DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]
[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | The Black Opal Supply Facility | Outside the RNZ ] Attn: All
The rarest type of opal, black opal was once the most valuable of its mineraloid kind. The brilliant play of fiery colour in these dark gems - along with their scarcity - caused them to be a highly valued find for traders, even in the 24th century. The namesake for the facility that Jennifer Dewitt commanded had been a rhetorical means for her to accept the commissioning - lubricating the position of 'command' that was shoved down her throat. Just like every other morning, the bitter after-taste still lingered, no matter how much syntheol she tried to rinse her mouth with.
In the middle of nowhere, just outside the Romulan Neutral Zone, it lay hidden - one of a several outer-rim weapons storage bases. Built into the side of a large asteroid, the construction was basic and largely utilitarian. The seemingly distant and isolated location for this base was purposeful, as its hidden status required secrecy to all but Starfleet personnel who had the clearance or reason to know of it. Indeed, Jennifer had been told - whenever she raised her issues - that the supply base had a very important purpose. It was supposed to supply starships with the necessary munitions in the event the Romulans broke the guidelines established in 2160 and war once again ensued. Because of its hidden nature, the close proximity to the RNZ could have been advantageous for keeping a close watch on the boarder. In event of any imminent breach, the Federation could have been notified immediately and not be caught unawares. Alas, that was not a priority since Starbase 84 was only a few sectors away, and lay even closer to the border. It had systems in place that made the Black Opal facility insignificant beyond its primary purpose.
The purpose of wasting your best years in waiting... Jennifer thought and downed her glass, staring into those dead, green eyes in the mirror. Jennifer had been made to believe that the clandestine existence of the facility, being responsible for resupply of photon torpedoes and other high powered weaponry would be exciting. But in reality, she felt like she was bleeding her life away. In her morning routine, following the shower, the brushing of her red hair and the hard drink, she was about to get dressed and then head to her office. The challenge each morning was to limit herself to one drink, and to leave once she finished it. So she sipped it, staring at herself as she thought of her ill fate. Trying to find some way to leave the prison of her command. Eventually, she donned her uniform and left her base commander's quarters, loathing every step she had to take.
The way the base was kept hidden so close to the boarder of the RNZ was a bit of a tricky matter. In addition to being built inside an inconspicuous space object and having a minimal sensor profile, cloaking technology had been installed in the event of raised hostilities. This was of course, a violation of the 2311 Treaty of Algeron which prohibited use of cloaking devices. However, as weapon supply facilities could change the tide of battle, and minimise damage from a frontal assault through the RNZ, it was considered an appropriate risk, being off the official record. At the event of war, the treaty was more or less obsolete anyway. As sophisticated as they were, these cloaking systems were turned off, and would only be activated after an all-green from Starfleet Command was given. As for the actual security personnel, there was minimal Starfleet Security aboard, but in lieu of a standing guard, all staff had combat training in the unlikely event of a breach aboard by hostile operatives. That was not to say there were no defences against enemy battleships. Defending this valuable weapons supply base and strategic position was imperative, or at least that was what Jennifer was told. She didn't believe any of it. Not any more. There were shields of course to defend against attackers until the cavalry could arrive, but there were also four photon torpedo launchers if retaliation was necessary. The main objective of the facility, however, was not to be found at all since it would not last for very long without backup.
As for non-combat equipment, there were meagre crew quarters, a sickbay, a mess hall with replicators, and a command centre with a view screen for vid-conferencing. There were also docking stations for resupply and long range sensors, the two most important components besides the magazines inside the hollowed-out asteroid. The sensors comprised both active and passive methods, with passive being preferred over active as it was less likely to be detected by scans. The docking stations were suitable for all but the very largest starships. They were designed with special automated weapons tracks that could quickly resupply weapons without relying on the sluggish speed of manual labour.
Stepping into the command centre, Jennifer looked at the logs on the viewscreen for a moment, nodding to the gathered staff. She got a few words of greeting in return, no more. Usually, there was nothing to occupy the crew with except for menial maintenance tasks, filing reports of useless information, and each other. Looking at the logs, it was evident how that morning was just one of those days. It had been quite a long time since the last starship came in for resupply. There would be nothing to do but a lot of the usual stuff. The lead staff stood at their stations absent-mindedly performing their tasks. Calibrating and recalibrating the long range sensors, sending orders to the twenty enlisted to meticulously clean their workspaces, or to check the replicator for efficiency, and other dull duties that occupied the twenty non-commissioned crew. People that would, of course, work just as slow to make each task last long enough to make it so that they would not run out of daily tasks. When that happened, there was really nothing to do, but contemplate the solitude they presently found themselves in.
The reason the lead officers that reported to her had ended up there varied. It was not the kind of position you wanted to end up in. Many saw the position as a punishment or demotion. As such, morale was generally low. Jennifer had more or less given up on trying to do something about it. Even though they had each other, any company, of any quality would wear thin in that level of isolation. The base itself and the command centre was not especially interesting in architecture. Basic Federation design mostly grey, with flashes of colour here and there. Red desks, floor lights, and the lighting of the control panels. Their quarters were not the most comfortable, but not too uncomfortable, just good enough which made it hard to say anything about them. All in all it was a fairly bearable but seemingly meaningless existence. They likely wondered if there would ever be a call to action for them, or if they would spend months, years of their lives in the stasis of a underwhelming job. Of course, life was what you made of it. Some tried to spice things up on their ample downtime, creating art out of whatever they could find, or writing in their logs, though for even them with same grey walls and the same stars to gaze at day after day inspiration could run short. It was mostly just work so that you could get back to more work. The only thing worse than doing the same thing over and over with the same people would be having to eat the same thing, so replicators provided a brief respite from the mundane in terms of gastronomic opportunity. There were of course different cliques and groups the crew had settled into, rigid social divides between them. Perfectly expected, and Jennifer didn't care any more.
The relatively low-ranking lead staff knew Jennifer as a strong willed and stern leader, though she suspected that her headstrong and somewhat argumentative personality had landed her in her somewhat inglorious position to begin with. Next was Lieutenant Masuda Yukimura, a soft spoken yet still commanding man, he was far less intimating than Jennifer, but to her lasting chagrin, his word was taken a bit more seriously. Below him there was Ensign T’sebl Felr, an enterprising young Vulcan man in Engineering who led the two Cadets that had the misfortune of serving at the Black Opal; Zhong Wu and Vitaly Stanimir. The head of the small science team aboard was Science Officer Morwen Angharad, a flamboyant yet kind woman who mostly kept to her research and helping iron out issues on the base with the engineers. She had a reputation of sleeping with four of the enlisted, but it was not spoken of openly. If anyone was injured or became sick, then they saw Dr. George Hernandez and he would patch them up and send them off with one of his trademark quips. Finally, rounding out the noteworthy crew members was Chief of Security Edgar Rogers, who many believed was sent there for his rowdy behaviour and to get him away from all the impressionable Ensigns that got sent to better first posts. Some of the enlisted personnel were promoted to petty officers, but it was difficult to show much in the way of outstanding accomplishments when mundane tasks were all you had to work with.
With a quiet sigh, Jennifer turned to enter her office. It was looking like it would be another slow day, which would trickle away into infinity. Perhaps she could take another drink before she...
The chirp from sensor array halted her in her tracks. Suddenly, there was movement on the long range sensors. The staff couldn't believe it, looking as baffled as she felt. Hesitantly, Morwen checked the sensors again to make sure everything was working properly. Of course it was. Theirs could be the most well-maintained long range sensors in the galaxy, with their endless upkeep they had been performing. The rush of excitement with the anticipation of something new to do, and to be actually busy for once was twinged with the sudden dread of what could be approaching…
"What is it?" Jennifer asked, voice hoarse.
"A ship..." Of course it was. "Too early to say anything more," said Morwen.
"Orders, Jen?" said Masuda quietly, turning to face her, and Jennifer waited for a moment since she knew he was going to make a suggestion. He always did. "With the Theurgy and the Harbinger alert, we should contact Starfleet Command and ask for clearance to use of our cloaking systems. This is potentially a high-risk situation. Task Force Archeron was disabled, so our storage is at the risk of being compromised... not to mention our lives. Ives and Vasser have not shown any compunction about killing before."
"Fuck command," said Rogers with a curled lip, scarred face twisted by his grimace, "raise the cloak anyway. Not going to die because of protocol."
Jennifer was suddenly thrust into a hard decision, and she looked between the screens for an answer. If she were to break the treaty of Algeron, would she do it now and raise the chance of their survival, or would she do so after word from Starfleet Command - at least making her entry into the history books say that her order had been sanctioned. Then again, perhaps it wasn't one of the renegade ships. Was it not wiser to know for certain?
"Verify the identity of the ship first," she said, her voice gaining some strength. "We have both the Akira- and Theurgy-class signatures in our systems. Then, we alert Starfleet Command of contact with the defectors and request reinforcements, and to use our cloak. Perhaps its just a cargo ship heading for Starbase 84. We know too little at this point. We can wait another minute or two..."
Like kicking an anthill, the argument began, with various degrees of insubordination against her, and she had to lash back to keep them all in line.
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Seated in the Captain's chair, Jien was in her female form - looking at the sensor readings of the facility on the viewscreen. They were too long out to get a visual on the small base, and if you didn't know what you were looking for, then even the most alert bridge crew might have missed the slight peak in the curves when the array swept over the spot ahead of them. Thea's sensors were, however, state-of-the-art, and Jien's senior staff was inferior to none. Moreover, they were armed with foreknowledge of the existence of the Black Opal.
"They don't know it's us yet, and it is critical that they don't compromise our location," she said, and her voice carried down to the Fighter Assault Bay, and the Lone-Wolf squadron that was on stand-by - ready to launch as soon as the order was given.
"If they do," she continued, "it would undermine our opportunity to reach Starbase 84 with the element of surprise on our side. I hope I need not remind you all further about how much is riding on this. Suffice to say, we can't spread the truth without Starbase 84, and we can't stay alive to speak it unless we can defend ourselves. We need the weapons stored at the Black Opal, and if we can, we need to gain access without any casualties."
Commander Trent, who had supplied the location of the Starfleet depot, was at tactical. Wenn Cinn stood next to Jien's chair, and the rest of the Senior Staff was at their stations. Thea and Selena Ravenholm stood at the back of the bridge, the latter having access to the support staff controls. The cybernetically augmented woman had been given her official position the eveningbefore, becoming the Theurgy's new Communications Specialist. Her rank was - again - Provisional Chief Warrant Officer, and she would work directly under the new XO.
Jien turned her head and looked at her Chief Security Officer. "Lieutenant Commander Wenn, prepare three boarding parties, led by you, Deputy zh'Wann and Ensign Ryuan Sel. Stand ready to be beamed down from your respective transporter rooms. Set phasers to stun... and good luck."
Having given her orders, she turned to look at the others gathered around her on the bridge. "If either of you have any last ideas to make this any easier, please speak your minds now. Otherwise... we release the wolves."
OOC: The plan is that the Lone Wolves launch at Ives' order and deploy the tetryon pulse canons underneath their Valkyries, and in a coordinated attack, they blast out the Black Opal's systems. Communication, targeting systems, sensors, everything. Only then, the Theurgy move in to beam down the three security teams, each team six people strong. The Lone Wolves are free to land at the Black Opal, and together with Security, move into the base to secure it. Amendments or additional "last moment" ideas are welcome, and presented in response to this post. Let's try this without a layout of the base at first, and if required, I can make a map, but lets keep this basic and quick so that we can move on to Episode 04 before too long.
The Black Opal's Crew:
LT-CMDR Jennifer Dewitt Base Commander
LT Masuda Yukimura Tactical Officer
LT George Hernandez, MD Medical Officer
LT JG Morwen Angharad Science Officer
ENS T’sebl Felr Engineering Officer
ENS Edgar Rogers Chief of Security
CDT Zhong Wu Engineering Assistant
CDT Vitaly Stanimir Engineering Assistant
+ 20 Non-Commissioned Crew
[ Commander Trent | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
Just a few minutes to arrival. Trent kept a close eye on his own plot as Theurgy just broke into Black Opal Supply Depot's passive sensor perimeter. This raid was ballsy all right and he knew there was plenty of opportunity for things to go wrong. But all he could do was hope he hadn't overlooked anything. From the brief planning sessions, he knew the fighters would be launched and set to surgically bombard the facility to take out its weapons, shield generators and long-range communications, as well as chase down any probe, beacon or shuttle they would launch and prevent them from transmitting anything. And from his end, the Executive Officer would be managing the counter-torpedo fire using every single of Theurgy's phaser strip emitters to take out as much of the depot's outgoing fire. And he also would provide fire support as needed, using the last of their torpedoes and the immensely powerful pulse phasers to take out what the Valkyries' heavy weapons could not.
And he was also going to manage a jury-rigged communications jammer to prevent them from calling for help. It was crude compared to the excellent EW suite that had been on Calamity and there would be ways around it, but with some luck the overwhelming assault on the outpost would prevent them from thinking straight. After all, from his own experience with such postings, he knew it was rarely the best and the brightest who drew those. In fact, it was effectively punishment detail for the vast majority of their crews. Of course there were always exceptions and he had been one of them for his own stint in a listening post had been, for him, part of a long-term research project in sensor operations and had been directly responsible for his recruitment by Starfleet Intelligence and assignment the the Strategic and Tactical Support Division, and eventually getting attached to Sankolov's staff.
When the Captain asked for any last-second opinions, Trent took yet another look at the approach vector and how it would intersect with Black Opal's movements. "Captain, I'm confident our quick and dirty comms jammer will keep them from calling out in the immediate but I'd rather we don't take any chances. I recommend we fire a full-on phaser volley to break through their shields and a pair of torpedoes in their long-range communications array the moment we drop out of warp. Besides, they might surrender faster once they realize they're physically unable to call for help."
[ CWO1 Covington | USS Theurgy | Outside Transporter Room 1 ]
Sten was to be in the first wave of non-security personnel to beam onto Black Opal. On one side of the door to the transporter room was a boarding party from Security waiting for the word to file in and assemble on the pad, and on the other side, on both sides of the hallway, was a line of eight personnel, all armed, but not a single one of them was part of Theurgy's security detachment. Instead, they were drawn from all across the crew for the purpose of boarding the depot and tagging supplies for transport back to the ship.
Most knew the grizzled veteran, but as if to magnify his authority, just like the Security personnel he carried a rifle as well as his hand phaser. But then again, he was going to have to move from team to team and there was no telling what kind of situation he might come across along the way. But as a rarity, instead of his usual coveralls he was wearing his uniform, and actually his golden shirt instead of the white he normally would. The reason behind this was that it had to be clear not only to the Theurgy personnel but to the Black Opal staff as well that he was a senior man and that he had legitimate authority to throw around.
And as the time to beam over approached, he tapped his combadge. "Resupply party, this is Covington. I know Security's going to sweep in before us and try to keep a lid on things but you never know what's going to happen out there so stay frosty. We're the mission component here so focus on doing your job and tag everything on your lists for transport. If you see something that isn't on the list but you think we can use, tag it anyways and we'll see if we can get it too. But if you ask me, if something really gets your attention, if it's not nailed down, tag it; if it's nailed down, get a crowbar and then tag it." A few chuckles sounded in the hallway where he stood and were echoed outside Transporter Rooms 2 and 3 as well. "You all know what you've got to do but once we engage, we're committed so if anyone needs to take a leak, now's your last chance. Remember, stay frosty, stay alert and keep your eyes peeled. Covington out."
And with that done, he placed another call via his combadge "Papa Bear to Fighter Bay. Ji, take care of my deck while I'm gone, and remember, we got supplies and ordnance coming in so you folks back there to be really hot in clearing off space before our birds come back, so make sure nobody slacks off and keep stuff moving. We're not leaving with birds tractored to the hull because there's no real estate on the deck."
[ Aisha S'iti And Selena (Luna) Ravenholm | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
The Cardasian at the helm nodded hearing the commanders words before adding. "Initial Strike vectors plotted. Conn awaiting further orders."
The hacker at the back of the bridge now wore a version of her usual attire but now with a Command division Red stripe down the sides of the singlet wrapping around as a Red collar on her neck. Her previous PWO rank insignia adorned her neck as she monitored the communications console "She looked to the XO and smirked at his description of the reverse engineered Calamity style jammers "Tactical Communications Suite operating above expected parameters Commander." she said monitoring the data readouts and the transmissions coming from the facility while operating the emitter designed to cancel out transmissions coming from the facility destined for the Federation's subspace comm relay network.
Thinking to herself she was reminded that the jamming suite was currently masking their transponder. It was obvious that the facility detected a ship on sensors but at best she knew the Theurgy should appear as at best a shadow of itself. If the renegade crew was lucky they would be mistaken for a large civilian cargo vessel trying to take a shortcut away from standard trade routes. More likely though the facility would think they just detected some kind of space-pirate using a "borrowed" transponder frequency. Given the secrecy of the instillation she doubted they would reveal their existence to try and catch a some privateer preying on unwitting merchants.
If the crew of the Theurgy played its cards right and acted like they aren't trying to approach the facility directly they would likely be able to avoid being recognized until they got to maximum weapon's range. "I estimate I can keep them from getting the word out if we are detected for who we are for one minute maximum so once we get close enough I would recommend prioritizing destruction of facility communications systems or the whole of Starfleet's gonna know exactly where we are."
[ SCO Lt. Cmdr. Miles Renard | Wolf 01 | |Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Lone Wolves Squadron, Acting Deck Chief Ji, and Mission Ops.
Miles steadied his nerves as he sat within the cockpit of his Valkyrie Mark III, "Alright Wolves," he said opening the comm to his squadron. "You know your jobs. If you volunteered for the ground assault team and have any second thoughts now's the time to say so and reassign yourself to a space superiority role while I join up with the security detail on ground. Anyways you all know the drill we've been practicing this in the sims the last two days. Soon as the order is given to deploy weapons deploy the Tetrion Phase Cannon when the order to fire is given open up with the tetrion Pulse canon system only. No phasers, or torps. Goal is disabling only, if the Captain wants to destroy any specific systems the Theurgy herself is much better equipped for that job. Once the Opal is disabled orders for ground team is to follow me in and secure the LZ and await further orders from Cinn.
Those of you staying in the air, You are on recon and are our eyes and ears on whats going on outside. Ranking officer in the air has Squad command until I am airborne again Keep contact with mission ops and follow Home base Orders. Aside from that use your own discretion on what you fire if anything. I'm not expecting much in the way of hostiles in the air still, prioritize disable over kill and target communications systems on hostiles if encountered. If anything radios out that the Theurgy or Even one of our Mark IIIs are anywhere near here the Starbase operation will be compromised. I think it goes without saying but once we are in the air keep comm chatter to a minimum. If ya got something to say better speak your piece now."
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
Inside of Transporter Room One, Master Chief Petty Officer William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) did his best to ignore the security personnel crowding the room and focus on this people. "Okay we want no slip ups people," he announced to no one in the room. "All transporter rooms report to me consecutively!"
"Transporter Room Two, standing by," replied the disembodied voice of Petty Officer Tenchi Koizumi from the Terran city of Kyoto.
"Transporter Room Three, operational," Petty Officer Zil Arex (https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/9/96/Enterprise_E_Bolian_engineer.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20050925054514&path-prefix=en) from the rural town of Xilmophia on Bolarus IX replied over the intercom.
"Transporter Room Four, standing by," replied a deep baritone.
"Transporter Room Five," a feminine voice replied.
"Transporter Room Six, all systems go," a masculine voice with a trace of a burr acknowledged.
"Transporter Room Seven, standing by," a piccolo feminine voice acknowledged.
"Transporter Room Eight, standing by," a precise and even masculine voice acknowledged.
"Transporter Room Nine, still running diagnostics," reported an unapologetic masculine voice.
"Git 'er done Kowalski," O'Connell retorted. "This has gotta go down like a well-oiled machine. Manfredi! How are things in Main Engineering?"
"You have no complaints when it comes to power Master Chief," replied the voice of the Theurgy's propulsion chief, Chief Petty Officer Lavar Manfredi from Earth's city of New Orleans. "Everything's nominal."
"All right now, it's almost go time," Billy Bob O'Connell announced. "This is it. Just like we practiced. Got it?"
"Hooyah!" came the chorus of replies.
"Outstanding, just what I like t' hear," O'Connell replied before looking up at Lieutenant Commander Wenn Cinn (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/3/0/wenn_cinn_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mut.png). "You can put your first men on the pads now sir. Won't be a minute, Commander."
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 | USS Theurgy ]
Down in the fighter bay on Deck 15, Lieutenant (junior grade) Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png), Wolf 07, callsign Goldeneye listened to Lieutenant Commander Miles Renard (https://img14.deviantart.net/5fd1/i/2015/154/1/7/miles_renard_01_by_auctor_lucan-d6ghcwa.png)'s last minute instructions closely. She had remained as quiet as mouse with laryngitis when Iron-Fox had asked for volunteers for the ground assault team and didn't hesitate to remain on the space support team. Out of all of her combat skills, her skill in the cockpit was the one that had eroded the least. Attacking people in Starfleet uniforms who were merely trying to defend themselves in close quarters combat was just what she needed to make her hesitate enough to get killed. She didn't need any more emotional scars getting in the way and distracting her either. She was a fighter pilot and not a ground forces specialist, and right now it was best to stick with what she was good at.
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png) |Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Lone Wolves, and others.
Isley Felt great! He was pumped for this mission, they had been running drills for it for what felt like ever, and he was in the cockpit of his favorite bird. His hand brushed along the controls for his bird as they finished final prep. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe the eggs he had for breakfast or just the fact that they were about to launch, but he was feeling great.
Two days recovery for three fractured ribs Ida had done a number on his body, but his side didn't even hurt anymore the docs pulled him together right quick, after that expresso he was starting to feel hyper alert and aware. Today was going to be a good day! He knew it, the other wolves knew it, and he would be keeping up in the air after the landing party departed.
He thought over if he had anything he really had to say to the other wolves, and then briefly onto the last mission he had ran with them. Sending out a quick message to the other wolves he gave a sigh. "Lets get this done, fast and hard guys and gals, and celebrate with a stiff drink when it's all over."
He closed his communications and let out a sigh, it wasn't what he wanted to say, but bringing up anything before a mission was often considered bad luck. Keep the mind focused on the here, and now. He leaned back in the seat of the mark III and brushed the back of his neck against his chair... Damn was this chair always so comfy? his heart was pounding in his chest, and yet he didn't feel nervous. He let out a sigh, and waited for the signal to launch.
[ Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ] Attn: All
Seated in her Valkyrie, Ghost answered Maverick on the squadron channel. "You sound like you are about to peel that shield off the base like it's a pair of knickers, Maverick," she said, chuckling a little when she heard how uncharacteristically eager the halfblood was about this raid, or perhaps it was just his choice of words, "just remember to treat her like a lady and don't break her heart."
She had volunteered to be in patrol rotation while the loaded up on supplies from the base, giving medical some credit since they had advised that she did not partake in the ground assault. She still wasn't feeling one hundred percent, so she was quite content to remain in the cockpit for this operation. Perhaps, if she was ordered to, she would board Starbase 84, but she had a feeling that she would serve the crew better from the cockpit, even if she was hankering for an opportunity to test the new Accipiter weapon that she had seen demonstrated the day before.
As it were, she would be leading the patrolling wolves, and she hoped there were no surprises this time. No ships from the future and no nothing, just a smooth operation and a chance to get what they needed for the big mission ahead. "All systems are a go," she said, still on her spot in the hangar, "awaiting launch orders and to fold out my tetryon cock. Let's penetrate this bitch."
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Both Commander Trent and Ravenholm urged to handle the base's communication systems with haste, and Jien inclined her head in agreement. It was time. "We will target communications through whatever is left of their shields. With any luck, the wolves have done it for us, but we can't afford to take any chances." Jien looked over to the Mission Ops station, seeing the back of Cameron's head as she sat there. There was no turning back now. "Ensign Henshaw... Make ready to order the Lone Wolves to launch, and to engage the Black Opal as planned."
Jien then turned to the Cardassian at the helm and to Carrigan Trent in turn. "Engage the base as soon as the first tetryon beam volley hit it. There is no margin for delay." Then Jien looked towards Tovarek and Stark. "Keep an eye out for any surprises, and Ops, beam down all three security teams as soon as the shields come down and we are within transporter range. No need to wait for an order, just get our people down there to secure the facility. Chiefs Covington and O'Connell can handle it from there, but keep an eye on the operation."
Rising from her chair, Jien took a step forward... changing to his male form. "This is it," he said, his deeper voice carrying. "Engage!"
[ Lt Cmdr Natalie Stark | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]
She looked up from her station at Ops, around the bridge, giving her head a shake. It had happened again, the dream that night, and it was eating at her. The dream of an Irish brogue, of lips going to places that they'd never touched in reality. Of a mop of blonde hair, and strong arms lifting her into bed, worshiping her, telling her all the things she'd wanted to hear. Of Rory Callahan, of a pasta dinner, and of a night of passion that would leave her a puddle in the morning.
But there had been no date. He'd asked her, but something had come up ad she'd been drawn away, working into the night. And then he'd died, saving her, during the mutiny. Before CPO S'iti burst into the room, Rory had charged in. He'd taken out her rapist, but he'd died in the process, taking a phaser burst to the chest. Natalie had shed her tears, after the fact. She'd lost sleep. Plenty of it, but then duty had called and she'd had to push it aside.
That's when the dreams came. Well, more like dream, singular, just over and over. The vivid, intense dream. Maybe she'd need to talk to someone about it. It was starting to be a distraction. Right now, she had a feed of all the transporters from the ship to keep an eye on. She even had an old fashioned comm ear piece inserted in her right ear, as she listened over the channel used by Billy Bob O'Connell to coordinate in with all the other teams handling transporters. He was the one issuing the immediate orders, but it was her job to keep an eye on it all, and make sure nothing went awry. Natalie would be the one allocating power transfers as needed, and she had the ability to step in and take over any station at once, should the need arise.
Needless to say, this was not the time to be daydreaming, or mourning, missed opportunities and what might have been's with the late blonde singer.
Quietly, Natalie said softly to the Captain, "Transporter teams stand read, ma'am," glancing over her shoulder at Ives for just a moment, before returning her gaze to the magnified view of the Black Opal base. They were going up against men and women that were very likely just doing their job. These people did not - most likely - have some parasite in their heads controlling them. These were just good Starfleet officers and enlisted crew. And they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
For one small moment in time, the pain of it clutched at her heart, ripping away the walls she'd erected. The knowledge that what they were about to do had to be done didn't shield her from the pain they were going to cause. Her breath stuck in her throat as her heart froze up, and the enormity of it all threatened to overwhelm her. Her blue eyes darkened as she close them, focusing in, drawing strength - some of it recently found during the rescue mission she'd led - and quelling it all.
Fall apart later, Natalie. There'll be time. Later
And then Jien Ives was issuing orders, and Natalie sat up straighter. "Aye aye, sir,"she said, joining a chorus of acknowledgements as she punched up the commands to instigate transport. "All transport teams, stand by. Repeat, all teams, stand by to begin transport on my command." She spoke the words softly, the comm in her ear picking them up effortlessly, even as Captain Ives gave the command, and the Lone Wolves spread out to meet their prey.
[ Cameron Henshaw | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: Wolves
Cameron was seated by her operations console as she looked at the magnified view of the Black Opal base over her shoulder for a second. It looked so fragile from in the distance yet it held a vital point for the Theurgy. Cameron had listened in to the tactical analysis and priority targets that needed to be hit. She had studied the schematics the night before and had a little trouble sleeping last night. The stress and nervous feeling of the mission to come starting to gnaw at her.
Jien instructed her to put the wolves on stand by and she relayed the order "Wolf lead, be advised. Mission status is now on stand by. Clear pre-flight checks and ready for departure." It still felt a bit weird that she was the channel to keep the wolves informed, yet on the other side, it also felt exciting. She could feel her heart throb in her throat from excitement and she bit her lower lip as she awaited the final order to be given.
She looked at Ives now as she stood up from her chair and changed into his male form. The order was given and she needed to relay these to the wolves. "Attention, attention Wolf lead. The mission is a go. Launch your squadrons and hit the priority targets, report back with developments as they come. Good hunting! Henshaw out." she spoke to Mile s Renard and she tapped at her console, green lighting all the wolves to be launched as they deemed ready.
[ Simon Tovarek | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]
Tovarek rested his eyes on the view screen as final preparations were made. His hand tapping softly against the side of his console as he waited for the show to commence. He nodded at Ives as she told Natalie and him to keep an eye out for surprises. Simon didn't anticipate much trouble from the base. This should be a walk in the park he imagined as the base held no real danger against the Theurgy or it's fighters. Yet again, a mission was always a risk. So many variables that could go awry or sideways.
His eyes lingered over to Natalie for a second who seemed a bit distracted, yet she got herself back in check fast enough it seemed. He looked back at his own console as he checked for any abnormalities or changes in readings while the order was given to launch the assault.
[ Wenn Cinn | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]
I advance for this mission Cinn ha prepared and briefed his officers on the situation, had run drills and made sure that everyone under his command would be prepared to act when the time came, he had even found out how technically train each of his security officers ere before organizing squads so that he could provide at least one person with more advanced technical skills. Not only would this organization help with the mission at hand, but hopefully would prove helpful if they ever encountered a situation like the mutiny again, hopefully security would not be caught so heavily off guard and would be able to form up and work to retake the ship.
As Cinn stood there on he bridge as the ship made its approach to the secret weapons cache he felt certain that his teams would be able to pull off their mission, he went over how he pad prepared them, how he had made sure that they were properly drilled in breaching and infiltration tactics, he had spared no time making sure that his me were ready when the time came, after the terrible display his department had put on during the mutiny and their failure to uphold their duty Cinn knew that he needed to have this operation go perfectly or it would be nearly impossible to build confidence in the security department of the ship without a massive overhaul of the entire branch. Cinn had no room for error this time, but he felt certain that he was going to be doing just fine on this OP.
As the Captain gave him his orders Cinn nodded, "Right away Captain." Cinn pressed a button on his console and spoke. "Squads report to designated transporter rooms for boarding Deputy zh'Wann, you shall take Beta, Ensign Ryuan Sel, you hall take Charlie." Looking to another one of his staff he motioned them over to take his post as he headed off to take to his role as the head of Alpha squad. Entering the turbo life he spoke in a stern tone. "Deck 5." As the door shut and the lift began to move Cinn clenched his fists and took long slow breaths, he needed to remain calm and collected, this mission had no room for error, and each of his teams needed to remain independent yet coordinated, he needed to be prepared to take charge at a moments notice to ensure that no team got overwhelmed on this mission, as his first proper mission after being back Cinn had no room for failure.
As he arrived on Deck 5 Cinn spared no time marching hiself down to the transporter room, as soon he arrived to took his gear from his squad and got himself prepared as O'Connell cleared thing up between all the other transporter rooms. Cinn adjusted his belt and tightened his grip on his phase rifle as he waited for the go ahead. As soon as O'Connell gave him the all clear Cinn nodded."Thank you Master Chief." He turned to his team. "Alpha take positions and prepare for departure." Cinn moved to the center of the transporter pads and tightened his grip n the rifle while his team took up their positions, some crouched others facing other directions so that when they beamed in they would have their flank covered and be a little harder to hit. Taking a steady breath Cinn Spoke, "Alpha prepared for transport. Beam us over when ready."
[ SCO Lt. Cmdr. Miles Renard | Wolf 01 | |Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Lone Wolves Squadron, Acting Deck Chief Ji, and Mission Ops.
"Roger that mission ops." the Squadron Commander said sending a signal to flight deck controls. In less than a second the lights above the hangar door began to flash green signaling launch orders were given. Toggling a few switches the ship rose above the deck and began to move forward his fighter now leading the others out of the bay and into the void of space.
Under the cloak of darkness Miles calibrated the systems and opened the comm channel to the wolves. "Lock primary weapons in attack position and prepare to fire on my orders." The tetrion cannon extended from the belly of the Fighter locking into position as Miles brought up the targeting system. The squadron neared the maximum effective range of the weapons and miles continued to calibrate the systems, "Nearing firing range. Prepare to open fire on my mark," he squadron continued to approach and then Miles heard the soft tone of his weapon being locked and within effective range. "Fire." he said as he pulled the trigger sending the first beam of tetrion particles towards the target.
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
"Gonna be a minute Commander," O'Connell muttered. "Black Opal has just put up some kinda cloaking field."
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Outer Space | Approaching the Black Opal Supply Facility | Outside the RNZ]
Out in the black void of space, Goldeneye's Valkyrie followed Renard's closely. Tessa let the training and experience kick in and let her fears and anxieties fade into the background. She was Goldeneye, Wolf-07, and not the cheerleader who joined Starfleet only to be betrayed and branded an outlaw. When the command to fire came, she activated her Valkyrie's tetryon pulse launcher and was rewarded to see sections of the station appear where a hit had landed. The blue lightning bolts playing across the station's surface indicated that the some damage had been inflicted to the equipment installed on the hull as well. Turning her Valkyrie as she followed her packmates, she came around for another pass.
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
In the meantime, the holes in the cloaking field meant that a sensor lock could be made and that transport could commence. Back in Transporter Room One, Master Chief O'Connell stared at the transporter console and suddenly became animated. "There we go! Locking on transport site now sir! Beaming you over in five, four, three, two, one," he chanted as his hands played across the console. "Energizing," he said as his fingers pulled down on the three glowing bars on the console. As a quiet electronic hum filled the air, Lieutenant Commander Cinn and his boarding party vanished in a shower of sparks.
OOC: We have boots on the ground!
[ Commander Trent | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
The moment Theurgy dropped out of warp, Trent's fingers flew across his console. Shields were raised and the safety interlocks for weapons were lifted. And he activated the crude communications jammer he had cobbled together as quickly as he could. Starfleet communications systems were good at going around interference and to jam them, typically one needed purpose-designed equipment with a large power output, but in this case all he had was a standard transceiver array to play with and not enough time to adapt it to higher power settings. However, he knew it would keep them unable to call for help for a little while, about a minute as Ravenholm said.
For a moment, Theurgy did not fire, but all of her phaser strips had been set to fire with individual emitters in an area torpedo defence mode to give the fighters the cover they'd need. And then, the first tetryon beams hit and the depot's shields were compromised. "Firing phasers, torpedoes away," he called out as he unleashed a barrage from the pulse phasers to shred what was left of a segment of Black Opal's shields, and just as he had recommended, a pair of photon torpedoes, some of their very last, were loosed. The weapons hit true, striking directly on to the depot's long range communications array and effectively cutting them off completely from the rest of Federation space.
"Direct hit," reported Trent, his voice flat and cold. He was simply doing his job. But it did not mean he enjoyed opening fire on Starfleet personnel. He was, after all, still coming to grips with those lives lost when he disabled Archeron and her task force, and those he had lost under his direct command during the mutiny. In fact, he wanted it over right then and there.
And as such, without waiting for word from the Captain, he opened a channel using strictly short-ranged frequencies, to the depot and audio only. "Supply Depot Black Opal, this is the USS Theurgy. You have been overwhelmed and your have no way to call for relief. Our boarding parties are beaming over to you now. We have no intention to harm anyone if we can avoid it. Surrender and cooperate with our personnel and we can get this over and done with with a minimum of casualties. But if you resist, our personnel are authorized to defend themselves and will do so by any means necessary. Theurgy out."
And then, he waited for the reply, which he would make certain to send to the viewscreen.
[ CWO1 Covington | USS Theurgy | Outside Transporter Room 1 ]
As soon as the Security teams were ordered to get onto the transporter pads, Covington hit his combadge once more. Of course, he expected the two parties at the first three transporter rooms to know this already, but he felt the need to make himself heard. This was going to be unlike anything most of them had ever done before and that was a good enough reason for him to let the resupply party know the next step, even though everyone had been briefed as to the plan. "Resupply party, this is Covington. As soon as the Security teams beam over, the first chalk is to take your assigned positions on the pads and once the all-clear is given, we'll be beaming over. The second chalk will follow us by two minutes. This is it, boys and girls. Remember your objectives and keep your heads about yourselves. If you get in trouble, defend yourselves and call for Security backup. Stay alert and watch each others' backs. Everyone comes home today. Covington out."
Pep talks weren't really Sten's thing. But he knew the bulk of the boarders he would be leading had never been on any kind of away mission later, let alone the contested boarding of a Starfleet facility. But they'd been drilled, they'd been prepared and briefed. Now it was time to actually do it. Keeping an eye on things, he waited. Once the security details were beamed over, he did not need to say a word. In fact, his own people were moving before he was and once he had settled onto the transporter pad, he waited a few moments to make sure the rest of the first wave of the resupply party was in place before he open a link to the Bridge. "Bridge, this is Covington. First chalk of the resupply party on the pads and standing by, waiting for the all clear from the boarding party."
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png) |Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Lone Wolves, and others.
The green light was given, and Nathan launched with the other wolves. though he had problems keeping his ship steady. Instead of keeping with formation his ship seemed to list unnaturally through space as Nathan was struggling with his controls, the joystick seemed stiff and uncompromising which in actuality it wasn't, causing him to overcompensate with his own natural half breed strength. This meant the slightest motion was now broad and unruly taking the grace out of Nathan's usual flying methods, but also putting him at the back of the attack pattern.
As they neared firing range Nathan turned off his weapons safety systems his weapons charging and locking onto a target that was not the enemy base, but rather then targeting the station and the rest of their target, he was actually aiming for the friendly ship right in front of him. his ship had drifted behind Wolf 0-2 'Kestrel' and the sensors that he was now blatantly ignoring were blinking with the message that he was locked onto a friendly vessel.
When the order was given to fire, Nathan didn't even think twice hitting the trigger and opening fire on Skye Carver and disabling her shields then breaking off to immediately dodge the ship he had just crippled.
Skye's ship would drift for a few seconds it's shields out of commission, engines failing before the bases defenses would lance out with a phaser striking Kestral's canopy with a lucky shot and with no defenses it's pilot was easy prey. Skye's lasts words were a blood curdling scream that would never reach past her lips as the air was sucked out of her cockpit and into the vacuum of space.
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
Like her Squadron Commander, Rawley had deployed her tetryon cannon and she flew in formation with her pack. Behind the visor of her helmet, she was staring at the targeting controls, and as soon as she was in range, she marked the base with a tetryon beam - securing target lock within a 20 degree angle in front of her trajectory. When the base was lit as a target, she transmitted the targeting coordinates to her pack, just like several others did, and it guaranteed that the squadron would smite the Black Opal with the first barrage.
So with Renard's command to fire heard on the squadron channel, the cannonade was eerily synchronised - nine wolves blasting the weapon storage base with their shield dampening beams. As one, they tore apart the base's protections and jammed secondary systems. At least that was what it seemed like to Rawley. For a moment, the base vanished from the sensors - as if they had raised a cloak - but it was too late. With the base having been painted with multiple tetryon marks, it hadn't mattered one bit.
After their first pass, the pack circled around, just in time to see their the Theurgy drop out of Warp and open fire - sending a barrage right into the compromised base with barely any shields left to protect it. Communications were cut, and unless they had managed to get a word out before they arrived, and those fancy jammers that they operated on the Thea's bridge failed, the Black Opal would not be getting any kind of reinforcements.
"Ghost here, setting new course, Alpha-Niner-Two-Four. I'm coming around to deal with their torpedo launchers and phaser arrays, over!" Having said this, she retracted her tetryon cannon - making the handling of her Valkyrie much easier. She flicked the cover of the button on her stick that would launch her outer hard-points, her two Mk I Hellbourne torpedoes armed and ready to vaporise some of the base's defences.
It was not until then that she heard the comm chatter about what had happened after the first pass... her eyes widening. Her fellow wolves were distraught, and Skye Carver's Valkyrie overshot the base, completely adrift. What caught Rawley's eye, though, was the fact that there was a gaping hole in Carver's canopy when she sped past it - seared right through by a phaser beam.
Kestrel...
[ Lt. Thanida zh'Wann | Security Squad Beta | Black Opal Facility | Mess Hall ] Attn: All
Meanwhile, Ida had stood on the transporter pads together with five subordinate security officers, among them Dyan Cardamone and Zaraq, but as soon as they came into transporter range, she had given the command. "Energise."
The next moment, after the brightness and the sense of vertigo had passed, Ida found herself in the middle of the base's mess hall - a destination that had been deemed safe at the point when the base was under attack. It was also a good tactical insertion point in order to secure the command centre, just like the other two insertion points for squads Alpha and Charlie - led by Cinn and Sel respectively.
The Red Alert klaxon was the first thing ida heard on the base, and then she saw movements in her peripheral vision. She rounded on the present Starfleet officer and stunned him with her phaser rifle. Judging by how he had just risen from his table, he had likely taken a nap - unaware about what was going on until moments before Ida and her squad beamed in. The man fell to the floor in a disjointed heap - the continued nap forced upon him. Despite her outward calm, and how Ida's heart was beating in her ears - her antennae were bent forth like twin vipers in absolute focus.
"Secure area and then fall in behind me. I'll take point," she said, and stepped towards the closed door, only to see the light above it turn red. Their presence must have been noted on the base's internal sensors. It seemed like some of the base's systems were still operational. "They have locked us in. You two, help me cut it open."
"Aye," said Zaraq and Dyan Cadamone in chorus and step forth to add their phaser beams to Ida's.
[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ] Attn: All
"They have people inside the base already, it is time to surrender!" said Masuda, his voice uncharacteristically raised after they listened to the hail from the Theurgy.
"Fuck you, I am not going down without a fight. I already managed to kill one of them," said Edgar Rogers, spitting on the floor as he kept jamming his thick thumb on the torpedo launch command. He had set the phaser arrays on automatic targeting and full power, the madman shooting everything that moved above the base at a rate which would eventually melt the plasma conduits. True to his word, one of the Valkyries were adrift - smoke emanating from a hole in its canopy. Edgar tapped his combadge with a grizzled hand. "This is Rogers, listen up, security to the mess hall, the loading bays and engineering. We have company there!"
"What are we going to do?" asked Morwen, at a loss by her station, but Jennifer wasn't listening, she was at the main console, trying to ignore everyone around her so that she could do what needed to be done. Morwen didn't take the hint, asking again. "Commander, what are your orders?"
"Just shut the hell up," growled Jennifer, red hair hanging before her eyes. A couple of plasma relays blew up behind her, an effect of the Theurgy's crippling strikes. Jennifer was erasing everything as according to her standing orders, allowing for Rogers to continue his moronic resistance just so that she could delete all logs and reports to and from the base. All supply listings, specifications and last shred of information that could be used by Captain Ives. She knew some of the computer consoles that had research on them that could not fall into enemy hands, so she was working on transmitting EM-surges to remotely destroy those consoles.
"Commander, this is madness! We need to cease fire and hail them - telling them that we surrender!" called Masuda again, and Jennifer didn't even bother to shake her head at him. It was not time for that yet. Her priority was to secure Starfleet intel, no matter the cost.
"This is a Code Zero scenario. I have armed the explosives in the main storage hall," she said, hardly believing what she was saying, but knowing it was the right thing to do. She tried to use the PA system via the intercom on the base, but it did not respond. She would not be able to warn any personnel there.
"Commander, we are fully stocked on quantum and photon torpedoes! You can't do this! Despite the blast doors, you know that the chain-reaction could take out our life support systems, perhaps even venting the entire base! Code Zero was not meant to be an option when stocked with our current kind of payload."
"I have no choice but to trust the blast doors will hold. Stand down, Lieutenant Yukimura," she growled to Masuda, who had stepped up to tear her away from the console. She rounded on him and stuck him across his face with her fist, making him fall over on the floor. Then she turned back to what she was doing. "Keep firing at them, Rogers! I need more time!"
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
Seconds passed in anticipation of the answer that never came. One of the Lone Wolves broke formation during the first fly-by, drifting off into space, but there was no time to enquire about what had happened.
"They are not going to answer," said Jien with a grim look on his face where he stood in the centre of the bridge, "they are buying time to destroy the supplies. Quick, we must shut them down, or we might even loose some of the people we have down there. Mission Ops! Tell the wolves to target the base of that section, coordinates 234.245.567. That's where their main computer core should be at. We must stop them before there's nothing left."
Rounding on the rest of the bridge crew, Jien dealt more orders. "Trent, defend the ship against their torpedo launchers, and use our pulse phaser cannons to also target their main computer core. Ravenholm, try to compromise any kind of signal activity within the base, I don't care how, but if they are destroying the supplies, they need remotely detonated explosives. Stark, lock on our forces on the base and be prepared to pull them out of there. Mission Ops, have the Lone Wolves deal with the computer core first before infiltrating the base. Open hailing frequencies to the Black Opal again."
Stepping forth, Jien addressed the base a second time in wake of Carrigan's attempt. "This is Captain Jien Ives, you are making a mistake. Cease and desist, for whatever Starfleet Command has said about us and our mission, no matter what evidence has been fed to Federation media, we are not traitors. Stand down, and hear us out, for our mission is to reveal Starfleet Command for what they really are... and they are not the people they once were. Please, heed my words. You will not be harmed."
[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton/Wolf-04] Attention: all
Before the call to launch, Husker sat quietly in the cockpit of his Valkyrie while listening to the interchange between the other Wolves as he went through "Nightmare's" systems again just to make certain they were ready.
Originally it hadn't been his plan to name his Bird after it's late pilot but Husker felt that some how naming the fighter after Oracle's late killer but in a strange way Husker hoped that this gesture would balance out the scales even a little bit some how.
When the order to launch and deploy was sent, Husker ' s mind snapped to with a icy sharpness as he triggered his own tetyron cannon at an angle of sixty four by twenty one alongside Morrigan. "This is Four, switching to primary weapons." he said in a very calm tone.
Before he could select a target, his sensors suddenly pinged at him and Husker ' s eyes quickly tracked what his sensors where telling him at which point he pulled a partial roll to avoid a couple of torpedoes but then he saw something that made the Andorian trained fighter pilot's blood run cold.
He watched Skye's canopy get drilled by a phaser lance.
Husker quickly tracked back the turret that killed his fellow Wolf and targeted it before unleashing a full broadside on the turret, wiping it out completely...
..but something was nagging at him as he kept an eye out for anymore surprises..
[ Eun Sae Ji | USS Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay ]
With Sten joining in the boarding action of the Black Opal control of the deck once more fell to her. She drew in a deep breath as she watched everyone go about their work no doubt trying to keep their nerves steady with work in anticipation of the coming battle. She walked across the deck towards Sten's office taking in deep breaths to steady her own nerves. One would think after all the action she'd seen she would be more used to it, More in control of her nerves prepared for it even.
But even now she could feel the anxiety creeping up spine as she waited for any word from anyone higher up in the chain of command. As her combadge beeping she brought her hand up tapping it. "No worries Chief we'll make sure everything is set on our end." Eun Sae said in response to his message. She took a deep breath before tapping a button on Sten's desk activating the hangar's Public Address system. She bit her lip before speaking "Everyone! This is Petty Officer Ji I have the deck!" She said as clearly as possible and with as much authority as she could muster. It wasn't exactly Sten's booming voice that could get even the laziest cadet moving but it was definitely enough considering the looks she was getting through the office windows from the deck crew.
"I want the deck clear of an non-essential equipment ASAP! Empty bays are to be used for storage space we have alot of gear and ordnance coming and possibly damaged birds so I want repair crews to be ready at moments notice!" Ji said her lips forming a tight line as she finished giving her orders. Looking out the window she blinked as she watched the deck crew quickly go about carrying out her orders as they began to clear tool carts and gravity dollys off the flight deck. She definitely wasn't the Chief but from the looks of it she supposed she didn't really have to be.
[ Fasha "Morrigan ] Attention: all
Before the orders came Fasha sat quietly in her cockpit her head resting against the headrest of her seat her eyes closed. She glanced across the flight deck at her wingman Husker. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the man but going into battle left little room for doubts so she pushed her hesitance to the back of her mind. She went over her pre-flight check again for the 7th time since she'd taken her seat in the cockpit. And just as all the other times before all systems were green.
As the order to delve into the black was given she wasted no time maneuvering into formation the moment her fighter left the hangar doors. As Miles gave the order she deployed her Tetryon cannon and followed through the same targeting procedure 8 others did alongside her. And the moment the order to fire was given she let loose. As 8 beams of Tetryon energy went barreling toward the Black Opal she did a double take a frown forming on her lips she tore her eyes away from the station before them and turned her head in the direction of the fighter that seemed to have lagged behind in it's firing sequence.
Her eyes widened as she spotted Skye's ship adrift with Isley's quickly twisting to avoid it. "What the hell just happened..." She muttered. Her grip on her flight stick tightened "Skye's out of com-" Her voice cut as she watched a single phaser lance through the canopy of Skye's fighter. "KIA...She's KIA." Fasha said bitterly as she maintained formation her eyes wandering to Isley's fighter in the formation. There'd be time to confront him later right now she needed to direct her focus on the larger threat. As Husker did a slight roll to avoid some enemy fire she pitched her fighter upward a bit avoid a few lances of phaser fire sent in her direction.
[ Cameron Henshaw | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: Bridge, Miles Renard, Eun Sae Ji
As the Theurgy dropped out of warp and commenced its own assault, Cameron checked on her birds as data came streaming in. She could feel the ship under her rumble as it fired torpedoes away towards the Black Opal base to cripple it. Yet her eyes stared at the console in front of her, her eyes widening a little in shock as she shook her head and she mumbled softly to herself "No, no no, this can't be right." She checked the data again and shook her head before reporting "Initial reports show that the wolves have done their part so far and are mopping up on their secondary targets... We do however have a single casualty so far during the initial assault." she said loud and clear, yet her voice trembling a little at the last sentence.
She looked at the view screen for a second before she looked back at the console. She couldn't figure out what went wrong with her plan at this very moment, yet she was burning to figure it out once the birds would return safely. She decided to send a message to Renard, informing him about the loss of Kestrel. It was kept short and would only pop up for a few seconds to not distract the commander of the wolves too much. Furthermore, additional intelligence on secondary targets was transmitted yet not in a tight pattern so Renard could choose what to attack first or whom to send to it.
After that she bit her lower lip while staring at her screen. She pushed a single strand of her hair back behind her ear as it started to bother her while she sought for an explanation to how this could've happened. She shook her head once more and focused at her task at hand, take care of the remaining wolves and get them back home safely. She decided however to rally some info down to the flight deck as well, informing whoever was in command there that they'd have yet another vacant space when the battle would be over.
[ Lt. Cmdr. Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 ]
Having given the fire command Miles Watched in silence as the streams of Tetrion made their way to the location of the base. when the hits registered he was surprised to hear nothing over the com systems and quickly checked them. Jukeing out of the way as the first rounds of return fire glanced off his shield. as he adjusted his course to evade and return fire again aiming for one of the phaser emplacements with the primary weapon attempting to disable its systems as a means of aggressive defense. Keying the com system he realized it was no good as his radio had went dead. Looking out his window he realized off his wing was something far worse than a dead radio. Rather than Kestrel at his wing there was an uninhabited Valkyrie 3 with a phaser burned hole right through the cockpit.
Continuing to evade fire Miles followed the plan while cycling his com systems off and back on. as he trued to explain to himself how she could have been killed so easily. He had taken at least a few near direct phaser hits on his pass but his shields were holding perfectly. It was then that it hit him. Her shields had to have been down. Sweeping around he got onto 02's tail and noticed the engines were dead as well. Scanning the ship quickly he noticed the ship was simply drifting under inertia alone. he could only think of one thing that would potentially shut down a Valkyrie like that and his squad was using them right now. When com systems returned he heard the voices coming over the various com-bands and added his own. "Visual conformation, Kestrel is down, Valkyrie dead in the water and drifting. Everyone check your weapons systems for energy fluctuations. I think her Tetrion canon may have overloaded on her and the base gunners got a lucky shot. Damned, Tetrion splash damage took out my coms for a sec there too."
Taking a look at the change in the primary targets info from the Theurgy Miles nodded, "Roger that Theurgy, Ghost, negative on Alpha Niner Two Four, new primary target from Homebase. Get on my wing and lock onto the coordinates that Mission ops sent us, confirming coordinates of primary target, Two Three Four, Dot, Two Four Five, Dot, Five Six Seven. It's their computer core. I'm going to hit it with a Tetrion pulse and I want you to shove those two Hellbores of yours right down its unarmored throat when I do."
[ Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Outer Space | Approaching the Black Opal Supply Facility | Outside the RNZ]
Tessa concentrated on keeping her Valkyrie behind Renard's, matching his every maneuver, firing when he fired, and covering his six. There was no time for thought; there was just the mission and the training that would get her through. Then Kestral's Valkyrie went offline. Chatter came over her comms concerning her fate and then came Fasha's report: KIA.
KIA? How the hell could Skye be KIA? The Black Opal Supply Facility's responses weren't that good. Did the Wolf Pack not have what it took anymore? No wonder Renard hadn't noticed how much Tessa was slipping. Did they even have what it took to be a fighter squadron these days?
Tessa's flying became erratic as she fought to stay on Renard's six. She had to be careful or she'd bump into another fighter. Blinking back the tears, she fought to get back into the zone and hold it together. Renard led her past Skye's fighter. The gaping hole in the cockpit told the story.
Next thing Tessa knew she was out of formation, risking her squad mates' lives by flying unpredictably. Quickly, she placed herself behind Fasha's fighter, hoping that Rawley would fill the gap and cover Renard's six.
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png) |wolf 05| Outer space ] Attn: all
Skye was Dead? The news was shocking, but what was more so was that Isley was slowly going over the information. Everything had been going well, they had flown in formation, but his stick... he slowly glanced over his tactical systems, he had fired, but not on the intended target. He blinked for a moment feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders as he was slowly realizing what was going on. Fear gripped him, as he came to realization that his ship had shot Skye's which meant that she had been powered down.
He had killed Skye! The stick felt even heavier as he flew, and his flight path became even more erratic he felt like his heart was going to explode in his chest after a moment. The last thing he wanted was to get sick while in this fighter. He flicked on his communications he had to tell them this.
"Negative Wolf-01 it was not feed back." He spoke as he was putting peaces together. "My console is saying I shot Skye! Repeat wolf-05 took the shot. Valkyre is acting strange, I think it locked onto her during the first shot fired, Sensors did not warn, repeat friendly fire was bent."
It was clear from his voice that he was in a panic, his heart felt like it was going to explode in his chest, it was dangerous for him to fire any aditional shots, he would end up hitting another wolf."Awaiting judgment wolf leader. Holding fire, Sensors still bent can not fix." If only because he didn't know what the problem was, and the more he stared at the instruments the less and less sense they made it felt like he was going to pass out.
"Permission to join ground assault?" His valkyrie was bricked as far as he was concerned. He couldn't fly this thing or take another shot, but he could land it, and join the assault on the ground when Miles landed. He could still be useful to the other wolves in the pack.
[ Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
Trying as she might, it was hard for Evelyn to simply shut out the fact that Kestrel had been killed. It seemed so random, the attack on the Black Opal not supposed to have entailed such a high tactical risk to the pack. She heard the comm chatter, eyes darting between the different Valkyries as they spoke, all the while manouvering her Valkyrie to avoid the base's defences. She deployed countermeasures twice to deal with a couple of torpedoes that were launched against them, but as Renard - as much as she didn't trust the Vulpinian - ordered her to attack the new primary target, she obeyed without delay."Wolf-Zero-Nine, acknowledged. Going for the new target, over."
Her new course set, she heard Maverick's message, but she did not let the blood-curdling truth of what had happened get to her. The regret and confusion was plainly heard though Isley's comm-link, and as much as the loss of Kestrel was devestating, she sympathised with Isley as well since his Valkyrie could be compromised. She yanked her stick sideways and executed a barrel roll, hoping that was not the case for her own bird - or rather the bird that she had inherited from Oracle. "Ghost requesting cover-fire, and damn you all if you end up shooting at me instead!"
There was no time to consider that risk. She had orders, and she spun around her descending trajectory to throw off the targeting of the base's phasers - her shields flashing whenever she was hit on the way down. The computer blared collision and damage warnings until she hissed that it would shut the fuck up. Her brown eyes were locked on the coordinates ahead of her and she rested her thumb on the red button that would launch her ordinance. She could not let base defences take out the payload before reaching the mark, so she let her shields protect the two Mk I Hellbournes that were mounted on her wings... until the very final moment.
She ground her thumb down on the button just as she yanked her stick backwards, and she levelled out her fighter so close to the titantum exterior of the Black Opal that she almost got skidmarks. The shockwave of the detonations behind her almost made her crash into the destroyed communicatios array on top of the base, but she straightened out her flight-path in the last moment - returning to her decimated pack. The base had ceased to fire against them, and the thick alluminium windows had gone dark - only emergency lighting remaining for those that were down there. "I will stay in the cockpit. Doctor's orders." She took a deep breath, the adrenaline thinning out in her veins. "Maverick... I am sorry. Try to remember that you did not fire those phasers, and you can't help it if your Valk betrayed you."
Their Valkyries were just prototypes after all, but a reoccurring thought of Rawley's was that perhaps their software could be compromised by all the Reaver junk in the hangar... that 'Cala' still remained in some manner - infecting their systems. It was a chilling thought, to say the least.
OOC: Now, board the base and get to that command centre! IronFerrox, don't froget to have Miles order Kestrel's Valkyrie tractored back to the Theurgy, and to hand over command as he boards via the docking bay together with any other Lone Wolves that tag along. Absinthe and Zenozine, your characters have already been beamed down, so at some point in your upcoming posts, the base is bombarded by Rawley, and the lights go out - leaving only emergency lighting on the base.
[ Ryuan Sel | Security Squad Charlie | Black Opal Facility | Engineering ]
Phaser fire lit up engineering. Though most of the security team was using standard phaser rifles Sel, the leader of this group was using the brand new Accipiter rifle. The damned thing was larger and heavier than any gun she'd used in combat before, but it was by far one of the best rifles she'd ever used. After familiarizing herself with the new weapon she had taken the opportunity to brief much of the senior staff and security department on the gun and even trained a few people in using it, using holographic recreations of the gun as there were only 5 on the ship and the last thing they needed was for one of them to break or get damage. Also they were extremely damned lethal to the untrained and she knew the last thing the Doctor would want was for people to show up with big fuck all holes in them. Given all of that this was the first time she'd had the chance to use it in combat.
And in the last few minutes she'd put the gun through it's paces. No sooner had they materialized then the fire fight had begun. A bunch of bored Starfleet officers all to eager to fight had greeted them and only moments later the security teams began to pour in. Within seconds they were hopelessly outnumbered. Sel had ordered her team to take cover and hold that position.
She kept to the phaser option of the gun, but with the security team cornered them in engineering she knew she'd have to test out the other features of the gun in combat.
She shot a could concussive blasts with the dry fire mechanism and send some of the consoles and various debris at one of the doors. They crashed over the door and wedges in it, blocking the way. It left the group with one exit, but it also meant they only had to worry about one flank.
However once the stations security teams recovered from the blasts Sel and her team were forced to take cover and fire through any opening they could find, the station's security team having pinned them down a hell of a lot easier than Sel would have thought possible.
"It doesn't look like we're going to be of much help anywhere else on the station," she said angrily as she shot a few more times at the door. She loathed to switch to lethal options, but it was beginning to look like if she wanted to get anything done she'd have to. The phaser was no better than most and the dry firing risked damaging valuable supplies.
Finally she decided she'd have to risk it. She couldn't afford to be pinned down for this mission. Come hell or high water she had to do something.
She stood up and opened fire, sending a burst of concussive blasts from the gun. It knocked some security officers clean off their feet and sent debris at the others. She unleashed several seconds of solid fire before she even took her finger off the trigger and looked around.
The blasts had taken care of most of the security team and left them fine. The room fell silent and she turned to her team. It was time to secure the area and move on.
"Well, let's ge-" she began, but was cut off as a phaser bolt struck her in the back and flung her forward. Another security team had arrived just in time to ruin any feeling of victory she had felt. She crashed into the ground hard, her body going limp as the world around her seemed to drift out of focus and turn gray.
[Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 ] Attn: All
"Roger that Mav, We'll review the recorders later. You are clear for ground team" He said watching as Ghost got on his wing as they lined up for their assault on the computer core. "Concentrate on finding us a good LZ and make sure its secure."
He watched with baited breath as they closed in on the base before getting a solid tone with his Tetrion cannon, He made sure the charge was as strong as he could make it as he pulled the trigger lacing the area with shield disabling energy before switching to a cluster bomb and losing it on the base programming the microtorps to home in on the opal's weapons emplacements hoping the surgical strike would be enough to keep the base from shredding ghost at such close range.
Seeing her loose the Hellbores he nodded approvingly as he broke away from the station at the opposite angle that Rawley took. "Nice shooting Ghost." he said over the comms watching the station go dark. "Ghost, You're in charge in the sky. I've got a bead on Kestrel's Valkyrie, Transfering location and trajectory info, make sure she gets a tow back to base and keep your eyes peeled for unexpected company. Ground team, prepare for boarding operation. Rally on Mav's landing coordinates and disembark."
[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton/Wolf-04] Attention: all
Husker stayed focused on the situation in front of him, still seething inside about the senseless loss of Skye, even though he was still getting to know the rest of his new squadron, but still something that senseless...
His eyes narrowed as he spied a secondary sensor targeting array and he brought his targeting scope on it, zoomed in to make sure that he had a solid and clean lock before blowing it away.
"Four to Lead, Four is requesting to assist with assault operations as well." Husker requsted, his eyes constantly alert for any other possible threats.
But something was bothering him about how effectively the base was able to take out his fellow Wolf's fighter which troubled him but everything seemed normal but his instincts was trying to tell him something else but he couldn't see anything else as he prowled near Morrigan.
[ Commander Trent | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
Ives' orders still ringing in his ears, Trent considered his target. The outpost, with its shields down, was quite fragile. And a few seconds' sustained fire would carve through the hull and internal spaces to get through to the computer core with little difficulty. However, under these circumstances he could not do so. There would be too much of a risk of destroying valuable supplies. Not to mention the boarding party and the crew of the station itself that he had no intention to kill if he could avoid it.
"I don't have a clean shot, Captain! Helm, move towards the depot's dorsal aspect, get us into position!" The Executive Officer could no none else, but as Theurgy glided through space to a spot where he would have a clear firing solution, a fighter swept in a a tetryon blast struck, and the depot went dark as its computer was taken offline, and incidentally the defensive fire stopped.
But now that he had a moment, Trent observed the overall tactical situation, and he considered the chatter he had heard. Yes, one of the Valkyries had been hulled and was adrift, and while Commander Renard ordered one of his fighter pilots to ensure she would be recovered, but that Trent had to get into. "Miss Henshaw, launch the recovery shuttle." That too, sounded flat and unemotional. They had a dead crewmate. One more.
As the situation in space had suddenly become rather quiet Trent addressed the Captain once more. "Captain, I would like permission to take a boarding party and beam into Black Opal's Ops center. They can't communicate with anyone anymore, and we need to get them to surrender sooner rather than later. Recommend we also prep medical and engineering teams to assist with their repairs and casualties."
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
"Wolf-Zero-Nine, acknowledged. I'm assuming command of the sky patrol," said Ghost as she scanned the base with her TVD optics, flying by it after it had gone dark. Renard had been ready to kill her off as collateral damage in order to destroy a couple of Reavers in the last engagement they had been in, but now, he was willing to let her take command of the Lone Wolves that weren't going to join Security down on the Black Opal. She was not quite sure what to make of it, but the spiteful side of her wanted to think that he was compensating for his betrayal by giving her the task, but for the time being, he was not about to call him out on it. It wasn't the fucking time for personal disputes while in the cockpit. They had a mission, and she shook it off.
"Alright, those who are on the boarding team set a course to follow Iron-Ferrox and dock with the base, and the rest of you are with me," she announced on the squadron channel. While she did so, she relayed a request to Mission Ops to have a recovery shuttle launched and for it to tractor Kestrel back to the Theurgy, unbeknownst to her that the First Officer on the bridge had already given that order. "We are setting a perimeter around the asteroid, and we'll be separated far enough on the route so that someone can maintain visual on the Opal despite how far out we go."
As she plotted the patrol route and communicated it to the wolves that were to remain with her, she was hoping that the bastard who had managed to hit Kestrel would get what was coming for him down on that base...
[ Lt. Thanida zh'Wann | Security Squad Beta | Black Opal Facility | Mess Hall ] Attn: All
Outside the mess hall, Ida was engaged in a fire-fight with station security, a few of them having them pinned down at doors. At first, they had the higher ground, and they could communicate amongst themselves to coordinate themselves between the three three teams that the Theurgy had beamed down. Ida did not know how many she had stunned, but far too few for her own taste, and it was evident that there were not only security personnel that had engaged them, but regular engineers and deckhands too - all of them having received security drills to defend the Black Opal.
But then the base went pitch-dark, only lit by the phaser beams that cross-crossed the interiors of the base. It lasted only for a second before the emergency lights went on, but besides the lighting, the opposition outside the mess hall was no longer coordinated, and it boiled down to a matter of overpowering them - to break through. Without any means to call for back-up, the odds had just evened out in their own favour.
"Cover me," said Ida, letting Cardamone and Zaraq assume her vantage point behind her cover, and she retreated into the mess hall again. She walked over to another wall of the area whilst changing the setting on her rifle. She was wearing out her power cells, but she was confident the levels shown on the rifle's display would suffice. She put the weapon against her shoulder and then pressed the trigger, unleashing the highest setting upon the section of the wall in front of her. The blast vaporised it all - leaving a gaping hole into the corridor. Given how the base had been under bombardment, the noise did not stand out as much as it normally would. She stepped through and used the smoke and the darkness to shroud her advance towards the enemy's position - her antennae guiding her steps. She slung the spent rifle behind her back and drew her handphaser instead - eyes down the sights as she moved.
Earlier, it had been tactically unwise to open up another point-of-entry for the base's defences to reach them in the mess hall, but while the blast had drained her rifle, the new situation had called for a direct and swift change of tactics. She flanked the security force, and she managed to stun more than half of them with a wide dispersal blast before they realised she was there, and by that time, the numbers were clearly on Squad Beta's side. Within a minute, they had whittled down the opposition, and they could advance further into the base.
[ Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ] Attn: All
The main console went dark beneath Jennifer's hands, along with the rest of the Command Centre.
"Dammit!" she cursed, and rounded on the staff present behind her. Masuda was still out cold on the floor. Morwen was covering her mouth with her hands in fright. Edgar Rogers was leaving his station and heading for a weapons locker. At some point, the doctor had joined them, but he had said nothing - a fish out of the water as he was. "All right, everyone arm themselves and prepare to evacuate. We're heading for the escape shuttles, and with a little luck, some of us will make it through to spread the word."
Edgar Rogers snarled, not liking the idea to retreat one bit. "Why not set a trap for them? They will be coming here, and we can put up quite a fight from this position."
"Our first priority is to establish communication with Starfleet and alert them that our base has been compromised, and make them send all available starships here to deal with the Theurgy. We lost this one... but we can still call the cavalry on them. Morwen, get that maintenance access open. We'll slip away without using the corridors."
Rogers was not readily going to accept a tactical retreat, but he still continued to arm the present staff with hand phasers. Meanwhile, Jennifer went to the door with a phaser in hand, keeping a lookout while they geared up to leave. Her scowl was but a pale imitation of the fiery anger inside her.
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
"Permission granted," said Jien as he stepped back from the viewscreen and returned to the Captain's Chair, "Thea, is your mobile emitter charged?"
[Yes, Captain,] Thea said over the intercom.
"Prepare a site-to-site transport and accompany Commander Trent to the Command Centre. Ravenholm, you go too." He directed himself to Carrigan and nodded towards the door to the security checkpoint. "Arm yourselves and bring as many security guards from outside that you think you require. They likely have an escape plan for every kind of scenario, a black-out included. Tell Thea to energise as soon as you are ready. Good luck."
A tactical officer that was under Trent's tutoring stepped forward to take Trent's station, and on the viewscreen, the tactical overview of the base's floor plan showed that both Squad Alpha and Charlie were pinned down, but that Squad Beta was slowly moving towards the Command Centre. They would be too late. Carrigan's judgement had been both prompt and wise, since it was evident that the staff on the base could be preparing to utilise any kind of escape plan at that point. Deputy zh'Wann was not likely going to get there in time to intercept them.
"Mission Ops, in case Wenn Cinn's communication has been compromised," said Jien and looked towards Cameron where she sat at her station, "relay orders to the Lone Wolves on the ground to aid Alpha Squad in the loading docks and Charlie Squad in engineering. They need reinforcement at once."
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png) |wolf 05| Landing Bay on Black Opal ] Attn: all
The moment that he was given the all clear to join the ground assault he made for the fighter bay. His landing was anything but graceful. His panic and his mind was slipping, causing his Valkyrie to scrape the ground, paint scratching and leaving several dents as he finally pulled to a stop in the landing bay. He grabbed a phaser as the ship opened letting him out.
Nathan pulled himself out of the Valkyrie stumbled and fell from the cock pit onto the ground of the Black Opal facility. His body armor took the brunt of the hit but it was clear that his body wasn't fully recovered, before he felt a shiver run through his spine up and down his body. He managed to quickly remove his suites helmet before he vomited out the contents of his breakfast. Most of it having turned green at some point.
Instantly his head felt heavier the world seemed to correct around him as he took deep and heavy breaths. He opened his com channel. "Maverick has landed. Where am I needed?"
[Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 ] Attn: All
"Mav, has made landfall" Miles said after also receiving the info From mission ops. "Mav, I want you and the first half of the pack that lands to to head directly to Engineering, Charlie squad needs reinforcements. The rest of you are with me were gonna back up Cinn and Alpha capturing the loading dock and secure it for Papa Bear." Closing the comm system, he felt the artificial gravity of the facility grabbing his ship as he neared the LZ forcing him to turn on the repulsors as he began to guide his ship in for a much smoother landing that Maverick had experienced.
[ Aisha S'iti And Selena (Luna) Ravenholm | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
The human nodded, "yes sir," she said moving a hand to touch her hip as if to assure herself that her unique weapon was indeed there. before the same hand reflexively touched her neck where the computer interface jack was. "Soon as the room's secure I'll power down the Escape pods systems and I'll lock down all the shuttlebay doors once the Wolves have landed unless there are any more immediately important priorities you can think of."
Aisha looked around the bridge and sighed, looking at the conn system display which gave her info on ships an objects in the vicinity she watched as the shuttle that had been launched made its way towards the drifting Valkyrie mark three. The base had ceased all resistance from the outside and all that was left was to take care of the resistance remaining within. Her mission for the moment was complete and all she could do was wait for further orders.
[ Wenn Cinn | Alpha Squad | Black Opal Facility | Loading docks ]
As Cinn and his team were beamed in and put into the loading dock. His team took a quick stock of the area and Cinn looked round quickly and smiled at the usual array of simple metal crates containing the backup supplies for the outpost, and at present the area was rather clutter and devoid of security so he took charge to prepare his team for the next phase of the plan."Alright team, get to those crates and clear out a landing area, ad use wt move to build up a fortification. I doubt that the local security will be letting us get out foothold without a fight, so get to work. Turing to his teams technical expert and his best marksman he spoke. "You two, get to the local controls and cut off the external commands, I do not want us vented out into space from an outside location." he turned to the rest of his team and began to assist with moving the crates. "Trust me it is not a pleasant thing to experience, so I would not like to do it again." Helping to lift a crate Cinn set about building his fortification.
It was a few minutes into the raid when security finally showed up to confront Alpha squad. Thankfully he had his technician sealed into the control booth to prevent an ambush. Of course he the security showed up ad began to open fire on Cinn's team the fortification was not completed and his team was sent diving for cover as phaser beams ripped through the air around them, leaving the smell of ozone in the air as Cinn took charge of the situation and signaled his team. With no way to get out for a clear shot without putting his people out in the open. Cinn signaled for the team to pop smoke and then follow the plan that they had covered in their drills. With a few clicks the smoke grenades were primed and thrown out into the space between the two teams and within a few seconds a thick white cloud obscured the two teams.
Although an old invention the use of smoke grenades was still effective for obscuring troop movements a with one signal Cinn's men in the rear rose up and began to put out suppressive fire, shooting up to the balcony area where the other security team was Cinn and a few other charged in through the smoke, wit the rear taking the attention of the security he was able to get to the base of the stairs up to the balcony and began to fire back up at the security forces, taking out a few of them and driving the others back into the corridors. With the brief victory won Cinn acted quickly. "Secure the door, do not let them back in." Turning back to the rest of his team he yelled through the smoke. Get the barricades built up, be sure to check the crates to make sure they are safe to use, and clear out a safe space for ships." Cinn ascended the stairs behind the ones he had sent up to secure the door an he went for the command booth to check up on their progress.
It did not take long for Cinn to get a status report, but at the moment things seemed to be stable enough, so it was time to check in. Tapping his combadge Cinn spoke to the Theurgy. "Theurgy this is Alpha squad, we have encountered the local security forces and engaged in combat. So far there are no casualties and we have secured the loading docks for now. From what my technician has done I do believe we have isolated the local systems from the rest of the station, we will not be losing the oxygen barrier, but we cannot tamper with anything on their end either." Essentially Cinn had captured a foothold for the Theurgy, and he had isolated everything for the sake of security. "However mos of the local security force we encountered has pulled back to the corridors outside of our preset location, and there is no real cover on our end. It would take a lot of time to fortify the space here to push them back, if any of the other security teams are not pinned down we could use their assistance to beak out of here." There were other options they could use, taking the two security people thy had subdued and using them as human shields, but they were not that desperate yet, it was just inconvenient that this location was specifically designed to be hard to invade from. A narrow balcony the size of the doorway with a long corridor leading to corers where any infiltrators would be bottle necked into a shooting gallery while the defending force would have some cover to fight back from.
[ Fasha "Morrigan" | Lone Wolves Squadron | Wolf-03 ]
Fasha was quiet as she heard Maverick's report her grip on her flight stick tightened if it had been an accident there was nothing that could be done now. As Husker issued his request to join the boarding party she was quiet for a moment before she realized that he was speaking to her. "Granted Four get your boots on the ground and link up with Maverick." Fasha responded. "Ghost I'm on your six." Fasha said as she broke formation to tail Ghost in her over watch over the Black Opal facility. The Asteroid bases' lights had gone dark and with it the base defenses had as well. But that didn't mean some egghead inside the base couldn't jury rig some miracle solution together and get them working again.
[ Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy ]
Eun Sae bit her lip hard as the report came from mission ops the palms of her hands rested against the cool metal of Sten's desk as she took in a deep breath as she stared at the message displayed on the screen of the computer in front of her. Skye was dead another casualty to add to the list and likely not the last either. She exhaled closing her eyes she couldn't come apart not now. She pushed away from the desk and quickly strode out onto the flight deck where members of the deck crew were working on getting the final bits of gear and equipment stowed away or pushed to the sides of the flight deck.
As everyone kept themselves busy Eun Sae watched for a moment before turning on her heel and walking back into Sten's office. She needed to do something to keep herself occupied everyone had their orders. She was in charge but that didn't mean she got to sit about while everyone else did the work. Quickly moving to the computer on Sten's desk she brought up an image of the current status of the remaining Valkyrie Fighters in use by the Lone Wolves. Her eyes fell upon the display for Skye's the entire ship except for the cockpit was still green. The cockpit flashed red signifying the lack of breathable atmosphere inside of the canopy. She tore her eyes away from the image and began studying the other displays quickly taking note of any damage any of the Fighters had already sustained in combat.
She quickly took down notes of repairs that would likely need to be done when these ships returned to the hangar.
[ Cameron Henshaw | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Cameron listened to the chatter between the pilots and was shocked to hear that Isley reported that he probably had delivered a fatal shot to Kestrel. Her eyes stared in horror to her station yet she bit her lower lip and shook her head as she decided that the investigation to the how and why would follow later. They were in a mission at the moment, that was their primary goal. She decided not to inform anyone on the bridge about the events between the pilots in order to keep everyone on full focus.
Next Trent addressed her to launch the recovery shuttle to retrieve Kestrel's fighter and Cameron did what was needed. Keeping her voice down to a minimum and with a calm voice she reported back to Eun Sae Ji that a recovery shuttle could be cleared for departure. She handed down what else was needed of vital info to retrieve the shuttle, giving them a clear course to follow to stay away from danger. "Good luck!" she concluded her message and broke the transmission off.
Next Jien called out for her to sent reinforcements to the strike teams that had come under fire. "Yes captain." she responded before handing down the order to Miles. "Wolf lead, you are to distribute your forces between strike teams Alpha and Charlie, they are in need of support ASAP. Be advised we have not yet been able to-" she stopped talking as she now heard Wenn Cinn reporting in "Hold Wolf lead." she said in the meantime as she listened to Cinn "Alpha squad has a foothold but is in need of reinforcements, lack of cover has been reported so watch your heads out there. Ops out." she finished off before reporting back to Cinn "Alpha squad, be advised, friendlies are on their way to help you out at this time, hold on in there."
She leaned back a little as she listened to the chatter as it continued, hoping she was doing her job alright since this was her trial by fire. She had worked towards this moments in the days before and she only hoped that the people on the ground had a clear picture of what was going on and that casualties would remain to a minimum. Overhearing what Trent further said, Cameron took the liberty of already warning medical and engineering to have crews on stand by to be sent out once the green light would be given.
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Outer Space | Approaching the Black Opal Supply Facility | Outside the RNZ ]
"Ghost I'm on your six." Wolf-03, Lieutenant Junior Grade Fasha, callsign 'Morrigan's voice said over the commlink.
"Ditto Ghost," Tessa reported. "We're on our way."
Tessa remained on Fasha's six, protecting Morrigan and Ghost as they escorted the shuttle sent to retrieve Kestral's crippled Valkyrie. In the olden days mechanical grapplers would have seized the fighter, but the modern day recovery shuttle was equipped with a tractor beam capable of handling the Valkyrie's mass. As they escorted the shuttle back to the Theurgy Tessa couldn't help but wonder if she was gazing at her own future. It could have been any one of them. How much longer before it was her turn?
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
Meanwhile Master Chief William Robert O'Connell was informed that Commander Trent would be beaming over to Black Opal, taking Selena Ravenholm, Thea's mobile emitter and a handful of security personnel with him. It would be a site to site transfer, Trent's team wouldn't bother visiting the transporter room physically at all. Thea gave him the relevant details.
[ Commander Trent | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge ] Attn: All
The moment the Captain gave assent to leading yet another boarding party onto Black Opal, Trent rose from his seat and he was rapidly replaced by one of the personnel he'd been bringing up to speed. And then, he gave a few instructions, first to the two guards who were there on the Bridge. "Cabrera, Rivard, you're with me. Make sure you've got some restraints with you." And with this said, the Executive Officer made for the security checkpoint, still giving directions as he walked. "Thea, I need you to arrange for two near-simultaneous transports. I want the first one to drop a few concussion grenades in their command center and I want us right after the blast. I don't want to have to stun anyone if we don't have to."
Only then did he reach the weapons locker and he withdrew both a tricorder and a hand phaser. While the multipurpose device was hardly a weapon in its own right, it was too bloody useful not to carry one on any kind of away mission. "Once we'll have the command center and their senior staff secured, first order of business is to get a message out through their PA system, and then to secure command access. Thea, Miss Ravenholm, that'll be your job."
Then, he took a deep breath and adjusted his weapon. "Phasers to medium stun, only fire if you absolutely have to. I want their senior staff restrained and secured but conscious if at all possible. Thea, get us beamed over when ready."
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 ] Attn: All
Fact being that her projection had to be armed for her very first away-mission - barring her personal excursion in the Reaver - Thea had run to the closest weapons locker as soon as Captain Ives gave the order. She truly put the anti-grav units on her mobile emitter to the test, propelling herself forth with them rather then the bipedal motion of her legs - floating to her destination at high speed. Her emotion chip was transmitting an overload of data, but while she didn't deactivate the data-feed, she pushed it into the background of her primary processes.
Just as she ripped the locker open, Commander Trent ordered for two site-to-site transports to be made, and fortunately enough, she had just gained access to the requested charges. She picked them up and placed them in the middle of the corridor before withdrawing a Type III phaser assault rifle for herself. With rapid motions, she was crouching on one knee next to the charges and set the timers on them.
"Transporting concussive charges in three, two, one. Energising," she said, and with her A.I. in charge of the the specified transport protocol, she made the two charges vanish in a shimmer below her hand. Then she set her rifle to medium stun. Her voice was heard in the security checkpoint next to the bridge via the intercom. "Be advised, away-team transport in three, two, one. Energising!"
[ Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ] Attn: Carrigan Trent and Selena Ravenholm
When she materialised in the weapon storage facility's command centre next to Trent, Ravenholm and the two security guards, Thea was still in a crouching position and had her rifle raised - limiting her target area as according to recommendations in the Security protocols.
The concussive charges had gone off, as much was evident from the state of the present personnel. Thea rose to her feet and swept the room with the optical sensors of her projection, and she determined one immediate threat - a burly man that her facial recognition software identified as Ensign Edgar Rogers. He seemed to have shielded his eyes with his arm, and was blinking rapidly to clear his vision. His rifle was coming up against the five insurgents in the middle of the room. Thea fired her weapon, her reaction time being the quickest, but since Trent had expressed a wish to not stun the present officers, she targeted the rifle instead. The stun blast was conducted through the weapon and caused a peripheral effect in the the officer's hands. It slowed him down, but he was going to physically charge them like a bull judging by the look in his eye and his forward momentum.
While Rogers was about to pummel right into them, Thea detected a woman moving in the opposite direction - bound for an opened access to the maintenance tunnels of the base. A flash of red hair determined that it was likely Lieutenant Commander Dewitt, but she had no means to both stun Rogers and apprehend the base's commander. As it turned out, she did not have to do either...
[ Selena "Luna" Ravenholm | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ]
Drawing her weapon as felt herself materializing, she looked around the room allowing her visor to sort out the minor distortion from the distractions that had been beamed aboard. Thea seemed to imediately engage one of the opposition, a large male but in the few seconds she had to gather her surroundings Ravenholm scanned the room using the visor software to match a dossier to any mere glance of the bases personnel. Like Thea she saw A flicker of red hair and a sidelong glance at the face was all the visor needed to bring up a small image of her in the corner of her peripheral vision along with some basic biographical info. "Bead on the base commander. She said pulling out the Hybrid weapon and quickly fired the electrode projectiles at the woman's ankle.
The Electrode pierced the commanders skin sending a charge through her body just enough to short circuit her Motor functions causing her muscles to tense as she went still for a moment. With a subtle flick of her wrist the energy beam teather came to life and wrapped around the woman's ankle right before Selena gave it a quick tug pulling her out of the access hatch and into the room by her leg. Quickly she turned down the setting on the weapon so rather than sending electricity through her and paralyzing painfully like a tazer would it would just send a mild tingle through her leg and to the bottom of her spine the mild current keeping both of her legs numb as they were asleep. Quickly making her way to where her prisoner had been pulled she spoke in a calm but almost emotionless tone. "Sorry for the inconvenience, Commander" she said sincerely, "But I must ask for your surrender on behalf of my Commander. Instruct your personnel to cease hostilities. We have medical aide teams ready to board but they can only do so once this outpost has been deemed safe for them to do so."
[ Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard |Wolf 01| Landing Bay on Black Opal ]
As the ship landed the cockpit door swung open, just as quickly as the door was open enough the vulpinian grabbed the weaponry in his cockpit and climbed out. Over his shoulder he had a type 3 phaser rifle slung and at his sides his extendable staff and a hand phaser hung tightly to the hip of his Exo-suit. Knowing that the comm systems in his helmet were far superior to those of his badge he simply set the visor to a clearer setting allowing his face to be seen through it as he looked to Maverick and nodded as 06 landed. as soon as they had left their fighter Miles motioned to 06 to join Maverick so the two could get going to attempt to back up Charlie squad. Opening the com channel to Husker, Miles looked down at his rifle. "Soon as you set down we need to get moving. Alpha squad's waiting on us as backup."
[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton/Wolf-04] Attention: Iron Wolf & Security Team Alpha
Husker nodded as he replied "Understood, will be dirt side in less then two mikes." the Asgardian said as he started the landing cycle but months of training and effort under Phantom had helped him know a couple of tricks to shave off time in a combat landing situation.
Once "Nightmare" was next to Renard's plane, Husker pulled his rifle from its rack next to his jumpseat and popped the canopy, he had his plane secured and was heading to meet up with his squadron commander and the security detail within a few seconds of that.
As he went, he made a few adjustments to his rifle, adjusting it's stun setting frequency like Sniper had taught to do. It wasn't a harmful adjustment but more of a tactical one as it cut down the time of the weapon's recharge rate by a few seconds which would possibly come in handy during this mission.
He moved up on the humanoid's left flank while keeping his rifle at a ready position so that he can pull off a snap shot as he moved to emergency cover. "Ready when you are, Iron Wolf." He said into the channel.
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png) |wolf 05| Landing Bay on Black Opal ] Attn: Iron Wolf, DocReno, & Security Team Charlie.
As Iron landed Maverick was working to put his helmet back on, the taste of stomach acid was on his every breath and he wasn't exactly looking in his best condition. His vision was a little blurred, and he wasn't sure if it was from tears or the headache. To say he wasn't having a good time was an understatement but still he turned to his commanding officer and gave the all clear. For the moment he had his mission and as 06 landed the two of them got ready to carry it out.
"Charlie Squad I am inbound to engineering with back up." He said turning to 06 before he started to jog. For the moment he was holding a type 2 phasor rifle, the fact that it was on stun made it easier to carry but that didn't make it any less awkward, and he was hoping he wouldn't have to fire at human targets. The last thing he wanted was another death on his record today, he was hoping to get in and neutralize threats in close range, but it was much more likely that they would be entering a fire fight.
Even as he tried to run he was still finding himself short of breath and lagging behind 06, he used the excuse that he was just watching their back, but it was a bit more then that, his heart may have leveled out, and his head stopped feeling fuzzy, but that had been replaced by throbbing pains.
[ Commander Carrigan Trent | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ] Attn: Thea and Selena Ravenholm
Once the transport sequence was complete, Trent watched both Thea and Ravenholm explode into action, both Security crewmen right behind them. If anything, Theurgy's XO had the slowest reactions of them all but not so slow as to let the man who had barreled towards the boarding party make good his attempt at rushing them, for Trent sidestepped his half-blind charge and delivered a single brisk chop upon his shoulder blade with his synthetic hand. The movement had been totally instinctive and for a moment Trent winced. He remembered the damage his artificial limbs had caused to his old friend Fedd, but this time the stunning strike did not break any bones and the Ensign simply toppled to the deck, at which point he dropped his knee in the middle of his back and briskly applied a set of restraints Crewman Cabrera had tossed him while he was himself cuffing one of the others.
Rivard, at his end, had been quick at getting a hold of the station's executive officer and applied the cuffs upon him, but another member of the staff attempted to make a fight of it and caught the butt of the Theurgy man's rifle in the stomach. And just as the French-Canadian guard was about to deliver a skull-crushing strike to the back of his opponent's neck, Trent called out a sharp bark, which ought to be startling enough considering his voice rarely rose over a near-whisper. "RIVARD!" Then, closer to his regular volume, he continued, his voice hopefully cutting through the ringing that would be echoing in the command crew's ears. "No one else needs to get hurt today, not on my watch, understood?"
"Aye Sir," grumbled the burly Security man even as Trent rose to his feet and headed towards the prone station commander and crouched next to her. "Miss Ravenholm, release the Commander if you please. I need you and Thea to restore the main computer, lock all terminals except over here for the time being. But first, I want the commbadges of the depot's crew to have a receive-only link to Theurgy's comm system. Let me know as soon as it's done. There's been enough fighting for today and I want it over as soon as possible."
And only then did he turn his full attention to the fallen Lieutenant Commander. "Miss Dewitt, I am brevet Commander Carrigan Trent, interim XO of the Theurgy." Trent had chosen his words carefully. The designation of a brevet rank was somewhat dated, but it accurately reflected that his promotion to that rank had been done internally within the Theurgy and had yet to be fully and officially ratified by Starfleet Command despite holding all the authority of that rank.
"You computer is offline, you cannot destroy your stores, cannot call for help or have any chance to repel our boarders. Despite what you may think or have been told, we have absolutely no interest in harming any of your people. You've killed one of my pilots and while I have no idea how many of my boarders or your people have been hurt so far, I know that number's already too high for both our liking. Please, Commander, as soon as we have the link established, instruct your people to stand down before the butcher's bill climbs any higher than it already has."
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ] Attn: All
When the staff in the command centre had been secured, Thea acted on Commander Trent's orders and walked over to the main console. She slung her rifle behind her back and tried to operate the console, but the computer core had been compromised in the battle, so the chirping denials she got merely confirmed what the screen said; System Malfunction. She heard Trent speaking with the base commander, and knew that something had to be done to re-establish communication with the present Starfleet personnel on the base - currently engaged in combat with the Theurgy's security teams in the nearly pitch-black base.
"Attempting to restart all systems with the auxiliary computer core," she said as her gloved fingers rapidly tapped the panel beneath her hands - the light from the progress cast against her body-suit in the dimly lit command centre. "Rebooting in three, two, one..."
The base went pitch-black, only the lights from the phaser rifles of the present security guards remaining. The humming of the base also went silent. Even the emergency lights went offline on the entire base... yet after only a couple of seconds, all the lights were restored - the sounds of the consoles powering up around them a digital chorus. "The base is now running on inferior computer processing power. Life-support, communications and environmental condition systems are online. Activation of too many secondary systems may result in power outage and overload - compromising the second core too. Calibration recommended before someone on the base manages to power down this facility permanently, and there is encryption in the way that prevents me from locking out all other terminals. There is no tertiary computer core available."
Having said this, Thea turned her head towards Ravenholm, nodding for her to step forth since she had superior experience in computer encryption and calibration. The cybernetically augmented human had managed to make a whole Akira-class ship run with a skeleton crew, so Thea was confident the specialist would be able to stabilise the base's computer integrity more swiftly than she could. Only then could they carry out the orders about a receive-only link to Thea's own comm system.
She glanced at the red-haired human and how she was recovering from the paralysing shocks that Ravenholm had given her. She sat against the bulkhead, hands twitching and breathing forced - trying to stretch her neck after the cramping seizures that had run through her body subsided. She looked undefeated at first, stoic, until the Commander spelled out her hopeless situation. The battle was lost, and it was time to own up to that fact. It looked difficult for her to swallow, but eventually, she replied to Trent with a hoarse throat.
"I will give the seize-fire... hoping that that you also speak on behalf of your Captain... and that my people will be spared by that monster as well..."
At that moment, ThanIda zh'Wann arrived, followed by Zaraq and Dyan Cardamone - only to find the command centre secured. The Andorian locked eyes with Commander Trent and inclined her head to her First Officer before turning on her heel. "Set up a perimeter down these corridors. Defend this area until hostilities have ceased. Move out!" having said this, she crouched down next to the entrance and checked her rifle - preparing to be the last line of defence until the base was secured.
OOC: If you guys want to write out some cool action in the fighting with base security, this is your chance before Jennifer call a seize-fire in my next post. IronFerrox will need to post with Ravenholm first, establishing the comm link etc.
[ Selena Ravenholm | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ]
Selena nodded releasing the commander at her superior's order, immediately walking towards the computer systems interface where Thea now stood. "Actually, we do have a tertiary computer you can use so we don't immediately overwhelm the auxiliary, just an unorthodox one. I trust my body will be safe in your hands." She said as she pulled the computer interface from her neck and took a seat before plugging in and placing her hands on the console beginning her work. "I imagine much of this process will render me in an unconscious state." She said. "I will be using my interface systems as a tertiary core and my brain as it's central processor allowing you to divide the stations systems as they are loaded between myself and the auxiliary computer. You can then bring each system online one at a time without worry of overwhelming the auxiliary core. It's not so much different from the methodology I used in attempting to reprogram you. The key difference being that standard Federation AI do not resist being mind melded with. They lack the sense of having a self that can be lost." She said pausing a moment.
"Intresting," she added, "the Opal's system architecture is much different from the Harbinger's. So many closed doors and programming paths with dead ends. I believe this is far more than just an every-day rearming station, much as I had suspected from their use of a cloaking device upon our arrival. She smiled bit as information seemed to begin to stream over her visor. "Thea, I have sectioned off all computer access to this single console and am beginning to bring systems on line. Establishing direct neural link."
With that the cyborg seemed to fall to sleep at the console her eyes shutting and the computer console began to show a sequence of programs beginning to execute as she began to slowly and methodically bring the systems back online.
[ Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard |Wolf 01| Landing Bay on Black Opal ]
Miles nodded, "Wrong canid Husker, It's Fox." The Vulpinian corrected with a slight chuckle. As he headed to the corridor, opposition shouldn't be encountered till we get near Cinn's position near the docks. He said adjusting his rifle a bit to his own liking and syncing his helmets display settings with the weapon's aiming reticle pulling the rifle up and sweeping it side to side noticing how the crosshair displayed followed the aim of his weapon.
[Corridors Leading to Loading Docks]
It was mere minutes afterwards that the sounds of phaser fire was audible down the hallway. Raising his weapon miles gave a slight signal with his hand to Husker who he had told to take a position a bit further back and to take aim at those on the left side of the corridor. Husker knew that the signal miles gave meant the two should be opening fire together after a 5 second silent count.
Miles took aim at the back of the knees of one of the opposing officer's positioned to the group's rear and pulled the trigger sending a stunning bolt into their leg causing them to collapse to the ground before raising the weapon just a bit to catch another--who was beginning to turn around in surprise from the assault from their rear--in the upper thigh.
OOC: Okay yall have one or two rounds of posting before Selena begins to bring the systems online necessary to allow for the cease fire to be ordered. Lucan you will get last post before I post Selena getting the communications system part of the job done in that post just let me know OOC when the time is right for comm systems to open so cease fire can be ordered in your post afterwards.
[ Commander Carrigan Trent | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ]
It had been as he was speaking to the depot's commanding officer that Deputy zh'Wann arrived with her own boarding party. Despite the fact that Dewitt was the only crewmember present who was not in restraints, the presence of added personnel was more than a small relief for Trent. It meant their position would be secure, at least for some time, while he'd have chance to speak to her and they could reach acceptable terms of surrender, while both Thea and Ravenholm would be working to secure the station's computers and communication systems.
The fact Dewitt referred to Ives as a monster did not surprise Trent. After all, he had been on Sankolov's ship as his staff intelligence officer and he had been familiar with the reports that came in about Theurgy's actions. However, there were always conflicting accounts available and always the information sent out for public consumption, either simply within Starfleet or to Federation media omitted the 'gentler' ones and made sure that only the alleged atrocities were broadcast. And towards the end, even the terms 'alleged' and 'suspected' started to fall off and the propaganda against Theurgy and her crew was out in full force. And now that Sankolov and his fleet had to have recovered from his cyber-attack, Trent wondered what the official word about such a thing was...
However, at first he needed to make sure his terms would be accepted. He did not rise from his crouch in front of Dewitt. To stand would make him tower over her and it would not do well to help him change the image she had of the ship and crew that had taken over her facility. "Commander, Captain Ives would not have let me beam here to secure your surrender unless I had his complete confidence. So yes, I speak for him and whatever terms we reach will be fully honoured."
"But first, I would like to set the record straight, at least as much as I can. I was Admiral Sankolov's staff intelligence officer until I defected to Captain Ives about a week ago. I don't know exactly all the information that is in your hands right now but I have a pretty good idea of the kind of material you were fed via Starfleet channels and through whatever Federation broadcasts you get out here. I could talk to you for a month, you'd have no reason to really believe me. So instead, I would like to ask you to consider this."
"First of all, if Captain Ives was such a monster, why did we not simply hull your facility at multiple points and depressurize the whole of it? Our gunnery took out your long-range communications capability and disabled your shields; save for one lucky shot all of your fire was ineffective, and when we took your computers offline, you were completely defenceless. We had you completely at our mercy and we had complete space superiority. It would have been easy to keep punching holes in your bulkheads until nearly everyone would have been killed by spacing and we could have done our resupply in EVA suits. Instead, Captain Ives ordered a boarding action to secure the facility with a minimal number of fatalities, and even now we have medical and engineering teams on stand-by to look after your wounded and repairs. Also, while you might not have noticed, I stopped one of my men from caving in one of your people's skull, right here on your command deck. We have no intention to hurt any Starfleet personnel unless absolutely unavoidable."
Trent took a deep breath. He had given a number of arguments speaking of Ives' good faith, so now it was time to deliver his terms of surrender. "Commander Dewitt, you and your people did Starfleet credit with your defence of this facility, there's no arguing this. And unlike Admiral Sankolov, Captain Ives is willing to offer terms of surrender that are in line with Starfleet regulations and Federation law."
There, it began. Trent made a point to mention Sankolov's hail, if only to start another seed of doubt into the redhead's mind. "Your people will disarm and be interned into your mess facility, where my security personnel will keep and eye on them. Our medical teams will assist your chief medical officer in your sickbay to deal with your wounded with the same degree of care they would show our own. We will deploy engineering teams to repair the damage our assault caused because leaving you crippled and unable to call for help or stand your ground this close to Romulan space would be unconscionable. Our resupply parties will go through the supplies we know you have on hand to replenish our magazines, tools, spare parts, replicator tanks and fuel pods as well as grab anything we find that could be of use towards completing our mission. All we are after is what is in your cargo bays, storeroom and resupply magazines; we have no intention of stripping this depot bare. And once we'll have what we need, we will secure your command systems with a time lock, and leave. None of your personnel will be harmed in any way unless they give our people cause and any deviation from Captain Ives' rules of engagement, which prohibit the use of deadly force against your personnel, will be fully investigated and if the user is found culpable, punished to the fullest extent of Federation law."
"And while the resupply is in progress, you and I will have a nice long chat, and in the end it'll be up to you to decide whether or not Captain Ives is a murdering maniac as you've been led to believe, if you will support our mission as best as you can, or simply settle for staying out of the way and try to survive the coming storm. Or if you still believe that we are the Federation's enemy. Whatever you choose to do in the end, that choice will be yours to make."
Then, he extended his good hand towards the defeated commanding officer, a gesture meant to be a bridge between the two of them and hopefully to seal an agreement of his terms. "Do you accept my terms, Commander?"
Trent omitted to mention any 'or else' stipulation at all. He knew he didn't need to. Nor did he want to, for that matter.
[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton/Wolf-04] Attention: Iron Fox & Security Team Alpha
Within the Corridors Leading to Loading Docks, Husker watched his squadron commander give the signal and then neatly take down two of the mixed element anti-boarding element that had the team from the Theurgy corralled when he noticed that one of the hositles had a bead drawn on his fellow pilot as Renard pulled back into cover at which point Husker's reflexes simply took over.
After taking a single deep breath and holding it, Husker snapped his rifle up and fired off two shots in a quick procession, catching Renard's would be sniper with two double taps to the right shoulder to knock his aim back before the second shot caught him center mass of the chest before he calmly switched over to his next target who was attempting to decide which was the bigger threat when he got a gut shot from Husker's weapon.
Husker then moved forward at what was once commonly known as a "Roadie Run" as he crouched into a full borne sprint to the next bit of cover, his suit's tactical sensor alerting him to a new threat as an ensign in tactical red was holding a compression phaser rifle less then two feet from his current location which Husker then quickly closed the distance, forcing the hostile's compression rifle aside with his own rifle before Husker palm striked the man, driving him back before Husker's sensors alerted him of a new threat of another man, this time from science, was about to fire on him only to get a shot from Husker's rifle instead before Husker turned and simply shot the one that he'd just palm striked in the chest.
Husker then tried to turn his weapon around to bring it in line with a new target when a Vulcan engineering officer grabbed the weapon and attempted to wrest it from him but the Vulcan was unprepared for Husker to release his grasp on the weapon willingly as he followed that up with a couple of snap kicks as he quickdrew his secondary phaser and shot the engineer square in the chest before ducking to avoid a couple of other shots from a female bolian medical officer, Husker grabbed up his rifle in the process and shot the woman with both weapons.
Once all of the immidate hostiles were down, Husker realized that he'd been holding his breath as he released it to do a once over of the room. "Area secured, Iron Fox. It is safe to move up." the young man from Asgard said in a tightly controlled voice as he looked around to ensure the security of the area. "Commander Winn, are you alright?"
[ Wenn Cinn | Alpha Squad | Black Opal Facility | Loading docks ]
After the fighting and as Cinn was called the door at the end of the long smooth corridor opened and Cinn stood there, rifle in hand as he looked to his reinforcements. "Everything is fine on our end, the Loading Docks are secured and fortified." He turned back to his team. "Half of you main here to hold this point, the other half come with me." He motioned and then walked forward to meet up with Wolf pilots that had come to his aid.
As he met up with the other people he spoke. "I need a status report. How have our teams advanced? Were we able to take their weapons cache yet? And have we been able to discern weather or not they have started the security protocols to detonate their weapons cache?" Cinn was intent on keeping things moving as his team formed up behind him and they prepared to mobilize to capture the weapons cache if needed. As soon as Cinn got the information he was going to make contact with the Theurgy and let them know the status of his team.
[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ] Attn: All
The effects of the damn weapon she had been shot with still lingered while Jennifer tried to take in everything that was happening around her, not to mention listening to the red-collared man that had introduced himself as brevet Commander Trent.
The two women - if they were even human - at the main console were bypassing the facility's systems and securing communications, preparing for the cease-fire to be called. Jennifer could but frown in consternation as the woman with short, dark hair seemingly fell asleep - standing and physically linked with the console through some dataport in her neck. The woman with the strange body-suit seemed to take it in stride, however, continuing to enter commands at an uncanny pace.
When Commander Trent told her that he had been a part of Sankolov's staff - the Admiral of the USS Archeron - her frown turned deeper, looking back to the man with the bionic arm. How could he have defected when the report said that the Theurgy and the Harbinger shut down the whole Task Force above orbit of Theta Eridani IV? Evidently, if she were to place any credence to the Commander's words about the event, the report had been incomplete. Then again, what as new? The finer details of events seldom made it to the written reports, and she was not sure she had the security clearance level to learn everything. What was in Trent's favour, however, was the truth about how the Theurgy had conducted its raid on her station - the Black Opal facility seized with minimum loss of lives. There might be any number of tactical advantages to not vent the entire depot, but it had been ineffective to go about it the way they had - damage aside from the computer core repairable. The core hadn't been targeted until she had issued Code Zero either, the destruction of the core a necessity she might have forced the Theurgy's Captain to order.
She was promised humane terms-of-surrender, and while it did not sit right with her, she recognised a single option scenario when she saw one. She had no alternatives, and her last resort was to accept the terms and hope for survival on behalf of her crew and herself. She did not know what the Commander wanted to talk about, but judging by the reports, she ought to consider herself lucky she was not going to meet Captain Ives in person. Either way, she could not fathom how she was supposed to recognise the treason of the Theurgy's captain and crew to have a just cause.
"I accept your dubious terms, traitor," she said quietly, teeth locked to keep her voice from shuddering in the aftershocks she suffered, "and I will give the cease-fire... hoping that you are a man of your word and that you hold up to promises made... because I have no other choice, do I?"
"The Black Opal's communication system has been restored in the manner you requested, Commander," said the one in the body-suit, having turned her head to look at the two people by the maintenance access panel. "The PA system can be accessed now."
Jennifer had not looked away from the Commander. The stare she gave him through the tresses of her red hair was her questioning whether he was a man of his word, or if he was forcing her hand in making her surrender. Whatever were the case, what he would do after she made the call to surrender would define his character. She hoped the look she gave him would haunt him to his grave if he ordered his officers to execute her personnel all over the base as soon as they lowered their weapons. After a couple of seconds, she got up on her feet - refusing any kind of assistance - and limped her way over to the main console. The one in the body-suit stepped aside, and Jennifer reached for the transmission command.
"This is Lieutenant Commander Dewitt. We have vested all our means towards the protection of this base, and you all did well... but I am now ordering an immediate cease-fire." The words were bitter in her mouth, the implication that she had just sentenced her personnel to their deaths making her shaking hands cold - only her voice remaining firm. "We might have every reason to doubt this particular besieging force based on what they have done up until this day, but I am convinced that our lives will be spared, and our freedom remain ours. Lay down your weapons now and surrender... for there is naught more we can do. You are all to report to the mess hall, where we will be treated fairly and receive medical attention... until they depart and let us resume our duties."
She suppressed the image of a firing squad, executing them all once they were gathered. She swallowed and prayed silently that there was more to this Captain Ives than they were told to expect, and that the Commander hadn't made her order her personnel to their deaths.
"Ours... have not been the brightest of times together, my command flawed by lassitude..." she said finally, feeling that she had to give them all the respect they deserved by telling the truth, and to ask their forgiveness - undeserving as she was. "Nonetheless, I hope you will forgive me, and that you will obey this order... That you put your faith in me... this one time at the very least. "
She was not a woman of faith, but she could not help but pray that god would have mercy on them all.
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
Above the Black Opal, a procession of sorts was under way - the recovery shuttle returning to the Theurgy. The patrol route that had been set followed in the shuttle's wake, and Ghost could see Kestrel's Valkyrie being towed with the shuttle's tractor beam towards the aft of their base ship.
We were sixteen when we fled Earth, she thought as she watched the small white figure of the attack fighter from her cockpit, and she suspected that behind her, Goldeneyes and Morrigan were also looking at it - thinking about their own mortality just as much as she. It was not the first time they lost a member of the pack, and it was not going to be the last either, yet what hurt the most for Rawley was how many they had lost in such short order - the Lone Wolves Squadron decimated to a scarce number of eight pack members within a week's time. Now, they were only half as many as they'd once been, people on Covington's team lost as well, and the hangar was feeling more empty by the day.
During the memorial service, she had said her farewells to her brothers and sisters, one a brother-by-blood, and she knew that Kestrel would be just as missed as the others were. It just felt too surreal that she had died the way she had, and Rawley hoped that Maverick was going to handle it... for they could not afford loosing him as well due to the guilt he might hold himself to.
The signal came from the Black Opal that they had surrendered - the depot's resistance to an end. Sorely, Rawley tapped a screen, and keyed up the poem they couldn't read back at the memorial - the one Jaru Rel had recited the first month on the run, until he hadn't had the heart to continue doing so. The former Squadron Commander had lost four of them before Miles took his place, Iceman lost too. With regret for all that the Lone Wolves had been through, Rawley opened the squadron channel and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Wraith of white... you wander wild, you child of winter sky." Those words were the hardest, because they had come to confirm that they had lost someone. There were no life readings from the damaged fighter. Rawley continued, even as their patrol route weered away from the recovery shuttle, her tone quiet and full of bitter sorrow.
"Loping through... the cold hinterwood, it's secrets you've understood. Born to roam, long of fang, through glaciers... your voice once rang. Lonely in your lycan heart, you made the kill... your finest art. Guardian to your kind, your strength was ours, and ours were yours, for we were a single mind."
Rawley closed the channel for a moment, having to swallow before she could finish. The strength of the pack was in the wolf, and the strength of the wolf was in the pack. It just seemed theirs was not enough.
"We failed you, lost you to the distant shore... but know that you will roam with us... forevermore."
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Back on the Theurgy, Thea had just informed the bridge crew that the base had surrendered, and that the disarmed personnel were being led to the mess hall.
"Thank you, Thea," said Captain Ives, the relief emphasising his voice once the report was finished. "Commander Trent, well done, and give my regards to the rest. Remain on the base until we are ready to depart. Requisition medical and engineering officers as required, the Theurgy will remain within Transporter distance. Green-light Covington and O'Connell to begin their operations, and keep us posted if anything changes. Theurgy, out."
Then, a hail came from the recovery shuttle that had been launched when the base went dark. It was approaching the Theurgy at a low velocity, towing the Valkyrie that had been set adrift at the onset of the battle. Jien gestured for the hail to be received on the intercom instead of the ear-piece Cameron wore at Mission-Ops.
[This is Shuttle Zero-Five. The Mk. III Valkyrie has been recovered, designation Wolf-Zero-Two. Pilot listed as Ensign Skye Carver, callsign Kestrel. No life-signs. Bringing her home. Medical has been advised and are standing by in the Fighter Assault Bay.]
The pang of hearing that it was Ensign Carver that had perished hit Jien hard, the rift between his brows deepening as he looked to the deck plates. Images of the woman that he had enjoyed Lohlunat with appeared before his eyes as he closed them, and he returned to the command chair to sit down. It took a couple of seconds before he answered the CONN Officer in the recovery shuttle.
"This is Captain Ives. Thank you for your report. Theurgy, out."
Yet as much regret that name might have caused Jien, and the loss of the woman affected him, it was nothing compared to what the news did to the young man at the Engineering station on the bridge...
OOC: Cue DocReno and Lin Kae, but everyone not on the Theurgy's bridge may post independently.
Poem: Adaptation of "White Wolf" by Soulsurvivor (http://hellopoetry.com/SoulSurvivor/) (C) 2014-2-16, rewritten 2015-6-12.
[ Commander Carrigan Trent | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ]
Trent might not have specialized as an interrogator or a specialist in handling sentient beings as intelligence assets but he could tell that what he'd said raised a number a questions within Dewitt. That in itself was a good thing, because she was now forced to at least reconsider her current set of assumptions. Oh, it did not mean she would change her mind but it was a good start. It meant that at least he would have a chance to speak to her one on one and perhaps even get through to her.
And that was enough for him to overlook being called a traitor. Especially since he would wager his very soul on the fact that by the information she had, he indeed was one. But then again, being part of the one crew that knew the truth and fought to preserve it and bring it to light did tend to paint one in a rather negative light. But at least, she accepted his terms of surrender. He knew they were quite generous to begin with and well in line with Starfleet's regulations and ethics and Federation law. But at least, Dewitt gave the order for her people to stand down, and no sooner had she done so that his combadge chirped and the Captain was heard.
Tapping it in return, he spoke. "Aye Captain," he first replied. "Request you send over Doctor Duv and a casualty relief team with a security component directly into Black Opal's sickbay and ready to treat casualties. Also, I need damage survey and control teams to put the station to rights. Trent out."
With this done, he tapped his combadge once more. "Boarding party, this is Commander Trent in the command center. Redeploy your people to secure Black Opal's crew in their messhall and have their casualties taken to their sickbay under guard. Remember, they are Starfleet personnel who have given us an honourable surrender. Treat them will all courtesy and use of force is now on a strict self-defence basis. Use of deadly force is not authorized under any circumstances. I say again, deadly force is not authorized. Commander Wenn, get acknowledgement of new your new orders and rules of engagement from your team leaders and confirm receipt. Trent out."
And then, he sent a third and final message. "All transporter rooms, begin resupply operations. Mister Covington, get your people aboard, out."
Now that these details were seen to, he turned his attention back to the Lieutenant Commander. He knew what it was like to be in such an isolated post. As a rule, they were never manned by the cream of the crop. Hell, that was usually when they sent problem cases so they wouldn't be in the way of 'real' Starfleet operations in primary fixed facilities and on starships. He himself had been a special case, having been sent to the edge of Ferengi space to refine his expertise with operational analysis and continue his research in sensor exploitation. But he did have to deal with his fair share of shitheads.
And he also knew what it was like to be soundly defeated and that was no easy thing to bear. Even when you knew you'd been badly outmatched. He still felt pangs of guilt and inadequacy even all these years after the Harrier had been demolished around his ears by a force of a half-dozen Jem'Hadar fighters.
So now, he needed to talk with the station's commander privately, explain the facts she'd been denied and give her a very different version of events than she'd been fed. "Commander Dewitt, may we speak in your Ready Room?" As he'd been from the first he spoke to her, Trent was unfailingly polite. Of course as the senior officer aboard, and the representative of the ship that had just gotten her to surrender. But it never hurt to be civil. Especially when you had a reputation for savagery to shatter and a need to secure at least her attention long enough to get her the information she needed to make an informed decision.
[ CWO1 Covington | Transporter Room 1 and Black Opal Facility ]
When the word came to beam over, Covington tapped his combadge as he looked to O'Connell at the transporter controls. "Resupply party, this is Covington. Game on. Let's get to work out there. Remember to stay alert. Time's a factor here, but let's get this done right, not just fast. First chalk, let's get out there, second chalk two minutes follow two minutes behind. Covington out."
From his spot on the transporter pad, he gave the Chief Engineer a nod. "All right, Billy my boy, you know where to drop us. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
"Aye-Aye Mister Covington," Master Chief O'Connell replied. "Transporting you to the proper coordinates now," he said as he hands glided over the console. Up on the transporter pads, Covington and his party became a vanished in a shower of sparks. The burly engineer tapped his combage to speak to the rest of his people he had assigned to the other transporter rooms. "Okay people, keep it moving. When you get a cargo transponder, beam it up the goods and get 'em off the transporter pads as quickly as possible. Keep track of your scavenging team and go in the order we agreed on. Let's make this happen people. Time is latinium and every moment we spend here is a moment we risk having the sheriff and his posse get the drop on us. Let's do this by the numbers and do our jobs."
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf-07 | Outer Space | | Outside the RNZ ]
"We failed you, lost you to the distant shore... but know that you will roam with us... forevermore," Wolf-09's voice came over the squadron channel as she finished her eulogy.
After word came down that Black Opal had surrendered, Tessa made the mistake of letting her mind drift. What had happened? Why had they lost another sister? And how were they going to get along without her?
[ Maya (https://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/e/7/maya_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n3n.png) | USS Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]
In the fighter hangar on deck fifteen, Doctor Maya awaited the return of the recovery shuttle to see what she could do for Ensign Skye Carver. Although Maya's large hazel eyes revealed no tension, the eyes of the medical corpsmen who accompanied her were empty. If Maya could do anything for Ensign Carver but pronounce her dead on arrival, it would be as miraculous as Commander Cinn coming back to life.
[ Amelya Duv | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 ] attn: MCPO William O'Connell
After hearing that Trent had called for her to join him at the Opal facility, Amelya assembled her relief team and made her way to one of the transporter rooms in a hurry. She waited impatiently for a security team to show up to accompany here and she looked over at O'Connell waiting for him to finish dashing out his order "Chief, I need a quick site to site to Opal's Sickbay if you can spare it. Just my squad and a security detail. Can you make it work?" she asked as the first security officers rolled in and prepared themselves for their jobs.
Amelya looked over at security before shaking her head and dressing her own people "Alright guys, looks like we might be down there for a while. I want a quick triage of the casualties and basic pain meds for those who needs them. Injuries that are worse are placed separately so we can take a closer look at them and assess how to move further. Good luck everyone." she said and waited for O'Connell's green light to be beamed down.
[ Simon Tovarek | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ]
Looking up from his station Simon remained silent as he looked at the view screen. The arrival of the recovery shuttle a cold reminder that even this reasonably standard mission could go awry oh so fast. He shook the feeling off as he took another look at the scanners, double checking them as there were no abnormalities spotted on them. Only then did he rise his voice to the captain "Captain, with your permission I'd like to head down to the Opal base. Besides the weapon ammunition stored there, I might think that perhaps they have something else in store, science wise that is. I wouldn't be surprised if they were conducting research with prototype weaponry. So in that case I'd like to go down to investigate if you let me." he suggested.
After receiving permission to go, Simon removed himself from his station and made his way down to the transporter rooms. He didn't bother with any heave weapons on his way down to the Opal facility as he relied on just his phaser in case of any trouble. Seeing Duv with a security detail at the transporter room, he decided to join them on their way down. A small conversation between him and the doctor taking place while they awaited their site to site transport below.
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png) |wolf 05| Black Opal Facility | Engineering ] Attn: Security Team Charlie
Nathan finally arrived a little sore for ware at engineering his weapon armed for stun, as he arrived to assist those pinned down by Phaser fire. Nathan and wolf 06 arrived just in time to see the security team engaged in enemy fire, and Ryuan sprawled out along the ground. Nathan quickly ducked into action keeping himself low as he fired a quick and unfocused barrage of fire from his weapon, attempting to cover himself as he reached the mistress at arms.
Seeing that she was down and out, he placed a hand along her neck to check vitals, and then quickly grabbed her. The great thing about his vulcan physiology was that he was able to hoist the woman up with one arm, and slump her over his shoulder lifting her with little effort as 06 covered him from safety. Pulling her out of combat he radio'd the rest of the security team. "I have Ryuan she's stunned but alive."
Nathan and 06 were working on pulling back. He held the type three phaser in one arm and felt slightly like a hero from one of those old western holo novels. Busting into a room to save the attractive damsal. The moment he had the woman into cover he dropped her off and made sure that she was safe he gave her a small shake to try and wake her up. "How long is she going to be out for if she was stunned?"
wolf 06 gave a shrug as phaser fire rallied agianst the area where the three of them had taken cover on, and Nathan looked wary and unsure of what to do. His last command hadn't gone well and he had just killed a wolf... he was starting to second guess his every action even something so simple as laying covering fire seemed impossible at this point.
[ Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard |Black Opal Facility| Loading Docks] Attn : Wenn Cinn, Husker, Maverick
"I need a status report. How have our teams advanced? Were we able to take their weapons cache yet? And have we been able to discern weather or not they have started the security protocols to detonate their weapons cache?"
"I sent Mav and 06 to reinforce Charlie team. Beta seemed to be doing fine on the way to the command center. Weapons cache detonation was prevented when Ghost and I took out the computer core when communications relayed that the Opal crew were attempting to implement a code zero scenario." About that time Miles quickly belayed what he was going to report as he heard the distinct click of an intercom system switching on.
"This is Lieutenant Commander Dewitt. We have vested all our means towards the protection of this base, and you all did well... but I am now ordering an immediate cease-fire." The words were bitter in her mouth, the implication that she had just sentenced her personnel to their deaths making her shaking hands cold - only her voice remaining firm. "We might have every reason to doubt this particular besieging force based on what they have done up until this day, but I am convinced that our lives will be spared, and our freedom remain ours. Lay down your weapons now and surrender... for there is naught more we can do. You are all to report to the mess hall, where we will be treated fairly and receive medical attention... until they depart and let us resume our duties."
"Ours... have not been the brightest of times together, my command flawed by lassitude..." she said finally, feeling that she had to give them all the respect they deserved by telling the truth, and to ask their forgiveness - undeserving as she was. "Nonetheless, I hope you will forgive me, and that you will obey this order... That you put your faith in me... this one time at the very least. "
"Looks the command center is secure." Miles said before opening his com system. "Fox to Mav, I just heard the surrender over the intercom; things starting to quieten down in Engineering?"
[ Selena Ravenholm | Black Opal Facility | Command Center ]
The cyborg human came back to the world of the awake hearing the voice of the mission Commander.
"...stances. I say again, deadly force is not authorized. Commander Wenn, get acknowledgement of new your new orders and rules of engagement from your team leaders and confirm receipt. Trent out."
She sighed a bit looking down at the console making sure that the backup computer systems were functioning correctly and smiled. things would lag a bit and systems may take a few extra seconds to retrieve info until a new core could be installed but given the circumstances power was beginning to be restored to key areas and backup lighting was now beginning to activate where normal lighting wasn't available immediately. Noticing the amount of high security locked off file systems in the bases systems she knew it was going to take more than herself and Thea working with a backup computer to make heads or tails of the systems for large scale resupply operations for a Starship Theurgy's size.
Looking through available systems she noticed among the few comm systems that were still active one of them was still functioning. on the Theurgy the system was similar to the squadron control communications system used to coordinate between mission ops on the bridge and the Lone wolves during operations. here it seemed to be a medium range space traffic control relay for workbee/shuttle operations. Its maximum range was kind of small and the Theurgy was just outside of it but with a bit of tweaking to the power regulation systems and its transmissions were boosted to reach the Theurgy just fine.
Smirking she opened the channel. "Opal CentCom to Theurgy. Seems like half the systems on this station aren't even accessible to the base commander from what I saw when bringing the com-reception systems online. This place needs an active Captain's authorization codes just to tell me the contents of the weapons crates. Obviously your codes won't work for obvious reasons. So I gotta bypass it somehow. Requesting permission to falsify authorizations to facilitate restocking operations at the base's full capabilities."
[Lieutenant Lin Kae | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge] Attn: All
As the information that the base had surrendered reached those on the bridge, Kae's right eyebrow started to twitch ever so slightly but still as suddenly as his mind finally allowed himself to realized what had happened.
Skye was dead.
The only person on the entire ship that he could actually goto like a family member was dead.
Shot out of space dead.
Dead like so many since everything had begun on this trip.
He thought back to all of the engineering chiefs that he had worked with and learned under in Nolak Kalmil, Nicole Howard, Alexander Rosek and Tatiana Marlowe and each one was lost one..after..the..other, leaving his department in shambles as they continued on their quest to "free the Federation"..
Then there was Soo Young Seung's death at the hands of one of her own fellow pilots during the attempted take over by Vassar's people. The events following their tryst had caused a lof questions for the young hybrid and he was looking forward to finding more about them as these feelings where different then those that he had for Niveh.
But he would never have the chance to be happy again as Oracle had been gunned down and now one of those very bastards from the Harbinger was now aboard the Theurgy and serving in the same squadron as his now late "Big Sister"...
Kae shook his head as a series of dark thoughts slowly started to creep into his mind. How did they know that it was one of her fellow Wolves that killed Soo and not the fucking fighter pilot that had joined from the Harbinger?!
Kae's hands clenched as he reviewed the tactical information as he started to quickly input a series of commands into his console, years of practice, training, and experience had given him an edge over several of the other officers on this ship as he quickly tied into the base's systems while bypassing the other Harbinger..
Kae gripped the left side of his head tightly as this thought quickly came crashing down on top of him in why was there so many of those fucking traitors on this *SHIP*?! Why and how would a select few be immune from that bastard and what he did to them...
As that thought quickly trailed into a moment of clarity as he broke through a seperate firewall and accessed the base's life support and other systems rather easily as he said in voice that both seemed older then his young features showed but also as dead and emotionless that would make a Vulcan cringe with the lack of substance.
"I'm sorry captain but the base is still not secured...not as long as there is still a killer there."
He then tapped out a series of commands.
Skye's killer would not be able to gloat and then everyone else who needed to pay would.
[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | Black Opal Facility | Command Centre ] Attn: All
Having turned away from the console, Jennifer watched the Commander as he gave his orders, but her thoughts were on that voice she had heard from his combadge - the voice of the traitor Captain. The mass-murdering bastard who had stopped at nothing to get away with his treason and carry out the will of his Romulan allies. How could it be that this man before her had chosen to defect to someone like that, out of his own will joining forces with that Chameloid?
Defeat was a sour taste in Jennifer's mouth, and she expected the mess hall to be a trap, but still she stood tall - grinding her teeth and raking her red tresses out of her eyes when the Commander returned his attention to her.
"As if I have a choice?" she said stoically in retort as he asked to speak with her in her Ready Room, and with one final look at the staff in the command centre, she walked towards the door - leading the way into the room that she had been about to retreat to before the Theurgy had arrived. She walked around her desk, watching the Commander from underneath her eyebrows cautiously, and sat down in her chair - facing him.
"So this is where you tell me that everything I have been told has been a lie," she said, the scepticism plain in her tone, "and that Captain Ives did not kill all those Starfleet officers because he - or she - did not want to face the penalty for treason?"
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Seated in his chair, Jien looked up from his armrest when Lieutenant Tovarek asked permission to beam over to the base. "Permission granted," he said, thoughts still on Ensign Carver and what had happened between him and her. He did have the presence of mind to give his Chief Science Officer some further instructions."Make sure that you proceed with caution and coordinate your investigation with the present security personnel."
After Tovarek left, Selena Ravenholm's voice came through the intercom, basically telling Jien that there was more to the Black Opal than met the eye, and hearing that, Jien guessed that Tovarek would likely find out more than he could have hoped for. "Permission granted," he said to the peculiar woman, "and make sure you inform Lieutenant Tovarek about what you find in the systems too. He is heading down there to investigate what can be found on the base beyond the expected."
Jien was waiting for Wenn Cinn to report in when he heard a voice from the engineering station, but it did not sound like Lin Kae at all. The young holographic specialist had been silent up until then, and when Jien recalled what he had just said, he rose from his chair. "Security has seized the command centre, and the base personnel are being unarmed and incarcerated in the mess hall as we speak. What do you mean, Mister Lin?" he asked, before he made the connection to the fact of Skye Carver's death. Jien remembered how the young Bajoran had switched bodies with the late fighter pilot during the Ishtar incident, and how they had both been on the away-mission to Nimbus III. As far as they knew at that point, Carver was the only casualty, but there was no telling what had really happened when her Valkyrie was hit.
Jien had no idea what the uncharacteristically calm specialist was up to by his duty station, but the implication of what he had said was reason enough to approach the young man. That, and the fact that Lin Kae was such a proficient programmer that he had unshackled Thea from Starfleet's digital chains was alarming enough. "Step away from the console, Lieutenant. That's an order."
The risk of compromising the fragile trust of the base's personnell was too imminent, so any sudden and unwanted development could start a wildfire down on the base. Therefore, Jien grabbed the young man's forearm and twisted it back from the Engineering station - making Kae step away from it. "What the hell did you do?" he demanded, then whipped his eyes towards the view screen. "Theurgy to the Black Opal. Thea, Ravenholm, whatever Lieutenant Lin did from here, undo it immediately!"
[Kae... What did you do? What have you done?] asked Thea from the base, the tone of her voice horrified on the intercom - and it made Jien feel a cold shiver up his mimicked spine. On top of that, Thea spoke again, but this time, it was an automated announcement generated by the ship's computer.
[Tactical Alert. Vessel approaching, bearing one-eight-four mark seven.]
What the hell is happening? Jien rounded on the viewscreen and the information that was generated on the glass-like surface, still holding Kae by the forearm and not letting go. His oaken eyes quickly derived that whatever Kae had done to the base's systems, it was likely completely unrelated to what the long-range sensors just picked up. Unless Kae had used the base's systems to signal the approaching ship, it had happened to arrive right then by chance alone. The warp signature was one Jien was quite familiar with, and since the civil war had begun, he had never thought he'd seen it outside the RNZ.
"It's a Romulan warbird, Mogai-class, approaching at warp nine," said Jien under his breath, heart beating in his ears. Yet when he adressed Thea, his voice was firm again. "It says it is still cloaked... Since when could you detect cloaked Romulan ships, Thea?"
[Since I had a phasing cloak of my own installed, Captain. I calibrated the bottom tiers of my sensor sweeps according to the phase variables applicable for the mass of starships. ETA: One minute.]
"I see." It seemed that even if Vasser had their cloak sabotaged, Thea had learned something useful from it.
"Red Alert!" he said next, and turned his hard eye towards Lin Kae. He shoved the young man to the floor with his grip - as if he was a child - and raised a finger to point at his face. "Stay. Guards, take Mister Lin to the Brig. Thea, transmit on secure channels to all addressed parties as required. Number One, we need you up here. We have company, and scare means of deterrence. Mister Wenn, keep the Black Opal ours, and watch your backs down there. Ensign Henshaw, alert the wolves in the air, but have them remain on their current patrol route. Tell Renard that we might require him and his wolves back in their cockpits if the situation down on the base allows for it. Have him coordinate with Wenn Cinn. Helm, no hasty movements. Turn Thea so that we can give it a broadside, but do it slowly so that they still think they have the element of surprise. Covington and O'Connell, I need those torpedoes now, and I need them transported directly into the starboard pod launcher platforms. I cannot stress the urgency in this enough. Stark, help them in any way you can."
There was only one explanation for why a Romulan warbird was approaching a secret Federation facility, and it was that the enemy was leaking coordinates to one of the Romulan factions in the civil war. Furthermore, it was not unlikely the enemy were going to use the Theurgy as a scapegoat - causing a diplomatic incident and wiping the blood off their hands on Jien's uniform. If Jien was supposed to have defected to the Romulans, then it was easy to tell the FNN that he had been feeding secret intel to them.
Jien closed his fists at his sides as he stared at the viewscreen, and the glare remained while he changed... to her female form. "If we cannot convince them to return to their side of the RNZ, we might have to destroy them. The protection of the Black Opal is our priority."
[ETA: Twenty seconds,] Thea said. Jien stretched her fingers, gearing herself for what was to come. Watching the count-down on the view screen while her crew scrambled to prepare for a second battle.
OOC: Plot-twist! Hope you are all okay with some final drama before we settle this raid on the Black Opal. :) Please PM me with any questions. DocReno, I hope you are okay with the development, and we would very much like to know what Lin Kae did. Please make sure to PM the actual intent to IronFerrox and me since we play Thea and Ravenholm.
Also, sorry for the slight delay, people! Hope this makes up for it.
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy | 0815 hours ]
"Doctor Duv, Mister Tovarek, feel free to step up on the transporter pads and I'll be with you in two shakes of a lamb's tail," Master Chief William Robert O'Connell drawled to the two blue collared officers who had entered the portside transporter room on deck five. He looked up from his console and looked the two officers over, checking to make sure that they had brought the equipment he deemed necessary for an away team mission. It was the duty of the senior enlisted personnel to make sure that both their officers and subordinates had everything they needed to complete their mission. If you didn't take it, odds were you were going to go without.
"Alright, I'm going to beam y'all to Commander Trent's location," O'Connell informed them. "The transporters'll be busy once the swag starts comin' in, so don't do anythin' that'll require an emergency beam out sirs. Transportin' now." As the burly engineer's large hands played over the transporter console, Doctor Amelya Duv and Lieutenant Simon Tovarek glowed brightly before disappearing in a shower of sparks.
"Okay Papa Bear, let me know when t' beam up the first batch," O'Connell said as he activated a communicator on the his console.
Covington's response was drowned out by the warning claxons sounding Red Alert.
"What the hell?" O'Connell sputtered. "Why don't things ever run smooth?"
[ Maya (https://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/e/7/maya_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n3n.png) | USS Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 | 0815 hours ]
In the fighter hanger on deck fifteen, a blue collared officer was performing a very different duty. "Ensign Skye Carver pronounced dead at 0815 hours on Stardate 57096.3," Doctor Maya announced solemnly as she rose from the remains of the fallen pilot. The shuttle pilots and the stretcher party stood in respectful silence as the little Vulcan put her instruments away and closed her medikit.
The alarm claxons signaling a red alert situation made a few people jump but Maya remained perfectly still.
[Red Alert,] Thea's voice was heard over the claxons. [Red Alert. All hands to duty stations. This is not a drill. Repeat: This is not a drill.]
"Attend to Ensign Carver," the little Vulcan instructed the stretcher bearers. "I must return to sickbay."
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf-07 | Outer Space | | Outside the RNZ | 0815 hours ]
Tessa's mouth went dry when a light on her Valkyrie's console flashed to indicate a red alert situation. "No! No!" she cried as she brought her fighter to a full stop, fearful that it would start shooting down her squadmates without any direction from the pilot. Only then did she notice that the Theurgy was sending her coordinates of a cloaked starship...
OOC: I'm assuming it took a half hour to take the station. I'm also assuming that the Theurgy sends out the coordinates of the Romulan vessel out to the fighters.
GM note: Awesome post! I have made slight edits in Thea's announcement and the location for the Valkyrie's tractored landing, but correct, Cameron Henshaw would send a tactical update including coordinates.
[ Wenn Cinn | Alpha Squad | Black Opal Facility | Loading docks ]
As Cinn was filled in on the situation on the station he nodded and looked to the people who had come to his aid. "I see, well then." He turned to his troops. " Gather up the stunned crew of the station and relocate them to the medical bay. After the losses we saw in the mutiny to stun burns, I think we should provide the common courtesy to look after their injured, put our best foot forward despite what is being said about us." He watch as his men began to carefully lift and move the unconscious defenders back to their medical center. "Well now that we have the taken care of it is time for us to report back." Before he could even begin to report in, he began to be informed of the arrival of a Romulan ship.
Cinn looked to the members of the Wolves and he let out a sigh. "Alright you two, get back to the hanger and get yourselves a few crates and begin constructing a barricade, I will get a few of my remaining me to help you." He tapped his hand over his combadge to open his communication back to the Theurgy. "Captain I have a grasp of the situation on my end. I will be dedicating a portion of my forces to medical. We will be moving the injured and stunned to safety so that they do not get caught in the crossfire. I will also be leaving them there so we do not end up with a repeat of what happened with the Triage center."
Cinn began to walk back to the Loading docks. "This station was designed with the possibility of being raided in mind, if anyone comes for the Loading Docks we will hold them off as best we can, but we will likely be falling back to the corridors. We will gain the natural bottleneck there, and with the steps we took, they will not be able to do anything to the rest of the station from here." Standing out on the balcony area overlooking the hanger Cinn spoke out. "Alpha, we need to fortify, take crates from the inner side of the fortification and move it up to the corridors within the base. We must construct a fall back position."
Cinn took a deep breath, he would need to remain here for the sake of his men, with their reduce numbers he would have to take personal command of Alpha to keep up moral and ensure that they held up under pressure. With another deep breath Cinn tapped his combadge again. "Captain with the way I have split up my forces, I will be holding at this location. With the educed numbers in the force I feel my skills will be best employed here ensuring that the enemy does not get in a toe hold." he looked over the area as he knew he would be sealing up the command booth of the Loading Docks so that no one could get at them during the fight. "Alpha will hold is position Captain, you can count on that, and we will also take over medical running to hopefully keep a handle on casualties."
As much as Cinn wanted to take charge of he situation tactically, but he knew he needed to step back and allow others to play their part, he was still a bit distrusted among the crew, so best show that he was willing to hold the line and follow orders, instead of rushing off to be the maverick commander who raided the brig, and killed without hesitation. He knew that after this point he would win back as much of the crew as he could, the rest would not trust him no matter what, but after showing his dedication in two different ways, he was sure he would be part of Theurgy again...or at least enough a part to satisfy his own personal worries.
[Lieutenant Lin Kae | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge] Attn: All
"What the hell did you do?"
As the shape-shifter twisted his arm backwards and then the announcement of the incoming Romulan ship, Kae's eyes betrayed more emotion then his voice which was the same cold, dead, emotional tone that he had previously spoke with and as he started to speak, he slowly stood back up as if he was under some kind of massive weight.
"What *I* did, CAPTAIN, was ensure that a killer did not use the base to murder any more of *MY* crew." he said as he looked Jien dead in the eyes when he caught hir gaze again. "You have been too soft on those that just happened to be the good apples among that slavering pack of jackals and hyenas that came over from the Harbinger, I mean that pilot Slayton is a walking PTSD bomb waiting to happen and yet you're allowing him free access to a fighter craft knowing full well that at a moment's notice he can do whatever he wants because he's a fully capable killer."
Kae then motioned around the ship's main bridge while still staring at s/he dead in the eyes. "Look at everything you haven't accomplished, *CAPTAIN*. You have successfully done only one thing and that's not gotten us blown the frak up yet and yet we still follow you..we are beaten down, blown up and across, sexually abused by a bloody plant and we still follow you despite the fact that you allowed...*YOU* *ALLOWED* Skye's body to just float off into the dead vastness of space without a second thought..."
Kae's face still betrayed no emotion as the information started to course through his mind. "If my memory serves we have exactly less then a minute for you to come up with some kind of great plan to save us..but I...I want answers, I'm so fucking tired that I can't see straight anymore and one of the scant few people that I actually gave any kind of shit about is dead and her killer is either on that base or near it.."
Kae's emotionless façade started to slowly crack just a little as his rational side fought to keep his emotions buried and in check.
"What I did..I didn't want her to go unavenged.." Kae said simply.
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
When the Holographic Specialist spoke up behind Jien, she turned her head from the viewscreen to meet his accusations, even if the Romulan warbird was going to drop out of warp in within the minute. As she met the young Bajoran's stare, her own eyes were hooded underneath the sharp line of her browridge - the scowl of a commander looking at a traitor. She had admired Lin Kae's abilities, to a great degree even his idealism when it came to Thea's rights. She had trusted him to protect her, but now, he might just have jeopardised what was left of the crew and the digital soul he had been charged to protect in his official position. Something which became plain when Thea's voice was heard on the intercom.
[Lieutenant Lin disabled the transporters, Captain. Not just my own, but the Black Opal facility's too. We have no way to restock on torpedoes, and Commander Trent is still down there, along with everyone that we managed to beam over. I am working on activating both transporter systems, standby for reactivation.] It appeared Kae believed the new fighter pilot from the Harbinger could have killed Skye Carver, given the ease which the base could shoot her down and the nature of the Valkyries' tetryon cannon, which could have disabled Carver's shields. Did he mean to trap Carver's killer down there?
Having been a victim of treason on the very bridge she stood once before - when Captain Vasser threw her into the Brig of her own ship - whatever admiration Jien held for Lin Kae had evaporated. Did he really think she did not know how many had died since they fled Earth? Could he not fathom how it grieved her, and how she still had to lead them on their mission? Yet as he faced her, he it appeared his resolve was failing him, and he began to see what he had done in rational light. It was, however, too late for second thoughts. Kae would have to live with the rashness of his actions. The security guards grabbed the young Bajoran, and Jien made no move to call them off. She just stared at him, letting him realise for himself what he had just done. She could say that if there was any justice to be served in the matter of Carver's death, that same justice would apply to him.
[The vessel has dropped out of warp, bearing one-eight-four mark eight,] announced Thea, her feelings towards Kae's betrayal plain in her digital voice. [She is still cloaked, but I have made her visible on our sensors and I am transmitting the coordinates to the Lone Wolves. Transporters are still down. Stand by for reactivation...]
While Kae was led to the turbolift by security, his accusations and demands gone unanswered, Jien turned her attention to the man at Tactical. "Petty Officer Arisaka, do let the Romulan vessel see any weapon signatures lit just yet. She will be scanning us and the Black Opal, deciding if the prize is worth the fight. Keep the shields lowered, and let them take stock of our tactical systems. If we are lucky, she will decide to retreat instead of taking us on. Either way, we buy ourselves some time while they contemplate their next move. Operations," she said next, not letting the situation get to her - or at lest not letting it show - and she looked towards Natalie Stark, "restrict yourself to passive scans of the warbird. Otherwise, she will know that we have seen her. Thea, get the transporters online and notify Covington and O'Connell immediately when you do. We need those torpedoes."
Wenn Cinn reported in, telling Jien that he would keep the base from being compromised by Romulan ground forces. With the shields of the base gone, the Romulans would be able to beam personnel inside, and his three squads would have to dig themselves in and keep the Black Opal from falling into enemy hands. Ironic, how they would have to defend the very base they had just seized. "This is Ives, understood... and may the Prophets be with you."
[ Thea - Mobile Emitter Projection | The Black Opal | Command Centre ] Attn: All
By that point, both Simon Tovarek and Amelya Duv had arrived and left, given instructions on where to go. They had been the last ones to beam over before Kae shut down the systems.
Thea's eyes felt like they burned, and her analysis had shown that it was a result from the emotion's chip's feed. Tears unshed at the thought of what Kae just had done, and blame towards herself for not seeing how her closest friend had fallen to delusions and blame towards Captain Ives for all that he has been through. What might hurt the most was how she knew what Skye Carver meant to Kae, or at least she believed she did, and seeing him react so violently to her death made her grieve for him - despite what he had just done.
"I am unravelling the encryption he laid on my systems to keep the transporters non-functional," she said to Ravenholm as she stepped away from the main console, letting Selena handle the Base's systems in her comatose state, but she was confident that the dark-hair woman could still hear her. "Yet Kae knows my capacity better than anyone, and foresaw how I would do it. I need you to integrate with me, at the cost of powering down this base again."
Having walked in a circle behind Ravenholm as she spoke, she came to stand next to the cyborg, and she resequenced her projection to hollow out her abdominal area. In the glowing hole she made, her mobile emitter floated on its anti-gravity units. She put a hand on Selena's shoulder, prompting her to wake up quickly and act. "Connect to me, and lift Kae's encryption. He does not know your software, so you will do it quicker than I could."
At that moment, Commander Trent emerged from the Dewitt's office, likely wondering why his transport to her Main Bridge was not energised yet - and got to see Thea offering a direct hardware link between herself and Ravenholm. "Commander, due to treason," she said, unable to give Kae's actions any kind of nuances, "I need Ravenholm's help reactivating my transporters, but the base will be left dark again - vulnerable to having the Romulans beam down here."
Meanwhile, by the door, Ida was listening in to new orders from Wenn Cinn, and she got to her feet when she heard Thea's announcement. She swore and raked some white hair out of her eyes. "Beta squad, we might have Romulan ground forces here any minute. By Lor'Vela, keep your eyes open, and do not let them pass."
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
In the air, Rawley's eyes were wide as she learned what was happening - realising that she and her two sister wolves were the only line of defence between their base ship and a cloaked Romulan warbird. It was a Mogai-class, also known as the Valdore, and while Rawley had never fought its kind before, they were real bitches in simulations. One of the first models used to serve as the flagship for the Romulan Imperial Fleet, and with a wingspan roughly 900 meters wide, and with those wings rife with forward-mounted disruptor banks, not to mention torpedo launchers able to fire four torps at the time, there was no survival getting in its sights.
"Ghost to Renard," she said, sucking a breath through her nose while she thought, "I am ordering the new girl to launch as well, and even if I know it might be her death-sentence... it looks like I have no choice. Please, get back up here. The Theurgy has no hard-points and its only the three of us, four counting Gun-Shy, but we really need the rest of you... otherwise the base ship might be compromised."
And we will be the first to die.
She noticed how Goldeneyes had stopped her patrol route, hovering in the space above the Black Opal, and Rawley swore. They could not act suspiciously, lest the Romulans would know they had been spotted. "Goldie, fall in line, damn you! Resume patrol route unless otherwise ordered, got it?" she said, feeling how strange it was that she was giving orders to her would-be Flight Leader, but Rawley knew that as acting Wolf-leader, she had to assert command over her sisters if they lost it. "Morrigan, we double back and set a new route, letting Goldie join in again. Follow my lead."
While she adjusted her course, she could not help but look at the spot in space from where the Romulan ship was supposed to be watching them, unable to glean anything even if she knew it was supposed to be there. She opened up a channel to the Fighter Assault Bay, tapping into the PA system and letting her voice be heard by the deck crew. She imagined that Skye Carver's Valkyrie was there along with the recovery shuttle, and that Eun Sae Ji got help from medical to remove the body from the cockpit. She also knew that Gun-Shy was on stand-by duty, likely watching everything from the monitors in the lounge area.
"This is Wolf-Zero-Nine, acting Wolf-leader," she said over the intercom, knowing that she was taking a risk and that the greatest risk lay with the survival of the new pup. "I'm ordering the launch of Wolf-Zero-Eight. Ensign MacTavish, get your ass in your Valk and fall in behind us. Await further orders on the squadron comm-channel. Ghost out."
Evelyn felt cruel... then again, she had heard about Gun-Shy. The Trill had taken the Niagara Exam completely unprepared, and been one point away from passing it. It was not short of astounding, how she had been studying to become a regular shuttle jockey, and without prior training or understanding about what the test would be about, she had lasted several minutes while outnumbered one-to-fifty in the Tactical CONN equivalent of the Kobayashi Maru, and this while flying a Peregrine-class. A ship-class, on top of its inferior design, that she had never been behind the controls of before. When Rawley had heard about it the day before, she had not believed a word of it - thinking that there were no such talents lost the way MacTavish's had been. Such talents were hand-picked for greater things than flying shuttles.
Perhaps the new wolf would have to prove her mettle again, only this time, it would not be in any simulator...
[ Cameron Henshaw | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
The red alert was a surprise to everyone as Thea informed them about the arrival of Romulans. Henshaw looked up from her station and cursed within herself as she turned her attention back to the console she was working with. She needed to inform everyone of the danger present and prepare for an eventual fight. Yet it seemed this wasn't the only thing happening at the bridge as Lin Kae seemingly lost it. Bringing the captain to stop him, yet it looked like the harm was already done.
As Cameron saw how Lin Kae was escorted away rather roughly, she looked back at her station before making sure what she needed to do. She closed her eyes for a second before tapping her console. "Patrol party for mission ops, sending you the exact location of the Romulan Warbird. Be advised, you are not to engage the target at this time. Carry on with your patrol duties until further notice. I repeat, continue your patrol. Ops out." she said with a calm voice yet with a stern tone to it as she noticed Goldeneye already breaking formation.
The accusation of Lin to the captain was something that made Cameron feel responsible though. Lin had seemed to be doing alright while she had tabs on him. Yet now it seemed one of their most closest crew members had fallen to the other side. Perhaps he could rally a new mutiny or perhaps his actions were just amplified or changed by the death of Skye Carver. Either way, Cameron felt responsible for not noticing the change of thoughts with the young man earlier.
Biting away the feeling of failing at her regular routines, she spoke up "Captain. For the record I have to inform you that it was not Ensign Slayton who was to blame for the early death of Skye Carver. I will give you the report when it's done, but I feel it to be my duty to inform you that this was nothing more than what seems to be an accident at first sight. We can clear the air around it later, but for now we need all our focus on the danger present." she concluded as she looked at the empty void of space where the Romulan Warbird laid.
[ Ameyla Duv | Black Opal Facility | Sickbay ] Attn: Maverick, Ryuan Sel, others
After her entire medical and security team had been beamed down at the bridge of the Opal facility. Amelya looked around her before directing her people to make their way to Sickbay. This was before things took a turn for the worse...
On their way to Sickbay, they rounded up those who needed medical assistance to follow them. Amelya found Maverick in one of the side corridors and helped him ease Ryuan Sel out of his arms "Alright pilot, good job, we'll take her from here." She checked Sel's vitals before sighing and scanning her over with the tricorder. "Alright, we'll bring her with us to Sickbay, we can treat her there. Nurses, please help me carry her." she instructed to those who were with her, yet it was Simon Tovarek who finally took Ryuan Sel in his arms and carried her to the medical facility. The medical party carried on to medical and set up shop there. The Sickbay turning into a small organized triage post. Amelya took care of the most injured once first before looking further. Sel was being placed on a monitor to check her vitals while preparations were made to undo the effects of the stun shot she received.
She tapped her combadge "Duv to Commander Trent, medical is up and running, if any other teams have casualties have them brought to us. At first sight, we have a few critical cases but all in all it seems like the bulk of the people here are alright." she stated before carrying on to do her work.
[ Simon Tovarek | Black Opal Facility | Corridors ]
Simon followed the medical teams to some point before he broke off into a corridor to see the Mistress at arms out cold. He looked at the Bajoran female before looking at Duv as she assessed the situation she was in. "Don't worry Doc, I'll get her over to Sickbay before I carry on with my search." He said and lifted the Bajoran blonde up. She felt lighter than he had anticipated and made sure her journey to Sickbay was without too much interference. He laid her down on one of the biobeds before he looked around. The situation seemed under control her and he walked towards the exit. The guards that were supposed to go with him turned around to follow him before he raised his hand and shook his head. "No no, guys... I think your aid down here will be needed more. So consider it a direct order to stay here, keep the peace and help out if needed." He instructed them. One of them objected but Simon silenced him "Look, I'll be fine, I still have my hand phaser with me in case of an emergency."
With that Simon vanished out of Sickbay and followed the long and winding corridors to the science section of Opal. Some of the lights were flickering due to the bombardment of the Valkyries and Theurgy on the top batteries. Conveniently the science section was on the top floors of the station. Thus likely to be hit as well or at least having power issues due to the impacts. The Russian lieutenant brought out his tricorder and phaser, just in case, as he scanned for any interesting readings. So far nothing special had come up, yet most of the offices seemed to be a mess or abandoned. He figured that most science officers here hadn't been up to anything in a long while.
He ended up in the office of the Morwen Angharad, the science officer of the Opal facility. He sat himself down in her chair as he started to sift through her reports and PADDs, in the hope to find something interesting. Yet unaware of the looming danger just kilometers above his head.
[ Kanti MacTavish | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Nolan
The past two days had seen Kanti spend virtually every hour on-duty in one form of training or another. When she wasn’t running simulated flights to get accustomed with controlling the Valkyrie, she was reviewing operation procedures for the fighter, reading up on Tactical CONN lingo and protocols, or spending time examining her own fighter to become acquainted with its systems and maintenance. It was like the Academy all over again, except instead of learning how to fly a bulky shuttlecraft from Point A to Point B, she was getting a crash course in how to effectively hurtle through the void of space inside of a giant tin can screaming with the destructive firepower of a half-dozen weapon emplacements.
All that training was being carried out with the understanding that, in a few weeks’ time, she would start running in patrols alongside the more veteran pilots training her, netting some actual flight, getting comfortable in the pilot’s seat before she was deployed into a firefight. All perfectly sensible; she may have been experienced as a shuttle pilot, but this was a different beast altogether.
Thus it was only natural that these plans would go tits-up, just as so many other things tended to lately on the Theurgy. The Trill ensign had been keeping an eye on the battle via a PADD as she sat at the controls of her inactive fighter. In between checking the latest reports being disseminated across the ship by various departments and automated computer updates, she was running through diagnostics on her Valkyrie, making sure the craft was in tip-top shape. Good practice, at any rate, for performing pre-flight checks before she started actively deploying on missions.
Good time to be practicing, too, as became evident when the intercom lit up with surprise orders from Rawley to launch ASAP. The comm channel had closed before Kanti had the opportunity to mutter back any sort of worried acknowledgement; probably a good thing, considering that the sudden rush of terror flowing through the pilot would’ve been clearly audible in her tone. Her eyes were widening to the size of dinner plates already; deployment, right here, right now? Cripes, her approval to transfer into the Lone-Wovles had come through less than forty-eight hours back - if they still used pen and paper records, the ink would’ve still been wet on the transfer orders.
There was a bit of a mad dash mentality as she scurried from the seat of her fighter, rushing to the lockers to grab a flight suit that had been issued to her only hours earlier. In her mind Kanti was running through operating procedures as fast as she could manage, calling up the details of flight procedures that she’d been practicing during these past few weeks in simulators. The redhead estimated that, in this sort of pinch, she was familiar enough with the pre-flight checks to get them over with on short notice. In a few minutes at the worst, she could be in the air so to speak, flying out to join up with the rest of her element.
What worried her more as the helmet of her exosuit clicked into an airtight seal was why she was being called up. A few status reports flashing across her PADD as the order to launch came in had mentioned a new, cloaked contact on approach. Given their current location, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out what that contact was. Fitting, though; from what Kanti remembered of history class, Romulans had the most fantastically awful timing. Or perhaps it was perfect timing from their perspective?
Regardless, she wasn’t overflowing with optimism as she scurried into her fighter, closing up the canopy as she started rushing through pre-flights. It was rather fortunate that she’d been spending her time today inside of the cockpit, checking on various systems to confirm readiness; half of the items she would normally have had to run a check on, she already knew were ready to go. Navigation was online, power levels looked normal, weapons and shields both at the ready, propulsion… a bit wobbly for a few seconds as it powered up, but leveled out quickly (she’d need to have engineer take a look at that potential disaster after this), inertial dampeners firing up now. Nothing mounted onto any of the extra weapon hardpoints at the moment, but she could take off without the craft exploding underneath her.
With a long sigh as her fighter purred to life, Kanti switched on comms and vocalized a request that she hadn’t expected to make for at least a few weeks. Such was life on this ship. “Control, th-” She stopped short, half-choking as she realized her voice was shaking more than a ship at warp with faulty inertial dampeners. C’mon, MacTavish, pull it together, pull it together…
The channel opened again after she spent several moments trying to gather something that bore a vague resemblance to composure. “Control, this is Wolf-Zero-Eight,” she started again, a tinge of unsteadiness still noticeable, though not quite to the same degree, through her distinctive Scottish accent. “Requesting permission to launch.” Her hands were already gripping the joystick for dear life as she had flashes of climbing into a simulated Peregrine five years ago, with about the same level of actual flight experience.
That is to say, jack shit.
[ Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard |Black Opal Facility| Loading Docks] attn All: especially Mav, Husker, Ghost, Gunshy, and Ji
Miles nodded as he heard the security commander, "Roger that Cinn. Husker you heard the man." he quickly keyed his com and sent a quick shout to Maverick and 06. "Mav, 06 get to the LZ were gonna need every Valk we can to stand a chance against a Mogai till that thing decloaks we stay grounded. They Don't need to know we can see them yet."
Running quickly towards the LZ miles heard the incoming orders from the acting leader. and the newest tac conn initiate's request to launch. "Good call lead," he added quickly "but belay that launch Gun-shy. Ji, you listening! I want you to find the most powerful things we have left in that bay and mount them on her hardpoints. Get her outfitted for deep space strike. When that Mogai decloaks I want her ship primed to decapitate that bird when we compromise it's shields."
It was very shortly that he arrived where they had landed and quickly helped the others set up the barricade before slinging himself back into his Valkyrie and bringing up his preflight systems but not the main engines so no major power spike could register to the cloaked ship.
[ Aisha S'iti |USS Theurgy | Bridge]
Aisha nodded, watching as kaye began to be hauled away, She hadn't really gotten to know him much but from what she had heard he was a usually one of the more reserved members of the crew. She could only imagine how close he must have been to Skye if her death was enough to make him snap like this. Trying to ignore the situation on the bridge she focused on the situation in space. "Alright then I'll just make it look like we are adjusting our position as part of the rearming procedures. Tactical we should be close enough that when they decloak we can expand our shields to cover a few of the more sensitive areas of the base. We might be able to force any boarding parties to only beam to places where our security forces can counter them more effectively."
[ Selena Ravenholm | Black Opal Facility | Command Center ]
Selena was already busy trying to counter the malicious programming that Kaye had so easily slipped right under her nose. "Damn she said quietly trying to counter the viral attack that seemed to pass from one system to another. Then she heard Thea through the fog of her work.
With no time to think about it she disconnected from the systems and did as asked. Connecting the cable to Thea's core she closed her eyes and entered Thea's world for the second time. This time on far more amicable footing but no calmer of a situation. opening her eyes within the world of Thea's mind she saw what could only be described as like a galaxy suspended in a void, numerous points of light like stars forming into a giant Theurgy shaped galaxy each point of light a different system that was located on her body.
Selena focused as she seemed to be able to sense where the corruption was at and where it was spreading through her body. It was like watching a venom spreading through a person's bloodstream and Selena was now an anti venom primed to target and destroy this sickness spreading through Thea crippling her transporters. Selena focused on Thea's memory Thea's picture of what the code was supposed to be hardwired to say and began to overwrite the corrupted code with a skin graft like patch of fresh correct code causing the different compromised systems to come to life one at a time in a cascade of systems sweeping over the ship.
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png)|wolf 05| Black Opal Facility | Engineering ] Attn: Security Team Charlie Wolvs, Lucan, Wolves, and especially Nolan & Ironfox.
The old saying was true, there is no such thing in life as a milk run. Hearing the word come down the pipeline Nathan was stunned for a moment why were the Romulans here! Just as they were finally in the midst of peaceful dealings, and had secured engineering he had to abandon his post. Handing the mistress at arms over too the medical crew he gave a small sigh of satisfaction as he knew she was safe. "Thanks take care of her, I have a bird to fight.. apparently."
he made his way with wolf 06 to their landing zone."Loud and clear Wolf 01 will get back into space ASAP."
He was moving faster now, more stable, as he had caught his breath. The sudden appearance of a Romulan Mogai helped give him some focus. As he got to the landing bay though he paused for a moment as 06 ran to his ship Maverick paused to regard his bird, would it even help? His Valk had been the instrument of one of their own's death, he wasn't sure what had broken down on the ship but he knew he hadn't heard any warning signs when he had fired on Skye. Was it a good idea to help now? what if he shot another wolf!
Maverick placed a hand on his valkiry feeling afraid to fire it's weapons. He shook it off and got to his seat, and started running pre flight checks. Everything was coming back all green, but then it had when they had launched on the initial assault as well. "Iron-fox, I haven't had a chance to flush any bugs from my system yet please advise. Sensors are green, but I do not trust them."
"I can still run interference, but I do not trust my weapons." Even if he couldn't shoot without fear of hitting an ally, he could still run interfearance and take up another position for the Mogai to fire on. Anything to distract them from hitting Theaurgy after all.
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
"Dagnabit!" Billy Bob O'Connell muttered as the transporter console went dark. "Thea!" he called. "What's goin' on?"
[Lieutenant Lin disabled the transporters, Master Chief. Not just my own, but the Black Opal facility's too,] the ship's computer's disembodied voice replied.
"The gorram away team's still down there!" O'Connell protested. "An' I know that a red alert means that we got to vamoose!"
[I am working on activating both transporter systems, standby for reactivation.]
"O'Connell to bridge," he announced as activated the ship's intercommunications system. "Those torpedoes are gonna have'ta wait."
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf-07 | Outer Space | | Outside the RNZ ]
"Goldie, fall in line, damn you! Resume patrol route unless otherwise ordered, got it?"
Wolf-09's voice startled Tessa, and she realized that by falling out of line, she risked letting the cloaked vessel know it had been spotted.
"Er um, copy that Ghost," she stammered as she reactivated her Valkyrie's thrusters.
"Patrol party for mission ops, sending you the exact location of the Romulan Warbird." Cameron Henshaw 's voice ordered over the communications system. "Be advised, you are not to engage the target at this time. Carry on with your patrol duties until further notice. I repeat, continue your patrol. Ops out."
As she and the other two pilots signaled their acknowledgements, Tessa glanced at the readout for the cloaked vessel approaching them. Mogai class. Warbird. As if a D'deridex class wasn't deadly enough. Only the latest, greatest, most up to date battleship the Romulans could throw at them. It was official. God hated the Theurgy and everyone on it.
[ Commander Trent | Black Opal Command Deck and CO's Ready Room ]
A humourless smile graced Trent's lips when Dewitt asked if she really had a choice. Truth be told, she really did despite all appearances to the contrary. Theurgy needed allies, or at least Starfleet personnel who'd doubt the official narrative they were being fed from higher up. And if they were simply to force the actual truth down others' throats, Ives and her officers would only hurt their own cause. Once she sat down, only then did the Executive Officer take a seat across from her, and he nodded at her question. "More or less. A lot of what you have heard has been coloured with some pretty interesting interpretations all right, with some uninformed conjectures and a good deal of outright lies. As for the men and women of Task Force Archeron, I did not kill them outright because the last thing I wanted was their blood on my hands, not when the vast majority of them did absolutely nothing wrong and just followed their orders. Orders from a hierarchy that has been compromised, mind you, but they were completely ignorant of that."
He knew those words would raise some questions, so he chose to preempt them. "Sankolov, though I should say whatever it is that passes for him, wanted me to develop a soft-kill weapon against the Theurgy, a way to kill everyone on board outright, without warning or even a way to defend themselves. I came up with a way to do it, by sending orders directly to various systems' firmware via a commlink or even by faking an active sensor return echo. Instead, I deployed that weapon against the task force through a telemetry and information sharing link between all vessels. But unlike what he wanted the cyber-attack I was working on to be against Theurgy, I made sure it would be... less lethal when I used it on him. Still, more people than I would have liked died when I made sure they couldn't have access to shuttlecraft, fighters or runabouts, but thousands are still alive because of that restraint. And even after I made my way over, which Captain Ives never expected, Sankolov was completely helpless and the Captain could have rid herself of that threat quickly enough, but she's not a monster nor a murderer. Now, Captain Vasser of the Harbinger is another story altogether but that's another story."
"The only kernel of truth to what you've heard is that Theurgy and her crew did defect, and that we were joined by Vasser and his own ship. But the difference between he and Ives is that Captain Ives always tried to avoid engaging Starfleet assets. Vasser, from what logs of his I managed to see, didn't shy away from that. And unlike Ives, he wasn't one to be content rendering his Starfleet opposition simply combat-ineffective, as I did with Sankolov and we did with your command. He was a monster and trust me, the universe is a much better place now that he's no longer in it."
"The truth is, Commander that..." And then he was interrupted as the Captain's voice came across on his combadge, advising of a spaceborne threat and hearing, as the XO, what was said to others. Slapping it in response, he called back. "Aye Captain. Please beam Commander Dewitt alongside me."
But the familiar effect of the transporter did not come, and Trent rose from his seat. "Commander Dewitt, with me if you please," he called out. Perhaps his voice was quiet, but the hard edge of command, the voice of a man who was well-experienced in combat, was unmistakable as he strode back into the command center. But he did not call for a report. Instead, he simply listened. Transporters were down, so a solution was needed, and fast.
Again, he activated his own combadge again. "Mister Covington, Mister O'Connell" he started, "be prepared to send ship-launched torpedoes directly into the SOM magazines. But don't bother beaming pods over. Covington, use whatever worker-bees and mules you can get your hands on and get them out to Theurgy the old-fashioned way." Then, a dangerous light flickered into the tactical-trained Commander's eyes. "But make sure you de-couple some pods from their rafts, and from the mules, as you go but still deliver one raft per mule at a time to the launchers. But no matter what, keep laying pods in case we need more than one salvo."
Trent had been briefed, what seemed a lifetime ago, about torpedo pods and their capabilities. For storage and rearming purposes they were coupled into rafts of twenty-four and the dedicated ammunition mules, really a cross between a stripped-down shuttlepod and an overpowered conventional worker bee, could tow two such rafts... and he doubted the Romulans knew that... And now, he would skip the middleman in deploying those weapons. If they did need that kind of salvo weight, it wouldn't be too soon to prepare them.
"Bridge," he continued, "Let's skip the middleman with the pods. I have Covington laying pods for you, and you'll have ordnance for the main tubes as soon as we get any transporters back online. But in the meantime, I recommend you start flushing the spend pods from the launchers, make room for the loaded ones that are on the way."
And then, he turned to Ravenholm and Thea as main lighting went offline and emergency lights flickered on. "Ladies, time is of the essence. Prioritize transporter functions for both Theurgy and the station. Next priority is to get some fire control online. I don't know what we're looking at out there, but if we can use Black Opal to direct some pods it could make a world of difference out there."
[ CWO1 Covington | Black Opal ordnance bays ]
Sten might not be the Tactical Chief but he was one of the few who was as proficient with ordnance handling as his counterpart in the Tac department, and while he was the overall head of the resupply operations, his own specific tasks would have to do with the rather sensitive process of rearming Theurgy. And as such, he was already in that kind of position when the call from the Captain came to speed up the process. "On it, Captain," he curtly replied. However, the call that followed was one that he did not judge to nullify Ives' orders, but instead made them more efficient. After all, it was an XO's job, regardless of how new he was on the job, to make things run smoothly from the officers' perspective.
But then again, he had a healthy dose of respect for that gaunt amputee of a new XO they had. The man was smart, hard-working and knew his way about fighting a starship if the Chief of the Deck was any judge. And that soft-spoken, newly-promoted Commander was the acting CTO as well, and if he wanted the hard to detect pods out into space faster, such Papa Bear could accommodate. "Aye Sir," he simply replied.
One thing that could be said, Covington was not especially long-winded when it came time to getting things done.
Tapping his own combadge, he started issuing directions and before long outer doors were manually overridden and atmospheric forcefields were put into place, and four mules, each bearing two rafts of twenty-four pods, started their run, a pair headed towards each of Theurgy's pod-launching arrays, and each mule seeding half its payload along the way just as they'd been directed. Ninety-six pods would be dropped over the course of their first trip, nearly fifteen hundred Mark XXVII torpedoes hanging out in the black within their pods, just awaiting a target and the launch command, hanging out in space, ready to ruin the day of whoever crashed their party...
However, he did also call O'Connell. "Billy, I've got my lads tagging whole skids of quantum torpedoes for you, whenever you're ready."
And then, the station went dark and a vicious string of curses came out from the older man, and he hit his combadge once more. "Bridge, this is Covington. We're in the dark here so I hope you're not in too much of a hurry to get warheads in your main tubes, but by now you should have a nice bunch of pods out into space and some getting fed into your launchers as we speak."
[ Lt. Cmdr Natalie Stark | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01]
Natalie swallowed hard trying to process it all. Skye Carver was dead ... she didn't really know the Lone Wolf, but she felt the blow all the same. Any death was felt, of course, but some were felt more than others, and the loss of yet another wolf. It was any wonder the wolves weren't cracking up into a pack of loons. Even the surrender of the Black Opal base wasn't enough to help off set the loss of Skye - certainly not for Lin Kae.
The Chief of Operations had been monitoring the flow of goods transported over to the Theurgy when she heard the holographic specialist speak up from the back of the bridge. As Captain Ives tried to pry an answer out of Kae, Natalie tried to pry an answer out of the ships computer banks. But she couldn't get very far along before things got so, so much worse.
[Tactical Alert. Vessel approaching, bearing one-eight-four mark seven.]
A Romulan Warbird?? What the Fuck? A few weeks ago, she would have lacked the discipline to keep that little gem in her head. As was, she almost blurted it out anyway. She pulled up any and all readings she could on the ship, surprised - though only monetarily - that they were able to plot its course, even though it was cloaked. How to take advantage of this, she thought, without tipping them off.[/i]
Covington and O'Connell, I need those torpedoes now, and I need them transported directly into the starboard pod launcher platforms. I cannot stress the urgency in this enough. Stark, help them in any way you can."
"Aye aye Captain," she called out to him, turning her eyes from the scene unfolding behind her to the controls before her. "Billy-Bob," she addressed the Chief on less than professional terms, but felt that was needed now,keeping her vioce low so as not to disturb the other officers snapping to their duties. On her console there was a display of power output across the starship. Now was time to put it to use.
"I'm routing a little extra power to the cargo transporters - it should allow us a bit more leeway with the anular confimement beam," the torpedoes would be stored in weapons racks which, under normal circumstances would be fine - they'd just tag a rack and beam it to storage. Since they had to beam and load on the go, Natalie - as well as Sten and Billy-Bob - would have to be creative.
"Start an auto-sequence, Chief, and keep a sharp eye on the target destination. Its going to be tricky to beam directly to the launcher, but we can do this."
She routed her next call to the ordnance officer, keeping CPO O'Connell on the line with her "Torpedo room. I need a signal booster installed by the starboard pod launcher asap." She looked at another readout, scrolling across the left side of her console, "Should be one on hand in the storage locker on the starboard wall. Get it up and running, now." That would allow the transporters to better lock in on their target destination inside the ship, without having to rely on the internal sensors, which were still damaged.
"Sten," she said next, trusting in Thea to route her calls accordingly, killing the line to the transporter and torpedo bay and opening one of the station instead. "Get your folks to tag those torpedoes individually. We can't do a bulk transport if they have to be locked and loaded as we beam them on board." The original plan was out the window and it was time to see what they could do on the fly.
Natalie was so wrapped up in issuing orders and doing what she could to smooth out what was to come that she almost missed Lt. Lin loosing his shit in the aft of the bridge. Almost being the key word.
[Lieutenant Lin disabled the transporters, Captain. Not just my own, but the Black Opal facility's too. We have no way to restock on torpedoes, and Commander Trent is still down there, along with everyone that we managed to beam over. I am working on activating both transporter systems, standby for reactivation.]
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Natalie groaned out under her breath. All their prep-work just now, was for naught. "Shit," she swore, only belatedly realizing that her comm line down to Sten was wide open. "Chief, keep tagging away," she said, "Transporters are down, but the second we get them up -" if we get them up, if we aren't blown away she silently added - "We're gonna need them ready to go."
She felt, more than heard the presence turn towards her, and she tensed. "Operations," Ives said next, not letting the situation get to her - or at lest not letting it show - and she looked towards Natalie Stark, "restrict yourself to passive scans of the warbird. Otherwise, she will know that we have seen her
"Aye ma'am," she acknowledged, pushing the worry of the transporters aside - Thea would fix what she could as fast as she could and at this point, there was nothing else Natalie could do. So she bit down on her lip for a moment and took a slow, steady breath. She reconfigured her console, bringing up the passive scanners. She tweaked the output - stealing a tiny amount of power from other systems to boost the signal gain, and began to route the display to the main screen - a small readout appearing next to the hazy image of the mogi-class vessel.
"O'Connell to bridge," he announced as activated the ship's intercommunication system. "Those torpedoes are gonna have'ta wait."
"Roger that Chief," Natalie responded first, hearing the man call up from the transporter room. She hadn't had a chance to bring him back into the loop. "Thea's working on it. For now, get ready to start as soon as the transporters are up and running again. They signal boosters down in the Torpedo room should be up and running by now."
A new voice called out over the comm system.
" "Bridge, this is Covington. We're in the dark here so I hope you're not in too much of a hurry to get warheads in your main tubes, but by now you should have a nice bunch of pods out into space and some getting fed into your launchers as we speak."
Natalie sat back and blinked in surprise. It wouldn't be as efficient as the tag and beam system, but as far as back up options went, well Sten had gone and outdone himself.,
OOC: Had an idea about how Natalie would help with the transporters, started writing it, and then saw oops, transporters are down. Hope my handling of that flows easily and makes sense. Tried to go back and make edits accordingly, based on posts that cropped up after I started. And there were a lot. Let me know if i need to scrap this whole post and start over or not...
[ Fasha "Morrigan" | Wolf-03 | Outer Space ]
Fasha frowned as her display began to flash red her eyes immediately strayed down to view the red alert that was being relayed to their fighters. Now she saw what was causing Goldie to lose her cool her grip on the stick of her fighter tightened. A Romulan warbird was nothing to shake a stick at she'd ran through countless simulators in the past and she'd had her share of failures during those simulations. She heard Ghost snap at Goldie telling their fellow wolf to get back in line before issuing orders to her as well. Fasha nodded "Acknowledged Ghost I'm with you." Fasha stated as she followed behind Ghost as she adjusted their patrol course. Fasha wasn't sure how she felt as she listened to Ghost issue the order to launch Gun-Shy into the fray. She didn't entirely know the new girl so well only that she'd done well in simulators. Simulations were different there wasn't any danger no real risk. It was when you finally sat behind the controls and felt the risk that you found out if you were cut out for the real thing.
[Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy ]
Eun Sae watched solemnly along with the rest of the hangar as Skye's fighter was recovered by one of the recovery shuttles. Her hands rested on the top of one of the mobile workstations moved about the hangar. "Confirmed retrieval of Ensign Skye Carver..." Eun Sae said delivering the short report back to mission operations. Eun Sae took a breath through her mouth and exhaled through her nose as she moved out onto the floor. "Get her out and get her fighter into one of the stalls..." Eun Sae said trying to put on a strong face for those around her. For a moment everyone seemed to ignore her simply staring at the fighter. Eun Sae could partly understand death was never something you should grow numb to. But right now wasn't the time for grief not when the mission wasn't over when there were others still out there that were still drawing breath. "Now..." Eun Sae said her voice low at first. "Didn't you hear me? Move!!" Eun Sae called. Immediately snapping most of the deck crew out of their daze. "Our job isn't finished yet get moving!" Eun Sae called out.
Spurred by her words the deck crew immediately went about clearing space for the soon to be empty Valkyrie. Eun Sae moved toward the Valkyrie itself hoisting herself up onto the wing as crew from medical began to set up a stretcher and a body bag already marked with the name of the deceased. Eun Sae bit her lip as she opened the cockpit. She closed her eyes gripping the edge of the cockpit tightly steeling herself before finally reaching out to undo the restraints holding Skye upright. She quickly maneuvered Skye out of the cockpit letting the woman rest on her shoulder as she pulled her out. Members of the medical team were quick to assist her taking Skye from her and quickly rushing her out no doubt to stop her presence from damaging morale more than it already had.
Suddenly Ghost's voice sounded throughout the hangar jolting her out of her stupor she blinked as Ghost's voice belted out orders to launch another pilot. Her mind went down the list of pilots until she finally realized who she was talking about. She turned and whistled sharply drawing the attention of a few members of the deck that were more accustomed to working with her. "Get 08 ready suit Valkyrie everything!" Eun Sae called out.
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Standing in front of the viewscreen, Jien heard Cameron's quick words on the matter of Skye Carver's death, and Jien could fathom that Cam wanted to say those words for many reasons, but she did not have the time to acknowledge her more than with a brief nod. Jien could deal with all that later, when there was not a Romulan warbird staring at them down its sights. Lieutenant S'Iti had got them in position, and even thought to expand the shield envelope to key areas of the base, which Jien nodded towards Arisaka to do if he could. If - or when - the warbird opened fire.
Several people were heard over the intercom, where Trent, Covington and O'Connell were doing everything they could to arm Thea before any kind of engagement began. "Ready the broadside pod launcher array, but not in a hurry. We need to appear like we are in no rush to get the pods in place," said Jien quietly, watching on the viewscreen how the four workbees were hauling fully stocked pods across the short distance between the Black Opal and the Theurgy, and given the darkness of space, it was nigh impossible to make out the fact that pods were being dropped from the rafts along the way. "Thea, help Tactical to sync with the pods already out there, but do not arm them until I give the word."
It was not enough, but it was a start. Jien would be far more confident about the situation if Thea's eight forward launchers were stocked, because the reloading time of the pods were not in their favour if they ran out of them. They had pulse phaser emitters too, of course, but against a Mogai-class warbird, that would only get them so far before they'd suffer damage from enemy fire... and that was damage that they could not afford if they were to survive at Starbase 84. And as Jien stood there, staring at the bearing of the cloaked warbird, she could not help thinking that the battle was inevitable.
The Romulans would know about the Theurgy and its alleged defection to their side. It was all over the FNN, and any civilian knew about Jien and her crew. By some means, likely from the true enemy, the Romulans had learned about the Black Opal. If the Theurgy was present, then they would have the perfect scapegoat for raiding the base and tipping the scales in the Romulan Civil War. In fact, by destroying the Theurgy, it would contain the political fall-out of Romulus or the Resistance being accused for conspiring with Ives to get their hands on Thea. If the Theurgy was destroyed, that problem would go away, and they could simply deny ever having been at the Opal.
Knowing that... Jien wondered if she shouldn't strike first? Did she not owe it to her crew to give them a better chance for survival? Wasn't the message from Starbase 84 at stake here too? Captain Vasser would have used the element of surprise and opened fire already if he could. He would not have bothered to wait. Staring at the bearing towards the warbird, Jien debated going against protocols of engagement simply to gain the leverage they needed. The Romulans had little choice, and less reason to wait than her, since each second meant that the Theurgy could arm itself more, and the prize of the Black Opal would be lost.
So Jien raised one hand where she stood. "On my word... fire the broadside directly from the hull... followed by the deployed pods. Send in the Lone Wolves... and raise our shields..." she said quietly - eyes unblinking - hand still raised. Time seemed to stand still whilst she looked at the cloaked warbird, and there was not a sound on the bridge while they waited for the first move from the Romulans. A move Jien wanted to make in their stead... but she forbid herself to do - not about to initiate the engagement since they might not have to. Please, don't test me. Hail us, or retreat back whence you came... We don't need this. Not now. Not now...
"The warbird is decloaking," said Petty Officer Arisaka, "I am reading weapon signatures. They are opening fir-"
"Now!" called Jien, dropping her hand, and as she did, the Theurgy launched the first barrage - the entire broadside launcher array discharging its collective payload against the warbird just as it became visible. "Have at it!"
[ Thea - Mobile Emitter Projection | The Black Opal | Command Centre ] Attn: All
When Carrigan Trent spoke, Thea turned her head to look at him and Jennifer Dewitt while she stood there in front of Selena Ravenholm - her emitter exposed and plugged into. The red-haired woman was frowning at the sight, even as she seemed agitated by the implication that Romulans had arrived.
"Aye, Commander," said Thea, millions of tasks running in the back of her digital mind. One of them was to monitor Ravenholm's progress, seeing her patching up the code that Kae had locked, and steadily, system access was being restored to her, granting more access by the second. It was akin to having one's limbs reanimated - functionality returning after atrophy.
The development on the bridge would come to merit a report to the First Officer, so Thea's attention returned to the physical presence around her emitter instead of what was happening inside her systems. "Be advised, the Romulan warbird was about to open fire, but Jien Ives gave the order first. The battle has begun. The Romulan vessel is on the defensive, taking damage." Thea watched it happening with her sensors, and she relayed what she saw with her inner eye. "Deployed pods between the Black Opal and me has been synced to my targeting systems. Petty Officer Arisaka is taking aim now, about to fire off the pods."
There were sounds from outside the corridor, and ThanIda zh'Wann readied herself where she crouched by the door. "We've got company! Engaging hostiles!" Then she leaned out into the corridor and shot the first volley, soon followed by the rest of Beta Squad - shooting from their individual covers outside the Command Centre.
Thea could have confirmed that the Romulans were beaming down ground forces to the base, but she made another priority. Ravenholm had been successful. "My transporters are back online. Energising torpedo transports as according to O'Connell's coordinates. Forward launchers are being restocked."
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
There was no sound in space, yet the conflagration along the Theurgy's starboard launcher array was nigh blinding to Rawley as she set a new course towards the decloaking Romulan warbird. They had their orders. "This is Wolf-Leader, target acquired! Bearing Ten-Five-Two Mark Five! Engaging enemy! Fox, we really fucking need you guys up here, now!"
No more had she addressed the wolves down on the Black Opal and set a new course than she saw Gun-Shy's signature on her sensors. It seemed Ji had been quick about mounting hard-points on the Valkyrie - giving the new pup some sharp teeth. With three Valkyries under her command, and with the Romulan warbird making sluggish defensive manoeuvres to little avail, Rawley gave her orders.
"Diamond formation, girls! I take point! Gun-Shy! You take up the rear! Follow our lead, unload whatever you have time for, and then regroup behind Thea for a second run! Power to forward shields, then the aft ones as you retreat! We are going in! I repeat, we are going in!"
No more had Ghost given Gun-Shy enough time to enter formation than she was off - going in at three quarters impulse and hoping she had her three sisters with her. ETA was just a scarce few seconds. Ahead of them, the trail of deployed pods between the Black Opal and the Theurgy discharged their payload - photon torpedoes shooting off towards the warbird just ahead of their approach. Timed right, their approach would be shrouded by the detonations against the enemy's shields and hull.
Fortune favoured the bold, so Rawley bared her teeth in denial of the crippling fear she felt. Her thoughts went to her dead brother, hoping he could see her from beyond the veil. Courage is fear when it had said its prayers.
[ Dyan Cardamone | Black Opal Facility | Security Squad Beta]
Dyan's first order of priority was to take cover behind something and clutch her weapon close to her. The brief sense of relief that came from their takeover of the facility was already gone, replaced by tension. The Romulans were coming, and from what she understood of the situation, they didn't come to crack open a bottle of champagne and celebrate.
The darkness around her felt freeing, rather than stifling. She had better cover. Should a raiding party beam down, they'd never see her coming. She was strong, in control. In this current moment, the present was all that mattered.
That's why she kept her distance from Zaraq. It was much easier to stay in the moment, focused and alert if she imagined that, somewhere along the way, he stopped existing. That whole period of time after her betrayal-- plucked out of the universe's timeline by way of magic, maybe, or an unhealthy dose of willful ignorance and denial. What happened then doesn't matter now. All that matters is giving the Romulans what for. She gritted and bared her teeth, she felt her tail quiver between her legs.
Let them come, she thought, I'll show them what I'm made of.
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
"All right people!" Master Chief William O'Connell barked as his large hands danced over the transporter console. "Transporters are reengaged! Beam up the swag as quick as yuh can jest like we practiced cause we might lose our lock any second now!" When the deflector shields went up, using the transporters would be impossible unless someone on the bridge left a 'hole' in the shields for the transporters to use. That was risky business.
On the transporter pads in front of Billy Bob, the glowing silhouettes of loaded torpedo racks appeared and disappeared as they were routed to the torpedo magazine bay on deck eleven.
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf-07 | Outer Space | | Outside the RNZ ]
"Diamond formation, girls! I take point! Gun-Shy! You take up the rear! Follow our lead, unload whatever you have time for, and then regroup behind Thea for a second run! Power to forward shields, then the aft ones as you retreat! We are going in! I repeat, we are going in!"
Wolf-07 fell in behind Ghost's Valkyrie at three quarter impulse, forward shields at maximum. The time for insecurity vanished as the training took over and she copied Rawley's every action.
[ Ryuan Sel | Sickbay
With her vitals were failing to stabilize and in fact dropping a number of scans quickly reveled the reason. The phaser blast that had struck her, had done so between her shoulders and fractured her 5th thoracic vertebrae. Her body had reacted by going limp to keep from getting any more damage. She was going to need surgery to get the bone fragments out of her spinal column and prevent any more damage.
OOC: Sorry this is so short. She's pretty much down for the count for now.
[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton | Valkyrie WOLF-04| Space near the Warbird]
As Husker flew his fighter, something nagged him in the back of his head as he started to switch his tactical systems to different settings as it was one thing to pick a fight with a stationary target like Opal but against something that was capable of a random assault situation like a Romulan warbird..that required a slightly deviated recharge settings for his tactical systems.
But as he prepped his phaser array recharge settings, the thing that had been nagging at him finally managed to crawl forward enough into the front of his brain that made him blink just a little bit as he selected his communication system instead. "This is Wolf Zero Four to Theurgy Actual, requesting to ask Thea a question."
Husker then moved into position behind and to the upper right of Morrigan's wing and he made damn sure that he had a clear firing line at the new hostile.
[ Kanti MacTavish | Wolf-08 | Space ]
The engineers on the flight deck had done a remarkable job of slapping extra weaponry onto the frame of Kanti's fighter in a very short span of time. One ECM pod to help provide an extra defensive boost, plus three extra torpedo launchers bolted hastily onto the Valkyrie's hardpoints, two of them slotted with Mk. XXVII's while one was loaded with an EMP torpedo. The imbalanced load was forcing Kanti to keep her forward thrust ever so slightly out of balance just to fly in a straight line; a delicate maneuver that she wasn't too familiar with even in calm, simulated conditions.
Her grip around the stick was about the only thing tighter than her own sphincter as Rawley ordered the Valkyries currently in the air into diamond formation as prep for their incoming opponent. At the very least, she was able to take up the rear, where the occasional correction she had to make, jolting the fighter back into a straight line as it tried to veer off course, wouldn't be plainly visible to everyone else in the squad. Just figured, didn't it? First time flying into combat, and she quite literally couldn't keep her craft straight.
Before it could descend into a pity party inside the cockpit, she pulled her helmeted head forward then brought it back to smack against the seat. C'mon, MacTavish, keep this shite together. In about thirty seconds they were going to be in the thick of it - there were plenty of instances where the ensign had fed herself the now-is-not-the-time cliche, but it was more true than ever at this moment. The impact didn't even remotely damage her helmet, but it forced the trill to focus on her job, at least for the moment. Just needed to keep her attention on staying in formation, keeping ready to fire, and hoping that the constant veering would make it too difficult for the Romulans to get a weapons lock on her fighter.
[ Aisha S'Iti | USS Theurgy | Deck 01 | Main Bridge]
Hearing the captain's command the Cardassian helmswoman glared a the display and engaged in a sequence of close to base maneuvers making sure not to leave the base vulnerable knowing that the bases only real chance was to have the Theurgy there as a shield until its shields were back up knowing the Theurgy could become equally vulnerable if they remained too stationary she plotted in a sequence that would keep them close to the base that would allow tactical to keep the shields rotated for the base while also allowing the Theurgy to continue with an effective rate of fire with what they had been reequipped with.
[ Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard |Black Opal Facility| Loading Docks | Valkyrie Mark III Fighter: Wolf 01] **Edited to add in a response to mav**
Listening to the com channel and watching the space outside Miles waited for the time to act. "Roger that Mav, last thing we need is more blue on blue. Just aggitate the hell out of that bird but don't do anything too reckless." His hands were primed on the controls watching waiting and then the time came. Sensors came alive with the telltale readings of a decloaking vessel but were soon overwhelmed with shrill alarms indicating the vessel was charging weapons.
Flipping two switches up his craft's repulsors kicked on lifting his craft off of the ground as his thump toggled another switch down causing the landing legs to immediately recede back into the fighter's hull. Within less than a half a second he had pushed forward the throttle on his fighter causing the engines to flare to life propelling the ship out of the landing area and back into space before he pushed the throttle to full impulse angling his ship into a pass that would give him a line of clear fire and allow him to rejoin with the rest of the squad on the second pass. Until then though Ghost had to hold down the squad. Until he was able to actually rejoin the attack formation it was for the better that Ghost kept the reigns.
[ Selena Ravenholm | Black Opal Facility | Command Center ]
Ravenholm looked around for a moment trying to think up a plan of action. quickly she began to bring up one major system after another rerouting power and coordinating the commands through her own altered neural pathways. Feeling the sensation of knowing where the ship was when it decloaked she came to a realization. in this state she could essentially sense what the station saw knowing this it was only a question of bring back up the necessary systems and the station could begin a defense of its own. The Theurgy just had to buy her some time and she would have the stations shields and weapons systems active again
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
First, the broadside of 270 Mk XXVII photon torpedoes had been launched - the pods discharged directly from the hull - and while the torpedoes did not have the same yield as the photon torpedoes in the forward launchers, the massive barrage was certainly not something the Romulans were expecting. Jien saw that the pre-emptive broadside had forced them to abandon their fire protocol and resort to immediate evasive manoeuvres, and their disruptor banks opened fire to try and decimate the ordinance heading towards them, but the cannonade of torpedoes was already inbound... and they were too late. The majority of Thea's smaller photon torpedoes came to smite the warbird's shields. Jien did not need Arisaka's report to see that they had done more damage than the shields could compensate for - multiple hull breeches showing across the starboard wing.
"Launching deployed torpedo pods now, Captain!" said the Asian man at Tactical, and Jien neither answered nor looked away as he acted on the orders she had given him before. Between the Black Opal and the Theurgy, the breadcrumbs of drifting pods turned towards their common target and launched the second salvo against the Mogai-class ship. The Romulans likely had not encountered a pod-laying Federation starship before, their sensors unable to recognise the small launchers for what they were.
So the trail of breadcrumbs launched a wedge of torpedoes against the warbird before it could realign itself for a counter-strike against the Theurgy. The salvo was not as massive as the one Thea had launched first, but it was considerate enough, and the warbird only had time to fire its disruptors for a couple of seconds before it hit. Jien felt the reverberations through Thea as her shields absorbed the blows from the disruptors, but the thrumming noise ended when the warbird was hit. Jien did not look away from the adversary, suspecting that their shields still held, and gave further orders with her hands white-knuckled fists at her sides.
"The Lone Wolves are making their first strike," she announced, seeing the tactical information on the edge of the viewscreen and the Valkyries approaching the warbird. "Pulse phasers, maximum yield! Turn the ship and engage the target. Arm forward launchers, quantum torpedoes, full spread! Ready to fire so that we can cover their retreat!"
With eight forward torpedo launchers to be primed on the warbird, Jien would do what she could to make sure no more Lone Wolves had to die that day. When Thea's pulse phaser emitters opened fire, her chiselled features were lit in glaring light - eyes primed on the development.
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
At the point of their assault, Rawley bared her teeth as she maintained course towards the Romulan warbird. She saw that a few more wolves besides Gun-Shy fell in behind her after launching from the Black Opal, but she did not have time to read the signatures and determine who they were. As long as none of them broke away, she stayed true to the intended assault.
"This is Wolf-Leader, deploying tetryon pulse cannon!" she called over the squadron channel, meaning to bite a chunk out of the prey's shields so that the rest of the squadron could sink their teeth further into its flesh. At her current speed, she had to maintain an iron grip on her stick so that she wouldn't deviate from her course when the massive weapon folded itself out underneath her Valkyrie. Luckily, they were flying in a straight line at break-neck speed, so her manoeuvring was not so much complicated as it was daring. A couple of disruptor beams hit her shields, making her bird shake and glare warnings, but she was almost there. She was past the point of no return. "Charging beam! Firing in five, four, three, two, one! Now, bloody now!"
With a mere kilometer left to the warbird, she discharged her tetryon cannon straight into its shields, and as soon as she did, she broke off - rolling backwards with her Valkyrie and letting her brothers and sisters unload their hard-points into the enemy's briefly exposed hull.
[ ThanIda zh'Wann | The Black Opal | Command Centre ] Attn: All
The first ground forces had beamed down the moment the warbird decloaked, and they were heading straight for the command centre. It was uncanny how they knew exactly where to go, since Ida had expected them to try search for the access ways to the heart of the base. No, the Romulans troops knew immediately that their corridor was the one to pick, and Beta Squad were outnumbered from the beginning of the engagement.
The Romulans, however, might not have expected them to be ready, since they had trusted their cloak to give them the element of surprise. Therefore, the first half minute of the engagement were in Ida and her squad's favour, since they could stun numerous Romulans before they fell back to regroup beyond the turn of the corridor. When the second wave came, things were not as easy, and Ida found herself forced to hide behind her doorpost more than taking down hostiles. She could see Zaraq do the same, his shaved head catching the emergency lights of the corridor. Petty Officer Cardamone - or Sar'unga - was further down the corridor, perhaps able to engage the enemy directly if they did not see her before they reach her hiding-place.
In the command centre, Ida could hear Thea speak up after a voice was heard on the intercom - the voice of one of the Lone Wolves heard in the command centre over the noise of the engagement between the wolves and the warbird above the Black Opal.
"This is Thea, come in, Ensign Slayton," said the hologram of the ship's A.I. where she remained by the main console next to Selena Ravenholm. She had moved aside, however, to let Commander Trent have access to the console, and Dewitt looked like she wished to assist, but she was unsure about her own standing among the Theurgy's present personnel. It was her base, but it was not technically hers anymore...
[ Meanwhile on the Black Opal | Morwen Angharad's Office ] Attn: Nolan
Sub-Lieutenant Lai Radaik led his squad down the corridor to the designated area - four men following his lead as he walked with his rifle raised. His eyes were along the sights of his weapon, and he breathed through his nostrils - sharp eyes darting between the shadows of the dark area. The designated area seemed deserted at first, until they reached the office. There, he saw a shadow moving, and Lai gestured for his men to halt before they were seen in he doorway.
Was there any point in calling for a surrender? Lai did not think so. He gave it a couple of seconds to let his men ready themselves, then they burst into the spacious office with all its science aparatus. Lai opened fire first, shooting where the source of that shadow had been before. His men followed suit, all four of them opening fire towards the same area, despite how Lai might have preferred if they held back and searched the rest of the area before following his example.
As it were, it might have been a worse mistake than he first thought.
[ Dyan Cardamone | Black Opal Facility | Security Squad Beta]
Outnumbered doesn't mean overpowered. Dyan gave the first wave hell, remaining hidden and shooting the second she saw a Romulan backside, and not a moment sooner. This knight in shining scales had a plan, and that plan involved eliminating all Romulans.
She remained hidden behind her bulkhead for the second wave. By the time the second wave got there, there was a pile of unconscious Romulan bodies all down the hall. If it doesn't deter the new Romulans, then at least it serves as a reminder of what will happen if they don't give up soon.
As soon as she heard the second wave approach, as soon as they came close, she leaned over and fired as fast and as heavy as her weapon would allow. Her war cry sounded more like a shriek, it bounced off the walls. All her pent up rage came out in one cathartic explosion.
[ Fasha "Morrigan" | Wolf-03 ] Attn: All
Fasha kept a tight grip on the stick of her fighter as stray beams of disruptor fire struck her shield causing the bright blue barrier standing between her and death to flare brightly her helmet's visor immediately darkening to prevent the flare from blinding her. As Ghost relayed over the squadron channel the deployment of her tetryon cannon Fasha immediately armed two of her hard-points. The two in question being two Mk-1 Hellborne Torpedoes entering a target on her fighter's targeting computers for it to feed to the torpedoes on-board guidance package.
It wasn't long before the sound of Ghost counting down filled the squadron channel. Fasha could feel her blood pumping faster through her veins her grip on the stick tightened her finger poised over the trigger that would release two armor piercing nuclear based torpedoes straight into the looming Romulan warbird infront of them. As soon as the beam had fired overloading the warbird's shields Fasha wasted no time firing both payloads. Both Hellborne Torpedoes zooming ahead screaming toward the center mass of the enemy ship.
Fasha didn't wait to see the results as she quickly broke off following Rawley swiftly diverting power to her Aft shields to cover their retreat. "Two away no visual on effect." Fasha reported.
[ Selena Ravenholm | Black Opal Facility | Command Center ]
Feeling the computer began to come alive to her mind she directed the energy to go to the Weapons and shields and opened her mind to the station seeing through its eyes in a way that she could only imagine would feel quite familiar to Thea if she were with her in this interface. Selena's lips opened and her voice spoke through her mouth but also through the PA systems on the station and over the hailing frequencies to the Theurgy. "Black Opal Station is online. Red Alert, shields Powering up, and Phasers banks online, Firing on enemy vessel. Selena hadn't broken into the AI of the station. Selena had made herself the AI, and was now bringing the stations full potential to bear on the Romulan Warbird at her doorstep.
[ Aisha S'Iti | USS Theurgy | Deck 01 | Main Bridge]
The Cardassian kept the ship's course of movement allowing the Theurgy to rotate about its axis. As the wolves ordinance closed in and the Station began to come to life as a shield began to form around its previously exposed areas and phaser arrays began to stream energy into the attacking Romulan vessel. In a matter of seconds, the forward launchers were aligned with the enemy, and tactical could discharge the quantum torpedoes in the forward launchers.
Soon, the ship would invert itself, and eventually, pods would be loaded onto the previously unarmed side. The second broadside array would be aligned to the warbird, allowing for a follow up broadside on the warbird.
[ Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf 01]
"Lead, this is, Fox; thanks for making that hole I got something special just for them." He said looking to his two remaining hardpoints on the weapons display. Remembering he had armed himself with Dual EMP torps he smirked. Targeting the Warbird he sent his payload in right behind the ordinance that had just been launched. Evading long range disruptor fire miles kept a visual on the bird to report the impacts. "I've got that visual 03! Confirmed torp hits on port wing!" He said watching as his own EMP torps headed for the port side disruptor generators and the warbird's plasma torp launch controls for that side. If he predicted the effects right, with its current damage half of the warbird's weapons would probably shut down as soon as they hit their mark. That was if the bird didn't get her shields back up in time to stop them.
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png)|wolf 05| Black Opal Facility | Engineering ] Attn: Lone Wolvs, Lucan,
Nathan listened to Miles as he commented that he was not to act out or do anything too dangerous. He bit his lip a little tightening his hand on the controls again. No weapons, he couldn't trust his sensors, and he was basically just providing a body for the enemy to shoot at. This was a time he really wished he could have some music pumped into his helmet as he flew. He would give anything for some blood pounding tunes as he flew right about now it would help ease his stomach.
As he turned the ship around and finished his check list he waited till Maverick's signal and on that mark he was out and back into space rejoining with the other wolves to draw fire from the enemy ship. He flew to cover the rest of the wolves ducking between shots and keeping himself as close to the Romulan ship as possible so that it would constantly register him as a threat.
His instincts had him checking over the sensors as he was flying, and as he did he noticed two things, one the controlls were now much more smooth then they had been otherwise, and he was also starting to notice that most of his readings were correct. Did he set a diagnostic before he parked his ship? an internal error that fixed when he had rebooted? something had been wrong with his ship right? If it wasn't than why had they lost one of the wolves?
He shook his head those were not the questions that he should be thinking of right now.
OOC: sorry for my delay i'm running some catch up now.
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf-07 | Outer Space | Outside the RNZ ]
Tessa was so intent on following Rawley that she didn't notice how close they were getting to the hull of the warbird. She let out a squeak as she deployed her tetryon pulse cannon and veered away just in time to avoid colliding with the warbird's dark green hull. Bright explosions erupted off the dark green hull, momentarily lighting up the darkness of outerspace. Then she hurled her Valkyrie back into the void, keeping Rawley's fighter in sight.
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
"O'Connell to bridge," Billy Bob announced as his large meaty hands operated the transporters. "I got me ten transporters beamin' the swag aboard. Lemme know when you're a wantin' me t' start beamin' up people!" This was a matter of life or death. If the Theurgy needed to put up shields on the side facing Black Opal Station there could be no rescue. Those who were left behind might stay behind.
[ Commander Trent | Black Opal Command Deck ]
To say the situation had degenerated quickly would be a serious exercise in understatement. Between the Romulan warbird decloaking weapons blazing and their own boarding action, suffice to say that Theurgy's crew had its hands beyond full. However, Theurgy's XO did not take any further action for a moment, instead choosing to look at the displays as they'd just come back to life, thanks to the efforts of Thea and Selena Ravenholm and he took in the situation. At this point, he needed to make sense of the tactical situation in a hurry in order to make the right decision, and a rash one could be disastrous. However, there were two points he needed to address.
He had reviewed the files of key personnel involved in the mission, including Covington and he had a firm idea that what he was about to say would stick in the older man's craw. But he was certain the Chief of the Deck would understand the nature and reason behind his orders. After all, the ship and the mission were a priority, even at the cost of directions some might find hard to digest. So, he tapped his combadge. "Commander Wenn, Mister Covington, this is the XO. Chief, you and a minimum of the resupply party will continue tagging ordnance, and have your mule drivers keep bringing out pods and drop them all directly in space, and keep them coming until instructed otherwise or the situation in space is resolved. The remainder of your people are to reinforce Commander Wenn and his teams in repelling the boarders. Commander Wenn, Black Opal's personnel is unarmed and defenceless. Deploy as many of your people as you need to protect them. Keeping them safe is the single greatest priority beyond holding the command deck."
As he spoke, Trent looked towards Dewitt. The woman still seemed to have some doubt about things, but if that would not at least seriously make her reconsider her opinion towards Theurgy and her command team, he did not know what could. But there was also a battle to win, so he addressed the redhead. "Commander Dewitt, I would need your assistance, assuming you're willing to take orders from me." Carrigan's voice was his usual near-whisper, and despite his civility there was a hard edge of command there but there was still the option not to follow his directions should her conscience dictate otherwise. "My men are outnumbered, and they are the only thing standing between the Romulans, your people and this station's key systems and compartments. I need you to take control of internal blast doors and forcefields and slow them down, while giving my people better access. Can you do this?"
As he spoke, he made his way towards the one station that had a tactical configuration. As Thea had said, combat systems were online and he was quick to open a communications link to Theurgy's Bridge as his fingers flew over the console, computing firing solutions and linking to as many deployed pods as Black Opal's systems could control, which to say was less than half of Theurgy's maximum capability. But a dozen pods would still represent a hundred and eighty warheads, and that would do quite well. "Captain, this station's on-board weapons are not sufficient to be any real help, but I can control plenty of pods."
As he spoke, he saw how Theurgy changed course and heading and her main tubes and pulse phasers blazing. The spread of quantum torpedoes was something he followed, and given the punishment the Lone Wolves had inflicted upon the warbird's defences, he watch the ship's ordnance bypass what shreds of shields it still possessed and slamming into the hull. He did not need to imagine what it was like as hull and armour plating was vaporized, framing members were smashed and broken and whole sections were opened to space before forcefields and blast doors would stop the loss of atmosphere. But not that Trent was particularly fond of Romulans, especially some that knew the location of a supply depot whose existence was classified so high that it was only available on a need-to-know basis, and that anyone who was ever entrusted was sworn to silence to perpetuity in this regard, but according to his sensors, the Romulan warship was streaming atmosphere, debris and plasma and its fire had slackened, probably as a result of trying to balance the need to fight with their crippling damage. So now, it was time to put an end to his fight.
It was a good thing he had started his career as a Tactical Officer, for it meant that when Sankolov took his Task Force out, Trent had been checked out on the new torpedo pods and their operation when they had gotten underway. And that allowed him to readjust his initial firing solution and sequence, and instead of a single, massive, concentrated volley he let out a ripple of a dozen, one pod at a time, at two seconds' interval. But the target was not the Warbird, it was the space immediately off its most intact side and well clear of his ship's fighters and he allowed the torpedoes to detonate harmlessly in open space in what he intended to be another display of firepower, and something else: a show that he did have ammunition to burn. He then followed with a direct hail, which he shared with Theurgy's bridge.
"Romulan warship, this is Starfleet Depot Black Opal. You have violated the Neutral Zone and Federation space. You have opened fire on a Starfleet vessel and forcibly boarded a Starfleet facility. Each and every one can be considered acts of war on its own and I will treat your actions as such unless you start recovering your people in the next thirty seconds and withdraw back to Romulan space at your best speed while you still can. Or so help me God my next salvos are NOT going to be a fireworks display and I will erase you from space. As of right now, you're on the clock so if I were you I wouldn't waste my time responding to my hail. Black Opal out."
Trent's voice and his usual quiet tones were not one that many would associate with ultimatums. Granted, he knew much of his crew had heard him speak with this sort of conviction, but there could be no denying to truth of his threats. Through Covington's efforts, there were dozens of pods just outside of the station, and while he only had a dozen targeted, they were set to fire three at a time, and once they would be fired and the torpedoes' internal seekers would take over, the computer had been instructed to automatically take over the next three in line, and so forth until commanded to cease fire... or pods would run out.
And, from behind the XO, where he was keeping an eye on the remainder of the station's command deck crew, Rivard let out a low whistle, and he found himself speaking to no one in particular. "Never knew the Sir had that in him... remind me not to piss him off!"
[ Kanti MacTavish | Wolf-08 | Space ]
Kanti well and truly had not expected it to be that big. When the warbird had decloaked, her head had pulled back slightly; staring down a hostile ship of that size, in person, in an actual combat situation, suddenly caused a mass sense of overwhelming smallness. Compared to that towering hulk of Romulan firepower, her zooming off-balance Valkyrie felt downright tiny, a miniscule little firecracker compared to a ship that could reduce a continent to slag.
Paralyzed temporarily by the shock, she managed to make two fantastical blunders. One was the slight loss of straightness, her already off-kilter flying magnifying the problem to the point that she was starting to veer off course. She muttered a few obscenities to herself off the channel, finding she had caught the problem and corrected just in time to notice her second mistake: everyone else had already unleashed their contribution to the opening salvo.
Living up to that callsign, wasn't she? Right at the last possible second, Kanti's hand flew to the fire control, triggering the EMP torpedo first before following up with a trio of launches from her three other hardpoints. The very second her ordnance had cleared the tube, she was overcorrecting hard for the imbalance in order to orient back towards the Theurgy, mentally chiding herself for the delayed reaction as she tried to at least get back into her flight position at the rear of the formation. One hell of a terrible first combat showing, wasn't this?
[ Amelya Duv | Sickbay | Black Opal ] Attn: Anyone on Opal? and Theurgy Bridge
As the status of Ryuan Sel seemed to be more dire than anticipated, Amelya wished to transport her back aboard the Theurgy for immediate surgery. Yet when she tapped her badge the sickbay came under attack as the security detail opened fire by the doors towards the invading Romulans. A few shots got through the doors from the Romulans, hitting some healthcare personnel as they lay lifeless on the floor. Panic erupted and it took the best of Amelya and her remaining emergency crew to calm them down or to move people out of the lines of fire.
"Theurgy for Duv, the Opal Sickbay area is under attack. If anyone could help us out it would be much appreciated. I'm not sure for how long the security forces will be able to hold them back. Duv out."
[ Simon Tovarek | Morwen Angharad's Office ] Attn: Lucan
While skimming through the notes and research of the Opal base, Simon Tovarek found it to be oh so quiet on the research deck. He had found some interesting notes and had moved around in the office to find follow ups on PADD's that had been written full of research details. Yet the eerie silence kept him on guard. Especially when he thought he had heard something, something along the line of footsteps but nobody would come here, now would it? A PADD that still laid on the ground drew his attention as he kneeled down to pick it up, yet at that exact time a flurry of phaser fire rained above him. He ducked down entirely and clenched his teeth together as the phaser fire hit an old exoskeleton of what seemed to be a prototype droid. The fire however shooting it to shreds. Yet the fire continued as he heard multiple discharges from the weapons which indicated that his assailant wasn't alone. Yet he couldn't make out with how many they were.
Out of reflex, he rolled under the desk of Morwen, hiding underneath and taking his own phaser out, meaning to either catch the attackers off guard as they would inspect their kill. Yet how would he deal with any company? Sure, he had noticed some compounds that if mixed could cause for a world of hurt for any attackers, but those were spread throughout the office. The only thing he had with him was a hand phaser and research PADDs.
Thus, he choose to wait it out and see what these men would be doing. Were they Opal resistance members or a third party? He hadn't figured it out yet. Yet time would tell it seemed.
[Ensign Christopher "Husker" Slayton | Wolf Zero Four| Space around the warbird]
Husker ducked his fighter underneath a disruptor pulse as he heard Thea replied into a channel. "Thea, my brother once told me that he was able to use his ship'separately evacuation transporters as they use a different system then the ones used for the crew, couldn't that help you get the ordinance aboard?"
After he offered up the suggestion, he throttled back his impulse input to duck his bird up and over a pulse array from the hostile ship.
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-09 ] Attn: All
The Black Opal's defences chimed in with the Theurgy's staccato pulse phasers - streaming deadly energy against the second ship that had come to raid the base.
Diverting all excess power to her aft shields, Rawley sped away from the Romulan warbird at maximum impulse, and she was somehow surprised at the lack of disruptor fire that caught her in her flight. It took her a couple of seconds before it dawned on her that not only had the wolves scored multiple hits against the warbird, but the Theurgy had swivelled about too - launching several torpedoes from her forward launchers. The energy readings on her HUD went off the charts when the quantum torpedoes hit the warbird, and it provided ideal cover-fire for herself and the rest of the wolves.
With those detonations behind her, Rawley led the wolves back behind Thea for a second fly-by, but she was not about to lead it herself when Renard was back. She might not like the new SCO, but she figured it was good fucking form to pass the command back to him. "This is Ghost. Fox, they are all yours. I'm ready for a second run!"
That, however, was yet to be decided - the command Renard's again.
[ ThanIda zh'Wann | The Black Opal | Command Centre ] Attn: All
"Black Opal Station is online. Red Alert. Shields powering up, and phasers banks online. Firing on enemy vessel."
Like the base defended itself, the Andorian Deputy defended it's Command Centre. As Ida bared her teeth and leaned out of the doorway - discharging her rifle against the oncoming Romulans - she heard Thea answer the pilot that was talking to her.
"I read you, Ensign Slayton, but transporters are now back online and ordinance is being beamed aboard me already. Ravenholm lifted the encryption. Be advised, I am opening fire now, providing cover for you and the rest of the Lone Wolves." And as she said it, the viewscreen was lit by the detonations against the warbird's shields and hull - smiting it with several hits of the highest yield she had available.
Down the corridor, ahead of Ida's defensive position, she could see how Dyan - or Sar-unga - held back to spring an ambush against the second wave of Romulans once they came up beside her. The Romulan ground forces had not expected the sudden attack on their flank, and several ones fell over. Those that didn't were returning fire against the white-haired demon that had attacked them. That, however, gave Ida the chance to take proper aim, picking them off in rapid succession since she did not have to be on the defensive. Together, Dyan and she managed to decimate the entire second wave, save for one Romulan...
He reached across Dyan's cover and seized her by the neck, pulling her towards himself and attempting to use the Asurian as a living shield - disabling Ida to fire at him without hitting the Petty Officer too. Ida swore, unable to see what happened after the Romulan dragged her behind the corner. Quickly, she motioned for Zaraq to stay put as she moved at a brisk pace down the corridor, not about to leave Cardamone behind, and as she did, she hoped there wasn't a third wave about to arrive anytime soon since that would leave her completely open. Eyes along the sights, she hurried to aid the Asurian, in case she couldn't deal with the Romulan on her own.
Behind her, Ida thought she heard the Black Opal's commander answer Trent - the sound of the voice fading while she left the Command Centre. "Aye, Commander. Activating blast doors."
And just like that, a thick bulkhead slid in place in front of Ida, and she was unable to reach Dyan Cardamone - the white haired Asurian left to her fate. "By Lor'Vela," Ida cursed, realising that opening the blast door again was not tactically advisable - a potential third wave of Romulans prevented from reaching the Command Centre with the blast door left in place.
All she could to was to hope Cardamone could take care of herself.
[ Morwen Angharad's Office | Black Opal ] Attn: Nolan
"Black Opal Station is online. Red Alert. Shields powering up, and phasers banks online. Firing on enemy vessel."
Hearing the announcement, Sub-Lieutenant Lai Radaik narrowed his slitted eyes as the Red Alert lights were switched on - painting the inside the science office crimson.
"Spread out. Find whoever is hiding here," he said to his squad, curling his lip as he said so. He had wished they'd held their trigger fingers long enough to look around and spot the source of the moving shadow, but alas, now they were all ignorant to their target's location. His four companions fanned out, while Lai himself slowly walked towards the desk that had been riddled with fire from their disruptor rifles.
For a second, his focus lapsed, and that was when one of his men called from him, having found something in the area. Lai turned away from the desk, wondering what had been found...
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Jien both heard Ravenholm's announcement and saw the Black Opal's phaser arrays opening fire against the Romulan warbird, still standing as she were in front of the viewscreen with her fists at her sides. Thea's own pulse phasers were coughing orange hellfire against their adversary, and as soon as the Lone Wolves had done their run, Jien saw - with some satisfaction about Arisaka's timing - how the rapid succession of quantum torpedoes provided cover for their escape from those fearsome disruptor banks. Not only that, but the multiple hits caused the warbird a severe blow, all thanks to O'Connell and Covington's thrifty efforts.
Hearing O'Connell's report, Jien noted the message but did not order a change of tactics yet, still needing ordinance to be the priority. She also heard Duv's plea for assistance down on the Opal, which was of greater concern. "Patch the message through to Commander Wenn, unless he already heard it," she said with tight lips, eyes still not looking away from the warbird, counting the seconds left until she might be able to deal another broadside against the warbird, hoping the work bees could still carry the pods to the tractor beam emitters even though Thea was moving - swivelling about close to the Black Opal.
Trent's voice on the intercom followed a series of detonations just off the Romulan ship's hull - a demonstration of fire-ower - and with a faint smile, Jien recognised the fact that Carrigan did not opt to introduce himself as he made his demand. She was pleased by the forethought, since they really did not want to make things personal with the Romulans - rebels or not. Things were already on too much of a personal basis with Starfeet, and they did not need their names and faces circulating the Empire as well. Good man.
After a couple of seconds... the warbird ceased its disruptor fire, making Jien do the dame by raising a hand in Arisaka's direction.
At first, it was just floating in the distance, and Jien's ears rang in the aftermath of the exchange. The lack of energy bolts and disruptor fire also made it easier to see, with her eyes alone, what kind of punishment they had dealt upon the warbird, and it was severe. The Valkyries must have utilised one or two tetryon pulse cannons to decimate its shields, since the green hull was showing hull-breaches that went deeper than the eye could see.
[Incoming transmission,] Thea said.
"Patch it through," said Jien quietly, still not about to drop her guard an inch. The people down on the Opal was likely getting the same transmission.
[We y-----ield!] said a voice through the static of the speakers, and the quality of the audio was poor, [Grant us mercy wh----- we ensure th------ propulsion. We are ---- ground forces when transpo----. We retreat as so----. Grant us---- ore time!]
Jien thought for a second before she nodded towards Stark to open a channel. "You will be granted your lives on one condition," she said, her crystal clear voice cutting as she dealt those syllables like the strokes of a blade. She gave them neither name nor identification, for the source would be plain in their comm systems. "You will give us your source. You will tell us who gave you the coordinates to this hidden depot, and you will do so within twenty seconds... or we will open fire once more."
At first, Jien's demand was met by silence, and for a few seconds, she thought the warbird was about to jump to warp - leaving them ignorant. Yet after fifteen seconds had passed, another audio transmission came.
[llhusra veruul! We know on---- our source by a taken name---- The source ----me be Aidoann--- our word for 'Moon'. His or her ----- transmissions ---- through a relay ---- one of your starbases ---- located ---- sectors away ---- behind a defence grid we cannot pass ----detected.]
Whatever relief Jien had felt about the Romulans standing down was short-lived, for she realised that it was likely Starbase 84 the Romulan captain spoke of, and that there might be someone like Acreth there - feeding the Romulans the intel available on the base.
As she thought about this, likely sharing her thoughts with everyone present on the bridge and down on the Black Opal, she saw the Romulan warbird swing about and jump to warp - the captain leaving as soon as he could. That meant he had beamed back all the ground forces too, and that they were alone again. Jien had no idea how bad things had been on the Black Opal before the forces were beamed back, but she hoped there were no casualties.
"Good work everyone. Damage report," she said quietly. "Lone Wolves, resume presence on the Black Opal and set another patrol route. Medical, send down more personnel there. Resume loading preparations... for we cannot linger either. Wenn Cinn, what's the status down there?"
OOC: Before this thread can end, we need to learn how the people down on the Black Opal fared, at the very least. I will then post an ending here, and then start up a clean-up thread where discoveries are made and the Black Opal ends up destroyed - all personnel beamed up on the Theurgy.
[ Lt. Cmdr Miles "Iron Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 ] **Part 1 of 2**
"Roger that Ghost. Squad, I'm reading com signals coming both ways, Wolves break into three formations and take up positions around that Warbird. 09, You've got point and I'm forming up on your wing. Everyone, get ready to light that bird up if they resume hostilities," he said watching as he saw the Romulans cease fire then the Theurgy as well as the base.
[ Aisha S'Iti | USS Theurgy | Deck 01 | Main Bridge]
Hearing the captain deliver the ultimatum the conn officer allowed inertia to glide the Theurgy into an aggressive position primed to shove her full deadly potential strait down the Romulan aggressors throats, should they give the Captain reason to order the finishing blows.
[ Selena Ravenholm | Black Opal Facility | Command Center ]
Sensing through the computers the theurgy ceasing fire as well as the romulans she cut the firing sequences she had initiated and soon felt as the warbird seemed to attempt to pierce the stations now-active shields with transporter beams. She made the necessary holes in the shielding to allow the retreat. and spoke through the station intercoms. "Romulan Ground forces in retreat, Enemy vessel powering down weapons and powering up engines." Watching through the sensors she sensed the warbird going to warp then the weapons systems and shields began powering down. and she allowed herself to back herself out of the deeper reaches of the AI systems allowing the Backup AI of the station to "think for itself" once again. Coming back to alertness she looked around to Thea then to Trent. "Weapons systems and shields powered down, Commander. OH and I took the liberty of altering the security clearances for our Captain. Or should I say in the perspective of this station as of the moment, our Fleet Admiral."
[ Lt. Cmdr Miles "Iron Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 ] **Part 2 of 2**
Watching the Warbird retreat he spoke into the com again. "Great job Ghost, not many get to claim that on their first command they made a Warbird run off with its tail between its legs?" Miles throttled up a little and got alongside her ship fora moment before giving her a visual thumbs up. "I'm leaving you in charge up here for the duration of the mission. You seem to have a handle on everything, no reason to mess up a good thing while it's still going."
In reality there was something miles needed to take care of before the situation got any worse. Breaking from Ghost's wing Miles set himself on a course joining the Theurgy just off the bridge's starboard. To be exact right outside the window of the captain's ready room as he sent an encrypted transmission through the private band to the mission ops desk. "SCO Renard to mission ops. Please, quietly inform the Captain I'm right outside his Ready room and need to speak with him Privately Asap."
[ Simon Tovarek | Morwen Angharad's Office ]
Biding his time for the men to make a mistake, Simon could hear the Romulans as the man in charge seemed to order for his men to fan out. Simon his Romulan was a bit rusty, so he couldn't actually get a decent conversation going and at this point he doubted he'd have to keep one with them. At the same time, the red crimson lights began to shine as he heard the announcement of the red alert. He was about to mumble something to himself as the red lights indicated a shadow coming closer towards him from over the desk. Simon shook his head and readied himself for the attack.
With a quick peek he spotted Radaik and opened fire at him without any delay or hesitation. Two or three shots of the phaser hit him, one in the torso the other on his limbs. He watched the man fall down to his knees before he fell face down to the floor. His men reacted in kind and returned fire now to Simon. He ducked away and started to blind fire overhead. Hitting some of the scientific chemicals and substances, the chain reaction created a smokescreen. A very irritating smokescreen that wasn't toxic but that would irritate the mucous of eyes and airways. Soon enough he heard the other men cough and stumble, yet before he took a look where they were, there was nothing more but smoke.
He frowned and waited a few more minutes, only to realize that the men had been beamed out once more. Their dead comrade included. Simon shook his head and started to look for a gas mask or a re breather of some kind. Yet what he found instead proved to be much more interesting as the smoke spread further to the entrance of the office and the labs, moving away from him.
[ Fasha "Morrigan" | Wolf-03 ]
Fasha fell into formation behind Rawley her aft shields powered up to full to soak up the impending volley from the Romulan Warbird. Surprisingly however Fasha felt no jolts or shakes from disruptor impacts against her shields. Were the Romulan's blind or had their attack done so much damage that they were no longer capable of retaliating. Her eyes drifted to her heads up display she noticed the visible spike in energy readings. They'd unloaded an abundance of ordnance but what they had in terms of on-board weaponry was in no way capable of generating energy readings of that yield.
She turned her head and could see that the Theurgy had turned to bring it's weapons to bear on the Warbird as well. The Warbird likely decided that with the Theurgy joining the fight there we much larger threats to face instead of chasing after wolves. As the squadron regrouped behind the Theurgy's hulking mass Fasha took a moment to gather herself. Experienced or not combat had a way of fraying nerves and getting far too much adrenaline surging through ones veins. Adrenaline was good it kept a person focused but too much of it could have a negative effects as well. She'd seen it far too often during the Dominion War soldiers felt invincible when adrenaline kicked in. They'd run headfirst into the enemy without fear but when the enemy had a firing line of disruptor rifles at the ready bravado would do nothing in the face of firepower.
She closed her eyes craning her head back to rest against the back of her seat taking in deep measured breaths. Soon her breaths were steady and her mind focused. As Ghost handed over command back to Fox she did a quick check over her remaining armaments. She still had two Mini-Torp launchers fitted to her wings along with her on-board weapons. "I'm ready for another run as well...Just give the word." Fasha said. However rather than receiving orders to commence another strafing run on the Warbird she heard Fox inform the squadron that the Warbird had ceased fire and gave the order to take up positions around the warbird just in case of renewed hostilities. "Affirmative Lead, Husker form up on me we're gonna take up formation on the Warbird's Starboard end." Fasha said kicking her Valkyrie into gear and setting a course for the location her weapons primed and ready to engage at a moments notice.
Before long the Warbird made it's retreat and once more command fell to Ghost. "Awaiting orders lead." Fasha said.
[ Cameron Henshaw | USS Theurgy | Deck 01 | Main Bridge] Attn: Wolves & Ives
The wolves had done some impeccable work against the warbird and Cameron looked from her console up to the viewscreen to see the damage it seemed to just soak up. Everything happened reasonably fast and the next thing she knew the warbird had left their space and retreated to the RNZ. Overhearing the conversation between Miles and Rawley, Cameron gave Rawley a new patrol route to follow with her fellow wolves. She also complimented the pilots on their jobs with a personal message to each of them which would appear on their HUD for just a few seconds.
Next however Miles contacted her on a secure channel and she nodded before looking towards Ives. "Understood, I will do what is needed. Also could I advise to call Maverick back to hangar, sir? Just to give his bird a thorough check due to the incident," she replied to Renard before she left her station with her earpiece still connected in case Miles would reply. She walked over to her captain and stood beside her before whispering in her ear "Ma'am, Squadron Commander Renard would like to see you in your Ready Room. I think it might be urgent." She looked at the bridge staff to see who would be eyeing them before she added "Also, ma'am, if you need someone to go over what happened on the mission... You know I'm at your service."
With that she returned to her station, and oversaw any other problems that might arise with the wolves.
[ Wenn Cinn | The Black Opal | Loading dock ]
As the fighting had began the loading docks wee again one of the focal points of the fighting, but with help to put together barricades and makeshift fortification, the Romulan infiltrators were grossly outmatched. With the delay on beam in, with a fully armed an alert group fighting back, the Romulans did not have the edge they had been hoping for, but with greater numbers, and some luck a handful of their force manage to gain a foothold in the loading docks. as soon as they were digging in Cinn called for his team to fall back, being at half strength Wenn did not want to push the fight more than he had to. So with some covering fire from above Cinn pulled his meager force back to the bottle neck of the corridor, to keep the Romulan's locked away in the same area that had left him unable to push into the station, here their numbers would be worthless, so long as they kept up a proper perimeter as well.
With the benefit of moving crates up to work as barricades Cinn and the remains of his team wee able to push back the Romulans, forcing them to sit in the Loading dock, cut off from the rest of the station, unable to do anything of any tactical value. It was not anything glorious, but at this location Cinn was able to keep one of the front's of the attack tied down without any real major drain on their forces. During the rest of the battle the rest of Alpha squad worked to move unarmed members of the Black Opal crew and any injured crew out of danger, and into safe locations around the station.
As Cinn was called upon for a report he pulled back and tapped his combadge as he moved out of the way. "Cinn reporting in, we have pulled back from the loading dock, their numbers were too many for us to hold it safely, but there is nothing they can do to push out. They have tried already, but we have been holding them in the same position we were in before Captain. We have managed to keep from taking any casualties at this point. I am certain that we will be able to hold this point indefinitely if needed captain. As far as I can tell sir, we have been holding our own pretty well so far. I am ready to move my unit as you want sir, but for now we will hold our point. Currently Captain we have most of my squad moving out to get the unarmed crew of the Black Opal into safe places."
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
Wenn Cinn reported right away, and Jien heard him out where she stood on the bridge. "Very good, Mr. Wenn. While you reported in, the Romulans ought to have beamed up from the base. Commander Trent will likely check for Romulan life-signs on the Opal and give you a status report, verifying that your opposition has just left the loading bay. Once you have verification that the ground forces just left with the warbird, secure the situation on the Opal and continue to ensure the safety of all unarmed personnel. Their medbay made a distress call not long ago, so you need to head there next. Ives, out."
By then, Cameron Henshaw had made her way over to her, and Jien leaned her head in to hear what her Yeoman said, and nodded. She did not know what Renard wished to speak about, but she supposed ithad to do with the loss of Ensign Carver. When Cam said that she was available for a debriefing, and likely having seen how Carver's death and Lin Kae's betrayal had affected her, Jien inclined her head again and gave her a faint smile of understanding. In all honesty, she did not know what to make of her own feelings towards what had happened, especially not when they were in the direct aftermath of a diplomatic incident on top of all else - having just nearly destroyed a Romulan warbird in Federation space. She said nothing to Cam since she was already returning to Mission Ops, instead turning her oaken eyes towards the Ops station.
"Lieutenant Commander Stark, you have the bridge. I will be in my Ready Room if you need me, and keep me posted if there is any more... unforeseen development." A mild understatement when referring to having the Romulans attack again, but they knew what she meant. "I will return shortly."
Stepping into her Ready Room, she saw Renard's Valkyrie hovering outside the ship, and she heard the chirping from her computer console. "Thea, open a secure comm channel to Lieutenant Commander Renard," she said, walking over to the view screen and folding her arms underneath her chest.
[Aye, Captain. Channel open.]
"You wished to speak, Miles?" she asked, looking towards the SCO where he sat inside his cockpit, with the backdrop of the Black Opal behind the attack fighter. Over the course of the bare month where the Vulpinian had been a part of the Senior Staff, and the countless meetings they'd had over matters high and low, Jien and him were on a first name basis, just like many others that had remained loyal towards her. Not that they would drop her rank in kind, but it was at least a small sign of positive development after the mutiny.
[ Amelya Duv | Sickbay | Black Opal ]
After the Romulans had beamed back the good doctor made her rounds to check in on the casualties. The fighting had been ferocious even though this was just a make shift medical center. In total, 2 Opal survivors had been hit while trying to evacuate the wounded out of the line of fire. Be it from indirect fire of the Romulans towards the security detail that had been beamed down together with Duv and Tovarek. The security detail itself had taken some mild casualties as well so to speak, with 2 men killed from hits to their faces and another one down on a sickbed with a heavy concussion.
"Duv to O'Connell. If you have the time and resources to spare, I could use some site to site transports from severely injured personnel towards the Theurgy Sickbay. Please inform Doctor Maya and Doctor Nicander that we do have some surgical patients on the way with trauma. I'd rather have these people in a surgical suite sooner than later." she said, adding the last as a means to prioritize wounded transport above torpedoes.
She marked the patients that needed the most urgent transport and checked on the rest as she still had her hands full with the minor injuries.
[ Dyan Cardamone | Black Opal Facility | Security Squad Beta] Attn: Auctor Lucan
Dyan hadn't seen the last Romulan. The sight of Romulan bodies stacked about the corridors eased her into a false sense of victory, quickly shattered when the lone survivor grabbed her by the neck.
She struggled hard, kicking and squirming the best she could, but he had an advantage over her. He dragged her behind the bulkhead, and the blast doors closed behind them. No more Ida, no more Zaraq. Just her and the lone wolf Romulan.
Her only 'speech' to the Romulan was a litany of swear words too foul to be repeated. She drove the heel of her boot into the Lone Survivor's shoe, the pain of a well placed hit to the top of his foot rendered him off-balance just long enough for her to grab the arm used to hold her neck and twist, hard. She swept her leg behind his to knock him over, all while maintaining her death grip on his arm. Her retaliation happened so quickly and fluidly, that she had to stop a moment just to register that she did, in fact, disable her captor. She smiled down at the stunned lone survivor. It felt like power, like she had control.
That was, she felt she had power right up until she heard the sound of a third wave of Romulans, storming up behind her.
The withered look on her captor faded as he saw his compatriots. He kicked her gut and she fell onto her back. Here, she had a wonderful view of the ceiling and the sole of the Lone Survivor's boot as he came at her again with another kick, this one for the sake of revenge. She curled around herself, biting back the pained grunt so as to not give him the satisfaction of knowing she's hurt. She turns her head to see a crowd drawing closer to her, a severe looking Romulan woman aiming a disruptor at her. Dyan shuts her eyes and prepares for the pain...
....but instead of pain, she hears a familiar sound. The sound of transporters.
She opens her eyes to catch the last glimpse of transporter light, and then an empty hallway. There's nothing left for her to fight. She sits up and relishes in her victory once more.
[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance (https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/219/0/d/tessa_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6mx6.png) | Wolf 07 | Outer Space | | Outside the RNZ ]
Tessa's heart swelled as the Romulan warbird retreated and she heard Captain Ives' praise. Both a sense of relief and a sense of self-worth permeated her being, a sensation she hadn't felt since the Calamity's first attack.
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell (https://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/219/f/7/oconnel_row_01_by_auctor_lucan-d7u6n2x.png) | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy ]
"Duv to O'Connell. If you have the time and resources to spare, I could use some site to site transports from severely injured personnel towards the Theurgy Sickbay. Please inform Doctor Maya and Doctor Nicander that we do have some surgical patients on the way with trauma. I'd rather have these people in a surgical suite sooner than later."
"Roger that, Doc," O'Connell replied as his large meaty hands made some adjustments on the transporter panel. "Transporter room to sickbay. Prepare to receive incoming wounded. We're fixin' t' beam a passel o' patients straight t' sickbay."
"Acknowledged transporter room," Doctor Maya's disembodied mezzosoprano voice replied. "We are ready to receive."
"Standby sickbay," Master Chief O'Connell replied. "O'Connell to Koizumi. Transporter rooms one and two are gonna be beamin' up wounded and sendin' 'em directly t' sickbay. The rest of th' transporters'll be handlin' the swag."
"Aye-aye Master Chief," Petty Officer Tenchi Koizumi's disembodied voice replied.
"Locking on triage frequencies now," O'Connell muttered as his right hand made a downward motion along the three glowing vertical lines on the transporter console.
On the transporter pads, glowing horizontal silhouettes appeared before disappearing again before they were fully formed.
OOC: I'm assuming that medical personnel activate a function on a patient's commbage to let the mother ship know who's wounded and who's not.
[ Lt. Cmdr Miles "Iron Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 ]
"Understood, I will do what is needed. Also could I advise to call Maverick back to hangar, sir? Just to give his bird a thorough check due to the incident,"
Miles spoke into the com. "Negative on that, tower." He replied using an archaic form of earth navy jargon that he had picked up a while back. "I just sent him silent orders to help Papa Bear on the Opal. He should be making his way back to the base and be set to report to Covington in the docking bay. Please Inform Papa Bear that I will be helping out his crew with processing whatever equipment he beams over or has tugged directly to the fighter bay as soon as I land."
Waiting a few moments he was greeted by a small display of the captain projected on his helmet not taking up much of the display but enough that he could still effectively talk to her.
"You wished to speak, Miles?"
"Yes Maa'm Captain." he said with a bit of a somber tone. "Based on info from both Isley and the other pilots it appears his craft was the one that fired the Tetrion pulse that disabled Skye Carver's fighter. I am not fully familiar with all of Starfleet's UCMJ*" He began, recalling from his understanding Starfleet's Uniform code for military Justice was an almost article for article rewriteing of the one used by the United states Armed Forces of the late 20th century. "But, from my understanding the policy regarding Friendly fire incidents is that if the incident results in the loss of Mission Critical Hardware, a fighter craft or the major injury or death of a pilot an article 32 investigation is required. With your permission Captain I will be ordering downloads of all the fighters sensor logs and com recordings of the incident sent to security as soon as they are available to be downloaded into the computer. The same will go for the recordings of His own craft, including system operations at that time, as well ordering a full diagnostic of his craft and an in depth diagnostic of the craft's Tetrion cannon weapons systems and Sensors in order to assure everyone that there was a malfunction as he has stated."
"I would like to request that due to his degree of concern and his refusal to use his craft's weapons post incident that he be allowed to be met upon landing my myself personally and escorted to his own quarters for house arrest rather than be subjected to an arrest by security and confinement to the brig per standard procedure. The reason i ask this is I would like to extend the olive branch of reasonable doubt to him due to the obvious feelings of guilt he has already shown over the incident."
He sighed a moment glancing down at the floor of his craft then back up. "I would also like you to, if you would not mind, make a personal request to your Yeoman. From what I understand she has experience in counseling from her time on the Harbinger. I imagine that given her role in mission ops, speaking with a familiar and likely trusted voice would be invaluable to his psychological well being. As I said not asking you to order her to or anything, just you know, A request for her to drop by his quarters after he lands as a concerned friend is all. Of course if she could ask him kindly to submit to a psych evaluation, his voulentarially doing so could go very far in terms of establishing that even if no evidence of malfunction is found that given his remorse in the events the argument could still be made that the incident was purely accidental."
"Of course," he added, "there is the unfortunate fact that when something like this happens foul play may exist. The reason i am requesting all of this is two fold. If Isley is innocent I want to do everything I can to protect one of my pilots from long term repercussions its my job as his superior to b his advocate after all. But if Skye was in any way murdered by Isley or anyone else on this ship I want to make sure that the investigation looks over nothing so that the guilty party or parties can be brought to the fullest extent of justice possible. After all my job as her superior is to make sure that if her death was murder that her killer no matter who does not go unpunished. I just lost a member of Sten's cubs to a coldblooded act of murder. I am not in the mood to be told that my own wingman was a victim of the same pathetic crime." he said a bit of anger seeping through his words despite the calm exterior he made sure to keep projected at all times.
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley (https://img05.deviantart.net/d370/i/2015/303/8/7/nathaniel___maverick___isley_by_auctor_lucan-d9evi5n.png)|wolf 05| Black Opal Facility | Engineering ] Attn: Lucan and IronFerrox, and Covington.
Reading the silent orders Nathan blinked for a moment before his ship banked and started to return towards Black Opal station. He still felt unnerved. Should he try and run a test on his ship? the thought crossed his mind, but he immediately froze up on it. He wasn't going to touch anything. Letting the proffessionals go over the records would allow him more time to think, and grieve.
Nathan would be the first to admit he didn't love Carver, but at the same time the two of them had shared intimate moments, she had been a wolf and a valued friend and he had killed her. He was certain of that, he had fired the shots, and he felt sick. Part of him really didn't know why he wasn't just ordered to the brig at the end of the day. He felt like he deserved that much. There was likely to be an investigation into his ship and what ever errors went wrong...
He hoped they found something, but even if they did it was still his fault. He had still been the one to pull the trigger, he had still been the one out of formation doing something that everyone else had thought impossible. Even if it was his ships fault... he couldn't blame it on the equipment not entirely. Deal with your guilt later Nathan, now is time for work.
The thought wasn't as empowering as he wanted it to be. As he arrived onto Black Opal he landed and got out of his ship. "Reporting to covington now." he said over his comlink, and started to head to work. He could worry about how to live with himself after they got the new weapons on board the ship.
[ Commander Trent | Black Opal Command Deck ]
The seconds following his ultimatum crept by, each feeling like an eternity, and then the Romulan warship responded. At this short a range, there was no reason for the transmission to be so badly garbled. That is unless the damage caused by the first volley from the pods had been even more effective than he'd have dared hoped it would be. After all, Trent might have been qualified on the pods, even fired a few salvos live as part of his familiarization, but no one had ever seen these weapons used against a live starship before. Oh, certainly Starfleet had blasted ships otherwise headed for the breakers, vessels seized for their crews' and captains' crimes and asteroids, but never a vessel intended for combat, let alone one that was at full power and in a position to return fire. Certainly, if they were still on speaking terms with Starfleet, the Weapons Development Board would love to see the after-action report of this engagement as a validation of the pod concept.
However, the Romulans were quick to take the demand for their speedy departure to heart, and Captain Ives' amplification of the ultimatum was an inspired idea. After all, the only reason Ives herself knew about Black Opal was because Trent, as Sankolov's staff intelligence officer, had known about it in that particular capacity. But hearing there was a contact at a nearby Starbase protected by a tachyon grid was, to say the least, rather unsettling.
But that was for another time. Once the Romulans beamed away and their battered ship managed to get to warp, at rather unsteady and pitifully low speed at that, the Commander turned to his ersatz command deck crew after he put an end to the alarm klaxon and secured weapons and what shields the depot had. "Standing down red alert. Good work, ladies." There was not much else he could say regarding this. Thea and Ravenholm's computer wizardry had done wonders, as had Dewitt's efforts with forcefields and blast doors. However, there was plenty still to do, and he started by addressing the station's commander.
"Commander Dewitt, thank you. You've saved a lot of lives, your people and mine." That much was true, and hopefully she would remember the initial orders he had given, to divert his own personnel away from better-fortified positions to protect her unarmed and interned personnel. "I understand our conversation was interrupted, but the Romulans' arrival raises a lot of questions here and we need to investigate the matter and figure out what is going on. Though I hope you've come to realize we aren't exactly on speaking terms with the Romulans either, and that Captain Ives isn't the monster you've been led to believe. In fact, I think you should meet with her while we sort ourselves out down here."
And following this, he tapped his combadge. "Captain, this is the XO. Black Opal is secure and we are resuming resupply ops. I would recommend you beam Commander Dewitt aboard and meet with her personally. Also, I would like a forensics team down here to work with Thea and Ravenholm and go over what's left of the computers, figure out if there's anything we need to know, especially about the Romulans. In the meantime, I will remain down here to coordinate the investigation and keep a lid on things."
Now that those duties were completed, he had other matters to worry about. He knew Lieutenant Tovarek and Doctor Duv had come aboard. And he needed to see if they were all right. "Deputy zh'Wann," he called out. "Track down Lieutanant Tovarek and report his status. If he is hurt, beam him directly to Theurgy's sickbay."
However, the Trill physician was another matter entirely. And he opened a link directly to her. "Doctor Duv, this is Commander Trent. Amelya, are you all right?"
OOC: More to follow with Covington later today
[ Lt. Cmdr Natalie Stark | USS Theurgy | Main Bridge | Deck 01] :Optional tag: Henshaw, Covington, O'Connel
Awful - full of awe was what the word meant. And in that moment, pulling her eyes from the transport of torpedoes, squeezed in as fast as O'Connell could manage, Natalie understood the true meaning of the word. For what she watched was both awe inspiring and harrowing. First from the Theurgy's own pod complement, and then from those sent up by CPO Covington, launched into space from Black Opal and slaved to Thea's weapons control. A massive cluster of torpedoes, bright pinpricks of light against the backdrop of space, turning into a cocoon of mater/antimater explosions, encasing the newly de-cloaked warbird.
Awful.
[We y-----ield!] said a voice through the static of the speakers, and the quality of the audio was poor, [Grant us mercy wh----- we ensure th------ propulsion. We are ---- ground forces when transpo----. We retreat as so----. Grant us---- ore time!]
The voice, the hail from the Romulan ship, surrounded by destruction, broke Natalie away from her dark thoughts. She watched the CO, and saw her nod. A quick command, and the channel was open.
"You will be granted your lives on one condition," Natalie heard Ives say, listening as her CO continued, "You will give us your source. You will tell us who gave you the coordinates to this hidden depot, and you will do so within twenty seconds... or we will open fire once more."
Natalie swallowed, her eyes drawn back down to her controls again, trying very, very hard not to drum her fingers on them, or show just how anxious she was to get the same answer her captain was. And how scared she was of it. Would it be someone she knew?
[llhusra veruul! We know on---- our source by a taken name---- The source ----me be Aidoann--- our word for 'Moon'. His or her ----- transmissions ---- through a relay ---- one of your starbases ---- located ---- sectors away ---- behind a defence grid we cannot pass ----detected.]
A frown crossed over her features as she listened to the reply from the Romulan's, and she worried what that foretold. But true to their word, the wardbird then turned tail and ran - or more accurately limped - back towards the neutral zone and away from the Black Opal base. Natalie just wished she could be sure that this was the last they'd see of that particular warbird, and that it wasn't a forward scout for a much larger fleet, lurking in the shadows of deep space.
"Lieutenant Commander Stark, you have the bridge. I will be in my Ready Room if you need me, and keep me posted if there is any more... unforeseen development." A mild understatement when referring to having the Romulans attack again, but they knew what she meant. "I will return shortly."
The brunettes head snapped up and away, looking back at the captain, "Aye aye, Ma'am," she replied smartly, once more swallowing the same bubble of anxiety that had risen up the last time she'd been given the center seat - or when she'd been sent to lead the rescue mission for the survivors of the Harbinger. This time she had to oversee - well, a mess, that was for sure.
With a few quick commands entered into the console she pushed her chair back and stood, surrendering ops to one of the replacement officer from her department, and making a bee line for the center seat as Cpt. Ives vanished into her ready room..
Make a decision, any decision, but make it. She told herself, the mantra that Trent had imparted upon her earlier that week once more in her head. As before the, seat was considerably more comfortable than it looked, a nod to the fact that a captain needed to be in peek condition. Natalie sunk into it, and her fingers danced across the arm rest console, bringing up a few reports. She addressed the bridge as she read.
"I want a full scan of the base, look for damage from the assault," she said softly, as she continued on, "Updated status on the supply transfer from the base - whats been brought aboard, whats been expended and what's left to store."
She tilted her head to the side reading a notification of injured being transferred, a stark reminder of the butchers bill from their quick and nasty firefights - both with the base personnel, and with the Romulan Warbird. Which, with that ship in mind, she requested, "And someone give me a status run on our wolves," she wanted to make sure they still had enough ordnance on hand in case the Romulan's decided to come back around for another shot. Natalie knew she'd just ordered a laundry list of updates, but she now had a lot more to keep track of than just the ship operations.
[ CWO1 Sten Covington | Black Opal Supply Depots ]
Sten was no stranger to combat. Between his considerable experience in shipboard assignments and the few times he had been involved in battle in much closer quarters, he knew what to expect, mostly. Combat was one of those things no one could really predict, and while he'd gotten used to that kind of uncertainty, it did not mean he particularly enjoyed it. And when he had been ordered to detach as many of his people as he could spare to stiffen up the boarding party's efforts to keep the Romulans at bay, he was ready to lead them into the furnace. However, his own directives had been to manage the supply of ordnance between Theurgy, Black Opal and open space. And as much as he wished he could be sharing the danger his people were facing, he knew the reasoning being the XO's commands: he was simply one of the most experienced non-commissioned members of the crew and while anyone could fire a phaser as directed by Security personnel, the command team could not afford not to make use of his talents where they would be most needed.
And as such, he had simply muckled on and did his job as best he knew how. But that did not last over long, for as suddenly as the Romulan assault had commenced, he started hearing reports of them beaming away, and then there was the call from the ship, requesting a status on operations. So, it appeared they'd won. Whether the Romulan warship was an expanding cloud of plasma and debris or they'd withdrawn, he didn't know. But he certainly knew that he had work to do.
Tapping his combadge, he made contact with his various team leaders and before long the second and third waves of the resupply party beamed aboard, and work began in earnest again. But only after the last of the men and women he was in charge of on Black Opal arrived did he contact the Bridge directly.
"Bridge, this is Covington. I have all of my people here, and we're resuming resupply operations. And it looks like we have transporter control back down here so well be able to speed up the process once everyone gets orientated."
As he finished up, he turned about to see Maverick reporting to him. What in the world was he supposed to do with him? Well, he was a pilot, and ostensibly Iron Fox's XO for tactical matters... "LT, can I get you to play flight ops for the shuttles and the mules doing the resup runs we can't do with the transporters? In the meantime, I need to check on the other cargo bays, see how things are going."
With that said, the grizzled veteran started making his way between cargo bays, and not long afterwards, he received a particular call. "Chief, this is Heinrich in Cargo Bay 17. I... I think you'll want to see this."
Heinrich was young to have made Chief Petty Officer, but she was smart enough to know that kind of cryptic call should not be made frivolously and instead of calling for clarification, the Chief of the Deck made his way to the right hold, and when he got there, he let out a pleased whistle. For they had just hit the motherlode so far as supplies for the fighter deck were concerned. Pallets of tools and spare parts, torpedo racks.
But what caught his attention was at the back end of that bay. They were sitting on wheeled cradles, only awaiting to be pushed under a fighter's wing to be raised and attached. And next to them were entire pallets of ammunition, tens of millions of rounds' worth, much more than would ever have been in Theurgy's magazines. He had seen them before, he had helped design them as part of the ground crews, right alongside the late Lieutenant Rennan Cooper. And that he had to report. "Iron Fox, this is Papa Bear." Then, he allowed himself a grin, and to give a very much unprofessional report. "Do your people celebrate anything like Christmas?"
For before him were weapons he'd only seen as prototypes before, but their serial numbers were production ones, lacking the prefix associated with pre-production models. He was looking at a number of M-142 rapid-fire mass drivers.
[ Captain Ives | USS Theurgy | Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
When Miles Renard asked to personally undertake the handling of the mission data from the Valkyries - sending it to Security for a proper investigation into the incident that had taken Skye Carver's life - Jien inclined her head quietly. It was a collective responsibility to initiate such procedures with Security, but in the end, it was Miles' duty to make sure it happened. Wishing to learn how something so random could have happened during a carefully planned tactical advance, Jien very much liked to know the results of the investigation. Learning that it was Nathaniel Isley's Valkyrie that had fired upon Skye Carver's, memories of the times she had shared with Isley flashed before Jien's eyes, and she couldn't possibly know what might be going through the pilots' mind at that point - the likely guilt and grief unfathomable. Nathan might have had a history with slight discord and questioning authority, but to be so careless as to hot one of his own? No, Jien was convinced this had to be a malfunction in the Valkyrie, which were all prototypes after all.
So when Miles suggested that Isley would be placed under house arrest in his quarters instead of being escorted to the brig, Jien took a deep breath and acquiesced the request - raising a hand to rub her forehead while she stood there in front of the viewscreen. "Granted, but follow protocol and ask Wenn to post guards outside. The death of Skye Carver can't be treated as an accident until proven so either. Specialist Lin Kae just committed treason right on the Main Bridge, among other things accusing me to take her death in stride. Yet he's in a holding cell in the brig right now, so I would likely grant neither of them any favours if I put them both in the same area on the ship. I don't know what to say about it, but evidently, Carver meant a lot to Lieutenant Kae..." Looking up again, Jien folded her her arms across her middle once more and shed any personal concerns from her demeanour. "I will speak with Ensign Henshaw and ask her to see the both of them, if she can. Otherwise, Counsellor O'Connor and her team will see to it."
The matter sorted, Jien took a deep breath, feeling like the rigour of command had her tense - not prepared to appreciate the fact that they had come through with the mission to the Black Opal after all. "Give my regards to the Lone Wolves. Aside from the incident, they preformed well out there. They should know it. Ives, out."
No more had Thea ended the transmission to Miles than a sound came from Jien's combadge. It was Commander Trent, so Jien tapped her badge to acknowledge his report. "Granted, request the people you need directly and keep me informed. I will ask Thea to beam Dewitt up here. I am in my Ready Room, so now is as good a time as any to speak with her," she said quietly as she walked away from the view of the Black Opal. "My compliments on your shooting back there, not to mention the forethought to deploy some pods while arming Thea's broadside array. Well done, Commander, and I will speak with you later.."
Said and done, Thea carried out her task, and Jien folded her hands behind her back - waiting for the base commander to materialise.
[ Just Earlier | Lieutenant Commander Dewitt | The Black Opal > USS Theurgy | Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01 ] Attn: All
When Commander Trent had complimented her on her efforts, Dewitt felt split between pride and spiteful resentment. On her part, she was struggling to fit things together because of all that she had just witnessed. For months, she had been fed the reports and news about Captain Ives and the Theurgy's atrocities and the alliance with the Romulans, and she had no reason to doubt Starfleet Command when they warned her about what the Multivector Dreadnought was capable of. Yet now, she had fought alongside them against the Romulans, and the First Officer of the ship had proved to be nothing but truthful to his word. She was raised to believe what she saw, and now she had seen both the dead bodies from the Federation starships that the Theurgy had destroyed... and she had also seen it fight the very same faction Starfleet Command had claimed it had defected to.
She could but nod in acceptance of Trent's praise, unsure what to say, while the woman called simply 'Thea' made an announcement on the base, using the intercom after the Commander ended the Red Alert. "Attention," she said, and her tone almost sounded like an automated computer voice when she spoke, even if her announcement seemed like an initiative of her own, "All Romulans have left the base. I repeat, the Romulans have left the Black Opal. Resume previous operations and alert medical of any injured personnel."
Dewitt did not know which of the two women by the main console were the strangest one; the one in the body-suit that shifted colours or the one with the openly displayed cybernetic augmentations. The Andorian female seemed more grounded and familiar to Jennifer, who dutifully adhered to Trent's orders when he gave them. "Aye, Commander," she said and turned both eyes and antennae to a large Klingon and another... oddity with horns and white hair that just returned to the Command Center. "Zaraq and Cardamone, with me. The rest of you, keep this area secure. The Chief Science Officer can't have gone too far..."
Jennifer watched the three from security leave while she heard the answer from this Doctor Duv that Commander Trent had contacted. [We've sustained some injuries, Commander, but the security detail did their job admirably,] she replied through his combadge, [I've recommended the Theurgy to beam over the critical or severely injured crew.] There was a pause, and then the woman spoke again, there was something rueful in her tone. [But don't worry Carrigan... I'm fine, just a bit of an adrenaline rush. Feel free to debrief me tonight...]
What she heard almost made Jeniifer fail to realise that the woman in the body-suit had come to stand before her. Frowning, she saw the woman named Thea raise her hand towards her, pursing her lips to say something while a familiar sensation began to envelop her. "Captain Ives will see you now."
Next, Jennifer realised that she was no longer on the Black Opal, and that alone was a strange feeling itself given how long she had been posted on the base as its commander. She found herself in an office, and she saw the Opal through the transparent viewscreen, a couple of kilometers away. She raked back tresses or red hair from her eyes and turned her head. She saw the occupant of Ready Room standing next to her; the one Trent had wanted her to see. The one that had become infamous, feared and hated amongst the whole of Starfleet... and yet that day at the Black Opal, also proven not all that she seemed to be. Captain Jien Ives, standing in front of her desk with her hands folded behind her back with a faint smile underscoring hard yet weary eyes.
"Welcome aboard the USS Theurgy, Lieutenant Commander. I think you deserve an explanation at this point... but I am not sure you'll like what you'll hear,'" she said to her, and Jennifer thought she'd never heard so much regret contained in so many words. "All I ask is that you try to listen with an open mind. So open... that you are prepared to challenge what you have come to learn about me and this crew's mission, regardless what you may have come to hear so far."
In her presence, Jennifer could not help but struggle to retain her scepticism - the presence of the woman in front of her making her want to listen. Stoically, she folded her arms, but knew that she was more willing to hear out the Chameloid than she let on. "With all that I have heard... Captain... I can but promise that I will listen to your claims towards the opposite. No more."
What she didn't know was that she would never again set her foot on the Black Opal, all because of that conversation with Theurgy's Commanding Officer.
[ Dr. Nicander | USS Theurgy | Morgue | Main Sickbay ] Attn: All
[Transporter room to sickbay. Prepare to receive incoming wounded. We're fixin' t' beam a passel o' patients straight t' sickbay.]
Doctor Maya had replied to the Chief Engineer on the intercom as she stood by Lucan's side in the morgue, allowing him to focus on the process of scanning Skye Carver's body instead - a routine done before she would be put into her storage chamber. They had just admitted the body from the personnel that had brought it in on an anti-grav stretcher, arriving soon after the dutiful Vulcan had come to Lucan and told him about what she knew had occurred at the onset of the battle. She knew enough to let Lucan understand the missing parts, even though he pretended appear ignorant about the nature of the incident.
For while it might not have been what Lucan foresaw would happen... he had cast the die.
Oh, how difficult the thing inside made his act of regret - writhing in glee - because when the pilot's remains had got there, Lucan had to maintain a subdued demeanour. Nonetheless, qualified as he was to do all the required tasks pertaining to morgue duty, he had taken on Ensign Carver himself with Maya assisting him - tending to the brave Lone-Wolf that he had killed. Maya had already pronounced the pilot dead in the hangar, and now, Lucan was confirming the body's identity by comparing DNA of the remains to her medical records. "I will be in Surgical Suite 02 within the minute," he said to Doctor Maya after O'Connell had contacted them, "you go on ahead."
Putting his tricorder away, Lucan used the sheet that the body laid on to transfer it to the morgue storage unit. After the messy task was done - leaving his pristine lab coat soiled with ichor and blood - he tapped in the stasis cycle and tasked the unit to levitate into its compartment. While it did, Lucan moved to the duty station and completed the necessary clerical work to document the admission. As he did, tattooed hands covered in his random victim's blood, he could not help the small smile that crept into his face at the thought of what he had achieved. For as easy as Skye Carver had been on the eye, and the many contingency plans he had for any kind of outcome at the Black Opal, the result of her death served him perfectly.
It had been a plan many would see far-fetched, but Lucan knew that this was but the first step towards something even more elaborate, and something the parasite thought immensely more gratifying. For once, indeed, their interests had been aligned, because it was seldom he got the chance to lay the blame of all his clandestine acts at the feet of another... and he had just found the perfect scapegoat. The most ironic thing was how the solution to his problem had been right there all this time, and he only realised the potential a couple days earlier... when the other wolf had come to have his injuries treated.
The only thing Lucan idly wondered, as he left the morgue in darkness, was if the wolf even knew his own true nature.
- FIN