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Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

CHAPTER 05: VERTEX | DAY 06 | 0810 hrs.

“Life is a constant oscillation between the sharp horns of dilemmas.”
― Henry Louis Mencken

First Officer's Log, stardate 57556.03. The other Vectors never showed.

At the first Rendezvous, we had managed to shake off the Savi fighters - a feat we could never have managed without F'Rell. The T'fanrell has proved herself indispensable in Engineering since she managed to augment the capacity of our diminutive warp core. Yet even if we made it in time, neither the Sword nor the Stallion were there, and after one hour had passed, we set a new course, clinging to hope that the others had merely been delayed, that they were still chased by the Savi, and we told ourselves that next time, they would be there.

The next day, whilst we waited, we managed to finish the installation of Ensign ch'Xinya's particle sensors, and we were relieved to see them working. We detected and followed a Reman shuttle on our sensors - despite its cloak - but after it managed to ignite sirilium gas with its thrusters, we could no longer be idle. True to Starfleet protocol, I personally oversaw the rescue of the two-person crew, and with access to a Reman cloaking device, Commander Martin and F'Rell have been trying to make it work aboard the Helmet. Since Captain Ives already broke the Treaty of Algeron when they installed and later lost a cloak aboard the Theurgy, before I came aboard, the attempt to install the device was sanctioned by Captain Trent. Since specialist Ravenholm helped with the cloak the Theurgy lost, she was drafted to make the new one work.

By the time we reached the second Rendezvous, we were in high spirits, thinking that the unfinished cloak would be enough an edge to eventually return to the Savi ship. To rescue our crew. An hour passed, but no one came. Since then, the morale aboard has dropped. The majority of the crew now thinks the other Vectors were destroyed. That they couldn't outrun the Savi.

Yes, I said it, even if I dread to even think about it. The true intent of Captain Trent. He seems hell-bent on getting back those we lost to the Savi. Publicly, it might not be so evident, since Captain Ives' orders were clear, and openly undermining Ives' last order could be dire indeed, especially since there have been attempts of mutiny aboard the Theurgy. Everyone knows that the Continuance Protocol was created to protect the truth and to make sure the mission continued. Still, Trent speaks very little to me about what we are to do if the Theurgy can't be reintegrated.

Instead, he keeps going over the poor scans we actually managed to make of the Versant. As much we learned; the name of the Savi dreadnought. Little else. We have virtually nothing to go on for any rescue attempt, and still it lingers as a prospect at the forefront of the Captain's mind. The reason, even if he has never told me as much, is rather clear. Trent's heart belong to a woman abducted by the Savi, and he wants to take her back. Perhaps he rationalizes that ambition in other ways... but I know she's special to him. I learned that personally...

In ten minutes, we set a course for the third Rendezvous. The final hour of waiting, in which we hope for reintegration. Our last chance to remain a single crew, and continue the mission.

Or, if Captain Trent manages to convince the other Captains...

...to set a course for the Versant.
― Lt Cmdr. Jennifer Dewitt, the Helmet, Vector 1 of the USS Theurgy

[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Stepping away from the tactical display table in the aft of the main bridge, Jennifer Dewitt came to stand on the right side of Captain Trent, who was seated in the Commanding Officer's chair. "ETA, one minute, sir."

On the viewscreen, the streaming stars cast flickering light across the bridge. They were at warp, and due to arrive to the third Rendevouz. The progressive approach to the area of the nebula made hope bloom anew in Dewitt's chest, where her heart had been heavy since the last time they sought to reintegrate Vector 01 with the other hulls, making Thea whole again. Then again, since the Savi had literally ripped her out of the computer core, would the ship ever truly be herself again? As it were, they relied on the auxiliary starship computer system, Thea's voice being a dead echo of the guardian spirit that had been aboard since her commissioning. Jennifer had merely come aboard recently from the Black Opal, but even she could feel the loss of the AI. She could but imagine what the original Theurgy crew were feeling.

In the anticipation of the arrival, she came to realise that there were virtually none of the original Theurgy crew present on the bridge. Just Petty Officer Song, who was one of the engineers behind Suq, the sole diplomat aboard, Faye Eloi-Danvers, and one seated behind the Chief Tactical Officer. Was his name Arisaka? The rest were either from the Harbinger or the Resolve, with the exception of the Captain, who had defected from the very force sent out to destroy the Theurgy. And Morwen, of course, sitting next to Vivian Martin. Morwen was like her, from the Opal, and for all their differences, it was good to have her there. During the years on the Opal, she remembered having thought she'd never miss any of her staff on that rock, but now, with all that had happened since then, she actually felt grounded in reality seeing her there.

Dewitt glanced towards her right, to Lieutenant Commander Marquez. He'd proven his worth when they fought the Savi, and every hour fending off the fighters since then. As his temporary XO, she simply glanced at his duty station, seeing that he was ready to raise shields. There was no need to remind him. They were of equal rank, her appointed position alone giving her authority over him, and she had faith in his skills. He'd been beyond Romulan space and back again, so he needed no micromanagement. Moreover, he had two more tactical officers seated behind him.

Looking towards the rest of the bridge crew, Dewitt found herself confident in all their abilities. Derik Veradin at the helm worked well together with the Orion woman from the Resolve, A'vura Zeshryr. Selena Ravenholm wasn't present, working on the final stage of the Reman cloak installation in Engineering together with F'Rell and Abner, but Faye would be able to handle Communications well on her own.

The minute came to an end, and Dewitt spoke up. "We've entered the Rendezvous zone. Drop us out of warp, Mister Veradin. Martin, no need for the particle sensors now, just use the long range sensors. Eloi-Danvers, send the message that we are here over the protocol's subspace frequency. It might not go far in the nebula, but if they are out there... they will find us."

Then began the silence.

[ A short while later | 0810 hrs. ]

After ten minutes, Dewitt lowered her green eyes to the floor. The doubt was creeping back... and thus she suspected that she'd have to go against Trent, who'd likely still order them to set a course towards the Versant.

They are dead. All of them.

The only reason she found merit in Trent's ambition was that they might be able to avenge their deaths.

There was a chirp coming from somewhere. Dewitt frowned, looking up, and saw a light flashing in the edge of the viewscreen. Contact! Her heart leapt, but only a smile touched her lips. She turned on her heel and looked at the holographic display table, zooming out by closing her hands before it. "Captain. We have one contact. Federation warp signature. At least one...." There was a second blip. "A second one! They are both here."

Then, there were ten blips.

"Captain..." she said, feeling her lips go numb. She turned her ashen face to the bridge crew, confirming what they might be seeing on their consoles. "There are thirteen signatures, inbound at maximum warp. It's them..."

Task Force Archeron.




OOC: *Theme music begins to play* :)

Regular shields operable by 50 %, with some emitters still needing to keep out some radiation. Sensor range limited to 10 000 meters. Next poster: @CanadianVet , after he has posted, a seven day response time begins for all all bridge crew officers. Other departments will respond when alerted by the Captain or other bridge crew.

This is the starter for Chapter 05: Vertex. This thread features the hour when the Helmet waits for the third and final Rendezvous, and a showdown with Task Force Archeron begins right in the Rendevouz zone. All Supplemental Threads that are started will have to be set before this time of 0810 hrs. on Day 06, but not afterwards. Just like in the interregnum, Supplemental one-on-one threads are started at your leisure! Supplemental threads should be named Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day XX|YYYY hrs.] Insert Title, and can extend as far back as right after the battle with the Versant and all the way up to 0810 hrs on Day 06, where the third Rendevouz will be set.

These are the main tasks to solve, your Mission Objectives in this Chapter: [Show/Hide]
Main Bridge & Deck 01: [Show/Hide]
Known staff on the Helmet: [Show/Hide]
Inbound ships from Task Force Archeron: [Show/Hide]

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #1 –
[ Cmdr Carrigan Trent, Captain | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Three days.  Two missed rendezvous.  And Carrigan Trent was nervous.  But that was not something that showed much; one might say he was nearly Vulcan in keeping his features into a mask of calm and concentration.  Even with his mind running frantically.  And seeing negative outcomes coming to pass behind his eyes, and not just when he closed his eyes, but when he was awake as well.  But that was part of the burden of command, that he knew entirely too well.  But there was something else; he was emotionally involved in everything that needed doing ever since he had decided on a course of action.  But he did look somewhat worse for wear.  He was paler than usual, and there were dark circles underneath his eyes.  He was naturally gaunt, but his features looked drawn, nearly cadaverous in some ways. 

And, while he tended to not take bridge watches himself save if there was an emergency, and there had been plenty; and this time he was in the central chair.  It was his place, as it had been at every other RV.  And he waited, impassive and acknowledging reports sent to him with little more than a node or a simple few words. 

Much had happened so far, and now hopefully their harrowing escape would finally come to a stop.  Two passengers had been picked up; the Asurian saucer was in their shuttlebay being pored over so it might be brought into service, and a Reman cloaking device was being installed on board.  All in all, they were in decent shape. 

And now, at the third RV point they waited. 

Sensor contact.  At that report, Trent looked up at the holodisplay between him and the viewscreen.  And then he saw another one appear.  And just as he dared to allow himself to believe things were working out, more appeared.  And he knew what was going on, even as Dewitt said it.  And, immediately, Trent realized there was a number of things that needed to be done immediately.  "Red alert!  Shields down, weapons cold."  Those were not conventional orders, but a fight was not something they could start, not right now.  Not with only Vector 1. Not even with all three Vectors on hand and a full fighter complement.  "Arisaka, take EW.  Bring the barrage jammers up just enough to cover our emissions but no more."  Stealth.  In this soup, that would  be the only way to elude Sankolov and his ships.  And it meant a few other things. 

"Shut down all active sensors, all exterior lights; external sections are to go dark.  Impulse engines to cold standby, warp drive to minimal."  And that was just a start.  Especially since the other vectors had to  be warned.  But how?  Task Force Archeron was bound to monitor communications, and without being in contact, there would be no way to sync up their cryptological suites.  And Trent would be damned if they would transmit in the clear... 

Which left one option.  "Lieutenant Zeshryr, bring up the MVAM link and use it to transmit a warning to the other two Vectors.  And tell them to set another rendezvous.  L4 point of the fourth planet of the system we sent the Sabine to, but exact wording only, no coordinates."  And now, it was time to start hiding.  "Mister Veradin, micro-warp burst, any heading, then start a slow and easy evasive curve.  Minimal thrusters."

And, with those basic orders given, Trent settled back into his seat and looked about the Bridge.  "We can't leave.  Not until we know for certain the others aren't coming.  So for now, we hide, and we elude Task Force Archeron.  Let's get the cloaking device installed, but we will save it for a last resort.  We need decoys, and options if they're going to catch us."

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #2 –
[ Lt. Jg. Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]

Sleep eluded him. He was aboard the bridge, his tiny body quivering under doses of caffeine he wasn’t used to. He’d find a few hours of rest here and there in Jeffries tubes, but that was about it. Besides that, things were pretty much back to normal. People were missing, probably dead. He was running around with his head cut off trying to get the ship in a suitable way again. It wasn’t raining, it wasn’t pouring, it was just a straight sheet of water coming at them at alarmingly high velocities. He dealt with that stress well.

They held warp fine. Suq had his eyes closed and was listening to the hum of the ship, and he heard the usual discordant harmonies that he came to expect from an active warp core. Of course, his analysis wasn’t as accurate this far from engineering, but the ship was loud to him. He could hear quite a bit more than others could.

Derik dropped them out of warp. He listened to the ship and flinched when he heard some sort of...karrr-umph, a quiet sound underneath the warp core sounds. He’d heard it on the Resolve. She was an injured ship.

His eyes opened, and they began the wait for their companions…

He considered that nobody on any of the two vectors survived. It was the most likely scenario. The threats they had faced were so many and the crew so fractured. It was normal though, being this close to losing everything and everyone. He didn’t feel panicked. He felt his chest tighten, but he lifted his inhaler from his pocket. The spritz of his inhaler interrupted the silence.

He supposed this was his life now. One thing after another, nothing stable, everything transient. Chaos and no order.

As he mused the irony of that, Commander Dewitt’s voice broke his thoughts. He looked up at her. Two...no, thirteen. Task force Archeron.

He puffed on his inhaler again and cleared his throat. Here came the next sheet of water.
“Lieutenant Suq to Engineering, impulse engines on cold standby, reduce energy signature. Let’s cap our emissions, we don’t want to leave a trail. I hope everyone wore their brown pants today.”

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #3 –
[ Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton | Main Bridge | USS Archeron ]
Attn: @CanadianVet @Triton @Triage @Mathis @Hastata-Nerada @FollowTomorrow @chXinya @Brutus @Absinthe @SummerDawn @Stegro88 @Blue Zephyr @Auctor Lucan

He strode around the bridge like some kind of large predator that was stalking his prey as he studied each and every station with a trained eye, the only one that he didn't have to worry about was Commander Ranzz who was at his station and already keeping the people in Security busy...as well as the younger officer hadn't appeared in anything less then a full security exosuit since they first entered the nebula.

The last two times that this ship had tracked down the renegades under the command of Ives, the Chameloid's company barely managed to escape the hounds of justice through trickery or betrayal of hir erstwhile allies.

The task force had been arrayed in the standard Moore tactical search pattern, the Archeron wasn't alone as she was being escorted by the starships First Minister, Dauntless, Defiance, and Yeager when a stray subspace signal was detected which caused the ships to enter the nebula since the signal bore the channel markings of the Theurgy.

Since then the admiral had remained quiet, his dark eyes watching him with a clear intent as he watched his new executive officer move around the bridge, a private little smile on his face.

Marcus then looked out at the main viewer which showed the other ships with the "Archeron" moving in a silent formation with the "Yeager" moving like a huge star fighter, ready to move between the flagship and anything that might come forward to do it harm, the Akira class "Dauntless" with its small cluster of Valkyries moving around like a angry swarm of black hornets with the forward saucer sections of the "Defiance" and "First Minister" just barely within the sensor pickups.

The older man reached up and gently rubbed the left side of his head, the replacement eye was starting to throb as the two ice blue orbs narrowed as he looked at the endless fields of azure that lay before him.

"Captain Slayton, message coming in from Black Wolf Lead," said the Operations officer.

Marcus stopped rubbing the side of his head as he strode over to Operations where the younger officer stepped aside as the captain opened the channel. "This is Archeron Actual, go," he said.

[This is Warlock, sensor sweeps have detected a strange energy pattern at coordinates that's sending on secure channel six point alpha two.] came back the voice of Lieutenant Commander Ashton bates, the squadron leader of the Black Wolves.

"Understood," Marcus said as he inputted a code into the console before him that allowed the data transfer to happen, his trained eyes going over the information before he shunted half of the files to the science station. "Mister Du Paris, your thoughts on the information that I just sent you?" he asked without any preamble.

The ginger haired man at Sciences looked over the data in question, his brow furrowing ever so slightly as he regarded the data. "From what I can gather, Captain, it seems that we are looking at a mass that is roughly one third of the target mass shadow that we're looking for," he said in a crisp and clear tone.

Marcus nodded as he slowly made his way around the broad operations "arm" of the bridge to stand next to the admiral. "Permission to deploy the task force in Moore Tactical Six position and hail the hostiles, sir?” he asked respectfully.

The admiral didn’t say anything, his dark eyes glittered in the light of the bridge in a way that reminded him of both admirals Black and Nechayev during his time in the special operations group of the Fleet, it felt like he was being examined like he was some kind of great and hard scientific equation.

"You may execute the orders," was all that he said.

Marcus nodded tightly before looking over at the operations manager, “Send the word to our escorts to move into Omicron formation,” he said as he started to make his way around. “Tactical, I want shields to full and any excess power rerouted to the shields at a moment's notice."

The two stations reported ready as Slayton himself moved to stand next to the tactical station, “Open a channel.”

[ Azure Nebula ]

Within the bright blue mists of the nebula, the powerful forward saucer section of the starship Archeron parted a large wall of mist like the ancient Megalodon shark of Earth’s prehistory going through the deepest and murkest of depths, the carrier Dauntless followed close at hand with a squadron of lethal Valkyries swarming about their carrier like an angry swarm of insects with the small and bulky Yeager providing point.

Behind them the graceful forms of the First Minister and Defiance was close at hand before going off in a separate direction but keeping their formation close to the flagship, the graceful lines of their respective designs hiding the true lethal intent of systems at one time dedicated purely to a scientific pursuit-now focused on a much darker one.

[This is Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton of the starship Archeron to the renegade starship Theurgy, you are hereby ordered to either show yourself and surrender or be destroyed. This is your one and only chance to at a fair trial for you and your crew.] Slayton’s voice resounded throughout the comm channel. [We know that you’re here, so there is no use trying to make us think otherwise, Citizen Ives.]

[ Black Wolf-01 | Callsign: Warlock | Mk II Valkyrie Cockpit ]

In his cockpit of Black Wolf Zero One, Warlock kept his eyes on his sensors. Dark eyes alert and almost predatory as he searched for any signs of his squadron’s lesser counterparts in the Lone Wolves as well as keeping an eye out for any blips that would possibly lead them to the enemy carrier itself.

“Come on now...show yourselves…”Warlock said in a dark whisper as he waited like some kind of dark predator.

[ Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton | Main Bridge | USS Archeron ]

Marcus looked at the tactical sensors and saw no blips yet as he looked over at the Science and Operations stations who simply shook their heads at the moment, at which point Slayton simply said one more thing in the coldest, hardest of tones;

“The admiral requires your choice….Citizen.”

OOC: The bridge of the Archeron is this and image is courtesy and copyright of Mark Wolfe: [Show/Hide]

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #4 –
[ Lt Cmdr Leon Marquez, | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
@CanadianVet @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Mathis @Hastata-Nerada @FollowTomorrow @chXinya @Brutus @SummerDawn @Stegro88 @DocReno @Blue Zephyr @Absinthe
[Show/Hide]

Even though hours could seem like days, It had been a relief that Marquez could sleep like a rock for at most four hours and be at his station in moments upon waking up. It was the wait that had been eating away at him, like convoy duty all over again. Leon was vigilant for any sign of the other vectors after their hasty getaway from the Savi ship. As far as the chief tactical officer was concerned, this wasn't a retreat, it was half-time.

It wasn't all bridge duty, Marquez made a few visits to the admiralty deck to inspect the damage inflicted by Savi weapons fire where Ravenholm and Nator had engaged--survived-- the enemy. Leon had also been present to meet and debrief one of two survivors of a Reman vessel Theurgy's Helmet vector had rescued, while the other was rushed into stasis. Serving on Project Eagle's Officer Exchange program was one thing: a cloaked warbird could fight-and-fade. A Theurgy-class Helm vector with an improvised Reman retrofit with a Cloak was providence if there ever was such a thing; ironic, given the device's origin, a cloak appearing right when he needed one. Despite the Treaty of Algeron, Leon was actually looking forward to the options available to a ship with a cloaking device, however makeshift it was. Besides, this time there would be no Romulan cuisine.

In off-hours, Marquez spent time with the new 'guest' Jimmy claimed to have 'rescued' from the coreless moon. Unsurprisingly, the El-Aurian woman's claim that she was the one who rescued Jimmy contradicted what he'd been informed, but at least Bremmer's reports of a successful mission were not as exxagerated. Marquez found Zyrao Natauna dry but direct and to the point, even if he was just the slightest bit disturbed that she worked for the Cardassians and Klingons, but that was another lifetime ago-- never mind her El-Aurian lifespan. Every few moments, Marquez's console would receive an update on the nebula's atmosphere or a repair update to the vector, but nothing of grave consequence. He passed these findings along to the Center seat. Just then, Lt Commander Dewitt raised the alert.

"Captain. We have one contact. Federation warp signature. At least one.... A second one...Captain....There are thirteen signatures, inbound at maximum warp. It's them..."

Trent gave the order for Red alert and the corresponding klaxons and warning lights changed the color scheme of the bridge "Aye, Captain. Jonas Arisaka replied, carrying out orders as given. "Going dark."

Leon confirmed Dewitt's report and elaborated, designating targets on the holo-table with corresponding icons. Without active sensor scans, however, the computer would only register basic readouts due to the Nebula's interference. Fortunately--hopefully, that worked both ways. "Confirmed contacts: Defiant, Akira, Intrepid, Rigel, Saber, 2 Sovereigns...  one Excelsior, two Galaxies, two Lunas..." Leon listed off the classes of the identified ship warp signatures; He'd had history with those last three ship classes, but the nebula made every one of them unidentifiable by name or registry. But he identified the flagship by its class, knowing of the acting Captain's past with the vessel. "...and one Odyssey-class!" Marquez reported, logging the signatures and their bearing. And a partridge in a pear tree.

"Active sensors offline." Marquez confirmed as the vector visibly dimmed, hopefully enough to elude the battle-damaged sensors of Archeron and her task force. "We're ghosts in the blizzard.", he remarked with a degree of certainty. Knowing they couldn't take on an Odyssey-class in their current state, let alone her task force, their options were to either run for it and compromise the odds of their return or do what he would've done, hide and hope for the best. Thankfully, Trent's instincts were on point. Otherwise, Leon would've been extremely hard-pressed to forgive himself were he to engage killing other Starfleet personnel. Or would he, when it came to survival of his crew and their mission? Incoming contacts on his readings tested this.

"Bandits! Hostile fighters inbound!" the former pilot reactively identified passive scanner readings of enemy fighters appearing from the task force. The deployment of a Saber-class leading a squadron of fighters reminded Leon of his own saucer-separation tactics on his Galaxy-Class taking point for a wing of Peregrines. Now he was on the receiving end of one of his own favored moves. Fortunately, they hadn't zeroed in on them just yet. Moving quickly, he indicated and highlighted the Saber and its escort; Sankolov's vanguard. Just then, a cold, steely voice almost as gravelly as Leon's own was heard:

"This is Captain Marcus Alexander Slayton of the starship Archeron to the renegade starship Theurgy, you are hereby ordered to either show yourself and surrender or be destroyed. This is your one and only chance to at a fair trial for you and your crew. We know that you're here, so there is no use trying to make us think otherwise, Citizen Ives. The admiral requires your choice....Citizen."

Smug bastard. Does that bluff ever work? Marquez idly wondered. "I think the bandits are pinging us, Captain. The hounds for the hunters." Obviously, Leon had no intention of being goaded, nor letting even a single hint if Vector 1's presence be detected. Perhaps with luck, instead of finding them, they'd get the attention of the Savi dreadnought and give Slayton something else to pursue.
Lt. Commander Leon "Striker" Marquez
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Theurgy
"No one left behind."

Ensign James "Jimmy" Mariner
Security Officer, USS Theurgy
"Showtime!"

Lieutenant (J.G.) Alessia "Angel" Garcia
Valravn Fighter Pilot, USS Theurgy
"You're not the only one with a gun,"

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #5 –
[ Lt. JG Derik Veradin | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy]
[Show/Hide]
As they waited at the rendezvous point, Derik’s mind wandered a bit, needing something to think about. He hated moments like this, waiting. Waiting to see if the rest of their family would show up. The pressure of it increased by this not being the first time they’d done this now. Each time left Derik feeling less hopeful about their situation.

The past few days aboard the Helmet had been tense. Even during their brief times of respite, there was a collective stress that seemed to permeate the ship. No matter what he did to try to raise his own spirits, often with spirits, it wasn’t enough to do more than just suppress it for a time. As he scanned the bridge, he got the feeling he wasn’t alone. His eyes fell on Suq as he looked around. The engineer, and his friend and sometimes lover looked like he hadn’t had much sleep lately. Derik wished there was more he could do.

Derik’s heart jumped when a contact appeared on his sensor screen. The excitement was replaced by dread as too many Federation signatures began appearing in their little corner of this damned nebula. The bridge was suddenly alive with activity. Derik anticipated Trent’s order with a few possible courses. He had an idea of what their new CO would do but didn’t want to assume. Would they take Slayton’s offer? They wouldn’t try to fight, right? As the order came to evade the enemy ships and fighters, Derik nodded and breathed out silent relief. It was their best bet to stay alive and hopefully wait still for the others.

“Aye, sir,” Derik called as he laid in a micro jump away at an angle from the task force, but not too far to lose them or the rendezvous completely. He then began taking them in a wide, slow arc. Moving silently through the misty blue cloud on just thrusters. The cat and mouse game had begun, and he hoped the mouse’s luck wasn’t completely run out.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #6 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet, @Triton, @Mathis, @Hastata-Nerada, @FollowTomorrow, @chXinya, @Brutus, @Absinthe, @SummerDawn, @Stegro88, @Blue Zephyr & @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
A'vura glanced towards Derik, as if drawing reassurance from him. Once they were out of warp, Jennifer's warning rang out. The Orion's heart leapt into her throat and nearly choked her. She was not cut out for this level of excitement. It was a wonder she survived as long as she did on the Resolve, and the horrors of Hell Sector; yet somehow, she felt a little nostalgic for those "simpler" times compared the non-stop hi-octane adventures the crew of the Theurgy was seemingly saddled with. She'd barely begun serving under Captain Jien Ives before the man/woman/whatever got snatched away, leaving her under Captain Trent's leadership. She didn't know what to expect, but the man's mechanical left arm made her nervous.

She was glad thought that she wasn't alone in all this, or surrounded by unfamiliar faces. At least she had Vivian Martin, Suq and Commander Marquez. She repressed a small smile when Suq quipped about brown pants, then quickly chirped “Yes captain,” to Trent at his order to use the MVAM to warn the other two vectors wherever they were about Task Force Archeron. It shocked her at the amount of resources they'd dedicated to hunting them down. Her fingers danced over her console as she keyed in the commands and transmitted the message, “L-Four point of the fourth planet of the system we sent the Sabine to. Confirmed.”

She glanced up at the screen, and looked towards Marquez as he read out the ships and the fighters being arrayed against them. How were they going to get away from them? She rested her right palm over her heart, feeling its own beat, and trying to calm herself from the fear and panic threatening to overwhelm her. This was too much. When were they ever going to catch a break? And this Task Force leader was baiting them, expecting Ives to be in touch, or in command. Well, of course they wouldn't know about all the nonsense they've been through in the last few days and all the changes in command structure. Ives planned very far ahead, that much A'vura gave him great credit for. Now, she supposed, Carrigan's skills as a captain will be put to the test.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #7 –
[ Lt. J.G. Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Bridge | Vector 01 | U.S.S. Theurgy ]

To hear Marcus Slayton's voice nearly stopped his heart.  His skin was already going pale from seeing so many bigger, better ships all shuffling in like Death-Hand birds over a corpse. It made him think of a funeral back home. He shivered.

But he would not allow himself to feel the fear like he knew he should.  His hands continued to shake, but he actually mocked the Captain Slayton. "Myeh myeh myeh, sssssitizen Ivesssss" He privately muttered. "I'm totally not a lizardman wearing human skin. Myeh."

Even still, they were defenseless. Outnumbered, outclassed. On the screen was death. In fact, they may already be dead. His hands went to his lap and he began to stare off to a distant point. His eyes went unfocused. Even though he had a private smirk on his face from his own joke, he fell off reality and into a pool of unthought.

His mind fell empty, he didn't think about the situation anymore. He knew he should, but he just couldn't, and he didn't want to anyway.  The best he could do was lay a hand on Morgan Song's shoulder, urging him to take on his work as he fell, fell, fell...

There was an image in his head. It was the cloaking device, nestled safely in engineering. It came from the Reman shuttle. In his mind, he saw the wiring, the connections, the power conduits, the very molecular structure of things...

"We can't cloak yet, but we might," he announced, interrupting the silence and his own disassociative fit. "I need thirty five minutes, the cloaking device, Ravenholm, the deflector, and the warp core shut off." He looked over at the cyber-lady, Selena Ravenholm. He had only read up on her. She had made a cloak once. He hadn't done that, but he's no stranger to emergency MacGyver-ing the ship.

There was no one hundred percent guarantee this would work. Really, the chances are low they would live. His mind was blissfully empty of all these thoughts.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #8 –
[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow @Stegro88 @Blue Zephyr @SummerDawn @Triton @chXinya @Brutus
[Show/Hide]
When Captain Vasser ordered the Red Alert, and the bridge crew scrambled to act on the sudden situation they were facing, Jennifer had run around her tactical display table and picked up her earpiece, fastening it with her heart beating hard in her chest.

Where the hell did they come from? she wondered, reassessing the situation, Did they happen to pick up on the Rendevouz message we sent out? What's the odds of that, in a nebula like this? One in a million? She couldn't see how it could be any else than coincidence, and really, really bad luck on their part. Hopefully, with the measures Trent ordered, and the skilful actions taken by the bridge crew, they would escape their sensors... But they really needed that cloak already.

She stepped up next to Trent where he sat in he chair, and picked up on what Suq was saying after the short warp burst. It would have pinged the Archeron the other ships when they did the short jump, but with the inertia they travelled by, and the density of the nebula, they just might...

No, Marquez informed them that there was no such luck. Warp fighters. A whole squadron of them.

"Mister Suq," she said, taking on her part as XO, clenching her fists at her sides to lend fortitude, conquering her fear, "there is no time to waste. Go!" Having said as much, she knew Morgan Song would step in and take the Eforisan's place, and that when Ravenholm vanished off the bridge, Eloi-Danvers would remain. Her mind was already elsewhere. She knew that thirty minutes was far too long. She stepped back towards her table in the aft section, sorting out her thoughts, and letting Trent, Marquez and the others handle the immediate situation. She had to plan ahead, somehow, for all their sakes.

"This is Commander Dewitt to Lorad," she said into the microphone of her earpiece, "we may need your help in Engineering, immediately. Please make yourself available to Junior Lieutenant Suq and Warrant Officer Ravenholm. I'll clear you for entry. Please, hurry." The Reman might be able to shave off a few minutes of the installation, since he had the most experience with the device. Then, she glanced to the back of Trent's head, knowing that her next action might not sit entirely well with him, but she would not reject and asset when she knew one at that point.

"Commander Dewitt to Zyrao Natauna, we could use your counsel on the bridge," she said, the Red Alert likely clue enough for her, "I am clearing you for access through the security checkpoint. Please report to me for a briefing of the situation on hand."

What else, what else? "Dewitt to Ryuan Sel, Task Force Archeron has located us. Be prepared for boarding parties, should bad come to worse." While she spoke, she thought about the squadron of fighters that were searching for them ahead of the starships. They had little in terms of small crafts that could make any difference, except for... "The Sabine."

Could it act as a decoy, at least? Bait, to lure them away. But who could possibly agree to take it out? Sera vers Aldnoah was a civilian, and even though she'd been on the mission to the Coreless Moon, what would compel her to likely sacrifice her own life for the survival of the crew on the Helmet? No, it was a bad idea, nonetheless, she sent a message to the shuttle bay to prepare the Sabine for potential launch.

"Marquez! I am preparing the Sabine for launch, but we have no pilot. Ideas?"

OOC: Remember, regular shields operable by 50 %, with some emitters still needing to keep out some radiation. Sensor range limited to 10 000 meters. Next poster: @Triton, after he has posted, a seven day response time begins for all all bridge crew officers. Other departments will respond when alerted by the Captain or other bridge crew.

Known staff on the Helmet: [Show/Hide]
Inbound ships from Task Force Archeron: [Show/Hide]

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #9 –
[ Lt Cmdrs. Leon Marquez & Jennifer Dewitt | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Joint-Post by Auctor Lucan & Triton
@CanadianVet @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Mathis @Hastata-Nerada @FollowTomorrow @chXinya @Brutus @SummerDawn @Stegro88 @Blue Zephyr @Absinthe
[Show/Hide]
"Stand by." Leon had an idea but time was of the essence, so he prepared his unorthodox calculations verbally, drawing and illustrating them out on the battle-space map.

"Computer, open file from datarod 1-1-7, upload file, Operation Rodeo. Projection: replace the Steamrunner-class with Vector 0-1, apply Sabine." At his command, corresponding icons appeared and fell into place at his specifications. He continued, "Projections: Archeron recon unit, last known bearing based off of last-active scan. Display." Marquez highlighted specific files as they were made available to them. As ordered, the Saber-class and its air support wing came into bearing of Vector one limited to 10,000 meter visual range with only their concentrated patch of gas to obscure them. Behind this hologram, a blinking diamond that soon shaped into the Sabine appeared and left one of several conn-trails that would have in a number of routes have lured at least the vanguard away.

The tactical display lit up with a projection of using a smaller craft with substantial additional power readings hiding just within visual range of a patch of gas, which broadcast the energy reading of a much larger vessel. Then he worked with the warp signature settings afforded with additional power crammed into a ship of the Sabine's interior volume and estimated a warp bubble at least approximately close to the size and radius of the Helmet vector. This tactic was planned with Maquis raiders in mind, but as an advance ambush for a Steamrunner lying in wait to conduct patrol and enforcement of the Badlands. This time, the decoy would need to match or exceed the vessel originally the predator, not the prey as Vector one was in this case.

"If we can program the Sabine to fly long-distance loops around the task force, it can let them follow a photonic sensor ghost, before coming about 1-8-0 of the lead ship and drawing some of them off. " He added, tracing a path on the map with his finger, leaving a projected path as he illustrated projected plot, resulting in the Vector remaining in place or facing a different path from that of the Sabine.

Jennifer Dewitt stepped forth from her table in the aft section of the bridge and looked at what Marquez was suggesting, having a finger against her earpiece since she was also listening to reports coming in. "What do we need?"

The clock was ticking, and he was keeping pace as he made visible upgrades of an old maneuver.  "The owner's permission? The Sabine is repaired, but she is not ours," he said, reminding them all that it was in the possession of one of the civilian passengers aboard, "Nontheless, she's the only small craft we have that is fast enough to do this. I recommend sending a runner to the Sabine, linking her to our computer for autopilot command, and rigging an external emitter to project the sensor ghost."

"Dewitt to Sera vers Aldnoah," said Jennifer, trying to reach the Sabine's owner. "No answer."

As soon as the most-agreed upon pattern vectors were selected. Leon reminded, "We'll have to let the Sabine do something to get their attention, then use her bait. While we get that cloak operational, using our patch of nebula for cover, the photonic message-in-a-bottle might keep their attention." Leon's formula was on display and running animations as he explained to Dewitt and the acting Captain. "Captain: If there's any one person here who could really get under their skin, it's you, Sir." Leon invited the idea of Trent exchanging words with Sankolov or this Slayton lizardman-- it was here where Leon glanced at Suq wearing a barely-stifled smirk.

After a more noticable glance towards Captain Trent, Dewitt made the call, her heart thumping in her chest. "Lieutenant A'vura Zeshryr, use site-to-site transport and get what you need for the installation, then do as the Commander said. Marquez will send the sensor ghost profile to the Sabine once you are done. There is no time to waste, certainly none to ask persmission from the owner. Go!"

Lt. Commander Leon "Striker" Marquez
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Theurgy
"No one left behind."

Ensign James "Jimmy" Mariner
Security Officer, USS Theurgy
"Showtime!"

Lieutenant (J.G.) Alessia "Angel" Garcia
Valravn Fighter Pilot, USS Theurgy
"You're not the only one with a gun,"

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #10 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet, @Triton, @Mathis, @FollowTomorrow, @chXinya, @Brutus, @Absinthe, @SummerDawn, @Stegro88, @Blue Zephyr & @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
A'vura should be afraid. She should be very afraid. Yet, if anything, she only felt grim determination. Perhaps it was the sum of her experiences in Hell Sector that she no longer feared threats as Suq feared...well, everything. That was not a fair or entirely accurate assessment of the Efrosian, but the Orion supposed that would be close to it, in a summary. Her sense of mortality was no less than it was when she first joined Starfleet, but it said something about her if she could overcome any nervousness now. Or she was simply so busy processing everything that's happened in the last few days still, that she hasn't had time to grow frightened.

They were trying to think of ways to evade Task Force Archeron and its fighter complements. Suq was the first to announce a solution, and as he listed off the things he needed, she whispered to herself, “You don't need someone's mechanical eyeball?” citing a scene from a film that Jimmy and Meony had introduced to her, from the twenty-first century. Commander Dewitt approved the plan, and began calling all the relevant people, and then she had an idea to use the Sabine. When she asked for a volunteer, A'vura raised her hand half-way, twisting her body around from her console, having a harebrained idea or two that she was certain would aid the escape of the Helmet...in theory.

But she was distracted, listening to Leon's own idea, which was admittedly a whole lot better than what she had planned. It was a simple deception, but effective nonetheless...in planning. Project the impression of a much larger vessel using a tiny shuttle, and leading the task force on a merry wild Q chase. She was already pondering the tools and equipment needed to make this plan work, when she realized that Jennifer had called her and given the command to make this plan a reality. Reacting with a start, she stumbled clumsily out of her seat with the over-eagerness to get underway. First, she needed to get to the Engineering room, for some tools. She had an idea to add to the plan as well, using another nifty trick Sinead O'Riley once showed her regarding photonics and hologram projections.

She only felt bad for the ship's owner, Sera. The woman was very likely to throw a fit when she found out they used her ship without her permission.

[ SS Sabine NX-59846 | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]

“Computer, beam me to the Sabine.” said A'vura as she gathered up all the equipment, tools, and a type I palm phaser. She also acquired an EVA suit. She didn't expect to need it while well within the safe confines of the shuttle bay, but her life on the Resolve had taught her to be prepared and keep everything on hand for the unexpected. She felt the brief sense of nausea and she found herself in the Sabine, saving her the time of running through hallways like a maniac. The Orion almost always wore a skirt uniform, and she would have been quite a sight blasting through corridors at her top speed. Once inside the Sabine, she set down her gear and opened up her toolbox, retrieving a PADD, and turned to head for the cockpit.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #11 –
[ Lt. J.G. Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Bridge | Vector 01 | U.S.S. Theurgy ]

“Go,” was the only word he needed to hear. He didn’t see Ravenholm get up and move before he took off at full speed. Leon was talking, and he heard someone else's voice mention an eyeball, but he didn't respond to any of that. For a man with little legs, he was quick. The bridge would only see the proverbial dust from his heels. Morgan Song was left as the bridge’s engineer. They’d be just fine. Probably.


Engineering

He arrived at engineering without knowing how he got there or how long he took. It didn’t particularly matter either, so he gave it no further thought.

Engineering was abuzz with activity, as it should be in times of crisis. He dodged and weaved between people when his size did not offer enough agility. His hands went to his toolbelt, checking that he had all of his tools in the right place.
“Lorad?” He called out, not knowing who he was or even what Lorad looked like. “Where’s the Reman cloaker? I need that. We’re gonna give it a better power source and hook it up through the deflector.” He explained. The ship didn’t have the sort of build that a Reman ship had, such as multiple shields to use during cloaking or even a computer console that wouldn’t flip out if he tried to use it to control the cloak. He prayed no consoles would explode—shutting off the warp core for a moment while powering on the cloak would at least prevent an explosion there. Also, shooting while cloaked would reveal their position, but he hoped the folks up at the bridge weren’t honestly thinking of shooting at Archeron.

As all this went through his head, he felt...nothing, really. That part of his brain had shut down. Packed up and left. On vacation until further notice. He was standing in engineering, looking perfectly calm, like he had just come by to discuss the weather lately. As his eyes met Lorad’s shielded ones, they looked devoid of thought and sparkle.
“Mind helping me with the cloak? Ravenholm, can you work on getting the deflector dish and a console ready to plug in? Ravenholm?” He glanced around. He didn’t actually remember seeing her follow him, so he just needed to check that everyone was here. They’d need as many hands as possible to get this thing going as fast as possible. He hoped to beat his previously quoted 35 minutes.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #12 –
[PWO Selena Ravenholm | Vector 1 Engineering | Deck 6 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy]

Sitting a few meters from the vector’s diminutive warp core, the Reman cloaking device didn’t look like much, just a blocky cylinder encased in a very dark green metal adorned with angled crosses wrapped around the body.  Multiple cables were plugged into each end and lead to different connections along the walls, under consoles, even one going to a direct power feed from the warp core.  Sitting at one of the wall consoles nearby, Selena Ravenholm was trying not to pound the console, or the cloak, with a fist.  She’d been at this for over a day now, and this Reman cloak was still being a stubborn son of a bitch.  First the power feed was incompatible, so she had to rig up an adapter.  Then the computers didn’t want to handshake, that was a bit easier to fix despite the complexity of the Reman language.  This time though…

“God damn piece of shit!” Instead of punching something, Selena gave a nearby equipment case a hard kick, sending it flying past Suq as he walked in.  Not even close to apologetic for nearly flattening the engineer, Selena just waved him off.  “Did that hours ago, but good luck getting this lemon to function.  It just does not want to pump out enough energy to project a field large enough to cover the entire ship.  I’m still not sure if it’s a hardware limit or some programmed safeguard.  What we need to do is strip it down to its wires and rebuild from scratch.”

That wasn’t Selena’s usual methodology, normally she could whip up tech solutions in no time at all after a quick read of its programming.  Stripping machinery wasn’t her forte, at least nothing of this size and magnitude.  Thea could’ve figured it out by now… she said to herself again, but just like the other times such thoughts only reminded her at her friend’s kidnapping by the Savi, right in front of her.  Fighting back the ever-present grief, she couldn’t help but make the now-reflexive glance at her arm.  With some help she’d managed to get it reattached properly, but while the break was sealed, she hadn’t been able to do much about the point where the Savi beam first punched through.  A noticeable dimple marred her bicep with subtle cracks still spread out from it like lunar rays.

“You want to give it a try? Be my guest.” Turning back to the console, Selena tapped back into the cloaking devices core programming, resuming her search for anything that would get the damned thing to work.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #13 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Upper Shuttle Bay | Vector 01 - The Helmet | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]
There was a tremor in her wrist, and slowly, Sera vers Aldnoah opened her yellow eyes. Burn me, where am I?

She felt like she wore an iron kettle on her head, every motion leaden, and she ached through both scalp and skull. Her mouth was more parched than the southern wastes in the Fire Region of Câroon, and her lips bruised and thick with thirst. She sat up, and promptly hit her head against the top bunk. "Flame and bloody ashes," she swore, and raked her tattooed hand through her long, dark hair. The vibration on her wrist persisted, and she looked at it again. It was her chronometer, and the silent intruder alert. "Who the flaming..."

Growling, she threw her blankets aside and tried to get up... but her leg was caught underneath another leg. Thus, she ended up falling out of her bunk. "Wh-" she started, struggling to clear her head and get some kind of bearings. She wasn't wearing anything at all, despite how she usually slept with a lill' something covering her, and the reason was right there in her bunk. In fact, the whole aft compartment of the Sabine just stank of sex, and her nethers were sore. As drunk as she'd gotten last night in the breached Spearhead Lounge - with the Azure Nebula outside the structural integrity field - she had no idea who she'd picked up when she tore the covers out of the bunk.

The small eyes of a large Reman male stared back at her, giving her a start.

"Woah! Who are you?" No matter, there was an intruder on the Sabine, but he was not the one. He could not have triggered the silent alarm from her sheets. "Nevermind...." She shook her head, regretted it immediately, and cursed the whole while she rummaged around for her panties and her top. Once she got them on, she picked up the Klingon disruptor that she'd got at SuD Lang and set a murderous pace through the sliding doors, entering the main compartment with her disruptor in a two-handed grip. She saw someone moving in the cockpit area and began to shout at the figure whilst she made her way there.

"Hey!" she barked, and her eyes momentarily lit up with the glow of her crown zi'naaq. That was when she saw it was an Orion woman. Bloody thieves and scoundrels, the lot of them. "What in the burning wastes do you think you're doing? Blast you, get off my flaming ship!"

OOC: Stegro's coming post will take Lorad to Engineering, don't you all worry. :) Triage, you can post after him.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #14 –
 [Tesserarius Lorad | SS Sabine | Upper Shuttle Bay | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Triage, @chXinya, @FollowTomorrow, @Triton
[Show/Hide]
 

Lorad hurt. He hadn't hurt this much since that boarding action against a Dominion battlecruiser. And he had no idea where he was. What happened? Would someone stop that annoying vibration! Where is my knife?

A sudden thunk snapped Lorad's eyes open, letting in light and pain that was beyond what Lorad could bear. Slamming his eyes shut again, Lorad thought he heard incoherent words beyond them but with his head pounding from the abuse, he couldn't be sure. The vibration thankfully stopped and the light softened as something was thrown over his head. Which was when Lorad realised he wasn't alone in whatever bed he was in.

"Wh-?" came a female voice that tickled at Lorad's mind. It wasn't Commander Dewitt's but it was somehow familiar. He felt he should know it but his mind wasn't working. All this happened at the same time as this female tugged on his leg, which happened to be draped over hers. Unable to free it, she fell out of the bunk.

Through a gap in whatever she had apparently thrown over his head, Lorad was able to glimpse a view at the female. She was sprawled on the floor, naked. Taking a moment, Lorad realised that he was also naked. What had they done? It was then that Lorad's nose awoke and told him exactly what they had seemingly done. Looking again at the woman, no standing, Lorad admired her lithe yet exceptional form. And those eyes... As if sensing his gaze, the woman reached out and tugged the cover off him completely.

"Woah! Who are you?" She demanded after a moment. Before Lorad could think of a response, she continued. "Nevermind...." She said as she shook her head. Judging from her reaction, hers hurt just as much as his did. He watched as she began rummaging around on the floor which he discovered had their discarded clothes strewn on it. Once she had found several items and put them on, she picked up what Lorad's training identified as a disruptor of Klingon origin. Turning she left the compartment without a word. Deciding that a tactical withdrawal was in order, Lorad climbed to his feet and set about searching for his own clothes.

"Hey!" Lorad heard the woman shout from outside as he tugged on his pants, followed by his boots. His head pounded again as he searched around for his shirt but unable to find it, Lorad donned his vest. 

"What in the burning wastes do you think you're doing? Blast you, get off my flaming ship!" Was what Lorad was confronted with as he left the compartment he, they, had awoken in. In front of him, the woman held her disruptor on an Orion female in a Starfleet uniform. Continuing his tactical withdrawal, Lorad slapped the door release and departed the situation.

Compared to where he had been, the shuttle bay he found himself was blinding. Lorad reached into his vest for his visor, his hand brushing his combadge as he did so.

"You have one new message. Message received 5 minutes ago," came the disembodied voice of the ship's computer.

"Play message," Lorad growled out as he seated his visor over his eyes and headed for the exit.

"This is Commander Dewitt to Lorad," came the fiery-haired commander's voice from Lorad's combadge, "we may need your help in Engineering, immediately. Please make yourself available to Junior Lieutenant Suq and Warrant Officer Ravenholm. I'll clear you for entry. Please, hurry."

Something in her voice made Lorad's ears twitch, even in his hungover state; something was happening and it was important if he was being cleared to enter the Engineering section. Quickening his pace, Lorad tapped his combadge.

"Lorad to Commander Dewitt," Lorad said in Standard slowly and clearly. "On my way." The hulking Reman turned out of the shuttlebay and headed for the nearest turbolift. Entering it, he thought for a moment, trying to remember what he had read about the layout of this ship. Unable to remember the deck, Lorad merely called out "Engineering."

The turbolift opened onto a corridor and Lorad stepped out and looked around. Seeing the entrance to Engineering to his left, he made his way through it and into the bright lights and chaos; organised though it was. 

Ahead of him, sitting on the deck between a workbench strewn with tools and other equipment and what to Lorad appeared to be the warp core of this ship, sat the cloaking device from the Apache. When Lorad had discovered that they had removed it, he had been angry. They were gutting the ship that had saved his and his sister’s lives time and time again. But he had calmed when he realised that for the time being, if it helped keep this ship safe, then it was helping keep Samala safe. And that was all that mattered.

He was just in time to see tiny man dodge a crate that had come from across the room. Scanning, he identified Selena sitting at a console as the likely reason. He heard the short man shout his name over the cacophony so Lorad decided he must be one of the people he had been sent to. Padding around the room, he stopped next to the man whose height was barely two thirds his own.

"Mind helping me with the cloak?" The man asked before turning to the female who had kicked the crate. His addressing her as Ravenholm confirmed both their identities for Lorad. He listened as they spoke about power and his head began to hurt even more than it already did. He was better at destroying things than building them. Why had he been asked here?

"Reman cloak not made for ship this size," Lorad said in standard once the two had stopped speaking for a moment. As was becoming a usual occurrence when he spoke, every eye in the room fell upon him but soon the situation drew their attention away again. "Remans make it to hide from Romulans. But also to be easy to build. Supplies scare. You need to build Scimitar cloak. Apache cloak too small. It same, just smaller."

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #15 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
“SHEEP FARTS IN ASPIC!” was A'vura's opening line at Sera's voice. The Orion was not expecting company, and she was certainly edgy enough to try reaching for a sidearm, if she had one, but due to the panic induced by Sera's bark, the girl only succeeded in fumbling her PADD and send it clattering to the deck. And as she completed the clumsy motion of reaching for a non-existent weapon, she'd turned around to face a very angry and fairly naked Câroon woman, and the sight of that creepy eye glow made the Orion jump backwards even more, bumping into the consoles. “Oh shit!”

So much for her lack of fear.

“Miss Aldnoah,” said A'vura, both palms raised up and facing the woman in a gesture of surrender, doing her best not to look at a Reman that was sneaking out the ship, “I'm so sorry for intruding on your vessel like this...uh...didn't you hear Commander Dewitt's call for you?”

She moved slowly, going to her knees, and she picked up the PADD again, even more slowly, with one hand, the other palm stayed up. Sera wasn't Starfleet, and there was no telling how the woman would behave if the Orion made even the least threatening action. She turned the screen of the PADD around to show the gun-toting spacer the problem, namely Task Force Archeron in the nebula, hunting for the Helmet. “You see that? We've got Task Force Archeron right on top of us. Their fighter element's tracking our warp and ion signatures. Commander Marquez has a plan to use the Sabine, control it remotely to fly circles around the fighters and the task force to give them a false trail, lead them away while we go in another direction. We'll bring the Sabine back, of course...uh...with your permission?”

She tried to smile at the woman, flashing pearly white teeth, with as apologetic a look on her face as possible.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #16 –
[ Dyan Cardamone \ Sar-unga Neleo | Drauc's quarters | Vector 01 | U.S.S. Theurgy ]

Decorum was not a word typically associated with a certain Asurian warrior. In fact, she was possibly the least tactful individual she knew, and she knew a great number of people.

This fact became ever more present as she woke up, stretched in bed, and purposefully cracked her back and tail. She was naked, as usual, but this time she was naked because she’d torn her clothes clean off. She was in a room not hers. It belonged to one...uh, what was his name?

Oh yeah, Drauc. Kind of a rough looking man, but certainly not her worst conquest. He fucked, he didn’t make love, and that’s all she was looking for. It was her admittedly selfish way of saying thanks, and also blowing off steam and stress after her cathartic battle a few days ago and the never-ending debriefings that followed.

The man slept next to her as she heard her combadge go off. It was muffled and thrown off in a corner, but she heard the most important bit: “be ready for boarding parties”.

Instantly her face lit up. This was an excellent way to start the morning, she decided. She was almost about to march right on out the door right now, bolt out of Drauc’s quarters stark naked with a blade mounted on her arm. Then she thought, why take on the day alone when she had a perfectly good warrior right here next to her! Also, she needed clothes. Hers were ruined, partly because of her fight and not having changed for a while, but mostly because she shredded them pre-sex.
“Drauc!” She bounced on the bed, then climbed on top of the poor Romulan creature. Her bare breasts covered his face, her slightly-chilly skin pressed against his. He could’ve been totally awake and she wouldn’t have known, or cared really.
“Wakey wakey, time for battle!” She draped herself on his body, her tail thumped the bed and sometimes Drauc’s legs out of excitement. “They say to get ready for boarding parties. Time to get up and fight!” From her voice alone, she was absolutely delighted. This was the perfect way to wake up, and now more than ever, she felt at home again. Happy. All this was evident on her face, like a ray of sunshine, but more deadly.

“Also….can I borrow some clothes?” She grinned, his would likely be too big for her. Oh well, she thought, and rolled off Drauc and onto the floor. She landed on her feet and ran about, looking for her sindt. She’d pick up a phaser later, but the sindt was meaningful to her. Her footsteps thump-thump-thumped as she checked under her clothes, and then under the bed. Her tail occasionally thumped the wall or her own legs as it whipped around, and her tits bounced with the excitement in her step. At the very least, her boots and socks were in tact, so she thump-thump-thumped to collect those too.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #17 –
[Zyrao Natauna | Borrowing Lives |  Stealing Rank | They Always Come Callin' | Duty Calls]
@Auctor Lucan @CanadianVet @Stegro88 @Triage @Triton @FollowTomorrow @chXinya

Zyrao leaned back in her seat, the comfortable leather was much preferred to the hard metal of the Klingon ships.  If your ass didn't hurt while you were flying through space and fighting space battles for the Klingon empire then you weren't fighting with true honor.  Something to that effect.  She had grown used to, and likely grown calluses, to compensate.  However, she knew that she could enjoy the cool crisp and soft leather carressing her body as she sat there.  Boots up on the console, she was fully relaxed and very comfortable in her space.  All around her, the other Security officers were moving about getting their jobs done, Zy's cool grey eyes were studying the Security feeds from various areas of the Vector. 

“Your tea, ma'am.”

A cup and saucer were placed beside her the steam wafting off proved to carry with it the scent of fresh beautiful tea.  Oh, she hadn't had tea for days.  A tragedy in the eyes of Zyrao.  While right now it could not be the full on true leaf tea, she would have to settle for replicated.  It was at least, pretend tea. 

“Thank you, Ensign.” she gave a nod.

“Did you need anything else, ma'am?”

I do enjoy Starfleet manners, at least, when they think that I have a rank above their own.  Her eyes shifted to the young man that stood there.  He wasn't human, but he wasn't an odd color either.  Some humanoid race, the dark eyes .. probably meant he was partially Betazoid.  Empathic, but either ill-adept at using his abilities, or seeing only what he wanted to see.  Pretty enough, though, she supposed.  Though and Ensign had nothing she truly needed to get out of him other than the tea and possibly snacks.

“Do you those.. small... round.. sweet cracker like .. contraptions.  They are new to me, forgive me, I'm not from Earth, you see.  Small sweet pastries, crisp.”

“Cookies?”

Zyrao snapped her fingers.  “Thank you for knowing that, Ensign, and not making me look like a fool at the same time.  Yes, cookies, could you make some of those?”

“Uh, well, ma'am, what kind?”

Her brow rose.  “There are different kinds?”  She slid her feet down onto the deck plating and leaned close to the poor Ensign who swallowed heavily.  “This intrigues me, what is your favorite?” she whispered consipiratorily.

“Uh.. th.. um, I .. the.. cho..chocolate.. are um.. th.. the best.”

She smiled and gave a nod.  “Then lets try those!” she put her feet back up.  One then the other, crossed at the ankles.  “Oh make some for yourself too!  We can share, and chit chat.” she winked at the poor Ensign as he tripped over towards the replicator.  Her eyes swung back over to the Security footage.  They had just come out of warp, and she was watching everything unfold around the ship. 

Red Alert sounded, her brow rose, and then a slow grin pulled the right side of her mouth high for a moment before it fell back to neutral.  Only a moment before that sad excuse for an air sack calls me in to help. she thought of the “Captain.”  I wonder if mutiny is a thing in Starfleet, it really should be.

[Commander Dewitt to Zyrao Natauna, we could use your counsel on the bridge, I am clearing you for access through the security checkpoint. Please report to me for a briefing of the situation on hand.]

The combadge that she had been issued by some one, she hadn't needed nor cared to remember the name on her chest chirped as the message came through for her.  She gave a sigh.  Ahhh victory.  Slowly she got herself up from the chair the cushion would rise back to it's normal shape without her weight in it.  Carefully she picked up her cup of tea and took a slow sip now that it was just hot and less scalding.  Turning she stopped short seeing the Ensign returning with a plate of cookies.

“Apologies, my friend, I've been called to the Bridge.”

“She didn't call you Lieutenant Commander.”  He stated curiously.

“No.. she didn't.”  Zy let out a long exasperated sigh as she put her hand on the man's shoulder.  “I'll have to have a chit chat with her about that, won't I?”  she shook her head.  “We'll give her a slight pass though.. she has to be very stressed.  Battles.. secret rendezvous, being on the scandalous Theurgy... makes for a complicated position.  Ah, Let me just take one of these to go.”

She picked up one of the chocolate cookies from the plate and headed off towards the Turbolift feeling the eyes of the half-Betazoid burning into her back from behind.  Carefully she took a nibble of the cookie and chewed thoughtfully.  Horribly sweet, not terrible, but it would have to be something eaten in very tight moderation.  The Turbolift opened and she stepped into it.

“Zyrao Natauna, Bridge.”

The chime sounded meaning she was cleared and she was taken up to the Bridge.  She finished her overly sweet confection by the time the Turbolift paused at the Bridge.  The door slid open and the El-Aurian stepped out on the Bridge. She was wearing a full Starfleet uniform.  The pants, a Security uniform, complete with Lieutenant Commander pips, her combadge, and her Starfleet issued boots.  It hadn't been easy .. nor really difficult to attain the clothing.  Honestly, the people on the ship were absolutely addicted to sex even when half their crew had only recently been abducted.  It was far too easy to woo people into various corridors and secret maintenance closets before liberating them of pieces of their clothing.  Oh they wouldn't complain, they wouldn't want to be caught, and besides, she made sure it was worth their while.  But, she had slowly pieced together a full uniform.

It was far easier to gain information about the ship when everyone believed you were one of them.  A unfamiliar face meant little in a ship that consistently took on new and random crew members all the time.  Her being there didn't really seem to raise any alarms and once she had found her uniform it had been even easier.  She could pretty much go where ever she wanted, and many times she just followed others in.  Their clearance was something she could tail if she timed it right, and she was very good at timing. 

The Bridge was a hub of activity.  They were going dark, shutting down sensors, and engines.  Her eyes flickered over to the Child that currently played Captain, and next to him, the woman that had called her up in the first place.  Before she said a word, she took another sip of her tea.  It would help keep her calm, though keeping her hands off of the Child's neck would be hard enough even with the tea.  It depended on his level of stupidity for the day.  She found that it fluctuated heavily. 

Clearing her throat her eyes did not look at the Child instead they found the female first officer beside him.  “Zyrao Natauna reporting as requested.” she stated smoothly.  Holding her saucer in one hand she picked up her cup and took another sip.  If only this cup never emptied.  "I need details if you want my assistance." she said slowly making her way towards the command team.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #18 –
[ Admiral Sankolov | Main Bridge | Deck 01 | USS Archeron ] @CanadianVet @Blue Zephyr @Triton @Brutus @Mathis

When there was no answer - just a spike of a short warp jump that faded into nothingness - Admiral Sankolov quietly remained seated in his command chair on the bridge of the Archeron. He had been in this situation before, during the hunt through the Alpha Quadrant - the Theurgy persisting in its elusiveness. This time, the thing inside him was restless, not caring the least for another game of hide and seek. Still, this was what lay ahead, and with his experience hunting this prey, Sankolov knew better than his new First Officer what to do next.

"Mister Slayton," he said, not looking at the man as he spoke - his dispassionate stare on the viewscreen. "You will better assist in this search on the Telemachus. You will be another set of eyes, which I will need more than your assistance here on the bridge. Report once you've launched. Search pattern... Alpha-Delta-Niner."

There was a pause, but the man knew better than to contradict orders. "Aye, Captain," he said, and left the bridge.

Only then did Sankolov rise from his seat, and stepped forth to initiate the search. Oh, but there was more to this than the mere hunt itself, for the Azure Nebula was a melting pot of different factions, all with their own aims and ambitions. Even he, through his kin in far and near places, knew not the full extent about the showdown to come, but he knew that it would all come together soon - this next phase of the current cycle. With the intervention of the Relativity at Niga, the cycle in which he now fought had many unknowns - a minefield of situations yet foreseen. Unconditioned grounds on the battlefield.

Nonetheless, it was his turn.

"Open a channel to all present ships as well as the Squadron Commander," he said in his dry, British accent. "This is Admiral Sankolov. One of the Theurgy's vectors is hiding here, and judging by their subspace transmission, they are looking for the other two. This means they are at a disadvantage, yet we have made the mistake of underestimating them before. Take no chances. Conceit spoils the finest minds."

Adjusting the sleeves of his uniform where he stood, he continued. "Because we are Starfleet, we have given them due warning... only without reply. They were given the opportunity to surrender, but now, considering what their A.I. did to us above Theta Eridani IV, we cannot risk any further subspace communication with this enemy. I repeat, protect your ships and fighters by blocking all incoming hails. There is no telling what kind of new computer virus we'd receive with the transmission."

Of course he had laid the blame of the virus that crippled Task Force Archeron above Theta Eridani IV at the Theurgy's A.I.'s feet. Oh, he knew very well that it had been Carrigan Trent that betrayed him, but his treachery would have raised questions, so he altered the evidence and informed the crew that the man had been lost when a shuttle bay had been depressurised. If he was still alive, aboard the Theurgy, his officers knew that the Theurgy had every possibility to make holograms to substitute missing crew. What faces those holograms would wear was subject to the whims of their Captain and the Federation database.

"Leave Omicron formation and randomise search patterns individually until further notice," he said, turning back. Once he had seated himself, he ended the hail. "Weapons free. Shoot on sight, and in memory of those fallen, and the surviving families of the Federation.... give no quarter. Sankolov out."

And thus, the search began.

[ Lt Cmdr. Ashton "Warlock" Bates | Black Wolf-01 | Mk II Valkyrie Cockpit ] @Vox

Once more, they were on the prowl - the Black Wolves on the hunt for the Theurgy and it's fighters. Ash Bates couldn't remember how many times he'd engaged the dreadnought and its Lone Wolves, but he knew every one of the pilots he'd lost. The new wolves in his pack, flying the Valravn fighters, they knew not the losses suffered - the bad blood between them and this prey.

The White Wolves... He could but hope they knew what they were about, and could follow orders.  They were not truly accepted into the pack yet, having transferred aboard at Starbase 84 barely a week ago, but as the Alpha... he knew they would forge a tighter bond as a pack once they'd fought together. He was concerned about how some of their former packmates on the Orcus had defected mid-battle, and he had to admit he held it against the Valravn fighters. He didn't trust them yet, thinking they might defect as well. It seemed, however, a perfect time to see if they were truly loyal had come...

The Admiral spoke to him, and Ash listened in quietude before relaying his orders to the Black Wolves. "This is Wolf-Zero-One," he said over the squadron channel, "the search has begun. You are weapons free, and you are to shoot-on-sight and raise your howl if you make contact. Since their subspace signals might be spiked by an A.I. virus, do not accept transmissions from the enemy, and don't initiate communication either. I will not tow you back to the den if you get your fighters crippled that way. Understood?"

There was a quiet chuckle from behind him, but Ash's RIO knew he meant what he said. Someone else would have to tow such a pup-wit home.

"All wolves, confirm and fan out by Elements. Keep your noses in the wind and your eyes on your sensors. Warlock, out."

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Upper Shuttle Bay | Vector 01 - The Helmet | USS Theurgy ] @Triage
[Show/Hide]
Sera tilted her head and listened to the Orion woman that had broken into the Sabine to pilfer whatever she could find, and she narrowed her yellow eyes when she mentioned the name Dewitt. She'd never heard the name before. At least she didn't think so. Her head ached as if that Reman back in her bed had knocked her over the skull and dragged her to bed, but even if she would't remember if he did, she had a suspicion she had some small part in what had happened to. After Hi'Jak's betrayal, she had been quite anxious to haul her ashes. If nothing else to blast him out of her system.

"What in the wastes are you talking about?" she growled, curling her upper lip and practically jabbing her disruptor in the air at the flaming thief. "Burn you, I don't give a spark about your excuses, you just..."

Seeing the PADD, she trailed off, frowning even harder than she did before. If the information was to be believed, the Theurgy just kept drawing troubles to itself like moths to a flame. And to add fuel to the fire, they were thinking about hijacking her ship, make it bait, and then blast off without regrets. "Does Starfleet always tend to burn their bridges before them?" she snapped at the woman, who was still a thief, only she had planned to take her whole ship! "You will not throw the Sabine out there like a candle in the flaming winds. Burn you, if you'd only asked, I'd fly her if that would spell survival. Understood? If you need her, you get me as a part of the package."

[Lieutenant Zephryr, this is Dewitt,] came a voice from the lettuce-skinned thief's combadge, [what's the status, over?]

Sera snarled and reached forward, pushing her tattooed hand against the combadge since the Orion had hers raised. She might have pushed the Lieutenant into the pilot seat, but Sera wasn't looking anymore. She had turned away and set a murderous gait towards the cargo hold and where her red Câroon exosuit was stored. Still, spoke loudly enough for his "Dewitt" to hear her through the Lieutenant's combadge. "The flaming status is that I'll fly the Sabine out there! Estimated launch, three minutes provided that your thief here can prep my ship in that time for whatever the ashes you want me to do!"

[...Understood.] There was a pause before Dewitt continued. [Lieutenant Zephryr. I am sorry... you must rig the emitter, but I need you on that ship. Not just to project the sensor ghost... but to make sure Miss Aldnoah doesn't abandon us. We truly need the Sabine. Dewitt out... and good luck.]

"I flaming heard that!" called Sera from the aft compartment, where she cursed and tried to don her exosuit.

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #19 –
“Sera Vers Aldnoah...the main thing I know about her is make sure she sees you coming with your intents clear from about twelve lightyears away...”
- A'vura Zeshryr, Testimonies and Conduct

[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]
Goodbye cruel universe...thought A'vura as she looked at that weapon in Sera's hands. The woman was looking like a hair's breadth away from pulling the trigger and spreading the Orion's atoms across the space lanes. Just her luck to be stuck with someone with selective hearing! She dropped whatever pleading smile she had plastered on her face to be replaced with a mild panic and a feeble attempt to explain herself or plead for her short life, or...she stopped talking. Ah the PADD. But did she believe it? Annnnd she was still mad...maybe madder, even. Raising both hands again, she said, “I wasn't even going t...”

With perfect timing, Jennifer chimed in for a status report.

But Sera was reaching for the Orion's combadge, and she scrambled frantically, thinking she was going for physical assault, and ended up overbalancing into the pilot's seat, “Hwauf!”

She just stared at Sera as the woman headed back into the back compartment of the ship, where she shouted her response, to which A'vura protested with a terse, “I'm not a thief!”

Then Jennifer sentenced her to death, “Wha...but I...I was supposed...g'aaahh!” suck it up, A'vura! You can do this! She composed herself, and then said, “Understood commander, Zeshryr out.”

Great...just great. I get to fly with Wonder Woman here, and she's not my fan...can it get any worse-d'oh! Don't jynx yourself!

Grumpy, the green lady wasted no time and headed back to her gear, picked up the emitter and headed over to Sera, “So...uh, sorry again? I really wasn't going to...I mean...you didn't answer our initial hails, and it was really urgent...I uh...I need your permission to set up this emitter in your ship. It'll project the impression of something bigger for the fighter squadrons out there, and the Task Force.”

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #20 –
[ Drauc T'Laus | The Spearhead Lounge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow 
[Show/Hide]
When Drauc came to, the announcement from the combadge had already been made, and he had but heard a few words of it. Mornings, for him, was always the end of respite, the relative quietude of his dreams preferable to the assault of other minds, always imposing on his own. As it were, waking up in his new quarters - given to him since he lost his own when the ship split - there was one mind that imposed upon him. One elated by the prospect of battle, an attitude which was foreign for him, even though he had more than a mere aptitude for it. He was, after all, bred and raised for the battlefield.

Yet his mind was not all that was imposed upon. Dyan Cardamone, the rare Asurian that he had met three days past, and met once more the night before, she asserted her will to fight alongside him by  draping herself on his face. Already awake, though drowsy from the lack of sleep, he opened his dark eyes and stared up at her from the vantage point she had given him - having to crane his neck to breathe and answer. Normal males of any species would be delighted by the awakening, yet his desires... he believed them to be the reflection of the ones who wanted him. Their pleasure made his own.

Such had been the case the night before, where Cardamone wished to thank him for saving her life in the breached lounge three days past. The only way he had been able to accommodate her was because Nurse Jovela had shown her his ability to please others not long before. He had read her mind, and obliged her, and her gratification had been his own. The cost was that her nails had almost opened the cut her kinsman had dealt unto his shoulder. The seam left from the dermal regenerators had - thankfully - held, and Cardamone had fallen asleep in his bed once content.

"I may fight better if not smothered in bed," he rasped through his torn vocal cords and raised his scarred hands to her slim waist, gently helping to ease her out of bed and off from him - her strong tail having lashed both the sheets and his shins. Did the prospect of battle excite her so? Judging by the way her mind pulsed, and her face shone, there was no doubt. "I have little in means of clothing that fit you, yet I was given rations to make new apparel."

Though washed and stitched together, he still had the clothes he'd worn when he came aboard, and it seemed new attire was no option for him. He rose from his sheets and walked to the replicator and inserted the chip before getting dressed himself. "Short sleeve skirt uniform in the size and departmental colour used by Ensign Dyan Cardamone."

Before the neatly folded fabric had finished materializing, Drauc began to locate and pick up pieces of his clothes from deck beneath their feet. He looked at the Asurian through the tresses of his burgundy hair as she looked for her blade, the sight of her bare body a reminder of the night before, and the way she had made him spend himself inside her several times. "You put your blade next to the sonic shower."

Drauc found that she had torn his tunic apart at the front when she'd been impatient with him, which now left his chest and upper abdomen bare within the folds of his threadbare, brown robe. He cared naught besides the fact that there was nothing to snag a dagger or blade if they were to fight her people again. "What's the nature of the threat, and who will we face in battle?"

Did it matter? It didn't seem to matter for the Asurian, at least.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Upper Shuttle Bay | Vector 01 - The Helmet | USS Theurgy ] @Triage @CanadianVet
[Show/Hide]
Sealing the arms to the shoulder-joints, the air-pressure seals hissing in the same tone she had before, Sera glowered at the Orion when she approached her again, this time actually asking permission. She had, of course, heard that they'd tried to contact her whilst she slept, but her foul mood didn't lift in the slightest, much less her hangover.

"Just do what you need to and be flaming quick about it. I'll power her up in the meantime," he mumbled, not quite ready to accept any apology. She supposed she needed to apologise as well, but fact remained that the Starfleeters had been fully willing to just take her ship from her and autopilot it out there as bait. The odds that it would have made it back in one piece had seemed infinitesimally small. Which, incidentally, remained the truth when they endeavored to do the same, the odds just a tad better since she'd be piloting the Sabine instead of some sandworm hiding on the bridge.

Once she had her red exosuit on, she stalked through the Sabine and slammed her helmet down next to her before she seated herself. Mumbling about rudeness and blasting them all for their ungratefulness, Sera powered up her ship. She had made sure they got their dilithium crystals, hadn't she? So what was the thanks for that? Blast them all.

"Hurry up, burn you!" she shouted through the open airlock, before she contacted Mission Ops. "This is the SS Sabine, ready for take-off as soon as your flaming emitter is installed. Awaiting tactical briefing about what to expect. I already have the decoy route but I don't have a spark of a notion about who these snakes are. If you want your Orion and I back alive, and lure them away long enough, start talking, over."

[This is Dewitt, stand by.] Sera heard how the woman muffled some kind of earpiece, and then spoke again. [Captain Trent knows the enemy best. I'll patch him through to you as soon as he is available.]

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #21 –
[ Dyan Cardamone \ Sar-unga Neleo | Drauc's quarters | Vector 01 | U.S.S. Theurgy ]

Drauc was such a grump. At least he was a helpful grump. She ran to the sonic shower to get her blade. Lo and behold, there it was. She lifted it up, days-old blood still stained the blade. It’d wash off easily if she would just sit down and take the time to clean it, but she would not. It was a symbol of pride and of hard-earned loyalty. She carried that and her shoes with her to the replicator to grab her clothes. She dressed right there, responding to Drauc as he did.
“Does it matter?” she replied. She had no idea that her mind was being skimmed, and if she did, she’d likely not care. Her last secret had been spilled long ago.

“I hope it’s the Sheromi.” She grinned, hatred for the species welled up inside her and used it to fuel her energy. “Whatever happened between us and the Asurians, I bet it’s their fault.” Her voice was muffled as she pulled her blouse on over her head. No bra today, apparently. It’s possible she forgot too. Now she stepped into her underwear and hiked that up. It was adult sized but had cute cartoon characters on it. An odd contrast, compared to the lacy one she had yesterday.

“Could be Archeron though.” She suggested, though she really hoped it was the Sheromi. “They’re on our tail too. Or more Asurians, but they’ll usually take a step back and reorganize before attacking something as big as us again. We’re not Klingons, stupid deaths aren’t good deaths.” And down came the dress. She struggled with the sleeves for a moment or two. She carried her shoes and blade to a mirror so she could gussy up. Rearranging her blouse, evening our her dress running her fingers through her hair to give herself a tousled-yet-feminine look. It was almost like getting ready for a night out on the town. On some level, she was also primping for Drauc too. Look at me, see that I’m pretty.

“Let’s stick together this time. You’re a good fighter, we’ll be awesome in battle together.” She beamed as she got her shoes on. “I’ll try to keep another blade from going into your shoulder.” She offered him a thumbs up. He was mopey, but so far, she liked him. Once she was dressed, she attached her blade to her arm and moved to wait by the door, bouncing on her feet and her tail swishing. She was waiting for him to finish, and also staring at his bare chest. He could do with a few more scratches, she thought...

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #22 –
[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr @CanadianVet @Brutus
[Show/Hide]
After the brief chat with Sera vers Aldnoah, suggesting that Trent would brief the Câroon scavenger about what they were up against in regard to the tactic of the Sabine being bait, Jennifer Dewitt noticed the El-Aurian advisor that had entered the bridge, standing there wi-

A Starfleet uniform? Dewitt reminded herself that this was not the time. Instead, it was time to brief this alleged old military commander, and see if she could offer insight from beyond Federation borders on how to handle the task force on their tails. The Commanding Officers of all those ships out there had learned by the same books as they had, the tricks common knowledge within the fleet. It offered the certainty of pitched battles, transparent manoeuvres and predictable tactics. Dewitt's hope was that this wild card that had come aboard on the Sabine would offer something Sankolov and the rest didn't know.

She walked up to the El-Aurian, a frown on her face. "This is no time for games, Specialist Natanua." Conveniently, the woman's hands were busy holding the saucer and cup in her hands. Therefore, she plucked the three pips from her collar and pocketed them. "I will have to talk you out of that uniform later."

While he had no intention for it to sound the way it did, she certainly found the woman attractive enough. The time and place was not for antiques, and stealing a uniform was crime on most worlds out there. "Have you been briefed about who Task Force Archeron are? They were the ones hunting this ship when it first fled Earth, carrying the knowledge about Starfleet Command. Captain Trent has voiced evidence that the fleet commander is one of them - one of the infested."

Walking to the holographic tactical display table in the back of the bridge, expecting that the El-Aurian would follow her, Dewitt raised her hand and summoned the topographic image of the Azure Nebula and the ships that their sensors spotted before they made the short warp jump. "If we were to see them on our sensors actively, so would they be able to see us. Therefore, we have gone dark. What we have, are these old readings from a couple of minutes ago, where they were converging on us and launching their fighters. As you can see, there are thirteen ships, and that one is the Archeron. The fighter squadron are marked out with white dots, here."

She tapped her fingers against the controls, then having visualised the squadron, she moved on. "Our Helmsman made a micro jump for us, which made us move from the position you see now in this sensor image..." she said, and then zoomed out the three-dimensional image and added their current coordinates, far out on the flank of the task force. "...to this one."

Having shown the seasoned El-Aurian woman the tactical layout as far as they knew it, she walked over to another side of the table and loaded up the data on the ships they had detected. "If you want to know the enemy in detail, what we have on those ships is right here. I... heard you wanted a Klingon interface, so just hit this button here and then you can start reading. The sooner you have a suggestion, the better. In the meantime, we are about to launch the Sabine as bait, with a sensor ghost decoy behind it."

Whatever Trent had told Sera, Dewitt had missed it, but she hoped Captain Trent had more orders. Were they to use the particle sensor now? Send out a ping, or wait, and do so before the next warp jump? With her his clenched at her sides, she hoped that between Specialist Natauna, the Sabine and the particle sensor, they would be able to stay clear long enough. The Reman cloak was some time before it might work, but if they were lucky, perhaps the other Vectors would arrive.

Still, what if they are already dead, and we wait and risk our lives and the truth in vain?

[ Drauc T'Laus | The Spearhead Lounge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow 
[Show/Hide]
In truth, it did not really matter, just like the Asurian said. Regardless where the enemy hailed from, they were threats to the safety of the crew and ship. That much remained the truth even if it was a long time since the Dominion War, and he'd worn her departmental colours. Her wishes for it to be the Savi were highly personal, he'd reckoned, based on the talks of the night before, and how she blamed them for what had happened when they faced the Versant.

From her mind, he picked up how she wished for him to notice her, and as much he did on her wordless behest. He looked towards her, and saw her staring at his bared chest too. Apparently, she liked how he could anticipate her needs, even if he questioned if he had any needs of his own.

"That would be preferable," he rasped in regard to helping him from getting another injury like the one he'd suffered before. He also shared her sentiment about fighting alongside each other. He hadn't truly fought together with her before, but if her kinsmen were any indication, and the fact that she was actually older than him, she likely could hold her own in a fight. Since he was a civlian, he was unarmed, but he needed no weapon for the battlefield. He was a honed blade in himself, and if he had need for tools to kill with, there were usually plenty to pick from the fallen.

He walked up to her by the door once he was finished, his hood yet raised, and looked down and into her green eyes. "Unless, of course, you are a distraction in itself, and I get stabbed because I look at you instead of our foes," he grated, and while he didn't smile, he had come to stand close to her. He had anticipated her need to look at her, and so he did, thinking he'd offer compliment. Perhaps it would make her fight even better. "Despite my preferences, I should have replicated a less revealing uniform."

Having told her this in his low, scraping syllables, he moved to step out of the room and into the corridor - ready for whatever might face them. "Perhaps you need to ascertain more detail about the threat from Ensign Ryan Sel?"

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #23 –
[ Cmdr Carrigan Trent, Captain | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

Initial orders had been given.  That was all Trent could have done for now and he forced himself to relax into the command chair.  He could not afford to give any indication of his fear, of his stress.  Calm, cool, confident competence was what he needed to radiate; if that was what his Bridge officers saw, then it would rub off onto them as well. 

But what could not have helped was Captain Slayton's own broadcast.  A call to surrender.  Of course such a thing would be sent.  The man hadn't been there at Theta Eridani when Sankolov and his posse of hand-picked captains had cornered Theurgy and made it clear no quarter would be given and that surrender would just mean a faster execution.  In fact, he hadn't been one of Sankolov's own choices to command an asset of the Task Force, and Trent knew him not only to be an excellent tactician and one to utterly commit to action, but as a man of integrity who would not have accepted a simple declaration there would be no quarter granted unless they surrendered.

Not that surrender would have meant much.  There would be 'accidents' and 'equipment failures' and 'prisoner uprisings' aplenty to guarantee no on on the Vector would have their day in front of a magistrate.  That or Sankolov would convene a special tribunal, see them all sent to a remote penal colony, and their transport would be mysteriously 'lost with all hands' along the way. 

But, as he had requested, suggestions started coming in, and being implemented.  Sabine to be used as a decoy, the possibility of unsettling the opposition by revealing he was in command, and of course calling up Miss Natanua.  Of course.  Because she might see something he could not in the maelstrom of ships and the fog that would occlude their sensors.   

"Commander Marquez, we can shelve that for later.  Have a beacon prepared, and give me message and launch control when you have that done."  That would be a start.  That, and broadcasting anything at this time would be tantamount to suicide.  They would have to be ghosts in this mess until the cloak would become operational. 

While Ensign Zeshryr made her way to the Sabine, that was when the El-Aurian arrived... in a Starfleet uniform and wearing the rank of a senior officer, no less.  But this was no time to address the matter, and Trent simply narrowed his eyes at the display... a display Jennifer herself took care of.  That would be just a start, and he'd have to ensure to have it mentioned, very clearly, that wearing a uniform again would be a fast way to ensure a stay in a cell until they could find a convenient place to dump her. 

"Bring up the particle sensors, low-power, rotating modulation and a slow, random interval; let's not give any more than we absolutely have to.  He then spoke, still looking at the less than detailed holographic plot between him and the viewscreen.  "Miss Natanua, we are being hunted by Task Force Archeron.  They have a number of starships and dozens of fighters after us.  Your task is to keep us hidden until we can bring the cloaking device online or the other Vectors arrive, or we get confirmation they received our message."

And, of course, the civilian from the Sabine spoke up.  "Sabine, this is the Captain.  Expect to head out into a swarm of hostile ships and fighters.  Your task will be to fly a decoy course at your discretion, using the emitter to lure them away from us.  Keep your active sensors locked down, and only radiate enough energy to keep them interested.  You will  be operating under complete radio silence until informed otherwise by myself, so you will have to operate at your own discretion.  If you are going to be spotted, you are to withdraw.  Ensign Zeshryr will be accompanying you, and she knows where the rendezvous will be.  Don't let yourself be boarded, and godspeed, Miss Aldnoah.  Trent out."

With that done, something came to Trent's mind, and he turned to look at the Tactical station.  "Commander Marquez, Task Force Archeron has no restriction on their use of active sensors.  I want you to reconfigure quantum torpedoes to be pushed out of the tubes using compressed nebula material.  They are to remain inactive, on their own internal telemetry, until they detect a Task Force Archeron asset in their immediate vicinity or are hit by active sensors.  Only then will they activate their drives and engage.  My intent is to force Sankolov to be as blind as we are."

Re: Chapter 05: Vertex [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ]

Reply #24 –
[ Lt.Com. Vivian Martin | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet, @Triton, @Mathis, @Hastata-Nerada, @FollowTomorrow, @chXinya, @Brutus, @Absinthe, @SummerDawn, @Stegro88, @Blue Zephyr & @Auctor Lucan
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Vivian had been quiet this whole time on the bridge, observing, considering, and playing scenarios out in her head. Everybody had some brilliant plans and ideas for sure. But they could do more. So much more. She saw the woman, Zyrao, who was an El Aurian. She was more than likely one of the oldest people on board the ship right now. That was a valuable resource right there. Rich with information. She frowned at the woman wearing a senior officer's Starfleet uniform, but she'd served three years on board the Resolve, dicipline and decorum was lax under the circumstances, plus Commander Dewitt already addressed the matter, and from Carrigan's look, whatever was decided on that would be enforced.

But the dark-haired woman had other priorities to consider. Suq was off fixing a Reman cloak meant for smaller vessels than the Helmet, but if anyone could do it, it was Suq, and A'vura was off to save the day in a small shuttle. Who said the Orion didn't have a heroic streak in her? Carrigan was a tactically brilliant man, and she knew Leon would do what it took to save the crew. But the crew of the Theurgy didn't have some of the experiences Vivian had on the Resolve, and that was all the difference in the entirety. The variance. People would say what she was about to propose was bordering on overkill, but it was all their lives at stake, why should they not press and use every advantage they had?

She had been considering the abundant resources available all around them. As well as all the ways they could cloak themselves even without the benefit of a Reman cloak. “Captain,” said Vivian as she stood up, and turned to look at the man, “I would be remiss if I didn't offer a few other options we can use.” She picked up a PADD and presented it to the man after keying in her findings, conclusive with the most valid and possible outcomes. “Besides the Reman cloak, we can use the Thermionic radiation, draw them around the Vector like it's own cloak. It enables us to mask our energy signature even more effectively and uses less than half the power we are currently using to maintain our cover. We simply need to place EPS conduits in key sections. Emiting a low-band frequency on all fronts will give any active and passive scanners the readings of background radiowaves. Like an ancient terran submarine diving under to avoid detection.”

She was far from finished, “Using the same Thermionic radiation and the EPS conduits, we can use your idea for modified quantum torpedoes outfitted with the conduits, so that when they activate, they'll draw in the radiation towards a target, putting a blindfold on them. And lastly,” she brought up one more item on her PADD, “The Delta Radiation. Electro-magnetic emitters can manipulate them, draw them together with the Thermionic rads, and with the sirillium content in the nebula, we can essentially create a wide-radius incendiary cover once we go to warp and once the Sabine is a safe distance away. The catalyst for an ignition can be a quick venting of plasma from our warp nacelles, or a phaser bomb we leave behind to trigger on a timer or remotely.”

She clasped her hands behind her when she concluded, and said, “Just thought you might like to know, sir.”
 
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