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Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #25 –
Lt. JG Callax Valin | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Wolf-11 | Near Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Lathaniel
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Once free of the Fighter Assault Bay, Callax had the chance to better get a feel for the Mk III in open space. Falling into formation with the other Wolves, his movements were initially somewhat imprecise as he slowly became more familiar with the flight controls and computer interface.

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

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

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

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

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

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

...and exited onto a battlefield.

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

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

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

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

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

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #26 –
[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ]
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When the six Stalker-class fighters had been launched against them, Rawley, Ravon and Salvo were all chased by two each, and that meant they had to work together to save each other from their pursuers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sublieutenant Ritella...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also, there have been some discrepancies about the sensor jamming pulse, it having been mentioned that the Stalker class fighters could use that kind of ability, but it was the Romulan warbird who sent out that pulse, not the fighters. This has also been edited. Lastly, for sake of reference, a wiki page that is still a WIP that shows the abilities of the Stalker class fighters can be found here! It wasn't announced since the work on the 3D model has been delayed by Kalashnikov being too busy. Check it out and make sure to keep the abilities of the Romulan fighters as listed there!

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #27 –
Lt Sabrina Lail | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Oneida | Near Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nero @Havenborn @Nolan @P.C. Haring @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @Eden @Lathaniel  
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The familiar chime of an incoming hail emanating from the Operations station had drawn the attention of the crew on the bridge which had otherwise fallen silent. “Incoming hail; audio only,” the Oneida’s Operations officer said. He looked puzzled in Sabrina’s eyes. “I’m trying to identify the source - wait, this can’t be right,” he continued puzzled. “If this sensor reading is correct, it’s coming from inside the warbird.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


OOC: The "ventral sweep" as it would become to be called was developed at Starfleet Command in 2372 as a high-risk, high-damage maneuver: [2372] Unorthodox Tactics

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #28 –
[Reggie Suder, Callax Valin, Sorek Morgan & Logan Hale | Wolf 10, 11, 12, and 2 | Near Qo'Nos]  Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Nero  @Havenborn  @SummerDawn  @Nolan  @Stegro88  @Eden  @Lathaniel  @Hope

- A Joint Post -

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great minds think alike

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

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

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

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

[Transmitting approach vectors now. Thoughts?]


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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




No shit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another simple message. "Okay."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Damnit!” 

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

Get it together, Gemini!  Torpedoes are armed!

Kalil’s voice pulled her back into her focus. 

[Weapons hot.  Torpedoes away.]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Hard reboot."

"What?"

"Turned it off and back on again."

Logan laughed. "I see."

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

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

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

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

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

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

[This is Wolf-12. Thank you for having our sixes, Wolf-02.] He radioed back, smiling at the prospect of inviting Wraith for a drink and thanking him properly.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #29 –
Lt Sabrina Lail | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Oneida ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nero @Havenborn @Nolan @P.C. Haring @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @Eden @Lathaniel  
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Sabrina slid her right hand counterclockwise from the bottom to just past the top of a circle made up of multiple LCARS buttons. The Oneida turned sharply to the left on the same plane it was traveling on and realigned with the warbird on a direct intercept course. On the viewscreen, the Lone Wolves that dared to take on the incursion cruiser alone now falling back from their assault positions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Mines!” Ikthan quickly shouted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


OOC: The "ventral sweep" as it would become to be called was developed at Starfleet Command in 2372 as a high-risk, high-damage maneuver: [2372] Unorthodox Tactics. This is the first time Lail has put it into practice.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #30 –
[Lt. Reggie Suder, Callsign: Gemini | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-10 | Near Qo'nos] attn: @Stegro88   @Hope   @Eden   @Lathaniel   @Havenborn   @Nolan   @Auctor Lucan   @SummerDawn   @Nero  

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

Romulan shields are down

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

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

[Acknowledged Oneida.]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now there would be no chance for the bear.  The only question remaining would be how long the wolves wanted to play with their food before putting it out of it's miserry.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #31 –
[Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Wolf-12 AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Near Qo'nos] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Eden 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sorek had no chance to watch the impact. He knew from the Engineer, that the maneuverability of his ship would take a serious blow if the tetryon cannon was fired. And he had no intention to crash into the enemy's ugly ship. His trajectory - he now realized - was slightly off. His sensors told him that his shot had landed a hit, but he had no time to see where exactly. If he did not manage to pull the Valkyrie at least 1.43 degrees further away from the current - deadly - angle, he had no chance of survival.
Lt JG Sorek Morgan
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Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #32 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| AC-477 MK I Valravn | Wolf-02 | Near Qo'noS] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Havenborn @Nolan @Stegro88 @SummerDawn @P.C. Haring @Eden @Lathaniel @Hope
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Logan tilted his head as he surveyed the situation out there outside his cockpit. He saw the Oneida some distance away, making an interesting and high-risk attack maneuver to harass the Romulan Incursion Cruiser. The pilot hoped the ship could secure the package. Then the Oneida retreated. During her attack, she took a bad beating. That and the damage from the previous skirmish with the four Klingon warbirds, in which one of the Iroquois-class cruiser's four warp nacelles was badly damaged, were reason enough for Logan to assume that the Oneida would not fly another attack and would move to a safe weapons distance. Finally, word came from the Oneida that they had secured the target and Wolves could get underway to shoot the Romulan cruiser incapacitated. Reggie confirmed this directly as well.

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

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

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

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

Logan pulled the control stick slightly toward him while tilting the nose forward. It rose steadily, but quickly. Until the shields of the two fighters touched and flashed in a flickering light. Suddenly there was a heavy knock and the Valkyrie moved away from him. The blow to Sorek must have been similarly hard. When Logan checked his readouts, he saw that he had managed to move the Valkyrie off its collision course. Hunter redistributed the shield energy evenly again, and Logan accelerated away from the cruiser.
"Chaos, are you ok?"

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #33 –
[ Lt. Cmdr Thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @SummerDawn @Havenborn @Nero @Hope

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

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

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

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


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

With the Oneida taking care of the defector, the Wolf leader hurried back towards the Federation ship as it would provide more cover and a chance for Rawley to recharge her shields. The rest of the Wolves had begun to prowl and assault the Warbird next. Thomas observed it while he stuck with Rawley for now.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #34 –
[Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Wolf-12 AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Near Qo'nos] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Eden 

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

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

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

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

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

"Roger, Wolf-12 alive and well. Thanks to you, Wraith! I owe you one!" He replied and regained his concentration. This fight was not over and he could not afford to make any more stupid mistakes. Letting his fingers fly over his controls, he brought some more distance between himself and the Warbird while at the same time trying to assess the battlefield's current situation.
Lt JG Sorek Morgan
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Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #35 –
[ LT Daniel Havenborn, Callsign: Salvo & ENS K’Ren, Callsign: Neko | Cockpit | AC-307 Mark-II Valkyrie, Gryphon-class “Hellcat” ] ] Attn: @Nolan, @SummerDawn, @Auctor Lucan, @Eden, @Stegro88, @Nero, @P.C. Haring, @Lathaniel

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

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

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

Daniel watched and waited for what seemed like hours but in fact was only a few seconds, suddenly he saw what he was looking for, however he also realized that the Stalker was decloaking right in front of him, he fired a burst of his pulse phasers and they grazed along the Stalker’s shields.  His enemy had managed to get their shields raised a split second before he had fired.  He increased his speed back to full impulse and juked out of the way of the Stalker as it returned fire and scored a direct hit on his shields, dropping them down forty-six percent.  Daniel assumed that had been a full power shot from the enemy fighter, he swung his fighter around and managed to get in behind the Stalker.  “Neko, target lock!”  He called out to her as he lined up to fire another burst of his pulse phasers but the Stalker juked him and he missed.  Daniel loaded up a spread of micro-torpedoes and fire several volleys around the Stalker as well as firing his pulse phasers directly forward, the Stalker attempted to juke him again but this time got caught in one of the micro-torpedo volleys, its shields flared and Daniel fired a final volley of micro-torpedoes, again catching the Stalker.  Its shields flared and his sensors read that they had broke.  Hearing from Neko that she had a target lock he fired a photon torpedo.  He watched as the torpedo chased the Stalker and for a moment he thought that it was going to miss but it struck the Stalker and Daniel watched as it blew apart.  Smirking he set his course back towards the Oneida to help protect the cruiser.
Defeat, Genocide; why quibble with semantics.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #36 –
Lt. JG Callax Valin | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie | Wolf-11 | Near Qo'noS ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Nolan @Stegro88 @Nero @P.C. Haring @Havenborn @SummerDawn @Lathaniel @Hope
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The initial attack run had been a success with sensors confirming that the romulan cruiser's shields had been disabled. Whatever sense of joy Callax felt however was short lived as despite being weakened this particular bird still had talons and they had made it very mad. The fighter shook violently, a sensation the young Ardanan was quickly growing frustrated with feeling so often, as the enemy vessel attempted to give him a less than friendly farewell. He banked hard to the right to evade another parting gift and managed a glance at his shields readout before twisting the joystick to the left in a last second evasive maneuver.

Shields at 40%. Not great. Not terrible.

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

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

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

[No complaints here, Wolf-10.]

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

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

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

 

Re: CH07: S [D03|1745] Hidden Raptor

Reply #37 –
[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" | Mk III Valkyrie Cockpit ]
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When any moment could be your last, one tended to have baited breath.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She felt fingers coming around her throat...


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

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

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

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

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

Or do they consider us a threat?

- FIN
 
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