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CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

CHAPTER 06 BATTLE LOG: QO'NOS BOUND AND DOWN

[ CPO Sithick | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 ] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Nero @chXinya

Sithick reached his taloned hand into the underside of the main control terminal of the Sabine and yanked hard, freeing the ship’s transponder unit. The Gorn was confident that his technician crew could handle the Aldean cloak installation. It should be simple now after they had performed the task successfully on all the fighters aboard the Theurgy. But Sithick knew Klingon technology and he knew their culture and their tactics. The approach to Qonos would be well monitored. If the Aldeans had given the Theurgy access to their cloaking technology, the Klingons most likely had access to it too. Klingon monitoring stations would have been upgraded the second they were able to reverse engineer the Aldean tech. Sithick knew that there was an increased possibility that if the Sabine flew close enough to a monitoring station or patrol, the cloak would be ineffective. This mission had to have a fail-safe for just such an event and he had just the one.

He rolled the metallic cylinder in his hand. Amazing that something so small could possibly ruin this whole mission by giving away the identity of the vessel it was installed on. Uncloaked it would have been a signal flare alerting the Klingons of the Sabine’s presence. Sithick tossed it to a nearby technician

“Placcce thats ins a safes spaccce.”

Reaching into his uniform pocket, Sithick removed a similar device but clearly of a Klingon design. It was a souvenir he had picked up while at Aldea, nicked from a salvage pile on the Klingon station there. He had reprogramed the Klingon transponder to identify the Sabine as a Kivra-Class heavy shuttle. Specifically the IKS veQDuj* belonging to Vratak of the House of Vrag, a minor Klingon house that was banished from the Empire by Chancellor Gowron for supporting the House of Mogh during the Klingon-Cardassian War but later reinstated by Chancellor Martok at the request of Ambassador Worf. Sithick knew that most Klingons would avoid contact and simply ignore such a vessel.

No sooner had Sithick installed the new transponder did one of his technicians intercepted, “The cloak is installed and fully operational sir.”

“Goodsss.” Sithick responded as he closed up the access panel under the console. Standing up to his full height the Gorn banged his head on the ceiling with a loud thud. Rubbing his head he moved toward the access ramp to the shuttlebay outside. “Missss Aldnoahsss. Yousss allsss setsss.”

Sithick’s eyes focused on Chancellor Martok. Out of instinct and habit, the giant lizard lowered his head and punched his right fist against his breast. “wo’sss batlhvaDsss!” It was a standard salute that he had picked up as a jeghpu'wI' to the Empire. It meant ‘For the honor of the Empire.’

Sithick noticed his roommate Mickayla and hoped the gesture wouldn't embarrass her in front of the Chancellor.

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[ CWO Larrant Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 ]

Larrant walked across the deck of the shuttlebay behind the Captain and Klingon Chancellor toward what he immediately recognized as the work of Carol Tanucu of Starfleet’s Advanced Starship Design Bureau. Her designs were frequently passed over due to Starfleet politics. Larrant knew of her work because he had used her designs in lectures he taught on space aerodynamics at Starfleet Academy. He thought all the prototypes had been scrapped but here one stood. His avatar registered the emotion of awe and puffed out its cheeks.

When the captain of the Sabine addressed him, Larrant’s avatar returned to a neutral appearance. “That would be affirmative. Fascinating ship.”

Larrant continued to board the Sabine, passed a saluting Gorn, and moved toward the cockpit. It would be a cramped cabin he thought as he moved toward the copilot’s station. The assignment given to him was to find the quickest and stealthiest approach to Q’onoS. To do that he would need additional power and focus. As his avatar sat down into the copilot’s seat the holographic matrix deactivated revealing the Medusan habitat pod beneath. Indicator lights blinked as Larrant activated his remote access to the Sabine’s navigational computer. Immediately the navigation console came to life, displaying stellar telemetry, gravity wells, subspace pockets, and a plethora of other data. His species could navigate space as most could walk across a room. Backed with sensor data, Larrant was not only able to pick up other vessels traveling at warp but could feel them.

“Strategic course plotted. We should make Q’onoS with time to spare.”


CPO Sithick [Show/Hide]
CWO1 Larrant [Show/Hide]
BG Natauna
 [Show/Hide]

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #1 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @chXinya @jreeves1701
[Show/Hide]
Logan was sitting in the daily situation meeting and was informed about the current situation when an escort for the SS Sabine was mentioned. Since the Sabine was a fast ship, it was soon clear that only Valravn could be used. So, it was also clear that Logan and Alessia would provide the escort for this mission. They were asked out of courtesy, but for them and their RIOs it was clear that they would take over the task.
The two pilots were given the flight path and the armament on which to plan the mission. Logan flew over the pamphlet. According to the pamphlet, they would step outside the door armed to the teeth. It could not be ruled out that they would encounter fierce enemy resistance that would prevent them from reaching their destination. So, he made a few changes to the parameters with which he felt more comfortable. He presented his results to Alith, whose Vulcan mind he appreciated. Even though he considered it very unlikely to be wrong, it was still better to have someone to confirm it or to suggest changes that he might not have considered. But Alith nodded his changes. That was a good sign. Slowly they seemed to be on the same wavelength. With a glance to his left, he realized that Alessia and her andorian RIO Asav were on the same page. All four of them were aware of what was at stake and they wanted to do everything possible to prevent the SS Sabine from reaching the goal in pieces. Logan looked at the large display on the wall, which had two large black areas. He reached out his fist to his good friend.
"For Liliana, Dev, Haqr and Vinnie."
Alessia returned his gesture.
"For Meerkat, Dragon, Bulkhead and Fury."
Logan was supposed to lead the escort, so he now set the tone when he ordered his wingmen and copilots to get ready. He himself packed up his things and went into the locker room. His new exosuit MKII was already waiting for him. Little by little he put on the individual parts and prepared himself mentally for the start. Yes, he would ensure that the SS Sabine arrived safely at Q'onoS. He owed that to Liliana and Dev and all the others who had died in that cowardly bombing of the Spearhead Lounge.

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #2 –
[ CPO Mickayla MacGregor | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @chXinya @Nero @jreeves1701
[Show/Hide]


Mickayla wasn’t sure how she felt about what was happening. She had been in the security centre, checking over phaser rifles when Thea had appeared, quite literally out of thin air, and asked her to return to her quarters and pack her armour and weapons. It had taken the CPO a moment to realise that the A.I was referring to her Klingon armour and accoutrements. Her questions had been forestalled by Thea’s explanation that she would be told en route. Knowing that further efforts would be rebuffed, Mickayla had hastened to do as she had been directed, stuffing the armour that Captain Ruzaxo had organised for her into a duffle bag before tossing her mek’leth and d’k tagh on top. 

She had been rushing out of the quarters she shared with Sithick, the Gorn absent as the ship prepared for battle, when she had almost run into a Klingon officer waiting outside with Thea. Without introducing himself, he had handed Mickayla a snub-nosed Klingon disruptor pistol, telling her that she might need it before turning and walking away. Mickayla was about to reprimand him for his rudeness with Thea reminded her that she had somewhere to be.

Told that she was to report to the Upper Shuttle Bay, Mickayla headed for the nearest turbolift, stuffing the disruptor into her duffle as she wondered what was going on. The best she could come up with was that she would be going undercover as part of Martok’s security detail. Given her recent conversion from a hybrid to a full-blooded Klingon, it would allow her to join the Chancellor’s security without standing out.

Exiting the turbolift on deck 11, Mickayla arrived just in time to see Captain Ives walk past carrying what appeared to be a katana in one hand. Without a word, Mickayla fell into step behind her commanding officer as they entered the shuttlebay proper. Walking across the deck, Mickayla saw the Sabine ahead of her, the ship’s owner looking her way as they approached before turning to look the other way, following the Câroon’s sightline, Mickayla saw the Chancellor approaching with one of, if not the largest, Klingons that she had ever seen. The male looked like a walking tank in his armour and had the weapons to match. Just from a quick glance Mickayla was able to see a d’k tagh, mek’leth, disruptor pistol at his waste with the hilt of a sword raising up over his right shoulder.

As intimidating as the bodyguard’s appearance was, it was the look in Martok’s eyes that caused Mickayla trepidation. It was a formal look, as best as she could tell, not knowing the man at all. But there was more. It was, appraising, yet guarded. And it didn’t at all settle Mickayla’s nerves. Looking away from the Klingon leader, Mickayla looked around as other arrived, seemingly filling out the complement of the Sabine. Standing at the back, she listened to the exchanges being made between the Câroon who ‘owned’ the Sabine, Captain Ives and the others present. That was, until Captain Ives addressed her specifically, informing her that Martok wished to speak to her about a personal matter. And despite the Chancellor’s reassurances, Micklayla’s unease only grew.

“Understood sir, Chancellor,” she responded, addressing the two of them. “I will stow my gear and keep myself available,” she said before moving away after Martok turned to speak with Captain Ives. Heading towards the ship, Mickayla saw Sithick disembark ahead of her and overheard him informing Sera that whatever he had been working on was finished. When his eyes found the Klingon Chancellor though, she saw what she recognised as an instinctual response as he saluted Martok, his clawed fist thumping his chest.

“Easy does it big guy. Don’t hurt yourself,” Mickayla advised quietly when she had drawn level with her roommate. “You take care of yourself. I’m not sure which of us is going to be in more danger, and I want to see you walking around when I get back.” The Gorn had been a surprising find when she had been assigned her quarters a month prior and Mickayla was unwilling to break in a new roommate. 

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #3 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11| Vector 01 | USS Theurgy] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Nero @jreeves1701

Following behind the rest of the group, Selena made sure not to appear like she’s rushing as soon as she’s within view of the shuttlebay doors.  Strolling in at a more relaxed but purposeful stride she didn’t even consider the idea that it was bad form to intrude on the Captain’s conversation with their new shuttle host, stepping up right next to the currently-male Ives.  At least she knew not to interrupt.

Her presence didn’t go unnoticed of course, the Captain never misses anything.  Thankfully she could read the playful tone in his voice when he asked if she had the right message this time.  She wouldn’t have faulted him if he was serious either, stars know she’s been beating herself up ever since that disaster back on 84. She nodded once, slowly, glowing eyes never moving from his own.  “I watched the entire thing before coming down here, loaded a backup copy into my own memory, stashed a few chips on myself just in case.  I even added in a checksum protocol in case someone tries to alter it again.”  Selena’s hair bobbed in the air as something shot to her mind, the reflex jerk quite apparent.  “Oh!  I almost forgot!”  A cybernetic hand fished into the sack draped over her shoulder, a fistful of Klingon isolinear chips emerging a moment later.  Her thumb slid one out past the others and she held it out to Ives.  “If something happens to me, just plug this into the nearest terminal connected to communications system.  The program will launch automatically.  I have one for everyone…” she looked past Ives to see where Chancellor Martok was standing.  “and I mean everyone.  Excuse me, I’ll go get situated.”

As much as Selena would love to talk with the most powerful man in the Empire right now, sadly he was in the middle of talking with someone else.  The mountain of Klingon meat standing close by was some serious deterrent too, so she’ll have to wait for now.  One thought did cross her mind as she stepped aboard the Sabine though: Just how is he going to fit in one of the seats…

Not surprisingly, the comms specialist wasn’t the first one ready to go, there was another of the newcomers taking up the navigators seat.  Selena stood there and stared at the blinking box for a few moments, not quite sure how to approach a Medusan.  Her VISOR would protect her if he climbed out (at least in theory) so she wasn’t about that.  She just didn’t know how to read the lights.  Was he busy, napping, or waiting for her to say something.  She decided to wait instead, the communications system was calling anyways.  She’d already set up Theurgy’s end of the comm protocols, she needed to make sure the Sabine was linked up before they left.  “Another plunge into the abyss eh friend?” she quipped to her side as she sat in the pilot’s chair.  It was comfy, comfy enough that she was afraid its owner would be a little too protective of it and throw her out before she was done…

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #4 –
[ High Chancellor Martok, son of Urthog | SS Sabine / Kivra-Class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
"wo’ batlhvaD," Martok had said in answer to the Gorn that had finished the upgrades on the odd Federation shuttle, a lopsided grin granted the large creature. Kudesh, on his part, merely gave him a blank stare before they boarded the craft.

While sour and deeply bitter about having to leave his two hundred companions behind, rather having fought Gorka in battle, Chancellor Martok had agreed to Captain Ives' plan, for he had seen the merit in reaching the Great Hall ahead of House of Mo'Kai. His condition had been for Ives coming along as well, and setting the record straight about the Theurgy and the Infested, whom threatened not just the Federation but the Empire as well, if what the Doctor in the Theurgy's brig had spoken the truth. Thus, bringing Kudesh, and armed with knowledge, information, and means to unify the Empire, Martok stepped aboard the shuttle with his teeth clenched shut - his remaining eye gauging the others that had been picked for the mission. A motley crew, if I ever saw one...

So, it was time to deal with the matter concerning the MacGregor female, which Martok had learned about after setting his foot on the Theurgy, but whom he'd yet to decide how to approach. It seemed the tactic Ives had employed had been ideal, so he'd personally asked that the Chief Petty Officer joined the small crew. "This way," he growled to the young woman and led her towards the aft section of the shuttle, past the bunk beds and the fold-out table, and to the storage room. "Kudesh, wait here."

His old friend said naught in answer, merely standing against the bulkhead and letting the female Klingon step past him, so that she might join Martok in the privacy of the storage room. Once they were both inside, and the sliding doors shut, Martok faced the female in the dim light of the small room. "What do you know about your father, Chief Petty Officer?"

[>> Prompt for a new starter from @Stegro88 , perhaps a JP, which will contain the conversation that follows. :) ]

[ Captain Ives | SS Sabine / Kivra-Class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Meanwhile, Captain Ives had lingered outside the Sabine while the rest stepped aboard, so that he might have words with the Gorn that had installed the transponder.

"My gratitude for your astute observation and your assistance, Chief Petty Officer," he told Sithick, whom he recalled from that day at the Black Opal. Jien had personally spoken with the staff of that weapon research facility, Jennifer Dewitt standing at his side, and he remembered how the Gorn male had been every bit as suspicious as the rest of the survivors. Luckily, Dewitt's word and the recording of Sonja Acreth had proven more than sufficient to sway the Black Opal officers to open their eyes and see the truth, and besides the accomplishments of the rest of those officers, the Gorn had proven himself anew. "Good luck in the fighter bay, once House Mo'Kai catches up with Thea. Give my regards to the new Chief of the Deck as well, and the Lone Wolves."

With Arashi - his dai-katana - held sheathed in his left hand, Jien then stepped aboard the Sabine, and spotted Sera close to the cockpit. The two seats up front were occupied by Ravenholm and Larrant, making mission preparations. He gave the order nonetheless, seating himself as he did by the desk. "Launch when ready, Miss Aldnoah. Maximum warp, course set for Qo'nos."

"Sure. As soon as I can have my bloody seat back, I'll have a chat with Wraith and his pal, telling them we're off," came the retort, with a yellow-eyed glare against Selena. After she pocketed the isolinear chip she'd been given, Sera reached down past the cybernetically enhanced woman and punched a few buttons. "Closing airlock, flight checks already complete, consider this new cloak activated and.... launch sequence initiated. Burn me, let's hope that transponder works in case we get caught."

And so it was, the Sabine's anti-grav units activated and pushed the shuttle off the deck. The bay doors were opening, and the RCS thrusters soon pushed them clear of Thea's safe interior. "And... we're Q'onoS bound."

"Oh, dear," said V-Nine, having seated herself on one of the three fold-out chairs next to the glassed transporter pod. She was wringing her hands, seemingly nervous, and Jien realised that this was her very first away mission, unless her deployment to the Theurgy itself could be considered as such.

"Besides your medical expertise," said Jien with a faint smile, as if to make the android settle down. He glanced towards the sliding doors that sealed off the aft compartment from the main one, knowing that neither Martok nor his bodyguard would hear the next request. "I was wondering if you still have access to technical databases of your makers, and if you and Ravenholm could work together to calibrate the warp factor output of this shuttle, for if there are any means to get to Qo'nos more quickly, the technology of the Savi might be key for it."

"I'm a doctor, Captain, not a warp scientist," objected the surgical android where she sat, shaking her head, but added, "but of course. The schematics of this ship shows the warp core is behind the storage compartment, and as soon as the Chancellor is no longer talking with Chief Petty officer MacGregor, I can run some scans."

"Hey, nevermind asking me about doing things to my ship," objected Sera, from the cockpit, grumbling, "but fine. Burn me, why don't you? Just don't blow her up in the process..."

"My apologies, Miss Aldnoah," said Jien, knowing he didn't need to tell the Câroon it was in her interest as well they got to Qo'nos as quickly as possible, since there would be more allies to Martok in the First City than on the way there.

The Sabine shot off at warp, along with the two warp fighter escorts, both cloaked in the same fashion the Sabine was.

THREE HOURS LATER | 1400 HRS.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine / Kivra-Class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
"Shit!" said Sera, noticing how two blips on her long range sensors were moving in. "Captain! Chancellor! We have company!"

Three hours had passed, and word from Mission Ops on the Theurgy said that Gorka's fleet was due to catch up soon. For the Sabine, the flight had been largely uneventful, barring some colourful conversations between the strange little crew. Sera had tried to keep herself mostly out of it all, failing severely at it, instead trying to focus on trading banter with the two warp fighter pilots that scouted ahead and would return to them from time to time. The star-light streaming across the transparent aluminium canopy reflected against the Medusan next to her, and Sera threw him a glance. "Do you have any flaming ideas, box-boy? You spoke of an asteroid field up ahead? Just give me some fresh sensor readouts, will you?"

Captain Ives appeared in the doorway to the cockpit, taking stock on what was on sensors, before she - now being in her female form - turned towards the aft compartments of the Sabine. "Ravenholm! V-Nine! How's the work on the warp calibrations going?"

"Output estimates pending, calibrations yet done! Selena, be careful with that!" came the android's muffled voice from the storage room in the very aft of the ship. "We'll let you know soon!"

"Do you want to say anything to the dogs out there?" asked Sera, her brows lowered over her yellow eyes as she saw the two blips approaching.

"Wolves," the Captain corrected, but Sera really didn't know the difference between Earth's blasted canines. "Tell them to circle back from their forward patrol and join us here. We don't want to be caught alone of those Klingon ships are hostile."

"Aye, aye," said Sera and hit the comms, "Wraith, Angel, get your tight asses back here. We have company. Just stay out of visual range. We might deter them before they lay eyes on us."

"Which House do they belong to?" asked Martok, standing together with Kudesh not far behind Ives.

"Blast it if I know. Box-boy?"

OOC: Hope you like the development, and I can NPC the Klingons on those ships. :) 7 days begin today for y'all!

Free to create Supplemental threads depicting the scenes from the past 3 hours on the Sabine as well, of course, one of which would be Martok talking to Mickayla. Naming convention: CH06: S [D03|XXXX] Insert Title

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #5 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @chXinya @jreeves1701
[Show/Hide]
Logan was pushed into the seat when he initiated the warp jump. The inertial dampers of the fighter needed a few moments to compensate for the acceleration. After a few moments he and his RIO were able to breathe again as usual. Logan was sure that Alessia Garcia, alias Angel, had the same fate in the fighter flying parallel to him.
They had just received the information that the Sabine was on her way when they were ready for takeoff. Logan let the computer steer the Valravn from the stern of the Theurgy and then took over the rudder when they exceeded the outer parameter. He steered the fighter into a sharp right turn and pulled up its nose. They glided along the outer hull of the mighty dreadnaught. Together with his wingman he would make sure that the Sabine with her valuable cargo would arrive safely at Q'onoS.
Both hunters overtook the Sabine quite fast and sat down a good distance in front of her to scout out the planned route. Regularly they received updates from the Sabine, which provided them with updated star charts and navigation points.

Three hours passed by.

"Do you have that on screen, Wraith?" came the familiar voice of his wingman over the radio.
"Two sensor contacts," Hunter reported from the back seat.
"Got them. Hold your course and observe, Angel. Hunter, can you get a closer look?"
Where he had just spoken in a relaxed tone with Garcia and the pilot of the Sabine, Sera vers Aldnoah, had changed from one moment to the next into his usual serious and professional self. The self that is known for being a damn good pilot. He was number four in the federal rankings. At least, if he was still in that ranking and he had not just been eliminated after the fight in the Azure Nebula.
"Definitely Klingon, Wraith. They are holding a direct course toward us. Friend or foe cannot be detected at this time."
"Did you hear that, Angel?"
"Affirmative. What next?"
"I'll sort it out with the Sabine."
Just as Logan was about to open communications with the modified shuttle, they were also radioed. They were told to drop back and go in formation with the Sabine. Logan smiled gently. This was exactly what he had in mind. A direct confrontation would be more detrimental than beneficial to their mission. So, Logan did as he was told.
"Copy that. Return and avoid visual contact. Angel, there's your answer."
They slowed down the thrust a bit so that Sabine could catch up and sit between the two fighters, always ready to break out of formation and fly attacks on any enemies. But who knew if the approaching sensor contacts were really enemies?
"Sabine, can you identify the sensor contacts?"
On the instruments they were more clearly visible with every passing second. Logan hoped the Aldean cloak was working.

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #6 –
[CWO Larrant |  Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 ] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @Nero @chXinya

Box boy? Thought Larrant regarding the nomenclature that the angry pilot of the Sabine had addressed him as.

"CHIEF LARRANT OR CHIEF WILL SUFFICE. REGARDING STRATEGIC ACTION REGARDING THE ASTEROID FIELD.... I BELIEVE ONE OF MY DIADS WOULD USE THE PHRASE 'PIECE OF PIE'." Larrant had already calculated the trajectory of every asteroid within the field. A nearly impossible task for navigational computers but his innate Medusan sense of subspace and gravity fields allowed him to plot a course through the hazardous slush of rocks. His link with the Sabine gave him a connection akin to a surfer and their surfboard.

With a BEEP, one of the holographic projectors on his pod activated and a three-dimensional tactical display materialized between Larrant and Sera. The Klingon vessels marked at the outer edge in red trefoils. The Sabine centered represented with a miniature version of the craft. A yellow line extended from the mini-Sabine straight to a field of marble-sized rocks where it suddenly entered a roller-coaster-like pattern of turns, loops, dips, dives, and about faces. If it wasn't for inertial dampeners the crew might just lose their lunch.

"IF THE SABINE IS STILL WITHIN STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS OF TANUCU'S DESIGNS THEN THERE IS ONLY A 2.568 PERCENT CHANCE WE WILL FAIL TO NAVIGATE THE ASTEROID FIELD WITHOUT DAMAGE TO THE SHIPS STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY."

Larrant hoped that that information would put the Sabine's pilot and owner at ease for the craft that she clearly was obsessed with. Before anyone could reply the trefoils flickered and became miniature Jen'thar-class assault cruisers. The Jen'thar-class was a relatively old Klingon ship class first commissioned in 2358 but saw extensive action during the Dominion War. The two Klingon ships had nacelle pylons that swept upward and aft, suggesting a bird of prey stooping to strike its target. Their central bodies stretched aft slightly beyond the pylons, and forward to narrow and terminate in a typically Klingon command hull which also boasted a formidable weapons pod.

"FROM THE HOUSE MARKINGS ON THE NOW APPARANT JEN'THAR CRUISERS, THEY ARE MEMBERS OF HOUSE MERGH. I BELIEVE THEY SUFFERED THE HEAVIEST OF LOSSES AMONG KLINGON HOUSE FLEETS DURING THE DOMINION CONFLICT. CHANCELLOR? DO YOU KNOW OF THEIR CURRENT POSITION WITHIN THE EMPIRE?"

House Mergh did indeed suffer greatly during the Dominion War. Of all the Klingon fleets engaged in the Dominion War, none was heralded to Sto-Vo-Kor with more honor than the warriors of the House of Mergh. With so many losses in fleet resources, the once Great House was reduced to a minor house but constantly looking for opportunities to return to greatness.
CPO Sithick [Show/Hide]
CWO1 Larrant [Show/Hide]
BG Natauna
 [Show/Hide]

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #7 –
[Selena Ravenholm | SS Sabine/Kivra-class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj] attn: @Auctor Lucan @jreeves1701 @Stegro88 @Nero

Somehow Selena managed not to roll her eyes at Sera’s little quip about the seat, if she’d just hold on for another 15 seconds she’d be done and out of the way.  She still kept a playful smile though, and when the arm slipped past her shoulder she couldn’t help but take a quick glance at the lithe figure leaning so close.  Hopefully the small widening of the smile was brief enough to go unnoticed.  The autopilot was quite efficient at the launch, and by the time they were past the nacelles Selena was done with the comm system.  “All done.  We have a secure, untraceable subspace link with Theurgy as long as we’re within 50 light years.  Any further and we’ll have to use the relay system, but I can hide us there too.” she explained while spinning around to give the chair to its real owner.  It was a bit of a tight fit up here now so she didn’t waste any time shimmying past Sera and into the main cabin.  “All yours!”

Sitting at the little desk, Captain Ives didn’t waste any time with keeping everyone busy for the next few hours.  It made sense, with this many people in such close quarters it could be problematic if all they could do was sit and read, though she was sure she could find a way to get Martok alone for just ten or fifteen minutes for an interview (assuming Mr. Mountain wouldn’t also find some way to squeeze in to keep an eye on the Chancellor).  That would have to wait a while longer sadly, for some reason she and the medical bot were getting recruited to soup up the warp drive.  Selena flexed her fingers, this was going to be interesting.  “I can’t make any promises Captain, but we’ll see if we can get a few tenths of a factor out of her.”

THREE HOURS LATER

This had not been going well.  Whoever it was that decided to tuck the warp core under a deck panel needs to have their whole body shoved down into this glorified crawlspace and sealed in for a day.  Even with her enhancements it was too cramped and she had to bend things into really awkward positions to reach what she needed.  No wonder Sera’s so thin, she’d never be able to fix anything otherwise… For some reason she couldn't get the image of the Câroon woman out of her mind.  “V-Nine, can you pass down the isolinear spanner again?” she yelled up through the hatch, at least she thought it was still up.  The requested tool nearly impaled her cheek when the android passed it down, Selena barely saw it in time to jerk to the side.  “Watch it!” she spat, nearly dropping the duotronic coupler she was using to bridge two constrictor field emitters together.  Somehow she managed to bend her other arm around the matter conduit to take the spanner to start syncing the new control chip she’d just installed.  If this worked the matter stream would be constrained another 8% netting them another .2 warp.  If it worked.

Someone started shouting, with all the blood in her ears, the thrum of the core against her temples, and the EM buzz in her nostrils Selena couldn’t make any of it out.  Good thing V-Nine was there, she handled it and managed to catch Selena’s drooping left hand.  If she accidentally lost the bridge between those constrictors the past fifteen minutes were for nothing.  “Just give me another minute, I just about have it.”  The isolinear chip glowed under the spanner’s emitter, new circuits etching themselves in the material before her eyes.  It was almost mesmerizing to watch, at this close range the zoom feature in her eyes could really catch the detail.  Finally, with a simple beep the spanner shut off with a successfully completed program.  Bumping the chip into its slot with her nose Selena started untangling herself from the core.  “That should do it!  Run a level 3 and that should confirm it.”  Shimmying out of the crawlspace on her knees, Selena looked quite a bit disheveled once she was out.  “At least if it ends with a catastrophic breach we’ll be dead before we knew something was wrong.”

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #8 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine / Kivra-Class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Frowning as she laid in a course towards the asteroid field, Sera thought of what 'Larrant' had said (she still like box-boy better). What did he mean with Tanucu's designs? She believed she'd seen that name somewhere in the Sabine's original registry. Was it some Starfleet officer involved with her ship's original design?

"I don't know, my baby here got a flaming hot upgrade at Starbase 84, so I'll take those fine odds with a pinch of salt," she said, and sent her course to the two rapidly approaching Lone Wolves out there so that they might know what they were doing. Meanwhile Chancellor Martok growled his reply in regard to the House of Mergh.

"Jen'thar-class assault cruisers... Typical that the House of Mergh would take what ever scrap ships they can get in order to reclaim their old status as a Great House. The Dominion War wasn't kind to them, and they have yet to recover." He curled his upper lip and looked towards Ives. "Chances are that Gorka may have offered Mergh something to win his house over, so I cannot afford that they learn that I am aboard. There might be even more favour to gain if they reveal that I am not aboard the Theurgy."

Ives thought for a moment before she replied. "Could you not barter for their favour as well?"

"Old friend, I could, but that would undercut both their honour and mine. A House earns their power and resources out of their own merit, it is not thrown at them as payment. I would not trust a sellsword House after this battle, and they would not be truly loyal to a Chancellor that would resort to such cheap methods. "

"But that says something about the nature of their possible loyalty to Gorka, doesn't it? Do you think they are desperate enough to accept an offer from Gorka, or do you think Mergh remains true to Klingon traditions?" countered Ives, which gave Martok pause.

Vaguely, from the back of the shuttle, the voice of the Savi android could be heard. "Running a diagnostic now. Warp factor output elevated by 0.2, and it will cut the voyage short by 2 hours and 33 minutes. It still means it will arrive at Qo'noS tomorrow, but!" she said and as Sera glanced towards the aft compartment and the doorway to the storage room, she could see the cranial unit of the android turn towards the cockpit and the rest of the small crew. Sera could see Mickayla - the female Klingon - sitting in deep contemplation still. She's been more or less silent since Martok had talked to her when they launched three hours ago. Burn me, what did the Chancellor tell her?

"Captain," the android said, and cleared her throat (did she even have a throat?), "With this upgrade, and the additional output, I believe I can - with Ravenholm's help - construct a ZPE booster as well. Now that we have an induction port to the warp core, and a replicator aboard, I should be able to utilise the reactor technology of my makers to exponentially elevate the warp factor."

"ZPE?" Martok looked quizzically at Ives, Sera saw, but the Theurgy's Commanding Officer just commented in brief.

"Zero-Point Energy. She was made by the aliens I told you about, whom wish to remain anonymous," she reminded the Chancellor, and then answered V-Nine. "So you are saying you can build this from parts you can replicate here?"

"Well, no, I... will have to use some non-essential components beneath my chassis, but they can be returned to me afterwards. I have confidence Ravenholm can assist with the extraction. I will have a minimal power level, however, and I will not be able to move."

"Will it be worth it?" asked Ives, frowning.

"Oh, well, with the new warp capacity Ravenholm just calibrated," V-Nine said, and turned her lens to the dishevelled (and quite sexy) cyborg-woman, "and the ZPE booster output, the Sabine might reach Qo'noS in 3 hours and 34 minutes."

"What?" Sera exclaimed and looked at her controls with wide, yellow eyes, "that means my ship would be travelling at over warp 9,9!"

"9,97, actually," corrected the android, but made an amendment. "That would, however, leave the Lone Wolves behind us, and I would no longer be able to provide medical assistance, should any such needs arise."

There was a lingering silence of thought on the Sabine, until a chirp was heard.

"One of the blasted Jen'thar cruises are hailing us," said Sera, looking towards Ives and Martok. "I can patch it through with audio only. The Lone Wolves will be here in two minutes, and we'll enter the asteroid field about then too."

After Ives nodded her head, Sera patched it through. [This is the IKS L'utik to the IKS veQDuj. What is a shuttle of the House of Vrag doing out here?] said the voice, and Sera couldn't really tell is there was hostility in the tone or if it was just casual Klingon manners she was hearing. [Power down your engines or be destroyed. The House of Vrag has sided with Martok, and we don't recognise the say of a Romulan defector.]

Martok growled, giving Ives a glance. "There is your answer, shapeshifter. Gorka has swayed the House of Mergh, likely being promised something they clearly don't deserve."

"We'll try to loose them in the asteroid field," said Ives, and she put her hand on Sera's shoulder. "Tell the Lone Wolves to give us cover."

"On it," said Sera and typed out a quick message to Wraith and Angel before she angled her trajectory towards the asteroids up ahead.

"V-Nine, Ravenholm," said Ives, turning towards the two close to the storage room in the back. "Start working on that booster. We might need it sooner rather than later."

"Oh, dear. Yes, Captain," the faint voice of V-Nine could be heard. "Miss Ravenholm? I'm sending the schematics to you wirelessly now. The parts we need to replicate are at the bottom."

"Larrant," said Sera through her teeth, her yellow eyes drifting to a worrying sensor reading, "what is that incoming warp signature over there? It looks like it has changed course towards us."

What in the blasted sands have I agreed to? she thought bitterly.

OOC: Pardon the slight delay! Finished my crane contracts now, so that's good. Hope y'all can work with this. :)

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #9 –
[ CPO Mickayla MacGregor | SS Sabine / Kivra-Class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj ] A Joint Post with @Auctor Lucan
[Show/Hide]


Seated towards the rear of the Sabine, Mickayla was only dimly aware of what was occurring, so engrossed was she in the memory of her conversation with Martok and the revelations it had revealed.


THREE HOURS EARLIER | 1100 HRS.


"My father?" Mickayla wondered, not expecting that question at all from the Klingon Chancellor. She had assumed she was assigned to this mission due to her Klingon heritage allowing her to blend in, but her gut was now screaming at her that there was more to it. Why else would they be having this conversation in the storage room and not in front of the rest of the crew. "Besides the obvious bit where he was a Klingon, I know only what my mother told me."

Frowning where he stood in the dim light of the storage room, Martok put his hands on his hip and continued to stare at her with his remaining eye. "And what did she tell you?"

"Not much," Mickayla admitted cautiously, uneasy with the situation and not just because she was alone with the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. Her entire life had been shaped by her Klingon father and his absence and now Martok wanted to know about him. "My mother was visiting a planet when a freighter arrived crewed by Klingons. They got to drinking, as you do and when my mother awoke the next morning, they were all gone. She found out later that she was pregnant with me," Mickayla explained calmly. "I asked what his name was but my mother said she doesn't remember it, if she was ever told it."

Nodding gravely, it seemed her account rhymed with what Martok had been told. "You saved the life of Captain Ruzaxo, son of Balto, of the House of Martok," he said quietly, his deep voice rumbling in the confines of the small cargo room of the Sabine. "You were on the IKS Kut'luch, a B'rel-class Bird of Prey not long ago. Ruzaxo is a retainer of my House." Pausing, Martok continued. "He decided to repay his debt to you by looking into your Klingon heritage, using your DNA. Before we departed from Aldea, he found a match in the Empire's lineage database. You will have to forgive him, his intents were noble, as invasive as you might think them. He meant to present his findings as a gift."

Shit! Mickayla exclaimed silently, trying to absorb all that Martok had just told her. She had thought that Captain Ruzaxo's perceived debt for her saving his life had been paid when he had paid for her armour and weapons. But it seemed like the old warrior was something of a philanthropist and had taken it upon himself to investigate her heritage. And since he had felt the need to tell the Chancellor before her, those results must be...interesting. Or at least she was assuming so given their current private chat in a storage room. "I've always wondered who my father was. And that hasn't changed. But is it worth it given the present situation?" Mickayla asked herself, looking at the one-eyed chancellor and trying to measure the gruff warrior's mood. "Fuck it. Who they are won't change who I am. They haven't been a part of my life and that isn't going to change either." "Alright, you have my attention," Mickayla said, squaring herself up and looking the Chancellor directly in his remaining eye. "Who is my father?"

Martok paused before answering, the gravity of his words settling firmly on the already portentous atmosphere in the small room. "You are Mickayla MacGregor, daughter of Mac’mon," he rasped quietly. "Your father, Mac’mon, son of Nenkor. Your grandfather, Nenkor, Son of Maskan."

Mickayla listened as Martok rattled of names and lineage like it was something that should be known and remembered. And perhaps she would have cared more but after a life spent in ignorance, those names of her supposed forefathers carried little weight with the Scot.

"You say those names like they mean something but all they are are just names to me," Mickayla snorted derisively. "I don't know them and after all this time, I don't think I want, or need, to know them."

Martok overrode her, however, his voice sharper. "The brother of your grandfather, officer, is Neskar, son of Maskan, and the late Head of House Mo'Kai!" The bite in his tone emphasised the import more so than the title, yet the High Chancellor wasn't finished. "Imperial Intelligence claims he was killed yesterday, which has made Gorka, son of Margon - his grandson - the Head of House Mo'Kai, and he is my challenger to rule the Klingon Empire. So stay your tongue and hear me, for I while I had my doubts at first, it would seem you are just ignorant, and no assassin sent by your House to kill me."

"Mo'Kai!" Mickayla exclaimed, not believing what the Chancellor had told her; it didn't seem possible and it made even less sense. "That's not possible. I can't be related to someone in a Great House."

"Nevertheless, you are," Martok said, his voice lower once more.

"Great House! Gorka's House! Fuck Me, Khorin's House" Mickayla's mind whirled, trying to process how she was somehow related to them. "Cousins. Well, Second Cousins," she corrected herself absently. Yet, even as she tried to process this new revelation about her heritage, another thought settled in her mind. "Why now?" Mickayla asked, her eyes losing their distant gaze and locking onto Martok once more, almost challenging him. "Why tell me this now?"

Martok paused, looking at her for a moment before he continued. "Because when I kill the Targ that has dared challenge me, I will have a choice. I can dissolve the entire House and discommendate all its members for treason. Or I cede House Mo'Kai and all its holdings to your father in his stead, showing mercy. I question, however, why I should do such a thing, when Mo'Kai has so readily committed treason."

"You're asking the wrong girl that question," Mickayla replied, surprising even herself with her almost sarcastic tone. "I was raised on Earth, by Humans. I don't know what it means to be Klingon. I have never met my father and the only thing I know about him is that he fucked my mother while one or both was drunk.  But you already know all that," Mickayla challenged, her demeanour becoming more annoyed. "So, I ask you, Chancellor, again. Why tell me about my heritage now?"

Martok tilted his head, his browridge sharpening his glare in answer to her tone. "Because your father, on behalf of your voice in the Great Hall, might unite the Empire in these dire times, in how those who have pledged for House Mo'Kai will then fight by my side still, and stand against the Praetor and the Infested." He did not speak to her as if she was a child, but his reminder of the greater stakes at hand was a keen one still. "Speak for your father, and you aid your Captain and me both, on this mission we share."

"Finally, some answers," Mickayla thought as she considered how to answer the man before her. "And yet he still seems to miss the point."

"Chancellor, with respect," Mickayla began, her tone now calmer. "I have never met my father and until you told me it just now, I didn't even know his name. And yet you ask me to speak for him, to make a decision about him and hundreds, thousands of other people that I have never met. Tell me, could you do that?" Mickayla asked. "Could you speak for a man regarding his loyalty based on nothing more than his name and what another member of his family has done? Because if Gorka killed his on family to get to where he is now, then not all of House Mo'Kai challenges you. But how many remain are yet still loyal is the question."

"I cannot speak for someone I do not know, only for myself. I'm sorry," Mickayla apologised sincerely. "But I will stand by your side and do what I can to see that you remain Chancellor. Even if that means removing Gorka as an obstacle. Permanently."

Martok shook his head. "Duty compels us to do things we mightn't do, Mickayla MacGregor, so I urge you to give this some thought, and see the grander image and not just the boundaries you put before yourself." He stepped past her, about to leave, before he levelled his remaining eye on her. "If you will not speak and try and unite my Empire, then I cannot trust having House Mo'Kai next to me in battle. Then, I can but hope your father makes a reappearance before I raze your House to the ground." And with that, he left her there in the darkness.


THREE HOURS LATER | 1400 HRS.


“One Great House against another,” Mickayla thought, her mind awash. “What a fucking shit show I am now a part of. Martok won’t let this go. He’ll reveal who I am. So, I must choose. On my terms, or his...”

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #10 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| AC-477 Mk I Valravn | Wolf-02] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @chXinya @jreeves1701
[Show/Hide]
"Incoming message from the Sabine." explained Hunter from the rear seat. "They want us to provide cover for her while they try to lose the two Jen'Thar cruisers in the asteroid field."
"Roger that." the pilot confirmed, then turned to his wingman over the radio. "Wolf- 08, we'll take cover behind one of the rocks and ambush them. Let's make sure they think twice about coming after us. If possible, destroy the communications array of each."
"Copy. On our way."

Logan caused Sabine's order to be acknowledged. He pulled the helm to the right and rolled his fighter to starboard until it was on the right course. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alessia do the same. Both fighters passed the Sabine and shortly thereafter disappeared among the rocks hanging weightless in space. Both fighter pilots looked for suitable hiding places while the RIOs tracked the Sabine's course and also kept an eye on the threats.
"We're in the cruisers' sensor shadow now, Wraith," she said.
"Good, then we'll hold our position here. Angel, on my command Delta-1."
"Roger that."

Logan selected Kappa 0-1-0 for his opening attack. They were ready to greet the Klingons and make sure the Sabine crossed the asteroid field in one piece. Hunter used other rocks to bounce off the fighter's sensor beams and also to peek around the corner that way. Logan was taken with the idea and so soon after they were able to watch the Sabine glide through the planned corridor and how sometime later the two Klingon cruisers followed the same course. The choice of battlefield was important. The various ores and mineral deposits would make communication with the outside world difficult. Now it was just a matter of waiting. His fingers closed tighter around the control devices. His knuckles stood out white. The tension rose.
They let the first cruiser pass. Apparently, they had not yet been detected. A circumstance to which the size of the fighters was to be owed. They were probably just too small to be detected at the original distance by the Klingon sensors. When the second ship had taken the passage, Logan gave the order to attack.
Let's keep them busy for a bit.
"Go."

His left pushed the thrust control forward while his right pushed the stick forward to the left. Once he had the rear cruiser in view, he activated the phasers. Two golden beams cut through the darkness, which was otherwise illuminated only by the light from his instruments and the stars.
The rear shields of the second Jen'Thar flared. Poorly aimed disruptor fire fizzled ineffectively into nothingness. Logan fired a few Micro Torpedoes. But instead of attacking the cruiser with them, it looked to the Klingons as if the fighter's pilot were grossly incapacitated. His complete salvo hit only flying rock. However, Logan knew what he was doing, the hit boulders split under the many small explosions, blocking the way back for the Klingons.
Over the radio, he heard the various announcements from his wingman, who was feasting on the first cruiser. Angel's attacks showed great success after a brief but intense skirmish, when the communications antennae went out in a great ball of fire. She turned away, disappearing again among the boulders.
"Now it's your turn, Wraith."

Logan also dove between the boulders, only to reappear behind another one moments later and continue the attack. He flew around the ship and again the golden lances were visible. Again, the flickering of the shields could be seen and again disruptor fire was returned. This time, however, they aimed better, and Logan had to strain not to get caught by it.
"With the next approach, the shields should be weakened enough for us to engage them directly," Hunter summarized the current status. They had the tactical advantage of maneuverability, and with Alessia keeping the other cruiser busy, both Klingon ships were at the mercy of their attacks. At least that was what Logan thought.
"Look out! Photon torpedoes from the lead cruiser. Widespread."
"Fuck." cursed Logan, taking cover among the asteroids.

The warning came almost too late. Many of the rocks shattered into hundreds of smaller chunks, scattering a devastating hail of rock. Their rear shields had to work hard and almost collapsed. Logan had to push himself hard and push the fighter to its performance limits to avoid perishing in the barrage of shrapnel.
"Whew, that was close," he sighed. Briefly, he oriented himself, Hunter likewise. She checked her instruments and took stock of what was happening.
"Situation?"
"The first cruiser has broken through and resumed pursuit of the Sabine. The second is ahead, unable to maneuver. The shields are broken..."
"Roger that. Message to the Sabine that one has broken through but will not talk."
"Will do. Is out."
"Angel, status?"
"Shaken through, but still in one piece."
"Good, take up the pursuit. I'll catch up with you guys as soon as I can."
"Roger that. On our way."
"Hunter, how's the cruiser's life support?"
"Intact."
"Good, let's leave it at that and just destroy their antennas and one warp nacelle. Let them crawl home."

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #11 –
[ CWO Larrant |  Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 ] @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88  @Nero @chXinya

This Aldnoah... female? Yes it was female Larrant thought. Having shared the mind and body of various corporeal genders could accurately identify the pilot of the Sabine as such. The captain however confused him. One moment a male, the next a female. A most curious experience it would be to share the mind and body of one who could freely change between genders. Perhaps an opportunity would present itself to ask about a temporary bonding... but this Aldnoah, Larrant returned to his original thought, this Aldnoah, was most frustrating and at the same time exciting to work with.

"THE NX-59846 DOES APPEAR TO POSSES IMPROVED TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES OVER ITS PROTOTYPICAL SCHEMATICS. I AM CONFIDENT HER DESIGNER WOULD APPROVE." Larrant's direct interface with the Sabine's computer gave him access to all but the encrypted databank files within its mainframe. Basic ships logs, navigational histories, flight plans, port of calls, etc. Aldnoah's personal folders however were secured but not impossible to unlock. Larrant however, was respectful of the pilot's privacy both physical, mental, and digital.

As he continued to calculate the complexities of navigating the asteroid fields varying gravitational fields and folds, the situation beyond the Sabine continued to unfold. Given their orders, the Medusan continued to run the complex calculations faster than anyone aboard, including the ship's own computer. The only exception might be the V-9 mechanoid. Larrant then began wondering what technological upgrades could be added to his containment unit by integrating some of V-9's components. Zero-point energy?

He did not have time to ponder further when Aldnoah asked him about another incoming warp signature.

"RESPECTFULLY MAME, I AM A NAVIGATOR, NOT A STARSHIP RECOGNITION MANUAL." Even directly interfaced with the Sabine's computer, he would only be able to identify ships within its catalog and to do that would require him to cease calculating a safe navigatable path through the asteroid field. Safe was a barely nominal word as the route they were about to take would put both strain and pressure on the little ship's inertia dampeners as it took sharp banks, dips, and dives to avoid ever-shifting asteroids.

"BUCKLE UP, THIS MAY BE A BIT... HOW DO YOU CORPOREALS SAY? STOMACH CHURNING?" Larrant, not possessing a stomach he wouldn't know the feeling. Rotating his pod so that his viewport faced Aldnoah, the swirling plasmas of his noncorporeal form shifting within. "ARE YOU CAPABLE OF EXECUTING THIS FLIGHT PATH? IF YOU ARE OFF BY A DEGREE OF POINT ZERO ZERO ONE, WE FACE IMPACT." Larrant did not intend it as a doubt of the pilot's ability nor as an insult either.
CPO Sithick [Show/Hide]
CWO1 Larrant [Show/Hide]
BG Natauna
 [Show/Hide]

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #12 –
[Selena Ravenholm | SS Sabine/Kivra-class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @jreeves1701 @Nero

One of the blessings of artificial knees was that they couldn’t ache from sitting on them for so long, and while they could emulate the sensation Selena never bothered turning that feature on for times like this.  V-Nine hadn’t even waited for Selena to find a rag to wipe her face down before leaning into the doorframe to report their success, a nice two and a half hours.  It clearly wasn’t enough though, but the woman didn’t know why.  V-Nine was much faster on the uptake at the news, spouting off a level of engineering knowledge that no Federation ‘bot would ever be programmed with.  Selena’s head snapped up to look at the back of her head and her eyes grew at the suggestion, V-Nine turning to return the gaze with the final numbers: not just saving a few more hours, but cutting the entire trip down to just a few more total.

The jump in speed was impressive to Selena, and a part of her wondered why V-Nine didn’t suggest it earlier.  The immediate followup explanation of what such an upgrade required brought an end to that thought quite quickly.  She tried to think of something to object with, the android might be Savi tech and still a bit of an unknown, but she just couldn’t fathom disabling an apparently sentient being to that extent, even temporarily.  Memories came back, unbidden as always, of that evening with Thea when they were trying to rebuild her mobile emitters: the sickening realization that it was doomed to fail due to requiring components that couldn’t be replicated with a standard unit, followed soon by the realization that they were a part of her own cybernetics.  It was a short argument and Selena won.  Yes it would disable her ability to directly link into a computer, and yes someone would have to pull them out of her spine, but that was it.  Thea did the deed herself, and it soon led to a very pleasurable test later on.  Of course, one of the first things Selena did when they reached Aldea was to find a necessary replicator and get the components replaced, so she wasn’t out for very long.

This though…

In the end Selena didn’t get a say, the Captain was on point with the orders today, and it was clear that this was an emergency based on how fast the ship was turning.  V-Nine didn’t hesitate, sending schematics instantly, but in a surprising way.  “Wait, wirelessly How…?”  She didn’t get to finish the question before an intrusion warning popped up in her vision and a new set of files appeared in the internal directory, opening automatically.  Detailed circuit and component diagrams flew past her line of sight until a bill overlaid itself between her and Ives’s turning head.  Several items were highlighted blue and all pointed to different points in a wireframe of V-Nine’s torso, telling her exactly where and how to get them out.

There was no point in arguing about this, it was going to happen or they won’t make it to Q’onoS in time.  “Ok, fine.  Find a corner to tuck yourself into, I don’t want you flopping around while we maneuver."  Selena grabbed the tool kit, watching the android out of the corner of her eye.  As soon as everything was ready she sat on the deck before V-Nine, straddling the cold metal limbs with her own.  “You speak up the moment I start doing something that compromises your core functions, you hear me?  You’re our only medic and we can’t afford to be without one if we get into a firefight.”  There wasn’t any time to wait for an answer though, and with a quick flicks of a small tool V-Nine’s chest cover unsealed letting Selena pull it off and get her first real look at Savi technology.

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #13 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | SS Sabine / Kivra-Class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
While the Lone Wolves returned to defend the Sabine against the hostile Klingon ships, Sera turned her yellow eyes to box-boy with a frown, not liking the odds given one bit.

"Burn you, we do have a deflector, don't we? Geez..." she said, and set out to follow the flight path the Medusan had provided her with. Meanwhile, the Klingons on their tail got intimately acquainted with the Theurgy's warp fighters, and Sera was quite happy with the fighter escort they had been provided for the mission at that point, since if there was one thing she didn't like with her ship, it was that she had poor weapon options for pursuing enemies. If she got any of them in her cross-hairs, however, she had both torpedo launchers and two large wing-mounted pulse phaser cannons, this not even mentioning the smaller ones mounted below the cockpit. She would simply have to rely on the Lone Wolves to cover them, while she entered the blasted asteroid field.

From the aft compartments, Sera could hear V-Nine walking to the doorway to the small restroom the Sabine had, and the android braced herself in the doorway with her hands on the frame - ensuing that she wouldn't be tossed about when powered down. "Please ensure to follow the instructions carefully," she said, and Sera could swear she heard some manner of trepidation in the machine's voice. Was that even possible? The surgical android wasn't finished, however. "Just use the induction port to the warp core that you just built. The ZPE booster in the schematics will fit, and the ship's LCARS interface should recognise the added component easily. You can find the release for the front of my chassis by my hip, and the power control interface for this platform is hidden behind it, at the centre of my chest. I do not recommend removing my components while I am powered up, since an energy surge might damage both your artificial and organic tissues. I... trust you, Miss Ravenholm."

Meanwhile, as Sera had begun to navigate the asteroid field as per the path box-boy had provided, she had two major concerns at once. "That warp signature is almost here now, still no ID on it?" she growled through her teeth, narrowly avoiding an asteroid that could have hit the glass canopy of the cockpit if it weren't for the top-mounted deflector of the ship. "And it seems our white-collared friends let one slip away."

Indeed, Sera's sensor readings showed one of the Jen'thar cruisers pursuing them, and gaining rapidly on them too. There was one warp fighter chasing it as well, but it wasn't deterring the cruiser from daring the asteroid field. In fact, the cruiser began to fire against the small fighter with its aft torpedo launcher, focusing it's efforts to get rid of the Lone Wolf first. "Angel is in trouble, Wraith," she sent off to Logan Hale in the warp fighter farthest away from them, whom had lingered by the disabled Klingon ship. Just as she said it, a torpedo hit an asteroid just starboard of Angel's trajectory, sending her off course. "Deep flaming trouble! Captain, I'm turning around."

"Negati-" Ives began to say, but Sera didn't (want to) hear her. She was already having the Sabine deviating from the flight path, circling back so that she might open fire against the Klingon ship. With bared teeth, she opened fire with her two Rawley cannons as well as the Type U+ phasers, blasting the Jen'thar cruiser with all that the Sabine had in store. She armed a full spread of micro torpedoes as well, and she managed to send them off before Ives and the rest of her crew had regained their balance - the inertial dampeners unable to compensate for the sharp turn she'd made. "Sera! Trust in the Wolves and escape into the asteroid field, now."

"Burn me, Captain, they are going to die!" she said, not quite sure where this sudden bout of sentimentality came from. Had she lingered too long on the Theurgy and become like the Starfleeters? She didn't even know the two officers in that Valravn fighter.

Regardless, it was too late. The warp fighter collided badly with an asteroid, hard enough that its shields couldn't mitigate the impact. The entire cockpit was compromised by the jutting edge of the asteroid, and reinforced transparent aluminium shattered like crystal rain. The Valravn fighter tumbled away, and Sera could only see the transponder of the RIO's exosuit. "Larrant, beam him aboard," she told the Medusan, and if there had been any lock on Alessia 'Angel' Garcia, she'd said the same about her. She was all too busy to explain, however...

...since the Jen'thar cruiser now focused entirely on the Sabine.

"Bloody ashes," she swore when they took glancing hits from disruptor fire, and tried to use the asteroid field to their advantage, setting a course that would obscure any direct line of fire. She was no-where near the flight path that Larrant had given her, flying by instinct. She'd been in worse pickles before, hiding from different planetary authorities, and she was confident the Sabine wouldn't let her down this time either. "How's that fancy booster coming along?"

V-Nine didn't answer at that point, unable as she was to do so given what Ravenholm was doing, but the building of the device wasn't likely to be finished anytime soon, Sera realised. The only option was to shake off the pursuit, and as increasingly difficult it proved to be to navigate the asteroid field, she decided to give Larrant his due. "Returning to flight path now..."

Problem was... the Jen'thar cruiser mimicked the flight path as well, copying it, and it put them directly in it's line of fire.

"Blast it," she swore another impact shaking her ship, "shields down to forty percent! Ravenholm! Internal sensors say the EPS grid is going to..."

The detonation in the starboard bulkhead nearly caught Chancellor Martok, and the plasma fire lit up his bodyguard's fur-covered armour. If she hadn't liked Larrant's odds to begin with, she hated the current ones even more. "Fix it!" was all she had to say about the spreading flames, rerouting the Sabine's diminishing auxillary power to her aft shields.

Unfortunately, they were suddenly fired upon from ahead.

Instinctively, Sera raised her arm to cover herself from the bright light as much as the expected impact. Someone screamed from the aft compartments, and she believed she'd finally met her end.

Only nothing happened.

Lowering her arm, she saw a shadow among the asteroids ahead, firing orange phaser energy past the Sabine and unto the Jen'thar cruiser. It might not be alone in its efforts, since the remaining Lone Wolf had likely entered the asteroid field at that point as well. In short order, the Klingon ship was left adrift, in burning tatters, and Sera throttled down. Incredulous, she looked at the shape in the asteroid field ahead of them, and she realised it was larger than she first thought. The starlight from beyond the field soon made it visible, and she had to confirm what she saw by looking at the sensors. "It's a Federation starship. It's hailing us..."

"On screen," said Ives, some of her hair sticking to her forehead from the heat of the fire. If this was a scout for Admiral Sankolov's task force, then they wouldn't just have saved them, would they?

When Sera patched the hail through, the bridge of the ship could be seen, with its commanding officer standing at the forefront. [This is Captain Jesse Jackson of the Federation starship Oneida,] said the human, mien quite serious. [Admiral Anderson told us you would know us as 'the Freedom Sentinel', correct? A pleasure to make your acquaintance Captain Ives. We were given the distinct impression that you needed to reach Qo'noS, Chancellor Martok?]

A faint smile touched Jien's face, while Martok grinned and said "Aye.."

[We thought as much. Jackson out.]

Sera had no idea what was going on, but she set a course to dock in the Iroquois-class ship's shuttle bay after getting a nod from the Captain, whom in turn looked towards Ravenholm. "Please, finish that booster, because we might still need it. Miss Aldnoah, tell Lieutenant Hale to tractor Garcia's warp fighter into the shuttle bay. If she's still alive, she could get medical assistance on the Oneida."

"Aye, Captain," she said, but there was little hope of that. She couldn't detect any life-sign in the Valravn's mostly-intact wreckage.

OOC: Lengthy post to finish, but plenty to work with, I hope! lol

You can all end your posts with the Sabine having docked with the Oneida, and them all stepping off the ship in the shuttle bay. Same with the Lone Wolves (even though one is towed aboard by the other).

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Q'onoS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #14 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| AC-477 Mk I Valravn | Wolf-02] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @chXinya @jreeves1701
[Show/Hide]
Logan attacked the Klingon cruiser's warp nacelle and destroyed it with a few microtorpedoes and well-placed phaser blasts. Millions of shards of shattered metals and crystals formed a thick cloud that was difficult to navigate through. But it did not stop the pilot. With a sure hand, Logan guided the Valravn back to safe regions, only to turn once again and launch another attack on the now outgunned cruiser. They had no strength left for a defense. Highly flammable warp plasma poured out of the destroyed warp nacelle and formed a thick trail in the cruiser's wake.

With a well-aimed attack, he also knocked out his opponent's impulse drive. Logan didn't want them to be able to follow them. The repairs would take several hours. And even then, the Klingons would only be able to travel at high impulse or low warp. Logan hoped that he could buy enough time for the Sabine and that Alessia would manage to stop the second cruiser, when the shuttle's radio message reached him.

[Angel is in trouble, Wraith.]

"Shit.", the pilot cursed and immediately mobilized all the resources his fighter could provide him.
"Hang in there, Angel. I'll be right there."


[ Lt. JG Alessia Garcia, callsign "Angel"| AC-477 Mk I Valravn | Wolf-08]
[Show/Hide]
She pushed the thrust control all the way forward, causing her Valravn to accelerate. Alessia had managed to severely damage the lead cruiser's communications array, but the Klingons were still operational. With the fanning out of a torpedo salvo, they caught their breath. She had only narrowly escaped this destructive wave. Sweat stood on her forehead. Alessia kissed her index and middle fingers, then patted her fighter's frame.

"Good girl." she praised her Valravn, and only a moment later she confirmed to Logan that they were still in one piece. He ordered her to follow the remaining cruiser and Alessia was determined to rush to Sabine's aid. Briefly, she acknowledged the order and set a course. Her left hand rested on the thrust control for a few seconds.

The error analysis showed her minor structural damage to the fighter. However, their systems were intact to the extent that they were able to continue fighting. Alessia rolled away to the right. The projected path on her HUD showed her the fastest way to intercept the Klingon cruiser.

By the time she emerged from behind one of the asteroids, her finger was on the trigger. Orange-red fire lances crashed into the flaring shields of the enemy, which was stubbornly heading for the Sabine. An additional volley of microtorpedoes also shattered onto the shields. They served their purpose, however, in drawing the Jen'thar's attention to the Valravn.

The green disruptor fires came closer with each salvo, and Alessia slowly began to have trouble dodging them. Only her years of training prevented worse. She pulled up the nose, narrowly escaping the beam of charged energy, and in the following instant sent her fighter plummeting again. Like a bird of prey pouncing on its prey, she attacked her opponent.

Alessia launched a veritable rain of fire. The phaser beams from her Type VIII drilled into the shields, closely followed by numerous MK II microtorpedoes from the integrated launchers, which managed to crack the shields and clear the way for two MK XXV photon torpedoes from the torpedo launchers mounted under the wings.

The impacts were clearly visible and the damage to the cruiser was immense. Alessia turned away, wanting to put distance between herself and the cruiser so she could launch another attack, when a lucky hit caught her in the tail. The Valravn's shields flared and she heard the groaning of the shield generators. Another beam hit them. Only with great difficulty did she manage to turn the fighter out of the angle of fire, but it was too late.

A Klingon torpedo hit an asteroid near her, sending a thunderous storm of rock and stone in her direction. It was too much for the shields, which were barely recovering from the disruptor bombardment, to compensate. They broke and made way for the asteroid, which now hit the Valravn unimpeded. The cabin roof of reinforced transparent aluminum splintered into infinite pieces. In a last, instinctive, and senseless attempt to protect herself, Alessia raised her arms in front of her head.


[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| AC-477 Mk I Valravn | Wolf-02]
[Show/Hide]
Logan saw the remaining Klingon Jen'thar cruiser open fire on Angel. The bastard was tough. The captain in that chair had probably fought a few battles in his time, Logan had to give him that. His sensors showed him that the Sabine had turned away and was now joining the fight. Logan cursed.
"What are you doing?"
He made a sharp left turn to bring his weapons into attack position. From the back seat he was fed every bit of information that, had he had to retrieve it all himself, would surely have been trouble. Logan aligned the Valravn and gave it full throttle. As Alessia's lances of orange-red fire slid through the black, Logan radioed the shuttle.
"Sabine! What the hell are you thinking!!! Get the hell out of here! We'll take care of it!"
Suddenly, he saw a Klingon torpedo blast an asteroid and the debris caught Alessia.
"Fuck! No!" he screamed, stunned.
"Angel, do you read me? Wolf-08, come in, damn it!"

Tears welled up in his eyes. Agonizingly long moments, but Logan had no time to wait for an answer. He had to intervene in the fight and to protect the Sabine. He tried to concentrate. Alessia had paid the ultimate price and unlike Liliana and Devyrie, she had had the opportunity to fight back. Logan now had to do everything he could to make sure it wasn't in vain. Her death had to be worth something.

He pulled the trigger, fired again, again, and again. He used a similar tactic as his wingman before. He, too, fired from all guns and finally managed to get a pair of Photon torpedoes on target. But now he too was forced to turn and dodge. Covering his back via the rear phaser emitters, he finally dove in between a few boulders that gradually split into millions of small pieces.

The Klingons had closed in on him and Sabine and were going to finish them off at any cost. Logan took thrust away, sending his fighter into a spin. He speculated that they would continue to follow his original trajectory and thus escape the disruptor fire and the rain of rocks. His tactics seemed to work. The bombardment subsided, and the rock fragments bounced off the fighter's shields, which struggled badly.

As Logan flew his next attack, he realized why the bombardment had subsided. Some distance away and at the edge of the asteroid field, he could make out a Starfleet ship that was also opening fire on the Klingons. Not wanting to let this opportunity pass, Logan armed his remaining torpedoes. The Klingon ship passed away in the combined fire of the Starfleet ships.

He was already on his way to the scene of the disaster when he received orders to recover the wreckage of Alessia's fighter. Logan turned on the spotlight and shone it into the dark flight pod. Red globs of frozen blood mixed with a myriad of shards of transparent aluminum were the first things he could get a glimpse of. Then he spotted the cracked helmet of his best friend and realized that any help for her would come too late.

"I'm not leaving you here, Alessia." he whispered, catching the fighter with the tractor beam.
The trip to the USS Oneida, short as it was, felt like an eternity. Logan appreciated Alith's silence. Even though she didn't say anything, he knew the loss was close to her heart, too. The ship took over the wreckage when they were within range and they were assigned a landing pad next to the Sabine in the shuttle hangar.

It was strange to put foot onto a different Starfleet Deck after leaving the Dauntless and joining the Theurgy’s cause. Logan looked for the wreckage and promptly ran over to aid the deck crew to retrieve Alessia’s lifeless Body. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her bloodstained hair and begged every god he knows of to grant her access to their paradises. He even prayed for her to enter Sto’Vo’Kor. For all he knows she died in an honorable fight and even the Klingons had to admit that. It took some time until Logan could let her go. He reached for her Combadge to keep it in honor of her and her duty fulfilled. He looked for Whiteout, her RIO and found his body put on a stretcher. Some medics could only determine his death. Logan took his Combadge, too.

With tears in his eyes, he looked at the group departing the Sabine, and despite a few bruises, they all seemed to be alive, which made him halfway satisfied. Only V-Nine was the exception, but they learned the reason later. They had made it.
Her death had not been in vain.

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #15 –
[ CWO Larrant |  Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 ] @Auctor Lucan  @Stegro88  @Nero  @chXinya

Deflectors?  Larrant wondered how ignorant she thought he was. Sure, the deflectors would protect the Sabine from micro-impacts and stellar dust, but to successfully evade the pursuing Klingon vessels, Larrant had deliberately calculated a razor-thin near-miss path through the asteroid field. If only Aldnoah knew the lifetime of experiences he possessed. The vast knowledge his noncorporeal species had obtained. Yet, he chose to serve with these children. To observe them, not condescend them. To hopefully guide them into a higher, more civilized society. In exchange, he would learn and regain some of the lost elements of being alive that his people lost when they transcended beyond the physical form. Elements, like emotion. Being linked with Vulcans, Betazoids, and Cairn had aided Larrant and other Medusans to understand the unpredictable nature of corporeal beings under the influence of their emotions. However, that did not prepare him for what the pilot of the Sabine did next.

"I MUST INSIST YOU DESIST THIS EMOTIONAL RESPONSE AND RETURN US TO THE AGREED UPON FLIGHT PATH. OUR ODDS OF SURVIVING THIS CONFRONTATION DECREASE THE CLOSER THE KLINGONS GET TO US. THEY WILL VERY LIKELY SIGNAL OTHERS OF OUR PRESENCE."

Larrant's attempt at logical arguments fell on deaf ears as Aldnoah continued her course, even after the Captain ordered her to return to the asteroid field. It was comforting to know that the commanding officer at least had the wisdom to see reason. Then it happened. One of the valkyries exploded on impact with an asteroid. How Larrant hated violence. It was so barbaric, primitive, uncivilized.

Hearing the order to beam the valkyrie pilots aboard, Larrant's pod rotated to face Aldnoah.

"I AM AGAIN A NAVIGATOR. THE COMPLEXITIES OF TRANSPORTER TECHNOLOGY IS BEYOND MY ABILITY. BESIDES WHERE WOULD YOU HAVE ME TRANSPORT THEM. THE SABINE IS CURRENTLY... "

Larrant's response was interrupted by the impact of weapons fire. Through the Sabine's forward viewport the Jen'thar cruiser pressed down upon them. Why did Klingons have to be so violent?

Though it was in violation of Starfleet Regulation and Federation Law, Larrant took a chance and reached his mind out. He needed to know Garcia's condition. He did not want to alarm those present that the condition of the one called "Angel" was fatal. Aldnoah's emotional response had changed nothing, the outcome was the same.

"THE ONE KNOWN AS ANGEL IS DECEASED. I SUGGEST WE RETURN TO OUR EVASIVE COURSE INTO THE ASTEROID FIELD BEFORE WE BECOME LIKEWISE."

It sounded more emotionless than truthfully was. Without the holoimager active, the voice of Larrant's pod's communicator was monotone in its translation.

As the Sabine was slowly chipped away at by the Jen'thar cruiser, Larrant ran damage control as system after system began to buckle under the stress. Aldnoah wasn't a Starfleet officer and therefore not subject to the same code of justice as the rest of Theurgy's crew. But Larrant was sure she would have to face consequences for disobeying the Captain's orders. The temptation to probe Ive's mind was ever-present and increasing as their hope of survival diminished but Larrant had already violated his ethics once today to check on Angel.

As it looked like he would only have one chance to peer into the captain's mind, the space around them changed. A Starfleet vessel had come to their aid.

When Larrant disembarked the Sabine aboard the Oneida, he activated the holoemitters on his pod. He thought of the mission so far, his back and forth with the corporeal Aldnoah. He couldn't help but wonder if she would continue to refer to him as "box boy" now that he had a more corporeal looking form. The thought was perceived and interpreted by his pod by plastering a Denobulan-wide grin across his avatar's face.
CPO Sithick [Show/Hide]
CWO1 Larrant [Show/Hide]
BG Natauna
 [Show/Hide]

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #16 –
[ CPO Mickayla MacGregor | SS Sabine / Kivra-Class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj ]
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Seated in the aft compartment with Martok and the others, Mickayla was beginning to feel particularly useless as the engagement beyond the Sabine’s hull escalated. It was not an unfamiliar feeling to the Klingon; she had felt it many times before when the ship’s she crewed had entered battle or other situations beyond her ability to affect. She had long since accepted that there would be times where she could do nothing but sit and wait for whatever was happening to be resolved or evolve into something that required her action. So why was she feeling so unsettled this time?

She had little time to ponder as she was thrown about as the Câroon pilot threw their ship into manoeuvres that the inertial dampers were unable to compensate for. Mickayla found herself on the deck as the Sabine shook from the impact of weapons fire. A flash of light filled the area and Mickayla looked up to see that a bulkhead on the starboard side had exploded, the resulting plasma fire barely missing the Chancellor while setting the fur covered portions of his bodyguard Kudesh’s armour alight.

Reacting per her training, Mickayla jumped up and pulled a fire extinguisher from the emergency panel and immediately began to douse the giant warrior to put out the flames. In focusing on him though, Mickayla missed a second gout from the panel that managed to singe her left shoulder before she was able to turn and douse the panel properly. 

“Fire’s out,” the security officer called as she set the tool down and began to examine her shoulder and upper arm. No response came to her shout, not that she was expecting one but when she looked into the forward area again, to try and gauge how the fight was going, she saw the distinctive outlines of an Iroquois-class Federation starship on the main viewer. A Terran with short-cropped soon appeared and though she couldn’t hear the words being said, she had the distinct impression that they, while not saved, were out of the frying pan for the moment. 

Presently, the viewer clicked off and Captain Ives began to issue orders, though none were directed at her. After all, what was she to this mission besides someone with Klingon blood? As the Sabine landed, the deck beneath her feet jolted and Mickayla’s thoughts turned back inwards as she caught sight of Chancellor Martok standing to disembark.

“What am I going to do?”

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #17 –
[Selena Ravenholm | SS Sabine/Kivra-class heavy shuttle IKS veQDuj] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @jreeves1701 @Nero

Sitting on the deck with her legs entwined with V-Nine’s almost sounded like the start of some cyberneticist’s wet dream of a fantasy, but Selena was far from aroused at the situation.  As the android spoke her final instructions the animated schematics that had been inserted into the augmented human’s own circuitry highlighted the different features in real time, complete with all manners of cautions and warnings.  Looking down towards the android’s hip she could see the chassis release and didn’t hesitate to hit it.  An entire series of clicks and whirrs sounded from behind the large white chest plate and black ribbed abdomen segments as each one separate from its neighbor either slid out of the way or raised up to let Selena pull it off and set aside (in the case of the chest plate).  The artificial musculature pulled away from the now exposed central cavity in a display reminiscent of a biological orifice, another reminder of just how much more advanced V-Nine is from anything the Federation has been able to create so far.  Central to all of the exposed hardware was a simple, flat, white button shaped like an irregular pentagon situated right in the middle of where a human’s breastbone would be.  If it were on the outside of her chassis Selena would think of it as decoration, but V-Nine and the schematics both betrayed it’s true function.

Selena hesitated for just a moment before reaching out with her own artificial fingertips, gently setting them on the android’s power button.  V-Nine finished her final instructions and capped it off with an admission that brought her pause.  There was something in the way the android spoke just now, was that…fear?  Selena looked into V-Nine’s large single teal eye with her own pair of steel blues with a promise.  “I won’t betray that trust, I promise.” She whispered before pressing the button for the time called out on the schematics.  Selena held V-Nine’s gaze all the way until the blue eye went dark and her head rolled forward, signifying the full shutdown.  Around her the ship shifted to avoid an asteroid, the maneuver barely perceptible though the inertial dampeners.  Selena shut out all the noise behind her, her focus honing in onto the chassis in front of her.  It was time to work.

Guided by the Savi-made instructions and years of tinkering with custom equipment, Selena juggled the different tools almost as well as any Starfleet trained master engineer.  A spanner in her left hand undid several fasteners keeping a radiation shield in place while the isolinear probe in her right hand disabled and bypassed circuit pathways regulating the ZPE controls.  In her virtual vision each step flashed from yellow to green as they were successfully completed and it wasn’t long before a small collection of parts were scattered around her, contained safely in a container.  With one last click of a spanner press the final meta-material fastener defused itself and popped into a pin shape allowing Selena to pull the plate off, revealing the zero-point energy core that was V-Nine’s heart.  It glowed a soft but bright white, nestled in a compact but seriously tough frame to keep it safe from anything that might happen to the android.  It would be a bear and a half to remove without proper tools, but luckily it wasn’t one of the parts she needed.  Instead that would be the regulator mounted early in the output line.  It would need to come out along with a sufficient quantity of conduit so that she can run a new line into the booster’s induction port.  From there they should be able to to get Q’onos with time to spare.

Target in sight, Selena swapped tools and reached in for the critical part.  That was when the Sabine lurched to the side without warning or the dampeners on full.  She yelped in surprise and pain when her cheek slammed into V-Nine’s metal and ceramic guts, tools straining under the death grip her mechanical hands subjected them to.  “Damn it, I need a stable platform back here!” She yelled forward as soon as she pushed herself back up to a sitting position and shook the stars away.  “If I slip now there won’t be enough left of us to pick up in a scan!”  She didn’t listen for a reply, there wasn’t time to argue over it.  Shifting her legs into a wider straddle stance, Selena tried again to get what she needed, and this time fate was willing to cooperate.  By the time the shuttle threw her off-center again she had the parts she needed in hand, secured in the box, and she was just starting to put V-Nine back together.  Someone shouted from the cockpit, perking up her ears as her brain somehow automatically recognized they were talking to her.  “Got the parts just need to get things put together back here!” She shouted back, not caring about her tone if it was the Captain.  She worked as quickly as she could but now that she had to dig for the proper bits and pieces she needed out of a box it was slower going than prying the android apart.

Concentrating as hard as she was, Selena didn’t hear the warning about the EPS conduit until it was almost too late.  In fact, it was a sudden banner warning overlaid in her virtual vision that tipped her off in time.  This time Selena willingly pressed her face into V-Nine’s chest and wrapped her arms around her in a bear hug just as the conduit blew somewhere behind her.  The heat washed over her with scalding intensity and bits of debris peppered her skin and hair leaving small welts.  Thankfully it was all superficial, she was far enough away that it was just stinging instead of truly painful.  The plasma fire was another story though.  Flames blossomed out of the ruined bulkhead and were already charring the duranium plates.  The Chancellor was growling in frustration or something and wrestling with an emergency kit on his side of the disaster.  Selena hopped up to her feet and quickly slapped an emergency code into the nearest console, shutting down the plasma flow.  “I’m isolating that bulkhead, get ready for an emergency vent!” She called to the Chancellor while prepping the forcefield.

And that was when everything went silent and still.  The fire was still raging of course, but Martok was quickly dousing it with a plasma extinguisher and Selena used the lack of distractions to quickly seal off the bulkhead and start venting the atmosphere inside out into space.  It would be out in less than a minute now, giving them room to breathe for the moment.  Once that was done Selena was finally able to regain her senses and realized that there was a new voice in the comm system.  A friendly one.  She looked over to the Chancellor to see him sporting that famed grin of his and she couldn’t help but chuckle in relief herself.  “Well how about that.  He actually came through.”

With a few mop-up orders given Selena secured the emergency system and turned back to V-Nine, still propped up in the bathroom door like nothing had happened.  "Ok friend, time to get you back together..." she said out loud, straddling the android's lap once again and retrieving her tools.  The parts for the booster were separated out, but it felt like she could wait a touch longer before finishing that up now.

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #18 –
[Ens Katherine Locke | Hangarbay | USS Oneida NCC-78497] attn: @Auctor Lucan @chXinya @Stegro88 @jreeves1701 @Nero

If there was one thing that could be said about life onboard a ship, it was that there was always something new, something interesting to deal with. Sure, it was a lot quieter than her rotation spent back in a metropolitan hospital most of the time, but when something went things went wrong, they went very wrong very fast. Moments of calm while you were just waiting for the next storm to strike, a storm you never saw coming.

That was the case today.

The petite brunette had just come on duty for the day, her first cup of coffee still clasped in her hand, the heavenly aroma drifting up from the dark liquid. There was something about that first coffee of the day that let you know that you had finally arrived. Dark eyes still flicking over the PADD in her hands, flicking through the summaries of their patients and status. It was how she preferred to start every day, those precious few minutes before the doctors and the patients arrived and she was swept into the happenings of the day.

It wasn’t like the room was empty, quiet, no medical room ever could be. The hum of machines, the drip of medicine and behind it all the thrum of the ship. It was like a choir, an orchestral piece just about to take off. Katie had heard that some old crew members developed a sixth sense, that they could hear when something was off about a ship. She wasn’t so sure if that was true, or if her father had been pulling her leg at the time but…it was a nice thought and on days like this she almost thought that it might be true.

A soft sound, not quite a sigh, slipped from her lips as she set her coffee and PADD down on a nearby table, hands reaching up to gather her hair, pulling it back into its customary ponytail. It only took a few seconds for her to secure her hair before she could reclaim her coffee, before she could settle back into the comfort of the morning routine before her first patient arrived.

A few seconds she didn’t have.

The woman shouldn’t have been surprised when the first message came in, she should have grown accustomed to the way that a crisis could appear at the drop of a hat. An incoming shuttle and fighters, possible injuries and a call for medical aid. It was all she had time to notice, all she needed to before she was gone. Her coffee left alone in the quiet medbay, steam rising from the liquid, in its place a medkit as the petite nurse wove through the crowd making her way to the turbolift.

“Excuse me…coming through…medical emergency.”

There were some advantages to being as tiny as she was, some few of them, the ability to squeeze through a crowd and gaps no-one else could definitely ranked up there. Not that there was much need, she’d found that most people were almost eager to get out of the way of a member of the medical team when they were about their business. So it was that Katie burst into the hangar and ground to a halt, dark eyes running over the scene infront of her, surprise over taking her for a second before the medical professional reasserted herself.

“Medical team coming through.”

She could already see the injured, making a beeline for them as she dodged around the mechanics rushing to help secure the shuttle and fighters.

Every day, something new.

Re: CH06: S [D03 | 1101] Q'onoS Bound and Down

Reply #19 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Exiting the SS Sabine | Shuttle Bay | Deck 10 | USS Oneida ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]
Leaving her helmet behind, Sera still wore her red exosuit when she emerged out of the airlock of her poor ship. "Blasted sands," she cursed as she turned around and walked backwards, taking stock of the damage from the engagement with the Klingon ships.

It took her a little while before she even turned her yellow eyes to the scene in the shuttlebay of the Oneida, noticing the two Valravn fighters sitting on the deck as well - one whole and the other's cockpit completely demolished. She'd tried to save the two Starfleeters in that warp fighter, doing something quite uncharacteristic of her, and not only had she failed. She had also endangered this fancy mission the Theurgy was on. She was sure that if she had worn one of those pyjamas uniforms of theirs, some gold would have been stripped from its collar, and the shapeshifter Captain would be giving her more of an earful.

As it were, Ives had merely given her a withering look on the way out of the Sabine - the Captain being in her female form at present - before she had walked off towards the damaged Valravn, joining Wraith. Sera could barely make out what the Captain said to the man, but sound travelled rather well across a shuttle bay. "My condolences. I am aware that you were a squadmate of Lieutenant Garcia's even before you came aboard the Theurgy," she said, standing there below the damaged Valravn and looking up at the remaining Lone Wolf. Angel's body was already being brought to the Oneida's sickbay, and the Captain turned to look in that direction. "I also know you lost others at the hands of the saboteur on the Theurgy. Be that as it may, you are still not alone, Lieutenant Hale. Please keep that thought close to your heart, for you are a part of this crew and this mission. You fought well out there, and I know that - despite what happened - you would have protected the Sabine."

Curling her lip, Sera looked away from the exchange, not caring to be reminded about her mistakes. Burn you, I tried to save her arse. Wasn't me who killed her. Her eyes fell on the Oneida crew, and how medical personnel had come to see to their wounds. She waved off one of them, an Ensign with a pretty face. "I'm fine. Check on the Klingons. They have some plasma burns."

Of course the medical personnel had been the first on site after the Sabine landed, but soon enough, an entourage of higher ranking officers were walking out to Sera's shuttle and its passengers. She recognised the man at the forefront, it being Captain Jackson from the hail they'd got, and a stocky Tellarite walked alongside him, with three golden pips in his collar. The First Officer, perhaps? Sera didn't know. Didn't really care.

"Chancellor Martok," said the Oneida's Commanding Officer, inclining his head to the leader of the Klingon Empire. "A bold move, to travel incognito to Qo'noS in the current state of Klingon space. I am sure the other warp fighter would have saved you, but we couldn't just sit idly by when we came into weapons range. I take it you are heading to the Great Hall, correct?"

"Aye," said the grizzled Chancellor and briefly glanced towards the female Klingon. "The sooner the better." Sera looked towards the Klingon who'd had her shoulder burned, wondering what was at play with her presence, but put it from her mind when Captain Jackson spoke in answer.

"Understood. Jackson to the bridge. Lieutenant Lail, set a course for Qo'noS. Maximum warp, and give me an ETA as soon as you've run the numbers." The man then turned to Captain Ives, whom was approaching the people next to the Sabine from the Valravn fighter. "I am sorry for the loss of your officers. We came as quickly as we could after we made contact with King and could verify our own suspicions about the persecution of your ship. We were on an assignment along the DMZ when we were abruptly ordered by Command to avoid an area of the border without reasoning, upon charges of treason. King told us that the area had been the location of the Black Opal station and the site of an incident between your ship and the Romulans. He made contact with us because we had begun to ask questions."

"I see," said Ives, inclining her head to the present officers from the Oneida. "So what is your status now?"

"Well, we looked long and hard at the collected evidence, and with the accord of my Senior Staff, I have decided to aid the Theurgy in its mission." Captain Jackson didn't say it lightly, the implications plain. It was the Tellarite who spoke next, however.

"With that decision, we effectively cut off communications and subspace links with Starfleet a couple of hours ago. This, after sending a false distress call, simulating that our ship was destroyed somewhere here in the Beta Quadrant." The stocky alien cracked his knuckles, his mien plainly sour. "I'm Commander Mag'Lev. First Officer. Caldera?"

A human male with a teal-collared uniform spoke up when prompted. "While some of the crew is apprehensive about the mission, they trust their Senior Staff's judgement. Oh, I'm Murphy Caldera, by the way. Chief Counselor. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," said Ives and looked towards the Sabine. "I have two more officers aboard, and we could use a repair crew to get the Sabine space-worthy again." After getting a firm nod from Jackson, who hailed someone named Grian to get the manpower needed, Jien turned to Sera and spoke loud enough to be heard through the open airlock of the Sabine. "Ravenholm, Miss Aldnoah, can you two coordinate, showing them what's what?"

"Sure thing," said Sera, her arms folded underneath her chest and being very tight-lipped otherwise - still not keen to take any blame for turning the Sabine around and wanting to save Angel's life. If Ravenholm heard Ives, Sera couldn't tell, that android likely taking up all of the cyborg's attention. At least the Sabine was getting a prompt repair this time around.

"It will be a short while before we reach Qo'noS," said Caldera, the counselor with the chiselled features, "but we'll set up quarters for you all aboard in the meantime."

"Chancellor, Captain, let's speak further on Deck 11," said Captain Jackson, gesturing towards the exit of the bay, and unprompted, the Klingon bodyguard - Kudesh - followed Martok and the higher ranking officers. When he left, Sera looked towards Chief MacGregor, wondering if she'd come along as well. Regardless her decision, Sera looked towards the Medusan - now wearing his holographic body-sleeve. Regardless what fancy tricks he used, he'd always be 'box-boy' to her.

"I don't want to hear it," she said, guessing he'd have 'opinions' about deviating from the flight path. She turned her yellow-eyed glare towards the damaged Valravn fighter on the deck. "I was trying to save her. I had to turn around. Isn't that what you Starfleeters would do? I don't get what you're about, most of the time, but you can't bloody blame me for that, burn you."

OOC: It's roughly 2 hours of travel time for the Oneida to reach Qo'noS, during which everyone on the Sabine and the new characters introduced on the Oneida can be featured in Supplemental threads! The naming convention for these threads is CH06: S [D03|XXXX] Insert Title, wherein XXXX marks the time. These two hours on the Oneida is set between 1400 hrs. and 1600 hrs. This thread can continue a little bit longer too, of course, if you guys want.

@chXinya , when you post next, and with Ravenholm being on the Sabine, could you have the Sabine getting a subspace comms message from the Theurgy that Gorka, son of Margon, has seen through the ruse, and has left the battle with the Theurgy behind and will attempt to reach Qo'noS instead of staying in the fight? Up to you what she does when getting that message from the Theurgy. Thank you! :)

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #20 –
[ CPO Mickayla MacGregor | SS Sabine / SHuttle Bay | Deck 10 | USS Oneida ] Attn: @Luciain
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Mickayla stumbled slightly as she disembarked the Sabine, her shoulder bumping the hatch frame to cushion the fall. The burns present on that shoulder though, from the fire earlier in the cabin, didn’t appreciate the impact however and sent pain flashing through her body. Gritting her teeth and trying to ignore the sensation of her shoulder being on fire again, Mickayla stepped out into the clean air of the hanger bay where the smell from the burnt flesh of her shoulder was less overwhelming. Finding an out of the way spot, the Klingon leaned back against the Sabine and cradled her arm to try and ease the pressure on her shoulder.

Pleasantries were exchanged but being an NCO had its perks. That, coupled with her status of being Gorka’s second cousin being a closely held secret, it meant that Mickayla was able to refrain from being involved. Which served the Klingon just fine. All she wanted to do was get her arm fixed up, find a quiet place and try to figure out what it was she was going to do. The clock was now ticking, and she had to make a choice. A choice that might affect the balance of power for the entire Klingon Empire.

As the senior officers departed, Mickayla caught sight of a short Terran female, with hair the colour of her own and dressed in the teal of medical moving through the crowd around the Sabine.

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #21 –
[ CWO Larrant |  Shuttle Bay | Deck 10 | USS Oneida ] @Auctor Lucan

The corporeals buzzed around the hanger bay. Larrant had difficulty understanding the immediate urgency at first but remembered that there were injured crewmembers to be tended to. He had to remind himself that solids were fragile and that their life force depended on more than a sustainable environment. Their organic shells also needed to be in working order much like his containment pod.

When the owner of the Sabine addressed him in a huff he responded with a more human voice generated by his pod, "I calculated the odds of success of that action. There was no mathematical means of success. Therefore, the only 'logical' course of action would have been to continue along the approved vector I laid out."

From the recesses of his consciousness echoes of voices very familiar escaped to respond:

[T'Vella/Sollek] "Very effective response, Larrant. Your logic is sound. The needs of the many outways the needs of the one."
[Yemma Glix] "Sera's response is understandable, Larrant. You can never fully integrate with this crew if you don't begin to understand their emotions. Most of us are not gifted with the level of emotional detachment that you possess. Say you're sorry."
[Loriss-1] "All-wise one, you should do as the Founders do and put this disrespectful child in her place. You are a god of gods, let her see your true glory, reveal yourself so that she can truly see the error of her ways."
[Hedril] "-image of hugging-"

The effects of linking minds between Medusans and other telepathic races had yet to be fully studied. Only a handful served in Starfleet and few wished to spend much time in a containment pod. The longest known diadic bond was between Ambassador Kollos and Miranda Jones. To Larrant's knowledge, Kollos never reported any lingering echoes. Yet the voices of the minds Larrant had touch occasional rose to guide him.

The two Vulcans were correct. His opinion that turning back was a risk calculation that logic dictated had no successful outcome. The Betazoid continued to push Larrant to look past logic into the emotional needs and wants of others. The Vorta was obsessed with obeying her programing, shifting her devotion from the Founders to the Medusans. Lastly, the Cairn, the only living mind still available for him to actually communicate with, all be it only via images.

Weighing the collective opinions playing out in his thoughts, Larrant added, "But I understand your desire to make a good impression among the crew, particularly the captain. Logic is not always the answer in such matters. I do hope there are no ill feelings regarding the matter." He was about to leave it there but thought of Hedril's suggestion. "Would you like a hug?"
CPO Sithick [Show/Hide]
CWO1 Larrant [Show/Hide]
BG Natauna
 [Show/Hide]

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #22 –
[ Lt Sabrina Lail | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Oneida ] Attn: All
[Show/Hide]


Sitting at the helm, Sabrina noticed how quiet the bridge was after having just come to the rescue of Federation craft. Hearing the hum of the impulse engines idling to that degree was something that the brunette wasn’t used to as she sat half-way turned between the CONN and the Command seating so she’d have a view of the rest of the bridge. Maybe Lail was reading too much into it when she felt like there was uneasy trust in the air from the decision made just hours earlier to cut off communications with Starfleet. Still, Sabrina knew that the crew stood behind the decision. Nothing truly broke the silence, however; it was computer beeps and the hum of the idling engines.

With Captain Jackson and Commander Mag’Lev both attending to the shuttle bay on Deck 10, Lt. Commander Wogak Ikthan, a Rigelian, currently had the bridge, the most prominent man currently in view of Sabrina. He didn’t seem to mind Lail looking around the bridge during the moment of sanctuary. Sabrina’s brown eyes seemingly wandered from station to station as she waited for what would come of their intervention. That was when the call from Captain Jackson came in to set course for Qo'noS.

Lail snapped into action with those orders. [“Understood, Captain.”]

Turning to face the CONN, “plotting a course for Qo'noS, maximum warp,” Lail spoke aloud as she tapped through the planetary database for Qo'noS and adjusted the course plot for the fastest route. With four additional taps of the LCARS display - one to lock in the warp factor; two to charge the warp coils; and a final tap to engage, she executed the course at maximum warp and the hum of the impulse engines was overtaken by the hum of the warp coils charging.

The three million metric ton ship easily maneuvered about to face Qo'noS and the warp coils discharged as the ship jumped to warp.

Sabrina glanced up at the viewscreen for a moment to ensure the ship was at warp but had no time to take in the sight before looking back at the console. “Warp 9.98; Warp 9.99; we’re at maximum warp.” While the computer calculated the time to Qo'noS, Lail assumed it wouldn’t take any longer than a couple of hours given the speed at which the ship was traveling. The computer agreed, indicating it would take two hours exactly to reach Qo'noS.

[“Bridge to Captain Jackson. We’re en route for Qo'noS and will arrive in two hours,”] Lail informed the captain over the communications channel.

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #23 –
[ Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| AC-477 Mk I Valravn; Wolf-08 | Shuttle Bay | Deck 10 | USS Oneida] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88 @chXinya @jreeves1701 @Luciain @Hope
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Logan heard the captain's words. He sat on the wreckage of Alessia's Valravn and her RIO Asav for a few more moments, surveying the damage. It was clear that no one could have survived this impact. The jagged edges protruded inward into the cockpit and were so deformed that no one could ever have safely extricated themselves from it. Alessia had the dubious luck that she was not additionally been stabbed by these thorns. Logan had been able to admire the extent of the injuries that could be caused by these edges a few times in his time as a pilot. They would cause agonies that he did not even wish on his worst enemy. At least Alessia and Asav were spared this cruel fate.
The pilot found the captain's gesture friendly and comforting. The words did not fail to have their effect. Although Logan had to learn to deal with many losses lately and the loss of his little sister hurt more than bitterly, Ives' words were true. He was not alone. He may have been a Lone Wolf, but he was not alone. Back on the Theurgy there are waiting many people for him. Maybe Cameron, too. And even here, with the Crew of the Oneida and the people on board the Sabine. There were many people sharing his fate and decision. Logan sighed.
The praise from the captain tasted bitter as well. But Logan saw what the sacrifice of Alessia had brought. The Sabine was still in one piece, and on this mission, that was exactly what he and Alessia were flying for. Logan would do everything he could to make sure that her sacrifice didn't go to waste.
"Thank you, captain," he whispered. There was sadness and regret in his voice. Then, after remaining silent for a moment and catching his breath, he jumped down from the wreckage. He walked around the Valravn and looked his captain in the eyes. "Just please make sure that their sacrifice had not been in vain, Captain. Until then, I will continue to fly for you and make sure they are remembered."
Logan looked after the Oneida's medics as they carried Alessia's body to sickbay. He turned her Starfleet insignia back and forth between his fingers. His thumb traced the two small bumps at the bottom of the badge. Farewell, little angel.

Re: CH06 Battle Log: Qo'noS Bound and Down [D03|1101]

Reply #24 –
[Ens Katherine Locke | Hangarbay | USS Oneida NCC-78497] attn: @Auctor Lucan  @chXinya  @Stegro88  @jreeves1701  @Nero

“Yes Ma’am”

Katie wasn’t entirely sure who the brunette woman who had disembarked from the shuttle was, but she could see the captain and the senior staff making their way towards her. That was her sign to hightail it out of there, leave the senior staff to debrief the statuesque woman while the ensign just nodded a salute at them before hurrying away towards the other passengers.

She hadn’t been on the ship for a long time, just about a year at this point, but one thing she’d come to realise was when the senior officers were talking and planning a mere ensign should make herself scarce and let them work. Besides, while they were responsible for running the ship and planning strategy, she had her own duties to focus on. Patients who needed her help.

A professional eye flicked over the passengers flowing around her, cataloguing those who needed her help, and those who didn’t. After a flight like this everyone seemed to have been thrown around, bumps and bruises galore. While they could treat those, ease the swelling, the pain, only there were far more urgent cases in front of her today.

For a moment the petite brunette was back in a hospital ER, watching the cases come in and knowing she only had limited time. A hand reached to her side, pulling open the medkit as she pulled out a tricorder, the device flicking open as she stepped up next to a female Klingon in a Starfleet uniform.

“Hi, I’m Katie. I’m a nurse onboard the Oneida, can I just get a look in here, if you could just turn this way.”

The trouble with burns was you could never tell how bad they were till you took a look in at it, until you had the scans infront of you. Brown eyes dipped down as the nurse nodded slowly, looking up and offering Mickayla a smile, her hand reaching back for her medkit.

“Well, the good news is you’re ok and we can handle your burns so they don’t even leave a scar once we get back to the Sickbay.”

A hypospray came up, the woman holding it out for the CPO to see before holding it up to her neck, that click-hiss of the drugs injected into her body.

“This is just something to help with the pain and discomfort till we get you down there. Right now, I’d rather not risk the burns getting infected or worse.”

It wasn’t that she was mothering…but Katie knew exactly how the crew of her ship could get when needed, how focused on what they needed to get done at the cost of their health. She wasn’t going to risk that, not now with the potential of injuries getting worse.
 
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