, Ives heard Tovarek and gave her nod of permission. It would likely not matter, since the Resolve virtually had no shields left. Then, she realised that there was a way. It might be too late, but it was likely the only thing that would make a difference. "Lieutenant S'Iti, make way!" called Jien and leaned over the Cardassian woman's shoulder. Knowing that time was precious, there was no alternative but to bring up the procedure on the CONN console, quickly tapping her way through the menu. "The Resolve asked for our aid, and we are going to give it. This Vector is not called the 'helmet' for nothing. Here!"

Jien tapped the last entry and in the corner of the viewscreen, the procedure was shown.

[Show/Hide]

"Send this to the Resolve now, and prepare to dock with her before her shields give out. Send the bearings and align the trajectories."

Vector 01 was the fortified command ship of the Theurgy, and with the flag bridge on it, the design was meant to accommodate for a docking procedure where the Vector could dock with any kind of Federation starship and escape battle. The docking would extend Vector 01's shields around the Resolve as well, and inside the dorsal ring of the Vector, docking pylons would extend out to the Resolve's airlocks. The dorsal tractor beam would adjust the Resolve to ensure that as many airlocks as possible could be opened, and the Resolve's crew would be able to come aboard.

"But Captain, I have never done this before!" objected Aisha, "Even if we were not in the midst of battle, I don't kno-"

"Nor did your predecessors. Now, Lieutenant!" Jien stepped away as Aisha sent the procedure to the Resolve, giving them the data while Jien hailed the ship. "This is Captain Ives to the Resolve, review the data package just sent to you and verify! Vector 01 is inbound, so prepare for docking before your shields fail. Whatever you can do to close the distance to us, do it now!"

There was no need to explain that the point defence system on Vector 01 would be able to protect them too. At that moment, they would likely be grateful enough for the shields. Jien could but hope they weren't too late, and the Resolve was about to explode.

[Jaya Thorne (https://orig05.deviantart.net/12e0/f/2016/300/a/4/imgpsh_fullsize_by_auctor_lucan-damefg0.png) |  USS Allegiant Bridge] Attn: Auctor, Kaligos, Allegiant Bridge Crew, CandianVet, ejected pilot (Game), everyone in the battle

"Probe ready for launch."

Jaya heard Sithick's voice on the comms and glanced at her own screen.  In a few more seconds, the probe would be launched and they could get the hell out of dodge.  She should have been more relieved, but at that moment, the Starbase opened up and a large ship exited.  "Aw hell, what now?"  The last thing her team needed was yet another enemy on the horizon.

"Allegiant, we have one ejected pilot in close proximity to the Starbase.  Perform a combat rescue while you're dropping the TPS probe."

Trent's voice was heard loud and clear on the bridge of the Allegiant and in that moment everything switched gears.  Friendly or not, that new ship would have to wait.  Jaya's fingers went to work tapping out a new heading to get them in the trajectory of the ejected pilot.  There were two options that she could see: one, take the safest route around fire and pick up the pilot at the expense of time; two, make a beeline for the pilot at the expense of their own safety.  There wasn't a happy middle, and something in Jaya's gut told her that the pilot needed a rescue sooner rather than later.  So she went with her instincts and picked the riskier heading.  She was banking on her skills and Roger's targeting to get them through, but this would be tougher than maneuvering in to launch the probe.

"Commander, probe is away and operational.  Inputting new heading to rendevouz with Game."  The interceptor fighters swarmed out of the Starbase as Jaya relayed the information to Dewitt.  Things were going to be hard enough without any extra resistance.  She needed that handled now!   "Rogers, I need all the firepower you've got!  Keep those things off us!" But as the Allegiant turned about, they were too close to Starbase 84 to avoid it's fire. 

The blast shook the ship so hard that Jaya smashed her head off the corner of her console as she braced herself from falling out of her chair.  But her injuries were minor compared to the Tactical Officer at the console beside her.  Ensign Rogers' console exploded into flames and the man was thrown from his chair as plasma spewed from a broken manifold.  The next several seconds were a dizzying blur of action as Morwen rushed to douse the flames and stop the leak, then checked on Rogers.

Dewitt hit her comm in that instant and hailed sickbay.  "Dr. Hernandez to the bridge immediately!"

With Ensign Felr in Engineering for the moment and Morwen assisting Rogers, it left Jaya to man the consoles.  Despite the injuries to her crewmen, she knew she had to stick to her console.  They were in the middle of a battle, afterall, and someone still had to fly the ship and man the phasers and check the shields.  She did that now, and transferred view and control of both stations to her own console.  "Shields holding at 60%, but we need to get out of range! We can't take another hit like that!  Moving to dodge incoming fire!  Phasers on-line and ready to engage hostiles!" 

Jaya was now juggling three tasks and it took all her concentration to do it right.  The Allegiant took heavy fire from the Starbase and a few interceptors, and she reported on their shield status as they fell from 60% down to 22%.  She was doing her best to blast incoming fire before it impacted her ship and dodge out of the way of the torpedoes she couldn't hit, all while keeping shields up when she could and speeding to her destination.  To her credit, she really was a good pilot and despite being a little worse for wear, the Allegiant arrived on location to rescue the pilot.

"Ready for rendezvous, Commander.  Let's do this quick and get out of here!  The longer we stay here, the bigger target we paint on ourselves!"  Jaya was certain that if she hightailed it back to the Theurgy, she could get them there in tact.  Hell, even if they moved to maximum sensor range, she'd be able to keep the girl afloat.  But if she had to go back into that Armageddon of a battlefield, she had no idea how they would survive.

Once they arrived in position, Dewitt was back on comms.  "Sithick, I need you in the transporter room.  Get that pilot beamed aboard now!"

[ Heather McMillan | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Maya, and all others in the Medical Bay


[Show/Hide]

"Oh," said McMillan as Maya explained who Maal and Nurse Herbert were, and then found herself doing the strangest hop and skip as the ship lurched. She barely caught the first one, and would have ended up with broken bones at the least, had she not been more alert. Each time she jumped, her body flared with multi-coloured lights, and her heart was alight in white, a flash so bright, that it shone right through her chest and clothing. Once the tremors stopped, she let go of the bed she had found to grip on, looking decidedly shaken and terrified as a mouse. She was probably the one also squeaking and yelping in fright the whole time. Once the instructions were given by Dr. Nicander and Maya, she nodded nervously. "Right away."

She only prayed there wouldn't be more of this. Rising to tip toe, she gracefully made her way towards one of the incoming patients, trailing along with the other orderly who was supporting the woman on one side while McMillan ran a tricorder over her. "Compound fracture on the right shin and left forearm. Surgical suite one. Here, I'll give a hand." She smiled comfortingly as she assisted, and soon she was lost to the flow of patients pouring in.

"God let this end quickly, and be with us all..." she said softly to herself.

---

[ Krystal "Meony" Tancredi | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Resolve | Fuzzy Flayer ] Attn: LT Daniel Havenborn, Eric Randall, Liam Herrold, Keval ch'Rayya, Silim Parnak, Tristan Kendrick & K'ren


[Show/Hide]

Counting the sheep in her head had gotten boring after she lost count for the hundredth time, stupid sheep can't jump in perfect order. One of the perks, and perhaps drawbacks of being a Tactical CONN with the mere rank of Ensign (having refused promotion on principle that she didn't want to live THAT long) despite some sort of command status at least in Tribble Squadron, was that she was never in the know of the bigger scheme of things. She was more of a "you point, I punch" kind of a person, and that just sat fine with her. Except on rare moments like this, when the waiting was insanely long, and she just knew shit was not only hitting the fan, but was making such a crap storm, that it would have blotted out the sun. Even a sun going supernova would have a hard time getting past it. The issue was that meant her friends, her family, was in so deep, and she didn't know crap about it, and she didn't know what to do about it.

Nothing made her feel more useless than that.

The ship shook, and Tancredi's head lurched to one side with the ship. "Okay, Ah felt that."

The ship shook again, more violently than the first, "OH-KAY, AH REALLY FELT THAT!"

The third one sent her to the floor off her seat, and she was now admiring her drunken artwork drabbles on the ceiling of the Fuzzy Flayer. "WHAT THE FLYING FUCK!"

Leaping to her feet, she heard the all clear from Keval ch'Rayya to go, and to switch to Tactical Channel 03. Quickly adhering to the instruction, she adjusted her channel frequencies, and then listened to Havenborn. She keyed in a quick comm to the lieutenant, "Acknowledged, out."

She then switched over to the Tribbles, "All raht, furballs, NOW we get out there! Pick yer targets carefully. If those swarms are out there, remember one important thing: If ye're surrounded, at least ya cain't miss!"

She heard brief laughter and began to cycle her shuttle's engines after letting it cool its heels a little, when there was an odd whine, and the shuttle made a sound akin to a loud gaseous discharge. "WHAT?!? No, no, no, no no no NO!"

All those modifications Randall warned her about. But it never ever failed her before. First time for everything, she supposed, but why now?!? Issuing a direct com to the other Tribbles, she said, "Tribbles, don't wait fer meh! Staggered formation, lahk Havenborn! Ah'll be raht behand ya! MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

Turning off the communicator, she pressed her palms against her ship's console heavily. "Flayer Ah know Ah ask too much of ya, but so help meh God, if ya DON'T TURN ON NOW...!" She slapped her right fist against the surface, and the ship rumbled to life. Grinning the redhead leaned forward and kissed a bulkhead, "Thanks!"

She took the ship up, following her Tribbles, she watched as the shuttles remain in position while the entire Fighter Assault Bay suddenly shifted in position, just as Dermot Lanier's shuttle was halfway out. "FRENCHIE MOVE YER BEH-..." the shuttle's entire port side crumpled under the force of the impact of the bay doors abruptly cutting into the position of the small craft, and in seconds, a brief flame of explosion from a reactor overload engulfed the shuttle, and took with it, Lanier's life. "NO!"

The remaining shuttles hovered motionless for a moment longer, as if the pilots were stunned by what they had just seen. And who wouldn't be? Frenchie had been the most amazing survivor since day one. He'd been shot, stabbed, bitten, crushed, thrown off a cliff, impaled, and even nearly disemboweled. Not one of those had ever killed him or dampened his spirits. After the Gray Wolves, what was left of them, had cleared the bay, they had been next in turn, but Lanier took Tancredi's position since she had briefly vacated it. His death was her fault.

She saw the reports, of a torpedo barrage that came from the Starbase. Hawthorne was determined to see them and the Resolve dead. Right now, even through tears of fury, Tancredi held the same desire for the Starbase Commander. She wanted his head on a platter. After she ensured Kendrick, ch'Rayya and all the others made it out okay first, though. "Tribbles. Go." Tancredi's voice was quiet now, almost drained of anything. She may have given them the cutest creature as a squadron name, and they all named their shuttles something equally unbelievable. But God have mercy on anyone who assumed that meant they were pushovers.

As the war shuttles tore out two at a time, Tancredi was the last to exit, and as she moved into position, the reality set in.

This was the end. The Resolve, the vessel that was her home, and the dwelling of her family, was doomed. There was no saving the ship from destruction, but with the help of the Tribbles, maybe they could delay it, and secure the evacuation. "Tribbles, Sacrificial Victory. Good luck."

She issued the order that she and all those who flew shuttles with her were ready to perform without a second thought. Their lives, for the lives of others. Whenever Kendrick had time for her, and when they played Chess, she liked to employ a move that she called the Meony Maneuver: Victory, with sacrifice. Giving up her most prized piece on the board, she forced her opponent into a checkmate. It was the only time Kendrick couldn't beat her in chess. And now, she was doing it for real. She tried to bug Hawthorne personally, sending a recorded video feed to him. Picking up some computer know-how from Liam Herrold and Erik Randall, she used a quick hack so that it would force open his screens.

"Howdy!" She said, smiling, and biting her lower lip in the way that sometimes drove certain men up the wall, then started speaking in a sing-songy voice, "Ian "backstabbin'" Hawthorne, raht? Mah name is Krystal Tancredi, Ensign, call sign, and true name, Meony, of the USS Resolve. We nevah got ta meet in person, and probably never will, but Ah hope what we're about to do really fucks up your day, and maybe with a li'l thing Ah lahk ta call luck, the remainder of ya sorry ass life!" She finished with a signature flipping off, with both fists.

She blew a kiss and finished the recording, sending it as a priority to the Starbase Commander. If nothing else, her pretty mug will be distracting his sight from the battle, and maybe that would buy everyone a little more time. Even a few seconds was worth something.

Removing her hat, she finally fitted her helmet into place. And speared the Flayer ahead of the other shuttles. If anyone was going to take the brunt of anything ever again, it would be her. "Thanks fer everything, Randall. Love ya." She said quietly to herself.

Slapping the fire command buttons, her shuttle began a destructive firing pattern even as she darted across the hull of the Resolve, seeing all it's destruction in clear view. The starboard nacelle was all but finished. And the fighter swarms were thick. She was almost squinting as their weapons fire lit up her screens faster than it could compensate and adjust to protect, but it was more of an instinctual reaction than anything, since her own helmet gave her additional protection. The rest of Tribble Squadron followed suit. Spreading wide apart. Their forward-firing weapons cast a hail of energized bolts of varying colours, since almost everyone used a unique weapon, while the beam turrets automatically picked targets by computerized-targeting, and cut deadly beams of power through shields and armour in fairly short order.

Tancredi launched a torpedo at one group of Interceptors, and as she had told her squadron earlier, it was rather hard to miss hitting something. Five fighters in one torpedo. Smiling grimly, she completed one circuit, spotting Havenborn and K'ren amidst the chaos, before losing sight of them again. She had other problems though, as Cortez and Thurmane started peeling off. "What're ya two doin'? Get back in forma...!" She saw it then. The damage done to their shuttles.

Cortez's was listing to one side and falling behind the rest, with three Interceptors fiercely pummeling the craft with their weapons. "I'm sorry, Meony! Give 'em hell!"

The woman's self-destruct took the three Interceptors and a few more besides, having detonated all of her remaining torpedoes at once. And Thurmane drove her shuttle right into the thickest of the Starbase defenders, performing the same sacrifice. Suddenly Tancredi's attention was forced back into the battle as a violent impact almost threw her out of her chair once more. The Theurgy was helping them, which made for an interesting turn of events. But it still felt like her captain and her people were alone in this.

[ Commander Trent | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

The moment the Captain gave her orders, Trent raise a hand towards Yukimuara.  He didn't know what the man had done to draw Black Opal as a duty station; after all he was bright, dedicated, a hard-worker and the kind of officer he would work with at any given time.  Perhaps this change of scenery had given him a new sense of purpose?  After all, so far as the XO was concerned, such was eminently possible considering his own circumstances.  With that silent command, the EWO started pushing the tactical feed to Resolve and her fighter elements.  It was not the same as them being able to see through the jamming Theurgy was putting out, but at least it would give them some way to shoot back accurately despite their sensors being heavily degraded.

The authorization to fire his double broadside given, the Commander's hands flew on his panel as he entered a targeting sequence, and he relayed it directly to Arisaka on Vector 2.  "Lieutenant," he started in his boom mike, "put your dorsal aspect to the Starbase and fire a double-broadside using the firing plan I sent you.  Fire when ready."  There was a crisp "Aye, Sir" from the other end of the commlink, and not ten seconds later, Theurgy's second vector belched its volley.

On both sides of the hull, the pod hatches opened and in sequence they disgorged their payload, fifteen Type V micro-torpedoes per opening, and the massive salvo made its way towards the mess that was the fighter engagement and the space around Resolve.  As the torpedoes were in flight, Trent once more opened communications, this time to Resolve's fighter elements.  One thing for certain, he wasn't worried about the reaction of Theurgy's pilots to such fire; all had been exposed to the pods and their fire at some point and they had drilled this sort of fire plan before.  Such, howeverm could not be said of the crew of the vessel that had been thought lost.  "Resolve fighters, this is Theurgy Tactical.  Prepare for massive interpenetration from our salvo.  Your transponders are locked into the warheads and they will not detonate in case you catch one."

And then, all he could do was watch even as he directed Vector One's fire with vicious proficiency.  Between all three segments of the ship, the amount of anti-torpedo fire was staggering.  What they mounted was initially meant for a fleet-level engagement, and even with the firepower available to a Starbase, there simply was no way for the facility to overwhelm that much defensive fire.  It even came to the point that in between engaging torpedoes, the clusters would start targeting some of the interceptors, further blunting their assault.  And then, the double-broadside came crashing into the Starbase's fighter wing in its antimatter-fuelled fury.

And while he did not expect to destroy outright many of the incoming fighters.  After all, the Starbase had a complement of 250, and there simply were not enough micro-torpedoes in the salvo to put an end to those spacecraft.  However, if enough could be damaged and driven back in or disabled?  If enough formations could be disrupted and lead to collisions?  It would put a serious hole in their capabilities...

[ PO2 Sithick | USS Allegiant | Air Lock ] Attn: Auctor, Angles


When Sithick got the order to be in the transporter room he acknowledged it, the fact that they were doing a pilot rescue in the middle of an active war zone was not lost on the giant lizard, and he spent a lot of time moving as quickly as he could. The thing about the Gorn wasn't that they were completely incapable of running far from it actually, it was that stopping became rather difficult. He was a large lumbering beast, and while he could pick up good speed when he needed too, Sithick was practically thrown by the last explosion. His body going head over heels as his heavily scaled and condensed body hit the ground he rolled and found himself in the transporter room but completely disoriented for a moment.

And when he got up what he was seeing was not good. The shot that sent him to the ground was the same one that had on the bridge crippled their tactical officer, and here there were already signs of damage. Console burn out, and as Sithick struggled with the controls he was finding that the pattern buffers had taken damage. If it wasn't one thing it was another, and as Sithick struggled with the controls to bring game on board it just wasn't as simple as that.

He tapped his comm. "Sithick to the Bridge. The Tranzpoters, are damaged. I has a lock on the pilot, but we must lower the shield to beam them in. Pattern bufters are damaged we may not get all 'game', but if we are to get any of the pilot we must move quickly."

There was another burst of sparks and Sithick watched the pattern buffers drop another percentage. Getting the materiel was one thing they had the power to grab the pilot it was the reassembly part that he was worried about. The last thing he wanted to do was to transport someone onto the platform having them come inside out, and then explode.

Regardless of what the pilot looked like after this transport hitting the emergencies already meant that this was not going to be an easy ride.

[ Ens Derik Veradin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Derik_Veradin) | Bridge | USS Resolve ]

Sparks, klaxons, alerts, commands, and yelling were all erupting on the Resolve bridge. Derik did everything he could to stay focused and keep them moving. The problem was that every hit took out more and more of his ability to dodge and weave. The engines and maneuvering thrusters were getting damaged and sluggish to his controls. They were starting to limp. That's why Martin's repulsor idea came through like such a beautiful light of an idea. Derik flashed her a grin as she explained it and started readying the pulse. They could use it not only to knock back a huge bulk of the interceptors, but gain a large amount of thrust towards the Theurgy's back lines. "Veradin to Resolve fighter wings, stay clear of our six!"

Adrenaline and a bit of terror pumping through his body, Derik repositioned The Resolve, checked that none of their own fighters would be in the blast radius behind them, and nodded to Martin over his shoulder. “Everyone hang onto something! Do it!”

Consoles, lights, everything dimmed and the ship gave a groan and a hum with a huge discharge of energy. The repulsor field erupted from the rear of the ship, throwing back a big handful of their interceptor enemies and the Resolve lurched forward riding the wake of that energy discharge towards the Theurgy’s Vector 1 and defense line. Derik was slammed into his seat as the inertial dampeners failed to fully absorb the sudden acceleration.

Dozens of interceptors ended up getting caught in the repulsor wake behind them. There was a satisfying number of collisions and explosions from the chaos of it, a chaos that Keval was taking great advantage of at Tactical, Derik saw, unloading as much fury as their battered ship could muster. The Resolve wasn’t quite dead yet, and the interceptors would know a bit of revenge still yet.

They were approaching the Theurgy’s line when another massive hit rocked the Resolve and Derik lost half of his controls, his console sparking but luckily not exploding. His displays threw up errors and alerts all over his screens. The Resolve started to tilt in a slow roll he couldn’t quite control. “Damn it, come on baby, hold together just.. a little… longer!” He cursed through gritted teeth.

Right then as the Captain was giving the order to abandon ship, and before Derik could argue vehemently with that order, the Theurgy’s captain offered to dock with them and extend their shields around them. Derik was confused as to how exactly that would work until a diagram showing the maneuver showed up on his display. Derik looked to Kendrick for the okay, giving the Captain a, ‘well, it could work and it’s our last real chance I think,' look, and the Captain nodded to him his approval.

Derik looked on his screens and saw the Theurgy vector approaching them and Derik started to maneuver their dorsal side towards them for the docking procedure. “Veradin to Theurgy, I’m ready when you are for this crazy idea of yours. Be aware, half of my controls are shot, it’s going to be everything I can manage to keep us steady, the rest is going to be mostly up to you. I’m linking you into our sensor readings, such as they are, to help with the dock.”

Derik got the Resolve underneath Vector 1, praying his positioning was accurate on his own sensors. “Veradin to Theurgy, we’re lined up as best and close as I can manage. I'm entering our exact coordinates, heading, and alignment." Derik sent the final data message to them and prayed as he desperately held the Resolve locked in place as best he could.

[ Ens K'Ren | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Resolve ] Attn: Triage, Havenborn, Auctor

K'Ren was already in her fighter, going through her launch checklist as information kept coming in over comms, first from the bridge and then from Havenborn. her bird was still warm from the earlier alert so prepping this thing for flight was easy enough. The instructions to ignore the Theurgy's fighter elements came as a somewhat of a surprise to K'Ren but her bosses had reasons and in the coming shit storm of blue on blue engagements, her job was just to eliminate the enemy fighters, no matter who their allegiance was, even men & women she'd sworn an oath to serve alongside. To her mind though, once these same men & women served the enemy, that protection was no longer afforded them. And she admitted, to them she was most likely the same, a traitor to the Federation, a target to be eliminated.

She glanced over at Liam, a quick smile and a nod as she lowered the canopy of her fighter. She hoped she would live through this day and come back to the place she called home, back to Liam and the promise she'd made him. If not, her mate was waiting for her in the afterlife and she could only hope her departure came after acquitting herself in battle, earning a worthy death. The deck plating rattled as the canopy sealed, a common enough thing as it always seemed the fighters launched after the Resolve came under fire. This fire however was far heavier, like the weapons of a large capital ship or starbase. She clicked her internals comm's open, "Ready to go Merlin?" she asked her RIO. "Roger," came back the answer, "Time to work some magic."

Acknowledging Havenborn's orders, K'Ren switched to Tac 3, and didn't have to wait long for her orders. Her fighter entering the launch sequence as it hovered over the deck, K'Ren felt the push of acceleration as the fighter rocketed out of the deck, her weapons armed, her claws extended. She trusted Liam but she also hoped & prayed that this things legs would hold out and get her home. Soon she was clear of the ship and could see the battle with her own eyes for the first time, the sheer scale coming into perspective.

However it seemed as almost immediately, as Merlin begn to pick out targets for them to attack, that the order to steer clear of the Resolve's six came out. Having just launched out the after of the ship, K'Ren made a hard bank to starboard, towards the theurgy. It was maybe seconds latter she felt a shudder as the fighter caught the edge of the repulser blast, tossed for a second as they were pushed clear of the blast. K'Ren glanced at her RIO then back at the tactical situation, the field had thinned out a bit but a station like SB-84 had more where they'd come from.

[Lt. JG. Suq | Main Bridge | USS Resolve ]

Take from lighting systems, replicators can go, holodeck doesn't need that power. Suq picked over everything, every last drop of energy he could access sacrificed for Martin's idea. He was glad to see her, even more so to hear an idea, but those feelings took away from Suq's personal vault of energy-- which coincidentally, was also running very low. Nothing was spared. Entire sections of the ship went dark, klaxons silenced, only emergency lights to light the way. Then, he hung on tight, and cursed himself for failing to install bars on his console to hold onto when this happened.

It happened, and Suq shook. He felt the shock waves of the hit in his very bones and already dreaded the damage report. Sure, they had removed themselves from the tiny vultures called Interceptors, but they had numbers, and also ships that were not held together by industrial strength starship glue and hope. Perhaps the only way to survive was to flee, as the captain said...

And then, the Theurgy rang in.

"Did they just offer to save us? The Theurgy?" He spoke, just as the call ended. A criminal ship? Weren't they supposed to be traitors? Or was Hawthorne the traitor? Which way was which, again?

Whatever was happening, he'd take any lifeline, and it seemed the Captain was in agreement. He left Derik in charge of piloting, trying anything he could to fix the ship's directional sensors, to keep her from rolling in the Theurgy's grasp. For now, this would be his duty.

"Our navigational sensors are shot, can't repair them without a living engineering team, switching to manual input. You should see a 17% correction. Should keep us from 69'ing the Theurgy."

"Watch our former nacelle," he added, his voice mostly emotionless despite the content of his warning, "It can still be used as a weapon. At this distance, an explosion would be the end of us. We probably wouldn't feel it though." He shrugged. "Structural integrity of the nacelle suggests it would take a large amount of concentrated fire at a single area to overload it, more than what a single Interceptor could do, but the starbase or a team of Interceptors could still do the job."

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie "Grey Wolf-01" ] Attn: Auctor, Grey Wolves, Tribbles & Lone Wolves (indirectly)

As soon as Daniel heard the message from Derik he pushed his throttle to maximum thrust to clear not only the Resolve but also to make sure he stayed clear of any lingering effects from the EMP torpedoes.  He swung his fighter so that it was parallel to the Resolve for a moment before the Resolve boosted forwards.  "Three fighters coming up behind us."  Knight said.  "Got it."  Daniel replied as he spun his fighter around and reversed his thrust so that he was facing the enemy fighters.  "Locking on."  Daniel said as he switched to the micro-torpedo launchers.  He waited a moment as he took fire from the interceptors, then the tone for target lock sounded and he pressed down on the fire button, launching a dozen micro-torpedoes.  He watched as they flared against the interceptors shields.

The lead ship was destroyed with the second taking damage from the torpedoes and shrapnel from the lead ship.  Daniel fired his pulse phases and ripped the second interceptor to shreds.  The third interceptor moved to dodge the debris of the second and Daniel maneuvered the fighter around and fired again watching as the shots ripped through the third's shields and hit the engine block which ignited and destroyed the third interceptor.  "Deadeye, Broadside, on my wing."  He said into the squadron channel.  "Neko, take Warhound and help out the Tribbles."  He said.  Once he heard an affirmative from his pilots he pointed his fighter towards the Starbase. "Deadeye, Broadside maximum thrust, use your quantums on starbase targets."  He said as he heard the affirmatives again from both pilots.

It was now or never, he thought to himself.  They had a list of priority targets to get to and the Resolve was in good hands.  His fighter took another hit from another interceptor but it blew apart a moment later as he watched phaser fire from Grey Wolf-04.  Only zero point nine kilometers to their first target. "Knight, prep torpedo two, lock onto the torpedo launcher."  He said as he got an affirmative from his RIO. "Deadeye, fire one torpedo after mine.  Broadside cover us."  He said as they neared the torpedo launcher, just another point five kilometers and they'd be in range.  "Salvo, I've got ten interceptors closing on us."  Broadside reported in.  "Got it Broadside."  Daniel said, a moment later he had a target lock tone and he fired his torpedo, a second later Deadeye fired hers and he watched as both torpedoes tracked towards the launcher.  He'd have to let the sensors let him know if the torpedoes hit their target or not, right now they had bigger concerns to worry about.  "Broadside, Deadeye, form up on me, we're going after those interceptors."  He said as he maneuvered his fighter around, bringing the interceptors into view.

"Light them up."  Daniel said as they closed distance with the interceptors, firing his pulse phasers and the rest of his micro-torpedoes, at this close range they'd be hard to dodge he thought to himself.

[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Resolve Bridge]
Attn: All on the bridge & Resolve fighter elements, Theurgy and it's elements

Keval worked hard to fulfill his captain's orders, quickly shifting what power he could from what tactical systems he could while prepping his torpedo launchers for a tactic that he remembered reading about from the Klingon Wars.

"I'm on it Tristan but don't you fucking dare think about going out in a blaze of glory, my friend." Keval said loudly over the din of alarms, explosions and sounds of combat on the bridge around him as he looked over at the human who'd been his captain and friend.

"That is my job after all." Keval said while tossing a playful wink at his captain's direction.

Keval then tripped the command to perform what was once known in the 2240's Starfleet as the "Backwash Maneuver" as he bypassed the primary and secondary safeties and fired every torpedo in the Resolve's magazines at the hostile starbase all at once.

The primary action of such a move was by removing the safeties it allowed the ship to be thrust faster in a specific direction by use of pure kinetic energy rebounding off of the impulse bubble that surrounded the ship during maneuvers and allowed momentum to be increased at least tenfold.

Keval opened up a dual channel to the Resolve's fighter elements. "This is Resolve Tactical to all Resolve Fighter Elements. Mark all Theurgy combatants as FRIENDLY, reapt on all Theurgy elements as FRIENDLY." he said into the channel as he kept at his work. "Furthermore Resolve Actual has started order for ship wide evac, prepare for possible linkup with new friendly elements."

However the use of such operation was ended in the field just prior to Kirk's encounter with Khan all of those decades ago due to how dangerous such an action would be but considering the orders of his captain...

The Andorian was about to finish his work when he noticed something on his board which was a couple of interceptors that was slowly starting to gain on one of the small craft from the Theurgy that the tactical sensors had marked as the USS ALLEGIANT.

Keval clicked his tongue and then quickly targeted the two fighters and sent a couple of phaser lances their way and smiled as one of the fighter disappeared and the other quickly banked away.

"Resolve Tactical to Allegiant Actual, pardon the phaser fire but I didn't think you wanted to be hit from behind by a couple of the base's mooks." Keval said after he quickly opened a channel before giving a tight smile. "Who ever is piloting that ship, I owe a couple of drinks to. Resolve Tactical out."

After closing the channel, Keval then shifted what energy he had left to help with propulsion and defense before moving over to where his captain was and asked "Orders Tristan?".
////////////////////////////////////////////

[ Chris "Husker" Slayton | Wolf 04 | Space around his assigned element | USS Theurgy ]
Attention: Star-fighter related

The word "Noy Jitat" which was a little used Andorian curse word from the time of Jonathan Archer's first visit to Andoria was quickly becoming Husker's word of the day.

So far he had been trying to avoid destroying the interceptors but it was steadily becoming much harder as the Resolve quickly left the starbase under heavy fire and as the primary Vector of his tender ship was moving to help the beleaguered Luna-class ship but when the interceptors started to really pound on the ship as it drew close with his Vector, Husker felt a cold dread settle into his stomach.

Husker rammed his fighter's throttle all the way up and sped at an interceptor that was making a run towards the weakest part of the Resolve's bridge shields and quickly unloaded a barrage of pulse fire into the enemy fighter which was followed up by twin lances from his phaser banks as well, searing the aft impulse array off and sending the hostile craft spinning into another one.

<Adept move, Harbinger.> Morrigan's voice came through the communications system which made Husker's eyes narrow slightly as he wanted to know why Fasha was so intent on calling him that.

<I wonder what caught all of those guys to hate on the Resolve so badly, Husker.> Outrider commented as he lit up an enemy fighter of his own and sent it running off. <I've got this one, Tally Ho!>

Husker couldn't help but roll his eyes at the old fighter call out that his grandfather had once told him about many years ago when suddenly he noticed something on his sensors and he abruptly banked his fighter very hard as an interceptor slipped under his Valk's right wing before firing a phaser lance across his attacker's port wing.

<Got him!!> Outirder suddenly cried out and Husker looked in his fellow pilot's direction to see that outrider had indeed ran his prey to the ground and that made him smile but only for a moment as he saw two targets disappear near Morrigan's marker.

"Hmm..Two for one combo meal. Very nice, Morrigan." was the only thing that Husker could think to say before he returned to his work.
/////////////////////////////////////////////

[Provisional Ensign Lin Kae/ Vector 03 Main Engineering/ USS Theurgy]
Attention: Rihen, Carla, and Novak.

Kae couldn't help but wonder if Abner was okay as his fingers quickly moved even faster as he typed one handed as he had looped his right arm around the station to try and keep from loosing his grip. "AND..DONE!!!" Kae shouted as he inputted the last few bits of code which not only deleted the corrupted code but also fixed and adjusted the refresh rate. "Rihen, I've just done the fastest patch job coding wise I think in the history of the fleet so the shield should be up to full strength and refresh better!"

Kae then swiped through the system controls until he found the one in question-the dampner system and studied it as he started to input the commands directly into the system code. "Attempting to fix the problem to the inertials.." he started to say and while he was able to get them to even off a little bit, his eyes narrowed as he saw a different problem.

"Rihen, I'm going to have to go and have a code conversation with the system directly." he said as the young hybrid started to make his way over to a portion of engineering where the systems for the Vector's dampeners were located and noted the readings next to the door as he started to manually open it. "Should only take me a couple of minutes at most."

[ Cmdr. Jared "Deadline" Salazar | CAG 23^rd TacCONN Air Group | Interceptor Cockpit ] Attn: All

Piece by piece, Salazar and his Air Group had been picking apart the Resolve. The starbase had managed to take out its starboard nacelle with a full spread of torpedoes, and Jared had ordered to continue the pursuit. There was some kind of jamming field affecting their systems, likely coming from the Theurgy, but mercilessly, squadron after squadron had used manual targeting and unloaded its hardpoints and seared the Resolve's shields and hull with their pulse phasers. During the pursuit, Salazar had been contacted by Starbase 84's Chief of Security.

[D-Dotnhil t-t-to Salazar,] she had managed through the static of the comm, like her throat had been scraped out, [B-Be advised - re-renegade gunship Sabine has escaped from th-the base. She ca-carries two traitors re-responsible for the death of at least seven security officers. There's every chance that one of them is responsible for the malf-f-functions with the bay doors. J-Jared.... He spaced my team...Sh-shoot to kill is authorized.]

While Lieutenant Dotnhil had spoken, the Resolve's fighters had mounted some opposition, but Jared did have time to acknowledge her, her words stirring his ire. "Sending targeting orders to Gauntlet Squadron now. Deadline out," he said, eyes following the Grey Wolves as they emerged along with some strangely equipped shuttles. He watched three of the latter destroyed, yet he lost good pilots in the process, and even more once the Resolve's Valkyries mounted their defence.

Then, suddenly, as he remained in pursuit of the full impulse wreckage of the USS Resolve, there wasn't even a warning before the Luna-class ship emitted a widely dispersed beam, and while it read like a tractor beam, the effect made it clear it wasn't. His inertial dampeners could not compensate for the sudden counter-force his craft entered. He was thrown forward against the restraints in his seat, and then sent into a involuntary barrel roll. Warnings flared brightly but he could not make out anything in the commotion. Another violent tumble told him he had collided with one of his squadmates. There was fire in his cockpit, but he held on to his flight stick, wrenched it against the turning motion, and managed to level out.

Only as he did, he saw the tactical display, and there was a veritable cloud of torpedo readings heading straight into the mess that remained of the Wings that had pursued the Resolve. "Hijo de puta..."*

---

[ Lt Cmdr. Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 Cockpit | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: All Fighter Elements & the Theurgy

There was no better word than 'mayhem' to describe the wake of the Resolve's path, where the three Wings of interceptors that had gone after the ship had been hit by an over-powered repulsor beam. Yet by the time that the interceptors looked like they were confetti caught in a solar wind, Vector 02 was in position and released its broadside of pod-held micro-torpedoes. Moreover, the Resolve seemed to unload everything it got through its aft launchers.

On Iron-Fox's sensors, the individual torpedoes were impossible to make out, looking like waves hitting the shoals that were the starbase's interceptors. The panicked reaction was, of course, a cloud of countermeasures that obscured the outcome, but Miles was sure that he just witnessed the deaths of many fellow Tactical CONN officers.

"This is Wolf Leader," he said over the squadron channel, watching as the Resolve was speeding towards Vector 01, fearing that the starbase would try and hit the Luna-class ship with a another spread of torpedoes before it got to safety. "All elements! Goldeneye confirmed TPS probe deployment. Lock on tetryon signature and deploy hardpoints!"

[This is Ghost, already on it!] came the word from Rawley, and Miles saw her and Hat Trick fire away their Hellbores as one.

"Wolf Leader to all Vectors, recommend targeting TPS signal! If the base could hit the Resolve despite the jamming field, it can do so again," he said, and he moved with Gun-Shy to get between the shredded Resolve and Starbase 84, and then fired his two Hellhound Cluster Bombs. As they were off, he made one last call, attempting to get his hail to the fighters and shuttles that had launched from the Resolve. "This is the Lone Wolves to Resolve fighter elements, please confirm channel up-link. This is Lieutenant Commander Miles Renard, Wolf Leader. Are you what's left of the Grey Wolves?"

---

[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt| USS Allegiant | Upper Deck | Bridge ] Attn: Jaya Thorne, Sithck, Sera vers Aldnoah & Hi'Jak

Hernandez was on the Allegiant's bridge, sedating the charred remains of Edgar Rogers to ease his passing. Thorne circled the top of the starbase, avoiding sustaining as much damage as she could while they waited for confirmation that the pilot was aboard. While the Allegiant was sturdy, it could not last forever, and each impact frayed Dewitt's nerves."Come on..."

Her eyes darting over the tactical readings on the viewscreen, Dewitt noticed how another smaller ship emerged from the starbase below them, and it was some kind of fierce looking shuttle that read as 'SS SABINE NX-59846' on the sensors. Like the USS Resolve, it seemed as if they were not on good terms with the starbase, because a whole squadron of interceptors took up chasing it with their pulse phaser cannons.

[Sithick to the Bridge. The Tranzpoters, are damaged. I has a lock on the pilot, but we must lower the shield to beam them in. Pattern bufters are damaged we may not get all 'game', but if we are to get any of the pilot we must move quickly.]

"This is Dewitt, abort. I repeat, abort. We cannot risk lowering our shields," she barked in answer and got on her feet. It was a tough call to make to leave this pilot by the callsign Game behind, but she could not risk all the lives on the Allegiant. "Thorne, get us out of here immediately!"

Just as she said it, she saw on the tactical readings that the Theurgy's fighter elements were opening fire against the tetryon signal emitted by the TPS probe, and both Vector 02 and 03 aligned themselves to fire their forward torpedoes against Starbase 84's tactcal array. "Make that 'yesterday', Thorne."

Suddenly, two interceptors had appeared out of nowhere, torpedo lock warnings going off. Yet just as quickly, heralded by bright light off their port side, the warnings went silent.

[Resolve Tactical to Allegiant Actual, pardon the phaser fire but I didn't think you wanted to be hit from behind by a couple of the base's mooks. Who ever is piloting that ship, I owe a couple of drinks to. Resolve Tactical out.]

"Looks like you have a date, Thorne," said Dewitt wryly, "Now don't keep him waiting and get out of range! Sithick, come to the bridge and help Dr. Hernandez!"

---

[ Captain Ives | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Any moment, the Resolve's shields could have given out, making the rescue operation futile before it began.

Yet it was obvious to Jien Ives, where she stood on Vector 01's bridge, that the crew on the Luna-class ship was resourceful. Just as Jien thought the ship would be destroyed, it emitted a repulsor beam in it's wake to send the pursuing interceptors spinning. Then, Arisaka's broadside hit them, and the other broadside deterred the interceptors that had come for Vector 01 - breaking off their attack and forcing them to take evasive manoeuvres.

[Veradin to Theurgy, I'm ready when you are for this crazy idea of yours.] The audio only transmission came from the Resolve, and it had to be its helmsman. [Be aware, half of my controls are shot, it's going to be everything I can manage to keep us steady, the rest is going to be mostly up to you. I'm linking you into our sensor readings, such as they are, to help with the dock.]

"This is Lieutenant S'Iti, acknowledged. Captain, the Resolve is coming in fast, attempting to match velocity," said Aisha from the helm, and she quickly set their course towards new bearings, and pushed the impulse gear to its top speed.

Ives closed her fits at her sides as and stood rapt before the viewscreen as events unfolded. Miles Renard was heard next.  [Wolf Leader to all Vectors, recommend targeting TPS signal! If the base could hit the Resolve despite the jamming field, it can do so again.]

"This is Captain Ives, all Vectors, as Renard says, fire torpedoes at my mark," she said, knowing that the tetryon-painted target - the starbase's tactical array - would be hit regardless if the launchers were pointing towards the base. Vectors 02 and 03 acknowledged, and there was no time to waste. After all, Stellar Cartography had said that the reinforcements were imminent. "Three, two, one, fire!"

As all three Vectors opened fire, along with what was left of the Lone Wolves, Aisha wrenched them into position above the speeding Resolve. [Veradin to Theurgy, we're lined up as best and close as I can manage. I'm entering our exact coordinates, heading, and alignment.]

"Acknowledged, engaging tractor beam now," called S'Iti and lit the damaged dorsal side of the Resolve with the docking beam, matching Veradin's data on her console, "Keep her steady. Docking complete in ten, nine, eight..."

At that moment, the full barrage of torpedoes hit Starbase 84's tactical array - emphasised further by the Lone Wolves' hard points, and the consecutive hits not only penetrated the shield over the area, but destroyed the tactical array in a bright conflagration of momentary success.

"Make all drones interject themselves between us and the remaining pursuers!" said Ives, seeing a squadron of interceptors drop down from on high to target the Theurgy and the Luna-class ship, and she hoped that even if the jamming field was in place, the interceptors would be deterred by the phaser strips that suddenly fired at them. "Mister Trent, prepare to engage the point-defence system and our shields to consider the Resolve as a part of this Vector."

"...three, two, one. The Resolve is in position, tractor beam alignment locked! Deploying all docking pylons!" It sounded as if S'Iti never had thought it would work, and frankly, Ives had thought it impossible to do in the middle of a battle. Still, as a last resort to save the Resolve, it had proved successful.

"Captain Ives to the Resolve. We've got you," she said, hoping to have gained a first ally on that faithful day. "Extending shields and defences around you. Our computer will request to access yours. Please approve the request, and our ships can shar-"

"Captain!" came the call from Lieutenant Yukimura, "Reinforcements arriving in fifteen seconds. It is a Vesta-class ship, carrier version. It is the USS Orcus, weapons primed, some kind of fighters powered up and torpedoes set to launch upon arrival."

---

[ Captain Ian Hawthorne | EOC Command Center | Starbase 84 ] Attn: Captain Marcus Slayton
 
With mounting irritation, Ian saw how the Resolve gained the protection of the Theurgy. What he had thought would be the Luna-class ship's and Kendrick's death dance had been quite disappointing, even if the hail from one of the doomed fighter pilots had proven a fickle source of amusement. Instead, the base's targeting array had been destroyed, and too many of Salazar's Air Group had been decimated. Now, partially blind as they were in the battle, manual targeting was all they could resort to.

"Starbase 84 to the USS Orcus," he said, jaws clenched, "Thank you for heeding our call. Prepare to receive signatures of enemy vessels attacking the base."

---

OOC: Merry Christmas! Sorry for the long post. Here is the posting order for the different ships in this Chapter as of its beginning:

Vector 01 of the Theurgy| Main Bridge: 1) Carrigan Trent 2) Natalie Stark 3) Tovarek

Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Main Sickbay: 1)  Hylota & Vinata Vojona 2) Hayden O'Connor 3) Dr. Nicander

Vector 03 of the Theurgy | Main Engineering: 1) Rihen Neyah (tomorrow) 2) Nolak Kalmil 3) Lin Kae

Lone Wolves Squadron: 1) Goldeneye 2) Husker 3) Ghost

Grey Wolves & Tribble Squadron 1) K'Ren 2) Krystal Tancredi 3) Havenborn

USS Resolve | Main Bridge: 1) Tristan Kendrick 2) Depends on Development

USS Allegiant: 1) Jaya Thorne 2) Sithick

SS Sabine: 1) Sera vers Aldnoah 2) Hi'Jak

USS Orcus: 1) Marcus Slayton 2) Dev

* Son of a Bitch

[ Captain Tristan Kendrick | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Atten: All

Martin and Derik had somehow managed to pull their asses out of the fire. That along with the plan from the Theurgy left the captain feeling like he had a bit of egg on his face. One moment he was ready to stand up and do the whole noble sacrifice thing the next his ship is being docked with in the middle of a space battle.

The swarm was decimated by Keval's use of the torpedo's and the Theurgy's massive weapons barrage for the first time in forever they were standing at having a chance. Yet his eyes kept scrolling over the reports on the captains chair, casualties on all decks, names, and estimations. Thanks to the combined efforts of his senior staff the Resolve's crew would have a shot of living, but far too many had already died.

And this moment, they were fighting not against Cardassians or Romulans, but rather the combined efforts of the Federation. All because one mad man in a tower had some kind of plan to benefit them selves and for that a lot of people had died. Hawthorne, Kendrick had never thought he could hate a person as much as he was starting to hate the captain of the starbase.

Every breath on the road for the ships to link up was taken shallow with anticipation, and yet with Martin's plan, and Suq's skills along with the efforts of two of what he had to assume were the best pilots in the fleet, the Theurgy's and Derik it happened. The Theurgy docked with them. He stood up and walked slowly to Keval putting his hand on the mans shoulders. "For a moment... I did think about the blaze of glory, a lesser crew wouldn't have done this. I owe you all my adoration."

And the voice of a traitor was now their welcomed savior. "Acknoledged Ives, this is Captain Kendrick of the Resolve. We are relieved. My crew has been ordered to evacuate, and will begin unloading our people to you now. Thank you for having us aboard."

He turned to look around his bridge. He hadn't been lying when he had said that he would have stayed behind. In that grim moment he had been in a state of thought that none would make it out of here. "Okay we're in position team we have an evacuation too see too. No one gets left behind."

Including him it would seem.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: Kaligos & All

Sera swallowed her guilt and shame and focused on the task at hand, or at least tried to. She was moderately successful. Jack was right, she survived, she needed to keep surviving. Emerging from the wreckage that used to be the Starbase bay doors, Sera's focus sharpened again. There was a massive and messy battle going on just outside, the biggest she had ever witnessed anyway. She took a deep breath, "Keep those weapons hot, something tells me we're going to need them."

The computer tried to make sense of the two sides on their displays, but it was having a bit of trouble. Someone was emitting a strong jamming signal over the battlefield that was messing with their sensors. She dismissed the warning notification and spoke over her shoulder. "There's some kind of jamming field interfering with the targeting scanners, you'll have to target manually, but hopefully so will anyone trying to shoot at us." It was clear that after a few moments that the Theurgy was engaging the Starbase and its fighters with fighters and support craft of its own. One of its vectors had even rescued and, Sera could hardly believe it, docked with it mid-flight and mid-battle.

She plotted a course away from the largest bulk of the enemy interceptors. It brought them heading towards the Theurgy, and also towards a smaller vessel showing up as the Allegiant, she was hoping the 'enemy of my enemy' thing would work in their favor. The momentary peace they had getting to and emerging from the docking bay didn't last very long as an entire squadron of interceptors broke off from the main group and started coming on an intercept course.

"Computer, analyze incoming fighters, detail strengths and weaknesses."

"Acknowledged." The computer said pausing briefly. A small portion of her screen brought up a picture of the fighter model. "AC-347 Knight-class Federation Warp Interceptor. High warp speeds, heavy armaments, made for targeted attack runs. Low maneuverability and lacking aft phase weapons. Specific classifications and design are classified."

Good news and bad, Sera thought. The Sabine was much nimbler than their incoming attackers, but if they scored a hit, it would pack quite a wallop. What was even worse was that they would outrun the Sabine at warp speeds if the meager specs on the HUD in front of her were accurate, and if she did go to warp, she would not have the small benefit of the jamming field affecting her pursuers' systems.  "Jack, strap in, we're going to be doing some juking." She buckled in a pilot's harness and plotted a new course through as much debris and other ships as she could have the computer locate for her, and readied manual controls for when the fighters got in range, which would be very soon.

She opened a channel to all ships in the area, "This is Sera vers Aldnoah of the SS Sabine. I have with me Starfleet officer Lieutenant Hi'Jak, we carry evidence of acts of terrorism committed by Captain Hawthorne against the people of Starbase 84 and are being pursued by fighters I can only assume are under his command to destroy us." Her words were interrupted as the Sabine started taking fire and she spun them into a series of tight turns. "We request assistance and asylum to any ships in the area that are willing to hear us out." She closed the channel and began focusing everything she could on dodging enemy attacks.

[Ensign A'vura Zeshryr (https://orig08.deviantart.net/ca09/f/2015/289/a/2/a_vura_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d9d9ngm.png) | Resolve Bridge] Attn: Kaligos, and everyone else on the bridge.

A'vura was ready to kiss Martin and Derik for their smooth maneuvers and ability to get the Resolve into position for the Theurgy to give them cover and protection. But before all that could happen, the ship had lurched and jolted violently from the impacts of all those torpedos and A'vura ended up losing her balance, landing on the ground with debris and sparks and fires erupting on and around her. She looked about as disheveled as she had after she'd been attacked on the Starbase, only this time the blood on her body was her own, her head having gotten a nasty gash from the impact.

She looked to the captain as he told them all that they were going to abandon ship, and cringed when he said he'd stay behind to ensure their safety before meeting up with him. But in this moment of dire stakes it was best not to argue with him and protest his decision, even if she did have very strong feelings about leaving yet another officer behind. Just then a distress call came in on the ship's computer. "Captain, we're receiving a distress call from Sera on the Sabine. Patching it through now!" she stated as she brought up the transmission and played it on the viewscreen.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
[Ensign Six (http://pre05.deviantart.net/5d9e/th/pre/i/2016/254/f/7/ensign_six___under_fire_by_auctor_lucan-d91bxn0.png) | Resolve Engineering ] Attn: Lucan, FollowTomorrow, and anyone else.

"Six to Suq," she started to say as she tapped her combadge to contact the bridge yet again. "I think you need to get to engineering immediately. The EPS grid is unable to contain the remaining plasma after all the ruptures it suffered from the battle. I need help in finding a way to deal with this problem or we will suffer a ship-wide blackout, or worse, we'll explode with us in it along with the Theurgy who is currently too close to our vicinity to be missed."

In the meantime Six did all she could to transfer the energy where it was needed still while trying to figure out a way to contain the remaining plasma before it leaked out and destroyed the ship with everyone in it. And despite her stoic and firm ability to remain standing in all of the destruction, as the ship lurched and bucked from the onslaught she occasionally shifted and lost her balance, having to realign herself often to keep her implants securely linked to the ship's computers so she could continue to help where she could.

All around her computers and consoles were exploding while beams and power cables were dropping down and landing on the inhabitants of engineering. Several people were dead or dying and many more were injured in her presence. It was a wonder she hadn't suffered an injury herself just yet, and even a wonder still that her own console hadn't blown up in the process. Sparks of energy and electricity raged throughout the room while smoke and gasses streamed out of conduits throughout.

Flames licked at many areas of engineering and it was only a matter of time before they'd have to abandon this cause. Just as she was thinking that the Resolve's Captain issued a ship-wide retreat and abandonment, which couldn't have come any sooner. Little did she know though that the Theurgy was currently working on their Vector 01 plan to dock with the Resolve and hopefully save her from extinction.

[ PWO Rihen Neyah | Main Engineering | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: MasterRat & DocReno

In the mayhem that was Main Engineering on Vector 03, Rihen could hear the reply from the bridge after Kalmil reported their status. Struggling as she was to just keep her bearings as the deck beneath her feet twisted and turned, she was quite impressed that the man had the presence of mind to communicate with the Starfleeters flying the vector. The voice from the bridge was female, as much she could hear over the clamouring around her.

[This the bridge. Acknowledged, Kalmil. The ventral shielding is top priority, then see to that gyro! Bridge out!]

Rihen whimpered as she held on to the railing, looking down to try and see what had happened to Abner, but she could not spot her. By that time, Kae called out to her, and she fought to get closer to him so that she might hear him more clearly. He told her he had fixed the shield, but he was not sure Kalmil heard him since she was closer to the young Bajoran. When she heard that he'd leave, she was worried for him, since she would not be able to call for medical assistance if he hurt himself.

"Be careful!" she called to him as he struggled to reach one of the back areas of Main Engineering - the area that had access to the damaged gyro's systems. And just like that, he was prying the door open, and she realised she had to talk with the one named Kalmil and tell him Kae was working on it. Whimpering as she dragged herself along the walkway with a death-grip on the railing, she hoped there would not be any trick flying done. Unfortunately, Vector 03 had to engage in evasive manoeuvres.

During the next couple of seconds, she was sent rolling along the walkway, and on more than one occasions, she had to hug the railing lest she'd share Abner's fate. Eventually, she got off the walkway and reached Kalmil's side. She crouched down and held on to the console, just to keep her centre of gravity low.

"Sir!" she called, not used to using the word at all, "Lin Kae has repaired the glitch in the shield! He just went to try and fix the inertial dampeners now, back in that area." She pointed towards the door where Kae had gone. She pressed her chest hard against the console, and she was terrified. Somehow, despite it all, she remembered something about the ship - something that they had used during the mutiny on the Theurgy.

"Sir! Can't we use the shipwide hologrid in some way to fix this? I know it is still operating!"

[ Lt.Com. Martin | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Attn: Kaligos, Followtomorrow, other personnel on the bridge.
[Show/Hide]

As the Theurgy docked, Martin let out an exhalation of relief at the thought that safety might find them after all. At that moment she almost wanted to kiss Veradin for somehow being able to pilot what was now surely only half a ship to safety. She let the tension in her shoulders release as she realized she had been gripping her console till her knuckles turned white.

Letting go, Martin thought of the man who seemed so determined to have their blood on his hands. She was sure now that the Theurgy's apparent threat to the Federation was yet another ploy of Hawthorne's, and perhaps they were as much victims as the Resolve was. It struck her as highly ironic that the ship they had feared not too long ago was now their one hope for survival, as if whatever cruel fate controlled the universe had a bizarre sense of humor. It was at that thought that the idea occurred to her that there might still be another move left for the Resolve to make on the proverbial chess board.

When Kendrick's order to evacuate rang out she darted from her console to where Kendrick was standing. "Sir, I might have an idea. The Resolve is almost finished, but we may be able to set her to self-destruct and eject the warp core right into the attacking ships-"

Her expression immediately turned to a mixture of both mild annoyance and alarm as the Sabine's distress call sounded out throughout the bridge. After it finished she attempted to resume, "Okay, so-" before reports flooded in from Engineering bearing yet more imminent disasters. Looking slightly perturbed she swiftly attempted to conclude her monologue by quickly declaring "That's actually basically it, that's it." before leaving Kendrick to sort any orders he might have and reflecting on how lucky she was that her proposal had been so succinct, given how many interruptions seemed to immediately follow.

[ Ensign K'Ren | Wolf-03, callsign "Neko" | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: Triage, Havenborn, Theurgy Fighter Element

The repulsor blast that barely caught the tail edge of K'Ren's fighter did a hell of a lot more damage to the squadron behind her, craft being scattered like paper in the wind but it was the wave of torpedos fired into the same area that did the most damage thinning out the wave of fighters, the ripple effect of detonations and the warp cores of damaged fighters creating a cascade effect on K'Ren's six. Separated from her squadron, she heard the call to assist the Tribbles along with Warhound, and K'Ren wrenched the fighter on it's wing, scanning on her helmet display for any sign of her wing mate or the little bastards, as they teasingly called the modified shuttles that made up Tribble Squadron. "What have we got Merlin? K'ren asked her RIO, "Not good," was Merlins's response. "You want to odds, or no?" "Find me Warhound and the Tribbles, if we survive we'll discuss odds over a drink." "Roger," was all she heard as Merlin went back to his scope. 'Found her. Vector is on your HUD. Warhound is taking fire from four interceptors."

K'Ren saw the readout on her display and pushed the fighter's throttles to maximum. Vectoring in, K'Ren got good tone on one fighter. A short burst from her main gun and the fighter's shields flickered, faltering, before collapsing. K'Ren didn't have time to play around and laid into the fighter, hoping to at least distract the other two fighters from Warhound's back. She sprayed the aft end of the enemy fighter, unsure why he'd not evaded her as of yet, perhaps he trusted his craft and was depending on his ablatives, or he'd tunnel visioned and could only see his prey. K'Ren pumped several rounds into his warp nacelle, causing a rupture of plasma and forcing him to finally veer off. Following him into the turn, she scored several more hits on the fighter before the craft erupted in a fireball of raw energy, her pilots vaporized as their ejection system pushed them free a second too late.

Her victory was short lived as while she'd focused on the one fighter, the remaining two continued the assault on Warhound. Like K'Ren's victim, Warhound's craft couldn't take it any longer and as K'Ren screamed at her to eject, the engines in Warhound's fighter exploded. K'Ren could only watch helpless as the cockpit ejected in time to avoid the brunt of the explosion, only to catch a stray shot from the enemy fighter. The cockpit shattered, systems failing as phaser energy consumed the two pilots inside. K'Ren gritted her teeth, saying a silent prayer for her comrade, as she now became the target of the remaining fighters. Alone in this furball, she could only trust her instincts and aquit herself the best she could before she joined her mate in the afterlife.

[ Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton | Bridge | USS Orcus ] Atten: All

On the main bridge of the USS Orcus, it's bridge crew manned their stations in quiet preparation for the possible battle to come as their commanding officer quietly sat in the Conn in the center of the bridge as his ice blue eyes remained focused on the main view screen ahead of him as the stars zipped by as the Orcus was at full warp.

"Navigation, Report." the captain stated from the center chair.

"We're almost to the target area, sir. Preparing to drop out of warp in less then a minute, captain." the man at the helm stated firmly.

The captain didn't say anything as he reached over to the panel next to his chair and input a command. "Bridge to Lieutenant zh'Idenna."

<zh'Idenna here, go ahead sir.> came back the crisp clear voice the his squadron's commander.

"I want your birds to deploy the moment we drop back into realspace, Lieutenant. Follow tactical outline Omega Two and remove any and all hostile threats in the area." the captain said firmly into the channel.

<Understood captain. Omega Two is in effect, captain. All of my birds will be off the deck in less then twenty.> zh'Idenna stated firmly before closing the channel.

"Captain Slayton, dropping back out of warp now!" the helmsman said as he inputted the commands that dropped the Orcus back into realspace and into a literal war zone and the war veteran of the Federation's past three major wars studied what he saw before him.

The ravaged and burning form of the recently returned Resolve was limping away from it's severed aft nacelle as it launched every single one of it's renaming explosive ordnance at towering starbase behind it as the three separate sections of the Federation's first Theurgy-class starship moved about the local space like a pack of Vulcan Sehlats protecting their feeding ground.

All across the tactical view that was up on a separate subscreen, the combat between the fighter elements of the two starships and the starbase was evident with various icons going quickly to red as a wave of newer ones in blue suddenly departed from the Orcus.

The captain turned his head to look at one of the panels next to the Conn and took note of the mission timer and what it was showing him, he only had to hold back the storm for a short period of time before the real storm arrived.

"Captain, the commanding officer of the base is on the line sir!" came the slightly purring voice of his communications chief.

<Starbase 84 to the USS Orcus,> came the slightly pained and growled voice of Captain Ian Hawthorne came through the speakers on the bridge. <Thank you for heeding our call. Prepare to receive signatures of enemy vessels attacking the base.>

The Orcus' Executive Officer winced slightly as he watched his commanding officer stand up and in his usual accented voice said one thing.

"No Captain Hawthorne, you will not be sending me anything." Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton said as his communication's officer brought a sub-screen image of Hawthorne's face onto one side of the main viewer's screen and locked his eyes hard onto his fellow officer. "In pursuant to Starfleet Regulation One Nine One, I am here by taking tactical command of this situation and I have instructed my officers to ignore any data coming in from an outside source."

Slayton's expression then became a little bit more dark as he continued with "I am familiar with the officers aboard the Theurgy and considering what happened the last time that ship came into contact with any Federation starship, I refuse to allow them access to any form of wireless data sent in the open."

The Executive Officer nodded in agreement to his captain's comments due to the events of what Lieutenant Commander Trent pulled prior to the Orcus' arrival to meet up with Task Force Archeron and finding the entire element adrift due to a computer virus.

After helping get Sankolov's force back up and running, Slayton used his clearance to find out more about the Theurgy's crew at which point he created the standing order about the wireless transmissions due to the fact that the Theurgy not only had an AI but also several skilled programmers aboard the ship as well which could make the next virus a much bigger threat.

Slayton then made a motion with his hand towards his communications officer who then quickly shifted the channel from the base to offscreen and muted before the dark skinned officer can say anything. "Establishing direct line of communication with USS Theurgy,sir."

Slayton squared his shoulders back and then calmly said "This is Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton, commanding officer of the USS Orcus to the crew of the renegade starship Theurgy. Under the direct authority of the admiralty and Starfleet Command, I am here by ordered to present you with one chance to come to and surrender at once for the crimes of high treason, piracy, and war crimes against the United Federation of Planets and it's allied states." in a glacier cool tone as he kept his gaze straight forward and focused.

"To the civilian, Jien Ives, I do not care about your supposed reasons that you betrayed your uniform and or the trust that was put into by the fleet and our government but I will simply say this, your little war against the Federation ends now."

Slayton's Executive Officer looked over towards the ship's primary tactical station and said "Fire phaser cannons across the bow of the Theurgy's primary Vector to ensure that they understand where we stand and inform the Wolves that they are clear for shredding operations."

[ Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Outer space | Within phaser range of Starbase 84 ] 

[This is Wolf Leader.  All elements! Goldeneye confirmed TPS probe deployment. Lock on tetryon signature and deploy hardpoints!]

[This is Ghost, already on it!]

"You heard the man, deploy your Hellbores (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/b/b2/Hellborne-details.png) Hurl!"

[On it Goldeneye] her wingman acknowledged.

The Hellbore torpedo was a throwback to the nuclear bombs of the past, using a nuclear explosion to compress a tank of concentrated hydrogen into helium, creating a fusion reaction. Within the hydrogen core was a shaped charge of neutronium which the fusion reaction detonated. Although it was mostly ineffective against targets with fully powered energy shields, the weapon was very effective punching through heavy armor composed of matter.

Tessa had no time to admire her handiwork or watch to see if the explosion had taken out the station's tactical array or not for soon she was dodging what seemed to be a swarm of interceptors that had closed on the Lone Wolves' location. 

"I've got multiple spikes!" she called out when she saw how many interceptors had targeting locks on her craft.  "Repeat, I've got multiple spikes!  Bugging out and attempting to rendezvous with Vector Two!" she announced as she pushed her Valkyrie's Pulsed Trentis Mk. IV RCS thruster assembly to its limit.  The station shuddered and rolled outside her cockpit's bubble until it settled beneath her fighter as if it were a conventional surface.  Flying just meters above the station's shields she took advantage of a jamming field the Theurgy was emitting to throw off the aim of her pursuers. 

It was only a matter of seconds before she found out whose targeting sensors were being jammed.  Emerging from the gaping hole that had once been Starbase 84's bay doors was a slender craft Tessa's sensors told her was only twenty-four meters long, fifteen meters wide, and four meters high.  She didn't recognize the make and model but it was definitely a product of Starfleet technology.  The craft was almost immediately attacked by the station's interceptors, indicating that this ship was not going to be a threat to the Theurgy or the beleaguered Resolve.

As if to confirm her assessment, Tessa heard a woman's voice make an announcement through her comm gear:  [This is Sera vers Aldnoah of the SS Sabine.  I have with me Starfleet officer Lieutenant Hi'Jak, we carry evidence of acts of terrorism committed by Captain Hawthorne against the people of Starbase 84 and are being pursued by fighters I can only assume are under his command to destroy us.]  There was a brief pause as the Sabine started taking fire and she spun her ship in a bobs and jinks to elude the interceptors.  [We request assistance and asylum to any ships in the area that are willing to hear us out.]

"This is Lone-Wolf Seven, callsign Goldeneye of the starship Theurgy," Tessa responded.  "I can't stay long Sabine, but if you promise not to shoot any Valkyries I promise to take some of those Knights off your tail.  Ow!  Whoo!  Oh!" she cried as the AC-347 Knight-class interceptors that were following her detonated Hell-hound cluster bombs around her in an attempt to bring her down without getting a solid lock.  "Waugh!" she whined as she zoomed towards the Sabine and it's pursuing cloud of fighters.  "I'm sorry!  I'll probably only make things worse!" she cried in the voice of a terrified schoolgirl.

She didn't know if the Sabine was listening but she did know that the Sabine had unexpectedly changed course while it was making a series of sharp turns and was now heading in Tessa's direction.  Tessa shrieked like a frightened seagull as she narrowly avoided a collision and found herself in a swarm of interceptors. 

[MCPO Nolak Kalmil | Main Engineering | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy ] Att: Auctor, DocReno

Master Chief Kalmil struggled with the controls for a moment as the ship leveled off. He took a deep breath as he cleared his thoughts. He looked over and saw a couple crew members standing looking confused. Pointing to them he shouted, “Hey you two, can you go down to and check on Ensign Abner and take her to medical. Report back to your stations once your done.” He hoped the injuries to the young blond hair woman were minor as the two crew members began to move towards the lift.

Nolak Kalmil looked down at the console as he held on to the sides. He kept his footing planted firmly at his station almost making it look easy even as the ship continued to pitch and turn in the ongoing battle. Every so often the shields and ship shuddered as the vessel continued to take hits from both the starbase and the occasional fighter strafing run. He drifted from panel to panel as he constantly mentored and adjusted the power grid going from one status report to another. He was in a never ending tug-o-war as systems though out the ship flashed critical information. Always with some system near the cracking point before a quick adjustment gave it a little more time before it would once again demand more attention.

As the ship engaged in another evasive maneuver that nearly sent him tumbling to the ground. He wildly grabbed the railing and steadied himself and waited as the ship completed the maneuver. Taking a deep breath he grabbed a corner of the towel wrapped around his neck and wiped the sweat off his face before looking over and watched as Rihen Neyah inched her way across the walkway towards him. He stepped aside and made room for her to grab onto and hug the console for dear life. He moved over to the other console station to begin to figure out what’s wrong with the shield grid.

“Sir, Lin Kae has repaired the glitch in the shield! He just went to try and fix the inertial dampeners now, back in that area.” She said from her hugging position as she barely manage to point in the direction of where the gravity stabilizers were located in the back of engineering. Nolak only nods to her as he moved to the other panel.

He looked at the computer readouts and could now see that the lower shields were in fact returning to operational status. His mind quickly began to calculate the new flux of power being diverted back into the shields. He quickly had to make several adjustments just to keep the overall power grid in fluid motion. Drawing power from the other shields to feed back into the now complete envelope surrounding the ship. He said in a relieved voice, “Thank the stars that Kae knew what he was doing. Remind me to get him something.”

He slaps the battle bridge intercom, "Master Chief here, our shield grid should be coming online now. A few more tweaks and it should keep us alive. Note, Ensign Lin Kae gets full credit for fixing them. Over." He closed the channel still adjusting a few modifications.

“Sir! Can’t we use the shipwide hologrid in some way to fix this? I know it is still operating!” she said trying to hide the fear and panic in her voice.

The thought never crossed his busy mind. Looking down at her he smiled as he said, “Well now that’s a very good idea. We don’t need all the visual aspect of the hologram, just a little boost to the hologrid’s artificial gravity wells, and perhaps that could provide us with a little more stable footing temporary until the gyro’s are tended to. Good work umm, forgive me but I don’t believe we’ve meet.”

He looked away from her to bring up some information as he said, “I’d hate to ask but I might need your help getting your idea to work. I’m juggling a million things here and could use an extra set of hands, if you feel up to it. Don’t worry about it if your unable. It just might take a little longer to re-code the hologrid to test your idea as I also dance around keeping everything else running too. If you want you can tie yourself to the control panel with my work belt. I’ll remove it if you need it.”

There was another small series of shakes as another strafing run peppered across the ships shields. “So help me how I hate battles. I haven’t had a break yet, and I don’t count being cryo-freezed as a vacation.” He said as the ship began another sharp maneuver. Enough for him to grab a hold to the sides of the computer console and grumble under his breath.

[ Lt Hi'Jak | Sabine | Bay 17-C  | Starbase 84 ] Attn: Mathis, Auctor, fighter pilots, Triage

"Wait are you crazy why would you do that, why would you say my name? Half the fleet out there probably wants to kill me right now." Jack probably should have learned by now that Seras was not the most stable individual though she had yet to shoot him yet which was really the cornerstone of this... well he would continue to think of it as a relationship until such time as he couldn't but the fact that she had just given out the fact that he was on board this vessel was a bad thing, or at least he personally thought of it as a bad thing.

He hit the button on his chair and felt the seatbelt form over his person he hated pretty much everything the computer had just said, and in fact he was pretty sure he hated today. His tactical display was running a muck with potential targets and people he should be shooting. With no elements marked as friendly he had to assume that this entire shit show was going to start firing on them.

That said however it was pretty clear that there was a lot more going on then a first glance would tell him. The Resolve had docked with a ship, which his tactactical read out told him was the Theurgy, which was odd because there were two other Theurgy's on this battlefield. He was pretty sure that the reports had only made mention of the Theurgy being one ship not three.

Of course he wasn't sure why the Resolve was attached to it like that, but... the Resolve. "The Resolve. I had a drink with some of the resolves crew this morning."

He paused for a moment running back over the conversation he had shared with F'rell and Tancredi, admittingly he had no idea where she was on this battlefield but her uniform was white so that meant... tactics? she was a fighter pilot for the resolve right? "Pilot towards the resolve. I know some of them."

He did what he could to target anything that broke off to persue them, but was more focused on the ways he could get out of this situation, and more importantly how to get hold of Tancridi in this mess. Finally he just put out a com wide to the fighters. "Jack to Tancredi, hi give me what ever com line the resolve fighters use and I will make sure to get you an entire case of Chech'tluth."

[Provisional Ensign Lin Kae/ Vector 03 Main Engineering/ USS Theurgy]
Attention: Rihen, Carla, and Novak.

Kae slipped into the side area that housed the primary internal dampener controls for the Vector and quickly entered the access code and then removed the outer panel to access the system directly.

A quick look over showed that the system wasn't actually damaged but overloaded in several critical locations at which point the young hybrid quickly reached over to another access panel and removed the engineering kit from within and removed the induction tool.

Kae then turned back to the open panel and started to input the commands into the small control panel that would allow him to remove each key chip to realign it.

{Warning. Attempting to make alterations to system during high speed movement is not suggested. Suggest bringing ship to a full and complete stop before continuing}

Kae fought to keep from saying anything as he inputted the last command and withdrew the first chip and then started to make the first realignments before reaching down and removing a second chip and slotting the first one he had into the second's place.

After doing that, Kae quickly tapped his communicator. "This is Kae to Rihen, starting the system realignment now. It shouldn't take more then a couple of minutes but I have to realign each system chip one by one." he reported before closing the channel and going back to work.

As Kae went about his work as quickly as he could without missing up, a realization slowly dawned upon him that made him blinked in slight confusion before it slowly became much more evident to him:

He was starting to get a rush from the excitement like he hadn't ever gotten before..and he didn't understand why.

At this, he quickly shoved it aside and went back to his work and tried to focus on that and while it was slow going he eventually was able to make enough of a realignment patch that after he re-slotted the last chip, the system's indicator panel shifted it's alert bar from a low amber to a healthy green.

"Kae to Master Chief and Rihen, primary repairs on the dampeners has been completed and ready for system alignment when you are, chief!" Kae said as he went to input the final commands into the internal control panel.

Suddenly and without warning there was an energy flair up across the system and it caught Kae's right hand in the field as twisting blue lines of energy wrapped themselves up and around his right arm as a white hot searing pain tore through his arm and right side of his body before throwing him backwards against the far bulkhead.

Kae found it very suddenly unable to breath as he lay on the floor, his body smoking slightly as he fought to stay awake as the only other thing he was able to feel other then the intense pain was a wet warmth flowing from somewhere as he fought with his left hand to tap at his badge.

"ri..rihen..sys..tem ready.." he tried to force out the best that he could as he fought to breathe as he was finally able to foll onto his back which only made him scream in pain. "nee..neeedd.."

He trailed off as he fought to stay coherent as a jumble of images started to rattle through his head as he thought that he could see a couple of outlines appearing before him as his vision started to blur in his right eye.
////////////////////////////////////////

[ Chris "Husker" Slayton | Wolf 04 | Space around his assigned element | USS Theurgy ]
Attention: Warp-fighter related


Husker watched with a certain level of appreciation as his twin launchers of phaser energy slashed through two of the interceptors that was chasing Commander Dewitt and her people, right before they could establish a torpedo lock onto the Allegiant.

"I have to say that I'm impressed." Husker said into the channel to both Morrigan and Outrider. "I mean the level of skill needed to do that kind of fine tactical work.."

<Yes..that was rather impressive.> Morrigan said as she blasted another interceptor away before realigning herself with another one. <I do not intend to be late for another round of drinks with Ghost, Harbinger.>

Husker couldn't help but chuckle at that comment as he quickly went back to focusing on his own duties as he threw his fighter into a tight Immelion Roll to bring high and to the left of the nearest interceptor which forced the other pilot to quickly roll out of the way..

...only to roll into several pulse phaser bursts from Outrider's own weapons.

<Ticky bastards, aren't we?> Outrider mused into the channel, his mirth clearly evident.

"Very true but.." Husker was about to say when suddenly a lucky phaser bolt lanced through his port shields and skimmed too close to his cockpit and Husker quickly juked his fighter to the right as a result, his head slamming hard against his own helmet. "Noy Jitat!!" he shouted in pain and anger.

<Are you alright, Harbinger?> Morrigan's voice came back through with a slight echoing feeling to it.

As Husker blinked away the sharp, throbbing pain brought on by the brief moment of impact-the Asgardian had a strange moment of clarity as he thought that he saw a face outlined in his cockpit window..one that while was blurry was somewhat familiar..he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Suddenly Husker's attention was pulled away as an alert went off and he saw a ship suddenly appear as his suit's IFF system attempted to ID it.

<That is one large, angry looking Bogey..> Outrider stated in a low tone.

Suddenly Husker's TVD flared to life with a set of information that made his blood run colder then any of the weather that he'd ever seen on Andoria...colder then how Ida treated him the last moments that he had with her only a day or two before...

THREAT IDENTIFIED: USS ORCUS (NX-88770)
CLASS: VESTA (ORCUS-CLASS TACTICAL STRIKE CARRIER)
COMMANDING OFFICER: CPT SLAYTON, MARCUS A.
SQUADRON OF NOTE: WHITE WOLVES SQUADRON

Husker's eyes widened in complete shock at the information and he quietly said "no..it can't be.." before he weapon's fire drew his attention back to the present as he went back into the fray.

"I've got a bad feeling that Eun is going to have my ass for the damage that this bird is about to suffer through." Husker mused darkly as he watched a swarm of new signals appear from the Orcus.

[Lt. JG. Suq | Main Bridge | USS Resolve ]

He had to be thankful that he was Efrosian in times like this, when everyone started talking over one another with a million different ideas. Of particular notice was the introduction of a new ship to the scene, Ensign Six's announcement to him, and Martin's clever idea. As the threads came together, Suq began to form an idea...

He pushed himself away from his console. He whipped out his inhaler and took a quick puff before speaking, "Captain, the warp core ejection will solve our EPS leaks. If we plan this with the Theurgy's bridge, we may be able to shift the tides of battle yet." He started to take long strides towards the door as he spoke. It seemed more as if he was announcing rather than suggesting. "We need to get everyone off as fast as possible for it to work! Call me if anything changes!"He called out, and with no regard for the rules of proper conversation, promptly closed the turbolift doors to be whisked towards engineering.

"Six," Suq had his hand to his combadge in the lift, he spoke to his temporary engineering team, "I'm on the way to engineering. We're docked with the Theurgy right now, we're evacuating there as fast as we can. We're probably going to eject our warp core." The doors open, he started running down the hall at full speed and it sounded in his speech.
"Could probably use to give the ejection some extra power, maybe. Make it shoot out like a bottle rocket, but bigger and full of antimatter. Soon as I get there, get yourself to safety. 'M not letting one hell of an engineering crew like you die in an ugly bucket of garbage and bad luck like the Resolve, so uh, yeah. On the way. Seeya."
Six might not want to leave, if she was the noble type. He didn't take borg for the 'noble' type, but she's proved a lot of things he thought about the borg wrong. The thought crossed his mind and failed to generate any cohesive plan to convince her to leave. If she chose to stay, she probably would, Suq wasn't about to waste energy putting up a fight. Unless he was fighting Hawthorne's face.

God, he hated Hawthorne so, so much.

[IrnaShall ch'Xinya | Stellar Cartography | Deck 15 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy]

It was only a few meters from where Shall had hit the walkway railing to the main control console in the Stellar Cartography lab, but walking along the meter-wide platform was quite troublesome when the ship was pitching, rolling, and yawing at seemingly random times, and not in a gentle fashion.  The Andorian had given up on walking the moment the ship juked hard enough to throw him back into the railing, his balance was bad enough when everything was stable, not holding onto something at all times now was sure to end up with a new splat pattern on the deck below.  The trade-off was that it took a lot longer to get back to the chair when you were reduced to crawling along the deck on your belly between each maneuver the ship made.

It felt like forever, but soon enough Shall reached the console and hauled his blue butt into the chair, quickly strapping himself down with the restraints before he could be pitched out again.  Situated once again, the astrophysicist took one look at the screens and ended up with an instant headache.  Without the inertial dampeners the sensors had no way to stabilize their feed so he was greeted by little more than a massive swirl of false colors.  Aching behind the eyes and even in the sinuses (thanks to the antenna), Shall slammed his eyes shut and looked away.  "Thea, reset the displays, tactical overview, center on Starbase 84."  He heard the chirping reply and cracked one eye open after another moment.

Floating in the air just in front of him was a red wireframe of the starbase with a number of symbols around it.  Three blue wireframes of the three vectors showed where Theurgy was, another showed the Resolve, and then there were the dozens of buzzing dots showing the different fighters.  Most of those were red of course, but he watched a cluster of them near the Resolve suddenly wink out.  A small smiled graced the Andorian's face and a moment later his eyes widened in amazement as Vector 1 docked with the Luna-class ship.  "Wow, quite the maneuver there." he muttered to himself.

The celebration was cut short though, a new hologram appeared nearby.  Focusing on it, Thea automatically enlarged it and displayed the transponder code next to it: USS Orcus, Vesta-class.    A monster of a ship, it was already disgorging its own fighters, all red.  This was not going to be good.  "Thea, overlay local subspace readings."  In an instant, the wireframes were covered with false-color skins showing subspace emissions.  The comm arrays on the starbase and the newcomer were lit up and pulsing showing that they're talking, but not much else was going on in the local area.  On the screens behind the holograms, the background subspace rippled with the distortion caused by Orcus's warp field.  Shall started to turn away, he could feel the dampeners regaining their strength (he could see Vector-3 moving in the air but the effects were much less pronounced now) so it would be possible to refocus on the incoming armada, but something caught his eye:

Off in the background there was a second ripple in subspace.  Much, much smaller than the Orcus's fading effect, the only reason Shall could see it was the sheer power of it.  It was like no ship he'd ever seen before, nothing of that size he could think of had engines that powerful.  "Thea, check the database for anything that might have a warp signature similar to the reading here."  Shall highlights the rapidly moving bubble.  It was close, and driving towards the system like a redbat towards its prey.

After a moment of searching, a partial identifier appeared on the screen next to the incoming ship.  "No match in database, closest partial match: Reaver."  Shall's antenna rose to its full height.  There was only once source for Reavers, and they were worse than anything the Federation could throw at them.  Scrambling for the comm, the Andorian tried to keep the panic out of his voice.  "Cartography to Bridge, we've got something Reaver-like coming right at us, it's already passing the outskirts of the system."

[Jaya Thorne (https://orig05.deviantart.net/12e0/f/2016/300/a/4/imgpsh_fullsize_by_auctor_lucan-damefg0.png) |  USS Allegiant Bridge] Attn: Auctor, Kaligos, Allegiant Bridge Crew, Fighters on both sides, Anyone else

"Sithick to the Bridge. The Tranzpoters, are damaged. I has a lock on the pilot, but we must lower the shield to beam them in. Pattern bufters are damaged we may not get all 'game', but if we are to get any of the pilot we must move quickly."

This was not the news that Miss Thorne had hoped for. Lowering the shield this close to the Starbase was tantamount to suicide, but abandoning one of their own  in enemy territory didn't sit well with Jaya either.  No matter the decision,  someones life would be in danger even with Jaya's best tactics.  She sighed heavily. This was way above her pay grade.

Dewitt wasted no time in making the hard call. "This is Dewitt, abort. I repeat, abort. We cannot risk lowering our shields," she barked in answer and got on her feet. "Thorne, get us out of here immediately!"

Jaya didn't envy Dewitt for having to make that choice. But between targeting the torpedoes from the base and dodging the incoming fire from the interceptors, Jaya didn't have time to do anything else. Her hands flew across her console as fast as she could move them just to keep the majority of the blasts away.  Unfortunately "majority" didn't mean "all."  The Allegiant was too close to the base and was drawing more fire than Jaya could handle.  Four consecutive torpedoes appeared on her radar and she went to work. The Allegiant fired phasers and a shower of orange sparks lit up the battle as the first torpedo exploded before impacting the ship, followed by the second and the third.  But each explosion grew closer to the ship and by the time Jaya destroyed the third torpedo, she didn't have time to target and destroy the last one.

A blinding blast impacted on the view screen as the final torpedo slammed into what remained of the Allegiant's shields.  Jaya was thrown from her console and sparks erupted from the opposite side of the bridge.  She coughed and gasped for breath as the wind quickly left her lungs. In the seconds it took for her to recover and get back to her console, an additional blast rocked the ship.  Jaya faltered in her footing, but made it to her console and brought up the damage report.

"Commander, we've lost shields! We took heavy damage on that last hit!

As quickly as she could, Jaya tapped the console and maneuvered the ship to fly back towards the Theurgy.  And as she did it, the tactical readings came on her console.

"Make that 'yesterday', Thorne."

Jaya didn't need to be told twice. All those torpedoes were headed their way!  The Allegiant was moving away, but apparently not fast enough because a bright light flashed on screen as a warning went off from her console. But there were no new damage reports and nothing indicated that they'd  been hit. Jaya had been scrambling to get the ship as far away from the Starbase as possible so she hadn't even fired at anything.

[Resolve Tactical to Allegiant Actual, pardon the phaser fire but I didn't think you wanted to be hit from behind by a couple of the base's mooks. Who ever is piloting that ship, I owe a couple of drinks to. Resolve Tactical out.]

"Holy hell! Nice shooting! You saved our asses!!" It wasn't a proper Starfleet response and she didn't care.  Whatever minuscule amounts of decorum that Jaya possessed were long gone by now. Her head ached like a bad hangover and she was still struggling to breathe properly. She'd be bruised in the morning,  and not because of anything fun.

"Looks like you have a date, Thorne," said Dewitt wryly, "Now don't keep him waiting and get out of range! Sithick, come to the bridge and help Dr. Hernandez!"

It took only seconds more for Jaya to pour every bit of power that she could into the thrusters and bolt the little ship through the battle and back toward the Theurgy.  She maneuvered around and through the battlefield, avoiding additional phaser and torpedo fire until the Allegiant  had put enough distance between themselves and the Starbase. The significance of what she had just done wasn't lost on her though.   She'd just willingly abandoned a fellow crewmate, and even though it had been under orders and they likely would have all died in the rescue, the guilt was beginning to gnaw at the edges of her senses.

But like any good soldier, she pushed it away to be dealt with later when she wasn't desperately piloting a ship single-handedly while trying to keep everyone alive.  One advantage to having no shields, though, was that it meant one less thing for her to have to monitor and compensate for.  She would have laughed if the next readings hadn't appeared on her screen.

"Commander, we've got company. And he's a big one."  Jaya brought up the new ship that had just appeared on her readings and transferred  the image to the view screen: a vesta-class ship, carrier version.  The USS Orcus.

"Orders Commander?"

[ PWO Rihen Neyah | Main Engineering | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: MasterRat & Nolan

As she held on to the console, looking up at the Deltan as he reported to the bridge, Rihen heard the answer he got.

[This the Vector 03 bridge, acknowledged. Keep us posted on the inertial dampeners!] said the voice, then the man, who she had heard introduce himself as Nolak, suggest that she had failed to introduce herself in kind, and she supposed she had. The situation was mad, but that was no excuse not to introduce herself.

"Rihen Neyah," she said, and climbed her way up to a standing position next to the man, and she even managed to flash him a blinding, warm smile, "Provisional... Warrant Officer. Pleased to meet you, and yeah, I'll try to help as much as I can. Woaah!"

She almost tumbled backwards, but managed to grab on to Nolak's waist in the last second. "I think I will take you up on your offer," she said, and with her usual practised ease when it came to removal of clothing, she deftly unbuckled the Deltan's work belt and used it to tie herself to the work station. "I have some experience with the hologrid since I hosted Lohlunat on the holodeck, bit it was really Kae who was the architect for making the Suraya Bay we visited. Oh, perhaps you weren't there if you were in stasis, but anyway, I'll see what I can do."

[This is Kae to Rihen, starting the system realignment now. It shouldn't take more then a couple of minutes but I have to realign each system chip one by one.]

"Rihen here, I know you can do it!" As Vector 03 pitched and turned, Rihen tried to establish a secure connection to the hologrid and calibrate the wells to compensate. The emitters did not have much to work with, but as she increased the settings and tried to match the way inertial dampeners worked, there was a slight improvement. Not much, but she noticed that more of the engineering crew were able to get back on their feet and return to their tasks - despite how they all still could feel the Vector's every move.

From what Rihen could tell, both Nolak and Kae were attacking the problem from their respective ends, making progress, but neither would have gotten anywhere without the other one doing his part. Alll she could do was giving them some momentary respite to complete their tasks, but at least it was something. There was still no word about Abner.

[Kae to Master Chief and Rihen, primary repairs on the dampeners has been completed and ready for system alignment when you are, Chief!]

A sense of elation filled Rihen at the news, and she made an excited laugh as she looked to Kalmil. "He did it! Are you done on your end too?" she asked, but the blinding smile on her face faltered as they heard an explosion from the area where Kae was at. All colour drained from her face as she looked towards the Deltan again.

[Ri..rihen..sys..tem ready..] There was a wheezing pause. [Nee..neeedd..]

Quickly, Rihen tapped her combadge. "This i-is Vector 03 Engineering to Medical Relief Team, w-we need help n-now!" It was pure happenstance that she remembered that part of the immense mission briefing she got. There was a team on standby for triage deployment, led by Doctor Duv from the Harbinger.

---

[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 Cockpit | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: All Fighter Elements

Ghost had heard the distress call shortly after she fired her hard-points against the tactical array on Starbase 84, and she noticed how Goldeneye tried to aide the strange shuttle-like vessel. Yet Tessa already had interceptors on her tail before she had responded, so Rawley swore as she decided to aid her Flight Leader.

"Ghost to Hat Trick, follow me!" she said and made a barrel roll down towards the Sabine's and Goldeneye, jamming her thumbs down on her pulse phasers. Orange bolts slammed into the shields of the tailing interceptors, and Hat Trick did the same. She realised that the situation was even worse than she'd fared, with an entire squadron chasing the Sabine. Two flights broke off to intercept her and Hat Trick. She had noticed the Orcus arriving, but her focal point was the current engagement she was in. There was no room to worry about another adversary at that point.

"Bollocks! Hat Trick, break off!" she called, seeing the interceptors heading their way, but she was too late. While not nimble, the Knights were quick. Like ancient hot-rods with her family crest on their over-dimensioned cannons, and right then, they opened fire as one. Hat Trick was closer to them, shielding her from the barrage, but against the orange lights, she saw her wingmate's Valkyrie jolt and break apart - shields finally spent. "Hat Trick!"

Tessa was still in the thick of it, and the Sabine was still being chased. Ghost was about to live up to her callsign at long last... for as her wolf brother's Valkyrie fell apart, the Interceptors were about to fire anew.

[ Lt Thomas Ravon | Hybrid Wolf cockpit | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: All

The warp field caused for a hefty flash when the ship of the long lost pilot emerged out of warp. The readings of IrnaShall ch'Xinya had warned for a Reaver like signature to be approaching the battle, yet what dropped out just outside the battlefield at Starbase 84 was something different entirely. To some, the design of the Reaver was visible and to those who fought it might even trigger an intimidating stance. The agile fighters from Calamity had been a bitch to fight with, yet this warbird was far from agile. On a closer look the design showed just as much Valkyrie outlines as Reaver tech. However it didn't look like a factory produced fighter, the ship looked more like a makeshift or patched up fighter.

[Show/Hide]
Piloting the atrocity was long lost Thomas Ravon. His flight suit smeared, dirty and containing minor damage after his prolonged exposure on the icy planetoid where his crew had left him. His eyes scanned the ongoing battle as his HUD updated with signatures. To be fair, his HUD didn't really help much as the Reaver technology marked friendly fighters as hostile as well, yet switching them to allied from time to time. With a sigh he tried to flip up the comms channel, wondering if it still worked after the crash landing and repairs. Unsure if anyone or everyone could hear him he made his presence aware "Theurgy Tactical, Razor reporting for duty. What the fuck have you guys been doing?" he smirked as he was craving for a good space battle. "Right time to see what this thing can do in an actual space fight..." he murmured to himself before he throttled up to full speed.

The engines of the hybrid fighter ignited and sent him right into the pack as the usual systems started blaring. Alarms going off all over the place yet Thomas seemed to ignore them casually as he eyed which fighters were part of Theurgy and which weren't. Thankfully enough the opposition was using different kind of fighter. He spotted the Knights harassing what he could only imagine were two Theurgy Valkyries. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Orcus launching it's fighters as well, yet those would be a problem for later. His craft seemed to head into a collision course with the first Valkyrie that had managed to get snared in a squadron of knights.

The speed of the Valkyrian Reaver was far greater than anything Thomas ever flew with. He armed his weapons as his systems started to lock on. He made sure not to lock on to the presumably friendly and he pressed the trigger. What followed was a display of superior firepower, the fighter unleashed a barrage of pulse cannons, both Valkyrie and Reaver cannons unleashing upon the knights. Their shields and armor never stood a chance as it sliced right through them like a hot knife through butter. The fighter whizzed past Goldeneye causing for a slipstream of turbulence in his wake, yet leaving nothing more than space debris around her as nearly the entire squadron had been decimated in a swift run.

Thomas jerked the flight stick now to turn the ship around quickly to get back and deal another blow to the opposing forces, yet he found out how unstable his makeshift fighter was as the fuselage started to cringe. The sound of metal being bent was never a good sign and he had to lay off the quick turns as the fighter jettisoned  back out of the war zone. With a large turn he brought her back into the fight, using the speed to his advantage to make long assault runs on the fighters. Next up was revenge as he saw a Valkyrie get shredded by Knight fire. He did a likewise run once more to help out Rawley, the cannons thundering in a distance before the hulls and shields gave out on the Knights that were about to fire anew on Rawley. Again there was no time to stop and check who's fighter he had aided as the fighter passed by like a comet.

At this point Thomas assumed that all Knights were hostile, not knowing about any mission parameters he wasn't in the loop about trying to disable as many fighters as he could. The man was honestly pissed off and out for blood at this point. He spotted the Sabine getting chased and plotted his course towards it to help it out. He had counted six chasers according to his systems, yet he saw a Mk ll coming up to swoop in. During that short period of time Thomas looked around at what exactly was going on, not studying it in detail yet needing to know what was what. It seemed a lot got changed as he saw the badly damaged Resolve being fired upon, while Vector one had docked with it. The other Vectors sweeping around and the Orcus unleashing their fighters like a swarm.

Oh, how he had missed the trouble Theurgy had managed to get into over and over again...

[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Resolve Bridge]
Attn: All on the bridge & Resolve fighter elements, Theurgy and it's elements

Once the complex and unique docking maneuver was completed,  Keval quickly shifted over to his status as the ship's Second Officer status as he tapped the ship-wide communication and said "This is the Second Officer speaking, all hands evacuate to the Theurgy's attached Vector. Repeat all hands evacuate the ship." in a very clear and crisp sounding voice before activating the evacuation alarm from his station.

Once this was completed, Keval turned to look at his fellow officers on the bridge and in a tone that spoke from years of experience, "No more second guessing or anything, the captain gave us an order..SO FRAKKING MOVE IT PEOPLE!!!" before he shifted the last of his systems to the consoles at the Conn for his friend and captain's ease.

Keval then moved out from behind his station and over to where Kendrick was standing and placed an almost brotherly hand on his closest shoulder. "We got our people home, Kendrick, and no matter what happens next, we will get through this my brother." he said in a warm, reassuring tone that was reflected by his antenna. "I will go over to the Theurgy's bridge and make myself useful there while you wrap up things over here and once this battle is over and our family is safe and secured..I owe you a bottle of scotch, so don't keep me waiting."

Keval then gave Kendrick's shoulder one last reassuring squeeze before he left the bridge himself, casting one last long look over what was his home for the past almost four years before disappearing into the lift.

It didn't take him long to cross over onto the Vector of the Theurgy and while he wanted to alert Captain Ives that he was aboard and in burning need of avenging the destruction wrought upon his ship-he also understood the need to be patient as he was a wildcard on an already beleaguered ship.

Keval instead went for the next best option on his list as he stepped up to the senior of the two security officers near him and promptly said "My name is Lieutenant ch'Rayya, Chief Tactical and Second Officer of the Resolve." in the same crisp and clear voice that he'd been using for the last little while.

He then allowed himself to take a breath, a real one since this whole fight began and while normally he would be extremely leery of a ship that both Hawthorne tried to push on them as did the media was saying about their benefactors..his gut was telling him simply to relax.

"Please inform your captain that if there is a place on the bridge open for a tactical officer, this Guardsman stands ready to do his duty.

[ PO2 Sithick | USS Allegiant | transporter room] Attn: Auctor, Angles,

Sithick had to admit that leaving the pilot behind kind of sucked but to actually transport Game onto the ship would require power that they didn't have, he couldn't beam someone up through the ships shields with the pattern buffers the way they were so he abandoned it, and started his way back to the bridge, leaving the damaged transporter room behind along with a pilot stranded in space and time probably never to be seen again.

There was no time for guilt or loss, they were Federation they lived a better life then most could ever ask for in this universe, and whatever rituals their culture demanded for preperation to follow into oblivion could wait until after a battle. War was not the time or place to loose ones composure.

The ship shuddered violently and Sithick adjusted his wide three clawed feet and body so that he didn't simply topple over with the explosion. Moving to the bridge to help with the damage control he arrived just as they reported the complete loss of shields. Shields that they just said they needed to keep everyone alive. Shields that they had just refused to drop to save another mans life were now gone of course with all the damage the transporters had suffered there was no hope in getting that man back now as too much time and distance had passed.

But the shields... that was something he could fix.

Birds of Prey, for years Sithic had been on those cramped damp heated ships. They were small, and poorly optimised, the design over a hundred years old and yet still used, meant that over time and upgrades each had a temperament that an engineer had to learn. He had spent three days learning the temperament of this bird.

The Shields when down required a jump start, and right now they didn't have much power. The crew needed oxygen and he needed the warmth of the life support to remain standing. They needed the warp core, so he couldn't jump start it using their warp field but there was something else, something as all encompassing.

Without thinking Sithick moved to pull at the ground, lifting up the panels of the floor with a heavy claw, kneeling over an area that was once Ensign Roger's display, which put him in arms reach of Jaya. He knew what he was about to do. He reached up and touched Jaya's chair a single claw pushing a button to deploy her seat belt one thing he wished he had back when he was with the crime syndicate.

The next tap was to his com link. "Sithick to everyone hold on to your bud'z"

He clicked his jaw as he worked on the generator under the floor, prepping it for a moment, he could only get to the one, but it would be enough to divert the flow, however it also meant that the damaged console was probably going to be a lot more damaged in the future. Stepping back he hoped he wasn't making a bigger bomb as he sat into the tactical seat and applied his own seat belt if nothing else his body would provide Jaya with a thick shield if his plan didn't work.

"Re-routing to shields." He wasn't about to tell them what he was re-routing because every single person on the Allegiant would feel it. The lights on the ship flickered and dimmed for a moment, and there was a tense breath in the lizards chest, then he started to feel a shift in his body weight, and his movement became less stiff. The crew's hairs would start to move oddly.

Keeping a ship afloat was about sacrificing one system for another, and there were only three fields that encompassed an entire ship with the ability to really jump start shields, and keep it strong. He couldn't sacrifice the warp core, and they needed the air. So of course that left the only logical sacrifice...

Artificial Gravity.

The gravity generator on the bridge was working as a switch, taking the flow of energy and pouring it back into the shields, and it worked, they lost the gravity field, but shields came back at 39% power. "Don't wazte it Jaya."

[ Lt Amelya Duv | Main Engineering | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: MasterRat & Lucan

Moments later the medical team arrived under command of Amelya Duv. Amelya took a split second to get hear bearings before she looked at Rihen and Kalmil. "You called for medical, where can we help?" she asked and smiled confidently as she quickly looked over the two individuals for any sign of injuries. her crew looked around as well before awaiting orders "Right guys, spread out and report back in when you find serious injuries. I want clear sit reps of every patient." she stated "Two man teams, one medical one security. Go." she delegated her orders before she looked back at Rihen. The woman seemed fine and her gaze turned over to Kalmil now.

"Masterchief..." she frowned and eyed him more attentively "Weren't you supposed to be in Sickbay?" she inquired as she wondered how the man had ended up here. She took out her medical tricorder to scan him for any injuries as she imagined he'd be the one Rihen had called for.

(Sorry for the short post! Will expand more once I have more info ^^)

[ Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark and Lt. (jg) Sarresh Morali| Main Bridge | USS Theurgy - Vector 01 ]

"This is USS Theurgy calling Henshaw, Ensign Henshaw do you copy? Repeat, this is Theurgy to Ensign Henshaw. Be advised, suspect CO Starbase 84 is compromised." Dutifully, though with little hope, Natalie placed a call into the young ensign who was rushing off to - in theory - meet with her adoptive father on the starbase, and try to put and end to this madness. Sure enough, she wasn't able to get through to the lithe young yeoman, and she swore softly under her breath, before adding to the din of the bridge "No response, Captain." Short and simple and not at all good news.

Sarresh was able to note the way both the Captain and the XO frowned at Stark's words, but soon enough his attention was drawn back to the tasks at hand, helping Lt. Tovarek with drone coordination from the auxiliary science station. And all the while he kept waiting for some twitch or sign that something was amiss, that the timeline had been altered. Or that he was about to have a seizure. Nothing yet...

And then Ives was leaning over the conn, pulling up a procedure....Oh fuck, Natalie thought, shock full on her face as she realized what was about to happen. She even missed the spectacular fireworks display on the view screen, from the Resolve, and from the Theurgy's massive pod-broadside. Hell, there was a nacelle floating out there in space, and it didn't even register to her just then.

The brunette swept sticky hair from her face, sweat having broken out across her bow. While the piloting had been left to Lt. S'iti, the actual coupling and transfer of power, the attachments of the docking mechanisms, the airlock connections, all of that had been for Natalie. This wasn't the primary function of the Symbiotic Tractor Docking - instead of needing a new home for the Theurgy's command vector, they were serving as a lifeboat for a whole starship!

She could hear the other ships pilot - male, she noted - hailing, patched through automatically, coordinating his efforts with Aisha's. Natalie kept her own mouth shut, routing power as needed, to avoid distracting the Cardsassian. There was a shudder across the whole ship and Natalie found herself jumping slightly in her seat, but her fingers never left that console. A few more protocols and - they were docked. Even as Captain Ives ordered the shields be extended, the Chief of Ops was already rerouting power to extend the defensive profile around the damaged Luna - class vessel.

"Captain!" came the call from Lieutenant Yukimura, "Reinforcements arriving in fifteen seconds. It is a Vesta-class ship, carrier version. It is the USS Orcus, weapons primed, some kind of fighters powered up and torpedoes set to launch upon arrival."

"Holy shit," someone murmured in the back of the bridge, in a mix of awe and fear. Natalie didn't turn to see who it was, she just started the evacuation procedures, instructing all the Resolve crew to get a leg on and head to the nearest docked airlocks, listing them off one by one where applicable. She would deal with the impending arrival of the Orcus as soon as she was done with the evac. If they didn't get those people off that ship before the first wave of reinforcements hit...

"Captain," Natalie said, turning slightly in her chair, still feeling slightly surreal about the docking procedure, despite having just pulled it off, and under fire at that. "The senior staff....where should I put them?" This was foreign territory for her right now, for all of them, really.

"Have them escorted to the Conference Lounge here on Deck 01, and grant them a live feed of this bridge so that they are aware of what is happening." The captain told her, and Natalie nodded. She quickly hailed security and told them to rush to meet and escort the surviving senior staff from the Resolve to the conference room, even has her hands set up a live feed of the bridge ( a relatively simple task all in all, compared to what she'd just pulled off). And then without pausing for a breath, punched up a comm channel to the most senior officer she could find from the crippled ship and informed them that they would be met and escorted immediately to a position where they could observe the continued battle, please and thank you very much,.

Oh, they were in the process of a potential warp core breach, wonderful! She swore loudly, but before Natalie could follow up, a whole new set of alarms spawned across the bridge, drowning out her words. The view-screen lit up before them with the appearance of what was possibly the sleekest vessel she had ever seen.

Immediately, from the aux science station, Sarresh began to pull up every little detail he could about the Vesta-class vessel, its armament, carrier capacity, and captain. The name stood out, even as the man hailed the ship, but Sarresh couldn't place it just then. An echo from the future? Someone he'd met at some point? It didn't matter. What did matter was getting the stats to tactical and to Lt. Tovarek, for the drone fleet. Let Ives deal with the hard-ass on the view-screen.

"Cartography to Bridge, we've got something Reaver-like coming right at us, it's already passing the outskirts of the system." That caused Sarresh's eyes to snap open wide. "What the hell? There shouldn't be any..." he swore in turn and pulled up the secondary display, cycling through to a temporal read out. It was even. Well that wasn't right...."Captain, no signs of incursion at this time," he spoke the words in a deadpan, as if he couldn't believe that whatever this thing was, it wasn't 'new' to the timeline.

"Theurgy Tactical, Razor reporting for duty. What the fuck have you guys been doing?" he smirked as he was craving for a good space battle. "Right time to see what this thing can do in an actual space fight..."

Well, thought the former Ash'reem, everything has just gone Topsy turvy on us today. Pilots back from the dead, flying ships that shouldn't even exist in this century while we go toe to toe with a fully functional starbase and a carrier ship that scares the piss out of the whole crew. Just another day on the job. He kept the sarcasm in his thoughts from creeping into his expression as the tagged the franken-fighter as a 'friendly' for now.

Natalie stared in disbelief, before her console lit up again. "Incoming Hail, Captain! From the Orcus!" She barely got the warning out before the image of the ships captain filled the view-screen. He was the kind of man that drew ones gaze - breathtakingly handsome, and in that moment, so cold and calculating that it sent a very unpleasant shiver down Natalie's spine.

"This is Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton, commanding officer of the USS Orcus to the crew of the renegade starship Theurgy. Under the direct authority of the admiralty and Starfleet Command, I am here by ordered to present you with one chance to come to and surrender at once for the crimes of high treason, piracy, and war crimes against the United Federation of Planets and it's allied states."

"To the civilian, Jien Ives, I do not care about your supposed reasons that you betrayed your uniform and or the trust that was put into by the fleet and our government but I will simply say this, your little war against the Federation ends now."

The Theurgy's Chief of Ops could hear the ice in the mans tone, the sheer disdain for her captain and her crew-mates. One chance to face the death penalty most likely, at the hands of corrupt admirals who'd been dominated by alien parasites. The man had the conviction of the self-righteous, and really, could she blame him? If she didn't know what she knew, what the whole crew knew...would she act any less -

Her thoughts were derailed as the ship shook, the phaser strike well targeted, passing just barely over the stretched out shields of Vector - 01. She wondered just how many shots they could take once those started honing in on the ship. Would the shields hold long? Would the Resolve's cascading power overload hold off, or would it take the whole Vector out before the Orcus could?

---

OOC: Hefty post. Lemme know if anything needs cleaning up.

[MCPO Nolak Kalmil | Main Engineering | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Auctor, DocReno, Nolan

“Rihen Neyah, Provisional Warrant Officer. Please to meet you, and yeay, I’ll try to help as much as I can.”  The young blonde haired Risian said as she worked her way back onto her feet next to the bald headed Daltan. Suddenly the ship rocked from another torpedo hit.  “Woaah,” she exclaimed as she reached out and grabbed him about the waist for stability. Nolak’s steady footing allowed her to quickly regain her composure. She took him up on the offer of using his work belt and skillfully unlatched the belt from him and attached herself to the station.

Nolak briefly looked at her before quickly returning back to the computer station in front of him, bringing up the recent damage report. Speaking out loud as he worked, “What a lovely name, flows off the tongue.” He reviewed the data and frowned at the information.  “As for Ensign Kae, I only know him on a professional level. He was a student of mine at the Academy. I might have graded him too harshly. However it did mold him into a fine example of a Starfleet officer. Since then we both dabbled with Thea’s hologram program when she’s was just a wire frame data figure. So I do admire his work and dedication to duty.” Nolak concluded as he overrided the battle bridge control of one phaser bank, with a note to the bridge saying temporary offline for thirty seconds to cool down. The extra juice from the weapon he boost into shield regeneration during that brief period of time.

Underneath his feet he could feel the effects of Rihen’s tactical efforts to the hologrid. Although it wasn’t much they weren’t being tossed around nearly as bad, as the hologrid gravity wells began to take effect throughout the ship.  “Good work there,” he said offering a word of encouragement.

Nolak listened to Ensign Kae, reporting to Rihen. On another screen he began to bring up the gyro systems and status reports. He watched as the computer flashed out the actions of the chip swap Ensign Kae was making and everything checked out until the very last chip. A bright red warning appeared on the screen as his jaw dropped, he slapped his chest to where the communication badge is suppose to be only to slap the empty spot on his uniform.

Turning to Rihen he said, “Tell him to wait….there’s….a.,” but it was too late as he heard the loud popping sound coming from the back of Engineering. “Thea, give me a complete read out of this power spike.” She beeped as the he feared the worst. The gyro had been saving up a static charge within its spinning rods and as Ensign Lin Kae went to finalize the repair the overloaded circuits grounded out through him.

Remembering something he had rolled up in his sleeve he unrolled out the hypospray he stole from sickbay in his oversized uniform. Turning  to Rihen, “I can manage this station now if you wish to go check on Ensign Kae,” He said as he hands her the hypospray. “I’m not too familiar with these things but it might come in handy. Take it, the gyros’s should be kicking-in in a second. He did manage to fix it, but at what cost?” After giving her the medical device he turned back to the computer station and continued his work, although with a very concern look upon his face.

He opened a channel to the battle bridge, “Master Chief here, gravity wells should be coming back up soon. Also your phaser bay should be ready to fire again, over.”  He said as he returned control of the phaser back to the tactical officer up there.

Moments later the medical crew appeared, and he glares at the woman holding the medical scanner, “The hell with sickbay, and the hell with that device, I’m busy here so go check on a couple Ensigns, Abner and Kae, and go where your really needed.” He turned away and continues typing away at the computer screens in front of him.

---------------
ooc I noticed your post at the last second Nolan so I hope my last line works for you.

The snug bodysuit, the hard lines and curves all gave Devryie a sense of protection as she moved through the ship in to the flight bay. It was a familiar site, but she still was getting use to the Valrvn fighter. Even though she had been working with it for a while now, seeing it sitting in a ship's launch bay was new. This whole mission felt new.
[Show/Hide]
At least, that's what Devyrie felt en route. She had checked their position before leaving her quarters and knew that it was going to be a tight battle. The sensation in her side mirrored her tension. The tightness wasn't unusual before a launch.

What was unusual was her second thoughts.

"Dragon? You live?" It Vinnie "Furry" Ferris, her effervescent RIO, greeted her from the cockpit of their fighter. His dark hair and skin betrayed his Italian heritage, while Dev's own long white locks kept pointed ears easily hidden. Probably best under the circumstances.

"I'm coming up." Dev's boots clicked on the deck as she hustled over to her berth, her hand running across the forward weapons mounts, noting the dual cannons, the recessed cockpit sitting behind those hard tusks. She couldn't help but think of them as the tusks of a very large animal, though what kind she couldn't think of-an Earth warthog, maybe? With a swing of a leg, Dev situated herself in the cockpit, helmet placed on top of the pilot's display, all lighting up as Vinnie did the preflight check. She stretched her leg, and checked her PADD.

"Comms up and running. You getting all the data telemetry?" Her tone must have sounded clipped.

"Cool the green fire, Dragon. It's a newer fighter in a new ship, but I'll get it all done."

"Copy. I'm going over final movements. Be ready for launch."

Dev left him to that, taking a moment to quiet her mind, using putting her helmet on as cover. Silently, she hummed a Vulcan chant to sooth the anxiety that left her heart beating a bit fast. She usually could excuse it as a high metabolism, but this time was a bit more personal. The chatter over the comms of flight crews making preparations, providing a background buzz that slowly quieted her mind. It aided in making this feel like a routine mission and not what she knew it to be.

Outside the cockpit she could see the rest of her squad making their own preparations, pilots getting in, doing their preliminary checks. For Dev, she loved the sensation of the cockpit, the close quarters that felt so intimate. It was like she knew the fighter and the fighter knew her. That feeling had always been there, and she could never quite shake it.

"Dragon, standing by for launch."

[ LT Daniel Havenborn  | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie "Grey Wolf-01" ] Attn: Auctor, Triage, SummerDawn, Mathis, CanadianVet

As Daniel and his flight finished off the interceptors he brought his fighter around back towards the starbase he heard an unidentified male voice over the squadron channel.  "Resolve fighters, this is Theurgy Tactical.  Prepare for massive interpenetration from our salvo.  Your transponders are locked into the warheads and they will not detonate in case you catch one."  Daniel checked what channel it had been and it wasn't on Tactical Three so he ignored it, he was thankful for the warning but had specific orders to ignore anything from any other communications channel.

As his flight passed by some interceptor debris he saw some more interceptors firing on a large shuttlecraft-like starship, then he heard the distress call from a woman identifying herself as Sera vers Aldnoah of the SS Sabine.  "Broadside, Deadeye we're going to help her out.  Deadeye I want you to use your last remaining torpedo against the lead interceptor."  Daniel said as he began to line up his fighter for his attack run against the interceptors.  "Got it Salvo."  Came the response from Deadeye.

However as they were moving into position he heard a call from another unidentified male voice from the squadron channel, this one from Tactical Three.  "This is the Lone Wolves to Resolve fighter elements, please confirm channel up-link. This is Lieutenant Commander Miles Renard, Wolf Leader. Are you what's left of the Grey Wolves?"  Daniel thought to himself for a moment, he wasn't fond of having conversations in the middle of combat, introductions and the like could be done later if they survived.  "Wolf Leader, Lieutenant Daniel Havenborn, Grey Wolf-01, Callsign Salvo; up-link confirmed.  I'm currently the SCO of what's left of the Grey Wolves, what do you need Commander?"  He said.

As he was waiting for a response from Commander Renard his TVD flashed, an incoming ship had just appeared; Daniel turned his head towards the new ship, no not a ship an abomination.  That was the only way he could describe it to himself, it looked like a blending of Starfleet technology with something else.  He watched as the abomination thrust forward into the battle and ripped right through a squadron of interceptors, blue and orange energy beams lancing from its starboard weapons array, it was quite a sight to behold.  It seemed as though the abomination was on their side.  "All Grey Wolves and Tribbles, mark the abomination-ship as friendly for the moment."  He said into the squadron channel, an affirmative came a moment later from his pilots.

"Salvo, we're coming up on the Sabine."  Knight said behind him.  "Deadeye, fire your torpedo as soon as you have a target lock."  Daniel said into the squadron channel.  "SS Sabine, this is Grey Wolf-01, Callsign Salvo.  We're going to help you out of this."  He said as he opened fire on the interceptors and a moment later watched as Broadside's fighter opened fire on the interceptors as well.  Then Deadeye launched her quantum torpedo and he watched as it hit the lead interceptor, she followed up the torpedo with a burst from her phaser cannons.  Daniel watched as the interceptors returned fire on them, and for a moment he thought they might get through this unscathed, but the remaining interceptors had focused their fire on Broadside's fighter.  "Salvo-" Broadside had started to say before his fighter was destroyed.  He cursed the man responsible for this situation Captain Hawthorne before bringing his fighter back around.  "Deadeye you still with me?"  He asked her.  "Still here Salvo."  She said.  "Let's make their sacrifice worth it."  He said as he began firing on the interceptors again.

[ Krystal "Meony" Tancredi | Sector Space Starbase 84 | Cockpit | Fuzzy Flayer ] Attn: K'Ren, Daniel Havenborn, Sera vers Aldnoah, Tessa May Lance, Hi'Jak, Resolve and Theurgy fighter elements & Thomas Ravon

[Show/Hide]

"GAH!"Tancredi shot up in her seat with a start. The last impact against her shuttle had been some sort of weapon that managed to temporarily disable her vessel and her with it. As she glanced around, she noted that the Type 8 shuttle, Fuzzy Flayer, was drifting freely in space, moving like an asteroid without any sort of gravitational pull by a planet. That meant her vessel was not powered either, which explained why she was still alive and left to her own devices. She was not a threat or a help.

Through the viewscreen, she could see the battle was still ongoing, and if anything, the boiling point had not yet been reached even, but she knew, so many of her family was dead already. Sophia Cortez, Dermot Lanier, and Kiera Thurmane, the first of the Tribbles to count amongst the fallen of the Resolve. Nearly four years together, facing untold dangers and somehow coming out on top against all odds, only to die to Federation technology and treachery. Blinking, Tancredi realized that her vision was being blurred by tears, and she shook her head.

Her shuttlecraft was temporarily out of commission, but she wasn't, and neither was her built in com in her helmet. She picked up various bits and pieces of information.

Ensign Ara Laurent, callsign Aura, and Chief Petty Officer Kimberley Phillips, callsign Goshawk, were still alive and kicking, and frantically searching for Tancredi whilst coordinating as best as they could with Havenborn. The Tribbles and Grey Wolves were able to contend with alien threats, but against Starfleet Interceptors who knew the kind of tactics the Resolve Fighter Element would use, albeit somewhat modified out of necessity, they were close to outmatched. It wasn't just the damage to the Luna-class starship. It was the physical and mental scarring that was threatening to do them in.

:: Veradin...Resolve fighter win...stay clear of our six! :: said Veradin, and Tancredi picked up on it. Glancing about through the viewport showed she was well out of range, since she could see the besieged and ailing starship and she was high above, floating away from the battle.

:: This is Resolve Tactical...all Resolve Fighter Elements. Mark all Theurgy combatants as FRIENDLY......on all Theurgy elements as FRIENDLY. :: Tancredi recognized ch'Rayya's voice and started trying to restart her shuttle. It was probably the stupid fuselage again. Tancredi grimly mused that Randall had been right about the dangers of so much modifications beyond specs on the shuttles. Fuzzy Flayer was a monster in battle, but it was an erratic monster, prone to mechanical malfunctions now. Like the Resolve, her shuttle was on its last leg.

:: This is the Lone Wolves...Resolve fighter elements...please confir...channel up-link. This is Lieutenant Command... Miles Renard, Wolf Leader. Are you what's left of the Grey Wolves? :: She didn't recognize this one, but presumably he was from the Theurgy. ch'Rayya said they were friendlies. Well, she didn't trust them, regardless, but if Captain Kendrick and ch'Rayya trusted them enough to be marked friendlies, then fine, she'll follow along with that. Her communicator was faulty, she was suffering damage to her suit as well, possibly, suggesting Tetryon and electrical weaponry that had struck her.

Working feverishly on several consoles, Tancredi briefly managed to get a shudder out of her ship, but the lights went dead again. Muttering, she saw a flash and looked up, noticing the Theurgy, with one of the ship's split vectors linking up with the Resolve, or what was left of the Resolve in any case, and nodded, approving of the other ship and its crew now. They were helping. :: This is Sera vers Aldnoah...the SS Sabine. I have with me Starf...officer Lieutenant Hi'Jak, we carry evidence of acts...terrorism committed by Captain Hawthorne against the people of Starbase 84 and are being pursued by fighters I can only......under his command to destroy us.......We request assist.......nd asylum to any ships in the area that are willing to hear...out. ::

Hi'Jak! Tancredi remembered his name from when she had met him earlier. They had a drink and he introduced her to a Klingon beverage that the girl found very much to her liking, plus he wasn't too bad on the eyes, for an outsider. So he was being attacked too? She'd help him. Her shuttle came online just long enough to blare out a warning of an approaching vessel dropping out of warp. Through her viewscreen she caught sight of the tail end of a ship, fresh looking from what little she could see, but she wasn't sure if this one was here to help or to make things worse. Just then, the shuttle failed once more.

"Come on!" Tancredi growled, "Ah know, baby, Ah know! Ya've had it with meh. Ah have had it too, but don' punish mah family for mah mistakes!"

Abruptly the shuttlecraft rumbled to life, going to full red alert, she had her shields and weapons back online. And the ship's impulse engines flared up with a familiar bright blue hue. Her ship had taken some hits, but was still relatively none-the-worse for wear, a miracle in and of itself. "Ah'm back, Tribbles!" Tancredi crowed, alerting Aura and Goshawk of her wellbeing. "Get in formation, on mah lead, we're helping the SS Sabine."

Just then, she picked up a broadcast message that was aimed at her, from a voice that made her grin, :: Jack to Tancredi...hi give me what...r com line the...esolve fighters use and I will make...to get you an entire case of Chech'tluth. ::

Keying in a response, Tancredi said, "Ah'm raht 'ere, honey. Switch to Tac oh-three. That's Tac oh-three, ya got it? Look fer three Type-eight shuttles that look nothing like shuttles, and dat's us! Now hang tight, we're comin' in an' clearin' ya a path ta hightail it."

She was not the only one trying to assist the Sabine as it turned out. Her tactical suite highlighted K'Ren's and T'Iya's attempts to render aid, along with that of a Theurgy element Valkyrie. Tancredi's lips curled downwards in an upset curl when she saw T'Iya's and Rodriguez' demise at the hands of Starbase 84 interceptors. K'Ren had tried to get them off the Vulcan pilot's back, but to no avail, and now the half-Caitian was being hounded by four of those bastards, and the Theurgy pilot had narrowly avoided a crash with the Sabine only to fly right into more of those Starbase 84 freaks.

"Aura," Tancredi said, "break off formation, keep on Sabine, get 'er ta the Theurgy. Goshawk, ye're with meh, we're gettin' K'Ren an' dat other Valk outta the bonfire." She immediately juked her lumbering craft, followed closely by Goshawk's shuttle, and they performed an aerodynamic feat that probably wouldn't have worked in atmosphere, spinning and falling into position behind K'Ren's pursuers, and the two began strafing with a hail of Disruptor bolts at the tails of the Interceptors. Fast though they were, the Tribbles were weapons platforms, and what the forward facing cannons missed, the turret on their backs didn't.

"Get clear, Neko," Tancredi said, "we've got the fuckers."

A loud klaxon warned of a target lock and Tancredi's shuttle shook and trembled from direct blasts, almost collapsing her shields completely. "No way that was from the interceptors!" The girl glanced in shock towards the Starbase and realized it was probably from that monstrosity. She didn't have time to worry. So long as she could still move, she was able to do something. And more Theurgy Valkyries were getting into the thick of things trying to help their own wingmate, and it wasn't going well. One of them, she noted on her Tactical was identified as Hat Trick, and that one went up in flames. The Interceptors were too many, and for everyone she or Goshawk harried or shot down, two to four more took their place. They were relentless, and Tancredi was finally starting to feel overwhelmed.

That was when she saw the freakiest fighter to ever fly enter the fray. It came out of nowhere, and saved the first Theurgy Valkyrie with a fire show that took out an entire force of Interceptors. It was off to cause more mayhem amongst the Starbase defenders, and was looking like it was trying to help the Sabine. That was when Havenborn said, :: All Grey Wolves and Tribbles, mark the abomination-ship as friendly for the moment. :: 

"Roger," Tancredi said, followed by Goshawk and Aura, though Aura was a little busy multitasking. She was trying to link up with Havenborn and Daniels, clearing away as many of the Interceptors as she could, and fending off rear attackers with her turret. Sanders, who had been with Havenborn and Daniels, was destroyed, witnessed by a screaming Tancredi, and a nearly equally shrill Goshawk. Turning their shuttles as one, the surviving Tribbles vented their fury and took their vengeance upon the interceptors, two bulky war machines of pure destruction. "DIE MOTHERFUCKERS! FUCKING DIE!"

Too much. Too many losses. Tancredi's mind was feeling so much pain that it was almost physical, as she felt some sort of wrench in her chest, and a tightness that made her want to explode. She heard nothing else, saw nothing else, except the enemy, and how every last one of them needed to be space debris. She dove her fighter below Havenborn, and upswept just ahead of the Sabine to the starboard side, before spinning her vessel around to attempt charging into a throng of interceptors, when Aura shouted out a warning and before Tancredi saw the torpedo, Aura had thrown her shuttle directly into it's path. With no shields left to speak of, the vessel had exploded.

It was a shock that managed to shake Tancredi out of her mindless rage, and with a sobering realization, she and Goshawk were all that was left of Tribble Squadron. And Havenborn, K'Ren and Daniels were all that was left of the Grey Wolves. The Resolve was done. She could see the Theurgy was taking on board what was left of her family. She wanted to break down, she wanted to mourn the senseless and needless losses. They were supposed to be safe, supposed to be back amongst their people. And now, she was killing Starfleet pilots. A cold disregard came over her. She would mourn later. She was still a fighter pilot, and she had a job to do. The Sabine must survive. Jack and Aldnoah needed to get their evidence over to Captain Kendrick and whoever was in charge of the Theurgy.

As Havenborn and Daniels turned their attention on the interceptors, Tancredi realized that still left Sabine with plenty of dangers to contend with. She and Goshawk couldn't do any fancy stunts any more, but they could take the brunt of any attack for the Sabine and escort them to safety, with Havenborn and Daniels taking care of the enemy fighter elements. Plus, if the Valkyries from Theurgy added their numbers and firepower, there was at least that much of a chance to get Jack and Aldnoah to safety. It was all she had to go on, so she opened a squadron broadcast, addressing the remaining Grey Wolves, her fellow Tribble and the Sabine. "Salvo," she blew apart an interceptor that made the mistake of getting in her crosshairs, "Goshawk an' Ah can take up escort o'th' Sabine an' get 'er ta the Theurgy. We'll sweep as much o'th' 'ceptors along the way fer ya an' the Theurgy Valks, but ya gotta mop up what's left. Jack, Aldnoah, we're forming up either side o'ya, just keep on yer path ta that nice big ship."

Tancredi positioned her shuttle on the port side of the Sabine even as Goshawk took the starboard side, their turrets firing out at rear pursuers and their front cannons shredding anything that tried to block their path.

[ Hylota Vojona | USS Theurgy | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay ]

---

          As the medical teams worked to take care of the influx of injured crew from the blast Hylota let out a sharp hiss as she felt it, the sudden tightening, the uncomfortable tensing and beginning of the birthing process. Hylota put her hand on the medial tray beside her and she cursed her luck, cursed the Stone Mother for the timing of things, she had been hoping, praying that she could go through the day without this happening, but as her hand tightened around the dermal regenerator Hylota closed her eyes tightly and she fought to compose herself, she could not let this happen right now. Letting out a long breath Hylota put on her best stoic face before she turned to Lucan and handed him the medical tool. "Here Doctor, I will allow you to take proper care of yourself, meanwhile I will try and manage the information on patients." Hylota moved back to the desk, but her walk was awkward and stiff, she walked with tight locked legs as she waddled her way back to her desk where she sank down and tried to act nonchalant, but she was breathing heavily and struggling to focus.

Hylota was in the beginning stages of her birthing process, her womb was beginning to tighten up around the eggs, for now she could feel them moving, re-positioning withing her and slowly running out of room to move until she would begin to lay. As far as Hylota was concerned though she was not going to begin laying eggs for a while longer, but as she had to close her eyes and focus on her breathing Hylota muttered a few more colorful curses under her breath before opening a single dark eye and looking for her brother before closing her eyes again and clenching her jaw in frustration, she did not want to be doing this yet. Reluctantly Hylota knew she could not just push this off and ignore it like a numbed arm, this was going to get a lot more intense before it stopped. "D-Doctor Nicander, I hate to be a bother, b-but I appear to have begun my labor...I am going to have to steal away some hands to help me to the birthing pool." She took a long deep breath and let out a croak. "Because I do not think that I am going to be walking out of here right now." Hylota did not think it would hurt this much, the tensing, the tightening, it was all so much more intense than a infertile clutch laying.

---

---

[ Vinata Vojona | USS Theurgy | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay ]

---

          Vinata was not harmed by the attack and had taken notice to the level of small injuries that were beginning to pile up, with the current system of looking to the most vital injuries first many were just standing about taking up space. Vinata wanted to find Doctor Nicander and ask permission to begin performing rushed treatments on to smaller wounds to begin clearing out space, but with the crowds keeping him separated Vinata swallowed hard and made the choice himself, he still felt mildly queasy at the sight of the more serious injuries, it was probably best he avoided them for now. So Vinata turned his attention to the smaller injuries and began to look into them. His first stop was one of the first patients, he had been standing near a terminal that had burst and had some superficial burns on the left side of their face. Vinata was quick to get a scan to make sure of the condition before quickly administering a dose of dermaline, with the treatment in place Vinata sent the patient back to quarters to try and free up space.

As more patients began to flood in Vinata clenched his jaw and took a deep breath as he looked them over, many were coming in with minor concussions and other minor injuries from being thrown about by the blast. Most of the patients could be taken care of with some quick attention to get them back into service. The minor concussions could be treated with drugs to reduce the swelling of the brain, a few moments of observation to see if the treatment took and a crewman could be returned to duty, the more serious concussions Vinata moved on to get more in depth treatment. One crewman who was brought in was showing a case of flash blindness from an electrical explosion in their duty station, it was nothing serious and from what Vinata could read from the scans the crewman's vision would return in due time, but for now they did not need medical treatment. This case along with several others took up time and space, but Vinata was managing to keep things moving, he was not turning back the flow of injured, but for now at least there were spaces for new patients with serious injuries opening up.

Vinata was performing well, but he was not able to focus on his sister, while she called to Lucan to ask for help, Vinata was amidst the patients doing his best to help with his limited medical skills. He used his tricorder to take quick a diagnosis of the incoming patients and letting serious injuries through, more superficial and light wounds that would be put off by the medical staff he took time with, using the dermal regenerator to seal up superficial wounds. Vinata did not want to get too far in over his head so soon after completing his rehabilitation, so he might as well be using his skills to get the patients out back in service and those who didn't need to be here into safe places and to free up space for more patients.

[ Lt. JG Alessia Garcia | Flight Deck | USS Orcus ] Attn: DocReno

Alessia and her Flight where ready to go, the exosuit fitting her frame beautifully. It was comfortable to wear, but also gave the human a great sense of protection. She had been in the flight deck for most of the journey towards Starbase 84, checking over with the flight deck crews to ensure the fighters in her Flight were prepped and ready to go at a moment's notice. Alessia had mixed feelings going into this mission, she mostly kept it to herself but did mention her concerns to both Dev and Zh'Idenna.

The fighter was new, that much was obvious as the new class of Valravn-class warp fighters were still being tested at Luna when the call came in to get them out into the field and onto a new Vesta class carrier. But this mission was different, they were not taking on Orion or Nausicaan raiders, or Cardassian warships pushing to go back to their old ways. They were, for all intents and purposes taking on their own brothers and sisters, fellow pilots who took an oath to protect the Federation with a set of wings.

The Theurgy was something different all together, this was a dreadnought carrier hybrid, this thing could own the stars with what it could supposedly do, but why the ship went rogue was something that Alessia could not get her head around. Why would an entire ship turn renegade?  Alessia only knew what the news vid's or reports that weren't covered in red tape, like there was something missing to the story, or simply she was just not allowed or high enough rank to know. Either way, the Theurgy had to be stopped.

Her boots clicked across the deck platting of the fighter bay as Alessia approached her Flight, assembled by her fighter. A smile crept a little onto the features of the Latina's face, maybe just to hide the tension that she was feeling about the upcoming situation they were to find themselves in, little did she know just how much of a shit storm they were all about to encounter. Her RIO by the name of Sehl th'Chilnes, a confident looking Andorian going by the call sign of Talon, passed over her helmet.

Looking at her team, Alessia spoke up. "Alright ladies, we got the green light. Once the barn arrives at target location we will perform an Omega 2 launch, this does not mean it is a race Blizzard." Alessia motioned to the Andorian pilot of wolf-12. Her RIO was human, PO1 Abigale Sheridan, call sign is Trixie. It did get a chuckle out of the team, spirits were very good considering.

"Once we are out of the barn, I want us in a two by two formation. Stormfang, you'll be my wingman for this operation. Wraith, you'll have Blizzard as your wingwoman." The last part had the man raise his eyebrow. Logan Hale was his name and the pilot of Wolf-11, his RIO was a Benzite by the name of Esekiel. Junior Lieutenant R'Meia was Alessia's wingman and pilot of Wolf-10, the Caitain female pilot had a human RIO called Ensign Carlos Vega, call sign Scythe.

"Watch each other's back out there and get back home, this is no ordinary sortie, so everyone stay sharp out there, saddle up and com check when ready." Tapping their helmets together the team went off to board their respected fighters, checking system's, coms and of course putting on their helmets that would provide them with invaluable tactical display of the mess they were about to be a part of. A little bit of time passed feeling the Orcus drop out of warp, the pilots had the cockpits sealed and radioed in. Alessia hearing them all clearly five-by-five.

"Angel here, Flight on hot standby, ready for launch."

[ Ens Derik Veradin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Derik_Veradin) | Bridge | USS Resolve ]

Derik's hands remained tensed and frozen above the Resolve's controls for twenty or so seconds after the successful dock with the Theurgy's vector while activity and rapid conversation happened all around him. He and the Theurgy pilot had performed a near-miracle. He'd have to buy that person a drink when all of this calmed down, assuming they all lived.

The next few moments passed in a bit of a daze as the adrenaline began to wear off and Derik suddenly realized his fatigue, minor pains, aches, and burns, and just stared out of the viewport while trying to let his mind catch up to everything that had just happened. So many people were dying, and he still didn't know why or what was really going on. That bothered him, but he stuffed that feeling down because he was not likely to be getting the whole story anytime soon.

Taking several deep breaths, he began to look around and tune back into what was going on around him. The Captain and the second officer had both ordered an immediate evacuation of the Resolve. Something about the warp core and plasma that Derik probably wouldn't have fully understood if he'd managed to catch all of it. He took in those still on the bridge and saw as people began making their way toward the external hatches that would now be connected to the Theurgy.

Derik hesitated a moment though, suddenly realizing that Suq wasn't on the bridge anymore. When had he left? Probably during their docking maneuver. Derik swore under his breath. They weren't in a committed relationship or anything, but they were good friends and as much family as the entire crew was to him now after their time together. He was torn, he hated the idea of leaving anyone behind, but he also knew that he would be useless in engineering, his proficiencies in that were barebones and mostly related to navigational systems.

Finally, he nodded in acceptance as the second officer looked his way again, following orders to leave the ship. He had to hope that he could be useful aboard The Theurgy. He needed to do something, needed something to distract his mind from all the chaos, death, and his worries about everyone around him, and his own safety.

He saw another bridge crewman limping towards the door with a leg injury of some kind. Derik made his way over and put the man's arm over his shoulder and helped him get to the doors quicker. He looked back briefly as he left the bridge, saying a silent goodbye to his home for the last few years, their protector from all the threats they had faced and overcome, and thanked her. Then he turned and left her behind, probably for the last time.

[Lieutenant Talidenai zh'Idenna/Wolf-01/USS Orcus]
ATTN: White Wolves squadron

After her brief conversation with the captain, Tali rested her head against the headrest of her fighter and did one last check of her weapon systems as a way of calming herself down.

She was moments away from fighting against fellow officers of the fleet, traitors or not, it still left a foul taste in her mouth...

...especially since one of them was so close to her and her lover.

<Are you alright, my Mol-Kom?> T'Zantha's voice came through a private channel from her fighter parked near by and Tali turned her head just enough and she could almost make out the vulcan's red eyes peering back at her.

Tali nodded, "I'm fine, Sniper. Just a little concerned as we're going up against two carriers worth of fighters with one of those being our old tender..." she started to say.

<Mol-Klom, that is not what I mean and I know that you know it.> Sniper said in her usual emotionless tone but Tali knew better, she could almost hear the pleading in her voice.

Once again Tali started to nod but she stopped and shook her head. "No, I'm not alright. I'm about to launch an offensive against fucking CJ and his brother is perfectly fine with it...even after that conversation we had.." she fumed.

<I understand all too well, especially considering the other item my love.> Sniper said, using the one word that she hardly used for some reason that only was known to Sniper.

<Lieutenant, do you have any words of wisdom for us before we go joylessly into battle?> came the voice of Tali's RIO from her spot in the back of the fighter.

Tali nodded in agreement as she opened up a squadron wide channel. "Alright my pups, I've taught you everything I know and I have to say that I'm proud of how all of you have turned out and I know that this coming fight is going to be the hardest we've had."

The Zhen took a breath and closed her eyes, trying not to focus on what was going to come next. "But I know that you'll all do your duties to the best of your abilities and since your my squadron, I know that is pretty damn impressive."

She inputted a couple of commands and then shunted them to the other pilots. "Alright upon Omega Two dust off, which if you have forgotten, Meerkat, means that once we drop out of warp all of us well be launching at once."

She then inputted another command and brought up a close wire frame outline of the Orcus herself with the squadron surrounding it with three marked in blue. "Wolf Flights One, Five, and Nine will do a full deploy with Five taking out the first wave of hostile small craft followed by Nine and One."

"Flight Thirteen, you're on intercept duty, I want you to make sure that nothing slips past us and hits the carrier fighter wise. We only have a partial briefing on what fighters were left with the Theurgy and Harbinger, so I want you on your best game." Tali explained as she marked Wolf-13's flight in teal before tabbing a third in gold.

"Wolf Seventeen, I want you to prep for bombing run against the Vectors of the Theurgy in case they are active. I know that Sniper has a tendency of calling you Gold Squadron because of that old vid she found, but if it works you understand?" she finished up before taking a breath.

"In the end, we've got this and hopefully we'll get through this day without loosing anyone but I am trusting you all with your own judgement out there. This is Terror out." She finished before closing the channel.

A few seconds later, the alarms went off for the launch to happen and Tali thumbed the control to full positive thrust as her first block production model AC-477 Mark One Valarvn flew out of the hanger of the Orcus and into the black..

..and into a scene straight out of one of Sniper's vids about the Dominion War as she took in the burning starship docking with one of the Vectors of the Theurgy as a massive wave of torpedoes slammed full force into the starbase.

"Shocker, Radar..get me a quick scan of the area. Find me out names of the players!" Terror snapped into the squadron's communication channel.

<Got them, sir. Confirmed markers for the Starship Theurgy..but the other one is the Resolve!> came Shocker's voice.

<The Resolve, wasn't she lost a few years back..dnd confirmed, the heavily damaged Luna is indeed the Resolve!> came Metalhead's RIO in the form of "Radar".

<Perhaps there is more going on then we know?> Sniper calmly stated as she waited for the final command from their overall commanding officer.

"Acknowledged, hold your guns until we get the attack order from Orcus Actual." Terror said as she shunted some energy double front. "And someone tell me where the Harbinger and her squadrons are?"

After a few seconds, Shocker's voice came back with <Sir, I'm not picking up the Harbinger at all but apparently there are some shuttles out there which are the type eight models..acting as fighters..>

Tali couldn't help but blink at that before Radar also came back with <Tally ho..one fighter marked as attached to the Harbinger, sending data to you know Lieutenant.>

A second later in a dedicated portion of her suit's view screen and her heart dropped along with her stomach somewhere past the bottom access hatch of her fighter.

"I don't want anyone to start shooting yet..we need authorization." she growled into the squadron's channel as a way of covering up her own fear.

[Commander Carrigan Trent | USS Theurgy Bridge] Attn: all

Trent was good at what he did.  Between his expertise as a tactical officer and his experience commanding a starship in battle, he had proven himself to be adequate at managing the current battle, coordinating the fire from three vectors, the efforts of Theurgy's fighters, and more recently the efforts from the Resolve and her own auxiliary craft.  But even with the Starbase's combat capabilities severely pruned back by virtue of having destroyed or disabled its tactical control array and put a serious dent in her fighter completement, there was still only so much he could do. 

Especially when another ship dropped out of warp.  And while he did not voice his displeasure at such an arrival, the XO's face tightened a little.  The Orcus.  How could that be?  Last he had heard, when still on the Archeron, she was still working up following acceptance trials and was nowhere near ready for operational deployment.  But then, he realized the reason behind it... And he had to make the Captain aware, immediately on the heels of her hail.  "Captain, our time window is getting really bloody narrow here.   I was briefed on the Orcus and she wasn't expected to join Sankolov for another six weeks after working up.  But that wasn't counting on Captain Slayton.  His tactical scores are off the charts, better than you or me for that matter and he's got a will like a force of nature.  If he sets his mind to taking us out, we're in real trouble." 

Trent's voice was as calm as it could be for the time being, and as he spoke he was focusing on other things.  Resolve had docked with them and the crew was being transferred on board, and that was a good thing.  According to his readings, that ship had been barely holding together even before they got hammered by the Starbase and her fighters.  And now, she was as much dead weight hanging under Vector 01 as she was.  "And Sir, we need to cut Resolve loose sooner rather than later.  Effectively she's dead weight right now and if we have to drag her around, it'll kill our ability to maneuver, and she's occluding a good portion of our firepower.  And if anything gets through our shields, there's not much left to her hull, and if she goes we're going with her."

With those reports given, he could start looking at the actual tactical situation.  Yes, a new fighter had come in, and the moment it had identified itself, Trent found himself satisfied with the authentication, and one nod to Yukimura was enough to cut the fighter into Theurgy's targeting systems.  Perhaps he could not give Ravon the filters to deal with the EW just yet, but at least access to the tactical feeds would be enough to give him something to shoot at.  But that was just a start.  A recent hit had caused a power surge and some computer runs were cut.  But not just any, some involving the point-defence systems. And with waves of fighters coming in from Orcus and the Starbase, that was in the realm of Bad Things.  Things that needed addressing. 

Stark already had her hands full, but it needed to be dealt with immediately.  And that left exactly one officer he could contact.  "Mister Tovarek, Starboard Dorsal point defence is out of the net and operating strictly in local autonomous mode.  I need you to re-route some computer channels to bring them back in before we get hammered again." 

And still, there was plenty to do.  Such as dealing with that 'Sabine' and her rather odd escort.  "Sabine, this is Theurgy Tactical.  Transmit your information to us and then prepare to land in our upper shuttlebay and cut all power and engines the moment you get captured by the landing tractor beams, be ready to be met by our security."  But that was not all.  With Resolve docked, control of her fighter element would fall to Theurgy, and incidentally to Ives via Trent.

But things were getting worse, for another warp signature had gone active, and coming out of the Starbase's smashed doors in the wake of the last of her fighters: a single Defiant-class ship.  "Oh Hell."  This was the first time in the whole engagement the XO showed any real emotion.  The situation was getting worse than he'd imagined, and there was even the rest of Task Force Archeron that was on its way.  They were about to be trapped if the boarding parties did not get their jobs done quickly...

And so he keyed his mike again.  "All Theurgy and Resolve fighters, fall back into a defensive posture for close-support to the Vectors."  Then, he switched channels, contacting this time the teams that had boarded the Starbase.  "Boarding parties, space superiority is... hotly contested so you are directed to expedite your mission and extraction." 

[Ensign Six (http://pre05.deviantart.net/5d9e/th/pre/i/2016/254/f/7/ensign_six___under_fire_by_auctor_lucan-d91bxn0.png) and Ensign A'vura Zeshryr (https://orig08.deviantart.net/ca09/f/2015/289/a/2/a_vura_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d9d9ngm.png) | Briefing Room | Resolve] Attn: Evacuees and FollowTomorrow
 
A'vura was disheartened at the prospect of evacuating the only home she had held for the last 3 years, not to mention the fact that as every minute passed more and more crew members unable to make it to the Theurgy were dying all around them. Tears streamed her face as the Captain gave the order for the bridge to leave and move to the Theurgy, and as she was pushed along with the rest of them she glanced back behind her at her Captain, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that this would be the last time she ever laid eyes on him. In doing so she took a photo of his grim features in her mind's eye, forever committing this moment to memory. Even if it was a dire situation should her Captain not make it out of this alive she wanted to be sure that this moment was locked away forever for her to recall when she liked.

Soon enough she was outside of the Resolve and being ushered by Theurgy security to a briefing room that held a linked image of the Bridge of the Theurgy for everyone to view the progress of the battle. Only the bridge crew were in that briefing room. And there was a silence that washed over them as they all watched on with a mixture of desolate emotions. In her own eyes it was hard to focus on the screen before her, tears nearly blinding her and staining her cheeks.

Meanwhile in Engineering Six had little intentions of abandoning ship at this point. Suq was on his way and Six was still linked up to the ship's computers, her link being the only thing keeping the warp core together at the moment and preventing a ship-wide meltdown. All around her parts of the ship were deteriorating and falling to pieces, while other non-regulation portions of the ship were miraculously holding in tact. Whatever bandaid and superglue solutions the crew had administered while on their three year trek were holding together so well that were it not for them the ship would have fell completely apart by now.

All around her the crew was fleeing for their lives, evacuating to the Theurgy in an almost panic, yet despite that there was a sense of calm over Six as if there was nothing that couldn't be accomplished still if they worked hard and put their minds to it. In the mess of things her braids had come loose from their pins and were hanging around her face in a wild array. And she could hear the huffed tone of Suq as he made his way down the corridors toward engineering at a dead run. Six tapped her combadge and replied to Suq, "Six here, Suq there's no way I'm letting you take all the celebrity as they say." The real turn of phrase was all the glory of course but Six was constantly mixing up her words and phrases, still not used to true human distinction when it came to language.

"Right now my implant is the only thing holding us together. I believe I can configure a core blast in one of the leaks and set it ablaze to help fire off the core like a missile as you say, and aim it toward whatever we may wish. The Starbase comes to mind at the moment though I'd be remiss to target so many innocent lives. Most of the starbase is, after all, innocent. We can also aim it right in the middle of the cluster of interceptors out there bombarding us," she suggested to him as she worked still with the ship's computer to keep the shields in tact long enough for as many people to get on the Theurgy as possible.

"As soon as we've configured the core to eject and projectile where we want we should make a furious dash off the ship and evacuate ourselves," she continued right as Suq entered engineering to assist.

[ Lt Cmdr. Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 Cockpit | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: All Fighter Elements & the Theurgy

"Wolf Leader, Lieutenant Daniel Havenborn, Grey Wolf-01, Callsign Salvo; up-link confirmed.  I'm currently the SCO of what's left of the Grey Wolves, what do you need Commander?"

Hearing the response from the SCO of what little was left of the Grey Wolves, Miles remembered the name of the man, confirming that he was one of those that had been lost on the Resolve for three years. Miles did not know the man personally, but it was all the confirmation he needed. Two interceptors fell in behind him, delaying his reply as they opened fire and hammered down his shields.

Growling, he flipped his stick sideways and initiated a barrel roll, only angling it in a downward arc through the intense engagement - passing debris and other wolves in his evasive manoeuvre. The two interceptors gave chase, lurching their ungainly crafts to follow by using their thrusters to support the quick turn - a course-change that their impulse engines alone wouldn't have managed. One of them had quantum torpedoes mounted underneath its nacelles, and Miles could almost foresee when they'd be fired. He was ready, spinning his Valkyrie upside down and jamming his thumb down on the trigger for his M-142 twin-mount turrets. The reverberations from the mass driver could be felt in his seat - point defence fire cutting the distance towards the interceptors and the approaching torpedoes.

The auto-fire targeting system sought the heat emissions, and the turrets homed on on the first torpedo. When it was hit, the detonation caught the second torpedo as well, going of in a consecutive flare. The first pursuing interceptor did not have time to evade, jolted out of course by the force of the blast, and the second didn't have time to evade the first. Through his TVD vision, Miles looked over his shoulder and saw the massive collision - parts of shredded fuselage obscured by their exploding quantite reactor cores.

Turning his Valkyrie around, his thoughts had already left his small feat of survival, and he saw how Hat Trick's signature was gone from his HUD. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he thought the signatures of Ghost and Goldeneye were about to wink out too... but then...

A Reaver tore through the battle, cutting apart interceptors with mismatched cannon fire, and Miles could not believe his slitted eyes. It was no true Reaver, but rather a hybrid of Valkyrie and one of the Calamity's fighters. To his continued surprise, Theurgy Tactical marked it as a friendly craft, and it was not until he saw the comm link update and the designation that he understood what had happened.

"Thomas Ravon!" he exclaimed, setting a course that would aid Ghost and Goldeneye against whatever little remained of their assailants. "Wolf leader to Razor, you have squadron channel access. I don't know what the story is behind that cobbled together atrocity you are flying, but you have been missed. Outrider, form Element with Razor an-"

Miles took a hit, and lost his breath. The severed nacelle of an interceptor had hit his Valkyrie, and he had lost control, spinning off towards the massive shields of Starbase 84. In the last moment, he managed to wrench his fighter away, levelling out. He had lost Gun-shy, not able to get a visual on his wingmate.

[Warning. Shields at 15 %,] announced the voice of his Valkyrie's computer. [Plasma leak in starboard core. Warning.]

"Reroute power, tapping the other core only and shut the damaged one down," he snapped, then tapped the squadron channel again. "You heard me Razor. Defend Vector 02 with Fasha and Husker! Gun-Shy, where are you?"

[I-I'm straggling behind you. I am out of hard-points, and I'm almost out of shiel-]

On his HUD, Gun-Shy's signature vanished. His eyes widened, he knew his young Trill wingmate was gone. He didn't even see who or what had hit her. Still, the battle was far from over. He had to focus, not letting the death of his new wingmate get to him.

 [All Theurgy and Resolve fighters,] came the voice from Commander Trent, [fall back into a defensive posture for close-support to the Vectors.] The order was clear and succinct enough, but it was not until Miles spotted the Vesta-class ship and its fighters - along with the Defiant-class USS Chester emerging from Starbase 84 - that he knew the reason. Two capital ships had entered the scene while they'd been busy with the interceptors, and there were still more of them left. Focus...

"Wolf Leader to Salvo!" he said, falling back on his training. At long last, he resumed his call to the Resolve's SCO, seeing how the remaining Mk II Valkyries from the Resolve were defending the Sabine, and how it was being escorted by a pair of heavily modded shuttles. "Sending squadron comm channel frequency. See the Sabine to safety, Lieutenant, then I suggest we join formation at Vector 01. I will meet you there! Ghost, Goldeneye, Hurl, you defend Vector 03. I am seeing Tovarek drones out there too, and hopefully they can help us as well, mercy be with us..."

---

[ Captain Ives | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

When the word came that the first ship of the reinforcements were about to arrive, Captain Ives had clenched her hands into fists by her sides as she watched the viewscreen. The Resolve had docked, and Stark had asked where to put them, and Ives had told her to have them brought to the Conference Lounge next door. The word 'Reaver' had made Ives look at Sarresh Morali in bewilderment, but it seemed that there was yet to be a temporal breach made by the enemy. Reassured of that much, Ives had to dismiss the odd development with the arriving Reaver in order to hear Captain Marcus Slayton speak in that dispassionate, cold tone. Hearing him, Ives knew that this man would hardly heed their claim.

"This is Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton, commanding officer of the USS Orcus to the crew of the renegade starship Theurgy. Under the direct authority of the admiralty and Starfleet Command, I am here by ordered to present you with one chance to come to and surrender at once for the crimes of high treason, piracy, and war crimes against the United Federation of Planets and it's allied states."

"To the civilian, Jien Ives, I do not care about your supposed reasons that you betrayed your uniform and or the trust that was put into by the fleet and our government but I will simply say this, your little war against the Federation ends now."

Jien did not ask Stark to patch her through for a response immediately, instead listening to Trent as he gave his opinion about Slayton and what they were up against. She nodded in understanding, her thoughts on Slayton and what Trent was able to confirm about what she had picked up about the battle-proven Captain of the new Vesta-class ship. It was evident that if they went up against him, they could not afford to pull any punches, much less reason with him. The warning shot just confirmed it and for a moment, she considered whether they should surrender - if only to feign a surrender - like she had done when they faced off against the collective might of Task Force Archeron above the atmosphere of Theta Eridani IV. Yet she had heard what Ensign ch'Xinya had said from Stellar Cartography. She was certain that the Orcus had been briefed about what they'd done to fool Admiral Sankolov, so she could not play the same card twice. No, surrendering now was not an option. Not when the line of communication to the boarding parties remained cut by Starbase 84.

"All Vectors, maintain your defences and spread out." She clenched her jaw as she thought, hearing a security guard inform the bridge that Lieutenant Commander ch'Rayya from the Resolve was available if needed, and that the senior staff were due to arrive into the Conference Lounge. She also heard the Reaver-mystery unravel with Thomas Ravon's return - the brief memory of the Ishtar Incident imposing upon her thoughts. Regardless what had happened, a returning Wolf was welcome, and the seasoned pilot quickly aided his pack and the Sabine - a shuttle carrying an officer with evidence that incriminated Captain Hawthorne. It could be Commander Trent was right about the base commander, and yet they still had no means to alert Ensign Henshaw. Perhaps the evidence could tell them something, but she doubted Slayton would be deterred by anything she'd say about Hawthorne. Commander Trent did the right thing, regardless, when he told the Sabine to dock with their Vector.

"Captain Ives to the Orcus," she said, knowing that her voice would be patched through. Her tone was not cold as Slayton's, but rather filled with the passion of the righteous. "We fight to preserve the Federation, as we have always done since we fled Earth. You are being misled by a corrupted Starfleet Command. The orders you act on are not legit, but the will of alien usurpers. Like the changelings in the Dominion War, they impersonate our admirals, and you are taking their word for truth, whereas you should question all that you have been led to believe. The Theurgy will not stand down, but we will not strike the first blow. If you engage us, we will be forced to defend ourselves, and we will do so at any cost. We fight for the truth, for justice, and for freedom, while you are just an ignorant agent of the most insidious threat the Federation has ever faced. Test us at your peril. Ives out."

As if the Orcus was not enough, Jien saw the reason for Trent's sudden exclamation behind her back. Her oaken eyes shifted to the torn bay doors of the starbase, and the Defiant-class starship was marked the 'USS Chester' on the tactical readout on the screen. It seemed it had released its moorings to join the battle, and that was what they needed the least. There were still interceptors harrying their shields and fighters, and now they had yet another contender? Trent ordered all fighters to fall back and defend the Vectors, and Jien heard how he tried to get through to the boarding parties. Again, without result. For all they knew, they might as well be dead already. Were they fighting in vain? Was the message never to be sent?

No, they had to continue, hoping against all odds that either of the teams would be successful. Question was if she should call on aid from their last resort? When the odds were stacked against them, she knew it might mean their extinction. No... They had to try something else.

"Ives to the Fighter Assault Bay," she said, knowing that her voice would be heard in he PA system on Vector 02. "I want all the drones armed and in the air, emitting Mk III Valkyrie signatures, and I want them out there immediately. Alert the Flag Bridge when they are ready. I repeat, we need anything we have left out there now!"

The drones had been their means of escape, meant to fake their warp trail. Instead, they could hopefully deceive that squadron of strange fighters that the Orcus had launched, or better yet, the USS Chester. She doubted, however, that Captain Slayton would be so easily fooled.

---

OOC: More posts to come! :)

[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt | USS Allegiant | Upper Deck | Bridge ] Attn: Jaya Thorne & Sithck

Thanks to Jaya Thorne, the small crew of the Allegiant were still alive, all except for Ensign Rogers. They had managed to escape the effective range of the starbase's weapons, yet they had no shields left. The hairs on the back of Dewitt's neck stood on its end, knowing that any of the interceptors they passed by might blast them out of the sky. With no means to sustain enemy fire, they had better well keep a safe distance from the battle. If they could, they might dock with Vector 03, but there was no way they could do something like what the Resolve and Vector 01 did - docking mid-battle like that.

What is Sithick doing? she asked herself as the Gorn tore up the deck plating of the bridge, and Dewitt frowned for a moment before she had to return her eyes to the viewscreen. Jaya had just alerted her about the Orcus, and she saw the image of the Vesta-class carrier on the viewscreen. Already, there were fighters launching. As if they didn't have enough enemy fighters already!

"Orders Commander?"

She took a deep breath, maintaining her calm despite their predicament. "Anything we do now might be our last act in this battle, we cou-"

"Re-routing to shields." said Sithick suddenly, and Jennifer looked at the large engineer as he seated himself in the seared chair that Edgar Rogers had occupied. The plasma conduit had detonated below the tactical station, but evidently the controls worked well enough for Sithick to do what he had planned. He had even activated the safety restraints in Thorne's chair before doing so himself. Jennifer followed their example, and so did Morwen. Hernandez had pulled the body of Rogers out of the bridge at that point, so when the Gorn removed artifical gravity, she had no idea how the doctor fared.

[Shields at 39 %,] announced the computer, and Jennifer couldn't believe it.

"Don't wazte it Jaya," said Sithick where he had seated himself.

"Well done, Petty Officer. We might yet make a difference," she said, and couldn't help the lopsided grin that touched her features, feeling strands of her red hair tickle her face as it floated about her.

[Engineering to bridge, we have lost gravity, but...] Ensign Felr said on the intercom, though Jennifer overrode his words.

"We already know. Sitick restored our shields. Remember your zero g training and continue down there." Jennifer gave the situation some thought. "We'll make another pass and give the Theurgy sensor readings on the boarding teams. Hopefully, we'll detect them," she said, and then - in the far distance - she saw another emerge from Starbase 84. The silhouette was unmistakable. She could help but make a bitter-sweet laugh at the way things stacked up against them.

"So, we have a Vesta-class and a Defiant-class joining the battle, and we need to keep out of their sights. Miss Thorne, get close but be smart about it. There is no need for another pass like we did before. Let's disable some of the interceptors too, but stay clear of the capital ships. Engineering! Maintain system cohesion and make sure the sensor array has enough power. Let's go!"

---

[ Nurse Maal | USS Theurgy | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay ] Attn: Zenozine & The Counselor (No PO)

With Vector 02 shaking from the phaser fire it sustained in the battle, Maal was doing his best to preform his duties, even if his thoughts returned to the past Chief Engineer that he had allowed to leave Sickbay. He could but hope the Deltan male could make a difference down there. He noticed how both Doctor Maya and the strange one named MacMillan took on arriving patients, and how Doctor Nicander had left to treat the wound he sustained - likely using one of the mirrors in a surgical suite.

When he passed by the Head Nurse duty station, Maal heard a voice from behind it."D-Doctor Nicander, I hate to be a bother, b-but I appear to have begun my labor...I am going to have to steal away some hands to help me to the birthing pool." Maal recognised the voice as Hylota's, and he was already rounding the duty station when she continued. "Because I do not think that I am going to be walking out of here right now."

"Hylota!" he exclaimed as he saw her down there on the floor, half propped up on her arms. "Doctor Nicander just left. Listen, ah, there are so many patients coming in, but I...." His cleared his throat with a rumbling noise, "I can try and help you. Here, I can... I can help you up and support you along the way there."

Feeling like a big fool, Maal reached down and grabbed Hylota's arm and shoulder, pulling her up to a standing position. Then, he tried to slide his broad shoulder underneath her arm, one hand spanning her waist behind her back. "There! Now, yes. Umm, birthing pool it is. Whe- I mean where is that? Is it here in Sickbay? I've never seen any... any pools."

Helplessly, Maal looked around himself to see if he had any help, otherwise, he might end up having to help Hylota lay her eggs alone. Making eye-contact with Hayden O'Connor, a desperate plea in his eyes, he hoped she was not occupied with all the incoming patients.

---

[ PWO Rihen Neyah | Main Engineering | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nolan & MasterRat

When Rihen made the call to the triage team on standby, she had hardly thought it would work, yet no more had she made call before they materialised in engineering. She was so stunned she couldn't collect her thoughts quick enough to answer the Trill doctor when she asked where they were needed. Instead, she sent her team out to locate the wounded. Still in shock after hearing Kae's voice on the intercom, she numbly accepted the hypospray from Nolak Kalmil. Kae might have saved their lives, but at what cost indeed - as Kalmil put it. Perhaps at the cost of Kae's life?

No! She just couldn't accept that. She began to try and unbuckle herself from the duty station with shaking hands, heard Kalmil dismissing the doctor, perhaps afraid that she'd tear him away from his duties. She just couldn't let the fear get to her. Sudden urgency animated her.

[This is the bridge,] came the voice from Kalmil's combadge, the speaker on Vector 03's battle bridge. [Well done down there. Listen, we need more power to the shields! We are taking quite a heavy beating, so shut down non-essential systems and boost our shield regeneration, will you? If you don't, we'll be looking at a lot of hull breaches, and soon.]

Rihen might have heard the bridge, but she left the task to the Deltan. "Doctor!" she said instead, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder. "There was an explosion in the back, a-and I think Ensign Kae is hurt! Here, I w-will show the way!"

Despite the lurching movements of the starship, Rihen stumbled off towards the door in question, and to her relief, her code seemed to be accepted. Thea's voice came from the control panel.

[Warning, room interior is unsafe. Fire suppression systems are offline.]

"Override! We have to help him! Please!"

---

OOC: Here is the posting order for the different ships in this Chapter! As you can see, we are close to a chapter change, so all the writers with characters below should keep this in mind, and end their posts in a dramatic/cliffhanger kind of way if you can, but no worries if you can't come up with anything! I am just saying that it could be a good idea. :)

Vector 01 of the Theurgy | Main Bridge: Chapter finished!

Vector 01 of the Theurgy | Conference Lounge: Martin + Ejek + Parnak + Keval + Derik (No PO, hearing Ives' reply to Slayton) > Chapter finished!

Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Main Sickbay: Hayden O'Connor + Hylota/Vinata (No PO) > Chapter finished!

Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Surgical Suite 02: 1) Nicander 2) Maya > Chapter finished!

Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay: Sten Covington (and Eun Sae Ji NPC) > Chapter finished!

Vector 03 of the Theurgy | Main Engineering: Amelya Duv + Nolak Kalmil (No PO) > Chapter finished!

Lone Wolves Squadron: 1) Goldeneye 2) Razor 3) Husker > Chapter finished!

Grey Wolves & Tribble Squadron 1) K'Ren 2) Havenborn > Chapter finished!

USS Resolve: 1) Suq in Engineering 2) Tristan Kendrick on the bridge > Chapter finished!

USS Allegiant: Jaya Thorne > Chapter finished!

SS Sabine: 1) Sera vers Aldnoah 2) Hi'Jak > Chapter finished!

USS Orcus: 1) Dev 2) Garcia 3) Marcus Slayton & SCO 'Terror' > Chapter finished!

I have one more post to write with Nicander in this chapter before I write the starters for the next ones. :)

[ Lt.Com. Martin | Conference Lounge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide] Attn: Anyone present in the conference lounge

As Martin left the bridge she felt empty inside. As if some great force of God had reached down from the heavens and gutted her. As she neared the door to exit the bridge she glanced back at Kendrick. She vaguely recalled that Suq had dashed out of the bridge a few seconds ago as well, and for a brief moment she envisioned the two of them, floating in space as desiccating corpses. If the explosion didn't kill them then the mix of ebullism, hypoxia, asphyxiation, and-

Martin had to stop there, that line of thought wasn't helping anyone. She had to focus. She squared herself up and fought back her tears as she rushed to reach the Theurgy, helping anyone she might stumble upon along the way. Soon she had reached the airlock and found herself ushered by Theurgy crew members through the numerous halls of this colossus of a ship, and eventually to a conference room at the fore of Deck 01.

Once within, she shut her eyes and tried to calm herself, her breathing shaking as she did so. There was the rest of the bridge crew and most of the senior staff, all sitting there in silence. Nothing needed to be said, the situation really spoke for itself. It was then that she became aware that the only noise in the room was coming from a display nearby. There on the screen was... Captain Ives? Certainly appeared a bit different from what Martin had heard. But none of that mattered, Martin's attention was largely centered on what Ives was actually saying.

"-Have always done since we fled Earth. You are being misled by a corrupted Starfleet Command. The orders you act on are not legit, but the will of alien usurpers. Like the changelings in the Dominion War, they impersonate our admirals, and you are taking their word for truth, whereas you should question all that you have been led to believe. The Theurgy will not stand down, but we will not strike the first blow. If you engage us-" So that is what was happening? Was Hawthorne one of these... things? Is any of this even true? All that Martin could do was whisper "How far does it go?" before lowering her head as she sought to puzzle out all that had unfolded.

[Lt. Jg. Suq | Main Engineering | USS Resolve ]
Suq felt vibrations from the ship in his feet. He hated to think he had any sort of connection to this floating hunk of hell and bad memories, but on some level, he could tell which vibrations were shields and which were parts of the ship falling off. As he bolted to engineering, he busied his mind assessing the damage. Their remaining nacelle is likely being overworked, there's a variety of already existing holes in the hull that are probably spreading as they go. He crossed a hallway and saw an emergency barrier in place--and a crewman drifting in open space, grabbing for help where he would get none, too far to be saved but too close to let go of that hope.

His heart stopped in that moment, but his body carried him away. It was a second's glimpse of a walking dead man--or floating dead man, as things may be--but he had a feeling this would stay with him for life.

When he finally reached engineering, he felt glad Six was there. Another living, human being who refused to accept their grim demise. Death loomed, he felt it's breath down his neck, but the spirits willed him to live. She already had a great idea in mind, though neither of them could be too sure on a target.
"Best to coordinate with Theurgy's tactical-- Worst comes to worst we'll, we'll fire it in the middle of battle and, and hope we hit something we don't care 'bout." He huffed. He had his inhaler twice today, he shouldn't need any more, but he felt his breath stolen away, his heart pounding like it wanted to explode and kill him with it. He got himself situated with a console in engineering and brought up a comms link to the Theurgy.
"This is Chief Engineer Suq of the USS Resolve, our warp core's dying, but we can weaponize that. All we need's a target. Standing by for further instruction."

"Okay, Six, shouldn't be long, we'll get our instructions and we'll go. Just hold on a little longer--here, let me do the rerouting. Don't work yourself to death, Resolve's not that important." He fussed. He moved like he wasn't too sure where he was going to go until he got there, but he got to a console and pulled up a map of the EPS conduits across the ship. Many reported breaks in the line and were automatically shut down or rerouted to prevent further leakage. In a few places, plasma was slowly building up with nowhere to go. It would be a stressful hell of a maze to fix, but Suq went at it with all the enthusiasm of an agitated borg. That is to say, he did it with a sense of urgency, but very little visible emotion.

Something held in his mind. Something was eating at him. On the way down to engineering, he thought, briefly, about firing the warp core at their lost nacelle. The explosion would be significant, destructive, possibly pollution-causing, but dazzling to say the least. He bit his lip, wondering whether or not to bring it up...

[ Ensign K'Ren | Grey Wolf-03, callsign "Neko" | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: Triage, Havenborn, Resolve & Theurgy Fighter Elements
[ Ensign Miles Jackson | Grey Wolf-03 RIO, callsign "Merlin"]

For any fighter pilot surrounded and alone, back up against the wall, the sound of a familiar voice over the radio, orders given was enough to breath new life into the fighter pilot. Even as she fought to survive, K'Ren had consigned herself to her inevitable death, wanting to take down as many of these fuckers as she could, to acquit herself before her atoms were spread across space and she stepped across the divide where she knew her mate awaited. Hearing Tancredi, meaning her primary mission objective was well, come to her aid, not the other way around, she swung her damaged craft around to join her pack, giving her a chance to asses the damage.

And the damage didn't look good. The shields had taken a beating, they were down to 23% and power was fluctuating thanks to a lucky strike on their warp nacelle while shields had briefly dropped. One didn't need a computer to tell the nacelle was damaged and leaking EPS plasma despite valves upstream having closed, meaning the damage was worse then a quick glance would suggest. Warp was offline, one of the phaser cannon was damaged, the emitter crystal cracked forcing a shutdown "Status Merlin?" she asked her backseater. "What is working on this thing?"

Merlin looked up from his display. "We have thrusters, one phaser cannon, limited impulse, and shields are buckling. We're useless in a fight Neko, One good hit from anything and we're done for." "Roger," K'Ren responded, opening up the secure channel to Tancredi. "Meony, Neko. We're dead in the water here Ensign. We're RTB."

Closing the channel, Neko vectored the fighter towards the Resolve and Theurgy.

The craft was getting harder and harder to control with each passing second. Something else must have been damaged as systems began shutting down left and right. Merlin fought to reroute power as best he could, life support could be ditched as they had the survival suits on. Weapons powered down as they were in no condition to fight. That left shields and engines, and the way the craft was performing even those would be gone before they reached a friendly landing pad. Suddenly a klaxon blared out, a core breach in progress. Merlin knew K'Ren was focused on keeping control of this thing so he pulled the eject lever for the pod, yelling "Bail Bail Bail." over the internal comms, letting Neko know they were punching out.

As he pulled the lever, the core breached, engulfing the craft in fire and flame, he felt the kick of the pod ejecting but as his world went black, Merlin didn't know if they'd made it, or if he would soon be atoms. Either way, as darkness claimed him, Merlin was at peace, he'd done everything he could, it was up to fate to decide the outcome. To an outside observer, the shattered remains of Wolf-03 could be seen to explode, a blip of energy on sensors followed by nothing as the transponder went dead. If the pod had made it clear, there should be a new transponder but none could be seen on sensors.

[ F'Rell of the Twelfth House | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Resolve ]
[Show/Hide] Attn: Auctor

Silver eyes fluttered open and gazed around a debris-covered corridor aboard the Resolve. A long, blue creature lifted into the air before shuddering and lowering a bit. She paused as pain raced through her before slowly coming to her senses. Slowly, she twisted around an inspected her flank, and observed wide gashes in her fragile skin that have since been sealed up by her own regenerative process. As the stinging sensation began to clear, she slowly realized that there was a distinctive yellow shape standing before her. Her eyes squinted and peered, and the shape clarified and took the form of one CPO Liam Herrold, one of the maintenance crewmen that worked in the area. Wincing, she looked around for her translator, with the various appendages along her snaking body feeling around for it. After a few seconds she retrieved the device from beneath a small pile of rubble and twisted her buoyant form around to face Herrold.
 
"Liam Herrold, I have been unconscious for some time, what is happening?" She dimly recalled that the Resolve was attacked, but the pain from the slashes in her flank only served to blot out most of her thoughts. "I apologize if you have said anything before now, I am presently in a very disoriented state." she continued, as colors of alarm and consternation continuously flashed along her twisting body.

[ Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Outer space | Within phaser range of Starbase 84 ] 

Tessa pushed her Valkyrie through the empty gulfs of space, heading straight to the titanic mushroom shaped saucer at the superior side of the massive Orunal-class space station that dwarfed Starfleet's largest starships.  The shields surrounding the station had suddenly dropped, and she wasn't going to lose the opportunity to shake her tails.  A swarm of interceptors pursued her, gaining and losing weapons locks on her fighter as the Valkyrie's technologically augmented EMS tried to compensate.  Before the interceptor pilot's unbelieving eyes, she actually flew her fighter into the open drydock that the Resolve had shot its way out of only moments before. 

Screaming like a banshee as she pushed her fighter's Pulsed Trentis Mk. IV RCS Thruster Assembly to its breaking point, Tessa managed to turn her Valkyrie hard to port before she crossed the entire diameter of the spacious drydock bay and zoom along the interior concave curve of the station's hull, emitting girlish squeaks and cries as she dodged runabouts and starships that were docked to the hull of the station.  The pilots behind her abandoned the pursuit as they used the Pulsed Amoena Mk II RCS Thruster Assemblies in their AC-347 Knight-class Interceptors to slow themselves down to avoid crashing into the station's hull themselves.  They had already seen the carnage when their Knights launched when the station's doors were shut and they didn't want a repeat performance.  Nevertheless a few unlucky pilots were spun out of control when they sideswiped the worker bees that were assigned to clear the debris and recover the wreckage from the first group of interceptors to suffer a fatal mishap that day. 

"Ooh, I'm sorry-sorry-sorry!" Tessa whined as the explosions, shrapnel and perfectly intact small craft whizzed this way and that through the massive bay.  "I never thought you'd actually follow me!"  

As evading fighters and out of control worker bees mixed with the floating wreckage that was now moving dangerously quick in random directions Tessa realized that remaining in Starbase 84's drydock was probably more dangerous than facing all of the interceptors outside.  Tessa squeaked as she barely avoided colliding with a Defiant class escort that was docked up to the interior hull.  She missed her first opportunity to exit the way she had come in but on her second pass she managed to dart out of the doors that were now permanently open until repairs could be made.  She didn't notice the Defiant escort she had narrowly missed withdraw its boarding tube and umbilical couplers and follow her.

Suddenly Husker's TVD flared to life with a set of information that made his blood run colder then any of the weather that he'd ever seen on Andoria...colder then how Ida treated him the last moments that he had with her only a day or two before...  But she was out!  She was home free!  She was out of that chaos and into the black empty sky with only...

[Goldeneye, this Hurl,] her missing wingman's voice said over her comlink. 

"Hurl!" Tessa gushed.  "You're alive!  I don't..."

[Not for long, Tessa, you've got a Defiant class escort on your six.  The USS Chester!  It followed you out!]

"AUGH!" she screamed unprofessionally.

["All Theurgy and Resolve fighters, fall back into a defensive posture for close-support to the Vectors."]  Commander Trent's voice ordered.

"With pleasure!" she exclaimed more to herself than anyone else as she activated her fighter's warp drive to travel at half the speed of light for less than a second.   It wasn't tactical speed but she wasn't about to tangle with the Chester.  "Follow me, Hurl!"

["Wolf Leader to Salvo!"] Miles Renard's voice called on her channel.  ["Sending squadron comm channel frequency. See the Sabine to safety, Lieutenant, then I suggest we join formation at Vector 01. I will meet you there! Ghost, Goldeneye, Hurl, you defend Vector 03. I am seeing Tovarek drones out there too, and hopefully they can help us as well, mercy be with us..."]

"Aye-aye sir," Tessa acknowledged before disengaging exterior communications to study the data coming on her heads up display.  "Vector Three,  Vector Three,  where is Vector Three?"

["All Vectors, maintain your defenses and spread out,"] Captain Ives' feminine voice ordered.

"Oh yes, there it is," Tessa murmured innocently.  "And oh look!  That fighter registering as a Reaver!  It's Thomas Ravon!  He's alive!  Did you see that Hurl?" she asked her wingman.  "Razor made it!  He's alive!  Everything's going to be okay!"

Its shields exhausted, Hurl's Valkyrie vanished in an explosion so devastating that it damaged the sensors of the USS Chester that had shot him down.

"Dammit!  Dammit!  Dammit!  Dammit!" Tessa cursed.  "Now all we need is an enemy carrier with a fresh squadron of fighters to come and get us!"

That was when she noticed yet another threat identified on her heads up display.

THREAT IDENTIFIED: USS ORCUS (NX-88770)
CLASS: VESTA (ORCUS-CLASS TACTICAL STRIKE CARRIER)
COMMANDING OFFICER: CPT SLAYTON, MARCUS A.
SQUADRON OF NOTE: WHITE WOLVES SQUADRON

"Nuts," Tessa cursed as piloted her fighter away from the Chester to rendezvous with Rawley and the Theurgy's Vector 03.  "Me and my big mouth.  Can't we get a break?"

(https://orig06.deviantart.net/de6a/f/2010/033/9/0/star_trek_mccoy_jailhouse_blue_by_schematization.gif)

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Outside Starbase 84, approaching USS Theurgy ] Attn: Kaligos & All

Sera grimaced as Sabine banked around another piece of debris. The lights dimmed and warnings blared as they took another few phaser hits, but everything seemed to hold together still. She barely managed to dodge out of the way of a torpedo at the last second, but time seemed to slow as the explosion lit up their side display. Images of their insane day passed through her head. 'Sands, everything has gone wrong today,' she thought. She'd made questionable decisions in the name of survival. The images flashing through her head showed her Melissa smiling, Jack saving her from two guards by the shuttlebay, but she also heard the last moments of Melissa's message, her death, and the death of the station members she'd killed. Did she deserve to survive?

She shook her head as time seemed to speed back up and the chaos resumed. Jack deserved to survive, and he deserved to get that evidence to someone who could bring the dead of today justice. She would do that for Melissa. She swallowed all of those thoughts and fueled her grief into anger, using that anger to focus.

Sera tapped at the notifications flashing on her screen, "Shut up you annoying machine, I'm trying to concentrate!"

Sassing her yet again, the computer called out, "Shields at 40%."

She noted the update but her grimace deepened. The damn machine's vocal processors were getting deleted first moment of peace she got. She savored that thought for a moment, letting it give her hope that they would survive this. Jack called out behind her, incensed that she used his name.

"They don't know me from anyone, I had to give them a reason to bring us on board. You're that reason," she said bluntly as if it should have been obvious. She cursed again as more weapons fire came in. "And if you haven't noticed, almost everything out here is trying to kill us anyway!"

Their hero soon arrived with a modified Starfleet shuttle and she spoke with a drawl to her voice. It was the most beautiful thing she'd heard since all of this hell had broken loose. Soon they were in a much better position and Sabine was flying at full speed towards the Theurgy who had given them permission to dock.

However, on the way she saw a fighter near their path explode in a bright light. As Sera changed their course to avoid the debris, she noticed that an escape pod that had cleared the explosion. Her first thought was to ignore it. It wasn't her business, and she was no hero.

Almost accidentally, though, she noticed that the pod wasn't showing up on her sensors. She wondered if its transponder had been damaged somehow. Sera tapped a button to do a quick scan of it. The results made her curse. It was right in front of them, and if anything, it would give them another reason for Theurgy to like her, she thought grudgingly. It was a miracle that she had seen it, and no one else was likely to. Her voice growled as she opened a channel.

"Sabine to escort, I see a fighter eject pod in our path from the Resolve wing. It has life signs, but the transponder's dead. I'm going to alter course just a little and tag it with a tractor on our way to Theurgy, copy."

They took another few phaser hits, but she didn't wait for the response as she looked over at her shoulder at Jack. "I won't be able to slow down. You've got one shot. I know you can do this." It wasn't a pep talk, really, she was just being her bluntly honest self. She locked eyes with him until he nodded to her. She altered course and flew in, the rest would be up to Jack.

[Jaya Thorne (https://orig05.deviantart.net/12e0/f/2016/300/a/4/imgpsh_fullsize_by_auctor_lucan-damefg0.png) |  USS Allegiant Bridge] Attn: Auctor, Kaligos, Allegiant Bridge Crew, Sabine crew, Fighters elements & All


Sithick.  The hulking lizard was the last person that Jaya had expected to see in that moment and the confusion showed on her face.  But he clearly wasn't there for a social call.  He was tearing apart the exploded console, or rather, the floor panels beneath it.  This was it.  This was the moment she'd been waiting for.  The moment the Gorn revealed himself for what he really was: a sabotaging assassin.. except..  Except Jaya had always thought it would just be her that died, not her crew mates and CO too.  Had she known he was waiting to take them all out at once, she would have acted against him sooner.  But that's how karma worked, wasn't it?  She had betrayed an entire organization, so here she was watching her assassin do the same.  Her anger boiled over and she couldn't contain her thoughts.

"Sithick!!  You-!"

His scaly arm reached towards her and Jaya yelped.. as his claw tapped a button on her seat and she found herself suddenly strapped in by the seat belt.  She blinked.  "..wait..What?"

With a tap of his claws on the semi-operational console, suddenly Jaya felt her body lift into the air.  Thankfully, her restraints were in place and she remained more or less seated, thanks to a certain Gorn.  Jaya glared openly at him.  What was he even thinking?  He could have just killed them all. Oh, Jaya would have put up one helluva fight, sure, but he likely would have won.  And even if he hadn't, their ship would have been destroyed eventually anyway since they had no shields.  Why then would he go through the trouble of  fixing them??  WHY?  The words coming from Sithick made even less sense than the shields update that the computer had given seconds ago.  39% and holding.. don't waste it Jaya.. as if he cared.. unless..

The possible scenarios ran through her head, going back over the last three years of her life and suddenly Jaya felt lost.  She didn't have an answer to any of it and frankly the whole situation was hurting her brain.  So when Dewitt gave her orders, Jaya focused on those words instead, dragging her scathing gaze from Sithick and focusing on her console instead.  Make a run, don't get dead, take out as many interceptors as she could and get readings on the boarding party.  That was her job.  Her only job.  Easy, now that she had shields up and imminent death wasn't on the horizon.

"Aye, Commander."  The words were mumbled and half audible, but Jaya wasn't focused on speaking.  She was focused on doing her job.  She brought the Allegiant around and locked onto the nearest interceptor, one that happened to be making a run on some of their fighters.  Jaya targeted and fired on the approach.  The interceptor burst into orange flames and debris, but Jaya didn't bat an eye.  She was already targeting the next one and the next.  She had the Allegiant dodging the enemy fighters as they flew closer to the base, and between herself and Morwen, there was a hail of orange fiery debris in their wake. 

But more enemy units were entering the fray and their own fighters were vastly outnumbered.  From the chatter she'd overheard, there were a couple places where more firepower was needed and she could provide that.  Besides, it was on the way to where she wanted to go and she felt the need to make a dent in those Interceptors.  Jaya's second pass was a strafing run on a perpendicular course to the Sabine and her escort.  The ship had just gone off-course and as Jaya saw the enemy fighters swooping in to close the gap, she barked at Morwen.

"Morwen, take out those Interceptors!  That ship is flagged non-hostile and she's limping along!"  Morwen rained phaser fire and torpedoes down on the four interceptors hot on the escaped ship's tail as Jaya used defensive maneuvers to avoid colliding with anything.  All four broke apart under the attack and only one managed a potshot at the Sabine.  It missed, but Jaya now saw why the ship went off course.  It had a tractor beam up and was intent on dragging something like a pod with it to dock with the Theurgy.  Hopefully, the pilot was alive.

["SS Sabine, this is USS Allegiant.  Good work with that tractor beam!  You're clear for now, but there's a helluva lot more out here."]  Jaya would have said more, but really what more was there to say in the heat of battle?  She was just pleased everything was going as well as it was, and now they'd cut a path through the enemy.  It was time to do some more damage.

Jaya surveyed her navigational screen and pulled up the safest point to monitor friendlies on the Starbase.  She steered the Allegiant towards that marker in the most effective way possible: by taking out the Interceptors in her way.  Shields were still holding at 39% and their weapons were still fully functional, so Jaya aimed for speed.  As she wove her way through the battle, something rocked the ship and an alert sounded as she shields fell to 36%.  Jaya showed nothing on the viewscreen firing at them, so she brought up the rear and there they were: two Interceptors clearly firing and chasing them. 

Now Jaya grinned.  "Oh, look at you, sneaky little bastards creeping up behind me.  Think you got what it takes to take me down?  Think again assholes!"  She was mumbling to her console, and with the alert sounding on the bridge, she doubted anyone else could hear her.  At least everyone was already buckled in so she didn't have to warn them when she had the Allegiant dive and buck to lose the enemy at her tail.  One went veering off as she somehow outmaneuvered their smaller crafts, but two more joined the fight.  Each hit knocked the shields down another percent, despite Jaya's excellent tactics at defensive weaving.  So when she saw a group of Interceptors dead ahead, she decided to go for it.  Since she couldn't shake them off, maybe she could make them do something crazy instead.

They saw her ship flying at them, and they opened fire.  Jaya dodged most of their shots, but let a couple through as glancing blows when the timing was right.  One glancing blow to the starboard side of the Allegiant was a direct hit to one interceptor behind her.  A second glancing blow to the port underbelly of her ship sent a different Interceptor spinning out at crashing into a third somewhere below them.  Now it was a game of chicken and Jaya was entirely too calm.  She sped towards the Interceptors in front of her despite the mounting tension on the bridge.  She knew what she was doing.  She'd done this trick before, in a heavier, clunkier ship without the fine-tuned reflexes that Federation technology provides. 

The computer warned about an approaching impact and Jaya ignored it.  She ignored everything except her console readings.  Morwen had all the weapons for this run, since Jaya needed to concentrate, and that's exactly what she was doing.  Concentrating on the exact right moment to..

Not yet... ...

"Augh!  UP!!!"  Jaya's fingers raced over her console as the enemy Interceptors dropped below their view screen and the Allegiant changed course amidst a halo of orange sparks.  The computer alert stopped and Jaya exhaled.  Apparently they were being pursued by five Interceptors (another had joined somewhere along the way), and Jaya had just made the remaining four crash into a group of five other Interceptors.  The Allegiant pulled away as Morwen continued to fire at the enemy, damaging and destroying as many as she could.  Jaya felt triumphant despite the little voice telling her it was a stupid, risky thing to do.  She would get yelled at later.  Right now, it was good to be alive.

And speaking of alive, they were finally close enough to monitor life sign readings on the Starbase.  Jaya had the sensors scan for friendly readings.

"Commander, scans show-"

Alerts sounded throughout the ship as something hit it.  Jaya checked for hostiles and she cursed as she found them.  Five more Interceptors, as far as she could tell, were closing in and firing.  Another run across the field might shake them, but she didn't think she could play chicken twice in the same fight and win.  So she continued her unusual combat defense strategy of weaving through the enemy.  She was grateful this little ship was so agile despite her seemingly large size compared to a fighter, but it seemed her trail was easier to follow this time.  Either that, or these enemy pilots were just better than the last bunch.  They were still close enough that if Dewitt needed to, she could read the life sign scans herself, but she'd have to do it fast.

"Commander, I can't shake them and I don't think my trick will work a second time!  These guys are slightly better than the last group!"

[Dr. Hayden O'Connor| USS Theurgy | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay ]

For the Theurgy's medical staff, the progress of the battle raging outside wasn't measured by explosions on a viewscreen, status reports on a tactical console, or even the number of damage control teams deployed throughout the ship. No, battle progress, and indeed even the understanding of battle was happening at all, was measured in the trickle or deluge of patients coming through the infirmary doors. It was measured in the number of overturned medical trays that had to be righted after each time the floor plating shifted under their feet preceded by a thunderous sound as the ship took yet another hit. It was measured by the intensity in the staff's voices as they constantly assessed from minute to minute whether they had control over the influx of patients or whether they were on the verge of losing control.

In the infirmary, the only thing that mattered was tending to the patient directly in sight and then moving on as quickly as possible to the next one. Grabbing on to the nearest console, or in some cases, the nearest person to keep steady had to be a minor inconvenience at worst and just simply part of the infirmary battle dance at best. For all any of them knew, they were all close to death, and the Captain was mere seconds or minutes away from making such an announcement. Still, they couldn't let such worries of their future existence get in the way of the task at hand. After all, thinking of their future existence could only seem like a fanciful luxury compared to the spurting wounds in front of them.

Doctor Hayden O'Connor was tending to such a wound now. Force fields could only hold for so long in certain places and bolts and metals didn't consider where they would land when they flew off in the heat of battle, and in this case, an engineer had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He would lose his leg if Hayden couldn't get the bleeding stopped, but fortunately, she'd been able to apply a tourniquet in time to stabilize her patient until he could get surgery. O'Connor was able to reach the critical man because nurses like Vinata were focused on triage and on treating the minor injuries so the infirmary could be cleared and the staff could more clearly see what critical patients they needed to attend to. O'Connor wasn't a surgeon, but she was grateful that everyone was doing their part so she could do her very best in turn.

As Hayden attended to her critically injured engineer, she couldn't help but feel as if someone's eyes were on her and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise. The psychiatrist pushed the sensation away, attributing it to her own anxiety and fear of failure. Everyone had too much of their own work to do, obviously, and surely wouldn't have time to consider whether she was saving a life or was indeed in trouble. Hayden allowed herself a second or two to watch the bleeding slow and to offer her patient a reassuring smile. He was awfully pale, but she had done what she could to stabilize him, and at least he wasn't in immediate danger any longer. Now, she just had to hope they could get him to surgery as soon as possible.

Sweat dripped off Hayden's nose and as she looked down at her trauma gown, which was covered in her latest patient's blood as well as a combination from others. At a certain point, not changing gowns to move to patients quicker became more risky to her health and to that of her future patients, so she knew she had to change. She moved toward the nurse's station and saw up ahead there was a stack of clean gowns available. That was when the feeling she was being watched intensified, and as she grew closer to the desk, she immediately understood why.

Seeing Nurse Maal doing his best to practically drag or carry Hylota to somewhere, anywhere, for help, Hayden didn't need a medical tricorder to know Hylota was in labor. Although she knew the timing wasn't ideal, this wasn't a surprise given what Hylota and Vinata had taught her about Ovri gestation. Based on their information, Hayden knew there was a good possibility that today would be the day, and she had informed Hylota in advance that she was going to set up the birthing pool in Isolation Ward 2. Both women didn't relish the idea of tying up part of the isolation ward possibly in the heat of battle, but they agreed it was the space most suitable for their needs already. Modifying another room would take time and resources they really couldn't afford, and while Hayden didn't anticipate any complications, she had to admit, she liked the idea Hylota would already be close to a surgical suite if things went wrong.

She knew Hylota didn't relish the idea of taking Hayden away from her duties any more than the female Ovri hated to think she might be pulled away from her own important work in the middle of battle, but O'Connor knew she wouldn't have been able to concentrate on anyone else properly if she knew Hylota was laboring alone or with minimal support. Hayden didn't believe she was the only one who could help Hylota, of course, but she'd created a bond of sorts with the Ovri nurse throughout her pregnancy, a bond as close as Hylota allowed with her, anyway, and she wasn't going to leave her at this critical point. Besides, as far as Hayden knew, Hylota's potential offspring would be the first to be born aboard the Theurgy, and O'Connor felt a certain responsibility to ensure they survived, a focus of hope and joy for the entire crew during this uncertain time.

Locking eyes with Maal, she could see the pleading in his own and she offered a slight nod of acknowledgement and reassurance as she said, "I've got the birthing pool already set up in Isolation Ward 2.  Maal, do you need help or do you just want me to lead the way?"  She could tell Hylota was in pain and was trying to keep it together.  She didn't want to break Hylota's focus, but she also didn't want to treat her like she was invisible either, so she added, "After that, it can be just us women if you like.  I'm here to help keep you as comfortable as possible, so we can do whatever you need."

[ Dr. Silim Parnak | Bridge | U.S.S. Resolve ] Attn: Kaligos, FollowTomorrow, Auctor Lucan, Anyone else 

The castle was burning and from on high, the nobles could do naught but watch.

Automated fire suppression systems worked overdrive to clear the smoke as the bridge rattled under the latching mechanism from Theurgy. The ship had found valiantly against overwhelming odds, not only in part because of the work of the Efrosian engineer and Human science officer. The surprise of Ives offering aid had forced Parnak to question his perceptions of the being, most of the information he had received on that topic had come from Federation news sources anyway and as such could only be trusted so far. If nothing else, this whole situation would make his next letter to family more interesting than any of the previous he had sent.

Captain Kendrick gave the evacuation order and officers began their preparations for leaving the ship behind, although Silim got the distinct impression that Kendrick would not be joining them. It was a shame really, Parnak had come to like the human for all his faults. Feeling a squeeze on his shoulder, Silim looked up, directly into the eyes of Ejek. The Cardassian counsellor he had found aboard this peculiar vessel. No words needed to be said, he could see it all from her furrowed brow and concerned expression. It was time to leave.

"Captain, if you ever make it Cardassia after all of this blows over, let me know. We simply must sit down for tea." Silim said with sly ease and a smile. With that, he stood and followed the ensemble of officers. Past smoking corridors and sparking panels, the group found their way to the airlock. At once, he felt a tug in the small of his elbow and Parnak turned. Ejek's hand was tucked in there.

"Keep going, I, uhm, need to check for other crewmembers." Ejek spoke, quietly at first, as if not sure of what she was saying, though there was a small fire behind those eyes.

"Until later then. Take care." Silim nodded and patted his shorter compatriot gently on the shoulder. He gave her one last look over before carrying on. In truth, it would be good to have a break. Silim knew that in the coming hours following the battle, assuming they survived, he would need to prove his usefulness to Captain Ives. He doubted it would be he would be as easy as Kendrick and for that he would need all his wits. Ejek clouded things for Silim and this was not the time to be distracted by subtle young Cardassian flesh, nor what he could do it.

Heading past the security guard directing them all to a turbolift, Parnak was lost in thought. Working through the hypotheticals on the best way to woo Ives. Perhaps just maybe, if he managed it, this time aboard Theurgy could be useful. The Cardassians didn't have much information on Chameloids, hopefully Silim Parnak could change all that.

[ Ensign Zelosa Ejek | Airlock | U.S.S. Resolve ] Attn: Kaligos, Auctor Lucan, Hestata-Nerada, Doc Reno, Vystori, Mathis, Anyone else

What am I doing? What am I doing? Ejek repeated to herself as she pushed her way back into the Resolve. She had gotten Parnak to safety and for that she was relieved. The civilian was out of the way but there were others still trapped aboard. Running down the corridor, the ship seemed eerily empty. Those who could, had followed the captain's orders and already abandoned ship, leaving only those unable or too stupid to leave.

The latter, that's you. she chided herself as she dashed down the corridor. Quickly looking back and forth, Zelosa searched for signs of life. Inside, she wasn't sure what had brought on this feat of heroism, but as time progressed she began to feel more and more stupid. She couldn't leave. She had to find somebody. She had to help. There must be someone here. Ejek inhaled and exhaled deeply. Focus!

It was then she remembered the damage report from the bridge. Sickbay had lost power and Lyhn was cut off. If there was any luck left, Ejek would be able to get there and help. She ran to the junction of the corridor, which provided access to the turbolift. As Ejek ran, he thighs burned with effort and she slammed her palm hard into the call button for the lift.

Alas, what power provided the lights in the corridor did not extend to the turbolifts. After multiple touches Ejek could do little but declare the system dead. Frantic now, she looked back and forth, trying to remember where the entrance to the Jefferies Tube would be. Down the corridor, something caught her eye. This part of the hallway had collapsed, with the bulkhead laying unceremoniously where they fell from their hidden space within the ceiling. It was not, however, the durasteel which had attracted her attention but the body in which lay under it.

Ejek closed the distance quickly and pushed on the beams, luckily, they slid far enough for her to check on his crewman. He was human, unconscious and wore the yellow of security, operations and engineering. The dust and grease which lined his face made it difficult for Ejek to identify the man, but that was no matter, for as she put her cold fingers to his neck, she could feel a pulse.

Alright, she prepared herself, pull him loose and then get him to Theurgy. Easy. She hoped. Hooking her hand under his armpits she hauled, slowly pulling him free of the debris. Triumphant, she breathed heavily, only then realizing that she had been holding her breath. No time to stop now though. Again, her hands found a place to grip the man, before pulling him through the corridors to the airlock.

When she arrived, she ached all over. Crewmen from Theurgy rushed to assist her and Ejek thanked them profusely. She had done it! She had saved someone else and as she tried to catch her breath, she slowly slid down the wall to meet the floor. Over heaving gulps of air, Ejek tried to work out what to do. Part of her wanted to go back to Resolve, to save more. Another wanted to follow the directions she was receiving from the security guard and a small part prayed for a warm pool and a place to lay down.

It took moments to summon the courage to pull herself to her feet, but after that she was upright. In her brief respite, logic had prevailed and she heading in direction of the conference room that she had been advised to go to.

As the door parted to admit her entrance, Zelosa brushed herself down, trying to clear the dust from her uniform. She doubted very much that the smell of smoke would ever disappear. Inside, the remaining senior staff of the Resolve stood around watching a video feed. Although the feed caught her attention, she looked from officer to officer, where was Kendrick? Where was Suq? She wished they would join them soon. Her heart hurt from the loss of the Resolve, all those crewmen she couldn't save.

On the viewscreen Captain Ives was in communication with someone she didn't know. With little other choice, she had to ask. So, touching Derik gently on the shoulder, she broached the question.

"What have I missed?" 

[MCPO Nolak Kalmil | Main Engineering | USS Theurgy | Vector 03 ] Attn: All

The Deltan Master Chief laughed out loud at the bridge's tactical officer request. He had to stop himself from hitting the intercom button and chewing out whomever was on the bridge. He continued running system checks throughout the ship, finding every way he could squeeze a little more power. Shutting down all power to all food replicators; any cargo bay which showed no signs of life inside he powered down and coded lock. Next he powered down all lights to their emergency levels, except in a couple key areas, such as medical bay, battle bridge, and engineering.  One of the phaser banks had been knocked out which allowed him to divert the power from that into the shields.

Finally he flipped the intercom to the Lower Shuttle Bay, "Attention all crew members, due to the stress of the battle. I'm going to have to divert nearly all power from your landing flood lights and several of your nonessential systems down. Please inform any fighters coming in for emergency landings of the inconvenience. If any of them come here, they will be entering a dark landing bay. I'll return power as soon as possible. Chief out."

The power from the landing bays and the various other areas should provide a fair amount extra power and boost the shield regeneration rate, as he contacted the bridge, "Bridge, Chief here, that's nearly all we have left, unless you want to start holding your breath and I can start shutting down life support. We better fight or flight soon because I don't think any of our Vectors can hold out much longer, now that every Federation ship within a light year is here for this damn show. Chief out."

He shut the comm off and then he looked at the computer screen and said, "Well Thea, perhaps today is a good day to die. Activate the containment field around the warp core and increase the power outage to 110%. Override the the safety protocol. It's time for my radiation bath for the day, just like last time. Lets hope I don't go insane, cause another spore outbreak, and get my head kicked off again." He chuckled a little bit trying to ease his stress. The computer still in silent mode beeped in protest as the Daltan manually canceled the computers objection and activated the shield around him.  The thrumming within the ships core increased as the anti-matter is converted into power. Nolak wiped his face with the towel draped around his neck as the temperature also increased in the containment field.

[ Lt Hi'Jak | Sabine | Bay 17-C  | Starbase 84 ] Attn: Mathis, All

Jack opened his mouth to retort against Sera's use of his name, but nothing came out she had a very strong point. A lot of people were currently trying to kill them. Which really meant there wasn't any point in making themselves less of a target. When he heard the sweet voice of their southern bell savior he knew he had basically lost that argument. There was no way he could say that using his name hadn't been the right thing to do even if it was making life a little bit more difficult.

Switching their comm channel to that of the resolves fighters he was more then happy to hear the voices of people saying they were here to protect them. It took him a moment to remember how to tag targets as friendly, marking in the theurgy and resolve fighters as they were the ones currently not shooting at them.

What was more was the order to transmit his evidence to the Theurgy. He had just spent an entire day running from a captain and security who were trying to kill them, and now he had deal with the Theurgy, a group of traitors and pirates. Why they were even interested in something that was supposed to go to Starfleets high command he had no idea, but considering that was a war ship and the Sabine was pathetically small by comparison. So with no real choice as he had basically already picked a side.

Still he made a copy and sent the original, keeping yet another version of the file for himself. Rather then just giving the Theurgy everything he had he wanted to make sure that someone who would actually help got the entirety of his evidence.

"Sera." He looked to his pilot, one time lover, and the woman who had saved his life almost a dozen times today as things were starting too look up for the two's chances of making it out alive that morning. Of course they were far from being out of the fire yet, and he didn't want to Jinx anything as their shields were still being hammered by outside forces albeit not as much now that they were starting to make their way behind the resolves fighter line. He didn't know what to say so he simply placed a hand on her shoulder and patted her for a moment.

When she pointed out the fighter pod he nodded. Finding it with the sensors was easy, and switching from a tactical display to the science commands he felt much more secure. "Don't worry tractor beams are something I've actually had training in." He watched the count down as he set the teather, and as they passed K'Ren's downed pod a green light would attach it's self to it bringing it with them.

Of course that only got the pilot a ride into the Theurgy as they started the docking process Jack cut the engines and their tractor beam letting the docking bay actually handle the complexities of having them land on the fighter bay as they had been instructed. Both the ship and the pod they had been dragging were taken in by the ships docking landing tractor and pulled gently to the ground.

Once that was done and the Sabine was safely inside of the Theurgy Jack let out a long sigh as he sat forward resting his forhead against his arms and feeling the odd curves of the bones and ridges for a moment. "Right then... Now we just have to meet with security... so Where are my pants?"

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Burning Corridor | USS Resolve ] Attn: Hastata-Nerada [Show/Hide]

Having been shouting and waving for all the remaining deck hands in the Fighter Assault bay to run faster, Liam Herrold had traded a few quick words with Erik Randall. "I will go last! You make sure they don't close the airlocks for us!" Liam had shouted to Erik, since the chief was already further down the corridor than he was. "Hurry!"

"Don't do anything foolish, that's an order!" Erik called back to him before shouting for the last deck hands to follow him.

Liam ran after them, his heart beating loudly in his ears. The evacuation of the ship had come as a surprise, especially since for all they knew, the Theurgy was an enemy of the Federation. Yet then again, if Starfleet was prepared to destroy the Resolve, what were they supposed to do? Just accept it and die. Liam had no idea what was going on, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let himself be killed.

As he ran, his thoughts touched upon Neko and what had happened between them, hoping that she was okay out there. The warning klaxons were deafening, and fires were left unattended - the suppression system offline. They had been through a lot, the crew of the Resolve, but they'd always managed somehow, and repaired the ship as best as they might. He had a feeling, though, that this was the end of her. As he passed an intersection, something caught his eye, and he paused, looking again. Obscured by smoke, something was glowing just a few meters down the intersection. He looked towards the retreating backs of the deck crew, how they vanished in the rain of sparks ahead of him. Erik had said he should do anything foolish, but what if...?

Trusting his gut instinct, Liam ran to the source of the faint glow, and his suspicions were confirmed. F'rell! Eyes watered by smoke, he covered his mouth with his arm when he coughed. The T'fanrell was moving, injured but conscious. "F'rell! Are you all right?" he called, forcing him to cough again. He got no reply at first, and the strange alien creature was looking for something. It was not until she managed to activate her unique translator that Liam could pick out her reply - barely overriding the klaxons. She apologised for not hearing him, and Liam was quick to fill her in.

"We need to abandon ship! We have docked with the Theurgy and we must get to one of the airlocks! The Resolve might blow up any moment! Can you... fly? Float? Whatever you do, come! Follow me!"

Retracing his steps to the corridor he had come from, he almost made it there before a EPS conduit blew in the intersection, tearing apart the bulkhead and the ceiling of the corridor - gaping wide open and revealing the deck above. Liam found himself on his back, picking himself up, but even if he might be injured the adrenaline ran thick in his veins, and he was soon back on his feet. He looked towards the T'fanrell, then back at the burning corridor. "I think we better take another way to the airlock..."

[ F'Rell of the Twelfth House | Burning Corridor | USS Resolve ]
[Show/Hide] Attn: Auctor


Upon hearing Liam's report, F'rell twisted slightly in alarm, colorful spots racing down her flank. She quickly tried to bring her mind to sharpen. They were docked with some strange ship called the Theurgy, some ship that had come to their rescue it seemed. Regardless, the sense of urgency as clear, and the fragile T'fanrell did her best to right herself and follow Liam, wobbling slightly as her imbalanced flesh attempted to regenerate itself.

It reminded her much of when she was discovered by the Resolve, listing unconscious within one of the few pressurized portions of her shuttle, her makeshift transmitter beaming her cry for help into the black void. She had awaked to a small humanoid stranger near her, ready to take her to a new ship where she would be examined. If anything, the current situation was all too familiar, and the thought occurred to her that the crew of the Theurgy might wish to analyze her once more...

Her train of thought came to an abrupt halt when there was a sudden bright light, followed by a cacophonic explosion. She found herself blown back a few feet, her tendrils unable to parse her surroundings from the sudden shock. As she righted herself once more she saw Liam sprawled upon the floor of the corridor, but just as she began to shift herself downward to help him, the small humanoid stood on his own. "I think we better take another way to the airlock..." he said.

F'rell looked around at the burning ship around them and a gaping tear in the ceiling above them caught her attention. She remembered again when she had first assisted the crew of the Resolve, when she had pulled as many of the vulnerable carbon-based creatures out of the ruptured engineering section. An idea began to form as she twisted herself around to face Liam. "Herrold, I may have a solution." she said, and gestured upwards with one of her longer tendrils. "I can lift us out." At that moment, sense in her tendrils had begun to clarify back to normal, and she listened to the sounds of the ship to try and plan their way to safety.

---

OOC: According to the first post made for F'rell she assisted the Resolve with a near-breach of the warp core after the ship had struck a tricobalt mine. Given that she is 13 feet in length, presumably there is enough buoyancy to allow her to carry an adult human individual.

[ Lt Thomas Ravon | Hybrid Wolf cockpit | Outside Starbase 84 ] Attn: All

"Yes sir, the one and only." he replied over the comms to Renard as he heard him exclaim and narrowed his eyes as the communication came through a bit ragged with static. The orders came through clearly though despite the small pause when Miles took a hit. Thomas looked concerned over the last position of the SCO yet saw the Vulpinian fight back like a true beast before he continued in giving his order to him. "Order received."he replied as the squadron channels came to life while he was patched in. He could hear familiar voices yet new ones as well as he tried to figure out who Husker was. He had never heard about the callsign before and wondered where they picked him up. Regardless, he had an order to execute and made quick work of it.

"Morrigan, Husker, Outrider this is Razor." he started as he eyed them and thrusted his atrocity towards them flying in between them before taking the lead position. "I'll be taking over 06's designation..." he offered so he'd be more clearly spotted on the HUD's. Furthermore, he realized that unless Husker was outranking him, he'd be flightlead on this tour. "Alright Wolves, lets show these dimwits what we're made of." he smirked as he locked on to Vector 02. "Fasha, Husker, stay as close as you can to me before we hit Vector 02. Figure out which points are least defended and give them hell. If you need help shout it out and cover each others back. I'll fly patrol with Outrider around 02 and aid where needed. Confirm." he said calmly and calculated as his fighter element hurried towards Vector 02.

It was only then when he saw the Orcus and he looked at the fighters emerge together with the Chester. Time seemedto slow down for a second or two as he gazed upon the fighters, they looked different from anything he saw before. Unaware of what surprises they may hold he turned his attention back on defending Vector 02. Equally as important to the Theurgy as a whole, yet feeling more inclined to cover it due to the presence of Sickbay and their Fighter bay.

---

[ Lt Amelya Duv | Main Engineering | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: MasterRat & Lucan

The master chief sure seemed to be fine enough as he managed to rant and turn back to his systems to work ahead with the more pressing matters. "Chief, I have people looking for Abner and the others already. I'll stay out of your way, but don't tell me how to do my job." she bit back as she looked at Rihen "In any case, I'll be back later for you master chief and I expect you to visit Sickbay when this mess is over." she said clearly before he followed Rihen to the sealed door.

[Warning, room interior is unsafe. Fire suppression systems are offline.]

Duv looked at the door and then over at her security escort as she had to make a choice. "Any way you can open this door with an override?" she asked the man before he shook his head "No ma'am, these doors will stay shut in case of a fire to prevent a wildfire across the rest of engineering." he replied to her and Amelya looked at Rihen, right into her eyes as she shook her head and placed her hand on her shoulder "Rihen, listen to me... Do you have any sort of confirmation that Kae is alive in there?"

"I don't k-know! But I heard his voice after the blast, telling us he did it, but he sounded hurt... I don't know...." Worry permeated the mismatched eyes of her gaze, looking helpless in aiding her friend.

With Rihen's reply there was no doubt that the ensign was still alive, barely perhaps but alive. Amelya had a sworn duty to save those lives which she could. "Rihen, find us something to combat that fire, reroute power or anything for the fire suppression. We'll start with the phasers to slice our way through." she said, the security officer gave her a look and Duv looked back at him "That's an order." she said clearly as she took out her phaser and started to cut away at the sealed door. The process however was going to take three minutes if not longer.  as they chiseled away at the sealed door. Amelya could only hope that Kae would hold on for that long.

[ Captain Tristan Kendrick | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Atten: All


Kendrick watched his bridge crew go. Giving himself a few moments to self reflect. Martin's perposal of setting up a self destruct was un-needed, the ship was already tearing it's self apart at the seems. If they stayed here much longer it would end up taking both the Theurgy and themselves with it. No the focus at this point had to be on leaving the ship behind. It hurt physically to have to part with this ship but at least he knew his crew would be surviving the battle, and that was far more important.

Who knows maybe there would be a Resolve-B years later.

Keval's words and pat on the back helped him for a moment, and he had to admit that it was a slightly difficult thing to hear. They had gotten home, and while he had fully expected some sort of hearing and debriefing this wasn't exactly the kind of greeting he had expected from the Federation. "Home is a relative thing I suppose. But we got this far, and after the day I have had the scotch won't cut it."

"Tea on Cardassia, I will put it on the list." Kendrick said with a smile towards Parnack, honestly he liked that Doctor.

When his Bridge was completely empty he headed for the nearest turbolift. There was no need to call for a general shut down at this point, the ship wasn't going to see another day of service. "Kendrick to Theurgy, were on a time limit here. As soon as you have my crew I need you to cut off the Resolve and get to a safe distance, I will oversee the ejection of the warp core, to make sure that it does the most damage possible to the enemy fleet."

When he arrived at engineering he quickly joined Six and Suq, but also shooed them away. "Direct order you two, abandon ship, I can handle the rest, we need to be a safe distance from the Theurgy before the warp core can eject. Which means you two can't be on this ship."

Considering their attempt to weaponize the warp core they could not set it on a timer, there was a chance that it would miss. There would be time for an alternate leaving strategy after the weaponize warp core was fired, but that was something for him to figure out after the fact, for now he just needed these two and as many of his living crew as possible to get off this damned thing.

"Kendrick to the Theurgy the last of my crew should be getting to you any minute now, soon as I'm free I'd like you to feed me the coordinates for the biggest target you have, this warp core is set to breach and I'd rather it... someone else's problem."

[ CWO1 Sten "Papa Bear" Covington | Vector 3 | Fighter Assault Bay ] attn: All

For the Chief of the Deck, battle was something both intimate and remote.  Every single one of the pilots on Theurgy was someone he knew personally.  Granted, of all of them only did he have a personal friendship with their commander Iron Fox, but that had been the result of the years they had spent working closely together during the development of the Valkyrie Mk III.  He had also slept with Rawley during the Lolhunat celebration, but that had been more of a way for the two of them to relieve some stress after enjoying some tunes from back home.  But even then, the Lone Wolves were his, just like the Bear Cubs were. 

He was their Chief of Flight Deck Operations and they were his pilots.  Their fighters he knew as intimately as he did the inside of his own boots.  He could tell exactly which one had which quirks, and he could almost feel the damage they were taking out there.

But it was also remote, because he was there within the hangar deck, watching ordnance and status readouts come back to him, and now and again he would swear viciously as some damage was incurred. Or when a fighter would be disintegrated by weapons fire. 

But then, the order came to loose the last of the drones, and he broke into action.  His voice boomed across the deck, ordering the flight path cleared and the drones cut loose and turned over to their operators on the Flag Bridge.  But there was something else in those orders.  They needed the firepower out there, and he had nothing left to send out.  Unless...

"That's a bad idea," he muttered to himself, but then he called out again.  "Ji!  Warm up Cinsaj!" 

Yes, he had named the recovered Reaver he had rebuilt and figured out after the civilian engineer who was supposed to do it with him, naming the fighter after her in her memory after she had been murdered in the office he shared with the SCO.  And he knew that fighter was fully capable of fighting.  "Get her armed up.  I want those mass drivers we picked up from the battle with Calamity up top, and load up whatever ordnance you can under the wings.  I need to get changed."

As he walked, Covington contacted the Bridge.  "Bridge, this is the flight deck.  The drones are away, and we have one more fighter asset on hand and she's getting prepped.  Pilot's getting himself sorted out." 

And that was it, for he cut the channel as he entered the locker room.  Senior fighter ground crew members and Chiefs of the Deck, he knew, were qualified to do testing flights on their birds.  He should know, he was one of those who helped design the training regimen.  But none were qualified combat pilots, not even him.  But there was exactly one person on board who was familiar at all with the flight and combat systems of a Reaver-class fighter, and it was Chief Warrant Officer First Class Sten Michael Covington.  And that meant he was currently stripping down to nothing, because he was trading his coveralls for his fight suit.

Before long, he left the locker room, helmet under his arm, and found the Reaver at the back end of the flight path, ready to be launched, and he climbed aboard.  "Ji, you have the deck.  Bridge, this is Covington.  Permission to launch the Reaver?"

[ LT Daniel Havenborn | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie "Grey Wolf-01"] Attn: Anyone

Daniel lined up another shot on an interceptor and fired away, a second later his phaser fire was joined by Deadeye's and they knocked out the last of the group that was following the Sabine.  He'd let Ensign Tancredi's flight escort the Sabine to the Theurgy, there were still plenty of targets for him and Deadeye to fight.

"All Theurgy and Resolve fighters, fall back into a defensive posture for close-support to the Vectors."

Daniel heard the recall order but chose to ignore it; he still had work out here to do.  The USS Chester was emerging from the spacedock and it was time for a little payback.

"Wolf Leader to Salvo!"  There was a pause.  "Sending squadron comm channel frequency. See the Sabine to safety, Lieutenant, then I suggest we join formation at Vector 01. I will meet you there! Ghost, Goldeneye, Hurl, you defend Vector 03. I am seeing Tovarek drones out there too, and hopefully they can help us as well, mercy be with us..."

He shook his head; surely the Dreadnought could defend itself, it had done so thus far.  He felt that his flight would do far better if they tried to disable the USS Chester.  "Order received."  Was all he said, he had no intention of following through with the order until he was ready.  "Deadeye, set your course for 323-12-76, full throttle."  He said as he brought his fighter around and engaged his thrusters.  "Salvo, that takes us to the USS Chester."  Knight said behind him.  "I know, we're going to try and slow them down a bit."  He said as he heard the acknowledgement from Deadeye.

A moment later the pocket-destroyer came into view and as it began to open fire on them they both maneuvered out of the way.  The small fighters were able to dodge the incoming fire with ease and as they closed Daniel gave the order to open fire.  Both fighters only had their pulse phasers at this point but that was more than enough to do damage to the Chester's shields.  He watched as the sensor readout displayed the projected shield strength of the Defiant-class.

Suddenly time seemed to slow down as he glanced to his right and watched as a phaser bolt hit Deadye's fighter, clipping her port engine.  Suddenly he felt more anger well up in him, his squadron, his fucking squadron, the squadron that he saw through hell and back was now all but gone.  Only a handful of his pilots remained out there and now he had the only remaining Valkyrie.  Anger, hate, fear, sadness, it all welled up inside of him.  There'd be a time to mourn his pilots later he knew but at this moment he couldn't help but feel an intense burning hatred towards the Starfleet he had sworn to defend that had turned on them.  He'd do whatever it took to see the people responsible for this atrocity burn in hell for this.

"Losing control, ejection systems fried, Clutch is dead.  Going to try and ram the Chester, get out of here while you can!"  Came the call from Deadeye.  Daniel watched for a moment as her fighter slammed into the Chester's shields and he watched as they flickered from the damage.  He watched as the computer projected their shield strength was down to at least sixty percent.  Still more than enough for combat but maybe the Theurgy would have a better chance of taking the Chester down with her shields damaged and hopefully some of the debris from Deadeye's fighter would cause unforeseen damage to the Chester as the battle wore on.

He brought his fighter around and slamming the throttle forward to full thrust he made his way back to the Theurgy, sadly it was his only choice now since he couldn't go back to the Resolve.  He reached down to the tactical soft bag that was attached to his left thigh, it contained several survival items, such as a tricorder and a dermal regenerator, but it also contained the last item from his home, he always took it with him on sorties, it made him feel like a piece of his home was with him, plus it was useful as a survival tool.  He could see the Vector 01 as he closed, the Resolve was still docked but she was mortally wounded.  It was only a matter of time now he thought; though he secretly wondered if any of them would survive this battle much less the war they were now involved in.

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Burning Corridor | USS Resolve ] Attn: Hastata-Nerada [Show/Hide]

Hearing the T'fanrell's suggestion, Liam looked between the hole to the upper deck and her. "Are you quite sure that is a good idea? I'm quite heavy, and..." Another EPS relay detonated not far away from where they were, and motes of plasma embers flew past Liam - making him shield his face with his sleeve. The shockwave almost made him loose his balance. "Damn! Okay, maybe it's better than staying here. Must be a cascade down the grid. Okay, okay..."

Facing the task of grabbing a hold of the floating female creature, Liam was not sure what would be the safest way to do so without either hurting her, or loosing the grip on her when she passed through the hole. If his weapon-greased hands slipped, he would be burned alive. Time was short, and any section of the bulkhead could blow any moment, so there really wasn't any time for propriety or care. It was all about survival at that point. There were just so many... Wings? Fins? Tentacles? And they were all moving at once! Liam just hoped he wasn't putting his arms around some parts he shouldn't when he embraced F'Rell around her... tail, but not around the thinnest section of it, lest he thought he might slip off her. When he secured his arms between two sets of her fins, he felt that her bioluminescent skin almost felt like a writhing balloon, and her idea suddenly made a whole lot more sense. He realised he knew next to nothing about her species, and he could only hope her lighter-than-air flesh wasn't flammable, because it was a really narrow fit through that hole.

"All right, I am ready!" he called, just as another part of the bulkhead in their corridor detonated and sent a gust of plasma-heated air over them both. "Let's go!"

Liam was ready to hold his legs up when F'Rell flew- or swam - out over the fiery floor in order to reach that hole in the ceiling, and he could but hope she wouldn't knock him off against the edge. At that point, it was their only means for escape, since the entire deck they were on was about to blow. Were they the last ones aboard? Would the airlock still be open for them? Feeling a bit helpless in the situation, all Liam could do was to put his faith in the T'fanrell.

[ Hylota Vojona | USS Theurgy | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay ]

---

          As Maal rushed to her side and helped her up Hylota grunted as her midsection tightened. "Thanks for the help Maal, I did not think this would be as uncomfortable as it was." She let out a hollow chuckle as she tightened her hold on Maal and steadied herself so she would not need to be held up as much. Of course as Maal began to panic Hylota patted his arm and breathed heavily against him. "Hey, hey come on I need you to take a deep breath, just relax and try and find one of the doctors, we will need the hand, but we need to get to the isolation suite, it was modified for this purpose." As Maal made eye contact with Doctor Hayden, Hylota looked up to him and then followed his gaze along to the doctor and Hylota let out a sigh of relief, at least they had managed to find someone who knew exactly what to do to help. "Oh thank the mother."

As Hayden came over Hylota could internalize the entire conversation between them, about how this was all a poor decision, how she should not have been on duty, how she should have been in the isolation ward just in case this very thing occurred. To be honest Hylota mostly did not want to be told that she had been wrong, or to hear the dreaded "I told you so", given how things had happened to turn out in the worse way possible. As Hayden came to her side Hylota chose to deflect the topic in a way she wanted and she spoke through her heavy breaths. "Looks like things are moving more intensly than I had anticipated, we should get me out of here before I become a bother."

As Dr.O'Conner directs Maal to take her to the isolation ward Hylota smiled weakly and nodded. "Thanks for giving him some direct command, I think he is in a bit of shock at the moment." She breathed heavily as she focused through the discomfort. She also took the moment to look around, she tried desperately to locate her brother, but she could not spot the bright blue skin of his body, and with how hectic things were comms needed to be clear. Closing her eyes tight she thought about what Hayden was asking for she shook her head no. "N-No, Maal will stay, we will need the extra hands, a-and since I cannot find Vinata at the moment I will need them...Maal also needs to be there, these are his potential children, it is only fair he is there for this." Hylota just nodded and let herself be guided to the isolation ward, she did not want to get caught up in the patients right now.

[ Ens Derik Veradin (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Derik_Veradin) | Conference Room | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Arista, et al

In the few minutes since his arrival to the conference room where the Resolve's senior staff was collecting, Derik had been able to fully process very little. His mind chaotic, unable to concentrate on anything, he longed for the tenseness of being at the helm, where he could focus everything and let the rest fall away. He worried about Suq, one of the few of their crew who hadn't arrived yet. As he stood by a viewport, looking out onto the battle, he worried about other of their family engaged in dogfights and wondered how many of them were still alive. As he looked out he couldn't help but see the battle in various maneuvers he saw pilots performing. He could picture in his head the various headings, dodging, banking, being done and saw it all laid out in front of him like a map. While he was not a fighter pilot, he longed to be in one of them.

All of this was further complicated by Jien Ives, the captain of the Theurgy, and her reply transmission to Captain Slayton of the Orcus. The implications of those words shook Derik more than he might ever admit. He had still been assuming, perhaps hoping, that this entire situation was simply caused by the actions of some rogue elements of Starfleet. To hear an accusation that it went all the way to the very top, Derik didn't know even how to begin dealing with that.

His mind went to his family. He had a sister that worked for Starfleet Science. Was she affected by this? Was she safe? Was anyone?

He hadn't noticed Zel walk up next to him until he felt her gently putting a hand on his shoulder. Without thinking, he pulled her into a one-armed hug. He didn't know if it was appropriate given their situation, and he pulled back before it became awkward. She was a friend and confidante, and Derik needed to let his confident, arrogant mask slip for a moment.

"Captain Ives," and he gestured towards the bridge, "just responded to Captain Slayton on the Orcus." He relayed the important details of the message, and his accusation of alien usurpers in Starfleet Command. "And on top of all of that, I'm going stir crazy in here and it's only been a few minutes. I hate feeling useless. There's a battle raging outside and we're sitting in a conference room."

[ F'Rell of the Twelfth House | Burning Corridor | USS Resolve ] Attn: Auctor
[Show/Hide]
Searing shards of plasma-infused metallic embers flew past F'Rell as a nearby conduit burst, burning the T'Fanrell's delicate flesh. Wincing in pain from the myriad of injuries upon her, she returned her attention to Liam, who seemed to be expressing some sort of urgency at the situation. A cascade failure? That was not good, not good at all. Hovering low near Liam, she spread out her tendrils to allow ample room for his articulated limbs to grab onto. While she had carried various humanoids before, none had actually been conscious during the ordeal, and the hands and arms that tried to grip her now was certainly not an experience she was used to.

When Liam announced his readiness, she glanced down and folded several of her numerous tendrils to secure Liam's form. "Do not be afraid, Liam Herrold, I will bring us to safety." she said, the sounds filtered monotonously through her translator.

As she finished speaking she turned her head and listened to the ship, but another exploding relay behind them reminded her of what was at stake. With haste, she pulled in her tendrils and angled her long, serpentine form towards the hole in the deck above, and with a quick cascade of movement down her numerous limbs, the two beings shot up towards the burning portal. Just as they were doing so, F'Rell detected a sudden cacophonous noise, followed by change in the heat and pressure of the corridor. Fearing what it must be, her head turned towards the source just in time to see a blazing inferno hungrily racing towards them.

[ Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton | Bridge | USS Orcus ] Attention: All

The right side of Slayton's jaw visibly clenched as he listened to the words of the shapeshifter as his eyes didn't relax the entire time he listened to the "woman" speak.

"Communications, did you get a full recording of Civilian Ives' words?" he asked once Theurgy cut contact.

"Aye captain, full recorded as ordered." the Caitian at communications said quietly as she went about her duties.

Slayton nodded and then went back to his study of the current tactical board on the screen, ice blue eyes slowly scanning over every single moment of data as the screen shifted in real time of the battle raging around them..taking a careful study of all the information.

"Tactical, realign the primary emitters in the cannons to redirect mid width upper EM band pulse array format." Slayton said as he walked over to the primary tactical station and then slowly adjusted the tactical sensors to focus on the second Vector of the Theurgy.

"Aye sir, making adjustments now." his tactical officer said.

"Very good and once they are complete, I want you to follow the firing pattern that I'm inputting now, do not deviate or change it without my prior authorization." Slayton said further.

The tactical officer blinked a couple of times and then took a look at what his captain had inputted as the Asgardian moved off and blinked a couple of times in return.

"Helm, I want you to bring us fully in line with Theurgy Vector Two and ensure that we are able to keep both barrels of the cannons in line with that section."

The Helmsman simply nodded and made the course corrections without saying a word.

Once the ship was properly aligned and ready, Slayton's cold eyes turned even colder as he simply said one thing:

"FIRE."

::::::::::::

In the blackness of space the twin phaser cannons of the USS Orcus fire twin greenish-blue bolts of energy from it's twin phaser cannons at the Secondary Vector of the Theurgy but instead of the bolts trying to pound into the shields as was normal in ship to ship combat, these bolts were fired in a way that caused them to hit the natural "curve" of the shields.

Furthermore these bolts splashed against the shields curvature rather then stabbed which again was standard for ship to ship combat and the Orcus continued to fire it's weapons in such a way but none of it's other weapons as of yet.

:::::::::

Back on the bridge, Slayton turned to face his communications officer and said "Send from Orcus Actual to White Wolf Leader, Code Feral in effect. Repeat Code Feral in effect. Now open a channel to the Theurgy, I don't care if they respond."

"Done and Open, Captain." the communications officer said.

"Mister Ives, my government gave you one chance for you to do the right thing for once and surrender but instead you chose to speak the same words as every other traitor to the Federation from Rittenhouse and Leyton and to now you." Slayton said simply as he read the tactical information before him. "You say that you speak of preserving the Federation and you speak of infiltrators yet you attack a Federation starbase full of CIVILIANS while claiming to be righteous."

Slayton's tone grew uncharacteristically colder at this point and his eyes and face reflected this to his bridge crew who had never seen such a thing from their captain. "That is not the actions of the righteous, Mister Ives. That is the action of someone who is a coward and an arch traitor. I actually held out a hope that you wouldn't cause me to do what I must do now..but I see that you leave me with no choice."

Slayton "You tell me to test you at my own peril, you think that this is just some kind of game..this is war, Mister Ives, and you will have to live with starting one. Orcus out."

///////////////////////////////////////////////

[ Lieutenant Talidenai zh'Idenna | Wolf-01 | Space around USS Orcus ] Attention: White Wolves squadron

Terror kept her squadron leashed to their assigned positions next to the Orcus as they waited for their orders.

<Orcus to the White Wolf Leader, Code Feral is in effect. Repeating, Code Feral is in effect.> came the throaty purr of the ship's communication officer.

"White Wolf Leader to Orcus, order understood and confirmed." Terror stated before opening up the squadron's channel. "Terror to all Wolves, we have a god on Code Feral. Stick to your assignments and stay alive out there."

And with that Terror opened up her throttle as her fighter raced through the black followed by the rest of her element and Sniper's as well, the space between was thick with weapons fire from the Theurgy, Orcus, Starbase and all of the assigned combined small craft.

<Sniper to Terror..I do believe that is a shuttle attacking one of the interceptor squadrons.> came Sniper's calm and collected voice, but from years of living with the Vulcan allowed her to hear the slight inflection in her voice that spoke of an unused moment of awe and respect for the shuttle pilot.

Terror's right eye quickly locked on and targeted the shuttle in question and locked it into her systems for future reference. "Understood Sniper, but we have our orders."

<Confirmed>

The two elements quickly arrived but once her Valravn climbed over the arch of the Vector, a hostile Valkyrie splashed several pulse bolts against her shields which caused them to strobe quickly.

But before she could do anything to respond to the attack, the Valk was savagely attacked by Wolf Zero-Three and it's pilot, "Metalhead". <Apologies, Squadron Commander. I was slow on my ascent.>

Terror allowed herself a moment to chuckle. "Understood and thank you. Now all units break off and attack." she ordered.

Terror then quickly kicked in the throttle even more as she found a Valk that was hunting down a Knight series interceptor and went after it and found that her pulse was now racing as she followed the two fighters through the "hills" and "valleys" of the Vector until finally the Valk had finally tagged the Knight and sent it into a momentary fireball.

"That was very striking, but I do hope that you can be just as fast with me, my prey." Terror said as she sighted her weapons onto the Valk in question and started to compress the firing control.

But then one thing, the last thing that she ever could expect to have happened made her stop.

The other pilot turned his fighter to face her's and then a channel opened between them and a voice simply asked one thing.

<Are you sure that you want to do that..Tali?> a very familiar husk filled voice asked from across the space.

/////////////////////////////////////////

[ Chris "Husker" Slayton | Wolf 04 | Space around his assigned element | USS Theurgy ] Attention: Warp-fighter related

Following the orders of Ravon, Husker kept his flying tight and strong as he kept several of the hostile interceptors from doing any real harm to the Vector with Fasha's fighter by his side.

But apart of him was still reeling from the fact that Kanti was gone..he along with Tessa had shared a quiet night with the fiery haired Martian pilot before all of this combat and conflict and now..

The feeling of loss was quickly dispelled by the sudden and violent shaking of his fighter as one of the interceptors in question roared past him and Husker actually allowed a snarl of fury to escape him as he quickly spun his own bird and set off like a hound from hell after it.

<Morrigan to Husker, I will continue to handle the threats on this end. Do you have that one?> came Fasha's voice through the channel.

"I do, I think it's trying to make it's way to the ventral shield generator." Husker replied as he triggered his weapons which splashed a couple of times off of the enemy fighter's shields.

Husker was so focused on taking out this threat to his ship, that he actually didn't see the new type enemy fighter fall in behind him as he chased his target around the Vector until finally he was able line him up and get two spreads of pulse phaser fire off before finishing the enemy off with a third.

Husker allowed himself a moment to get his bearings which was followed by his warning system alerting him to the fact that a threat had locked it's weapons on him and then he felt a familiar shudder of fear mixed with amusingly enough one of pleasure as he heard a familiar voice creep into his ears.

<That was very striking, but I do hope that you can be just as fast with me, my prey.>

Husker took a breath and then slowly turned his fighter to face the other one and then opened up a channel to the other fighter. "Are you sure that you want to do that..Tali?"

<Ch...CHRIS?!> came back the Zhen's reply.

"Well who else could it be with this voice?" Husker retorted as he quickly made adjustments to his shields in hopes that it would be enough.

<What are you doing here?! I saw that one of the Harbinger's valks was tagged as being apart of the hostile forces but where is Vasser and his ship?> Tali's voice came through, her tone was raw and confused.

"The Harbinger is gone and it's a long story but there is only like six of us from the ship left after Vasser's mutiny." Husker explained, hoping that his former lover wouldn't ask for more details right now. "Is Sniper with you?"

<Now out of all the dumb questions to ask..> Tali snarked at him.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure but I need to know which side your on...both of you." Husker asked in a slightly pleading tone.

/////////////////////////////////////

[ Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya | Conference Room | USS Theurgy ] Attention: Arista, et al

Keval was simply quiet as he watched what was going on and he heard the words in Slayton's voice as he spoke, his antenna reflecting his emotional state.

"It's not just a response, Derik my boy, but a meeting of two wills. I admit that while I don't know know much about our new host in Captain Ives..I do know of Captain Marcus Slayton and his reputation."

Keval turned to regard the younger human officer and he felt a strange feeling when he saw Zelosa there as well and it made him happy to see that she had made it as well..there had been enough loss from the Resolve so far...

Especially since he had a strong feeling of what Kendrick would do next.

"The man fought in the last three major wars the Federation has been in and is considered to be something of a tactical genius but then again do keep in mind that is a term that Starfleet Tactical loves to just throw around." he explained before motioning at the air above them as if motioning to the space outside through the bulkhead. "The real problem is that I had faced off against him during a war game once a few years back and we're in for a rough fight at any rate."

Keval turned away from his two crewmates, ignoring his feelings on something as he felt the ship shake under him as he brought up one of the screens in more of a tactical view and started to study what was happening outside-his trained eyes followed the deadly dance between the fighters and hoped that Krystal's shuttle would fare well against the more established figh...

His line of thinking suddenly stopped as he studied the Orcus and it's posture followed by it's own attacks. "What are you doing..you can't do anything really damage wise that way.." he said to himself as his antenna pulled themselves against his skull for a moment.

As he watched the weapons fire hit the Vector in question, saw how it splashed and strobed then his antenna twitched ever so slightly. "Now that is curious..brilliant I guess but curious none the less..."

[Lt. Jg. Suq| On the way to the USS Theurgy ]

Years down the road, when Suq would look back on this moment, his memory would be blurry. He would not recall which buttons he pressed, what commands he entered. He would not be able to describe how he prepared the warp core for detachment, or whether he or Six spoke at all during this time. He would only be able to guess about how long it took, or why the console began to show error messages, or what caused the damned thing to begin heating to dangerous temperatures. The only image Suq would carry into the future was that of Kendrick marching into engineering, certainty abound in every step. Abandon ship, direct order.

Six had to decouple before the console blew with her attached. Suq had to ensure the Captain knew how to manually release the warp core. And they were on their way.

Suq would remember his emerald eyes, filled with hope, his short and fluffy looking hair that Suq never mustered up the courage to touch, how it seemed like in a matter of a day it had gone fully grey. He'd always remember that Kendrick never really looked as if he was walking to his death when he walked into engineering. Instead, it looked a little like he did when he walked onto the bridge, a normal day on the Resolve.

The computer had initiated countdown. He and Six were to make their way aboard the Theurgy. He touched his combadge, he let the Theurgy know about the imminent destruction, mind the countdown.
T-minus 2 minutes, 27 seconds. Watch the debris, a collapsed corridor, jeffries tubes and a hallway littered with blood and bodies, emergency lights kicking on, main lighting shutting down as she began her final sleep.
T-minus 1 minutes, 42 seconds. His heart started beating faster. He felt his thoughts finally breaking down his mental walls, a scream rises in his chest, apply inhaler as needed to quell breathing difficulties that arise from terror for your life, do not use more than four puffs a day. Six puffs for today. Do not mix with Albuterol. Do not mix with Keratellerol. Do not mix with the sense you will never see a good friend again. A turbolift, light coming from a series of holes in the door. A cleaner hallway, a plasma leak, Theurgy in sight.

T-minus 1 minute, 26 seconds

T-minus 54 seconds

T-minus 20 seconds

T-minus 10...9...8...7...

[Lt. Dev "Dragon" Okhala| Launch Bay | USS Orcus]

There was simply no description for the pressure one felt inside a cockpit, isolated from the battle. Dev simply focused ahead, HUD reading clear as day as the first line of her squadron were launched in to battle.

"Vinnie, keep a sharp eye on the core. I don't want to lose weapons in the middle."

"Can do, D." His voice was light, given the gravity of the situation and Dev could almost envy him his apparent serenity in the midst of combat. "I've caught it covered-don't worry."

 For her, it always burned hot, and she imagined it as white light in her veins. The vision was temporary, illogical at best, yet she couldn't shake it. Not this time, not when felt very much like things were upside down. "Don't worry...right." Her voice was dry and sarcastic. Thankfully, a voice cut in, interrupting Vinnie's reply.


"Wolf 05, stand by for launch." The sound of the controller in her ear was a jolt back to reality, the familiar feel of combat burning her up. "3...2...1...launch"

Pressure slammed against her for the briefest of moments, the ship's gravity leaving them with a lurch as the fighter screamed out of the bay, and in to the fray. She banked around, allowing the rest of her section to catch up. "

Form up, Echelon-1. Dev fired off quickly. Comm chatter would become a premium in the fray, even as she glanced outside, to the battle beyond. Gouts of fire and ships highlighted the stark backdrop of space. It was...huge.

"Dragon, got multiple spikes and a lot of chatter."

Filter to Orcus chatter. Keep targets fixed and follow Terror's lead.

With that, Dev's longer fingers, masked inside hardened gloves, gripped the controls with fervent drive, body tense for the next move.

[ Lt JG Alessia Garcia | Wolf-09 Cockpit | AC-477 Mk I Valravn Warp Fighter]

After the successful launch of the White Wolves Squadron from the Orcus, Alessia and her flight pushed the throttle some to get into formation with the squadron commander. Her flight thus far not manoeuvring into the two by two formation just yet as that was to be saved for when they did break formation and engage, this however was good as time as any to take stock of the situation and layout before them as the HUD's updated with friendlies and targets. To say the least, it was a bloody mess.

The Theurgy had already engaged it's MVAM, that was easy to spot from the three main sections that were facing off against Starbase 84. What was most impressive however, the first vector had docked with the Resolve, A Luna class ship that was supposedly went MIA about three years ago, what the heck and how the heck did it get here and into the middle of this shit storm? Then there was another ship highlighted as the Sabine, Alessia had no idea of whom they were but they had been flagged up as a target which appeared to be docking with one of the Theurgy's Vectors.

In all honesty, Alessia found herself at a loss with so much going on, sure her training would kick in and all, but it was hard to take in seeing all those fighters and... shuttles? There were some brave pilots out there but also some downright blood thirsty ones, the interceptors were all over the place and looking quite desperate in their attempts to stop the Valk's that were out there, despite their much superior numbers.

"Holy shit." Alessia thought a loud in Spanish, she took in the information she could see on her tactical display. Her RIO raised his eyebrow. "I'm sorry Lt, but I didn't exactly have the time to learn Spanish."

Alessia took a few seconds to respond. "It's a human expression, don't worry about it."

[Hey, Angel, you seeing this?!] Came a rather excited Blizzard over the comm.

[I find it fascinating the enemy is using modified Type-8 shuttles in the battle.] Wraith spoke up, the man taking note of those enemy craft.

[And I thought I was the craziest one!] Blizzard replied once taking up the chat.

"Alright Blizzard calm your tits, and reduce the chatter okay, that just isn't any enemy out there, these are our own people, fellow officers and pilots..." Alessia sighed. "Look I want to get them as much as you do but we have our orders, hold formation." After she spoke the chatter within her flight went eerily quiet.

[Terror to all Wolves, we have a go on Code Feral. Stick to your assignments and stay alive out there.]

With that, Angel took up formation with her while Blizzard and Wraith did the same, breaking up into a two by two formation, the two 'teams' as it were going about interception duties to allow other pilots of the squad engaged their assigned targets. Alessia set of after the lone MK III defending Vector 1 with her wingman in tow while Blizzard and Wraith set course towards Vector 3 to engage their fighter element's.

[ Surgical Suite 02 | Main Sickbay | USS Theurgy | Vector 02 ] Joint Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

The sliding doors shut behind him, and Doctor Nicander stepped up to the mirror, which was just outside the small sonic shower in the corner of the surgical suite. He looked himself in the eye, meeting his own pale irises with reproach.

It has waited for the day I'll let it out... and I feel that I am losing the struggle within. Ever since it came inside, I have been infected with it's rage. My strength has been fading. He put the dermal regenerator on the small shelf below the mirror, and he put his tattooed hands on either side of the mirror. But it ends today. I do not want to... but have to give in. I can no longer restrain it.

Vector 02 shook from phaser fire, the whole ship rumbling from the effect upon its shields, and yet he just stared - eyes unblinking while blood trickled down from his temple. The contradiction of his intent felt so unreal, for he willed himself not to give in, and yet he felt himself breaking out nonetheless. The distinction of what was him and the things inside was gone. I've been wasting too much time. I feel defeated, and yet... Lucan saw his face move as of its own, grinning back at him. ...and yet I'm alive. I can't keep living in a fairytale of lies.

He tore himself away from the window and rounded on the bulkhead behind him. "Open sesame," he said, and the panel clicked - slowly swinging open. The florescent light that hit him made him narrow his pale eyes, and it cast his white, bloodstained lab coat in ethereal light. At first, he had kept the small female specimen in a vat-like incubator, almost like a terrarium, but after she was resilient enough, he had poured her into a small, water-filled stasis unit. Suspended in the green water inside the unit, he could see that she had not moved or grown, and the readings said she remained as strong as when he had activated the stasis field. Smiling, Lucan reached inside and grabbed the handle on top of the unit, and he retrieved it from the wall. Even when filled with water, the stasis unit was not that heavy. Next he just needed to...

A sound, from outside. Baring his teeth, Lucan swiftly closed the panel and retreated into the sonic shower. How could he have forgotten to seal the door? His host would never have made such an oversight.

The door hissed open to reveal the diminutive form of Doctor Maya followed by the taller and younger Lahkesis Saugn.  "We must prepare the room for surgery," the little Vulcan announced offhandedly to the pink haired woman.  "Soon we will be receiving patients from the Resolve as well as our own causalities."

The door to the corridor opened and Nurse Jacques Herbert entered.  "Doctor, you're needed in the primary surgical bay," he announced, glancing from one woman to the other.

Doctor Saugn looked at the Maya to make the decision. 

"Go," Maya ordered.  "I can manage here by myself."
 
"Very well," Lahkesis nodded before leaving with Herbert.

"Computer, begin sterilization of the operating table," Maya ordered as she removed her crimson surgical robe and placed it on the biobed, "maximum power," she added. 

[Acknowledged,] Thea's voice replied.  A green light shot out of the ceiling and the biobed and everything on it was briefly glowed with a brilliant emerald hue.

Hearing the plant-woman leave, Lucan considered what he might do. It was harder to govern linear thought, something the host had been more proficient at. But as he gave it a few moments, Lucan realised that he had been granted the prefect opportunity. He could fulfil the will of his kin, and yet remain to savour the present. The other one could do what was required, and once she returned - and the ship wasn't destroyed - they could continue to play with the cattle together.

He put the stasis unit down, and stepped out of the sonic shower. Without delay, he closed the short distance to Doctor Maya. When she turned, hearing the sound of his steps, he raised his hand to the side of her face, and met her eye - smiling to her.

She was his. Lucan could see the trance take hold of her - the conditioning of her mind settling over her eyes.

Maya stiffened and stood perfectly straight, her large hazel eyes opened wide.  Seeing this, Lucan walked over to the control panel next to the exit and opened it. Though the thrill threatened to break his concentration, he removed the isolinear chips required to keep Thea from picking up audio from the room. Then, with a small grin, he turned towards Maya.

"There is someone on the ship who is in a medical emergency," he said to the Vulcan puppet, delighted to have her at his mercy. He nursed the idea to ravish her before he sent her on her way, but he settled his idle curiosity by scenting her hair as he spoke. "It is paramount that you get to her by whatever means necessary, and remove her from her isolation ward. You will carry her cure to her, and given the import of the patient's health, and what she means for the mission, you are sanctioned to subdue any opposition you meet. Do you understand, Doctor Maya?"

"I understand Doctor," she replied in a flat tone eerily reminiscent of the ship's computer when Thea was at minimum capacity or had disengaged her personality avatar.  "I am to take the cure to the patient and remove her from the isolation ward.  I am sanctioned to subdue any opposition I encounter."

While the Vulcan spoke, Lucan had fished up a PADD from his bloodied lab coat's pocket and was typing on it. As he did he circled her idly where she stood, like a predator circling its prey. He continued to speak to her, even as his tattooed hand spelled out the instructions Maya would need. "The patient is being held in what appears to be a holding cell in the brig, but it is actually an isolation ward with a high security level protection. On this PADD, I am writing all the instructions you need in order to remove her from her ward, and once you have memorized all of it, you will delete the contents and hand the PADD back to me. In the instructions, you will also find directions for how you get to the patient through the jefferies tubes. Here, you can begin reading now."

Lucan handed the PADD over to Maya once he was finished typing, and he smiled at her again, tempted to take liberties with her when she was in her present state.   First things first.  He collected two regular medical tricorders and put them in Maya's pocket. He also put the isolinear chips he had removed from the wall into her other pocket. But as he did so, his hands lingered on her. Oh, but the temptation was strong.  While she read as instructed, Lucan came to stand behind her - putting his hands on her hips and letting them run slowly over her diminutive figure. The scent of her awakened his appetite, and he had to stop himself from biting her pointed ear.

Maya's large hazel eyes seemed out of focus as they scanned over the instructions on the PADD.  She didn't flinch and blinked once while Lucan's tattooed hands groped her.   "I have memorized my instructions," she finally said while hitting a button that made the data on the screen vanish.  "Deleting it now," she announced before holding the PADD before her as if passing it to an invisible partner.

By the time she was done, one of Lucan's hands had skirted down the front of Maya's abdomen and past he waist-line of her panties - delving inside the Vulcan. It was almost with a pang of regret that Lucan removed his hands from her. Slowly, he stepped around in front ofher and took the item - returning it to his pocket. Coming face-to-face with her again, and he did so while scenting her on his fingers. In his deprived fantasy, he was using the host's exoscalpel to cut her face, leaving her with his mark since there was no time to leave his semen inside her. The ship shook from another hit, serving as a reminder that he needed to send the little Vulcan on her way, lest it would be too late.

"When you wake up, you will remember nothing of your instructions, or how you came to enter your trance. Not even what you did. The opening to the Jefferies tube is above the biobed, behind the grate in the ceiling, but before you leave on your assignment... you will strike me down, as hard as you can. Time is short, and the patient might die without her cure, so when I say begin, you will make haste to reach the isolation ward.  In order to keep the boarding parties from stopping you, you can calibrate the tricorders in your pocket to emit a Vulcan life-sign, and fool the ships internal sensors about where you are and where you are going." Lucan stepped away and picked up the small stasis unit with the handle on top of it. He looked at the creature within one last time. He had removed the twisted Ash'reem seedling from the mother's womb - becoming the key for a new beginning. Now, it was time to plant it.

It was the propgeny of Amikris Neotin and the Niga flora.

With a smile, he closed the metal cover over the transparent aluminium, masking the contents, and handed it over to Doctor Maya. "Here is the cure," he said to the Vulcan, "Now begin."

"Understood sir," she nodded respectfully before taking a step back and darting forward to punch him the abdomen with as much force as her forty-eight and a half kilogram body could muster.  She then seized him by the shoulder slapped him several times across the face while maintaining a steadily neutral face on her own.  There was no conflict in her subconscious as she did this, for her people treated injury by causing pain to start a healing trance or wake a subject up from one.  Although the trance could be self-induced, physicians from her planet were trained in multiple techniques to initiate one for a patient that couldn't do it themselves. 

Lucan had tried not to brace himself against the blows, for why should he? He was confident that the body of his host could take it. Little had he realised just how much strength resided in the small Vulcan, and he needn't use any pretence when he fell over. The pain felt was not his own, but the force of the strikes sent Lucan unto the deck plates.

Maya then placed the box onto the biobed, climbed up and stepped onto the box itself, using the extra height to allow her to remove the panel leading into the network of tunnels, chutes, and tubes that led between decks.  Stepping off the box, she picked it up and held it over her head, pushing it into the access tunnel before jumping up to climbing inside herself.  The entire way she moved in a fashion that managed to be smooth yet jerky and puppet-like at the same time, but that was exactly what she was right now, a puppet.  Without even being told she slid the panel back into place.  Even when under a powerful suggestion, Maya was still the same prim and tidy obsessive compulsive woman she always was.

Down on the deck, fresh blood running from the cut in his temple and a nasty swelling starting to form across his cheekbone, Lucan watched Maya climb up and vanish from his sight. "Go," he said, and could not help the grin that animated his exotic features, "Let the winds of time blow anew."

Doctor Maya would free Sonja Acreth, and yet again, his kin would prevail.

- FIN

[Ensign Six (https://img14.deviantart.net/51cf/i/2015/255/0/5/six_01_by_auctor_lucan-d91bx0h.png) | Engineering to Theurgy | Attn: Follow and others

Six helped Suq as quickly as possible. It wasn't until the very end and the countdown was initiated that she unlinked herself from the ship's computer and began her mad dash with Suq to the Theurgy. They had less than three minutes to get there once the countdown had started. And so they ran. Past corridors of falling debris and explosions, open spaces where protective shields prevented them from being sucked away into the vacuum of space, and those of the deceased that hadn't managed to make it through the onslaught.

In her time as a human, Six had managed to develop an array of emotions, emotions she was all too good at hiding, and through the adrenaline of running to safety this moment was no different. But inside of her turmoil was brewing, and a mixture of fear, anger, and excitement was bubbling around her stomach and tying it in hard knots. There was no turning back now. The deed had long been done and she was an outlaw like the rest of those that had been falsely accused in order to appease the needs of those in power.

As her thoughts raced she ran, and in doing so she stopped paying enough attention that she missed the fire that was crackling in the distance. As she reached it it exploded and threw her against the wall in a daze. It took all she had to get back up, burned and bleeding, and continue her run towards the Theurgy with Suq, who was surprisingly up ahead of her and just out of reach of that last explosion that had sent her flying.

By the time they reached the Theurgy and were being ushered quickly inside, the ship's computer could be heard on the last of it's countdown, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... and then... a moment of silence.