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CH05: S [D06|0810] Fox Hunt

Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Quote from: Auctor Lucan on
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Upper Shuttle Bay | Vector 01 - The Helmet | USS Theurgy ] @Triage @CanadianVet
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Indeed, Sera understood what A'vura was after, and she glanced towards the Orion over her shoulder.

"Good thinking, th-," he began, but paused, thinking that she ought to move on. She was still pissed  like a sand snake in a trap, but she ought to put her grievances behind her. Obviosuly, the Orion was not like the rest of her people, being a Starfleeter, and she seemed resourceful enough. "...A'vura Zehryr. I am sure we can collect plenty of sirillium gas to pass in their faces. Burn me, I'd hate to take a hit against the bussard tanks, though, so let's keep it in mind for the time being."

She waited for any further instructions aside from the sensors and the decoys from the Helmet, the EM band open until the Helmet would make another jump. The EM band was the last line of communication they had, limited as they were to such old fashion method since the enemy scanned for subspace frequencies. The last line to safety deteriorating by the second the further they went. Sera was both afraid and thrilled, just like she had been when they headed for the Coreless Moon.

"Not sure when we might expect enemy contact, and if they find us first, they might shoot us out of existence before we flaming see them. Federation warp fighters are better built than the Sabine for a dogfight too," she said, and bit her lower lip, thinking further. "We'll refrain from jumping to warp, for starters, since we don't need to announce our presence ahead of time. We'll let the Vector jump, and remain here, using that fancy emitter of yours, and jump later on, when we are sure we have that sensor ghost up and running behind us."

Sera paused. The silence lasted for a couple of seconds. Then she sighed. Bored already.

She turned to the Orion officer... and grinned. "Burn me, no point in living lest you feel alive, right? Get the emitter up and running. Course set. Maximum warp. Let's see if we can get their attention. Hang on to your knickers!"

Then, she throttled up the Sabine - blasting through the Azure Nebula.
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Hang on to my knickers, she says, thought A'vura grumpily, but as she rose from the co-pilot's chair, she muttered, “I've never understood that idiom.”

She was panicking and screaming on the inside, but outwardly she was only a little pensive looking. She was agreeable to playing it cool and going low under the radar until the Helmet was safely away. Then Sera pulled a Meony and just threw caution to the wind. Next thing she knew the Sabine was lighting a trail like a Terran Christmas tree. The woman was as impatient as a...a...well something that was not known for having a lot of patience!

She quickly set the emitter and reported, “Emitter's running and we are hot as a flaming meteorite. Everything and their grandma can see us now.”

She briefly came back to stand over the co-pilot's chair, “Bet the sensors will pick up a lot of ships now.”

She just hoped it wasn't a capital starship with a tractor beam, or they'd be done in such short order it won't even be funny.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #1 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Azure Nebula ] @Triage 
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Giddy over finally being granted a chance to feel alive again, Sera couldn't help the slight smile she wore when she counted the seconds they were going to stay in warp - the corners of her eyes creased. "Let's worry about that when we go back to impul-"

BEEB-BEEB

"Whoops, burn me, here we go. Passive sensors have a big one far off to the port side, and another one turning into our trajectory, directly ahead. Likely wanting us to drop out of warp. Hmmm... let's be be good girls and oblige them, shall we?" she asked, giving A'vura a grin. She tapped her screen, letting the Orion think she'd actually stop right in the center of their claws, but instead...

...she just laid in a new heading, setting a course straight up into the higher layers of the Azure Nebula.

"Then again, more fun playing hard to get, right?" Their passive sensors were lit with blinking blips, small and large. "Wow, so many flaming suitors out there now, look at it! Buckle up, we better throttle up a bit more or they'll see right through that sensor ghost of yours. I mean, I like to get my ashes hauled as much as the next girl, but judging by all those weapon signatures, they might be looking for more than just getting our pipes cleaned."

Her sensor display had gone haywire with converging dots at that rate. It was time for a distraction.

"See any sirillium gas pockets out there?" she asked rhetorically, since all they saw was the warp light-show, but she was already looking ahead with her fore sensor array. Soon enough, she saw what she needed. "Going to give them some fireworks and slink away. Going to have to be quick about it though... Arming micro torpedoes... Setting some delay fuse on them.. and...."

Sera wrenched the warp throttle back, brutally putting the newly repaired Sabine back to impulse speed, and hit the firing button. "Sorry, but we can't stay for the show. I'm going to full impulse, and I need you to kill the sensor ghost as I do so. Trust me. I’ve escaped planetary authorities more times than I can count. Ready? In three... two..."

While she counted down, the two torpedoes she'd fired entered a thick cloud of sirillium gas ahead of them, igniting it in their wake and blazing twin trails through it. "...one. Now!" The fuses of the torpedoes were about to run out when Sera went to full sub-light speed, steering away from the cloud. The inertial dampeners couldn't quite compensate for the acceleration and turn. "Switch off the emitter!"

Then, the entire cloud detonated by the torpedo blasts, and the shockwave caught them early. Sera's eyes widened, not having counted on quite that kind of blast, but they were riding the shockwave, and got all the speed they lacked from it. The cockpit shook, and since she wouldn't be quick enough, she resorted to use the Starfleet refit computer. "Computer! Power down everything except life support, shields and structural integrity, now!"

[Acknowledged.]

And then, the lights in the cockpit died, the LCARS screens dimmed, and they tumbled in the inertia of the blast. Gravity had been switched off too, but Sera had buckled herself to the seat, just like she'd told A'vura to do. When the Sabine tumbled through the nebula, Sera's hair floated about her face as she glanced towards the Orion. Playfully, she put a finger of her red exosuit across her own lips. "Hush, we're playing dead. Let's see if they bought it."

If they had been successful, the fighters that had been closest behind them would think - just like the big ships - that the Theurgy had just detonated that cloud around itself. Only time would tell...

Still, Sera couldn't help the small smile she still wore - the blasting headache worth it.

Despite their ploy, this was what living was like.

OOC: Well, @Fife , @Stegro88  and @Vox , this is your cue! Chase that sensor ghost like it is the Theurgy, only to have it vanish in an exploding gas cloud. Report to Warlock, perhaps? Ask for orders? Search by elements, perhaps?Speculate and plot? Eventually, let's start up the chase again (or something else may just happen...) @Triage , you and I post some zero-gravity aftermath while we wait? :)

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #2 –
Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Wolf 07 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Fife @Vox
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Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson was starting to get frustrated. She hated not having a plan and just flying around in this nebula, hoping to spot the Theurgy, was not having a plan. But what was there that she could do about it?

“Tank, anything on the sensors?” Donna asked her RIO.

“No sign of the traitors yet?” the Rigellian replied. Donna looked down at her own sensor screens out of habit. FoxFire and Bourbon in Wolf-08 were off her port wing while the other Black Wolves were spread around in a loose formation with the USS Yeager still close by to support them. Or be a major hindrance incase someone wanted to do something utterly insane; like try to break away and contact the USS Theurgy.

She was about to call Warlock again to complain before she thought better of it. His last response had been the standard ‘those are our orders’ response. So instead she changed her comm channel over the element only. Before she could say anything though, Tanked yelled from behind her.

“Contact!” Tank called out.

“Bearing?” Chance asked as she prepared to alter course. But Tank never responded as Warlock’s voice echoed in her ear.

“All wolves form up on me. We are ordered to pursue the contact,” Warlock commanded. “Weapons free upon positive identification.”

"Wolf-08, stay on my wing," Chance ordered as she wrenched her controls over to bring her into formation. Warlock had the squadron go to warp as Donna’s mind continued to wander.

As she thought about the vixen, the fresh bite marks on her left breast ached, reminding her of the night they had shared together before Donna had fucked it all up. She knew the Vulpinian was very upset with her, and with good reason. She just hoped she got the chance to make it up to Isel one day.

Chance and the squadron roared through the nebula towards the target, having to adjust their intercept course when the contact altered theirs to take them into another layer of the nebula. They were closing and Chance was preparing to activate the package that she had installed the day before with Isel when the contact’s speed suddenly dropped from warp. She had barely managed to match the drop when the nebula ahead of them lit up from an explosion.

“Tank, what the hell was that?” Chance demanded.

“Sirillium gas pocket. The contact must have detonated it,” Tank replied. Something about that tickled at Chance’s mind. This nebula was full of similar pockets. And the Theurgy’s sensors would be easily able to detect them. So how did they fly straight into one accidently?

They wouldn’t have! But they could detonate one easily enough to make it look like they did. And they wouldn’t be able to leave because their entering warp would be detected. Which meant, they were still out there.

“Wolves, standby for new orders,” Warlock called over comms. “The Archeron has picked up another contact. Could be another vector.”

“Warlock, requesting permission for Wolf-08 and myself to remain behind to search for wreckage and confirm target status,” Chance asked in reply. Someone was still out there and it might be their only chance to complete her mission.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #3 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @Stegro88
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Sera really liked to talk. A lot. A'vura was very laconic to begin with, but next to Sera, she was probably mute in comparison. Her eyes wandered over to the stars and lights as they danced all around the Sabine, moving past faster than the eye could truly perceive. Her hands rested close to the console of the co-pilot as she settled in, ready to assist Sera, but the civilian pilot seemed to have things well in hand. At the notification on the sensors, the raven-haired Orion's lips parted, as if to speak, but she was overridden by Sera, who at first suggested they stopped right in the clutches of the task force hunting them, before altering course at the last minute, and she let out the breath she'd been holding. The woman was nuts.

“Yes,” said A'vura, when the Câroon observed the state of aggression of their pursuers. “capture's not likely on their minds...”

This worried A'vura. It seemed a bit harsh and way more aggressive than was strictly necessary. But then again, according to what she'd read of the ship's records, the Theurgy'd evaded the entire Task Force numerous times already in the past few weeks, frustrating the fleet's efforts. A sheer testament to Ives' skill in evading capture or unnecessary engagements so far.

“Okay.” was all she said at Sera's instructions to kill her sensor scramblers. The emitters could do with a rest, anyhow. She wasn't sure on the longevity of the device, considering how spit-and-tape it was in formation. So the less it was overused, the better. So as soon as Sera counted down to zero she turned off the sensor ghosts and her head jerked back at the sudden acceleration before the dampeners killed the rest of the thrust. Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked over at the Câroon woman; judging by her expression, she hadn't quite planned on the magnitude of that explosion either.

One hand resting on the console in front of her, A'vura muttered, “Good God.”

Now they were playing dead. She looked up once more to the cockpit canopy, staring into the cloudy beauty of the Azure Nebula. Somewhere in that mess, was Task Force Archeron, and the real Vector, Helmet. When it was time for them to reunite with it, A'vura would provide the necessary coordinates, but in the meantime, it was better not to leave any hints or information that could be found in the ship's computers, just in case. “Nice stunt back there.” said A'vura, “One day, they might be teaching this trick at Starfleet Academy.” If we live to make it.

Hair floating around, the Orion casually asked Sera, “How fast can you get the Sabine moving again when they spot us?”

Call her a pessimist, but A'vura believed their discovery was more of a when rather than an if.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #4 –
[ Ensign Isel “Foxfire” Nix | Wolf-08 | Azure Nebula ] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Triage @Vox

Foxfire heard Chance’s order to stay on her wing and complied, letting Bourbon respond for them as she brought the Valkyrie back into formation shortly before Warlock ordered them all to go to warp, closing in on the contact. Foxfire mirrored Chance’s maneuvers to maintain their intercept course, dropping out of warp alongside Wolf-07 as the contact returned to impulse.

”What the fuck?” Isel swore as the section of the nebula ahead of them seemed to explode. ”Shit! Bourbon, where’s that contact?”

[Contact was last tracking somewhere in the ignited pocket of sirillium gas.] Came Bourbon’s response over their private comm, her voice carrying a bewildered tone. [If they ignited the pocket by accident, there may not be much left…]

[Wolves, standby for new orders.] Came Warlock’s voice. [The Archeron has picked up another contact. Could be another vector.]

[Warlock, requesting permission for Wolf-08 and myself to remain behind to search for the wreckage and confirm target status.] Chance’s voice piped in. Foxfire’s jaw clenched at the sound of the woman’s voice, though her hatred of the element leader didn’t prevent her from acknowledging the fact that it was a clever ploy.

[Granted, Wolf-07.] Warlock responded without hesitation, likely wanting to confirm the vector was truly out of the fight. [Search for debris and confirm target status. Once you have confirmation, regroup with the rest of the pack. Good hunting. Warlock Out.]

A small smirk played across Foxfire’s lips as Warlock granted Chance’s request. She heard him ordering the rest of the Black Wolves to follow his lead, jumping off to intercept the next reported contact. Then they were alone with what might be the obliterated wreckage of the Theurgy’s vector.

”Wolf-Zero-Eight is on your wing, Element Leader.” Foxfire reported, her voice coming out as a monotone, devoid of any emotion. Switching to their private channel, she spoke to Bourbon. ”Bourbon, start scanning for any signs of wreckage, escape pods, anything you can find.” Foxfire told her RIO, ”If they were in there when it ignited, we need confirmation.”

[On it.] Came Bourbon’s confirmation as she got to work with the sensors. [If the Theurgy was in there, even if it was just one of it’s vectors, there’s got to be some trace left behind.]

There’s no way they were stupid enough to make a mistake like that… Foxfire thought to herself as she watched the blast fade, the sirillium gas in the pocket having been burned off. She turned her eyes away, scanning the area around them for any visual sign of debris or escape pods, anything to indicate that a vector of the Theurgy had been caught in that firestorm of burning gasses.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #5 –
Lt. JG Logan Hale | Wolf 15 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Fife @Stegro88

Apart from the occasional beep from a console the cockpit was unusually quiet for Logan and Ezekiel. A few short days ago they'd been flying with their old squadron, people they had known for several years and now they were the enemy and the two found themselves with a new squad of strangers, people neither of them they really knew and a leader who didn't trust them yet, not that Logan could really blame the man all things considered.

"Anything on sensors Zeke?" He asked his friend and RIO despite already knowing the answer.

"Nothing new, same sensor ghost occasionally pings but other than that nada."

Logan nodded as he glanced out at the blue hue of the nebula and had to admit it was quite beautiful...well it would be unless you were flying through it looking for what quite frankly was a needle in a gigantic haystack then it was just a large blue cloud of annoyance.

"Logan?" The big man's voice came from behind him.

"Yeah?"

"What happens when we find them?" His asked.

For a moment Logan remained silent. It was a good question and one that he had been asking himself ever since the...Defection? Betrayal? of his former squadmates. A question he had yet to figure out the answer to himself. "I don't know Zeke." he eventually replied. 

Another few moments of silence passed between the two friends before Ezekiel spoke again "It's just we know them, they're like family."

"I know." Logan said, his eyes scanning the nebula before him as he calmly flew the ship on instinct, ready for anything that might suddenly pop out at them.

"Two years man. Two years flying together with what I'd say were the most loyal people I'd ever met..." Ezekiel continued.

"I know." Logan said again with a nod of his head, trying not to think too much about the actions of his former squadron and the bad feelings of pain and confusion their defection to the Theurgy still left within him.

Seemingly on a roll with his own thoughts his RIO continued to talk as if trying to process things aloud "...And they just betrayed us and defected, just like that."

"I know Zeke!" Logan said a third time, his voice raising slightly "I was right there with you, I saw the whole damn thing."

A few moments passed between them in silence before Logan sighed and shook his head "Sorry man it was a shock to both of us but what happened happened, right now we need to focus and deal with them if....when we find them."

Although he knew he couldn't see him, Ezekiel nodded and knew his friend was as hurt and confused as he was. "You know it might become a dogfight between them and us. Could be Alyssa or Dev we face off against, you going to be okay with firing on them and them on us?"

Logan's eyebrows furrowed beneath his helmet. "I hope it won't come to that, I'm hoping we'll get to talk find out what they hell they were thinking, get some answers." He paused and took a breath "But that doesn't change the fact they are the enemy and if ends up in a fight then it'll be a fight."

Pausing again, Logan's gaze flickered between Chance, Foxfire and the other Wolves who were spread out before him "Besides it's not our old squadron I'm worried about at the moment." he muttered. It was clear that Warlock was out for blood, the others too and given the fact he and Zeke had been thrown into the pack so suddenly and hadn't had too much interaction with the others it made things a little....tense. Hell as far as Logan was concerned he wouldn't be surprised if one slight hesitation by him and they all opened fire on him, but hopefully that wouldn't be the case...still he'd be ready for it just to be safe.

Before the two could carry on their discussion the nebula before them exploded, making Logan jump slightly in his chair "Woah!" He muttered "What the hell was that?"

From behind him Zeke tapped away on his console  "Sirillium gas pocket. Someone must have detonated it."

Logan couldn't help but smile slightly "Good idea." He muttered "Keep an eye out for anymore of them okay, I really don't fancy being caught up in one of those."

Zeke snorted "Yeah me neither." He said.

Listening to the exchange between his fellow Wolves he wasn't surprised when Warlock granted Chase's request almost immediately. Although he had a feeling they wouldn't find the remains of the Theurgy or one of it's vectors from what he knew they'd be too smart for that, and if it was them that detonated the gas pocket then clearly it was either a distraction or a trap.

Leaving the two Wolves behind Logan jumped the Valravn back to Warp with the rest of the pack as they followed the next contact. His eyes glancing down at his own sensors and seeing nothing currently on them, eventually sighing in frustration, surely they had to find something soon?

Tapping the Comm he opened a channel "Wraith to Warlock, I don't know about you but I'm not seeing anything on the sensors. Wolf 16 and I could break off and check a little further out or do you want us stick in formation with you?" he asked.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #6 –
[ Lt Cmdr. Ashton "Warlock" Bates | Black Wolf-01 | Mk II Valkyrie Cockpit ] @Fife @Stegro88 @Vox

Irritated, Ash "Warlock" Bates did not care the least for getting the orders to pursue another sensor-spike further away from the post-detonation area. He just couldn't shake the feeling that they had been tricked, the lack of immediate debris testament to this fact, but orders were orders.

Hence, he had let two of his wolves linger behind. Fine pilots, unlike those traitorous White Wolves who he couldn't make himself trust. Chance and Foxfire seemed to be able enough, and quite easy on the eye. Of course, he could never have a closer look, being the SCO. He just hoped they would be able to ascertain the truth about the detonation, and even better, detect where the Theurgy might have gone.

Then, however, Wraith called in, suggesting he'd fan out with his Element. Warlock narrowed his eyes as he thought about this, wondering if there was something more that had the White Wolf wish to separate from the formation. He had phrased it like a mere suggestion, quick to suggest he and Wolf-16 stayed too. After a couple of seconds, he replied. "Acknowledged, break away and... Stand by."

There was a sensor spike, likely a torpedo. Reports were coming from the capital ships. Soon enough, the orders were out, whatever info available gleaned. "Warlock to all Black Wolves. Easy on the active sensor scans. The Theurgy has deployed torpedoes that get armed when scanned. One of the ships just took a hit. Just be careful, rely on passive sensors, and you really need to scan something, it might blow up in our faces."

Then, he returned to Wraith's request. "Warlock to Wraith. Go, just keep this in mind," he said, and lowered his voice a little, the meaning clear, "the Theurgy and those who defected didn't just blow up the Rec Dome on Starbase 84, they destroyed the Orcus as well. We've seen it with our own eyes. I suppose I am just saying... be careful out there."

It was up to Wraith to interpret that in any way he liked, but Warlock wasn't about to just put his faith in those Valravn pilots. Once the two fighters had left the formation, he selected two other Wolves on his comm display. "Wolf Leader to Wedge and Frost," he said, contacting two highly trusted wolves of his own Flight. "In two minutes, break away and follow Wraith and Blizzard. Pick your own search pattern, but don't let them out of passive sensor range. I want to know what they are up to."

[Acknowledged, Warlock,] said Wolf-03, and together with Wolf-04, they readied themselves to pursue the former White Wolves.

"You think they are up to something?" asked Ash's RIO behind him.

"I don't know," he said, staring ahead, "but I do know they once trusted their old pack more than they do us."

And far more than I trust either of them.


[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Azure Nebula ] @Triage
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In the silence that lingered after the manoeuvre Sera had pulled, she knew to be patient, for any slightest sensor spike or subspace signal would shatter the illusion that they were just a random rock or piece of debris. She had preferred to have some larger object to drift closer to, but given the circumstances, she was satisfied that they weren't already fired upon.

She remembered how she'd been chased over Andor, having 'investigated' an old Aenar ruin, and the Imperial Guard were known for not being people to trifle with. Burn her, they had given chase into the glaciers on one of the moons, until she had finally managed to hide in a small crevice. She'd been stuck there for three days, without being able to rely on the Sabine to keep her warm for fear of detection... and she really hated the cold. She still had nightmares about seeing her breath before her face, and fearing freezing to death in her sleep.

Her memories were interrupted by the Orion, who complimented her. "Thank you, but..." she wondered how she'd best phrase it, a small smirk on her lips. "I am not sure I will be teaching Starfleet how to do such things. If we - someday - can sail into the sunset, the enemies blasted and the parties drawing to an end, I still need to make a living. I'd burn my hide if I gave away my trade secrets."

As to how quickly they could start moving again...

"That would depend on how far up our rear end that flaming shockwave hit us," she said, and raked back some floating, dark hair from her yellow eyes, checking the dimmed-down console in front of her. "I usually don't fancy pedication, but it was either that or having them all gang up on us. Between the two, I'd fancy that less. Could have gotten quite messy, burn me. Let's just hope we can still walk."

Her jesting aside, the readings she had available said that they had likely made it out without greater issues. "Looks like we've got some sand up there, but no reason to be upset. We'll blast it clean if we need to make a run for it again," she said with a lopsided smile, then turned to the Orion. "So what's your story? Thought I spotted you at the end of the fray at Starbase 84, being in that conference room along with others who came aboard then. Does that mean you're from the Resolve? Burn me, you've just recently got caught up in this mess too? Ashen luck, huh?"

Little did she notice how two white silhouettes were drawing closer, far off in the tumbling blue clouds. Since the Sabine was still lazily tumbling in inertia, actually glimpsing anything out there was quite difficult, but if they were scanned, the controls would tell her...

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #7 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @Stegro88
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A'vura's stomach felt queasy after a minute of trying to stare out the canopy of the Sabine. She nodded at Sera's sentiments, of course, the Orion was planning to give an accounting of her experiences regardless. Starfleet regulations and all that. But she did relish the idea of there being an end to the nightmare. What is that even like? She wondered. Three years ago, she was a girl full of dreams and aspirations. Then it has since been nothing but a daily affair of fighting for her survival and the survival of the crew. They returned home only to be thrown into another conflict, and it was far from over.

There didn't seem to be an end in sight.

She felt a familiar ache behind her eyes, as she felt everytime she thought about the endless nightmares. Sighing, she tried to concentrate on what Sera was saying. For a change, she appreciated having a loquacious companion, since it distracted her from her own dark thoughts. Also, wallowing right now was not a good idea. She turned her eyes on the console before her, as if she didn't want to answer the woman's questions about herself, then she said, “Yeah, I'm from the Resolve. Three years travelling through a place called Hell Sector - not someplace I'd condemn my worst enemy to - only to return home and find myself in more battles and a fight for survival...”

It was more than she'd said in one sentence normally, but at least the Câroon knew what her story was. The ship's simplest and most passive sensors/scanners were still picking up trace signals. How did Vivian do it again? Volume, dispersion and spread of celestial objects, and anything that cut a swath through the gaseous soup would make a obvious unnatural pattern. “Can't be sure without at least a passive scan, but I think we've got bogeys incoming.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #8 –
[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson & Ens. Isel "Foxfire" Nix | Wolves 07 & 08 | Azure Nebula ] Joint Post Between Fife and @Stegro88
Attn:  @Auctor Lucan @Triage @Vox
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[Warlock to all Black Wolves. Easy on the active sensor scans. The Theurgy has deployed torpedoes that get armed when scanned. One of the ships just took a hit. Just be careful, rely on passive sensors, and you really need to scan something, it might blow up in our faces,] came the voice of the SCO of the Black Wolves as Chance and Foxfire cruised through the nebula, sweeping forward in search of any traces of debris. The rest of the squadron had warped away but apparently, they could still receive comms from Warlock.

Foxfire heard Bourbon send an acknowledgement to Warlock before speaking on their private channel.
[So now we're looking for a needle in a swirling blue haystack, and we can't even use the fucking sensors?] Bourbon growled, [How the hell do they expect us to find this thing?]

"Why don't you ask Chance? She seems to have all the ideas." Muttered Foxfire, pausing to glare at Chance's Valkyrie as she looked up from her now useless sensors to scan the nebula with her eyes. She keyed open a channel to her element leader and spoke. "Wolf-Zero-Seven, this is Wolf-Zero-Eight. Any idea how we're supposed to find signs of the Theurgy if we can't use the fucking sensors? Or should I just get out and swim around looking for it?" Foxfire asked in the same joyless monotone she had used earlier.

In Wolf-08, Donna listened to Isel's words and couldn't help but feel the pain that was hidden behind the monotone, emotionless voice. Her breast ached again from the pain she had caused the Vulpinian but there was nothing she could do about that at the moment. She would have to find some way to make it up to her later. If they survived this.

"Foxfire, I wouldn't recommend it," Chance replied to her wingwoman, adjusting her course slightly to avoid a dust cloud. "We'll just have to rely on what we were born with. Our eyes. So, everyone keep an eye out for anything that looks like debris," she ordered as she looked around. "Tank, anything on passive sensors?"

[In this?] The Rigellian responded incredulously. [Are you kidding? It could be right in front of us and I might not see it.]

"Perfect," Chance muttered to herself as she swept her eyes around, looking for anything that stood out.

The two Valkyries ghosted through the nebula in silence for several minutes, the pilots scanning the swirling blue vastness with their eyes while their RIOs mutely watched the readouts from the passive scanners. As she watched the hypnotic drift of the blue gasses, Foxfire felt like she was going to go cross-eyed. The random motions of the nebula made it difficult to concentrate on any one spot or keep track of where she had already looked. The lack of sleep she had gotten the previous three nights, the first due to pleasure, the second and third due to a mixture of anger and sorrow, didn't do anything to improve the situation. She wished she could reach up and rub her eyes with the heels of her hands, but the helmet of her flight suit made that impossible. Instead she settled with squeezing her eyes together tightly, then opening them wide and blinking several times in rapid succession. The action seemed to work, her concentration seeming to improve.

Then something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't quite sure what at first. A glint of light, maybe? Isel tried to focus on the point where she thought she had seen something. Were the gasses of the nebula being stirred by something?

"Chance, this is Foxfire. Not sure if it's anything yet, but I thought I saw something." Foxfire said after keying their element comms open. "Possible contact bearing 320 mark 025, range unknown." Isel strained her eyes, trying to focus on the point where she thought she had seen something. "Should we check it out?"

At Isel's report, Donna brought her eyes around to the mentioned bearing and tried to glimpse what had caught the mismatched eyes of the woman. But all she could see was a mass of swirling gases. But that was more than they had a minute ago.

"Roger that Foxfire," Donna replied. "I've got no joy on the contact but we'll take a closer look to be sure. Did you want to take lead?"

"Roger, Wolf-Zero-Eight will take lead." Foxfire replied. "Trying to get a look at my tail?" She added the joke out of habit, never one to turn down the opportunity for a wiseass remark.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Zero-Eight," Donna responded, sensing a small return of the old Isel. "Just remember Rule of Acquistion #07: Keep your ears open. Or eyes in this case."

"So you can tell when your friends are stabbing you in the back?" Isel asked, her voice dripping with accusation.

"We are seeking a ship full of traitors, Foxfire," Donna cautioned, trying to ignore the stinging rebuke from her lover/ex-lover. "It is always best to be cautious. Shall we proceed?"

[Is there something you want to share with the class?] Came Bourbon's voice over their private comm as Foxfire brought the Valkyrie around to their new heading, speeding through the nebula towards the possible contact.

"Shut up, Burb," Isel retorted.

[I was just asking!] Bourbon pleaded, her voice defensive.

Isel ignored the RIO as they continued towards the area that had caught her attention, focusing on her flying and scanning the nebula with her eyes. The swirling gasses of the nebula all looked as they had before, random and without consistency. The wispy movement of the gasses reminded Isel of the way blood spread and dispersed when in dropped in water. Then something caught her eye.

"Chance. Do you see the swirling at 2 o'clock? It doesn't look like the random patterns of the rest of the nebula," Isel asked as her eyes tried to focus against the movement of the clouds. "It's too repetitive."

"I think you might be on to something, Foxfire," Donna said as she looked at the pattern in the clouds herself. One end was slowly dispersing but as your eyes moved along it, the pattern tightened up; as if it had just recently been disturbed. "Let's follow it."

[Shall I report to Warlock?] Tank asked from behind her as Donna brought her Valkyrie up and to the right of Isel's.

"Not until we have confirmation," Donna replied. "For all we know we could be chasing a rock."

[Understood,] Tank replied, not that he seemed happy about it. Donna figured he would be even less pleased when he discovered what she and Isel really had planned.

The two warp fighters coasted along, their pilots following the repetitive pattern in the gas cloud, to what end, they did not know. Donna was almost beginning to doubt they would ever find anything when Isel's voice came over the comm channel.

"Contact, dead ahead," Foxfire announced. "Range 100km and closing."

"Match speed," Donna ordered as she lowered the engine power until she was just inside of visual range to the contact. It was tumbling end over end, drifting through the nebula seemingly without power. "Tank?"

[Sensors read it as metallic. No power readings detected,] Tank replied. [We'll have to get closer or go active to positively identify it.]

"Roger that," Donna acknowledged. "Foxfire, you think we can sneak up a little closer and ID whatever that is without it knowing we're here?"
 
"Probably," Isel said. "After all, we only stumbled across them by pure luck. They probably have no idea we're here. It's worth a shot."

"Alright," Donna said as she increased power to her fighter's engines until they began to close the distance. "Closing speed is 0.5km per second." Time dripped away as the two ships closed on their prey, inching closer so that they didn't potentially spook it. They had just reached an area of clearer space in the nebula, with the distance to target now less than 50km; when Tank spoke.

[Getting a clearer picture now,] Tank announced. [Putting it up on the TVD.] Donna's helmet display changed to show an image of what appeared to be a shuttle tumbling through space. "Foxfire, what does that look like to you," Donna asked even as she looked down to her knee PADD to check something.

"Looks like a powered down shuttle to me," Isel responded. "It's definitely not one of the Theurgy's vectors."
 
"It's the Sabine," Donna identified as she scrolled on her knee PADD. "Foxfire, time for a lullaby."

With those words said, Donna mashed her hand down on her PADD, activating a program that did two tasks. First, it isolated her from the fighter's life support system. And second, it opened a canister containing an aerosol sedative and released it into ship's life support system.

"Rockabye Bourbon." Isel sang sweetly over their private comms as she followed the same steps as Chance did in her own fighter.

[Rockabye whaaa?] Bourbon's voice sounded like she was fighting to stay awake. Fighting and losing.

"Nighty Night, Burb!" Foxfire cooed.

[Chance, what's a lulllllaaaaabbbbbyyyyyy,] Tank slurred from the back seat as the fast-acting sedative took effect. Donna counted to 20 before trying to contact Isel.

"Foxfire, you there?" Donna asked her wingwoman, looking across the short expanse to where she flew.

"I'm here, Chance. But Bourbon's in dreamland." Isel said, knowing full well that her RIO was going to be furious when she woke up.

"So is Tank. And he is going to be so pissed when he wakes up tomorrow," Donna stated, surprised that they had made it this far. The whole mission was a hail Mary, failure almost assured at every step. "Any ideas on what we do next?"

While Donna had spoken, Isel had pulled up the Sabine on her Knee PADD to refresh her memory. Non-Starfleet shuttlecraft. Unknown number and type of armaments. Last seen fleeing alongside the Theurgy.  "I dunno. It's obviously not the Theurgy's vector, but the Sabine was seen fleeing Starbase 84 along with the Theurgy. They might be able to get us aboard." Isel wasn't so much suggesting a course of action as simply thinking out loud. "They're adrift, so they're either playing dead, or they really are dead. Either presents us with an option." Isel had temporarily forgotten about the anger she held towards her co-conspirator. "We can either get them to take us aboard the Theurgy, or just take their shuttle ourselves." Isel shrugged, a gesture that she realized Chance wouldn't be able to see. "Your call. You're the blackmailer, after all."

Isel's words cut through Donna without effort or resistance, causing several tears to leak from her eyes. She had never meant to hurt the white-haired woman but in hindsight, realised there was no outcome where she wasn't hurt.

"Not sure how we'd get aboard the ship without killing Tank and Bourbon, which we are trying to avoid," Donna pointed out as she stared at the Sabine though her visor, considering options. "And we can't get them to take us to the Theurgy if they are dead." Which they could be. "We need to try and get closer and see if they are alive."

"That is really close Chance," Isel described redundantly, knowing that Donna knew that. "If they are only playing dead, they could vape you without you ever knowing it."

"That would make things a lot easier for everyone, probably," Donna shot back morbidly, unable to help herself.

Despite all the abuse Isel had been doling out, Donna's comment stung her. She was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Finally she managed to bring herself to speak, her voice quieter than before. "Donna..."
 
"If they get me, then break off and bug out," Donna requested of her wingwoman, cutting off Isel's words. "Then go find and kill that bitch." She didn't name who the bitch was; she didn't have too.

Foxfire pulled up a real-time image of the Sabine and watched as it spun through the nebula, devoid of any hint of power or propulsion. If she had to guess, Isel would have said it had been set on its tumbling course when the sirillium gas pocket ignited; though there was nothing to give any hint as to the fate of her crew. Isel turned her gaze back to her passive scanners, looking at the nebula now rather than the Sabine.

"It looks like the Sabine will enter a denser dust and gas pocket deeper in the nebula in one minute." Isel said, the cogs working double-time in her head. "If we wait for it to enter the pocket, we could approach without being seen by any of the Sabine's crew. If they're still alive." Isel cleared her throat, looking out of her cockpit at Donna's Valkyrie, sadness and anger welling up in her chest. "So what do you think, lover?" Isel asked bitterly, voicing her anger much more freely now that the RIOs had been neutralized. "How are we going to do this?"

"We'll use the pocket to get closer and then I'll try and match the tumble of the Sabine and check if anyone is alive," Donna described to Isel.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Isel wondered, not sure if she would like the answer.

"Look in the front window," was all Donna said in response. "We'll close the distance as soon as they enter the pocket." Isel said nothing as she looked out the canopy at Donna's Valkyrie, her eyes giving the fighter an incredulous stare from inside her flight helmet.

Donna waited and watched carefully, trying to memorise the tumbling motion of the Sabine so that she could match it. Once the shuttle disappeared into the dust pocket, Donna advanced her throttles so as to close the distance quickly; hoping beyond all measure that her target didn't do anything to change their trajectory while out of sight.

Isel watched from slightly below and behind Donna as the human accelerated to catch up to the Sabine, quickly disappearing into the dust pocket. Advancing her own throttle, Isel did the same, but being careful to not get too close; Donna was going to need all the room she could get.

Donna was never a religious person, but even she was considering a prayer as her Valkyrie swooped down through blank opacity that surrounded her Valkyrie. The calculation she had down before entering the pocket said that she should be coming up alongside the Sabine, so Donna decreased her speed to again match the shuttle's velocity. And waited. It was all she could do until they emerged from the pocket and Donna discovered if the chance she had taken would pay off.

Isel's Valkyrie emerged from the dust pocket into relatively clearer space and the Vulpinian pilot was relieved to discover both the Sabine and Donna's fighter just 500m directly ahead of her. She barely had time to process this before Donna's fighter began to edge towards the still tumbling shuttle, rolling as it did so. Now all she could do was watch.

Donna held her breath unknowingly as she rolled her fighter over. At this point she was on the side of the Sabine that didn't have a view from the shuttle's cockpit so she was safe as long as they had not detected her approach. Working quickly but carefully, Donna used her thrusters to match the tumbling motion of the Sabine before finally exhaling. Taking several deep breaths, she prepared herself for the next part.

"Knock knock," Donna said to both Isel and herself as she activated her thrusters again to send Wolf-07 sliding around to the other side of the Sabine; it's cockpit less than 10 meters from the shuttle's. She couldn't make out anything from inside the ship due to light from the nebula but hoped that if anyone was inside, that they could see her. Holding up her right hand in the traditional Vulcan salute, she opened a secure comm channel between herself, Isel and, hopefully, anyone alive on the shuttle.
 
"Shuttle Sabine, my name is Lieutenant Junior Grade Donna Petterson. I am trying to make contact with Captain Jien Ives of the USS Theurgy. I carry with me a message concerning a grave threat to the safety of the Federation."

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #9 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Azure Nebula ] @Triage
[Show/Hide]
"Can't be sure without at least a passive scan, but I think we've got bogeys incoming."

After a while, Sera saw it too, yellow eyes staring intently through the canopy of the Sabine's cockpit. As they tumbled through the nebula by the inertia of the shockwave, two white silhouettes could be seen in the far distance. At first, they could have been stars, but they were growing larger by every turn the Sabine made, even if they were tumbling away from their direction. Sera checked her dim HUDs, unable to access the major systems, but still able to keep track of where they were going.

"Blast them..." she said, hiking up her sleeves from her tattooed forearms. "We're about to enter a denser cloud. Hopefully, they will loose us there, as long as we don't make any sudden movements. If we're fortunate, they will think us as powered down as we are, and that we were thrown out the shuttle bay when 'the Theurgy' was destroyed back there."

The seconds ticked away into a full minute while they were swallowed by the cloud in the nebula, and there was no telling where the two pursuers were any more. Sera had a fair guess about what they were dealing with. Those Mk II Valkyries, also called the Gryphon-class, and they had to belong to the fighter squadron that had been on their tail. Sera bit her lower lip, keeping herself calm, and yet at the same time, she was enjoying herself. Far more than she should. She almost wanted them to make a move, so that she could continue the chase...

Then, suddenly, the white fuselage of a fighter suddenly appeared above them. Sera almost powered up the Sabine right then and there, but she stalled her tattooed hand, knowing from experience that since the Sabine was powered down, and there were no light souces in the cockpit, they would be able to see her and the Orion officer next to her. Still the canopy of the Gryphon fighter was less than 10 meters above them. Sera narrowed her eyes, her fingertips at her controls, her heart racing... and she saw the figure of the pilot moving. The metal gleam of her pilot exosuit caught the LCARS light inside the Gryphon's cockpit. Was she waving at them?

Had they seen them? Sera's fingers drew closer to the touch screens before her, feeling a bead of sweat forming on her brow.

BEEB-BEEP

"Blood and ashes, they are hailing us. That's it. We're leaving," she said, not bothering to answer the hail. Instead, she fired up her core, and cued her guidance thrusters to ignite, and didn't bother with the flight checks. "Let's see if we can burn their eyebrows off."

When the RCS guidance thrusters fired up, Sera had her main impulse engine align with the Gryphon fighter. It was already powering up, and as soon they had the Grypon directly aft of the Sabine, Sera hit the ignition. "Going to full impulse, now!"

There was no sound outside the cockpit, but inside the Sabine, the roar of their main sub-light engine was felt through the entire space frame, and Sera was already making new preparations for their getaway. Their inertial dampeners were yet fully online, so the massive g-forces slammed them into their seats. Sera grinned widely. "We're going to maximum warp in twenty seconds!"

Once they exited the dense cloud, the second Gryphon came into view. Sera's eyes widened, but she wasted no time in arming and firing the swivel pulse phasers mounted below their cockpit - the turrets immediately extending and coughing orange energy bolts against the fighter. This, without slowing down. "Fifteen seconds! Listen to the blasted hail, did they have any thing worthwhile to say?"

Sera had already entered a series of evasive maneuvers, not about to take any chances while her warp core was readying itself to take them to maximum warp.

OOC: Suggested posting order: 1) Vox 2) Triage 3) Fife 4) Stegro88

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #10 –
Lt. JG Logan "Wraith" Hale | Wolf-15 | Mk I Valravn Cockpit | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Fife @Stegro88

Logan's eyes were scanning the vast blue sea of gas clouds before him, trying to spot something he was starting to believe more and more wasn't even there to begin with and let out a long sigh. "I don't think I have ever been as bored in my life as I am in this moment right now." he muttered under his breath, his eyes still scanning the nebula until it all seemed to blur and he had to close his eyes for a moment to let them readjust only to curse when he opened them again with no idea of where he had been looking before and sighed again. Tapping a button on his console he opened a channel to his wingman "Hey Blizzard you see anything on your side?"

Although the two Valravn's were following the same trajectory they had put some space between them to cover a little more ground in the section they were patrolling. "No Wraith it's all quiet over here too, we've got nothing."

Logan nodded expecting as much "Acknowledged just keep your eyes open cos you never know where they might be hiding."

Several minutes passed in silence before Blizzard came over the Comm again "Hey Wraith, do you think we're find them in this little area we're searching?" To be fair it was a valid question and one Logan thought about for several minutes before replying "Honestly? I doubt it but I don't want to be the one to call it off only for it to turn out they were here and we're the idiots who missed them."

"That's fair, sir." Blizzard replied with a slight chuckle before going quiet for a moment. "Our new Flight Leader doesn't like us much does he sir?" the pilot said, although clearly an observational statement it had sounded like a question.  From behind him Logan heard Zeke snort "That's an understatement." he heard his RIO muttered under his breath.

"Ah he's just jealous of the fact we've got the Valravn's and he's stuck in one of those old Valkyries." Logan said, earning a chuckle from his fellow pilot and the RIO's "But seriously I can't say I blame him, not only did he get a few new pilots added to his wing who he's never met or flown with before but he also witnessed half our squadron turn traitor in the blink of an eye, I think even I would be a little suspicious if I was in his shoes."

"Hmmm I suppose you have a point sir." Blizzard replied. "Still doesn't mean he has to be such a dick about it though."

Logan chuckled "No he doesn't, nor did he have to send two other Wolves to spy on us but he did that too."

"Wait what?" Both Blizzard and Zeke said at the same time.

"Yeah I saw them pop up on the active sensor a moment ago, recognised the Valkyrie energy signature."

"Son of a bitch..." Zeke cursed.

"How many sir? What do we do?" Blizzard asked.

"Two from the brief moment I saw them. One following me, one on you." Logan replied "As for what we do, nothing. Either they wanted us to know they were there or they aren't the greatest pilots in the world. Besides they were probably sent to make sure we aren't working for the enemy, which we're not so let them follow us."

Before anybody could say anything in response though a massive bloom of...something lit up the nebula to Logan's left, forcing him turn his head and look out the cockpit window at it "Well that was something. You see that Blizzard?"

"It was kind of hard to miss, sir." came the reply from the Andorian.

Glancing down at his panel he realised the location had been where Chance and Foxfire had stayed behind "Well I guess our fellow Wolves found them. Blizzard on my six, let's go give a hand."

As Logan prepped his Valravn for Warp as Blizzard flew over to join him the sensors registered an impulse burst big enough to set them off. Over the Comm Blizzard informed him that she was in position and ready to jump to Warp. "Let's do it." He ordered as both Valravn's made the jump.

Luckily they hadn't travelled too far away from where Chance and Foxfire had remained so they didn't have far to go, however he was a little concerned when the sensors detected weapons fire just before they dropped out of Warp. "Head's up we might be dropping out into a dogfight." He said over the Comm "Blizzard stay on my six but be prepared to break away just in case, we don't know what we're about to dive into." the pilot added just as the two fighters dropped out of Warp.

Before him he could see the two other Wolves and the Sabine, the latter of which was clearly running and on an escape vector "Oh yeah they're running." He muttered as he throttled up his fighter and plotted an intercept course. "Zeke send a message to our fellow Wolves see if they're okay and then open a channel to the Sabine." He ordered as the two Valravn's closed the distance. From behind him Zeke spoke up "Message sent and a channel is open."

"SS Sabine this is Lieutenant Junior Grade Logan Hale, We're looking for a certain group of people and we're pretty sure you know where there are so how about you throttle down and we have a friendly conversation like civilised people hmm?"

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #11 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan & @Stegro88
[Show/Hide]
A'vura's mind raced back to the battle of Starbase 84. Contacts everywhere, hostiles consisting of Starfleet personnel, and their salvation came in the form of the one ship everyone said was the enemy. Now they were facing the same Task Force that pursued the Theurgy. The main difference now was that it was literally just A'vura, a civilian pilot, and the pilot's ship, against countless foes. Passive sensors could only do so much here. She nodded quickly at Sera when she suggested holding out for luck that they'd be ignored as part of the debris.

BEEB-BEEB

So much for that...

The Orion had jumped when she saw the fighter from the canopy, and he was trying to match their movement so that they could see his actions clearly. Was that the Vulcan salute??? Why was he doing that? A'vura frowned, even as Sera went into high-octane. “Wait...” she managed feebly before being thrown back against her seat. “Okay, I'll need a neck-brace after this...”

The Câroon was all action and reaction at this point, and it was all the Chief of Ops could do to keep them from running into unexpected surprises. At the suggestion to check the hail and the message, A'vura was already on it, running her fingers over the console, whilst saying without looking up, “Sera, please stop shooting.” Donna Petterson seemed the more valid messenger, compared to the second one, both of which she played on the squawk, so that Sera could listen in at her own leisure. She studied the pilot for a while, not sure what her opinion was, and whether this constituted her exercising her authority.

Running on the Resolve taught her that fear and paranoia more often than not saved your life. But the situation was a little different now. “I'm taking a chance on them. Donna Petterson might have something for us to think about.”

She answered the woman's hail, “This is Lieutenant Junior Grade A'vura Zeshryr of the USS Theurgy. State your message. We'll see about getting it to Captain Tr-Ives.”

She muted the comm and turned to Sera, “If you don't wanna stick around, feel free to punch it. Otherwise, let's cool our jets until they've shown us their hand...I mean intentions.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #12 –
[ Ensign Isel “Foxfire” Nix | Wolf-08 | Azure Nebula ] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Triage @Vox

Foxfire swore violently and rolled her fighter to starboard as the Sabine’s phasers open fire on her Valkyrie. She felt the warp fighter shudder with several impacts and saw the shield readout on her HUD show reduced strength after absorbing the incoming fire.

Isel gritted her teeth as she put the Valkyrie into a lateral spin and fired up the impulse engine, putting some distance between herself and the Sabine. Ideally she would have responded to the Sabine’s “welcome” in kind, but what they were trying to achieve worked best if they didn’t shoot the people they were trying to make contact with.

It’d be nice if those assholes would show us the same courtesy! Foxfire thought, putting her fighter through a corkscrew maneuver as more phaser fire streaked past her Valkyrie, the orange light dancing on her helmet’s visor with each pulse. Then a larger bloom bathed her cockpit in a brighter glow as a large blast seemed to build out of nowhere off ahead of her. At the same time she felt the shudder of the blast, though she was far enough away to be spared the full brunt of the ignition.

Another gas pocket? Foxfire wondered as she brought her fighter about, figuring it would be ill-advised to fly directly into an ignited pocket of sirillium gas. She brought her fighter back in towards the Sabine, maneuvering to avoid the phasers as best she could, when she heard a message over her squadron comms. It was Wolf-15’s RIO asking if they were ok.

Great. Just what we needed… Foxfire growled in her head as she heard the man speak.

”Wolf-15, this is Wolf-08.” She responded, fearing they would come in guns blazing and ruin everything. ”Hold your fire. Do not engage contact. Wolf-07 is attempting to make contact with the shuttle and gain information on the Theurgy’s whereabouts.” Foxfire called over the comms, thinking fast and saying the first lie that popped into her head. ”They’re only firing ‘cause we spooked them. I say again, Do Not engage the contact.” Hopefully they would hold their fire and not worsen the already fucked situation.

And hopefully they wouldn’t see through her bluff.

The last thing she needed was more people shooting at her right now, though with how her week had been going, it certainly didn’t seem outside the realm of possibility. Isel kept herself moving and tried to keep track of the incoming Black Wolves, the Sabine and Wolf-07’s various positions as she continued to dodge and roll in an attempt to avoid the incoming fire while at the same time keep it directed at her and not at Chance’s fighter or the other members of her squadron.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #13 –
Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Wolf 07 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Triage @Fife @Vox
[Show/Hide]

"Shit!" Donna cursed as she reefed her fighter up and around to clear the line of fire of the engine. Of all the reactions Donna had thought that the Sabine might take from her message, being presented with its main impulse engine was not one of them. By the time she had steadied her fighter after the erratic manoeuvre, Donna saw the Sabine hurtling away, firing at Isel as it did. "That is not the way to make friends," Donna noted to herself as she kicked in her own engines to pursue the Sabine.

She could only watch as Isel put her fighter through an impressive corkscrew to avoid more phaser fire. Several bolts missed the Vulpinian's fighter completely; careening off through the nebula. Their progress stopped though, when they entered a sirillium gas pocket and ignited it. As the fireball spread, Donna had to alter her own course to avoid it. Blinking her eyes, she checked her screens to confirm that Isel had made it ok. Searching the nebula ahead of her, Donna set her sights on the Sabine and accelerated even more, jiggling the yoke a little to try and throw off the targeting of the turreted phaser.

Just as she was about to send another message to the Sabine, her coms came alive with the sound of Big Zee, Wolf-15's RIO, asking if she was alright. As if the day couldn't get any worse. She keyed her comms to ask Isel to reply when she her the Vulpinian's voice asking for Wolf-15 not to engage the Sabine. Thank you Isel. Donna was just about to try hailing the Sabine again when a reply arrived.

"This is Lieutenant Junior Grade, A'vura Zeshryr of the USS Theurgy. State your message. We'll see about getting it to Captain Tr-Ives," came a woman’s voice. Interesting, she had stopped herself from saying a different name. But that was for another time.

“Sabine, I have not seen the message myself,” Donna replied. “All I know is that it concerns the infiltration of the highest ranks of Starfleet by a hostile force. My orders were to deliver it to Captain Ives. And thanks to your overreaction, that mission has just become a whole lot more complicated for all of us. We have company.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #14 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine | Azure Nebula ] 1) @Triage 2) @Stegro88 3) @Fife 4) @Vox
[Show/Hide]
Her adrenaline rate at its peak in her blood, the thrill and necessity of survival having Sera on her toes, she couldn't quite compute the oddity of what the first, female speaker had said.

Having just done a fly-by on the other Gryphon, the countdown to warp silent in her head, she heard the Starfleeter next to her replying, asking for the nature of the message, and telling Sera to make the call. Stay or not. Fight or flight instinct had her wanting to keep going, and push the Sabine into maximum warp. Survival was key, but when there were several seconds left before the Sabine had generated enough juice for warp speed, she realised that she wasn't being fired upon.

She had scorched the nose of one of the hunters and pummelled the shields of another with direct pulse phaser bolts...

...but they hadn't fired back?

Not sure if it was the right call, Sera removed her hand from the warp throttle controls, the metallic fingertips of her exosuit sliding off the glass touch-screen. What am I doing? It's a trap. It's always a trap. That was when the second message came, from a man this time, and Sera spotted two more advanced fighters getting into comrange. This message was more... generic, in lack of a better word. No mentioning of a message to Captain Ives. Nothing beyond the expected wish to find the Theurgy. What's going on here? Different agendas?

Next, while Sera's frown grew deeper, the one named Donna Petterson - such an Earth name - replied to A'vura... and what she said echoed the findings of the Theurgy. Moreover, she suggested what Sera had begun to think, that the ones in the Valravn fighters were not in on this message. They were merely following orders, sent by Task Force Archeron. Burn me, I should have stayed my hand. Think, dammit... Think.

"Starfleeter, I..." she said to A'vura, her lips a thin line. "...ashes, no time to explain. That sensor ghost emitter of yours is not powering up as it should. Run a diagnostic, because we might still need it. I have an idea, but I am not sure anyone will like it. When this sand storm settle, I'll wash and rub your feet. Promise."

With a deep breath, she opened a line to the woman with the funny name and also included the second Gryphon fighter. "Dounna, this is the Sabine. See, I have no choice but to ask you a favour. Where I come from, words are only painted fire; yet an act the fire itself. This message sounds important, more important than you and I, any of us. Now, we are at an impasse, where the message might never reach where it needs to go. You have the message, I am the sole means of delivery. The only way the message may reach the Captain... is if you send it to the Sabine."

Grimly, Sera put her hand on the warp throttle control again. "I am going to count down from seven, then I will go to warp. I am not a Starfleeter. I do not care either way. I just want to live." Her frown deepened, but she gave A'vura an apologetic glance. "Send the message or don't. Protect us from pursuit... or don't. The bar is closing, Dounna.... and this is your last call. Do what you think is right. Seven... Six... Five... Four..."

Regardless what happened next, Sera pushed the button. She would not gamble her life on a mere promise.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #15 –
Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Wolf 07 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Fife @Triage @Vox
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"Fuck. Shit. Fuck, fuck, shit," Donna cursed repeatedly under her breath at words of another crewmember aboard the Sabine. They were different from the first woman’s, in both tone, cadence and structure. There were at least 2 people aboard the shuttle. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was what she had said. She wanted the message. And whether she got it or not, she was warping out. SHIT!

Donna reached down to her knee PADD and activated a second program that she had added before launch. She hadn’t expected to use it so soon. It was her ticket aboard the Theurgy after all. Hand it to her boss to be prepared. She truly didn’t know what the message contained. But she did know it was in two parts. And the second part was only a single word. She’d hold onto that for now.

“Sabine, transmitting message now,” Donna responded even as she activated the program, knowing that Isel could hear her on the same channel. “But I’ll be following you. As you said, protecting you from pursuit. Those Valravns will call in the rest of the squadron to pursue you,” Donna said. “Foxfire, your part in this is done. Do what you choose. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #16 –
[ Ensign Isel “Foxfire” Nix | Wolf-08 | Azure Nebula ] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Triage @Vox

[Foxfire, your part in this is done. Do what you choose. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.]

Donna’s words both hurt and enraged the Vulpinian pilot. First she gave her hope of a second chance. Then she broke her heart. Then she blackmailed her, and now she thought she was simply going to take off and leave her? Isel ground her teeth, her breath hissed as it escaped between her clenched teeth. She let out all the air in her lungs before she inhaled sharply and keyed open a private comm channel to Chance.

”Oh yeah? What am I supposed to do? Just fly back to the Dauntless and try and explain why I gassed my RIO? Why my element leader just flew off with known associates of the Theurgy? I don’t think so!” Foxfire growled at her element leader, her friend, her lover. The sting of the remark Donna had made earlier regarding her own death still lingered in Isel’s mind, blending with the hurt of their encounter a few days previous.

”Besides, I’m not letting you off the hook that easily. You owe me a hell of a lot more of an apology than that weak shit, Donna Petterson! I’m in this shit with you, and we’ll see it through to the end.” Foxfire snapped, her tone making it clear there would be no argument. ”And then, once this is all over, you can think about all the grovelling you’re going to be doing when you come up with a proper fucking apology.” Isel sighed and lowered her voice, having realized she’d been yelling, before she spoke again.

”Now if that’s settled…” Foxfire said as she brought her Valkyrie into position off Chance’s wing and readied the fighter to go to warp, her tone much more calm and level. ”Then I’ll follow your lead, Chance. Wolf-08’s got your six.” She checked the status of her fighter as she moved into position. Now that the Sabine had stopped pounding her Valk with phaser-fire, her shields were recharging. All systems appeared to be operational as she waited to follow the other vessels as they jumped to warp.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #17 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Stegro88, @Fife & @Vox
[Show/Hide]
A'vura wasn't surprised by Sera's reactions, having anticipated it for the most part. Donna's response to her had the Orion pursing her lips. How were they supposed to react frankly? The woman literally imitated their inertia just to wave at them, and tensions were high. Sighing, she was about to reply when the Câroon called for her attention. Starfleeter was admittedly a new term applied to her person, but she supposed there were worse things she could be called. She blinked a few times at Sera's promise to wash and rub her feet.

No thank you, very kindly, A'vura thought, on account of how ticklish her feet were, and she doubted she'd enjoy that at all. In fact she preferred not to be touched if that could be helped. Considering the last person that touched her also came close to raping and murdering her, she would rather be left alone. Nevertheless, she simply responded with, “Yeah, sure.”

She rose from her seat and made her way to the back where she'd installed the emitter to examine the device. Retrieving her tools and her tricorder, she began to run diagnostics and applied corrections and repairs where necessary. The small shuttle was filled with brief and occasional sounds of sparks and a soft buzz of a fusion cutter repairing the device. It was such a hasty job, it was a wonder it didn't short out immediately after the initial activation. Nevertheless, she was confident her repairs to it would hold for much longer now, and the power shunt was reduced as well, something she had trouble with earlier.

While she did this, she couldn't help but overhear Sera's conversation, and at one point, her head snapped around wildly, catching the Câroon's look. Sighing, A'vura resigned herself to the fates and accepted the decision. Ultimately, it was Sera's ship, and she was basically captain. A'vura's rank here held as much weight and value as that stupid rock which Jimmy used to mock her and Sinead once. She could hear Donna cursing away before acquiescing to Sera's wishes. “Hope you know what you're doing, Sera.”  said A'vura as she returned to the cockpit as they jumped to warp. “The emitter's working, what have you got in mind?”

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #18 –
Lt. JG Logan "Wraith" Hale | Wolf-15 | Mk I Valravn Cockpit | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Fife @Stegro88

"Acknowledged Foxfire." Logan replied, not that he was planning on immediately opening fire on the ship and if one of them could talk the Sabine down that was fine by him.

Moments passed in silence as they waited. Logan lightly tapping out a beat on his console with his fingers while he could hear the light beeping of buttons behind his as Zeke monitored everything in the area. As he glanced out at the situation around him, his mind was running through all possible situations and how to counteract them. In front of him was the Sabine, with his two fellow Wolves and off to one side, hanging back was Blizzard waiting for his order.

Observing the situation in front of him, he wasn't exactly sure when he realised he was getting an odd feeling that something wasn't quite right but whatever it was caused his eyebrows to narrow as he studied the three ships before him.

"I have a bad feeling about this." he muttered.

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked from behind him.

I don't know...I just have a gut feeling is all..." Logan muttered as he looked out the cockpit at the Sabine and two Wolves, trying to figure out just what it was he was seeing to cause his instincts to flair up so much. before something came to him. "Look at that formation Zeke, does that look like two ships flanking an enemy to you? Even trying to establish communication and broker a peaceful resolution you still cover yourself in a way to attack and defend if the people you're talking too are more the shoot first and talk later kind. You don't leave yourself open to attack like they are."

"Maybe." Zeke replied after a moments hesitation, but Logan knew his friend well enough to know that wasn't the end of his sentence even if he hadn't said it.

"Buuut..." Logan countered.

"But it could just be that by appearing to be non threatening they're trying to garner some trust?"

"You can appear non threatening while still giving yourself room to manoeuvre and protect yourself, like what we're doing. We are appearing non threatening while keeping such a distance to protect ourselves and fight if it comes to that, which is not what they are doing." Logan countered as he pointed a gloved finger towards the two Black Wolves fighters.

From behind him Zeke remained silent apart from a faint hmmm that Logan barely heard. At first he thought his friend was just thinking things over before he spoke but the RIO never did, even then he knew his friend well enough to know that there was more on his mind.

"I know you have something to say Zee so what it is?"

Ezekiel sighed and shook his head slightly "While you have a point, don't you think you're being just a little bit paranoid?"

Logan snorted a chuckle "Whatever makes you think that?"

"Well this is your first mission since the battle at the Starbase where half the squad turned against us, it would be understandable for you to expect another betrayal, especially from people you've never flown with before." Zeke countered. He hated even suggesting that his friend was paranoid but given the circumstances...

"Okay first of all when did you suddenly become a psychologist? And secondly no I am not being paranoid, I'm going on years of experience and instinct that has never let me down in the past." Logan countered, although he had to admit that the big guy's logic was sound and he couldn't blame him really, maybe he was being a little paranoid.

However before he could reply the Sabine and both Wolves jumped to warp. "Son of a bitch!" He cursed as he powered up the Valravn's engines and swung the ship around "I knew it! I fucking knew it!" he growled as he opened a channel to Jhoza. "Blizzard on my six, do not lose them!"

Jumping the Valravn to warp, with Blizzard behind him, he glanced at the warp trail on sensors and shook his head "Oh we are just up to our ass in traitors this week aren't we Logan..." he muttered "Zeke open a channel to Warlock. Ugh I can't wait for this conversation."

It only took a few seconds before the channel to the leader of the Black Wolves was established for Logan to deliver the news. "Wraith to Warlock, I have a good news/bad news, good news/bad news report for you. Good news we found the Sabine. Bad news she jumped to warp. Good news we are in pursuit. Bad news Wolves seven and eight have joined them."

At first that was all Logan was going to say but then he remembered how hostile the leader had been to him as well as the implied threat of killing any who betrayed them, which was clearly aimed at himself, Zeke and Blizzard and not his own people and couldn't help but open his mouth again "Evidently the White Wolves wasn't the only Wolf squadron with traitors hiding right under their leader's nose." he added, knowing full well he'd get in trouble for back talking his CO but he really didn't care at the moment, after being treated with nothing but suspicion from the Black Wolves leader since he'd arrived he couldn't help but feel a little happy that the proud leader had been betrayed by two of his clearly most trusted.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #19 –
[ Lt Cmdr. Ashton "Warlock" Bates | Black Wolf-01 | Mk II Valkyrie Cockpit ] @Vox

By the time the broken-up, nebula-torn message from Wraith reached Warlock, the Squadron Commander was leading the other Black Wolves in pursuit of the Theurgy. Whatever the multivector dreadnought had done, it had suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree, and a lot of the ships were converging on the new contact. Focused as he was, the maximum warp pursuit making him keep his eyes centred on the tactical sensors, Ash Bates still replied to Wraith instead of his RIO. This, solely because of that snide comment that Logan Hale had added.

"Warlock to Wraith. Right now, I don't give a steaming shit about the Sabine. We have made positive contact with Vector 01 and we are about to blow it to smithereens." That being said, what Wraith said about the two other new additions to the Black Wolves - hailing from the Jadestone and the Persephone respectively - was a cause for concern. "Neither of them were true Black Wolves. They have not hunted the Theurgy since November last year. If they have defected to the Theurgy, then Sankolov's orders still stand. Weapons free, and shoot-on-sight. No communication, or you'll end up dead in the water by an A.I. virus. That Valravn of yours is faster than either of your prey, so I am surprised we are even having this conversation."

He let that linger for a moment, before ending the conversation. "Eliminate your targets, Junior Lieutenant. That's an order. Wolf Leader out."

Having hung up on Wraith, he contacted the two wolves he had set to follow Wraith and Blizzard. "Warlock to Wedge and Frost. Aid the former White Wolves in taking out the Sabine, as well as Chance and Foxfire. However, if you can," he said, curling his upper lip, "make sure Wraith and Blizzard actually makes the kills. This will tell us if they might become true Black Wolves one day."

[Acknowledged, Warlock,] said Wolf-03, and together with Wolf-04, they would converge on the shuttle and its tactical escort.

Only afterwards did Ash think about Isle Nix and Donna Petersson, wondering what compelled them to become traitors too. Whatever it was the Romulans offered that the Federation didn't have, Ash was not inclined to betray his uniform.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Azure Nebula ] @Triage @Vox @Fife @Stegro88
[Show/Hide]
On the Sabine, Sera vers Aldnoah had throttled up the Sabine to emergency warp speed, staying ahead of the Gryphon fighters. She noticed them following, for sure, but burn her if she was about to slow down.

"Ready to emit the sensor ghost again when we are further out of range," she said, keeping an eye on the company on their six. "I know those two back there said they had a message for that Ives guy, but last I heard, he isn't even on either of the Vectors. That means we have no one to open that message. Blast it, then we ought to just see this message for ourselves, right?"

Said and done, regardless if the Orion that had tried to steal the Sabine objected or not, Sera cued the data package that the one with the very Human name had sent. Yet when she tried to access it, the computer promptly said.

[Please state password.]

Sera virtually rolled her eyes, and with a weary mien, she slowed down the Sabine to match the speed, and put out a hail to the two Gryphon fighters. "This is the Sabine. If Ives is to get the flaming message, then I don't suppose either of you have the password to open it too?" she asked in a mock-sweet tone, recognising the fact that they were not firing on them, and that they had left the two Valravn-class fighters behind. Could that be interpreted as defection, or were they going to simulate a pursuit. "Oh, and my trigger-finger would like to know if I should simulate a pursuit at warp, and fire a few shots off your bow for sake of appearances, or if-"

BEEP-BEEP.

Sera trailed off, and saw two new fighters joining the fray. "Two contacts," she said, comm-line to the Gryphons still open, seeing how the two new contenders came in at an angle and would enter firing range in a couple of seconds. "Are these friends of yours? Ours? I'd love to get a recommendation about who I should start shooting at right about now. Diplomacy is not my flaming forte."

Time was up, and sensors showed that it was two new Gryphon fighters that arrived, and they opened fire on all three of them. Sera began cursing in Câroon, pulse phaser bolts slamming into the shields of the Sabine, and as for Dounna - Donna? - and her friend, Sera had no idea how much ordinance had been thrown in their faces, or if they took any damage. All she knew was that the two new Gryphons had made their first pass, and were swinging about for a second one.

"Scratch that. I will definitely be shooting on those two. Burn you, do you want Ives to get the message? Send the password, and cover our shiny ass. Sabine out," she said, and whilst keeping the same trajectory, she activated the turrets mounted underneath the nose-cone of her ship, and started to deal out a steady stream of pulse phaser bolts in their direction. "Starfleeter! I need a damage report and some help with managing the shields. Forget about the emitter for now!"

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #20 –
[ Lt. JG A'vura Zeshryr | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Stegro88, @Fife & @Vox
[Show/Hide]
A'vura reached out and braced a hand against the bulkhead when the fighter shuttle shook with the impacts of pulse weapons against the shields. The weapon's potency suggested full power, something she could guess from years of experience and countless battles. Sera was not quiet, and she could hear everything said as if she were right next to the woman. As the Câroon made her decision, she called on the Orion, who scrambled back to the co-pilot's seat and began making adjustments on the tactical and operational console.

“The emitter's fixed and ready to use anyway,” said A'vura, and pointed at a command button on Sera's console without looking, “just push that whenever you want. I'm going to reverse the Sabine's shield polarity, I need to adjust the deflector output. Standard Federation practice is to run in the megahertz. They'll regularly rotate theirs, but Sinead and Suq have found a way to boost the speed of rotations...” She feverishly typed on the console, sending codes and frequencies over to Sera's controls and weapons. “...there, each round you fire, you'll be rotating the frequency of the beams and bolts. If it's on the right frequency, it'll pass right through their shields like it wasn't there. Meanwhile, once I enter this reversal, their weapons will actually charge our shields...for a while. The power drain on the deflector's gonna be huge.”

The Orion's eyes wandered over to the tactical readout of their quarry, and also of their potential allies in this sortie. “High chance they're going to need our help as much as we'll need theirs, Sera. You might need to drop out of warp. Continuing a fight in warp could be dire, for everyone.” The warp field could rupture and there were millions of variables that could result in deadly endings.

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #21 –
Lt. JG Logan "Wraith" Hale | Wolf-15 | Mk I Valravn Cockpit | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Fife @Stegro88

He's right you know, we are faster than them. Zeke said from his spot behind Logan after the channel between them and Warlock had closed. Not only could they have caught them by now but  they could have passed them too.

"I am aware of that fact." Logan replied as he sighed and glanced at his console, staring at the icons that represented both his fighter and the three ships ahead of him and sighed. Glancing out of his cockpit to the left, he saw Blizzard's Valravn flying slightly behind him and tapped a button on the console to open a channel.

"Blizzard it's Wraith, Warlock has given us a shoot to kill order on the Sabine and the two Black Wolves..." He began before pausing as he thought about what he was going to say next. "..I'm not going to do that."

"Sir?" Blizzard asked, the Andorian incredulous.

"What?" Zeke said at the same time.

Talking to both his RIO and his fellow pilot Logan shook his head as he spoke "Too many things don't add up here for my liking, first half our squad joins the enemy, now these Wolves and on top of that Starfleet are giving us kill on sight orders? No capture? No trials? Hell not even any apparent interest on their part to find out why decorated members of the fleet are suddenly turning on the very institution they swore to serve...just kill them all? Does that sound like the Starfleet we all joined and fought for to you? It sure as shit doesn't to me. None of this makes sense and I for one want to find out what the hell is going on even if Command doesn't." He said before pausing again to take a breath.

A silence passed between the former White Wolves as he gave Zeke, Blizzard and his own RIO to think about what he had said and discuss it before speaking again, this time addressing Blizzard directly "I realise the fact that disobeying a direct order might very well brand me a traitor too, Zeke will be probably be okay since he has no control of the ship but you and your RIO that's a different story so if you don't agree with..."

Before he could finish however Blizzard interrupted him "We both agree with you, Wraith, something ain't right here, whatever your play is, we'll back it."

Logan smiled behind his helmet and nodded "Glad to hear it. What about you big guy?"

From behind him Zeke snorted "As if you have to ask, you know I've always got your back."

"Just checkin' buddy, just checkin'."

"So what is the gameplan, Wraith?" Blizzard asked.

"We catch up to them, that's easy then I'll fire on Chance, force her to drop out of warp for a little chat Wolf Leader to Wolf Leader, you drop out with us since I'm sure Foxfire won't abandon her and intercept her if necessary, shoot to disable only, with a bit of luck nobody dies today."

"Sounds like a plan to me, let's just hope the others are up for talking but what about that virus thing they mentioned that took out the other ships?" Blizzard said as the two fighters increased speed.

"We already spoke to them once and it doesn't look like the ship is infected, so I'm going to guess that talking to the Wolves at least shouldn't pose a threat, can't necessarily say the same thing about the Sabine though so don't answer a hail from them if they decide to chat. Let me take that risk and you can deal with them if I'm disabled."

"That's a hell of a risky play, Wraith."

Logan chuckled "Well you don't get hailed as the best pilot in the fleet by playing it safe."

"That's funny you were regarded as the third best pilot the last time I checked the official records." Zeke couldn't up but chime in with a grin, knowing his friend was probably narrowing his eyebrows in anger at the friendly jab.

"Yeah well those other two aren't here are they? Also shut up we're about to catch up to our targets." Logan countered as he saw the ship ahead of him, his brows narrowing when he saw two new ships appear at the same time they had caught up to trio, except they start firing on the Sabine and Gryphon's immediately. It took a moment for the sensors to register on the IFF and tell him that it was the two Wolves Warlock had sent to follow him. "Well shit, now they decide to show up." Logan muttered.

"What do we do now Wraith?" Came Blizzard's voice over the comm. "We're not going to obey that kill order but I don't think those two will have any problems in following it to the letter."

Logan had to agree with his fellow fighter pilot on that one and was about to reply when Zeke spoke up.

"Why are they still at warp? Judging by the sensor readings if anything those other Wolves are firing pot shots at best or at least not enough to destroy them yet."

Logan studied the situation for only a second before cursing again "That is strange...unless they want us to be the ones to get the kills." he thought aloud.

"Sir?"

"Think about it, Warlock doesn't trust us because half the White Wolves turned traitor now those two. What better way to test our loyalty than by seeing if we'll follow orders and kill the enemy or not. It makes sense and would also explain why those two aren't fighting as hard as they should be."

"...So what do we do now?" Blizzard asked.

"Same as before, I'll force Chance out of Warp, that should draw Foxfire and those other two Wolves out of warp too unless the Sabine stays at Warp, which would be a problem. Then you and I have to make it look like we're trying to kill them while Zeke figures out a way to get a message to Chance, hopefully she'll be in a talking mood to at least give us some answers and if not...well we're going to have a situation on our hands."

From behind him Zeke had already started typing out a message for the Wolf element leader explaining that they had a kill order but didn't want to follow through on it if given the option and that they just wanted some answers, even if Warlock and command didn't.

At the helm, Logan let the fighters targeting system line up the shot as his finger hovered over the fire button while he watched the battle taking place. He knew the specs of the Gryphon class fighter and knew that a well placed shot near the nacelle with enough force behind it wouldn't do much damage but would be enough to force the ship to drop to impulse and force Chance to run a maintenance cycle if she wanted jump to warp again. It was the only play he had and hopefully would be be enough time for Zeke to get a message through otherwise they'd need a new plan on the fly and this whole situation was a mess already.

Once the computer had confirmed the target lock he took a deep breath "Ready everyone?"

"Ready, Wraith." Blizzard replied.

Zeke muttered something that sounded like a yes from behind him and that was enough for Logan.

"Alright then, let's do it and Zeke, if you can send that message the second we drop to impulse that would be great." He said and opened fire on Chance's Gryphon, watching as each shot hit it's mark, starting at the middle of the ship and moving to the right across the ship's rear towards the right nacelle. His own HUD registering the hits to Chance's shields and unleashed another short volley of phaser fire across the same path, ready to drop to impulse the second Chance did. 

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #22 –
Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Wolf 07 | Azure Nebula ]  Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Triage @Fife @Vox
[Show/Hide]


"Well this is turning into one giant clusterfuck," Donna said to herself when her sensors picked up the arrival of Wolf-03 and Wolf-04. Her first thought upon seeing them approaching on an intercept vector was to turn to face them but she quickly quashed that. And turn now would separate her from the Sabine and Isel and there was no plan to rendezvous later on. All she could do was try to redirect some of her shield power to counter any kind of attack they might make.

And it was a good thing she did. The two Gryphons had no compunctions about opening fire as soon as they came within range, opening up with their pulse phasers as they made a pass. But no torpedoes. That's curious.

Donna was about to key her comms and coordinate with Isel and the Sabine when she noticed that the two Valravns that had been pursuing them at a leisurely pace, were now quickly closing the distance. Had they been waiting waiting for the other two Black Wolves to catch up and were not going to attack?

Her answer came swiftly as Wolf-15 opened up with his phasers, sending multiple shots into her rear shields. The shots began to move closer to her Gryphon's starboard nacelle and Donna realised that he was trying to knock her out of warp. She couldn't manoeuvre at warp and she couldn't alter course without losing the Sabine in the nebula. That left only one option.

"Foxfire, Sabine, I'm about to be knocked out of warp. I'll hold them as long as I can," Donna said as she switched channels. Another volley impacted the shields around the nacelle and lights began to flash around her, warning that her fighter's warp field was losing integrity. The next volley would be terminal for the field. "Isel, Remember Max. I love you," Donna called out before closing all her comm channels. She couldn't afford the distraction now.

As the third volley started to impact her shields, Donna wrenched back on her throttle, dropping her fighter out of warp in a rather haphazard fashion. Yet even as she pulled back on the throttle, she targeted the two Valravns with a pair of Mk27 microtorpedoes each and fired. She was counting on them wanting to finished her off and with her braking, they would overshoot her before they could slow. Even a Valravn couldn't stop on a dime. And the torpedoes, with their still fractional warp speed, would be practically unavoidable. Something for them to think about.

As her Gryphon rattled and shook around her as it slowed, Donna pulled it over into a roll down and away from her previous course. She didn't see if her torpedoes hit their targets, and even if they did, they wouldn't do much more than drain the shields and maybe piss them off. As she set her warp systems into a diagnostic cycle to check for damage and re-establish her warp field, Donna also checked her tactical systems.

As she headed for a particularly dense cloud, Donna's comm system beeped with an incoming text message.

"Well that's interesting."

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #23 –
Lt. JG Logan "Wraith" Hale | Wolf-15 | Mk I Valravn Cockpit | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan  @Triage @Fife @Stegro88

Logan watched each shot hit and knew it wouldn't be much longer until Chance would be knocked out of warp and was ready and waiting for that moment so that he could drop out of warp with her. When she throttled down he was about to hit the control to drop out of warp when his eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the two microtorpedos she'd fired at him.

"Woah!" He exclaimed as he jerked on his joystick, trying to bank his Valravn and raise his left wing to avoid the torpedoes, better that then take two torpedoes to the face he figured than risk it, even with microtorpedos. The first one narrowly slipped under his wing but the second scored a direct hit, rocking the ship slightly, forcing him to glance out of his window and up at the raised wing, seeing his shield flare up and shimmer blue before settling down again.

Dropping out of warp he glanced at his console to check the damage, not that he was expecting much and wasn't too surprised when the readout told him that apart from a slight drop in shield power on that wing there was no damage to the craft itself.

Throttling the Valravn down he already knew that Chance had braked as she dropped out of warp and combined with the torpedo dodge and hit that he would have over shot her slightly and swung the craft around. She was ahead of him by a bit and looked to be heading for a nearby cloud and hit the throttle again, even with the overshoot the Valravn was faster than the Gryphon so he'd close the gap again pretty easily, although he would keep an eye out for more surprises this time.

He didn't see Blizzard with him which either meant that the Sabine and Foxfire hadn't dropped out of warp to help Chance yet or that he hadn't managed to avoid the torpedos, although he doubted that since if they had hit the worst they might have done was drain his shields and possibly forced him out of warp, in which case he'd be here too and if he had been destroyed the sensors would have detected an explosion, which they hadn't so odds were that he was still at warp following the other two.

From the RIO seat behind him, he heard Zeke announce that the message he'd been asked to send had been sent.

"Hope you made it real friendly sounding." Logan muttered.

Zeke shrugged "I pretty much said that we just want to talk. That we were disobeying a kill order to do so since we both feel that something strange is going on and that we just want some answers I asked her not to shoot us and that the other Wolves weren't going to be in as talkative a mood as we are so she should keep an eye out for them." He replied "Although how friendly it sounded to her or not I don't know, guess we'll find out if she shoots at us again, so pay attention will ya just in case."

Rolling his eyes at Zeke's comment he glanced back down at his console, seeing that his shield was slowly recharging from the microtorpedo hit and knew that Chance would have already started her diagnostic cycle limiting his window of opportunity even as his quicker fighter continued to close the gap between them.

"You getting anything through the Comms from her yet?" Logan asked as his eyes stayed locked on the fighter in front of him, his hands relaxed on the controls even as his muscles twitched, ready to react at a moments notice if needed, taking a moment to throttle down a little as the two ships edged closer, giving himself enough space to manoeuvre if necessary. 

Re: Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0810 hrs. ] Fox Hunt

Reply #24 –
[ Ensign Isel “Foxfire” Nix | Wolf-08 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Triage @Vox

Foxfire had tensed and gritted her teeth as Wolf-03 and -04 strafed them, Warlock having apparently sent more than just Wraith and Blizzard to intercept them. The leader of the Black Wolves must have been getting paranoid on account of all the defections which had occurred recently among the various Tac CONN squadrons.

And of course, that paranoia would prove warranted in this case.

Unfortunately, Foxfire could do little more than tense as the two Gryphon fighters made their pass, opening up with their phasers in what seemed to be a half-hearted attempt to engage the Sabine and her two escorts.

What the hell are they doing? Foxfire thought as the two contacts moved away from them, having doled out nothing more than minimal damage. They barely hit us with anything…

Then she saw Wolf-15 and -16 on sensors, moving in closer from behind them.

”Fuck!” Isel growled as one of the Valravns opened up on Chance’s fighter.

[Foxfire, Sabine, I’m about to be knocked out of warp. I’ll hold them as long as I can.] Donna’s voice came over the comms. Foxfire bared her teeth, knowing should couldn’t bring her Gryphon to engage the two Valravns behind them without breaking off and losing both the Sabine and, more importantly, Donna. [Isel, Remember Max. I love you.]

Isel saw Donna’s fighter drop off sensors as she presumably dropped out of warp. Isel cursed violently, making a note of where Donna had dropped off sensors before opening a channel to the Sabine as she prepared to take her own fighter out of warp to go after Donna.

”Sabine, this is Foxfire. I’ve got the password for the message. Foxfire informed the two women aboard the shuttle. ”I’m going back for Chance. You want it? Then get your shiny ass back there and help me cover her!” The Vulpinian snarled, ”Or you can keep running and try to take on those other two Gryphons all by your fucking selves. I’m sure your Captain would love to hear why you can’t let him see the message from Starfleet Intelligence that two pilots risked their lives to deliver. Foxfire out.”

With that, Foxfire killed the comm and dropped her Gryphon out of warp. She brought the fighter about and fired a warp burst to take her back to Chance’s last known coordinates, readying her phasers and torpedo launcher hardpoints, as well as her ECM Pods in anticipation of having to fend off two Valravns if Chance’s Valkyrie was badly damaged. She knew she’d stand little chance against two of the Valravn fighters, but there was nothing she could do about it other than shoot first and hope for the best. Oh, sure, she was pissed at Donna. She was furious. But she’d be damned if some former White Wolves assholes would mess with her woman.

The angry feeling that burned in her chest intensified as she neared the coordinated where she had lost contact with Donna. Foxfire waited with burning anticipation as she prepared to drop out of warp and, if everything went as she hoped, unleash hell on the two assholes Warlock had sent after them.

OOC: I left off before she arrived at Chance and Wraith’s location because I figured it would take a minute to get there since she had been talking to the Sabine.
 
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