USS Spectre Compile - February 1st-28th 2007 by Alan Reading ========================================================================= Mission; The Sword of Damocles Day: 4 Stardate: 2407.02.05 ========================================================================= (Earth, Paris - Presidential Complex, President's Office - Federation President Rondar Nell - 13:40) (USS Spectre - Cloaking device Engineering section - SO Ensign Yates - 14:15) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 14.28) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Acting CEO - Lt. (JG) Chenoll - 14.29) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Ensign Bourne - 14.30) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Ensign Bristed - 14.32) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 14:35) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 14:43) (USS Spectre - Cloaking device Engineering section – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:45) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 14:46) (Carraya IV - Woodlands - Agent Smith - 14:46) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Acting CEO - Lt. (JG) Chenoll - 14.48) (Carraya IV - Woodlands - Corporal Houseman - 14:48) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - Agent Smith - 14:49) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Engineering Section – ACEO Jacqueline Bristed – 14:50) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO Williams - 14:51) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 14:52) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 14.54) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 14.54) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 14:55) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Engineering Section – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:55) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 14:55) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 14.55) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Acting CEO - Lt. (JG) Chenoll - 14.56) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 14:56) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO - Williams - 14:56) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Captain T'Vhor – 14:57) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:57) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Bourne - 14:57) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed – 14:58) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 14.58) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed – 14:59) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:00) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:01) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Bourne - 15:03) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO Williams - 15:03) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:04) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15.05) (USS Spectre - Corridor - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna & Ensign Yates - 15:06) (USS Spectre - Corridor - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 15.06) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO - Williams - 15:09) (USS Spectre - Deck 5 - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna & SO Ensign Yates - 15:10) (USS Spectre - Deck 5 - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 15.11) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Captain T'Vhor – 15:12) (USS Spectre - Theatre - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna & SO Ensign Yates - 15:14) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 15.14) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - CMO - Williams - 15.15) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering – Engineer’s Mate, CPO M’Rurrh – 15:15) (USS Spectre - Theater - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 15.16) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:16) (Carraya IV - Woodlands - Corporal Houseman - 15:17) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15.18) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 15.18) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room One - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:19) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room One - Corporal Houseman - 15:20) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15.27) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Federation President Rondar Nell - 15:28) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:30) ========================================================================= Mission: Ad Noctum (USS Johann - Brig - A Starfleet Officer - Time has no meaning to one chained) ========================================================================= Mission: Ad Noctum (USS John C Stennis - Bridge - Major General Michelle Leah Roberts - 07:56) ========================================================================= Mission; The Sword of Damocles Day: 4 Stardate: 2407.02.05 (Earth, Paris - Presidential Complex, President's Office - Federation President Rondar Nell - 13:40) "Admiral, I've been hearing more then a few disturbing things." Rodrigo, dressed in his best dress uniform, took another drink from his coffee mug before answering. "Nothing more then traitor's tricks, sir. Propaganda is powerful stuff." "Mmm hmm." the President said, looking closely at one of the highest ranking heads of his Starfleet. This was the way most of the conversation had been going for the last twenty minutes, vague references to the Rebellion and warnings of the evils they could do. Nell folded his hands, "And I've heard a few interesting things here on Earth, like Starfleet Officers on the streets like we were at war." "With all due respect, Mr President..." "You can stop right there." Nell snapped. "There are to be no soldiers on the street without MY say-so. I don't care if you are in charge of bringing the so-called traitors to heel, you won't be running the Whole Federation in the mean time." Rodrigo Doenitz carefully cradled his cup of coffee in his hands. His face was impassive, but Rondar had seen something flash behind his eyes. For just a moment, Nell had thought the Admiral was going to hop the desk. After a few moments, however, Admiral Doenitz said; "Of course, Mr. President, that was never my intention. I simply wanted to ensure Earth was safe." "Of course. I want a full report on all your implemented security procedures by this time tomorrow." Nell said. "You are dismissed Admiral." Nell watched in silence as Doenitz left, before sitting back and letting out a breath of air. There was a vague feeling of disquiet. There was a breath of air beside him as one of his daytime guards stepped aside and a Yeoman filled his coffeecup before quickly whisking away Doenitz's. Once the office was mostly empty again, he folded his hands together and said, "Commander Tovardi, your thoughts?" Lieutenant Commander Phillip Tovardi, a handpicked bodyguard and one of the top commanders of the President's personal body guard, shrugged slightly. "It's not pretty, Sir." He paused for a moment, and in a habit he'd had for years, started quoting some obscure poetry. "Turning and turning in the widening gyre, The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere; The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst, Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand... The darkness drops again; but now I know, That twenty centuries of stony sleep, were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" NRPG: Yeats, the Second Coming. (Butchered, of course) RPG: Nell grunted and leaned forward, "I'd like to think that the best haven't lost all conviction yet." "One can hope, Mr. President." Phil said, elliptically. The President was no fool. He'd served in Starfleet for years, he'd risen to command with standard swiftness, and he knew how to read men... both politicians and soldiers. There wasn't one thing to like in Doenitz, but the man now had enough support in Starfleet, especially those units close to Earth, to make him nervous. "Phil," he said, ensuring that the resulting conversation would be off the record by using the man's first name. "If you wanted to regain control, what would you do?" That made the Commander pause for a moment, and he made a pained face. Nell frowned and gestured for him to be done with it. Finally, Phil said "You can't, Sir. Your legs have already been cut out from under you." "And why didn't you say so before?" "Because it wasn't my place, and because you've known for longer then I have." was the quick reply. Nell sighed and turned to look out the window at Paris. It was a beautiful city, especially at this time of year. He shook his head, "So what would you do?" he finally said, in all but a whisper. "Protect the Government and her Ideals." "How?" "Anyway I could." Nell turned back again, his eyebrow raised. "There are a few ways I could, I suppose. But none of them are... healthy." "He's waking up." Phil said. ~What an odd thing for him to say, and in a voice that certainly wasn't his own.~ Nell thought as the office started pulling apart like taffy. Rondar's chest suddenly began hurting, and he yanked open his suit to see a burst of red fire come spilling out of a hole that hadn't been there a few minutes before... He threw his head back and screamed. (Reply None) (Posted by Jeremy Trout) (USS Spectre - Cloaking device Engineering section - SO Ensign Yates - 14:15) Yates could do little other than just stand there watching the two Engineer`s verbal exchange of ideas & hypothesis. As a died in the wool Security man, he didn`t know much about whatever it was they were discussing anyway other than that he`d seen one of these before in the wreckage of a Bajoran transport that had been decimated by an act of sabotage. "and also... hate talking negative and all, but why has it not blown when we came into ‘proximity’ with it? You said that it’s a mark Nine, you must know a little about it? What is it suppose to do?", said Bourne. Yates was deep in thought...... "Explode, I assume," said Ensign Bristed wryly, just as Yates came out of his trance like state. "It`s a variation of a mark nine Romulan detonator, I`ve seen it before but never wired in this configuration", said Yates, "It`s supposed to act like a firing pin to a bigger device, I would assume that it`s being used here to simply kill the cloak & make us visible to whoever might be out there", he added. "As for why it`s not gone off, none of us have really got close enough to it yet", said Yates, furrowing his brow as he thought back to an earlier time. (Reply Bourne, Bristed, Any) "The proximity field on the mark nine is designed to prevent direct tampering, you`ll know all about it if you touched the damned thing", said Yates as he looked about the Engineering section, hoping that Vasilyovna would return soon with someone who knew more about the phased cloak itself. (Reply Bourne, Bristed, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 14.28) "I suppose we could keep that in mind, Ensign. However, Mr. Taxia is a psychopath or telepath or whatever and I'd hope that could tell if H'Chir was going to do something wrong to the device. However, we can bring you idea up with Lt. Vasilynvoa," she said. "Psychologist?" Jacqueline asked. (reply Chenoll) "But how do you fix something that’s out of your phase? I’m sure we could localize the MPI’s field, but…" (reply Chenoll, Bourne) " …I don’t know how small the phased area can be. And if we moved part of the ship out of phase, or too much of it, we could be facing decompression because nature won’t register the phased bits. I dunno, I’ve never done something like this before," Bristed said. ~I’m babbling like an idiot!~ (reply Chenoll, Bourne) "If we phased this thing, whoever’s working on it has to be put out of phase as well. I think that would create an interspace region, wouldn’t it?" That was the biggest problem with the idea as it stood that she could see. (reply any) "Interspace makes humanoids go crazy, doesn’t it?" She already knew the answer, but maybe one of the others would see a way around that. There had to be a way to get this detonator out of here safely, and she was sure they were on the right track if they could figure out how to fix these problems. (reply Bourne, Chenoll, any) (posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Acting CEO - Lt. (JG) Chenoll - 14.29) "Psychologist?" Ensign Bristed asked. "No... well, yes, but he has strong mental abilities. He can read people's thoughts. He's a Betazoid." Chenoll explained. "However, thats not really the topic at hand. What do you think of Ensign Bourne's phase idea, Ensign Bristed?" Chenoll asked, wondering when Vasilynvoa would get down here with H'Chir. "But how do you fix something that’s out of your phase? I’m sure we could localize the MPI’s field, but… …I don’t know how small the phased area can be. And if we moved part of the ship out of phase, or too much of it, we could be facing decompression because nature won’t register the phased bits. I dunno, I’ve never done something like this before," Bristed said. Chenoll listened and looked at Bourne. (reply Bourne) "If we phased this thing, whoever’s working on it has to be put out of phase as well. I think that would create an interspace region, wouldn’t it?" Bristed asked. "It would, hypothetically, however, Starfleet's experiments on phasing and interspace are far from comprehensive," Chenoll said. "Interspace makes humanoids go crazy, doesn’t it?" Bristed commented. "Well, I think we've extrapolated too far here. If H'Chir was phased in a plane of existence with just the cloaking device, and he attempted to destroy it, it would only destroy him and the device, but what damage would that cause the Spectre? A major component of the ship would be gone, and we'd be left without a cloaking device in the middle of Romulan space," Chenoll said. (reply Bourne, Bristed) "If the three of us supervise H'Chir's modifications, and Counselor Taxia monitors his thoughts, we should be able to see if he's trying anything malicious," Chenoll suggested, "I say we allow him to proceed working directly on the cloaking device." (reply Bristed, Bourne, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Ensign Bourne - 14.30) "But how do you fix something that's out of your phase? I'm sure we could localize the MPI's field, but...I don't know how small the phased area can be. And if we moved part of the ship out of phase, or too much of it, we could be facing decompression because nature won't register the phased bits. I dunno, I've never done something like this before," Bristed said. Chenoll and the others began to look towards Robin. "Erm.. I don't know why you're looking at me... I know very little on the advanced stages of phases... All I was saying is phasing this thing might make it safer for the ship, and if we need to jump out of cloak to re-charge..." Robin's voice trailed off, realising that he probably lost his position with the ships crew after the mission. "If we phased this thing, whoever's working on it has to be put out of phase as well. I think that would create an interspace region, wouldn't it?" Bristed asked. "It would, hypothetically, however, Starfleet's experiments on phasing and interspace are far from comprehensive," Chenoll said. "Interspace makes humanoids go crazy, doesn't it?" Bristed commented. "Well, I think we've extrapolated too far here. If H'Chir was phased in a plane of existence with just the cloaking device, and he attempted to destroy it, it would only destroy him and the device, but what would damage would that cause the Spectre? A major component of the ship would be gone, and we'd be left without a cloaking device in the middle of Romulan space," Chenoll said. Realising that his objective of the idea was destroyed, Robin replied "So it wouldn't make it safer... in fact it probably would not do anything at all phasing it..." but was abruptly cut off with Chenoll's voice. "If the three of us supervise H'Chir's modifications, and Counselor Taxia monitors his thoughts, we should be able to see if he's trying anything malicious," Chenoll suggested, "I say we allow him to proceed working directly on the cloaking device." "You're the boss" Replied Robin ~Just hope it's the right choice..~ (reply Bristed, Chenoll, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Ensign Bristed - 14.32) "Well, I think we've extrapolated too far here. If H'Chir was phased in a plane of existence with just the cloaking device, and he attempted to destroy it, it would only destroy him and the device, but what would damage would that cause the Spectre? A major component of the ship would be gone, and we'd be left without a cloaking device in the middle of Romulan space," Chenoll said. "So it wouldn't make it safer... in fact it probably would not do anything at all phasing it..." Bourne began, only to be cut off by Chenoll. "If the three of us supervise H'Chir's modifications, and Counsellor Taxia monitors his thoughts, we should be able to see if he's trying anything malicious," Chenoll suggested, "I say we allow him to proceed working directly on the cloaking device." "You’re the boss" replied Bourne. "I hope you’re right. You know him better," Bristed said. "I’d be more comfortable if we separated the cloak from the phase inverter, but I’m going off theory, not…this." She gestured toward the cloak and the detonator. And on that note, it seemed as though the discussion would probably be ending soon, because she thought she heard footsteps. Hopefully they belonged to an Andorian who could do something about this mess. ~Or anyone who can fix this up without sending us all to the afterlife. Anyone who can do that works for me.~ "Is someone coming, or am I hearing things?" she asked. (reply Bourne, Chenoll) "Great. At least I'm not going nut--oh. Bad phrasing there. Sorry." Jacqueline said. ~Note to self: learn some tact.~ (reply Bourne, Chenoll, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 14:35) The fog cleared and Sickbay took shape around him. Growling, H’Chir let out a whine and declaimed “I fall asleep and they wake me; I wake up and they put me to sleep... Make up your minds, doctor!” "We have a problem with the cloak; a problem that unfortunately only you, it would appear can help us with." Naturally, H’Chir had recognised the voice, but he looked towards the Security Chief as though realising her presence for the first time. ~This is my chance to get back into the engineroom and out of this sickbay.~ He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. “Take me to engineering, and then we’ll talk.” (Reply Vasilyovna, any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:36) The fact that the Andorian had even woken up was a positive in itself, in the past few days he had appeared uncooperative, stubborn & downright rude & today was no different of course as he hurled abuse at the Doctor for waking him yet again. Vasilyovna`s interjection & mention of the cloak & him being needed however had caused him to immediately stop & reevaluate his current situation. The chief could almost see the cogs whirring in his head as his Antennae twitched in response to the request. This was the first time anybody had actually asked for the mans expertise on something without questioning his level of sanity directly & that much in itself seemed to appease the Andorian immensely. Without even a hesitation, he swung himself up into a seating position on the biobed, then he placed both feet flat upon the floor before standing & turning to Vasilyovna with some semblance of a smile upon his face. "Take me to engineering, and then we’ll talk.", said H'Chir as he turned to the Doctor with a somewhat smug expression at the fact he was now finally getting out of sickbay. Vasilyovna simply sighed in response, she had no time whatsoever for H'Chir`s mind games, they had a situation on board that needed his input & she wasn`t about to waste any more time playing with him. "Come with me", she said abruptly, "I`ll explain the situation en route to save time & bring you up to speed", she added as she proceeded to walk out through the door of sickbay & into the corridor. The Andorian hesitated slightly as though suddenly unsure of his footing & Vasilyovna turned about & gave him a stare. "Well, are you coming or not?", she said. H'Chir looked once towards the Doctor, then he followed the security chief into the corridor & henceforth down towards the turbolift. (Reply H'Chir IYW, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 14:43) "What the hell is this?", said Kowalski looking around the room at the vista that had now unfolded before him. A phase rifle had just been pressed unceremoniously against his back upon entering the room & he had been propelled into the centre of it proper. Two overhead strip lights set into the antiquated ceiling illuminated the dusty scene as he assessed the situation within. At the far side wall near to an opened stone archway a medical biobed stood with a patient lying unmoving upon it, two medical technicians stood nearby, one was busy monitoring the patients biosigns, the other was in the process of preparing a hypospray with the obvious intentions of administering it to the apparently unconscious man on the biobed. ~Jesus, who is that?~ Kowalski stopped in his tracks, then he looked about at the men that had accompanied him here before returning his gaze to the patient once more as they awaited his response. He then took a step closer, a feeling of familiarity washing over him as he did so. The first time he had seen the man he had felt that he recognized him, now he was certain.... It was Nell. Kowalski`s brow furrowed as he moved tentatively closer, then he looked up briefly at the monitors above him that were currently in the process of reading out the presidents vital signs. "President Nell....", said Kowalski, his voice trailing off at the realization of who he was now looking at. "What`s happened to him, is he ok?", he added. The technicians exchanged glances, then one of them began speaking as the mans loyal guards & associates stood by, each of them showing clear signs now of total mistrust of everyone & anyone. "He`s in a medically induced coma", said the medic after a long pause, "He was hit with a disruptor fired during a previous encounter with one of the Admirals hit squads", he added. "The only way we could keep him alive was to induce coma until we had the facilities to treat him better", said the medic. "The bastard that shot him is no more though....", said the guard with more than just a hint of hostility in his voice at the recollection. "As are his accomplices, we saw to that", he added. "I`ll bet you did", said Kowalski with a nod as he turned about & moved towards the man in question to place his hand over the phaser rifle barrel before smoothly pressing it downwards, urging the man to lower his weapon. "I suggest we all learn to trust one another here don`t you", said Kowalski. "Obviously we need to get the man back to the ship, we have the medical facilities that you require & we are on the same sides", he added. The man`s gaze was unflinching as he stood there, the fact that he had allowed his rifle to be lowered in the first place being the only indication that he was remotely willing to discuss this. "And we are supposed to just allow you to beam him away I take it?", said the man, "we know nothing of you, how do we know that you aren`t one of that pigs men", he added venomously. Kowalski allowed himself the briefest of smiles, then he glanced over to Nell where he lay. "The man is not looking too bright to me mister", said Kowalski turning his attention back to the rifle toting guard. "I don`t see what choice you have really, I can only give you my word that I am nothing to do with Admiral Doenitz, the presidential aide is with us also..... you did receive the correct transponder signal after all," he added. The guard said nothing as he slowly bit at his lower lip & turned to one of his associates, his nervousness showing upon his face now as the associate nodded dryly to indicate that this was indeed so. "How do we know you didn`t take the transponder off of the presidential aide forcibly?", said the guard. Kowalski quirked his head to the side & then closed his eyes as though in indication of his disbelief at the very suggestion, then he moved back to Nell`s side & the awaiting medics. "If he stays here what are his chances?", asked Kowalski. The medic paused briefly before answering, then he reluctantly admitted that unless the man had proper medical assistance in a fully equipped sickbay, it was possible that they could lose him. "Then you have to believe us", said the MXO looking towards the guards, "I have a team outside & a ship in orbit, you can trust us & help us get the president back where he belongs....... or you can stand there & watch him die", he added. "It`s your choice but I advise the former as opposed to the latter" It was at that point that the most pregnant of pauses filled the room, nobody said a thing although they all knew that the MXO was right, the medics knew it & it was indicative by their subtle nods as they realized the futility of their situation right now. "He does need a sickbay Phillip", said one of the doctors, "we can`t do much more without one" Kowalski turned to face the guard once more, a somewhat longer smile now appearing on his face to the clear accompaniment of a wink. "Well, how about it Phillip?", said the MXO wryly. The guard paused briefly, then he nodded to indicate his acceptance along with one or two conditions of his own. "We accompany the President all the way, one of us remains with him at all times & we reserve the right to transfer the President to another facility the moment it becomes available", said the guard. "We have absolute jurisdiction here", he added. Now it was Kowalski`s time to pause. "Agreed, I`ll need to bring my team in, then we need to raise the Spectre", said Kowalski, "something that`s apparently proving a little difficult to do at this moment in time", he added. Again the guard nodded, albeit with a slight reluctance to simply accept everything as it appeared to be, it was true though, what choice did they have now, they were tired of running & they were tired of being constantly on their guard. Kowalski wasted no time now, he opened a channel to the away team members & his own men outside via the marine comms system. "Kowalski to Rogers", said the MXO. (Reply Rogers) "The situation is under control Lieutenant, you may bring your team in..... Houseman, code is Zulu one nine, repeat, code is Zulu one nine", said Kowalski as he discretely ordered his eye in the sky to stand down from special order five three alpha... At least for now anyway. (Reply Rogers, Houseman, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking device Engineering section – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:45) H'Chir had hardly spoken at all for the entire journey to deck thirteen, it was clear of course that he was taking in everything that the security chief was relaying to him about the detonator & how it appeared to be tied into the cloaks power, but other than that he appeared overly studious of his direct surroundings. It was a paradox of course, the ex CEO knew this vessel better than anybody else on board & yet he appeared to be looking at things now as though he were looking at them for the very first time & in consequence, Vasilyovna found herself wondering wether the Andorian would even remember what a cloak looked like! Upon their entry into the Cloaking device engineering section however, they had been greeted immediately by a lot of head scratching & supposition in regards those already assembled. Ensigns Bristed & Bourne appeared to be in deep discussion over wether or not they could put H'Chir himself temporarily out of phase whilst he worked on the device, much the the Andorians obvious discomfort. Their plan did appear to have merit but the last word would of course be H'Chir`s, for it would be him & him alone that would be tasked with disconnecting this thing from their cloak in order that they could finally bring aboard their away team & get the hell out of this system. For a moment though he appeared silent as he listened to their reasonings & then glanced towards Councillor Taxia as he suddenly appeared through the door, no doubt at the express wishes of someone not too far away perhaps. Silence then fell as all eyes turned towards the blue skinned Engineer. "Mr H'Chir?", said Vasilyovna, "whenever your ready the floor is all yours", she added. (Reply H'Chir, Bristed, Bourne, Taxia, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 14:46) "Mr H'Chir?" said Vasilyovna, "Whenever your ready the floor is all yours." He’d spent the journey to Engineering listening to Vasilyovna’s description of the problem, as well as sensing what he could from around the ship. More than once he’d wanted to ask a question and had only stopped himself by remembering that his escort was a security officer, not an engineer. ~The plan would be a good one, if not for one simple error.~ “It won’t work,” H’Chir stated categorically. “If the device is linked to the cloak’s power supply, then as soon as you attempt to phase it out of synch with the Spectre it’s connection to the power supply would be cut and it would most likely detonate. I appreciate the effort, Lieutenant, but you’ll have to try harder if you want to kill me.” H’Chir’s smile made it clear that was a joke, although at the back of his mind he couldn’t deny the sound premise that someone may indeed be trying to kill him or one of the other senior engineers. “To get around that one we’d have to phase the entire power supply along with the cloak and myself, and aside from being a little short of impossible to manage would leave the Spectre visible and without power.” Finding his element again, H’Chir began pacing the floor, enjoying the attention of his audience. “This device is illogical, as our captain would say. Why set a bomb to go off when the ship decloaks and is visible and thus vulnerable to attack?” “Lieutenant,” he turned to face the Security Chief gesturing towards the various new Engineering personnel, “We can trust these strangers?” (Reply Vasilyovna, any in Engineering) (Posted by Michael Drake) (Carraya IV - Woodlands - Agent Smith - 14:46) Jo listened to Rogers order. ~Good lets get this show on the road~ She nodded and tapped Andrew on the shoulder to indicate that they were on the move. She levelled her phaser as she moved out of cover. She glanced carefully around as she down the path. ~Ow I hope your keeping a eye on use Houseman~ She paused scanning the area as the rest of the team caught up. She then set off again carefully scanning the area for any sign of danger. “Houseman. Give me the position of the major’s position before he disappeared.” (reply Houseman) “Copy that.” She saw the spot and moved over to it. She suddenly felt the transporter grip her and everything disappeared. (Reply Houseman) (Posted by Robbie Gray) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Acting CEO - Lt. (JG) Chenoll - 14.48) Chenoll stood and watched has H'Chir was escorted into the room by Lt. Vasilyovna. "Mr H'Chir? Whenever your ready the floor is all yours," the security chief said. “It won’t work,” the Andorian began, “If the device is linked to the cloak’s power supply, then as soon as you attempt to phase it out of synch with the Spectre it’s connection to the power supply would be cut and it would most likely detonate. I appreciate the effort, Lieutenant, but you’ll have to try harder if you want to kill me.” H'Chir smiled, although, the joke made Chenoll uneasy. There was some thing unsettling about the formerly deposed Chief Engineer. “To get around that one we’d have to phase the entire power supply along with the cloak and myself, and aside from being a little short of impossible to manage would leave the Spectre visible and without power.” Like some sort of extravagant showman, H'Chir began pacing the space in front of the device and lectured the collected crew. “This device is illogical, as our captain would say. Why set a bomb to go off when the ship decloaks and is visible and thus vulnerable to attack?” Before Chenoll could offer her opinion, H'Chir turned to Vasilyovna. “Lieutenant, we can trust these strangers?" His concern angered Chenoll slightly, has they weren't the ones that were confined to Sickbay for some sort of mental instability, but she turned to Ensigns Bristed and Bourne. ~If one of them were infact, the Saboteur, then they would have an excellent... perspective on the situation.~ Chenoll was distracted by the arrival of Counselor Taxia, who arrived with a charismatic smile and running a casual hand through his shoulder-length hair. "What'd I miss?" the Betazoid asked, obviously impervious to the threat that faced the ship, or attempting to be witty, at a very unappropriate time. (reply Vasilynvoa, H'Chir, Bourne, Bristed, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (Carraya IV - Woodlands - Corporal Houseman - 14:48) The comm channel opened and Houseman listened carefully =^=Kowalski to Rogers=^= Houseman listened to Rogers reply. =^=The situation is under control Lieutenant, you may bring your team in..... Houseman, code is Zulu one nine, repeat, code is Zulu one nine=^= Houseman rolled his eyes. ~It would be nice to get the go ahead or not rather then be placed on hold~ “Copy that.” He watched as Agent Smith took point. He tracked her down the path watching her cover the team as she went. =^=Houseman. Give me the position of the major’s position before he disappeared.=^= “Three steps in front of the main gate.” =^=Copy that.=^= He watched as Smith and the rest of the away team dematerialised. He then watched as the rest of the marines repositioned themselves. ~Well this is fun. Nice to know that every one is having a good time~ He flicked open the marine net to make sure that he was able to hear anything. He settled him self to comfortable position and carried on scanning the area. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - Agent Smith - 14:49) Jo materialised to the working end of a phaser rifle. ~This is nice~ “Well that’s nice. My name is Agent Smith. Can you show me to the Major.” The rifle was lowered. She stepped to one side as the away team materialised behind her. (reply Kowalski, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Engineering Section – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:49) "I appreciate the effort, Lieutenant, but you’ll have to try harder if you want to kill me."..... Yelena screwed her face up slightly at the remark, was that a hint of paranoia there, did the Andorian really think that someone was out to kill him? H'Chir continued on anyway, if the sentiment had been heartfelt then he probably wouldn`t have gone off on one of his descriptive narratives as easily as he now was. Of course, his talk of the flaws in the two ACEO`s plans were not particularly orchestrated to cause grief or to make them feel inferior in any way, he just felt that the risks were too great. "This device is illogical, as our captain would say. Why set a bomb to go off when the ship decloaks and is visible and thus vulnerable to attack?", said H'Chir as he began pacing the room. "Lieutenant,", he added with a nod to the two newcomers , "we can trust these strangers?", he added questioningly. Vasilyovna furrowed her brow slightly at the Andorians lack of tact, then she looked over at Bourne & Bristed who were clearly uncomfortable now about the CEO`s prior remark. "I have no reason not to trust them Mr H'Chir", said Yelena, "they came aboard through proper channels, their starfleet records are unblemished", she added. "I would even go as far as to say that so far they have both acted diligently & dare I say, selflessly in regards the obvious danger posed by this device", said Vasilyovna. (Reply H'Chir IYW) "I would say that they can be trusted & that they are qualified to assist you in any way you may desire", stated the security chief pausing now as H'Chir began moving slowly towards the cloak again as though formulating some other plan of action. "So, if I may be so bold as to ask.....", said Yelena initiating further quiery to the mixing pot, "if the plan to phase a small part of the cloak is unfeasable, then what do you have in mind that will work?", she added. "Bearing in mind that time is of the essence here of coursee", said Yelena with the briefest of smiles. (Reply H'Chir, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Engineering Section – ACEO Jacqueline Bristed – 14:50) "To get around that one we’d have to phase the entire power supply along with the cloak and myself, and aside from being a little short of impossible to manage would leave the Spectre visible and without power." So the idea had been stupid, not really a revelation. Jacqueline had admitted as much herself when she voiced the original version, if not for the same reasons. It would have been much easier for her to shrug it off it H’Chir hadn’t started pacing around like some kind of lecturing professor. Just as he arrived at a point that reminded Jacqueline a bit too much of a certain annoying instructor from her past, he changed gears. Lieutenant,", he added with a nod to the two newcomers , "we can trust these strangers?", he added questioningly. Jacquline felt herself tense up at the question, not liking the idea that her integrity was being questioned right now. There were more important things to be thinking about, like how to keep from becoming part of a fantastic explosion. ~How about this: I’ll trust you as far as I can throw you, and you’ll do the same. And I’m sure you can throw me a lot further.~ "I would say that they can be trusted & that they are qualified to assist you in any way you may desire", Vasilyovna said. At least someone had vouched for them. The woman went on to ask if H’Chir had any ideas on this matter himself. For the moment, it seemed the best course of action was to keep quiet and try to come up with another solution. "What'd I miss?" came Taxia’s somewhat familiar voice. "Um, basically right now it seems we have nothing," Bristed answered with a shrug. (Reply Any) (Posted by Siobhan) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO Williams - 14:51) Andrew materialised with the rest of the away team. He moved into the centre of the room. He noticed a bio bed and a man lying on it. With two medics be side the bed. He instinctively moved forward but was blocked by a man carrying a gun. Andrew looked at the man and then at the patient on the bio bed. “My name is Williams I am a doctor.” He looked at the patient and then at the guard. “Will you please let me do my job.” The guard moved to one side. Andrew walked closer to see that the man was President Nell. “President Nell…” ~Get with it~ He moved over to the president. “I’m Doctor Williams. What happened.” The doctor looked from the president to the other doctor and then back to him. "He was hit with a disruptor fired during a previous encounter with one of the Admirals hit squads. We had to put him in a medically induced coma.” The doctor handed him a PADD. Andrew nodded. He took the PADD and quickly scanned it. ~We really need to him to sickbay~ “Douwsy I need the med kits we brought.” He watched as Douwsy brought over the equipment. “We have a star ship in orbit with a full equipped sickbay. We need to move him as soon as possible.” The doctor nodded. “We’ll get him ready to move.” Andrew walked over to Rogers and Kowalski. “Sir, Major. We need to move the President. He is not in a good state. He is not going to last here much longer. I need to move him to sickbay as soon as we can. He won’t last here.” (reply Roger, Kowalski) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre, Cloaking Device Section – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1452) “I have no reason not to trust them, Mr H’Chir; they came aboard through proper channels, their Starfleet records are unblemished.” ~So were mine,~ H’Chir thought coldly. “I would even go as far as to say that so far they have both acted diligently & dare I say, selflessly in regards the obvious danger posed by this device.” ~The danger is far less obvious than you think; I thought I’d explained that!~ Aloud he said simply, “A ‘yes’ would have sufficed, Lieutenant.” He was about to go further, but Vasilyovna carried on talking relentlessly. “I would say that they can be trusted & that they are qualified to assist you in any way you may desire. So, if I may be so bold as to ask…” she left the sentence hanging for a second, her meaning seemed clear enough, but just in case there was any room for doubt she finished the sentence anyway: “If the plan to phase a small part of the cloak is unfeasible, then what do you have in mind that will work? Bearing in mind that time is of the essence here of course.” =/\= Bridge to Engineering, report please.=/\= ~Oh, here we go!~ H’Chir kept one ear on the conversation as he grabbed a tricorder from the belt of one of the assembled engineers and began taking readings from both the device and the cloaking assembly. Ordinarily he’d just as soon ignore the entire thing, but these were hardly ordinary times. =/\=…remember we have people down on the surface depending on us getting this right.=/\= Rolling his eyes, H’Chir tapped his comm.-badge, adding his voice to the conversation and said, “With respect, sir, we have people up here depending on us getting this right.” =/\=Time is of the essence Mr H’Chir, but as the most senior engineer aboard the Spectre, I have the utmost confidence in your ability to complete this task satisfactorily… Bridge out.=/\= A number of looks passed among the group, H’Chir felt his future being weighed up by the officers present. He glanced once again at the tricorder in his hand, and skimmed through the data as Chenoll asked, “Well, Mr H’Chir, we need to start. How shall we go about this?” “Like this.” The Andorian locked his eyes onto Counsellor Taxia and concentrated on filling his mind with the most startling, vivid explosions he could remember. He didn’t have time to see if it had any effect, as a split second later he’d turned back to the cloak and clasped his hand around the connection between it and the bomb. He wrenched the device free and his arm was momentarily engulfed in a shower of sparks. With the smoke cleared a moment later, he was holding the lead in his hand, the bomb dangling down by his hips. Enjoying the mix of emotions he could see on his colleagues’ faces, he said “Theatrical, but fundamentally useless. Like I said, you’ll have to try a lot harder if you want to kill me today.” (Reply all in Engineering, any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 14.54) Rogers listened to William's report and then nodded in agreement. "Sir, Major. We need to move the President. He is not in a good state. He is not going to last here much longer. I need to move him to sickbay as soon as we can. He won’t last here." Rogers sighed, "We'll have to wait for the Spectre to make contact first, Doc." (reply Williams, Kowalski) "Who are these people Kowalski? How do we know that this isn't some kind of setup?" Rogers asked under his breath. (reply Williams, Kowalski) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 14.54) Taxia watched has the crew argued about the problem. Taxia sat back and watched H'Chir and quietly monitored his thoughts. H'Chir didn't seem to be too worried about the device, so, Taxia didn't bother excerting the effort of getting worked up about it either. “Well, Mr H’Chir, we need to start. How shall we go about this?” “Like this.” The engineer retorted, and suddenly, a gigantic fireball filled Taxia's consciousness. It startled him, and he took a step backwards from H'Chir instinctively. He knew what H'Chir was trying to do, it was the psychic version of a prank, some species tried it more often than not, and has a child on a Trapezoids, he had been warned, and even slightly trained against it. However, H'Chir's "image blast" was much more clear and realistic than he expected. It was possible that it was because Taxia was so intently watching H'Chir's thoughts, or, it could be possible the Andorian was slightly telepathic. He would have to check the logs of Lt. Lronen, the previous counselor. When Taxia refocused himself, he saw that H'Chir was now standing, holding the bomb. Taxia's heart was racing, but he allowed himself a grin. “Theatrical, but fundamentally useless. Like I said, you’ll have to try a lot harder if you want to kill me today," H'Chir said. Yelena was not amused. After scolding H'Chir, she contacted the bridge. Chenoll went to the control displays and checked the status of the cloaking device. "Everything looks good from my end here, Lieutenant," Chenoll reported to Vasilyovna. (reply Vasilyovna, iyw) "Counselor Taxia, please escort Mr H'Chir back to sickbay, and please do not allow him to, FIX.... anything else en route," Yelena asked him. Taxia sighed, "Yeah, thats right, Lieutenant. I'll stop him with my imaginary phaser if he tries to run," the counselor quipped to Lt. Vasilyovna. "Come on, Mr. H'Chir, you can play tricks with that new Ensign in the sickbay," and Taxia lead H'Chir to the turbolift. (reply H'Chir, Vasilyovna, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 14:55) Sabotage was never an easy thing for any crew to have to deal with but in their current climate of civil war where anything went no matter how underhand, it could perhaps be considered an expected but unnecessary evil. Opening a channel to engineering however, the Captain settled back into the command chair hoping that some headway had been made now in regards their...problem. "Bridge to Engineering, report please", said T'Vhor. (Reply Any in Engineering) "Has Mr H'Chir begun work upon the cloak yet?", said the Captain hopefully. (Reply Any in Engineering) "Understood, let me know the moment we have this solved, remember that we have people down on the surface depending on us getting this right", said T'Vhor just as H'Chir himself cut abruptly into the conversation. (Reply H'Chir, Any in Engineering) "Time is of the essence Mr H'Chir, but as the most senior engineer aboard the Spectre, I have the utmost confidence in your ability to complete this task satisfactorily.... Bridge out", he added closing the channel as he began thrumming his fingertips upon the console in contemplation of the increasingly convoluted gameplan that was evolving all around them. (Reply H'Chir, Any in Engineering) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Engineering Section – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:55) "Well, Mr H’Chir, we need to start. How shall we go about this?", asked Chennol looking as though she had not actually wanted to ask that question in the first place. "Like this.", cried H'Chir reaching into the opened up aperture of the cloaking device & pulling. All of a sudden the entire area around the cloak became filled with a shower of sparks, followed quickly by a cloud of dissipating smoke as he wrenched the device from it`s mounting, ignoring any proximity sensors in the process. Immediately, Vasilyovna stepped backwards, her hand going up in front of her face in response to the Andorians somewhat sledgehammer approach to what should have been a delicate operation. Her tongue was most certainly not held but it was just as well she cursed the man in her native Russian tongue. "Tu Pizd'uk H'Chir, Tu Suckin syn.....Dolboj'eb!!!", she cried as the Andorian stood there proudly holding up the device by the trailing wires that had been used to splice it into the cloak. (Reply H'Chir, IYW) Her words of course were completely lost on the blue faced alien as she cursed him openly but she kinda gathered that he knew that she wasn`t pleased, & if he didn`t then the aggrieved look upon her face & the consequent sporadic growl afterwards left him in no doubt whatsoever. "Mudack.....you could have killed us all you oaf", she cried resorting now to at least some English dialect as the remaining crew members looked on startled at what the man had just done, whilst the Security chief bit her tongue in an attempt to control herself. In an instance, Vasilyovna had allowed herself a relieved exhale to escape from her lungs, then she tapped at her combadge to hail the bridge. "Vasilyovna to bridge", said Yelena choking slightly now on the last vestiges of electrical burning that still remained in the air, "we will need a full status rundown on all critical ships systems", she added pausing briefly now to choose her next sentence carefully. "Mr H'Chir.....", said Vasilyovna casting the Andorian a sideways glance as she spoke, ".....has removed the device from the cloak, but not in the manner anyone may have anticipated", she added as the smoke finally began clearing from the room. H'Chir however had apparently failed to see anything wrong in his actions as he chose to simply ridicule the actual attempt & mode of sabotage in the process. "Theatrical, but fundamentally useless. Like I said, you’ll have to try a lot harder if you want to kill me today.", he said smuggly. Vasilyovna seethed within again, then she informed the bridge that they would regain control of the cloak once the Engineers present had given it the once over to ensure that everything was still ok. Yelena slowly turned to Taxia who stood nearby looking very much as though somebody had just slapped him across the face with a wet fish. "Councillor Taxia, please escort Mr H'Chir back to sickbay", said the security chief, "and please do not allow him to, FIX.... anything else en route", she added whilst contemplating the Andorians previous statement about anyone trying to kill him today. Yelena contemplated it, then she let it slide.... (Reply H'Chir, Taxia, Any in Engineering) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 14:55) H’Chir’s triumphant thoughts of ~Ta-da!~ were immediately crushed by the torrent of foul language from Vasilyovna. Thankfully the universal translator elected not to produce a word-for-word account for all to here, but the intent was quite clear. Rallying himself for a showdown, H’Chir began to seethe. ~…Clearly doesn’t understand the problem… Why is she even ‘in charge’ of an Engineering matter? Why ask me here if my assistance isn’t what they wanted?~ She finished her report to the bridge and turned to face him again. He steeled himself for the opening barrage, but instead she merely said, “Counsellor Taxia, please escort Mr H’Chir back to Sickbay and please do not allow him to, FIX… anything else en route.” Suddenly finding his anger without direction, H’Chir missed the next exchange between the two officers completely. As his escort ushered him to the door he stammered, “But… but… but I did fix it. The cloak should work now and the fake bomb isn’t there anymore.” “It’s here!” he said, holding it out for Counsellor Taxia to see. “They said I could fix things, and now they’re sending me away… I won’t go back there…” Sweat shining on his brow, his eyes wide in fear, H’Chir swung the fragmented bomb against the wall where it shattered across the hallway. Fearful of the wrath he left behind, H’Chir ran. (Reply any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 14.55) Taxia was quietly a step behind H'Chir as the engineer left the room. He felt H'Chir's anger slowly rising. “But… but… but I did fix it. The cloak should work now and the fake bomb isn’t there anymore.” Taxia smiled and reached out to put a comforting hand on the Andorian's shoulder, but before he could do so, H'Chir's emotions shot off the scale, and he began acting erratic. “It’s here!” the Andorian said, almost shouting. “They said I could fix things, and now they’re sending me away… I won’t go back there…” Before anybody could react, H'Chir threw the useless device against the bulkhead, breaking it into small bits, and began an open run down the empty corridor. "This is all we need. Yates, your with me, we better go & bring him back before he does anything else stupid," Yelena said, and began chasing after the man, along with another security officer. Before she asked, Taxia was running along side them. "I sense anger and fear in H'Chir, Lieutenant. He's still a very confused man," Taxia said has the group jogged down the corridor, after the (mentally) lost Engineer. (reply Vasilyovna, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - Acting CEO - Lt. (JG) Chenoll - 14.56) Chenoll watched has the odd group assembled studied the cloaking device. The two rookie engineers, the acting chief engineer who knew nothing about the device, the real chief engineer who, 12 hours ago, was under some kind of psychological distress, the security chief, who had a knack for dramatic statements, and the Betazoid counselor, who, despite the very possible chance that they would all be blown to microbits, had a sort of pleasant smile on his face, like he was enjoying a nice time on Risa. =/\= Bridge to Engineering, report please, =/\= The captain said. "Ensign H'Chir has arrived, Captain. We're currently going through our options, sir," Chenoll reported to the captain. =/\= Understood, let me know the moment we have this solved, remember that we have people down on the surface depending on us getting this right, =/\= Chenoll said, when H'Chir decided to speak to the Captain himself. (reply H'Chir) =/\= Time is of the essence Mr H'Chir, but as the most senior engineer aboard the Spectre, I have the utmost confidence in your ability to complete this task satisfactorily... Bridge out,=/\= T'Vhor said, lecturing the Andorian. "Well, Mr. H'Chir, we need to start. How shall we go about this?" Chenoll asked the man. (reply H'Chir, any in cloaking room, any at all) (posted by Kevin Schram) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 14:56) The mood in the room remained as tense as ever as the away team members were duly beamed in following Kowalski`s brief communication to the outside world. The ever present guards of course with their trigger happy fingers at the ready were on hand to lend hostility if it were deemed necessary. Kowalski mused that someone needed to take a chill pill or something, but in retrospect the men were just doing their duty, a little overzealously may`be but doing their duty nonetheless. The MXO however was kinda pleased to see Williams materializing with his ever present medical kit bag slung over his shoulder, at least now he knew the President was in good hands. "My name is Williams I am a doctor.", said Williams as he was immediately targeted by one of those 'Overzealous' types nearby. "Will you please let me do my job.", said the Doc looking a little perturbed now at the response he had just received. If there was one thing that could be said about Doc Williams, it was the fact that where his job was concerned, he never let anyone stand in his way, gun or no gun! Today was no different. He quickly went over & introduced himself, seemingly to an incoherent patient who predictably took no notice whatsoever, then he began conversing with the Medics on hand for a detailed breakdown of what had transpired. The nurse was then brought into play with another med kit as the medical personnel continued to fuss around the comatose patient with a certain degree of insistency now. It didn`t take long of course for Williams to ascertain that it was imperative now that they get Nell back to the ship & with that in mind, he approached Kowalski with a pensive look upon his face. "Sir, Major. We need to move the President. He is not in a good state. He is not going to last here much longer. I need to move him to sickbay as soon as we can. He won’t last here.", said Williams. "We'll have to wait for the Spectre to make contact first, Doc.", said the First Officer as he looked on anxiously & then moved surrepticiously over to the Major. "Who are these people Kowalski? How do we know that this isn't some kind of setup?", he asked under his breath. "We don`t, but we have very little choice", said Kowalski, these guys are holding the cards at the moment & just in case you didn`t notice yet, our weapons were deactivated during transport", he added. (Reply Rogers, IYW) Kowalski paused & then looked to the agitated guards as they continued to converse amongst one another regarding their precious charge, then he returned his attention to the Doctor once again & to his request to get the President back to the Spectre as soon as possible. "That much is obvious Doctor, although one problem still remains", said Kowalski. "As the Lieutenant here rightly states, we seem to have lost contact with the Spectre. I can only assume that she is still under cloak & if that`s the case.......well, I`m not a Vulcan but logically that can only mean that something`s wrong up there", he added. (Reply Williams, Rogers, Any) "We`ll just have to sit tight until whatever is wrong is put right", said the MXO looking around the room at the meagre supplies contained within it. "Do you guys ever eat?", he added addressing the guards now. "What sort of a question is that?", said Phillip as he broke away from his comrades & then moved towards the President to take another look at his ailing bio signs. "The sort of question normally asked when someones bloody hungry", said the MXO, "I`m assuming you guys never leave the Presidents side so I was wondering when & if you ever eat", he added in a slightly condescending manner. "There`s food in the storage cabinet over there", said Phillip pointing towards the far side of the room, "it isn`t much & it isn`t very appetizing but feel free if you wish to partake", he added wryly. Kowalski huffed & shrugged his shoulders, then he moved towards the cabinet cursing the fact that these guys hadn`t seen fit to have a replicator on hand. "Is it still raining out there?", said the MXO turning towards Rogers. (Reply Rogers) Kowalski sighed at the response, his mind wondering now to poor ol Houseman sat up on the cliff looking through raindrops running down his gunsight. He then looked up at the ceiling of the room, thinking of the Spectre as he did so. "I just hope this isn`t going to take long, I have a bad feeling", said Kowalski as he reached into the cabinet to remove a standard field food ration from within it. "Anybody want anything?", he asked. (Reply Williams, Rogers, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO - Williams - 14:56) "We'll have to wait for the Spectre to make contact first, Doc.", Andrew thought about what the first officer had said. ~Great we might be here for a while~ He paused for a moment trying to work out if they had everything they needed for the moment. He realised that the Major was talking to him. "That much is obvious Doctor, although one problem still remains", "As the Lieutenant here rightly states, we seem to have lost contact with the Spectre. I can only assume that she is still under cloak & if that`s the case.......well, I`m not a Vulcan but logically that can only mean that something`s wrong up there", "Yes Major." "We`ll just have to sit tight until whatever is wrong is put right", Andrew nodded and then went back to Douwsy and the other Doctor who were working beside the president. He turned to Dousey. "It looks like we are going to he here for a while. We can't get in contact with the Spectre. Lets go over what we have." Douwsy nodded and began going through her med kit. "Anybody want anything?", Andrew looked up to see the Major with some standard field food ration pack. "Yes Major. What ever is going." (reply Kowalski) (reply Kowalski, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Captain T'Vhor – 14:57) The moment it had happened everybody knew that something had just changed for the worst. The status indicators on the Engineering console behind the command area had flashed up a warning in regards the cloak & the duty Engineer nearby had hollered out accordingly to corroborate it. "Sir, the cloak is down", said the Engineer, "we are visible sir", he added. The Captain immediately came to attention in his chair as he quickly began issuing orders to all & sundry, just as the call came up from Engineering from Vasilyovna in regards what had just happened in the cloaking device Engineering section with H'Chir. The Captain took the information on board & ordered the relevant status reports from all critical ships systems as advised, then he continued with his bridge duties. "Sensors", cried T'Vhor, "do we have any moving contacts in the vicinity?" "No sir, nothing moving", came the reply. "The board is clean" The Captain paused briefly, computing the logical & best course of action in his head as he did so. "Can we get a lock on the away team?", said T'Vhor & a reply was immediately forthcoming from transporter room One. "I have a lock sir", said the Transporter chief. "Stand by", said the Captain as he turned his attention then to their positional sensors so as to check their orbit. He then punched a few buttons on the console set into his right armrest to verify what he was now seeing. "The planets magnetic field is effectively masking our signature, we can use this for a short while only but we must re-engage the cloak at the earliest possibility", said the Captain as he quickly opened a channel to Lieutenant Rogers on the surface. (Reply Any, None) (POsted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna – 14:57) "Counsellor Taxia, please escort Mr H’Chir back to Sickbay and please do not allow him to, FIX.. anything else en route.", the security chief had said. It had been a precautionary measure of course for she had assumed that the CEO was still unhinged due to the way he had just dealt with their act of sabotage, & Taxia was probably one of the only people on board qualified to deal with that. In fact the Counsellor had actually already begun to walk towards the Andorian but then all of a sudden, H'Chir hit back at Vasilyovna`s apparent lack of understanding in regards his actions. "But.. but.. but I did fix it.", he said puzzled, "the cloak should work now and the fake bomb isn’t there anymore.", he added becoming more upset as he progressed. "It`s here!" he cried whilst displaying the errant device to the Counsellor. "They said I could fix things, and now they’re sending me away... I won’t go back there.", he hollered as he tossed the detonator into the wall before running from the engineering section & off down the corridor. Vasilyovna simply placed both hands upon her knees & then she leaned onto them as she shook her head in disbelief. "This is all we need", she said with a heavy sigh, "Yates, your with me, we better go & bring him back before he does anything else stupid", she added as she marched out into the corridor in the direction H'Chir had just fled. "You better come as well Mr Taxia, we may need you to talk him down", said Yelena looking back into the room. (Reply Taxia, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Bourne - 14:57) "Like this", stated H'Chir as Robin watched with immense detail. To his shock and horror, he watched as H'Chir plunged his arm down to the detonator, grabbed hold of the wires and connectors to the device. ~Uh Oh~ thought Robin, thinking that it was game over for him. Every ounce of his body was flooding with adrenaline from watching this stunt, absolutely shocked with what he was seeing. Before he could react, a mass of electrical sparks and smoke appeared from where the device was. Closing his eyes and awaiting the impending force and heat from the device exploding, he was amazed when nothing actually happened. Opening a corner of one eye, he noticed H'Chir dangling the wires of the device from his hand, with the device itself at his hip. It had also occurred to him that from being close up with the device, he was now lying on the floor with his back, leaning up to see what was going on, and why he was not dead. "Theatrical, but fundamentally useless. Like I said, you'll have to try a lot harder if you want to kill me today", H'Chir announced. Shaking, Robin rose to his feet, trying to stabilise his balance. "But.. Wha.. Wher?..How", He attempted, but with the lack of control, he decided to abandon his attempts and try to calm down. Ignoring what was going on for the minute, he headed to a computer console to make sure no critical systems were damaged in the attempt. "But... but... but I did fix it. The cloak should work now and the fake bomb isn't there anymore", Robin overheard, which made his mood go from absolute shock, to outrage. "Wait, you mean to say you KNEW this was a fake device?? And you didn't tell us?", he shouted back.. But no one seemed to have listened, or cared. "Its here! They said I could fix things, and now they're sending me away... I won't go back there", H'Chir exclaimed before throwing the device against the wall and broke into a run. A few moments later the device had settled on the ground in many pieces. Taking extra caution, he pulled his own tricorder and scanned the remains in case H'Chir was wrong about the fake device. Ignoring the commotion around him, he called over to report. "Lieutenant! Looks like it was a failed explosion rather then a fake device, I would presume that H'Chir's surprised move was not accounted for when this device was set up. Being pulled like that made it disarm itself. It's safe now it's in pieces... I think... There's nothing to detonate it. I also not nothing obvious on who could have placed it, especially now its in pieces. Its going to take time to analyse it through and through", he stated looking at Chenoll whilst he passed the readings of the tricorder over. "What do you think?" (Reply Chenoll) (Reply Chenoll, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed – 14:58) "Like this." The Andorian turned back to the cloak, grabbing the device and wrenching it free with an unholy shower of sparks. If there had been any doubt that this man had something wrong with his head, it was gone now. The CEO held the device like some kind of trophy, the whole situation some kind of stupid hunt. "Theatrical, but fundamentally useless. Like I said, you’ll have to try a lot harder if you want to kill me today." As Vasilyovna began spewing Russian, Jacqueline found her own mind awash with the invective picked up from myriad passengers on her father’s ship. There were too many to spew…and apparently Ensign Bourne had fallen down when she wasn’t looking, but he righted himself before she could react. (Reply any in Engineering, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 14.58) "We don`t, but we have very little choice", said Kowalski, "these guys are holding the cards at the moment & just in case you didn`t notice yet, our weapons were deactivated during transport", he added. Brian raised an eyebrow to the major and glanced down at the standard hand phaser hostlered around his waist. He glanced at it, the power cell was empty. He frowned and looked up and listened to Kowalski and Dr. Williams have a short conversation about their situation, and the president. Rogers looked around the room and took it all in. He passed when the Marines started handing out ration packs, and leaned up against the wall of the room and sighed. A few minutes later, he looked up, and saw Dr. Williams in some sort of altercation with one of the guards near the president's body. Rogers got up and walked over to them. “If it reaches his brain he will die. We need to get him to sickbay. We can slow it down but there is no way to stop it.” Rogers listened to the conversation between Dr. Williams and Major Kowalski. Rogers stood up and walked over to Kowalski and mused quietly, "What the hell is going on up there? What is taking the Spectre so long?" (reply Kowalski) "We were being followed by those ships. I wonder if the Spectre was attacked and had to retreat to prevent damage," Rogers said so only the Major could hear. (reply Kowalski) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed – 14:59) "But.. but.. but I did fix it.", H’Chir said puzzled, "the cloak should work now and the fake bomb isn’t there anymore." ~No, that can’t be right. Wouldn’t someone have noticed if it were fake?~ Nobody had actually looked, Bristed realized. She’d found it, Yates had identified it, and then everyone had kept their distance. So it could have been fake all along. But the fear had been real enough, and it had felt wrong while it was in there. Maybe she was just losing her touch, or it was just nerves. There hadn’t been anything like this during training, just holo-senarios that could be reset, and no could-be detonators during those. Or crazy Andorians. Or people firing at her before she even got to her ship. Actually, Jacqueline decided, Starfleet Academy hadn’t really prepared her much for any of this. Something shattered against the wall, and then first H’Chir and then Vasilyovna and Yates and Taxia disappeared. The slamming had been too much for her nerves; a loud sound had definitely been the last thing she needed at the moment. For the second time in as many days she had to sternly tell herself that she wasn’t dead. By the time she’d managed that, Bourne was analyzing the busted pieces of what had once been a detonator. "Lieutenant! Looks like it was a failed explosion rather then a fake device. I would presume that H’Chir’s surprised move was not accounted for when this device was set up. Being pulled like that made it disarm itself. It’s safe now it’s in pieces, I think.. There’s nothing to detonate it. I also not nothing obvious on who could have placed it, especially now its in pieces. Its going to take time to analyse it through and through," He stated looking at Chenoll whilst he passed the readings of the tricorder over. "What do you think?" (reply Chenoll) "You’re saying he’s just lucky?" Bristed asked somewhat incredulously. "And what kind of evidence would we be looking for?" She glanced back at the panel for a moment, wondering if it should be closed, deciding it didn’t matter in the end. "By the way, after all this is over, I think I could use a drink. Anyone care to join me?" (Reply Bourne, Chenoll, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:00) "Lieutenant! Looks like it was a failed explosion rather then a fake device. I would presume that H'Chir's surprised move was not accounted for when this device was set up. Being pulled like that made it disarm itself. It's safe now it's in pieces, I think.. There's nothing to detonate it. I also note nothing obvious on who could have placed it, especially now its in pieces. Its going to take time to analyse it through and through," Robin stated looking at Chenoll whilst he passed the readings of the tricorder over. "What do you think?" (reply Chenoll) "You're saying he's just lucky?" Bristed asked somewhat incredulously. "And what kind of evidence would we be looking for?" She glanced back at the panel for a moment, wondering if it should be closed, deciding it didn't matter in the end. "By the way, after all this is over, I think I could use a drink. Anyone care to join me?" She asked openly "A drink? Trust me, after this, I need a few more the 'A' Drink" Robin smiled whilst looking at Chenoll as she analysed the device further. "As for the device.. well.. clues on who might have used it - sample testing it for skin or summit.. If it was sealed, like it was, then we might have had a chance that during the setup, the person setting this device up made a mistake and left something inside... even an air sample. Now its open.." he sighed "We can't even try that. I know its a securities job...". He looked up at the brown haired, hazel eyed ensign that was looking at the open panel. "Still. Worth a quick try in any case. Unless you have any other things that could work?" he asked, hoping that she would have an answer or suggestion. (Reply any in cloak device section) "Right then" he said standing up, noticing that Bristed was shorter than him "Finish the shift then meet in 10 forward?" he asked. (Reply Bristed, Chenoll, any in cloak engineering) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:01) "By the way, after all this is over, I think I could use a drink. Anyone care to join me?" she asked. "A drink? Trust me, after this, I need a few more the 'A' Drink" Robin smiled whilst looking at Chenoll as she analysed the device further. "As for the device.. well.. clues on who might have used it - sample testing it for skin or sommit.. If it was sealed, like it was, then we might have had a chance that during the setup, the person setting this device up made a mistake and left something inside... even an air sample. Now its open.." he sighed "We can't even try that. I know its a securities job...". He looked up at the brown haired, hazeled eyes ensign that was looking at the open panel. "Still. Worth a quick try in any case. Unless you have any other things that could work?" he asked, hoping that she would have an answer or suggestion. "I wouldn’t have even got that far, really. My brain’s gone missing…" She shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to clear it. (reply Chenoll, iyw) "Right then" Bourne said standing up. "Finish the shift then meet in 10 forward?" he asked. "I’ll probably be a little late. I’m getting pretty good at getting very lost before arriving where I want to be," Jacqueline explained with a smile. Why ask the computer for directions when she could discover what was where by accident? It was much more fun that way. "But that works for me." She glanced back at the still open panel once again. "Y’know, they might have left evidence over there too. Shouldn’t we check on that, while we’re playing detective?" (Reply Bourne, Chenoll, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Bourne - 15:03) "By the way, after all this is over, I think I could use a drink. Anyone care to join me?" she asked. "A drink? Trust me, after this, I need a few more the 'A' Drink" Robin smiled whilst looking at Chenoll as she analyzed the device further. "As for the device.. well.. clues on who might have used it - sample testing it for skin or summit.. If it was sealed, like it was, then we might have had a chance that during the setup, the person setting this device up made a mistake and left something inside... even an air sample. Now its open.." he sighed "We can't even try that. I know its a securities job...". He looked up at the brown haired, hazel eyed ensign that was looking at the open panel. "Still. Worth a quick try in any case. Unless you have any other things that could work?" he asked, hoping that she would have an answer or suggestion. "I wouldn't have even got that far, really. My brain's gone missing" She shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to clear it. (reply Chenoll, iyw) "Right then" Bourne said standing up. "Finish the shift then meet in 10 forward?" he asked. "I'll probably be a little late. I'm getting pretty good at getting very lost before arriving where I want to be," Jacqueline explained with a smile. "But that works for me." Robin smiled once more. "I will never get the hang of this ship.. so don't think your the only one" he answered. She glanced back at the still open panel once again. "Y'know, they might have left evidence over there too. Shouldn't we check on that, while we're playing detective?" Robin looked over following her glance, shortly followed by "Probably.. also an idea to check for damage.. And detectives are for security.. I am just -extending- my engineering skills and trying to help." ~unsuccessfully~ he thought. He watched Bristed crouch by the open panel with a tricorder in hand scanning for anything. ~If shes checking the panel, I better go check the system logs~ he thought to himself as he walked towards a spare cloaking diagnostics panel. As he logged in, Bristed shouted "I think I found something. Looks like…human prints, I think, maybe?". With this, Robin looked up to watch her get closer to the panel. "Really??" Robin replied in almost shock and disbelief. "You sure it wasn't H'Chir pulling the device out, or me when I was looking closer?" he asked, as he attempted to recall the moments before the event. "Um…" Bristed answered uncertainly. "No, I…damn, that is me," she continued. ~Almost~ Robin thought to himself. "Ok, never mind. Keep looking though" he replied, attempting to conceal a laugh that was creeping out. "Hey, when's this shift over anyhow?" Bristed asked as she stood up. "Erm... Hopefully soon. Lets finish off here and then get something.. If that's OK with you Chenoll?" he asked in hope. (Reply Chenoll) As he listened to the answer, he looked at the screen in front of him. ~ok.. a little more complicated then I thought.. there must be a simple.. ah~ Robin thought as he scrolled through the available options. selecting the basic systems check revealed a screen, full of red warnings. "Erm... Guys.. I think we have a problem over here...." he shouted. "Looks like the... wait.." he paused attempting to find the root cause by zooming in on key components. All of them showed one thing. No power. "Nothings seems to be getting power! I presume the cloak requires power..." he asked rhetorically. "So.. i presume that means that... were..." he attempted to say, but not wanting to finish with the threat of it being real. (Reply any in cloak) "Come here and have a look! I don't know this system well... I'm just saying what its displaying!" He shouted ~I have no clue what this means... or why~ (Reply any in cloak) (Reply Chenoll, any in cloak, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO Williams - 15:03) Andrew sat and finished eating the ration pack that Kowalski had given to him. He looked at the PADD that he had been given by the doctors. He really had not known how bad the presidents condition was. ~We so need to get him to sickbay~ He paused as he saw some thing on the PADD ~Ow ow this is not good~ He picked up his medical tricorder. He then opened it and began scanning the president. He saw one of the doctors coming over to him. “What are you doing?” ~Nearly there~ Andrew ignored the doctor and kept scanning. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” ~Got it~ Andrew was spun around and the doctor was inches away from his face. “What am I doing? I’m saving the president.” He thrust the tricorder into his hand. “You put him into a coma because of the disruptor fire. You may have slowed down his death but he will die.” Rage crossed the doctors face. “Yes I know this. We can keep him like this with out a sickbay for a couple of more days.” “Not days, hours .” The doctor paused. “You may have stopped him from getting neurological damage but look at that.” He stabbed at the tricorder data. “He has a spinal pressure bulge working his way slowly up his spine cord.” He looked over at Kowalski and Rogers. “If it reaches his brain he will die. We need to get him to sickbay. We can slow it down but there is no way to stop it.” (reply Kowalski, Rogers) Andrew paused quickly thinking. “About three hours at most.” (reply Kowalski, Rogers) Andrew nodded and got to work. (reply Kowalski, Rogers, any) (Posted by Robbie) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:04) Kowalski had now finished the last of the rather unappetizing food that had been offered him by the guard he knew only as Phillip. It had not tasted at all good but it was sustenance nonetheless & as a marine, the MXO knew that sometimes you just had to take whatever was available. His appetite however had just become secondary to events unfolding, for the Doctor had suddenly became agitated by something he had read in regards the Presidents medical notes, Kowalski had no idea what it was of course but the hindrance of having lost contact with the ship was only compounded further by the medics apparent insistence at eagerly re-assessing the Presidents biosigns at the expense of agitating one of his carers. There appeared to be a disagreement over something concerning his medical status & the Doc seemed even more anxious now about getting him to a properly equipped sickbay, Kowalski had heard the words but had not understood them of course..... "He has a spinal pressure bulge working his way slowly up his spinal cord.", said a rather concerned Williams as he turned towards both Rogers & the MXO in order to emphasise the urgency. "If it reaches his brain he will die. We need to get him to sickbay. We can slow it down but there is no way to stop it.", said the Doctor moving now towards the two men in question. "And what exactly are we supposed to beam him into Doctor", said Kowalski, "thin air....just in case you forgot, we are currently out of contact with the Spectre so until we re-establish communication we're stuck here", he added. The Doctor sighed heavily in response, it was clear that his urgency to keep the President alive was now taking up a great deal of his mental energy & the fact that they were out of contact with the ship only served to stress him even further. "So just how much time are we talking here, I mean for the President?", said Kowalski. "About three hours at most.", said the Doctor, the look on his face suggesting that that was only a rough estimate. Kowalski frowned as he contemplated that, if the President was lost then all hope of re-establishing the Federation was lost with him & he knew it & the fact that the mans condition was now grave only made matters that much worse. Kowalski stood up from where he had been seated, then he moved over towards the guard named Phillip whilst glancing back to the Doctor. "I suggest you use what time we have here making sure that the President continues breathing until such time as we can beam him out then Doctor Williams", said the MXO as he took a seat next to the guard. (reply Williams, any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15.05) "What the hell is going on up there? What is taking the Spectre so long?", said the First Officer. "Beats me Lieutenant, I know one thing though & that`s that they wouldn`t be remaining out of contact through choice", said Kowalski, "this guy is far too important to leave behind, & in my book that means we are not expendable", he added with a wink. "We were being followed by those ships. I wonder if the Spectre was attacked and had to retreat to prevent damage,", said Rogers quietly as he wracked his brain for some answers. Kowalski quirked his head slightly to one side & bit at his lower lip as he ran that connotation through his head also. "No, the report had them too far away, we should have an hour or two before we have to start assuming that the Spectre may have been engaged by hostiles", said the MXO. "But then again, there was that anomoly over the Northern pole", he added. The thought lingered for a moment or two, then he shrugged it off. "No, something else is holding them up", said the MXO looking towards the ceiling, "I just hope they sort it soon whatever it is", he added as he gestured towards one of the marines to go check the compound outside & update Houseman on proceedings. (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Corridor - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna & Ensign Yates - 15:06) "Was H'Chir wearing his combadge?", asked the Security chief to nobody in particular. (Reply Taxia IYW) "He wasn`t in uniform", said Yates thoughtfully. Vasilyovna paused & then turned towards the computer access panel nearby. "Computer, locate CEO H'Chir", she asked. [There is no record of CEO H'Chir currently stationed on board the Spectre] Vasilyovna sighed as she realized that H'Chir wasn`t technically assigned to the ship anymore of course due to his medical status, then she reformed her quiery. "Locate Ensign H'Chir", said Yelena using his rank only & not his departmental title. [Ensign H'Chir is currently located on deck five, corridor nine J] Yelena screwed her face up at the announcement. "Deck five, where the hell is he headed?", she asked. "He won`t be able to access a shuttle or arrange transport without Ops approval, I doubt very much wether he`s gone to watch a movie so that leaves the storage bays & the cargo holds", said Yelena. "Unless of course he wants to take a spin in the Captains yacht", said Yates jokingly. The security chief frowned at the thought, what had been suggested as an obvious joke could actually have been the Andorians intentions, the systems were locked down & available only at the Captains own personal access codes of course, but H'Chir, being the CEO would probably be able to bypass whatever systems he wished! "He wouldn`t, surely he wouldn`t?", she said whilst wondering wether or not he would be unhinged enough to think that perhaps he was now actually the Captain or something. "Councillor, please reassure me that he`s not in that kind of frame of mind", she added turning towards Taxia. (Reply Taxia) Yelena nodded & then concurred that it was unlikely anyway, the man was probably just running scared. "We could just site to site him directly to sickbay", said Yates. (Reply Taxia, IYW) "It is an option but I`d rather talk him into going back there of his own volition, I really don`t want to forcibly remove him unless it`s absolutely necessary", said Yelena mirroring the Councillors own obvious concerns regarding H'Chir`s mental state. "Computer, locate Ensign H'Chir & update to my location at one minute intervals", said Yelena readdressing the computer panel. [Ensign H'Chir is now on deck five, corridor four B] "He`s doubled back on himself", said Yelena as they moved off down the corridor towards the turbolift. "We better find him quick, I don`t like the idea of him running lose on the ship whilst we are in our current situation", said Yelena as she opened a channel to update the security officers currently stationed at Security station Beta. (Reply Taxia, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Corridor - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 15.06) Taxia jogged along with the two security officers has they continued their search for Ensign H'Chir. "Was H'Chir wearing his combadge?" the chief asked. "He wasn`t in uniform," Ensign Yates replied. Yelena stopped and asked the computer. "Computer, locate CEO H'Chir." [There is no record of CEO H'Chir currently stationed on board the Spectre] "Locate Ensign H'Chir," the chief asked. [Ensign H'Chir is currently located on deck five, corridor nine J] "Deck five, where the hell is he headed?", she asked. "He won`t be able to access a shuttle or arrange transport without Ops approval, I doubt very much wether he`s gone to watch a movie so that leaves the storage bays & the cargo holds", said Yelena. "Unless of course he wants to take a spin in the Captains yacht" the ensign said. "He wouldn`t, surely he wouldn`t? Councillor, please reassure me that he`s not in that kind of frame of mind", she added turning towards Taxia. "Not sure, Chief. Its possible, but I'd say more likely he's running scared," Taxia said, mirring Vasilyovna's own fault. "We could just site to site him directly to sickbay," the Ensign suggested. "It is an option but I`d rather talk him into going back there of his own volition, I really don`t want to forcibly remove him unless it`s absolutely necessary," Vasilyovna said,"Computer, locate Ensign H'Chir & update to my location at one minute intervals," [Ensign H'Chir is now on deck five, corridor four B] "He`s doubled back on himself. We better find him quick, I don`t like the idea of him running lose on the ship whilst we are in our current situation", said Yelena as she opened a channel to update the security officers currently stationed at Security station Beta," Vasilyovna said, and the three started off running towards the turbolift. (Reply None) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed building - CMO - Williams - 15:09) "I suggest you use what time we have here making sure that the President continues breathing until such time as we can beam him out then Doctor Williams", “Understood sir.” He turned and walked back to the biobed. ~This is ridiculous~ Grabbed a seat beside Douwsy who was chomping at a ration pack. She gave him a sad shrug and continued. “He’s going to die because we don’t have a spinal cord re-modulator.” He muttered. She nodded in agreement to him but said nothing The procedure would take twenty minutes in sickbay. He could remove the pressure bulge and save him. The problem was that it was a highly technical peace of kit. It was definatly not something that could be put in a medkit. He shook his head and picked up the PADD and went through the data again. (reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Deck 5 - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna & SO Ensign Yates - 15:10) Arriving on deck five, the three officers stepped out of the turbolift to the accompaniment of the computer announcing H'Chir`s current location as now entering the Theatre! "I don`t believe it", exclaimed Vasilyovna, "may`be he is going to watch a movie after all", she added with just a hint of a smile. "Do they even HAVE Andorian filmstars?", asked Yates, "I have no idea", said Yelena, "I`ll ask H'Chir when we next see him", she added as she set off briskly down the corridor in the direction of the aforementioned theatre. (Reply None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Deck 5 - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 15.11) The group of three stepped off the turbolift. The chief checked H'Chir's location, and he was informed that H'Chir was entering the threater. Taxia honed in on H'Chir's mind while the two humans chattered amongst themself. The group walked into the theather and Taxia kept listening to H'Chir's thought. (Reply None) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Captain T'Vhor – 15:12) "T'Vhor to Lieutenant Rogers, please respond", said the Captain. (Reply Rogers) "Are you with the President Lieutenant?", asked the Captain. (Reply Rogers) The news that the President was critical did not go down well of course & it was clear that there was a medical emergency developing regardless of the fact that Rogers seemed glad to be hearing from them. "Understood Lieutenant, Standby", said the Captain as he returned his attention to the Transporter chief once more. "Lock onto Doctor Williams & the President chief, beam them directly to sickbay & then bring our people & any that are with the President aboard also", said T'Vhor. "Aye sir, I`m on it", said the Transporter chief. "Engineering, let me know the moment we have cloaking capability", said the Captain. (Reply Any in Engineering) "Bridge to sickbay", said T'Vhor. (Reply O'Harper) "We have an incoming medical emergency Doctor, Doctor Williams is beaming directly to sickbay with the casualty", said the Captain. (Reply O'Harper) "Helm, plot a course out of the Carraya system, be prepared to break orbit on my mark", said the Captain. "Aye sir, plotting a course to...... the last known location of the USS Hood", came the reply from the helmsman as he preempted the Captains logical choice. "Stand by for further orders", said the Captain as he settled back to await developments. (Reply O'Harper, Rogers, Williams, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Theatre - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna & SO Ensign Yates - 15:14) "Computer, lights", said Vasilyovna & the illumination in the theatre immediately came on to bathe the arena & seating areas in light just as Yates moved to the right to begin his search. It appeared however that despite the fact that all areas within the theatre were now clearly visible, nobody was actually in there other than the three officers now searching for the errant CEO. "He obviously isn't here", said Vasilyovna after a short glance around, her puzzled expression obvious now in regards the computer`s repeated insistence that he actually was there. [Ensign H'Chir is currently located on deck five in the Theatre] "Then where is he?", exclaimed Yates mirroring his superiors puzzlement as they each began moving down the aisles to check the seats row by row. Then all of a sudden there was movement at the front..... "What was that?", said Vasilyovna, "over there, something moving on the floor" Yates was on it in a second, his heavy footfalls immediately disturbing the source of the noise enough for it to suddenly run out & make a break for the entrance to the theatre. "Damn!", cried Yates, "Damn damn damn!"..... It was unbelievable to say the least, the rear end of a black furry object went flying up the corridor, it`s tail bouncing up & down to the accompaniment of it`s fast galloping legs as it disappeared from view through the opening doors. "Koshka!", exclaimed Vasilyovna, "a damned cat!".... Taxia stood silently looking as though he was wondering how the hell he was going to psychoanalyze a member of the feline genus. The computer had insisted that it had been H'Chir & yet a cat had just shot past them at breakneck speed! "How the hell.....", began Yelena, her face screwing up at the ridiculousness of it all, then she allowed the sentence to simply trail off as she shook her head in disbelief. "I think I know how", said Yates trying to hold back a smile, "it was wearing the CEO`s combadge", he added dejectedly, "that damned Andorian must have actually clipped it to it`s collar, I saw it just briefly as it shot past me", he added much to the Security chiefs annoyance. "Oh that`s just fine, now how do we find him?", she said as she turned about & marched up the aisle towards the theatre exit. Taxia & Yates quickly followed. "It was Ensign Desoto`s cat", said Yates turning to Taxia, "I think may`be she`ll be getting a visit from our disgruntled Security chief sometime soon", he added. (Reply Taxia) Yates nodded & smiled just as the Computer chirped in with it`s one minute update. [Ensign H'Chir is currently located on deck five corridor four C] "Meow....", said Yates with a smile, just as Vasilyovna`s raised voice was heard booming outside the theatre. "Computer, desist updates!"....... (Reply Taxia IYW, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 15.14) Rogers stood around with the crew in the room. They had waited almost 30 minutes now, and no sign of the Spectre. Brian began to get worried. He considered going to discuss their options with the Major when he was hailed from the Spectre. =/\= T'Vhor to Lieutenant Rogers, please respond, =/\= the familiar voice said. Rogers tapped his comm badge. "Rogers here, sir. We've made contact with some... locals. They have the President," he said in a proud tone of voice. =/\= Are you with the President Lieutenant? =/\= The captain asked. "Yes, sir. He's in a critical medical condition. Dr. Williams says he needs to get back to the ship ASAP," Rogers said. =/\= Understood Lieutenant, Standby, =/\= The captain said. Even though they probably heard the conversation, Rogers turned to the assembled team of Marines, plus Agent Smith and Dr. Williams. "Prepare to be energized," Rogers said. (reply Smith, Williams, Marines) Soon, Brian felt the familiar shimmy of the transporter beam around him. His body was broken down into tiny bits, and reassembled inside the Spectre's transporter buffer. (Reply Smith, Williams, Marines) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - CMO - Williams - 15.15) "Prepare to be energized," Andrew looked over at Rogers. ~Looks like we have gotten comms back with the Spectre~ “Understood Mr Rogers.” He nodded to Douwsy who had heard the conversation and had already started getting things ready. As he began to make his way over to the president. “Ok people, let’s make like a shepherd shall we", Andrew shook his head and grinned as he understood the Major‘s meaning. "Doctor Williams, I suggest you get the President ready for transport as no doubt he will be the first to be leaving." He nodded at the Major. "He doesn’t go anywhere without me", Andrew looked at the Presidents bodyguard. "Fine by me......Doc?" Andrew shrugged. “Yeh. We’ll be leaving in a few moments whether your with us or not.” Andrew turned back and went over to Douwsy. “Looks like we are going home.” (reply any) (Posted By Robbie) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering – Engineer’s Mate, CPO M’Rurrh – 15:15) =/\=Engineering, let me know the moment we have cloaking capability.=/\= As one of the Spectre’s longest-serving engineers, M’Rurrh had been drafted into the morass of people running around as soon as the cloak had gone down. Various versions of the story were already in circulation, including at least one where H’Chir had pulled a phaser and began shooting the cloak assembly until he was restrained. She didn’t know what to believe, but it just didn’t make sense that his first actions since his return to the Spectre would be to leave her stranded in alien territory. If anything H’Chir ought to have more reason that most to avoid being captured by the enemy. One thing had become abundantly clear; whatever the rumours floating around, if H’Chir had intended to damage the cloak, he’d done a pathetic job. “Captain, give us two minutes to finish a final diagnostic and you should have the cloak back, although I wouldn’t recommend we push it too hard.” She didn’t hear a response from the bridge, and was too absorbed in her work to realise the channel had closed as soon as she’d given her report, so she carried on talking. “Looks like he just snagged a power transfer feed… It needn’t even have been deliberate…” (Reply any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Theater - COUNS - Lt. (JG) David Taxia - 15.16) Taxia entered the theater and started walking about the theater. ~H'Chir. It is alright. You can trust us. We're here to help. He walked around the room silently when suddenly a large cat jumped out at him. Taxia frowned and sensed H'Chir leave the room. Taxia smiled and ran out the door and chased after the engineer, ignoring Vasilynova. (reply H'Chir, Vasilynova, Yates, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (Carraya IV - Undisclosed Building - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:16) It could not have come any sooner, the repetitive glare & innate mistrust coming from the Presidents foremost handpicked bodyguard was at times overwhelming. The man held a Starfleet rank of Lieutenant Commander & as such he was used to being privy to certain information. Kowalski of course had not given him any reason to doubt his volition, it had simply come about from spending too much time on the run, hiding from all & sundry & having to scrutinize everyone that came into the Presidents path. Lieutenant Commander Phillip Tovardi was tired, he needed to rest & the communication just received from the Starfleet vessel in orbit was as much a welcome to him as it was to everyone else. "Ok people, let`s make like a shepherd shall we", said Kowalski rising up from his prior position squatting against the wall. "Doctor Williams, I suggest you get the President ready for transport as no doubt he will be the first to be leaving.", he added just as Tovaldi jumped in. "He doesn`t go anywhere without me", said the Presidents bodyguard. Kowalski paused & then looked to the Doctor. "Fine by me......Doc?", said the MXO looking for his own acceptance also. (Reply Williams, Any) The Doctor then made himself busy with the President whilst Tovardi briefed the other guards on what he wanted them to do once they were onboard the Spectre. Kowalski opened a channel to Houseman outside feeling as he did so that perhaps he should grab the man a ration pack, but then deciding against it due to the fact that they`d all have access to a replicator soon enough. "Kowalski to Houseman, code is Zulu one nine, repeat...zulu one nine. Stand down & prepare for beamout", said the MXO. (Reply Houseman) Kowalski then readied himself for transport also. (Reply Houseman, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Carraya IV - Woodlands - Corporal Houseman - 15:17) Houseman was wet and covered in mud. He realised to his dismay that the foliage that he had placed him self stuck to him like glue. He now looked like some thing out of a old B horror film. This was not a massive hindrance but it was irritating. =^=Kowalski to Houseman, code is Zulu one nine, repeat...zulu one nine. Stand down & prepare for Beamout=^= ~ At last a decision~ “Roger that.” Houseman relaxed and tried to ease his stiff muscles. He moved into a crouch. He pulled his weapon beside him and checked it as he readied himself for transportation. (Reply None) (Posted by Robbie Gray) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15.18) Andrew materialised in sickbay with the beam up from the planet. He saw that the president had materialised on a bio bed. He moved passed the two doctors and the presidential bodyguard to stand by the president. “Douwsy I need to get that pressure bulge out of his spinal cord. Get the spinal cord re-modulator and we’ll do it now. Also get Dr O’Harper I’ll need a hand. He activated the bio-beds sensors and looked at the sensor readings. ~Hmm not good. Looks like we are just in time~ He looked at the presidential bodyguard who was standing right be side him. “Excuse me. I do not mean to be rude but unless you can perform delicate spinal surgery would you mind stepping to one side.” He saw the two doctors who had beamed up from the planet. They looked exhausted and need of some sleep. “Both of you get something to drink and get your heads down.” They both gave him a look. ~Well I would not leave my patient either~ “Well if you change your mind, Nurse Marshal will be able to find you something.” He saw Douwsy and Dr O’Harper arrive. “Great. Okay Dr Harper our patient has a pressure bulge progressing up his spine. I’m going to use a spinal cord re-modulator to dissipate the pressure bulge. Would you like to help?” (reply O’Harper) Andrew nodded and began. (reply O’Harper, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - FO - Lt. Brian Rogers - 15.18) Rogers appeared and grabbed the bottom of his uniform tunic and pulled it tight over his shoulders, and began a swift walk towards the door. He gave the transporter chief a curt nod, exited the room, and began a line towards the nearest turbolift. (reply any, Smith, Williams, Marines) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room One - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:19) Immediately the beamout had completed, Kowalski found himself once again on the familiar pad of a Starfleet transporter, his team were all around him & already preparing themselves for debrief as they removed their equipment. The First Officer remained only for a second, then he was gone, no doubt to make his report to the CO & appraise him of the situation in regards the President. "Thanks Chief", said Kowalski acknowledging the Transporter chief, "any problems with the Doctor & the President?", he added. "None sir, the President is now in sickbay with Doctor Williams & Doctor O'Harper", said the Transporter chief, "the er...other guy is with them also", he added. Kowalski paused for a moment, "Of course he is", he said as he turned about quickly to face his men. "Ok you orrible little shower, debrief in thirty minutes....", said the MXO turning then to Houseman & the puddle of dirty water he was now leaving on the floor at his feet. "And speaking of showers Corporal, I think that may be the order of the day where your concerned", he added with a laugh. (Reply Houseman, IYW) "I`m sure Krige is gonna wanna hear all about this little jaunt", he added as he moved towards the door with a rather soaked & muddied looking Houseman at his side. (Reply Houseman IYW, Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room One - Corporal Houseman - 15:20) He looked at the large puddle that was collecting at his feet. He shouldered his rifle as the mud began to fall off him as well. ~Glad to know that they build the transporter pads waterproof. Getting electrocuted after a mission is not a good idea~ "And speaking of showers Corporal, I think that may be the order of the day where your concerned", Houseman smiled at the Major as he continued to drip. “Yes Sir.” "I`m sure Krige is gonna wanna hear all about this little jaunt", “I am sure that he will sir.” ~And I’m going to hear it from the chief if I keep acting like a human fountain~ Houseman squelched after the Major as he left the transporter room. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15.27) Every thing had gone perfectly. The operation had gone quicker then he had predicted and he was scanning the president for any residual singes of trauma. The president suddenly began to scream and thrashed his arms wildly. He stepped over and grabbed one of the presidents arms. "Hold him, I don't' want to sedate him!" Andrew yelled. He watched as the presidential bodyguard was there in a flash. “President Nell, calm down. Every thing is okay.” ~If he keeps this up I’ll have to sedate him~ “President Nell, Its okay Calm down.” He looked at Douwsy. “Douwsy I need 10cc of Miprodefarin now.” As he looked back his grip slipped and he was thrown into the sickbay wall. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Federation President Rondar Nell - 15:28) "Hold him, I don't' want to sedate him!" Nell thrashed as he came out of the coma, but he couldn't quite get all of his body-parts working like they should so it was easy for a couple pairs of hands to hold him down. Someone whose voice he didn't recognize told him several times to calm down, but Nell refused... he couldn't have stopped himself if he tried. (reply: any) (posted by Trout) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:30) For the moment, the magnetic pole of the planet they were orbiting had shielded their signature from anything that might be lurking in the immediate vicinity, the fact remained however that they were in Romulan space now & under a 'strict denial of awareness' clause from Starfleet that pretty much meant that they were still on their own, at least until they were back in federation space if they happened to be intercepted at all. T'Vhor had wondered wether the presence of the President onboard may have changed that clause at all, the fact remained however that Starfleet could not acknowledge their direct involvement in sending one of it`s vessels on an undercover mission into Romulan territory, for to do so would be considered by many to be an act of war. With their cloak offline they were vulnerable at best, sitting ducks at worst & the present circumstances regarding the Presidents medical status, their missing CEO & the fact that someone was effectively trying to sabotage their efforts to succeed in their mission, only made things that much worse. The Captain was now more than eager to get under way again though & every minute they remained in the Carraya System was another minute closer to possible annihilation. It was with much trepidation that the CO opened a channel to Engineering to check on their progress, for it had now gone almost fifteen minutes past the time stated for final diagnostics to be completed. "Bridge to Engineering", said the Captain. (Reply M'Rurrh) "How are we doing on those diagnostics Chief?", said the Captain optimistically. (Reply M'Rurrh) "Understood, I am aware of the problems in regards the manner in which the device was extracted of course but we need the cloak back online asap", said the Captain. (Reply M'rurrh) No sooner had the CPO spoken, the power to the cloaking device was suddenly showing on the engineers panel as available & ready to initialize & the duty bridge engineer immediately made the Captain aware of those facts. "We have power sir, I don`t know what they just did but I`m showing green across the board, the cloak is now online & available", said the duty engineer. The Captain did`nt even falter, he turned to the helmsman & instructed him to ready for departure immediately. "Raise the cloak, prepare to break orbit on my mark", said the Captain shifting in his seat as he prepared the Spectre for transit with a certain degree of relief now showing upon his normally impassive face. "All stations report, are we secured for transit?", he asked & in seconds the relevant decks had reported in as ready. "Make your course as arranged & get us under way Lieutenant Rodriguez", said the Captain, "impulse power only until we clear the asteroid field", he added. "Aye sir, initiating pre-programmed course, going to impulse power", said the helmsman as the Spectre`s maneuvering thrusters performed their orbital burn to break orbit prior to the ship getting under way again. "ETA to the Hood`s last known position?", said the Captain addressing the tactical officer. "ETA to the designated coordinates is two hours fifty two minutes at warp six sir", said the Tactical officer. "Prepare to go to warp on my mark", said T'Vhor, his mind now enjoying a small modicum of pleasure at finally being able to leave this place once & for all. It was of course a short lived pleasure for before they had even cleared the asteroid field, the Tactical scanners were showing incoming vessels on an approach vector. "Sir, I have two undisclosed targets bearing one nine one mark two four", said the officer manning the tactical station. "One of the vessels matches the configuration of the second Zulu Alpha class sir, the other is a warbird, both are dropping out of warp", he added looking over his shoulder at the Captain where he sat. "Take us to red alert, ready all weapons but hold until further notice", said the Captain feeling only mildly confident now about their cloak having finally been engaged again. That confidence level was understandable of course as the last time they had encountered the Zulu Alpha`s, they had been spotted irrespective of their cloak so prudence was imperative now just in case. It made no difference that the investigations into the Zulu Alpha One had shown no specialist equipment in regards detection of cloaked vessels, but it was far better to be safe than sorry & to initiate warp now might alert the two vessels of their presence. "Bring us to one quarter impulse Lieutenant, maintain course heading, steady as she goes", said the Captain. "Aye sir", said Rodriguez, "helm is answering one quarter impulse", he added as the bridge crew stood with baited breath just as the two ships suddenly appeared as slow moving dots in the distance on the viewscreen. (Reply M'Rurrh, Ryan, Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) ============================================================================= Mission: Ad Noctum (USS Johann - Brig - A Starfleet Officer - Time has no meaning to one chained) The Officer lifted his head and winced at the pain he felt across his chest. It felt as though someone had beat him bloody, and then run red-hot strips across his skin. ... in fact, they had. ... but it was best not to dwell on that. He had no idea how long he'd been in this dark hole, which seemed to have been a brig once, but it couldn't have been very long. They were using all the time-honored traditions, screwing up his sense of time and alternating his meals. Everything that they could do in order to fog his brain and make it easier for interrogation techniques to work. The man figured he still had some semblance of sanity, so it couldn't have been more then a week. They'd trained him to deal with this sort of torture for at least a week and a day, after all. ... he stopped thinking along those lines when the gallows humor made him chuckle, and then gasp, as the burns on his chest began to flare in pain. He returned to slow, shallow, breathing... counting out seconds in his head so he could retain some semblance of time. He'd just gotten breakfast an hour ago. Breakfast being a loose term, of course, because what had come on the small plastic plate could hardly be called food. But they'd said 'good morning' in a sarcastic cheerful tone when they'd delivered it, so that made it breakfast, the Officer supposed. The food was still sitting where it had been left, he hadn't felt the need to reach over and grab it. He wasn't that desperate yet, and he was still angry enough that he was showing defiance in any way possible. He supposed that wouldn't last much longer, eventually they were going to stop playing with him and get down to the serious business of extracting information from his battered hide. ... that was when the fun would begin. So far they'd done little more then screw with his head and perception of time. Branding him, beating him, had seemed to be little more then a game to keep up his expectations. He had no doubt they'd meant to do it, but he'd gotten the distinct impression that they hadn't meant to get him talking yet, it was more like a taste of what was to come. Anticipation of pain is worse then pain itself, as it were, and the Officer was already cringing slightly when he thought that he'd be pulled out of this cell again in the near-distant future and subjected to such indignities again. He took a deep breath and continued counting seconds, and minutes, in his head. He'd been taught early not to count out-loud, or the Enemy would come and find ways to stop the counting. The whole purpose of this exorcize was to make him loose his bearings, after all. An indeterminate amount of time later, the force-field dropped. The Officer opened his eyes but didn't see much, the entire security center beyond the force-field was pitch-black, so he couldn't see anything or make reference to anything physical. All he was able to see most times were the small dimensions of his own cell; they'd even programmed the force-field to emit next to no light. The prisoner didn't even try to move. He'd never been called stupid, and he knew the illusion of freedom wasn't real. It was best, after all, not to get your hopes up. Eventually someone walked into the room. The man was dressed in the black on black uniform of Starfleet Special Forces. His face was pleasantly generic, no identifying marks, the kind of man who could walk into a crowd and never be noticed again. The man had another plate of food in his hand, which he put down beside the Prisoner's breakfast. The Prisoner looked down and found he couldn't distinguish between one plate and the other. They had the same ugly lump of pseudo-food, cut to exactly the same dimensions, placed exactly the same on a plates that were twin brothers. The Officer looked back up at the pleasant faced man and quirked an eyebrow. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I do enjoy company." "Just wondering if you had anything to confess." ~Ah, that.~ The Officer was wondering when they'd begin the pleasant little mind games. Everything up to this point had only been a minor exorcize in psychology... now the fun would begin. "Sure do." The prisoner replied with fake joviality. "I confess that your food sucks, that the accommodations have rats, that your face looks like it could use the tender loving care of a brick. Oh, and that I could... would-cheerfully dump a few pounds of feces on your commander's head." If anything, the man's grin got a titch wider, and the Prisoner decided that he'd taken the wrong tack. This was a man who enjoyed a smart-alec challenge. "Very well, we can pursue this another time. But I remind you, just in case you have daydreams of being rescued, that nobody knows you are alive. We've already intercepted communications that bare your name. In fact, you helped with that yourself." The Officer would have grumbled at that, but he'd had more then enough time to think it over in the everlasting dark- and he'd already figured out they would try to use that tack against him. He shrugged to show he cared little, and then leaned his head against the wall. "Aight, I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me in an hour, k?" He closed his eyes and listened. Nothing stirred for a while, and the Officer began to wonder if he'd made a tactical mistake. Finally, however, his company's reed-thin voice said. "You're going to die, and soon. But before you do, you're going to help us bring down your friends. Think on that; simmer on it a bit, because you know it to be true." His eyelids opened, and pure rage shimmered behind the eyes of Richard Ian Lee. All the more fierce because, in the end, he knew the man to be right. (reply: none) (posted by Trout) ========================================================================== Mission: Ad Noctum (USS John C Stennis - Bridge - Major General Michelle Leah Roberts - 0756) Michelle took her seat, one specially designed for a trooper in BDU armor, and ran her hand gently over the command console as the bridge crew for the Stennis assembled and read off check-lists all around her. She remembered when the Gryphon class troop Lander, better known through the Corps as the Sod-Hopper, had been bright and shiny new. The bridge had scorch marks now, quite unlike a time over a year ago when the Stennis had first been assigned to her Command. The ship had not only been brand new then, but also one of the ugliest craft ever to be deployed for the Marine Corps. She was still ugly, but now she had some personality. Now she was showing some age... her profession was a hard one. And unlike when she was first assigned, she was now one of over 30 Gryphon Class carriers assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. There was also a second and third Expeditionary Force, both of them were assigned to Roberts, and all three were gathered for one mission. There were over 100 Sod-Hoppers, a few hundred Stallion Class Shuttles, a few hundred more shuttles of over sizes and descriptions. Along with at least six squadrons of Void-Sphinx Fighters, another seven squadrons of MAKO's for close-ground support, and no less then thirty Gator-Freighters, the Roger Young class Marine Transport ships. And that was just the tip of the iceberg, there were dozens of other ships to carry the mass of the three Marine Expeditionary Forces. ... in short, just about everything that the 52nd Fleet, in all the months of fighting and with all the defections from Doenitz, could scrape up for the start of the Core-Federation fighting. What was missing, for now, was the Klingons. LoDona was hoping that a pure Starfleet force would put the local populace in a better mood, hoping perhaps they would rise up. Michelle wasn’t so sure, the Andorian's had been savagely put down in the weeks after the initial bombardment. Tens of thousands had been slaughtered (if rumors were to be believed) after they had laid down arms at the end of the initial resistance. There were still resistance cells; Michelle's forward-scouts had already contacted them. But there weren’t many. And, so, Michelle figured they were going to have a running fight on their hands. Whatever Doenitz had left versus her 750,000 Marines and Security. She wasn’t sure it was going to be enough to take a planet which had had a year to dig in… not without a lot of local support. ~Ah well,~ She thought. ~They pay me to fight, not to live.~ She gave another pat to the Stennis as she thought that, yes; a year had changed so many things. She'd originally commanded just over 900 men and women, all Marines that were gung-ho to kick the living crap out of anything. Now, she had three quarters of a million, half of them Ground-pounding Tactical/Security, one of the largest tactical forces ever assembled by This Woman’s Starfleet. And they were no longer putting out brush fires on the fringe. =/=All Units Report Ready, General=\= Came a call over her headset from her XO, a colonel who had come highly recommended. "Alright Dorkin, give me a channel to them all." There was no answer, just a click and a beep. Michelle took a breath and then said. "Men and women of the 52nd, and all our brethren that have joined us since... today is the day we've trained for. This is what we've bled for. We have a chance, now, to set things to rights. The people of this planet have been slaughtered; I remember the rage when we got that news... I felt it, like any of you. Now we can take vengeance for the innocent deaths of those we swore to protect when we were fresh out of the Academy. Several of the most notorious units in Doenitz's regime are on the surface now, and they think they are invulnerable. We're going to prove them wrong. We will drag them, by the teeth if necessary, before the good Justice that is the basis of our civilization. And if they resist, then we will do what we were trained to do. We will bring peace back to the inner-federation, one planet at a time, unstoppable, united." Michelle paused. "We will all go down, not all of us will come back. But... there is no better cause. Remember the honored dead, remember why we have come, and remember our words." She paused, and in a low and strong voice, quoted; "ALL their days are numbered. Victory- Or death." She smiled behind her faceplate, as evil a smite as had ever been smiled. "All Units... you have a go to deploy! Today we retake Andoria!" The echo of the Marine Expeditionary Force's motto rang through the General's head, the time they had all screamed it in the shuttlebay of the Patton before deploying for the first time. Some of them then had seen a battle or two, but most were still green. That was different now; almost every trooper in the fleet had seen the elephant a handful of times. She didn’t need to hear every Marine and Trooper echo their motto back to her this time, like she did then. She knew their hearts, and their hearts were Vengeance. The channel shut down when she tapped a button on her console. The Captain of the Stennis sat down in his chair and flipped the lap-guards on as the operations officer said, "We've been cleared by the Patton to detach." "Very well," he said. "Detach. Set course for coordinates 154 mark 10, the city of She'nah Hoorn ." "Aye Sir, the train is rolling." Michelle turned, briefly, to face the main viewscreen. It wasn’t very big, the Sod-Hopper wasn’t a very big ship, but the view as they detached from the underbelly of the larger Gator-Freighter and started skipping almost immediately into the upper atmosphere of Andoria was breathtaking. The anti-spacecraft fire wasn’t so exciting. Her fleet had been doing selective bombing of Starfleet installations to take out some of the heavier phaser and photon positions for the last few hours, but no bombardment would get them all, and Michelle had been unwilling to engage in the same kind of saturation bombing the Doenitz's forces had done earlier. ~Ah well, the ride will be that much more thrilling.~ The Sod-Hopper weaved as more and more ships and shuttles joined them. Combat Engineers and heavy-infantry were already beaming to the surface to create jump-points, and as many troops as possible would be rapidly beamed there to hold them, but that still left the most significant portion of the troops to fly by shuttle or sod-hopper… the transporters could only handle a few thousand, especially now when time was of the essence. A Stallion class shuttle burst into flames to the starboard side as several strong battery-shots lanced through its shields, forcing the Stennis to swerve hard as debris flashed off her heavy shielding. Already the heavy guns of the Hopper were firing at the ground… not every effectively, granted, but every lucky shot count. Michelle forced her eyes away from the main viewscreen and looked at her command center again. She’d already lost two sod-hoppers about a good thirty shuttles. The fastest shuttles were already halfway through the atmosphere, performing a full-power entry and using their shields to block the plasma formed in the air by their high-speed entry. Anyone on the ground that looked up would see them as dozens… or hundreds… of meteors. It played hell with the shuttle sensors, but it also protected them –slightly- from the effects of Federation heavy phasers. The Sod-Hoppers were right behind those fast-moving Trojans and Stallions, their own shields flashing bright blue with plasma and weapons fire. All but two squadrons of the Fighters, the Sphinx’s and the Mako’s, were rushing to the planet at break-net speed with weapons hot. They’d seek out the weapons emplacements and shoot down any enemy Shuttle or fighter that took off, they’d provide ground support for the advancing troops. Or so Michelle hoped. The Stennis rocked under several phaser blasts, causing at least one panel on the bridge to blow out. Michelle frowned, but the enemy fire moved onto another Target, hopping from one to another quickly in the hopes of finding one with weak shields. Michelle had purposely not been giving commands on the way down so that her ship wouldn’t be identified and signaled out for destruction. She’d run into that problem before, it was one of the reasons the Stennis was so scorched. The Captain had had some words with her after that particular episode. She hadn’t killed him, he wasn’t a Marine and that would have meant far to much paperwork for her already buried desk... But he’d walked away bruised… “Two minutes to touch-down.” The Operations officer said. The Weapons officer, the only Marine on the bridge besides Michelle, said “I’m targeting all the orbital batteries I can, but there are so many…” “Concentrate on those firing on us.” The Captain suggested, in a tone that ‘suggested’ he’d rip the Marine’s tongue out if he dared disobey. Michelle stood and walked off the bridge without a word. Her gryo’s kept her from falling as the ship swerved yet again and took more fire, but even so her progress was slow to the main Marine Bay . There were four hundred Marines stuffed onto the Stennis, all of them from her original command. And chief among them was her own Company, The Black Company. She was no longer in command of it, but she made sure they followed along wherever she went. In fact, her BDU still sported the phantom of The Black Company, along with the fire-breathing skull of the 1st SMEF. There’d been little time to change them in the last few months, after she got command of the 2nd and 3rd MEF’s. “General on Deck!” the officer of the deck announced after her first step. The Marines, already standing and waiting to deploy, snapped to attention as best they could while keeping their balance. There were no security on this ship, or they would have done the same. Not to would have gotten them hurt by a lot of Marines. “At ease!” she said herself in an amplified voice. She continued walking, with Troopers parting before her, until she’d gotten to her command vehicle. A modified Argo with a heavy gun emplacement and enough microwave communications antenna’s to bake a turkey in five flat. The Argo’s main bay was made to detach and reattach to the underside of a modified Stallion class-shuttle, so she could roll over the ground or fly over a battle-field and never loose her staff or tactical maps. NRPG: Imagine the Argo from Nemesis that looks something like a monster truck. It’s the same idea, but more along the original pre-production plans. It’s more like a rolling Van then a Dune buggy. RPG: She stepped inside the armored interior, a couple of her support planners were already there, along with the two younger officers in charge of her on-ground communications. The rest of her support staff were staying in Orbit, so they could see the entire battle and report to her. In fact, they’d tried to get her to stay in orbit as well, but she’d categorically refused. She hadn’t lead from the rear yet, she wasn’t about to start just because she had a few more stars. =/=One Minute General.=\= the Captain’s voice said as the door was closed behind her. “Understood, Captain.” She said in reply as the red light in the bay turned to yellow and every Marine on board made ready to deploy. =/=God-Speed and good luck.=\= She took her rifle and attached it to her armor, it was the only thing she hadn’t been carrying with her. Then she sat back in her chair and took a breath. “First impressions?” she said, calmly, as if enjoying tea with royalty. “Our forward units are meeting heavy resistance, but the beam-ins are keeping up and casualties are manageable. The first few shuttles that touched down were destroyed, mostly before they could open their doors to deploy… but we have enough on the ground now that their weapons emplacements can’t keep up. We’re forming defensive bulwarks around the ten major sites we’d previously discussed, we should be done with that within the next twenty minutes.” Her senior aide, a brigadier general, said. “Very good. And She'nah Hoorn?” she asked, naming their target city. “We have reports of Andorian’s already rising up. This is one of the hottest cities for the Andorian Underground.” “No surprise, this is where their last major command officer of the ASD was murdered.” Michelle said. “That’s why I chose to land here, I need to talk with some of them.” The ship thumped and a resounding ‘bang’ sounded through the ship as she made an unceremonious landing on the surface of Andoria. She took a breath as the rear doors opened and Marines, in columns of ten, trotted out at high speed. Phaser blasts rocketed back and forth, Marines fell on the ground and were picked up by partners as they passed. And then the Argo jumped forward and into the Andorian night. The Marine on it’s main weapon firing wildly in cover fire as they got their bearings. Michelle thumbed her phaser, but waited to give orders to her Brigade commanders until it was necessary. The Argo rocked as several Void-Sphinx fighters rocketed at high speed only a hundred feet over their heads, their phasers firing at the city of She’nah Hoorn and the heavy-weapons there, or perhaps at some of the dug-in enemy troops that were already starting to fire at the massing Marine presence outside their city. The sounds of phasers and bombs, of BDU’s burning and men screaming, filled the air. The Second Battle of Andoria had begun. (reply: none) (posted by Trout)