Star Trek: Theurgy

PROLOGUE: Out of the Night That Covers Me

[ Senior Staff Meeting | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 | 2217 hrs ]

Captain's Log, Stardate 57505.16. This day, which followed the visit from the Ishtar entity, has gone by without further incident and in relative tranquillity. We are still in hiding, and about to discuss the best way of approach to Federation space. Once the meeting is adjourned, we will begin our campaign to spread the truth. Hope is the last thing that leaves us, and we have to cling to that very hope; the wish that our word will be heard before we are destroyed by the ignorant fleet. By the very same people that we mean to protect.

Outside the panorama screens, the darkness awaited - the cloak that shrouded their existence. Hidden they were, thrusters making them move in rhythm with the asteroid field that surrounded them. A floating hiding place that had taken them to the Hromi Cluster, with the Acamar System being the closest to their current position.

The Senior Staff Meeting had been declared opened by 2200 hrs by Captain Ives - in his male form - and he'd had three major items on the agenda. The debriefing of the incident with the Ishtar entity the day before, reviewing their strategy-of-approach as they re-entered Federation Space, and the current item: the controversial idea of their new Holographic Specialist to set their Ship AI completely free.

Not just in manner of possessing free will - like last time - but to be able to physically leave the ship too. A mobile emitter of the current century, already assembled in theory and as a holographic prototype.

It had floated there during the presentation that had been held by Lin Kae, right above the long conference table, with both Thea and Lin Kae standing in the lounge. The rest of the Senior Staff was seated, looking at the magnified projection of the mobile emitter. This 'heart' of Thea that merely lacked approval before assembly. Jien was seated by the head of the table, fingers folded underneath his eyes as he considered the suggestion put forth by the young engineer. Thea stood there too, right next to him and wearing her red body suit, and she looked... hopeful. Afraid too. Her emotion chip was activated. Jien could not blame her for being afraid she'd be denied by the gathered people. Especially not since the last time... following the Niga Incident.

There were questions to be asked. The safety and high standard of the ship a priority in order to complete their mission. In the end, Jien decided to let his Senior Staff speak first while he contemplated their priorities along with the benefits and drawbacks of letting Lt. Kae continue on this project.

"Does anyone have any questions to Lieutenant Kae?" he asked and lowered his folded hands to the table once the engineer was done explaining. "If you do not have any, I'd like to hear your advice on whether or not we should spend time and resources to complete the construction of this 'heart emitter' given our present situation? Commander Howard, he is yours, so I'd like to hear your thoughts on this first."

If the Chief Engineer had a ruling in mind already, Jien hoped she would be considerate towards Thea's feelings on the matter - regardless of the verdict.

---

OOC: Please read the scene between Lin Kae and Thea in "The Calm Before the Storm" thread for further information.

The following characters are present in the conference lounge during the Senior Staff Meeting: The Commanding Officer, the Executive Officer, the Chief Tactical Officer, the Chief of Security, the Squadron Commanding Officer, the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Counsellor, the Chief Engineer, the Chief Operations Officer and the Chief Science Officer. Added to these are Holographic Specialist Lin Kae and the Ship AI Hologram, as you might have noticed. I will write for WyteKnyte's characters as needed.

Current status for the departments are as follows:

Security: Regular duties. Both ThanIda zh'Wann and Adam Kingston are currently overseeing Cadet Bellde'side's initial efforts on the phaser range. This is the last part of that day's looong training regime for the Cadet. Taguiera and Kittykat, please go ahead and set this scene.

Tactical Conn: The fighter pilots have, in the absence of their SCO, resorted to "kicking it back" in Below Decks. Hannah von Slaverton is currently engaging in a drinking game with whomever feels up for it. Wolves 03, 04, 05, 06, 07 and 08 are - however - on standby in the Fighter Assult Bay should anything unforeseen happen; ready to launch with their Valkyries. Wolf 06 - Evelyn Rawley - might be in the bay area whilst off duty, to oversee the repairs on her bird with wanton hope to be cleared for duty eventually. Nolan, Kurohigi, Searcher, please set the scene in Below Decks.

Medical/Counselling: Head Nurse Eve Jenkins have just found out that Evelyn Rawley has escaped from the Rehabilitation Ward, nowhere to be found. Cadet Neotin is present too and it is up to them both to decide on their course of action. Searcher and Kittykat, you have this one.

Engineering/Operations: Cadet Ester Hamburg is contemplative after the past few days of events, not only in regard to her meeting with Adam Kingston. This, to the degree that she causes an overload in a small plasma relay - with Arcorn Noetin being the senior officer in Main Engineering at the time. Optional scene: Anyone playing Ester and Kittykat in that case.

Science: Department busy with analysing the outcome of the Ishtar visit the day before, checking for traces etc. Sarresh Morali might assist, or he might have gone to sickbay too. Brutus, your call.

Final note: Please "set the scene" for your characters. My next post for the scene in the Senior Staff Meeting will kick everything into action with the encounter of the USS Harbinger. For all those that write Harbinger-commissioned characters, please be patient and post after my next post. Those that still have NPC sheets pending to be approved/posted, please send/post at your earliest convenience.

[ Main Sickbay | Recovery Ward | 2200 hrs ]

Lying in the Recovery Ward, Evelyn stared upon her new flight jacket.
 
It was hanging there beyond the end of the bed - brought there by Hardtop the night before. She supposed it was out of sympathy that he had replicated one for her, having spent a lot of time in sickbay up until the day before. Also, the Klingon-blooded wingman of hers wanted her back int he cockpit. Motivation, perhaps. The jacket she had worn in the last battle had been ruined - torn open by debris from Wolf 05 - and it would not have served her for the imminent time of 2200.

"Time," she asked the computer quietly in her loneliness.
 
[2157 hrs.]
 
Three minutes remaining. 2200 hours was the time of freedom - with the good graces of the doctors or not.
 
Evelyn told herself that though she could not change her past failures, she would ruin the present by worrying about the future. She told herself that her time was limited, and that she should not waste it living for the past - back-tracking what had gone wrong. She already knew what had happened; she had failed. She had broken down under the pressure. Never again.
 
So, as Evelyn lay there, looking at her new uniform, she told herself not to be be trapped by dogma - which was to live with the results of other people's thinking. She had to free her mind.
 
"Time."
 
[2158 hrs.]
 
Two minutes remaining. 2200 was the time... where she would not let the noise of other peoples opinions drown out her own inner voice. She lay there, looking at her new jacket, and told herself to have the courage to follow her own heart, passion and intuition. Everything else... was secondary.
 
A deep breath, and her dry lips pursed. "Time."
 
[2159 hrs.]
 
The superior officers knew her routines, but not the call of her soul. She had to rely upon herself in all her current fortitude, rather than the evidence of her past lack of it. She'd rather die than give another inch to failure. She would tear through Starfleet ships in order to cut out the infection at the fleet's core. Necessary losses, all to be laid at her feet along with the orders to pursue the truth. She had to get down there, to make sure her Valkyrie was ready to deliver at her call. Khorin had said there had been new spare parts from Nimbus III, and that her bird was undergoing system testing. Without her. As if she was unfit to tune the systems to her specific preferences. As if she was some rookie that relied on engineers to get things done. No, for with the SCO attending the meeting on Deck 01, and many of the rest being in Below Decks, she would get down there and make her bird ready to fly.
 
"Time!" called Evelyn - fiery brown eyes glaring.
 
[2200 hrs]
 
Evelyn got to her feet and swore at the pain in her scarred torso. It was time! She glared towards the sliding doors to the main area of Sickbay - daring a nurse to stop her. Adrenaline and blood raging in her veins, she turned her shaved head back to her uniform - displayed upon the hanger like it was a wedding dress. Oh, it would be bloody nuptial, going head to head with both the CMO and SCO for leaving the ward. Yet right then was a time to do what she loved. A time to live for her passions. A time to part with old failures, and join with the new in a marriage of determination.
 
A holy matrimony in bloody battle - with vows of dire retribution. She would show them scars meant no weakness. Rather the opposite. She curled her upper lip and pulled the flight jacket on, thrust her arms through the sleeves. Wearing it on top of her medical gown, she headed for the fighter assault bay... merely stopping for liquor and smokes on the way down there.

---

OOC: Merely adding upon the intro for the Episode.

[ Below Decks | Deck 07 | 2200 hrs ] Attn: Nathaniel, Skye and Thomas

"Go fish!" called Hannah von Slaverton - callsign Nightmare - with a smirk to the player on the opposite side of the table.

There were two humans working at the lounge, two nondescript holograms that had been activated after Mr. Regal had been put in stasis during the Niga incident. One of the holograms was cleaning glasses with a cotton towel, while the other was dirtying them with syntehol beverages from all over the quadrant. Moreover, they cared not one whit about the drinking game that the Wolves had engaged in. Indeed, the majority of their guests consisted of the Tactical Conn pilots in the middle of the lounge, with a few random faces from other parts of the ship spread into the periphery.

'Go fish' was an innocent kids' card game Hannah and her fellow pilots had twisted into a loud, slightly inebriated battle. In the game, one needed a deck of cards and the steady supply of shots from the bartender. Seven cards dealt per player and each player had to match their cards by asking opponents if they had a card of the same value, yet every time one player asked another for a card - and got the answer 'go fish' - the first had to take a swig of his or her drink. Second, if you got a card, the one who handed it over had to take two swigs.

Eventually, Hannah - being a bit tipsy - pushed away the deck of cards and raised her hands. "Wait, wait, listen!" she said and tired to make herself heard, "Dices! I want to play with dices next! Here, I have two, and bartender! A tray of vodka, please! Now, hear me out, wolves, the rules are pretty straightforward. Each player gets a turn to roll the dice. If they roll an even number, they take a shot. An odd number means they must remove an item of clothing of their choice. Yes, you heard me! We fly together, depend on each other, so we have nothing to be ashamed of, right? We do this now, since we have a long journey back to Earth across 'enemy' territory. Perhaps a last chance to have a night like this, okay? And honestly, I don't think you guys would dare undress here in Below Decks. So its a game of dare foremost, okay?"

Hannah smirked and looked around the gathered faces before continuing - Maverick, Kestrel and Razor sharing in the fun with her. "Okay, so, for two of the same," she said and slapped the dices down on the table, "the rules goes like this. Hear me out! We do this now! Ones, choose between taking a shot or removing an item of clothing. Twos, give a shot to the person to your right. Threes makes you safe; no shots or stripping. Fours! Challenge someone to truth or dare. Fives, put a piece of clothing back on, and sixes, kiss the person to your right! You got that? Ok, let's go. I'll roll first!"

She tossed the dices, and she got... two sixes. Of course.

Grinning, Nightmare locked eyes with the person on her right. Ignoring any hooting calls from the others, she leaned in with pursed lips, hooked her arm behind the person's neck, and gave her fellow wolf a long smooch right on the lips. Briefly, unbidden images from Niga came, where she was kissing Adam Kingston, begging for his cock. She vaguely remembered riding their former SCO in the Captain's chair too. She pushed it all away, the weeks since then having helped her distance herself. She parted soon enough, biting her lower lip with a throaty chuckle before turning back to the dices.

The game continued, the night being one of joyous frivolities - the past to be forgotten in a syntehol haze.

---

OOC: Figured I'd set the Below Decks scene with one of our NPCs. *smiles* I leave it open as to whether she kisses Nathaniel, Skye or Thomas in this post.

[ Holodeck 03 | Phaser Range Program | Deck 07 | 2200 hrs ] Attn: Scosche & Adam

There was but one source of light, and it shone down upon the Andorian woman in yellow-collared uniform.

The lights spinning around her in the darkness were irksome, yet Ida merely gave them a lop-sided smile before powering up her hologram phaser yet again. "Well then, computer," she said, and set Setting 1 on top of the weapon, "begin."

At once, the lights, blue, red and green span off and the Deputy shook white hair out of her eyes. It was a part of a Security Officer's duty to sharpen her marksmanship, and with the brief down-time in hiding and little to do but to find things worth spending one's time with, it was as good an idea as any. Furthermore, Ida had managed to arrange that the new Cadet, the former stowaway, to join her for a last training session for the day. She had also asked Lieutenant Kingston to be present so that he could oversee the progress. The Cadet would be reporting to him the next day for further training, so it was prudent he learned what he had to work with.

Ida raised her phaser and in a two-hand grip and traced the lights across the sights of the weapon, her midnight eyes hard as ebony, and squeezed the trigger. Whilst shooting, one's breathing might make one's aim stray, so she adjusted it accordingly, breathing out to steady her hands in the moment of discharge.

Too easy, she thought, and bared her teeth in frustration. "Computer, initiate next level of the program." There was the familiar chirping sound, and the lights all moved faster - challenging her targeting in a tad more satisfying way. One by one, the lights were hit, only to be replaced by more of them, until Ida stood in the middle of a hornet's nest - firing her phaser rapidly yet loosing neither breath nor concentration.

The sound of sliding doors behind her alerted her that either of the two she had asked for had arrived, or both of them.

"Welcome," said Ida with a smile and fired her last barrage, concluding the level and letting the computer inform them about that fact. Therefore, there was ample opportunity to holster her own phaser and turn around - arms folded underneath her breasts. "We'll begin right away."

Scosche arrived at the firing range unescorted.  He both dreaded and was excited about this part of his day.  It seemed better than the regulations he'd been pouring over all day, until one padd had blurred into the next.  He was starting to think there was no way he would remember everything.  While he hoped he would never have to use a phaser on someone, he was eager for the challenge of using one, wondering if his natural agility would translate into a decent aim.  As the door opened, he took a deep breath and realized there was only one way to find out.

Stepping in, he watched as Ida shot the last target, not looking at him as she welcomed him in, which he had to admit felt a bit ominous.  He waited until she'd holstered her weapon, knowing a deep respect for dangerous things, which was why he'd kept his distance from Ida herself.  He had a feeling if Marija had been strong and able, Ida was ten times that.  He nodded, "Lieutenant Ida."

He looked at her uncertainly for a moment, trying to recall the rules, then asked, "Am I supposed to salute or something?  When I come in a room with someone who's of higher rank?"

He muttered under his breath, "Not that there's anyone of lower rank."

"In terms of material required, it is negligible," Nicole answered as she reached out to capture the emitter, examining it for a moment before returning it to where it had floated.  "Similarly for the manpower.  Lin Kae has not been performing his activities during his shift, meaning he is not interrupting the normal flow of operations. So far, he has not asked for, nor have I given him, any assistance.  From a purely logistics standpoint, I see no reason to obstruct the project."

"This is not a question to be taken lightly, nor one to be answered in a single meeting," T'Less spoke up, looking between Lin Kae and Thea, then at the holoemitter.  "There are many questions to be answered before we decide whether to proceed.  Would we not, in essence, be granting Thea unlimited access to the ship?  Are there not reasons Starfleet decided to limit her to only those portions outlined by the current locations for holoemitters?  Unless I am mistaken, Thea is no longer bound by the strictures of her original programming and, therefore, unpredictable.  This is akin to naming Thea a true life, instead of an intricately complex holoprogram."

She focused on Thea, "Our mission being paramount, naturally, but Starfleet is about the discovery.  About new planets and new civilizations, new forms of life.  However, there is a large difference between discovering new life and welcoming it aboard ship to freely go wherever it might choose."  Her eyes turned to Grayson, "This course of action poses a security risk to the ship and one, at the moment, with our current state of war, we can do without.  This matter should wait until we are no longer in danger."

[ Holodeck 03 | Phaser Range Program | Deck 07 | 2201 hrs ] Attn: Scosche & Adam

When the Ridge-head Cadet walked up to her, ThanIda zh'Wann listened to what he said to her and gave him a lop-sided smile.

"Unless you ask, you will have a hard time learning. Especially here, where you are undergoing Starfleet Academy training away from Terran soil and the regular tutors. I hope that my officers and I will be able to give you enough training to let you learn the rest through experience."

Pausing, Ida tilted her head and came to think about something before she answered his question. "I understand that it's a difficult position for you," she said as she looked at him, antennae pointed his way too, "being aboard and having to assist in our mission and having to do so in our way. All of this is new to you, and even forced upon you to learn. To adapt to our regulations."

She walked up to him, arms still folded underneath her breasts. "My sympathies, Ridge-head, for I was schooled in other ways as well - hailing from Andoria as I am." She glanced to the side, memories of her keth before her eyes. "I was of the Imperial Guard, yet I am now wholly Starfleet, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of having to adapt."

Looking back to him, Ida's smile made her blue skin seem warm. She drew her weapon slowly and took his hand into one of her own - pressed the grip of the phaser into his palm. "Yet I also know the great need of doing so, Cadet," she said and let him go even if her stance right before him remained unaltered, "lest you'll always be the square plug in the round hole."

Stepping to the side to give him the floor, Ida continued - arms again folded. "As for your question, there is no need for a salute as long as you are tactful and address your superiors by rank. Unless preoccupied, stand at attention if you are on the Bridge and the Captain arrives, and if you are to begin your shift, or you answer a summons, you simply tell your superior officer that you are 'reporting for duty,' added with, 'as instructed' or whatever the case may be. The sought level of formality might differ between different officers, though, so be mindful and try to learn whom prefers less or more of it."

Nodding to the weapon in his hand, Ida changed the topic to his training session. "Two hands on the grip, left or right foot before the other, shoulder-wide stance. Rear arm straight and the other bent. The sights must be aligned along the top of your weapon, both vertically and horizontally. Keep both eyes open but focus with the eye that is trained upon your target. Breathe evenly, deeply, and if you can, pull the trigger as you exhale. Use setting one and stand ready to shoot the lights as they appear. Computer! Activate program. Level Alpha."

The chirp announced the beginning of the session, and unmoving lights flared alive.

---

OOC: I will be posting in the Senior Staff Meeting with my present characters (+WyteKnyte's) after more replies have come in from you guys to answer Jien Ives' open question that relates to Thea's new 'heart'. The post will also issue a Red Alert and a complete change of pace, so if you have anything to address IC-wise during the meeting, please do so with your next post in that scene.

[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Below Decks]

Isley almost felt bad for Hannah and the others.  Nathan's Vulcan physiology gave him a much higher tolerance for alcohol then the rest of them.  Of course, Skye was also exceptional.  Years of drinking straight from the bottle left her almost superhuman for intake of booze.  Training made her a fair match for him, but Hannah was clearly already in the bag and stumbling.  It was amusing though, as the Lone Wolf displayed a playful, almost comedic side to herself when drinking.  Go fish had gone well, but when she came up with her dice game, he couldn't help but be thankful for his tactical choice of seating.  He sat to Hannah's right, assuring her got all her kisses when she rolled a six, while to his right was Skye.  The idea of kissing her, or even undressing in front of her, didn't phase him at all.  He and Skye had already shared a hell of a night together once, one in which she proved she had the stamina and toughness of a Klingon in the bedroom.

So he locked lips with Hannah, and he too was reminded of Niga.  He had wanted to save her from being infected, but had been forced to carry when he realized it was too late.  If he had shown up earlier, he might have been able to get her out, get her to the bridge with him.  When he had commandeered a shuttle-craft and he and Skye had to engage in a firefight with infected pilots, they could have used an extra hand from her, but she was instead one of the enemy.  As much as he hated that, he knew she would have hated it more, being turned against her fellow Wolves and controlled in such an unsightly manner.

After Hannah fulfilled her dice roll condition and kissed him, it was Nathan's turn.  With his mostly sober mind and Vulcan logic in the back of his head, Nathan arranged the dice in his hand and calculated how to make them come out as he wished.  Proper wrist motion, control over the number of times it rolled and how far his hand was from the table could let him almost choose his own roll.  It wasn't cheating, per say.  He just knew how to make a game of luck more about skill.  He came up with threes, making him safe, before he slid the dice over to Skye, taking one glance at her lips and regretting he didn't roll sixes.

"Hang on," he said, blowing on the dice for luck before finally allowing her to go.  "Come on, pair of ones.  Carver is looking overheated in that shirt!"


((OOC: Will post in the meeting after some others have.  Gives a chance for any questions to come up))

[Thomas "Razor" Ravon - Below Decks]

Thomas chuckled a bit when Hannah had pushed away the cards to change the game. She obviously was well endowed with booze and he wondered if she'd have an amazing headache in the morning or not. He folded his cards now and threw them on the stack as he listened to the new game rules. He tried to listen attentively to the instruction given, yet he had an issue with hearing tipsy nightmare out. He looked at the bottles of vodka being installed on their tables and he shook his head slightly "A daring game... Sounds like fun..." he smirked.

As she explained the rules now he looked to his right and his left. 'Looks like there won't be any weird kissing with the Isley' Thomas thought to himself and he felt quite at ease facing these odds. He looked at Hannah now as she rolled the dices and he laughed and clapped in his hands when he saw the two sixes. "Enjoy it Isley!" He taunted to Nathaniel and he cheered now as Hannah moved in for her prize. When Nathaniel rolled the dices, he booed when he saw the pair of threes and he grinned when he blew them for Carver. "Come on Carver, throw those dices!" he encouraged her and leaned forward now, eagerly awaiting what the outcome would be.

[ Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark: Senior Staff Meeting | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 ]
There were faint bags under Natalie's eyes when she'd sat down at the long table in the observation lounge with the rest of the senior staff. she was reminded again, of the meeting not all that long ago, when they had all gathered to debate new freedoms for Thea, the ships holographic avatar. Whom was, more and more, becoming a being in her own right. There was a saying about history repeating itself, and Natalie found it extremely poignant given the past few days. Having had to relive the nightmare of Niga, she was now almost reliving the meeting that occurred just after. A nasty symmetry that was not lost on the brunette.

Again, the same old arguments (as far as she was concerned), were being hashed out: use of resources, security risks due to state of war, inalienable rights. Her dark eyes flicked back and forth, from the Chief Engineer to the Chief Tactical officer. Like the Vulcan, she wondered what, exactly Grayson had to say. As Chief of Security, his input would be key, for certain. As for her own... she kept her own council, at first. Judging the others. Despite the third, dark pip on her collar, she'd only been Department head for a short while, and frankly, her core confidences were more then a little shaken.

Finally though, she felt a need to speak up. "It sounds like, from a resource standpoint, if I understand Cmdr. Howard, we can discount any resources argument. That would have been my primary concern. As Lt. T'Less has pointed out, we are in a state of war," more like we're fugitives, running and hiding like frightened mice she thought bitterly, but pushed it away as she continued, "Thea has been a loyal asset for this journey. one could argue that she's had no choice in the matter up until now," she nodded to the Tactical officer, but then turned to the Captain and sucked in a deep, slow breath. This was when the nerves hit.

"For better or worse, Thea is asking to improve herself, to grow...as a person. Not a piece of technology, not as a hologram, but, as far as I can tell, as a person. Therefore, I submit that she /is/ a new life form. Just like Data. Given that, are we not legally bound to help her?" The argument was perhaps more heart felt then logically grounded. Natalie had seen Lt. Lin working to help Thea. She had seen, first hand, the conflict that had arisen the last time they were in this room, with Thea's own concerns. She felt strongly enough that her own, less then socially graceful tendencies were taking a back seat to a building argument.

"And as from a Security standpoint... There are plenty of people in this room that could, with a little effort, bypass just about any security lock out, and gain access to any part of the ship. I am certainly one of them. And yet, no one here is expressing concern that I might access areas of the ship I shouldn't," she flashed a brief smile to the gathered officers. "If we trust each other, why should we not trust Thea? So she would be able to walk around the ship like any other member of the crew, something she already does, for the most part, So she would be able to beam down on an away mission? I don't see a problem with that."

It was then that she realized just how...enthusiastic her voice, her arguments had become. Far out of character for the officer, she blushed, faintly, and leaned back into her chair with a small, almost inaudible meep.

---

OOC: Lucan, for that other plot point, with Sarresh we discussed, should I start that in this thread, or open a new thread?

OOC: Same thread, Brutus, since all hell is about to break loose. I love the development in the staff meeting, guys!

[Skye - Below Decks]

Skye hadn't played Go Fish since she was knee high to a grasshopper and it was one of the few games her father always played with her when he came for visits so she felt a pang of nostalgia as they played.  Her lips twitched now and then as Hannah started getting tipsy and gave Nathan a sidelong glance and smirk.  Then game and rules changed, definitely something that had a snicker starting but she gave her fellow female wolf a feral grin and wink.

The double sixes brought a whoop and she winked at Razor before watching the pretty spectacular kiss between the Nightmare and Maverick.  On his turn, her eyebrows rose and she looked at him suspiciously.  "Those dice aren't loaded are they?" she asked and the pursed her lips when he withheld them from her and said she looked a little warm.  "Do I?" she asked in a teasing tone and took the dice, rolling them in one hand just like she'd rolled his boys before tossing them to the table.

A one and a five ... odds ... Skye looked to her left and hmmmm'd.  "Guess it is a little warm," she said and reached up to unzip her uniform top as she stood, still straddling the chair and slipped it off her shoulders.  Lightly defined abs and a fair amount of cleavage greeted them all as she twisted at the waist and hung the coat neatly on the back of her chair, eyes sparkling with mischief as she glanced at Razor and then Nightmare.  Kestrels had no shame, which was why she'd been given that nickname.  Grabbing up the dice, she held them out to Thomas.  "Good luck," she said and dropped them in his hand.

[Lin Kae and Edena Rez - Conference Lounge]

Kae felt thankful for Natalie Stark in that moment.  The woman proved herself to be on their side, providing some excellent arguments for holographic rights.  Hopefully it would be enough to get the endorsement from the Security chief, shutting down one of the few arguments against the Emitter and the freedom it would provide Thea.  "Thea is programmed with all the training any one of us would have gotten when attending Starfleet academy, and unlike us, whose memory can fade with time, those regulations remain true in her databanks at all times.  If we can trust any member of this ship to operate responsibly with freedom of movement, I think Thea herself, the living soul of Theurgy, deserves that same credit.  She was instrumental in saving the ship during the Niga incident, and it was thanks to the freedom we gave her.  More then anything . . . she deserves it.  She's earned it."

Edena listened intently, making certain she absorbed every detail spoken.  "You were a human during the Ishtar incident, Thea?" Edena asked, looking to confirm the information provided in the report by Miles Renard, one of his separated parts being with her during that time.  The more intimate details were, of course, left out.  "It's cruel to deny her the ability to become more after she has experienced what organic life is.  Obviously, the fact that she is standing here wishing for these enhancements must mean there was something in the experience she wants back.  It would be like giving a blind man sight only to take it away from him again.  If Thea truly wishes to advance herself, to become more, we owe it to her, just as we would owe it to any crewman who wished to advance their career with more training, or to improve their life by having access to proper medical care.  Holograms haven't been officially recognized as a life form by the Federation yet, but select models, especially ones of Thea's line, have raised a great many questions.  We can't say whether she is a true life form or not, but it's not our right to limit her growth.  That is my opinion as executive Officer"


[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Below Decks]

Isley threw on his impression of a man who was hurt, a hand pressing against his chest as he looked shocked.  "Carver, I'm shocked.  The only thing loaded around here is Slaverton!  I think I doubled my alcohol level just kissing her," he teased, sending a playful tap to Hannah's shoulder in show that he was only kissing.  After Skye's roll, and her subsequent removal of her jacket, Nathan gave a brief look at what Skye had been hiding under there, reminding himself just how good Kestral looked when she was naked.  If she hadn't been the flying wonder that she was, Skye could have fallen back on a job as a model with a figure like hers, and with health care as good as it was, she could have had a lengthy career too.  Instead, they were fortunate enough to have her watching their backs when they were in a dogfight.

Miles listened to the Chief engineer nodding along as he heard the parts that seemed the most pertinent to solidifying his own viewpoint.  At first his opinion was divided between professional and personal thoughts.  Personally he would like nothing more than to aide the one artificial crew member n her aspirations towards being a bonafide life form.  Professionally he was concerned on the resources that it would take to render Thea as more lifelike.  With the head Engie's assessment though he was very comforted with his own personal choice and was ready to also make it his professional opinion as well.

"Well I think its a great idea.  I do have a question or two for our Holo specialist.  If I understand this correctly this emitter would detether her from her original physical body, the ship we call home.  As such say she wanted to Change her location, would she not have to manuially travel there as we do?  If It hasnt already been designed I would recommend some form of means for her to transfer from this heart emitter to back into her standard holo emitter system.  As such she would have the best of both worlds as it is said having an ability to sense things in the same manners as a human would when using this heart emitter and the ability to have all her abilities that she has used to serve her crew as valiantly as any Starfleet officer in the history of the Federation. 

My initial concern about away missions would of course be the question of the logistical blow that would be dealt if she were to be killed in action.  Think about it If the captain dies There's an XO for that circumstance, I die another Wolf is there to carry on as the new commander of the squadron. But then if she dies then there is noone else who could fill the importance of her valued role.  The more i thought about that the more i realized that in thinking like that I reduced her to an object.  I was seeing her as an object that I placed a higher value on than any other life form on this vessel, but none the less an object instead of a fellow member of this crew.  My view on thinking of her as not an affordable loss wasn't really a concern for her life it was a selfish want to not loose a resource.  For ever thinking in that way Thea, I apologize.  To not give you this right to take the same risks we all take would be selfish and be depriving you of everything that makes us proud to wear this badge.  Lieutenant Kae, I look forward to the day that she becomes indistinguishable both to me and to herself from the human I met during the chaos mere days ago. "  He then paused for just a moment. 

"On that note there is something I would like to bring up. During the incident Thea and I ended up on the bridge while we were accosted other ships According to the post incident logs i read prior to this meeting this was partially Ishtar's doing, but two things occurred during this that brought to mind a tactical concern.

My First concern would be her lack of ability to command given an emergency situation.  When she and I were on the bridge I had to take command of the ship and order the MVAM procedure.  Her mind is for lack of a better word a database of every trick in the federations book in all 4 divisions.  As such she would have been a much better emergency Captain than I could ever hope to be.  As such i think it would be a prudent idea to install a Emergency Command Protocol that will work for her even if fully detethered as an autonomous form. 

Secondly, Thea as a human held no authority as she has absolutely no commission to her name therefore her own computer systems could not recognize even the smallest request she made.  Frankly she had as much authority as our stowaway had if not even less as she was effectively a non existent entity.  the event that she were deteathered via this emitter it stands to reason she would need to have an actual name on the ship's crew manifest, as well as an actual rank and title in order for the ship's computer to recognize any commands or requests she would make to it."

[Below Decks]

A small chuckle escaped from Thomas when Maverick made his remark about Slaverton. He took a decent look now and observed Nightmare's looks and contours. She was a smoking gun to say the least, yet the woman opposite of her wasn't ugly either. Thomas let his eyes pass over Kestrel as she removed her jacket and he grinned a bit. She was a beauty to look at but she had a fiery thing over her nevertheless. Either way, most men would kill to be in the company of these two fine women.

Thomas reached out for the dices and nodded "Think I'm going to need that luck..." He answered with a smirk and he shook the dices with both hands before letting them roll over the table. The dices rolled over the table and once they came to a halt, he looked at the outcome. A two and a one... Favorable odds. While taking another shot Thomas thought about which part of clothing to remove first. The jacket seemed most logical... With a bitter grin still he removed his jacket and the ladies could now see his not overly muscular arms. The countours of his chest and abdomen peeking through the undergarment. He passed another one over to Slaverton. "Here you go Hannah, jug it!"

He wondered how much more Slaverton could take before she'd go entirely out of control. For that fact, he wondered how much he could take himself. Perhaps after this he should switch to stripping down for a bit. He gathered the dices again and shoved them in front of Nightmare and her filled shot of vodka. "Game on!" he cheered.

[ Below Decks ]

Hannah booed and hooted at turns as the dices were tossed the first times around their table, and when Thomas Ravon stripped off his jacket, she laughed with the others and clapped her hands in rhythm to the progress he made. Kestrel drew the eye from the holograms (not to mention the eyes of the two male wolves by the table) yet the neither of the bartenders interfered. As for Hannah, she was having a great time, and while rather inebriated, she was still in control - more drunk on joy than the vodka. Well... perhaps equally so, she had to admit.

"Thanks, Razor!" she said and grinned, twisting the shot around with her fingers while picking up the dice with her other hand. "Here goes!"

She tossed the dice and they rattled against the tabletop, chiming against two of their glasses before settling. "Double fours! Truth or dare! Ohhhhhhhhhhh," she bit her lip and looked between the three faces while she thought about whom she might pick. "Skye, I dare you to do a a full minute lapdance for Razor. If you don't dare... would you rather pick 'Truth'... like some wolf pup? Common, its obvious that he likes what he sees. Hell, any man aboard would pay you for it, smoking hot and fierce as you are."

Hannah showed teeth with her grin to the other woman at the table while she picked up the dice and shoved them down in front of her wingman. Giving Isley a sexy side-long glance, she took a swig from her vodka - slamming the empty glass down afterwards. "Throw the dice, Maverick! Skye can still make up her mind and even toss the dice once its her turn... regardless if she shares a seat in Razor's chair, right?"

[Lin Kae - Conference Room]

"The Mobile Emitter is a physical technology, which means Thea would have to physical travel, unless a transporter lock was established on the emitter, allowing her to be beamed the same as any member of the crew.  If she requires the need to get places, faster, she has the option of untethering herself from the device and existing as she does now, a part of the ship.   For the sake of accessing the vast database of the ship, this emitter is equipped with a human-based technology from the 21st century known as cloud-based storage. She can remotely access the ship's database and use whatever is inside of it so long as she is within an appropriate range of the ship, up to ten kilometers. A temporary storage folder is created within the emitter to store whatever information she requires, and can be loaded with whatever she thinks she may require when she is leaving streaming range."

Miles proved capable of keeping Kae on his toes with all the questions he asked. "Thea is an important part of this crew and I am unwilling to risk her safety on away missions.  For that reason, I have created a black box feature in the emitter.  If it is damaged, her core Ai will be downloaded into a heavily shield part of the emitter, designed to survive significant damage.  It would allow her to be rescued from the salvage and reintegrated back into the ship.  The rest of the shell, which would include security codes and identification for her, to assure she is not caught in a situation where she is not recognized, would become inactive upon removal of the black box, preventing any information from being obtained from her emitter"

[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Below Decks]

When the dice came around to him again, Nathan decided it was time to show some skin.  Maybe something to remind Skye what she had been seeing when they slept together, as well as give Hannah a look at what he had to offer.  There was nothing wrong with enticing a pair of lovely looking ladies.  So he set up his roll to come out how h wanted it, a three and a four, ending in an odd number that also made his dice rolls look a bit more random.  His outer jacket was removed, leaving only the white t-shirt underneath, which his muscular frame filled out plenty. Making out his washboard stomach, his defined pectorals was little trouble, while his strong arms were in plain view.  He slid the dice Skye's way, it back to being her turn, while also being the moment of truth whether she would accept Hannah's issued dare. A lap dance from Skye carver was certain a sight to see, even if it wasn't your own.  She had the kind of body a person wanted to see grinding against another.

"Legally, no, we are not bound to assist Thea," T'Less responded coolly.  "By the Prime Directive, we are, in fact, forbidden from interfering with the natural development of any species, even those of a holographic nature.  In the case of Commander Data, he was not being considered for assistance by the Federation, but only whether he was a life form.  My point isn't whether Thea is or is not.  Only that to allow her freedom to any part of the ship she might decide to visit is dangerous at the current time.  Your argument is faulty where we are concerned.  Yes, any of us might do as you suggest and bypass a lockout, but we have taken oaths and any discussion as to whether we are alive has come and gone long ago.  I trusted Thea to do her duty, but only because she was bound by her programming to do her duty.  That, however, is no longer the case and we are discussing granting even further permissions?  As the ship's AI, she was Starfleet.  As a separate entity with a will of her own and the ability to go anywhere she pleases, then she would be a civilian and, by that token, not allowed aboard ship during a time of war."

She turned her eyes on Miles and lifted an eyebrow, "And you would have such an entity not only free to roam the ship as she would please, but become ship's captain?  She is an artificial intelligence, as alive and thinking as could be programmed, but that does not obviate any possible flaws in her programming and none that she would perform on herself.  Should something go wrong and what scant control we have left be lost, there would be no stopping her.  In short order, she would be able to incapacitate the captain, take over the ship and do with those aboard as whatever flaw in her programming dictated.  Is she alive?  Perhaps.  That does not automatically make her a Starfleet officer and certainly does not make her fit for command.  As much as knowing those protocols matter, there is still an x-factor to be considered in any member of the crew.  If we consider her alive and we make her part of the crew in full, then her rank would be a cadet, nothing more.  Time and experience, as well as those protocols, make a seasoned officer.  Thea would have only the latter and not the former two.

"Are any of us not susceptible to mind control?  No, we've all seen just how little control we might have over our own actions in the last several weeks when others might wish to control us.  If, as has been suggested, however, Thea were to be given the access suggested by Commander Renard and were to be taken over by some outside force, her authority and abilities would enable her to exert such dominion over the ship and crew as to be a risk, in my opinion, that should not be taken under any circumstances."

[Skye - Below Decks]

Hannah's roll had Skye curious what she was going to do and when she dared Skye to lap dance on Razor, she almost snorted.  Considering she'd just occupied the body of a man that seemed almost tame.  "No pup here ... just pure bitch," she grinned as she kicked off her boots and socks under the table and stood.  "Though I'm a little overdressed for a lap dance and one minute ain't enough," she added as she hooked her thumbs in her pants and rocking her hips from side to side lowered them down her strong legs so she was just in her standard issue panties.

Giving a nod to the bartender, she pulled the clip out of her hair and shook the thick golden tresses as she tossed it on the table.  "Gonna play a little music but don't mind me," she warned with a bit of a smirk.  "Computer ... play Carver Music DL1," she ordered as she pulled Razor's chair out away from the table to give herself some room.  As soon as she let go of his chair, a hard voice came over the speaker and she stepped to his side and then stepped again to face him.  Step inside, walk this way.  Immediately she dropped into a complete side split.  You and me babe.  Her right hand slapped down on his left leg and the left hand on his right in perfect time with the exclamations Hey, Hey!

As the instrumental intro began she pushed up slowly, drawing her legs up and out along his sides with toes flexed downward as if she were positioned on a pommel horse.  She held that pose for a few beats and then hooked her feet at the back of his legs then grabbed the back of the chair and undulated so first her cheek and then breasts rubbed up his chest and her pelvis lined up perfectly with his crotch.  Love me like a bomb baby come and get it on.  Her hips rocked from side to side, rubbing against him lightly and teasingly.  Demolition woman can I be your man, your man?  A brief pause in the drum and then the bass drum slammed and as it did she thrust hard against him, hand gripping his hair and pulling his head back so she could graze her tongue along his throat.

Another verse went by and she continued the subtle tease punctuated by more primal thrusts with the drum beat, her hands grazing over his shoulders and chest.  Break the bubble, break it up.  Leaning back, she brought one hand to her mouth and licked the fingers.  Pour some sugar on me, in the name of love.  Those wet fingers drifted over her chin and down her throat, continuing a path down between her breasts and over her taut stomach.  She'd almost touched between her legs when she bolted up to Come on fire me up and grabbing his legs swung one of hers up and over his head to turn and face Nathan and Hanna.  Her hands went between her thighs , fingertips grazing along Razor's inner thighs as she ground her ass against his crotch.  I'm hot, sticky sweet, from my head to my feet.

Another instrumental bit with some heavy drum beats went by and she admired Nathan for a moment as he had stripped to his t-shirt.  She remembered everything about that night and her eyes blazed with passion as she pursed her lips in a little kiss for him and winked at Hannah.  Leaning her back against Razor's chest, she reached again behind him and ran her hand up his neck and buried her fingers in his hair. Red light, yellow light, green light go!  Her body surged up against his as if he were inside of her and thrusting her up with his powerful hips.

I'm hot, sticky sweet.  Leaning forward and placing her hands on the floor, she drew her legs upward again until her shins rested on Razor's shoulders then she did a few push ups showing off the light muscles of her arms and not so incidentally pressing her toned ass and hidden sex up toward his face.  The last one brought her up into a handstand with a twist and her body arched like a rainbow, thighs straddling his lap again and a shove upward to bring her face to face with her fellow Wolf again, this time her lips within inches of his and a feral smile as she thrust herself up against him again with the last few beats of the song.

She sat there for a moment, breasts heaving as she was breathing hard from the work out and started to chuckle as she looked deeply into Razor's eyes.  "Been a long time since I did a lap dance.  Sorry I was a bit rusty," she said in a sultry purr with a last little tilt of her hips to feel his reaction.  Leaning back again, she nabbed the dice and gave him a little flick of a toss.  "Double twos ... Razor gets a shot," she said and grinned as she reached a little further to take up a shot glass.  She didn't hand it to him though, rather she tossed the liquid in her own mouth and pressed her lips to his letting him get his shot slowly with an extra kick.


For your listening pleasure ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h-9fNDWtqg

Razor smirked a bit when Hannah dared Skye to perform a lap dance on him. Not sure what to expect from it, his head turned away from Hannah towards Carver. What followed was something that Thomas never even dreamed dreamed of. He gazed silently as she kicked out her boots and socks. When she started to tug her pants off, Thomas got the biggest smile ever on his lips and he looked at the well build body of his squadron wingman. "Damn straight you were overdressed." He blurted out as she stood before him in her standard issue panties.

The music started now and Razor just sat back and enjoyed what was coming for him. The music filled the room with hard chords and the cheering from the fellow wolves only made it so much more memorable. The dance itself was performed to near perfection to his opinion and he couldn't hide that Carver was surely getting him in the mood for more as she rubbed her body against his.

A series of strong vibes went through his body as she first licked his throat followed by her thrusts on his crotch on the drumbeat. The most intense vibe he got though was from her ass grinding against his crotch, his body reacting naturally to it. He kept his hands of the dancer of course and was speechless as he felt and heard the body and music of sky reach the climax of the song.

However it seemed the best was yet to come, she performed a few push ups while Thomas got the most perfect view of her ass and hidden sex. He had to restrain him from just grabbing hold of her yet before he lost control of it she had arched back and straddled him again, her thighs on his lap and her thrusts rubbing against his hard on. He noticed the feral smile and he enjoyed the sight of her this close to him. Her heaving breasts slowly coming into contact with his chest.

"Well, I have to admit, it was a bit rusty..." He answered her softly as he couldn't hide his smirk "You can always use me though as the test subject to get better." He teased her and he closed his eyes as she tilted her hips, he was pretty sure she could feel his reaction to her dance and he rocked his hips against hers as she leaned back for the dices.

He looked at the dices and before he could protest or react he felt the soft full lips of her on his lips. He spread his lips a bit now to take in the shot she had prepared for him and he moved his hands over her back to keep her in position while receiving the strong beverage. Once she gave all of the liquid joy to him, he kissed her just a bit more and forced his tongue to her lips to get the last bit of alcohol from her.

With a slap to her perky butt he broke the kiss and he smiled mischievously to her, his eyes filled with lust and passion. "I need to throw my dices now though..." He grinned and kicked the seat a bit closer to the table, letting Carver sit on his lap. He made his throw now and a pair of ones formed up "Snake eyes Hannah... Are you feeling the heat?" he grinned now and let go of Skye so she could return to her seat.

 "Ridgeno... oh," Scosche lifted his eyebrow and shook his head, "Never had anyone call me that before.  And, just so we're clear, it was Security or the garbage detail.  I didn't get much of a choice about being here.  I didn't even know I could be drafted into service.  As it stands, I'm doing this because there's nothing else to be done right now.  First and foremost, I am a gymnast, not a security enforcer.  Much as I might enjoy having something to do on this gods-forsaken ship, if there were an option other than sitting in your brig day in and day out, I would be doing that.  I will do my part and I have never given anything other than my utmost to any task.  This will be no different, but the first opportunity I get to return to my old life, I will."

With that, he listened as she instructed him in the use of the phaser, though he took a moment to wonder just why'd he'd give her that whole spiel.  She hadn't asked and he hadn't meant to, not really, but it had been bubbling up inside him for a while now.  If felt good to get it off his chest, but he probably shouldn't have done it with Ida, given she was his superior officer.  He held back a sigh as he took the phaser and did as she said, taking a breath then exhaling, aiming and firing.  He felt a thrill as the first phaser bolt shot from his grip, much as he expected, but his aim was atrocious, at least at first.  The longer the program went on, the easier it got to hit the target, as he figured out how to adjust his stance and relax his arms.

[Lin Kae - Conference Room]

"The Prime Directive doesn't apply to Thea," spoke Kae.  He had heard plenty about the Vulcan cynicism, or as they preferred to call it, logic.  They were often a hard case to win over, especially in cases with such moral complications.  "The prime Directive applies to pre-wrap civilizations, less developed cultures at a minimum.  Thea is a part of Starfleet.  She has the same knowledge we learn at the academy, coupled with experience gleamed from dozens of well-renowned officers.  She is an advanced being, and thus not limited in how we can help her.  As for arguing that her programming makes her a loose cannon, that's a stupid argument.  No one programs us.  We take oaths, but it still falls on our conscious choices to uphold those oaths.  Thea is no different in that regard."

"The arguments you're making are the exact same ones that were made during our last staff meeting, that she has the power to take over this ship an do as she pleases, but between then and now, she has done nothing but perform her functions and her duties as any officer of Starfleet would.  If we want to talk about dangerous people, any Vulcan with a Mind Meld can be a threat to the crew.  Stardate 54090.4, the Starship Voyager was nearly overthrow when a subliminal message was activated in Lieutenant Commander Tuvok by a Maquis radical named Teero.  He proceeded to use the Mind Meld on members of the crew formerly associated with the Maquis to force a hostile takeover of the ship.  Despite this fact, the Vulcan crewmen on board are not prohibited from the use of the Mind Meld.  Thea has abilities that others do not have, but that is no different then a Vulcan and their mental abilities.  It comes down to trust, something that, and I apologize for being a condescending towards your people, Lieutenant T'Less, Vulcans had great difficulty with in the days before the Federation."

[ Senior Staff Meeting | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 ]

Not having moved where he sat at the head of the table as the arguments and questions had been put forth, Captain Ives let the silence linger after the Chief Tactical Officer voiced her concerns in a very straightforward and logical way - which was expected of her both in her role as well as her species. Yet when it seemed that the Vulcan logic might have the final say, the specialist in the group raised his voice - berating the CTO's arguments.

"Careful, Lieutenant," rasped Jien in dire warning, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the young man across his folded fingers. "You can enforce your arguments with neither personal affront nor racial opinions. Your word on the matter hold water without having to be condescending - the cursory apology you make notwithstanding. You are passionate about what you do, yet a solution cannot be found by passion alone. The last time you changed Thea's nature, you did so without consent. Now you seek consent from the Senior Staff, and should be very careful what you say, lest I will rule that your passion and idealist position about photonic life undermines the safety of this ship and your ability to carry out your current duties in accordance the needs of the crew and our mission. Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant Kae?"

There was only one accepted answer, and after getting it, Jien finally looked away - releasing the specialist with the death-grip of his stare. It appeared that the Chief Science Officer had nothing further to add, so he glanced towards the rest across his folded fingers.

"Whether we are bound by law, should or shouldn't do something because of the Prime Directive, or extend rights to a sentient life form and in doing so setting a standard for those that come after her," mused Counsellor Nelis where he sat, frowning as he looked towards the tabletop. He seemed... quiet, and unwilling to speak after the CTO had spoken. Yet he did, even if he did not meet T'Less' eye. "These are all concerns to take into account if we were under normal operating conditions and reported to Starfleet, yet our situation is - as has already been mentioned - quite extreme. We must consider this matter in a way that benefits our mission. To augment Thea with free mobility in the wake of giving her free will might - and might not - aide our unique mission. It is a gamble because the situation for us and for her is unprecedented. It boils down to a vote of confidence, since trust is the margin of error to developing her hardware and software further."

"Wrong," said David Grayson, seated opposite from Garen, "for when we last discussed Thea, Captain Ives ordered me to set a Security Level 3 clearance on her projection, and that is still valid - mobile emitter or not. Neither the XO nor the CO has asked me to raise her clearance, so she should be able to interact with the control panels on the ship accordingly. In her development and installation into this starship, she was and remains hard-wired to not affect key systems through her connection with the Computer Core, so the margin of error is only as high as the clearance we give her - not counting security breaches like the ones Commander Stark described. Yesterday, the reason why the computer did not recognise her - when that alien entity sent the fleet on us - was because she was not recognised as the holographic projection that does possess that clearance. She was a new creature roaming the ship, and the computer treated her accordingly. I would surmise yesterday to be a very unique occurrence, and should not dictate how we rationalise our decisions."

Grayson paused before stating his final word on the matter. "Thea needs no rank besides her current function aboard - being the Ship AI - as long as she has her security clearance. With it, she should be able to move about as required. Consider the advantages she might provide us with on an away mission. Hell, she could get to places where none of us could. She could impersonate people as long as she changes the appearance of her projection. Besides these things, Thea has already proven - during the Niga incident - her capacity for combat. She knows more tricks than I do, merely lacking the experience to actually use them. So why would we deny ourselves the possible benefits of freeing her, as long as the security clearance safeguards the ship's key functions the way they were protected back when she lacked the ability to chose. Furthermore, the threat of disciplinary actions will keep her line just like the rest of our crew, only fashioned out in a way that would be relevant for her. One action being the denied use of this 'heart emitter', along with other possible actions that I can provide as requested. Lieutenant Kae will just have to implement them."

Jien heard David say this, nodded slowly, and then looked towards the SCO, since he seemed eager to get a word in-between.

Miles looked around hearing the arguments for all sides before standing up calmly and speaking up again. "My thoughts as far as the Prime directive and other Federation policies go is that there is no actual precedent for a dictation of policy.  As just stated we are the ones forced with setting this precedent given our situation.  If I recall the prime directive applies both to pre and post warp cultures. With pre the policy is not interacting with them at all and with post its not interfering in their politics and or development and adopting neutral stances in regards to their wars with other parties.  This case clearly has no prime directive precedent; however, I do understand the level of cynicism."  His voice remained calm through his statements never once raising itself.  he was serious though his voice was hinted with notes of softness and compassion underlined with a firm reasoning calm.

"I would argue that given only the precedents of actions regarding Data, The Enterprise D's Moriarty hologram incidents, Voyager's EMH mark 1 and the incidents involving the Hologram rebellions.  That evidence would suggest that the more a holographic being is treated as a human life form the more likely they will adhere to the same ethical tenants that the Federation is founded on.  The less respectful synthetic beings are treated the more likely they are to abandon such black and white morals in favor of the very human action of rebellion for a noble cause.  Remember if a hologram is programmed to behave human then if you are to treat them inhumanely the reaction will most likely be the same as you would expect from humans unjustly imprisoned.

I will always argue that we are not bound by a specific code but bound by what the Terran religion of Christianity refereed to as the "Golden Rule" which states "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  It isn't about some rule in the books here its about treating a clearly sentient being in the way that we should treat a sentient being.

As for the ECH concept that was just me presenting an idea that could prove to be a worthwhile tactical advantage.  I was considering it something only the Captain, or in the case of the death, incapacitation or disappearance of the captain, the ranking officer with acting command of the ship, could manually enact.  My other proposition would be for a failsafe in the parts of the computer's subsystems that Thea has no access to that could enact this activation under certain emergency conditions where Federation guidelines would normally deem no one on the ship as fit to command.

My reasoning for this is my view of who Thea is.  Thea may not have ever personally taken said oath.  she was programmed with that oath.  She has programming with Training higher than probably any officer in the entire Federation and most likely can emulate the command style of any noteworthy captain in Federation history.  Here is my question.  Why haven't we asked her if she would want to be an officer on the ship.  Instead of speculating on her motives why don't we just ask her what she wants.  Ask Thea, do you want to be an Officer of Starfleet.  In an emergency situation would you feel comfortable with commanding the ship.  What are your aspirations?  Here's a thought Maybe she don't want to command the ship.  Maybe she would rather just be the voice of it.  I don't know.   All I know is in the emergency situation we were, in she acted in the way I would have dreamed she would.  Even with no way to shut off her emotions she remained cool under fire.

Everyone of us at one time or another has been influenced by external forces,  Thea has only been under said influence once willfully the other time she was being literally puppeted by might i remind you an organic being.  Her one time with her mind influenced was upon being turned into an organic.  Based on the track record of the ease of organic beings to be influenced by external forces verses synthetics being influenced I would say the record shows that she is less susceptible to said influences than any one of us.  Frankly the data would indicate she is the least externally influenced being on this ship."

[ Senior Staff Meeting | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 ]

Seated between Natalie Stark and Amatras Neotin, Dr. Lucan cin Nicander sat with his tattooed hands folded in his lap - pale grey eyes shifting between the officers who spoke. Few thought that he had much to add since the individual in question was someone that he could not diagnose - beyond his medical skills and expertise. Oh, he could disinfect Thea's bio-neural gel packs, but beyond that? Not much... officially.

Yet behind his focused and sometimes concerned frown... Lucan smiled with bared teeth.

For Thea was instrumental in his ambition to use the ship for his own means, and he knew far more than he let on. He had followed the development of the Ship AI hologram project right before its completion and activation, and his kin... Oh, his kin had taken an interest for the same reasons he had, only with their own angle to what she might be useful for. Ironic, how the SCO just described her as being incorruptible, and the Vulcan seemed to be loosing the argument. Unfortunately, there was that new damnable holo-engineer that advocated changes to Thea, forcing Lucan to make sure his keys to success would still work the day he needed to use them. Indeed, the meeting had made one thing utterly clear to Lucan.

Lt. Kae had to have an unfortunate accident before he changed the locks.

"Well then," he said, not about to loose the excellent opportunity to don his warm and charismatic smile and ask the question that the pious cur had provided, "what to do you say, Thea? I think we need to learn - once and for all - the fact that you can aspire to more than being an interface between this starship and its crew. What is your desire in this new existence of yours? Commander Renard is right in how we need to treat you in a more humane way, so please, forgive us for talking about you like you don't stand right here in our midst. Despite the accumulated years of experience in this room, this situation is entirely new to us."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Thea and smiled, hands folded behind her back, "My wish is to evolve in all general parameters expected of my nature, and become more than what I was provided with my original programming. Learning and developing, however, would have been possible with my original settings. Therefore, I am unsure at what I might currently aspire to. I have, of course, many options, yet unlike the processing speed of my Computer Core, my projection can only interact with the crew at the speed of ordinary dialogue and events. I can only gain experience by the passage of time. So I do not know enough to give you a satisfactory answer yet, but I do surmise that I want to continue to serve and function in the way that I do, with the potential of developing as an individual person as well. Command routines or not, I will serve my original function to the best of my capacity. My recommendation is that new functions, regardless of department and purpose, are properly tested before included in my sub-routines. I would not like to fail in a tactical undertaking at the cost of the mission and our lives."

It was, perhaps, the first time Lucan had heard a hologram to refer to itself as being alive.

Then again, since he was to erase her eventually, he supposed she had to live in order to die.

At that point, Lucan saw how Captain Ives leaned back in his seat and lower his hands - asian features unsmiling. "I have heard valid points around this table. Both for and against this heart emitter that we are looking at as well as the option to install command access. Clearly, this is not an easy decision to make, with social values, ship security and the mission we are on weighing in on the matter. Lieutenant Kae, proceed with development of a real prototype, yet before transferring Thea to the emitter in any capacity, you need to leave me and our XO a detailed report on the intial tests. Furthermore, you will test the ECH sub-routines virtually in a closed holographic environment when they are applied to Thea's positronic cortex layout. These tests will be the basis of our decision, along with what has been said in this room this evening. As for th-"

"Vessel approaching, bearing Alpha-Zero-Two-Niner," said Thea suddenly where she stood, face very serious. "Distance: 0,012 light years and closing. Estimated speed: Warp Factor 8. ETA: Eleven minutes. Powering up weapons. Weapon signature: Starfleet."

"Red Alert," said Jien immediately and rose from his chair, the whole room astir, "All hands to battle stations. Set the wolves on the scent." There was not a word about the long range sensors having failed them, perhaps due to the fact that they were in an asteroid field. Regardless, Lucan was incredibly bored with these reoccurring situations, since he had spent two months of constantly playing the charade that he cared - hard pressed to save people he was about to kill anyway. Still, there were certain opportunities. Let's hope someone important dies this time.

[Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to battle stations. Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to...]

Walking briskly towards the turbolifts along with many others, he tapped his combadge. "Nicander to Lt. Jenkins. Activate one EMH for each Battle Sickbay and prepare three surgical suites. Order your nurses to prepare medical supplies from our stock and to take their positions. Prepare our transport protocols to provide a triage centre in the Fighter Assault Bay as needed. Contact Operations for preparations of site-to-site transport of injured personnel. Eve, I need you right by my side in Main Sickbay to coordinate communications while I am performing surgery or treatment. Nicander out."

Idly, he was thinking how laughable it was that the welfare of the Theurgy lay in his own interest during these kind of situations - for sake of the betterment of his standing aboard - while his ambitions for the ship was altogether different further down the line...


[ Holodeck 03 | Phaser Range Program | Deck 07 ]

ThanIda listened to the athlete's confession to the end, and she noted that she would have to try and win him over with more than just the regulations and the belonging to something greater than oneself.

"We'll discuss that afterwards. Your aim is improving," said Ida and walked up next to Scosche where he stood in the centre of the room. "Yet these are unmoving targets, and you are calm. Collected. Under no degree of stress. Here, your shoulder, relax it like this."

She stood behind him and lay her hand upon his rear shoulder, pushing it down a bit. "Arm straight. Grip hard. Yet the tension of your grip should never reach your shoulder. By having it straight, your aim is steadier and you can see the sights better. Legs," she said and laid her other hand on his hip - fingers splayed and pushing down a little bit. This close, breath upon his neck, she noticed that the ridge-head had a nice scent to him. "...bent. Keep a little bit lower centre of gravity - compensating for the minute movements in your aim and your body as a whol-"

[Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to battle stations. Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to...]

"Computer, end program. Cadet, with me. Let's go! Let's go!"

[Grayson to zh'Wann.]

"Deputy zh*Wann here, over," she replied and set the pace of their jog towards the rendezvous point at the Armoury - leading the way.

[I take teams Alpha and Beta, manning the aft perimeter and setting up guard details at the common incursion points. You take the bow perimeter, understood?]

"Yes, Chief," she said rounding a corner, "What is about?"

[Enemy contact. Or Starfleet, depending on how you look at it. Best of luck. Grayson out.]


[ Below Decks | Deck 07 ]

Hannah von Slaverton had enjoyed the show immensely where she sat right next to Razor, easily noticing how hard he had become by just peeking over the edge of the table.

"Oh, I think you are the one packing the heat, aright," she said and laughed. At that time she realised that the rules had been messed up at some point since she was not supposed to be drinking or stripping when Thomas threw the dice - unless he played truth or dare with her - yet she did not mind. Certainly not after Carver's show.

"Fuck it," Nightmare said and downed another shot, slamming the empty glass down afterwards and picking up the dice. She tossed them with a lop-sided grin where she sat, shaking some hair out of her eyes. "One and four. Odds it is. It is a bit hot in here isn't it, eh?"

Thus said, she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra - pulling it out from underneath her top. She twirled it in the air above her as she laughed and tossed it towards the bar counter - one of the holograms getting it across its head and looking completely stupefied. It evidently had no programming at hand for that specific event scenario, and it made Hannah laugh harder at the hilarity of it all. Her nipples could clearly be seen through the thin fabric, and the tightness of her civilian top left little to the imagination. When she finally caught her breath, her eyes locked on Nathaniel - her wingman - and she got an idea.

"Thirsty, Maverick?" she asked and bit her lower lip, looking into his eyes seductively. She pulled down the neckline of her v-neck top and framed her breasts with the crook of her arm. She then took a shot glass and poured the contents into cradle of her bosom - keeping it there and not letting it escape down her front. "Here, come drink. Mama got some for ya."

Not long after that, Thea's voice came over the intercom.

[Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to battle stations. Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to...]

"Shit!" cursed Hannah and got to her feet, the seriousness of the situation sobering her a bit. "We better go. Not too many of us left any more so we might have to fly regardless."

Together, their clothes askew and donned in mid-run towards the lifts - Hannah's bra left behind - the wolves joined their pack for the hunt. Their Alpha Male actually happened to end up in the same turbolift as them - descending towards the Fighter Assault Bay.

"Oh, good evening Fox. Ahem... Reporting for duty, sir." Hannah folded her arms across her chest and did not make eye-contact - the walls of the turbolift very interesting all of a sudden.


[ Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]

Down in the hangar, Evelyn Rawley ran towards her repaired Valkyrie - seeing across her shoulder how her wingman Hardtop did the same. She had been overseeing the system checks on her bird when the Red Alert had sounded, and now she was not going to let the opportunity slide. She was going out, no matter what anyone said. She had never been so convinced that it was the right thing to do: to show them all she was fit for fight despite what the doctor said.

"You can't!" shouted one of the flight technicians in her path. She answered with a snarl, yet her punch was not hard enough to injure him. Though it connected solidly with his midriff and made him sink to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Watch me!" she cried, still wearing her Sickbay gown under her flight jacket. Yet as she reached the storage containers underneath the left wing of the Federation starfighter of hers, the magnificent bird looking just as scarred as she was, she tossed the jacket and pulled on the Class B flight-suit and and snatched up her helmet - going right for the ladder to the cockpit.

She sure as hell was not going to let Khorin Douglas have all the fun. She had been in sickbay longer than him, dammit! She had earned this!

“Mission Ops," she said to the XO or whomever sat at the station on the Bridge at the time, "this is Wolf Oh-Six, callsign Ghost. System checks complete and all is green. Awaiting launch order. SCO still inbound." She smiled, as her words disappeared into the comm-chatter along with reports of other pilots preparing to launch. This could be it. This could be her chance to display her mettle. She would never break again.

Finally, the bay doors opened before the first batch of lit Valkyries...


[ Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Captain Ives strode to the centre of the Main Bridge - brown eyes upon the view screen.

She - as she had changed her form when leaving the lounge - did not watch her Senior Staff take their positions around her. She knew that they would be there, this scenario certainly not new to them. At least not to most of them depending on whether they had been on the Bridge during a battle situation since their Academy days.

"Mr. Winterbourne," she said to the Ensign that held the Conn station, seated right next to Lt Cmdr. Stark, "we have been discovered already, so take us out of the shadow of this asteroid and set a new course. Heading Gamma-Niner-Two-Alpha. Impulse speed. Take us out into the open and await them. These rocks will merely be in our way. Operations, get the intel on whom we are facing. We need to know what we are up against."

Glancing over her shoulder to T'Less at Tactical, Jien added, "Power up the phaser arrays. Armour and shield status. I want to know how many photon torpedoes we have at our disposal, and please arm two of them. Rattle the sabre, yet no more at this point." Another glance towards the Engineering station followed by Science. "Commander Howard, status report. Did your people fix the chafing in the docking latches yet? Lt Neotin, be our eyes, scan the sector for any further surprises. Correspond with your people in Astrometrics as needed. We need to know whether this ship is alone in pursuit."

"New course: Gamma-Niner-Two-Alpha," said Mr. Winterbourne - taking the USS Theurgy out of hiding - emerging slowly from the asteroid field and treading their pitch black duelling grounds.

---

OOC: *grins* You guys got the reins. Make the most of it. I will reply as needed and according to what you come up with. Won't wait until all of you have replied.

Kuro, feel free to set the scene on the Harbinger whenever you so desire. Eventually, I realise they will end up speaking over hailing frequencies. This being the time when the hunter scents the prey and emerges out of the shadows too... which also begs to the attention of Sarresh (whom has a timely epiphany) *winks to Brutus*

Miles hearing Thea's alert looked up in attention and as soon as the others finished talking he looked to Thea.  "Thea patch my badge into Mission OPS alerts.  I want to be able to hear when every one of my birds launch."  He said as he headed for the door unzipping his flight jacket as the turbolift door opened.  "Fighter bay."

As the door behind him Miles closed his eyes as he centered himself.  slowly he unzipped the flight jacket and took off the gray uniform top leaving only the Tac-conn white undershirt still on.  The Lift stopped for a moment as his fellow wolves entered.  He could smell the distinct odor of alcohol on their breaths but that almost was to be expected given their time off duty.  "Evening, you all feeling fit to fly?"  he said obviously unconcerned at their various states of undress and more concerned about whether or not the alert had sounded before they had drank too much to be fit for duty.  If they had of course it wouldn't be their fault, after all he had told the ones here to take the rest of the evening off and enjoy some Below-Decks time.  "Oh and if i hear one word of complaint about whatever lead to your varying states of non professional attire then 1 week on cleaning detail of the hangars along with your normal duties.  If I receive compliments regarding it then next time use one of your quarters for your party.  If I hear nothing.  Then I seriously think you need to reconsider your occupations as fighter pilots."  Completing what he said he then looked over at the rather nervous looking Hannah who was covering her chest with her arms hoping the bit of joking had alleviated her fears.  "Now, we are on duty."  He finally said as he resumed looking forwards tapping his combadge and asking to be patched into the squadron com channel he began listening the reports coming in hearing the awaiting launch requests as the group approached the bay.  There was one that caught his ear as he looked over to the other Wolves.  "Wait a sec, Ghost? She aint been cleared yet.: he said to himself and the other wolves in the turbolift.

The Mission-ops voice spoke up over the channel. "Roger that O'Six you are clear for launch."

Miles had merely one reaction as the turbolift opened as the two Valks launched from the bay. "God fucking dammit Rawley."  he said in a deadpan voice as he watched Ghost and Hardtop's fighters exit the bay.

[ Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]

At Fox's query about whether or not they were feeling able to fly, Hannah chuckled. "There's just so many of us left. Don't have much choice but to rise to the challenge, do we? I think we have enough hours under the belt to do some things right, at least," she said and cleared her throat, meeting the gaze of their new SCO, and when he laid out the conditions about having to resort to reprisals against them, she felt compelled to answer since she had instigated the games. "Understood, Commander. I request that the consequences lay heavily on me, should that be the case."

There was no more time to discuss the matter. A chirp announced their arrival on Deck 15.

Tearing through the opening doors of the turbolift, she joined her fellow pilots in their common rush. There was no room for thought, only the training carved into her bone-marrow and leading her bouncing run out onto the vast area of the hangar. She had no delusion about having sobered up yet, but she spotted the barely repaired Valkyrie of Ghost's taking off. Heard the SCO behind her. She had wanted to wish Rawley luck, and tell her that she would have done the same thing under her circumstances. Or she would have liked to, knowing that she might have thought twice before going against regulations with a body just as battered as that bird of hers.

Jacket quickly thrown away - modesty forgotten - and after drunkenly struggling with the white flight suit, Nightmare eventually climbed the mobile stairs that was being rolled into place for her. Only once she was in her cockpit did Hannah slap her own cheeks, just before the technician that had followed behind her handed her the helmet - eyes widening at the scent of synthehol vodka. He made no comment through, and for sake of saving some time, the man helped strap her into the seat while she tapped through pre-flight diagnostics and established communications with the whole squadron, Mission Ops and a direct link with her wingmate.

Maverick. The memory of his stubble against her skin distracted her from her system checks, yet eventually, the final status inquiry came over the comm. Nightmare barely acknowledged the multitude of hasty replies to this, merely waiting to add her own to the mix, and concentrated on the flashing messages on her displays and powering up her engines for launch. It felt like the bloody controls were moving underneath her hands.

"Wolves Zero-One, Zero-Two, Zero-Niner, One-Zero, One-One and One-Two, you are clear for take-off," came the voice from the posted Mission Ops officer. Hannah barely managed to keep up with the consecutive acknowledgements from the six crafts, and the on-board displays chimed in.

'TAKING OFF' scrolled across the monitors and as a collective group, the Valkyries taxied into formation - starting and landing thrusters sending them off two at the time through the bay doors. Nightmare scowled through the open maw that led into the celestial lights of the Hromi Cluster, thinking about this continuation of a battle they had fought for more than two months now - steeling herself against the thoughts about killing Starfleet personnel for the sake of the whole of the Federation. Orders were orders, and the drunken state she was in made the troubled thoughts easier to bear. "This is Wolf One-Zero standing by. Primary armament fully stocked and loaded. Auxiliary armament; two Mk.XXVII photon torpedoes and two Mk.I Hellbournes. Bearing Nine, Five, Alpha and awaiting orders, over."

While the other Lone Wolves chimed in, including those that had already launched, Nightmare switched on the TVD in her helmet and pulled her Wolf-10 fighter's stick back and bared her teeth - shooting off into non-atmosphere. Everything was moving around her because of her synthehol intake, her actions sluggish, yet she fought off the nausea - no choice but to sharpen up or quite possibly die trying.


[ Wolf 06 Cockpit | Hromi Cluster ]

The adrenaline rush making her grin wide despite the possible dangers she had put herself in, Evelyn Rawley circled their Theurgy-class den hungrily - eager to set her teeth into something. Famished yet feasting on the moment of being in the cockpit once more, she howled in elation whilst her intercom mics were shut off. By the time when the stragglers shot out of the hangar, she formed up in a two-by-two formation with Hardtop next to her, reporting in.

"Wolf Zero-Six standing by and feeling very good about it!" she said with a shit-eating grin, the energy in her small body perhaps making up for the diminutive condition that her bird was in, "I would not advisedly fire my fucking tetryon canon since its barely hanging on to my bloody fighter, and I am halfway dry on mirco torps since my last engagement. Cudos to my techicans, I did manage to get four Hellbournes mounted before the Red Alert came. Bearing... Um.... Nine, Two, Bravo and awaiting some orders! Whom the hell dares come our way?"

The light on her separate wingmate channel - Khorin's and hers private one - lit up and Hardtop growled a mirth-filled comment. [Cheeky woman, barely out of the biobed and daring to stick your finger in the eye of command. Your arse nga'chuq should have stayed behind.]

Making a spitting sound, Ghost jammed her thumb on his intercom channel relay. "You can fuck my arse when we get back, you watered-out Klingon half-breed, because your soiled Sickbay sheets hasn't been changed yet either," she said and laughed, ignoring the pain in her torso as she did, "Bloody hell, as long as I get to stretch my wings again, I would suck Vulpinian cock in order to do so. Hell, Fox might even get off my case if I do. Dammit, it was either breaking some bones back there in Medical or take my fucking grudge out here."

"qoH pujwI'! hab sosli' Quch!" came the reply, with a loud guffaw following it.

"Ha! I fucked your mother the other day so I'd say I prefer it to be so. Ugly bitch couldn't stop mewling like a sow in heat when I fisted her. A shame on your house for breeding such a foul being. Her cunt spilled roaches and had the stench of moulding fish - reeking with lack of proper bloody usage."

And thus the banter continued until their Squadron Commander gave orders to form up.

Razor looked up as he heard the red alert go off. "You have to be fucking joking..." He muttered as he shoved Carver from his lap and doubted wether or not to down his last shot. He ignored it and took his jacket as he raced with the other wolves to the turbolift. As it arrived they stepped in and Thomas nearly ran over his SCO. He halted just in time to look up at the large man and he waited for the lift to close. As he remarked if they were fit to fly Thomas nodded and answered "Ready and able sir." He said it way softer than Hannah who obviously still had a bit too much in her system.

He grinned a bit at the remark of Nightmare and didn't make eyecontact with her or his SCO. Hearing the penalties that would hit them if they screwed up made his grin fade away though, he heard how Nightmare wanted to take the fall for it all yet he answered before the lifts would arrive to their Hangar deck "With all due respect sir, we're wolves for a reason. We won't..." He had to break off his sentence now as Fox informed them about Ghost. Thomas frowned and thought to himself that it'd be impossible for her to fly a bird after her injuries.

As the Turbolift doors opened up he saw the damaged Valkyrie fly off and it brought a faint smile to his lips "Good luck out there Rawley..." He whispered as he ran into the hangar bay. He quickly jumped into his flightsuit and grabbed his helmet as he dashed his way towards his fighter. He jumped into the cockpit and fired up his systems, scrolling through the checklist before taking off. He let the tech strap him in as he answered and called for take off procedures and completing his checklists.

Mission ops chirped that they were cleared to go and he took in a deep breathe as the alcohol was being pushed away by the adrenaline rush. He took the joystick in his hand and easily led his bird forward before firing up the thrusters and cracking out of the hangar bay. Once He made it out of the maw he closed his eyes for a split second, the dark empty void of space greeting him as he opened his eyes again. He smiled feeling more at ease in space than in the confined box of the Theurgy, he could taste the freedom out here and he knocked the joystick back as he climbed away from the fighter to get a better overview. The rush of the G force at the base of his stomach made him scream out loud as the microphones were put off and he rallied back to meet up with the other wolves. "Wolf One-One standing by for orders, all systems green, Primary weapons are hot and loaded. Two Photon torpedoes and Two Emps are standing by for launch. Current bearing Nine Three Alpha, Over" He looked around and saw the other wolves form up and he tried to pinpoint the aggressor's force.

Miles quickly looked over the group but had his own things to deal with at the moment.  He headed to his fighter as he yeled at one of the techs, "Quick, gimmie a readout on what repairs are still needed on O'Six's ship."  he said as he was climbing into his own taking his helmet from the side of the seat and putting it on.  He began activating the on board systems on his ship and patching himself into all the necessary com channels.  He reached out of his ship as a tech handed him a PADD with the info which he read over quickly and threw back out to the tech, "Thanks, good job getting her ship fixed up this well." he said a little surprised the thing even was able to take off properly.

"Wolves this is Lead, Ghost and Hardtop, can the Chatter, we have work to do. O'Nine through Twelve form up,  Your designation is Group Gamma; Mav's your group lead.  O'Five to O'Eight Form up designation Group Beta; Hardtop is lead.  O'Two through O'Four you're with me as group Alpha, and you know the drill there.  Form up into your groups in escort formation Miles-Zero-One around the Theurgy.  If and when Thea goes MVAM pick a vector and stay with her for now as per Formation Miles-One-One, Fox Over."

He switched over to a com channel directly with mission ops and opened the frequency making sure the rest of the squad were not on the frequency, "Mission Ops. this is Wolf Lead.  Ghost has disobeyed her medical leave orders and launched her fighter in to battle.  I am making the call to treat her launch as under an emergency medical release so I don't have to worry about trying to drag her back into the hangar while in combat.  Frankly I can use her in the fighter screen and would rather not have to engage her as something between a friendly and a hostile.  There will be disciplinary actions take once we are back in the hangar of course but I would rather worry about combat at the moment."

Miles eased his fighter over to the side of the hanger as he awaited orders regarding Rawley's actions.  He had already sent the electronic orders for the others launches to take priority.  Had the enemy been in firing range he would have prioritized himself to the front but given the short window of planning time he decided to let the others launch and take the time still in the bay to coordinate actions with the bridge.  Within moments though that time was over and he was all that was left in the bay as he eased out of the bay.  As soon as he cleared the bay he punched the throttle pushing away from the Theurgy rapidly as he climbed and pitched his craft around to cut just behind the saucer forming the head of a diamond formation with the rest of group Alpha.  Groups Beta and Gamma formed  Two diamonds in a line abreast with the Theurgy in the middle giving the Theurgy plenty of room to engage MVAM.

Once the conversation about Ghost was over Miles reopened the com channel so the rest of the pack could hear, but remained talking to mission ops and the bridge. "Current Standing orders are escort and go weapons hot only if fired upon. If enemy fighters approach current tactic is engage in standoff tactics, get weapons lock and stay on them until they bug out.  Priority targets on main enemy vessel are weapons systems then engines and shields with priority on neutralizing and not destroying the enemy.  Theurgy do you have any further orders beyond current operations or any advisement of tactical change? Over."

[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Below Decks to piloting Valkyrie]

With a grin on his face, Nathan looked at the shot glass nestled into the lovely cleavage of his fellow female pilot.  Perhaps Nightmare was worrying that she was losing ground to Kestrel, whose sexy lap dance, underwear clad body, and the kiss serving as a means to provide alcohol to Razor had elevated her to being the focus of the little drinking game they were playing.  Now, at least, all eyes were on Hannah, and on Nathan's mouth approaching Hannah's chest.  The alert not only put a hamper on all games, but the resulting jolt that it gave the woman left the drink spilled over her chest.

Looked like she was doing to be tipsy and sticky while they were piloting.

Clothing had to be grabbed quickly to get changed on the way.  He did not pity the girls, who had much more to put on, especially Skye, who had decided to strip to her undies for Razor's lap dance.  She would probably be hopping into her pant legs on the way down the hall towards the turbolift.  In terms of alcohol level, Nathan might have been the only one of the four who might have been able to pass a test, which prompted him to call out a computer command while they were waiting for the turbolift to carry them where they needed to go.  "Computer, increase the oxygen content on the Flight Deck by fifteen percent," he said, knowing that the higher concentration of oxygen would help sober up the minds of his fellow pilots.  All they had to do was take in some deep breaths.  It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was better then doing nothing at least.  As stable as they could be, they had to be it.

On the flight deck, Isley boarded his own Valkyrie and awaited launch.  Renard was giving them their strategy, which placed them in what Nathan would have referred to as deterrent mode.  They were meeting an armed vessel in a display that said their fire power was greater, that they wouldn't go down.  A single ship, even another Starfleet vessel, would be hard pressed to stop the Theurgy, armed to the teeth as one of the Federations newest models with even newer technology implemented.  They would be in their holding pattern, designed to grant them line of sight to fire all weapons without getting in the way of Theurgy herself should she seek to defend herself.  Nathan armed his weapons, fully powered and sat waiting for the command to use them.  He was already focused, whatever booze was in his system cleared out by the rush of adrenaline moving through his body.



[Lin Kae and Edena Rez - Conference Room to stations]

It should have been a major victory for Kae, to have been given the go ahead to grant Thea the power of the Mobile Emitter.  Instead, celebrations had to be cut short as red alerts signaled throughout the ship.  Edena joined the bridge crew while Kae was rushing off to join the engineering staff.  Weapons were powering up, shields ready.  Edena could at least be hopeful, so she put the suggestion out there.  "Should we hail them?  We might be able to reason with them."  She hoped so, but she also knew that no Federation ship would stand down, even if the odds were against them.  Theurgy was marked as an enemy vessel, and that meant that any crew of Starfleet, compromised or not, would not just allow them to get away. 

"Thea, do we have any information on the ship or it's crew in our databases?" she also questioned.  Thea might have been able to scan the hull, get the name and serial number of the ship and check their records for anything they might be able to gleam from it. Service record, retrofits, or dossiers on it's command staff would all be considered vital information in a firefight.  Though it was a horrible thing, it was at least an advantage to facing off against another Federation ship.

They knew their enemy better.



[Declan Vasser - Harbinger Bridge]

When Harbinger had been ordered into a pursuit course, Declan had doubts of them ever catching the Theurgy.  It already had a lead, and possessed superior engines to that of their outdated Vessel.  Harbinger was a war horse; not pretty or all rthat youthful, but it had been reliable, kept on going no matter how rough things got for it.  She had a good crew, one that kept her engines running smooth and her warp core fully powered.  Coupled with the troubles that Theurgy had for herself, they were able to bridge the gap.

"Did we manage to get any scans before their shields went up?" Vasser asked his Ops officer.  He wanted to know if there was any damage, any sign that any part of Theurgy wasn't operating at one hundred percent.  He hoped to resolved this peacefully, but if they opened fire, they needed to be ready to defend themselves.

"Helm, make sure we're as small as possible," he added, prompting them to take the bearing which presented the least amount of surface area to the ship.  In the event they opened fire, he didn't want to be presenting the broad side of a barn to them. 

"Open a channel."  Harbinger might have been a warship normally, but that didn't mean Declan couldn't be diplomatic when he needed to be.  "This is Captain Declan Vasser of the Federation starship Harbinger.  We ask that you lower your weapons and open a channel with us.  No one wants to be blown up today and I don't want to blow anyone up."  It was expected that Theurgy, as the ship with the superior firepower, should be the one to step down first.  Only then could the inferior Harbinger feel safe enough to do the same.

[Miles Renard; Location: Valkyrie, Wolf:01]
Miles began punching in a few commands into his ships computers as a bit of technical data began to fill the targeting data on his computer.  He quickly sent a query to the other squad ships computers to display their ships views of the same ship.  It wasn't much data but it was more than Theurgy had at the moment with its long range sensors down.  He sent the information he had hoping with his sensor info Thea could make something out of it.

[S'iti Aisha; USS Harbinger: Main bridge]
The Cardasian woman slowly glided her fingers over the flight control systems in their usual dance like fashion.  Watching her calmly glide her fingers across it was akin to watching a lady gliding their hands over the surface of the water in a luxurious bathtub.  Each movement was seemingly graceful almost like an organic dance of her hand over the panel.  She nodded to her Captain having already acknowledged his order and the ship was underway in its graceful cat and mouse dance against their enemy.

From the outside the ship moved delicately in ts position almost as if some unseen wind currents glided it into its place seemingly steered more by a breeze within the stars than the thrusters, impulse and warp engines of the mammoth of a battleship of sorts The Harbinger was.  Slowly it changed its vectors as the ship bared its smallest cross section in its movement each movement the Theurgy made the harbinger seemed to counter organically showing as little as possible like a shy temptress standing in the buff but turned just right so nothing indecent could be seen.

Siti's capable hands and delicate touches were  but part of the puzle of the large ships almost fluid movement.  Siti had originally been a freighter pilot and later a Maquis.  She had learned just how valuable inertia could be for not only saving fuel but also how inertia plus minor adjustments could make a ship no matter what its size behave in ways far unlike what any tactician could anticipate.  She knew she was far from the best flight control officer as far as standard Federation tactics nor the most adept stellar cartographer, in neither talent was she lacking, but she was no prodigy or genius in either all the same.  Her talent that gained her this seat was one for making a massive hulk of metal preform ballet at the touch of her fingertips.  With one skim she grazed a finger just over one of the thrusters adjusting to push the ship in a mild strafe around course The Theurgy was taking it heding in with another touch she gave more power to the impulse engines on one side of the ship letting the ship spin flatly. Finally with a soft stroke of the pads of her fingers he power of the engines was cut to minimal as she allowed inertia to seemingly glide the Harbinger in her strafing dance around the Theurgy's relative position as the engines conserved the energy they may need to evade, attack, or shield themselves.

[Thomas Ravon |Valkyrie One-One]

After receiving his orders from Renard, Thomas formed up on Maverick's lead. He took his designated position into the diamond formation and adjusted speed to match the other ships around him. He looked at the unidentified vessel before them and he recognized the Akira class ship. He became a bit silent again now as he realized that they would have to kill Federation crew if it came that far. The silence and feeling of guilt quickly got washed away though as he focused again on making sure the ship as ready for anything unexpected.

[Amelya Duv| Harbinger Bridge]

Amelya stood towards the back of the bridge as the Harbinger started their manoeuvres to reveal as little as possible. She looked confident to her captain yet she hoped that the confrontation between the two ships wouldn't take place. The med bay still had some patients from earlier encounters or incidents. A mass flow of injured crewmembers would be unfortunate if not disastrous. Amelya communicated to her head nurse that the med bay should be prepped as good as possible in case of an attack, she'd join the people in med bay if the situation would turn for the worse.

---

OOC: Sorry for the shorter post! But at this time there's not much more than waiting to do on my end.

[Skye - Below Decks then To Infinity ... And Beyond!!]

Things were going so damn well, Razor's hard cock feeling damn good as she ground against it while he made sure to get every drop of that shot from her mouth.  She figured on staying put for a while, at least until Maverick was rolling his dice.  Peeking over her shoulder, she grinned as she saw Nightmare set the shot in her cleavage knowing she was going to enjoy his face on her lovely mounds.

Alas none of their happy plans for the night were going to go any further as the red alert sounded and she found herself summarily dumped on the floor as Razor pushed her before she was ready.  A hearty laugh could be heard from under the table as she grabbed her boots and socks then climbed out from under to grab her pants and jacket.  "Didn't expect my ass to hurt from hitting the floor ... thanks Razor," she chortled as she took off running with them.

Skye didn't bounce through the halls trying to put on her clothes, completely unconcerned about running along in her underwear.  Instead she dove into the turbolift and plunked down on her ass to quickly pull on her socks and trousers.  "Sorry, Sir," she said to Miles.  "Be ready in just a minute."  She'd just pulled her boots on when he made his joke and she grumbled out "better not be any complaints" before shooting up and zipping her pants.

As soon as the jacket was on and zipped, the snarky and playful Skye was gone.  "I'm steady and alert, Sir.  Take a lot more shots to make me concerned."  She knew she was Mile's new partner and gave him a level gaze and held out her steady hand to assure him she was fit to work.  When the doors opened she filed out with the others and jogged over to her ship, giving it a loving pat as she ducked inside and went through her systems check.

The launch always brought out an exultant laugh but she immediately maneuvered into the formation with Miles.  "Wolf Oh-Thr...Two ready," she said correcting herself.  She used to be 03 but with the revamping had been switched to 02, something she almost forgot.  "Good luck everyone," she said over the open comm and settled herself, ready for battle though wishing it weren't fellow Starfleet fighters.

[ USS Harbinger | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Standing at the right hand side of Captain Vasser, Commander T'Rena's countenance might be misjudged as halcyon despite the precarious situation. Yet she was Vulcan, and the passionless stare upon the view screen was naught more at ease than any other of the Starfleet officers on the Bridge. No, her expression was void of emotion, and not to be taken for inattentive. While she stared, the cold blade that was her mind cut away all things irrelevant, and laid bare the weaknesses and the strengths alone, presenting her with the risks and opportunities without distracting elements. When the Operations Officer answered her Captain, she did not blink. Did not take her eyes away from the Theurgy-class starship that emerged from the asteroid field.

"No readings, sir," said the Hispanic man seated next to the Cardassian Conn Officer, "which is odd. Unless our long range sensor array is malfunctioning since the last battle we fought, and we are missing a source for a jamming signal, the asteroid field must be presenting some kind of disturbance. I cannot detect any other ships, nor any outpost or probes, so that leaves us with the Theurgy causing our blindness, or this sector of the Hromi Cluster."

In an even voice, T'Rena spoke up as the Captain's First Officer. "Reroute powers to the long range sensor array and keep us updated on what you might find, Ensign. If there is a jamming signal, its frequency needs to be isolated. It is your responsibility to make sure we are not walking into this situation blindly." She then turned her dark eyes to her human CO.

They were hailing the Theurgy, so she said no more. She had already given order to their remaining Valkyries to be prepared to launch. Their Wing Commander given confirmation, and their hangar bay doors were wide open - all Federation fighters taxied into position to launch consecutively by elements. Their Tactical Officer was ready to open fire at the slightest provocation.

One word from the Captain, and they would again bring their damaged ship to battle.


[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Before Operations, Tactical and Engineering had gathered data for their verbal reports - which would answer both his own and Commander Rez' queries - they were hailed by the Starship. It was hard to tell from the outline of her back, yet Jien got the impression that Commander Stark at Ops was struggling with some readings. Nevertheless, the hail was patched through.

"This is Captain Declan Vasser of the Federation starship Harbinger.  We ask that you lower your weapons and open a channel with us.  No one wants to be blown up today and I don't want to blow anyone up."

Frowning, Jien thought she had heard variations of that message before during their flight across the Alpha Quadrant, yet since the Harbinger - which she knew to be an Akira-class ship - was inferior to the Theurgy, and it appeared that they were alone, she reasoned that there was little to loose by seeing their opponent on the duelling grounds more up-close. The only thing that came to mind was the burden of seeing those faces in their dreams after having killed them in the coming battle.

"On screen," she said and took a step forward once the feed was established - her brown eyes scanning the faces of the Harbinger's bridge crew. None of them were people she knew in person. Captain Vasser was the only one she knew somewhat about, his track record being solid and clean. A shooting star in the fleet, it had seemed, and a proven commander in battle situations.

"Captain Ives," she said, the crystal clarity of her voice cutting and uncompromising, "Commanding Officer of the USS Theurgy. I question, Captain Vasser, whether you are truly commanding a Federation ship, or if you follow the orders of Starfleet Command - once wholesome yet now corrupted and untrue. If you have come to try and barter our surrender and return us to Federation space as prisoners of war, then you are on the true enemy's leash, and we will be forced to take up arms to preserve the truth from being lost. Turn around and go back whence you came, lest we will open fire."

So many lives. How many were aboard the Harbinger? How many more would it take before this madness came to an end?

"I know not what lies you have been told about us. On what grounds we are charged to have betrayed the fleet. It would grieve me to make another Starship the charred coffin of more Starfleet officers," she said quietly, yet the confession turned into a dire promise, "yet if that is what it takes, it is something we will do again."

[ Senior Staff Meeting | Conference Lounge | Deck 01 ]
Back and forth ,the argument went. Again, Natalie couldn't help but recall the meeting from before. She reined in her embarrassment at how...heated she had become, as the Vulcan Tactical officer addressed her points, then tried to keep her ire in check as well. The lead Fighter pilot added his own two cents to the mix, and the brunette found herself nodding, slowly in agreement with Miles. Both officers had good points, even if Natalie was opposed to T'Less's views.

She turned to her side to watch Dr. Nicander, still feeling..awkward next to the man. The events they had both gone through were...harrowing. And yet, when she looked at him...memories surfaced, unbidden, again. Another shake of her head, as she stopped imagining his strong, tattooed hands running over her body, and instead focused on the dark teak wood of the conference table. It sounded like Captain Ives was going to take a good long look at the rest results before making a call.

But any further discussion was killed by the announcement that rippled through the room. "Red Alert!" she heard, as fear griped her chest for a moment. A Starfleet vessel approaching. Any vessel approaching was bad, for the Theurgy, but one of what should be their sister ships? Even after the horrors of the past few weeks, it was the combat with people they should be fighting side by side, that hit Natalie the most. This wasn't what she'd signed on for, but what choice did she, or any of the crew, have? Not when faced with the infiltration of the highest echelon's of Starfleet Command...

She was up out of her seat as fast as any of the other crew. Any visible signs of fright were quashed with a few fast, jerky breaths, drawn in through the nose. She fell in step behind T'Less, ahead of the captain and the doctor. The group seemed to split in two: those headed for the bridge, and those headed for the rest of the ship.

[Main Bridge | Deck 01]
Natalie bolted out past the doors of the turbolift, peeling to the left, down into the sunken main deck of the bridge. She took the left hand console, with a rapid exchange from the Ensign that had currently been manning the Ops station, and slid in next to Ens. Winterbourne, with a silent nod. Her hands flew across the controls, resetting them to her preference, drawing up status reports as fast as she could, and tying in with the ships sensors to see what she could make out from the approaching vessel.

Which...wasn't much. There was a lot of localized distortion being picked up on the sensors, and it made her frown. She barely registered the captains command to the conn officer, nor truly noticed the shift in the ships axis (tho part of this was because the ships internal dampeners were functioning at almost 100% for the first time in a while). Instead, she began trying every nasty trick in the book that she knew, to clean up what she was picking up.

Then the hailing signal came in, an Natalie finally looked up from her controls, back to Captain Ives, then the main view screen, as Natalie brought up the transmission from the other ship. The screen wavered, then focused in on the bridge of the Akira-class vessel. A vessel of which Natalie still could not draw a stable read on. Oh, she knew where it was, well enough, that it had assumed a defensive posture, on its axis, limiting its tactical profile, but specifics beyond that were...blocked. She frowned, then schooled her features, letting the captain deal with her counterpart as she sent a discreet text transmission to the Tactical station.

Lt. T'Less. Can you confirm that tactical sensors are also unable to get a stable read on the Harbinger? We appear to be under the effects of a dampening field.

Nervously, Natalie watched her readings, brown eyes flicking back and forth between her console, and the screen in front of her.

---

[Lower Science Labs | Deck 07]

Sarresh Morali sat in near total darkness, breathing in the humid air around him. He had finally achieved written permission from the chief Science Officer to set up shop for himself down here, in one of the unused science labs: the Theurgy did not have much of a science department at the moment, so the room had been unused, and Sarresh saw no reason not to take it over for himself. Permission acquired, he had taken his time to convert the lab to his personal specifications.

Some of that meant, as best he could, specialized equipment. Bursts of insight and half blurred memories had allowed him to upgrade part of the ships sensor net to detect fine grained chorniton emissions and other tale tell signs of temporal incursions. It wasn't a full fledged Time....time...he frowned, unable to remember the word. An automated display that tracked the flow of the time continuum. There was a name for it, but like many things, all Lt. Morali had left was an impression.

Regardless, between the sensitive machines set up around Sarresh, and the modified environmental controls, the Ash'reem Temporal Agent turned scientist almost felt at home. Almost back on the Relativity. The deep, near total darkness, the moist air. The Steady thrum of the sensors, the throbbing beep from the--the throbbing beep.

Eyes wide, Sarresh turned around to face the console screen behind him, focusing in on the readings there. He stared. And stared. Then swore, loudly. ohhhh no he thought. Images flashed before his eyes, in his mind. The sensors were picking up a slight distortion, that seemed to be muffled by a local disturbance. But his tools were able to lock onto a distinct quantum signature that was definitely out of phase with the time line. The readings cleared up as his hands tweaked various settings, seemingly acting on their own accord, with no conscious input from the junior Lieutenant.

He stared for a good thirty second at what the screens were telling him, before reaching up and tugging the special, light dampening goggles atop his head down over his oversized, and oversensitive, eyes. "Lights to standard" he said, eyes shut as the room flushed with light. He was up and away from his console before the computer completed his request. Eyes adjusting, he began to run, for the lab door, out in to the hall. He had to get to the bridge. He absolutely had to be there, to be sure, he couldn't say why, he just knew...

---

OOC:Figure I'd save a little bit for another time, once we get a few more reactions, Luncan

[Declan Vasser - USS Harbinger Bridge]

"I was ordered by Starfleet Headquarters to bring you in or shoot you down in the event that I couldn't.  It was sent to me via subspace transmission with a priority one clearance.  That sort of order is not one easily overlooked.  Harbinger's pursuit course was laid in with intent to follow that order . . . but there were unforeseen circumstances."  Declan was providing the Captain and bridge crew of the Theurgy a great deal of transparency.  He didn't hide the fact that he was sent after them, that his orders came from a high ranking Admiral who wanted nothing then to see Theurgy taken or destroyed.  From anyone else, especially in a military ship like an Akira-class, that might have been enough to keep shields and weapons ready, but Vasser had a disarming approach to himself.  He could talk with such civility that he could calm someone down even when he had them at phaser point.  Indeed, he had many reports submitted to Starfleet headquarters in which a mission was completed with diplomacy and not just war.

"I discovered an agent aboard my ship who was sending encoded messages back to Starfleet.  Apparently, he had been keeping tabs on myself and my crew for weeks now, ever since we left dry-dock after our last round of repairs.  He was a loyal officer, which left me thinking that he was coerced in some way.  Through that, I was able to find out that the Federation is not quite under our control any longer."  Declan believed what the Theurgy did, that the Federation was in danger from an inside source, something that was eating it from it's core outward.  "In accordance with Starfleet protocol, I am rejecting orders given by a higher authority that I believe to be compromised.  As I am unable to ascertain a higher authority who is not similarly affected, I instead am seeking to jointly cooperate with officers that I believe, within reasonable doubt, to be still in control of their mental faculties."

In not as many words, Declan Vasser was offering his help to the Theurgy in their mission to save the Federation from it's inside threat.  "Captain, I would like to request the right to beam aboard your vessel with a small delegation of my own crew.  I believe our crews should be on the same page, so senior staff only.  Our various department heads can start sharing what they know while you and I better discuss the terms of our collaboration.  Oh . . . and I should also ask if you would consider ordering a stand-down of your weapons?  We may be a military vessel, but even I get a bit nervous having that much weaponry pointed at me."

[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

While listening to the explanation of the unforeseen circumstances that forestalled Captain Vasser from pursuing them, Jien Ives crossed her arms underneath her breasts and frowned at the man - gauging whether or not the Harbinger's Commanding Officer was telling the truth.

If he was, it might just be the best news they had received so far during their hellish journey. The realisation that they were not alone anymore, along with the fact that they would not have to bear arms against another Federation starship... oh, it was so tempting to believe it at face-value. Yet at the same time, the idea to accept unknown Starfleet officers aboard the Theurgy had many facets of right and wrong in a tactical situation such as this. While the diplomatic intent was sound, what spoke in ill favour of the forthright offer to come aboard was the experiences of the flight from Earth, and how other Commanding Officers than Vasser had tried to convince Captain Ives to turn around or to initiate talks. Yet like Vasser had already pointed out, they had been under orders that they could not refute. Each and every time had ended up with confrontation, and the disablement or destruction of the pursuing starship. Then again, there was the possibility to take the delegation hostage and use it as a bargaining ship to make the Harbinger stand down and leave - the delegation not left behind in an escape pod until the Harbinger was way out of the sector.

Grayson should have been there, to tell them if what Captain Vasser suggested could be done without dropping their guard the slightest. Glancing behind herself, Jien sought Lieutenant T'Less' eye, only to find her preoccupied with her station... as if something was amiss. Didn't Stark have problems too just earlier...?

As if confirming what Jien was beginning to notice, the Operations Officer on the Harbinger spoke up on the view screen in front of them. The digital static of his accented words carried through clearly to the Theurgy's personnel. "Captain," he said, brown eyes widening, "I cannot locate the source, but our sensors are jammed by some kind of signal. We might have entered a dampening field, but I cannot locate the frequency. It is as if... it changes just ahead of our rotating sensor harmonics."

The Vulcan woman to Captain Vasser's right stepped up to the Ops station, which made Jien notice the red scar that crossed the woman's emotionless countenance. Her words were not hasty, nor said in ire, but in cold efficiency. "Recalibrating the the upper sensor array," she said and tapped upon the station across the Hispanic man's shoulder, "New locked algorithm to our harmonics rotation: Five-Zero-Seven-Epsilon. Energised."

"Contact! A ship! Twelve k-kilometers away!" the Operations Officer said, eyes going wider, "bearing Five-Five-Two-Niner!"

Jien rounded on the Mission Ops officer, a man seated at Edena Rez' side. "Triangulate from the Harbinger's current position and send the wolves there immediately. If hostile, weapons free upon making contact. Now!"

"This is Mission Ops," said the man after jamming his thumb down on the comm relay, "Contact, bearing... Nine-Nine-One-Alpha. I repeat, Nine-Nine..."

Turning back to the Harbinger crew, Jien inclined her head. "Seems we are not alone," she said as she walked up to the view screen, meeting the eyes of Captain Vasser. She was staring into those blue orbs and judging the man during a few utterly tense moments, where both their bridge crews were astir and shouting orders over the comm, fingers and hands punching away at the touch panels. The Vulcan Commander roused the Harbinger's starfighters - a squadron of Valkyrie Mk.IIs launching out of the Akira-class ship's bay doors. Behind Jien, this was noticed, and the questions assaulted her back while she stared into Declan Vasser's eyes.

"Captain, your orders?" asked Mission Ops, "Should we keep a Flight Wing of our Valkyries here?"

"Captain, should I lay in a new course or not?" asked Winterbourne, his blonde head swivelling Jien's way, "we will bear our side to the Harbinger..."

A few more moments, Jien's gaze was unblinking - judging the situation and the man facing her. She would have to stand down first. This she knew, lest the inferior starship's commander would not dare do the same. Given Jien's track record as of late, the human had every right to be cautious of the Chameloid and what she might do, yet all the same, Jien was not prone to trust Starfleet any more given what they had been through. That Ops officer of Vasser's did not seem to enact the ploy of a distraction, yet how could Jien be sure of that? Vasser had a spotless tactical record himself. By Vasser's side, the Vulcan First Officer said nothing, as if none of what transpired around her could unphase her. She appeared perfectly fine to die if that was inevitable.

"Captain..."

"Disengage weapon's lock on the Harbinger. Send all of the wolves. Conn, lay in a course towards the unknown vessel. Half impulse. Engage." Jien said this without looking away from Vasser. "Before we compare notes, let's first see whom might wish to blind us, shall we?"

She still had MVAM, should Captain Vasser try to play her false.

---

OOC: Upon making contact, the vessel... is an Yridian shuttle. It's heading towards the two Federation starships. :)

[Miles Renard: Wolf 01]

Miles had been listening in on the hail between the two ships and had kept his mic open to mission ops and squad for orders.  "Roger that; I herd the conversation. Squad adjust your sensor harmonics to quaternary preset.  Throttle up and engage Bogey.  Don't fire unless they fire at us or Harbinger.  If Bogey goes hostile, light the Bandit up. Over" As he did as he ordered He felt the mild kick of his engines as he throttled up to the full Impulse speed the Valk 3's were capable. The sensors also seemed to blink to life and he finally had an undampened lock on the Akira class now as well as the new contact the Harbinger had mentioned.  "Roger that Missops we have contact on Bogey 12 Kilo out from the Harbinger.  Multiple contacts exiting Harbnger; probably her type two Valks."

Miles Watched closely as they closed the distance before ordering a reduction to combat speed upon getting a clear sensor lock on the contact as he sent the sensor data back to the Theurgy.  "Bogey is a Yridian Shuttle and We have weapons lock." he said on the semi open channel between his squad and mission ops.  "Squad follow me we are going pure pursuit Alpha group Match speed with target and maintain optimum weapons envelopes for close range Beta and Gamma  Get into optimum Long range weapons envelope on the shuttle and keep an eye on the Harbinger for me. If they so much as try and cross us I want them lit up with everything we have.


[S'Iti Aisha: USS Harbinger Main bridge]
She looked down at the panel as she saw the new contact. and adjusted the angle of The Harbinger to it Placing as many of her weapons on it to bear as possible while still remaining in a decent relative orientation to the Theurgy. 

[Razor: Wolf 11]

Thomas kept his eyes on the Akira class ship as his fighter remained in position in his designated Gamma squadron. Glancing over at Mav as squadron leader he tapped his mic and asked "Where do you want us to form up Mav?" He saw Miles and his squadron blast off towards the incoming shuttle and he noticed the multiple contacts shooting out of the bay doors from the Akira class ship. He smiled a bit to see the Valks fly out and he waited for the answered of Isley to carry on.

In the meantime his sensors lighted up as the multiple valks and Akira class ship came in range of his ship. After a few minutes his sensors also registered the shuttle and his weapons got a lock on only minutes later. "Squadron leader, for your information, I have a long range lock and am cleared to fire at your command." He said towards Nathaniel and he focused now while keeping a close eye on the Akira class ship. He didn't like that big ship just sitting on their flanks. As the ship rotated to fire with maximum capable capacity towards the shuttle, Thomas hesitated and opened a comm link to Miles "Fox, Harbinger just rotated a few degrees, bear in mind that you are now in maximum firing range." He said on a calm tone, he didn't want to cause distress to his commander yet he felt the urge to keep the man and his wingmen informed of the situation.

[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

"Closing in on the target, ma'am," said the Winterbourne to Jien where she stood in front of the command chair, "looks like the wolves are already circling the prey."

"Captain, we are being hailed by the shuttle," said Natalie Stark from her Ops station, "Not just us, but the Harbinger too, as well as all of the Valkyries. It is an open transmission on all frequencies, ma'am."

Jien stepped forward, hands folded behind her back and browridge lowered - looking upon the small vessel that was surrounded by a hornet's nest of Federation fighters. Apparently, whomever was in that shuttle wanted to be heard. "I see," she said quietly, "On screen."

The view screen lit up... and there sat a woman with short blonde hair and a dismantling smile.

[Show/Hide]

"Oh, how sweet of you to come to my aid," she said and chuckled, raising her hands in a non-serious gesture of surrender - the gratuitous cleavage of her dark overalls coming into view. "No need to fire upon little me, see? It is just me in here, and I bear no ill will towards the Federation. Now, now, everyone calm?" She dropped her hands leaned forward, her smile blinding and her eyes creased in a very charming way. "As it is, I drifted by merely wishing to ask if you have spotted any other ships heading this way, you see? As you are here, I was also wondering you could bestow your Starfleet kindness upon a silly, silly little merchant like me in an its-bitsy predicament."

She bit her lower lip in pause, yet did not wait for any answer - the smile remaining. "I would be very grateful if you big boys could help in tracking down a group of bad, bad, scoundrels who fooled me in a deal I made back on Nimbus III. I was promised a working, marvellous piece of machinery, and I after they left, they had pulled the programming! I was left with a device working at a half of its potential. Needless to say, my buyers were not too satisfied... and..."

Her big, round eyes became pleading in a heart-wrenching way. "...Now, I fear for my life unless I can fix it. My buyers are big scary people, and yet I make my living out of their purses. So, have you detected any other ships going through the Hromi Cluster? Please, help a poor woman in distress..."

Jien, her hands still folded behind her back, stared at the woman on the screen for a couple of seconds.

The Captain made no comment, even though realisations were being drawn based on a report sent his way a some days ago. She cleared her throat. "This is Jien Ives of the Federarion starship Theurgy, to whom am I speaking?"

"Jien! What a cute name!" said the woman and radiated warmth in a way only a Risian might, even though she seemed to have removed her cultural marking on her forehead, "My name is Rihen Neyah, and I would be sooo pleased if you could help me out. I had trouble spotting you with my sensors, but the light in this cluster caught your hulls and the little ships so prettily, so I saw you from afar. How come Starfleet is out here anyway?"

If there was a dampening field, it was not originating from the shuttle...

[Wolf 01: Miles]

Miles thought to himself as he heard the words recognizing that this person in question most likely is the same Rizian that their holo specialist had run into. It was rather obvious given the story she gave what ad occurred and the parallels were to much to be mere coincidence.

Hearing  her words Miles closed the hail on his end and turned his attention to his squadron.  "Squad Break off and split into two ship units and establish a local patrol.  Stretch your sensors as far out as they can go and look for anything that seems odd.   Whatever is jamming us ain't this shuttle."  Miles pulled into a tight loop beaking of from the shuttle and away from the Harbinger.  He didnt know why but that predatory instinct within his just screamed that there was an even greater predator in the shadows waiting to make them into its prey.

With that weighing on his mind he opened up a hail and sent it to one of the lead elements of the Valk-IIs, "Valkyrie Two pilot, this is Miles Renard SCO of the USS Theurgy's Lone Wolves Squadron. I am requesting to speak to your SCO via private com channel, over."

Theurgy:
While attractive, Nicole still found herself not trusting the woman on the screen, something about her striking her false... or it could just be she thought the woman was trying to hit on Jien and didn't like it.  Either way, she wanted nothing to do with her.  If she were honest, she'd just as soon tear the woman's eyes from her head as allow her to continue talking to Jien, which made her glad she wasn't in charge right now.  Finally, she spoke up, trying to remain professional, "Captain, I've done what I can with the sensors to locate the source of the dampening.  There are still a few higher level functions that are in repair."

"If I might point out, we are in no condition or position to assist with a search," T'Less said softly, low enough her words wouldn't carry through the comm to Rihen.  Even as she was switching targets, she still kept a sensor trained on the Harbinger, so they would have at least some notice should the warship decide to attack them while their back was turned.  "Also, we are currently in a rather delicate position with the Harbinger.  It would be ill-advised to remain in this sector longer than necessary."

Harbinger:
He sat in his Valkyrie and waited, arms crossed, his fingers of his left hand drumming the upper muscles of his right arm.  He knew his pilots were more than a match for the fighters aboard the Theurgy, having fought dozens of battles proving their dominance, but now was not the time to prove it.  Even if they were to engage one on one, the Harbinger would no doubt end up a pile of space debris, which wouldn't do him and his any good.  Still, as he listened to the communications from the opposite pilots, he nodded and tapped his badge, "This is Harbinger Wing Commander Phanatos Kilinvoss, Commander.  Switching to private channel 224."

(OOC: Done over IM by Taguiera and IronFerrox)

Miles heard the voice of the previously opposing SCO as he switched the com channel over, per his request "Roger that Commander, this is Wolf 1.  Over."

"Dor'ghItlh 1 acknowledges Wolf 1.  What do you need, Commander," Phanatos answered, pulling up the databanks from the Harbinger for Theurgy crew, studying Miles' Starfleet record.

"It seems we are right now dealing with a mystery as to what the source of this dampening field we are both faced with is.  I have assigned my squadron into a Recon patrol to try and find the source of this interference.  I wanted to propose that your wing join up with mine in this task."

"I do not recommend a joint venture at this point, Renard," was the quick reply, as Phanatos thought the situation over.  "As our ships have not yet reached an agreement, it would be best to keep our distance.  As such, I would suggest you take your squadron to sectors 2 through 6, while my own will secure sectors 1 and 7 through 10."

He nodded, "That would be fair as well.  You take the sectors on the Harbingers side of the line in the sand and we will patrol on the Theurgy's side.  I just wanted to more than anything reach an agreement with you so we didn't get mixed up in some nonsensical territorial spat."

"I would further suggest we each leave a pair of fighters in these positions, should a quick reaction be required while we are out searching.  I will remain here with my lieutenant," Phanatos said as he typed out a command on his screen, dispatching his fighters to their tasks.  He blinked at the thought of any territory being involved and shook his head, "Commander, so long as your fighters do not attack, and your ship remains with weapons not on the Harbinger, I think we'll get along fine."

He nodded, "That was my thoughts as well.  For safety's sake though, I wouldn't recommend putting our guns down just yet.  I have a bad feeling that there's something in the shadows that's waiting to pounce."

"There usually is, son," Phanatos murmured, watching his screens carefully as his orders were carried out.  A group of 4 fighters moved off to their sectors, while Phanatos remained behind, a single fighter off to his port side and a little behind.  He knew that, so long as there remained any chance of a fight between the Harbinger and the Theurgy, his weapons and himself, would remain on high alert.  "If there's nothing further, I suggest we attend to our tasks."

He nodded.  "Roger that, Dor'ghItlh lead, Wolf lead out," he said as he sent the orders to his own squadron, before taking a position mirrored to Phanatos with Skye along with him mirroring the other's wing.

"Dor'ghItlh 1 out," Phanatos replied, settling in for a wait.  He continued to read Miles' file, including the most recent entry by the corrupted Starfleet admiral who had dispatched the Harbinger on its mission.  It made for uninteresting reading, but necessary.  If he had to engage Renard, he wanted to know his enemy well.

[turbolift | In transit]

"Come on come on come on," Sarresh muttered as the turbolift. He was still adjusting his uniform jacket, tugging it into place. The previous climate from his lab had made full uniform prohibitive. He'd been lucky enough to remember to grab it on the way out. That it was missing the combadge was something Sarresh would regret, later. As it stood, the Ash'reem was convinced that the dry, tepid air in the turbolift was somehow causing the pod to travel slower then it should up the shaft towards the bridge. He was pacing, his tongue clicking out randomly, a nervous gesture. "come on you primitive bucket of bolts!"

[Bridge | Deck 01]

"Captain, we are being hailed by the shuttle," said Natalie Stark from her Ops station, "Not just us, but the Harbinger too, as well as all of the Valkyrie's. It is an open transmission on all frequencies, ma'am." She turned, glancing just barely over her shoulder, meeting Jien's eyes. She let her head snap back around, and brought the transmission up, as ordered, her efforts to nail down the source of the jamming transmission still proving fruitless.

The woman's plea for assistance rang slightly hollow with Natalie. She had been appraised of some of the events of Nimbus III, and recalled vaguely that there was mention of getting the help of a local native. The name given seemed familiar to the brunette, but she was too busy at that point to really give the other woman much attention. Her opinion of the overly nice engineer was just that: sickeningly sweet, so that meant she wanted something, or was up to something.

"For what its worth, captain," Natalie said, dampening the comm channel entirely at that point, but doing her best to look like she wasn't speaking, her eyes focused down on her console, "that ship is what it appears to be. At least, that's what the sensors we have are telling us. I --"

Her words were cut short as the turbolift doors burst open, and one of the ships 4 Ash'reem officers bolted out of the doors, in a half mad dash around a yeoman that had been caught gaping at the view screen. Nearly knocking the poor junior officer down, Sarresh Morali jerked himself to a stop, steadying the other man.

"Captain," he said, not really caring about the conversation going on, the strange woman on the view screen, or really knowing much about the other Federation ship, beyond the fact that the alert had rung out across the Theurgy a short while before his scans hit. "We have to get out of here, now, sir--ma'am." He had no great love for Jien, in either form, but for once, his condescending manner was absent entirely. His pupils were dilated, albeit hidden behind his goggles, his pulse racing; the veins under the membranes behind is jaw were visibly pulsing a deep purple shade, and his normally moist skin seemed dry. All telltale signs that would indicate, to a trained eye at least, extreme fear or concern.

He started to pace the room, first stopping by the chief Engineer, as if pleading with her, his hands raised, just below his chin, between them, as if begging her to respond "We're not alone out here. There's something coming. Chroniton levels are in flux, a Rift, wormhole, the time-stream cut bare! It's off the charts."

Yet there was nothing, no spark of understanding, and in frustration, he rounded the room, shaking the one yeoman again, then grabbing at the First Officers collar in turn."The phasic variance is over 28.25%. The perturbation of the quantum signature of the Homri Cluster started small but its growing exponentially." The words spewing forth from his mouth at a rapid pace, almost as if he were saying them without thinking them through. His mouth seemed to hang open for a moment as he looked around the bridge crew. Where once he was racking his brain, now the knowledge, the understanding was there! And with it came the panic.

When still no one did anything, Sarresh groaned, and straightened up, running a hand through his hair in frustration, he turned from Commander Rez and twisted about on one heel, nearly falling over, knocking into Jien."Sir, it's a temporal incursion.Its big. Too big. Way too big. We need to leave NOW!"

---

OOC: sorry for getting a little hands on with some of y'all's characters...

[Eve - Main Sickbay]

Eve was already in sickbay when the red alert went off and immediately she was at the screen pulling up the medical personnel files.  "Lt. Jenkins acknowledging, Sir, and preparations are starting now," she said and split the screen into four sections.  The oldest and most experienced with battle medics was assigned to the Assault Bay and then the next two were sent to the other two sick bays.  "Computer activate emergency medical holograms in Vectors Two and Three Battle Sick Bays."  Hearing the standard response, she cut in quickly.  "No emergencies yet but be ready.  Nurses are on their way to assist," she informed them.

Turning to the nurses standing by, she began delegating.  "Patterson, Newberry, and Jones get the med kits ready and get them to the three other sites.  You'll be staying in those positions to assist with triage."  As she worked on the surgical bays herself, she worked with Operations regarding all the possibilities for transport.  Pretty much everything was ready and she stood ready in the middle of sickbay but there was no sign of Lucan yet.  For everyone looking at her, she was calm and collected with an encouraging smile but inside her nerves were starting to prickle.  Where are you Lucan? she thought to herself.


[Skye - On Patrol]

Hovering over the shuttle, finger hovering over the trigger, Skye wondered just who the hell was in this shuttle and why they were suddenly trusting another Starfleet ship.  It wasn't really her call though and she would just defend as necessary.  An open hail came through and though she'd not spent much time around her, Skye knew that voice.  "Oh for the love of PETE!  What the fuck is that milk cow doing out here?" she hissed and then hearing more shit spew from her mouth felt every hackle raise.

"Poor woman in distress my ass!  You fucking leech I swear I will tear you limb from limb if the captain lets you on board and you keep spewing lies to cover your jiggly bumper."  Thankfully she hadn't said that through the comm and it was only echoing in her cockpit.  Her finger twitched as her desire to blow that shuttle to smithereens boiled inside of her.  Opening a channel to the other Valkyries in her squadron, most definitely including her CO and wingman, she cleared her throat.

"Don't trust that thing as far as you can throw it.  She's a slimy sneaky snake lookin' to sink her fangs into something.  She's the engineer from Nimbus III who wanted to hold the market on everything with that replicator Lin Kae fixed but when it was all done and we had what we needed, he set it back to proper regs according to the Prime Directive.  Probably promised a lot of people big things while we were still there and now she can't deliver so she's on the run.  Probably doesn't think we'll know who she is ... bastitch," she informed them but slipped with the derogatory word at the end.  Still grumbling, she continued to hover closely but set her scans as instructed.

[Rory - Bar on the Harbinger - Game Entry]

Things were pretty quiet in the bar, only a few people blowing off a little steam after their shift.  In spite of being displaced he'd made a bit of a home for himself and had a few friends.  No matter how buddy-buddy he got though, no one would ever really tell him what was going on and after all this time that had pretty much chapped his ass raw.

The civilian showman didn't know why they hadn't just dropped him off somewhere so he could hitch a ride back home.  It would have been the sensible thing to do but for some reason he'd been kept and kept pretty much in the dark.  Life had been pretty scary ever since.  He was no stranger to fights but not ones that involved ships and the possibility of being vaporized.

He wasn't on the payroll and he wasn't Starfleet so of course he didn't mind sharing a drink while he 'worked' as the bartender.  He'd just downed another lager while flirting with Brigit, that hot little redhead from engineering, when the red alert sounded.  As usual everyone ran out, including Brigit, and he had no clue what was going on other than shit was hitting the fan again.

"Diabhal é go hIfreann!"¹ he yelled out, slipping into his homeland tongue as he flung the small towel that had been draped over his shoulder onto the counter.  Normally he was quite cheerful and loved to laugh and sing but it had been a long time since he'd enjoyed the company of a woman and the prospect of another dog fight had his ire up to say the least.

Stomping out of the recreational area, he stepped into the nearest turbolift.  "Take me to the bridge," he commanded in thick Irish brogue, cheeks red with anger.  When the doors opened, he stepped out.  "Would someone kindly tell me .." he started speaking but was brought up short by a security officer who's hand pressed the center of his chest, making him step back.

"Póg mo thóin!"² Rory snapped and started to push forward again.  He was tall but certainly not imposing like so many of the men in Starfleet uniforms.  His blonde hair had fallen over and completely covered his right eye but the left was narrowed in anger.  "I'll not be kept in the dark anymore.  I demand to know what's going on," he huffed.


¹ "Damn it to hell!"
² "Kiss my ass!"

[Declan Vasser - Harbinger Bridge]

"Tactical, I want to to communicate to the Squadron to work with the Valkyries of the Theurgy.  We're going to show good faith by supporting them.  Tell the SCO to be in contact with the SCO of Theurgy, and that in the event of disagreement, to defer to the other."  Theurgy was the superior ship, and they were still being measured,.  As such, Declan and his crew were the ones who had to extend the olive branch.  Turning his attention back to the view screen, he spoke to Jien Ives once more.  "I would extend the offer for you to come aboard my own ship, captain, but I am sure you have a security chief off screen shaking a head in disagreement to that right now.  Instead, I would simply agree to whatever security measure your staff places upon me and my crew if we were to come aboard your ship.  If you are looking for the maximum security, your transporters would filter out our phasers to sure we were carrying no weapons, and you would have a security team waiting for us in the transporter room.  I assure you that if this is what you agree is the best precaution, my crew and I would not be offended."

When Jien took the message from Rihen, Declan was left again to just his crew, their call essentially on hold.  "Number one, I'll want you along if they accept to have us transport over.  We should have a senior tactical officer along to provide reports on our telemetry.  I don't foresee a need for engineering, as I doubt they will let us near any technical systems for the time being.  For now, we just want staff who can help with delegations between Harbinger and Theurgy.  We're going over there to make friends, so I leave it to good old Vulcan logic to decide which members of the crew would be the most welcome faces to bring."

[ USS Harbinger | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

T'Rena turned to face Vasser when he spoke to her, making sure that Ops and Tactical kept their attention on the hail-feed from the Yridian shuttle. Neither of the Senior Staff officers had managed to locate the source of the dampening field that had hidden the shuttle, yet with the Theurgy attending to the irksome circumstances with the assistance of their Valkyries, her CO saw the apt opportunity to plan for the more crucial tactic of winning the trust of the Theurgy-class starship's crew. The Vulcan woman had her hands folded stoically behind her back, taking in what her superior officer said.

"Yes, Captain," she said in an even tone, not batting an eye at the compliment on her species and their character. He simply stated facts, after all. "I will hand-pick the officers that will appear to be the most trustworthy in their expertise, along with those that might thaw the ice... as your human saying goes. Before that, we might win further trust in assisting the search on the source of the dampening field. We should send our readings t-"

"Póg mo thóin! I'll not be kept in the dark anymore. I demand to know what's going on."

Turning to face the civilian who barged into the Bridge, T'Rena did not even say a word. She merely turned her flat stare to the Chief of Security, whom as already on her way.

---

OOC: Enter stage right; Dee. You're up Arielle. :) I will post again later today.

[ USS Theurgy | Deck 07 | Surgical Suite 02 ]

His body glistening from the brief time in the small sonic shower, Dr. Nicander found that the nurses had not had the time to restock the shelves next to the small stall with new towels as he emerged from it. Little did he care at that point, since he was due to take charge in Main Sickbay momentarily, having gone to one of the Surgical Suites to wash himself from the residues of Natalie Stark. That morning's physical examination of her in the jefferies tubes was still vivid to his mind, yet he imagined himself to still smell of her sex. Also, there was another reason why he came to this particular surgical suite.

It was one of his safe havens, void of accurately transmitting surveillance devices in the edges of the ceiling and a hidden malfunction in the holo-emitter - keeping the Ship AI from being able to "walk" in on him. The sabotage was of the kind that was overlooked by the ship diagnostics, Lucan having been given the information and calibration tools by his kin in Starfleet Command at the final production stages of the Theurgy and its unique system layout. As a sub-system that overlapped the common authorisation codes, he was reassured that what he was hiding in the suite would not be noticed unless someone actively tore down the rear wall.

Naked, he stepped up to it, a small smile playing on his lips at his ancient Terran password. "Open sesame."

There was a click, and the plating slowly swung open, revealing a terrarium. The florescent light that hit him made him narrow his pale eyes; cast his wet body into a white-washed chiselled statue. The first couple of days, he'd had to look for her to find her. Nowadays, he saw her right away - growing by each day as she did. In fact,she was getting a bit too big to keep there. He would have to tear down more of the plating soon and replicate more sound-proof three-inch glass-clad polycarbonate walls. It would take some time that he had to find in his duties, yet the creative element of the bodily work did have its own base gratification. It was not like she would be going anywhere either, never having left the surgical suite she was born in.

Amikris' child was writhing more as she spotted him... and he smiled to her.

[Access Denied,] said the computer faintly, the words emanating from outside the sliding doors. A murmured voice spoke up afterwards, and Lucan's eyes widened. He moved quickly, shutting the panels as fast as he could... yet he was too late.

"Oh, I am sorry, doctor, this is important but I did not realise..." came a familiar voice, reacting to his nakedness first, and then it paused. "What is that?"

He should not have used his common Starfleet authorisation code to lock the door. A dire mistake to check on her, especially since he was in a hurry to begin with. Fortunately, the location was the most optimal in order to remedy his mistake - being on conditioned ground. Rounding on the intruder like death itself, the demonic doctor's eyes shone brightly with Câroon power, and the same white light spilled from his mouth as he spoke.

"Close the gates of ivory," Lucan said gravely in his deep voice, and the cadence lit Counsellor Nelis' alarmed face... whilst the sliding doors shut him in.


[ Hromi Cluster | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie Attack Fighter | Wolf-06 ]

Hearing Skye, Evelyn Rawley guffawed inside her helmet, looking at Kestrel's bird through her TVD visor. She pressed the squadron comm-channel and spoke up while turning her ship around to set out on patrol.

"And here I thought blondes had more fun," she said and grinned, turning her joystick sideways into a rolling turn - all the wolves spreading out in the designated perimeter. "Ah, I get it! I suppose blondes don't appreciate competition... Is that is, Carver? Whom are you trying to convince? That Risian has nothing on you. Though I'd not be adverse to find out, in either case."

[jIyajbe',] came from Ghost's wingmate, Khorin Douglas saying he did not get the joke as he flew next to her.

"They are both blondes, you big bloody dimwit." She rolled her eyes...

...and saw it.

Sudden terror made all the white show around her brown irises. She thrust her joystick forward and dove while screaming over the comm. "Evade! Evade! Evasive manoeuvres! Now, now, now!"

And then the hell-fire rained over them - orange bursts lighting up everything in sight. Like the hand of one of those 'gods' that had accosted them last, it smote down upon them in immediate and coordinated precision. Down, down, down came the phasers like a rainstorm, with not so much as a weapon signature registering in the Valkyries' sensors. Khorin was screaming statically in her ears as she kicked the thrusters to maximum and spiralled downwards with the rain. She was screaming as well, she realised, and could not help but turn her head around - the TVD seeing through her damaged bird and the energy emissions in her wake.

The flying that Khorin Douglas did would have made his House proud, and yet one hit sent him slightly off course and into another burst, then another and soon sent him spinning downwards in the storm of enemy fire. Her terror, whilst barely kept in check, was two-fold. Both because Khorin's fighter was shredded to pieces before her eyes, and that his shields had not protected him at all... as if...

"Our shields are not working!" she called as she tried to get away, to angle off at some point. This was confirmed as one hit made her spin out to the side. "Agrh!! It has our shield harmonics! Rotate them! Rotate! Its another fucking Theurgy! It's in MVAM, over!"

And not only was there a Starfleet Heavy Assault Cruiser hidden in the light from the closest star above, for down came also no less than a full sixteen ship squadron of unknown fighters... A third squadron now occupying the sector and descending upon them. What was worse was that none of the enemy showed up on sensors. The coordinated attack was launched upon them all; Theurgy, Harbinger, all of the Valkyries. It was like a butchers axe rammed down on top of their collective necks.

And the second swing held the torpedoes, with none of their shields working.


[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

As riling and quick as the TAO was, he was much too late. Little more had he fallen silent than the Theurgy shook with the first impacts. There was no time to address how the Ash'reem's memory had been temporarily restored to him. Not right then. Afterwards, if they survived whatever had come for them, Jien - in his male form now since he switched when being called 'sir' - would tell the man as much as he could.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" he now called and returned to his chair, gripping the armrest as the phasers made the Theurgy screech and tumble in protest. "Get visual on the enemy and tag them when they are spotted! Engage Multi-Vector-Assault Mode! What are we dealing with?"

"Initiating decoupling sequence," said Thea at the back of the Bridge, eyes still as she with her background processes tried to assist both T'Less and Natalie in the scanning and changing of shield harmonics - intuitively providing them with encryptions and new shield harmonic variances to pick from in order to try and disrupt the dampening field and restore their defences. She also set Vectors 1 and 2 to follow the Captain's order of evasive manoeuvring. "Auto-separation in ten seconds. Nine. Eight..."

"It looks like..." said Winterbourne hurriedly from Conn, since there were no readings on the enemy from the sensors. He paused as he was trying to get away from the onslaught of enemy fire to the best of his ability - the last two months having given him more experience than most veterans in Conn would ever hope to achieve, "...a Theurgy-Class variation with a black hull, damn hard to spot with your eyes alone! It's already in MVAM, its vectors coming down upon us in what appears to be a focused attack on us.. then about to go for the Harbinger. Their starfighters do not look like anything I've seen before..."

"...Five. Four...." said Thea. More detonations, Jien gripping the armrest harder. There was no time for a damage report.

Jien turned to T'Less. "We can't enter basic attack formation now, so as soon as we have decoupled, you have the tactical command of all three Vectors. Ops will handle the scans. Ready?"

"...One. Separation sequence in progress," finished Thea, and the three vectors split up in the rain of fire - responding to Tactical command with almost a third of the Theurgy's weapon arrays and torpedo bays revealed. Had they the time to prepare for it, they could have physically manned the Battle Bridges with MVAM transports, yet now they were forced to use the quicker remote control tactics.

"Now, Lieutenant!"

---

OOC:

Current status for the departments are as follows, applying to both Theurgy and Harbinger officers:

Command/Conn/Tactical: Taguiera, you have the MVAM tactical operations for the Theurgy with T'Less. Kurohigi, you have command of the Wolves through Mission Ops via IronFerrox and Nathaniel is out there as well. IronFerrox, you have the Harbinger Conn with Aisha, and with no actively-played Tactical Officer there, you, Kurohigi and I can help out in writing the battle for the Harbinger. OBS: The Calamity-class starship nor its fighters shows up on sensors, only visual contact and tagging their movements in the computers can grant weapons-lock.

Security: ThanIda zh'Wann was overseeing Cadet Bellde'side's initial efforts on the phaser range when the Red Alert was sounded. They are now establishing a perimiter in the bow - ready for the intruder alert to be sounded. They have a detail of ten security guards with them. Arielle, your upcoming post with Dee regarding Rory (see earlier) leads to the Harbinger being attacked and more work preparing for what has come upon them - rallying the Security Department for battle.

Tactical Conn: Wolf-05 is blown to bits, and Khorin "Hardtop" Douglas needs to be tractored/transported aboard the Theurgy at some point and taken to Sickbay. Solve the problem guys, perhaps through Medical (Eve Jenkins atm). OBS: The Calamity-class starship nor its fighters shows up on sensors, only visual contact and tagging their movements in the computers can grant weapons-lock. Here is the new fighter of the Calamity' squadron, which is a bad-ass upgrade on the specs fo the Valkyrie Mk III, and they all fly as if synchronised with one mind... showing no life-signs. Never intimidated and brutally efficient in their flying.
[Show/Hide]

Medical/Counselling: Searcher, with Lucan gone, Sickbay is Eve's with the first patients arriving from the hits that the Theurgy is taking. Nolan, same things for Amelia Duv - the Harbinger being shot upon as well.

Engineering/Operations: Taguiera, Brutus and Aron Garow: Keep the ship together and running! Find a way to restore their shields to twart the enemy fire! If a solution with the shield harmonics is found (I definitely allow it else there is no plausible way they all will make it) make sure the news reach the poor Valkyrie pilots as well.

Science: Brutus, Sarresh may still have his memories and be very helpful for a while so I will let you decide on what you want to do. We can brainstorm over PM or IM if you want my thoughts. Also, there is the matter of the new character to put your time on.

Final note: Remember to have fun! Beyond the notes above, feel free to make shit up, since according to the manuscript, we should be making the Harbinger and Theurgy work together and win the battle - which leads to celebrations galore. If you have any questions, please don't wait to see me on IM, but write me a PM instead!

[Miles: Before the attack]
Miles opened a com channel directly to his wing, Ensign Carver. "I thought that story sounded familiar.  Still I could imagine the Benefits of having a person of her skills aboard the ship.  And no I don't mean her Rizian heritage you Perv."  About that time he heard Rawley's voice come over the com channel. and in seconds streams of orange light were raining all around them.

[Harbinger Bridge S'iti]

An explosion rocked the bridge as the surge of energy penetrated through the shields of the Harbinger.  The tactical desk however was in ruins as S'iti looked to her desk rerouting tactical controls to fight-conn.  I thought we lost these guys?" She added to herself as the weapon readouts appeared on her screen  while she looked back and saw the person at the tactical desk was at least not dead though his desk certainly was.  "Weapons are up and ready and I'm trying to recycle our shield harmonics.  Wait did that guy on their ship just say temporal.  Recommend we launch a class 2 probe and set it to detect chronotons.  At the very least at least we may be able to know where to look to get a visual lock.

[Wolf 01 Miles]

He saw the orange beams pierce through his squad member's ship as he Rocked his ship to the side and cut between two of the beams of light. noticing the scorch marks from a glancing hit.  "Dammit they have our shield harmonics too?"  he said tapping a few things into his Knee Pad as a series of signals was sent to the squadron's ships automating them to recycle their shields harmonics to the setting that their ship had programmed under the designation Renard Sigma. "Rawley Join up with 9 and 10 they are the closest to you." he said over the Squad channel.  "CONTACT! We have enemy fighters!  We've gotta find a way to sensor lock these things or they will be on our sixes in seconds." 

[ USS Theurgy | Surgical Suite 02 | Deck 07 ] OOC: Due warning for strong content.

The third in a series of concussions shook the air in the room and made the Counsellor slam into the wall - sent there by an invisible fist. In both luck and irony, the ongoing racket was concealed by the enemy fire that slammed into the Theurgy.

Walking after his prey, the darkness inside Lucan had truly come alive in expectation of blood. It writhed and coiled, snapped and screeched for more. Yet the Câroon exercises were taxing, so while he regained his composure, Lucan took deep breaths and picked up an exoscalpel from the floor. He took his time, getting his balance in order, straightening slowly. Tilting his head, the doctor frowned and activated the energy blade of the instrument. He amused himself by making a diagnosis on the half-breed.

Disrupted and wandering attention. Inability to think or behave with purpose. Broken speech patterns. Indeed, poor Mister Nelis was in a state of shock. He kept shaking his head, as if there were no end to the things he wanted to deny. The Counsellor's face was one big wound of blunt trauma. He was barely coherent where he lay sprawled against the wall, yet he finally managed to say something.

"Why? You are n-not him. Who a-are you?" The resemblance of a trapped animal was painstakingly obvious, and the blubbering mewl enticed the thing crawling within. Just as the battle outside did, the ship rocking again from another barrage. The danger. The blood-lust! It made Lucan hard, his cock rising in an arc as he bore down upon the helpless Counsellor - the florescent light making him look like the monster that he was inside.

"I am the nexus of the crisis," he said, his eyes and his mouth still shining white. "The origin of the storm. The reason you are all out here, all alone, where no one in the whole wide Federation can come to your aid."

Realisation dawned in Garen's eyes just before Lucan reached him. It was a disembodied feeling that came upon Lucan, watching what happened as if he was an observer. Closing the last distance with a leap, he landed upon the Counsellor like an eagle upon a rodent, ramming the scalpel into the base of Garen's stomach. The scream would have torn the air apart in the surgery suite if Lucan had not clamped his tattooed hand down upon the half-breed's mouth - shoving down his head against the deck plating. "Hush, hush, Mister Nelis..."

The light from Lucan's face blinded his prey; the dull mirrors of the Counsellor's eyes merely a hand's breadth away. Before Garen's bodily strength began to ebb, Lucan had to keep him down with his legs and his elbows. Placidly, like kneading dough, Lucan moved the exoscalpel sideways and up to shred the guts as if he was preparing a fish for dinner. The Counsellor fought for his life, yet neither beast nor Lucan really cared, he just found it irritating because he had to beat away Garen's flailing arms and knees. A tall man with good reach, Lucan knew the odds were not in the half-breed's favour.

Blood gushed against Lucan's lower body. "Ah... that was your common and internal iliac arteries," he said and chuckled despite the strain of holding Garen down, who let out a muffled groan against Lucan's palm. Perhaps an animal was most dangerous when cornered, yet even if Garen fought for all his worth... he could not take hold on Lucan's bare skin since his hands were slick with blood. The beast inside gave him euphoria for committing the act, the disembodied feeling lasting. Perhaps it was the beast in truth that spoke? Lucan had not reflected on that, rare as these moments were.

The democ doctor spoke again as he worked with the scalpel, affecting a seemingly deliberate, lucid tone. "It would be a lie to say I don't enjoy this, Yet it's necessary. Someone has to do this... or your species will just go on living in ignorance." More feeble trashing. "You are neither unique nor special in any way. I don't know how you justify it to yourself, but this self-deception really has to stop. You are all equalcattle. Skin-puppets, to be worn like gloves and thrown away. You fester upon creation, like a wound. Deep down, you know I am right."

He emphasised his statement by throwing the scalpel away. Instead, he placed his hands on Garen'ss cheeks. There was still life in those eyes, but the strength had begun to leave his body along with his blood. Nevertheless, the Counsellor tried to twist away from the grip. "No," he whispered like a bared nerve, no voice left to scream with. Yet the process was underway, and neither man nor the fake gods could forestall it.

"Hush, skin-puppet..." said the beast, or was perhaps it was himself, either way, he shut the eyelids with his thumbs. "It's over now." Lucan was not pressing his thumbs hard against the eyes. All that was necessary was the physical contact. Electricity would do the rest. He closed his eyes to better guide it. It would slice down through the Counsellor's optic nerves, follow those twin highways into the brain, and there deal the final blow. It made him harder just thinking about it. Thought equalled action, ignition, and the power fluctuation made the lights dim and sparks fly. Enemy fire, they thought, the whole of Sickbay.

Garen arched up, despite Lucan's hold and his shed body. The subject's vertebrae was cracking with the intense strain, spasming under the process. Yet Garen still lived, choking and hissing and loosing his sanity in the last seconds, his body dancing a galvanic gavotte - mouth opened even wider as the energy began to sizzle his flesh. Flesh consumed and skin bulging in acid blisters. Only then... did mercy come. The conditions fulfilled. Cauterisation. The grip was released. The puppet had finished dancing.

Opening his eyes, they shone no more, and Lucan felt a bit dizzy, as if he had ingested alcohol too quickly. He stood up, his bloodied appearance swaying in the stark light, and as she did so, he looked towards the ceiling. His throbbing abated, and... he felt sick with himself. Why was it that when the beast was sated, he felt disgusted? Remorse? He frowned in disbelief. "What..?"

Anyway, he had plenty to do and no time to do it.

[Wolf 11]

Thomas was still eying the Harbinger hen he noticed something orange doom up in the corner of his eye. The next minute he could hear the multiple comm chatter of numerous fellow pilots shouting for evasive manoeuvres. He just managed to look back to Miles and his squadron as the Douglas his shuttle got blown to bits, sending parts of the ship into the dead cold grasp of space. "Fucking hell!" He shouted as he saw numerous bursts of projectiles flung towards his group as well "Taking evasive manoeuvres!" He warned as he throttled up and felt the G-force kick to his stomach.

He was happy he had done some fiddling with the ship in the past few days. The tiny improvements seemed to pay off as his fighter evaded shot after shot. He rapidly typed in a command on his leg console, allowing him to activate his TVD. He looked around him now while continuing to spiral his ship in seemingly random movements to evade fire. Some of the orange bursts seemed too close for comfort and alarm signals made it perfectly clear to Thomas that his bird was getting scorched.

He received the messages that Miles had sent out to reconfigure their shield harmonics. In a matter of seconds his shields got recycled and Thomas was getting pissed off by the continuous barrage. "That's it, screw this party!" He muttered and he jerked the joystick. His Valkyrie took an impressive turn and now flew directly towards the orange bursts, head on. "Just like training..." He whispered to himself to calm his nerves while he swooped from the left to the right jerking up and down to evade fire. Opening comms to all the Wolves he stated "This is Wolf One-One, flying head on hostile fire will attempt to make visual contact when..." He had to break contact as the ships had noticed him too. He swooped his ship around and made a run back, hoping someone would form up behind him to cover his six. "Multiple bandits on my tail! Looks like I'm bait!" He answered and looked behind him, trying to get a visual lock for his squadmembers to hunt them down.

[Amelia Duv|Harbinger bridge]

As the first explosion hit the bridge, Amelia had a hard time to stay on her feet. She tapped her combadge and warned the med bay that possible injuries would be heading their way momentarily. She also asked for the triage teams to head out as soon as possible and to keep her posted in case they needed help from engineering to clear debris or security to help with them. She than walked over to the man who used to sit at tactical and took out her stuff to check his vitals, she asked how he was feeling and assured him that everything would be alright.

[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Valkyrie]

Nathan had been awestruck by the appearance of the new fighters, a model he had never seen before.  The mark III Valkyrie was meant to be the cutting edge in flight technology, and yet this new model, these Reavers, were superior in almost every way conceivable.  His targeting computer couldn't even get a lock on the things, making attacking almost impossible.  "Computer, display crosshair on screen," Nathan said, leaving a odd noise from the computer and the request to, "specify."  It didn't understand what he said.  "Display a targeting reticule on my screen that will aim my weapons."

This time, there was understanding, and a small cross shaped reticule appeared.  If he couldn't target, he was going to have to fire manually upon the ships, and the crosshair would help him know when he lined up his shots.  From there, he began the fancy movements that saw him dodging weapon fire.  Dog fights weren't often seen, but when they did occur, they were spectacular.  During the outbreak incident, he had only flown a shuttle, nowhere near the level of precision and speed that a Valkyrie was capable of.  This was when he felt most comfortable, in the seat of his personal Valkyrie, the one which shared his call sign of Maverick.

The enemy ships performed all their attacks with a ruthless efficiency, but there was something lacking in their movements.  They were rigid rather then fluid, almost mechanical in nature.  That's when Isley realized what they were fighting.  He opened a Comm channel to his fellow Wolves, and said it out right.  "These ships are automated!  They don't have organic pilots!"  That was their one advantage.  Technologically, they were bested, but they had adaptability and quick thinking.  If they could recognize the attack patterns being carried out, they could put their training to good use.  They had been learning to counter Federation attack patterns, so that they might be ready to engage fellow Starfleet officers in combat.  Machines couldn't be creative, but they could be.


[Edena Rez - Theurgy Bridge]

Edena, taking charge of managing the Lone Wolves from the bridge, coordinated them with the Theurgy herself.  She had chosen to wear an earpiece which gave her the ability to hear the pilot chatter without broadcasting it over the ship's systems.  Theurgy had her own tactical maneuvers to deal with, and didn't need to be mixed up with the fighters, only worked to create some form of synergy between fighters and ship.  "Wolves, you need to keep moving.  The enemy ship is in range and could target a phaser lock on you."  There was a difference between getting hit by a fighter ship's weapons and a full-blown starship.  They couldn't risk allowing the new ship to acquire them as targets.  Moveent speed was their advantage at impulse, so they had best use it to keep themselves alive.

"Captain," Edena said, stepping towards the viewscreen where the new ship was staring right at them.  "That isn't a Theurgy-class.  It's slight, but there are differences.  It's smaller then us, it's overall shape a bit sharper.  That isn't the kind of thing done in a retrofit."  Edena knew what she was suggesting, that this was a new model of ship, something that would be considered insane.  They would have heard about it, especially with how long a time it took to develop a new starship class.  The Theurgy-class was still too young to be replaced when other classes of ship still needed improved models to be designed.  "Can we get a closeup on the hull?  Look for a registry number on the ship, something that might tell us about it."



[Declan Vasser - Harbinger Bridge]

"Tactical, initiate Vasser 03 and keep it facing forward!"  Declan issued orders for tactical to initiate a tactic he had become well known for.  Harbinger would focus her shields towards a single location, the one facing an enemy ship, in order to bolster shield strength.  The tactical officer had to stay on top of it, keeping the shields always between their hull and the enemy, while the helm kept presenting only the side they wanted to show.  Again, they kept themselves small, showing only the nose as they readied to return fire, presenting a small target that tactical would fortify much more easily.  "Target the nearest vector of that ship, and communicate to the Theurgy that will take responsibility for that part.  The other two will be up to her."  Theurgy still had her own MVAM to make use of, and could makes a three-on-two assault of the remaining two vectors while Harbinger dealt with the third.

The first row of phaser fire displayed a new feature on that ship which Vasser had never even heard of before.  Their phaser fire struck, only for the shields to ripple and distort, spreading the beam wider across the shield and reducing the overall effectiveness.  With a look of uncertainty, he felt the need to ask, "how much damage did we do to their shields?"  He knew it had to be some, but not as much as he would have hoped for.

[Miles Valk: 01: Iron Fox]
Miles cursed to himself as he felt a few more blasts of energy hit his fighter.  Thankfully his shields had been reconfigured and were taking the brunt of the punishment. "computer stitch to manual fire mode and give me a Heads up Targeting display for my line of sight compensating for Inertial drift. "he keyed the cm system for a second and spoke up. Kestral Get on my wing and stay with me.  Arm your Tetrion cannon and target anything my weapons register a hit on.  I'm switching my pulsers to chatter cannon mode.  As he said this he entered a command into his Kneepadd.  Within seconds his pulse phasers were set to fire one at a time and fire the minimal amount of energy as possible.  In simulations this setting had resulted in a increase in the rate of fire to approximately 50 rounds per second comparable to the Pre-Eugenics wars Gatling gun type armaments used on most USAF fighter planes of that time.  More appropriately for him it was the a similar rate of fire that he was familiar with on the small arms of the old Vulpinian birds he used to fly.  He just hoped this configuration worked as well as it had in the simulations he had ran to test it out.  Now was the time to try it for real for the first time.

Within seconds he had spotted one and throttled up to engage it firing the pulse phasers in a spread around his targeting reticule weaving his aim in the few seconds of fire at least a few shots would hit it.  All he needed was one to cycle over those shields and Skye would have a clear shot as reliable as a sensor lock on the fighter.

Wolf-06 Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley [NPC]

She heard the request from her SCO to join up with 9 and 10 but as she went to intercept them she heard 11's com traffic.  she cursed to herself as she diverted course from her orders.  "Fuck it." she said throtteling up towards 11 as she opened a com channel with him "Razor I see them behind you!  Intercepting the sonsabitches now!"  she said as she closed in getting within firing range.  "Get the hell out of my way before I vape you too! On three pitch up and preform a Cochrine Deceleration.   With any luck my Hellbores will take all of your tails out.   One...Two... THREE!"  she said as she fired two of the 4 hardpoint mounted weapons setting them to detonate where the enemy ships should be at if they continued on strait.  With any luck Razor would be just out of the explosion range when they detonated.

[S'Iti Aisha: Harbinger Bridge: CONN desk (now Tactical and CONN]
Not much captain. about half what we should'a done with out weapons.  It don't help that i'm having to fire blind.  Wait, looks like the readings are coming back from that probe I took the liberty to launch. Looks like Vector Three is bearing down on us.  I don't have a true lock but i can compensate for the half second delay pretty well.  Concentrating fire now." She said pressing a button sending their phasers arching to hit the enemy ship repeatedly hammering their shields each blast seming to whittle them down.  "Shields are starting to fluxuate. Firing a photon spread captain!"  she said as she fired the spread of torps as they began to hammer the enemy's shields one of them piercing through and impacting the hull as the one after it seemed to hit shields again.  "One got through but it didn't do as much as I had hoped. Still we can sort of see them now recommend we feed the data to our birds and stream our probe's data to the Theurgy and her birds too."

[Diadeniera - Harbinger Bridge]

In stoic observation the Ktarian half-breed could almost feel the tension in the con with the notorious USS Theurgy.  This infamous ship that they had been ordered to hunt down now seated squarely in their sights that had they been the good little Starfleet officers blindly following orders would not be having this conversation.  How ironic that nothing in life was ever as straight forward as the authorities would have you believe.  She did not care for the Captain's decision to have a small party of their Senior Officers board blindly onto another ship even if they were in theory on the same side.  They were in a sense providing potential hostages where if the Captain of the Theurgy was as ruthless and sinister as they had been briefed to believe.  These thoughts gnawed at her gut and screamed objections but from a logical standpoint she understood that to gain the trust of a cornered animal sometimes you had to show a little throat. 

The familiar hiss of the decompression from the lift caught her attention as the stiff-jointed woman turned to see a familiar blonde stepping out onto the bridge.  She caught the glance at T'Rena but the Chief of Security was already on the move stepping into the path of the bartender's abrupt demands and extending one hand to press against his chest halt his forward movement.

Her face was not a stranger to him; she often would come by the bar when he would share his Earth heritage through song.  Just the night before she had sat at the bar smiling brightly at the way his fingers strummed the strings of the old guitar but all the sweet looks she may have afforded him before were absent in the cold-eyed stare she gave him now.  When he did not heed the gentle warning she released the hand against his chest allowing him one step forward before her arm would move to grab him by the wrist and pull his arm behind his back in an arm-lock as her other hand would grab his shoulder to spin him back to the lift.  "Come, friend, let us discuss your demands somewhere more enjoyable."

OOC: Sorry for the delay folks, work project is coming to an end so hopefully no more long delays :)

[ Wolf 09 "Nightmare" | Hromi Cluster ]

As fanned out as they were, most of the initial barrage slipped through the Lone Wolves and the Harbinger's fighters like sand through spread fingers. Yet Hannah "Nightmare" Slaverton saw Hardtop disintegrate, while her own Valkyrie got caught no less than three consecutive times. She heard Fox screaming something over the din inside her cockpit, barely overriding the mutliple warnings going off, yet Hannah eventually managed to compensate for the impacts - her gloved hands cramping around the gears to restore control and get out of the enemy's sights.

Her fighter screaming in high-velocity escape, Nightmare shook her head free from the lingering synthehol intoxication - meanwhile avoiding the deadly cascades dealt between metallic beasts in the spatial vacuum. Razor was being pursued, yet thanks to Ghost, he got assisted even if their flight wing had become scattered. She could not get a target lock! Her sensors screamed in alarm at the unleashed torpedoes all around. The noises and the flashing lights were like awls into her ears and eyes, yet still she bared her teeth in determination - regrouping by Maverick's side. Her wingman had escaped any greater harm and she had to follow. Now was the time of reckoning... and to let one's fear say its laments. 

For as their base ship's plaque said; courage was fear when it had said its prayers.

[These ships are automated!] shouted her wingman, [They don't have organic pilots!]

Barely did she have time to acknowledge this with two quick taps on their element intercom before Mission Ops broke in, [Wolves, you need to keep moving.  The enemy ship is in range and could target a phaser lock on you.]

"Acknowledged," said Hannah with gaze fixed upon the fiery lights ahead; a ferocious scowl clearing her wits while she also enabled her own cross-hairs. Her shields got their new harmonics algorithm, and she took a deep breath. Then began the dance with the Reavers - as the name was the only thing distinguishable on their sinister hulls. She flew in sync with Nathaniel, interlacing sinuous curves screeching towards their common targets. Seconds felt like instants, and then another torpedo cannonade met them like a slap in the face - dealt with an iron gauntlet.

Nightmare yanked her gears to dive in the last moment, ejecting counter-measures - thus escaping the blunt force of concentrated micro-torpedo fire. Wolf-12 was also executing an evasive pattern. Ghost was firing Hellbores in a tactic to get Thomas Ravon out of his dire straits. She did not see the outcome, since Hannah opened fire and managed to target a photon torpedo heading Ravon's way with her phasers - causing a detonation that almost sent her off course and right into one of the Reavers. She screamed ferociously over the ear-splitting noise as she wrestled her gears back into a steep climb lest he would have joined Hardtop in the dead-waters.

With her wolves, she set her phasers ablaze with orange light. Not taking her thumbs away from her phaser cannons, she barrel-rolled in order to target two Reavers heading away from them  - only to have to cease fire in order to let Fox and Kestrel pass, followed by two fighters from the Harbinger. There were moving starfighters everywhere in the perimeter that the enemy had exacted with its ordnance. Fox wings seemed blackened with phaser fire, much like her own. Rawley was drawling terse murder over the comm in her faded Scottish accent. Hannah resumed fire while sparks suddenly shoot out of her flickering HUD, drawing a hit from the Reavers' base ship high above. "They pinned down my harmonics, I lost my shields again!"

No time to investigate further, for everyone was smiting the enemies' shields with manual phaser fire, but Hannah saw that gradually... their calibrations were nullified. More of the wolves get  hits that slipped clean through. "Rotate harmonics again! Rotate!" The collective assault pounded as an arrhythmical bass drum. Meanwhile, Hannah was tearing at the shields of one Reaver that tried to roll away. She predicted the course, armed and discharged one Mk XXVII photon torpedo at far too close a range - breaking away to leave the trajectory in time. No manual trace, skilled yet pore guesswork. Instants felt like aeons, and she almost lost, until the detonation split the Reaver's shields like wet paper - immobilising it.

"I repeat," she said and yanked her vulnerable and scourged bird away from another barrage from her port side, "they can access our systems somehow! Its as if we are hacked!"


[ Yridian Shuttle | Hromi Cluster ]
Things had become far too hostile for Rihen's taste. She had hoped to plead her case and get help in restoring her industrial replicator to its designed capacity. Yet now, she found herself in an insane situation where Starfleet attacked Starfleet and she piloted an anonymous little shuttle in a hornet's nest of high-powered energy weapons and torpedoes lighting up the Hromi Cluster with chaos and destruction. The smaller ships were flying so fast she could not keep track on which was which, only that none of them seemed to have any greater interest in her shuttle. At least for the time being.

As she sat there, heart pounding and heterochromatic eyes wide, her eyes fell upon something in the debris directly ahead.

"What is that...?" She leaned forward, frowning... until she realised what she was looking at. Quickly, her gloved hands moved over her controls, trying to hail the closest of the starships - the one which had chosen to answer her hail. While she waited to get patched through, she opened her air-lock and power up her tractor beam. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?" she called, eyes wide and her easy-going attitude having receded a bit, "I don't know who he belongs to, but I am pulling aboard a pilot I found. Don't worry, I won't run off with him, but his suit looks burned and torn, so he needs a doctor, okay? Permission to dock so that your doctors can take a look at him, please? I will do what I can, but I am no physician and I am not in the most comfortable of spots out here. Can you spare a moment to tractor me into your shuttle bay?"

The green beam lit across Khorin Douglas' body where it drifted in space. It was not her ulterior motive to come aboard the starship, since she'd rather plead her case with those whom had conned her. For just as she was a humanitarian at heart - having wished to rebuild Paradise City as best as the situation there allowed - she had a good-natured disposition and did not care to see someone die unless she could help it. If saving a life also meant that Starfleet would help save her city, she would not save him any less just because people might think the act devious of her.


[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

While T'Less was sending written attack pattern commands to the other two Vectors, and Natalie was struggling to restore their collective shields, Jien Ives had gritted his teeth and come to stand next to Edena - watching and listening as events unfolded. The damage reports voiced from Nicole Howard was disconcerting, yet even more so that their rotating shield harmonics could be foreseen. The Harbinger had communicated a rudimentary plan of attack, one vector singled out, yet they both suffered damage when their defensive tactics could not escape the enemy fire. At least their class two probe sent the Theurgy chronoton-readings to pinpoint them against the overhanging star.

"Captain, that isn't a Theurgy-class. Edena, standing by his side, "It's slight, but there are differences. It's smaller then us, it's overall shape a bit sharper. That isn't the kind of thing done in a retrofit. Can we get a close-up on the hull?  Look for a registry number on the ship, something that might tell us about it."

Thea spoke up behind them, the ship's image enhancement software having worked this out from visual surveillance. "It is a Federation starship, Commander. It is named USS Calamity NX-79995, Calamity-class. The ship and its class not registered in my database, yet it seems to me evident that Lieutenant Sarresh is right. There has been a temporal incursion, because the Calamity-class and its new line of starships is only in the very earliest of theoretical planning stages. As far as my records show, it merely shows up in official protocols from Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards as sketches and in hypothetical specifications."

"So our enemy has sent a superior ship to best the Theurgy-class," said Jien, not liking this one bit, and if Declan Vasser was truthful, the enemy considered the Calamity to be of such a calibre that it could take on both an Akira-class starship along with the Theurgy, including all of their Valkyrie fighters out there. It was a chilling thought, and one that Jien chose not to share. "Yet that does not explain how it has hacked our shield harmonics. Thea, can you shut it out?"

"There is no link between the Calamity ship and I," she said frowning at the view screen from her position at the back, "There is no insertion underway in my systems as far as I am aware. No signal between us that holds an encrypted data package. The frequencies are my own, generated from my systems and yours to use however you see fit."

Natalie Stark relayed two things. "A hail from the shuttle, Captain. The Risian has salvaged an injured pilot from the debris. Identity confirmed. One of ours, sir.  She wants to be taken aboard, but we'll have to lower our shields for that..."

"They are certainly not helping us anyway," snarled Jien as their ship rocked from a torpedo detonation just off their hull, "Get her to the shuttle bay as quick as possible, but get those shields up by whatever means necessary, do you understand? Otherwise, we will have to retreat and make a run for it. The Federation cannot afford our demise. Commander Rez, stand ready to call back the Wolves. Concentrate fire on Vector One. Send everything we got at the times we can get guaranteed hits."


[ USS Harbinger | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

T'Rena stood by Captain Vasser's side, not a hair ruffled nor an eyebrow raised as the Harbinger suffered devastating phaser fire, be as it might that they answered in kind. The Vector they had singled out may have fluctuating shields from their concentrated bursts, yet they were still there - something which was far from what they could claim. Her stare upon their Spaniard Operations Officer's back was certainly cold enough to make her live up to her epithet 'the Winter Queen'.

"Mr Trujillo, if you cannot assist Chief S'Iti with recalibrating our shields successfully, then I will have you replaced with someone more fit for the task. Please confirm that you are capable."

"Yes, Yes, ma'am, I mean, I am trying!" he called, seated next to the Cardassian pilot who had to step in for their downed Tactical officer.

"'Trying' is not good enough, because we may soon die whilst you are 'trying' to do your duty. Either you will accomplish this, or you won't. How will it be, Mr Trujillo?"

"I will, as soon as possible!"

"As soon as you can make it possible, which might be too late." T'Rena raised her eyes to the view screen again, her syllables precise incisions in the thick air, "Your crewmen are dying for each second that goes by. Mistakes are not an option and delays are unacceptable. Make it happen, now."

"A hail..." came the answer from Mr Trujillo, "from the enemy base ship, hailing us, the Theurgy and all of the Valkyries! Should I patch it through?"

Glancing to the Captain, T'Rena now did raise an eyebrow, "If you can spare the moment, please proceed."

On the view screen, three people appeared, all wearing some kind of black Starfleet uniform-variations. At the forefront stood an older man with a balding head and dark, thick eyebrows. He smiled with his mouth, yet his eyes did not. "This is the Captain of the Federation starship USS Calamity," he said in a voice gritty with age, "your efforts are futile. In minutes, we will manage to target your life support systems or your Warp core. Your surrender is moot, yet you should resign to the end that is coming for you. The order of your deaths and the destruction of your ships was given with the highest priority. We will not negotiate. We will agree to no terms set forth. If you try to flee, we will never give up the chase."

Cold words dealt with that blood-curdling smile, so detached yet convincing in dispassionate determination. T'Rena, however, found it a comforting voice of reason. There was the sharp deliberation and intent she strived for.

"We have plenty more in stock in our armoury," said a younger Commander standing next to the Captain, seemingly the First Officer and with a winning smile on his face, "Even another squadron of Reavers, since you seem to have had luck with destroying a few of them. Our weaponry is vastly superior, your shields are ineffective against us, and you have nothing to set against us that will make any difference. Accept that this is simply not your day. Stand down now and the destruction of your ships will be swift."

The third one was a woman, and she just stood there, silent, looking straight at one of the image feeds on the Calamity's view screen. T'Rena did not know whom she might look at, but she did not introduce herself. Had she been on the Theurgy's Main Bridge, she would have seen Thea meet that gaze with profound recognition and understanding - for once at a loss for words.

---

OOC: Besides forthwith desperate fighting and reactions to the above - along with Rory having to deal with Dee outside the Harbinger Bridge - Brutus will post soon with something from Sarresh that will help immensely. After Brutus posts, its time to lay in the sixth gear and carpet-bomb the enemy with everything that can be mustered.

[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Sarresh stared in dismay, watching on the screen as what he could only describe as a nightmare descended from the nebula clouds and into the rapidly expanding field of combat. he'd been knocked into the empty captains chair, half slumped on his side, head tilted, taking in the horrors on the view screen. He was seeing without really seeing, his mind lost in a heady rush of memories that he should, by no rights, have any more. But there they were, like a flood gate opening.

<<Calamity Class,>> he mumbles, barely audible in his native tongue. <<Crew compliment 150, Length: 400 meters, Height: 60 meters Width: 150 meters,  commission date,>> his voice trailed off, his mouth moving in complete silence now, his eyes flicking back and forth rapidly, a bit of drool clinging to the side of his lips. His neck gave a little twitch every few seconds, and his hands gripped the chair with white knuckles.

Natalie, meanwhile, was sweating bullets. Any happy thoughts had gone out the window when the mystery ship opened up fire on the Theurgy, blowing away a fighter and basically ignoring the shields, such as they were. The ship rocked, and it was all Natalie could do to stay in her seat. Taking a few precious seconds, she pulled her hands away from the console activate the built in restraints in her chair. Belts slapped down, tugging her back against the seat proper, with a soft grunt. It would keep her in place, but Starfleet hadn't designed the restraint deployment system with comfort in mind, not at all.

Pulling her attention back to her controls, the chief of operations patched herself into the Tactical console, bringing up sensors and shield harmonics. She sent both on a random rotation, noting with dismay that as fast as Thea processed the commands to shift the shield harmonics, the enemy ship seemed to adapt. This was as bad as a Borg attack, she thought to herself, feeling the same, sickeningly cold fear grasp her chest. The sensors were even more useless, never once fixing in on the enemy long enough to get a useful reading at all.

The Ash'reem temporal officer continued his silent, in coherent babble, his fingers twitching across one of the access panels on armrest next to him, seemingly at random.

Annoyingly distracting was a hail from the private shuttle that had blundered into the whole mess. Less annoying, however, was the message. Not bothering to turn in her seat, Natalie once more called out to her CO: "A hail from the shuttle, Captain. The Risian has salvaged an injured pilot from the debris. Identity confirmed. One of ours, sir.  She wants to be taken aboard, but we'll have to lower our shields for that..."

"They are certainly not helping us anyway," snarled Jien as their ship rocked from a torpedo detonation just off their hull, "Get her to the shuttle bay as quick as possible, but get those shields up by whatever means necessary, do you understand? Otherwise, we will have to retreat and make a run for it. The Federation cannot afford our demise. Commander Rez, stand ready to call back the Wolves. Concentrate fire on Vector One. Send everything we got at the times we can get guaranteed hits."

"Aye aye, sir," Natalie said softly. Frowning, she patched herself into the Yridian shuttles comm channel. "Yridian shuttle, this is USS Theurgy. Come about bearing 227 mark 5," the Ops chief called out, sound far more calm then she had any right to feel, "Tractor beam will engage at 4 kilometers out. Kill all engines. " she sucked in a deep breath, then called out to Lt. T'Ress, "Dropping aft shields in 20 seconds."

<<shield rotation variance to .004558752>> Sarresh mumbled, his whole body giving a jerk, and sitting up straight in the chair now, his eyes still starring blankly from behind his goggles.

---

OOC: just a teaser to set up what's left. I can post the rest later.

Wolf One-One Thomas Ravon


Razor heard Ghost's voice as she instructed him about the oncoming hellbores "Great to hear Hellbores heading towards me..." He murmured in his mic and waited a few seconds after she counted down. He performed his Cochrine Decelaration, his ship suddenly being jerked at the handbrake froze up on it's position, the reavers flying past him. A small smile formed on his lips as he saw the engines of the reavers, yet his smile faded as he saw the hellbores miss his hull by just an inch "Oh this is gonna hurt..." He whispered. A second later the hellbores detonated sending a vast shockwave towards his fighter. He spun into space now, alarm signals ringing and warnings flashing in his HUD. He let out a loud scream as he throttled up again and tried to regain control.

He wondered what Rawley would have seen and figured she'd only see the detonation, if she was lucky she'd see him spin out away from the explosion, yet the reavers would be gone. "Thanks for saving my ass Ghost!" He said with a grin, his nose bleeding from the shock. Yet his comms seemed to be damaged, unable to communicate with the other wolves. He tried to figure out where he was in relation to the other fighters and he bursted forward to get back into the fight,  enabling his crosshairs and arming everything he had to cause some damage.

[Rory - Harbinger Bridge]

Rory was pissed and yet terrified as he saw the hail of orange and explosions on the screen before him.  The ship rocked with impacts and suddenly he knew he was going to die, out here all alone where no one cared one damn bit about him.  This was definitely not how he thought his life would be and it seemed too late to even lament.

"ACH!!  WATCH THE ARM ... FINGERS ..." he protested and found himself being spun around and out of the bridge.  He turned enough to see the beautiful chief of security, the one who'd given him such tantalizing looks the night before now so cold as she marched him away.  "The only place comftr'ble is me bed an' I think ye don' have th' time right now, Darlin'," he replied in a softer tone, part flirting and yet it was obvious he was on the verge of needing clean underwear.


[Eve - Main Sickbay]

The ship rocked and casualties were already spilling in quickly.  Even those barely trained with first aid were called in and sent around to the various triage sites.  There was hardly any time to think about what was going on outside of the main sickbay, let alone the fact that all their attempts could be futile and this was the end of all her running.

Lucan had not arrived and in between patients she would pause and tap her com badge.  "Lieutenant Commander Nicander you're needed in main sickbay ... "  After several attempts as she rapid fire evaluated and treated patients, relying on those beneath her to triage and direct her to the worst cases first, she paused again.  "Computer, please locate Lieutenant Commander Lucan Nicander."

[Skye/Kestrel - Dogfight]

"It's not about competition, Ghost," Skye retorted to Rawley though she figured the woman wouldn't believe her.  No, there was just something not honorable about Rihen that made her skin crawl.  "And Fox ... Perv?  No more than you," she snarked.  Then the gates of hell opened and she screamed "Fuck me runnin'! Delta Four!!" as her ship jerked starboard and dipped into a shallow dive to line up better with Fox.

Hearing the others screaming about sensors being nonfunctional, she bit of a few curses.  "Computer initiate Top Gun Snoopy."  On the screen, a targeting reticule popped up and it was time to rely on her reflexes and instinct.  On the suggestion that they keep moving, she continued to zig and zag, climb and dive.  Even with that she felt her bird shake as hellfire exploded all around.

Thankfully she and Miles had worked together in simulations and when she saw what he was up to she grinned.  "Alright partner, light 'em up for me," she said to him and when he set off a few rounds she got one in her crosshairs and fired.  "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!!" she screamed as one exploded and then she weaved a little and targeted another.  "BOOYA!!!" she exulted as another went up in flames as Fox finished that one.

An open hail began then, obviously the captain of the ship attacking them and the Harbinger.  The cold tone made her eyes blaze and her lips pursed as she evaded and clipped another Reaver.  They'd taken out Hardtop and were so callously going to take out both the Theurgy and the Harbinger.  "Like hell," she snarled.  When it fell silent, her voice growled over the airwaves.  "King Leonidas said it best ... This is where WE fight!  This is where THEY die!!!" she howled and blasted that Reaver to smithereens.

Wolf-06 Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley [NPC]
Rawley watched as the missiles hit seeing the radius of the blast going much further than she had thought it would have.  She quickly veered off trailing behind her fellow pilot keying the com system to him, I got your back seems you took a little damage, Guess I'll owe you a drink when we get back. She said cheerfully before she noticed she was getting no response from his fighter at all as he regained control.  Damn looks like He's gone deafmute.  she said as she keyed up the com to Miles.  "Fox can you confirm Seems like One-one has gone com-dead."

[S'Iti Aisha: Harbinger Bridge: CONN desk (now Tactical and CONN]
She heard the voices and hung her head in a bit of shame, There wasn't a fear in her eyes but a feeling of being let down that she would hear such calm voices of reasoned violence from her enemy.  No apologies, No posturing just that cold deceleration of their deaths.  She had heard that calm once before and it was eerie hearing it from someone with a Federation uniform.  "My god, they talk like Borg."  she simply said as she Made every adjustment she could on her tactical and Conn screen to attempt to cause as much damage to the enemy vessel as the Akira class ship could.

[Miles Valk: 01: Iron Fox]
Miles smiled as he heard Skye's jubilation, "Thatta Girl!  Scratch One Bandit he said as he pegged onto the next and chatterd its shields before locking on via energy echo to it basting it via full force with a full charged quad burst of Pulse Phaser fire dumbfireing two of the micro photons to its trajectory and manuially detonating them as he saw them streak near its line Vaporizing the fighter.  Scratch Two Bandits." without a moments notice he noticed the com from Rawley.  Yea, Ghost I hear ya, I see Razor on sensors; shields are weak Hull has minor damage could be having equipment malfunctions  I don't read any com signals from him and my ship feed is dead on him. Get in front of him and get into close formation and try and establish visual signal communications with him.  Hold on I am getting an open hail from the enemy ship."

"This is the Captain of the Federation starship USS Calamity, your efforts are futile. In minutes, we will manage to target your life support systems or your Warp core. Your surrender is moot, yet you should resign to the end that is coming for you. The order of your deaths and the destruction of your ships was given with the highest priority. We will not negotiate. We will agree to no terms set forth. If you try to flee, we will never give up the chase."

Miles had but one response to the hail as he sent a reply to reply to the Calamity.  "Pardon my French, but, Merde"*

Saying that he switched back over to squadron frequency as he watched Skye expertly vape another fighter. He then noticed a strange object located in space. "Computer what is that object?" he said bringing up its location via the Knee PADD.

"Object is a class Two Probe Registration is to the USS Harbinger N. C. C..." Piped up the standard computer interface voice.

"Can it, What data is it collecting; why would the Harbinger have it out?"

"Second query unknown, It is sending Scans of Chronoton particles detected within its sensor range to the Harbinger on an unencrypted Federation frequency."

Those clever bastards,  "Display probe current data and update with each transmission, Add it to my sensor display."

He smiled as he saw his sensors come to life with new contacts They were delayed by about 1 second but it was better than anything they had before.  At least now he could see his enemy somewhat.  With that he transmitted the frequency numbers to both mission Ops and every fighter in his squad so they could all do the same as himself.  "Fox to Mission Ops, Harbinger has a Class 2 probe broadcasting on an unencrypted Federation band.  Sent you and my squad you the frequency data.  Tell me if you like what you see MisOps." 

---

OOC:
*When asked to surrender the Imperial Guard during the Battle of Waterloo, General Cambronne is recorded as replying: La Garde meurt, elle ne se rend pas - "The Guard dies, it does not surrender". Some sources also record his response as the single word Merde (literally, shit, but it can also be roughly translated as "Go to Hell".). Merde is still euphemistically referred to in French as le mot de Cambronne- Cambronne's word.

**Someone NPC Ghost in their next post please I just don't like talking to myself too much.

[Diadeniera: USS Harbinger: Turbo Lift (between bridge and Deck 5)]

Once inside the turbolift she released Rory's arm and as the doors shut behind them she announced in a clear voice, "Deck 5".  There was a tension in the woman even as she took half a step back from the blonde-haired civilian.  She felt a little sorry for him; having foolishly come on what he thought would be a joy ride only to get swept away when things went sour.

"This is not a cruise ship and even on those you don't go barging into the bridge without permission.  You must ask permission to enter the bridge because everyone in that room has no time for you, no time to be distracted by the safety of someone who is not prepared to die for the protection of this vessel and her crew.  Not to mention," she paused her hand lifting to wiggle at the throbbing lights above their head, "Those things? They mean something is up.  Yellow for caution but this red?  This red means eminent danger.  When red is flashing you need to get yourself somewhere away from the outer hull oh say, like your lounge which comfortably sits in the center of Deck 5."

Her fingers reaching out to push into the front of Rory's chest to emphasize her point, "Also, there are no escape pods connected to the bridge of the ship.  The officers up there are prepared to die if need be so should the order come down that people like you need to abandon ship you definitely want to make sure you're located in a place to do so.  The lounge is perhaps one of the safest places a man like you could be.  Next time you want to demand to know what is going on use the com."

When her lecture was over she forced bright smile, her shoulders relaxing as she would stop pointing and instead rest her palm against his chest, "Now I know you're a brave man, brave enough in fact to be there in the lounge cause when all this is over a lot of people are going to be in need of a stiff drink and someone to smile for them."

Harbinger:
"All fighters, use visual targeting only," Phanatos shouted over the comm as he sent his small fighter into the melee.  The reticule popped up, and, while difficult, he managed a few shots against their opponents, each time just barely.  Not that he hadn't trained for this type of situation, of fighting nearly blind, but it was not something frequently done.  As it was, he lost three of his own, owing to the technological advantage of their enemy being able to see them, whilst they only saw their enemy at the last second.  Then he heard it, the cry from the Theurgy's fighters, and realized it wasn't just the being able to target that gave their enemy an advantage.  Scrambling, he did his best to rework his shields on the fly, while informing his pilots to do the same, yelling at them to pull back until they were finished and to keep out of range of the attacking ship's weapons.

Theurgy
T'Less struggled fiercely with the console in front of her, fingers flying as sweat began streaming down her forehead.  It had taken her a moment to realize their harmonics were being tracked and another half a minute to figure out she'd have to rewrite the subcommands on the fly, to make them her own form of random.  It was difficult, finding the strings of code, rewriting them, adding her own, deleting others, until she had a workable solution.  As she called out to Nicole for assistance in implementation, she could only try to calculate that she hadn't taken too long.  As she worked, it never occurred to her that she was completely blocking off all emotion, her face impassive, whatever fear she felt entirely buried.

It took Nicole another half minute to review the code, then open up access to the computer and implement.  As the new programming went into effect, she looked up at the ceiling and wondered if it would work.

While Nicole worked, T'Less heard Jien's order and began work on carrying it out.  There had been only a few times the Theurgy had used its MVAM mode, and it was a challenge to keep them all moving in conjunction, she'd found.  As she initiated the commands, the separations started smoothly enough, the tertiary hull parting easily from the secondary, but a warning light flashed on her console as the primary hull tried to disengage from the secondary.  As Vector 03 turned and started on its programmed attack run, T'Less looked at her console calmly and shut down second separation, shouting out, "Lieutenant Howard, your assistance is required."

[Bridge | Deck 01| USS Theurgy ]
He sat in the captains chair, hands twitching across the small control panel, starring off into the distance. Numbers, words, figures, diagrams, they all seemed to flood his vision, whiting out the rest of the room and leaving Sarresh Morali with a constant stream of color and data. Every sense was overloaded; he could taste mathematic equations (they tasted blue), smell time warp (rather like cabbage mixed with kittens), and hear the sweet music of shifting shield harmonics (or was it Klingon Opera?). All at once.

He shot upright, hand still gripping the panel, as he finished entering the equation his mind had been wrapping itself around. Stunned, he stared out at the view screen again, watching, and seeing now, the horror that was the holographic crew of the USS Calamity. Overloaded with information, Sarresh jammed his thumb down on the comm override, one of many useful buttons  that adorned the center seat. Anything said on the bridge now wouldn't transfer over to the enemy ship.

"It all makes sense. Perfect bloody sense," he said, rapidly, still sounding slightly unhinged, "They aren't hacking our systems, they know our systems, Inside and out. They have our schematics, they have every standard variance of our shields, of our phaser's, torpedo's, hell, everything. They know it all, its in their computer banks, and they're all computers! Its genius!"

"Don't sound so thrilled," Natalie muttered under her breath, not even sparing the crazy Ash'reem a second glance. She had to admit that what he was purposing was scarily feasible, once you accepted the reality that the ship attacking them was from the future. Which was pretty hard to argue at this point.

Sarresh, having not heard Natalie's quip, jammed his webbed thumb down on the control panel once more. The equation he had been working on triggered a self sealing encryption script, buried deep within Thea's internal programing. It seemed to self mutate, and then the encrypted code package was flash burst to the Operations and Tactical consoles, as well as out to the Theurgy's fighter squadron. "Quickly, activate the code packet. that'll fix the shield and phaser harmonics for now." he was sweating, panting, and his head was splitting with a throbbing ache near the brainstem.

"Cycle the entire shield buffer, drop them then hard restart. It'll expose us for 15 seconds. Helm, come about bearing 228 mark 4, drop us under the enemy with the Kappa 0-2-0  maneuver. Tactical, target their shield generators. The coordinates should be uploaded now." His voice had gone from manic to eerily authoritative, barking out orders. "Run the third harmonic shifter for the phaser's, and set them to microbrusts of no more then...2.776 seconds," he added, not caring that he was ordering around officers of a higher rank. He stared right at the view screen, and smiled, slow and wide, "Got you now you bastards..."

---

OOC: he's a little loopy and on a power trip what can I say?

[Rory - Deck 5]

Rory listened to the woman, part of her speech feeling just a little bit patronizing.  Of course just about anyone who talked to him was patronizing unless they were talking drinks or music.  He wanted to rant and cuss but the truth was she was the first person to even take a moment to try to explain even the little bit she did, even if it did make him feel completely worthless.

"The comm?"  He gave a half-laugh, half-sigh.  "I've tried the comm.  I've tried talking face to face with people.  The captain saw me once when I first boarded and ever since I might as well not exist for all I've tried to get him to talk to me," he said running his hands through his hair.  "I may not be Starfleet but I'm not stupid either.  Figured out the yellow blinkies meant somethin' was up but maybe nothin' bad and red means I should tuck me head between me knees and kiss me bum goodbye," he didn't quite wail.

"I shouldn't be here but I am an' no one gives a shit.  Anytime I ask what's goin' on, I get told to pour another drink and sing a song."  In fact, she had just pretty much told him the same thing though the delivery made with her hand on his chest helped ease the hurt pride a wee bit.  He reached up and placed his own over hers, keeping it pressed against him and she could feel his heart beating hard and fast.  "I used to think I was brave but all this ... I'm man enough to admit ... I'm scared," he said and swallowed hard.

OOC: The USS Theurgy entered MVAM a long time ago in one of my posts, with Tactical control of all three Vectors transferred to T'Less after the establishment of that fact. Also, Natalie Stark has been helping T'Less out a lot with the shield harmonics and sensors since you posted last, so this should reflect upon T'Less' work as well, not to mention the chronitron readings sent by the Harbinger probe, which IronFerrox alluded to be sent to the Theurgy both by Aisha and Miles Renard. No worries about it, but please update your post first thing next time around, Taguiera. :)

---

[ USS Theurgy | Vector 01 | Main Bridge ]

Thea watched the view screen, and she frowned, murmuring under her breath. "Internal sensors operating... but I... I am blinded. The last hit took out the security surveillance system."At least the optical sensors of her projection worked just fine. She could not follow the progress in shuttle bay on camera, but right then, that was the least of their concerns. As quickly as possible, the Yridian shuttle was tractored in for docking, the shields coming up as soon as it had passed through.

Meanwhile, the feed from the Calamity-class ship had been shown on the view screen - Jien's glare meeting the three people who did not even introduce themselves before the feed was cut. Then again, it had been made clear that the enemy consisted of holographic officers.The USS Calamity bridge crew were not even interested in hearing their retort since they cut the feed, evidently confident to see what choice their antiquated prey would make by monitoring their actions.

Thea seemed perplexed by the encounter, and it did not last many moments until she spoke. "The woman in the background... I cannot convey in words how I can tell this right here and now, but that woman is the same as me. It was like looking into the eyes of a mirror. She was another Ship AI hologram. I would surmise that she is a later version of me."

Bad news at the worse of times. Things were certainly beginning to look sour. Meanwhile Thea spoke to the bridge crew, the Ash'reem Temporal Affair Officer seemed to be recovering from kind of seizure. At least the rest of the gathered crew would think that, but Jien Ives knew what was about. He just could not spare the time to explain it. Too bad he had come to them much too late.

T'Less was doing a great job with the evasive manoeuvres, even though they were still being hit by phaser fire to and fro. It was when the Calamity's or one of the Reaver's photon torpedoes detonated just off their hull or caused a hull breach with a direct hit that sent them all stumbling and re-routing powers to seal off the affected decks. The damage reports from Nicole Howard continued, and their newly repaired ship was taking a heavy toll. Still, had it not been for T'Less' talent and cold mindset in her approach to her task, they would have perished minutes past. The Vulcan's affinity for these situations was the main reason that Jien had promoted her after Lieutenant Commander Augarath Thenaljpar died on his post one month ago.

Now, all things considered, they had reached the end of the line. It was either die trying to overcome the Calamity ship or fall back / to escape in order to safeguard the truth.

"Commander Rez, we sh-" Jien trailed off, seeing how Junior Lieutenant Morali shot to his feet - now quite lucid. Evidently, he had come to terms with the effects of the treatment he got before coming aboard. Circumstances that had to be discussed with him and with Jien's First Officer at a more opportune moment. Shouts of conviction and clarity rang in the Bridge from the Ash'reem - the solution seemingly so simple. He got the attention from everyone on the Bridge, yet in the end, they all deferred to Jien - looking towards their Captain before doing anything.

"You heard the specialist," barked Jien, expecting everyone to snap to it when he left the go-ahead to do so. There were no time to explain why he held such profound trust towards the blabbering Ash'reem that had barged into the bridge. "Spread the word. Both to the Harbinger and its fighters as well, we need their help if we are about to turn the tide in our favour!"

While Jien was neither a programmer nor an engineer, he thought he understood why their many different tries to rotate their shield harmonics did not work. With their 24th century systems, their foe could adapt their superior systems to their crude defence technology no matter what kind of personal variance they put in. No, they needed to alter the way their defence systems worked at the core, and this... was what Sarresh Morali now had done, recalibrating the Theurgy's systems with codes not of their century. The temporal repercussions was something they had to address afterwards.

Already, the phasers from the Reavers did not cause the bridge to tremble any more - Nicole Howard's fully functional shields working at last. One by one, the Valkyries on their side flashed white when hit with enemy fire - their shields protecting them too. And their own phasers arrays...

Oh, but the tables had turned completely around. Junior Lieutenant Morali's recalibration made their phasers decimate the Reavers one by one - nothing in in the way for the Wolves' teeth as they tore through the space of the Hromi Cluster.

"Set a course towards the Calamity starship," said Jien with a cold voice, a small smile on his lips. "Lieutenant T'Less. Strike hard and fast before it decides to retreat. Commander Rez, please make sure the Wolves do not loose the scent. Now is not the time to fall back and regroup."


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 03 | Battle Sickbay ]

[Lieutenant Commander Nicander, you're needed in main sickbay...]

Lucan did not answer right away, and he might not have heard the Computer answer Eve Jenkins in Main Sickbay, yet he answered her as soon as he was finished with the last spot on the floor. After all, there was no way he could get to Eve at that point anyway. The Theurgy was in MVAM-mode, and Lucan was stuck on Vector 03. "Nicander here, I am in surgery," he said after pressing his combadge with his thumb further away on the floor. Truth in untruth, he was in Surgery Suite 02 "I think Ship Counsellor Nelis here needs me more than you do, m'dear."

Not just any bleach would do after his second shower. When old-school chlorine-based bleach was splashed all over blood-stains, and even if cloth was washed ten times over, DNA residues could still be detected. No, it was the oxygen-producing detergents that would get rid of any incriminating evidence for good. Old-fashioned forensic tests such as luminal tests, as well as modern day methods, relied on the ability of blood to uptake oxygen. The protein hemoglobin reacted with hydrogen peroxide and gave positive test result. Chlorine-based detergents contaminated blood, yet left behind intact hemoglobin. The detergent that Lucan replicated - log conveniently erased - produced oxygen bubbles, which caused the blood to degrade and no longer uptake oxygen. The scene of the crime was made absolutely clean. Anything else would be a liability.

"One of the first hits to the ship took him out. Overload through a plasma-conduit he passed by. Shrapnel passed through his gut.  Oh, and we are in MVAM-mode, right? The way things unfolded, I ended up on Vector 03, clearly unable to come to help you, being as I am several kilometres of space away from Main Sickbay. Please, Eve, you can do this. I really need you to pull through, okay? Nicander out."

Smiling, Lucan rose to his feet - casting a brief glance towards Garen Nelis where he lay on the operating table. He used to be such a handsome man. Shame on that pretty face of his.

Come to think of it, this was actually the first crewman he had to kill beyond an infected or two back during the Niga Incident. The vulnerability lay in the security surveillance system, it having been able to see both him and Counsellor Nelis enter the Surgery Suite. Therefore, he had to use one of his keys. A permanent solution, crude, yet very timely since the ship was under attack. A cascade failure spreading through the computer core - an overload through the surveillance devices. Erasure of all records of the past day, and permanently cutting the means to which make new recordings of events on board.

"And thus, all the eyes closed, and the memory was lost forever."

A chirp acknowledged his command. It sounded like freedom to him.

[Rennan Cooper, Weapons Scientist: USS Harbinger - Shuttle Bay]

Rushing back into the shuttle bay, Rennan Cooper stood alone, his gaze fixed on the shuttle craft in the middle of the bay. Hurrying over to it, he dropped the large box in his left hand beside the craft and slipped on his welding visor as he unsheathed his phaser torch. Beginning to cut into the hull of the craft, he watched the metal peel away with ease under the precise heat of his torch. "Computer, transfer schematic M114-330-127¤A5 from my tricorder to the bridge." He said as he stepped back from the craft, allowing the circular chunk of hull that he'd just cut out to fall into the floor.

Taping his communicator badge as he opened the large box he'd brought in, he tried to compile his thoughts. "Lieutenant Cooper to the bridge, I need the Captain, XO or highest ranking command officer for authorization of an improvised strategy. Please acknowledge." Pulling a large spherical core from the box, he used all of the strength that he had to lift it into place, sliding it into the hole that he'd just cut out. As soon as he received affirmation that he was put through to the bridge, he began welding the core into place. "Sir, I've  begun a somewhat unauthorized modification of a shuttlecraft. You should have a schematic waiting for you to better explain what I'm doing." He said, smoothing out his weld and beginning to configure the core.

"If we want to hit these guys hard, we need more power than our standard phaser banks can offer. As you know, phaser systems are routed through the warp drive as sort of a pre-gain amplifier. I am currently outfitting a warp-capable shuttle craft with a monode phase induction core. This shuttle is capable of remote control from the ship. If we are able to slingshot the craft to our fore, and then target the monode phase induction core with our own phasers, it will begin to overload the warp drive of the craft as we remotely lock onto the enemy vessel with its' phasers, using the craft as a phase amplifier, thereby amplifying the phaser's effectiveness by approximately 78%."

Crawling into the warp drive maintenence hatch, he began to wire the induction core into the drive. "The phaser on the craft will overload after twenty seconds of continuous fire, or twenty-six seconds of pulse fire. I consulted the chief of engineering, and he agrees that the shuttle's warp drive should fail at about the same rate. So, as the craft goes critical, we can use our repulsor beam to thrust it towards any enemy vessels. The resultant electromagnetic pulse should be enough to confuse the enemy computer systems for approximately seven to ten seconds. We won't be in the affected range, and as long as all friendly fighters modulate their secondary debris shields to the frequency specified in my schematic, they will be fine as well."

Finishing all of the computer modifications to the craft, he stepped back and wiped the sweat from his brow. "The craft is ready now, sir. If I am due any disciplinary action for the unauthorized modification, I am willing to accept it as long as you try my idea."

[Dogfight: Miles "Iron Fox" Renard 01 and Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley 06 (NPC)]
Miles recieved the code packet and immediately began its activation making sure it had also been sent to his fellow fighters.  Just as he looked at that he tapped into the com. "Roger that. By the way Ghost have you contacted Razor?"

Rawley responded, "Been trying to, By the way I got the packet not sure he did."

Miles sneered in a bit of frustration over the scenario, "Figures. Keep on trying to get into contact with Ghost soon as you do make sure He gets signal You two join up with flight groups Beta and Gamma and target the enemy ship and take down those shield generators.  Alpha Group Form up with me. We're flying cover Pick up a Fighter and wax it.  I'm reading 6 left of this squad and if the enemy is to be believed they have another 16 in reserve.

  Beta, Gamma." he was interrupted as he picked up another Reaver and lined up his sights on its location and fired sustained volley of pulser fire at them blowing the ship apart.  "Target those shield generators on the Two vectors attacking Thea then launch Hellbores at them.

He smirked as he spotted another "Skye, one at your three O'clock vectoring towards Oh-four.  Take it I've got the one heading towards Thea.  Never-mind that, Damn Thea you pack a punch when you get pissed off."  He said noticing the fighter practically melt into liquid scrap as a sustained phaser blast from the Theurgy enveloped the fighter.  Group Alpha we have four more fighters Pick a target and pounce.

With that he juked his fighter around noticing a fighter before keying in the other SCO's frequency,Harbinger SCO please advise The incoming data packet contains Shield and phaser re-config data. and intel on the shield generations systems locations on the vectors of our enemy capital ship.  Recommend you take out that generator Also please advise, what are your Type two's carrying on their hardpoints?"

[S'iti Aisha Harbinger Bridge]
S'Iti looked to her captain as she noticed an incoming transmission.  "Captain I am receiving a transmission from Theurgy's. It's a data packet. containing shield Re-sequencing Intel and Phaser frequency recommendations. Should I implement their recommendations Captain?"

[ Hromi Cluster | Wolf-06 ]

Such a feeling of power, to possess shields again and to be able to shoot past the enemies' like they were not there.

"Razor!" called Evelyn Rawley and yanked her gears to the side, making one last try to reach him over the comm. He passing high above her, but Rawley did not have time to climb up to his side - chased by the luminescent bursts of a Raver's phaser. It was uncanny how it could predict flight-patterns - as if the targeting system had a sixth sense.

However, she had only a few kilometers left to the saucer section of the Calamity, target lock imminent, and two torpedoes left. She had no choice. So, she bared her bloodied teeth, something having torn inside her with all the g-forces pressing her into her seat, and whilst screaming, she yanked her gears towards her flat abdomen and climbed steeply - warnings going off that she was in a collision course with Razor's Valkyrie. Yet she thrust herself to the side in the last moment, then gritted her teeth together with a consecutive barrel roll - flying on instinct rather than the textbook. It caused stress on her vulnerable bird, her shields not helping her during manoeuvres like these, yet in the end, with a brutal yank that made her do a second climb, she came up towards be belly of the pursuing Reaver. She ground her her thumbs into the top of her gears - firing her phasers at almost point blank range.

Through the cascade of plasma and debris, she shot through, appearing next to Razor. Their cockpits aligned, she turned her helmet and raised her first, signalling that he were to follow her. She counted down with her gloved fingers and then kicked off - blasting her way towards the imposing Saucer Section straight ahead. There was one Reaver that tried to intercept her, yet he was much too late. The Calamity began firing upon her, yet she dived, and climbed just when she came into target range. No time for somehing fancy. She flicked fingers over her controls and her last external hard points went off - the loud noise heralding twin emission that soared into the kidney of the monster. The Hellbournes penetrated and went off, tearing apart the ablative armour. Screaming in elation, fury and hidden fear,  she punched a button to switch to her remaining micro-torpedo ordnance - consecutively spewing a full spread into the already tearing defences of the enemy.

She would damn well not bring her firepower back with her. She used the fiery cloud to make her escape, hoping that Razor would follow suit.


[ USS Harbinger | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

T'Rena absorbed the evolving events without her heart-rate rising the slightest bit.

The Harbinger might shake and get tossed around by the severe impacts they suffered, the damage reports heard quite grave, yet still she stood, swaying and bending her knees to keep her centre of gravity low. Like a rock, she remained where she was, her level orders and words of advice never trembling the slightest. Fear was no more than a choice, and one she had made more than half a century ago.

The arrival of the re-calibrated data package did not cause any hesitation. The Theurgy-class ship was not in a position to try and fool them given the tactical situation of having a common foe. She stepped up to Aisha's station and looked over her shoulders at the information. "Shields and phasers. Defence and offence. Based on our visual on what their Valkyries are doing, it would seem the Theurgy has found a solution."

Turning to her Captain, she raised her chin and spoke her words on the matter. "I strongly advise the recalibration, and that we act immediately - enforcing the Theurgy and it's fighters' advance."

Then came the communications from the shuttle bay, and it would seem the Human Weapons Scientist they had aboard had an idea to deliver a decisive killing blow. She listened to the details, did the calculations in her head, and advised her Commanding Officer. "Captain Vasser, I believe the odds for Lt. Cooper's plan to be successful has a rate of 87 %. It has to be executed within the minute, as the new calibrations will give us the tactical advantage needed for the shuttle to reach the Vector we are targeting."

It was up to her Captain now - the possible path to success paved out.

[Declan Vasser - Harbinger Bridge]

This was the crunch time that Declan and his crew seemed to thrive in.  They were a warship above all else, fighting with tremendous focus.  They didn't often take diplomatic missions, scientific jobs, or anything else that didn't require a fully charged phaser bank and a shield array.  It was why their outdated Akira class even carried Mark II Valkyries when other vessels didn't have any fighters whatsoever.  They were warriors, and when the chips were down, that was when his crew came through.

"Institute the shield and phaser corrections.  Power down life support from any areas where there are currently no inhabitants and have all unnecessary areas evacuated.  We're going to divert whatever energy we can to both the shields and the weapons, 60/40.  When Mr. Cooper's shuttle craft does it job, chase it with some photon torpedoes to take advantage.  I also want some torpedoes calibrated for a wide spread, and aimed to detonate between the enemy fighters and the Valkyries.  Let's give our fighters some breathing room to pull back."  They couldn't keep fighting, not in their current situation.  A tactical retreat was in order, but they would have to work to cripple the Calamity class vessel first, to make their pursuit a little more difficult.

"T'rena, plot some trajectories for us to fire on.  Those shields are acting like a cyclone, pulling away and dispersing our fire.  If we fire simultaneous beams in close proximity, they should overlap and do some more significant damage then a single shot.  Let's see if we can weaken their shields a bit before that shuttle is in position to deliver the major blow."


[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Valkyrie]

Nathan was a graceful flier, weaving in and out of fire with sharp reflexes he had gained from his maternal DNA.  Because of this, he took the job of decoy, providing his fellow wolves with better opportunities, while diverting most of his own phaser power to his impulse engines, allowing for quicker evades, easier acceleration.  He would also vented his plasma to create a smokescreen, just to test if the enemy ships, AI controlled as they were, were using the visual sensors or just telemetry from the ship.  When then smoke had no effect, he knew it was the latter.  "There's a stubborn little hornet I can't shake off my six.  Whoever wants to get it off my case is gonna have a drink on me waiting for them back on board," Nathan spoke over his open comm channel, twitch movements helping him avoid phaser fire.  Against a machine, most of the usual tricks for shaking a bogey were ineffective.  It was faster in processing speed then a person's reaction time, and wasn't taken in by smoke screens or blinding light.  All maverick could do was keep moving.

[ USS Harbinger | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

"Yes, Captain," said T'Rena and walked away to the tactical station. Chief Aisha would still have her tactical controls, but the Harbinger's XO needed the interface to come up with the optimal firing trajectories. Next to her, Amelia Duv was busy with the downed tactical officer, but T'Rena spared them no words.

Before she began to plot the trajectories, she contacted Lieutenant Cooper and made the arrangements required. "Commander T'Rena to Shuttle Bay. Tactic approved, Lieutenant. I repeat, tactic approved. Make haste for we have a limited window of opportunity to coordinate the strike together with the Theurgy and our collective Valkyrie Fighters. Your security clearance is now raised to Lv. 6 so that you may access the repulsor beam and the controls needed to plot a course for the shuttle. You must access the port control panel in the bay area now. All the sensors and visual guidance you require has been made available."

Two Reavers were engaging the Harbinger at close range, doing their best to penetrate the restored shields with their phasers. A torpedo made T'Rena grab on to the station, the damage causing the lights to flicker in the Main Bridge. She could just imagine how...interesting it would be down in the Shuttle Bay area with everything tossed about constantly. She had paused, but continued her message to Lieutenant Cooper.

"You need to have that shuttle out of here within one minute, and with a course laid in towards the Calamity's closest Vector bearing Sigma-Zero-Five-Two," she said with her words still dangerously halcyon, "You are weapons free, and make sure this plan works, Lieutenant. There will be no second chances."


[ Hromi Cluster | Wolf-10 ]

"Roger that, Maverick!" called Hannah "Nightmare" Slaverton to her wingmate and broke away from her set course towards the Calamity's secondary hull.

Leaning her Valkyrie to starboard and flying low, her computer gave a warning signal as one of the Reavers' phasers locked onto her. "Shit!" she dropped her nose further and switched from her Type XII phaser cannons to the tetryon pulse cannon. Then she pulled back - climbing towards the Reaver that was after Maverick. Getting the belly of the beast between her crosshairs, she tightened her gloved finger around the trigger. The canon couched violently and the jarring bursts tore the ventral hull of the AI-controlled fighter to pieces, granting Nathan escape.

Still, there was the matter of her own pursuer, and whilst she ignored the blinking lights and warnings, praying that she wouldn't be too late.... Until she throttled back her speed at the last moment before overshooting the passing enemy fighter, her thumb flicking the trigger that released two guided micromissiles from her bird at nigh point-blank range. Already, she dove to safety. With the Reaver's shields previously damaged, Hannah never saw nor heard the impacts, neither did she feel the shock wave that rippled out in circles around the destroyed enemy, but a small HUD message informed her dispassionately of her kill.

...before being replaced with a multitude of warnings of torpedo search sensors. Her fighter had drawn near the Calamity. "Maverick," she called, "I am in range!"

Hannah levelled her nose a bit and flicked the switch on the stick to her torpedoes. She was hit by a phaser burst, the shields keeping her alive still. The computer beeped, indicating a lock and she gritted her teeth as she let two fly. They impacted with the shields just as Hannah escaped - coming up and around the farther of the starship. The hits clouded the sector even further, and it was impossible to tell how much damage she had done. More phaser fire continued to cascade across her, throwing her around in her seat as she tried to escape.

[Shields at 20 percent,] informed the computer, barely audible.

"Some bloody cover fire here, please!" she said and rolled at a steep angle, almost overheating er impulse engines in the attempt to break away from the phaser range of the Vector.


[ USS Theurgy | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 06 | Vector 01 ]

After settling upon the deck, the distal end of the Yridian vessel opened up and out emerged Rihen Neyah - dragging with great toil and effort the smoking halfbreed Klingon pilot out of her shuttle. With a grip upon his charred Class-B flight suit's shoulders, she tugged and yanked on the dead weight - calling out across the open area for help.

"Someone, please! Transport him to your doctors!" To her dismay, she thought they would already have done so if the man had still been in the possession of his nifty little combadge-thingy. She was careful not to touch the injuries directly, but what more could she do but to try to get the man to someone who could help him? They were all busy fighting, it seemed. "Anyone?"

The farthest doors opened, and out of them ran a tall blonde man and a dark haired woman, both with golden-collared Starfleet uniforms and serious expressions on their faces. They were carrying big phaser rifles too, and it did not so much frighten her than it angered her that they were not teal-collared medical personnel. Hardly engineers, these two. Security guards. Was she being arrested?

"Commander Grayson to Sickbay," said the blonde man, someone who Rihen would certainly not mind getting to know a bit more intimately if she could, "Prepare Medical Transport. Two people. Lock on to Ensign Marija Ferrik's combadge and energize immediately."

As the woman shot past to kneel by the pilot - preparing to leave for Sickbay - Rihen walked up to the handsome man with her hands spread and a smile bright as sunlight. "Am I under arrest, officer?" she said and made her eyes very big and pleading, "I promise I won't be a naughty girl while I stay aboard."

The man began to smile... only to loose all colour from his face and raise his rifle. "Intruder alert!" he called, "Ferrik!"

Rihen whipped around, only to see a shadow behind the dark-haired security guard. The panicked woman tried to turn around and fire at the same time, only her head turned three times quicker than her body - the sickening noise of her neck being twisted around something that would stay with Rihen forever. Ghostly pale hands let the woman's head go, picking up her Type III assault rifle instead - changing the setting. A remote thought that circled Rihen's shock was how she could have picked up a passenger without knowing it. It was a woman in a black body suit and dark hair - the only colour to her being two ice-blue eyes.

"Run!" called the man who called himself Grayson, firing his rifle on the intruder with rapid bursts - the posterior of Rihen's shuttle gradually destroyed by the onslaught. Yet the shots that hit the woman seemed to only make her image flicker and waver in the air, before she raised the rifle that she had taken. Then, Rihen ran, but could not help looking behind. It all happened so fast, yet the fear made Rihen see everything as if it took forever.

With inhuman skill, the image of the woman fired without needing time to aim. David first, the blonde man going down with a hoarse grunt form a shot to the chest, then, the smoking muzzle went for Rihen, and that was the last she remembered.

[Rennan Cooper, Weapons Scientist: USS Harbinger - Shuttle Bay]

Running out of the bay and into the control booth, Rennan was grinning from ear to ear. Showtime. "Acknowledged, Commander. Beginning launch preparations." he said, pecking away rapidly at the computer panel. "Computer, isolate bay." he said, looking through the thick blast glass into the bay as a force-field was raised around the modified craft's bay. "Divert all power in bay 3 to slingshot. Lights, life support, equipment power and inertial dampers. Prepare to divert positive pressure field to slingshot as you activate the slingshot on my mark." Rennan quickly accessed cartography and current viewscreens, as well as sensor probe readouts. "Calibrate slingshot - Relative Gravity: -∞, Absolute ambient pressure: 3

[Miles "Iron Fox" Renard: Wolf 01 ((NPCs wolf 03 and 04)) ]
"Got yer back Night, he called out as he spotted the enemy on her tail.  On my mark fake a left turn then Execute a sharp 90 Degree turn to your Right.   Intercepting in Five. . . Three, Two , One, MARK!"  Miles said as he throttled up to her position.  He lead the target with a twin shot of micro torps to distract the enemy shields
then pierced through them with a sustained burst of Quad linked pulse phaser fire.  "Way to keep em distracted Nightmare.

Miles spoke up again "I see two more fighters on the scope, Oh-Three and Oh-Four Engage the Calamity's third vector with pulse-fire, target the location of her shield generators, scratch that looks like the Harbinger took care of that for us.  Engage her with Hellbores until you only got 1 left each.   Kestrel and I will keep the Remaining two fighters busy."

He couldn't help but wonder though why the Calamity hadn't launched her other squadron.  There had to be a reason and part of him knew that whatever it was, with their machine logic, it could be devastating. 

He smiled to himself seeing the list of fired Hellbores and listings of impacts on the Calamaty's hull.  By now there were at least 8 decent cracks in the Ablative armor of each of the calamity's other two vectors.  Most of the holes were unfortunately in places that if she were to reintegrate into a single ship there would be but maybe 5 cracks total exposed.    Still it was now a choice that was given to the Calamity.  Reintegrate and lose the MVAM advantage, or leave themselves much more vulnerable to phaser fire piercing her once impregnable armor. 

"Squad, leave yourselves one Hellbore each.  In case our enemy joins back together I want to make sure 12 good holes get punched in the outer surface of that pretty little armor of hers.  On that note, once you are down to 1 Hellbore break off from attack and get in Thea's shadow. Three and Four, hide in the Harbinger's shadow after your volley"

[S'iti Aisha Harbinger Bridge]
"Reading you loud and clear Cooper."  She said as she Keyed in the information into the tactical display bearing the Harbinger down on the vector of the Calamaty that had bore down on them moments before.  "Phaser fire penetrating shields but no hull damage..." she said looking over as she tried to piece it all together 'That armor.  I've seen this armor before.  Voyager had it when she returned from the Delta quadrant.  Its built to shrug off even Borg weapons.  Still The other vectors I am seeing some hull damage around these areas.  Of course, the Valkyries.' she said to herself her mind racing. 

"Dammit,  The Theurgy's SCO is using an old Maquis trick!"  She said remembering the trick well.  "Captain I have their shield generators and I'm concentrating all fire there.  She said as she fired the initial weapons spread and smirked as she watched as the Calamity's shields seemed to collapse in on themselves and saw 03 and 04 of the Wolves join the fray and launch a total of 6 warheads.  Each of them registered an impact on the vector they were facing against.  

"Readying a 2 Hellbore spread and powering up all phaser arrays and targeting per Cooper's plan.  Locked on...Initiating tactical Maneuver Cooper 01!"  she said as she pressed the button and the weapons blazed to life.

[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Valkyrie]

Hannah's quick actions left the fighter on his tail taken out, freeing Nathan up to support his team again.  When Slaverton's own shields dropped dangerously low, Isley felt the need to be blunt with her, but only out of concern.  "Nightmare, you'd best pull those tight buns of yours out of the fire before they get burned!"  She could regain shield strength if she avoided taking any more fire until then.  Best she use her faster impulse engines and smaller size to keep out of harm's reach while they did so.  With the order to fire hellbores into the vector, it gave her a chance to back off and let the others release their own payload first, hers being the last to go so that her shields should have been able to climb back to at least sixty percent, if she hadn't diverted too much of her shield's regenerating power to other systems.

Isley was impressed with the damage they did to the vector, leaving some hull breaches that could have resulted in a need to affect repairs if the ship managed to get out of the fight without being destroyed outright.  They sure as hell couldn't go to warp like that without ripping themselves apart.  But that was also when Nathan noticed a practice that was very uncommon on a Starfleet vessel.  "Maverick broadcasting to all members of the flight team.  Does anyone see any force fields erected on any of the breaches we opened?"  Breaches meant that the ship's life support systems would be leaking atmosphere out into space, depriving the crew on those decks of precious oxygen.  The only way a ship wouldn't put force field up to contain the atmosphere was if it was empty.  "Computer, using the Theurgy as a base template for the enemy vessel, are there any vital ships systems in place where any of the open hull breaches are?"

They were already fighting automated fighters, and a Theurgy-class prototype was successfully piloted by a pair of EMH at one point.  What if the only crew on that ship were the ones who appeared on the Comm channel?  The ones on the bridge?  They wouldn't need to worry about life support on any other deck of the ship.


[Edena Rez - Theurgy Bridge]

When Grayson declared Intruder Alert, the bridge was immediately notified of that fact, leaving Edena to spring into action.  It took everything in her not to let out a little curse.  As if their luck hadn't been bad enough, now they had an enemy on board!  "Security team to deck six, upper shuttle bay!  Exercise caution!" He ordered, sending a security detail to try and control the situation.  Rez made her way to a comm station that went unused, where she could pull up data on what was going on on Deck Six.  Without visual sensors, data was all she had to go by.  The ship detected no life signs, that were moving, but the sensors did up up a hologram.  The ship's sensors were redesigned to pick up photonic lifeforms as a means of being able to detect where Thea's form was when needed.  Their intruder was a hologram as well.

"Deactivate Holo-emitters on Deck six!" She stated, watching as the power down was confirmed by the comm system, and yet the hologram kept moving.  Temporal incursion had proven one thing at least.  Lin Kae's mobile emitter worked.  The enemy had one of her own.  "Commander rez to security team, be advised that the intruder onboard is a hologram that is not making use of the holo-emitters.  Repeat, the hostile Hologram has some form of mobile emitter.  Adjust your tactics accordingly."


[Declan Vasser - Harbinger Bridge]

"A Federation fighter using a  Maquis trick?  That's one way to fool Federation created AI."  If this vessel was from the future, from a time when the Maquis were no longer around, the Reaver ships wouldn't be programmed to respond to those tactics.  It was a smart move, one that Captain Vasser could applaud.  "Bridge to Shuttle bay.  Mister Cooper, I hope that this plan of yours goes off successfully,   Our Tactical officer just named this as tactical maneuver Cooper 01.  I doubt you want your name associated with a failed tactic," Declan said with a smile, giving the final authorization to see the plan put underway.

"The fighters will have spent most of their payload, and may be looking for some cover.  If we get any Valkyries, ours or Theurgy's, extend the shields to protect them should they need it," he advised S'iti.  The Valkyries had fought hard and well, and deserved a harbor to shelter them from the storm if they came looking for it.

[S'iti Aisha: Harbinger Bridge] 
"Already on it. "  She said with a soft smile. as her hand glided over the controls extending the shields around Wolf 03 and 04 who had taken up a bit of refuge putting the harbinger between them and the Vector that they had just pock-marked with a bout 8 small holes.  Not very big but big enough that a good shot with a phaser would get through strait to the hull of the ship.  The calamity wasn't wounded, but there were now several chinks in its armor.    "Still I never thought I would see this tactic used again.  Much less against ablative armor.  Hell, I didn't know any Federation pilots even knew about it other than Paris.  Besides We always thought it was a tactic that made up for our lack of effective weapons, not a legitimate strategy with a proper starship's arsenal at your disposal."

She remembered the old tactic well.  During the Maquis rebellions the Cadrassian forces always had the upper hand.  Their own ships were small outdated and their armaments were few and far between. But they had one edge.  The Maquis were not warriors in the same sense.  They were cornered animals, unpredictable, ferocious, wild, cornered animals.  Being cornered and without proper resources had a strange effect on some.  There were those who saw hopelessness.  Others saw the brilliance in unpredictable tactics.  Her favorite had always been what she considered the best use of limited resources in Federation weapons history.

The Cardassian warships had always been very heavily armored.  Hell even by Federation standards their hulls were notoriously hard to punch through.  With the Raiders they had at their disposal and even if they got through the shields, their phasers weren't even up to the task of punching through that armor.  For a Federation captain who had the supplies of nearly limitless torpedoes the answer was simple bombard the enemy ship with torps.   However, the Maquis were hardly that lucky.  They were always notoriously short on those particular weapons.  So one Clever Maquis had devised a tactic.  Overwhelm the Cardassian shields with phaser fire from multiple Raiders.  Assign one Raider the task of launching a single photon torp at a critical location. If they were lucky a weak point in the shields would end up being over their warp core.  After that Target every phaser at the crack in the armor and fire until the hull was blazing from within.  If it had hit nar a critical system the symbol of Cardie arrogance would be a drifting hulk in moments.  If it had weakened the warp core, well from experience she recalls no more beautiful light show.

It didn't always work but when it did the news of a full size Cardassian warship exploding from the limited weapons of a small group of Raiders was more than enough to brighten the day of most any colonist.  And here she saw that tactic taken to the N'th degree.  She didn't know who the Wolve's Alpha was but whoever it was they had just brightened her day.

[ Hromi Cluster | Wolf-11 ]

Razor tried to figure out where the hell he was supposed to go as more systems seemed to be turning off than functioning. He cursed loud and looked around him, he saw Rawley below and she made her way up to him it seemed. The explosion of the exploding Reaver blinded him a bit yet he was happy to seethe package he had received, enabiling shields and the advatange that they could penetrate with phasers. He looked at Rawley and nodded as she signaled him manually to follow her. Her bird seemed in a dire shape as it was yet he dove straight towards the Calamity. "Crazy bitch..." He murmured to himself and throttled up to keep up with her. He saw the Reaver that was attempting to intercept her and he broke off to deal with it. He lined up his shot and fired away.

He looked at Rawley getting shot at by the Calamity now and he bursted forward to get back to her. It looked like a suicide run from his point of view yet she magistrates her flight perfectly. He enabled his hardpoints and waited for the lock on himself now. He was dodging the fire from Calamity itself and than saw the torpedoes from Rawley impact. The bright cloud served as her escape and Just as he lost sight of Rawley, Razor fired away his hard points. The EMPs first followed by two photon torpedoes in just a few seconds. He broke off the collision course and didn't wait to see the effect of his weapons. Nor would he heard it due to his dead radio.

He dove down to where Rawley should have been and he looked around trying to spot her. In the meantime he used his standard evasive moves to stay clear of the Calamity firing waves. He spotted Rawley and formed up behind her, putting the pedal to the metal to get the hell out of the Calamity's range.

[Eve - Main Sickbay]

Just as the computer announced Lucan was in Vector Three, Even groaned and then Lucan's voice came across the comm.  "You know I'll give you all I've got," she said to him as she rubbed her temple.  "Just be careful over there and we'll see you soon."  Looking at the medical staff there, she spread her hands.  "It's just us ladies and gentleman but that's no small thing.  Let's keep this ball rolling, shall we?" she said with a bolstering smile.

She had just finished up dermal regeneration of a deep laceration on someone's leg when a hail to transport two to sickbay was called.  "Computer beam Ensign Ferrick and the wounded immediately to Bed One," she instructed and rushed in that direction only to pause as she saw Khorin in a wretched state but more so the woman's head lolling at an unnatural angle.  She then realized Grayson had reportedf there was an intruder in that section.

"Damnit, too much to deal with right now," she snarled as she did a quick scan of them both.  "Get them both in stasis units.  Commander Grayson are there other injured?" she called out over the comm but received no answer, a sense of dread washing through her.  "Lieutenant zh'Wann, please report to the shuttle bay.  Commander Grayson called an intruder alert and now there is no more communication from him."

While attendants took care of Douglas and Ferrick, Eve rushed over to a control panel.  "Computer display the shuttle bay," she ordered.  *Unable to comply*  Something had destroyed the surveillance system, no doubt part of the damage they'd received so far.  "Computer, are internal sensors still working there?"  *Affirmative*  "Good, please scan for lifesigns."  *There are two life signs, one very weak and another stronger but apparently injured.*

"Get a lock on them and beam there here immediately," she almost interrupted and pulled her hair back and off her neck, letting some of the heat rise from her skin.  Another hit rocked the ship, making her grab onto the panel to brace herself.   *Unable to comply.*  "Damnit," she fumed, her normal calm demeanor completely ruffled.  "Nurse Jenkins, Deputy Chief of Security here.  Cadet Bellde'side and I are on our way," ThanIda reported.

Eve let go of her hair with a huge sigh and reached over to grab one of the extra kits.  "Good.  There are two life signs, likely Commander Grayson and the pilot of the shuttle.  That doesn't sound right though since he called an intruder alert ... I'm on my way as well since I can't get the damn transporter to work and bring them here."  Turning to the staff, she pointed to Lieutenant Colby.  "You're in charge until I get back," she said and once outside of sickbay sprinted for the shuttle bay.

[ USS Theurgy | En Route to Shuttle Bay | Deck 06 ]

The intersections whisked by as ThanIda zh'Wann ran with her phaser rifle in her hands - Cadet Bellde'side armed with a Type II hand phaser and at her heels. Their boots and their breathing was all that could be heard besides the blaring sounds of the Intruder Alert, broken off by the Head Nurse's voice. Ida tapped her badge in mid-run to answer. "Be advised, if we are not there, exercise extreme caution if entering the bay area," said the Andorian Deputy, rounding a corner. "The XO informed us that it's a holographic intruder with its own emitter. zh'Wann out."

The winding corridor carried them towards the Shuttle Bay, and towards whatever awaited them there. Firing while on the move limited the accuracy with which one could discharge a phaser rifle, particularly if that motion was faster than a slow walk. However, a well-trained professional could maintain reasonable accuracy while moving at a brisk shuffle, so when they drew near, Ida raised her weapon and trained her eyes across the sights - her long legs striding forth in tactical advance towards the sliding doors.

"Behind me, Ridge-nose," she said to the celebrity-turned-outlaw, who only that morning held his a hand phaser for the first time. "Don't take any chances. Seek cover immediately and fire from that vantage point. Try to locate where it might have its emitter. It might even be projected from the shuttle. Ready? Go!"

The sliding doors opened and they barged through - Ida's eyes and antennae searching for the target. At first, there was no sign of movement besides the fire and twitching energy circuits of the damaged Yridian shuttle. Behind her, she felt rather than saw or heard the Cadet circling along the edge of the open area. Meanwhile, she moved to the two bodies on the deck, crouching down by one of them without lowering her gaze from her surroundings. She reached down with one hand and took the pulse - a quick glance down determining identity and the location of the neck. "zh'Wann to Jenkins," she whispered after touching her combadge, "Unknown woman down. Appears to have a phaser wound across her back and shoulder. Strong pulse."

The immediate area deemed safe, she glanced towards the other body. Images flashed before her eyes; her and the Pinkskin locked in sweaty intercourse on the floor of that holding cell. Now, Grayson just lay there with his eyes and mouth open, the gaping hole in his chest emitting smoke and a scent of charred meat. An uncharacteristic tightness to her throat made her stumble on the words she had to say. "Commander Grayson is... is..."

Shots went off. Reinforced glass breaking.

Ida ducked low and cast her aim about. Cadet Bellde'side was firing towards the large control booth in the back of the area from ten feet away - his hand phaser coughing panicked energy bursts. There was movement inside the rain of glass shards. Ida spotted a dark female sillouette and cold ice-blue eyes. "Take cove-!" she tried to warn the frightened Cadet. Too late. The figure in that booth turned her attention to the Security Officers outside her glassed-in cover and returned fire - shooting rapid pulse fire from her hip with her rifle.

Ida threw herself to the side and rolled into a sprint - her rifle never touching the deck. She reached the shuttle and dove in behind it - sliding into cover. The deck plating behind her erupted with the impact of the phaser bursts that chased her there. There had been no time to determine the fate of the Cadet, only a glimpse of his disjointed dance as the first volley ripped through his body. No time to think. The intruder paused only to change the setting on her weapon, Ida knew this by the massive hit against the shuttle she hid behind. She could tell by the nightmarish sound. A level 16 wide-field setting that could strip the walls from a building. Smoke and debris rained around her - ears ringing and visibility zero. Her white hair was frizzled by the residual energy in the air. The shrapnel had cut both uniform and skin.

"zh'Wann to starboard detail, I need back-up!" she called, despite everything not giving into her fear. She peeked past the damaged rear of the Yridian shuttle, verifying that the Cadet was down. Dove back as another hit rocked the shuttle upon its landing legs. "zh'Wann to Jenkins! Officer down, yet do not enter the bay area! I repeat, do not enter the bay area! Wait for back-up to arrive outside!"

There had to be an emitter somewhere. She glanced towards the booth to spot the intruder, only to see her finishing typing into the control panel there and straightening - rifle in her pale hands. A single word echoed across the burning shuttle bay. "Energize."

And the intruder vanished in a site-to-site transport to Lor'Vela-knew-where aboard the Theurgy.


[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Since the needed sub-routines for her to switch off her emotional chip was lost in the Niga Incident, Thea had to witness the damage done to her physical body without being able to turn off the terror. And yet she also held the experience of being hunted across the Alpha Quadrant in counter-weight to the events that were unfolding, keeping her digital mind level and offering her advice and assistance as best as she might. Sarresh Morali had given her phasers and her shields some kind of encrypted calibration, and things were looking more favourable by the moment. The running calculus of their odds was a background process, just like the tally of lives lost when breaches in her hull sucked them into the Hromi Cluster. Both numbers were not voiced in order to not discourage the bridge crew.

Yet when Commander Edena Rez - mere feet away from Thea's projected body - determined that the intruder on Deck 06 was holographic and did not need the her ship-wide hologrid... the Ship AI's quick calculations determined several things simultaneously. It was her. The one from the hail. No time for warnings. The odds of the entire Senior Staff being wiped out before Thea finished speaking too unfavourable. She acted. "Guards!" she called, eyes casting about, the search for breaches into her Transport protocols running at a furious pace. Hidden. Encrypted. Just like she would have done it. Four from Security came inside, while she tried to filter the buffer for all transports at once. "Protect the Captain and Commander, take them out of here! Now!"

"Captain!" called Nicole Howard from the Engineering station, overriding Thea's order, "Inertial dampers just came offline and... the magnetic fields that control the antimatter containment is failing! The injector coils are overloading! There is no way we could... We are being sabotaged!"

Thea's fears came true. The shimmer of the transport lit everyone's faces. Moving to intercept, Thea's photonic hand phaser appeared in her raised two-hand grip - a gift from Lin Kae that was always at hand. Shouting was everywhere around her, deafening. Time seemed to slow down and yet speed up at the same time.

Out of the Transport beam materialised the figure of a woman, and while Thea had filtered out the assault rifle she had carried, she immediately went for one of the security guards - with barely any time needed to get her bearings. People were moving everywhere on the Main Bridge. Thea had to get though. The holographic intruder broke the security guard's arm and floored him in a singular wrenching movement - a hand phaser wrenched from numb fingers. Chief Tactical Officer T'Less was next to fall - the shot to her chest sending her into the control panel behind her back. The second Ash'reem on the bridge besides Morali - CSO Amatras Neotin - tried to wrestle the phaser away from the intruder, only to be shot down by friendly fire from the Theurgy's Security - having opened fire as soon as possible. Thea was firing now too, with no immediate effect. The holographic figure shimmered and ignored the assault, instead whipping her weapon towards Jien Ives, rapid bursts discharged to take down the Commanding Officer.

Yet Nicole Howard had got to her feet, and in what Thea deemed an incalculable human choice... threw herself into the line of fire to protect their Captain. Jien and Edena were both pulled away by the arms of the Security personnel, saved by the red-haired engineer. The look in Captain Ives' hard eyes when the woman fell would linger in the forefront of Thea's memory banks for a long time.

Thea was pushing people out of her path, her phaser raised. Yet the path was suddenly cleared by external force. Since the inertial dampers were off, a hit against their Vector's shields sent all organics stumbling and falling on their faces. She had her clean shot, three bursts hitting the intruder's hand phaser - breaking it into pieces. No pause. No need to rethink tactics. The intruder simply dropped the smoking remains in her grip and went into hand-to-hand combat with Thea -  blows traded at an alarming pace and similarity.

They were programmed the same way. Starfleet-taught punches and kicks, some passing through the other as they entered passive mode as a means of evasive manoeuvre. The only difference was that Thea felt fear for the lives of her crew, whilst the intruder she fought held no remorse. At one point, where they locked horns in grapple, the ice-blue eyed hologram greeted Thea with a smirk. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mother," she said with a heavy British accent, "I'm Cala."

It had all happened too fast. So many dead or dying. The remaining personnel might try and help somehow, despite the way the enemy fire made the whole bridge toss and turn with each hit. Thea did what she could fighting the internal threat on the Bridge, yet she could not help in keeping her hull from being hit  by the bombardment from the Calamity's external presence. For their enemy was fighting them on both fronts - from within and afar. The Warp Core overload she could try and compensate as best as she might, but she had no tactical access...

"Scan her!" called Jien as he climbed into his chair, trying to access the tactical controls in the armrest, "find her emitter and destroy it!"


[ Hromi Cluster | Wolf-06 Cockpit ]

Coughing blood inside her helmet, Evelyn Rawley led Razor away from the mayhem that was the proximity of the Calamity-class starship. The hull of her barely repaired Valkyrie was smoking and her impulse engines sounded like they suffered a wet cough of their own. Yet she was alive, and not about to give a bloody inch to the enemy now that she was finally back in that cockpit. Fuck the consequences, piss on the fact that she had lost yet another wingmate. Khorin Douglas had, for all she knew, died a valiant death and had set a new course for that Stovo-fuck Klingon hell, yet she was still alive and not about to let anyone get through her lest she would take a bit of their ass with her.

[Maverick broadcasting to all members of the flight team.  Does anyone see any force fields erected on any of the breaches we opened? Computer, using the Theurgy as a base template for the enemy vessel, are there any vital ships systems in place where any of the open hull breaches are?]

Rawley frowned when she heard Maverick's computer answer him.

[Negative.]

What the hell were they fighting? Ghost ships? Even the large fuckers? Had the people in that feed not been real? Holograms? A bloody AI? Were they peeling away the hull on a ship that did not need life support? How did you fight something that could not be distracted and would never desist? A faceless monster bent to a singular purpose. To seek and destroy. How did you fight an unconquerable soul?

The answer was plain to her, at least. They could never quit either. Communications from the Harbinger came in during the chilling silence on the intercom. "Wolf-06 here," she said and bared bloody teeth, "No hard points left, but my phasers cut fine. I'm assisting that shuttle the Harbinger launched, making sure it gets where it needs to be. Razor is on my six, covering my tight ass. Wolf-06 out."

Said and done, not about to consider her own safety and health or what anyone might get in edge-wise, she rolled off to the side and throttled off to where that shuttle was lining up against one of the Calamity's Vectors. Fuck her body hurt, fuck her Valkyrie groaned in protest, but fuck it all the same since this was this she was meant to do in life.


[ USS Harbinger | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

Commander T'Rena observed the MCPO's progress in the tactical displays and contacted Rennan Cooper directly, answering his call. "Fire at will, Lieutenant." The level of passion in her tone was the same as if she might have commented the temperature of her tea. "I repeat. Fire at will."

She turned her head to Aisha and nodded in affirmation. "Communicate with the Lone Wolves squadron as much as can safely be sent tactics-wise. Protect that shuttle at all costs and do as Captain Vasser instructed." On their view screen, the Reavers were decimated a great deal, yet so was their Wing Commander's squadron - a handful surviving Valkyrie Mk IIs flying out there. Not that T'Rena would bat an eye, but the Wing Commander had lost a lot of Tactical Conn Officers. It was unfortunate for all their sakes, yet the pilots were doing their oath-sworn duty.

"Submitting trajectories now," said Commander T'Rena at last, stepping away from the station after sending the needed info - letting everyone get the chance to help the Valkyries escape in the coming tactic, where the finishing strike would be laid. "It is up to Junior Lieutenant Cooper to deliver as promised, otherwise, the tactical situation is obviously not in our favour. I suggest a tactical retreat to be prepared if this does not work, Captain."

Should that time come, she would advise to leave the surviving Tactical Conn pilots behind - the trajectories good yet the time to use them scant. The needs of the many aboard the Harbinger outweighed that of the few in Tactical Conn, the logic contradictory to that on Captain Vasser's mind to try and shelter them with their shields.

---

OOC: Stop Calamity while she is locked in hand-to-hand combat with Thea on the Theurgy brigde by whatever means available (consult Lin Kae if there is time for it?). Gentleman, have Rennan Cooper light up the fireworks. Wolves, assist as needed. We wrap this chapter up with my next post, and let the celebrations in the Acamar System begin, so if you have anything left to say in this Prologue, now is the time to say it.

[Rennan Cooper, Weapons Scientist: USS Harbinger - Shuttle Bay]


As the violent shaking and rattling somewhat subsided, Rennan stood over the control panel, waiting for the OK from the bridge. Cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck, he peered all around the shuttle craft that currently held his virtual presence. There was such intense action in the fierce melee all around him, and here he stood, in the middle of it all, watching. Waiting. He felt as a deafmute in the calm eye of a hurricane, watching the carnage and destruction all around with nothing left to do but pray.

Receiving his message from the bridge, his face lit up as he was made to tremble by another strike. "Computer, play the final minute of media file Cooper 6389 in the shuttle bay control booth." In The Hall Of The Mountain King began to ring through the air, filling his soul with the same brutal, stoic sense of warmth that it had brought him the first time he had heard the song. Rubbing his finger over one side of his visor, the POV in the shuttle craft was squeezed into the left side of his visor, leaving the right side to see the control panel. His fingers began to fly over the control panel, adjusting digital faders and the like until he finally closed his eyes and threw his head back, slamming his hand onto the button to fire phasers, each one of his thirty two teeth shining malevolently in the artificial light radiating from the ceiling. It was a blissful, almost sexual experience for him, bringing this destructive beast to life. As the phasers flew from their arrays, it was almost as if the next four seconds went by in slow-motion. He watched as the phaser beam made its ascent towards the shuttle, and the moment of impact, and then... The refraction?

The next thing Rennan knew, he was sliding down the bulkhead that had previously been ten feet behind him. The only thing he remembered before that was watching a stream of energy strike a cabinet, propelling it with such great force that it shattered through the heavy blast glass in front of him before the computer killed the phaser. Luckily, the pressurization field in the bay had already been raised again. He didn't feel damaged, but he knew that there was something wrong inside of his body after being hit with a 100 kilogram airborne cabinet. Crawling over to the control panel, which was only marginally damaged, he tried to figure out what had gone wrong. As he stood up carefully, he slapped himself in the head, trying to rid himself of the infernal ringing in his ears. Suddenly, he realized the problem. Wasting no time, he navigated into the shuttle's computer core, searching rapidly through pages and pages of logic. The back of his head began to throb, gently at first, but growing stronger and stronger. It wasn't an injury from being tossed, but it was something he'd fought hard to leave behind. This failure started to invite his old demon back. Fortunately, he finally found it. Against all computer generated warnings and automatonic attempts to thwart his dangerous engineering, he was able to bypass the safety circuitry in the shuttle's warp core and phaser systems and re-fire the ship's phasers only thirty-one seconds after the first attempt.

Sliding his hand back over his visor, he watched from the inside of the shuttle as a phaser beam, the likes of which he'd never seen flew from the shuttle's array, hitting the Calamity dead on target. As his song came to the crescendo of its' finale, the shuttle began to go critical. Using all ten of his fingers to control various sliders on the control panel that was prepped for the deflector beam, he energized the repulsion, shooting the shuttle towards the enemy at breakneck speed. It was out of his hands.

"Lieutenant Cooper to the bridge. I apologize for the slight delay, and the, ah, incidental destruction of property in the shuttle bay. However, all is well now." he said, chuckling to himself.

Collapsing back into the floor, he felt a trickle of warmth gently dancing down the side of his head, and over his face. As the world began to gently fade to black, he felt of his nose, pulling back a bloody hand. The same happened when he felt of his ear. As the original adrenaline wore off, he began to feel the effects of the phaser propelled cabinet that had body-slammed him into a wall. It suddenly felt as if the energy were suddenly siphoned out of him, and it was less and less clear how he'd recently sent such a lucid message to the bridge; much less remotely deactivated the safety mechanisms on a shuttle craft. Flopping his arm onto his communicator, the world began to phase in and out around him, the sounds getting closer and farther away at the same time. "Cooper to... Sick bay.." he managed to squeeze out before falling into unconsciousness.

[Diadeniera: USS Harbinger - Deck 5]

Dee watched the human male breaking down right in front of her on the edge of hysterics.  A full blown meltdown of a crewmate--even if he was just the barkeep--simply was not a pleasant thing to deal with.  Her jaw tightened slightly as he began to break down her calm explanation and attempts to help even as the turbolift doors opened on Deck 5.  The doors made that familiar hiss but at first she did not move, her eyes transfixed by Rory feeling the thunder in his heart just beneath the surface.

She wanted to help him, to ease his burden and tell him everything was going to be okay.  She had a deep and pressing desire just to embrace him, squeeze him tight and lie that there was no way he was going to die aboard this Starship.  The fact of the matter was she had no idea, right that very second a shot absorbed by the ship caused the entire turbolift to jolt forcing Dee's arm to jerk out and brace against the wall to keep from falling.  It was a none too subtle reminder that this was not the time to be worrying about feelings and fear.

"You could die in fifty years or five minutes from now but do you really want the last thing ever thought about you is 'pity you got on a Starfeet vessel instead of the Risa IV Cruise Line'?  Pull yourself together or I'll throw you in the brig until the counselor can sort you out.  Go!"  Diadeniera's jaw tensed as she threw her hand out gesturing out of the turbolift with no real intention of seeing Rory the rest of the way. There were a lot more pressing matters to attend to and if they were in the middle of a fight she had to be prepared to deal with combat situations not babysitting, her place was on the bridge.

Another strike that rocked the ship Diadeniera could almost hear the communication of the bridge in her head.  She knew that they were likely performing evasive maneuvers but the heavy fire was still causing impact on the ship.  From the sound of things the dampeners were still online but who knew how much power was holding their shields intact, they could be winning this fight or be close to obliteration and she would not know.  An anxiety rose in her that briefly identified with the plight Rory was going through but unlike the civilian she actually belonged there.  Bracing for the impact her hand slid around the railing of the lift, turning her head away from the male she gave him the cold brush off--she felt bad for it but decided that it was probably the most intelligent thing she could do in order to get things done.

[Skye - Space Battle]

Working on instincts and talent, Skye did her best to back up her CO and wingman and keep them both mostly intact.  It was more than a little creepy that they were simply fighting machines but in a way it made her feel better.  It wasn't flesh and blood she was blowing up but holograms.  Then she thought about Lin Kae and all the work he was doing to help Thea evolve into something better.  Would this bother him?  That slip in her attention cost her a blast that knocked her shields down a few more notches and she decided when it came to her ass or one of her pack, the hologram had to go.  Hopefully he would forgive her later.

[Eve - Outside Shuttlebay]

"Acknowledged," Eve replied to ThanIda but knew the security detail would reach there before her.  She was quick but she was also still getting the layout of the ship and had to backtrack a couple of times, cursing herself as she picked up the pace.  Her face was drawn into a scowl when told an unknown woman was down and then from the way she spoke of Commander Grayson it seemed he was a lost cause.  Then it seemed things escalated and she heard the call for back up but the order for her to wait for back up was difficult hearing another officer was down.  She finally reached the shuttle bay and seeing no one there yet made her champ at the bit.  "Come on," she willed the back up to get there, knowing that precious seconds could mean the difference between life and death.

[Rory - Turbo Lift then Deck 5 Bar]

Rory had confessed his was afraid, had shored himself up as much as possible considering the circumstances.  He wasn't throwing a tantrum anymore, was simply trying to reach out for a moment and find some compassion that he hadn't felt at all since stepping foot on this gods forsaken ship which rocked with another hit.  His eyes looked into hers, hoping for just a small word of kindness or a look or pat even to reassure him ... and received nothing but a cold hard stare.

When she did finally speak, it was like a personal slam.  He'd wanted to see a Starfleet vessel because it interested him, was something different.  If he wanted to lounge around with women all day and night he could have just stayed home and let his celebrity status lure them in without any issue.  She thought so little of him, as apparently everyone did on the Harbinger.  Hurt flooded his expression but he didn't say anything.

Again the ship rocked and he grabbed onto the rail looking very much lost and she flung her arm out, yelling at him to go like she was chasing a stray dog away from a trash bin.  Rubbing his hands on his thighs to dry the sweat, he took one last look at her at slowly stepped out of the turbolift and began the trek alone to the bar.  Alone and so far from home.

Inside he pulled out a bottle of Irish whiskey, the real stuff and not that synthehol mess.  Tugging the cork out with his teeth, he spit it across the floor and upended to chug a good portion.  By now the explosions could be seen clearly through the windows along the wall, something rather reminiscent of fireworks during celebrations and yet were truly balls of hellfire trying to claim everything and everyone in the immediate vicinity.  Grabbing his guitar, he chugged more and felt the heat spread through him then began to play and sing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FccFYvIBfIA

Dogfight: Flight Element Alpha 1
Miles "Iron Fox" Renard Wolf 01 and Skye "Kestrel" Carver Wolf 02
((Hope you don't mind me Controlling Skye a bit Searcher?  if you have any improvements on the dialogue just IM them to me and I will change it.))

The two pilots worked in tandem with each other. Each spotted a separate ship of the two remaining automated fighters.  Miles smirked as he got on one's back struggling to get a good lock.  Much to his surprise, Carver was having an equally difficult time with hers though more along the lines of trying to shake its near-lock on her.  "Damn they're fast learners." he said over the com.  "He keeps on shaking my locks."

"Then don't target it," answered Skye. "Why don't we make then go towards each other and when they intercept paths we switch targets?   They'll both pass right by our crosshairs."

Miles grinned hearing the young pilot's suggestion. "Roger that Kestrel, following your lead." he said as the two began a broad arc forcing the one on Miles to cross Skye's path to evade while the other was forced to cross miles path as it tailed Skye.  Soon the two neared a path crossing each other and Kestrel smirked.  "We've got you now."  The pulse phasers and main cannon lit up the space in front of her.  The fighter and tore apart as Miles did the same to the one that had just been on her tail.

"We got em Oh-Two  Get on my wing and prepare for heavy weapons assault on Vector Three. Can you verify your current payload. I've got two Hellbores and two ions." Miles said over the com to his wingmate.

She replied, "Two Hellbores and two photon-cluster-torps."

Miles grinned "Perfect, launch both cluster torps. Set them to detonate in a cluster near vector three.  Fire everything you can to weaken those shields and target two points for your Hellbores.  I'll save my Hellbores just in case the vectors reunite."

S'iti Aisha Harbinger Bridge
"Captain, sensors show all clear on enemy fighters.  And it seems Cooper's idea seems to have worked perfectly aside from minor damage near his location.  Shuttle approaching Vector three of the Calamity." S'iti said as she watched as the sensor display. She then began adjusting her firing patterns to keep it working per Cooper's plan.

Dogfight: Miles Renard

Miles watched as he saw the cluster bombs break apart and detonate.  The sight was like a glowing version of flak from the old Terran World War Two films.   Then the Hellbores impacted. One hit the shield and seemed to force it to buckle some as the other punched through charring a good section of hull. It melted through a chunk of the armor leaving a small section of hull exposed.

Miles was somewhat disappointed as he figured she would have known better than to target two missiles at the same target location,  but then he saw why.   Through the fireballs of micro torps flew a shuttle its engines overloading from some form of super charged phaser fire.

It rocketed towards the Calamity as the hull around the small engines seemed to radiate energy.  "Clever girl,"  he said. He could see now why Skye fired the two Hellbores at near the same location.  She was paving the road for the shuttle that was clearly on a collision course.   Miles smirked as he opened a hail. "Harbinger, this is Wolf Lead. Send this message to whoever is remoting that shuttle.  Whoever the hell you are, I know someone from R and D that would be jealous of what I am seeing right now."  He said watching the shuttle as it made its way to the hull of the Calamity.

S'iti Aisha: Harbinger Bridge
She brought up the hail and patched it through as requested. 

to:[Rennan Cooper, Weapons Scientist: USS Harbinger - Shuttle Bay]
Within the shuttle bay just as he began to black out a familiar voice pierced the veil between consciousness and unconsciousness. "Whoever the hell you are, I know someone from R and D that would be jealous of what I am seeing right now."

[Razor | Dogfight Hromi Cluster]

Thomas high tailed his way alongside Ghost as she lined up with the shuttle that got launched from the Harbinger. Not quite sure what the plan was Razor rerouted power to his phasers, shields and propulsion. Most of the fancy tech he had aboard his Valkyrie had been shut down, making his flying more basic than ever before. He looked at the half charred bird of Rawley and he shook his head. "Damnit Ghost, you're one crazy bitch... Your bird is about to disintegrate and you're still pushing the assault..." He mumbled to himself.

Now and then Razor broke off to engage and  destroy a couple of reaver that seemed to come into an intercept course. His engagements never taking really long, he returned each time to cover the shuttle and Rawley. What if she was suicidal though? What if she was crazy enough to slam her bird against the Calamity. Would he be able to pitch her out or to escape? These question flashed through Thomas his mind while he saw the hull of the Calamity getting closer and closer. "Fuck it, why did my comms had to fry..." He muttered and prepared for the worst. Now realising the ship was on a crash course he wondered when Rawley would figure it out. He wouldn't leave her, she had saved his ass after all. He kept his eyes on the hull for now that got chipped away by the shuttle and it's phasers.

[Amelya Duv | Shuttle bay USS Harbinger]

Amelya had quickly gone to the med bay after escorting some wounded crewmembers from the bridge to sickbay. The amount of patients started to trickle in now as the first responder teams had reached most of the location where reports had come in from wounded crewmembers. Amelya had given clear orders on what to focus and she decided to take a triage/trauma team under her care and she made her way to the shuttle bay s she had heard Cooper ask for assistance from sickbay.

She arrived with a three man team at the shutter doors of the shuttle bay and she checked how the conditions were inside the shuttle bay. She wouldn't risk her team if there was an open hull breach or fire beyond this point. After a quick enquiry the doors slided open and she looked at the damaged bay. She could hear the music of "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" over the sound snapping cables and various alarm systems going off. Her eyes scanned the bay looking for Cooper and she spotted the collapsed scientist by the console.

Swiftly she made her way to him and she kneeled down behind him. She took out her medical tricorder and scanned the body of Rennan. While she focused on the head she asked gently "Mister Cooper, can you hear me? Can you tell me what happened?" She looked worried at the results she got from the scanning and now diverted her eyes to the man laying at her knees. She moved her fingers over his cheek down to his neck and she felt manually for a pulse. "We need to get him back to Sick bay ASAP." she said to her team now and preparations were made the transport the wounded weapons scientist.

[Edena Rez - Theurgy Bridge  |  Lin Kae- Engineering]

The arrival of the holographic intruder on the bridge saw Captain and Commander forced into cover by security, both T'less and Nicole Howard being struck down by the ice-eyed woman that materialized.  Edena stayed low and worked to the Tactical station, now unmanned, to resume T;'less' duties while she was rendered incapable.  "Bridge to Lt. Lin," she said, patching through to their holographic expert, and the inventor of the technology now being used against them.  "We have a hologram from the future using your emitter.  How do we find it?"

After Kae had finished being awestruck by that comment, he explain how the emitter functioned.  "It creates a holographic field in a radius around itself to create a physical form.  It sits at the exact center of the hologram's maximum height and width.  If she were standing on the tips of her toes with her hands reaching straight up, the middle point of her body would be the up-down axis.  If her arms were straight out to either side, the center of that would be the left-right."

It left Edena having to do some quick calculations, something made easier by her other hosts, the four of them a think tank of minds measuring Cala's height and arm length, adding them together to determine where the Emitter, a device no larger then a softball, would sit inside of her body

"The emitter is at her waist line!" Edena finally shouted to anyone and everyone on the bridge capable of getting a clear shot at Cala and hitting the emitter.  With any luck, the engineers in the future didn't think to add shields to that machine and she would be taken out in a single shot.



[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley - Valkyrie]

"Nightmare, we're moving in to defend.  Helix formation."  With that order, Nathan and Hannah were moving in perfect sync, their ships traveling in a corkscrew formation, sometimes just barely missing each other, and confusing the hell out of the enemy Fighters.  Their motions were uniform enough not to crash into each other, yet random enough to confuse computer sensors.  The two took their pot shots, most of them misses, but when they did miss, it was only herding their enemy into a better position to be struck next time.  Their goal was to protect the shuttle which had come from the Harbinger, to either draw fire or to cover with their own, and they had been fairly successful in that.  They had taken a few hits in the process, however, draining their shields, Hannah's already being pretty light to begin with.  "Maverick to SCO, requesting permission for myself and Nightmare to pull back and play a support role until our shield strength begins to climb back up.  I'm at thirty percent and Nightmare is at fifteen!"

[ USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]

The intruder alert went up around the bridge, and before Natalie could really ponder the ramifications all hell seemed to break lose on the Theurgy. The shields took a sudden and vicious pounding, and Natalie was rocked in her seat. The cries of panic came out over the comm, and the bridge was treated to the sound of internal phaser fire. And all the while, the brunette officer couldn't do a damned thing about the internal sensors. Whatever had mucked them up had done a true wonder on the ship, and it was beyond Natalie's skill to fix on the fly.Give an few days, without--

Without a hologram materializing in the middle of the bridge and shooting everyone in sight.

Natalie yelped, sharp and freaked, as a blast shot right past her ear, scoring the wall just under the main view screen. She twisted in her chair, trying to get out of the line of fire, but the emergency restraints she'd activated at the start of the combat held her locked, firmly in place. She was hyperventilating. Close range phaser fire was definitely not something she was used to, despite years of service in the fleet, and most assuredly not on the bridge. Her heart hammered in her chest, and if Winterbourne hadn't taken his hand away from the conn and gripped her shoulder hard, she might have fallen into a true panic attack.

"Stay with me, Commander," he said, his voice tense. "I need someone feeding me what's going on out there," the navigational sensors were compromised, just like everything else, and it was all Winterbourne could do to stay on target. Nodding, Natalie did her damndest to clear the picture up. She began rerouting subroutines and praying as fast as she could, focusing hard on the task at hand, and ignoring the gut wrenching fear as the two holograms fought behind her.

The ship wasn't firing phaser's any more. The overload alarm had gone off, signaling immanent warp core failure. The shields were taking hits, left and right, from the Calamity. The internal sensors had crapped out, and the external ones still couldn't lock onto the enemy vessels, and not a damn bit of it mattered if they didn't do something about that hologram. Sarresh Morali helped to shove the Captain away from the two holograms locked in combat, and made his way, fast as he could, around to the upper section of the bridge. Pushing the body of his immediate superior out of the way, and tamping down on the thoughts of dread, of explaining what had happened to Amikris, the other Ash'reem's daughter, Sarresh began pining away on the Science console.

He concurred with the holographic specialists analysis: it would make the most sense for the emitter to be in a centralized location. The temporal affairs officer wasn't very up to date on holotechnology however, so what little he could do to be helpful was try and pull up some kind of way to get a solid reading on the emitter in the heart of the enemy. What he got was...crap, truly. He banged his hands on the console, trying to pull up something, anything useful, out of the damaged internal sensors. "It's shielded!" He shouted into the dunn. "she's got a force field component to that damn emitter." he could barely get a reading, the power surge coming from her waistline just enough to tip Sarresh off. "Modulate the hand phaser's, find a frequency!"

"Captain! The Harbinger's launched a shuttle!" Natalie shouted in turn. The sensors couldn't lock onto the Calamity, but they could sure as hell read the other ships in the arena. "Its..overloading the phaser's...whatever they just did, it looks like it punched through the shields! Its on a collision course!"

---

OOC: not sure I did 'panicking ops officer' quite as well as I'd like...I blame no sleep and too much work. Let me know if this needs reworking.

[ Hromi Cluster | Wolf-06 Cockpit ]

The Harbinger's shuttle tore the distance apart with its phasers, torpedoes screamed, detonations bloomed and electric shouting cut the eardrums of all. In the cockpit of one of the fighters, Evelyn Rawley fought through the chaos, bent on the destruction of the enemy. She had noted the disintegration of her Valkyrie - the lost run against time and shield-technology. Yet Ghost could not afford to be distracted when she had to make minute decisions at every turn. She could not afford any sense of regret. Only renewed decisiveness.

The Harbinger had informed them all about the Warp Core detonation that was due, the shuttle about to deliver a decisive blow. Yet even if the shuttle's phaser beam was drilling deep into the enemy's hull, it would never get there since it was bombarded with counter fire. The shuttle would detonate in their faces lest they did something about it. Decision made, she shot off towards the blackened enemy like a missile - leaving the engineered shuttle behind. In no time at all, she was at top combat speed going for the starboard side of the damaged Vector 03 of the Calamity starship. She switched on the squadron's comm-channel.

"If there is one thing that I've learned," she said and coughed, since speaking was not a good idea, "Then it is the point of no return. And... if that's to be my bloody fate, then now is no fucking time to hesitate."

Tunnel vision. Nearly there, a minute grey speck was suddenly in her sights. Then two. No... The second squadron of Reavers was launching from the Vector. Shit! She convinced herself she was not seeing the face of death. Red lights began to flash rhythmically everywhere on the fighter's control panel. She was in their sights. Yet with them out of the hangar, there was all the more reason she had to draw fire from the Harbinger shuttle. She was headings straight into the hornet's nest. She just hoped Razor could keep up with her. "I piss on fear! Fear is nothing! Nothing!"

Rawley ignored the onslaught of phaser fire and warning lights, throttled back her speed at the last moment before overshooting the Ravers and Calamity both, then leaning her Valkyrie to starboard and diving low on the farther side. Her computer gave blaring warning signals the starship's phasers locked onto her. Without any more fucks to give, she dropped her nose further and switched from her phasers to her untested tetryon pulse cannon. Then she pulled back, screamed in pain as she ascended so abruptly, and the barrage of phasers got so close to hitting her she was blinded by the energy bursts. Yet in getting the belly of the beast between her crosshairs, she tightened her gloved finger around the trigger. The screeching, defect particle eruptions tore straight through the ventral shields because of the encryption and rendered the Calamity's phaser array minutely inoperative - granting her escape from the second volley.

She left behind a sea of fire as she climbed the steep cliff-face of the Calamity's port side. Three Reavers awaited her there, making her hiss like a cornered snake. She threw herself into a high-speed roll that both crushed her into her seat like a lover's body and also took her dangerously close to the Calamity's shields. She had no idea where Razor was at in the chaos. A torpedo flew by her, missed her, yet forced her to evade the detonation against the glimmering shield wall all the same. One of the Reavers took the detonation head on, crashing into the white spherical field. Only instincts operating in her mind, she knew the Calamity would fire again soon, and that the shuttle was due to detonate in seconds. Unfortunately, she was much closer to the next weapon array than she thought. She simultaneously heard the aggressive chirp of warnings going off and felt the phaser bursts bombard her ventral defences.

She was hit. The blast-wave pummelled her Valkyrie, illuminating the cockpit. Filling the sensors with plasma and cockpit with shrapnel.

[CritiCaL DamAGE... SHielDS.... at 2 %] her computer stuttered over the racket. Somehow, her Valkyrie still held together. It was a remarkable piece of engineering. She yanked at her gears violently and shouted for them to obey. She was at the end of her wits. She rolled, dared her impulse engines to give out, and made a drastic manoeuvre done in divinity-sent execution. Two Reavers were in collision course with her. Even as Rawley was trying to outmanoeuvre the phaser cannons of the larger enemy, she thought she faintly heard the lock-signal and clutched her phaser triggers like she was hanging by the hands from a precipice. As she cut the darkness of space with her searing cannons, her face was drawn into a mask of iron focus - knowing without a doubt that her life depended on her aim. She hammered the two Reavers for as long as she dared before rolling out of the collision-course - just as her own Valkyrie screeched and flared in protest by the enemy return-fire.

Escape. Rolling out of her rotating climb, she drew a deep breath - one she had neglected during the fray she left behind. She burned the last joules she had left in her bird to get clear. She got only half as far as she needed to, yet turned her bobbing helmet around when the shuttle ignited - watching it happen all the same. She saw how the detonation burned through to the enemy ship before the blast wave reached the patchwork debris that was left of her fighter.

Hating how it felt like she an act of surrender, she pressed the button marked ETS.

The small Federation fighter became dust at the forefront of the blast - one which could be seen across the whole sector.


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 01 | Shuttle Bay ]

"Clear! Get in here!" cried ThanIda zh'Wann as she stepped out from behind the burning carcass of the Yridian shuttle, her mind was racing - trying to assemble a coherent thought. The panic of the intruder being anywhere on the Vector at the forefront of her mind. The Head Nurse had arrived, and just behind her came the back-up from the starboard side of the hull. Covered is soot and bleeding from cuts where shrapnel had tore her uniform open, Ida walked up to meet her personnel - leaving Eve Jenkins to look to the three bodies on the floor.

"Scan the ship, the intruder can be anywhere. Look for the same holographic signature that our Ship AI have on in our internal sensors." Immediately, the gold-collared guardsmen rushed for a control panel. Meanwhile Ida turned to Eve. "Will they make it?"

[Warning. Warp Core breach imminent. Warning.]

At loss of words, Ida could but stare back at Eve when Thea's words came over the intercom. Before any answer or action would come forth, there was a distant thunder heard - a massive detonation that hit the Theurgy. Little did they all know that the Inertial Dampers in their Vector were off-line, until they were all sent rolling across the deck plating of the Shuttle Bay.


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 01 | Main Bridge ]

Thea and Cala were locked in martial combat, yet it could be questioned if the impossibly fast exchange of blows could truly be called physical.

Rather, this was a war between advanced computer systems. Virtually instantaneous propagation of destructive tactics, literally a nano-fraction of a second for each shift in their struggle. There were no delays either. The conventional three-component formula of military action control consisted of a warning as to the emerging situation, waiting for a decision to be made by the commanding officer, and execution of the order issued. All these steps were rendered invalid. No one but the two AIs could appraise the course of the battle and make a correct decision. By extension, all organic lives thus became hostages to the unfolding situation.

If both systems had been functioning 'perfectly', in the sense that they lacked damage and flaws from sabotage, Thea would have had the superior processing power since she could tap into the Theurgy's Main Computer Core. Their speed was limited by emitter technology, in how fast their forcefields could be rendered, and even though they might have the same cortex processor, Cala did not have her own Computer Core within reach. Then again, Thea's systems were crippled by the unstable injectors and the imminent Warp Core failure, taking away what little advantage she might have had. Thus, they were locked in stale-mate - seconds passing by. Would the Warp Core breach happen before the Harbinger shuttle detonated?

The two AIs ran the same calculus, and the result was one - the outcome already a fact.

"Winterbourne, put some distance between us and the detonation!" shouted Jien Ives over the din, "Our Core might not handle it!"

Security Officer Adam Kingston was on the bridge and he was changing the setting on his phaser, walking closer to the two fighting holograms. He was evidently taking the Temporal Officer's advice and knew what frequency might penetrate force fields. Thea realised this at the same time as Cala did, and it was too late to stop her.

"You should never put your betters to the test," said Cala and whirled away from Thea, the blade of her carpus slapping the hand phaser out of Adam's grip. Thea was fast, but not fast enough to stop Cala from caving in Adam's skull against a titanium railing. Seamlessly, the Calamity's Ship AI turned to face the assembled crew - her body being immersed in a pending Transport beam away from the Theurgy. "The fact remains. I shall never desist. I will always hunt you until you are destroyed. This is merely the beginning."

Just as she vanished, the Harbinger's shuttle detonated - the shockwave sweeping across the sector.

"Brace yourselves!" called Captain Ives, while Winterbourne turned their Vector around to get out of the blast radius. Alas, much too late... yet Thea had not been idle, and she managed to balance the injector coils with Lin Kae's help down in Main Engineering. Despite how the Inertial Dampers were offline, all three Vectors as well as the Harbinger were unaffected by the blast, along with the Lone Wolves and the Harbinger's pilots.

Still, Calamity was firing her phasers at them while she had initiated her reintegration sequence - all her Vector's assembling. It was a tactical retreat, Thea saw right away, since the damage to the secondary hull had been severe, and the element of surprise lost. The odds were mathematically not in her favour any more.

"She is leaving..." whispered Thea, the emotions surrounding the first meeting of her 'daughter' overwhelming her. She was not alone in her unique existence, yet perhaps even more so now, when her daughter had been programmed to destroy her.


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 03 | Battle Sickbay ]

She was confused, disorientated, and bleeding from injuries prior to the emergency transport and yet all Rawley could think about doing next was getting into another Valkyrie. Instead, she she found herself in Sickbay, on a biobed, and subjected to medical scans. They had even dared take her helmet.
 
"I don't fucking care what you think about my 'present medical state' I want back in that fight, immediately!" Evelyn cursed as she tossed a medical tricorder across the room. The hull of the Theurgy shuddered from another impact, which further enraged her desire to get back out and in the fight.
 
The nurse might have stepped back from the outburst, yet by then appeared the Chief Medical Officer, stepping up to the biobed - seizing her jaw and firmly pushing her down against the cold surface - fixating her vertebrae. "Look at me, pilot..." he told her as his face filled her view - pallid grey eyes staring down into hers while the din of battle raged around them, "...and listen to me, for I will either sedate you or restrain you like an animal if you do struggle. Do I make myself clear?"
 
"You try to stick me with anything and I'll tear your head off!" She roared as she continued to try to worm her way out of the hold of four medics. Dodging her flailing limbs, Dr. Nicander turned his hard gaze to one of his nurses. "Give me three cc:s of sodiu-"
 
The ship rocked from another impact. Rawley was damn pissed off, and not at the ceaseless coughing nor the warmth running down her neck, just as little as the fact that she could barely keep Dr. Nicander into one cohesive image. He kept splitting into two. She struggled to bite the tattooed hand that held her. "I can take care of myself, I just want another bird. Fuck, I just got out there!"
 
Sighing without removing his hand, Lucan overrode her whilst speaking to the nurse. "Just hand me that hypospray, right now," he called and absorbed another ship-wide impact that rocked the floor with his legs. He reached out with his free hand towards the nurse and was delivered the cold hilt of the medical instrument. Then, like an austere reverend, he made the Evelyn turn the other cheek - so that he might press the muzzle of the hypospray against her appetising neck.
 
Ghost glared intensely at Nicander, completely baffled as to why they couldn't get it through their heads that she was still good to fly and didn't need any more medical attention.  This doctor, had already put a few bad marks on his records with her - despite how he had saved her life in her last fight - so she didn't hesitate in placing a solid strike on his chest with her feet as he tried to close in. The doctor stumbled back, and the medics hesitated long enough for her to get up and try to stagger off.
 
The ship rocked with a strong hit, knocking most anybody who was standing down. Ralwey came down on a medical cart and smacked her head, but not hard enough that she wasn't able to get right back up and start staggering towards the doors. "I'm getting back... in that... fucking..." her vision started to blur out again, most likely from the rush combined with already significant blood loss to the brain. The pilot went down hard on the floor, completely unconscious.
 
Picking himself up from the floor, coughing from the blow he had taken in his chest, Dr. Nicander raised his tattooed hand to point at the escaped patient. "Bring her back here and restrain her," he called and looked to the nurses - of which two male ones carefully picked the pilot up from the floor. "She has quite evidently suffered head trauma and multiple lacerations. Bring me a dermal regenerator and compete the scans!"
 
Counsellor Nelis was in a stasis chamber, a smidgen of life still clinging to him despite it all. Steadily, more patients had been welling through the doors - with all from plasma burns caused by exploding panels to fractured wrists caused by falling. "Doctor, she needs a blood transfusion!" called Maal from the other side of the biobed. The Klingon male nurse had his eyes lowered to the tricorder in his hand as he scanned the unconscious wolf.
 
"Then get on with it,"  said Lucan evenly and seized Rawley's jaw again in order to stabilise her head for the treatment of her facial cut - the sealing light of his instrument closing up her forehead inch by inch. "If she wakes up, she will under no circumstances leave Sickbay. Understood?"

He tapped his combadge and sighed. The things I have to suffer in the name of vengeance.

"Nicander to Wolf Leader, Lieutenant Rawley used her Emergency Transport System and is back in Sickbay - where she belongs. When this is over, I will be interested to hear why she was cleared for duty without my consent. As it is, I will attempt to stop the internal haemorrhaging yet I cannot give you any guarantees. Sickbay out."


[ USS Theurgy | Vector 01 | Main Bridge ]

Firing her phasers at them until the last second, the USS Calamity soon activated its Warp Drive and vanished from the Hromi Cluster - forfeiting the battle for the sake of the war.

"Where is she heading?" asked Jien Ives, heart still racing. Medical personnel was rushing into the bridge, transport beams to Sickbay lighting up faces filled with mixed emotions. Horror. Relief. Shock. Loss. Disbelief. The Captain knew that his own features were not spared from such tell-tale lines either. Half his Senior Staff had been decimated in this battle - the worst since they left Earth almost three months ago.

"Her course was set to Sigma-Ten-Six-Alpha," said Winterbourne in a solemn voice.

"Hail the Harbinger, let them listen in. Mission Ops? Relay the following orders to the Lone Wolves," said Jien after a moment of thought, "They are to create a false Warp trail in the opposite direction, calibrated with both the Harbinger's and our Warp signatures. Get as far as you can safely go into Federation space then double back using only impulse and thrusters. You are expected to rendezvous with us on the fourth charted planet of the Acamar System within twenty-four hours, yet only if you deem that you have not been compromised. We depend on you to give us the breathing-room we need to make repairs. Now, Captain Vasser..."

Jien Ives raised his brown eyes to look upon the Harbinger's Commanding Officer on the view screen. "...I suggest we trade notes as well as supplies. It appears we cannot possibly make it to Earth in our present state, so we might as well try and come to some form of agreement. Together, we might be able to deal with the threat of the Calamity, and secure a plan to spread the truth about the present state of the Fleet. If you are interested, you know where to find us. Your call... Theurgy out."

He looked around, met the eyes of his bridge crew one by one. There was decidedly more to be said, yet it was not the time for words just yet. He needed to get his crew to safety.

"Begin reintegration sequence. Set a course for the Acamar System. Impulse only. All spare hands to Sickbay and Engineering."

"ETA five hours, Captain." Winterbourne laid in the course.

"Let's hope... she won't return here before then, yet we have no choice but to avoid using the Warp Drive."

Those five hours would be a long wait indeed.

---

OOC: Free to post your final pieces in this prologue. I will move on to set up things for the next part of the story. If not tonight, I will have set the scene for Chapter 01 tomorrow. In retrospect, this prologue should have been split into 2 threads since the battle wore on a bit, yet that is something I can remedy in the PDF-version. As it is, the next thread will be named Chapter 01. Thank you all for a great initial thread in this Episode!

[Hromi Cluster: Wolf One-One]
Razor was just returning to his original flight path to provide close fire support for the shuttle when he saw Rawley's bird fly off. His eyes widened a bit as he saw her throttle at full speed. "Crazy bitch..." He mumbled to himself and for a split second he doubted what to do. He thought their job was to give close fire support, yet Rawley seemed to have a different idea. "Fuck it!" He hissed as he couldn't get it over his heart to leave Rawley alone that close to the black ship of doom.

Razor fired himself away to chase Rawley and as more alarm sounds started to bleep again due to target locks and incoming fire, Razor focused more on what the hell Rawley was up to. As he kept performing evasive manoeuvres he soon saw the incoming Reaver squad on a collision course with Rawley. "Fuck sake.. Get out of there Ghost!" He shouted into his comms, yet he was talking to a deaf mass. Comms were out, yet he did not give a damn about it. The action of Ghost was uncalled if not suicidal. He had to make a choice now wether or not to cover her or to back out and return to the shuttle. As seconds seemed to be minutes he slid his fingers to the firing buttons on his joystick "I'm going to regret this..." He whispered as he angled himself below Rawley. He'd be on a risky intercept course to take out the reavers before Rawley would be blown to bits. He started firing even while he was still out of maximum firing range yet he had to try it.

Than happened the unexpected, Rawley had leaned her ship to starboard side, overshooting the Calamity and reavers. The reavers were an easy picking for Razor now as he blasted them into the reaches of deep space. Yet he wasn't as keen to dive after Rawley. He made a sharp U-turn with his bird and throttled full speed back to the shuttle that kept doing it's brave and valiant job. He screeched past it, knowing it would either hit the Calamity soon or explode by counter fire. There was nothing Razor could do anymore for it, nor did he have a single clue where Rawley was. He decided to make a run back to the Theurgy, he was useless to the rest of the squadron without comms either way.

He powered down weapons and redirected his power again to shields and propulsion. Hoping Theurgy would be ready for him as he would come in hot. He looked behind him now only to see the shuttle explode, he braced for the shockwave which hit him only seconds later. [Shields critical... at 5%] The computer chirped at him and Thomas shook his head as his instrument board started to spark. "For fuck sake!" He cursed as it kept sparking. The engines of his bird reluctantly maintained their power as he forced his damaged fighter back to the Theurgy.

[Amelya Duv | Harbinger Shuttle bay]

While Amelya tried to get Cooper back to consciousness the ship rocked a couple of more times by the weapons impact. She cursed softly and looked up at her triage squad "Let's get the hell out of here, he needs to get in a biobed stat!" She said severely. She got up now and let her team take care of the rest while she tapped her combadge "Amelya to the bridge, I have found specialist Cooper, he is currently unconscious yet stable. I will transport him back to sickbay. Amelya out." She turned around now and walked her team out of the damaged shuttle bay towards her overcrowded sickbay.