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Topic: Chapter 06: Battle of the Houses [ Day 03 | 0900 hrs. ] (Read 14697 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: Chapter 06: Battle of the Houses [ Day 03 | 0900 hrs. ]

Reply #50 –
[ Lt. Cmdr. Cross | Main Bridge | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Brutus @BipSpoon @BZ @jreeves1701 @Elaurianpaladin
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Cross was surprised and impressed by Stark’s speech, her words carrying both truth and weight. Cross doubted he would have been able to put such words to voice, certainly not without a heavy peppering of obscenities throughout. For the most part, the Klingons seemed equally moved by her words as well, the rate of fire having slowly diminished in the aftermath of Natalie’s monologue until only a few ships remained fighting, and those few quickly killed each other off and resolved the problem on their own. The majority of the Klingon forces present were withdrawing in various directions, and Cross assumed the soundness of Stark’s reasoning had struck home. It was miraculous, Cross mused, that the truth of Stark’s words could somehow penetrated their thick skulls and find purchase somewhere amidst the handful of braincells that dwelled within, those few which had yet to be killed off by blood wine and head trauma.

Ensign Henshaw spoke up then, confirming for the rest of the bridge what Cross was already seeing on his sensors. A gruff Klingon voice crackled to life over the comms, instructing them to lower their shields so as to allow the former hostiles to retrieve their boarding parties.

Cross glanced at Stark as she addressed him, instructing him to lower shields yet keep their weapons ready. Cross nodded his acknowledgement and did as he was ordered, dropping the shields but keeping weapons at the ready. He tapped a short sequence of commands into his console, bringing up their internal sensors to ensure the Klingons were truly beaming their boarding parties off the Theurgy rather than trying to send over reinforcements. The Klingons were true to their word, however, and Cross watched as the Klingon lifesigns began to disappear form the internal sensors.

The battle over, Cross left the tactical station in the hands of a rather frazzled looking Ensign and crossed the bridge to where Commander Stark was viewing the incoming details from the Allegiant. He’d only caught part of what Ensign Henshaw had said as he focused on the transporting Klingons, but he’d head enough to be concerned. Now peering over Stark’s shoulder, Cross’ pale eyes took in the reports. Both missions had been successful, insofar as they had stopped both detonations and saved countless lives. Both missions had sustained casualties, but they had been able to recover both the weapons, including a Genesis device. ”Haja…” Cross murmured as he read, his mind’s eye picturing the devastation which would have been wrought had those two weapons detonated. ”Bombing a city is bad enough. Using a Genesis device though…” Cross shook his head, leaving the sentence unfinished. The Vulcan had a somewhat cheapened outlook on life after his childhood, but even he was sickened at the potential genocide that the away team had so narrowly prevented. He was still reading when something moved next to his head, his pale eyes darting to the source of the movement to find that it was a medic running a dermal regenerator over the cut on his face. Glancing down at his arm, Cross saw that the medic had already dealt with the laceration on his limb while he had been reading. Cross nodded his thanks to the man as Stark began issuing orders once more, calling for the Lone Wolves to be recalled and the other vessels to be informed of the battle’s end, as well as the reintegration of the ship’s vectors.

The news of another ship helping their cause, this Freedom Sentinel, was certainly something to help boost morale, though the back of Cross’ mind wondered how much support Admiral Andersson could send them before people began to notice. He also found himself wondering how quickly they’d all end up dead if Andersson himself ever became infested.

The former hybrid pulled his mind back to the present as Stark finished her speech, telling the crew aboard the bridge to quit staring at her and get to work. Cross chuckled softly at her choice of finale. His chuckle died as Stark addressed him quietly, her voice sounding tense. Cross turned his head and studied her, though she wasn’t quite looking at him. ”Yes, ma’am.” Cross replied, his voice equally quiet. ”I’ll be at your disposal as soon as the reintegration is complete.” Cross found himself crossing back to the Tactical station with a sense of foreboding, and found himself remembering how some of his Human crewmates had joked about “being sent to the principal’s office” when someone was summoned to the Ready Room. The Vulcan had no idea what the joke meant, but he knew it wasn’t generally used in a positive sense.

Coming to stand at his station while the three Vectors began the reintegration sequence, Cross paused and spoke to Ensign Smith. ”Ensign, what exactly is a principal’s office?” The Ensign glanced at him with a look of confusion, followed by a hint of amusement. ”Ah, someone’s in trouble, eh sir?” Cross turned an unfriendly gaze towards the younger man. ”On second though, shut up Ensign. Once the ship’s reintegrated, you’ll have the Tactical station.” Cross turned his attention back to the readouts, ignoring the “Ooooh” noise the Human was making next to him. It was the same idiotic noise that he’d heard others use to accompany the comment about the principal’s office.

There was little involvement on Cross’ end of the reintegration process, so the Vulcan busied himself with putting out calls for casualty lists and damage reports, his fingers jabbing the console in front of him with more force than was necessary as the Vulcan bit back his annoyance and frustration. Reports were already trickling in, with the casualty list already growing far more quickly than any of them would have wished. The shields had been depleted during the battle, the sheer amount of incoming fire having done it’s deadly work, and reports of systems damage and minor hull breaches were already joining the casualty list to paint a grim picture. Sickbay had been turned into a battleground, as had numerous other places across the three Vectors.

The casualty numbers kept climbing, and Cross silently wondered if the events which were to take place on Q’onos would add yet more names to those grim lists.

Kardasi Translation:
Haja – Fuck

Re: Chapter 06: Battle of the Houses [ Day 03 | 0900 hrs. ]

Reply #51 –
[ Lt. Tyreke Okafor | Main Bridge | Deck 01 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Brutus @BipSpoon @BZ @jreeves1701

The damage reports began coming in. The multiple stations on Vector 1 calling out to the Captain on the status of the ship. The ship held up well during the battle, and the hopefully the casualty reports coming in would be light, though from the reports of the impact damage, there was some real concern it would not be so kind.

As the ship began the integration process, Tyreke excused himself from the Vector 1 bridge to return to his station in Vector 3. During the entire walk back, he took stock of the damage to the internals of the ship. Crewmen being brought to sickbay for treatment, and engineering staff struggling to get the ship damage under control now that the three vectors returned.

Klingon weapons fire scortched the internals of the hallways. The melted metal and sparking consoles were of serious concern in several locations. Tyreke made it back to his station and started to run system wide scans, including the main deflector array and the status of the sensors themselves. He relaxed slightly when he saw more of the Klingon ships jump to warp as was agreed to in the interactions between the Starfleet forces and the Empire.

He ran his scans, helped locate several crewman injured in areas of the ship where internal sensors had gone down. He didn't stop until ever inch of Vector three had been cleared. The sadness of finding crewman and klingons dead in the small places, some of them still locked in battle from explosive decompression, or other catatrophies leaping out of the Theurgy when she was injured. It gripped him, making him remember the Bajoran conflicts during the War with the Dominion. He continued to stay within his work... there would be time to mourn later, but right now, he had people to help.

Re: Chapter 06: Battle of the Houses [ Day 03 | 0900 hrs. ]

Reply #52 –
TWO HOURS LATER | 1700 HRS.

[ Echtand qi Versant | The Quarters of the Voice | The Erudite ]  Attn: All
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Word came to Voice after he'd finished cleansing himself. The Erudite had finished it's QSD jump and caught up with the Theurgy... in the wake of what seemed like a battle. Looking out his panoramic viewport, the leader of the rebel Savi took in the debris field of what could only be former Klingon ships, as well as the damages to the Theurgy's hull, frowning. In part, he realised he wasn't just irritated with the potential danger to Doctor Nicander, but a sense of... compassion came to him when he thought of the ill-equipped specimens and their plight. His frown deepened, unsure what to do with the notion, and went to get dressed. He sighed, knowing he needed tell them the Erudite had returned, bringing the Allegiant, because they had no means to detect his ship's presence at their side.

"This is the Voice," he said, soon adjusting the cuffs on his suit, and his command established a direct line to the bridge. "Raise whomever is in command of the Theurgy now that Ives is gone. I will speak with them from here."

Hours ago, the unruly Starfleet officers in the Theurgy's away team had both demanded to return to Klingon space as soon as possible - wanting them to have the reactors of the Erudite cooled down just enough to cover the distance - yet they had also insisted on further mission assistance in the form of scans of Breen for a missing member of their crew. They had misplaced the leader of their away team, and had wanted the Breen capital scanned in order to locate her. Debating how much leeway the Code would actually grant him, and how it may affect his standing among his own officers, Echtand had begrudgingly obliged them as a personal favour... In the end, they had made it back aboard the Erudite just in time for their return to Klingon space. First, they wished to hurry on, and then they ask to wait. Like Savi children with baby-fat around their wits.

Eventually, as he stepped up to it, the viewport turned into a screen, showing someone he remembered to be named Stark.

"This is the Voice. We have returned, and the remaining crew of the Allegiant is readying to dock, wishing to return to the Theurgy once more."

MEANWHILE | USS THEURGY | DEBRIS FIELD

[Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark | Main Bridge | Deck 01 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
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The past few hours had passed both too fast, and agonizingly slow for Natalie Stark. As much as she had wanted to race toward Qo'noS, the state of the ship's engines (coupled with the other damage from the assault) made that a questionable choice. Benamite crystals were key to any attempt at using the QSD, and Lt. Commander Tiran had nixed that right away. Theurgy's crystals had deteriorated far too much to be of reliable use for the time being. With the current state of affairs, the ship would have managed something 'in the neighborhood' of warp 8. Blue had been rather more explicit than that, but Natalie had mentally censored the report in her mind. Natalie was more forgiving than usual, of course, since she had just heard about the passing of Tiran's husband in sickbay.

Indeed, at 1500 hrs., the Theurgy had lost its XO. Even with the medical knowledge of the Savi delegation aboard, there had been naught they could do for Commander Ducote. It was such an event that were too much to process, making Stark focus on the mission alone for the time being, and not what would become of the ship's chain-of-command. Much less her own involvement in that.

So, as it were, warp 8 would not be sufficient to get the ship to Qo'noS ahead of - or even swiftly after - Gorka. Natalie had therefore chosen to gamble that Blue and her team could repair the engines with enough time left over, that a speed run at maximum warp would allow them to catch up to the Ta'rom. They'd run the numbers and it was mathematically possible, but that point of no return was fast approaching. Plenty had happened in the past two hours to leave Natalie thoroughly frustrated, and doing her best to repress her ire; the results were mixed. Thus was her state when the Erudite made its presence in the debris field known.

The hail had been unexpected to say the least, and Natalie had nearly tripped over herself, having been walking toward the Captains Ready Room with Lt. Commander Cross in tow, for what felt like the fifth or sixth time since the battle had ended. Hardly the most professional reaction, but she'd managed to collect herself as she'd had barked out the order to put the call on viewscreen. Satisfied that her ears had not deceived her, as the Voice appeared to announce that the Erudite had arrived with 'the remaining crew of the Allegiant'. Natalie hoped, prayed even, her relief and shock did not show on her face as she drew herself up to her tallest stance (which was not terribly much) and tried to pretend they all did not look like they'd just come through the middle of a scathing battle (which they did, and had).

"We did not expect your presence, but I do... welcome the news." After the battle they had just been through, the acting Captain was doing her best to pick and choose her words carefully. Dealing with the Savi and all their rules and bindings related to their Code was tasking and Natalie had so far been able to mostly foist that off on Ives and Ducote. Neither were options now.  "As you can see matters are fluid here. A great battle has just ended, and all parties race toward Qo'noS. As welcome as it is to have our companions home," and here she choked up ever so slightly, wanting nothing more than to have that ship aboard and go make sure for herself the condition the survivors were in - "I would have rather you taken them straight to Qo'noS."

On the screen, the pale brows of the Savi leader climbed slightly over his black eyes.

"Captain Ives is in desperate need of all the backup he can get. Can you take them ahead again? Using your far superior Quantum Slipstream Drive?" She could tell some of the others on the bridge were not happy with that request. Natalie wasn't happy making it. That didn't change the fact that she made it all the same. Any help that Ives could get, would be better spent there, than here. No matter how much I want otherwise.

On the screen, the Voice was silent at first... then he raised a three-fingered hand and covered his eyes for a moment. After a deep breath, he stood taller. [Your away team requested that we would return as soon as possible, which we have done. Now, with the limited cool-down of our reactors in Breen space, we are unable to initiate another Quantum Slipstream jump for quite some time. I do not recall that our alliance would constitute this magnitude of direct assistance. Quite the opposite, in fact.]

"Damn," she hissed under her breath, barely a whisper. Which... Cross would have heard perfectly fine. Double damn. Feeling her jaw twitch, Natalie raised her chin up a bit, trying to emulate a gesture she had seen not only Captain Ives, but even Carrigan Trent, and her old boss, Christian Hendricks, pull out on occasion. "I would assume that it would be in your best interests as much as our own to see that Captain Ives and Chancellor Martok succeed in their effort to prevent the destabilization of the Klingon Empire. The more fires we can avoid having start, the less you'll have to worry about our common enemy gaining a stronger foothold here."

Echtand qi Versant took another deep breath, trying to be tolerant. Trying to be understanding of the limited scope of the minds of these allies, and as if speaking to a child - almost - he squared his shoulders. [My statement was that we cannot initiate another jump with our slipstream drive in order to reach Qo'noS. Have I said anything about getting the Theurgy there? It would be a rather minor expenditure of energy on our part, provided you know how to project a scattering field with one of those quaint deflectors. Surely you must deduce how we deploy our research vessels from our larger ships in the Flotilla in an expedient manner?]

Well he had her there, and Natalie felt herself blink once as she processed the words. That tugged at the back of her mind and she tilted her head to one side, before glancing over to Thea. Raising an eyebrow in a silent question, the Ops Chief dug at the nagging little tease dangled in front of her. "You're speaking of... soliton wave generations? You have the capability of generating one of those with enough velocity to propel us toward Qo'noS?"

Echtand looked like he was physically suffering at this point, the affirmation an exasperated, [Correct...]

If there had been hesitation in Stark's voice, it was well justified. Starfleet had been involved in some experimentation along those lines years back. The results had been distressing, and nearly destroyed not only the starship involved, but the planet on the receiving end that had been generating the counter wave to catch, and slow the vessel down. In theory if it could work, it was a valid option.

Starfleet had yet to make it work on a large scale though in 2371 there had been some promising small scale work down by the Cardassians in relation to communication efforts utilizing the wave generation. In a pinch...

At Stark's side Thea was accessing her memory banks and running diagnostics, until her answer came. "Confirmed. Using my auxiliary deflector as well as my main one, I can generate the kind of scattering field that would dissipate a soliton wave, but I need more data."

It was risky but Stark had just made a compelling argument toward the need to get Captain Ives as much help as they could. Of course, if they failed to generate the field properly, they'd end up as a light year long stream of debris reaching out from wherever they impacted likely all the way back to Qo'noS. Not an appealing thought. "We have the ability. And... we can always detonate a spread of torpedoes to keep the wave from growing in capacity and shattering any stray planets if worse comes to worse." Idly she wondered how she could sound so cavalier about that grim possibility. She needed to speak with the counseling department about her bleak attitude. Again. "If you can provide us the phase variance settings to tune our 'quaint deflectors' to, so that the scattering field is sufficient to provide for breaking maneuvers without, well, cracking us open in the process, then yes. I agree with the purposed plan."

If they didn't all die in the process, Gorka was likely going to crap himself when the Theurgy appeared in orbit. It was not a kind thought to have, but it was one that teased a smile onto Natalie's lips for the first time in the conversation.

The look of the Savi face on the screen was reminiscent of a tired father being asked to push a child on a swing. He raised his wrist tablet and tapped it a couple of times. [Data sent. Speak with the Savi delegation aboard your ship if you need any further assistance. The Erudite will be in position to generate the soliton wave towards Qo'noS when you are ready. Echtand out.]

As the feed was cut, the Allegiant had appeared out of nowhere - since the white dreadnought still cloaked - and docked with the Theurgy.

There was little time. Already one of the junior officers at the auxiliary science station was calling out that the Savi reported that the Erudite was gearing up to generate the wave. What followed was a snap execution of as series of orders as Nat strode back to the command chair, all thoughts of returning to the ready room for another confab shoved aside for the time being. A confirmation arrived that the Allegiant had docked, but the Acting Captain could not spare a moment to reach out.

"All hands, this is the bridge," Natalie called out through the ship's comm system, newly restored after  temporary outage that had plagued the ship in the wake of the battle. "We are going to execute a rather risky maneuver to propel our vessel toward Qo'noS, in an effort to arrive in time to assist Captain Ives and Chancellor Martok. Set status, yellow alert. Sound general quarters. Batten down anything loose and hold on tight."

Turning her gaze back to Ops and CONN, she took stock of the two relief officers and gave a terse nod. At this point Yvette Conway had gone off to deal with other matters and Ens. Kinzie Vass was sitting in what Natalie thought of as 'her' chair. She regretted that she did not recognize the officer at helm, and made a mental note to do something about that, later. Over her shoulder she called out to Ens. Henshaw to hail the Erudite and signal their readiness.

“Erudite this is Theurgy Ops, we’re good to go. Initiate on your-”

No sooner as she said the words, than a force from behind the Theurgy slammed into the vessel. The shields flared around the combined vectors, and a venerable cacophony of alarms rang out from almost every station. Natalie gripped down on the restraints in her chair, to keep from being launched forward unceremoniously toward the front of the bridge. But it settled down in rapid order, and she was able to toss her head back. "Report!"

"We have been caught in the soliton wave, Captain," the Trill at Ops called back, not taking her eyes off the controls. "Shields are down by 15%. Inertial dampeners are... holding steady. Minor damage reports coming in." Nat would let Blue deal with that for now. "Current velocities are... matching those for the records of the Enterprise from 2367, but the wave doesn't seem to be compounding exponentially. Estimated time of arrival at Qo'noS …twenty-five minutes!"

Natalie could hardly blame the young woman for her exuberance in delivering that bit of news. She wanted to let out a yelp of sheer joy herself. She couldn't, but she wanted to. A smile split her face all the same, and she turned to Thea. "Spread the word, all hands have twenty minutes to get as much fixed and ready as they can, then I want everyone at battle stations. Lt. Commander Cross, work with your team to come up with a few action plans for our arrival. Ms. Natauna, I'm going to need you, and likely Lt. Commander Rutherford on point when we arrive to deal with the locals."

Squaring her shoulders, she leaned back in her chair and checked the time countdown now programmed into her armrest monitor. "I want a debrief from the Allegiant. Thea, please determine if the survivors are in a stable enough state to have that in the main conference room. If not, I'll come down to them in sickbay." There was a lot to cover, and not a lot of time for her to work with.

"Aye, Captain. Summons issued to the leader of the away team..." said Thea, yet paused with a worried frown, "but as far as I can tell by internal sensors, Commander Dewitt is not among them."

- FIN

OOC: This JP between Brutus and I concludes Chapter 06, Battle of the Houses, but the Theurgy will not be left behind, thanks to the crew's alliance with the Savi. Thank you also to BipSpoon for the Cameron dialogue! New starters coming up, followed by a Newsletter. Stay tuned!

This post also extends the availability for Supplemental threads belonging to Chapter 06 all the way to 1725 hrs, at which point the Theurgy will reach Qo'noS. The naming convention for these Supplemental Threads is CH06: S [D03]YYYY] Insert Title (with YYYY marking the time).
 
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