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DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

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

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #1 –
[ 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." 

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #2 –
[ 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."

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #3 –
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell | Transporter Room One | Deck 05 | USS Theurgy  ]  

Inside of Transporter Room One, Master Chief Petty Officer William Robert O'Connell 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 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.  "You can put your first men on the pads now sir.  Won't be a minute, Commander."


[ Lt. jg. Tessa May Lance | Wolf 07 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 | USS Theurgy ] 

Down in the fighter bay on Deck 15, Lieutenant (junior grade) Tessa May Lance, Wolf 07, callsign Goldeneye listened to Lieutenant Commander Miles Renard'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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #4 –
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley |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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #5 –
[ 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!"

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #6 –
[  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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #7 –
[ 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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #8 –
[ 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."

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #9 –
[ 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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #10 –
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell | 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 | 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 | 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!

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #11 –
[ 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."

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #12 –
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley |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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #13 –
[ 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."

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #14 –
[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..

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #15 –
[ 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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #16 –
[ 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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #17 –
[ 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."

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #18 –
[ Tessa May Lance | 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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #19 –
[Nathaniel "Maverick" Isley |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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #20 –
[ 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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #21 –
[ 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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #22 –
[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."

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #23 –
[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.

Re: DAY 04: Weapon Storage Raid [0750 hrs.]

Reply #24 –
[ 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."
 
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