Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02

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Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

September 07, 2020, 10:19:36 AM

CHAPTER 05: VEILED VALIANCE

STARDATE: 58292.69
APRIL 17, 2381
2000 HRS.

Mission Log, stardate 58292.69, acting mission commander Lieutenant Frank Arnold.

An overall strange development, what seemed to be a straightforward, if not dangerous mission, has become a dual pronged jab at desperation. Following the news of the sabotage of the Theurgy by an unknown bomber, it was decided that the away mission need split, to tackle the two threats facing the Federation. For now, we must put away any thoughts of grief, and handle the task at hand, or the Theurgy's sacrifice will have been for nought. While the Allegiant remains in Breen Space, my small team of mission specialists, as well as a contingent of Lone Wolves, and our modified Tovarek Drone, will hitch a ride with the Savi Erudite to Andor, where we will have twenty five hours to locate and diffuse a thalaron bomb, or raise the alarm and start the evacuation of Laikan.

- Lieutenant Frank Arnold, the Erudite

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Aerodrome | The Erudite ]
[Show/Hide]

Frank stood on the deck of the Erudite's aerodrome, arms crossed, one hand idly stroking his beard as the Savi vessel slipped to quantum slipstream without so much as a shudder. On any other day, Frank would have been thrilled, likely he would have been taken by a ramble about the speed, the mode of operation, and the materials required for such a venture. But now, he felt exhausted, by the emotional toll of the day, and the enormity of the task ahead of him, which they had yet to truly begin. Through his mind swam a hundred possibilities of how they could succeed in their task, and tenfold possibilities of failure.

The Savi had provided them with the space at least to set up, he'd likely be able to assemble a fairly permanent console here in this space, and there was a lab they could borrow if they absolutely needed it. While the Savi were not interested in directly being involved in this conflict, they drove a pretty bad ass taxi.

Waving away dark imaginings born of fatigue, he turned to the smattering of crew poised upon the deck of the aerodrome, accompanied by a crowd of hastily transferred equipment, some ready-fold bunks, Valkyrie Fighters, and his modified Tovarek Drone. He drew small solace from the accompaniment of his new toy, at least they'd have a faithful ally to watch over them, a guardian angel as Fisher had suggested when commissioning the peace. He said a silent thanks to the man for suggesting it come with them on this mission, perhaps he possessed some clairvoyance, apt for his role aboard the Theurgy.

With him also, were the assigned personnel from the Allegiant, pilots, science officers, intelligence operatives, a doctor, and a gunnery officer. All were qualified, all were keen, and yet that didn't absolve the pit in his stomach, he'd not worked with any of them before. He'd loosely gathered them once the equipment transfer was completed, so they could discuss the coming mission.

Eventually he cleared his throat, and offered plainly, “For those of you that don't know me, I'm Frank, Lieutenant Frank Arnold. I serve as the Theurgy's Assistant Chief Engineer in charge of Vector Zero-One.” He nodded gently, “Beyond the intimate details of my life, I'm a no nonsense guy, and this is a no nonsense mission. We won't have the luxury of standing on protocol, we just don't have the time for it. So let's kick about some ideas of how we're going to find this bomb. We can reasonably assume it's Romulan in design, based on what our parasitic pals did in Paris.” So much loss and death in the last 5 days, Frank didn't even think it had been that long. “We also know that detecting the radiation is likely a no-go. After Paris, you have to imagine every government in the Federation is on the hunt for thalaron particles with a fine tooth comb.”

He took a pause, and a breath, and offered, “That means we're going to have to think outside of the box, the best Federation Andorian minds are, I'm sure, searching already. We have to look for what they aren't. Which is perfect, because out of the box is where this crew eats lunch.” He grinned gently, “Now I stand by my theory that we should be able to detect the shielding material of the bomb. I've also been thinking, that the climate of Andor might actually do us a favor. With the thalaron particles unable to escape the shielding, and the very same particles not obeying an inverse square law, that energy has to go somewhere. It could potentially be heat. We might be looking for a hot parcel of rare alloy.” He nodded, “It's a lead. But I'll leave the specifics to you Lieutenant Vanya.” She was the science expert, and therefore the sensor expert, after all.

After another pause, he said “Lastly, I think it's imperative that we should not alert the Andorians until we are sure that evacuation is the only remaining option. I'm sure I don't have to say to anyone here, the Andorian government is as likely to react to a bombing attempt with equal ferocity to a successful bombing. We'll end up with the war we're desperately trying to avoid.” He rolled his shoulders, they ached him today, “Which is why we'll employ the modified Tovarek drone for a site to site insertion, I'll stay behind, provide as much sensor support, and transporter aid as I can.”

Once he was done, he turned to the group, and offered, “Now's the time for ideas, let's hear them. I want to have a solid plan together, before we get there.”

The Deputy who was to lead the away team after the insertion was standing not far from Arnold, dressed in her exosuit but with her helmet off. She was frowning and looking towards the deck, but she had something additional to offer in wake of the last meeting in the Allegiant.

"Well, as for the target, it seems Laikan has been picked above other cities according to our mole in Starfleet Headquarters, even if it's not the largest city on the moon. I think, however, that I understand the reasoning behind choice."

Raising her eyes and antennae for a moment, ThanIda zh'Wann explained. "There are two capitals on our moon. Laibok is the capital city of the moon itself, while Laikan is the capital city of the whole Andorian Empire. It's because peace was once made between the Andorian clans in that city, on the site that would become the Plaza of Freedom. The Parliament buildings are centered around it. Lor'Tan, however, is the largest city on the moon, and serve as the center for cultural, economic and political life. In addition, Andoria's largest commercial bodies and industrial organizations are also stationed in Lor'Tan. So, it would seem Laikan was picked because it is a city of significance for the entire Empire, and not specifically to cause the most structural and collateral damage. It would be an attack on my people's collective heart. It's the most efficient means in which to stir our ire. The city is located on the Zhevra continent, at which is considered the more temperate latitudes of Andor by other species. Should be around zero degrees Celsius this time of year."

It seemed awkward for the Andorian to speak of her people as 'hers', and it was likely because she was in exile, having abandoned her clan to serve in Starfleet. She wasn't finished, however.

"If the Reman was right, we should also ask the Savi to scan for cloaked Romulan ships in orbit of the moon, along with the rare alloys that might contain the thalaron particles to see which ship has the bomb, if there's more than one." Whether or not the Voice would agree to that remained to be seen, and time was short. "If the Romulans mean to deploy the bomb just prior to detonation, then we might have to try and board such a ship before that happens, and neutralize the bomb aboard it. Alternatively, the transporter systems aboard. Moreover, while it would be ideal if such a Romulan ship remained cloaked and hidden to the people on the planet, to prevent antagonizing them, we might have to destroy the cloaking device instead, so that the moon's orbital defences can deal with the ship."

Junior Lieutenant Rawley spoke up next in comment on that, running a hand over her shaved head. "If there is a ship - or more than one - and the Andorians can't deal with them, or are too bloody late to the party, then us Lone Wolves might have to do it instead. You guys will have to get off the ship with the bomb before then, though."

The Deputy nodded grimly, and then glanced towards the rest gathered in the makeshift camp on the dimly lit deck - the lights from their equipment and the exosuits standing out in the expanse of the aerodrome.

OOC: This was a joint post by @uytrereee and me! Thank you for the help on this starter!!

Indeed, this thread is the starter for Chapter 05. Supplemental threads on the Allegiant/Erudite set before this scene above belong to Chapter 03 or 04, depending on which time you pick, with the title convention CH0X: S [D0Y|ZZZZ] Insert Title. If set before 1245 on Day 02, it belongs to Chapter 03. As for Chapter 04, supplemental threads may be started set during the 7 hours I spanned in Chapter 04: Horns of Dilemma for both the away teams, which led up to the scene above. No Supplemental threads may be started set in Chapter 05 after this scene on the Erudite just yet.

Here is the Andoria team, and you have 7 days to post @Number6 and @Stegro88 !

ANDORIA | ERUDITE AERODROME
- Chief of Mission (COM) & Drone Control: Lt. Frank Arnold @uytrereee
- Medical Officer: Doctor George Hernandez (NPC)
- Fighter Escort 01: Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley @Auctor Lucan
- Fighter Escort 02: Ens. Isel Nix (NPC)
- Fighter Escort 03: Ens. Nathaniel Isley (NPC)

ANDORIA | AWAY TEAM (VIA TOVAREK DRONE BUFFER AND TRANSPORTER)
- Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM): Lt. ThanIda zh'Wann @Auctor Lucan
- Science Officer: Lt. Vanya @Number6
- Intelligence Operative: Lt. JG Donna "Chance" Petterson @Stegro88
- ~~Redshirt~~ Gunnery Officer: Sogh (Lt.) Valkra (NPC, due KIA)

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #1 – September 10, 2020, 01:06:27 AM

[ Lieutenant Vanya | Aerodrome | The Erudite ]

She found that she liked Lt. Arnold as a CO, she reminded her of Laskey. One of the flaws of Starfleet officers was the sense of entitlement that some of them had, even the good ones. While she respected, even admired the chain of command, the way that some officers would stick to it was downright annoying. Laskey was more of a pragmatist, and so was Arnold. Sometimes you had to put your pomposity to one side, roll up your sleeves and wade in. Vanya wasn’t sure if she had mixed metaphors, they were often tricky to master at the best of times. As he deferred to her she simply nodded. She had looked around the Eruidte when she could and their tech while highly advanced didnt seem particularly complex to her.

“Rigging up the systems to find what you’re looking for shouldn’t be hard.”She said. “If our hosts don’t mind us playing with their toys.” She added.

The nerves in Vanya’s system seemed to ramp themselves up As odd as it was to “return” to Federation space, the mention of Romulan ships made Vanya’s concern increase. While she could “Think” in Romulan, most, if not all of her intel, was out of date. The project that created her wasn’t exactly well thought of, even within the ranks of the Tal’Shiar. To be in a position where her Federation citizenship was no longer a guarantee of protection from being captured or destroyed by her former masters.

On the other hand, she was prepared to protect herself and her crew from whatever challenges she faced. If that meant tangling with her former people, so be it.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #2 – September 13, 2020, 01:12:12 PM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Aerodrome | Erudite ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Number6
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“Well, this should be fun,” Donna thought to herself as she sat on the bunk and listened to Frank Arnold deliver what amounted to a briefing to the assembled Theurgy crew members. It was a motley collection to be sure, but Donna had completed crazier missions during the Dominion War with less well-equipped teams. They’d be fine. The worst that would happen was they get captured by the Federation and then turned into an infested like Doctor Nicander so that their enemy could learn everything that they know. “No, better to die by my own hand,” Donna resolved grimly. It wasn’t the first time that she had made that resolution and she doubted it would be the last either.

“Locating the local intelligence operatives shouldn’t be too hard,” Donna noted calmly as she dredged up operational procedures she hadn’t used in years. “Finding the ones loyal to Anderson will be the tricky part. Blending into the Andorian populace; that’s going to be the hard part. I’m a little too tan for the part.”

“I still think Lorad’s idea is the right one,” Donna opined, using the Reman’s name instead of just referring to his species like the Deputy had. “The Romulans, even those not infested, aren’t stupid. They’d have to know that everyone is going to be searching for the bomb or ways to conceal it. There best bet will be to hide it behind a cloak until right before detonation,” Donna stated matter-of-factly.

“The only question is if the cloaked ship will be in orbit for any length of time before deployment of the weapon.”

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #3 – September 16, 2020, 06:04:41 AM

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Aerodrome | The Erudite ]

Frank looked around his small group then, and gave a nod. They'd each fielded some ideas, and were slowly coming to a consensus. Either the bomb would be ground based, or would be shipboard and cloaked, likely the latter over the former. They would need to find it, and then the away team would needs be cut and transported inside, to deal with the explosive. Well, if that turned out anyway, there was always a chance one of their assumptions was wrong, and this wasn't the lab, if they were wrong, they might never see the Allegiant or the Theurgy again.

He cleared his throat, and then gave a gentle smile, waiting for a natural pause before taking back over the conversation, he offered lightly, “I'm starting to gather that we're going to need a few things that we don't have with us. My toy is going to need a slight modification I think. But I can handle that...mostly, I'll need parts. If the bomb is shipboard, we'll need a way in. I'm thinking slice and dice.” He stroked his chin, “But I think we're also going to need access to the Savi's sensors, see if they can help us find what we're looking for. I have no doubt, Lieutenant Vanya, that you can handle running them if we're given the keys.” He tapped the side of his head thinking, as he took out a PADD, trying to read some of his assembled notes on the Savi, diligently collected over their seven hour stint preparing for this mission, well what parts of that he hadn't spent with Jaya.

“It also looks like the Savi might have some infiltration technology that might be most helpful on top of our exosuits.” He hmm'd and ha'd and then looked to the group and offered, “I understand that some of you likely had real nasty experiences with the Savi, but we're going to need their help if we're going to pull this off. I need you guys to draw on those experiences, and think of anything our hosts can offer us, that might aid us in our mission.”

He gave a nod, “We're going to need to speak with The Voice.” He involuntarily swallowed, and grunted out then after, “This'll be a first for me.” He chuckled, and then turned, offering, “I'll...go speak with our hosts, and then, we can speak with the Voice as a group.” He nodded then once more, and unless there were any more parting comments, started his stride towards one end of the campsite, laid out in the wide open space of the Erudite.

Eventually he came across one of their hosts, not too far away from their gathering, and offered a polite, “Uh, Greetings. I am Frank Arnold...I am the commander in charge of this mission. I'd like to petition with your leader, The Voice.”

Now all there was to do was wait.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | The Voice's Audience Chamber | The Erudite ]
2030 HRS

Fortunately the wait wasn't too long, no more than a half an hour, before he and the rest of his party were ushered into what could only be described as a throne room. Perhaps chamber was more apt, either way it was a grand room, with a rhomboid, or triangular window at the far end. That was where the illustrious leader stood, on his elevated platform, waiting to receive them. He was flanked by one or two of the other Savi, as was the causeway leading towards him.

Frank cleared his throat while he approached, clasping his PADD in his massive mitts, occasionally turning it end over end, and squeezing it. It was a nervous fixation for him, and eventually he stopped in his stride, perhaps fifteen paces away. He looked around to his group, and took one deep breath while he looked at the screen of his PADD once more.

He looked the alien overlord in the eye directly, and raised a hand in greeting, calling on every last ounce of First Contact training he'd slept through in the Academy, “I am Frank Arnold, Lieutenant Frank Arnold, Assistant Chief Engineer of the Federation Starship Theurgy, and Commander of this away mission to Andoria. I imagine maybe you were already told that. Thank you for receiving us for this chat, and for the ride.” Slowly he looked around the room, and offered idly, but certainly loud enough to be heard, “I'll give you lot this, you can build a ship.” He offered a low whistle, “I mean, this is some design let me tell you.” He chuckled, and then waved a hand, “My apologies, I am prone to a good ramble, and while I'm sure it would be a thrilling study to listen to me wax and wane on the materials in play in this room, that's not why I've asked to speak with you.”

He motioned to his team, and said, “I'm not a flowery guy, I'll cut through the bull. My team and I, we've come up with a reasonable estimate of some things we're going to probably need to have a chance at success. Now I understand that your people can't do much to help us, not that you're not able, but you've got your own directives. I understand that, we all do as Starfleet Officers.” He paused and took a breath, “But not offering us any help, is as good as interfering on behalf of your enemies, at least in my book. So I hope you'll at least hear me out before saying no.” He smiled his most charming smile, and continued.

“Really at most we'll need access to your sensors, whatever you can provide us, so we can locate our bomb, or, well we think it'll be a bomb similar to the Paris bomb, or our best guess at its composition. Beyond that I'm going to need some parts to help me assemble a graviton cutting beam, or any other configuration beam really, on my Tovarek Drone. We suspect the bomb may be shipboard, and I'll need a can opener so to speak. Uh a can opener is a sharp rotary blade that opens a food con....it doesn't matter. I've gotten used to working with your boys under Blue, Commander Tiran, so if you wanted to loan me a couple to help me get that put together, I'd appreciate that.”

Frank held up two fingers, and then lifted a third, “And if you had some infiltration suits, or personal cloaks, that wouldn't hurt our cause either.” He took a deep breath, “I know you can't fly in there blasting like the fastest gun in the south, I get it. But, if you left these things close to our camp, in an open box, and we borrowed them, that would only be bending the rules, not breaking them.” He looked about his people, motioning to them, and offered, “My people will move Earth itself to get this job done, but as Archimedes said, 'give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum to place it on'.” He'd let them fill in the gaps.

He offered a punctual nod, and lastly said, “If we provided you with a short list, could you furnish us with any of these things I've requested, possibly a few more from my team?” He looked to them, and waved them on to offer anything they wanted to ask for, or to say.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #4 – September 20, 2020, 09:51:38 AM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Aerodrome | Erudite ] Attn: @Number6 @uytrereee @Auctor Lucan
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“And this is why engineers are rarely placed in command of ships without additional retraining,” Donna noted casually from her bunk. “Too focused on their ‘toys’ and technology and not understanding enough about the people that use them. Understanding the who and the why is much more important than understanding the what.” Continuing to listen, the pilot tried not to scoff at how the man was behaving. Cutting into a Romulan ship like it would be easy and unnoticeable, the Savi just casually giving Lieutenant Vanya unfettered access to their systems and more advanced infiltration technology. “Lieutenant Arnold really has a high opinion of his persuasive abilities if he thinks he can pull that all off. This should be good.”

“Why not ask for the kitchen sink while you’re at it, Lieutenant Arnold? You’ve asked for everything else. And while I can’t say that having those things would certainly make things easier, the mission could be completed without them. That hardest parts will be finding and gaining access to the bomb itself,” Donna thought as she, along with everyone else, stood and waited for what The Voice, Echtand, would say in reply to the rambler that was the senior Starfleet officer present. "Better yet, just disarm the bomb for us. That would work too."

They had been brought to this, cathedral of a room aboard the Erudite and now stood before Echtand, who was himself seated aboard a throne-like chair on an elevated platform looking, for all intents and purposes, like a king. And they had come begging his aide like so many vagabonds.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t expect anything beyond him telling us where the bomb is,” Donna thought to herself as she stared out the windows behind the Savi leader. Wisely, despite the Lieutenant’s opening, the pilot kept her mouth shut.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #5 – September 22, 2020, 10:10:21 PM

[ Lieutenant Vanya | The Voice's Audience Chamber | The Erudite ]
2030 HRS @Stegro88 @Auctor Lucan

Vanya didn’t want to do this, it was both emotionally and mentally taxing. However, she decided that it was worth a try.

Although it was hard to ignore, very often Vanya didn’t like drawing aspect to her artificial nature to outsiders, although she wasn’t as advanced as other types of android she knew that it was a risk introducing her artificial nature to other people. She had encountered unflattering nicknames like “tin girl” and “robot”.

But she had a few tricks up her sleeve. She was capable of redacting parts of her own memory. When she intercepted key data, she would then be able to delete the memory, to protect it in the event she was captured It wasn’t a perfect arrangement – she wouldn’t completely forget the experience, she would however be unable to recall it. It would be like an event half remembered or a song melody without a name, lyrics or author.

“I will be the one who will require access to your sensors.” She said nervously “I have some of the energy signatures that you are looking for. If you allow me access to your technology, or even apply it to our equipment, I will be able to… block the memory of the incident from my mind. I couldn’t remember even if there was a disruptor to my head.”

It wasn’t an easy thing to admit to, but Vanya needed to show that she could be trusted.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #6 – September 30, 2020, 01:40:14 AM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Bridge & Audience Chamber | The Erudite ] Attn: @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88
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With her arms crossed, Ida shuffled her feet and along with the rest of them when Lieutenant Arnold plead for the Voice to aid them in their mission, with everything ranging from sensor access to technology and mission gear. It was an altogether awkward experience, for the manner in which he did so was a far cry from an official, steadfast approach, and even farther from making a clear demand of aid. Indeed, Arnold behaved like a typical pinkskin that rarely dealt with situations like the one they faced, and while endearing in his jovial and light-hearted approach, Ida held little hope that Echtand qi Versant - this 'Voice of the Savi' - would acquiesce their requests.

On that podium, in which Ida knew to be the actual bridge of the Precept-class ship, the leader of the rebel Savi seemed to listen instead of dismissing them out of hand. This to his credit, and while the frowns that came to his pale features seemed menacing, Ida ventured a guess that the Antecedent was merely trying to decipher the slang and Earthen terminology that the engineer was using.

Those big, black eyes stared at them - shifting between each face - while they spoke of their needs. Arnold and Vanya laid out their requests for the mission, while Donna Peterson was silent, just like Ida, and so were the other Lone Wolves. Thankfully, the Klingon Sogh had the wits to keep her mouth shut as well, before the Voice stepped forward and gave his answer.

"You ask to make use of technology," he said in his contralto voice, with his large hands at his sides, "for direct aid, even though we have clearly stated the limitation in which we will assist the Theurgy. It is true that this Infested you keep - cin Nicander - has provided information we can make use of, and we have indirectly offered technology that may aid in your own front of this shared battle. Yet it is stated in the Code... that we shall not directly involve ourselves with the affairs of any of the specimen in the Galaxy."

"It is stated," intoned all present Savi, emphasising the word of the Voice.

This, triggered Ida, for she knew how very direct the Savi could be.

"You claim you are 'reformed'," she heard herself say, her voice sharper than she intended, "and yet you cling to every damnable word of this 'Code', new or old."

Before she knew it, she had stepped forth, her blue knuckles white at her side, and her antennae angling forward. "These 'laws', that allowed you to imprison, torture, defile and murder countless intelligent beings, all whom were helpless and at your mercy, and now - when you know better - you still have the gall to say we ask for too much?"

The silence that followed could be cut by a blade, during which the Voice challenged her stare with his arms folded in front of his tall frame. Feeling the adrenaline coursing through her, Ida knew not what to make of those facial features. She knew not whether the rebel Savi would lash out or not. Only those black eyes, staring back at her and the officers behind her. She should stop there. She should be silent, but ever since she beamed off the Versant, she had kept what she wanted to say locked up inside.

"Your own mate reduced us to rutting animals in a pen," she snarled through her teeth, "and you dare refuse us when we seek compensation? Are you a spineless hypocrite, or are you better than the Scions you bred and now fight? By Lor'Vela, then show it!"

The image of the other Andorians came to her, two of whom were gone. One killed after going mad, the other not able to serve on the Theurgy any more - leaving for home. Taking our child with her. Echtand said naught, however, merely watching her without moving an inch. If anything, it incised Ida even more, but she bridled herself somewhat - trying to be constructive.

"Your mate may not have solved my people's declining birth rates, nor did she ever intend to do so, but now you can save them still, by helping us now. By giving us just enough to fight our own battle, against our common foe, you will help save millions of my people. Does this mean nothing to you?"

Did she fear the rebuttal? The chance of angering the Savi? Oh, Ida felt that fear, for certain, how she might have dragged the away team into it by speaking up... but she lived by Thea's words. Courage is fear...

Echtand qi Versant made his verdict, and the words of the Voice filled the bridge of the Erudite.

"So be it," he said quietly, and if Ida didn't know any better, was there even a hint of regret in his tone? "The extent of this aid we will lend at Andoria will be considered indirect, and therefore not a violation. You will have what you've asked for."

Surely the Savi didn't have that much of a soul between his two hears?

[ Lieutenant JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" | The Aerodrome | The Erudite ] @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88
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After being transported back to the Aerodrome, with the promise of getting exactly what they asked for, Rawley sauntered over to Frank and gave him a grin. She had been sweating bullets back there, having heard the rumours of what the Savi had done to the crew before the battle at the apertures, and she wasn't sure if the Deputy had done something bold, or been as reckless as she used to be. Either way, they were in business.

"Time is short, and me eyes don't see any Savi here yet. You need help attaching that cutter on your drone?" she asked the engineer in her British accent, and nodded to the Lone Wolves behind her, "Isley, Nix and I can help you out in the meantime."

Further away in the small encampment, the Deputy could be seen talking with the Klingon woman. The android was not far away either, Vanya's PADD granted access to the Erudite's sensors. She had been given an infiltration suit with the kind of dampening field that they had already installed in the Mk II Security and Tac CONN exosuits before they left Aldea. They were minutes away from arriving over Andoria, and then it would be a matter of seeing what they might pick up on the sensors.

Rawley could but hope she'd get a piece of the action, and not having to be holed up on the Erudite the entire time.

OOC: All right everyone! In the next couple of posts we write, I think we can cover ( @Number6 ) the scans being made after the Erudite arrives above Andoria, finding a couple of cloaked Romulan ships, and the alloy being detected as well on sensors ( @uytrereee ) the drone being modified and ready for deployment, with some Savi tech people coming along to help, and ( @Stegro88 ) the boarding team gearing up and being loaded into the drone's transporter buffer. Sounds good? Doesn't matter @uytrereee or @Number6 posts first.

I know it's a bit of a sprint to cover that much ground between the four of us, but when I post next, I can use Ida and Rawley to set up the boarding of a Romulan ship of your choosing! @uytrereee will have to write the actual flying and cutting, though. Let’s get the mayhem started!

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #7 – October 04, 2020, 07:21:42 PM

[ Lieutenant Vanya | Bridge & Audience Chamber | The Erudite ] Attn: @uytrereee e @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88

Vanya felt strange as she looked at the familiar alien world from the bridge of the Alien starship. Since her arrival in Federation space, she had come to accept their core worlds as “home” not that she had set foot on the icy tundra much, but it was nevertheless a symbol, as were all of the founding members, a symbol that four races would not conform to the Romulan narrative and make war upon their neighbours, that they would align, and help each other

And now, those very core worlds that had shone brightly at the heart of the Federtion, were now under th control pf fprces that revelled in the same kind of mistrust and suspicion on a scale even the 22nd Century Romulans could only dream about.

She quickly moved her head towards the controls and once again found herself marvelling at them. There were intuitive, in a way that reminded Vanya of her own internal neural network. She wondered if the Savi had mastered Multironic processing, she wanted to ask more, but she knew that she would be honour bound to keep the information secret. She had long planned to find a way to preserve her life, and the Savi perhaps had the secret.

Her speculations were quickly interrupted. “I’ve found something.” She said grimly. She brought up a graphic on the monitor. “I’m reading amounts of the alloys that are consistent with a T-bomb and…”

She zoomed away from the surface view of the world. The view cycled to a em scan which showed three clounds of a familiar signature. To punctuate the point, Vanya overlaid the image with the wireframe of Romulan starships.

“They’re here alright. "

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #8 – October 05, 2020, 04:15:51 PM

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Bridge & Audience Chamber | The Erudite ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Number6
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Frank had always been taught, you don't get what you don't ask for. So, he'd asked for the world. It seemed they weren't going to get it, but points for trying. That was, until Lieutenant Thanlda spoke up. His instinct was to quash her then and there, to try and silence her with some sort of protocol, some sort of order, but then it occurred to him, that they just had nothing left to lose. Either the Savi were going to help, or not, and they certainly weren't going to withdraw the use of the Erudite now. 'Put it all on black' Frank thought.

These thoughts weren't very well hidden as he intoned his eyes towards Thanlda, and donned a slight grin, letting her throw what she had at the voice. He crossed his arms then, and turned back to the voice, she was done, now they'd see what she'd done, if anything...

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Aerodrome | The Erudite ]

Frank really hadn't had a lot of time to process the sheer boon they had almost accidentally stumbled into. It really hadn't dawned on him that they'd succeeded in getting the material support required for their mission, until he was back in the bay, with the Savi equivalent of a grav-sled chocked full of parts, and three Savi to help him. He'd given them names, Kepler, Copernicus, and Gallileo. The fathers of astronomy just seemed wildly appropriate on this adventure they were on to save the Federation.

Frank and 'the Fathers' as he'd termed his team, had spent a lot of time gathered around the Tovarek. He'd had to do some funky work, to fit the graviton cutting beam, without disturbing the other systems. There'd been numerous debates about removing the forward phaser, but he'd been steadfast in his resolve, it had to stay. He explained to his Fathers "We have no idea if the drone will have to defend itself on this little foray, and I for one would like to have it back when we're finished here." Eventually they'd settled on a nose-mounting configuration. It was a bit awkward, but it worked well enough. More weight, of course, but that was the name of the game these days.

He grumbled, standing off to the side as they took a brief coffee break, well, he took a brief coffee break, supervising the 'Fathers' had become an exercise in delegating. The Savi were a restless bunch, and while he took breaks to think and drink, they continued buttoning up his drone, putting panels in place. They'd meet the deadline, thanks to their tireless work ethic. By the time he was done with his coffee, the graviton beam was good to go. Now his girl had a beak, and a tail.

Since they were done, he'd wandered himself towards Vanya, and the rest of the team, who were hard at work finding their needle in a haystack, and once he was close to them, he announced, "Well she's looking like a platypus more and more these days, with a new beak, and tail, but, she'll cut her way through anything this side of the Shackleton. She...the drone is ready" He grinned gently, and then quieted to listen to them work. After all he was supposed to make the decisions, he should probably have the information to do so.

He listened to Vanya, as she made her discovery, and would stand over her right shoulder, leaning in uncomfortably close, "Three ships? Seems a bit much doesn't it?" He stroked his chin, and then offered, "Well, that doesn't change much really besides emphasizing the need for a smooth entry, and quality fighter cover." He grunted, and then offered while he punched into his PADD, "Vanya, try and pare down the signals using known thalaron shielding alloys, I've loaded some likely candidates, let's find out which of the trio has our bomb." He crossed his arms, and turned to the rest of the group then, offering, "Well, this jaunt wasn't for naught, let's get ready to go hunting. Start final prep, pilots to your crafts, everyone else take your stations." He nodded, it was mostly a posterity gesture, everyone was already doing what they were supposed to, they were Starfleet they stood on protocol. "I'll use the drone to get you in, from there you are in the loving hands of our illustrious away lead." He motioned towards ThanIda.

He nodded lowly and took a deep centering breath, before he put on his business voice, and clicked his comm to local, "Let's go around real quick. All stations ready? Mission Control, and Drone Support is ready. Fighters, ready?"

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #9 – October 07, 2020, 03:10:46 AM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Aerodrome | Erudite ]
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“This plan is getting worse all the time,” Donna thought to herself as she checked the last of the phaser rifles that the away team would be using before setting it back down on the bench. She had watched as Lieutenant Arnold and the Savi had modified the drone to incorporate the cutting beam at the prow apparently without removing or disabling any of its other systems. Which didn’t sound right at all. Something had to give. Just slapping on an additional alien system without any detriment. “What could go wrong?”

Trying not to dwell on the tech behind their mission, least of all the drone’s ability to actually store 4 life signs in what had to be a limited capacity buffer, Donna reached for her helmet and put it on before looking across as the Klingon Valkra. There were whispers about her attitude during her time down on the Breen home world and the pilot was hoping that they wouldn’t be in for a repeat performance this time around.

“Lieutenant, we’re good to go over here,” Donna announced, picking up a rifle. The plan seemed simple enough. Be stored in the drone’s transporter buffer and taken to a Romulan ship without it noticing. Cut a hole in its hull and be transported aboard. Avoid detection and find the bomb and then get out.

“What could go wrong?”

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #10 – October 16, 2020, 02:55:09 PM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | The Aerodrome | The Erudite ] Attn: @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88
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The orders given, Ida had long finished her conversation with the Klingon in their midst, so she stepped towards the modded Tovarek-drone. "Boarding team, helmets on, and fall in line," she said, yet Vanya would have no need of a helmet even if they would somehow end up outside the hull of the designated Romulan ship - one that was holding the sensor readings they had been looking for. The mission data had been sent to their forearm PADDs, and Ida summoned the image of the three ships while she walked to the spot in front of the drone - the footsteps of the others heard behind her.

"To me, and if I remember the ships of the Romulan Star Navy correctly, these look like one Veles-class frigate and two Meret-class incursion cruisers." Ida came to a stop, with the three Savi engineers stepping towards Arnold. Ida didn't even acknowledge them, instead zooming in on the cloaked outlines with her fingertips. "Those could be D'viret-class variants, however, which are specifically outfitted for intelligence operations by the Tal Shiar."

Rawley was heading towards the Valkyrie warp fighters sitting farther away on the deck of the Aerodrome, but she filled in the blanks for Ida, since as a fighter pilot, she had some more knowledge of enemy ships. "Oi! The Veles-class ship in the middle? Where those thalaron-shielding alloys are detected? It should have a bloody cloak projector that can encompass a whole fleet. It's likely cloaking the two smaller ships as well with a lesser drain on power reserves." The shaved human shook her head while looking at her own forearm PADD. "Blimey, that line-up is an ideal platform for long-term and covert border crossings... Hey! Lone Wolves! We might be outgunned if we have to launch, but make the pre-flight checks and stand by for the Lieutenant's order!"

Ida glanced towards Vanya, whom had donned the newly acquired and form-fitting infiltration suit that Ida remembered from the Versant. While not as armoured, the Romulan android would be just as invisible to internal sensors on the Veles-class frigate as the rest of the boarding team, whom were using the new Starfleet-design exosuits. "I trust you'll be able to get some doors open and lead the way once we're inside," she said, hoping the android had some familiarity with Romulan deck layouts, and checked the settings on her Accipiter rifle. Her next words were for the boarding team as a whole. "First priority is the bomb, but we may have to destroy that cloak projector, for even if my people should preferably not know there are Romulan ships here... the planetary defences might be our last chance to stop this."

While she donned her helmet, the pressure seal hissing around her neck, she could see the three Savi engineers step up to Frank Arnold and George Hernandez, them being the only ones remaining on the dim-lit deck. The tallest one directed himself to the engineer. "Diagnostics complete. The graviton beam emitter can only be used without any propulsion or phaser technology being activated, otherwise, the pattern buffers will be compromised along with this device's power source," the tall figure explained as if to a child, "so to put it in simple terms, the drone must be completely still whilst the graviton beam is used. There should be enough power available for twenty seconds of sustained usage. No more."

Ida could just hope Arnold would be able to get the drone to the cloaked Veles-class frigate, and that he had the sense to not test the limits of the thing's power supply. She glanced one more time towards the three female humanoids standing around her, took a deep breath, and gave the signal. "Boarding team ready."

Before the drone had powered up and activated the trasporter protocol that would make her team vanish from the deck, Ida couldn't help but feel the familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach - one she had before any mission. The enormity of what they would be doing wasn't lost on her. By Lor'Vela, she was above the moon of Andor again for the first time since before she joined the Academy. She was about to try and save the capital of the Adorian Empire, and by extension, preventing that her hot-blooded people would end all attempts to find peace with the Romulans before a new war began. She blinked, and made herself shed all thoughts - clearing her mind from anything but the task ahead.

"Energise."

OOC: Awesome posting! I think the next posting order should have 1) @uytrereee posting the entire flight of the drone to the Romulan ship, using the Savi sensors to guide it there despite the raised cloak, the entire cutting operation, and getting the drone to deploy the away team inside the ship. It would be ideal if the warp fighters aren't deployed since Andorian forces might try to identify them if they suddenly appear above the moon. 2) @Number6 , perhaps you could cover how and if Vanya leads the way towards the sensor readings with the bomb? 3) @Stegro88 , would you mind letting the shit hit the fan somehow? lol You all have 7 days to make these three posts, so we can pick up the pace a little!

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #11 – October 18, 2020, 07:30:03 PM

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | The Aerodrome | The Erudite ] Attn: @Number6 @Stegro88 @Auctor Lucan
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Frank hadn't noticed he was gripping his PADD as hard as he was. Were it a notebook or something soft, by now it'd be a twisted cylinder in between his white knuckles. Instead, the PADD showed status displays of the Tovarek Drone, the one Frank had now dubbed Jackalope, due to the mish mash of parts that now made up the awkward looking, but fast performing drone. He'd painted the namesake on the side in the last hour or so, to much confusion of the Fathers. He had a knot in his chest the size of his own meaty fist, so there was no room for butterflies in his stomach. "We'll hold the fighters in reserve for now."

Once Frank had listened to the roundabout readiness checks, looking down to one of the Fathers, the Savi he'd named Copernicus, and offered a gentle nod, a light, "Twenty seconds of power, stationary drone. Thank you, and thank you for your assistance today." He took one long deep breath of cool air, letting it out after a moment, and offered idly, "I don't need to remind anyone what's riding on this. We have to succeed, so there's no need to discuss failure." He nodded, offering something he'd read a long while ago, "The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are; but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as Starfleet. The very best of luck away team." With that, and Ida's call to energize, he activated the transporter systems aboard the drone, and in a moment or two more, the away team would have dematerialized. Held in the transporter buffer, they were well and truly in his hands now.

With that, the knots evaporated, there was no time to think about them any more as Frank stepped to his station, having set his PADD down, and brought the Tovarek drone to the gentle hum of life, taking a mere moment to look in admiration as the Jackalope slowly rose to taxi to the barrier that separated it from space. In another few moments, the drone passed into the vacuum of space, and Frank offered, "Successful launch, feedback readings are optimal. Engines nominal, power systems nominal, phaser reserves nominal, graviton reserve reads green at hard limit of fifteen seconds of cutting time, one-five." After all, he didn't want to push it right to the edge, they might need that last 5 seconds for something.

He slid his fingers along the touch interface, orienting the nose of the drone to lay along the vector being fed into the station by the Savi sensor link, targeting the Veles-class vessel. On the screen was the most recent intelligence they could get on the layout of the vessel, and Frank identified a sizable hold that was not too far from the suspected site of the cloak projector mentioned by Ida. He couldn't risk too small of a hold, in case their information wasn't 100% accurate, and he ended up beaming one of them into a bulkhead. He cleared his throat then, and tapped his combadge to set it to open, to allow him constant communication with Ida's away team, once they were back in the material realm, "Beam-in site identified, beginning approach vector. Thrust at eighteen percent for seven seconds, accelerating to approach speed." He would start the thrust, and as the maneuver executed, he'd count down the last three seconds, "Three, two, one, mark. On course, engine low-idle, sixty five seconds to transport."

The next sixty five seconds, were some of the longest of Frank's life as he watched the live display from the drone as it sped under inertial power towards the vessel, invisible to his naked eye of course, however highlighted with a projection from the Savi sensors, that showed a dim yellow silhouette. As the time ticked on, he realized he'd been holding his breath, and slowly let it out, just waiting for the passage of time now, choosing a passive approach as the most stealthy one he could likely achieve without a cloak. He hoped that his material configuration had been the right choice, and his drone was truly as stealthy as he believed it to be. He waited to see if the drone would be summarily blown out of the air.

Whether they were seen or not, as the time expired Frank offered, "Reversing thrust, coming to dead stop for beam insertion. Fire, two one, mark." And then the craft was stopped, a mere two hundred meters from the craft, spitting distance. This was the fun part now, he had to cut a very narrow aperture window in the hull of the vessel, to beam the team through. Big enough for the transporter pattern beam, small enough that it would be unnoticed for at least some time. "Phaser systems are idle, engine power shutdown." He looked to the Savi Copernicus, offering him an approving nod and a wink, and then offered, "Graviton beam pulse, eight hundred milliseconds, predicted aperture size is eight hundred and forty microns." A truly diminutive hole for any other purpose except transporting through the hull safely. It would allow him to 'see' the other side so to speak, and finish his role. With bated breath, he pressed the initialization key, and in another blink of an eye, it was done.

"I'm reading the other side of the hull, energizing transporter." He slid the four sliders upward that represented his away team, and their return to the materium, within the belly of the beast. Once he showed them back on the screen, as beings and not beams, he offered into the open channel, "Welcome back away team, you should be inside the Romulan vessel now."

With that, the drone had done its bit, "Backing the Jackalope off to a holding position, five kilometers." And once he'd done that, his final word was, "Overwatch standby."

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #12 – October 19, 2020, 10:40:55 PM

[Lt. Vanya Beam in Coordinates | Unnamed Romulan Vessel| @uytrereee @Stegro88 @Auctor Lucan

Vanya had not set foot on a Romulan planet or starship in thirty years, so while she had some familiarity with her people’s ways, there was probably a thousand spies out there who were capable of doing what Vanya was asked to do to a better degree. In some senses it would be like asking a Cardassian that defected during the occupation of Bajor to advise on Dominion strategies. Unfortunately, at that specific second, Vanya was the only person who was available, so she had to prove her mettle to the best of her abilities.

Nevertheless, the ship was certainly familiar to her when she beamed aboard. The architecture bought home memories of her past. The only thing missing were the wall mounted disruptors that would destroy Vanya and her "siblings" if they appeared to go out of line. Memories of sitting and watching from her bracket while a parade of officials turned up their nose and tried to get Vanya shut down.

No wonder I’m so crazy. She thought to herself From the moment I came online, people have been trying to shut me down and doing nothing to hide it.

Checking that the rest of her team had materialised without incident Vanya reached up and started the scan, looking for the source of the bomb. There was a positive lock. It was the scary thing about the universe in which they lived.

Though the Infected were pulling the strings here, they were doing so with nothing that was new to them. Thaleron was a Romulan invention, and had cost many lives, including the only other android she had known that wasn’t an automaton, or dead. The huge fleets that The Infested now controlled were not built, or even modified by them, but were designed and maintained by the free races of the quadrant. From a certain point of view, the Infested were just a sickness that brought out the potential that was already there.

Her wrist mounted scanner picked up the signal, it was mercifully within reach, with a minimum of fuss. Vanya sent the coordinates to the other scanners that she knew would be picked up by the others. She signalled them to follow her.

It should be easy, she thought to herself. Should being the key part of the equation.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #13 – October 29, 2020, 04:02:49 AM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Romulan Vessel | Andoria ]
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“Well, this is a first,” Was Donna’s first thought when she rematerialized inside the Romulan ship. Hefting her phaser rifle and glancing around, she found them alone in the passageway. Scanning the corridor ahead of her, Donna heard the beep from her suit’s build in PADD and saw that Vanya had located what she believed to be the bomb. “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all,” she considered. And then she heard the crack.

When a spacecraft hull is manufactured, it is scanned and checked for hull fractures or deformations that could compromise its integrity. Any issues are dealt with before the ship leaves drydock to prevent them from becoming an issue in the future. In a Federation drydock, checks are completed to make sure that the hull plating is not unduly stressed and while hold up to the rigours of space travel. The Romulans did much the same thing when building the ship the infiltration team was now inside of. What they had never accounted for, because it wasn’t even thought of, was the increased strain on the hull when an eight-hundred-and-forty-micron hole was cut right through a crack in a support strut for that section of plating. A crack that had been missed. A crack that had split from either side of the hole that was now present in its midst, transforming the previously diminutive bore into a chasm almost three centimetres across. And that was too much stress for the hull to withstand.

“MOVE!” Donna screamed into her comms, spreading her arms and herding everyone before her. She had just managed to get them through what she hoped was an aperture when the hull deformed entirely and exploded outward, tearing several pieces from the hull as the entire section of the hull was exposed to hard vacuum. The exfiltration of air was buffeting, threatening to drag the team into space before the ship’s emergency forcefields engaged and prevented their escape.

Gasping for breath despite her suit’s seal, Donna looked at the forcefield mere inches from her feet, her mind aware of several things all at once. The Romulans would investigate the hull breach. They would now be on high alert, wondering what had caused it. They would check and recheck everything now. And, if she was the infested, would start the countdown immediately.

“Oh Shit!” she intoned, summing up their situation.

What no one could see from their position, laying as they were perpendicular to the breach, was the direction and velocity of several pieces of debris. She sailed through space, caring not for the drone in their path before, after or even during their collision with it. And they continued, uncaring, along their now altered trajectory. Leaving chaos in their wake.

Their impact with the drone, while not piecing the shields, had strained them immensely, reducing their strength to less than 20 percent of what they were. But it was the shock damage that was worse. In striking the drone, they had damaged the long-ranged sensors, the graviton cutting beam power relays and the transport buffer. The drone could now not transport more than half of the infiltration team during their escape.

OOC:[Show/Hide]

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #14 – November 09, 2020, 02:55:27 PM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Romulan Star Navy Veles-class Frigate | Andor's Orbit ] Attn: @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88
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Along with the other three women of different species, Deputy zh'Wann had materialised on the Veles-class frigate, and even as she turned the visor of her helmet and the sights of her Accipiter in an arc to secure the bay, she heard Lieutenant Arnold's voice from the Erudite. [Welcome back away team, you should be inside the Romulan vessel now,] he had said, and Ida had taken a moment to make sure they were alone before she replied on behalf of the team.

"Confirmed," she said, her own breath filling her nose inside the helmet as she spoke, "moving out."

Vanya had found which door from the bay they ought to pick, and even as they began to move, Donna had caught on to how the hull was compromised, and she didn't have to usher them for many moments until they were running out of there. They got far enough, the forcefield saving them just as the bay was depressurised. Ida had found a hold on the bulkhead with her free hand, and as she turned her visor from the forcefield, she could see the scratches from her gloved fingers across it. Her heart was thundering in her chest, but she was still on her feet, just like Valkra, the Klingon whom had found a hold on a doorway not far ahead of them. Donna's verbal reaction brought Ida out of her damage assessment, having found Vanya safe and sound on the right side of the forcefield as well, and they couldn't afford to waste any more time lingering where they were.

"zh'Wann to Arnold, the hull was compromised by the graviton beam, but we got to safety. I repeat, we're still active. Stand by," she said, inclining her head to Donna before she set off in the direction that Vanya had indicated. With her Accipiter rifle supported by the strap over her shoulder, she raised her left wrist to check on the PADD, singling out the marker Vanya had sent. She set off at a high pace with a gesture for the team to follow. She wasn't running, but she set a stride long enough enough to let them cover some ground and also to allow for aiming, as she'd raised her rifle and kept her eyes on the scope mounted on top of the weapon. "Set weapons to stun. Valkra, cover our six. Accipiter, weapon mode Zero-Four."

[Confirmed,] said the digital voice of her exosuit, linked as it was to the Accipiter. During the extensive testing of the weapon from the Calamity, her fellow officers had found that the weapon could be fired 'dry', without a projectile launched. In these instances, the subspace jacket would be formed and fired as normal, though without the 7mm tritanium carbide bullet, and only in single-shot. The concussive energy, however, could be used to break up debris or shove objects or threats out of the way. As a substitute for stun, it was more than adequate - used successfully as it had on the Black Opal, Starbase 84 and against the Borg.

The winding corridor was filled with the blaring sound of a Romulan klaxon, and while the digital map on Ida's wrist told them the way, she made sure to take the first available intersection to let them stay clear of any repair crews sent to the bay they left behind. While there was no way to confirm the fact, they ought to be invisible to internal sensors, so there was no intruder alert sounded. The unspoken reality that had no doubt dawned on all four of them, however, was that given the hull breach, there might be suspicions raised, and they had to reach the thalaron bomb before the Romulans decided to accelerate their plans.

"Sensor spike thirty meters ahead. Six life signs in our path. Neutralising the two closest ones now," she said to the team, having seen the markers on her display already, and two of them were just beyond the next intersection. She did not slow her pace, for they had no time for any delays, and as she rounded the corner, she pivoted with her step and slammed her elbow across the startled face of a Romulan officer. The second one opened his mouth to say something, but Ida rammed the butt of her rifle into his mouth. The sound of teeth clattering faintly against the deck could be heard when he fell down.

[We've got company!] called Valkra from the rear, her voice heard inside Ida's helmet, and as she turned her blue eyes towards the path from whence they came, the Klingon raised her phaser rifle and opened fire against four Romulans who had spotted them. Orange and green energy beams began to light the bulkheads. [wa' DoSneHyIbuS! I'll cover you!]

By Lor'Vela, they've detected weapon's fire by now. Time to move, thought Ida, and gestured for Donna and Vanya to follow her. "Move it!" she called, and set off towards the pulsing sensor beacon, and she opened fire against the Romulans that appeared ahead of them. The Accipiter had some recoil against her shoulder, but the loud concussion blasts sent their opposition off their feet, tumbling over themselves like leaves in the wind.

OOC: (wa' DoSneHyIbuS. = Focus on one target)

Awesome posting! So much for picking up the pace though, with work and family stealing my time for a bit, lol. My bad!

I think the next posting order could be 1) @uytrereee 2) @Number6 3) @Stegro88? Could we take it so far as to actually reaching the thalaron bomb's transporter room before I post again? Also, could Valkra succumb in some heroic way, worn down by Romulan disruptor fire? Or is it better to save her death for some other feat? Your call. You all have 7 days!

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #15 – November 15, 2020, 04:59:21 PM

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | The Aerodrome | The Erudite ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Swift @Stegro88 @Number6
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Explosive decompression. It was the spacefaring equivalent of a fire in the galley. It was the reason he had a job aboard the Theurgy, because when the air didn't stay where it was supposed to, and moved from inside to outside very fast, things got broken. On his first days on the Theurgy, he'd performed a scan of the hull, the same day they'd learned about the bomb in Paris. That scan was designed to pick up cracks, just like the one that the Graviton beam had lanced through on the Romulan ship. The luck of it, or the un-luck, was so improbable, and yet, that was the luck of the Theurgy as of late.

When Lieutenant zh'Wann came through over the comm, 'zh'Wann to Arnold, the hull was compromised by the graviton bea...' the comm was momentarily broken, and Frank's gauges began to go haywire. The debris had scrambled the signal for a second, but they called his attention to the proximity alarm, just a little bit too late. If the drone had stayed in automatic mode, it would have made the maneuver on its own, the debris being allowed to coast by, instead he was still in Local control. So instead of a puckering near miss, several pieces of debris clipped the Jackalope, to a firm, "Fuck, looks like we hit a fracture, or a pocket, or a delami...it doesn't matter. There's no way they didn't notice that." from Frank, as he started rapidly moving sliders on the drone. The transferred inertia of the pieces had sent the drone arse over tit for a few moments, until he regained control. The drone was laggy, that was not a good sign.

His focus was broken as comm regained, 'I repeat, we're still active. Stand by,' He keyed up the mic with a tone of stress on his voice, "I copy you away leader. That breach, it's caused some flotsam to hit the Jackalope...the drone." He cleared his throat, "Running some diagnostics now but...it looks like at least a panel or two have been buckled." The lights started coming up yellow and red and he slammed his fist down on the console, drawing the attention of at least one of the Savi, "...Yeah she's gone and done it. Those pieces could have ripped her in half, we got off easy, but I've got no more cutting lance, sensors are...dampened, I think I can shunt some power to fix that. I'm going to see if I can...let me get back to you about sensors. For now, I'm patching the short range sensors through to your displays, they'll do you some good unless they raise shields. I'm already detecting some possible friends coming your way."

He shook his head slowly, making that switch, so long as the ship didn't raise shields, they should be able to see any Romulans coming. Keeping the away team on the line, he said, "Looks like right now transport is compromised, Thirty percent, maybe fifty. For the moment you are without an exit strategy zh'Wann. I'm going to work on my end to try and fix that. For now focus on the bomb, proceed with your mission, I'll see if I can get this fixed, to get you out. Keep in mind you may need an alternate exit. Arnold out." He grit his teeth, feeling like a small fish in a very big pond right now.

He keyed off his communicator, and started to pull up the diagnostic screen, it was not good news. He had twenty two percent shield power, EPS conduits 1, 3 and, 7 were shot, transport buffer 3 was a no show, and he had at least one damaged relay path. His baby now had perhaps 45% power capacity. There was nothing he could do about that without hands on maintenance, but luckily he was a damage control expert. He would have to work within the confines of the problem. He murmured, "Fundamentals Frank, re-assign, re-route, re-task. Work the problem. We'll need at least sixty two percent power to the buffer, to get them. It...think." Who he was talking to, was a great question.

The graviton beam was seemingly dead in the water, that was the first thing he diverted power from, and the belly phaser, and the torpedo tube, they'd do him no good right now. That bought him another 8% of passive power, but after that it got more difficult. He took out his PADD putting it in writing mode, and started scribbling out notes, as he simultaneously pulled up his own relay protocols, very freshly written, for the drone, trying to see where he could divert some lifeblood from, to fix this problem. With so many features on the drone, power was spread thin, with very low margins when all the systems were running, at 6% of total power left free at operative running.

This was where Frank made his money, and today, he was going to make a lot of it, or the away team was going to struggle, at worst, die. His first task was to boost the power to the remaining three cells of the transport buffer, if he did that, he might be able to get a lock on the team, and get them back whole. He started scribbling out the path re-assignments on his PADD, drawing the relay loops to better visualize, making notes next to a bolded 62%. This would take time, even for him, so for now the team had to just hold on, there was no way he was letting his and Fisher's project, be scuppered on its first mission.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #16 – November 16, 2020, 12:03:46 AM

[ Lieutenant Vanya | Romulan Star Navy Veles-class Frigate | Andor's Orbit ] @Stegro88 @Auctor Lucan @uytrereee

Its all fun and games until the energy beams start flying, the android mused, like a sound and pyrontechnics display heralding failure death. Vanya preferred the easy missions, where a bit of clever intelligence could subdue the most deadly foe. They could be sent to the Brig and Vanya would get her congratulations

Unfortunately, these moments were few and far between. Instead, as time wore on, there were more and more battles to endure. Vanya was able to avoid the green lances of death. She knew that if just one of them touched her, and she wasn’t totally disrupted, she would potentially be in Romulan hands again.

She pushed the thoughts aside. Her brain was designed to generate possible outcomes, but it wasn’t good for her emotional matrix. She clutched onto her tricorder, in one hand and held her phaser in the other.

She put her mind to use thinking about ways to escape the devastation. None of the options were good. They were, capture the ship, steal an auxillary craft, or go for an escape pod. Escape pods seemed like the most likely option.

“We could try an escape pod.” Vanya said aloud. “Not likely to have much in the way of evasive technology, but it should be fairly easy to launch. If we can find a shuttle or scoutship, we might be able to cloak, or even beam to safety, but there might be remote overrides on the mother ship.”

She ducked to avoid a blast of green energy that disintergrated part of a hatch behind her. The Romulan that fired it was already sunned and on the way to the ground.

“First things first I guess.” Vanya said. She looked over her shoulder and saw tthat Valka was taking aim at the roof to bring down one of the support beams above them. Between them and their four Romulan pursuers. If that phaser was set on a setting to cut, and if the beam was the standard structural support beam Vanya was on Romulus then there was a deadly chance that..

“NO!” Vanya warned. But it was too late. The blast from the Valkra’s phaser sent the beam falling. But within seconds there was a flash as an emergency structural reinforcement forcefield kicked in, cutting the Klingon clean in half from head to crotch. One half was completely vaporised by the forcefield. The other fell to a knee and tumbled over. On the other side of the beam, one of their persuers was killed, and the other suffered the lost of their right leg and part of their disruptor arm. One of them was already going to overwrite the forcefield and come after them.

“We need to move.” Vanya said lknowing that there was more thread ahead of them. “We’re almost there.”

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #17 – November 18, 2020, 03:38:43 AM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Romulan Vessel | Andoria ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Number6 @uytrereee
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“I’ve had missions fall apart quickly before but this has to be one of the quickest,” Donna thought to herself as she brought her rifle to her shoulder, ready to shoot first if any Romulans arrived to investigate the breach. It was more a question of when, not if, they would investigate. They couldn’t afford not to given their location. Soon enough though, the deputy had them moving away from their insertion point at a steady pace, their weapons set to stun.

Thanks to the Klingon though, their first contact with Romulans negated any point in stealth as she opened fire with her rifle on a group of four Romulans who had approached from their rear. A gesture and a shouted order from the Andorian sent her moving forward again. Dropping her rifle to hang on its sling behind her, Donna drew her phaser pistol, feeling more comfortable with it while on the move.

During one of their pauses, Vanya, the android, suggested the use of an escape pod to allow their exfiltration from the ship. And it would have been a good idea if they hadn’t been discovered. Now, the captain would have locked down the pods to prevent their escape. Same with the transporters. And they’d stay that way until right before the bomb would detonate; assuming she was right about the countdown already starting.

Further thought was forestalled by a shout from Vanya and Donna turned in time to see the Klingon officer bisected by a forcefield. She hadn’t seen what had activated it, focused on enemies to the front as she was, but it didn’t matter. There was less than half of the Klingon remaining now; she was beyond their help.

“Moving!” Donna called out over coms, stepping out and sending a burst of phaser fire into a Romulan. The remaining Romulans in their path fell in quick succession as the three infiltrators focused on their destination. With no one else in their path, they made it to the bomb. “Fuck, I hate it when I’m right,” Donna exclaimed as she saw the timer already counting down. “We have a little over 6 minutes until it goes off,” Donna said, her mind at work.

“Ok, quick and dirty idea,” Donna announced. “The bomb is on a hoversled. Deputy, you in front to clear a path to the hull. Vanya, you are the strongest, you move it while I cover our rear. The drone comes and picks you both up with the bomb. While it’s in the buffer, the countdown will be suspended. And we call Ghost or one of the other wolves to give me a ride home. I’m the pilot after all,” Donna proposed, wondering if her idea was even possible, despite its simplicity. “Lieutenant Arnold will need to divert as much power to the drone’s shields as he can. The Romulans will be alerted now and will probably try to take a shot at the drone if it thinks we are escaping on it somehow.”

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #18 – November 27, 2020, 02:23:00 PM

[ Lt. ThanIda zh'Wann | Romulan Star Navy Veles-class Frigate | Andor's Orbit ] Attn: @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88
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They'd lost Sogh Valkra, and while Ida was experienced enough to not let it get to her yet, the Klingon had been KIA under her command, and it was not a light burden to bear. She'd bared her teeth and cursed in her native language under her breath, but kept her focus. When they ultimately reached the thalaron bomb and saw how little time they had left, she frowned as she considered the options. Donna was making a sound suggestion, and she let that inform her decision, which would just have to be a slight modification given the prospects of their survival.

"Lieutenant Arnold says the drone has been compromised, so I do not think any of us ought to be in that buffer - the risk is too high. Not just because of the status of the drone itself, but because that drone will at worst become target practise for all three of these cloaked Romulan ships, and at best towed back because it holds the bomb," she said through her teeth as she helped Vanya get the Romulan sled moving towards the door. "If the bomb can be brought unto the Erudite, that's all fine, but if the drone is destroyed, then the bomb will be gone along with that transporter buffer. What we need, however... is the Lone Wolves getting us out of here."

Ida's looked down both ends of the corridor, trying to hear footsteps over the klaxons, before she contacted the team on the Erudite. "This is zh'Wann, scramble the Valkyries immediately, and stand by to extract the bomb with the drone once we reach the hull. Keep an eye on sensors and track us, you hear me?"

Two Romulans appeared, running for them with rifles raised, but Ida already had her finger on the trigger of the Accipiter, and the concussion of the blast she sent down corridor had them rolling in the opposite direction. She gestured for Vanya and Donna to follow her before she continued her message, leaving Donna to stun the Romulans in their wake. "While two of our suits may have thrusters of their own, and Vanya can take the toll of space, all three of us will likely need a lift from the Wolves' tractor beams if we are to make it back alive and not get shot the moment we leave the hull. I repeat, we need a distraction... cover fire for the drone... and a team extraction right now."

Ida could but hope Andor's defence systems would start targeting the Valkyries before they were back on the Erudite...

"Our priority is the thalaron bomb, not to show my people there are Romulan ships in orbit," she said to the two women behind her, organic and artificial, as she set a quick pace down where the deck layout on her wrist said the shortest path to the hull was, "so forget about the cloak projector. Without a bomb, their mission has failed anyway, and Andor won't stir in reaction to Romulan presence in this system..."

She knew her own people all too well, and she'd been split about forcing the Romulans to decloak, but in the end, she believed it was the better option. She felt like a traitor for keeping Andor in the dark, but then again, she was also an exile.

[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" | The Aerodrome | The Erudite ] Attn: @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88 @Augusteo
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"You heard her, Wolves!" called Rawley over comms to Isel Nix and Nathaniel Isley, after getting the proper go-ahead from Lieutenant Arnold. Ghost put her helmet on, already seated in her cockpit, while she began power up the vessel. Basic diagnostics on all systems were running. "This is Fighter Escort One, come in Savi people!"

After some delay, the contralto voice of some Antecedent was heard inside her helmet. [We hear you.]

"Three fighters due to launch, and we'll be coming back hot with precious cargo." She was having her Valkyrie taxi into position to launch, spearheading the wedge of the three warp fighters. Donna's Valkyrie remained immobile on the deck in their wake, and Rawley was dead set on bringing back her old wing mate and the rest of that boarding team. Realising that Arnold was likely having a bloody hard time with the drone all of a sudden, Ghost took an initiative while she already had the Savi on the line. "Hey, could you tell that bloody Voice guy that we'd be chuffed if he could stand ready to just bail us the fuck out of here once we get back aboard? That would be amazeballs, thanks."

There was a sound akin to irritation heard, but at least she got a go-ahead. [Launch permission granted. Erudite out.]

"You will be hearing from me shortly, Ghost out." She tapped the side of her helmet to make sure the different visual settings in her helmet were fully operational - including the TVD. She'd already lit up the HUDs and plugged in her suit to the fighter comm system. In a hurry, Rawley quickly eyed through the read-outs and hit the switch for the Aldean sensor scrambler so that the whole sector wouldn't pinpoint her prototype bird suddenly appearing in the system. Her launch thrusters were at a minimal setting to begin with, but she slowly throttled up once the bay doors had opened for her.

"Escort Zero-One to Zero-Two and Zero-Four... go go go!" Having said this, she throttled up in full - the inertial dampeners compensating for most of the extreme g-forces in the cockpit interior. Once her Valkyrie cleared the launching strip, she raised her landing gears and switched to 0.4 impulse. "Icarus! Tap into the Savi sensors to see the Romulan ships out there and provide a distraction! I don't care what you do, as long as you keep them busy. Foxfire! Protect that drone so that it can get back to the the bloody frigate and pick up the bomb! Use your counter measures or whatever you can do, as long as the drone gets to where it's needed! Okay? I'll help Icarus with the distraction until we tow back the away team. Move out!"

Ghost yanked her joystick sideways, and made the whole craft lurch as she pushed the impulse throttle forward as well. It pushed Evelyn firmly into the seat, while Andor's surface began to move beneath. Come on, come on....

OOC: All right! So seven days to post again, and my suggestion is that @Augusteo posts next with Isel Nix, protecting the drone (welcome to the madness btw! lol), and @uytrereee covers how well that goes. @Number6 and @Stegro88 , can you guys progress the fire-fight whilst they get to the hull? Have as much fun as you can in this race to try and accomplish the mission!

If no airlock is available, I suppose Ida has a can opener she can use in my next post, but that might be a tad bumpy of a solution.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #19 – December 03, 2020, 09:13:36 PM

[Lt, Vanya|Romulan Star Navy Veles-class Frigate | Andor's Orbit ] Attn @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @uytrereee

The android felt some anxiety about using a damaged transporter, without assessing the damage herself, going onto a damaged drone with a deadly form of radiation wasn’t particularly Vanya’s idea of fun. Ida seemed to disagree.

“Let’s just get thing off the ship.” Vanya said.

As they travelled through the network, Vanya’s hearing could pick up communications coming from the communicators on the chest plates of the Romulans. “I am detecting concern over the commlines. They are ordering a last stand at the transporter room this could be an advantage…” The door opened and a pair of security guards presented themselves. It appeared as if they were in the middle of a conversation – perhaps the younger wanted to go and investigate what was going on, while the elder was encouraging them to hold back. Vanya fired her phaser stunning one of them. The other managed to draw his pistol. Vanya set the anti grav down. She dragged them to the other side of the junction which led to the transporter room. She picked carefully laid them in the corridor in such a way to suggest that they had fought on the way to the transporter room.

“There, that might buy us some time," she said as she jogged back down the corridor. She looked to her left.

“Come on.” Vanya said. “The airlock is just through there. I suggest we hold position until help arrives.”

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #20 – December 04, 2020, 05:33:18 PM

[ Ens. Isel Nix | The Aerodrome | The Erudite ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @uytrereee @Number6
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She was in the Aerodrome following the latest arrangements of the mission. It wasn't difficult to understand that Isel was full of concern for the plan. The possibility to be outgunned didn't worry too much the vulpinian who just tighten her jaw more "I survived the Borg, nothing can be worse," Isel thought.

"The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are; but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as Starfleet. The very best of luck away team." Lt. Arnold said, and at this moment her expression changed gazing one moment the away team "nothing can be worse… FOR ME. Good luck… You'll need it," Isel completed her thought with a sigh of worry.

"Make the pre-flight checks and stand by for the Lieutenant's order!" Rawley ordered. "Immediately," Isel answered with her wrinkled eyebrows that show how she was determined even if her profound concern. She settled in her Valkyrie cockpit, starting the standard pre fly system diagnostics. She hoped to don't have to intervene.

[A few minutes later]

Her hopes faded when she heard about the drone damages. Immediately donned the helmet and put her hands on the controls, ready to go at any command. "Fuck! Come on, come on…," She kept repeating mentally until Rawley opened the channel with the Savi to to ask for take-off permission.

Isel in a hurry checked the fighter systems and her helmet visual settings. She turned on the Aldean sensor scrambler to do not become a lighthouse in the night for local defence systems. "Let's go save their marvellous asses," She thought with a slight grin.

"Escort Zero-One to Zero-Two and Zero-Four... go go go!" She heard Ghost's voice clear in her helmet. Isel throttled up in full, leaving the Euridite.

[Fighter Escort 02 | Andor's Orbit ]

"Foxfire! Protect that drone so that it can get back to the bloody frigate and pick up the bomb! Use your counter measures or whatever you can do, as long as the drone gets to where it's needed! Okay? I'll help Icarus with the distraction until we tow back the away team. Move out!" Ghost said while Isel raised the landing gears engaging the impulse engines at 0.75 "Got it, Ghost! Good luck to both!" she replied, turning the fighter in the direction of the drone.

"Straight into the Romulan's throat," she thought while Andor's surfaced turned until she was in the direction to go straight to the drone. Isel switch to maximum impulse speed analysing the situation she was getting into. "As long as they think their plan is still working, they shouldn't fire. They don't want to be tracked down by Andorian defences" she thought nodding slightly. She gazed the ECCM emitter controls changing the signature setting in order to reproduce the drone emissions "In that way, the countermeasures will protect the drone by torpedoes" she thought.

The drone was even closer and with it possible dangers. Isel opened a channel with the away teams "Foxfire here! I'm approaching the drone to protect it from the pointy-eared worms! Tell me when some of you will be aboard or... whatever you will do," she said with determined voice, ready to deal with everything.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #21 – December 04, 2020, 06:38:17 PM

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | The Aerodrome | Erudite ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Augusteo @Stegro88 @Number6
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Sixty two percent, that was what Frank needed to get to, and with full focus, he might be able to get there. Sadly reality rarely conforms to the expectations of those involved in reality's execution. Simply put, the Tovarek wasn't designed to fulfill both a space combat encounter, and support a ground operation. Strictly speaking it wasn't designed to fulfill a space combat encounter at all, the drone relied heavily on its defensive abilities for this sort of thing, and this would be her first minting.

Frank listened to the voice comms between each of the ground team's suits, and sadly this meant he was painfully aware as the life signs of one of the away team, winked out. He didn't need to hear it happen, both the drone, and the status monitor let him know what had happened. Now there were three members of his away team stranded aboard the Romulan Veles. But it also meant he was somewhat abreast of the plan, the parts of it he had overheard.

The wolves were out to hunt though, and that provided both opportunities, and dangers. If the Andorians intervened before their mission was able to be completed, and discovered the Romulans, this whole operation, and the sacrifices the team had already made, were in vain. Piggybacking on the comms now that they were starting to light up with fighter pilots, and Zh'Wann, Frank keyed his comm, and offered, "Lieutenant Arnold to all operational team members. The status of the drone is as stands, fifty four percent total power. With more time, I could bring the buffer fully online, and fortify it, but we don't have that time. I will commit the Jackrabbit to bomb recovery, and signals confusion. Away team, proceed on your current course to find another ride, I'll be diverting any excess power from the buffer not required to house the thalaron device, to the Jackrabbit's shields."

He nodded slowly, and allowing a moment to digest he continued over comm, "The drone has considerable ability to minimize its own signature, while projecting other signatures, and I'll be making it look like just another Valkyrie, blend in with the pack until it can house the bomb in the buffer. Now that won't stop an enterprising gunner from targeting it anyway, but it will allow me to put it into a very effective evasive pattern, until the bomb can be located."

That was just what he did as the Wolf Pack began to stream into space, hot launched. He would punch one of the evasive keys, speaking into his comm, "Activating evasive pattern Ali-Liston, sorry that's Rho-Four." He added the last bit with a chuckle, and followed, "Activating intelligence sensor package codename Sheep in Wolf's Clothes. Don't be alarmed, you'll see two more Valkyries on your sensor readings." In a few moments the drone would begin to fly an evasive pattern designed at minimizing any moment it exposed its broadest faces to the enemy, instead the drone flew in a manner that kept the narrow profiled edge facing the frigate as much as it could. At the same time, Frank made several diversions, moving some blood away from the buffer, now that it would only need to carry 1 bomb, instead of 3 people. This enabled a 14% boost in shield power, and he keyed his comm the last time, for now and held it, "Drone shields holding at thirty six percent."

The Romulan sensors winked to life, the Drone able to sense it was being searched for, "Oh yes, they're looking for me now Wolves" even if the Romulans did not know what they were searching for, Arnold let his comm go quiet now. Soon enough they'd see it, the faux sensor reading of a space fighter, and soon enough lancets of disruptor fire or torpedoes would reach out into the inky space between the Erudite and the Veles. Lancets seeking to swat the horsefly that had bit the stallion.

He'd done his best to try and sound calm on the comm, although like as not there was a small waver evident in his voice. While he was no stranger to high pressure situations at this point in his career, the ball of stress that lingered in the chest, never quite went away. Combat, this, was not his forte. There was nothing for him to do at this moment, except watch, wait, and trust in Ravenholm's programming, his Engineering, the considerable skills of the away team, and the Lone Wolves. So he did what he did best, he made light of the situation, even if the only person he was trying to fool, was him.

Frank made sure his comm was off, and then he did his best impersonation of Angelo Dundee, "Get out there and dance kid, come on, dance, move your feet!" And so while the drone danced the intricate dance programmed into its frame, Frank danced the one trained into his. Up onto his tippy toes, he danced backward, and forward, as if he were boxing with the status display itself, throwing light jabs that landed short of the actual screen, ducking, dropping, and bouncing all the while watching the status monitor, the sensor overview of the battlefield, and the nose camera of the drone most of all.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #22 – December 11, 2020, 02:45:14 PM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Romulan Vessel | Andoria ]
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As the Andorian deputy quickly issued orders to those that needed to know them, Donna kept her head on a swivel, checking the various entrances to the room they were in in case any more Romulans showed up and tried to disrupt their escape. Truthfully, Donna knew that her initial idea was about as farfetched as could probably have been managed at the time, but it was enough to generate better ideas so in her opinion, it had served its purpose admirably. Soon enough, the Andorian and the android were making headway and Donna began to follow them, backing out of the room to cover their withdrawal.

The sound of the Accipiter firing told the pilot that their way ahead was far from secure but when a second shot wasn’t heard, Donna knew that, for the moment at least, they could continue forward. Continue to back after her two crewmates, Donna stepped over a pair of downed Romulans. A few steps further on and she fired at first one, and then the other, stunning them so that they were no longer a problem. At least, that was the plan.

Where she had expected to see a stun blast impact the bodies, instead she saw a phaser pulse hit them at a higher, deadlier setting. Surprised, Donna looked down to check the setting on her weapon and found that it had been set to a lethal level. And she never remembered doing that. It was a scary prospect, was she losing herself now, in the middle of combat, and not even realising it? Had Amelya been right after all?

Shaking off the fear, Donna focused on the task at hand as the three of them moved through the ship. Their concealed life signs made it harder for them to be tracked and it forced the Romulans to search for them the old-fashioned way. More phaser fire, from Vanya this time, drew her attention and she was just in time to turn and watch her drag a pair of Romulans off down a passageway. She was gone a few moments but soon returned with the cheerful thought of having bought them some time.

Following offered directions, the three ladies worked their way onwards unfettered and soon found themselves standing outside the airlock that would grant them their escape. Setting up in basic cover positions to cover all the approaches, all they could do now was wait for the drone to arrive and take the bomb off their hands. After that, it was time for a flight of their own.

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #23 – December 22, 2020, 11:49:22 AM

[ Lt. ThanIda zh'Wann | Romulan Star Navy Veles-class Frigate | Andor's Orbit ] Attn: @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88
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With her heart pounding in her ears, like a hammer to the inside of her helmet, Ida led the way towards the closest airlock on the Romulan ship. By Lor'Vela, just a little further...

Teeth bared, Ida had been listening to the update of Lieutenant Arnold, so she failed to notice any lapse of Donna Petterson's when it came to fire control. Vanya had misled some of the Romulan officers that hunted for them, the sounds of their running feet a faint echo. At one point, force fields were raised to try and intecept them, but since they were invisible to internal sensors, it seemed the Romulans had to rely on visual surveillance in order to keep tabs on them. Realising this, Ida had been using her Accipiter to target any surveillance units she could spot down their path, a single shot each getting the job done and keeping the Romulans from being able to stop them. One forcefield nearly caught them, but they managed to pass it just in time to continue down their path. Adrenaline lacing her cobalt blood, Ida could but acknowledge the updates from the Erudite and their mission leader with a tight-lipped "Acknowledged" now and then.

It was when they reached the airlock, and her two remaining companions covered the corridors leading to their intersection, that Ida realised they were idle targets in wait for the drone's arrival. She briskly strode up to the airlock controls and tried to access the control panel and get the massive door to open up. She was denied, of course, so she wasted little time on it - instead searching for a manual release of some sort. She found the lever below the control panel, broke the covering glass with the butt of her rifle, and then reached inside. Yanking it down, the loud hiss of the airlock's doors parting seemed far too loud, but at least the bomb could be pushed inside the airlock, so she grabbed the hover sled and got it where it needed to be. Only the outer airlock hatch remained between the bomb and the space above Andor.

That's when the Romulan forces caught up to them, appearing in two of the corridors leading to the airlock. A few beams of disruptor fire came their way, before one of the Romulans began to shout - the risk of hitting the bomb far too great. Ida wasted no time in returning fire, having lifted her Accipiter to her shoulder and blasting the corridors with concussion energy.

"Ida to Arnold! Thalaron bomb in place to be jettisoned!" she shouted over the din of the firefight that ensued, wherein the Romulans being restrictive with their firing being the only factor that saved their lives, outnumbered as they were. "Vanya, Petterson, we'll jettison ourselves as well. We can't stay here if the bomb is gone. Get into the airlock!"

Stepping backwards as she fired, Ida glanced towards any manual lever on the inside of the airlock, and once she found it, she dodged and yanked it down, which made the blast door to the corridor close. Yet when she ran to the other side to try and open the hatch leading into cold space outside, she found that the release had been overwritten. She tried it twice, only to get a chirp denying their escape. "Shelat," she said, knowing they were trapped, and when she looked outside the transparent viewport in the airlock, she could see the drone in the far distance, with a Valkyrie accompanying it. No doubt the sensor profile of the drone was showing something else, but with her bare eye, she saw it there.

And she also saw how the Romulans had caught on to their plan. It was made evident in flaring green light, as the frigate opened fire against the drone's approach. Rapid phaser beams sliced towards the approaching crafts, which would likely register down on the planet as well. zztann...

"I'll blast this thing open, get ready!" she called, changing the setting and raising her weapon, making sure she grabbed a tight hold on it. "Three, two, one..."

And then... he squeezed the trigger.

[ Lt. JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" | Cloak Envelope of Romulan Star Navy Veles-class Frigate | Andor's Orbit ] Attn: @uytrereee @Number6 @Stegro88 @Augusteo
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With the frigate providing a cloak envelope for all three Romulan ships, the Lone Wolves entered it soon enough. Being an approaching trajectory, the moment the Romulans decided to do something about them was unmistakable. Rawley's eyes widened as the frigate's weapon systems powered up.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" she called to her fellow Wolves, but Foxfire was on top of things, ready to protect the drone as it approached the Romulan ship. As for herself and Isley, they were on their own and spread apart, so the first volley depleted their shields by quite a lot before they could deploy counter measures and react to the development. Not a great start, smoke filling her cockpit, but Rawley wasn't deterred. She kept her eyes on sensors and the indicated airlock, setting a path close to the hull of the Romulan ship since it had yet to activate its shields. It likely had something to do with the cloak, which was still raised and likely kept the Andorians far below them guessing as to what was going on. Conflicting sensor readings and scrambled signatures. No doubt they were launching ships to investigate by that point. Rawley had no time to consider that, flying close to the frigate to avoid getting blasted to bits in no time.

"Come on, where are they?" she wondered, eyes darting between her screens and ignoring the computer's wailing damage report.

And then, the designated airlock was shredded apart from the inside, and she saw three humanoid figures tumbling into space, the lights of some kind of sled flashing as it spun, and beyond it... something that no doubt had to be the bomb.

"I have visual on the away team! Isley, where are you?" she demanded, seeing Icarus' Valkyrie avoiding disruptor fire on the far side of the Romulan ship, but she got no answer. Is he talking to the Romulans? Fuck it, they are exposed and I have to get them...

Yanking her flight stick sideways, she preformed a barrel roll and sped towards the jettisoned away team, she throttled up just as she activated her tractor beam, and swooped down to catch them all with the light before they spread too far apart. It seemed the Romulans were more concentrated on the approach of the drone, perhaps having made a visual contact with it and not seeing the false readings Arnold was projecting. No way of knowing, but they were shooting at it and Nix with a vengeance.

"Ghost to the Erudite, get that bloody bomb before they get a fucking transporter lock on it and beam it back aboard!" she said through clenched teeth as she collected the away team and set a zig-zag pattern back towards the hidden Savi dreadnought. By that time, the other two Romulan ships were opening fire as well, still all within the cloak envelope projected by the largest of the ships. Rawley was caught twice by disruptor fire, and the computer never ceased complaining. "Bollocks, shut the fuck up! Isley, where are you? Retreat, retreat!"

OOC: All right! Goes without saying that it's time to bail out of there asap! lol! Please leave Isley's fate open-ended in your posts, since we may have an interested Applicant that could take over writing him, but if not, this might be a good time to off him. Leave that to me since I have yet to get a final word on that. Have fun!

Re: Chapter 05: Veiled Valiance [ Day 02 | 2000 hrs. ]

Reply #24 – December 23, 2020, 09:48:25 AM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson | Romulan Vessel | Andoria ]
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Donna spared a moment to glance away from the passage she was guarding to watch Lieutenant zh’Wann push the hover sled carrying the thalaron bomb inside the airlock, readying it for pickup by the approaching drone. Now, all the three of them could do was wait for one of two outcomes. Either the drone would arrive, and they could all leave, or the Romulans would find them and their waiting would turn into a firefight until their extraction.

“Assuming, of course, that we actually get extracted,” Donna mused to herself, turning back to look down her passage. She was just in time too as a pair of Romulans came into view, their disruptors up and ready. Donna managed to snap a hurried shot off even as she ducked back into cover to avoid any incoming fire. Counting to herself, Donna lent out and snapped another shot off, this time managing to hit her target in the side even as someone began shouting. Her Romulan wasn’t up to scratch but the effect of the words was clear as the barrage of disruptor fire died down. The Andorian behind her wasted no time in returning fire, her accipitor filling the corridors with concussive energy.

"Vanya, Petterson, we'll jettison ourselves as well. We can't stay here if the bomb is gone. Get into the airlock!" Came the shouted command from the security officer and Donna didn’t need to be told twice as she dived across the gap between her and the airlock. She wasn’t quick enough though, with a disruptor beam catching her on her left boot.

“Shit,” Donna commented once the doors were shut again. A glance at her forearm PADD informed her that while her suit integrity was intact, she had lost the magnetic functions in her left boot. “Good thing I’m not planning on sticking around,” she thought, before a curse from the Andorian brought her up short; they were trapped in the airlock. What came next, was a predictable outcome in Donna’s opinion. The deputy was going to blow the airlock open.

Bracing herself as best she could, Donna activated her one functional magboot and waited as the Andorian counted down. When she fired, the airlock around them practically disintegrated from the power of the blast. Donna was flung about as the atmosphere escaped from around them before the deck beneath her gave way and sent her tumbling forward. Unprepared for the sudden movement, Donna could do nothing to prevent her impact with a piece of wreckage. The pilot was struck on the helmet, the head within being whipped around from the force of the impact.

Donna, her eyes unable to focus, thought she could see a warp fighter approaching her before the void of unconsciousness claimed her.

OOC: Donna is now unconscious. Her condition upon return to the Erudite to be determine.